<P> A dumbwaiter is a small freight elevator or lift intended to carry objects rather than people . Dumbwaiters found within modern structures, including both commercial, public and private buildings, are often connected between multiple floors . When installed in restaurants, schools, kindergartens, hospitals, retirement homes or in private homes, the lifts generally terminate in a kitchen . </P> <P> The term seems to have been popularized in the United States in the 1840s, after the model of earlier "dumbwaiters" now known as serving trays and lazy Susans . The mechanical dumbwaiter was invented by George W. Cannon, a New York City inventor . Cannon first filed for the patent of a brake system (US Patent no . 260776) that could be used for a dumbwaiter on January 6, 1883 . Cannon later filed for the patent on the mechanical dumbwaiter (US Patent No. 361268) on February 17, 1887 . Cannon reportedly generated a vast amount of royalties from the dumbwaiter patents until his death in 1897 . </P>

What is another name for a dumb waiter