EP0846643A1 - Moving freight with passenger shuttle elevators - Google Patents
Moving freight with passenger shuttle elevators Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- EP0846643A1 EP0846643A1 EP97309779A EP97309779A EP0846643A1 EP 0846643 A1 EP0846643 A1 EP 0846643A1 EP 97309779 A EP97309779 A EP 97309779A EP 97309779 A EP97309779 A EP 97309779A EP 0846643 A1 EP0846643 A1 EP 0846643A1
- Authority
- EP
- European Patent Office
- Prior art keywords
- freight
- car frame
- landing
- freight container
- hoistway
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
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Classifications
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B66—HOISTING; LIFTING; HAULING
- B66B—ELEVATORS; ESCALATORS OR MOVING WALKWAYS
- B66B9/00—Kinds or types of lifts in, or associated with, buildings or other structures
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- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B66—HOISTING; LIFTING; HAULING
- B66B—ELEVATORS; ESCALATORS OR MOVING WALKWAYS
- B66B9/00—Kinds or types of lifts in, or associated with, buildings or other structures
- B66B9/003—Kinds or types of lifts in, or associated with, buildings or other structures for lateral transfer of car or frame, e.g. between vertical hoistways or to/from a parking position
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- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B66—HOISTING; LIFTING; HAULING
- B66B—ELEVATORS; ESCALATORS OR MOVING WALKWAYS
- B66B11/00—Main component parts of lifts in, or associated with, buildings or other structures
- B66B11/02—Cages, i.e. cars
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B66—HOISTING; LIFTING; HAULING
- B66B—ELEVATORS; ESCALATORS OR MOVING WALKWAYS
- B66B11/00—Main component parts of lifts in, or associated with, buildings or other structures
- B66B11/02—Cages, i.e. cars
- B66B11/0206—Car frames
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- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B66—HOISTING; LIFTING; HAULING
- B66B—ELEVATORS; ESCALATORS OR MOVING WALKWAYS
- B66B2201/00—Aspects of control systems of elevators
- B66B2201/30—Details of the elevator system configuration
- B66B2201/304—Transit control
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- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B66—HOISTING; LIFTING; HAULING
- B66B—ELEVATORS; ESCALATORS OR MOVING WALKWAYS
- B66B2201/00—Aspects of control systems of elevators
- B66B2201/30—Details of the elevator system configuration
- B66B2201/306—Multi-deck elevator cars
Definitions
- This invention relates to moving freight utilizing passenger elevator shuttles of the type in which a passenger cab is transferred between roped elevator car frames and off-hoistway loading/unloading landings and/or between a car frame and landings to another car frame in the adjacent hoistway for carrying freight when not needed for passenger service.
- hypertall buildings In hypertall buildings, it is anticipated that there may be many tens of thousands of occupants during normal business hours. Although such buildings are contemplated as having significant 24-hour population, a large capacity morning up peak and evening down peak shuttle elevator capability is still required. Thus, elevator shuttles in hypertall buildings will carry passengers- in horizontally transferable cabs between passenger lobbies which may be vertically separated by, for instance, between eighty and two hundred or more floors, with no passenger service lobbies in between.
- Objects of the invention include providing efficient and effective use of elevator capacity in hypertall buildings, and provision of means for readily handling freight in hypertall buildings which utilize horizontally transferable passenger cabs in passenger elevator shuttles.
- the passenger cabs of passenger elevator shuttles which can be transferred horizontally between adjacent car frames and between passenger landings and car frames, are removed from the car frames when the shuttles are not needed for passenger service, and freight containers are transferred onto the elevator shuttles for transferring freight from low levels of a building to high levels thereof within the hoistways of the passenger elevator shuttles.
- freight containers are transferred off the car frame of the elevator shuttle at freight landings on levels in which the freight is to be delivered, the car frame returning downwardly to receive additional freight containers for upward travel to additional freight landings.
- ballast weights may be transferred onto car frames as freight containers are transferred off, thereby to provide balance so as to not exceed the load or traction capabilities of a roped elevator system.
- This aspect of the invention may be used with single deck elevator car frames, or multi deck elevator car frames, which include double deck car frames and triple deck car frames, as well as extra deck car frames of the type described in the applications referred to hereinbefore.
- a multideck elevator system has one of the passenger cabs removed therefrom when the shuttle system is not being utilized for passenger service, the other deck is alternatively empty or either carrying a full freight container upwardly or carrying an empty freight container downwardly.
- the invention may be practiced by moving car frames which carry full or empty freight containers alternately with being empty.
- full freight containers are carried upwardly in the building during the early night time (evening) hours, and empty freight containers are carried downwardly in the building during late night time (early morning) hours.
- Fig. 1 is a partially sectioned, partially broken away, simplified, stylized, schematic perspective view of an elevator shuttle system known to the prior art.
- Fig. 2 is a partially sectioned, partially broken away, simplified, stylized, schematic perspective view of a shuttle system incorporating the present invention.
- Fig. 3 is a partially sectioned, partially broken away, simplified, stylized, schematic perspective view of a shuttle system of the invention, illustrating further details.
- Fig. 4 is a simplified side elevation view of a car frame exchanging an elevator cab and a ballast weight.
- Fig. 5 is a simplified, partially broken away side elevation view of horizontal motive means for moving cabs, freight containers, and ballast weights between mutually adjacent car frames, as well as between landings and car frames adjacent thereto.
- Fig. 6 is a partial, simplified side elevation view of a double deck car frame with a freight container in the lower deck.
- Fig. 7 is a partial, simplified side elevation view of a double deck car frame with an empty lower deck.
- a system of lower elevator shuttles 10 include upper hoistways 11 which overlap with lower hoistways 12 at a transfer floor 13, at which elevator cabs can be transferred from the car frame in one of the hoistways 11, 12 into the car frame of the adjacent one of the hoistways 12, 11.
- the hoistways extend from a horizontal transport level 16 past a ground floor lobby level 17 and upwardly to a floor 18 at which cabs can be transferred either to an upper shuttle system 19 or to a horizontal transport pathway 20.
- the horizontal transport level 16 includes a pathway 23 along which cabs can be moved so as transfer passengers to another part of this building or to another building in this complex.
- the passenger lobby level 17 includes elevator cab landings 24, 25 onto which passenger cabs may be transferred to allow access of passengers between passenger cabs and the lobby level 17, through hoistway doors 26, 27.
- the elevators 19 may comprise local elevators or express, shuttle elevators.
- the pathway 20 may serve other banks of elevators or simply carry passengers to stations on the floor 18. It is contemplated that the floors 17 and 18 may be separated by well over 100 floors, such as between 120 and 250 floors.
- similar systems may have the floors 17 and 18 separated by a lesser number of floors, on the order of 50 or 80 floors, with no passenger transfer lobbies on any of the intervening floors.
- the term "passenger transfer lobby” does not include emergency exit doors, which might be provided along the shuttle elevator hoistways to allow passengers egress during an emergency, while not permitting passenger transfer during normal elevator operation.
- An embodiment of the invention shown in Fig. 2 provides a freight landing 30 having hoistway doors 31 to provide access to a commercial business on a floor 32.
- the floor 32 does not have passenger service provided by the lower shuttle elevators 12; instead, passengers are provided service to floor 32 by other, local elevators (not shown).
- the landing 30 is shown extending to two of the shuttle elevators, which may be preferred to ensure that freight service can be provided even though one of the elevators is inoperative.
- the upper shuttle elevators 11 are shown provided with a double deck freight landing 36 having decks 37 and 38 at which freight containers may be placed in order to service commercial businesses on corresponding floors 39, 40 through related hoistway doors 41, 42.
- the double deck landing 36 might be utilized for a two-story department store, or in association with a two-story mall, serving a number of commercial businesses.
- the shuttle systems of Figs. 1 and 2 are illustrated as utilizing single deck passenger landings as would be used with single deck car frames (not shown).
- a shuttle elevator system 47 utilizes elevator car- frames 48 having two decks 49, 50.
- a ground level passenger transfer lobby complex includes lower passenger cab landings 52, 53 having hoistway doors 54, 55 that lead to lower passenger lobbies 56, 57.
- the ground level passenger transfer lobby complex also includes upper passenger cab landings 60, 61 having hoistway doors 62, 63 that provide passenger access to upper passenger lobbies 64, 65.
- a freight receiving area 68 and a passenger cab parking area 69 may be on a level 70 which may also serve as a horizontal transportation level.
- a level 70 which may also serve as a horizontal transportation level.
- more than one passenger cab may be offloaded from a multi-deck car frame, such as the double deck car frame 48, in the night time hours when the shuttles 47, or some of them, are not needed for transport of passengers.
- Freight may be removed from a truck 72 and loaded into a freight container 73, which may thereafter be exchanged for the passenger cab on the deck 49 (or alternatively, the deck 50) of the car frame 48.
- the freight may, however, arrive from some remote point on a horizontal transport facility, such as described in European Patent Application No. 97309210.9.
- the freight container 73 may then be raised on the car frame 48 to a floor 76 where a commercial business is to receive the freight through the hoistway doors 77 leading to a freight landing 78.
- a ballast landing 79 with a ballast weight 80 in accordance with one embodiment of the invention, parked in readiness to be utilized to counterbalance the car frame 48.
- the freight container 76 when the car frame 48 comes to rest with its platform 49 aligned with the landings 78, 79, the freight container 76 will be transferred onto the landing 78 at the same time that the ballast weight 80 is transferred from the landing 79 onto the car frame 48.
- the mechanism for transferring the cabs, the freight containers, and the ballast weights 80 may take any suitable form, which may however be of the type described briefly with respect to Fig. 5.
- the bottom of the container 76 has a fixed, main rack 83 extending from front to back (right to left in Fig. 5), and a sliding rack 84 that can slide outwardly to the right, as shown, or to the left.
- a total of four motorized pinions on each of the car frame platforms.
- an auxiliary motorized pinion 85 turns clockwise to drive the sliding auxiliary rack 84 out from under the container into the position shown, where it can engage an auxiliary motorized pinion 86 on a landing 87, which is the limit that the rack 84 can slide.
- auxiliary motorized pinion 86 will turn clockwise pulling the auxiliary rack 84 (which now is extended to its limit) and therefore the entire container 76 to the right as seen in Fig. 5 until such time as an end 90 of the main rack 83 engages a main motorized pinion (not shown) which is located just behind the auxiliary motorized pinion 86 in Fig. 5. Then, that main motorized pinion will pull the entire container 76 fully onto the landing 87 by means of the main rack 83, and as it does so a spring causes the slidable auxiliary rack 84 to retract under the container 76.
- Auxiliary motorized pinions 88, 89 can assist in moving a cab to the right to a landing 90 and can also assist in moving the container 76 from the landing 90 onto the car frame 48.
- the auxiliary pinion 86 will operate counterclockwise, causing the sliding, auxiliary rack 84 to move outwardly to the left until its left end 93 engages the auxiliary pinion 85. Then the auxiliary pinion 85 pulls the auxiliary rack 84 and the entire container 76 to the left until the left end 94 of the main rack 83 engages a main motorized pinion (not shown) located behind the auxiliary motorized pinion 85, which then pulls the entire container 76 to the left until it is fully on the car frame 48.
- ballast weights 80 will have the car frame 48 advance to the position, for instance, shown in Fig. 3 in which its platform 49 is aligned with the receiving area 68 and the cab storage area 69. Then, a passenger cab, such as passenger cab 71, will be offloaded from the platform 49 of car frame 48 and parked, as shown in Fig. 3, as a container such as container 73 will be loaded on the platform 49. The car frame 48 may then be lowered so as to have the platform 50 aligned with the loading level 68 and the parking level 69, so that another passenger cab can be exchanged for another container of freight.
- a passenger cab such as passenger cab 71
- the car frame 48 may be raised to a destination, such as the freight landing 78, where the container is offloaded from the car frame 48 onto the landing 78, while simultaneously the ballast weight 80 is loaded from the parking landing 79 onto the car frame 48.
- the car frame 48 may then go to another floor and exchange the other container for another ballast weight.
- the car frame will return to the position shown in Fig. 3 to remove the ballast weight 80 and load an additional container, such as the container 73.
- the car frame may then move down and offload another ballast weight in exchange for a freight container. After that, the car frame will again go upwardly in the building to the destinations for the freight and exchange the freight for the ballast weights that are disposed opposite the freight landings, as seen in Fig. 3.
- This type of operation may continue until all freight has been moved up into the building or until it is time to bring the freight containers back down.
- the time when the freight container should be brought back down may be determined by workers at the freight landing pressing a hall call button when the freight container is empty, so that the system can move the freight container at its leisure, or the entire system may be on a real timed schedule such that the first freight container which is delivered to a freight landing will be picked up at a set time, and thereafter, the pick up of freight containers will proceed in the same order in which they were initially delivered. Or any other suitable method may be used.
- the last ballast weights which were loaded on the car frames will still be on them.
- a car frame may then go to any of its related freight landings and pick up the empty freight containers at the same time that the ballast weights are offloaded onto the ballast weight landings such as the landing 79.
- the car frame will then move to another landing to pick up another empty freight container and offload another ballast weight.
- the car frame will return to the receiving level 68 shown in Fig. 3 to offload an empty freight container, such as container 73 and load the ballast weight which was previously parked in the parking area 69.
- the car frame would be lowered to exchange another empty freight container for another ballast weight.
- the car frame would then go upwardly to a freight landing where there is an empty freight container, and exchange it with one of the ballast weights, and so forth.
- the shuttle elevators will carry freight upwardly and carry ballast weights downwardly; during the later nighttime hours, the shuttle elevators will carry ballast weights upwardly and empty freight containers downwardly.
- the invention may also be practiced, as soon as any empty freight containers are available to be returned to the receiving level, by exchanging a ballast weight for an empty freight container, returning to the receiving level and exchanging an empty freight container for a full freight container, delivering the full freight container by exchanging it for the ballast weight, going to another empty freight container and exchanging the ballast weight therefor, and returning to the receiving area.
- the ballast weights may simply be moved a few floors in the high end of the building rather than carried all the way up and down, once containers become empty and therefore available to be returned to the lower level.
- the empty freight container When the last empty freight container that was moved by a particular car frame has been brought to the receiving and parking levels 68, 69, the empty freight container will be exchanged for a passenger cab, such as the cab 71. Then the car frame will move down so as to exchange another empty freight container with the other of its passenger cabs. The car frame is then ready to move up two levels and commence to carry passengers from the ground level passenger transfer lobby complex.
- Fig. 5 illustrates the car frame 48 as it may be traveling upwardly during the early night time hours delivering the freight container 73 to a freight landing.
- the ballast weights 80 are not utilized, and system balance is partially maintained by virtue of leaving one passenger cab 71 on the car frame at all times so as to reduce the difference between the maximum loaded weight (Fig. 6) and the minimum unloaded weight (Fig. 7). Therefore, the requirement for the size of the traction machine and the nature of roping, while more severe than in the embodiment described with respect to Figs.
- This aspect of the invention may be practiced with elevator car frames having two, three, four or more decks, in systems in which some of the decks are not used in each movement of the car frame during normal transport, or in systems which simply carry cabs in all decks at all times.
- the invention may be practiced by moving the car frame with one passenger cab, one freight container, and one empty deck in one direction, and moving the car frame with one passenger cab and two empty decks in the other direction.
- the invention may be practiced by moving two freight containers and one passenger cab in one direction and two empty decks and one passenger cab in the other direction.
- the invention may be practiced by moving two passenger cabs and a car frame in one direction, and moving two passenger cabs and an empty deck in the other direction. And of course, this aspect of the invention can be combined with the ballast weight aspect of the invention in any desired fashion.
- the car frame While the car frame is stationary in the hoistway and ballast weights and/or passenger cabs and freight containers are being exchanged, the car frame may preferably be rigidly locked to the building by suitable car/floor locks, such as those disclosed in EP-A-0776859. While the ballast weight and/or the passenger cabs and freight containers are being moved on an elevator car frame, or on a horizontal carriage or bogey, they are preferably locked to the car frame, carriage or bogey, and similarly, when standing at a landing, they are preferably locked to the landing.
- the locks may take the form of any suitable cab/car locks, such as those described in EP-A-0776858, or otherwise.
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- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
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- Automation & Control Theory (AREA)
- Civil Engineering (AREA)
- Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
- Elevator Control (AREA)
- Types And Forms Of Lifts (AREA)
Abstract
The hoistways of passenger shuttle elevators are
provided with freight landings (78) adjacent commercial
businesses in the higher floors of a tall building;
passenger cabs (71) are exchanged for freight containers (73)
on the car frames (48) of the shuttle elevators, and the
shuttle elevators are utilized to move the containers
of freight from a freight receiving area (68) at the lower
end of the building to the respective freight
landings (78). In one embodiment, a ballast weight (80) is
loaded onto a car frame as a container of freight is
offloaded from the car frame so that the car frame may
return to the freight receiving area for another
container of freight, without the elevator being
misbalanced. Another embodiment utilizes one of two
decks for carrying containers of freight while the
other deck carries an empty passenger cab, thereby to
reduce the difference between the heaviest and
lightest that the car frame will be as it returns
empty to the freight receiving area for a subsequent
container of freight. Another embodiment uses
compound or other extensive roping and an extra large
traction machine to permit returning a totally empty
car frame to pick up a subsequent freight container.
Description
This invention relates to moving freight
utilizing passenger elevator shuttles of the type in
which a passenger cab is transferred between roped
elevator car frames and off-hoistway loading/unloading
landings and/or between a car frame and landings to
another car frame in the adjacent hoistway for
carrying freight when not needed for passenger
service.
In order to extend the use of roped elevator
systems beyond the limit imposed by rope weight, so as
to serve the needs of hypertall buildings (e.g., over
one hundred stories), a recent innovation transfers
elevator cabs between the car frames of adjacent
hoistways so as to form a multi-hoistway, unitary
elevator shuttle. To save time and ensure that the
hoistways are utilized fully, provision is made for
cabs to pass at transfer floors where the hoistways
overlap, one cab traveling upwardly, the other cab
traveling downwardly, so that cabs are traveling
simultaneously in each hoistway of the shuttle in
multi-deck car frames, as disclosed in European
applications 0776850 and 0785160. To avoid having
idle hoistways awaiting the loading and unloading of
passengers, offshaft passenger loading and unloading
may be utilized as described in EP-A-0776851.
In hypertall buildings, it is anticipated that
there may be many tens of thousands of occupants
during normal business hours. Although such buildings
are contemplated as having significant 24-hour
population, a large capacity morning up peak and
evening down peak shuttle elevator capability is still
required. Thus, elevator shuttles in hypertall
buildings will carry passengers- in horizontally
transferable cabs between passenger lobbies which may
be vertically separated by, for instance, between
eighty and two hundred or more floors, with no
passenger service lobbies in between.
Because of the difficulty of traveling to the
ground level to seek commercial services, and because
of the large support to commercial services which can
be provided by the numerous tenants of the highest
levels of hypertall buildings, there will be provided
significant commercial services at various high levels
of hypertall buildings. In addition to restaurants,
these services will include retail stores, not only
for convenience items, but for staple foods, clothing,
home furnishings, appliances, and others, as well.
Because every passenger and every item of freight
which reaches the upper stories of a building must
pass through the lower stories of the building, the
amount of space devoted to elevators (called the
"building core") can become prohibitively large in
buildings that exceed one hundred stories. Therefore,
the building core must be used most effectively.
Objects of the invention include providing
efficient and effective use of elevator capacity in
hypertall buildings, and provision of means for
readily handling freight in hypertall buildings which
utilize horizontally transferable passenger cabs in
passenger elevator shuttles.
According to the present invention, the
passenger cabs of passenger elevator shuttles which
can be transferred horizontally between adjacent car
frames and between passenger landings and car frames,
are removed from the car frames when the shuttles are
not needed for passenger service, and freight
containers are transferred onto the elevator shuttles
for transferring freight from low levels of a building
to high levels thereof within the hoistways of the
passenger elevator shuttles. According further to the
invention, freight containers are transferred off the
car frame of the elevator shuttle at freight landings
on levels in which the freight is to be delivered, the
car frame returning downwardly to receive additional
freight containers for upward travel to additional
freight landings.
In still further accord with the present
invention, ballast weights may be transferred onto car
frames as freight containers are transferred off,
thereby to provide balance so as to not exceed the
load or traction capabilities of a roped elevator
system. This aspect of the invention may be used with
single deck elevator car frames, or multi deck
elevator car frames, which include double deck car
frames and triple deck car frames, as well as extra
deck car frames of the type described in the
applications referred to hereinbefore.
According further to another aspect of the
invention, a multideck elevator system has one of the
passenger cabs removed therefrom when the shuttle
system is not being utilized for passenger service,
the other deck is alternatively empty or either
carrying a full freight container upwardly or carrying
an empty freight container downwardly.
By using suitable rope wrapping at the sheave
and a traction machine with sufficient capacity to
handle the unbalanced load of the elevator
counterweight, the invention may be practiced by
moving car frames which carry full or empty freight
containers alternately with being empty.
In accordance with the invention, full freight
containers are carried upwardly in the building during
the early night time (evening) hours, and empty
freight containers are carried downwardly in the
building during late night time (early morning) hours.
Other objects, features and advantages of the
present invention will become more apparent in the
light of the following detailed description of
exemplary embodiments thereof, as illustrated in the
accompanying drawing.
Fig. 1 is a partially sectioned, partially
broken away, simplified, stylized, schematic
perspective view of an elevator shuttle system known
to the prior art.
Fig. 2 is a partially sectioned, partially
broken away, simplified, stylized, schematic
perspective view of a shuttle system incorporating the
present invention.
Fig. 3 is a partially sectioned, partially
broken away, simplified, stylized, schematic
perspective view of a shuttle system of the invention,
illustrating further details.
Fig. 4 is a simplified side elevation view of a
car frame exchanging an elevator cab and a ballast
weight.
Fig. 5 is a simplified, partially broken away
side elevation view of horizontal motive means for
moving cabs, freight containers, and ballast weights
between mutually adjacent car frames, as well as
between landings and car frames adjacent thereto.
Fig. 6 is a partial, simplified side elevation
view of a double deck car frame with a freight
container in the lower deck.
Fig. 7 is a partial, simplified side elevation
view of a double deck car frame with an empty lower
deck.
Referring now to Fig. 1, a plurality of shuttle
elevators are shown within a horizontal and vertical
passenger transport system of the type described in
European Patent Application
No. 97309210.9. A system of lower elevator
shuttles 10 include upper hoistways 11 which overlap
with lower hoistways 12 at a transfer floor 13, at
which elevator cabs can be transferred from the car
frame in one of the hoistways 11, 12 into the car
frame of the adjacent one of the hoistways 12, 11.
The hoistways extend from a horizontal transport level
16 past a ground floor lobby level 17 and upwardly to
a floor 18 at which cabs can be transferred either to
an upper shuttle system 19 or to a horizontal
transport pathway 20. The horizontal transport level
16 includes a pathway 23 along which cabs can be moved
so as transfer passengers to another part of this
building or to another building in this complex. The
passenger lobby level 17 includes elevator cab
landings 24, 25 onto which passenger cabs may be
transferred to allow access of passengers between
passenger cabs and the lobby level 17, through
hoistway doors 26, 27. The elevators 19 may comprise
local elevators or express, shuttle elevators. The
pathway 20 may serve other banks of elevators or
simply carry passengers to stations on the floor 18.
It is contemplated that the floors 17 and 18 may be
separated by well over 100 floors, such as between 120
and 250 floors. On the other hand, similar systems
may have the floors 17 and 18 separated by a lesser
number of floors, on the order of 50 or 80 floors,
with no passenger transfer lobbies on any of the
intervening floors. As used herein, the term
"passenger transfer lobby" does not include emergency
exit doors, which might be provided along the shuttle
elevator hoistways to allow passengers egress during
an emergency, while not permitting passenger transfer
during normal elevator operation.
An embodiment of the invention shown in Fig. 2
provides a freight landing 30 having hoistway doors 31
to provide access to a commercial business on a floor
32. The floor 32 does not have passenger service
provided by the lower shuttle elevators 12; instead,
passengers are provided service to floor 32 by other,
local elevators (not shown). The landing 30 is shown
extending to two of the shuttle elevators, which may
be preferred to ensure that freight service can be
provided even though one of the elevators is
inoperative.
In Fig. 2, the upper shuttle elevators 11 are
shown provided with a double deck freight landing 36
having decks 37 and 38 at which freight containers may
be placed in order to service commercial businesses on
corresponding floors 39, 40 through related hoistway
doors 41, 42. The double deck landing 36 might be
utilized for a two-story department store, or in
association with a two-story mall, serving a number of
commercial businesses. The shuttle systems of Figs. 1
and 2 are illustrated as utilizing
single deck passenger landings as would be used with
single deck car frames (not shown).
Referring now to Fig. 3, a shuttle elevator
system 47 utilizes elevator car- frames 48 having two
decks 49, 50. A ground level passenger transfer lobby
complex includes lower passenger cab landings 52, 53
having hoistway doors 54, 55 that lead to lower
passenger lobbies 56, 57. The ground level passenger
transfer lobby complex also includes upper passenger
cab landings 60, 61 having hoistway doors 62, 63 that
provide passenger access to upper passenger lobbies
64, 65.
Below the lobbies 56, 57 there is a freight
receiving area 68 and a passenger cab parking area 69;
these areas may be on a level 70 which may also serve
as a horizontal transportation level. Although only
one passenger cab 71 is shown in Fig. 3, more than one
passenger cab may be offloaded from a multi-deck car
frame, such as the double deck car frame 48, in the
night time hours when the shuttles 47, or some of
them, are not needed for transport of passengers.
Freight may be removed from a truck 72 and loaded into
a freight container 73, which may thereafter be
exchanged for the passenger cab on the deck 49 (or
alternatively, the deck 50) of the car frame 48. The
freight may, however, arrive from some remote point on
a horizontal transport facility, such as described in
European Patent Application
No. 97309210.9. The freight container 73
may then be raised on the car frame 48 to a floor 76
where a commercial business is to receive the freight
through the hoistway doors 77 leading to a freight
landing 78. Opposite the freight landing 78, there is
a ballast landing 79 with a ballast weight 80, in
accordance with one embodiment of the invention,
parked in readiness to be utilized to counterbalance
the car frame 48. As seen in Fig. 4, when the car
frame 48 comes to rest with its platform 49 aligned
with the landings 78, 79, the freight container 76
will be transferred onto the landing 78 at the same
time that the ballast weight 80 is transferred from
the landing 79 onto the car frame 48. The mechanism
for transferring the cabs, the freight containers, and
the ballast weights 80 may take any suitable form,
which may however be of the type described
briefly with respect to Fig. 5.
In Fig. 5, the bottom of the container 76 has a
fixed, main rack 83 extending from front to back
(right to left in Fig. 5), and a sliding rack 84 that
can slide outwardly to the right, as shown, or to the
left. There are a total of four motorized pinions on
each of the car frame platforms. First, an auxiliary
motorized pinion 85 turns clockwise to drive the
sliding auxiliary rack 84 out from under the container
into the position shown, where it can engage an
auxiliary motorized pinion 86 on a landing 87, which
is the limit that the rack 84 can slide. Then, the
auxiliary motorized pinion 86 will turn clockwise
pulling the auxiliary rack 84 (which now is extended
to its limit) and therefore the entire container 76 to
the right as seen in Fig. 5 until such time as an end
90 of the main rack 83 engages a main motorized pinion
(not shown) which is located just behind the auxiliary
motorized pinion 86 in Fig. 5. Then, that main
motorized pinion will pull the entire container 76
fully onto the landing 87 by means of the main rack
83, and as it does so a spring causes the slidable
auxiliary rack 84 to retract under the container 76.
Auxiliary motorized pinions 88, 89 can assist in
moving a cab to the right to a landing 90 and can also
assist in moving the container 76 from the landing 90
onto the car frame 48.
To load the container 76 from the platform 87 to
the car frame 48, the auxiliary pinion 86 will operate
counterclockwise, causing the sliding, auxiliary rack
84 to move outwardly to the left until its left end 93
engages the auxiliary pinion 85. Then the auxiliary
pinion 85 pulls the auxiliary rack 84 and the entire
container 76 to the left until the left end 94 of the
main rack 83 engages a main motorized pinion (not
shown) located behind the auxiliary motorized pinion
85, which then pulls the entire container 76 to the
left until it is fully on the car frame 48.
The same rack and pinion operation will move the
passenger cabs on and off the car frames, landings and
storage areas, and will move the ballast weights on
and off their parking areas and the storage areas. In
Fig. 4, the pinions 86, 88 are omitted for clarity; in
Fig. 5, the wheels 96 of the freight container 73 are
omitted for clarity.
Operation of an embodiment utilizing ballast
weights 80 will have the car frame 48 advance to the
position, for instance, shown in Fig. 3 in which its
platform 49 is aligned with the receiving area 68 and
the cab storage area 69. Then, a passenger cab, such
as passenger cab 71, will be offloaded from the
platform 49 of car frame 48 and parked, as shown in
Fig. 3, as a container such as container 73 will be
loaded on the platform 49. The car frame 48 may then
be lowered so as to have the platform 50 aligned with
the loading level 68 and the parking level 69, so that
another passenger cab can be exchanged for another
container of freight. Then the car frame 48 may be
raised to a destination, such as the freight landing
78, where the container is offloaded from the car
frame 48 onto the landing 78, while simultaneously the
ballast weight 80 is loaded from the parking landing
79 onto the car frame 48. The car frame 48 may then
go to another floor and exchange the other container
for another ballast weight. Then the car frame will
return to the position shown in Fig. 3 to remove the
ballast weight 80 and load an additional container,
such as the container 73. The car frame may then move
down and offload another ballast weight in exchange
for a freight container. After that, the car frame
will again go upwardly in the building to the
destinations for the freight and exchange the freight
for the ballast weights that are disposed opposite the
freight landings, as seen in Fig. 3. This type of
operation may continue until all freight has been
moved up into the building or until it is time to
bring the freight containers back down. The time when
the freight container should be brought back down may
be determined by workers at the freight landing
pressing a hall call button when the freight container
is empty, so that the system can move the freight
container at its leisure, or the entire system may be
on a real timed schedule such that the first freight
container which is delivered to a freight landing will
be picked up at a set time, and thereafter, the pick
up of freight containers will proceed in the same
order in which they were initially delivered. Or any
other suitable method may be used. When it is time to
bring empty containers down, the last ballast weights
which were loaded on the car frames will still be on
them. A car frame may then go to any of its related
freight landings and pick up the empty freight
containers at the same time that the ballast weights
are offloaded onto the ballast weight landings such as
the landing 79. The car frame will then move to
another landing to pick up another empty freight
container and offload another ballast weight. Then
the car frame will return to the receiving level 68
shown in Fig. 3 to offload an empty freight container,
such as container 73 and load the ballast weight which
was previously parked in the parking area 69. Then
the car frame would be lowered to exchange another
empty freight container for another ballast weight.
The car frame would then go upwardly to a freight
landing where there is an empty freight container, and
exchange it with one of the ballast weights, and so
forth. In this way, during the early nighttime hours,
the shuttle elevators will carry freight upwardly and
carry ballast weights downwardly; during the later
nighttime hours, the shuttle elevators will carry
ballast weights upwardly and empty freight containers
downwardly.
The invention may also be practiced, as soon as
any empty freight containers are available to be
returned to the receiving level, by exchanging a
ballast weight for an empty freight container,
returning to the receiving level and exchanging an
empty freight container for a full freight container,
delivering the full freight container by exchanging it
for the ballast weight, going to another empty freight
container and exchanging the ballast weight therefor,
and returning to the receiving area. In other words,
the ballast weights may simply be moved a few floors
in the high end of the building rather than carried
all the way up and down, once containers become empty
and therefore available to be returned to the lower
level.
When the last empty freight container that was
moved by a particular car frame has been brought to
the receiving and parking levels 68, 69, the empty
freight container will be exchanged for a passenger
cab, such as the cab 71. Then the car frame will move
down so as to exchange another empty freight container
with the other of its passenger cabs. The car frame
is then ready to move up two levels and commence to
carry passengers from the ground level passenger
transfer lobby complex.
The invention may be practiced in another
embodiment in shuttle systems having multiple decks in
a manner illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6. Fig. 5
illustrates the car frame 48 as it may be traveling
upwardly during the early night time hours delivering
the freight container 73 to a freight landing. In
this embodiment, the ballast weights 80 are not
utilized, and system balance is partially maintained
by virtue of leaving one passenger cab 71 on the car
frame at all times so as to reduce the difference
between the maximum loaded weight (Fig. 6) and the minimum
unloaded weight (Fig. 7). Therefore, the requirement for the
size of the traction machine and the nature of roping,
while more severe than in the embodiment described
with respect to Figs. 3 and 4, is less than would be
the case of using a car frame that is totally empty to
return to pick up the next freight container.
However, the invention can be practiced by simply
removing the passenger cabs from the car frame, and
then using the car frame to carry loaded freight
containers upwardly in the building and returning
empty for subsequent loaded freight containers, as
well as for returning empty freight containers
downwardly and traveling empty upwardly to retrieve
more empty freight containers. This, of course,
requires special roping for increased traction to
compensate for less car weight, and a larger machine
to compensate for the unbalanced pull of the
counterweight. This aspect of the invention may be
practiced with elevator car frames having two, three,
four or more decks, in systems in which some of the
decks are not used in each movement of the car frame
during normal transport, or in systems which simply
carry cabs in all decks at all times. For instance,
with triple deck car frames, the invention may be
practiced by moving the car frame with one passenger
cab, one freight container, and one empty deck in one
direction, and moving the car frame with one passenger
cab and two empty decks in the other direction. Or
the invention may be practiced by moving two freight
containers and one passenger cab in one direction and
two empty decks and one passenger cab in the other
direction. Or the invention may be practiced by
moving two passenger cabs and a car frame in one
direction, and moving two passenger cabs and an empty
deck in the other direction. And of course, this
aspect of the invention can be combined with the
ballast weight aspect of the invention in any desired
fashion.
While the car frame is stationary in the
hoistway and ballast weights and/or passenger cabs and
freight containers are being exchanged, the car frame
may preferably be rigidly locked to the building by
suitable car/floor locks, such as those disclosed in
EP-A-0776859. While the
ballast weight and/or the passenger cabs and freight
containers are being moved on an elevator car frame,
or on a horizontal carriage or bogey, they are
preferably locked to the car frame, carriage or
bogey, and similarly, when standing at a landing, they
are preferably locked to the landing. The locks
may take the form of any suitable cab/car locks, such
as those described in EP-A-0776858, or otherwise.
Thus, although the invention has been shown and
described with respect to exemplary embodiments
thereof, it should be understood by those skilled in
the art that the foregoing and various other changes,
omissions and additions may be made therein and
thereto, without departing from the scope
of the invention which is defined by the claims.
Claims (15)
- A method of utilizing shuttle elevators, having horizontally moveable passenger cabs and which extend between a lower passenger transfer lobby and an upper passenger transfer lobby separated from said lower lobby by a large number of intermediate floors which have no passenger transfer lobbies, for transporting freight, comprising:(a) providing a plurality of freight landings adjacent to the hoistways of said shuttle elevators, said landings being capable of receiving horizontally-moveable freight containers from elevator car frames which travel to said landings within corresponding ones of said hoistways;(b) at a first point along one of said hoistways, exchanging a passenger cab on a corresponding one of said car frames for a freight container;(c) moving said one car frame carrying said freight container to a selected one of said freight landings; and(d) transferring said freight container from said one car frame to said one freight landing.
- A method according to claim 1 further comprising:(e) after said step (d), leaving said freight container at said one freight landing for a period of time for the unloading thereof;(f) moving said one car frame to a point along said hoistway which is adjacent to another freight container;(g) then transferring said another freight container onto said one car frame;(h) moving said another freight container on said one car frame to another one of said freight landings; and(i) transferring said another freight container from said one car frame to said another landing.
- A method according to claim 1 further comprising:(j) after said step (d), leaving said freight container at said one freight landing for a period of time for the unloading thereof;(k) moving said one carframe in said hoistway away from said one freight landing;(l) after said period of time, moving said one car frame in said hoistway to a point adjacent to said one freight landing;(m) transferring said freight container from said one freight landing to said one car frame;(n) moving said one car frame along said hoistway to said first point; and(o) exchanging said freight container for a passenger cab on said one car frame.
- A method according to claim 1 further comprising:(p) providing a plurality of ballast weight landings adjacent to the hoistways of said shuttle elevators, there being one of said ballast weight landings for each of said freight landings, each of said ballast weight landings being directly on the opposite side of the related hoistway from the corresponding one of said freight landings;(q) providing a horizontally moveable ballast weight in each of said ballast weight landings; and(r) wherein said step (d) comprises exchanging said freight container for one of said ballast weights disposed in a corresponding one of said ballast weight landings.
- A method according to claim 4, further comprising:(s) after said step (d), leaving said freight container at said one freight landing for a period of time for the unloading thereof;(t) moving said one car frame to a point along said hoistway which is adjacent to another freight container;(u) exchanging said another freight container for said one ballast weight on said one car frame;(v) moving said another freight container on said one car frame to another one of said freight landings; and(w) exchanging said another freight container on said one car frame with another ballast weight disposed on a ballast weight landing opposite to said another freight landing.
- A method according to claim 4, further comprising:(x) after said step (d), leaving said one freight container at said one freight landing for a period of time for the unloading thereof;(y) moving said one car frame in said hoistway away from said one freight landing;(z) after said period of time, moving said one car frame in said hoistway to a point adjacent to said one freight landing;(aa) exchanging said one freight container for a ballast weight on said car frame;(bb) moving said one car frame along said hoistway to said first point; and(cc) exchanging said one freight container for a passenger cab on said car frame.
- A method according to claim 4, further comprising:(dd) after said step (d), leaving said one freight container at said one freight landing for a period of time for the unloading thereof;(ee) moving said one car frame in said hoistway away from said one freight landing;(ff) after said period of time, moving said one car frame in said hoistway to a point adjacent to said one freight landing;(gg) exchanging said one freight container for a ballast weight on said car frame;(hh) moving said one car frame along said hoistway to said first point; and(ii) exchanging said one freight container for another freight container on said car frame.
- A method of utilizing shuttle elevators having multi-deck car frames, each for simultaneously carrying a plurality of horizontally moveable passenger cabs and which extend between a lower passenger transfer lobby and an upper passenger transfer lobby separated from said lower lobby by a large number of intermediate floors which have no passenger transfer lobbies, for transporting freight, comprising:(a) providing a plurality of freight landings adjacent to the hoistways of said shuttle elevators, said landings being capable of receiving horizontally-moveable freight containers from elevator car frames which travel to said landings within corresponding ones of said hoistways;(b) moving one of said car frames to a first point along a corresponding one of said hoistways with said plurality of passenger cabs therein;(c) at said first point, exchanging a passenger cab on said one car frame for a freight container;(d) moving said one car frame carrying said freight container and the remainder of said plurality of passenger cabs to a selected one of said freight landings; and(e) transferring said freight container from said one car frame to said one freight landing.
- A method according to claim 8 further comprising:(f) after said step (d), leaving said freight container at said one freight landing for a period of time for the unloading thereof;(g) moving said one car frame with said remainder of cabs thereon to a point along said hoistway which is adjacent to another freight container;(h) then transferring said another freight container onto said one car frame;(i) moving said another freight container and said remainder of cabs on said one car frame to another one of said freight landings; and(j) transferring said another freight container from said one car frame to said another landing.
- A method according to claim 8 further comprising:(k) after said step (d), leaving said freight container at said one freight landing for a period of time for the unloading thereof;(l) moving said one car frame with said remainder of cabs thereon in said hoistway away from said one freight landing;(m) after said period of time, moving said one car frame in said hoistway with said remainder of cabs thereon to a point adjacent to said one freight landing;(n) transferring said freight container from said one freight landing to said one car frame;(o) moving said one car frame along said hoistway to said first point; and(p) exchanging said freight container for a passenger cab on said one car frame.
- A method according to claim 8 further comprising:(q) after said step (d), leaving said freight container at said one freight landing for a period of time for the unloading thereof;(r) moving said one car frame with said remainder of cabs thereon in said hoistway away from said one freight landing;(s) after said period of time, moving said one car frame in said hoistway with said remainder of cabs thereon to a point adjacent to said one freight landing;(t) transferring said freight container from said one freight landing to said one car frame;(u) moving said one car frame along said hoistway to said first point; and(v) exchanging said freight container for another freight container on said one car frame.
- An elevator system for a building, comprising:an elevator hoistway in said building;a lower passenger transfer lobby adjacent said hoistway;an upper passenger transfer lobby adjacent said hoistway, separated from said lower lobby by a large number of intermediate floors which have no passenger transfer lobbies;a freight receiving landing adjacent said hoistway at the lower end of said building;a freight delivery landing on one of said intermediate floors, said hoistway interconnecting all of said lobbies and landings;a car frame vertically moveable in said hoistway between all of said lobbies and landings;a horizontally moveable passenger cab;a horizontally moveable freight container; andhorizontal motive means for exchanging said passenger cab on said car frame for said freight container at said freight receiving landing and for transferring said freight container from said car frame to said freight delivery landing.
- A system according to claim 12 wherein said car frame is a single deck car frame.
- A system according to claim 12 wherein said car frame is a multideck car frame.
- A system according to claim 12, 13 or 14 further comprising:a ballast weight landing disposed directly on the opposite side of said hoistway from said freight receiving landing;a ballast weight disposed when not in use on said ballast weight landing; and wherein said horizontal motive means comprises:means for exchanging said passenger cab on said car frame for said freight container at said freight receiving landing and for exchanging said freight container for said ballast weight at said freight delivery landing.
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
US76104496A | 1996-12-05 | 1996-12-05 | |
US761044 | 1996-12-05 |
Publications (1)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
EP0846643A1 true EP0846643A1 (en) | 1998-06-10 |
Family
ID=25060942
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
EP97309779A Withdrawn EP0846643A1 (en) | 1996-12-05 | 1997-12-04 | Moving freight with passenger shuttle elevators |
Country Status (5)
Country | Link |
---|---|
EP (1) | EP0846643A1 (en) |
JP (1) | JPH10167629A (en) |
KR (1) | KR19980063784A (en) |
ID (1) | ID17819A (en) |
SG (1) | SG71060A1 (en) |
Cited By (4)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
CN107352365A (en) * | 2017-06-19 | 2017-11-17 | 郑海艳 | A kind of broach exchanges elevator with multiple compartments |
CN107416618A (en) * | 2017-06-03 | 2017-12-01 | 福州幻科机电科技有限公司 | A kind of express mail Special lifting elevator with intelligent delivery to family |
CN113184646A (en) * | 2021-03-31 | 2021-07-30 | 日立电梯(中国)有限公司 | Intelligent remote circulating elevator system |
CN116199071A (en) * | 2023-05-05 | 2023-06-02 | 大汉科技股份有限公司 | Elevator for construction of passenger-cargo separation |
Citations (2)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
NL7904216A (en) * | 1979-05-29 | 1980-12-02 | Theodorus Zutt | Combined personnel and goods lift - has separate goods cage attached to underside of personnel cage |
EP0776851A2 (en) * | 1995-11-29 | 1997-06-04 | Otis Elevator Company | Synchronized off-shaft loading of elevator cabs |
-
1997
- 1997-11-11 SG SG1997004008A patent/SG71060A1/en unknown
- 1997-12-02 ID IDP973817A patent/ID17819A/en unknown
- 1997-12-04 KR KR1019970065883A patent/KR19980063784A/en not_active Application Discontinuation
- 1997-12-04 EP EP97309779A patent/EP0846643A1/en not_active Withdrawn
- 1997-12-05 JP JP9335243A patent/JPH10167629A/en not_active Withdrawn
Patent Citations (2)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
NL7904216A (en) * | 1979-05-29 | 1980-12-02 | Theodorus Zutt | Combined personnel and goods lift - has separate goods cage attached to underside of personnel cage |
EP0776851A2 (en) * | 1995-11-29 | 1997-06-04 | Otis Elevator Company | Synchronized off-shaft loading of elevator cabs |
Cited By (5)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
CN107416618A (en) * | 2017-06-03 | 2017-12-01 | 福州幻科机电科技有限公司 | A kind of express mail Special lifting elevator with intelligent delivery to family |
CN107352365A (en) * | 2017-06-19 | 2017-11-17 | 郑海艳 | A kind of broach exchanges elevator with multiple compartments |
CN113184646A (en) * | 2021-03-31 | 2021-07-30 | 日立电梯(中国)有限公司 | Intelligent remote circulating elevator system |
CN116199071A (en) * | 2023-05-05 | 2023-06-02 | 大汉科技股份有限公司 | Elevator for construction of passenger-cargo separation |
CN116199071B (en) * | 2023-05-05 | 2023-06-30 | 大汉科技股份有限公司 | Elevator for construction of passenger-cargo separation |
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
ID17819A (en) | 1998-01-29 |
JPH10167629A (en) | 1998-06-23 |
KR19980063784A (en) | 1998-10-07 |
SG71060A1 (en) | 2000-03-21 |
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