biography
| name: |
Otis, Elisha (Graves)
|
pronunciation:
[ohtis]
| sex:
| male
|
| lived:
| (1811–61)
|
| biography:
| Inventor, born in Halifax, Vermont, USA. A master mechanic in a bedstead factory, he was put in charge of the construction of a new factory at Yonkers, NY. There he designed a spring-operated safety device which would hold lifting platforms securely if there was any failure of tension in the rope (1852). He opened a shop, patented his ‘elevator’, and exhibited it dramatically in a rope-cutting incident at an Exposition in New York City in 1854, after which orders came in rapidly for passenger as well as goods lifts. He also patented a new type of steam-powered lift in 1861. |
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