A elevator of this kind uses a vacuum on top of the cab and a valve on the top of the "shaft" to move the cab upwards and closes the valve in order to keep the cab at the same level. a diaphragm or a piston is used as a "brake" if there's a sudden increase in pressure avove the cab. however, to go down, it opens the valve so that the air can pressurize the top of the "shaft", allowing the cab to go down by its own weight. this also means that in case of a power failure, the cab will automatically go down. the "shaft" is made of acrilic, is always round, due to the shape of the vacuum pump turbine. in order to keep the air inside of the cab, rubber seals are used. due to technical limitations, these elevators have a low capacity. they usually allow 1-3 passengers and up to 525 lbs.
Why can these elevators only hold 525 pounds?
low capacity