A small, low-capacity goods-only lift designed to transport items such as food, laundry, or documents between floors in buildings such as restaurants, hotels, hospitals, and private residences.
Full Definition
A dumbwaiter is a compact service lift exclusively for goods, not passengers. Typical car dimensions are 0.4–0.9 m² with a rated load of 25–250 kg. Travel speeds are generally 0.15–0.40 m/s. Applications include: food and beverage transport in restaurants and hotels; linen transport in hospitals and care homes; document/archive delivery in offices; medication dispensing in pharmacies; and domestic laundry in residences. Drive systems are typically traction (with small counterweight) or hydraulic. The car is generally unattended — only goods enter, no persons. Safety requirements are therefore different from passenger lifts and are covered by EN 81-3 (Lifts for the transport of goods only, non-accessible by persons) and the UK's Lift Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations (LOLER). Key safety features include: door-interlock to prevent movement with door open, overload protection, terminal limit switches, and emergency stop.
