Borealis Exploration, the Canadian company which is developing a novel motor designed to "harness harmonics" to improve performance, has sold the first licence for its "Chorus" technology to a lift equipment manufacturer, Beckett Elevator International.

Under an agreement signed by the two companies, they will jointly design "a radically new hoist motor" for the lift industry. "We are confident that elevators using the Chorus/Beckett technology will increase the reliability of tomorrow`s elevators," says the Beckett`s president, Dermot Camack. Beckett, also based in Canada, supplies elevator components and systems to lift manufacturers including Otis, Schindler, Kone and Thyssen.

Borealis, which has been working on the multiphase Chorus technology for several years, claims that its motor is more efficient than conventional designs and offers start-up torques up to five time higher. It asserts that the motor (shown above during prototype testing) offers a similar performance to DC motors without the drawbacks of brushes and commutators, or heating problems caused by locked rotors.

A Borealis spokesman says that the company is negotiating with other potential licensees including some large organisations.