Aligning device and method for aligning a guide rail of an elevator system by means of force pulses

Abstract

An aligning device is used for aligning a guide rail of an elevator system. The guide rail is held on a shaft wall of an elevator shaft and is displaceable in at least two horizontal directions, oriented crosswise with respect to each other, before a final fixation. The aligning device has a detection device that is configured to detect, in an automated manner, a position deviation of the guide rail from a nominal position, and has a hammer mill that is configured to hammer the guide rail in an automated manner depending on the detected position deviation by exerting pulse-like strikes in one of the horizontal directions toward the nominal position.

Claims

1. An aligning device for aligning a guide rail of an elevator system, wherein the guide rail is held on a shaft wall of an elevator shaft and is displaceable in at least two horizontal directions oriented crosswise with respect to one another before a final fixation of the guide rail, the aligning device comprising: a detection device adapted to automatically detect a position deviation of the guide rail from a predetermined nominal position in the elevator shaft; and a hammer mill adapted to automatically hammer the guide rail in response to the detected position deviation toward the nominal position by exerting pulse-like strikes in at least one of the at least two horizontal directions.

2. The aligning device according to claim 1 wherein the hammer mill is adapted to exert the pulse-like strikes on the guide rail in each of the at least two horizontal directions.

3. The aligning device according to claim 1 wherein the hammer mill is adapted to exert the pulse-like strikes on the guide rail in a one of the at least two horizontal directions that is orthogonal to the shaft wall at two positions that are spaced from each other in a horizontal direction parallel to the shaft wall.

4. The aligning device according to claim 1 wherein the hammer mill includes at least one actuator generating the pulse-like strikes and at least four impact transmission devices for transmitting the strikes generated by the at least one actuator to partial areas on the guide rail.

5. The aligning device according to claim 4 wherein the hammer mill includes at least six of the impact transmission devices for transmitting the strikes generated by the at least one actuator to the partial regions on the guide rail.

6. The aligning device according to claim 4 wherein the at least one actuator is arranged on a side of the guide rail facing away from the shaft wall and at least one of the at least four impact transmission devices reaches behind the guide rail on a side of the guide rail facing the shaft wall.

7. The aligning device according to claim 4 wherein the at least one actuator interacts with one of the at least four impact transmission devices and the hammer mill includes other actuators each interacting individually with an associated one of the at least four impact transmission devices.

8. The aligning device according to claim 4 wherein the at least one actuator has a rotatable motor and a hammer mechanism converting a rotational movement caused by the motor into a pulse-like linear movement to generate the pulse-like strikes.

9. The aligning device according to claim 1 wherein the detection device detects the position deviation by recognizing an actual position of the guide rail in the elevator relative to a position of a plumb bob serving as a reference for the nominal position.

10. The aligning device according to claim 1 wherein the detection device detects the position deviation by scanning the guide rail with a laser.

11. The aligning device according to claim 1 including a fixing device fixing the aligning device on an elevator component that is movable through the elevator shaft.

12. An elevator system comprising: a guide rail held on a shaft wall of an elevator shaft of the elevator system; a vertically movable elevator component guided in vertical movement by the guide rail; and an aligning device according to claim 1 wherein the aligning device is attached to the movable elevator component.

13. A method for aligning a guide rail of an elevator system, wherein the guide rail is held on a shaft wall of an elevator shaft and is displaceable in at least two horizontal directions oriented crosswise with respect to each other before a final fixation of the guide rail, the method comprising the steps of: automatically detecting a position deviation of the guide rail from a predetermined nominal position in the elevator shaft by the detection device of the aligning device according to claim 1; and automatically displacing the guide rail by exerting the pulse-like strikes on the guide rail in at least one of the horizontal directions toward the nominal position using the hammer mill of the aligning device.

14. The method according to claim 13 including arranging at least two of the aligning device on the guide rail at the same time and exerting the pulse-like strikes on the guide rail either simultaneously by the at least two aligning devices or only by one of the at least two aligning device at a time.

Description

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 shows an elevator system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

(2) FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of an aligning device according to one embodiment of the present invention and several plan views of partial areas of this aligning device.

(3) FIGS. 3A-3C illustrate various horizontal directions in which a guide rail can be displaced with the aid of an aligning device according to the invention.

(4) FIG. 4 shows an embodiment of an actuator for a hammer mill of an aligning device according to the invention.

(5) The drawings are merely schematic and not to scale. Like reference signs denote like or equivalent features in the various drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(6) FIG. 1 shows an elevator system 1 having an aligning device 3 according to one embodiment of the present invention.

(7) In the elevator system 1, an elevator car 5 can move vertically as a movable component within an elevator shaft 7. It is moved by means of a rope-like suspension means 9 which is driven by a drive machine 11.

(8) In particular, in order to prevent the elevator car 5 from lateral movements such as for example swinging within the elevator shaft 7, it is guided by guide rails 13 during its vertical movement. The guide rails 13 can be designed, for example, as a T-profile carrier. The elevator car 5 is supported on the guide rails 13 via guide shoes 17 or the like. The guide rails 13 are each anchored on a lateral shaft wall 15.

(9) In order to simplify correct positioning of the guide rails 13 or to be able to change them later, the guide rails 13 are not attached directly to the shaft wall 15, but are connected to it via a plurality of the rail bracket parts 19. A base area 45 (see FIG. 2) of the T-profile-like guide rails 13 can be attached to the rail bracket parts 19. The rail bracket parts 19 are usually designed in at least two parts. A lower rail bracket part fixed to the shaft wall 15 is mechanically coupled to an upper rail bracket part carrying the guide rail 13. The lower part of the rail bracket and the upper part of the rail bracket can be firmly connected to one another using screws, for example.

(10) During an installation of the guide rails 13 or as part of a maintenance of the elevator system 1, the upper and lower parts of the rail bracket can temporarily only be loosely coupled with each other, so that the guide rail 13 is held on the shaft wall 15, but can be shifted in two directions aligned horizontal to one another before the rail bracket parts are finally fixed in place. For this purpose, the rail bracket parts can be coupled to one another by means of screws, for example, which do not run through round holes, but rather through elongated holes in the rail bracket parts. Accordingly, the rail bracket parts can be displaced relative to one another in a direction transverse to the screws. In this state, the position of the guide rail 13 can be shifted within a horizontal plane with the aid of the aligning device 3 and the guide rail 13 can be moved in this way to a nominal position.

(11) For this purpose, the aligning device 3 can be attached to a displaceable component such as the elevator car 5 and can be moved together with it through the elevator shaft 7 to a vertical position at which the horizontal position of the guide rail 13 is to be aligned. Since the aligning device 3 can be moved to different heights within the elevator shaft 7 together with the displaceable component, the entire guide rail 13 can be successively aligned into its nominal position in this way. In the example shown, the aligning device 3 is fastened to a car roof 21 of the elevator car 5 with the aid of a fixing device 75.

(12) The aligning device 3 is arranged on the guide rail 13 by means of the elevator car, in particular in the area of the rail bracket parts 19.

(13) It is also possible to arrange more than one aligning device at the same time, in particular at least three aligning devices, on the same guide rail, by means of which pulse-like strikes are exerted on the same guide rail at the same time or only by one aligning device. An aligning device is then arranged in particular in the region of each rail bracket assigned to a guide rail. With the multiple aligning devices, the guide rail can be aligned at different points at the same time. Alternatively, an alignment can only be carried out at one point and then the effects of this alignment on previous alignments at the other points can be checked. The alignment of the guide rail can thus take place in an iterative process in which pulse-like strikes are applied to different points one after the other.

(14) As shown in more detail in FIG. 2 and its partial views, the aligning device 3 has a detection device 23 and a hammer mill 25.

(15) With the aid of the detection device 23, the aligning device 3 can detect an actual position of the guide rail 13 and, based thereon, a position deviation of the guide rail 13 from a nominal position. Based on information about the position deviation detected in this way, the aligning device 3 can then exert pulse-like strikes on the guide rail 13 with its hammer mill 25 and in this way automatically hammer it in a horizontal direction towards the horizontal position and thus shift it or reorient it to the nominal position.

(16) The detection device 23 can detect a position deviation of the guide rail 13, for example, by measuring an actual position of the guide rail 13 relative to a position of a plumb bob 31 serving as a reference. For this purpose, the detection device 23 can have a laser 27 which, with the aid of a preferably horizontally deflectable laser beam 29, can detect the actual position of the guide rail 13 and, in addition, can preferably also detect the position of the plumb bob 31. On the basis of the information obtained in this way, the detection device 23 can infer any position deviation of the guide rail 13 from a previously known nominal position.

(17) Based on the information obtained in this way, the hammer mill 25 can then exert pulse-like strikes on the guide rail 13 in order to move it horizontally towards its nominal position.

(18) For this purpose, the hammer mill 25 has one or more actuators 33 (only shown very schematically in FIG. 2 for reasons of clarity), which can interact with several impact transmission devices 35. The actuators 33 can automatically generate pulse-like strikes and transmit them to subregions of the guide rail 13 via the impact transmission devices 35. The actuators 33 can advantageously be arranged on a side of the guide rail 13 facing away from the shaft wall 15.

(19) In the example shown, the hammer mill 25 has two first impact transmission devices 37, with the aid of which pulse-like strikes can be exerted on a base region 45 of the T-shaped guide rail 13, on the one hand in a +y direction and on the other hand in a −y direction, each parallel to the shaft wall 15.

(20) The hammer mill 25 also has second and third impact transmission devices 39, 41, with the aid of which pulse-like strikes can be exerted on the base region 45 of the guide rail 13, on the one hand in a +x direction and on the other hand in a −x direction, each orthogonal to the shaft wall 15.

(21) Two second impact transmission devices 39 are provided, which act on the base region 45 of the guide rail 13 in the +x direction towards the shaft wall 15 and can initiate the pulse-like strikes. Each of the two second impact transmission devices 39 introduces its strikes on the base region 45 at one of two positions, wherein the two positions are spaced apart from one another laterally, that is to say in the y direction.

(22) Furthermore, two third impact transmission devices 41 are provided, which act on the base region 45 of the guide rail 13 on a side opposite the shaft wall 15 and there can initiate the pulse-like strikes directed away from the shaft wall 15 in the −x direction. Each of the two third impact transmission devices 41 in turn initiates its strikes on the base region 45 at one of two positions, wherein the two positions are laterally spaced from one another.

(23) In order not to have to arrange the actuators 33 cooperating with the third impact transmission devices 41 in the limited space between the guide rail 13 and the shaft wall 15, but to be able to arrange them on the side of the guide rail 13 opposite the shaft wall 15, the third impact transmission devices 41 are C-shaped. With an arm region 43 running parallel to the shaft wall 15, the third impact transmission devices 41 can each engage behind the base region 45 of the guide rail 13 in order to be able to exert the pulse-like strikes on them in the −x direction directed away from the shaft wall 15.

(24) In the drawings: FIGS. 3A-3C show the impact transmission devices 35 of the hammer mill 25 and the displacements of the guide rail 13 that can be brought about with them. FIG. 3A uses force arrows 47 to illustrate the y-directions in which forces F.sub.y and F.sub.−y are exerted by the first impact transmission devices 37 on the base region 45 of the guide rail 13 in order to move the guide rail 13 in a y-displacement direction 49 parallel to the shaft wall 15. FIG. 3B uses force arrows 51 to illustrate the x-directions in which the second and third impact transmission devices 39, 41 exert equally strong forces F.sub.x or F.sub.−x on the base region 45 of the guide rail 13 at laterally spaced positions to move the guide rail 13 in an x-displacement direction 53 orthogonally to the shaft wall 15. FIG. 3C uses force arrows 55 to illustrate the opposite x-directions and -x-directions in which opposing forces F.sub.x or F.sub.−x can be exerted by one of the second and one of the third impact transmission devices 39, 41 at laterally spaced positions on the base region 45 of the guide rail 13 in order to bring about a torque on the guide rail 13 and thus to reorient the guide rail 13 in a rotational movement direction 57.

(25) FIG. 4 shows an example of an actuator 33 of the kind that can be used to generate pulse-like strikes in a hammer mill 25 of an aligning device 3. The actuator 33 is constructed similarly to actuators that are used in impact drills.

(26) The actuator 33 has a motor 59 in the form of an electric motor. The motor 59 drives a shaft 67 in a rotating manner. The shaft 67 in turn drives a spindle 63 in a rotating manner. A weight element 61 is supported on the spindle 63. The weight element 61 is elastically pretensioned by a spring 69 towards a stop element 65. When the spindle 63 rotates, it displaces the weight element 61 successively against the force of the spring 69. At a predetermined rotational position, the weight element 61 is briefly released from the rotating spindle 63 and is then accelerated by the pretensioned spring 69 towards the stop element 65. The weight element 61 then strikes the stop element 65 and in this way, with the force impulse generated in this way, generates the desired pulse-like strike on a bolt 71 coupled to the stop element 65. The weight element 61, the spindle 63, the stop element 65, the shaft 67, and the spring 69 together form a hammer mechanism 73.

(27) Finally, it should be noted that terms such as “comprising,” “having,” etc. do not preclude other elements or steps, and terms such as “a” or “an” do not preclude a plurality. Furthermore, it should be noted that features or steps that have been described with reference to one of the above embodiments may also be used in combination with other features or steps of other embodiments described above.

(28) In accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes, the present invention has been described in what is considered to represent its preferred embodiment. However, it should be noted that the invention can be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated and described without departing from its spirit or scope.