Device and method for the evacuation of buildings

Abstract

A method and a system for the evacuation of buildings providing an elevator system includes at least one elevator car and an elevator shaft. The system includes a device to detect an incident or a device to receive an emergency signal in this regard, a device for determining the floor of this incident, and at least one sealing element (positioned in the elevator shaft and constructed to seal the elevator shaft, so that the elevator shaft is divided in at least two sections.

Claims

1. An elevator shaft provided with comprising: at least one sealing element positioned in the elevator shaft and constructed to seal the elevator shaft, so that the elevator shaft is divided into at least two sections by the at least one sealing element, wherein at least one landing of the elevator shaft is provided with car-sealing elements that are designed to seal a gap between a respective elevator car and the respective landing.

2. A system for the evacuation of buildings providing an elevator system comprising at least one elevator car and an elevator shaft, said system comprising: means to detect an incident or means to receive an emergency signal; means for determining a floor of the incident or the emergency signal; and at least one sealing element positioned in the elevator shaft and constructed to seal the elevator shaft, so that the elevator shaft is divided into at least two sections by the at least one sealing element, wherein the elevator system comprises two or more elevator cars that can be moved independently, and wherein at least one elevator car or at least one landing is provided with car-sealing elements that are designed to seal a gap between the respective elevator car and the respective landing.

3. The elevator shaft as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least one sealing element is a sliding door, a trapdoor, a hatch, has the shape of an iris diaphragm or the shape of a roller shutter or is inflatable, and wherein the at least one sealing element comprises at least one door element.

4. The elevator shaft as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least one sealing element is arranged at more than one floor, wherein a position of the at least one sealing element is between elevator doors of adjoining floors so that sealing of two adjoining sealing elements would result in the division of the elevator shaft into three sections, where one section lies under an area or a floor of an incident, one section lies above the area or the floor of the incident and one section includes an elevator door of the floor of the incident or elevator doors of the area of the incident.

5. The system as claimed in claim 2, wherein the elevator system is operated by the use of steel cables or elevator cars having an individual moving system.

6. The system as claimed in claim 2, wherein the car-sealing elements are designed to be moved in a sealing position in the case of an emergency and stay in a non-sealing position during normal operation, and wherein the system comprises moving elements that are designed to move the car-sealing elements in a sealing position in the case of emergency, move lock bars holding car-sealing elements in a non-sealing position or wherein the system comprises the car-sealing elements that are inflatable and the system comprises elements to inflate the car sealing elements in an emergency case.

7. The system as claimed in claim 2, wherein the system is designed to separate safety elements of the elevator system from a main safety system of the elevator system, and wherein the system is designed to separate the of the elevator system into two sub-systems controlling the divided sections of the elevator shaft.

8. The elevator shaft as claimed in claim 1, further comprising at least one of fire sensors, smoke sensors, gas sensors, radiation sensors and sensors for detecting biohazard in the elevator shaft, and is designed to determine during evacuation, whether the atmosphere or heat in the respective shaft-section is safe for evacuation or not.

9. The elevator shaft or system as claimed in claim 8, wherein the sensors are in the elevator shaft.

10. The system as claimed in claim 2, further comprising at least one of fire sensors, smoke sensors, gas sensors, radiation sensors and sensors for detecting biohazard in the elevator shaft, and is designed to determine during evacuation, whether the atmosphere or heat in the respective shaft-section is safe for evacuation or not, wherein the sensors are in the elevator shaft, and wherein the elevator system is a cable bound elevator system, the sensors determine, determine if cables of the elevator system are still suitable for evacuation despite of heat in other sections of the elevator shaft.

11. The system as claimed in claim 2, wherein the at least one sealing element comprise apertures at a position where cables of the elevator system will be in a sealed position of the at least one sealing element, and wherein these apertures are less than 5 cm larger than a diameter of the cables.

12. A method to evacuate buildings by using an elevator system comprising the steps of: detecting an incident or receiving an emergency signal, and determining a floor of the incident or emergency signal; moving at least one elevator car of a plurality of elevator cars in a predefined evacuation position; sealing an elevator shaft with at least one sealing element, so that the elevator shaft is divided into at least two sections by the at least one sealing element; providing at least one landing of the elevator shaft with car-sealing elements that are designed to seal a gap between a respective elevator car and the respective landing; and moving the at least one elevator car in at least one of these sections to evacuate inhabitants of floors below and/or above the floor of the incident or the emergency signal.

13. The method as claimed in claim 12, wherein, before closing of the at least one sealing element, any of the plurality of elevator cars above the floor of the incident or the emergency signal are moved to floors below the floor of the incident or the emergency signal or before the closing of the at least one sealing element, a ratio of inhabitants above:below the floor of the incident or the emergency signal is determined and the elevator cars are arranged so that a number of cars above and below the floor of the incident or the emergency signal correspond to the ratio.

14. The system as claimed in claim 2, wherein at least one sealing element is a sliding door, a trapdoor, a hatch, has the shape of an iris diaphragm or the shape of a roller shutter or is inflatable, and wherein the at least one sealing element comprises at least one door element.

15. The system as claimed in claim 2, wherein the at least one sealing element is arranged at more than one floor, and wherein a position of the at least one sealing element is between elevator doors of adjoining floors so that sealing of two adjoining sealing elements would result in the division of the elevator shaft in three sections, where one section lies under an area or floor of the incident or the emergency signal, one section lies above the area or floor of the incident or the emergency signal and one section includes an elevator door of the floor of the incident or the emergency signal or elevator doors of the area of the incident or the emergency signal.

16. The elevator shaft as claimed in claim 3, further comprising at least one of fire sensors, smoke sensors, gas sensors, radiation sensors and sensors for detecting biohazard in the elevator shaft, and is designed to determine during evacuation, whether the atmosphere or heat in the respective shaft-section is safe for evacuation or not.

17. The elevator shaft as claimed in claim 4, further comprising at least one of fire sensors, smoke sensors, gas sensors, radiation sensors and sensors for detecting biohazard in the elevator shaft, and is designed to determine during evacuation, whether the atmosphere or heat in the respective shaft-section is safe for evacuation or not.

18. The system as claimed in claim 2, further comprising at least one of fire sensors, smoke sensors, gas sensors, radiation sensors and sensors for detecting biohazard in the elevator shaft, and is designed to determine during evacuation, whether the atmosphere or heat in the respective shaft-section is safe for evacuation or not.

Description

LIST OF FIGURES

(1) In the following, the invention will be described in detail by the aid of examples of its embodiments, wherein:

(2) FIG. 1 outlines a preferred system.

(3) FIG. 2 outlines the movement of elevator cars in the case of a fire.

(4) FIG. 3 outlines the sealing of the elevator shaft.

(5) FIG. 4 demonstrates another preferred embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(6) FIGS. 1 to 3 outline a preferred system and display the method of the invention. Here the elevator system comprises several elevator cars 1 (multi-car-system A to E) that move in two elevator shafts or one double elevator shaft, respectively. In the figure it is assumed that the elevator cars 1 (A, E, D) move upward in the left shaft and downward in the right shaft (B, C, see arrows). When the Elevator cars 1 reach the top or the bottom, they move sideways to reach the other elevator shaft so that a closed cycle occurs.

(7) In the middle of the shaft there are two fire trap doors 2 positioned that act as sealing elements.

(8) In FIG. 2 a fire breaks out in one of the upper floors. Immediately the lower elevator cars 1 stop below the fire trap doors 2 (here cars A and E) and the elevator cars 1 that are above the fire trap doors 2 (here cars B to D) continue their movement until they are positioned under the fire trap doors 2.

(9) In the case there would be an upper shaft segment that is separated from the fire, the elevator cars could be arranged both above and below the floor of incident. However, FIG. 2 only shows a simple example.

(10) In FIG. 3 the fire trap doors 2 are closed and the elevator cars 1 begin their movement in the shaft segment below the fire trap doors 2 to evacuate all inhabitants in the lower floors. This will enhance the evacuation speed.

(11) The preferred method is outlined in the following:

(12) When the fire is detected above the fire trap doors 2 then: Elevator cars 1 going up-direction are informed not to travel close to fire trap doors 2. New guiding information is given to passengers which remain in the floors above the fire trap doors 2. Elevator cars 1 that are above or close to the fire trap doors 2 are informed to travel below the fire trap doors 2 as quickly as possible. Elevator cars on up-direction shaft may, if possible also travel downwards in order to get all floors above the fire trap doors 2 clear.

(13) When the floors are clear, then the fire trap doors 2 can start to close.

(14) Releasing of the lock of the fire trap doors 2 starts the closing. Lock release is e.g. accomplished by an electric signal.

(15) The closing of the fire trap doors 2 may occur by motors, hydraulic cylinders or other means to close it properly. In an easy embodiment they can just fall shut due to gravity.

(16) When the fire trap doors 2 are closing, the system preferably cuts the safety circuit and other signals above the fire trap doors 2 and shortcuts safety circuit signals so that the safety circuit below fire trap doors 2 operates normally.

(17) In FIG. 4 an embodiment is outlined where there are several fire trap doors 2 that are arranged such that they seal the elevator shaft at positions between the floors (see broken lines). In the case of a fire behind an elevator door 3, the fire trap doors 2 above and below that elevator door 3 will seal the elevator shaft as shown by the arrows and the broken lines outlining the position of the fire trap doors 2 in closed state.

(18) With this embodiment, the floor of incident will be completely separated from the rest of the elevator shaft and evacuation by elevator cars (not shown) may be accomplished in the section below the floor of incident as well as in the section above the floor of incident.

(19) It should be noted that if the fire spreads in adjacent floors or breaks out in more floors, the sealing may be accomplished not by adjacent fire trap doors 2, but with the sealing of all relevant fire trap doors 2.