Patent Grant
10246296
The present invention relates to a control cable guide device for an elevator, which is to be mounted to a control cable suspended between a middle portion of a hoistway and a lower portion of a car.
In an elevator constructed such that a control cable (traveling cable) is suspended between a hoistway wall and a car, and a curved portion is formed at a lower end position of the control cable, when the temperature inside a hoistway is increased, for example, in summer season, the flexural rigidity of the control cable is decreased to reduce the curvature radius of the curved portion of the control cable, thereby causing a risk in that the control cable is brought into contact with a side portion of the car. Particularly under a state in which the car is stopped on a lowermost floor, the distance in an up-and-down direction between the curved portion and the car becomes shorter. Therefore, when the curvature radius of the curved portion of the control cable is reduced, the control cable is liable to be in contact with the car.
Hitherto, in order to prevent the contact of the control cable with the car, there is proposed a control cable guide device for an elevator, which is constructed such that a plurality of rollers to be brought into contact with an inner peripheral surface of the curved portion are provided to a roller retaining unit for applying a load to the curved portion of the control cable, to thereby suppress the change in curvature radius of the curved portion (see Patent Literature 1).
[PTL 1] JP 2010-83619 A
In the related-art control cable guide device for an elevator, however, the respective rollers are caused to roll on the inner peripheral surface of the curved portion through the movement of the control cable along with the traveling of the car, thereby always generating noise due to the rolling of the respective rollers during the traveling of the car. Further, it is necessary to apply a load to the control cable, thereby upsizing the control cable guide device.
The present invention has been made to solve the problems as described above, and it is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a control cable guide device for an elevator, which is capable of suppressing noise during traveling of a car, and preventing contact of a control cable with the car with a simple structure.
According to one embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a control cable guide device for an elevator, which is to be mounted to a control cable suspended between a middle portion of a hoistway and a lower portion of a car, the control cable having a curved portion formed at a lower end position of the control cable, the control cable guide device including an arm to be suspended on the control cable at a position below the car in a pivotable manner, the arm being configured to be pushed upward by the curved portion when the car is caused to travel to a lowermost position within a normal traveling range, to thereby shift to a cable receiving position for receiving the control cable while being partially projected from the car in a horizontal direction.
According to the control cable guide device for an elevator of the one embodiment of the present invention, even when the car is stopped at the lowermost position where the control cable is liable to be in contact with the car, the shift of the control cable in a direction of approaching the car can be inhibited by the arm, thereby being capable of preventing the contact of the control cable with the car with the simple structure. Further, the situation where noise is always generated during the traveling of the car can be avoided, thereby being capable of suppressing the noise during the traveling of the car.
Now, exemplary embodiments of the present invention are described with reference to the drawings.
A suspending body 9 for suspending the car 7 and the counterweight 8 is looped around the driving sheave 3 and the deflector sheave 5. As the suspending body 9, for example, a rope, a belt, or the like is used. The driving sheave 3 is rotated by a driving force of a motor of the hoisting machine 4. Through the rotation of the driving sheave 3, the car 7 and the counterweight 8 are moved in the up-and-down direction inside the hoistway 1.
A control cable (traveling cable) 10 being a flexible elongated body, which is movable in accordance with the traveling of the car 7, is suspended to bridge a middle portion of the hoistway 1 and a lower portion of the car 7. At a lower end position of the control cable 10, a curved portion 10a is formed by curving the control cable 10 into a U-shape. In this example, the belt-like control cable 10 having a flat shape in cross section is suspended between the middle portion of the hoistway 1 and the lower portion of the car 7. The curved portion 10a is formed by curving the control cable 10 so that a thickness direction of the control cable 10 corresponds to a radial direction of the curved portion 10a.
At the middle portion of the hoistway 1, a hoistway cable suspending unit 11 is mounted onto an inner wall surface 1a of the hoistway 1. The control cable 10 is retained at a suspension point of the hoistway cable suspending unit 11 under a state of being spaced away from the inner wall surface 1a.
At the lower portion of the car 7 (in this example, a lower surface of the car 7), a car cable suspending unit 12 is mounted. The control cable 10 is retained at a suspension point of the car cable suspending unit 12. The end portion of the car 7, which is opposed to the inner wall surface 1a where the hoistway cable suspending unit 11 is mounted, is defined as a cable suspending-side car end portion 7a. Thus, the car cable suspending unit 12 is arranged at a position spaced away from the inner wall surface 1a in a horizontal direction beyond the cable suspending-side car end portion 7a. The control cable 10 is suspended to bridge the suspension points of the hoistway cable suspending unit 11 and the car cable suspending unit 12.
Electric wiring 20 is connected between the hoistway cable suspending unit 11 and the control panel 6. The car 7 and the control panel 6 are electrically connected to each other through the control cable 10 and the electric wiring 20. Control information, electric power, and the like are transmitted and received between the car 7 and the control panel 6 through the control cable 10 and the electric wiring 20.
The distance in the up-and-down direction from the curved portion 10a to the car 7 is changed in accordance with the traveling of the car 7 in the up-and-down direction. Specifically, the distance from the curved portion 10a to the car 7 becomes longer as the car 7 travels upward, whereas the distance from the curved portion 10a to the car 7 becomes shorter as the car 7 travels downward. Thus, when the car 7 is located on a lowermost floor (that is, when the car 7 is located at a lowermost position within a normal traveling range), the distance from the curved portion 10a to the car 7 becomes shortest, whereas when the car 7 is located on an uppermost floor (that is, when the car 7 is located at an uppermost position within the normal traveling range), the distance from the curved portion 10a to the car 7 becomes longest.
When the temperature around the control cable 10 is changed, the rigidity of the control cable 10 is changed. Specifically, when the temperature around the control cable 10 is increased, for example, in summer season, the rigidity of the control cable 10 is decreased, whereas when the temperature around the control cable 10 is decreased, for example, in winter season, the rigidity of the control cable 10 is increased. When the car 7 is located on the lowermost floor, the distance from the curved portion 10a to the car 7 becomes shortest. Therefore, when the curvature radius of the curved portion 10a is reduced, there is a risk in that a part of the control cable 10 extending downward from the hoistway cable suspending unit 11 is brought into contact with the cable suspending-side car end portion 7a. Thus, a control cable guide device 21 for preventing the contact of the control cable 10 with the car 7 is mounted to the control cable 10.
The control cable guide device 21 includes an arm 22 suspended on the control cable 10 at a position below the car 7 in a pivotable manner. The arm 22 is pivotable about an axis 31 perpendicular to an imaginary plane where the curved portion 10a exists (in this example, an axis 31 along a width direction of the belt-like control cable 10).
A pair of arm supports (arm supporting portions) 23 for supporting the arm 22 in a pivotable manner is mounted to the control cable 10. Each of the arm supports 23 is arranged on the axis 31. Further, as illustrated in
The arm 22 is pivotable about the axis 31 relative to the control cable 10 under a state of being supported by the pair of arm supports 23. Further, as illustrated in
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
When the guide rollers 24 are caused to roll on the inner peripheral surface of the curved portion 10a in accordance with the change in distance from the curved portion 10a to the car 7, the arm 22 is pivoted about the axis 31 while the cable receiving-side end portion 22c of the arm 22 is being guided along the inner peripheral surface of the curved portion 10a. Through the pivot of the arm 22 about the axis 31, the arm 22 is shifted between a cable receiving position where the cable receiving-side end portion 22c is oriented toward the inner wall surface 1a (
The arm 22 is pivoted in a direction of approaching the cable receiving position (
When the arm 22 is located at the accommodating position, the longitudinal direction of the arm 22 is in a state of being close to a vertical direction, and hence the arm 22 is suspended on the control cable 10 under a state of extending substantially along the control cable 10. Thus, when the arm 22 is located at the accommodating position, the entire arm 22 is in a state of being spaced away from the inner wall surface 1a beyond the cable suspending-side car end portion 7a.
When the arm 22 is located at the cable receiving position, as illustrated in
Next, an operation is described. When the car 7 is significantly spaced away from the lowermost floor upward and the curved portion 10a is spaced away from the guide rollers 24 downward, the arm 22 is shifted, due to the self-weight of the arm 22, to the accommodating position where the cable receiving-side end portion 22c is oriented downward. In this case, even when the car 7 is caused to travel in the up-and-down direction, the arm 22 is not pivoted relative to the control cable 10 so that the position of the arm 22 is maintained at the accommodating position.
When the car 7 is caused to travel downward and the guide rollers 24 reach the inner peripheral surface of the curved portion 10a that approaches the car 7 from the bottom, as illustrated in
After that, when the car 7 further approaches the lowermost floor, the arm 22 is pushed upward by the curved portion 10a while the cable receiving-side end portion 22c is being guided along the inner peripheral surface of the curved portion 10a in an order of the illustrations of from
After that, when the car 7 reaches the lowermost floor so that the distance from the curved portion 10a to the car 7 becomes shortest, as illustrated in
When the arm 22 is located at the cable receiving position, the arm 22 receives the control cable 10 at the cable receiving-side end portion 22c through intermediation of the guide rollers 24 to maintain the state in which the control cable 10 is spaced away from the car 7 in the horizontal direction, thereby preventing the contact of the control cable 10 with the car 7.
An operation to be carried out when the car 7 travels upward from the lowermost floor is reverse to the above-mentioned operation to be carried out when the car 7 travels toward the lowermost floor. Thus, when the car 7 travels upward from the lowermost floor, the arm 22 is pivoted toward the accommodating position in an order of the illustrations of from
In the control cable guide device 21 for an elevator as described above, the arm 22 suspended on the control cable 10 at the position below the car 7 in a pivotable manner is pushed upward by the curved portion 10a of the control cable 10 through the traveling of the car 7 toward the lowermost floor, and is therefore shifted to the cable receiving position for receiving the control cable 10 while a part of the arm 22 is being projected from the car 7 in the horizontal direction. Thus, even when the car 7 is stopped on the lowermost floor where the control cable 10 is liable to be in contact with the car 7, the shift of the control cable 10 in a direction of approaching the car 7 can be inhibited by the arm 22, thereby being capable of preventing the contact of the control cable 10 with the car 7. Further, there is no need to employ the structure as in the related art, in which a load is applied to the control cable 10, thereby being capable of simplifying the structure of the control cable guide device 21 and reducing the burden on the control cable 10. Still further, the arm 22 is pivoted only when the car 7 travels near the lowermost floor, and hence the situation where noise is always generated during the traveling of the car 7 can be avoided, thereby being capable of suppressing the noise during the traveling of the car 7.
Further, the guide rollers 24, which are rollable on the inner peripheral surface of the curved portion 10a, are provided to the arm 22, and hence the arm 22 can smoothly be pushed upward by the curved portion 10a, thereby being capable of shifting the arm 22 to the cable receiving position more securely.
Further, in the control cable 10, the roller insertion grooves 32, into which the guide rollers 24 are inserted, are formed along the lengthwise direction of the control cable 10, thereby being capable of preventing disengagement of the arm 22 from the control cable 10 more securely.
Further, the friction reducing sheets 33, with which the guide rollers 24 are brought into contact, are arranged on the inner surfaces of the roller insertion grooves 32, and hence the coefficient of friction between the guide roller 24 and the friction reducing sheet 33 is smaller than the coefficient of friction between the guide roller 24 and the inner surface of the roller insertion groove 32. Thus, even when the guide rollers 24 become difficult to roll for some reasons, the guide rollers 24 can be slid on the friction reducing sheets 33, thereby being capable of shifting the arm 22 to the cable receiving position still more securely.
By the way, when the temperature around the control cable 10 is decreased, for example, in winter season so that the rigidity of the control cable 10 is increased, the curvature radius of the curved portion 10a is increased, thereby causing a risk in that the control cable 10 is brought into contact with the inner wall surface 1a. Particularly when the car 7 is located on the lowermost floor, the control cable 10 is liable to be in contact with the inner wall surface 1a due to the increase in curvature radius of the curved portion 10a. Thus, in order to prevent not only the contact of the control cable 10 with the car 7 but also the contact of the control cable 10 with the inner wall surface 1a, a cable regulating unit 34 for regulating the shift of the control cable 10 in a direction away from the cable receiving-side end portion 22c may be provided to the arm 22.
That is,
As described above, when the cable regulating unit 34 for regulating the shift of the control cable 10 in the direction away from the cable receiving-side end portion 22c is provided to the arm 22, not only the contact of the control cable 10 with the car 7 but also the contact of the control cable 10 with the inner wall surface 1a can be prevented.
Note that, in the example of
Further, in the example of
When the control cable guide device 21 is viewed along the axis 31, the arm 22 and the branch member 41 extend in different directions from the common axis 31, and the angle formed by the arm 22 and the branch member 41 is an acute angle. Further, the branch member 41 extends in a direction (downward direction) away from the car 7 beyond the arm 22. The length of the branch member 41 in its longitudinal direction is smaller than the length of the arm 22 in its longitudinal direction. The branch member 41 is fixed to the arm 22, and is pivoted about the axis 31 integrally with the arm 22.
As illustrated in
A plurality of (in this example, two) guide rollers 42, which are rollable on the inner peripheral surface of the curved portion 10a under a state of being inserted into the roller insertion grooves 32, are provided to the branch receiving-side end portion 41b of the branch member 41. The branch receiving-side end portion 41b is guided along the curved portion 10a while the guide rollers 42 are rolling on the inner peripheral surface of the curved portion 10a, and thus the branch member 41 is pivoted about the axis 31 relative to the control cable 10. The arm 22 is pivoted about the axis 31 relative to the control cable 10 integrally with the branch member 41.
Through the pivot of the branch member 41 about the axis 31, the arm 22 is shifted between the cable receiving position where the cable receiving-side end portion 22c is oriented toward the inner wall surface 1a (
The arm 22 is pivoted in a direction of approaching the cable receiving position (
The cable receiving position of the arm 22 (
In the control cable guide device 21 for an elevator as described above, the branch member 41 for pivoting the arm 22 while being guided along the curved portion 10a is projected from the arm 22, and hence the arm 22 located at the accommodating position can be inclined under a state of approaching the cable receiving position. Thus, the amount of pivot of the arm 22 from the accommodating position toward the cable receiving position can be reduced, thereby being capable of shifting the arm 22 to the cable receiving position still more securely.
Note that, in the example described above, when the arm 22 is viewed along the axis 31, the branch member 41 is projected from an end portion of the arm 22, which is positioned on the axis 31, but the branch member 41 may be projected from, for example, a middle portion of the arm 22 in its longitudinal direction.
Further, in the example described above, the guide rollers 42 are provided to the branch member 41, but the guide rollers 42 may be omitted as long as the branch receiving-side end portion 41b of the branch member 41 is slidable on the inner peripheral surface of the curved portion 10a.
Further, in the example described above, the entire branch member 41 has a substantially C-shape, but the shape is not limited thereto. For example, the entire branch member 41 may have a substantially I-shape along the longitudinal direction of the branch member 41, or have a plate shape along the longitudinal direction of the branch member 41.
The permanent magnet 51 is provided at a position on the control cable 10 in its lengthwise direction, which is spaced away from the car cable suspending unit 12 beyond the position where the arm supports 23 are mounted. Further, the length of the control cable 10 at a part between the arm support 23 and the permanent magnet 51 is larger than the length of the arm 22 in its longitudinal direction. In order to prevent interference with the guide rollers 24, the permanent magnet 51 is mounted to the control cable 10 at a part excluding the roller insertion grooves 32 along which the guide rollers 24 are caused to roll. In this example, the permanent magnet 51 is mounted to the control cable 10 with an adhesive.
The arm 22 is made of a magnetic material (for example, iron) to be subjected to a magnetic attraction force of the permanent magnet 51. When the car 7 is located on the lowermost floor, the permanent magnet 51 retains the cable receiving-side end portion 22c with the magnetic attraction force so that the position of the arm 22 is maintained at the cable receiving position. When the car 7 is caused to travel upward from the lowermost floor, the cable receiving-side end portion 22c is separated from the permanent magnet 51, and the arm 22 is shifted toward the accommodating position due to the self-weight of the arm 22 while the cable receiving-side end portion 22c is being guided along the curved portion 10a. The remaining structure is similar to that of the first embodiment.
In the control cable guide device 21 for an elevator as described above, the permanent magnet 51 for retaining the arm 22 with the magnetic attraction force when the car 7 is located on the lowermost floor, to thereby maintain the position of the arm 22 at the cable receiving position is provided to the control cable 10. Through the attraction of the arm 22 by the permanent magnet 51, the arm 22 can be shifted to the cable receiving position still more securely. Further, through the attraction of the cable receiving-side end portion 22c by the permanent magnet 51, the shift of the control cable 10 in the direction away from the cable receiving-side end portion 22c can be prevented. Thus, even when the rigidity of the control cable 10 is increased due to the decrease in temperature around the control cable 10, the increase in curvature radius of the curved portion 10a can be prevented by the magnetic attraction force of the permanent magnet 51. Accordingly, not only the contact of the control cable 10 with the car 7 but also the contact of the control cable 10 with the inner wall surface 1a can be prevented.
Note that, in the example described above, the arm 22 itself is made of the magnetic material to be subjected to the magnetic attraction force of the permanent magnet 51, but the magnetic material (for example, iron) may be fixed to a cable receiving-side end portion 22c of an arm 22 made of a non-magnetic material so that the magnetic material fixed to the arm 22 is attracted to the permanent magnet 51.
The link member 61 is supported by a link support 63 mounted to the control cable 10. The link support 63 is provided at a position on the control cable 10 in its lengthwise direction, which is spaced away from the car cable suspending unit 12 beyond the position where the arm supports 23 are mounted. Further, the length of the control cable 10 at a part between the arm support 23 and the link support 63 is larger than the length of the arm 22 in its longitudinal direction, and is smaller than a total dimension of the lengths of the arm 22 and the link member 61 in their longitudinal directions.
A link pivot shaft 64 having an axis parallel to the axis 31 is provided to the link support 63. The link member 61 is pivotable about the axis of the link pivot shaft 64 relative to the control cable 10. One end portion of the link member 61 in its longitudinal direction is fixed to the link pivot shaft 64. The other end portion of the link member 61 in its longitudinal direction is shifted along an arc formed about the axis of the link pivot shaft 64 through the pivot of the link member 61 relative to the control cable 10. The link member 61 is pivoted on an imaginary plane defined on an outer side of the control cable 10 in its width direction (outer side of the control cable 10 in a direction of the axis of the link pivot shaft 64). In this example, the link member 61 is provided only on one side of the control cable 10 in its width direction.
A slit 62 extending along the longitudinal direction of the link member 61 is formed in the link member 61. The arm 22 is coupled to the link member 61 under a state in which the cable receiving-side end portion 22c is inserted through the slit 62. The cable receiving-side end portion 22c is slidable along the slit 62. A spring 65 being an elastic body connected between the one end portion of the link member 61 in its longitudinal direction and the cable receiving-side end portion 22c is arranged inside the slit 62. The cable receiving-side end portion 22c is supported by the spring 65 in the longitudinal direction of the link member 61.
The arm 22 is pivoted about the axis 31 relative to the control cable 10 in accordance with the change in distance from the curved portion 10a to the car 7 while the cable receiving-side end portion 22c is being supported by the spring 65. When the position of the link support 63 with respect to the arm supports 23 is changed in accordance with the change in distance from the curved portion 10a to the car 7, the link member 61 is pivoted about the axis of the link pivot shaft 64 relative to the control cable 10 while being slid along the slit 62 relative to the cable receiving-side end portion 22c. The spring 65 is extended or contracted when the link member 61 is slid along the slit 62 relative to the cable receiving-side end portion 22c. Thus, the spring 65 is adaptable to a change in distance between the axis 31 and the link pivot shaft 64.
When the arm 22 is located at the cable receiving position, as illustrated in
When the car 7 travels upward from the lowermost floor, the curved portion 10a is spaced away from the car 7 downward so that, in an order of the illustrations of from
When the car 7 further travels upward after the arm 22 reaches the accommodating position, the link support 63 is moved toward a position below the arm supports 23 while the spring 65 is being further extended along with the downward shift of the curved portion 10a relative to the car 7. Thus, the link member 61 and the arm 22 are arranged substantially on a vertical line with the link member 61 being kept coupled to the cable receiving-side end portion 22c of the arm 22 in a slidable manner. The remaining structure is similar to that of the first embodiment.
In the control cable guide device 21 for an elevator as described above, the link member 61 having the slit 62 along which the cable receiving-side end portion 22c of the arm 22 is slidable is suspended on the control cable 10 in a pivotable manner. When the car 7 is located on the lowermost floor, the link member 61 receives the arm 22 with the spring 65 arranged inside the slit 62, thereby being capable of shifting the arm 22 to the cable receiving position still more securely, and maintaining the position of the arm 22 at the cable receiving position still more securely under a state in which the arm 22 is received through the extension of the spring 65 arranged inside the slit 62 of the link member 61.
Note that, in the example described above, the link member 61 is provided only on one side of the control cable 10 in its width direction, but the link members 61 may be provided on both sides of the control cable 10 in its width direction, respectively.
Further, in each of the embodiments described above, the guide rollers 24 are provided to the arm 22, but the guide rollers 24 may be omitted as long as the cable receiving-side end portion 22c of the arm 22 is slidable on the inner peripheral surface of the curved portion 10a.
Further, in each of the embodiments described above, the roller insertion grooves 32 are formed in the control cable 10, but the roller insertion grooves 32 need not be formed in the control cable 10.
Further, in each of the embodiments described above, the control cable 10 has a belt-like shape with a flat shape in cross section, but the shape is not limited to. For example, the control cable 10 may have a circular shape in cross section.
Further, in each of the embodiments described above, the entire arm 22 has a substantially C-shape, but the shape of the entire arm 22 is not limited thereto. For example, the entire arm 22 may have a substantially I-shape along the longitudinal direction of the arm 22, or have a plate shape along the longitudinal direction of the arm 22.
Further, the permanent magnet 51 according to the third embodiment may be applied to the second or fourth embodiment, or the link member 61 according to the fourth embodiment may be applied to the second or third embodiment. Further, the cable regulating unit 34 illustrated in
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/JP2013/071919 | 8/14/2013 | WO | 00 |
| Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| WO2015/022737 | 2/19/2015 | WO | A |
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1822153 | Kinnard | Sep 1931 | A |
| 2017372 | Morrison | Oct 1935 | A |
| Number | Date | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 03-13478 | Jan 1991 | JP |
| 2004115184 | Apr 2004 | JP |
| 2005-231794 | Sep 2005 | JP |
| 2005-350214 | Dec 2005 | JP |
| 2007-153588 | Jun 2007 | JP |
| 2007-320729 | Dec 2007 | JP |
| 2009-166972 | Jul 2009 | JP |
| 2010-83619 | Apr 2010 | JP |
| Entry |
|---|
| International Search Report dated Nov. 5, 2013, in PCT/JP2013/071919 Filed Aug. 14, 2013. |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20160159612 A1 | Jun 2016 | US |
