Elevator control device

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6488126
  • Patent Number
    6,488,126
  • Date Filed
    Thursday, November 29, 2001
    23 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, December 3, 2002
    22 years ago
Abstract
In an elevator apparatus, a radiation fin device on which heat generating parts are mounted and a cooling fan for cooling the radiation fin device by forced air are accommodated in a tall and narrow case. The cooling fan has a rotation shaft extending in a direction perpendicular to a fin attaching surface of the case. A ventilating passage is provided between the radiation fin device and the cooling fan by a ventilating duct.
Description




TECHNICAL FIELD




The present invention relates to an elevator controlling apparatus for controlling the operation of an elevator.




BACKGROUND ART





FIG. 7

is a plan view showing a conventional elevator disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 3-18569. In the figure, a car


1


is raised and lowered within a hoistway


2


. A main control panel


3


and a sub-control panel


4


for controlling the operation of the elevator are located at the bottom portion, i.e., a pit


2




a


of the hoistway


2


. The main control panel


3


is supported by a supporting stand


7


at the inside of a hall


5


side inspection door


6


. The sub-control panel


4


is supported by supporting legs


8


in the space behind the car


1


.




In recent years, cases where the controlling apparatus, i.e., the main control panel


3


and the sub-control panel


4


in this example, is disposed in the space in the hoistway


2


, as shown in this example, without providing a machine room at the upper portion of the hoistway


2


have increased.




Next,

FIG. 8

is a cross-sectional view of a conventional elevator controlling apparatus disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 4-338074. In the figure, a case


11


is provided with an air inlet


11




a


and a plurality of air outlets


11




b.


The air inlet


11




a


is disposed at the lower portion of the side of the case


11


, and the air outlets


11




b


are disposed at the top of the case


11


. A filter


12


is provided at the air inlet


11




a.






Amounting panel


13


is fixed in the case


11


. A printed circuit board


14


is attached to the mounting panel


13


. A plurality of on-board parts


15


are mounted on the printed circuit board


14


. Also, a radiation fin device


16


is fixed in the case


11


. The radiation fin device


16


is provided with a plurality of fin portions


16




a.






A plurality of heat generating parts


17


are mounted on the radiation fin device


16


. Snubbers


18


which are composed of resistors, capacitors or the like are attached to the heat generating parts


17


. These snubbers


18


restrain surge voltages generated when switching high power semiconductor devices.




A first cooling air passage


19




a


is formed between the neighboring fin portions


16




a


in the case


11


. A second cooling air passage


19




b


is formed between the printed circuit board


14


and the radiation fin device


16


in the case


11


. A cooling fan


20


is disposed between the first and second cooling air passages


19




a


and


19




b


and the air inlet


11




a.






In such a controlling apparatus, cooling air is introduced into the case


11


from the air inlet


11




a


by driving the cooling fan


20


. The air flowing into the case


11


passes along the paths as shown by the arrows A and B in

FIG. 8

, and is exhausted outside of the case


11


through the air outlets


11




b.


Accordingly, the on-board parts


15


and the heat generating parts


17


are cooled directly or through the radiation fin device


16


.




As described above, in recent elevators, since the controlling apparatus is disposed in a narrow space, a reduction in the thickness of the controlling apparatus is desired. In contrast, in the conventional controlling apparatus of the type shown in

FIG. 8

, the axis of the cooling fan


20


is disposed vertically to send the cooling air from the lower part to the upper part. Accordingly, the depth (thickness) of the case


11


can not be reduced to less than the diameter of the cooling fan


20


, so that reduction of the whole controlling apparatus the thickness is disturbed by the cooling fan


20


.




DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION




In order to solve the above-noted defects, an object of the present invention is to provide an elevator controlling apparatus which can be reduced in a total size of thickness and disposed in a narrow space.




According to the present invention, there is provided an elevator controlling apparatus comprising: a case including a fin attaching surface, an air inlet and an air outlet, the air outlet being provided in the fin attaching surface above the air inlet; a radiation fin device attached to the fin attaching surface in the case; a heat generating part mounted on the radiation fin device; a cooling fan for cooling the radiation fin device, disposed in the case and having a rotation shaft which extends in a direction perpendicular to the fin attaching surface; and a ventilating duct disposed in the case for forming a ventilating passage between the radiation fin device and the cooling fan.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS





FIG. 1

is a plan view showing an elevator according to a first embodiment of this invention;





FIG. 2

is a perspective view showing the controlling apparatus in

FIG. 1

;





FIG. 3

is a vertical sectional view of the controlling apparatus in

FIG. 2

;





FIG. 4

is an expanded perspective view showing an essential portion of

FIG. 3

;





FIG. 5

is a vertical sectional view of an elevator controlling apparatus according to a second embodiment of this invention;





FIG. 6

is an expanded perspective view showing an essential portion of

FIG. 5

;





FIG. 7

is a plan view showing an example of a conventional elevator; and





FIG. 8

is a cross-sectional view of a conventional elevator controlling apparatus.











BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION




A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.




First Embodiment





FIG. 1

is a plan view showing an elevator according to a first embodiment of this invention. In the figure, a pair of car guide rails


22


and a pair of counterweight guide rails


23


are provided in a hoistway


21


. A car


24


is guided by the car guide rails


22


to be raised and lowered within the hoistway


21


. A counterweight


25


is guided by the counterweight guide rails


23


to be raised and lowered within the hoistway


21


. A controlling apparatus


27


for controlling the operation of the elevator is provided on a wall surface


21




a


of the hoistway


21


opposite a hall


26


.





FIG. 2

is a perspective view showing the controlling apparatus


27


in

FIG. 1

,

FIG. 3

is a vertical sectional view of the controlling apparatus


27


in

FIG. 2

, and

FIG. 4

is an expanded perspective view showing an essential portion of FIG.


3


. In the figures, a case


31


is a tall and thin shaped rectangular parallelepiped having a height dimension H larger than a width dimension W and a depth dimension D smaller than the width dimension W. The case


31


is provided with a vertical fin attaching surface


31




a,


and an air inlet


31




b


and an air outlet


31




c


are provided in the fin attaching surface


31




a.


The air outlet


31




c


is disposed above the air inlet


31




b.


A filter


32


is provided at the air inlet


31




b.






A radiation fin device


33


which has a plurality of parallel fin portions


33




a,


and a cooling fan


34


for cooling the radiation fin device


33


by forced air are provided in the case


31


. The radiation fin device


33


is fixed to the inside of the fin attaching surface


31




a


below the air outlet


31




c.


The cooling fan


34


is attached to face the air outlet


31




c


so that its rotation shaft


34




a


extends in a direction perpendicular to the fin attaching surface


31




a.






A plurality of heat generating parts


35


are mounted on a surface opposing the fin portions


33




a


of the radiation fin device


33


. A ventilating duct


36


for forming a ventilating passage is disposed between the radiation fin device


33


and the cooling fan


34


.




Next, the operation will be described. When the cooling fan


34


is driven, air flows in the case


31


through the passage as shown by the arrows in FIG.


3


. Accordingly, the radiation fin device


33


is cooled by the forced air and the heat of the heat generating parts


35


is radiated through the radiation fin device


33


.




In such a controlling apparatus


27


, since the cooling fan


34


is attached so that the rotation shaft


34




a


extends horizontally in relation to the vertical fin attaching surface


31




a,


the size of the diameter of the cooling fan


34


only affects the width dimension of the case


31


and has no effect on the depth (thickness) dimension. Accordingly, the depth of the case


31


can be reduced while the cooling capacity is secured by using a cooling fan


34


which has sufficient diameter. Therefore, the thickness of the whole controlling apparatus


27


can be reduced and it can be disposed in a narrow space.




Second Embodiment




Next,

FIG. 5

is a vertical sectional view of an elevator controlling apparatus according to a second embodiment of this invention, and

FIG. 6

is an expanded perspective view showing an essential portion of FIG.


5


. In the figures, a tall and thin shaped case


41


is provided with a vertical fin attaching surface


41




a,


and an air inlet


41




b


and an air outlet


41




c


are provided in the fin attaching surface


41




a.


The air outlet


41




c


is disposed above the air inlet


41




b.


A filter


42


is provided at the air inlet


41




b.






The radiation fin device


33


which has a plurality of parallel fin portions


33




a,


and the cooling fan


34


for cooling the radiation fin device


33


by forced air are provided in the case


41


. The radiation fin device


33


is attached to face the air outlet


41




c.


The cooling fan


34


is disposed above the radiation fin device


33


so that its rotation shaft


34




a


extends in a direction perpendicular to the fin attaching surface


41




a.






A plurality of heat generating parts


35


are mounted on the surface opposing the fin portions


33




a


of the radiation fin device


33


. A ventilating duct


43


for forming a ventilating passage is disposed between the radiation fin device


33


and the cooling fan


34


.




Next, the operation will be described. When the cooling fan


34


is driven, air flows in the case


31


through the passage as shown by the arrows in FIG.


5


. Accordingly, the radiation fin device


33


is cooled by the forced air and the heat of the heat generating parts


35


is radiated through the radiation fin device


33


.




In such a controlling apparatus


27


, since the cooling fan


34


is attached so that the rotation shaft


34




a


extends horizontally in relation to the vertical fin attaching surface


41




a,


the depth of the case


41


can be reduced while the cooling capacity is secured by using a cooling fan


34


which has sufficient diameter. Therefore, the thickness of the whole controlling apparatus can be reduced and it can be disposed in a narrow space.




Further, in comparison with the first embodiment, the configuration of the ventilating duct


43


can be simplified.



Claims
  • 1. An elevator controlling apparatus comprising:a case including a fin attaching surface, an air inlet, and an air outlet, said air outlet being in said fin attaching surface, spaced from said air inlet; a radiation fin device attached to said fin attaching surface of said case; a heat generating part mounted on said radiation fin device; a cooling fan for cooling said radiation fin device, disposed in said case, and having a rotation shaft which extends in a direction perpendicular to said fin attaching surface; and a ventilating duct disposed in said case forming a ventilating passage between said radiation fin device and said cooling fan.
  • 2. The elevator controlling apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said cooling fan faces said air outlet and said radiation fin device is spaced from said cooling fan.
  • 3. The elevator controlling apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said radiation fin device faces said air outlet and said cooling fan is attached to said ventilating duct and spaced from said radiation fin device.
PCT Information
Filing Document Filing Date Country Kind
PCT/JP00/02667 WO 00
Publishing Document Publishing Date Country Kind
WO01/81224 11/1/2001 WO A
US Referenced Citations (5)
Number Name Date Kind
3610371 Abbott Oct 1971 A
3747300 Knudson Jul 1973 A
5271455 Semple Dec 1993 A
5679934 Juntunen et al. Oct 1997 A
6321877 Yamakawa Nov 2001 B2
Foreign Referenced Citations (7)
Number Date Country
62-265798 Nov 1987 JP
3-18569 Jan 1991 JP
0326676 Mar 1991 JP
4-338074 Nov 1992 JP
4-365773 Dec 1992 JP
6-29194 Apr 1994 JP
2580507 Jun 1998 JP
Non-Patent Literature Citations (1)
Entry
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/619,490, Ishikawa et al., filed Jul. 19, 2000.