EP1346942B1

EP1346942B1 - Car upper handrail device of elevator

Info

Publication number: EP1346942B1
Application number: EP00985997A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Takao Nishida; Hideaki Kodera; Wim Offerhaus; Lidewy Van Wagensveld; Jan Aernoud Brouwers
Original assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corp
Current assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corp
Priority date: 2000-12-28
Filing date: 2000-12-28
Publication date: 2008-08-27
Anticipated expiration: 2020-12-28
Also published as: DE60040100D1; EP1346942A1; JPWO2002053484A1; JP4694096B2; CN1289377C; WO2002053484A1; EP1346942A4; CN1437556A

Abstract

A car upper handrail device of an elevator, wherein a pair of fixed handrails are installed vertically on the upper part of a car at an interval in lateral direction of the car, one end part of the fixed handrail is positioned near the front end part of the car and the other end part is positioned at the intermediate part of the car in longitudinal direction, and a pair of rotating handrails are formed to be rotatable between a closed position extending from the other end part of the pair of the fixed handrails along the lateral direction of the car to close a space between the one end part and the other end part and an open position extending from the other end part of the pair of the fixed handrails along the longitudinal direction of the car.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a car-top handrail unit for an elevator, which is provided on a car and surrounds a working area for carrying out maintenance and inspection work on the car.

BACKGROUND ART

Conventionally, when carrying out maintenance and inspection on an elevator, a member a maintenance personnel steps onto the car and performs maintenance and inspection work on device(s) inside the hoistway or on car-top device(s). For the safety of the maintenance personnel at the time of performing such car-top work, a car-top handrail unit is generally provided on the car.
Further, in order to minimize the space between the car and the ceiling of the hoistway when the elevator stops at the top floor, and to reduce the amount by which the top portion of the hoistway projects from the upper portion of the building, it is required that, when the car passes the top floor and moves to an uppermost position to which the car can physically ascend, the car-top device does not collide with the ceiling of the hoistway and the safety of the maintenance personnel at the time of performing the car-top work is ensured.
However, in a case where a beam of the building or device(s) related to the elevator exist upward of the car, when a handrail having the necessary height (for example, 750 - 900 mm) is provided on the car, the space between the car and the ceiling of the hoistway cannot be reduced.
In viewof this, elevators have conventionally employed folding car-top handrail units. Fig. 10 is a perspective view showing, by way of example, a conventional car-top handrail unit for an elevator disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 2-42704 . Fig. 11 is a side view showing the car-top handrail unit in Fig. 10 and Fig. 12 is a side view showing a state where the car-top handrail unit in Fig. 11 is folded away. A car-top handrail unit 2 provided on a car 1 is assembled at the time of performing maintenance and inspection work as shown in Fig. 10 and Fig. 11. During normal operation, the car-top handrail unit 2 is, as shown in Fig. 12, folded away and the height thereof is reduced.
However, in the conventional folding type car-top handrail unit 2 described above, the structure is complicated and a large number of parts is required, with the result that costs are high. In addition, the handrail needs to be assembled and folded away at the time of performing maintenance and inspection work, increasing the time required for performing the maintenance and inspection work, with the result that the operational efficiency of the elevator is degraded.
JP-A-4 292 386 discloses a safety fence for an elevator cage with the purpose to prevent the occurrence of a dangerous state during an inspection work through extension of a safety fence to a high level by extending the safety fence fixed to a cage, dividing it at the middle thereof into two sections and interconnecting the division parts through an axle to form a bendable shape.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

The present invention was made with a view to solving the above-mentioned problems, and the object of the invention is to create a car-top handrail unit for an elevator which can avoid interference with beams and device(s) positioned upward of the car, and which can decrease cost with a simple structure.
To this end, according to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a car-top handrail unit for an elevator, which is provided on a car and surrounds a working area for performing maintenance and inspection work on the car, comprising: a pair of fixed handrails provided uprightly on the upper portion of the car being spaced apart from each other in the width direction of the car, each having one end portion positioned in the vicinity of the front end portion of the car and the other end portion positioned in a middle portion in the depth direction of the car; and a pair of rotating handrails each being capable of rotating between a closed position, in which the rotating handrails extend along the width direction of the car from the other end portions of the pair of fixed handrails and close the gap between the other end portions, and as such defining a working area with surface area, and an open position, in which the rotating handrails extend along the depth direction of the car from the other end portions of the pair of fixed handrails and as such enlarging the surface area of the working area.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Fig. 1 is a side view showing a car-top handrail unit for an elevator according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention;
Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional diagram obtained by taking along a line II-II of Fig. 1;
Fig. 3 is a side view showing a state where the rotating handrails of Fig. 1 have rotated to an open position;
Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional diagram obtained by taking along a line IV-IV of Fig. 3;
Fig. 5 is a side view showing a car-top handrail unit for an elevator according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention;
Fig. 6 is a cross-sectional diagram obtained by taking along a line VI-VI of Fig. 5;
Fig. 7 is a plan view showing the main portion of a car-top handrail unit for an elevator according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention;
Fig. 8 is a plan view showing the main portions of a car-top handrail unit for an elevator according to Embodiment 4 of the present invention;
Fig. 9 is a plan view showing the main portion of a car-top handrail unit for an elevator according to Embodiment 5 of the present invention;
Fig. 10 is a perspective view showing an example of a conventional car-top handrail unit for an elevator;
Fig. 11 is a side view showing the car-top handrail unit in Fig. 10; and
Fig. 12 is a side view showing a state where the car-top handrail unit in Fig. 11 is folded away.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, description will be made of preferred embodiments of the present invention with reference to drawings.

Embodiment 1

Fig. 1 is a side view showing a car-top handrail unit for an elevator according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention and Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional diagram obtained by taking along a line II-II of Fig. 1. In the figures, a pair of guide rails 12 is provided within a hoistway 11. A car 13 ascends/descends within the hoistway 11 while being guided by the guide rails 12. Doors 14 and 15 of the car are respectively provided in the front and the back of the car 13.
On a landing side, there are provided doors 16, 17 of the landing, which face the doors 14 and 15 of the car. A beam 18 of the building, used for lifting devices at the time of installation of the elevator, is installed upward of the car 13 within the hoistway 11.
A car-top handrail unit 20, which surrounds working areas A and B for performing maintenance and inspection work on the car 13, is provided on the car 13. The car-top handrail unit 20 has a pair of fixed handrails 21 and 22 and a pair of rotating handrails 23 and 24.
The fixed handrails 21 and 22 are provided uprightly on the upper portion of the car 13 being spaced apart from each other in the width direction of the car 13 (upper and lower direction in Fig. 2). Further, one end portion of each of the fixed handrails 21 and 22 is positioned in the vicinity of the front end portion of the car 13. The other end portions of the fixed handrails 21 and 22 are positioned in a middle portion in the depth direction (left and right direction in Fig. 2).
The rotating handrails 23 and 24 each are capable of rotating between a closed position, in which they extend along the width direction of the car 13 from the other end portions of the pair of fixed handrails 21 and 22 and close the gap between the other end portions, and an open position, in which they extend along the depth direction of the car 13 from the other end portions of the pair of fixed handrails 21 and 22 as shown in Fig. 3 and Fig. 4 (a double door type).
In such a car-top handrail unit 20, a member of maintenance personnel steps onto the car 13 from the landing on the front side of the car 13 (left side in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2). When the rotating handrails 23 and 24 are in the closed position, work is performed within the working area A. Also, when maintenance personnel move to the working area B, as shown in Fig. 3 and Fig. 4, the rotating handrails 23 and 24 rotate to the open position, once the car 13 has descended to a position at which the rotating handrails 23 and 24 will not interfere with the beam 18.
During normal operation, as shown in Fig. 1, the rotating handrails 23 and 24 do not interfere with the beam 18 or device(s) positioned upward of the car 13, as the rotating handrails 23 and 24 are rotated to the closed position.
That is, it is possible to avoid interference of the car-top handrail unit 20 with the beam 18 or device(s) positioned upward of the car 13. Further, by simply rotating the rotating handrails 23 and 24, the work area can be switched between A and B and interference of the car-top handrail unit 20 with the beam 18 or any device(s) can be avoided at the same time, thus cost can be decreased with a simple structure, and also avoiding any undue increase in the time taken to carry out the maintenance work.
Furthermore, while the beam 18 for lifting, used when installing the elevator, can be removed after installation, this requires time and labor. In contrast to this, according to the structure of Embodiment 1, the car-top handrail unit 20 does not interfere with the beam 18, meaning the beam 18 can be retained, and it becomes possible to eliminate the time and labor necessary for the removal of the beam.
Moreover, by retaining the beam 18, the car 13 can be suspended from the beam 18 at the time of exchanging the main rope (not shown) for suspending the car 13. Therefore, the time and labor involved in providing a new lifting member can be eliminated, enhancing the workability of maintenance work.

Embodiment 2

Next, Fig. 5 is a side view showing a car-top handrail unit for an elevator according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention and Fig. 6 is a cross-sectional diagram obtained by taking along a line VI-VI of Fig. 5. In Embodiment 2, the door 14 of the car is provided only on the front side of the car 13. A rear handrail 25 is mounted in a rear end portion on the car 13 so as to connect the rotating handrails 23 and 24, which are in an open position, at their end portions. The other structures are the same as those in Embodiment 1.
As described above, in the case where there is no door on the rear side of the car 13, a rear handrail 25 needs to be mounted on the rear end portion on the car 13. In this case, the rear handrail 25 is fixed to a position where the rear handrail 25 will not interfere with a beam 18 or device(s) inside the hoistway at the time of normal operation, and the rotating handrails 23 and 24 are joined to the rear handrail 25 when the rotating handrails 23 and 24 rotate to the open position. Therefore, it becomes possible to avoid interference with the beam 18 or device(s) positioned upward of the car 13 and to decrease cost with a simple structure, as well as avoiding any undue increase in time to carry out maintenance work.

Embodiment 3

Next, Fig. 7 is a plan view showing the main portions of a car-top handrail unit for an elevator according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention. In this example, provided on both end portions of a rear handrail 25 are stoppers 26 and 27, with which the ends of rotating handrails 23 and 24 are brought into contact, thus regulating the rotation of rotating handrails 23 and 24 in the opening direction. The other structures are the same as those in Embodiment 2.
In such a car-top handrail unit, the rotation of the rotating handrails 23 and 24 can be regulated with a simple structure, whereby the rotating handrails 23 and 24 are prevented from interfering with car-top device(s) or the like.

Embodiment 4

Next, Fig. 8 is a plan view showing the main portions of a car-top handrail unit for an elevator according to Embodiment 4 of the present invention. In the figure, rotating handrails 23 and 24 are held in a closed position with a set screw 28 serving as retaining means for connecting them with each other. Further, the direction of rotation of the rotating handrails 23 and 24 is constantly biased to the open position by twisted coil springs 29 and 30 respectively, serving as biasing means.
In such a car-top handrail unit, the rotating handrails 23 and 24 are held in the closed position by the set screw 28. Thus, the rotating handrails 23 and 24 are prevented from rotating to the open position as a result of vibration or the like during normal operation, and interference of the rotating handrails 23 and 24 with beam 18 or device(s) positioned upward of car 13 can be prevented more securely.
Further, the rotating handrails 23 and 24 are biased by the twisted coil springs 29 and 30. Thus, the rotating handrails 23 and 24 can easily rotate to the open position by simply releasing the set screw 28, and thereby workability is enhanced.
Note that the retaining means is not limited to the set screw 28 and may be, for example, an engaging member such as a hook, which is hung between the rotating handrails 23 and 24. Further, the retaining means may also be a combination of a permanent magnet and a magnetic plate, one fixed to each of the rotating handrails 23 and 24 and adsorbed to each other. Moreover, the retaining means may also be a rope, a wire or the like, which is tied between the rotating handrails 23 and 24.

Embodiment 5

Next, Fig. 9 is a plan view showing the main portions of a car-top handrail unit for an elevator according to Embodiment 5 of the present invention. In the figure, arranged between rotating handrails 23 and 24 is a micro switch 31 serving as a detecting means for detecting whether the rotating handrails 23 and 24 are in the closed position. Specifically, the micro switch 31 is mounted on the one rotating handrail 23 and is operated by the other rotating handrail 24.
A detection signal from the micro switch 31 is outputted to a control device (not shown) for controlling operation of the elevator. With the use of this control device, normal operation can be performed when the rotating handrail 24 is in the closed position. However, when the rotating handrail 24 is not in the closed position, it is regarded that there is a danger of interference of the car-top handrail unit with beam 18 or the like, and thus the range in which the car 13 can ascend is limited.
In such a car-top handrail unit, because of the provision of the micro switch 31, the rotating handrails 23 and 24 are more surely prevented from interfering with the beam 18, or device(s) and the like positioned upward the car 13.
Note that the detecting means is not limited to the micro switch 31, and it is possible to use other mechanical switches, optical switches, proximity sensors or the like.

Claims

A car-top handrail unit for an elevator, which is provided on a car and surrounds a working area for performing maintenance and inspection work on the car (13), comprising:
a pair of fixed handrails (21, 22) provided uprightly on the upper portion of the car (13) being spaced apart from each other in the width direction of the car (13), each having one end portion positioned in the vicinity of the front end portion of the car (13) and the other end portion positioned in a middle portion in the depth direction of the car (13); and

a pair of rotating handrails (23, 24) each being capable of rotating between a closed position, in which the rotating handrails (23, 24) extend along the width direction of the car (13) from the other end portions of the pair of fixed handrails (21, 22) and closes the gap between the other end portions and as such defining a working area with surface area (A), and an open position, in which the rotating handrails (23, 24) extend along the depth direction of the car (13) from the other end portions of the pair of fixed handrails (21, 22) and as such enlarging the surface area (A+B) of the working area.
The car-top handrail unit for an elevator according to claim 1, further comprising a rear handrail (25) disposed in the rear end portion of the car (13) so as to make connection between end portions of the rotating handrails (23, 24) when they are in the open position.
The car-top handrail unit for an elevator according to claim 2, wherein stoppers (26, 27) are provided on the rear handrail (25), in which the rotating handrails (23, 24) are brought into contact with each other in the tip end portions for regulating rotation of the rotating handrails (23, 24).
The car-top handrail unit for an elevator according to claim 1, further comprising a retaining means (28) for keeping the rotating handrails (23, 24) in the closed position by connecting the pair of rotating handrails (23, 24) to each other.
The car-top handrail unit for an elevator according to claim 4, further comprising a biasing means (29, 30) for biasing the direction of rotation of the rotating handrails (23, 24) in the open position.
The car-top handrail unit for an elevator according to claim 1, further comprising a detecting means (31) for detecting whether the rotating handrails (23, 24) are in the closed position and for outputting a detection signal to a control device that controls the operation of the elevator.