Patent Grant
10737907
This application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 201610756991.5, filed Aug. 30, 2016, and all the benefits accruing therefrom under 35 U.S.C. § 119, the contents of which in its entirety are herein incorporated by reference.
The present invention belongs to the field of elevator technologies, and relates to a stabilization apparatus of an elevator car and an elevator system using the stabilization apparatus.
An elevator car of an elevator system is dragged or hung by a dragging medium such as a steel wire or a steel belt. Especially, when the elevator car stops at a floor position to load/unload passengers or articles, the elevator car is hung by the steel wire or steel belt, so as to relatively stop in a shaft, thus facilitating loading or unloading.
However, the dragging medium such as the steel wire or steel belt is somewhat flexible. A great change in the weight of the elevator car during loading or unloading may easily cause vertical vibration of the elevator car, especially when the steel wire or steel belt is long. The elevator car is stopped unstably with respect to a floor position due to this vibration, thus causing poor passenger experience.
The present invention provides the following technical solutions to at least solve the above problems.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, a stabilization apparatus of an elevator car is provided, including:
a base fixedly mounted with respect to the elevator car;
an upper swing arm and a lower swing arm disposed in parallel basically, first ends thereof being pivotably fixed to the base;
a guide rail friction member capable of generating, with the guide rail, a frictional force for keeping static with respect to the guide rail, and having a first connecting shaft and a second connecting shaft for being connected to the upper swing arm and the lower swing arm respectively; and
a damper having at least one end connected to the upper swing arm or the lower swing arm;
wherein the damper is configured to at least partially prevent the upper swing arm and the lower swing arm from relatively swinging, with the first connecting shaft and/or the second connecting shaft as a swinging pivot, along with the elevator car in a direction of the guide rail.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, an elevator system is provided, including a steel belt, an elevator car, and a guide rail, and further including a stabilization apparatus provided in the above first aspect.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, a stabilization apparatus of an elevator car is provided, including:
a base fixedly mounted with respect to the elevator car;
an adsorption electromagnet capable of generating, with a guide rail of an elevator, a frictional force for keeping static with respect to the guide rail;
a damper configured to at least partially prevent the base from moving along with the elevator car in a direction of the guide rail,
an upper limit switch capable of being triggered when the adsorption electromagnet generates friction with respect to the guide rail and slides upward; and
a lower limit switch capable of being triggered when the adsorption electromagnet generates friction with respect to the guide rail and slides downward.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, an elevator system is provided, including an elevator car and a guide rail, and further including a stabilization apparatus provided in the above second aspect.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, a method for detecting abrasion of an adsorption electromagnet of the stabilization apparatus with respect to a guide rail is provided, wherein the adsorption electromagnet is configured to be able to generate a predetermined maximum static frictional force when adsorbing the guide rail, and the damper basically works below a limit working condition when the frictional force is less than or equal to the predetermined maximum static frictional force;
wherein the method includes:
triggering the lower limit switch by downward sliding of the adsorption electromagnet with respect to the guide rail when the base moves downward along with the elevator car in the direction of the guide rail and an acting force generated by the elevator car and applied to the base is greater than the predetermined maximum static frictional force; and
triggering the upper limit switch by upward sliding of the adsorption electromagnet with respect to the guide rail when the base moves upward along with the elevator car in the direction of the guide rail and an acting force generated by the elevator car and applied to the base is greater than the predetermined maximum static frictional force.
According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, a method for detecting that an adsorption electromagnet of a stabilization apparatus is stuck with respect to a guide rail is provided, wherein if the upper limit switch/lower limit switch is triggered when the elevator car runs normally along the rail or is triggered continuously, it is determined that the adsorption electromagnet does not return to its initial position, and it is determined that the adsorption electromagnet is stuck with respect to the guide rail.
The foregoing features and operations of the present invention will become more apparent according to the following descriptions and accompanying drawings.
From the following detailed description with reference to the accompanying drawings, the foregoing and other objectives and advantages of the present invention would be more complete and clearer, wherein identical or similar elements are indicated with identical reference signs.
10—elevator system, 11—guide rail, 12—guide shoe, 13—elevator car,
14—steel belt, 100, 300—stabilization apparatus, 110—base,
110
a, 310a—base upper flange, 110b, 310b—base lower flange,
110
c, 310c—base left flange, 110d, 310d—right end cover,
120
a, 320a—upper swing arm, 120b, 320b—lower swing arm,
121
a, 321a—upper swing arm pivot shaft, 121b, 321b—lower swing arm pivot shaft,
130, 330—horizontal-push solenoid coil, 131, 331—return board,
132, 332—fixing bracket, 133, 333—horizontal-push connecting rod, 134, 334—horizontal piston rod,
140, 340—adsorption electromagnet, 141, 341—first connecting rod,
1411, 3411—second connecting shaft, 142, 342—central pin,
143, 343—second connecting rod, 1431, 3431—first connecting shaft,
150, 350—hydraulic buffer, 151—vertical piston rod, 152—piston rod pivot shaft,
153—hydraulic buffer bearing seat, 154—hydraulic buffer pivot shaft,
160, 360—reset rod, 161, 361—reset rod supporting seat,
162
a, 162b, 362a, 362b—pivot shaft, 163—limiting sleeve,
164
a, 364a—upper reset spring, 164b, 364b—lower reset spring,
351
a—upper piston rod, 351b—lower piston rod, 352a—upper piston rod pivot shaft,
352
b—lower piston rod pivot shaft,
170
a, 370a—upper limit switch, 170b, 370b—lower limit switch.
The present invention is now described more completely with reference to the accompanying drawings. Exemplary embodiments of the present invention are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention may be implemented in lots of different forms, and should not be understood as being limited to the embodiments described herein. On the contrary, the embodiments are provided to make the disclosure to be thorough and complete, and fully convey the concept of the present invention to those skilled in the art.
For clarity and simplicity of the description, all of the multiple components shown in the accompanying drawings are not described in detail in the following description. Multiple components that can completely implement the present invention by those skilled in the art are shown in the accompanying drawings, and for those skilled in the art, operations of various components are familiar and apparent.
In the following illustration, for the convenience of illustration, a direction of a guide rail corresponding to an elevator is defined as a Z direction, a direction where an initial position of a swing arm of a stabilization apparatus of an elevator car locates is defined as an X direction, and a direction perpendicular to the X direction and the Z direction is defined as a Y direction. It should be understood that, the definitions of these directions are used for relative descriptions and clarification, and can be changed correspondingly according to changes in orientations of a speed governor.
In the following embodiments, orientation terms “upper” and “lower” are defined based on the Z direction, direction terms “left” and “right” are defined based on the X direction, and the direction terms “front” and “rear” are defined based on the Y direction. Moreover, it should be understood that, these directional terms are relative concepts, and they are used for relative descriptions and clarification and can be changed correspondingly according to changes in the orientation to which the stabilization apparatus is mounted.
A stabilization apparatus 100 of an elevator car according to a first embodiment of the present invention is exemplified below in detail with reference to
The stabilization apparatus 100 is mounted on an elevator car 13. Specifically, as shown in
As shown in
The internal structure of the stabilization apparatus 100 is provided with an upper swing arm 120a and a lower swing arm 120b. The upper swing arm 120a and the lower swing arm 120b are disposed substantially parallel to each other, wherein a left end of the upper swing arm 120a is pivotably fixed on the base 110. Specifically, the upper swing arm 120a is fixed on the base 110 via an upper swing arm pivot shaft 121a provided in the Y direction. In this way, the upper swing arm 120a may substantially rotate or swing about the upper swing arm pivot shaft 121a on a YZ plane, and a position point of the upper swing arm pivot shaft 121a on the upper swing arm 120a is a pivot point at a left end of the upper swing arm 120a. Likewise, the lower swing arm 120b is fixed on the base 110 via a lower swing arm pivot shaft 121b provided in the Y direction. In this way, the lower swing arm 120b may substantially rotate or swing about the lower swing arm pivot shaft 121b on the YZ plane, and a position point of the lower swing arm pivot shaft 121b on the lower swing arm 120b is a pivot point at a left end of the lower swing arm 120b. Specifically, both ends of the upper swing arm pivot shaft 121a and the lower swing arm pivot shaft 121b may be fixed to the base 110 and the base left flange 110c respectively.
The internal structure of the stabilization apparatus 100 is provided with a guide rail friction member capable of generating, with the guide rail 11, a frictional force for keeping static with respect to the guide rail 11, and the guide rail friction member has a first connecting shaft 1431 and a second connecting shaft 1411 for being connected to the upper swing arm 120a and the lower swing arm 120b respectively. Specifically, in this embodiment, the guide rail friction member is adsorbed on the guide rail 11 by using an electromagnet to generate a frictional force, and specifically includes an adsorption electromagnet 140 and a scissor-shaped linkage mechanism. The adsorption electromagnet 140 is fixed at one side, close to the guide rail 11, of the scissor-shaped linkage mechanism. The adsorption electromagnet 140 may generate an adsorption force on the guide rail 11 after being powered on or electrified, thereby generating the frictional force between surfaces of the adsorption electromagnet 140 and the guide rail 11. The specific type of the adsorption electromagnet 140 is not limited. A maximum static frictional force between the adsorption electromagnet 140 and the guide rail 11 may be controlled by setting a frictional coefficient of an adsorption plane of the adsorption electromagnet 140 and/or the magnitude of an adsorption force that can be generated by the adsorption electromagnet 140, or the like, that is, a predetermined maximum static frictional force is formed.
The scissor-shaped linkage mechanism is formed a first connecting rod 141 and a second connecting rod 143 crossing each other. The first connecting rod 141 and the second connecting rod 143 are pivotally connected through a central pin 142. One end of the first connecting rod 141 is pivotably connected to an upper portion of the adsorption electromagnet 140, and the other end of the first connecting rod 141 is connected to the lower swing arm 120b via the second connecting shaft 1411. One end of the second connecting rod 143 is pivotably connected to a lower portion of the adsorption electromagnet 140, and the other end of the second connecting rod 143 is connected to the upper swing arm 120a via the first connecting shaft 1431. Moreover, the central pin 142 passes through pin holes in the middle of the first connecting rod 141 and the second connecting rod 143. The lengths of the first connecting rod 141 and the second connecting rod 143 are set (for example, they are set to have the same length) such that the adsorption plane of the adsorption electromagnet 140 fixed on the scissor-shaped linkage mechanism is basically parallel to the guide rail 11. In this case, when the central pin 142 is pulled towards the negative X direction, the scissor-shaped linkage mechanism may push the adsorption electromagnet 140 to approach or contact with the surface of the guide rail 11. When the central pin 142 is pushed towards the positive X direction, the scissor-shaped linkage mechanism may push the adsorption electromagnet 140 away from the surface of the guide rail 11 to return to an initial position. In the above process, the adsorption electromagnet 140 may be kept to move in the X direction, and it is unnecessary to set a guiding apparatus for the movement of the adsorption electromagnet 140 in the X direction. The structure is simple and the operation is convenient. Moreover, the scissor-shaped linkage mechanism may provide redundant rotation at a fine tuning angle on an XZ plane for the adsorption electromagnet 140, such that the adsorption electromagnet 140 can be completely attached to and contact with the surface of the guide rail 11 when applying an adsorption force. In an embodiment, the pin hole in the first connecting rod 141 or the second connecting rod 143 is set to a kidney shaped hole; this may increase the redundant rotation at the fine tuning angle.
In the stabilization apparatus 100 of this embodiment, the pivot point at the left end of the upper swing arm 120a (that is, the position corresponding to the upper swing arm pivot shaft 121a), the pivot point at the left end of the lower swing arm (that is, the position corresponding to the upper swing arm pivot shaft 121b), a connecting point of the first connecting shaft 1431 with the upper swing arm 120a, and a connecting point of the second connecting shaft 1411 with the lower swing arm 120b substantially form four angular points of a parallelogram. That is, the upper swing arm 120a, the lower swing arm 120b, and the guide rail friction member limit each other to substantially form a parallelogram. Moreover, it should be understood with reference to the following illustrations that, the shape of the parallelogram changes when the upper swing arm 120a and the lower swing arm 120b swing vertically along with the elevator car 13; however, side lengths thereof are not changed. When the stabilization apparatus 100 is in a non-working state, the adsorption electromagnet 140 is away from the surface of the guide rail 11. The parallelogram is substantially a rectangle. At this time, the upper swing arm 120a, the lower swing arm 120b, and the adsorption electromagnet 140 are correspondingly located at initial positions thereof.
Still referring to
It should be noted that, the hydraulic buffer 150 may include a structure such as an oil cylinder. On one hand, the hydraulic buffer 150 will also synchronously move vertically while the base 110 moves vertically along with the elevator car 13. On the other hand, the right end of the upper swing arm 120a will also swing vertically while the upper swing arm 120a swings with the first connecting shaft 1431 as a swinging pivot, thus driving the vertical piston rod 151 to move vertically. Therefore, the vertical piston rod 151 can perform piston movement with respect to the hydraulic buffer 150. When the vertical piston 151 moves away from the hydraulic buffer 150, a counter-acting force will be generated to prevent it from moving away. In contrast, when the vertical piston 151 moves close to the hydraulic buffer 150, a counter-acting force will be generated to prevent it from moving closer. When the oil cylinder of the hydraulic buffer 150 is fixed, the counter-acting force will be delivered and applied to the base 110 connected to the right end of the upper swing arm 120a and the lower end of the hydraulic buffer 150, thereby at least partially preventing the upper swing arm 120a (and the lower swing arm 120b at the same time) from swinging along with the elevator car 13. The faster the swinging speed is, the larger the generated counter-acting force is. Therefore, the damper in the embodiment specifically disclosed above has characteristics of a single-rod bidirectional damper.
Moreover, the damper in the above embodiment is deployed at the right end of the upper swing arm 120a. Therefore, the upper swing arm pivot shaft 121a and the lower swing arm pivot shaft 121b are located at the left side of the guide rail 11, and the damper and the guide rail friction member are both located at the right side of the guide rail (referring to
In an embodiment, the ratio R of the distance between the piston rod pivot shaft 152 and the swing pivot to the distance between the upper swing arm pivot shaft 121a (that is, the pivot point at the left end of the upper swing arm 120a) and the swing pivot is less than or equal to ½. In this way, the stroke range requirement of the vertical piston rod 151 relative to the hydraulic buffer 150 is relatively small, thus being conducive to reducing the cost of the damper. More specifically, the ratio R is set to be less than or equal to, for example, ⅕. For example, the first connecting shaft 1431 is disposed on the upper swing arm 120a near the right end of the upper swing arm 120a, and the distance between the piston rod pivot shaft 152 and the swing pivot is relatively small.
By taking that the base 110 moves downward by a distance L as an example, the left ends of the upper swing arm 120a and the lower swing arm 120b also swing downward by the distance L, and the hydraulic buffer 150 also moves downward by the distance L along with the base 110. At the same time, a distance by which the piston rod pivot shaft 152 swings upward is L*R. Therefore, a movement stroke of the vertical piston rod 151 with respect to the hydraulic buffer 150 is (L+L*R). Therefore, the movement stroke of the vertical piston rod 151 with respect to the hydraulic buffer 150 is one time or more of the movement distance L of the base 110. As the first connecting shaft 1431 on the upper swing arm 120a is closer to the right end of the upper swing arm 120a, the movement stroke is closer to one time of the movement distance L. In this case, swings of the upper swing arm 120a and the lower swing arm 120b are much reflected in the movement stroke of the vertical piston rod 151 with respect to the hydraulic buffer 150, and the energy absorption effect is good, thus being conducive to reducing the cost of the hydraulic buffer 150.
Continuously referring to
The horizontal-push solenoid coil 130 may be enabled to work after being powered on or electrified. The specific structure and type of the horizontal-push solenoid coil 130 are not limited.
In an embodiment, the control over the horizontal-push solenoid coil 130 may be implemented by using a controller (not shown in the drawing). When the elevator car 13 stops moving in the shaft and is ready for passengers to enter or leave, the controller controls the horizontal-push solenoid coil 130 to be electrified, to push the adsorption electromagnet 140 to approach the guide rail 11. When the adsorption electromagnet 140 is substantially attached to the surface of the guide rail 11 or when the distance between the adsorption electromagnet 140 and the guide rail 11 is less than a predetermined spacing, or even when the adsorption electromagnet 140 contacts with the guide rail 11, the controller controls the horizontal-push solenoid coil 130 to be powered off. Specifically, the adsorption electromagnet 140 may also be controlled by the controller. For example, the adsorption electromagnet 140 is controlled to be powered on or electrified while the horizontal-push solenoid coil 130 is powered off. The adsorption electromagnet 140 generates a large adsorption force, and fully contacts with the guide rail 11 to be able to generate the maximum static frictional force of a predetermined magnitude. The control process may be implemented automatically, and is simple and convenient. Moreover, the adsorption electromagnet 140 first approaches and then adsorbs, so that the impact sound generated by the adsorption electromagnet 140 and the guide rail 11 during adsorption is small. Moreover, the horizontal-push solenoid coil 130 does not need maintain electrified for a long time, and therefore, less heat is generated by the horizontal-push solenoid coil 130, avoiding the problem of overheat.
In an embodiment, the horizontal pushing mechanism further includes a return spring (not shown in the drawing) and a return board 131. The return board 131 is fixedly disposed at the outermost end (that is, the left most end) of the horizontal piston rod 134, and two ends of the return spring are fixed to the return board 131 and the horizontal-push solenoid coil 130 respectively. When the horizontal-push connecting rod 133 is driven by the horizontal piston rod 134 to move towards the negative X direction (for example, when the horizontal-push solenoid coil 130 is electrified), the return board 131 is also pushed by the horizontal piston rod 134 to move towards the negative X direction. The distance between the return board 131 and the horizontal-push solenoid coil 130 is increased, and one or more return springs can generate increasingly larger tensile forces. Once the horizontal-push solenoid coil 130 is powered off and the adsorption electromagnet 140 is powered off, the tensile force generated by the return spring will push the horizontal piston rod 134 and the horizontal-push connecting rod 133 to move together towards the positive X direction. As a result, the horizontal piston rod 134 and the horizontal-push connecting rod 133 can return to initial positions, and the adsorption electromagnet 140 is also pushed to return to the initial position as shown in
It should be understood that the horizontal pushing mechanism is not limited to the apparatus driven by the solenoid coil as shown in the above embodiment, and may also be other types of driving apparatuses that provide horizontal drive, such as a small-sized motor.
Still referring to
Specifically, the pivot point at the left end of the upper swing arm 120a (that is, the position point corresponding to the upper swing arm pivot shaft 121a), the pivot point at the left end of the lower swing arm 120b (that is, the position point corresponding to the lower swing arm pivot shaft 121b), the connecting points of the reset rod 160 with the upper swing arm 121a and the lower swing arm 121b (that is, the position point corresponding to the pivot shaft 162a and the position point corresponding to the pivot shaft 162b) substantially form four angular points of a parallelogram. In an initial state (that is, when the stabilization apparatus 100 is in the non-working state), the parallelogram is a rectangle.
The pivot shaft 162a may be disposed in the middle between the pivot point at the left end of the upper swing arm 120a and the first connecting shaft 1431. The pivot shaft 162b may be disposed in the middle between the pivot point at the left end of the lower swing arm 120b and the second connecting shaft 1411. Specifically, the pivot shaft 162a may be disposed at a midpoint position between the pivot point at the left end of the upper swing arm 120a and the first connecting shaft 1431, and the pivot shaft 162b may be disposed at a midpoint position between the pivot point at the left end of the lower swing arm 120b and the second connecting shaft 1411.
The stabilization apparatus 100 exemplified above can enable the upper swing arm 120a, the lower swing arm 120b, and the damper to tend to reset, and specific principles are as follows:
By taking that the base 110 moves downward by the distance L as an example, the left ends of the upper swing arm 120a and the lower swing arm 120b also swing downward by the distance L, and the reset rod supporting seat 161 and the limiting sleeve 163 also swing downward by the distance L. Based on the level principle, the distance by which the pivot shaft 162b swings downward is less than L. Therefore, the lower reset spring 164b is compressed. When the adsorption electromagnet 140 is powered off, the lower reset spring 164b can generate a counter-acting force to push the lower swing arm 120b, thereby driving the upper swing arm 120a and the damper together to return to the initial positions as shown in
The specific mounting manner of the stabilization apparatus 100 in the above embodiment is as shown in
The working principle of the stabilization apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention is illustrated below with reference to
First, as shown in
Further, as shown in
Further, as shown in
It will be appreciated that, if the elevator car 13 is ready to move in the shaft, the adsorption electromagnet 140 is powered off and is pushed by the horizontal-push connecting rod 133 back to the initial position shown in
In an embodiment, during working of the stabilization apparatus 100, a predetermined maximum static frictional force that can be generated when the adsorption electromagnet 140 is adsorbing the guide rail 11 may be set, in order to prevent the damper from being beyond its limit working condition during working, for example, to prevent the stroke of the vertical piston rod 151 with respect to the hydraulic buffer 150 from exceeding its limit stroke. Therefore, when the frictional force generated by the adsorption electromagnet 140 and the guide rail 11 equals to the predetermined maximum static frictional force, the damper works basically in the limit working condition, for example, the vertical piston rod 151 is substantially located in a limit up stroke or a limit down stroke. The predetermined maximum static frictional force will not be able to fix the elevator car 13 with respect to the guide rail 11 if passengers and/or articles loaded on or unloaded from the elevator car 13 are over-weighted, that is, an acting force generated by the elevator car 13 and applied to the base 110 is greater than the predetermined maximum static frictional force. At this time, the adsorption electromagnet 140 will slide with respect to the guide rail 11, and the vertical piston rod 151 will not exceed the limit up stroke or the limit down stroke, thereby preventing the damper from working beyond its limit working condition and thus protecting it from damage. Specifically, the predetermined maximum static frictional force may be configured by selectively setting the material of the adsorption electromagnet 140, the frictional coefficient and/or magnitude of adsorption force of the surface of the adsorption electromagnet 140, and the like.
In an embodiment, the stabilization apparatus 100 is further provided with an upper limit switch 170a and a lower limit switch 170b (as shown in
When the upper swing arm 120a and the lower swing arm 120b swing downward along with the elevator car 13 in the Z direction, and the acting force generated by the elevator car 13 and applied to the base 110 is greater than the predetermined maximum static frictional force, the adsorption electromagnet 140 will slide downward with respect to the guide rail 11 and trigger the lower limit switch 170b, to prevent the damper from working beyond the limit working condition. When the upper swing arm 120a and the lower swing arm 120b swing upward along with the elevator car 13 in the Z direction, and the acting force generated by the elevator car 13 and applied to the base 110 is greater than the predetermined maximum static frictional force, the adsorption electromagnet 140 will slide upward with respect to the guide rail 11 and trigger the upper limit switch 170a, to prevent the damper from working beyond the limit working condition. Specifically, positions of the lower limit switch 170b and the upper limit switch 170a on the base 110 may be set respectively, such that the sliding of the adsorption electromagnet 140 with respect to the guide rail 11 can trigger the lower limit switch 170b or the upper limit switch 170a. For example, as shown in
In an embodiment, the stabilization apparatus 100 further includes a counter (not shown), which is configured to accumulate the number of times that the upper limit switch 170a and the lower limit switch 170b are triggered. The number of times correspondingly represents the number of times that the adsorption electromagnet 140 slides with respect to the guide rail 11. The counter is further configured to output a maintenance reminder signal for replacing the adsorption electromagnet 140, when the accumulated number of times is greater than or equal to a predetermined value. The magnitude of the predetermined value may be determined by experiments in advance according to specific characteristics of the adsorption electromagnet 140. The counter may be reset after the adsorption electromagnet 140 is replaced. If the adsorption electromagnet 140 is not maintained when the accumulated number of times is greater than or equal to the predetermined value, the counter may also send a signal to a controller of the adsorption electromagnet 140 to stop the next work of the adsorption electromagnet 140, for example, not electrify the adsorption electromagnet 140. In this way, the stabilization apparatus 100 is suspended from working, thus protecting the stabilization apparatus 100. The “accumulation” above may start from 0, and may also be inverse accumulation from a predetermined value.
It should be noted that, the positions of the upper limit switch 170a and the lower limit switch 170b are set on the base 110, such that either of the upper limit switch 170a and the lower limit switch 170b will not be pressed and triggered by a corresponding component when the damper basically works below the limit working condition.
It should be appreciated that the specific manner of disposing the counter is not limited. The counter may be formed in various control processors of the elevator system 10, or may be directly integrated in the upper limit switch 170a or the lower limit switch 170b.
Further, if the adsorption electromagnet 140 does not return to its initial position due to various reasons when the elevator car 13 runs normally along the guide rail 11, friction is very likely to occur between the adsorption electromagnet 140 moving along with the elevator car 13 and the guide rail 11, and thus the movement of the elevator car 13 is stuck. This should be avoided. In an embodiment, the upper limit switch 170a or the lower limit switch 170b is further configured to: output a signal if being triggered when the elevator car 13 runs normally along the guide rail 11 or being triggered continuously, to indicate that the adsorption electromagnet 140 does not return to its initial position. For example, if the movement is stuck, the adsorption electromagnet 140 will move upward or downward relatively under the effect of the frictional force, and meanwhile drive the upper swing arm 120a and the lower swing arm 120b to swing upward or downward. The right end of the upper swing arm 120a/lower swing arm 120b will continuously press the upper limit switch 170a/lower limit switch 170b. In this case, it indicates that the stuck phenomenon has been detected. The upper limit switch 170a/lower limit switch 170b outputs a signal to the elevator controller. The elevator controller may control, based on the signal, the elevator car 13 to stop at the nearest landing, to prepare for a subsequent rescuing process. The upper limit switch 170a/lower limit switch 170b may further output a signal to a remote monitoring system of the elevator system, to remind workers by sending an alarm. Therefore, the stabilization apparatus 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention can detect the stuck phenomenon timely, being conducive to timely maintenance and avoiding deterioration of the problem.
It should be appreciated that, the upper limit switch 170a/lower limit switch 170b is not limited to be triggered via press by the upper swing arm 120a/lower swing arm 120b. Other components in the parallelogram architecture where the upper swing arm 120a and the lower swing arm 120b are located may be correspondingly used for triggering the upper limit switch 170a or the lower limit switch 170b. For example, the upper limit switch 170a or the lower limit switch 170b is triggered by a component on the adsorption electromagnet 140. Therefore, the specific mounting position of the upper limit switch 170a/lower limit switch 170b is not limited to the above embodiment.
A stabilization apparatus 300 of an elevator car according to a second embodiment of the present invention is exemplified below in detail with reference to
The stabilization apparatus 300 is mounted on an elevator car 13. The manner of mounting the stabilization apparatus 300 is basically the same as the manner of mounting the stabilization apparatus 300. Likewise, as shown in
As shown in
The internal structure of the stabilization apparatus 300 is provided with an upper swing arm 320a and a lower swing arm 320b. The upper swing arm 320a and the lower swing arm 320b are disposed substantially parallel to each other, wherein a left end of the upper swing arm 320a is pivotably fixed on the base 310. Specifically, the upper swing arm 320a is fixed on the base 310 via an upper swing arm pivot shaft 321a provided in the Y direction. In this way, the upper swing arm 320a may substantially rotate or swing about the upper swing arm pivot shaft 321a on a YZ plane, and a position point of the upper swing arm pivot shaft 321a on the upper swing arm 320a is a pivot point at a left end of the upper swing arm 320a. Likewise, the lower swing arm 320b is fixed on the base 310 via a lower swing arm pivot shaft 321b provided in the Y direction. In this way, the lower swing arm 320b may substantially rotate or swing about the lower swing arm pivot shaft 321b on the YZ plane, and a position point of the lower swing arm pivot shaft 321b on the lower swing arm 320b is a pivot point at a left end of the lower swing arm 320b. Specifically, both ends of the upper swing arm pivot shaft 321a and the lower swing arm pivot shaft 321b may be fixed to the base 310 and the base left flange 310c respectively.
The internal structure of the stabilization apparatus 300 is provided with a guide rail friction member capable of generating, with the guide rail 11, a frictional force for keeping static with respect to the guide rail 11, and having a first connecting shaft 3431 and a second connecting shaft 3411 for being connected to the upper swing arm 320a and the lower swing arm 320b respectively. Specifically, in this embodiment, the guide rail friction member is adsorbed on the guide rail 11 by using an electromagnet to generate a frictional force, and specifically includes an adsorption electromagnet 340 and a scissor-shaped linkage mechanism. The adsorption electromagnet 340 is fixed at one side, close to the guide rail 11, of the scissor-shaped linkage mechanism. The adsorption electromagnet 340 may generate an adsorption force on the guide rail 11 after being powered on or electrified, thereby generating the frictional force between surfaces of the adsorption electromagnet 340 and the guide rail 11. The specific type of the adsorption electromagnet 340 is not limited. A maximum static frictional force between the adsorption electromagnet 340 and the guide rail 11 may be controlled by setting a frictional coefficient of an adsorption plane of the adsorption electromagnet 340 and/or the magnitude of an adsorption force that can be generated by the adsorption electromagnet 340, or the like, that is, a predetermined maximum static frictional force is formed.
The scissor-shaped linkage mechanism is formed by a first connecting rod 341 and a second connecting rod 343 crossing each other. The first connecting rod 341 and the second connecting rod 343 are pivotally connected through a central pin 342. One end of the first connecting rod 341 is pivotably connected to an upper portion of the adsorption electromagnet 340, and the other end of the first connecting rod 341 is connected to the lower swing arm 320b via the second connecting shaft 3411. One end of the second connecting rod 343 is pivotably connected to a lower portion of the adsorption electromagnet 340, and the other end of the second connecting rod 343 is connected to the upper swing arm 320a via the first connecting shaft 3431. Moreover, the central pin 342 passes through pin holes in the middle of the first connecting rod 341 and the second connecting rod 343. The lengths of the first connecting rod 341 and the second connecting rod 343 are set (for example, they are set to have the same length) such that the adsorption plane of the adsorption electromagnet 340 fixed on the scissor-shaped linkage mechanism is basically parallel to the guide rail 11. In this case, when the central pin 342 is pulled towards the negative X direction, the scissor-shaped linkage mechanism may push the adsorption electromagnet 340 to approach or contact with the surface of the guide rail 11. When the central pin 342 is pushed towards the positive X direction, the scissor-shaped linkage mechanism may push the adsorption electromagnet 340 away from the surface of the guide rail 11 to return to an initial position. In the above process, the adsorption electromagnet 340 may be kept to move in the X direction, and it is unnecessary to set a guiding apparatus for the movement of the adsorption electromagnet 340 in the X direction. The structure is simple and the operation is convenient. Moreover, the scissor-shaped linkage mechanism may provide redundant rotation at a fine tuning angle on an XZ plane for the adsorption electromagnet 340, such that the adsorption electromagnet 340 can be completely attached to and contact with the surface of the guide rail 11 when applying an adsorption force. In an embodiment, the pin hole in the first connecting rod 341 or the second connecting rod 343 is set to a kidney shaped hole; this may increase the redundant rotation at the fine tuning angle.
In the stabilization apparatus 300 of this embodiment, the pivot point at the left end of the upper swing arm 320a (that is, the position corresponding to the upper swing arm pivot shaft 321a), the pivot point at the left end of the lower swing arm (that is, the position corresponding to the upper swing arm pivot shaft 321b), a connecting point of the first connecting shaft 3431 with the upper swing arm 320a, and a connecting point of the second connecting shaft 3411 with the lower swing arm 320b substantially form four angular points of a parallelogram. That is, the upper swing arm 320a, the lower swing arm 320b, and the guide rail friction member limit each other to substantially form a parallelogram. Moreover, it should be understood with reference to the following illustrations that, the shape of the parallelogram changes when the upper swing arm 320a and the lower swing arm 320b swing vertically along with the elevator car 13; however, side lengths thereof are not changed. When the stabilization apparatus 300 is in the non-working state, the adsorption electromagnet 340 is away from the surface of the guide rail 11. The parallelogram is substantially a rectangle. At this time, the upper swing arm 320a, the lower swing arm 320b, and the adsorption electromagnet 340 are correspondingly located at initial positions thereof.
Still referring to
In an embodiment, the damper as a whole is substantially parallel to a connecting line formed between the connecting point of the first connecting shaft 3431 with the upper swing arm 320a and the connecting point of the second connecting shaft 3411 with the lower swing arm 320b, that is, the damper disposed basically parallel to the guide rail friction member. The upper piston rod 351a and the lower piston rod 351b are disposed pivotably with respect to the upper swing arm 320a and the lower swing arm 320b respectively. In this way, the damper as a whole can rotate with respect to the upper swing arm 320a and the lower swing arm 320b at the same time substantially on the XZ plane.
It should be noted that, the hydraulic buffer 350 may include an oil cylinder and other structures. On one hand, when the base 310 moves vertically along with the elevator car 13, the hydraulic buffer 350 will also move vertically synchronously. On the other than, when the upper swing arm 320a swings with the first connecting shaft 3431 as a swing pivot, the upper piston rod pivot shaft 352a on the upper swing arm 320a will also swing vertically, thereby driving the upper piston rod 351a to move vertically. Likewise, when the lower swing arm 320b swings with the second connecting shaft 3411 as a swing pivot, the lower piston rod pivot shaft 352b on the lower swing arm 320b will also swing vertically, thereby driving the lower piston rod 351b to move vertically. Moreover, the upper swing arm 320a and the lower swing arm 320b swing synchronously. When the parallelogram structure where the upper swing arm 320a and the lower swing arm 320b are located swings with the first connecting shaft 3431 and the second connecting shaft 3411 as swing pivots. The upper piston rod 351a and the lower piston rod 351b can make piston movements with respect to the oil cylinder of the hydraulic buffer 350 respectively, to absorb swing energy of the upper swing arm 320a and the lower swing arm 320b, and alleviate the vibration in the vertical direction.
Specifically, by taking that the base 310 moves downward by a distance L as an example, the left ends of the upper swing arm 320a and the lower swing arm 320b also swing downward by the distance L, and the hydraulic buffer 350 also moves downward by the distance L along with the base 310. Meanwhile, a distance by which the upper piston rod pivot shaft 352a swings downward is L*R1, where R1 equals to a ratio of the distance between the upper piston rod pivot shaft 352a and a swing pivot (specifically, the first connecting shaft 3431) to the distance between the upper swing arm pivot shaft 321a (that is, the pivot point at the left end of the upper swing arm 320a) and the swing pivot. For example, R1=0.5. Based on the level principle, a movement stroke of the upper piston rod 351a with respect to the hydraulic buffer 350 is (L−L*R1), that is, a stretching stroke of the upper piston rod 351a with respect to the hydraulic buffer 350 is (L−L*R1). Meanwhile, a distance by which the lower piston rod pivot shaft 352b swings downward is L*R2, where R2 equals to a ratio of the distance between the lower piston rod pivot shaft 352b and a swing pivot (specifically, the second connecting shaft 3411) to the distance between the lower swing arm pivot shaft 321b (that is, the pivot point at the left end of the lower swing arm 320a) and the swing pivot. For example, R2=0.5. Based on the level principle, a movement stroke of the upper piston rod 351a with respect to the hydraulic buffer 350 is (L*R2−L), that is, a compression stroke of the lower piston rod 351b with respect to the hydraulic buffer 350 is (L−L*R2). Therefore, the upper piston rod 351a will generate an upward pulling force applied to the hydraulic buffer bearing seat 353, and the lower piston rod 351b will generate an upward pushing force applied to the hydraulic buffer bearing seat 353, thus at least partially preventing the upper swing arm 320a and the lower swing arm 320b from swinging downward while preventing the base 310 from moving downward.
Similarly, when the base 310 moves upward, the upper piston rod 351a will generate a downward pushing force applied to the hydraulic buffer bearing seat 353, and the lower piston rod 351b will generate a downward pulling force applied to the hydraulic buffer bearing seat 353, thus at least partially preventing the upper swing arm 320a and the lower swing arm 320b from swinging upward while preventing the base 310 from moving upward.
Therefore, the damper in the embodiment specifically disclosed above has characteristics of a double-rod bidirectional damper.
Moreover, the damper in the above embodiment is deployed at the left side of the guide rail 11. That is, the upper swing arm pivot shaft 321a and the lower swing arm pivot shaft 321b are located at the left side of the guide rail 11, and the guide rail friction member is located at the right side of the guide rail (referring to
In an embodiment, when the parallelogram structure where the upper swing arm 320a and the lower swing arm 320b are located swings with the first connecting shaft 3431 and the second connecting shaft 3411 as swing pivots, the damper not only swings vertically, but also swings slightly in the X direction in the actual process. Therefore, the C-shaped bearing seat serving as the hydraulic buffer bearing seat 353 is provided with two open slots correspondingly in the Y direction. The hydraulic buffer 350 is supported on the two open slots in the Z direction via two rollers respectively. Moreover, when the hydraulic buffer 350 swings vertically along with the elevator car 13, the hydraulic buffer 350 can move horizontally in the open slots via front and rear rollers 355. In this way, the hydraulic buffer 350 is allowed to move horizontally in the X direction at the same height. Specifically, the two open slots on the C-shaped bearing seat are both opened towards the guide rail 11.
Continuously referring to
The horizontal-push solenoid coil 330 may be enabled to work by being powered on or electrified. The specific structure and type of the horizontal-push solenoid coil 330 are not limited.
In an embodiment, the control of the horizontal-push solenoid coil 330 may be implemented by using a controller (not shown in the drawing). When the elevator car 13 stops moving in the shaft and is ready for passengers to enter or leave, the controller controls the horizontal-push solenoid coil 330 to be powered on, to push the adsorption electromagnet 340 to approach the guide rail 11. When the adsorption electromagnet 340 is substantially attached to the surface of the guide rail 11 or when the distance between the adsorption electromagnet 340 and the guide rail 11 is less than a predetermined spacing, or even when the adsorption electromagnet 340 contacts with the guide rail 11, the controller controls the horizontal-push solenoid coil 330 to be powered off. Specifically, the adsorption electromagnet 340 may also be controlled by the controller. For example, the adsorption electromagnet 340 is controlled to be powered on or electrified while the horizontal-push solenoid coil 330 is powered off. The adsorption electromagnet 340 generates a large adsorption force, and fully contacts with the guide rail 11 to be able to generate the maximum static frictional force of a predetermined magnitude. The control process may be implemented automatically, and is simple and convenient. Moreover, the adsorption electromagnet 340 first approaches and then adsorbs, so that the impact sound generated by the adsorption electromagnet 340 and the guide rail 11 during adsorption is small. Moreover, the horizontal-push solenoid coil 330 does not need to maintain electrified for a long time, and therefore, less heat is generated by the horizontal-push solenoid coil 330, avoiding the problem of overheat.
In an embodiment, the horizontal pushing mechanism further includes a return spring (not shown in the drawing) and a return board 331. The return board 331 is fixedly disposed at the outermost end (that is, the leftmost end) of a horizontal piston rod 334, and two ends of the return spring are fixed to the return board 331 and the horizontal-push solenoid coil 330 respectively. When the horizontal-push connecting rod 333 is driven by the horizontal piston rod 334 to move towards the negative X direction (for example, when the horizontal-push solenoid coil 330 is electrified), the return board 331 is also pushed by the horizontal piston rod 334 to move towards the negative X direction. The distance between the return board 331 and the horizontal-push solenoid coil 330 is increased, and one or more return springs can generate increasingly larger tensile forces. Once the horizontal-push solenoid coil 330 is powered off and the adsorption electromagnet 340 is powered off, the tensile force generated by the return spring will push the horizontal piston rod 334 and the horizontal-push connecting rod 333 to move together towards the positive X direction. As a result, the horizontal piston rod 334 and the horizontal-push connecting rod 333 can return to initial positions, and the adsorption electromagnet 340 is also pushed to return to the initial position as shown in
It should be understood that the horizontal pushing mechanism is not limited to the apparatus driven by the solenoid coil as shown in the above embodiment, and may also be other types of driving apparatuses that provide horizontal drive, such as a small-sized motor.
Still referring to
Specifically, the pivot point at the left end of the upper swing arm 320a (that is, the position point corresponding to the upper swing arm pivot shaft 321a), the pivot point at the left end of the lower swing arm 320b (that is, the position point corresponding to the lower swing arm pivot shaft 321b), and connecting points of the reset rod 360 with the upper swing arm 321a and the lower swing arm 321b (that is, the position point corresponding to the pivot shaft 362a and the position point corresponding to the pivot shaft 362b) substantially form four angular points of a parallelogram. In an initial state (that is, when the stabilization apparatus 300 is in the non-working state), the parallelogram is a rectangle.
The pivot shaft 362a may be disposed at the right end of the upper swing arm 320a, and the pivot shaft 362b may be disposed at the right end of the lower swing arm 320b. The guide rail friction member is disposed as a whole close to and parallel to the reset rod 360. The guide rail friction member and the reset component are both located at the right side of the guide rail 11 relatively.
The stabilization apparatus 300 exemplified above can enable the upper swing arm 320a, the lower swing arm 320b, and the damper to tend to reset, and specific principles are as follows:
By taking that the base 310 moves downward by the distance L as an example, the left ends of the upper swing arm 320a and the lower swing arm 320b also swing downward by the distance L, and the reset rod supporting seat 361 also swings downward by the distance L. Based on the level principle, the pivot shaft 362b also swings upward by a certain distance, and therefore, the lower reset spring 364b is compressed. When the adsorption electromagnet 340 is powered off, the lower reset spring 364b can generate a counter-acting force to push the lower swing arm 320b downward and push the reset rod supporting seat 361 and the base 110 upward, thereby driving the upper swing arm 320a and the damper together to return to the initial positions as shown in
The specific mounting manner of the stabilization apparatus 300 in the above embodiment is the same as that of the stabilization apparatus 100 in the first embodiment, and will not be described again here.
The working principle of the stabilization apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention is illustrated below with reference to
First, as shown in
Further, as shown in
Further, as shown in
It will be appreciated that, if the elevator car 13 intends to move in the shaft, the adsorption electromagnet 340 is powered off and is pushed by the traverse piston rod 333 back to the initial position shown in
In an embodiment, during working of the stabilization apparatus 300, a predetermined maximum static frictional force that can be generated when the adsorption electromagnet 340 is adsorbing the guide rail 11 may be set, in order to prevent the damper from being beyond its limit working condition when working, for example, to prevent the stroke of at least one of the upper piston rod 351a and the lower piston rod 351b with respect to the hydraulic buffer 350 from exceeding its limit stroke. Therefore, when the frictional force generated by the adsorption electromagnet 340 and the guide rail 11 equals to the predetermined maximum static frictional force, the damper works basically in the limit working condition, for example, at least one of the upper piston rod 351a and the lower piston rod 351b is substantially located in a limit up stroke or a limit down stroke. The predetermined maximum static frictional force will not be able to fix the elevator car 13 with respect to the guide rail 11 if passengers and/or articles loaded onto or unloaded from the elevator car 13 are over-weighted, that is, an acting force generated by the elevator car 13 and applied to the base 310 is greater than the predetermined maximum static frictional force. At this time, the adsorption electromagnet 340 will slide with respect to the guide rail 11, and the upper piston rod 351a or the lower piston rod 351b will not exceed the limit up stroke or the limit down stroke, thereby preventing the damper from working beyond its limit working condition and thus protecting it from damage. Specifically, the predetermined maximum static frictional force may be configured by selectively setting the material of the adsorption electromagnet 340, the frictional coefficient and/or magnitude of adsorption force of the surface of the adsorption electromagnet 340, and the like.
In an embodiment, the stabilization apparatus 300 is further provided with an upper limit switch 370a and a lower limit switch 370b (as shown in
When the upper swing arm 320a and the lower swing arm 320b swing downward along with the elevator car 13 in the Z direction, and the acting force generated by the elevator car 13 and applied to the base 310 is greater than the predetermined maximum static frictional force, the adsorption electromagnet 340 will slide downward with respect to the guide rail 11 and trigger the lower limit switch 370b, to prevent the damper from working beyond the limit working condition. When the upper swing arm 320a and the lower swing arm 320b swing upward along with the elevator car 13 in the Z direction, and the acting force generated by the elevator car 13 and applied to the base 310 is greater than the predetermined maximum static frictional force, the adsorption electromagnet 340 will slide upward with respect to the guide rail 11 and trigger the upper limit switch 370a, to prevent the damper from working beyond the limit working condition. Specifically, positions of the lower limit switch 370b and the upper limit switch 370a on the base 310 may be set respectively, such that the sliding of the adsorption electromagnet 340 with respect to the guide rail 11 can trigger the lower limit switch 370b or the upper limit switch 370a. For example, as shown in
In an embodiment, the stabilization apparatus 300 further includes a counter (not shown), which is configured to accumulate the number of times that the upper limit switch 370a and the lower limit switch 370b are triggered. The number of times correspondingly represents the number of times that the adsorption electromagnet 340 slides with respect to the guide rail 11. The counter is further configured to output a maintenance reminder signal for replacing the adsorption electromagnet 340 when the accumulated number of times is greater than or equal to a predetermined value. The magnitude of the predetermined value may be determined by experiments in advance according to specific characteristics of the adsorption electromagnet 340. The counter may be reset after the adsorption electromagnet 340 is replaced. If the adsorption electromagnet 340 is not maintained when the accumulated number of times is greater than or equal to the predetermined value, the counter may also send a signal to a controller of the adsorption electromagnet 340 to stop the next work of the adsorption electromagnet 340, for example, not electrify the adsorption electromagnet 340. In this way, the stabilization apparatus 300 is suspended from working, thus protecting the stabilization apparatus 300.
It should be noted that, the positions of the upper limit switch 370a and the lower limit switch 370b are set on the base 310, such that either of the upper limit switch 370a and the lower limit switch 370b will not be pressed and triggered by a corresponding component when the damper basically works below the limit working condition.
It should be appreciated that the specific manner of disposing the counter is not limited. The counter may be formed in various control processors of the elevator system 10, or may be directly integrated in the upper limit switch 370a or the lower limit switch 370b.
Further, if the adsorption electromagnet 340 does not return to its initial position due to various reasons when the elevator car 13 runs normally along the guide rail 11, friction is very likely to occur between the adsorption electromagnet 340 moving along with the elevator car 13 and the guide rail 11, and thus the movement of the elevator car 13 is stuck. This should be avoided. In an embodiment, the upper limit switch 370a or the lower limit switch 370b is further configured to: if being triggered when the elevator car 13 runs normally along the guide rail 11 or being triggered continuously, output a signal to indicate that the adsorption electromagnet 340 does not return to its initial position. For example, if the movement is stuck, the adsorption electromagnet 340 will move upward or downward relatively under the effect of the frictional force, and meanwhile drive the upper swing arm 320a and the lower swing arm 320b to swing upward or downward. The right end of the upper swing arm 320a/lower swing arm 320b will continuously press the upper limit switch 370a/lower limit switch 370b. In this case, it indicates that the stuck phenomenon has been detected. The upper limit switch 370a/lower limit switch 370b outputs a signal to the elevator controller. The elevator controller may control, based on the signal, the elevator car 13 to stop at the nearest landing, to prepare for a subsequent rescuing process. The upper limit switch 370a/lower limit switch 370b may further output a signal to a remote monitoring system of the elevator system, to remind workers by sending an alarm. Therefore, the stabilization apparatus 300 according to the embodiment of the present invention can detect the stuck phenomenon timely, being conducive to timely maintenance and avoiding deterioration of the problem.
It should be appreciated that, the upper limit switch 370a/lower limit switch 370b is not limited to be triggered via press by the upper swing arm 320a/lower swing arm 320b. Other components in the parallelogram architecture where the upper swing arm 320a and the lower swing arm 320b are located may be correspondingly used for triggering the upper limit switch 370a or the lower limit switch 370b. For example, the upper limit switch 370a or the lower limit switch 370b is triggered by a component on the adsorption electromagnet 340. Therefore, the specific mounting position of the upper limit switch 370a/lower limit switch 370b is not limited to the above embodiment.
It should be noted that, the upper limit switch and the lower limit switch in the first embodiment and the second embodiment are not limited to be applied in the stabilization apparatus having a parallelogram internal structure formed by an upper swing arm and a lower swing arm. Any other stabilization apparatus that is clamped on the guide rail by using the adsorption electromagnet principle and reduces the vibration in the vertical direction may use the upper limit switch and the lower limit switch disclosed above to detect the abrasion of the adsorption electromagnet and/or detect that the adsorption electromagnet is stuck.
In the above text, the “steel belt” is a component that is at least used for dragging the elevator car and has a width value in a first direction greater than a thickness value in a second direction on a section perpendicular to the length direction, wherein the second direction is substantially perpendicular to the first direction.
The above embodiments mainly illustrate various stabilization apparatuses of the present invention, an elevator system using the stabilization apparatus, and an abrasion detection and stuck detection method for an adsorption electromagnet in the stabilization apparatus. Some implementation manners of the present invention are described; however, those of ordinary skill in the art should understand that the present invention may be implemented in many other forms without departing from the substance and scope thereof. Therefore, the displayed examples and implementations are considered as schematic rather than limitative, and the present invention may incorporate various modifications and replacements without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention defined in the appended claims.
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