This application claims the benefit of European Application No. 18305569.8, filed May 9, 2018, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
The subject matter disclosed herein generally relates to elevator systems and, more particularly, to elevator car door systems and elevator car door couplings thereof.
Elevators are equipped with car door couplings to enable operation of an elevator car door in conjunction with a landing door during normal operation. The couplings of such systems are located at the top of the doors. The components of the elevator car doors are located on the exterior of the elevator car and within an elevator shaft. Typically such components extend above a top of the elevator car. It may be advantageous to reduce the footprint or volume occupied by elevator systems, and thus reducing the required space to accommodate the elevator car couplings may be desirable.
According to some embodiments, elevator car door systems are provided. The elevator car door systems include an elevator car having an elevator car door and a movable elevator car door coupling attached to the elevator car and arranged to control operation of the elevator car door. The movable elevator car door coupling includes a mounting bracket attached to the elevator car, a first blade attached to the mounting bracket, a second blade attached to the mounting bracket, and a deterrent attached to the mounting bracket. The first and second blades are operable to engage with a landing door coupling to operate the elevator car door. A portion of the movable elevator car door coupling is arranged to contact a ceiling of an elevator shaft during an overrun event, wherein, when the portion contacts the ceiling, at least a part of the movable elevator car door coupling moves relative to the elevator car, and when the portion is not in contact with the ceiling, a biasing element urges the portion toward a normal position.
In addition to one or more of the features described above, or as an alternative, further embodiments of the elevator car door systems may include that the portion comprises the first blade.
In addition to one or more of the features described above, or as an alternative, further embodiments of the elevator car door systems may include a first blade support fixedly connected to the mounting bracket, wherein the first blade is moveably connected to the first blade support.
In addition to one or more of the features described above, or as an alternative, further embodiments of the elevator car door systems may include that the biasing element connects the first blade to the first blade support.
In addition to one or more of the features described above, or as an alternative, further embodiments of the elevator car door systems may include at least one connector arranged to moveably connect the first blade to the first blade support.
In addition to one or more of the features described above, or as an alternative, further embodiments of the elevator car door systems may include that the first blade support defines a slot and the at least one connector moves along the slot when the first blade is moved due to contact with the ceiling of the elevator shaft.
In addition to one or more of the features described above, or as an alternative, further embodiments of the elevator car door systems may include that the at least one connector includes a connector extension arranged to maintain a separation of the first blade from the second blade.
In addition to one or more of the features described above, or as an alternative, further embodiments of the elevator car door systems may include that the portion comprises the deterrent.
In addition to one or more of the features described above, or as an alternative, further embodiments of the elevator car door systems may include a deterrent support fixedly connected to the mounting bracket, wherein the deterrent is moveably connected to the deterrent support.
In addition to one or more of the features described above, or as an alternative, further embodiments of the elevator car door systems may include that the biasing element connects the first blade to the first blade support.
In addition to one or more of the features described above, or as an alternative, further embodiments of the elevator car door systems may include at least one connector arranged to moveably connect the first blade to the first blade support.
In addition to one or more of the features described above, or as an alternative, further embodiments of the elevator car door systems may include that the first blade support defines a slot and the at least one connector moves along the slot when the first blade is moved due to contact with the ceiling of the elevator shaft.
In addition to one or more of the features described above, or as an alternative, further embodiments of the elevator car door systems may include that the portion comprises a bracket extension of the mounting bracket.
In addition to one or more of the features described above, or as an alternative, further embodiments of the elevator car door systems may include a secondary mounting bracket, wherein the secondary mounting bracket is fixedly connected to the elevator car and the mounting bracket is movably mounted to the secondary mounting bracket.
In addition to one or more of the features described above, or as an alternative, further embodiments of the elevator car door systems may include that the biasing element connects the mounting bracket to the secondary mounting bracket.
The foregoing features and elements may be combined in various combinations without exclusivity, unless expressly indicated otherwise. These features and elements as well as the operation thereof will become more apparent in light of the following description and the accompanying drawings. It should be understood, however, that the following description and drawings are intended to be illustrative and explanatory in nature and non-limiting.
The subject matter is particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed at the conclusion of the specification. The foregoing and other features, and advantages of the present disclosure are apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:
The roping 107 engages the machine 111, which, in this illustrative embodiment, is part of an overhead structure of the elevator system 101, although other arrangements are possible without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. The machine 111 is configured to control movement between the elevator car 103 and the counterweight 105. The position encoder 113 may be mounted on an upper sheave of a speed-governor system 119 and may be configured to provide position signals related to a position of the elevator car 103 within the elevator shaft 117. In other embodiments, the position encoder 113 may be directly mounted to a moving component of the machine 111, or may be located in other positions and/or configurations as known in the art.
The elevator controller 115 is located, as shown in the illustrative arrangement, in a controller room 121 of the elevator shaft 117 and is configured to control the operation of the elevator system 101, and particularly the elevator car 103. In other embodiments the controller 115 can be located in other locations, including, but not limited to, fixed to a landing or landing door or located in a cabinet at a landing. The elevator controller 115 may provide drive signals to the machine 111 to control the acceleration, deceleration, leveling, stopping, etc. of the elevator car 103. The elevator controller 115 may also be configured to receive position signals from the position encoder 113. When moving up or down within the elevator shaft 117 along guide rail 109, the elevator car 103 may stop at one or more landings 125 as controlled by the elevator controller 115.
The machine 111 may include a motor or similar driving mechanism. In accordance with embodiments of the disclosure, the machine 111 is configured to include an electrically driven motor. The power supply for the motor may be any power source, including a power grid, which, in combination with other components, is supplied to the motor. Although shown and described with a roping system, elevator systems that employ other methods and mechanisms of moving an elevator car within an elevator shaft may employ embodiments of the present disclosure.
A landing door lintel 229 of the elevator system 201 (which may be located at one or more landings 225) can house various of the components of the doors to enable operation thereof. For example, operational components for locking/unlocking of the landing doors 233 and the car doors 231 (e.g., couplings) may be located behind the lintel, with the operational components of the landing doors 233 being located within the landing door lintel 229 and the operational components of the car doors 231 being located on the elevator car 203 and arranged to interact with the landing door components, as will be appreciated by those of skill in the art. Typically, the coupling elements of the elevator car doors will extend above the elevator car.
It is advantageous to reduce the volume or footprint of an elevator system within a building. To accommodate such reductions, the amount of space located above and below an elevator car at the top and bottom of an elevator shaft may be reduced. As such, the components and equipment installed and located on top of the elevator car may be required to have altered configurations or otherwise accommodate such reductions in available space.
In accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure, movable elevator car door couplings are described herein. The elevator car door couplings of the present disclosure are arranged to remain in the traditional location relative to an elevator car during normal operation. However, when the elevator car approaches the top of the elevator shaft, such as in an over-run situation, the elevator car door couplings are movable to prevent damage thereto, thus allowing for reduced footprint of the elevator system within a building.
Turning now to
The movable elevator car door coupling 300 includes a mounting bracket 302 that fixedly attaches or connects to the elevator car. Attached to the mounting bracket 302 are a first blade 304 and a second blade 306. The blades 304, 306 are movably mounted to the mounting bracket 302 by one or more pivot mounts 308. The pivot mounts 308 are rotatable about a pivot or fixed point that is attached to the mounting bracket 302. The first blade 304 is connected to a first blade support 310 and the second blade 306 is connected to a second blade support 312. The blade supports 310, 312 may be directly connected to the pivot mounts 308, and the blades 304, 306 may be arranged to interact with components of a landing door lock mechanism and/or landing door coupling, as will be appreciated by those of skill in the art. In some embodiments, the second blade 306 and the second blade support 312 may be a unitary body.
Further, as shown, a deterrent 314 is arranged relative to the blades 304, 306 to prevent access to the blades 304, 306 and thus prevent unauthorized or improper operation of the movable elevator car door coupling 300, and thus prevent unauthorized or improper opening of an elevator car door. The deterrent 314, in this embodiment, is movably mounted to a deterrent support 316. The deterrent support 316 is fixedly attached to the mounting bracket 302.
As shown in
For example, turning now to
The movable elevator car door coupling 400 is similar to that shown and described above. For example, the movable elevator car door coupling 400 includes a mounting bracket 402 that mounts the movable elevator car door coupling 400 to the elevator car 403. The movable elevator car door coupling 400 includes a first blade 404 and a second blade 406, as described above. The first blade 404 is movably connected to a first blade support 410 with a first biasing element 418 arranged therebetween. Similarly, a deterrent 414 is movably attached to a deterrent support 416 by a second biasing element 420. As shown, in the normal operation position (
However, during an overrun event, such as shown in
Turning now to
As shown in
As shown in
As noted above, one of the first connectors 522 may be arranged to ensure a separation or spacing between the first blade 504 and the second blade 506. For example, as shown in
Turning now to
As shown in
A biasing element 640 connects the mounting bracket 602 to the secondary mounting bracket 632 to apply a restoring force to return the mounting bracket 602 to a normal position if a force is applied to the bracket extension 634 that moves the mounting bracket 602. In normal operation, the biasing element 640 does not impact or affect operation of the movable elevator car door coupling 600. That is, the biasing element 640 does not interfere with operation of the couplings and elevator door operations. However, as described herein, if an overrun event or other situation occurs wherein the elevator car approaches the top of the elevator shaft, the biasing elements 318, 320 enable portions of the movable elevator car door coupling 300 to move to prevent damage thereto.
As shown, a belt 642 and an operator 644 of an elevator car door coupling are shown relative to the movable elevator car door coupling 600. The operator 644 and belt 642 are attached to the elevator car 603, as known in the art. The belt 642 connects to or passes through a portion of the movable elevator car door coupling 600, and thus when the movable elevator car door coupling 600 moves, the belt 642 will stretch, as illustratively shown.
Turning now to
The movable elevator car door coupling 700 is similar to that shown and described above with respect to
However, during an overrun event, such as shown in
As shown in
Advantageously, embodiments provided herein provide for elevator car door couplings which enable reduced space occupied by elevator systems. The elevator car door coupling or a part thereof is movable by contacting a ceiling of an elevator shaft. During such contact, the elevator car door coupling or the contacting part will move without damage occurring thereto. That is, the elevator car door coupling or a part thereof will translate vertically if the elevator car door coupling (or part thereof) contacts the ceiling of the elevator shaft. The elevator car door coupling will return to a normal or initial position due to a restoring force applied by a biasing element, such as a spring. Advantageously, the elevator car door coupling is still fully functional even after contact with the ceiling of the elevator shaft.
Advantageously, the elevator car door coupling can be retained at a traditional high point relative to an elevator car, and yet accommodate reduced volume configurations for elevator systems. For example, an overhead security volume can be reduced while maintaining a fully functional elevator car door coupling. Because of the movability of elevator car door couplings of the present disclosure, the elevator car door couplings are still fully functional even after contact with a ceiling of an elevator shaft.
As used herein, the use of the terms “a,” “an,” “the,” and similar references in the context of description (especially in the context of the following claims) are to be construed to cover both the singular and the plural, unless otherwise indicated herein or specifically contradicted by context. The modifier “about” used in connection with a quantity is inclusive of the stated value and has the meaning dictated by the context (e.g., it includes the degree of error associated with measurement of the particular quantity).
While the present disclosure has been described in detail in connection with only a limited number of embodiments, it should be readily understood that the present disclosure is not limited to such disclosed embodiments. Rather, the present disclosure can be modified to incorporate any number of variations, alterations, substitutions, combinations, sub-combinations, or equivalent arrangements not heretofore described, but which are commensurate with the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. Additionally, while various embodiments of the present disclosure have been described, it is to be understood that aspects of the present disclosure may include only some of the described embodiments.
Accordingly, the present disclosure is not to be seen as limited by the foregoing description, but is only limited by the scope of the appended claims.
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European Search Report for European Application No. 18305569.8, International Filing Date May 9, 2018, dated Nov. 29, 2018, 7 pages. |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20190345005 A1 | Nov 2019 | US |