Abstract
An elevator system includes a car which can move in an elevator shaft and has a car roof which has a walkable region. A safety element is arranged in the region of a roof edge of the car roof for reducing the gap between the elevator shaft wall and the car in order to protect people from falling into the elevator shaft. The safety element has a toe board section for creating a toe protection and for laterally bordering the walkable region, wherein the toe board section is arranged such that it is inwardly offset in relation to an outer edge of the safety element and in relation to the roof edge by a safety distance.
Claims
1. An elevator system including a car which can move in an elevator shaft and has a car roof with a walkable region, and at least one safety element arranged in a region of a roof edge of the car roof for reducing a gap between the elevator shaft wall and the car to protect people from falling into the elevator shaft, wherein the at least one safety element protrudes over the roof edge by a horizontal supernatant away from the car, comprising: the at least one safety element includes stop means that jut away from the car roof in an approximately vertical direction and laterally limiting the walkable region, whereby the stop means is inwardly offset in relation to the roof edge; wherein the horizontal supernatant portion of the at least one safety element includes a downward inclined canopy section.
2. The elevator system according to claim 1 wherein the stop means is inwardly offset by a safety distance in relation to the roof edge.
3. The elevator system according to claim 1 wherein the at least one safety element includes a toe board section forming the stop means.
4. The elevator system according to claim 1 wherein a region of the at least one safety element adjacent to an outside of the stop means is configured to be non-walkable by a person.
5. The elevator system according to claim 1 wherein the at least one safety element includes a holding part supporting the canopy section.
6. The elevator system according to claim 1 wherein the at least one safety element is constructed from several parts.
7. The elevator system according to claim 1 wherein a plurality of separate ones of the at least one safety element is provided along at least one roof edge of the car roof.
8. The elevator system according to claim 1 wherein the at least one safety element, in a region protruding from the roof edge, includes an open or semi-open free space permitting components in the elevator shaft to be guided through the free space past the at least one safety element.
9. The elevator system according to claim 1 wherein the at least one safety element has an L shape in a top view.
Description
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
(1) Shown are:
(2) FIG. 1 is a highly simplified illustration of an elevator system with safety elements from a side view,
(3) FIG. 2 is an enlarged detail view of a safety element of the elevator system according to FIG. 1,
(4) FIG. 3 shows a second embodiment of a safety element from the side view,
(5) FIG. 4 shows a third embodiment of a safety element,
(6) FIG. 5 shows a fourth embodiment of a safety element,
(7) FIG. 6 shows a variant of the safety element according to FIG. 5 in a once again enlarged detail view from the side,
(8) FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a car roof with a safety element of the type of FIG. 6, and
(9) FIG. 8 is a top view of an elevator system with a car provided with a plurality of safety elements on the car roof.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
(10) FIG. 1 shows an elevator system for a building identified as a whole by reference number 1. The building has an elevator shaft 2 or several elevator shafts, as needed. The elevator system 1 comprises a car 3 that can be moved vertically up and down to transport people or goods by means of a drive unit in the elevator shaft 2. The car 3 comprises a car floor 27, side walls 4, and a car roof 5. The movement of the car 3 is carried out, for example, with suspension means 7 that suspend the car 3 in the form of an under-looping in a 2:1 suspension. Suspension means 7 can, for example, be one or more suspension cables or suspension straps. The suspension means 7 are looped around the car 3 by means of guide rollers 9. Different suspension configurations would be conceivable as well, of course. The (not shown) drive unit to move the car 3 is fastened to the shaft wall identified with the number 6 to form a machine room-less elevator that moves the car 3. The drive unit may have a rotatable traction sheave. For reasons of improved clarity, the other components of the elevator system such as a counterweight attached to the car, guide rails to guide the counterweight and the car, or control means to control or regulate the elevator systems are not shown.
(11) The car roof 5 can be walked on for the performance of maintenance work or for inspection runs. If the gap between the car 3 and the elevator shaft 2 surpasses a certain gap width G, the people on the roof must be protected from a fall into the elevator shaft. The gap width G corresponds here to the horizontal free distance between the side wall 4 and the shaft wall 6. The standard EN81-20:2014 requires the use of balustrades, for example, from a gap width of 30 cm. Consequently, a gap between the car 3 and the elevator shaft 2 with a gap width G of 30 cm or more can also be referred to as an overly large gap. As long as the required fall protection can be ensured, solutions other than balustrades are conceivable as well. Such an alternative fall protection solution is shown in FIG. 1. At the sides of the car roof 5, a security or safety element 10, 10 is arranged to reduce the gap between the elevator shaft 2 and the car 3 to protect people from falling into the elevator shaft. It is obvious that the safety element 10 protrudes from a roof edge 8 of the car 3 far enough that, at least locally, only a gap with a smaller gap width G remains. The gap width G can, for example, be less than 30 cm, whereby the standard EN81-20:2014 would be met.
(12) The safety element 10, which is shown in a simplified form in FIG. 1 as a plate-like, flat structure that rests against the roof top of the car roof 5, furthermore comprises stop means 12 that jut away from the car roof in an approximately vertical direction to create a toe protection. Since, in this case, a second, similarly configured safety element 10 is arranged on the opposing side of the car roof 5 that faces the shaft wall 6 and that determines the walkable region on the car roof, the person may move more or less freely in the region between the stop means 12 and 12.
(13) Further details about the configuration of the safety element 10 and its arrangement on the car roof 5 of the car 3 are shown in FIG. 2. Here, the safety element 10 is formed, for example, by a T-shaped profile. The T profile may be comparatively thin, whereby the wall strength of the profile must be designed in such a way that the exposed part of the safety element 10 firmly attached to the car roof and protruding by the distance D from the roof edge 8 can hold the weight of a person, for example, after a fall caused by tripping, so that the person does not fall between the shaft wall 6 and the side wall 4 of the car 3 and into the shaft pit. The term supernatant is used in this application for the distance D. Regarding the configuration and dimensions of the safety elements 10, a person skilled in the art can assume that the safety element must be able to withstand a vertically acting force of 500 N on the relevant region, i.e., the region adjacent to the stop means 12 at the outside. For increased safety requirements, however, values such as 1000 N and above can be assumed. To attach the safety elements 10 on the car roof, attachment means 14, 15 are provided, for example, in the form of screws.
(14) The gap with the gap width G that remains after the extension created by means of the safety element 10 is so reduced that people can no longer fall through the gap. As FIG. 2 shows, the gap width G is measured between the outer edge 11 of the safety element 10 and of the shaft wall 6. Should further parts such as suspension means or guard rails be arranged in the shaft in sufficient proximity (e.g., closer than 30 cm to the car) and therefore prevent a fall, the distance G would not be measured as the distance to the shaft wall itself, but locally in reference to the guard rail, the closest suspension means, or any other parts, if necessary.
(15) FIG. 2 shows that the stop means are formed to laterally limit the walkable region with a toe board section 12 that is integrally shaped to the horizontal, plate-shaped base section and that may protrude in an approximately perpendicular manner from this base section. The toe board section 12 is inwardly offset from the roof edge 8 by a safety distance S. The distance D+S of the safety element to the outer edge 11 should preferably not be longer than 15 cm. The height H of the toe board section 12 is 10 cm, for example.
(16) Other embodiments of safety elements 10 are shown in FIGS. 3 to 5 below. Their total mass has remained when compared with the embodiment according to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, which is why these figures do not identify the gap width (G, G) and height (H) of the safety element.
(17) FIG. 3 shows a safety element 10 that is formed as a flexible part with four angles similar to a hat profile. Due to the special form of the profile, a rectangular cavity 24 is formed between the safety element 10 and the top of the car roof 5. The safety distance S is provided by the horizontal central profile section 16. The vertical toe board section 12 attaches on the inside of the profile section 16. The section of the safety element 10 that runs parallel to the toe board section 12 abuts against the car side wall 4. The symbolically indicated screws referenced with 14 and 15 used to attach the safety element to the car 3 are, as can be seen, associated with two different attachment levels. On one side, the screw 14 is used to directly attach the safety element to the car roof, and on the other side, it is attached to the side wall 4 with screws 15. The region protruding over the roof edge 8 by the supernatant D is formed by the canopy section referred to with 13. Compared to the preceding embodiment, wherein the region D+S forms a common area, the variant according to FIG. 3 with the separated surfaces D, S has the advantage that even with larger gapsthanks to the comparatively short canopy section 13 with D as the length of the canopyany trespassing on the safety elements 10 behind the stop means can be made impossible in a very easy manner.
(18) As FIG. 4 shows, the toe board section 12 and the canopy section 13 can be configured at an incline in the sectional view. The sections 12 and 13 that turn toward each other in a wedge-shaped, obtuse-angled manner form an upper edge 32. To stabilize the safety elements 10, a holding part 17, which is indicated by a dashed line, may be used to support the safety element in the downward direction in the area of the edge 32. The holding part 17 can be attached to the car 3 in the area of the side wall 4 by means of screws 15.
(19) FIG. 5 shows another safety element 10 with an inclined canopy section 13. The inclined canopy section 13 attaches to the toe board section 12 that runs at a right angle to the top of the car roof 5. The canopy section is inclined downward from the horizontal by an inclination angle . The inclination angle may be 10, for example, or more. The attachment section 22 attaches at the inside of the toe board section 12, through which the safety element 10 is attached to the car roof 5. In the exemplary embodiment according to FIG. 5, the safety element is configured as a one-piece flexible part made from sheet metal. It is conceivable as well, however, to make the profile part for the safety element 10 from aluminum. The inclined canopy section 13 is realized here in a detached manner. Of course, it is also conceivable to support the canopy section by means of additional holding parts and to thus create an even more stable safety element 10.
(20) The safety element 10 according to the embodiment of FIG. 6 is similar to the safety element 10 of FIG. 5 in terms of shape and dimensions. The canopy section 13 is positioned approximately equal to an angle with respect to the car roof 5. The toe board section 12, however, no longer runs perpendicular but is (in the cross section) slightly inclined in its form. The most essential difference to the previous embodiment is that the safety element 10 according to FIG. 6 is constructed from several parts. A planar canopy profile part 21 forms the canopy section 13. The toe board section 12 is, however, formed by a substantially Z-shaped foot profile part 20 in the cross section. This foot profile part can easily be manufactured from sheet metal blanks through folding processes or other molding processes. The foot profile part 20 comprises the toe board section 12, which is joined on both sides by the attachment section 22 for attachment to the top of the roof and a connecting section 23 for the connection with the canopy profile part 21. The canopy profile part 21 lies flat on the connection section 23 of the foot profile part 20; the foot profile part 20 and the canopy profile part 21 are attached to each other by means of a screw connection 18. The holding part 17 is attached to the car 3 by means of screws 15 in the region of the side wall 4. At the top end, the holding part 17 is angled in such a way that the canopy profile part 21 lies flat on the angled part of the holding part 17 and is supported by it.
(21) FIG. 7 shows design details of a car 3 with a safety element 10 attached to it in another variant. As can be clearly seen here, the canopy profile part 21 is attached to the foot profile part 20 by means of screws 18. To support the canopy section 13, a separate holding part 17 is provided on one side and a holding section 26 on the other side. The holding part 17 securely holds the canopy profile part 13 via a connector 33. For the connector, two pins 35 are integrally formed on the holding part 17 which are received in the corresponding openings in the canopy profile part 21. The holding part 17 is attachable to the car 3 by means of screws (not shown). For this purpose, the holding part has two elongated holes 34 at the lower part through which the screws can be screwed into the car roof 5. The roof edge 8 is formed by an angle profile. Furthermore, a holding section 26 formed by folding is integrally formed on the canopy section 13 that is affixed to the car roof 5 by means of screw 15.
(22) As further seen in FIG. 7, the outer edge 11 of the safety element 10 facing the shaft wall does not have to be straight over the entire length. Approximately in the middle, a rectangular recess 25 that is open toward the adjacent shaft wall is provided, whereby the edge 11 is locally set back. This recess 25 enables a safe drive past components which are attributable to the elevator shaft.
(23) The illustration of the elevator system 1 according to FIG. 8 shows a possible security system for a car 3. On one side of the car 3 is the only symbolically shown car door 30. The reference number 31 relates to an elevator door of the elevator shaft 2. In FIG. 8, the suspension means 7 are formed, for example, by straps. Also visible are the guide rails 28 to guide the car 3 and the guide rails 29 for the counterweight (not shown). As it is apparent from the top view of the car roof 5 of the elevator car 3, this elevator system 1 has a car 3 with a plurality of safety elements 10, 10, 10, 10, 10.sup.iv. Two safety elements 10 and 10 are arranged on the roof edge 8, and three safety elements 10, 10, and 10.sup.iv are arranged on the roof edge 8 on the opposite side. Since the suspension straps 7 and the car guide rails 28 are sufficiently close to the car, these parts can prevent a fall of a person on the car roof. Consequently, as shown in FIG. 8, no safety elements have to be provided on the car roof 5 here. Since the counterweight guide rail identified as 29 is located on the roof edge 8 on the side that is opposite to the safety element 10.sup.iv, no safety element must be provided in this area, either. The safety element 10 adjacent the first shaft wall 6 facing the elevator shaft 2 includes a continuation 19 to reduce the gap between the elevator shaft 2 and the car 3 in the region of a second shaft wall 6 adjoining the first shaft wall 6.
(24) 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.
