Car arrangement and method for mounting a spindle drive in a car arrangement for a double-decker elevator

Abstract

A car arrangement includes: a first car and a second car arranged one above the other in a car frame; wherein at least the first car is displaceable along the car frame in the direction of a vertical axis by a spindle drive; wherein the spindle drive includes a spindle and a drive unit; wherein the spindle drive is guided through a cutout in a support structure of the car frame, and the drive unit has a housing with a fastening flange fastening the housing to the support structure; and wherein the housing has first and second positions in relation to the cutout, the fastening flange exposing the cutout in the first position so the spindle drive can be guided through the cutout in the direction of the vertical axis, and the fastening flange projects beyond an outer edge of the cutout in the second position.

Claims

1. A car arrangement for a double-decker elevator, the car arrangement comprising: a first car; a second car; a car frame adapted to be arranged in an elevator shaft of the double-decker elevator and displaceable in a longitudinal direction of the elevator shaft; wherein the first car and the second car are arranged one above the other in the car frame in an operational state of the double-decker elevator; wherein the first car is displaceable along the car frame in a direction of a vertical axis by a spindle drive; wherein the spindle drive includes a spindle mechanically coupled to the first car and a drive unit driving the spindle; wherein the drive unit has a housing with a fastening flange adapted to fasten the housing to the support structure; wherein a cutout is provided in the support structure in form of a continuous opening in the support structure that connects an upper side to a lower side of the support structure, therefore allowing the fastening flange to be guided through the cutout unhindered; wherein the housing is rotatable together with the fastening flange about its longitudinal axis between a first angular position in relation to the cutout and a second angular position in relation to the cutout; and when the housing is in the first angular position the fastening flange exposes the cutout so that the spindle drive can be guided through the cutout in the direction of the vertical axis, and when the housing is in the second angular position the fastening flange projects beyond an outer edge of the cutout and is configured to be fastened in that second angular position to the support structure of the car frame.

2. The car arrangement according to claim 1 wherein the support structure forms a floor of the car frame.

3. The car arrangement according to claim 1 wherein the first car is arranged below the second car in the car frame.

4. The car arrangement according to claim 1 wherein the fastening flange projects beyond the outer edge of the cutout on mutually opposite sides of the cutout when the housing is in the second angular position.

5. The car arrangement according to claim 1 wherein the fastening flange fastens to the support structure by a damping element.

6. The car arrangement according to claim 5 wherein the fastening flange and the damping element are screwed together, and/or the damping element and the support structure are screwed together.

7. The car arrangement according to claim 5 wherein the damping element is divided into at least two individual parts that are adapted to be mounted and/or dismounted separately from one another.

8. The car arrangement according to claim 5 wherein the damping element is formed from at least two layers lying one above the other, the layers being of different materials.

9. The car arrangement according to claim 8 wherein the at least two layers include two outer layers and at least one intermediate layer arranged between the two outer layers, wherein a material of the intermediate layer differs from a material of each of the outer layers.

10. The car arrangement according to claim 9 wherein the intermediate layer material is a plastics material and/or wherein the outer layers material is a metal material.

11. The car arrangement according to claim 1 including: wherein the first car is displaceable along the car frame in the direction of the vertical axis by the spindle drive and another of the spindle drive; wherein a spindle of the another spindle drive is mechanically coupled to the first car; and wherein the another spindle drive is guided through another cutout in the support structure, and a drive unit of the another spindle drive has a housing with a fastening flange positionable in the first angular position and the second angular position in relation to the another cutout.

12. The car arrangement according to claim 1 wherein the second car is fixed in the car frame in the direction of the vertical axis.

13. A double-decker elevator comprising: an elevator shaft; and the car arrangement according to claim 1 wherein the car frame of the car arrangement is displaceable in the longitudinal direction of the elevator shaft.

14. A method for mounting a spindle drive in the car arrangement according to claim 1, the method comprising the steps of: arranging the spindle drive in relation to the cutout in the support structure of the car frame wherein the housing of the spindle drive is in the first angular position in relation to the cutout so that the fastening flange of the housing exposes the cutout; guiding the spindle drive through the cutout in the direction of the vertical axis; rotating the housing into the second angular position so that the fastening flange projects beyond the outer edge of the cutout; and fastening the housing to the support structure by the fastening flange.

Description

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 shows a double-decker elevator according to one embodiment of the invention.

(2) FIG. 2 shows a top view of a section of a support structure of a car arrangement according to one embodiment of the invention during the (dis) mounting of a spindle drive.

(3) FIG. 3 shows a top view of the section of the support structure with the spindle drive mounted.

(4) FIG. 4 shows a cross-sectional view of the support structure from FIG. 3 along a section line IV-IV.

(5) The drawings are merely schematic, and not to scale. Like reference signs refer to like or analogous features in the different drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(6) FIG. 1 shows a double-decker elevator 1 in an operational state. The double-decker elevator 1 comprises a car arrangement 2 consisting of a first car 3, a second car 4 and a car frame 5.

(7) In an elevator shaft 6 of the double-decker elevator 1, vertically running guide rails 7 can be anchored, between which the car frame 5 can be mounted so as to be displaceable in the direction of a vertical axis z, hereinafter referred to as the z-direction for short, i.e. in the longitudinal direction of the elevator shaft 6.

(8) The two cars 3, 4 are arranged one above the other in the car frame 5. In this example, the first car 3 is located below the second car 4. However, it is also possible to reverse the arrangement of the two cars 3, 4 in the car frame 5.

(9) By moving the car frame 5 in the elevator shaft 6 along the guide rails 7, the two cars 3, 4 can be moved together and thus stop simultaneously at two floors that are adjacent, i.e. directly above one another.

(10) Floor heights can vary within a building. For example, a vertical distance between two adjacent floors can decrease as the height of a building increases, which can be the case with high-rise buildings in particular. It should therefore be possible to adjust a vertical distance between the two cars 3, 4 within the car frame 5 accordingly.

(11) For this purpose, at least one of the cars 3, 4, here by way of example the first, lower car 3, is mounted in the car frame 5 so as to be displaceable in the z-direction.

(12) The second car 4, on the other hand, can be firmly connected to the car frame 5, i.e. fixed to the car frame 5 in the z-direction.

(13) The vertical adjustment of the first car 3 can take place, for example, by means of two (identical) spindle drives 8, each of which comprises a spindle 9 and a drive unit 10 for driving, i.e. motor-driven rotation of, the spindle 9.

(14) Each drive unit 10 comprises a housing 11 in which, for example, an electric drive motor and optionally a gearbox coupling the drive motor to the corresponding spindle 9 can be arranged.

(15) Each spindle drive 8 is guided through a specially provided cutout 12 in a support structure 13 of the car frame 5.

(16) In this example, the support structure 13 forms a floor 14 of the car frame 5, i.e. both cars 3, 4 are located above the support structure 13. This means that the first car 3 is mounted in a longitudinal section of the car frame 5 located between the support structure 13 and the second car 4 so as to be displaceable in the z-direction.

(17) The spindles 9 can also each be guided through a floor frame 15 of the first car 3. For example, a spindle nut (not shown) fastened to and/or in the floor frame 15 can sit on each spindle 9.

(18) Each housing 11 also has a fastening flange 16, via which the housing 11, and thus the corresponding spindle drive 8, is fastened to the support structure 13.

(19) For example, the housings 11 can be mounted suspended in the corresponding cutout 12, wherein the fastening flanges 16 can rest on an upper side of the support structure 13 facing the floor frame 15.

(20) As can be seen in FIG. 1, the spindle 9 and the drive unit 10 of the same spindle drive 8 can have a common longitudinal axis, wherein the spindle 9 can extend upward in the z-direction from the drive unit 10 toward the first car 3. At its free end, the spindle 9 can be rotatably mounted in a corresponding spindle bearing of the car frame 5.

(21) By rotating the spindle 9 in the corresponding spindle nut (not shown) by means of the corresponding drive unit 10, depending on the direction of rotation, a vertical distance between the support structure 13 and the floor frame 15 is either shortened or lengthened, i.e. the first car 3 is either moved toward or away from the second car 4 (which is fixed in the car frame 5).

(22) In order to simplify the (dis) mounting of the spindle drives 8, for example for maintenance or servicing purposes, each fastening flange 16 can be oriented in two different positions relative to the corresponding cutout 12 by rotating the corresponding housing 11 about its longitudinal axis accordingly.

(23) FIG. 2 shows a (dis) mounting position of the fastening flange 16, in which the fastening flange 16 can be guided through the cutout 12 unhindered in the z-direction. The cutout 12 is large enough to allow not only the fastening flange 16 but also the rest of the spindle drive 8, i.e. the spindle 9 and the drive unit 10 with its housing 11, to be guided through the cutout 12 in the z-direction in the (dis) mounting position.

(24) FIG. 3 shows a fastening position of the fastening flange 16, into which the fastening flange 16 can be brought, for example, by rotating the housing 11 (not shown in FIG. 3), to which the fastening flange 16 is attached, by 90 degrees about its longitudinal axis starting from the (dis) mounting position.

(25) In the fastening position, the fastening flange 16 partially projects beyond an outer edge 17 of the cutout 12. This prevents the spindle drive 8 from being guided through the cutout 12 in the z-direction-away from the observer in the view shown in FIG. 3.

(26) For example, the fastening flange 16 can project beyond the outer edge 17 on both sides, which improves the support of the spindle drive 8 on the support structure 13.

(27) The fastening flange 16 can be fastened to the support structure 13 directly or optionally by a vibration-damping damping element 18. The damping element 18 can be arranged between the fastening flange 16 and the support structure 13, as can be seen in FIG. 4.

(28) For example, the fastening flange 16 can be screwed to the damping element 18 with a plurality of screws 19, while the damping element 18 can in turn be screwed to the support structure 13 with a plurality of screws 19.

(29) It is possible that the damping element 18 is composed of two or more than two individual parts 20. The individual parts 20 can be (dis) mountable separately from one another. For example, the individual parts 20 can at least partially enclose the drive unit 10 and/or the housing 11 in the mounted state.

(30) As shown in FIG. 4, the damping element 18 can be constructed from a plurality of layers 21, 22 of different materials lying one above the other, in this case from two stabilizing, metallic outer layers 21 and a vibration-damping plastics layer lying between the two outer layers 21 as an intermediate layer 22. One of the outer layers 21 can lie against the fastening flange 16 and the other outer layer 21 against the support structure 13.

(31) A method for mounting a spindle drive 8 in the car arrangement 2 is described by way of example below.

(32) First, the spindle drive 8 is arranged in relation to the cutout 12 in such a way that the fastening flange 16 of the housing 11 is oriented in the (dis) mounting position in relation to the cutout 12.

(33) The spindle drive 8 can then be lifted in the z-direction using a suitable lifting device, such as a crane, and guided through the cutout 12 from below until the fastening flange 16 lies above the cutout 12.

(34) Next, the housing 11 is rotated into the fastening position.

(35) The individual parts 20 of the damping element 18 are now positioned on the support structure 13 and screwed to it, but without fully tightening the relevant screws 19.

(36) The spindle drive 8 is then lowered again until the fastening flange 16 rests flat on the damping element 18.

(37) The fastening flange 16 is then screwed to the damping element 18, but without fully tightening the relevant screws 19.

(38) The spindle drive 8 can now also be oriented.

(39) Only after the spindle drive 8 has been correctly oriented are the screws 19 fully tightened.

(40) The spindle drive 8 can correspondingly be dismounted in the reverse order.

(41) Finally, it should be noted that terms such as having, comprising, etc. do not exclude other elements or steps, and indefinite articles such as a or an do not exclude a plurality. Furthermore, it is noted that features or steps described with reference to one of the preceding embodiments can also be used in combination with features or steps described with reference to other of the above embodiments.

(42) 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.