Patent Application
20160120722
The invention relates to a lift which overcomes terrestrial obstacles and is also suitable for swimming pool basins according to the preamble of the first claim.
Confidence in elevators has been strengthened since the invention of the safety features of Otis in 1853, and thus a large number of patents have been filed with respect to elevators with corresponding lifting and security mechanisms, as well as with and without counterweights, as described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 2,086,002.
Lifts are also known in the form of stair lifts or hoists, such as, inter alia, FR 2877656. In addition, solutions have been created for swimming pool basins, in particular for individuals with disabilities, so that they may also enjoy the possibility of swimming, as described, inter alia, in the U.S. Pat. No. 7,275,272 B2, U.S. Pat. No. 4,283,803, U.S. Pat. No. 5,432,961.
The invention relates to a vertically or obliquely traversing lift in the terrestrial area for the transport of goods and people and for the swimming pool area for individuals with reduced mobility, such as seniors or mothers with their small children, but also for athletes, i.e. for recreational use, sports and rehabilitation, wherein the lift system is additionally as self-supporting as possible in water by means of flotation bodies, according to the preamble of the first claim.
To ensure that the obligation in public facilities of barrier-free access to a swimming pool is met, but also that the swimming pool may be used as diversely as possible in private areas, a swimming pool lift is an efficient solution for transporting people into or out of the water and a comfortable device to serve simultaneously as a carrier for fitness and other devices or as a diving platform.
The inventive approach is to operate such a facility for the terrestrial as well as swimming pool area with parts which are as identical as possible, with a simple drive and a security disposition which eliminates a falling of the lift platform in every case and which, in case of emergency, allows this to be driven to the best lifting position, even without electricity.
In addition to the equipment standards with respect to safety distances, in order not to clamp a limb, the safety aspect therefore comprises covers to prevent shearing points, a spring-loaded safety cable, a gas spring or hydraulic accumulator or battery powered back-up solution, and, in the swimming pool area, an additional flotation body or an emergency flotation system similar to an airbag. This ensures that, during a failure of the drive, the platform of the swimming pool lift cannot ever fall down or that, during an electrical failure, the hydraulics can be released by means of actuation of an depressurization switch and, due to the gas spring force or integration of the hydraulic accumulator, or by means of sufficient flotation force of the flotation body or filling of gas of a folded plastic bag, which in its inflated state forms a flotation pillow, the platform can thus be lifted to the desired position.
In addition, load-bearing structures in indoor pools are subjected to exceptionally rigorous safety regulations, which means that stainless steel far above the quality of standard stainless steel, thus higher quality and very expensive stainless steel, must be used. Therefore, the platform is underlaid with floating bodies, so that in the corrosive environment of the chlorine-containing air in a swimming pool, in the case of a material failure, the platform cannot quickly sink downward and unluckily contact a swimmer, but would then slowly sink in the water like a leaky raft. For this reason, a low-cost stainless steel can be used, such as that according to DIN standard 1.4404 or 1.4462.
Although for the terrestrial area the water element is lacking and thus the use of flotation bodies, such required safety can nevertheless be achieved with very good result by means of a corresponding cable lock or double-guided cable.
Identically to the swimming pool lift, an excellent reduction of the drive can be ensured without an elaborate gear ratio by means of a large cable winding winch and a force locking small cable winding winch applied thereto, said drive being driven by means of a linear drive, such as a hydraulic cylinder, with a small stroke or small hydraulic motor. The lifting cylinder, as well as a rotating motor, can be operated electrically or by means of a fluid, such as bio-oil or plain water.
A hydraulic motor or an electric motor requires an additional lock to secure the angular position of the motor. In contrast, a hydraulic cylinder requires only a load retaining valve in order to hydraulically lock the position of the piston rod.
The reduction ratio multiplies itself by means of a pulley and cable winch, and acts as a kind of potency pulley.
This is achieved according to the invention through the features of the first claim.
The essence of the invention is, by means of a reduction cable winch and a lift platform mounted on guide rods, to render said lift platform accident-proof by means of a safety cable and a back-up system or and a solid or inflatable flotation body, and to integrate the entire drive of the platform lifter together with the reduction, hydraulic accumulator and control into the large cable winch.
Further advantageous embodiments of the invention result from the dependent claims.
Exemplary embodiments will be described in more detail hereinafter with reference to drawings. Identical elements in the various figures are provided with the same reference characters.
Only elements which are essential for the immediate understanding of the invention are shown schematically.
Swimming pool basins 2 are not designed to receive a swimming pool lift 1. In addition, the legal requirements regarding support structures are rigorous, as intergranular corrosion may form in chlorinated water and such a part may break away without warning or the appearance of rust, and may thus have fatal consequences. Many private swimming pool basins 2 are hardly suitable for bores with tensile-loaded attachments, particularly if they have a covering. This limitation reduces to a high degree the ability to inexpensively use such a swimming pool lift 1. This is unfortunate, as thus many less-mobile persons, for example seniors, mothers with their small children or disabled individuals, continue to have trouble getting out of the water.
A swimming pool lift 1 is the optimal device for this and may, if kinematics permit, be driven out above the swimming pool basin edge and thus be used as a diving platform or allow the attachment of sports equipment thereon. Such a swimming pool lift 1 may also serve as a basis for diverse sport activities, such as aquabiking or aquarunning, in that the person drives the swimming pool lift 1 to an individual depth in the water until the most comfortable or most effective underwater position for the fitness program has been reached.
Such a swimming pool lift 1 is usually a large device, as it is possible that more than one person wishes to stand on such a platform or a wheelchair with an assisting individual requires space thereon. In addition to the empty weight and the people thereon, this requires a considerably strong lift motor or cylinder. The inventive solution is to massively reduce the empty weight of the swimming pool lift 1, as well as the integrated accessories by means of a flotation body 10 in the water, so that the lift motor or cylinder continues to have a heavy load due to move due to the reduction ratio described here, however a lower rotational speed, respectively less lifting, is required at the cylinder for this purpose.
In addition, the space required for such a swimming pool lift 1 is to be optimally used, thus for example as described above as a basis for sports equipment, however not only, but rather simultaneously as a means for cleaning and disinfecting the swimming pool basin 2 in the form of a swimming pool cleaning system 11. A swimming pool basin 2 thus requires no separate space and wall penetration of the swimming pool basin 2 in order to keep the water clean. The direct exchange of polluted water by means of an inlet at the skimmer 14, which has a coarse filter for foliage, etc., into the circulation pump 15, then to the filter 16 and finally the addition of chemical agents, such as chlorine as a disinfectant, by means of a metering device 17, which also imparts flocculants, etc., to the water W at the appropriate time, either time-controlled or via command from a water quality probe or disinfection of the water W by means of chemical-free UV light, etc., thus has a short purification path, unloads the circulation pump 15 and thus saving energy, and improves the overall circulation in the swimming pool basin 2. If the space in the flotation body 10 is completely required for the drive 6, as is shown in
Besides the possibility of using the swimming pool lift 1 as a carrier for the swimming pool cleaning system 11, the swimming pool lift 1 may also be used as a means for sport, as is described in
The external platform lifter 60 shows an electric drive 6. If this is located outside and behind the swimming pool basin 2, this may also be operated with AC power, which is fixed to the handrail 3a, which is a part of the guide rail 3. Not shown is a variant of reduction of the motor rotational speed by means of a planetary gear unit or the variants as shown in
The lift platform 5 has guide rollers 4, which encompass the guide rails 3. The flotation body 10 is attached to the lift platform 5 and contains the swimming pool cleaning system 11, which has a waterproof lid 22, so that access to the mechanics lying thereunder, for instance for filter replacement, is always possible. If the swimming pool cleaning system 11 is housed in the container 11 on the wall of the swimming pool basin 2, a lid 22 is present there, too, for inspection and servicing of the system.
The flotation body 10 may not compensate for the full empty weight of the swimming pool lift 1 with the drive V, as the lift platform 5 could not then be lowered. The drive 6 must then always provide a residual force in order to guide the lift platform 5 upward. For emergencies, a gas spring 44 can additionally be mounted on the drive 6, as is shown in
Alternatively, an air bag 55 with a compressed air filling means 56 can be mounted under the lift platform 5, which can be opened in an emergency by means of the manual valve 57 and thus the filling means 56 flows into the air bag 55, inflating said air bag 55 and forming a flotation body 10, which lifts the lift platform 5 upward. Such an air bag 55 with a 200 L volume thus results in a drive of approximately 200 kg, sufficient to drive the lift platform 5 and a person upward above the water line WL without problem.
The container 12 is equipped with a flotation volume and acts as a flotation body 10a and thus diverts the load away from the edge of the swimming pool basin 2. Likewise, the flotation body 10b on the guide rail 3 serves as an additional flotation body, so that the load on the floor of the swimming pool basin 2 can be kept low.
In order to reliably control the lifting H of the swimming pool lift 1, a sensor 24 is attached to the cable winch 20, for example, which detects the position of the lift platform 5 by means of the controller 25 and lifting to the corresponding desired position. If the lift platform 5 is in position B and the swimmer wishes to be lifted to the edge of the swimming pool basin 2 into position A, such a lifting control and controller is advantageous. Further, position C can also be elegantly approached and back again to position A, so that the lift platform 5 can be used in between as a diving platform, or other activities can be connected therewith, before then reassuming the neutral location, i.e. position A. If the lift platform 5 moves to position C, although the skimmer is out of the water, the water circulation and purification of the swimming pool basin 2 is ensured by means of the skimmer tube 14a.
For a long-lasting holding of a position, in particular position C, it occur that the lift platform 5 could sink over time, if no mechanical lock is mounted and activated. The actual/set point is continuously automatically checked by means of the controller 25. In a deviation above a determined level, the lift platform 5 is brought back to the set point.
Instead of a drive 6 with AC current and a cable 7 which is buried below ground, the swimming pool lift 1 may also be used autonomously, in that an interchangeable battery pack 8 is mounted on the swimming pool lift 1, while a battery pack 8 charges on a charging station, not shown here, on the premises, and thus always has a fully charged power source available, which ensures lifting and other services, such as LED lighting or a longer operation of a circulation pump, with a single battery charge. Of course, the battery pack 8 may be recharged by means of a solar system.
The guide rails 3 need not be vertically aligned, but may also be installed at an angle—with the corresponding adaptation of the guide rollers 4—in order to enable an improved pressure distribution on the guide rails 3, or for certain devices on the lifting platform 5 requiring more distance from the wall of the swimming pool basin 2 during diving, or the like. The drive 6 can also be installed in the container 12, in this case the drive 6 and the cable winch 20 are rotated by 90°. This also applies to the terrestrial version.
The lifting logic of the lift platform 5 for this swimming pool lift 1 is different than the variant described in
In order to allow the lift platform 5 to move optimally with the guide bushings 38 shown here, which may have a plastic coating or ball bearings or may constitute rollers, a second cable 9 is mounted on the opposite guide rod 3 and attached to the opposite cable winch 20 and connects both cable winches 20 with the transverse connecting rod 34. In this way, both the cable winches 20 act synchronously.
Ideally, the cable end 9a is to be had at the lowest point on the guide rail 3 with respect to the raising location, the electric or hydraulic drive under the lift platform 5 in the flotation body 10, whereby the cable winch 20 with the cable winch translation 33 can be placed vertically or horizontally. The cable 9 thereby remains fixed in its location and thus does not cause chafing against the guide rail 3, only the cable winch 20 rotates and changes the height of the lift platform 5.
The guide rail 3 may be round or square and may have an indentation, in which the cable 9 is thus not inset in a protruding manner.
The terrestrial lift 1a is located on the guide rail 3, which terrestrial lift 1a features the same components as the swimming pool lift 1, only the arrangement is divergent, in that one of the two banister sides 40, which also serve as handrails and safeties against falling out, is fixed with the hydraulic system 39 in the cover 45 of the platform lifter 60 attached there. A respective transverse roller 43 is located on the left and right of the underside of the lift platform 5. The cable 9 passes from the large cable winch 33a, over the deflection roller 21 and the two transverse rollers 43 transversely to the other side to the cable end 9a, which is located on one of the two guide rails 3 and thus has a simultaneous pulley effect. Thus, with a single cable 9, the lift platform 5 can nevertheless be vertically displaced easily and synchronously on the guide bushings 38, as the cable forces are equally distributed in the arc of contact of the lift platform 5. Instead of as a handrail 3a, this part serves as a door carrier 47 and as the anchoring for the guide rail 3. The doors 42 can be opened and closed through forcible control or motorically, for example by means of a door cylinder 48.
General care for a cable breakage and becoming stuck between the outputs is achieved in that either the holding safety 35 as described in
In a terrestrial lift 1a, the placement of the electrical drive 6 or a hydraulic system 39 is possible at different locations, up to a system with an enclosed cabin, where such a drive 6 or hydraulic system 39, the controller 25 may be mounted on the cover of the cabin, so that the enclosed cabin may provide more space for passengers, the floor is wheelchair accessible and the terrestrial lift 1a does not require a cavity. Furthermore, a staircase, not shown here, can be attached to the joint 50 with horizontally positionally constant steps.
The heart of a compact swimming pool lift 1 or a terrestrial lift 1a is the inclusion of the electrical or hydraulic platform lifter 60, which does not restrict the user and at the same time is easily accessible for servicing. Mechanical translations, especially those by means of gears, are generally expensive, but not when a large cable winch 33a which is mounted on a base plate 51 is selected, which large cable winch 33a is used for winding and unwinding the cable 9 and in addition a central, small cable winch 33b is fixedly attached, on which a further cable 9 is likewise wound and unwound, wherein the cable 9 may also be a flat belt 99. This flat belt 99 is placed with a flat belt end 9d in the cable winch 33b and connected with the other end 9c to the hydraulic cylinder 27. The cable 9 is connected on one side at the cable end 9b with the large cable winch 33a and with the other cable end 9a to the guide rod 3. The differing diameters of the cable winches 33a, 33b result in the cable winch reduction 33. The advantage lies in the fact that, in order to bridge a lifting lift H of for example 250 cm with a swimming pool lift 1 or a terrestrial lift 1a, a diameter of the large cable winch 33a of for example 60 cm and the small cable winch 33b of 6 cm can be chosen, which results in a reduction ratio of 1:10 and thus the piston stroke K of the hydraulic cylinder 27 is only 25 cm. The inclusion of such a small hydraulic cylinder 27 may thus take place within the large cable winch 33a, and the compact hydraulic system 39 as is successfully used in large volumes in mobile devices of earthmoving equipment and trucks for lifting platforms may also find its place therein. In addition, an accumulator 31, as well as the controller 25 for a smart logic, such as pulse width modulation and controlling of the door cylinder 48, may also be accommodated therein. On the base plate 51, which may be mounted horizontally or vertically, the connection for the power supply may also be integrated or as an element, to which an inductive contact 32 can be attached. The bearing of the cable winches 33a, 33b occurs by means of the common bearing 54, which acts on the small cable winch 33b or on the large cable winch 33a. Little installation is thus required, and the cable winch reduction 33 is compactly and inexpensively supported. The base plate 51 may also be a part of the cover of a swimming pool lift 1 or a terrestrial lift 1a and may be removed or folded out for servicing purposes by means of the hinges 52 and screw 53.
The structure corresponds to the version shown in
Such a construction is advantageous where no cavity can be created or, for reasons of cost and reasons of aesthetics, no housing can be laterally attached and a roof is not possible for the lift platform, into which the platform lifter 60 could then be integrated. One possibility is to apply the platform lifter 60 frontally, i.e. to the wall of the obstacle 46. Due to the fact that the platform lifter 60 represents a certain size and certain volume, no matter which type of reduction means are mounted therein, such a platform lifter 60 in a housing 64 would block entry and exit to the upper level of the lift platform 5. A lowering of the housing 64, so that the top thereof would be level with the lift platform 5, has the result that, during lowering of the terrestrial lift 1a, the lift platform 5 could not be completely lowered to the ground, as the housing 64 would first have contact with the ground and would block a further lifting H.
In order to solve the problem, a second platform, a double platform 65, is placed on the lift platform 5. The double platform 65 is connected to the lift platform 5 by means of a set of pivoting levers 66, which act as a parallelogram. The corresponding bearings are not shown, as these are representative of the state of the art with respect to a pivot bearing. The cable 9, which is fixed to the platform lifter 60 and wound thereon, causes that the deflection roller 21, during traction due to the arc of contact about the deflection roller 21, the double platform 65 is pulled up to the stop on the housing 64, after which the entirety, i.e. the double platform 65, lift platform 5, housing 64 and platform lifter 60, is lifted up to the upper level, which corresponds to position A. The deflection roller 21 is ideally mounted on the pivoting lever 66 and simultaneously on the double platform 65. The upper part of the housing 64 is a surface which can be walked on by people, wheelchairs and the like. The lower part of the housing is the boundary with the ground 68. The housing 64 has cusps 64a on the left and right, into which the guide bushings 38 are attached and the corresponding deflection rollers 21. In addition, the platform lifter 60 is embedded in the housing 64.
In this way, people may move safely from the upper level horizontally onto the lift platform 5 or vice versa, and wheelchairs may be pushed straight forward without obstacle.
In the lowermost position, the housing 64 stands on the ground 68 with the lift platform 5 and with the loosening of the cable 9, the pivoting lever 66, which holds the double platform 65, pivots and with a simultaneous loosening of the arc of contact about the deflection roller 21, the double platform 65 lowers onto the lift platform 5. Rubber dampers, not shown here, between the double platform 65 and the lift platform 5 cushion the lowering elegantly and quietly. In this way, people or a wheelchair may leave the terrestrial lift 1a comfortably, without a high and disruptive step or unnecessary reliance on the double platform 65.
Additionally, a stop plate 67 acts on the double platform 65. Such safety means are known in handicapped lift systems and fold out, locking automatically as soon as the system leaves the ground 68. Of course, a corresponding door 42 may also be attached to the terrestrial lift 1a, as well as to the upper level, position A.
The raising principle can be compared with that shown in
Of course, the invention is not limited only to the embodiments shown and described.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2670/12 | Dec 2012 | CH | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/CH2013/000211 | 12/3/2013 | WO | 00 |
