EP0129678B1

EP0129678B1 - Automatic device for lifts or goods-lifts without safety lift-shafts

Info

Publication number: EP0129678B1
Application number: EP84105072A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Angelo Martini
Original assignee: GMV Service SRL
Current assignee: GMV Service SRL
Priority date: 1983-05-25
Filing date: 1984-05-05
Publication date: 1987-08-12
Also published as: IT1203821B; EP0129678A1; ATE28846T1; ES532744A0; IT8321299A0; ES8505612A1; DE3465286D1

Abstract

An automatic gadget for creating a safety lift-shaft in lift or goods-lift apparatus consists of untied rafter 1, hinged at its base and at the extreme of beam of guide 2 is being pushed to an inclined position by spring 7 with the help of lever 6 which is hinged to the rafter; and bolt 4 functions with the help of spring 9 when door A is opened, and the bolt is pushed to the hole of a slit which is on lever 6 for maintaining the said rafter in an erect position for the free movement of cabin B.

Description

This new invention concerns an automatic blocking device for lifts or goods-lifts without safety lift-shafts.
As we know, it has been established that lift or goods-lifts plants must have a safety lift-shaft, under the lowest floor. This lift-shaft which has normally a safety hole with a height of at least 50 cm, is made to protect the operator, even in a lying position during a maintenance work, in case of a sudden fall of the cabin from a wrong manoeuvre or for a faulty part of the safety system.
There are some buildings in which the safety lift-shafts cannot be absolutely realized, even there are some types, for example, those of the intermediate floors in which it is not possible to realize the safety lift-shaft, according to the system that is now in use, that is, with a hole at the lowest floor.
There are also known self-contained transferable lifts or goods-lifts in which the device is contained in a supporting frame-work. Such frame-work can be connected to any floor from where the lift can be made to go up to one or more floors. In these lifts it is very important not to create a safety lift-shaft under the supporting floor.
There are known safety devices which are designed to block the cage in its descent if the hauling cable or chain should break. Thus, GB-A-174,235 discloses an automatic blocking device in a lift shaft comprising at least a bar pivotally mounted at its base on a fixed part of the lift shaft and projecting upwardly and extending into the space beneath the cage, a lever hinged to the bar and provided with driving means fixed to the lift shaft for moving the bar into its first position projecting into the space beneath the cage and for maintaining that position and a retracting means for withdrawing the bar into its second position clear of the space beneath the cage. The movement of the bar can be produced by means of an electric releasing device from the cage.
The above described known safety device, however, is not suitable to be used for the creation of a safety hole in the apparatus for lifts or goods-lifts, without safety measures, when the door of the cabin is opened and the cage is positioned at a floor higher than the lowest floor.
The invention as claimed is intended to provide a solution to the above mentioned problems. It solves the problem of how to create a safety hole in a lift shaft or goods-lift shaft, without buffer safety means, below the lowest floor. According to the present invention, the automatic blocking device in a lift shaft or goods-lift shaft, having a door for access to the lowest floor, comprises: a bar, having the fulcrum attached to the base of a guide beam, projecting upwardly and extending into the space beneath the cage, and locking means for locking said bar in a position clear of space beneath the cage against the guide beam in an approximately vertical position during the normal movement of the cage; said locking means being interacting between the door and a lever, hinged to the bar, in such a manner that the bar is moved into a position projecting into the space beneath the cage when the door is opened and the cage is positioned at a floor higher than the lowest floor.
The means of maintaining the bar against the guide of the frame-work, in approximately vertical position, is by hooking action provided by the device when the door is opened. When the cabin gets to a floor and the door is opened the bar remains tied to the guide by the action of the same cabin. In the revise action without the cabin, the bar is unhooked when the door is opened, like this it lowers from the vertical position creating a support of at least 50 cm high on which the cabin gets to, by a wrong manoeuvre or by a faulty part of the safety system, gets to a stop.
Like this it is created under the cabin a free hole which is equivalent to the traditional safety hole. For better illustration of the constructive and functional parts of the device, descriptions with references are attached but without details:

- Figure 1 illustrates schematically the blocking device in its opening position, showing the blocking and the supporting of the cabin.
- Figure 2 illustrates the blocking device of the figure 1 in its tied position to the guide slide.

The frame work of a lift is illustrated in the figures, which is indicated by the main guider and a cabin B which with a traditional mechanism (not shown here) can descend to the lowest floor C, like this door A can be opened. These are the conditions of the normal working of the blocking device. During maintenance, the door A is opened with a safety key, while the cabin B is found at a floor higher than the lowest floor C. It is important to protect the operator who is working under the cabin not to be crushed by the returning of the cabin which may be caused by anything.
At this juncture, at the base and side of the T-beam guide 2 along which slides guide 3 of the cabin B, is mounted a device which blocks and supports cabin B, which is the subject matter of the present invention. The said device of block and support comprises of a bar 1 hinged at the base of beam 2 and is capable of opening by itself to a certain angle, like this, forming a block and a support of the cabin which arrives. To bar 1 is hinged a lever 6 on which acts a spring thrust 7 fixed to a beam of the lift or goods-lift.
The said lever 6 is provided with a stopslit 5 in which the head of a bolt 4 can be inserted. A spring 9, fixed at the extreme of bolt 4, withdraws the head of the said bolt from slit 5, when door A is opened, by means of any gadget, preferably flexible. When bolt 4 is inserted in slit 5, bar 1 gets tied to beam 2 (see fig. 2) and the cabin B is free to slide. If cabin B is not on the same level with a floor of a building, bar 1 is being puhed by spring 7 through the lever 6 and it is liberated from bolt 4 (followed by the opening of. the door) which becomes automatically opened or inclined, forming a block and a support for cabin B as indicated in figure 1.
But if cabin B is found at the same level with a floor, bar 1 which is liberated from bolt 4 as a result of the opening of the door, becomes blocked from opening or inclining for the presence of the same cabin. It is better that bar 1 has rollers 10 at the free extreme, so that the rollers will slide along guide 3 of cabin B and maintaining the said bar tied to beam 2, even when bolt 4 is unhooked from the opening of the door A. Closing of door A makes bolt 4 to insert in slit 5, and thereby blocking rafter 1. After the maintenance operation, the operator closes again door A, then recalls bar 1 in a tied position to beam 2 with any gadget or by hand through an entry hole 8.
When slit 5 of lever 6 corresponds exactly with extreme of bolt 4, the bolt which is being pushed from spring 9, enters the slit 5 and blocks bar 1 in an erect tied position to beam 2. Cabin B can now slide freely by the side of rollers 10 which slide along guide 3 of cabin B and maintaining the said rafter tied to beam 2, even when bolt 4 is unhooked from the opening of door A. The closure of door A makes bolt 4 to be inserted in slit 5, thereby blocking bar 1.
In these conditions if door A is opened in the presence of cabin B, bar 1 will not expand, because it is blocked by the same cabin B. Naturally door gadgets can differ and can be adapted to suit any type of project as far as it is not beyond the scope of the claims.

Claims

1. An automatic blocking device in a lift shaft or goods-lift shaft without buffer safety means below the lowest floor (C) comprising a bar (1) pivotally mounted at its base on a fixed part of the lift shaft and projecting upwardly and extending into the space beneath the cage (B), a lever (6) hinged to the bar and provided with driving means (7) fixed to the lift shaft for moving the bar into its first position projecting into the space beneath the cage (B) and for maintaining that position and a retracting means (8) for withdrawing the bar into its second position clear of the space beneath the cage characterised in that the shaft comprises a door (A) for access to the lowest floor (C), the fulcrum of the bar is attached to the base of a guide beam (2), locking means (4, 5, 6) are provided for locking said bar (1) in its second position against the guide beam (2) in an approximately vertical position during the normal movement of the cage (B) and in that said locking means are interacting between the door and the lever (6) in such a manner that the bar is moved into its first position when the door is opened and the cage is positioned at a floor higher than the lowest floor (C).

2. Automatic blocking device according to claim 1, wherein the lever (6) is provided with a slit (5) and with a thrust spring (7) fixed to a beam of the lift or goods lift and acting on the said lever.

3. Automatic blocking device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the locking means comprises a bolt (4) and a spring (9) fixed to an end of the bolt and acting when the door (A) is opened, so that, when the door (A) is closed, the bolt (4) is pushed into the slit (5) in the lever (6).

4. Automatic blocking device according to anyone of the preceding claims, wherein the bar (1) is provided, at the free end, with rollers (10).

5. Automatic blocking device according to anyone of the preceding claims, wherein an entry hole (8) is provided for locking the bar (1) in its second position against the guide beam (2) in an approximately vertical position, after the maintenance operation.