ROTFL. I've posted "elevator shaft key" for a number of gadgets (including this one), most of which I had more confidence than the current one. It's always been wrong. A lot of people are guessng it for this one... maybe it's finally right.
Hey Mathew,
Well, for sure you "guessed right" on 286. That is what it is.
Forerunners to this type device were a crescent shaped section "rod" without the knuckle, and so were referred to as "lunar keys", and actuated a different door mechanism than these current types. Old guys like me still tend to call these as "lunar keys" rather then broken knuckle keys when we're not thinking. Technically, number 286 is a "double joint broken knuckle key", as earlier styles only have one joint, and some that use a flat section instead of round, but they all serve the same purpose. Of the two parallel roll-pins, the one closest to the joints is to provide a penetration limit, and the outside one is the finger-grip to turn the device in operation.
With very few exceptions, the doors arranged for this device are only on the lowest level, and the lowest level plus one provided the distance isn't over 4 feet from the car-top to the second level when the car is a the lowest landing. Anything over the 4 feet requires a different plan.
I'd be interested to know how the OP came to have one of these, as in Canada, Ontario in particular, they are not available to the public or anyone outside the trade. Too easy to get hurt yourself, or injure someone else, let alone damage something expensive if used inappropriately or incorrectly.
Take care.
Brian Laws>>>Hey Rob,
As we learned more than 20 years ago, you don't really need the "broken knuckle key" when a coat-hanger or other stiff wire works just as well :-).
Elevator racing using the inspection controls was fun, not to mention the head games one could play taking over the elevator from the top unbeknownst to the occupants.
scott
Or the looks you get when exiting a pitch-black shaft after a race. :)
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