POSITIONING AID FOR POSITIONING A NUT ON A GUIDE RAIL OF AN ELEVATOR SYSTEM

Abstract

A positioning aid positions a nut on a guide rail of an elevator system, the guide rail being formed as a hollow rail, the hollow rail having a plurality of elongated holes arranged one behind the other in the longitudinal direction of the hollow rail in order to be fastened to a guide rail holder. The positioning aid includes an elongate fastening portion to which at least one nut is fastened and which is dimensioned such that it can be passed through one of the elongated holes together with the at least one nut and moved within the hollow rail. The positioning aid also includes a holding portion for holding the fastening portion, the holding portion being fastened to one end of the fastening portion and being configured to be wider than the elongated hole.

Claims

1-13. (canceled)

14. A positioning system for an elevator system, the positioning system comprising: a guide rail for guiding an elevator car, the guide rail formed as a hollow rail having a plurality of elongated holes formed therein, the elongated holes adapted for fastening the guide rail to a guide rail holder; a positioning aid for positioning a nut on the hollow rail, the positioning aid including an elongate fastening portion and a holding portion; wherein the elongate fastening portion has the nut fastened thereto, the fastening portion being dimensioned to pass through one of the elongated holes together with the nut and moved within the hollow rail; and wherein the holding portion is adapted for holding the fastening portion, the holding portion being fastened to one end of the fastening portion and being configured wider than the elongated holes.

15. The positioning system according to claim 14 wherein the elongated holes are arranged one behind another in a longitudinal direction of the hollow rail.

16. The positioning system according to claim 14 wherein the holding portion is fastened to the fastening portion via a neck, the neck being kinked such that the holding portion protrudes from the fastening portion in a direction transverse to a plane in which the fastening portion extends.

17. The positioning system according to claim 16 wherein the neck is resilient transversely to a longitudinal direction of the neck.

18. The positioning system according to claim 16 wherein the neck has a longitudinal slot formed therein extending in a longitudinal direction of the neck.

19. The positioning system according to claim 16 wherein the fastening portion, the holding portion and the neck are formed as different portions of a metal strip.

20. The positioning system according to claim 14 wherein the nut is pressed into a recess in the fastening portion.

21. The positioning system according to claim 14 including two of the nut fastened to the fastening portion, the two nuts being arranged one behind another in a longitudinal direction of the fastening portion.

22. The positioning system according to claim 14 wherein the holding portion is fastened to the fastening portion via a neck and the neck has a smaller width than the one elongated hole.

23. The positioning system according to claim 14 wherein the holding portion is fastened to the fastening portion via a neck, the neck having a width relative to a width of the one elongated hole enabling the neck to be clamped in the one elongated hole.

24. The positioning system according to claim 14 wherein the fastening portion is wider than a width of the one elongated hole.

25. A guide rail system for an elevator system, the guide rail system comprising: a guide rail holder for anchoring the guide rail system to a wall of an elevator shaft of the elevator system; and the positioning system according to claim 14 wherein the guide rail holder and the hollow rail are screwed together by a screw engaging in the nut of the positioning aid of the positioning system.

26. An elevator system comprising: an elevator shaft; and the guide rail system according to claim 25 installed in the elevator shaft.

Description

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0037] FIG. 1 shows parts of an elevator system having a guide rail system according to an embodiment of the invention.

[0038] FIG. 2 shows a portion of the guide rail system from FIG. 1 in an enlarged representation.

[0039] FIG. 3 shows a positioning aid according to one embodiment of the invention.

[0040] FIG. 4 shows a portion of a positioning aid according to a further embodiment of the invention.

[0041] The drawings are merely schematic and not to scale. Like reference signs denote like or equivalent features in the various drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0042] FIG. 1 shows a section of an elevator system 100 having a guide rail system 102 for guiding an elevator car 104 through an elevator shaft 106. The guide rail system 102 comprises a plurality of guide rail holders 108, for example in the form of fastening brackets, which are anchored on the one hand in a wall 110 of the elevator shaft 106, for example screwed to profile rails concreted into the wall 110 and, on the other hand, each screwed to a guide rail 112. The guide rail 112 guides the elevator car 104. The guide rail 112 is configured as a hollow rail 114 which has a plurality of elongated holes (not visible in this case) on an installation side 116 facing the wall 110. The hollow rail 114 extends in the longitudinal direction of the guide rail 112. The guide rail holders 108 are each screwed to the hollow rail 114. For this purpose, nuts (not shown) were suitably positioned in the hollow rail 114 by means of a plurality of positioning aids 118. The positioning aids 118 and the guide rail 112 are configured as components of a positioning system 120 of the guide rail system 102. The positioning aids 118 were each inserted via elongated holes which are used for screwing to the installation side 116, i.e., via the front side of the hollow rail 114. The guide rail system 102 is described in more detail below.

[0043] FIG. 2 shows an enlarged section of the guide rail system 102 from FIG. 1, more precisely a view of the installation side 116. The drawing shows a guide rail holder 108 which is screwed to the hollow rail 114 via two screws 200. The screws 200 are each passed through a screw hole 202 in the guide rail holder 108. The screw holes 202 can be elongated holes, for example. Alternatively, the guide rail holder 108 can also be screwed to the hollow rail 114 using only one screw 200.

[0044] On the installation side 116, the hollow rail 114 has a plurality of elongated holes 204 which are arranged one behind the other in the direction of a longitudinal axis 206 of the hollow rail 114, and the corresponding longitudinal axis thereof is aligned parallel to the longitudinal axis 206 of the hollow rail 114. The screws 200 are each screwed into a nut positioned in the hollow rail 114. The nuts are each held in the hollow rail 114 by a positioning aid 118.

[0045] The positioning aids 118 were each inserted through an at least partially exposed elongated hole 204 above and below the guide rail holder 108 and arranged such that the nuts each face an overlapping region in which the screw holes 202 and the elongated holes 204 overlap.

[0046] To hold the positioning aids 118, for example with the thumb and forefinger, each of the positioning aids 118 has a correspondingly shaped holding portion 208. The holding portion 208 is widened in relation to the elongated holes 204 in such a way that it does not fit through the elongated holes 204. The holding portion 208 thus acts as a kind of hook or stop which prevents the positioning aid 118 from falling out of the elongated hole 204 and possibly prevents the positioning aid 118 from falling into the hollow rail 114.

[0047] FIG. 3 shows one of the positioning aids 118 from FIG. 2 in an enlarged representation. The positioning aid 118 comprises an elongated fastening portion 300, in this case in the form of a strip, to which two nuts 302 are fastened. The fastening portion 300 can also have only one nut 302 or more than two nuts 302. The nuts 302 can be arranged one behind the other at a certain distance in the longitudinal direction of the fastening portion 300. For example, the nuts 302 can be threaded inserts that are pressed into corresponding recesses 304 in the fastening portion 300. However, any other fastening methods are also possible.

[0048] The dimensions of the fastening portion 300, such as the width and length thereof, are selected such that it can be easily passed through the elongated holes 204 and moved with sufficient freedom of movement within the hollow rail 114, for example in the longitudinal direction of the hollow rail 114, or can be twisted at least slightly. The width of the fastening portion 300 can be greater than the width of the elongated holes 204, such that the fastening portion 300 projects beyond a corresponding contour of the elongated holes 204 on both sides when the positioning aid 118 is in the installed state.

[0049] The holding portion 208 is fastened to one end of the fastening portion 300. The holding portion 208 can be connected to the fastening portion 300 via a neck 306. The neck 306 can be configured to be significantly narrower than the fastening portion 300 and the holding portion 208. The neck 306 can also be configured to be narrower than the elongated holes 204 in order to allow the positioning aid 118 to be easily displaced in the elongated holes 204. However, it is also conceivable that the neck 306 has the same (nominal) width as the elongated holes 204 or a slightly greater width than the elongated holes 204, which promotes rubbing or canting of the neck 306 in the elongated holes 204. Such rubbing or canting can be desirable to a certain extent, since it prevents the positioning aid 118 from slipping unintentionally when the holding portion 208 is let go.

[0050] In addition, the positioning aid 118 can be slightly curved at the neck 306 such that the holding portion 208 protrudes slightly from the fastening portion 300 and thus projects from the hollow rail 114.

[0051] The fastening portion 300, the neck 306, and the holding portion 208 may be different portions of a metal strip 308, for example.

[0052] The neck 306 can optionally be configured to be resilient transversely to the longitudinal direction thereof. As shown in FIG. 4, the neck 306 can be configured having a longitudinal slot 400, for example, which increases the resilient deformability of the neck 306 transversely to the longitudinal direction thereof (indicated by two arrows). The longitudinal direction of the neck 306 is indicated with a chain line.

[0053] Installing the guide rail 112 to the guide rail holder 108 may comprise the following basic steps. The hollow rail 114 is pre-positioned relative to the guide rail holder 108 in such a way that a screw hole 202 in the guide rail holder 108 and an elongated hole 204 in the hollow rail 114 overlap in an overlapping region.

[0054] In a first step, the fastening portion 300 of the positioning aid 118 is passed through an at least partially exposed elongated hole 204 in the hollow rail 114 by means of the holding portion 208 and aligned within the hollow rail 114 in such a way that the nut 302 fastened to the fastening portion 300 (or one of the nuts 302) faces the overlapping region.

[0055] In a second step, the guide rail holder 108 and the hollow rail 114 are clamped together by screwing a screw 200 into the nut 302.

[0056] With a narrow side of the fastening portion 300 first, the positioning aid 118 can, for example, be inserted into the elongated hole 204 and then be screwed in in a fitting manner. The nut 302 can then be positioned in the longitudinal direction of the elongated hole 204 by moving the positioning aid 118.

[0057] Finally, it should be noted that terms such as “comprising,” “including,” 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.

[0058] 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.