ELEVATOR CAR FOR A DOUBLE-DECK ELEVATOR

Abstract

A double-deck elevator car has first and second vertically spaced cars each accessible via a different floor in a stop position, a car frame with at least one longitudinal support, a first support structure in the frame supporting the first car, a second support structure in the frame supporting the second car, and a linear guide movably coupling the first support structure to the longitudinal support. The linear guide has at least one rail element fastened to the longitudinal support, and at least one coupling element slidably mounted on the rail element and fastened to the first support structure. The coupling element has first and second mounting portions mounting on the rail element and a fastening portion fastening the coupling element to the first support structure. A drive moves the first support structure relative to the second support structure.

Claims

1-14. (canceled)

15. An elevator car for a double-deck elevator, wherein the elevator car has two cars arranged one above the other, wherein the cars are each accessible via a different floor in a stop position of the elevator car, the elevator car comprising: an elevator car frame having a longitudinal support extending in a longitudinal direction of the elevator car frame; a first support structure arranged in the elevator car frame supporting a first of the cars; a second support structure arranged in the elevator car frame supporting a second of the cars; a linear guide means movably coupling the first support structure to the longitudinal support wherein the first support structure is moveable along the longitudinal support relative to the second support structure; wherein the linear guide means has a rail element fastened to the longitudinal support and has a coupling element slidably mounted on the rail element and fastened to the first support structure; wherein the coupling element has a first mounting portion and a second mounting portion mounting the coupling element on the rail element, the coupling element has a fastening portion arranged between the first mounting portion and the second mounting portion and fastening the coupling element to the first support structure, wherein, in an operational state of the elevator car, the first mounting portion is arranged above the first support structure and the second mounting portion is arranged below the first support structure; and a drive means moving the first support structure relative to the second support structure.

16. The elevator car according to claim 15 wherein the coupling element is formed as a rectangular frame.

17. The elevator car according to claim 15 wherein at least one of the first mounting portion, the second mounting portion and the fastening portion is a U-shaped profile or a C-shaped profile.

18. The elevator car according to claim 15 wherein the coupling element has at least two U-shaped vertical profiles or C-shaped vertical profiles extending in the longitudinal direction of the elevator car frame, and wherein at least one of the first mounting portion, the second mounting portion and the fastening portion is integrated into the vertical profiles.

19. The elevator car according to claim 18 wherein the coupling element has two horizontal profiles and the vertical profiles are connected to the horizontal profiles to form a frame.

20. The elevator car according to claim 18 wherein the vertical profiles each have an upper sliding guide shoe arranged in the first mounting portion and a lower sliding guide shoe arranged in the second mounting portion for guiding the coupling element on the rail element.

21. The elevator car according to claim 15 wherein the elevator car frame has at least two of the longitudinal support extending in the longitudinal direction of the elevator car frame, the first support structure being arranged between the at least two longitudinal supports, and wherein the linear guide means has at least two of the rail element each being fastened to a different one of the at least two longitudinal supports and the linear guide means has at least two of the coupling element fastened to opposite sides of the first support structure and each being movably coupled to one of at least two rail elements.

22. The elevator car according to claim 15 wherein the elevator car frame has four of the longitudinal support extending in the longitudinal direction of the elevator car frame, the longitudinal supports being arranged in two opposing pairs, wherein the first support structure is arranged between the pairs of longitudinal supports, and wherein the linear guide means has four of the rail element each fastened to a different one of the longitudinal supports and the linear guide means has two of the coupling element fastened to opposite sides of the first support structure and each being movably coupled to two of the rail elements.

23. The elevator car according to claim 15 wherein the linear guide means has a car guide element that movably couples the first car to the longitudinal support such that the first car is guided along the longitudinal support when the first support structure is moved.

24. The elevator car according to claim 15 wherein the first support structure supports the first car being a lower car and the second support structure supports the second car being an upper car.

25. The elevator car according to claim 15 wherein the drive means applies a lifting force to two diametrically opposed corner portions of the first support structure.

26. The elevator car according to claim 15 wherein the drive means includes a threaded spindle, a threaded nut slidably mounted on the threaded spindle and fastened to the first support structure, and a drive unit driving the threaded spindle.

27. A double-deck elevator comprising: an elevator car according to claim 15; and a control device controlling the drive means of the elevator car based upon a floor distance between two floors to be approached at the same time by the elevator car.

28. A method for controlling the double-deck elevator according to claim 27, the method comprising the steps of: receiving floor information regarding two floors to be approached at the same time by the elevator car; evaluating the floor information and determining a floor distance between the two floors to be approached at the same time; and issuing a control command controlling the drive means of the elevator car based on the determined floor distance.

29. The method according to claim 28 wherein the first car is a lower car and the second car is an upper car and including further steps of issuing the control command to lower the lower car when the determined floor distance is greater than a previously determined floor distance, and issuing the control command to raise the lower car when the determined floor distance is smaller than the previously determined floor distance.

30. An elevator car for a double-deck elevator, wherein the elevator car has two cars arranged one above the other, wherein the cars are each accessible via a different floor in a stop position of the elevator car, the elevator car comprising: an elevator car frame having four longitudinal supports extending in a longitudinal direction of the elevator car frame; a first support structure arranged in the elevator car frame supporting a lower one of the cars; a second support structure arranged in the elevator car frame supporting an upper one of the cars; a linear guide means movably coupling the first support structure to the longitudinal supports wherein the first support structure is moveable along the longitudinal supports relative to the second support structure; wherein the linear guide means has four rail elements each fastened to a different one the longitudinal supports and has two coupling elements slidably mounted on the rail elements and fastened to the first support structure; wherein the coupling element has a first mounting portion and a second mounting portion mounting the coupling elements on the rail element, the coupling elements each having a fastening portion arranged between the first mounting portion and the second mounting portion and fastening the coupling element to the first support structure, wherein, in an operational state of the elevator car, the first mounting portion is arranged above the first support structure and the second mounting portion is arranged below the first support structure; and a drive means moving the first support structure relative to the second support structure.

31. The elevator car according to claim 30 wherein the coupling element has upper sliding guide shoes arranged in the first mounting portion and lower sliding guide shoes arranged in the second mounting portion for guiding the coupling element on the rail elements.

Description

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0041] FIG. 1 shows a portion of an elevator car according to one embodiment of the invention.

[0042] FIG. 2 shows the elevator car from FIG. 1 with the lower car installed.

[0043] FIG. 3 shows an enlarged view of a coupling element from FIGS. 1 and 2.

[0044] FIG. 4 shows a double-deck elevator according to one embodiment of the invention.

[0045] FIG. 5 shows a flow chart for a method for controlling the double-deck elevator from FIG. 4.

[0046] The drawings are merely schematic and not to scale. Like reference signs denote like or equivalent features in the various drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0047] FIG. 1 shows a portion of an elevator car 100 according to one embodiment of the invention. The elevator car 100 comprises a double-deck elevator car frame 102 having a first support structure 104 for supporting a first car and a second support structure 106 for supporting a second car. For better visibility, only a lower portion of the elevator car 100 or the elevator car frame 102 is shown in FIG. 1. The two support structures 104, 106 are, for example, interconnected to form a closed frame, also referred to as the central frame, via a total of four longitudinal supports 108 extending in a longitudinal direction 107 of the elevator car frame 102. In this case, two longitudinal supports 108 are combined to form a pair of longitudinal supports 110. The two pairs of longitudinal supports 110 are arranged opposite one another on the two support structures 104, 106, i.e. the two support structures 104, 106 are each located between the two pairs of longitudinal supports 110. The second support structure 106, in this case an upper support structure, is rigidly connected, for example screwed, to the longitudinal supports 108, while the first support structure 104, in this case a lower support structure, is movably coupled to the four longitudinal supports 108 via a linear guide means 112. The linear guide means 112 is designed to guide the first support structure 104 along the longitudinal supports 108, that is to say vertically, so that the first support structure 104 is slidable relative to the second support structure 106.

[0048] Furthermore, the elevator car 100 comprises a drive means 114 which is designed to apply a lifting force to the first support structure 104 relative to the second support structure 106. Thus, the first support structure 104 can be raised or lowered in the vertical direction with respect to the second support structure 106, for example depending on a particular floor distance between two floors to be approached.

[0049] Corresponding to the arrangement of the longitudinal supports 108, the linear guide means 112 according to this embodiment comprises a sliding guide having a total of four rail elements 116, for example profile rails, which are each fastened to one of the four longitudinal supports 108 and each extend along the four longitudinal supports 108. The rail elements 116 are thus arranged in pairs similarly to the longitudinal supports 108 and extend in parallel with one another.

[0050] Furthermore, the linear guide means 112 comprises two coupling elements 118 which are designed to movably couple the rail elements 116 to the first support structure 104. The two coupling elements 118 are arranged on opposite sides of the first support structure 104 and are screwed thereto, for example. In addition, the two coupling elements 118 are each slidably mounted on two rail elements 116 arranged next to one another in pairs. The first support structure 104 is thus movably coupled on both sides to the elevator car frame 102, more precisely to the longitudinal supports 108.

[0051] As can be seen in FIG. 1, the two coupling elements 118 each have a significantly smaller width than the first support structure 104. It can also be seen that the two coupling elements 118 are very flat so that they can be arranged between the longitudinal supports 108 and the first support structure 104 without having to significantly reduce the size of the first support structure 104 and/or significantly increase the cross-sectional area of the elevator shaft in which the elevator car 100 is to be installed.

[0052] As shown in FIG. 1, the drive means 114 comprises, for example, two threaded spindles 120, on each of which a threaded nut 122 is arranged so as to be slidable in the longitudinal direction of the longitudinal supports 108. The threaded nuts 122 are each fastened to the first support structure 104, for example screwed thereto. Furthermore, the drive means 114 comprises two separate drive units 124 which are each designed to set one of the two threaded spindles 120 in a rotational movement and thereby move the threaded nuts 122 in the longitudinal direction of the longitudinal supports 108. In addition, the drive means 114 has two mounting units 126 which are each designed to rotatably mount one of the threaded spindles 120 on one of the longitudinal supports 108.

[0053] As can be seen in FIG. 1, the threaded nuts 122 can be attached to diametrically opposed corner portions of the first support structure 104, so that the lifting force is introduced at these corner portions.

[0054] The drive means 114 sits, for example, on a floor frame 128 which is rigidly connected to the four longitudinal supports 108, for example screwed thereto. The first support structure 104 is arranged between the floor frame 128 and the second support structure 106. In addition to the floor frame 128, the elevator car 100 can have a ceiling frame rigidly connected to the four longitudinal supports 108 for further stabilization, it being possible for the second support structure 106 to be arranged between the first support structure 104 and the ceiling frame. In addition to the mounting units 126, the floor frame 128 is used to absorb reaction forces when the lifting force is applied to the first support structure 104.

[0055] A drive means 114 comprising pneumatic and/or hydraulic drive units is also possible.

[0056] Alternatively, the elevator car frame 102 can also be designed with only two instead of four longitudinal supports 108. In this case, the two longitudinal supports 108 can be dimensioned so as to be correspondingly larger in order to ensure sufficient stability of the elevator car frame 102. The linear guidance of the first support structure 104 in the elevator car frame 102 can take place analogously to the embodiment described above with four longitudinal supports 108.

[0057] Depending on the load on the elevator car 100, it is also possible to arrange the longitudinal supports 108 on one side and thus guide the first support structure 104 in the elevator car frame 102 on one side.

[0058] FIG. 2 shows the elevator car 100 from FIG. 1 with the lower car 200 installed. The lower car 200 sits on the first support structure 104. For better visibility, the upper support structure 106, which forms an upper deck of the elevator car 100, is shown without an upper car.

[0059] In this example, the two pairs of longitudinal supports 110 are arranged so as to each receive a guide rail 202 for guiding the elevator car 100 in an elevator shaft. The guide rail 202 can be guided centrally between two longitudinal supports 108 of a pair of longitudinal supports 110.

[0060] In addition, the elevator car 100 comprises, for example, four car guide elements 204 which are arranged opposite one another in pairs at an upper end of the lower car 200 facing the second support structure 106 and are guided on the rail elements 116. The car guide elements 204 are designed as sliding guide shoes, for example.

[0061] FIG. 3 shows an enlarged view of a coupling element 118 from FIGS. 1 and 2. According to this embodiment, the coupling element 118 is designed as a rectangular frame comprising an upper mounting portion 300 located above the first support structure 104 with two upper sliding guide shoes 301 and a lower mounting portion 302 located below the first support structure 104 with two lower sliding guide shoes 303. Between the two mounting portions 300, 302, the coupling element 118 has a fastening portion 304 at which the coupling element 118 is screwed to a transverse support 306 of the first support structure 104. The upper sliding guide shoe 301 and the lower sliding guide shoe 303 are used to guide the coupling element 118 on two parallel rail elements 116.

[0062] As can be seen in FIG. 3, the coupling element 118 can for example be constructed very simply from two vertical U-profiles 308 and two horizontal U-profiles 310. The sliding guide shoes 301, 303 can be arranged in the vertical U-profiles 310 to save space. Likewise, the coupling element 118 can be fastened to the first support structure 104 via the vertical U-profiles 308, for example screwed thereto.

[0063] FIG. 4 shows a double-deck elevator 400 according to one embodiment of the invention. The double-deck elevator 400 comprises, for example, the elevator car 100 as described above with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. An operational state of the elevator car 100 is shown, in which an upper car 402 is integrated in addition to the lower car 200. The upper car 402 sits on the second support structure 106. Furthermore, the double-deck elevator 400 comprises a control device 404 which is designed to control the drive means 114 in such a way that a vertical distance between the two cars 200, 402 is adjusted to a floor distance between two floors to be approached at the same time. For this purpose, the control device 404 receives floor information 406 which, in accordance with a stop request from an elevator user, specifies at which two floors the elevator should stop next at the same time. Using the floor information 406, the control device 404 determines the floor distance between the two floors to be approached, for example by retrieving a corresponding value from a table stored in the control device 404. Finally, on the basis of the floor distance, the control device 404 generates a control command 408 for the corresponding control of the drive means 114.

[0064] FIG. 5 shows a flowchart for a method 500 for controlling the double-deck elevator 400 from FIG. 4. In this case, in a first step 510, the floor information 406 is received in the control device 404. In a second step 520, the floor information 406 is evaluated by the control unit 404 in order to determine the floor distance between the two floors to be approached. For example, it is checked whether the determined floor distance is greater or smaller than a previously determined floor distance. If the determined floor distance is greater than a previously determined floor distance, in a step 530 the control command 408 is issued to lower the lower car 200 relative to the upper car 402 according to a difference between the determined floor distance and the previously determined floor distance. If the determined floor distance is smaller than the previously determined floor distance, in a step 540 the control command 408 is issued to raise the lower car 200 relative to the upper car 402 according to a difference between the determined floor distance and the previously determined floor distance.

[0065] The arrangement of four longitudinal supports 108 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is particularly suitable for heavy-duty elevators for transporting loads of more than 10 metric tons. The use of four instead of two longitudinal supports 108 reduces the individual load on the longitudinal supports 108. Accordingly, the size of the longitudinal supports 108 can be reduced.

[0066] The rail elements 116 can advantageously be used to reinforce the longitudinal supports 108. For this purpose, the rail elements 116 are connected directly to the longitudinal supports 108. In addition, the rail elements 116 can be designed, for example, with a particularly rigid profile shape. Conversely, the longitudinal supports 108 can advantageously be used to reinforce the rail elements 116.

[0067] The horizontal space requirement for the coupling element 118 can in particular be reduced to a minimum by inserting the sliding guide shoes 301, 303, as shown in FIG. 3, each in a U- or C-profile, which can be a load-bearing component of the coupling element 118.

[0068] 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.

[0069] 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.