Self-centering elevator cage door suspension

Abstract

An elevator installation includes an elevator cage, which is movable in an elevator shaft, with a cage door suspension for a cage door, wherein the cage door suspension is movably arranged at the elevator cage by means of at least one movable mount. During operation of the elevator installation, a self-centering aligning movement of the cage door suspension from a skewed setting of the elevator cage, in correspondence with a skew setting axis, to an approximately vertical and centered setting of the cage door suspension in correspondence with a vertical, can be performed.

Claims

1. An elevator installation including at least one elevator cage, the elevator cage being movable in an elevator shaft along guide rails and having a cage door transom suspending a cage door, the cage door being movable on the cage door transom between a closed position and an open position, comprising: the cage door transom being movably arranged on the elevator cage by at least one movable mounting, wherein the movable mounting of the cage door transom includes at least two support rollers arranged to roll along a guide surface of a mounting device of the cage door transom; the cage door transom configured with a means to provide a self-centering aligning movement to an approximately centered setting of the cage door using the at least one movable mounting during operation of the elevator installation; and the self-centering aligning movement occurring in correspondence with an opposed shaft door of the elevator installation in response to an aligning force or aligning pulse exerted on the cage door transom, wherein the cage door transom moves relative to the elevator cage.

2. The elevator installation according to claim 1 wherein the aligning movement of the cage door transom is damped by at least two identical springs or shock dampers arranged in mirror image relative to the transom.

3. The elevator installation according to claim 1 wherein the aligning force or the aligning pulse for the aligning movement of the cage door transom is provided by at least one entrainer roller pair acting, at the shaft door, on at least one entrainer yoke pair at the cage.

4. The elevator installation according to claim 1, wherein the self-centering aligning movement includes movement in a horizontal direction.

5. The elevator installation according to claim 1, wherein the self-centering aligning movement includes movement in two directions.

6. A method of aligning a cage door transom of an elevator cage in an elevator installation, the cage door transom being movably arranged on the elevator cage by at least one movable mounting, the movable mounting of the cage door transom including at least two support rollers arranged to roll along a guide surface of a mounting device of the cage door transom, the cage door transom configured with a means to provide a self-centering aligning movement to an approximately centered setting of the cage door using the at least one movable mounting during operation of the elevator installation, and the cage door transom suspending a cage door, the cage door being movable on the cage door transom between a closed position and an open position, the following method steps being performed when the cage door transom is off-center or out of place relative to an opposed shaft door of the elevator installation: exerting an aligning force or an aligning pulse on the cage door transom in correspondence with the opposed shaft door, the aligning force or the aligning pulse causing an aligning movement of the cage door transom into an approximately centered setting of the cage door using the at least one moveable mounting, wherein the cage door transom moves relative to the elevator cage; and stopping the exertion of the aligning force or the aligning pulse as soon as the cage door transom is no longer off-center or out of place, so that the cage door transom adopts an uncorrected setting, wherein the cage door transom moves relative to the elevator cage.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the aligning movement includes movement in a horizontal direction.

8. An elevator installation having an elevator cage being movable in an elevator shaft along guide rails between stories having shaft doors, the elevator cage having a cage door, comprising: a cage door transom suspending the cage door, the cage door being formed by two cage door elements that abut in a closed position and move in opposite directions on the transom to an open position, the cage door transom being movably arranged on the elevator cage by a mounting device, wherein the mounting device includes at least two support rollers arranged to roll along a guide surface of the mounting device; and at least one entrainer yoke pair arranged at the cage door; the cage door transom configured with a means to provide a self-centering aligning movement to an approximately centered setting of the cage door using the mounting device during operation of the elevator installation; and the self-centering aligning movement occurring in correspondence with an opposed one of the shaft doors of the elevator installation in response to an aligning force or aligning pulse exerted by at least one entrainer roller pair at the opposed shaft door on the at least one entrainer yoke pair, wherein the cage door transom moves relative to the elevator cage.

9. The elevator installation according to claim 8 wherein the aligning movement of the transom is damped by at least two identical springs or shock dampers arranged in mirror image relative to the transom.

10. The elevator installation according to claim 8, wherein the self-centering aligning movement includes movement in a horizontal direction.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The disclosed technologies are explained in more detail symbolically and by way of example on the basis of the figures. The figures are described conjunctively and in general. The same reference numerals signify the same components and reference numerals with different indices indicate functionally equivalent or similar components.

(2) In the drawings:

(3) FIG. 1 shows a schematic illustration of an elevator installation according to the prior art;

(4) FIG. 2 shows a schematic illustration of a cage door suspension with two flexible bearings in an elevator installation according to FIG. 1;

(5) FIG. 3 shows a schematic illustration of a second variant of embodiment of a cage door suspension with a central rotary bearing;

(6) FIG. 4 shows a schematic illustration of a third variant of embodiment of a cage door suspension, which additionally to the first variant of embodiment of FIG. 3 has curved guides;

(7) FIG. 5 shows a schematic illustration of a fourth variant of embodiment of a cage door suspension with two rotatably arranged mounting levers;

(8) FIG. 6 shows a schematic illustration of a fifth variant of embodiment of a cage door suspension, which is movably arranged in a mounting frame by means of rollers and springs; and

(9) FIG. 7 shows a schematic illustration of a sixth variant of embodiment of a cage door suspension with a door frame which is fixedly arranged at the same and which, thereagainst, is movably attached to the elevator cage.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(10) FIG. 1 shows, by way of example, a conventional elevator installation 100 with an elevator cage 2 which is movable in an elevator shaft 1 and which is connected with a counterweight 4 by way of supporting and driving means 3. The supporting and driving means 3 is in operation driven by a drive pulley 5 of a drive unit 6. The exemplifying construction shows a drive-pulley elevator, but other elevator types with a cage door suspension can be used with at least some embodiments of the disclosed technologies. The elevator cage 2 and counterweight 4 are guided by means of guide rails 7a and 7b, which extend over the shaft height, for the elevator cage 2 and a (visible) guide rail 7c for the counterweight 4. The elevator installation 100 has an uppermost story with an uppermost shaft door 8, a second-uppermost story with a second-uppermost shaft door 9, further stories with a further shaft door 10 and a lowermost story with a lowermost shaft door 11.

(11) The elevator shaft 1 is formed by shaft side walls 12a and 12b, a shaft ceiling 13 and a shaft base 14. The supporting and driving means 3 is fastened at a first support means fixing point 15a to the shaft ceiling 13 and guided by a deflecting roller 16 of the counterweight 4 and over the drive pulley 5 of the drive unit 6. From there in turn the supporting and driving means 3 is guided, for example looping under the elevator cage 2, by two support pulleys 17a and 17b of the elevator cage 2 and in turn to a second support means fixing point 15b at the shaft ceiling 13. A conveying height h for the elevator cage 2 thus results.

(12) The drive unit 6 is arranged in a shaft head or engine room 18. A buffer 19a for the counterweight 4 is arranged on the shaft base 14, as well as two buffers 19b and 19c for the elevator cage 2.

(13) An elevator installation 100a is indicated in FIG. 2, which basically corresponds with a prior art elevator installation shown in FIG. 1. However, the elevator installation 100a comprises an elevator cage 2a which is formed substantially from a support frame 20, a cage door threshold 21 arranged thereat, a cage frame 22 and cladding surfaces 23a and 23b. Moreover, a cage door suspension or a cage door transom 24a is arranged at the cage frame 22 and, in particular, in the form of a movable mounting 200a by means of two flexible bearings 27a and 27b or two movable couplings. As indicated by double arrows, an aligning movement Mi of the cage door transom 24a in all three directions is thereby possible.

(14) The cage door transom 24a comprises a motor 25, a belt drive or chain drive 26 and a guide rail arrangement 28 as well as two entrainer plates 37a and 37b, which are movable relatively free of play in the direction of an opening and closing direction 38 by means of guide rollers (not illustrated in more detail) at the guide rail arrangement 28. Respective cage door elements 29a and 29b which together form a cage door 36 are arranged at these entrainer plates 37a and 37b. Respective entrainer yokes 30a and 30b, which are possibly approximately C-shaped and are formed as a mirror-image pair, are arranged at the entrainer plates 37a and 37b.

(15) The large curved arrow in outline illustrates that the cage door 36 in an elevator shaft 1a of the elevator installation 100a and a shaft door 10a are opposite one another. This shaft door 10a is arranged in masonry 33 or a side wall of the elevator shaft 1a and comprises a shaft door transom 31 with a guide rail arrangement 28a for shaft door elements 32a and 32b guided to run therein. The shaft door elements 32a and 32b are usually also guided within a guide channel (not illustrated in more detail) in a door threshold 34 of the shaft door 10a.

(16) Arranged at each of the shaft door elements 32a and 32b are entrainer roller pairs 35a and 35b, respectively, in which during operation of the elevator installation 100a the entrainer yokes or the entrainer yoke pairs 30a and 30b engage. In this manner the opening or closing force of the motor 25 is transmitted to the entrainer roller pair 35a and 35b and the shaft door elements 32a and 32b open or close together with the cage door elements 29a and 29b.

(17) If the elevator cage 2a, due to a one-sided loading within the cage guide rails, which are not illustrated in more detail in this FIG. 2, should be skewed, the entrainer roller pairs 35a and 35b exert on the then similarly skewed entrainer yokes or entrainer yoke pairs 30a and 30b an aligning force or an aligning pulse, which is transmitted by way of the entrainer plates 37a and 37b and to the cage door transom 24a. Due to the fact that the cage door transom 24a is movably mounted in the flexible bearings 27a and 27b, it describes a self-centering aligning movement M.sub.1 which is directed oppositely to the skewed setting, corresponding with a skewed setting axis S, towards to a vertical V.

(18) The aligning force or the aligning pulse increases if a spacing A between the entrainer yoke pairs 30a and 30b or between the entrainer roller pairs 35a and 35b increases.

(19) An elevator cage 2b is schematically illustrated in part in FIG. 3 in a schematic elevator installation 100b or a schematic elevator shaft 1b. Arranged at the elevator cage 2b is a variant of embodiment of a cage door transom 24b by means of a movable mounting 200b in the form of a central rotary bearing 39. An aligning force or an aligning pulse, which acts counter to the entrainer yoke pairs 30c and 30d at respective entrainer plates 37c and 37d, aligns the cage door transom 24b in correspondence with an aligning movement M.sub.2. In this regard, a cage door 36a consisting of cage door elements 29c and 29d can be formed to be co-pivoting or also not. Cladding surfaces 23c and 23d, which are at the front side, of the elevator cage 2b do not co-pivot thereagainst, because they are fixedly connected with the latter.

(20) A further variant of embodiment of a cage door transom 24c, which is arranged in a movable mounting 200c by means of a central rotary bearing 39a at an elevator cage 2c, is shown in FIG. 4 in a schematic part illustration. The elevator cage 2c is disposed in a schematic elevator installation 100c or a schematic elevator shaft 1c. The cage door transom 24c is distinguished by the fact that it has additionally to the variant of embodiment of FIG. 3 curved guides 40a and 40b in each of which a respective guide roller or guide pin 41a or 41b runs along. These guide rollers or pins 41a and 41b are connected with the frame of the elevator cage 2c and thus give more stability to an aligning movement M.sub.3 of the cage door transom 24c or relieve the central bearing 39a of load.

(21) Moreover, FIG. 4 shows that arranged at the distal ends of the cage door transom 24c are weights 42a and 42b, which can by themselves exert the required aligning force or the required aligning pulse for the aligning movement M.sub.3 of the cage door transom 24c or can act in assisting manner with respect to the aligning force or the aligning pulse by the entrainer rollers at the shaft or the correction rail at the shaft.

(22) FIG. 5 shows, in schematic part illustration, two cladding surfaces 23e and 23f at the front and a cage door 36b consisting of two cage door elements 29e and 29f. The latter overlap the cladding surfaces 23e and 23f during an opening movement. Moreover, a mounting device 43 is shown for a movable mounting of a cage door transom 24d which is suspended in swing-form and which can execute an aligning movement M.sub.4 in correspondence with a movement direction 46, because it is held by at least two mounting levers 44a and 44b which are in turn each rotatably mounted by a respective rotary bearing 45a or 45b, spaced apart by a distance D, in the mounting device 43 and by a respective rotary bearing 45c or 45d in the cage door transom 24d.

(23) FIG. 6 shows in schematic part illustration a mounting device 43a for a cage door transom 24e. The cage door transom 24e is movable in a movement direction 49, because it is suspended by support rollers 47a and 47b at the mounting device 43a. The support rollers 47a and 47b roll on a guide surface 55 within two abutments 56a and 56b. In addition, an aligning movement M.sub.5 of the cage door transom 24e is sprung by springs 48a and 48b.

(24) An aligning movement M.sub.5 in any desired direction can be achieved by support rollers 47a and 47b in the form of ball rollers and by a guide surface 55 in the form of a planar or also slightly curved plate.

(25) An elevator cage 2f, which is disposed in a skewed setting in correspondence with a skew setting axis S.sub.1, is schematically illustrated in FIG. 7 in a schematic elevator installation 100f or a schematic elevator shaft 1f. A cage door transom 24f is pivotably arranged in the upper region of the elevator cage 2f by means of a movable mounting 200f in the form of a central rotary bearing 39b. Aligning rollers 50a-50d, which run along correction rails 51a and 51b, are arranged at the sides of the cage door transom 24f. The correction rails 51a and 51b can for this purpose be arranged merely in the region of a shaft door, but also continuously over the entire conveying height of the elevator installation 100f. Moreover, several aligning rollers 50a-50d can be arranged at, for example, only one correction rail 51a or 51b in two or more horizontal directions so that an aligning movement M.sub.6 of the cage door transom 24f can take place in several directions, particularly in combination with its fastening by means of flexible bearings (FIG. 2).

(26) The described arrangements of aligning rollers 50a-50d can replace one or more of the usual guide shoes by which the elevator cage 2f is guided to run along the guide rails 7a and 7b according to FIG. 1.

(27) A door frame 52, in which a cage door 36c or cage door elements 29g and 29h is or are displaceably arranged and in which cladding surfaces 23g and 23h of the elevator cage 2f overlap in the case of opening, is fixedly fastened to the underside of the cage door transom 24f. The door frame 52 is in the lower region pivotably arranged at the lower region of the elevator cage 2f by means of curved guides 53a and 53b and guide bolts or guide rollers 54a and 54b running therein so that the cage door transom 24f inclusive of the door frame 52 can remain in a vertical V.sub.1 and thus parallel and aligned with respect to shaft door elements of an opposite shaft door. The guide pins or guide rollers 54a and 54b can be formed free of abutment and longer than required so that the co-description of the aligning movement M.sub.6 away from the skew setting axis S.sub.1 towards the vertical V.sub.1 is then possible within a certain scope, even if the skew setting axis S.sub.1 should not happen to lie in the plane of the drawing, i.e. not only lateral skewed settings of the elevator cage 2f, but also skewed settings forwardly, rearwardly or diagonally are correctible within the scope of play between guide pins or guide rollers 54a and 54b in the curved guides 53a and 53b.

(28) The door frame 52, which thus co-describes the aligning movement M.sub.6 of the cage door transom 24f, can also be combined with the other disclosed variants of embodiment of a movably mounted cage door transom.

(29) Having illustrated and described the principles of the disclosed technologies, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the disclosed embodiments can be modified in arrangement and detail without departing from such principles. In view of the many possible embodiments to which the principles of the disclosed technologies can be applied, it should be recognized that the illustrated embodiments are only examples of the technologies and should not be taken as limiting the scope of the invention. Rather, the scope of the invention is defined by the following claims and their equivalents. I therefore claim as my invention all that comes within the scope and spirit of these claims.