How does an Escalator work?

We use it all the time but most people have never actually seen the inner workings of an escalator!

This video has been dubbed in over 20 languages, you can change the audio track language in the Settings menu (click the gear icon in the lower right hand corner of the video).

⌚Timestamps:
00:00 - Intro
00:20 - Escalators History
01:05 - How they're used
01:43 - Variations
01:57 - Inside of an Escalator
02:46 - Step Chain
03:41 - Escalator Motor
04:28 - Comb Plate

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Sources:

Music:
Express by Eveningland (Youtube Audio Library)

Made with Blender 2.80, Cycles & Eevee Render

Here is some of the gear that I use for animation:

📼Video Summary:
I've animated the inside to give you a detailed look at the steps, step chain, gears, handrail, and the motor. My favorite part is how the steps always stay level when they're on top. In this video we also take a look at how escalators layouts such as side by side or the criss-cross configuration. And yes...they really do have spiral escalators! Maybe I'll cover that in a future video.

#b3d #Escalator #HowItWorks

[JaredOwen]

Follow me to see updates as I work on future animations. Thanks for your support!

[Joshua_Knowles_]

There is an escalator in a mall near me that has glass sides so you can see the inside of the escalator, it's so cool

[jartexnetworkreports]

Am I the only one who never saw a spiral escalator?

[mingDynasty]

I think you forgot about the mostly underrated features of the escalator the" Shoe cleaner"

[suhasdotcom]

Thanks. I remember pre-internet times and how hard it was to get education about how things work and what all design principles should be used. I am thankful to people like you who spread free education on how things work by making these fabulous animations.
Thanks again.

[ir]

Let's take a moment to appreciate the effort put into this animation

[liamdegreef]

“I’m gonna go to sleep early tonight”
Me at 3 am:

[joeyager]

Nice animation. I did design work on escalators about 48 years ago. Wish that we could've had solid modelling back then - it would've been so much faster doing design layouts.

[johnhickman]

I just saw the mechanism up-close for the first time today in a shopping mall in Poznan, Poland. The exterior is made with clear plexiglass so that you can see the details. Very neat and that's what brought me to this video today.

[BinaryKiller_Recoded]

Wait a minute???? There are spiral variants???? I have never heard of this madness!! I wanna see it!

[NoName-fnek]

Tell me im not the only one who doesnt know Spiral escalators exist

[TheDigitalThreat]

So simplistic while at the same time a great piece of engineering.

[StarReveurMA]

My shoes: Dirty
The side escalator brushes: Allow me to introduce ourselves

[keitatsutsumi]

I’ve noticed that the handrail seems to always move slightly faster than the steps, why is that?

[davids]

Please continue making these excellent visual explanations of how things work

[marwynnsworld]

0:06 Yes. I have. In Japan, they have these glass escalators in malls where you can see through them. It was the first time seeing them for me. I’ve seen the insides of this thing already. Looks so cool by the way!

[mohammedarmaan]

Everyone: show us the spiral escalator

[CollectionFreak]

4:20 is actually not true. The handrail and steps dont move at the same speed. The handrails move a tiny bit faster to make sure that the person standing on the steps is always pulled forward and not backwards when a lot of people are holding on to the railing! To prevent you from falling backwards

[starbase]

Actually most escalators (that I used anyway) will have the handrail moving a bit faster than the steps. I looked it up and one reason I found has to do with wear, over time reducing the handrail speed. So this way, they get a better service life out of it. Another reason I found is safety. It would actually go faster on escalators going up, and slower on ones going down (which I think is also what I’ve seen). If someone who counts on the handrail for balance falls, they’d fall on the escalator upwards.

I think my father (who was a maintenance technician in a large department store) actually mentioned the safety reason to me.

[rez]

"it's hard to imagine a modern world without the escalator"

So stairs?