ANACAM MAGAZINE - n. 2 aprile | giugno 2021

STORIA D I R o b e r t o C o r r a d i n i After the Second World War, in the 1950s-1960s, Italy experienced a pe- riod of significant development with an extraordinary economic recovery reaching a standard of living compa- rable to other European nations. The growth of the construction and indus- trial sectors is a drive for all the com- plementary activities and machines for vertical transport become a necessity. In residential construction, lifts are considered a luxury, so not really nec- essary unless buildings are at least 4 or 5 floors tall, with small cabins of under 1 sqm essentially used for people trans- port. The typical lift would be one speed electric, with manual landing and cabin swing doors. From the mid-1960s the same type of lift began to be more widely used in its semi-automatic version with hinged landing doors and automatic sliding cabin doors. In 1965, the hydraulic lift appeared on the scene. The initial versions were installed with a direct central under- ground or direct lateral piston, cover- ing limited heights until the reverse size version was produced that could climb about 20 meters, a sufficient height difference to meet most requests of the Italian building market. It was inno- vative for the following significant as- pects: first of all, it normally guarantees a smooth and precise stopping level and the machine room can be positioned at any level of the shaft. In addition, the height of the shaft from the floor of the last stop above the floor covering can be of a less than with the electric version. In the event of a power failure this ver- sion ensures that the cabin automati- cally returns to the first lower floor, reopening the doors, if necessary, and allowing people to quickly reach safety. Finally, it offers the possibility of cre- ating industrial goods lifts even with large dimensions and high capacities with simple technical solutions. In this period, the classic lift has a ca- pacity of 320 kg, of 4 people, normally in the version with automatic landing and cabin doors. In the 1970s, the first law for address- ing architectural barriers in public buildings was issued. Since then all lifts in newly built public buildings are re- quired to have cabin dimensions such as to allow access and rotation of a wheelchairs. Only towards the end of the 1980s the legislation required lifts to remove architectural barriers even in private buildings. Then the standard lift had a capacity of 6 people or 450 kg. In the 1980s, the hydraulic lift was significantly widespread, opening the sector to small and medium-sized enterprises operating throughout the country. At the same time, regulatory activity was growing through interaction with European regulation bodies in order to aim for uniformity of technical standards for lift construction and installation. This lead to a higher level of safety guaranteed by the various components. A tangible example can be seen in the new production lines of gearboxes that introduce the concept of redundancy in the brake unit: the new machines placed on the market are required to have the brake unit consisting of two blocks with completely independent mechanical parts. Towards the end of the 1980s, exactly in December 1987, the Ministerial decree D.M. 587/87 which introduces the new technical standard EN 81-1, replac- ing, after about 25 years, the national standard included in the Presidential Decree D.P.R. 1497/63. This new tech- nical standard is the first step towards European regulatory unification. The introduction of European stan- dards lead to significant changes. The technical standard no longer has a prescriptive nature, since only the es- sential safety requirements (RES) of the European directive are mandatory. The technical standard suggests a pos- sible solution to comply with the RES which, however, is not mandatory, as any other solution achieving the same result with an equivalent safety guar- antee is allowed. This new approach allowed technological development to flourish in our sector. In the 90s, especially as a result of the significant investments made by lead- ing companies in the sector, the intro- duction of new technical solutions com- bined with new available devices, are the springboard for a new generation of lifts that will become increasingly popular in the following decades. With the Presidential Decree 162 of 30 June 1999 adopting the European lifts directive, the most significant legisla- tive change takes place: the State is no longer the guarantor of lift safety, task- ing a technical body to carry out the “technical testing”. It is the installer that can proceed by placing the lift on the market by issuing the CE Certifi- cate of Conformity, once the required requirements are met. This brings us to the first decade of the 2000s with new technical standards (EN 81-1 / 2), finally one and the same throughout Europe, and LIFT ELECTRONICS AND MECHANICS, THE MAIN CHANGES DECADE BY DECADE The evolution OF THE LIFT: FROM THE 1950s TO DATE 19