Elevator system with safety installation

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6631788
  • Patent Number
    6,631,788
  • Date Filed
    Tuesday, March 12, 2002
    22 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, October 14, 2003
    20 years ago
Abstract
An elevator system has a pair of horizontally opposed vertical surfaces defining therebetween a doorway or opening to an elevator cage and a door moving horizontally to open and close the opening. In particular, the system has a first optical device having a light emitter for emitting light and a second optical device having a light receiver for receiving the light emitted from the light emitter. The first and second optical devices are positioned in a vertical plane crossing the opening and adjacent to the opening. One of the first and second optical devices is positioned below the other of the first and second optical devices and mounted in the vertical surface.
Description




FIELD OF THE INVENTION




The present invention relates to an elevator system with a safety installation.




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




There have been disclosed various elevator systems each equipped with a safety installation for preventing any member such as clothes from being drawn into a small gap defined between a slide door and a fixed wall adjacent to the door when the door opens a doorway into or out of an elevator cage. Among others, the Japanese Patent Publication No. 63-66084 (A) discloses such safety system, in which a vertical recess is formed at a vertically extending corner edge between one vertical wall defining the doorway and the other vertical wall adjacent to the opening/closing door. A pair of light emitter and receiver are provided at top and bottom portions of the vertical recess in order to detect any member such as clothes positioned near the gap between the opening/closing door and the adjacent fixed wall and, if detected, prohibit the opening operation of the door.




Also, the Japanese Patent Publication No. 11-310375 (A) discloses another safety installation, which includes a pair of light emitter and receiver positioned on a vertical line within a small gap or space define between the opening/closing door and the adjacent fixed wall for the detection of any member which has been drawn into the space.




The safety installations, however, have respective drawbacks. For example, according to the former safety installation, dust or foreign matters are retained at the bottom of the vertical recess, which results in a false detection of the member. On the other hand, the latter safety installation is capable of detecting any member already existing in the gap, but it is incapable of detecting any member which may be drawn into the gap.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




Accordingly, an elevator system of the present invention has a pair of horizontally opposed vertical surfaces defining therebetween a doorway or opening to an elevator cage and a door moving horizontally to open and close the opening. In particular, the system has a first optical device having a light emitter for emitting light and a second optical device having a light receiver for receiving the light emitted from the light emitter. The first and second optical devices are positioned in a vertical plane crossing the opening and adjacent to the opening. Also, one of the first and second optical devices is positioned below the other of the first and second optical devices and mounted in the vertical surface.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS





FIG. 1

is a schematic elevation view of an elevator system with a safety installation of the present invention;





FIG. 2

is a side view of a cage entrance the elevator system when viewed from inside;





FIG. 3

is a side view of a hall entrance of the elevator system when viewed from a hall;





FIG. 4

is a schematic horizontal cross sectional view of the cage and hall entrances of the elevator system, in which the doors are closed;





FIG. 5

is a schematic horizontal cross sectional view of the cage and hall entrances of the elevator system, in which the doors are opened;.





FIG. 6

is a block diagram of a control circuit of the safety installation of the elevator system;





FIG. 7

is a flowchart showing a door opening operation of the safety installation for the cage;





FIG. 8

is a flowchart showing a door opening operation of the safety installation for the hall;





FIG. 9

is a block diagram of another control circuit of the safety installation of the elevator system;





FIG. 10

is a flowchart showing another door opening operation of the safety installation for the cage;





FIG. 11

is a flowchart showing another door opening operation of the safety installation for the hall;





FIG. 12

is a side view of the cage/hall entrance with another arrangement of the light emitters and light receivers;





FIG. 13

is a flowchart showing another door opening operation of the safety installation of the elevator system;





FIG. 14

is a flowchart showing an operation for detecting malfunctions of the light emitters and light receivers;





FIG. 15

is a side view of the cage/hall entrance with another arrangement of the light emitters and light receivers;





FIG. 16

is a side view of the cage/hall entrance with another arrangement of the light emitters and light receivers;





FIG. 17

is a side view of the cage/hall entrance with another arrangement of the light emitters and light receivers;





FIG. 18

is a side elevation view of the double-leaf door, showing the arrangement of the light emitters and receivers;





FIG. 19

is a side elevation view of the double-leaf door, showing another arrangement of the light emitters and receivers;





FIG. 20

is a horizontal cross section view of the cage and hall door in which the doors are closed, showing an arrangement of the light emitters and receivers;





FIG. 21

is a horizontal cross section view of the cage and hall door in which the doors are opened, showing an arrangement of the light emitters and receivers;





FIG. 22

is a side elevation view of another double-leaf door in which the doors are closed, showing the arrangement of the light emitters and receivers;





FIG. 23

is a side elevation view of another double-leaf door in which the doors are opened, showing the arrangement of the light emitters and receivers;





FIG. 24

is an elevation view of the light emitter used in the safety device of the elevator system;





FIG. 25

is an elevation view of another light emitter used in the safety device of the elevator system;





FIG. 26

is an elevation view of another light emitter used in the safety device of the elevator system;





FIG. 27

is an elevation view of another light emitter used in the safety device of the elevator system; and





FIG. 28

is an elevation view of another light emitter used in the safety device of the elevator system.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS




With reference to the drawings, several embodiments of the present invention will be described hereinafter. It should be understood that the present application is based upon the Japanese patent Application No. 2001-068445, the disclosure of which being incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.




First Embodiment




Referring to

FIG. 1

, there is shown an elevator system generally indicated by reference numeral


10


. The elevator system


10


includes an elevating member


12


elevating within a vertical shaft


16


constructed in a building


14


as it is guided by a plurality of vertical guide rails


18


extending on opposite side walls defining in part the shaft


16


. A wire-winding device


22


with a driving motor


20


is secured at the top of the shaft


16


. A wire


24


is wound at its one end around a drum of the wire-winding device


22


(not shown) and connected at its opposite end with the elevating member


12


. This causes, by the driving of the motor


24


of the wire-winding device


22


, the elevating member


12


to move up and down within the shaft


16


.




The elevating member


12


has an elevator cage


26


defining therein a room for the transportation of the passengers and cargoes and a frame


28


provided around the cage


26


for the structural reinforcement of the cage. For the connection and disconnection between the room


30


defined within the cage


26


and each hall


32


of the building, a cage door system


38


is provided at a doorway (i.e., opening) of the cage


26


and a hall door system


40


is provided at each doorway (i.e., opening) of the hall


32


.




As shown in

FIG. 2

, the doorway


34


of the cage


26


is defined within a rectangular frame. The frame includes left and right vertical frame portions


42


, lower horizontal frame portion


44


connecting between the lowermost ends of the vertical frame portions


42


, and upper horizontal frame portion


46


connecting between the uppermost ends of the vertical frames


42


. One of the vertical frame portions


42


has a front vertical wall


48


defining in part the room


30


and equipped with an operation panel


50


. The operation panel


50


bears hall designation buttons


52


, opening button


54


, closing button


56


, warning device


58


and display device


60


. The upper horizontal frame


46


supports in its front wall a indication lamps


64


for the indication of the position of the cage


26


within the shaft


16


.




The door system


38


is a double-leaf door with two door portions or leaves


68


, each protruding from leaf chambers


66


defined behind the left and right vertical frames


42


(see

FIGS. 4 and 5

) into the doorway


34


. Each door leaf


68


is drivingly connected with a drive mechanism


70


(see

FIG. 1

) provided at a certain position of the cage


26


so that it moves between a closing position (extracted position) and an opening position (retracted position). In the closing position, a leading vertical end surface of one door leaf contacts with the opposing leading vertical end surface of the other door leaf to close the doorway


34


. In the opening position, on the other hand, each of the door leaves


68


is fully received within the associated leaf chamber


66


.




Preferably used for the drive mechanism


70


is one disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 3,783,977, which is equipped with an electric motor and a mechanism for changing a rotation generated by the motor into a translation of the door leaves and incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.




Referring back to

FIG. 2

, the elevator cage


26


is provided with a safety installation


74


in order to prevent any member such as clothes from being drawn into the gap


72


defined between the vertical frame


42


and the opening door leaf


38


. For this purpose, the safety installation


74


has a first optical device


78


and a second optical device


80


in a vertical plane crossing the doorway


34


(indicated by an imaginary line


76


in FIG.


4


). The first optical device


78


is mounted in and flush with the opposing vertical surfaces


82


of the frame defining the left and right ends of the doorway


34


. Also, the second optical device


80


is mounted in and flush with the upper horizontal surface


84


of the frame defining the upper end of the doorway


34


. In this embodiment, a light emitter


88


is used for the first optical device


78


and a light receiver


90


is used for the second optical device


80


so that light emitted from the light emitter


88


is received by the light receiver


90


.




In order to detect any member which would exist near the gap


72


, the first optical device


78


is provided adjacent to the lowermost end of the vertical surface


82


of the frame, preferably about 10-30 cm away from the lowermost end of the vertical surface


82


. The second optical device


80


is provided adjacent to the left/light ends of the upper horizontal surface


84


of the frame, preferably about 5-20 cm away from the uppermost end of the vertical surface


82


. Also preferably, the first and second optical devices.


78


and


80


are mounted as close to the gap


72


as possible for the detection of any member adjacent to the gap


72


.




As described above, the first and second optical devices


78


and


80


are used to optically detect any member possibly existing adjacent to the gap


72


. Therefore, so far as it could detect the member, the light emitted from the light emitter may be visible or invisible and is not limited to that having a specific wavelength.




Another featuring structure of the safety installation


74


of the present invention is that a surface of the light emitter


88


facing to the doorway


34


is substantially flush with the vertical surface


82


of the frame. Preferably, the light receiver


90


is also substantially flush with the upper horizontal surface


46


. This prevents the light emitter


88


and light receiver


90


from being damaged by the contacts with cargoes moving past the doorway


34


. Also, a surface of the light receiver


90


through which light is received is faced downward so that substantially no dust would adhere thereto. Further, a surface of the light emitter


88


through which light is emitted is oriented vertically so that substantially no dust would adhere thereto.




Referring next to

FIG. 3

, another doorway or opening


36


of each hall of the building is defined within a rectangular frame. The frame includes left and right vertical frame portions (vertical walls)


92


, lower horizontal frame portion (floor wall)


94


connecting between the lowermost ends of the vertical frame portions


92


, and upper horizontal frame portion


96


connecting between the uppermost ends of the vertical frames


92


. In addition, left or/and right vertical wall portions of the doorway


36


support an upward hall button


98


, downward hall button


100


, warning device


102


and display device


104


. Also, the upper horizontal frame


96


supports an indicator or lamp


106


indicating the position of the cage


26


within the shaft


16


.




The hall door system


40


is also a double-leaf door with two door portions or leaves


110


each protruding from leaf chambers


108


defined behind the left and right vertical frames


92


(see

FIGS. 4 and 5

) into the doorway


36


. The left and right door leaves


110


are mechanically connected with a drive mechanism


111


(see

FIG. 1

) for opening/closing the hall door leaves. The drive mechanism


111


is so designed that, when the cage


26


arrives at the hall


32


, it engages with the associated drive mechanism


70


mounted on the cage


26


. This causes the hall door


40


to operate between the closed position shown in FIG.


3


and the opened position shown in

FIG. 4

, in synchronism with the opening and closing operation of the cage door


38


.




The hall


32


also has two sets of safety installation


114


, similar to that for cage


26


, provided on opposite sides of the doorway


36


to prevent any member such as clothes from being drawn into a gap


112


between the vertical frame


92


and the adjacent opening door leaf


110


. The safety installation


114


includes a first optical device


118


and a second optical device


120


in a vertical plane (indicated by an imaginary line


116


in

FIG. 3

) crossing the doorway


36


. The first optical device


118


is mounted in the vertical surfaces


122


of the frame defining the left and right ends of the doorway


36


. The second optical device


120


is mounted in the upper horizontal surface


124


of the frame defining the upper end of the entrance


36


. In this embodiment, the first and second optical devices


118


and


120


have light emitter


88


and light receiver


90


, respectively, so that light from the emitter


88


is received by the receiver


90


.




The first light optical device


118


is provided adjacent to the lowermost end of the vertical surface


122


, preferably about 10-30 cm away from the lowermost end of the vertical surface


122


. The second optical device


120


is provided adjacent to the left/light ends of the upper horizontal surface


124


, preferably about 5-20 cm away from the uppermost end of the vertical surface


122


. Also preferably, the first and second optical devices


118


and


120


are mounted as close to the gap


112


as possible, i.e., adjacent to the elevator shaft.




Also in the safety installation


114


of the hall


32


, the light emitting surface of the light emitter


88


is substantially flush with the vertical surface


122


, and the light receiving surface of the light receiver


90


is substantially flush with the horizontal surface


124


. This prevents not only the light emitters


88


and light receivers


90


from being damaged by the possible contacts with cargoes but also surfaces of the light emitters and receivers from being covered with dust.





FIG. 6

shows a control circuit


122


for the safety installations


74


and


114


. In general, the control circuit


122


includes a first control (central control)


124


for controlling various parts or devices mounted, in particular, in the building and a second control (cage control)


126


for controlling various parts and devices mounted on the cages


26


. The first and second controls


124


and


126


are electrically communicated with each other. The first control


124


is connected with the light emitter


88


, light receiver


90


, warning device


102


and display device


104


provided for each hall


32


and an elevation control


128


for controlling the motor


20


. The second control


126


is connected with the light emitter


88


, light receiver


90


, warning device


58


and display device


69


provided for each cage


26


and a door opening/closing control


130


for controlling the drive mechanism


70


.





FIG. 7

shows a flowchart showing the control operation of the second control


126


for the cage safety installation


74


. According to this operation, at step S


1


the second control


126


determines whether the associated cage


26


is currently moving up or down within the elevator shaft


16


. The determination is performed using a signal transmitted from the first control


124


to the second control


126


for controlling the elevation of the cage


26


. If the cage


26


is In the elevating operation, at step S


2


the second control


126


determines whether an amount of light emitted from the light emitter


88


and then received by the light receiver


90


is less than a predetermined value (i.e., shaded condition). If it is determined that the amount of light received by the light receiver


90


is less than the predetermined value (i.e., shaded condition), meaning that any member exists adjacent to the gap


72


, at step S


5


the second control


126


energizes the associated cage warning device


58


to provide a necessary warning for the passengers in the cage


26


. The warning may be a buzzer, message (e.g., “Please step away from door.”), or combination thereof. The warning message may be displayed simultaneously on the display device


60


.




If it is determined at step S


1


that the cage


26


remains to a halt, the second control


126


determines at step S


3


whether the amount of light received by the light receiver


90


is less than the predetermined value. If the determination is affirmative, meaning that any member exists adjacent to the gap


72


, at step S


4


the second controller


126


transmits a certain signal to the opening/closing control


130


to prohibit the opening operation of the opposing doors


38


and


40


. If the shading of the light receiver


90


is occurred during the opening operation of the doors


38


and


40


, the opening operation comes to a halt. Then, at step S


5


the warning device


58


of the cage


26


is energized to provide a necessary warning to the passengers in the cage


26


.





FIG. 8

is a flowchart showing a control operation of the first control


124


for the hall safety installation


114


. As can be seen from the drawing, the program flow is similar to that shown in FIG.


6


. According to the program, at step S


6


the first control


124


determines whether the cage


26


is elevating within the elevator shaft


16


. If affirmative, another determination is made at step S


7


whether the amount of light emitted from the light emitter


88


and then received by the light receiver


90


is less than the predetermined value (i.e., shaded condition). If also affirmative, i.e., it is detected that any member exists adjacent to the gap


112


, at step S


10


the first control


124


energizes the associated warning device


102


to provide a necessary warning to the passengers waiting at the hall


32


. The content of the warning may be similar to that provided from the warning device


58


of the cage


26


.




If the cage


26


is at a halt, the first control


124


determines at step S


8


whether light from the hall light emitter


88


is detected by the hall light receiver


90


. If the amount of light received by the hall light receiver


90


is less than the predetermined value, i.e., it is determined that any member exists adjacent to the gap


112


, the first control


124


prohibits the opening operation of the doors


38


and


40


at step S


9


, and then energizes the warning device


102


at step S


10


, providing the necessary warning to the passengers waiting at the hall.




As described above, according to the safety installations


74


(


114


), if any member existing adjacent to the gap


72


(


112


) between the door


30


(


40


) and the neighboring frame defining the door chamber


66


(


118


) is detected, the opening operation of the door


38


(


40


) is prohibited to prevent the member from being drawn into the gap


72


(


112


). Also, even if the cage


26


is in the elevating operation and also the member adjacent to the door


30


(


40


), if any, is detected, the warning is made to the passengers. This effectively prevents any member from being drawn into the gap


72


(


112


) at the opening of the door


38


(


40


).




Although the descriptions have been made to the double-leaf door, the present invention may equally be applied to the single-leaf door.




Second Embodiment




It can be understood that the above-described operation for making a halt of the opening operation of the door


38


and the associated door


40


is so effective in order to ensure the safe transportation of the passengers staying in the cage


26


. However, if no passenger is in the cage


26


, nothing like clothes of the passenger will be drawn into the gap


72


during the opening of the door


38


. Therefore, the control may be designed so that where there is any passenger in the cage


26


the above-described opening operation is performed and where there is no passenger in the cage another operation is carried out.




For this purpose, the elevator system


10


includes any means for detecting the existence of the passenger in the cage


26


or any live load such as passenger or passengers. For instance, as shown in

FIG. 1

, the elevator system


10


includes a load detector


132


of the motor


20


, another load detector


134


mounted at a connection between the wire


24


and the cage


26


, or another load detector


136


mounted at the connection between the bottom of the cage


26


and the cage frame


28


, which is electrically connected with the second control


126


as shown in FIG.


9


. Instead of the load detector, as shown in

FIG. 2

an image pick-up device


138


such as CCD camera may be provided. In this instance, an image picked up by the imaging device is processed to determine the existence of the passenger in the cage.





FIG. 10

shows a control of the control circuit with the load detector. According to this control, at step S


0


the second control


126


determines the existence of the live load (i.e., the existence of passenger) using the output from the load detector


132


,


134


or


136


. If no live load is detected, the second control


126


jumps steps S


1


-S


5


. On the other hand, if any live load is detected, the door opening operation described above with reference to

FIG. 7

is performed.




With the system of the second embodiment so constructed, any failure or malfunction of the light emitter


88


and/or light receiver


90


does not cause an unnecessary halt of the opening operation of the doors




Third Embodiment




As shown in

FIG. 11

, the opening operation of the doors with the load detector may be designed so that the light emitter


78


is energized at step S


11


only if it is detected at step S


0


that there is any passenger in the cage


26


. Namely, the light emitter


78


is de-energized at step S


11


if it is detected at step S


0


that there is no passenger in the cage


26


. In this instance, an unnecessary light emission is prevented, which extends a lifetime of the light emitter.




Fourth Embodiment




Although in the safety installations in

FIGS. 2

and


3


, one light emitter


88


is paired with one light receiver


90


, as shown in

FIG. 12

a plurality of light receivers


90


may be provided at different positions in the upper horizontal surface leaving different distances from the vertical surface


82


, so that light from one light emitter


88


is detected by the plurality of light receivers


90


. According to this embodiment, different operations may be made depending upon amounts of light received by the light receivers


90


.




For example, as shown in

FIG. 13

, if the amount of light received by the light receiver


90


(D


1


) adjacent to the vertical surface


82


,


122


is less than the predetermined, reference value, the operation of the door mechanism


70


is prohibited at steps S


21


and S


22


. On the other hand, if the amount of light received only by the light receiver


90


(D


2


) away from the vertical surface


82


,


122


is determined to be less than the predetermined value at step S


23


, the warning device


58


,


102


and/or display device


60


,


104


is energized at step S


24


to make the necessary warning for the passenger or passengers.




As shown in

FIG. 14

, the control may be designed so that amounts of light received by the two light receivers


90


(D


1


, D


2


) are compared with respective references at step S


31


. In this instance, if both amounts of light received by the receivers


90


are less than the predetermined values, it is determined that the light emitter


88


is in a malfunction state. Also, if either of the light amounts is less than the its predetermined value, it is determined that the corresponding light emitter


90


(D


1


or D


2


) is in the malfunction state. Further, according to the determination, the warning devices


58


and


102


and display devices


60


and


104


are energized to make a warning.




The operations described with reference to

FIG. 14

may be made only when the load detected by the load detector


132


, for example, is less than the predetermined, reference value which means that no passenger exists in the cage.




Fifth Embodiment




As shown in

FIG. 15

, the light receiver


90


may be provided at three portions, i.e., opposite end portions and mid-portion, of the upper horizontal surface


46


(


124


). In this instance, the right and left light emitters


88


alternately emit a flux of light extending in a sector zone covering three light receivers for detecting any member in the doorway


34


(


36


) and adjacent to the gaps


72


(


112


). Also, as shown in the drawing, the light receiver


90


may be provided in the vertical surface


82


(


122


) so that light from the light emitter


88


provided on one vertical surface is received by the light receiver provided on the opposite vertical surface. As described above, the use of the plural light receivers


90


allows any member not only adjacent to the gaps


72


(


112


) but also adjacent to the doors


38


(


40


) to be detected effectively. In particular, the light receiver


90


mounted in the vertical surface


82


,


122


causes the safety installation to detect any member in a lower position and thereby to prevent the same from being drawn into the gaps.




The light from the left and right light emitters


88


is not required to be the sector beam. Also, another light emitter capable of changing a direction of light to be emitted can be used instead, which will be described below.




The failure or malfunction of the light emitters


88


and light receivers


90


may be performed using the operation shown in FIG.


14


. Also, according to this embodiment, a reduction of light emitted from the light emitters


88


can be detected by comparing amounts of light emitted from opposite light emitters


88


and then received by three light receivers


90


provided in the upper horizontal surface


46


.




Sixth Embodiment




Although the light emitter


88


is provided in the vertical surfaces


82


(


122


) and the light receiver


90


is provided above the light emitter


88


, as shown in

FIGS. 16 and 17

it may be designed that the light receiver


90


is provided in the vertical surfaces


82


(


122


) and the light emitter


88


are provided in the upper horizontal surface


46


(


124


).




Seventh Embodiment




Although the light emitter and receiver are positioned in a vertical plane extending across the opening defined between the fixed vertical frames, the light emitter and receiver may be provided in a vertical plane extending across an opening defined between the vertical leading end surface of the door leaf and another vertical surface opposing thereto. The another vertical surface may be the other door leaf of the double-leaf door, which cooperates with the leading end surface of one door leaf to open and close the doorway. Alternatively, the another vertical surface may be a fixed wall if the door is a single-leaf door.




For example, in the embodiments shown in

FIGS. 18

to


21


the light emitter


88


is provided on the opposing, leading end vertical surfaces


140


,


142


of the door leaves


68


and


110


of the double-leaf door. The light receivers


90


are fixed on the top portion


140


of the door and projected a certain distance from the vertical end toward the opposite door leaf, so that light from the light emitter


88


is detected by the light receivers


90


provided on the same door leaf


68


(


110


) (see

FIG. 18

) or provided on the opposite door leaf (see FIG.


19


). Any member located between the opposing door leaves


68


(


110


) reduces an amount of light to be received by the light receiver, which causes the controller to detect the existence of the member.




It should be noted that as best shown in

FIGS. 20 and 21

the light receivers


90


provided on the door leaves


68


(


110


) are offset in a direction perpendicular to the door movement (in

FIG. 21

, indicated by reference numeral


142


) to prevent the mutual contact with each other at the closing of the door.




In this embodiment, the light emitter


88


is provided on the leading end surface


140


(


142


) of the door leaf and the light receiver


90


is provided thereabove, the light receiver


90


may be provided in the leading end surface


140


(


142


) and the light emitter


88


is provided thereabove.




Eighth Embodiment




Although several embodiments have been described above, in each of which the safety installation is applied to the double-leaf door, as best shown in

FIGS. 22 and 23

the present invention is equally applied for another elevator system in which the door


38


has a first door leaf or portion (low velocity door leaf)


150


and a second door leaf or portion (high velocity door leaf)


152


. As can be seen for those skilled in the art, according to this door installation the second door leaf moves with the first door leaf and also relative to the first door leaf in the direction in which the first door leaf moves.




Also, in this instance, for the purpose of preventing any member from being drawn into a gap


154


defined between the fist door leaf


150


and the vertical frame


42


, preferably one of the light emitter


88


and the light receiver


90


is provided at a certain position of the vertical surface


82


adjacent to its lowermost end and the other is provided at a certain position of the upper horizontal surface adjacent to the topmost end of the vertical surface


82


.




Further, for the purpose of preventing any member from being drawn into another gap


156


defined between the first and second door leaves


150


and


152


, one of the light emitter


88


and the light receiver


90


is provided in the leading, vertical end surface of the first door leaf


150


and adjacent to the lowermost end thereof and the other is provided at the top end of the same vertical end surface. Likewise, the same structure may be provided to each hall door


60


.




Ninth Embodiment





FIG. 24

shows a specific structure of the light emitter


88


suitably mounted in the vertical surface


82


(


122


). As shown in the drawing, the light emitter


88


has a transparent plate


162


mounted in an opening


160


defined in the vertical surface


82


(


122


). One major surface


164


or outer surface of the transparent plate


162


, through which light is emitted therefrom into the entrance opening, is substantially flush with the vertical surface


82


. Light sources


166


are provided behind the transparent plate


162


. Various commercially available light sources such as diode or semiconductor laser are used for the light source


166


.




Each light source


166


is inclined to the transparent plate


162


so that light emitted from the light source


166


is directed obliquely, i.e., upwardly in the drawing. In order to reduce the reflection of light from the transparent plate


162


, the second major surface or incident surface


168


adjacent to the light sources


166


is stepped and inclined so that light emitted from each light source


166


enters the transparent plate


162


perpendicularly through the corresponding inclined surface portion of the transparent plate.




According to the light emitter


88


, light emitted from each light source


166


is transmitted through the corresponding stepped surface portion


168


into the transparent plate


162


and then through the outer surface


164


. The light outgoing from the transparent plate


162


refracts at the boundary surface and then travels toward the light receiver provided above the light emitter


88


in the vicinity of the vertical surface


82


(


122


).




In order to prevent any member from being drawn into the gap between the door and the adjacent frame, preferably the light pass positions as close to the gap as possible. For this purpose, preferably the positions of the outer surface


164


of the transparent plate


162


and the light sources


166


are determined so that an incident angle of light into the boundary of transparent plate


162


and air, i.e., outer surface of the transparent plate


162


, is slightly less than the critical angle.




Also, in order to detect whether each light source


166


works normally, another light receiver


172


is provided beside the light source


166


for detecting an amount of light to be emitted from the light source


166


. In this instance, if the amount of detected light is less than the predetermined value, it is determined that the light source


166


is in the malfunction state.




Tenth Embodiment





FIG. 25

shows another embodiment of the light emitter. In this embodiment, the light emitter


88


A has a second transparent plate


174


mounted in an opening


160


defined in the vertical wall


82


(


122


). Provided behind the transparent plate


174


is the stepped transparent plate


162


described above, which is adhered to the second transparent plate


174


by a suitable material such as adhesive.




Eleventh Embodiment




It is not necessary to arrange two transparent plates


162


and


174


in close contact with each other and, as shown in

FIG. 26

illustrating another embodiment of the light emitter


88


, they may be separated from the other.




Twelvth Embodiment




The transparent plate


162


and the light sources


166


may be fixed separately or may be fixed on the same support member


176


as shown in the light emitter


88


C in FIG.


27


. In this instance, preferably the support member


176


is rotatably supported by a shaft


178


extending parallel to the access direction


142


(see

FIG. 21

) of the doorway. Also, a DC motor


180


is connected to the shaft


178


to change a direction along which light is emitted from the transparent plate


174


.




Thirteenth Embodiment




As shown in

FIG. 28

illustrating another embodiment of the light emitter


88


D, the light sources


184


may be encapsulated in the transparent plate


182


mounted in the opening


160


.




Although the present invention has been fully described with the embodiments in which the safety installation is incorporated in the elevator system, it may be applied equally to various openings each equipped with door or doors.




As described above, according to the elevator system of the present invention, nothing will be drawn into gaps between the door and the neighboring vertical frame or another door, which is so safe to the passengers.



Claims
  • 1. An elevator system having a pair of horizontally opposed vertical frame portions, upper and lower vertically opposed horizontal frame portions connecting uppermost lowermost ends of the vertical frame portions respectively, the opposed vertical and horizontal frame portions defining an opening therein, and a slide door moving horizontally to open and close the opening, comprising:a first optical device having a light emitter for emitting light and a second optical device having a light detector for detecting the light emitted from the light emitter, wherein one of the first and second optical devices is positioned in one of the opposed vertical frame portions and the other of the first and second optical devices is positioned in the upper horizontal frame portion and adjacent to the one vertical frame portion, so that light from the first optical device travels toward second optical device along a gap defined between the slide door and the one vertical frame portion.
  • 2. The elevator system of claim 1, wherein one optical device is mounted substantially flush with vertical frame portion so that it does not protrude from the one vertical frame portion.
  • 3. The elevator system of claim 1, further comprising:a drive mechanism for moving the slide door between a closed position in which the slide door closes the opening and an open position in which the slide door opens the opening; and a controller for prohibiting a drive mechanism when an amount of light detected by the light detector during a movement of the door from the closed position toward the open position is less than the predetermined value.
  • 4. The elevator system of claim 3, wherein the second optical device has a second light detector, each of the first and second light detectors being spaced a certain horizontal distance from the first optical device, horizontal distance for the first light detector being different from that for the second light detector.
  • 5. The elevator system of claim 4, wherein the controller determines whether an amount of light detected by each of the first and second light detectors is less than the predetermined value and then specifically operates depending upon whether the amount of light detected by the first light detector is less than the predetermined value or the amount of light detected by the second light detector is less than the predetermined values.
  • 6. The elevator system of claim 4, wherein first and second light detectors are arranged so that the horizontal distance between the first light detector and the light emitter is less than that between the second light detector and the light emitter, and the controller prohibits the driving of the drive mechanism when the amount of light detected by the first light detector is less than the predetermined value.
  • 7. The elevator system of claim 1, further comprising:a warning device; a drive mechanism for moving the door between a closed position in which the door closes the opening and an open position in which the door opens the opening; and a controller for driving the warning device when an amount of light detected by the light detector during a movement of the door from the closed position toward open position is less than a predetermined value.
  • 8. The elevator system of claim 1, wherein the first optical device has a second light emitter has a light source for emitting the light and a transparent plate through which the light is transmitted into the opening.
  • 9. The elevator system of claim 1, wherein the first optical device has a second light emitter, and wherein, if both of the amounts of light emitted from the first and second light emitters and then detected by the light detector are less than the predetermined value, the controller determines that the light detector is malfunctioning, and if the amount of light emitted from one of the first and second light emitters and then detected by the light detector is less than the predetermined value, the controller determines that the one light emitter is malfunctioning.
  • 10. The elevator system of claim 1, wherein the second optical device has a second light detector, and wherein, if both of the amounts of light detected by the first and second light detectors are less than the predetermined value, the controller determines that the light emitter is malfunctioning, and if the amount of light detected by one of the first and second light detectors is less than the predetermined value, the controller determines that the one light detector is malfunctioning.
  • 11. The elevator system of claim 1, further comprising:a load detector for detecting a live load on the elevator cage; and means for driving the warning device when the live load detected by the load detector is greater than a certain value and the amount of light detected by the light detector during a movement of the door from the closed position toward the open position is less than the predetermined value.
  • 12. The elevator system of claim 1, wherein the opening is an opening defined at a hall in a building.
Priority Claims (1)
Number Date Country Kind
P2001-068445 Mar 2001 JP
US Referenced Citations (8)
Number Name Date Kind
3783977 Vosser Jan 1974 A
4621452 Deeg Nov 1986 A
RE33668 Gray Aug 1991 E
5284225 Platt Feb 1994 A
5329075 Hirabayashi et al. Jul 1994 A
5420430 Trett May 1995 A
5698824 Platt Dec 1997 A
5886307 Full et al. Mar 1999 A
Foreign Referenced Citations (2)
Number Date Country
63-66084 Mar 1988 JP
11-310375 Nov 1999 JP