Alexander Miles improved the elevator industry with his invention of automated elevator doors, receiving a US patent in 1887. He also worked in real estate and was the only African American in the Duluth Chamber of Commerce. His invention improved safety and is still used today.
Alexander Miles is an African American inventor best known for his contributions to the elevator industry. He received a United States patent in 1887 for his design, although he was not the person who originally invented the concept of the elevator or elevator doors. His design allowed the elevator doors to automatically open and close when it stopped at a floor. Prior to its design, doors had to be opened manually.
Born in Ohio in 1838, Alexander Miles moved to Duluth, Minnesota in 1870, where he found work as a barber. He was married to a Caucasian woman, Carolyn J. Chapman of New York, and they had a daughter named Grace. During his time in Duluth, he worked in real estate and owned several buildings, both commercial and residential. He is notable as the only African American in the Duluth Chamber of Commerce.
His invention was an improvement over previous elevator designs, mainly due to safety concerns. Earlier models of the lift did not close when the lift was in motion and this could be a problem if someone forgot to close the door. There have been incidents where people would fall off the elevator and into the shaft.
Alexander Miles’s elevator improvement was basically a matter of structure. His device worked by attaching a flexible belt to the elevator cage. As the tape slammed into drums positioned directly above and below the floors, it jerked the elevator shaft doors open and shut. The doors were further manipulated through a series of levers and pulleys.
The main confusion about Alexander Miles is that he invented the elevator door mechanism and sometimes the elevator itself as well, but this is incorrect. The first patent for elevator doors was granted to John W. Meaker. Mr. Meaker obtained the patent for the elevator door system in 1874, 13 years before Mr. Miles’ patent. Werner Von Siemens of Germany is credited with inventing the first electric elevator in 1880.
Despite the confusion, Alexander Miles made a huge contribution to the lift. Modern elevators are still designed using he’s basic principles and he’s patent is still held for most of today’s elevators because they all use the same principle of automated door opening and closing. His life and his invention helped break down racial barriers in many ways.
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