In the early 19th century, Americans Jesse Reynolds and George Wheeler each designed plans for manufacturing movable stairs. Charles Seeberg later improved Wheeler's plan and obtained a patent in 1892. Around 1900, the world's first escalator was installed in an elevated train station in New York City. By 1922, the Otis Elevator Company obtained a patent for an escalator and developed a new design that combined the concepts of flat steps and grooved treads to create a lightly corrugated slope that could be used Elevator passengers safely lift their feet off the pedals.