The invention relates to a drive unit for an elevator installation, to a corresponding elevator installation and to a method of supporting and driving travel bodies of an elevator installation.
Elevator installations are used for transporting passengers and loads between floors of a building. Different elevator systems are known for that purpose. Traction elevators usually comprise an elevator car and a counterweight, which are connected by way of support means, wherein the support means is guided by way of a drive unit. In that case the drive unit drives the support means by way of a drive pulley and thereby moves the car and the counterweight in the building upwardly and downwardly in mutually opposite travel directions. Two cars can also be used instead of a car and a counterweight. In general, these two travel bodies are moved relative to one another by the support means.
Various arrangements of support means in elevator installations are known. In part, the two travel bodies are arranged directly in a so-called 1:1 suspension. The two ends of the support means are each then fixedly connected with a respective travel body and the support means is guided by way of the drive pulley. The circumferential speed of the drive pulley, the speed of the support means and the speed of the travel bodies are identical. In the case of a so-called 2:1 suspension, the support means is fastened in the building and the travel bodies are suspended at the support means by way of support rollers. The circumferential speed of the drive pulley and the speed of the support means at the drive pulley are thus twice as high as the speed of the travel bodies. In the case of 4:1 suspension, the support means is fastened in the building and the travel bodies are suspended at the support means by way of support rollers with double hanging, wherein the support means is also appropriately guided in the building again by way of a roller. The circumferential speed of the drive pulley and the speed of the support means at the drive pulley are thus four times as high as the speed of the travel bodies. Thus, by way of the form of suspension, on the one hand the supporting force in the support means and a required drive moment at the drive pulley are reduced in correspondence with the selected suspension and the circumferential speed of the drive pulley is correspondingly increased.
An elevator installation with a 4:1 suspension is known from WO 2012/115632, wherein support means in the form of support belts are used and the associated rollers for deflection of the support belt are arranged in space-saving manner in the shaft. Equally, an elevator installation is known from WO 2006/005215, in which the required shaft rollers are arranged to be fanned out for preserving the support belt.
It is disadvantageous with the illustrated elevator installations that on the one hand the support belts are twisted between the rollers and in part exposed to additional diagonal tension due to rollers arranged to be laterally offset.
It is accordingly an object to propose alternative concepts of subassemblies or arrangements of support means and associated deflecting rollers, which counteract at least in part the disadvantages known from the prior art or diminish these and/or which enable good space utilization.
An elevator installation comprises at least one first travel body and at least one second travel body. The two travel bodies are connected together by at least one support means or device. A drive unit is arranged between the two travel bodies in the path of the support means. The at least one support means is drivable by way of the drive unit, whereby the two travel bodies can be supported and moved. The two travel bodies each comprise at least one first support roller and the support means at least partly supports the travel bodies by way of these support rollers. In addition, the drive unit comprises at least one first drive unit roller and at least one second drive unit roller, which are arranged on a common rotational axis of the drive unit. At least one of these first and second drive unit rollers is a drive unit roller or drive pulley for driving the support means.
The at least one support means is preferably guided from the first to the second travel body by way of the first and second drive unit rollers and the guidance of the support means as well as the configuration of the drive unit is such that the circumferential speeds of the two drive unit rollers are different during movement. This is advantageous, since as a result—particularly in the case of suspensions above 2:1, thus, for example, in the case of 3:1, 4:1 suspensions and obviously also in the case of even greater degrees of translation in the suspension—a compact, space-saving arrangement can be achieved. In addition, support means guides can be realized without twisting of support means, which is advantageous particularly when support belts are used as support means.
The at least one drive unit roller or drive pulley for driving the support means is preferably drivable by way of a drive motor. The other one of the first and second drive unit rollers is either arranged to be freely rotatable on the common rotational axis of the drive unit or is similarly motor-drivable. Consequently, as a matter of choice merely the support force in the support means can be reduced insofar as the other one of the first and second drive unit rollers is arranged to be freely rotatable or the support force in the support means can be reduced and at the same time the drive power to be introduced into the support means by the drive can be distributed to several drive unit rollers insofar as the other one of the first and second drive unit rollers is similarly arranged on the common rotational axis of the drive unit to be motor-drivable.
In the case of an arrangement with a motor-drivable other drive unit roller or drive pulley this other drive unit roller or drive pulley can be driven by the same drive motor, which thus can drive the first and second drive unit rollers. In that case, for example, present between the first and second drive unit rollers is a geometric translation through use of different diameters, a transmission stage, a differential transmission and/or a resilient coupling.
In an alternative arrangement with a motor-drivable other drive unit roller or drive pulley this other drive unit roller or drive pulley can be driven by another or a separate drive motor. Introduction of drive force into the support means can thereby be controlled in accordance with need.
The elevator installation preferably comprises a second drive unit or deflecting device with a third drive unit roller and a fourth drive unit roller. These third and fourth drive unit rollers are, as in the case of the first drive unit, arranged on a common rotational axis of the second drive unit or the deflecting device. The support means is thus also guided by way of the third and fourth drive unit rollers on its path from the first to the second travel body. In addition, in that regard the circumferential speeds of the third and fourth drive unit rollers are different. This is advantageous, since as a result a drive moment can be distributed to two smaller units. This is particularly advantageous if for reasons of cable guidance an additional deflection is required in any case. Moreover, a space-saving arrangement also arises through the mentioned configuration of the second drive unit or the deflecting device.
Preferably, at least the first travel body comprises a second support roller and the support means is led in a 4:1 suspension to the first travel body or the support rollers thereof. In that regard, the support means is led, starting from a first stationary fastening point in a shaft of the elevator installation, to the first support roller of the first travel body. From there it is led onward to the first drive unit roller of the drive unit and is again led back to the second support roller of the first travel body. The support means is led on from the second support roller of the first travel body to the second drive unit roller of the drive unit. The circumferential speed of the second drive unit roller of the drive unit approximately corresponds with twice the circumferential speed of the first drive unit roller. The term “approximately” is also to be understood for the subsequent explanations in the sense that, especially when the first and second drive unit rollers are designed to be driving, differences between the two rollers caused by stretching or caused by slip can arise. Otherwise, in a stretch-free and slip-free consideration a difference, which corresponds with the translation of the suspension, of the circumferential speeds of the two drive unit rollers obviously arises.
This form of support means guidance is advantageous, since due to the large translation in the suspension a further reduction in the supporting force in the support means can be achieved and since the resulting high drive unit roller speed enables use of smaller motors.
In a developed embodiment, particularly in the case of use of the second drive unit or the deflecting device, the second travel body further comprises a second support roller and the support means is equally guided in a 4:1 suspension to the second travel body or the support roller thereof. The support means is accordingly led on from the second drive unit roller of the drive unit to the fourth drive unit roller of the second drive unit or the deflecting device. From this fourth drive unit roller the support means is led onward to the second support roller of the second travel body and after looping around the same is led back to the second drive unit or the deflecting device and there guided by way of the third drive unit roller thereof. The support means is led on from the third drive unit roller to the first support roller of the second travel body and finally, after looping around this first support roller of the second travel body, led onward to a second stationary fastening point of the support means in the shaft and fastened there.
This developed embodiment is advantageous, since the two travel bodies thereby operate with the same translations, as a result of which, in particular, the travels are the same.
As an alternative to the embodiment described in the foregoing the second travel body has a fastening point for fastening of the support means and the second travel body is arranged in a 3:1 suspension. In that case, the support rollers of the second travel body are preferably arranged below the travel body.
This alternative embodiment is advantageous, since, for example, the first travel body, in particular a counterweight, can thus be executed with a 4:1 suspension and the second travel body, particularly an elevator car, with a 3:1 suspension. The travel path of the first travel body is thus merely ¾ of the travel path of the second travel body. Thus, for example, sufficient space remains above the second travel body for arrangement of the drive unit. Moreover, diagonal tension of the support means, which is caused by double looping around the rotational axis of the drive unit, can be reduced to a small angular range. As a result, overall a compact elevator installation with a small need for space is provided.
The rotational axes of the support rollers of the first and second travel bodies, the rotational axis of the drive unit with the associated drive unit rollers and if applicable the rotational axis of the second drive unit or the deflecting device together with the associated drive unit rollers are preferably oriented to be parallel with one another. This arrangement allows use of support means in the form of support belts.
Consequently, space-saving arrangements can be realized.
The support rollers of the first travel body are preferably arranged in the upper region and/or above the first travel body and the support rollers of the second travel body are arranged in the lower region of the second travel body and/or below the second travel body.
These possible embodiments allow optimum placement of the drive unit and local space conditions can be satisfactorily taken into consideration. This is of advantage particularly in the context of modernizations, since with such projects the spaces are predetermined.
For preference, the first travel body is a counterweight and the second travel body is an elevator car. The support rollers of the elevator car are in that regard preferably arranged below the elevator car so that the support means are guided below the elevator car. This enables a space-saving embodiment of the elevator installation as already explained in connection with the different suspensions. The first and second travel bodies are obviously interchangeable. This means that the first travel body can also be constructed as an elevator car and the second travel body as a counterweight or obviously also both travel bodies can be constructed as elevator cars.
The support means is preferably a support belt, preferably a support belt with a poly-V-ribbed traction surface, and the drive unit rollers of the drive unit and the support rollers of the two travel bodies have a traction surface or guide surface shaped in correspondence with the shape of the support belt. Support means of that kind have good traction and make possible small deflection radii. These support belts thus enable a space-saving mode of construction.
At least two parallelly extending support means are preferably used for supporting and driving the first and second travel bodies and the drive unit preferably comprises two drive unit roller sets. Each of the two drive unit roller sets further comprises a respective first drive unit roller and second drive unit roller and the two drive unit roller sets are arranged on the common rotational axis of the drive unit. Thus, in particular, safety of the installation can be increased, since the travel bodies are supported by redundant support means and introduction of force into the travel bodies can take place, for example, substantially symmetrically with respect to a guide plane of the two travel bodies.
For preference, the support belt or belts in the path from the first fastening point to the second fastening point is or are guided to always be bent in the same sense around the support rollers and drive unit rollers. The service life of the support belts can thus be optimized.
The drive unit, as is preferably used for an afore-described elevator installation, comprises a drive motor, a first drive unit roller and a second drive unit roller. These are arranged on a common rotational axis. Arranged on a common rotational axis means that the drive unit rollers are arranged coaxially with one another so that they are disposed along a common axis. At least one of the first and second drive unit rollers is provided with a traction surface for driving a support means and this drive unit roller, which is provided for driving the support means, is coupled with the drive motor.
In one embodiment, the other one of the first or second drive unit rollers is also coupled with the one drive motor. The coupling is such that when the drive unit rollers are driven by means of the drive motor the circumferential speeds of the two drive unit rollers are different or at least can be different. The one drive motor is in that sense a single drive motor which thus simultaneously drives the first and second drive unit rollers.
This is advantageous, since by means of this solution a drive force can be satisfactorily introduced into the support means. The looping angle can be selected to be large.
Alternatively, the other one of the first and second drive unit rollers is arranged on the common rotational axis to be freely rotatable. In operation of the elevator installation, it is thus possible to set the circumferential speed of the freely rotatable drive unit roller in accordance with the speed of the support means guided by way of this freely rotatable drive unit roller. The other one of the first and second drive unit rollers is thus not motor-driven. This is advantageous, since the drive unit can be of simple design.
In one variant of embodiment the first drive unit roller preferably has a roller diameter different from the second drive unit roller, so that a circumferential speed, which is different in correspondence with the roller diameter, of the two drive unit rollers arises. The two drive unit rollers can thus be directly coupled with the drive motor by way of a drive axis arranged on the common rotational axis. The drive axis can be gearlessly driven by the drive motor or it can also be driven by the drive motor by way of a transmission.
In another preferred embodiment of the drive unit one of the first and second drive unit rollers is directly coupled with the drive axis and the other one of the first and second drive unit rollers is coupled with the drive axis by way of a speed-change transmission, so that a circumferential speed, which is different in correspondence with the translation of the speed-change transmission, of the two drive unit rollers arises. In the case of this embodiment as well the drive axis can be gearlessly driven by the drive motor or the drive axis can be driven by the drive motor by way of a transmission.
The circumferential speeds, which correspond with the selected suspension, of the respective drive unit rollers can be achieved by means of the different roller diameters or the speed-change transmission.
For preference the two driven drive unit rollers are coupled together by a viscous coupling or a differential transmission or by a slip clutch. Thus, small rotational speed differences, such as arise due to support-means slip or stretching in the support means, can be equalized. The slip clutch has a particularly good cost/utilization ratio, since the rotational speed differences result merely from deviations caused by stretching and slip. The entire drive force can be transmitted efficiently and uniformly to the support means by way of a differential transmission. The support means can thus be preserved and wear can be kept small.
The drive unit preferably respectively comprises two first drive unit rollers and two second drive unit rollers, wherein each drive unit roller set consists of a first and a second drive unit roller and the drive motor is arranged centrally between the two drive unit roller sets. The elevator installation can thus be operated by two separate support means. This increases the safety of the elevator installation, since in the case of failure of a support means the travel bodies of the elevator installation are still supported.
Embodiments with more than two drive unit roller sets are obviously also possible. Thus, elevator installations for greater loads can be realized.
In one variant of embodiment the drive motor is coupled with the drive axis by way of a transmission, preferably a worm transmission, and a motor axis of the drive motor is arranged substantially at right angles to the drive axis. In this embodiment the motor axis of the drive motor is arranged substantially parallel to the drive axis and the motor axis is coupled with the drive axis by a gearwheel transmission or belt transmission. Alternatively, the motor axis of the drive motor is constructed integrally with the drive axis and the drive motor drives the drive axis gearlessly. Thus, a drive concept corresponding with requirements (need for space, price, etc.) can be selected.
Preferred embodiments of the invention are explained in more detail in the following description on the basis of the accompanying drawings, in which corresponding elements are provided with corresponding reference numerals and in which:
In the example according to
The support means 8 is now fastened by one end to a first stationary fastening point 37 in the shaft 2 of the elevator installation 1. The support means forces can be introduced in known mode and manner into the guide rails 7 by way of fastening brackets or they can be introduced into the shaft wall or into a shaft ceiling or into a carrier or drive frame of the drive unit 9. From the first stationary fastening point 37 the support means 8 is led to the counterweight 4 or the first travel body 3 or to a first support roller 33 of the first travel body 3. From there it is led back to the drive unit 9, where it loops around a first drive unit roller 18, 19. In addition, the support means is led back again to a second support roller 34 of the first travel body 3 and from there led again to the drive unit 9, where it loops around a second drive unit roller 20, 21 of the drive unit 9. At least one of the drive unit rollers 18, 19, 20, 21 is constructed as a drive unit roller 14 and can drive the support means 8. The circumferential speed of the second drive unit roller 20, 21 of the drive unit 9 in that case approximately corresponds with twice the circumferential speed of the first drive unit roller 18, 19, and the circumferential speed of the first drive unit roller 18, 19 approximately corresponds with twice the linear speed of the first travel body 3. The first travel body 3 is thus connected with the drive unit 9 by means of a 4:1 suspension.
Embodiments of drives 9 such as can be used for the present invention are illustrated in the embodiments with respect to
The support means 8 is now led from the second drive unit roller 20, 21 of the drive unit 9 to a first support roller 33 of the second travel body 5 or the elevator car 6. In the present embodiment, the first support roller 33 is arranged below the elevator car 6 and is divided into two rollers 33.1 and 33.2, which are arranged in the lateral regions of the elevator car 6 on both sides. The support means 8 can thus be led below the elevator car 6 to an opposite side of the elevator car. From there the support means 8 is led to a deflecting roller 32 arranged in the shaft 2. In addition, the support means is led from the deflecting roller 32 to the elevator car 6, where it is fastened by means of a fastening point 39 to the second travel body 5 or to the elevator car 6. The second travel body 5 is thus connected or supported with respect to the drive unit 9 by means of a 3:1 suspension.
In
Diagonal tension in the support means necessarily arises in the case of the illustrated embodiment, since the support means in the case of double guidance between counterweight 3, 4 and drive unit 9 has to be laterally displaced by at least the width of the support means. In the case of the illustrated embodiment, a large spacing between support rollers 33, 34 and drive unit rollers 18 to 21 is achievable in simple manner not only with the elevator car 5, 6, but also with the counterweight 3, 4.
In the embodiment according to
The guide rails 7 are so arranged in
In the embodiment according to
In addition, in the embodiment according to
In the embodiment according to
The illustrated arrangements can obviously be combined. In the case of all embodiments, intermediate ceilings 2a are possible for formation of an engine room, and the stationary fastening points 37, 38 can be connected with rails, walls, ceilings, the drive units 9, 27 or the deflecting device 28. In addition, the deflecting device 28 can be constructed as a drive unit or the drive units 9, 27 as deflecting devices. At least one drive unit obviously has to be present in the elevator installation. This could in principle obviously be apportioned to any of the support or deflecting rollers or to all of them. The form of guidance of the travel bodies is not explained in more detail here.
Various drive units 9, 27 such as can be used in the elevator installations explained in the foregoing are now presented in the following.
The illustrated drive units 9, 27 can be varied and combined. The motor 23 can be arranged on one side of the drive unit rollers and obviously several drive unit roller sets are possible depending on the number of required runs of support means. In addition, the design of the elevator installation can be varied. Thus, for example, even in the case of the embodiments according to
In accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes, the present invention has been described in what is considered to represent its preferred embodiment. However, it should be noted that the invention can be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated and described without departing from its spirit or scope.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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14157947 | Mar 2014 | EP | regional |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/EP2015/052741 | 2/10/2015 | WO | 00 |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
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WO2015/132051 | 9/11/2015 | WO | A |
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20170217731 A1 | Aug 2017 | US |