AU2005200669B2

AU2005200669B2 - Residential Lift

Info

Publication number: AU2005200669B2
Application number: AU2005200669A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Peter Theo van Emmerik; Rosemary Lee van Emmerik
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Van Emmerick Peter; Van Emmerick Rosemary
Priority date: 2004-02-17
Filing date: 2005-02-16
Publication date: 2010-05-27
Anticipated expiration: 2025-02-16
Also published as: AU2005200669A1; AU2010214698A1

Description

Regulation 3.2 -1 AUSTRALIA Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT APPLICANT: Peter Theo Van Emmerick Rosemary Lee Van Emmerick NUMBER: 2004900752 FILING DATE: 17/ 2/2004 Invention Title: RESIDENTIAL LIFT The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me/us: 2 RESIDENTIAL LIFT 5 Area of the Invention This invention relates to the area of passenger lifts between successive stories of a building and in particular to a vertical passenger lift adapted for use for two-storey residential applications. Although the invention will be described here in terms of its 10 application to two story residences its application is in fact more general and can apply to multi story dwellings and other buildings. Background to the Invention 15 Many homes have two storeys and can be inconvenient for people who are in any way incapacitated and unable to easily use stairs. The provision of a lift between adjacent floors of a house is generally very space consuming as all conventional lifts have relatively large lift-way enclosures and 20 associated doors and are not readily adaptable to a building which has not been specifically designed to include such a lift. The discussion of documents, acts, materials, devices, articles and the like is included in this specification solely for the purpose of providing a context for the present 25 invention. It is not suggested or represented that any or all of these matters formed part of the prior art base or were common general knowledge in the field relevant to the present invention as it existed before the priority date of each claim of this application.

3 Throughout the description and claims of this specification, the word "comprise" and variations of the word, such as "comprising" and "comprises", is not intended to exclude other additives, components, integers or steps. 5 Outline of the Invention It is desirable to provide a vertical lift suitable for two storey residential applications which lift is both unobtrusive and blends into the residential environment and is suitable for retro-installation in existing homes, lends itself to mass production and 10 complies with the safety requirements set out in the Standard Codes for lifts. The invention provides a vertical passenger lift assembly for use between an upper and a lower storey of a building with corresponding floors, said assembly having one or more hoisting ropes, a lift car, no lift-way enclosures and including a rope 15 equalising yoke, a hoist motor, a rotating drum for hoisting the lift car and electrical control equipment built into an upper portion of the lift car and guide rails positioned on either side of the lift car which provide means for moving the lift car between an upper and a lower position, wherein the one or more hoisting ropes are attached at one end to the drum and at the other end to a fixed structure and the rope equalising 20 yoke engages the one or more hoisting ropes between their ends. In some embodiments the lift car is so constructed that in a lower position with its surface on the base of the lower storey, it leaves a detachable roof panel behind to sit flush in the recess for the lift opening of the upper storey floor. In these 25 embodiments, the detachable panel may then reattach itself to the lift car as it travels up to form a load sensitive panel. In some embodiments, the guide rails form the entire fixed structural component of the lift and transfer its loads to a ground floor slab. 30 In some embodiments hoisting machinery, wire rope sheaves and grippers are mounted on a rope equalizing yoke to maximise available headroom. In some embodiments load sensitive panels may be provided to eliminate the possibility of entrapment between the moving lift car and the floor or ceiling.

4 In order that the invention may be more readily understood an embodiment of the invention will be described herein by way of non limiting example with reference to the accompanying drawings. 5 Brief Description of the Drawing Figures Fig. 1 Shows a vertical cross-section through the lift according to an embodiment of the invention; 10 Fig. 2 Shows a horizontal cross-section through the lift of Figure 1 which corresponds with the view shown in Figure 1; Fig. 3 Shows a cross-section through the lift hoist mechanism of the lift of Figure 1; 15 Description of an Embodiment of the Invention The lift according to an embodiment of the invention is a vertical lift without a lift-way enclosure. 20 In a study of the requirements of the available Legislation covering the design and safety of operation of vertical lifts, it was found that the vertical lift would broadly be covered by a non-automatically controlled lift for persons with limited mobility and that if no lift-way enclosures were required for the lower landing, the same should be acceptable for the upper or any other landing provided it met the conditions applicable 25 to the lower landing. A preferred embodiment of the invention is shown in Figures 1 and 2. and has a body 10 which is generally semi-circular in shape rather than rectangular in order to be unobtrusive although any preferred shape may be used in the invention. 30 Hoisting machinery and electrical control equipment are built into an upper portion 20 of the lift car 10 but are separate from its passenger compartment 30 and interior 32 which is entered through open side 31 of the passenger compartment 30.

5 Guide rails 40 are located on either side of the lift components 20 and 30 on a centroid and house hoisting ropes 34 and gripper bars 35. These guide rails40 provide the entire fixed structural support to the lift arrangement and transfer any resulting loads from the lift preferably to a slab at floor level. 5 The rotating drum 41, wire rope sheaves 42 and grippers 43 are mounted, as shown in Figure 3, on a rope equalising yoke 50 to minimise the space occupied by compartment 20. 10 The possibility of entrapment between the moving lift car (20 and 30) and the floor or ceiling has been eliminated by the use of load sensitive panels 60 on the upper and lower surfaces of the lift car. An important feature of the invention was that there was no open lift-way as is the 15 case of the lower landing and that no entrapment or shearing action could occur between a fixed objects and the moving lift car. To meet these requirements, the lift car is equipped with a load sensitive roof of sufficient structural integrity to act as a cover for the lift-way, and is left behind to 20 cover the lift-way by the descending lift car and is picked up by the ascending lift car to act in the same way as a load sensitive panel to prevent entrapment by the ascending lift. In light of the above the hoisting mechanism was incorporated into the lift car. In some 25 embodiments, the lift car inclusive of the hoist compartment may be of a height that it is less than the standard residential ceiling height of 2.4m, whilst still allowing for the minimum 50mm run out clearance, as required legislatively, between the top of the lift car and any fixture on the ceiling of the upper floor. 30 Accordingly, some embodiments provide a lift car hoist arrangement as described above with an overall height that is less than the standard minimum ceiling height to avoid alterations to the ceiling of the upper floor.

6 To achieve the previously described arrangement and house the machinery in the upper section 20 of the lift car 10 without penetrating into the ceiling space, or using a lift tower, the following design arrangements were made in regard to the position of the lift's guide rails, wire ropes and gripper bars, equalizing yoke and grippers as 5 shown in Figures 2 and 3. The guide rails 40 were positioned symmetrically on either side of the lift, approximately on a line passing through the centroid. These guide rails contain, hide and protect both the hoist ropes and gripper bars. 10 The sheaves and wire rope drum are angled to the connecting line between them to accommodate the fleeting of the rope in the limited space. This arrangement of sheaves and drum is unique. 15 The sheaves, wire rope drum and hoisting machinery are all mounted on the rope equalizing yoke which also is unique. The gripper system is similarly mounted in and is part of the rope equalizing yoke 50. It is spring loaded by the weight of the lift car for rapid response to the loss of the 20 supporting medium ropes. The gripper bars are separate to the guide rails and are made of a circular section. The gripper system utilises a sprag plates which are activated by a spring mounted rope system giving shock absorption to. the lift car when the grippers are applied. While sprag plates have been used for hoisting equipment such as moving scaffolds their use in relation to a passenger lift is unique. 25 Embodiments of the invention utilise an electrically powered hoist motor which is a three-phase motor powered through a converter from a single-phase supply. This is unique in lift design as the system has not been applied to a passenger vertical lift car system. The converter allows controlled starts and stops and works at approx. 70 30 Hertz when operating at full speed. This allows accurate setting of the speed of the lift to the 150 mm/second maximum speed specified by the Australian Standard for this lift classification.

7 The lift is also equipped with an auxiliary power source that provides power to lower the lift to the ground floor in case of a power failure or in the event of a fire. Use of an auxiliary power source to power the lift downwards has not previously been used and is unique to this lift. 5 Embodiments of the invention provide a lift car that is unobtrusive and blended in with the residential environment and decor. To do so, both as to cost and self weight factors, an aerodynamic design with free flowing lift car profile was chosen. This necessitated moving from the traditional rectangular profile to a semi-circular profile of 10 single thickness shell lined with a fabric to provide an ergonomically friendly space. The end result was an extremely light yet strong space that met the requirement of blending into the residential environment. Embodiments of the invention as described provide a vertical lift which require 15 minimal alterations to a dwelling, which reduces both the cost and intrusion into the residence and makes it suitable for retro-installation in existing dwellings. The lift does not require a lift tower or a plant room and need not penetrate the ceiling of the upper floor, It is however preferred that where necessary a floor below the lift be suitably reinforced. 20 While we have described here one specific embodiment of the invention it is envisaged that variations in the type and combination of features of the invention described here will still lie within the concept of the invention.

Claims

1. A vertical passenger lift assembly for use between an upper and a lower storey of a building with corresponding floors, said assembly having one or more hoisting ropes, a lift car, no lift-way enclosures and including a rope equalising 5 yoke, a hoist motor, a rotating drum for hoisting the lift car and electrical control equipment built into an upper portion of the lift car and guide rails positioned on either side of the lift car which provide means for moving the lift car between an upper and a lower position, wherein the one or more hoisting ropes are attached at one end to the drum and at the other end to a fixed structure and the rope 10 equalising yoke engages the one or more hoisting ropes between their ends.

2. A vertical passenger lift assembly according to claim 1 wherein the lift car is so constructed that in a lower position with its surface on a base of the lower storey, it leaves a detachable roof panel sitting flush in a recess for the lift in the 15 upper storey floor, this detachable panel reattaches itself to the lift car as it travels up to form a load sensitive panel.

3. A passenger lift assembly according to claim I or claim 2 wherein the guide rails form the entire fixed structural component of the lift and transfer its loads to a ?O base floor of a building.

4. A passenger lift assembly according to any one of claims 1 to 3 wherein the guide rails are positioned on opposing sides of a centroid of the lift. 25

5. A passenger lift assembly according to any one of claims 1 to 4 wherein the lift car has an upper portion separate from a lower passenger portion said upper portion housing the rope equalising yoke, the hoist motor, the rotating drum and electrical control equipment. 30

6. A passenger lift assembly according to any one of claims 1 to 5 wherein the rope equalising yoke includes wire rope sheaves and grippers for engaging gripper bars mounted thereon.

7. A passenger lift assembly as claimed in claim 6, wherein the grippers are spring 35 loaded by the weight of the lift car for rapid response to the loss of hoisting rope tension. 9

8. A passenger lift assembly as claimed in claim 6 or claim 7, wherein the grippers comprise sprag plates.

9. A passenger lift assembly as claimed in any one of claims 6 to 8, wherein the 5 hoist motor and rotating drum are also mounted on the rope equalising yoke.

10. A passenger lift assembly according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the guide rails house hoisting ropes and gripper bars. 10

11. A passenger lift assembly according to any one of claims 1 to 10 wherein load sensitive panels are provided on an upper face of the lift car and a lower face of the lift car.

12. A passenger lift assembly according to any one of claims 1 to 11 wherein the 15 lift car is generally semi circular in shape.

13. A passenger lift assembly according to any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein the lift car including the upper portion has a height of less than 2.4m. 20

14. A passenger lift assembly according to any one of claims 1 to 13, wherein the lift assembly doesn't penetrate the ceiling of the upper storey.

15. A passenger lift assembly according to any one of claims 1 to 14, wherein the hoist motor is a three-phase motor powered through a convertor from a single 25 phase supply.

16. A passenger lift assembly according to claim 15, where the convertor allows controlled starts and stops and works at approximately 70 Hertz when operating at full speed. 30

17. A passenger lift assembly according to any one of claims 1 to 16 where the lift is capable of operating at 150mm / second. 10

18. A passenger lift assembly according to any one of claims 1 to 17 further comprising an auxiliary power source to provide power to lower the lift to the ground floor in the event of a power failure or fire. 5

19. A passenger lift according to claim 1, substantially as herein described with reference to any one of the accompanying drawings.