Pennsylvania Code › Title 34 - LABOR AND INDUSTRY › Part I - Department of Labor and Industry › Chapter 7 - ELEVATORS, LIFTS, ESCALATORS, DUMBWAITERS, HOISTS ANDTRAMWAYS › Subchapter I - FREIGHT ELEVATORS › GENERAL REQUIREMENTS › Section 7.281 - Elevator cars

Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 28, July 13, 2024
(a) The cars of new
					 power-driven freight elevators shall have all sides not used as a means of
					 ingress or egress solidly enclosed. Grille, perforated or solid metal may be
					 used from a point 6 feet above the car floor to the underside of the car top.
					 The tops of freight elevator cars shall be provided with a cover, solid or of
					 grillework, capable of sustaining a concentrated load of 150 pounds at any
					 point. If wire mesh is used it shall not be less than No. 10 standard steel
					 wire gauge, 0.135 inch in diameter, and the mesh shall be such that a ball 1
					 1/2 inches in diameter will not pass. Such protecting tops or covers shall be
					 set back not more than 6 inches from the landing threshold and be hinged to a
					 depth of not less than 18 inches on the landing sides. Car slings, frames and
					 girdles on all elevators installed after January 1, 1943, shall be constructed
					 of steel. Elevators in existing fire-resistive shaftways are not required to
					 have car tops. Such tops are also not required in connection with elevators
					 when all gates above the bottom story have their underclearances eliminated and
					 shaftway enclosures extend to the ceiling.
(b) When there is more than one opening to a
					 car, all openings, except the one nearest the operator, shall be provided with
					 a car gate of the horizontal collapsible type or of the semiautomatic
					 vertical-raising type, except on existing one-story elevators when the
					 clearance between the car and the shaftway is not greater than 2 inches and
					 when the shaftway forms a smooth surface without projections throughout the
					 travel of the car. When the horizontal collapsible type of gate is used, the
					 construction shall be such that a 4 1/2 inch ball will not pass when the gate
					 is fully extended, and the upright channels shall not be more than 18 inches
					 apart.
(c) If gates of the
					 horizontal collapsible type are used in installations provided with electric
					 brakes they shall all be equipped with an electrical or mechanical device so
					 constructed and installed that the car is held immovable when the gates are in
					 an open position. If gates of the vertical-raising type are used, they shall be
					 extended to the car floor and an electric contact shall be provided where
					 practicable. This requirement does not apply to existing installations where
					 automatic hatch covers are permitted.
(d) Car gates which are not provided with the
					 locking devices required in subsection (c) shall be equipped with latches so
					 arranged that the gates cannot be opened from the outside of the shaftway. Car
					 gates shall have a minimum height of 5 feet, 6 inches.
This section cited in 34 Pa. Code §
													7.291 (relating to general) and 34
						  Pa. Code §
													7.295 (relating to hydraulic
						  freight elevators); and 34 Pa. Code §
													7.298 (relating to gravity
						  elevators).