Development of a Friction Drive Inclined Platform Lift

描述（由申请人提供）：本署将进行一项发展摩擦驱动倾斜平台升降机的可行性研究。拟议的方法将利用20年前的设计，由于成本效率低下，不符合安全法规，从未在商业上出售过。该项目的主要技术创新将是用低成本的摩擦驱动取代已有20年历史的电梯的主要成本部件——钢制齿条和齿轮驱动。预计摩擦驱动在材料、加工和安装方面的成本将接近目前齿条和齿轮驱动的十分之一。此外，该电梯目前的设计不符合商业安全规定。为了满足这些规定，需要对一些技术设计进行更改。每个设计变更的成本将产生最终的成本估算，用于确定总体成本可行性。这些设计变化，以及更换齿条和小齿轮驱动，将导致初始原型设计为第二阶段，产品开发和测试做好准备。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): A feasibility study for the development of a friction drive inclined platform lift will be conducted. The proposed approach will utilize a twenty-year old design that was never sold commercially due to cost ineffectiveness, and nonconformance to safety regulations. This project's main technical innovation will be to replace the major cost component of the twenty-year old lift, the steel rack and pinion drive, with a low cost friction drive. The friction drive is expected to cost close to one tenth that of the current rack and pinion drive for materials, machining, and installation. In addition, the lift is not currently designed to meet commercial safety regulations. In order to meet these regulations, several technical design changes will need to be made. The costs of each of these design changes will result in a final cost estimate that will be used to determine overall cost feasibility. These design changes, along with replacing the rack and pinion drive, will lead to an initial prototype design ready for phase two, Product Development and Testing.