page_title: Elevator
section_title: External controls
hierarchical_section_title: Elevator / Controls / External controls
caption_attribution_description: English: An external lift control panel.
context_page_description: An elevator or lift is a type of vertical transportation machine that moves people or freight between floors, levels, or decks of a building, vessel, or other structure. Elevators are typically powered by electric motors that drive traction cables and counterweight systems such as a hoist, although some pump hydraulic fluid to raise a cylindrical piston like a jack.
  In agriculture and manufacturing, an elevator is any type of conveyor device used to lift materials in a continuous stream into bins or silos. Several types exist, such as the chain and bucket elevator, grain auger screw conveyor using the principle of Archimedes' screw, or the chain and paddles or forks of hay elevators. Languages other than English may have loanwords based on either elevator or lift. Because of wheelchair access laws, elevators are often a legal requirement in new multistory buildings, especially where wheelchair ramps would not be possible.
  There are also some elevators which can go sideways in addition to the usual up-and-down motion.
context_section_description: Elevators are typically controlled from the outside by a call box, which has up and down buttons, at each stop. When pressed at a certain floor, the button (also known as a "hall call" button) calls the elevator to pick up more passengers. If the particular elevator is currently serving traffic in a certain direction, it will only answer calls in the same direction unless there are no more calls beyond that floor.
  In a group of two or more elevators, the call buttons may be linked to a central dispatch computer, such that they illuminate and cancel together. This is done to ensure that only one car is called at one time.
  Key switches may be installed on the ground floor so that the elevator can be remotely switched on or off from the outside.
  In destination control systems, one selects the intended destination floor (in lieu of pressing "up" or "down") and is then notified which elevator will serve their request.
caption: An external control panel
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "<SAMSUNG DIGITAL CAMERA>", "Image Make": "SAMSUNG", "Image Model": "SAMSUNG ES15 / VLUU ES15 / SAMSUNG SL30", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "96", "Image YResolution": "96", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS2 Windows", "Image DateTime": "2009:08:28 20:54:32", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image Copyright": "COPYRIGHT, 2009", "Image ExifOffset": "312", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "998", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "5173", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/45", "EXIF FNumber": "16/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "200", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2009:08:28 14:00:06", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2009:08:28 14:00:06", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "2538347/1247616", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "11/2", "EXIF ApertureValue": "67/20", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "67/20", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash fired, auto mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "63/10", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1542", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2000", "EXIF RelatedSoundFile": "RelatedSound", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "872", "EXIF ExposureIndex": "1", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "0", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "35", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal"}