EP1431231B1

EP1431231B1 - Elevator without machineroom

Info

Publication number: EP1431231B1
Application number: EP01972540A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Shuki c/o Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki HAMAGUCHI
Original assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corp
Current assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corp
Priority date: 2001-09-27
Filing date: 2001-09-27
Publication date: 2010-12-15
Anticipated expiration: 2021-09-27
Also published as: JPWO2003031310A1; CN1216785C; EP1431231A4; CN1476407A; KR20030048162A; WO2003031310A1; EP2108610B1; EP2108610A1; JP4849431B2; EP1431231A1; DE60143674D1

Abstract

The sheave, cage side deflection wheel and weight side deflection wheel of a machine room-less elevator are arranged on a line when viewed along the elevator shaft and the axes of the sheave, cage side deflection wheel and weight side deflection wheel are parallel with each other. A main rope is extended upward from a weight along the elevator shaft, passed over the upper side of the weight side deflection wheel thence over the sheave and the cage side deflection wheel before being extended downward toward the cage.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a machine-room-less elevator with a winch and a deflection wheel arranged on the top of a hoistway.

BACKGROUND ART

Figs. 10 through 13 show a known machine-room-less elevator with 1:1 roping. In these figures, 1 designates a hoistway, 2 the top of the hoistway, 3 a car, 4 a weight, and 5 a deflection wheel that suspends the weight 4. 6 designates a winch that is installed on the hoistway top 2 and is composed of a sheave 7 and a motor 8. 9 designates a pair of car side guide rails that guide the vertical movement of the car 3. 10 designates a pair of weight side guide rails that guide the vertical movement of the weight 4. 11 designates support plates that are attached to tip ends of the car side guide rails 9 and the weight side rails 10, respectively. 12 designates a bed that is fixedly secured to the support plates 11 through resilient members 13 for holding the winch 6 and the deflection wheel 5. 14 designates a main rope that is wrapped around the sheave 7 of the winch 6 and the deflection wheel 5 and is fixedly attached at one end thereof to a rope stop 50 on an upper portion of the weight 4 and at the other end thereof to a rope stop 51 on an upper portion of the car 3.
The main rope 14 with its one end fixed to the rope stop 50 on the upper portion of the weight 4 ascends from the rope stop 50 along the hoistway 1, and is then wrapped around an upper side of the deflection wheel 5, after which it extends to the sheave 7 of the winch 6.
Thereafter, the main rope 14 is wrapped around the sheave 7. At this time, the main rope 14 extending from the deflection wheel 5 begins to be wrapped from a lower portion of the sheave 7. Then, the main rope 14, after having been wrapped around almost the entire circumstance of the sheave 7 in the counterclockwise direction in Fig. 10, descends in the hoistway 1 to the car 3, and is finally fixedly attached to the rope stop 51 of the car 3.
With the machine-room-less elevator as constructed above, when the main rope 14 is wrapped around the sheave 7, that portion of the main rope 14 which extends from the deflection wheel 5 to the sheave 7 and that portion of the main rope 14 which extends from the sheave 7 to the car 3 cross each other, but they do not mutually interfere with each other.
That is, the winch 6 is installed in such a manner that the sheave 7 is offset from the deflection wheel 5 with a horizontal eccentricity of within 1.5 degrees and a vertical eccentricity of within 2.5 degrees. Fig. 12 and Fig. 13 are views that show the positional relation of the sheave 7 and the deflection wheel 5 in Fig. 10, wherein Fig. 12 is a plan view thereof, and Fig. 13 is a side elevation thereof. Here, note that X axis, Y axis and Z axis represent an orthogonal coordinate system in Fig. 12 and Fig. 13, wherein the X axis indicates the direction of the rotation axis of the deflection wheel 5, the Y axis shows the horizontal direction, and the Z axis shows the vertical direction.
With the machine-room-less elevator of the above-mentioned construction, when the motor 8 of the winch 6 is driven to operate, the sheave 7 is caused to rotate whereby the main rope 14 is moved by the traction thereof. In accordance with the movement of the main rope 14, the car 3 and the weight 4 are operated to rise and fall in opposite directions, respectively.
The known machine-room-less elevator is constructed in the above-mentioned manner, with the winch 6 being arranged inclined against the deflection wheel 5 with respect to the horizontal and the vertical. As a result, there arises the following problem. That is, when a wire rope is used as the main rope 14, rubbing thereof at corner portions of a rope groove of each of the sheave 7 and the deflection wheel 5 can not be avoided. In addition, when a belt is used as the main rope 14, the belt would be subjected to an offset load, so an adverse influence might be given to the belt.
Document JP 11 310 372 A discloses an elevator having in one configuration a car side deflection wheel and a weight side deflection wheel arranged on a straight line when viewed along the hoistway.
WO 99/43596 refers to an elevator system, which includes a hoistway having a plurality of hoistway doors. An elevator car and a counterweight are provided in the hoistway. A drive motor is drivingly coupled to the elevator car and the counterweight, and is located adjacent to either the top or bottom portion of a.hoistway door so as to elminiate the need to provide a machine room above the hoistway ceiling.
As a further document the application JP 8175623 A is known.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

The present invention is intended to obviate the problems as referred to above, and has for its object to provide a machine-room-less elevator in which a main rope is wrapped around a plurality of wheels which are arranged in such a manner that grooves in the wheels for receiving the main rope are disposed on a straight line, thereby making it possible to ensure traction, prolong the usable life of the rope and reduce an installation space in a vertical direction of a hoistway.
Moreover, in a machine-room-less elevator according to the present invention, a sheave and a car side deflection wheel are arranged on a straight line when viewed along a hoistway, and an idle wheel is arranged under the shave in an overlapped relation. The idle wheel, the sheave and the car side deflection wheel have their respective axes arranged in parallel with respect to one another. A main rope, after ascending from a weight along the hoistway, is wrapped around the idle wheel, the sheave and the car side deflection wheel, and thereafter descends in the hoistway to arrive at a car.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a machine-room-less elevator , which is not part of this invention.
Fig. 2 is a plan view of the top of a hoistway in Fig. 1.
Fig. 3 is a cross sectional arrow view taken along line A-A in Fig. 2.
Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a machine-room-less elevator , which is not part of this invention.
Fig. 5 is a plan view of the top of a hoistway in Fig. 4.
Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a machine-room-less elevator according to the present invention.
Fig. 7 is a plan view of the top of a hoistway in Fig. 6.
Fig. 8 is a perspective view of a belt end fastening member.
Fig. 9 is a cross sectional arrow view taken along line B-B in Fig. 8.
Fig. 10 is a perspective view of a known machine-room-less elevator.
Fig. 11 is a plan view of the top of a hoistway in Fig. 10.
Fig. 12 is a plan view showing the positional relation between a sheave and a deflection wheel in Fig. 10.
Fig. 13 is a side elevation of Fig. 10.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail while referring to the accompanying drawings. The same or equivalent members and parts are identified by the same symbols.
Fig. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a machine-room-less elevator. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the top of a hoistway in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a cross sectional arrow view taken along line A-A in Fig. 2.
In these figures, 1 designates a hoistway, 2 the top of the hoistway, 3 a car, 4 a weight, and 5 a deflection wheel from which the weight 4 is suspended. 6 designates a winch that is installed on the top 2 of the hoistway and is composed of a sheave 7 and a motor 8. 9 designates a pair of car side guide rails that guide the vertical movement of the car 3. 10 designates a pair of weight side guide rails that guide the vertical movement of the weight 4. 11 designates support plates that are attached to tip ends of the car side guide rails 9 and the weight side guide rails 10, respectively. 13 designates resilient members that are fixedly secured to the support plates 11, respectively, for preventing driving vibrations of the winch 6 from being transmitted to a building. 12 designates a bed fixedly secured to the support plates 11 through the resilient members 13. 14 designates a main rope that is fixedly attached at one end thereof to a rope stop 50 on an upper portion of the weight 4, and at the other end thereof to a rope stop 51 on an upper portion of the car 3. 15 designates a car side deflection wheel that is supported by the bed 12 with its axis being arranged in parallel to and between the sheave 7 and the weight side deflection wheel 5 in a row in such a manner that a groove in the sheave 7 around which the main rope 14 is wrapped, a groove in the car side deflection wheel 15 and a groove in the weight side deflection wheel 5 are arranged on a straight line.
16 designates a control console that is fixedly mounted on the bed 12 for controlling the elevator. 17 designates a speed governor that is fixedly mounted on the bed 12 for detecting the speed of the elevator and stopping it upon emergency. 18 designates an inflating-deflating maintenance gangway with its one end rotatably mounted on the bed 12. The control console 16, the speed governor 17 and the gangway 18 are arranged at locations lower than the height of the winch 6. Here, note that the speed governor 17 and the gangway 18 are omitted in Fig. 1.
The main rope 14 with one end thereof fixedly attached to the rope stop 50 on the upper portion of the weight 4 ascends from the rope stop 50 along the hoistway 1 and is then wrapped around an upper side of the deflection wheel 5, after which the main rope 14 extends to the sheave 7 of the winch 6.
Thereafter, the main rope 14 is wrapped around the sheave 7. At this time, the main rope 14 extending from the deflection wheel 5 begins to be wrapped from an upper portion of the sheave 7, and then goes almost halfway around the circumference of the sheave 7 in the counterclockwise direction in Fig. 1, after which the main rope 14 is continuously wrapped around an upper portion of the car side deflection wheel 15 over a half of the circumference thereof. Thereafter, the main rope 14 descends in the hoistway 1 to the car 3, where it is finally fixedly attached to the rope stop 51 of the car 3.
According to this machine-room-less elevator, since the deflection wheel 5, the car side deflection wheel 15 and the sheave 7 are arranged on a straight line, the main rope 14 is not forcibly fitted or engaged into the respective grooves in the wheels and the sheave. Accordingly, it becomes possible to ensure the prolongation of the life of the main rope 14 as well as elevator hoisting traction.
In addition, the bed 12 is fitted in the heightwise range of the winch 6, and the control console 16, the speed governor 17 and the maintenance gangway 18 are arranged at locations lower than the height of the winch 6. As a result, the space at the top 2 of the hoistway may be small.
Moreover, in the case of this machine-room-less elevator, the wrapping angle of the main rope 14 with respect to the sheave 7 can be from 120° , which is a minimum wrapping angle necessary to ensure a minimum traction, up to about 270° at the maximum. Thus, this is convenient when a great traction capability is required.
When a flat belt composed of a number of rows of thin built-in wire ropes is adopted as the main rope 14 in place of the wire rope, the sheave diameter can be reduced, whereby an unbalanced torque on the elevator can be accordingly decreased. Besides, the diameter of each of the winch 6, the sheave 7 and the deflection wheels 5, 15 can also be reduced, thus making it possible to diminish the space at the top of the hoistway.
Furthermore, although the respective axes of the car side deflection wheel 15, the sheave 7 and the weight side deflection wheel 5 are horizontal and parallel with respect to one another, they are not necessarily required to be horizontal.
Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a further machine-room-less elevator. Fig. 5 is a plan view of the top of a hoistway of Fig. 4. When viewed along the hoistway 1, the sheave 7 of the winch 6, an idle wheel 19, and the weight side deflection wheel 5 are fixedly attached to the bed 12 on a straight line, and the respective axes of the sheave 7, the idle wheel 19 and the weight side deflection wheel 5 are horizontal and parallel with respect to one another.
The main rope 14 with one end thereof fixedly attached to the rope stop 50 on an upper portion of the weight 4 ascends from the rope stop 50 along the hoistway 1 and then is wrapped around an upper side of the deflection wheel 5. Thereafter, the main rope 14 is wrapped around a lower portion of the idle wheel 19 over a half of the circumference thereof, and it is then wrapped around an upper side of the sheave 7 over a half of the circumference thereof. Subsequently, the main rope 14 descends in the hoistway 1 to the car 3, where it is finally fixedly secured to the rope stop 51 of the car 3.
The wrapping angle of the main rope 14 with respect to the sheave 7 can be adjusted by the position of the idle wheel 19 fixedly mounted on the bed 12, so that a prescribed traction can be ensured.
In addition, since the sheave 7, the idle wheel 19 and the weight side deflection wheel 5 are arranged on a straight line in such a manner that their respective axes are arranged horizontal and parallel with respect to one another, it is possible to prolong the usable life of the main rope 14.
Moreover, since the height of the idle wheel 19 is lower than the height of the winch 6, the space at the top 2 of the hoistway may be small, as in the first embodiment.
Here, note that the respective axes of the sheave 7, the idle wheel 19 and the weight side deflection wheel 5 may not be horizontal.

Preferred embodiment

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a machine-room-less elevator according to an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 7 is a plan view of the top of a hoistway in Fig. 6.
In this embodiment, the winch 6 is fixedly mounted on the bed 12 at a location above the weight 4 on the top 2 of the hoistway, and the idle wheel 19 is arranged under the winch 6 in an overlapped manner. In addition, the sheave 7 and the car side deflection wheel 15 are fixed to the bed 12 on a straight line when viewed along the hoistway 1, and their respective axes are parallel with each other.
The main rope 14 with one end thereof being fixedly attached to the rope stop 50 at an upper portion of the weight 4 ascends from the rope stop 50 along the hoistway 1, and it is then wrapped at its one side around the idle wheel 19. Thereafter, the main rope 14, after having been wrapped around a one side of the sheave 7 over about a half of the circumference thereof, is wrapped around the car side deflection wheel 15 over about a quarter of the circumference thereof. Subsequently, the main rope 14 descends in the hoistway 1 to the car 3, where it is finally fixedly attached to the rope stop 51 of the car 3.
According to this embodiment, the wrapping angle of the main rope 14 with respect to the sheave 7 can be adjusted by the position of the idle wheel 19 fixedly mounted on the bed 12, so that a prescribed traction can be ensured.
In addition, since the idle wheel 19, the sheave 7 and the car side deflection wheel 15 are arranged on a straight line and their respective axes are parallel with respect to one another, it is possible to prolong the usable life of the main rope 14.
Moreover, though not illustrated, the idle wheel 19 may be arranged between the sheave 7 and the car side deflection wheels 15, so that the main rope 14, after ascending from the weight 4 along the hoistway 1, is wrapped around an upper side of the sheave 7, after which the main rope 14 is wrapped around a lower side of the idle wheel 19, and it is then continuously wrapped around an upper side of the car side deflection wheel 15 over about a half of the circumference thereof, and finally descends in the hoistway 1 to arrive at the car 3. At this time, the sheave 7, the idle wheel 19 and the car side deflection wheel 15 are arranged on a straight line when viewed along the hoistway 1, and the respective axes of the sheave 7, the idle wheel 19 and the weight side deflection wheel 5 are parallel with respect to one another. As a result, the life of the main rope 14 can be prolonged.
Fig. 8 is a perspective view of a fixing member fixedly attached to an end portion of a belt when the belt is used as the main rope 14 of the previous configuration. Fig. 9 is a cross sectional arrow view taken along line B-B of Fig. 8.
In these figures, 20 designates a fixture having a plurality of protruded portions 20a that protrude in a horizontal direction, and 21 designates a presser plate having concave portions 21a formed so as to conform to the protruded portions 20a of the fixture 20. The main rope 14 is clamped between the fixture 20 and the presser plate 21 by means of bolts 22. The presser plate 21 has a metal fitting 23 that serves to fix a turned end portion of the main rope 14, and this metal fitting 23 is fastened to the presser plate 21 by means of a bolt 24. 25 designates a hanger bolt that is combined with the fixture 20 by means of a pin 26.
According to this configuration, similar to a shackle for a wire rope generally adopted, a sufficient holding force can be expected against the main rope 14 in the form of the belt, and hence the apparatus can be constructed in compact size, and the construction thereof at an installation site is also easy
Although not explained in detail in the above-mentioned respective configuration, a machine-room-less elevator may be constructed by combining the first through third embodiments with one another in accordance with a change in size of the car or the weight.
In addition, although in the respective configurations,the bed 12 is fixedly mounted on the car side guide rails 9 and the weight side guide rails 10, it may instead be fixed to a wall surface which is a wall portion of the hoistway or a pillar which is a wall portion extending along the wall surface.

Claims

A machine-room-less elevator comprising:
a hoistway (1);

a pair of car side guide rails (9) and a pair of weight side guide rails (10) installed inside said hoistway (1);

a car (3) that is guided along said car side guide rails (9) for vertical movement inside said hoistway (1);

a weight (4) that is guided along said weight side guide rails (10) for vertical movement inside said hoistway (1);

a winch (6) that is arranged in said hoistway (1) at a top (2) of said hoistway (1) above a top floor stop position of said car (3), said winch (6) having a motor portion (8) and a sheave (7) that is driven to be rotated by said motor portion (8) for moving said car (3) and said weight (4) in a vertical direction;

a main rope (14) being fixedly attached at one end thereof to said car (3) and at the other end thereof to said weight (4) for hanging said car (3) and said weight (4) inside said hoistway (1);

an idle wheel (19) around which said main rope (14) is wrapped between said weight (4) and said sheave (7); and

a car side deflection wheel (15) around which said main rope (14) is wrapped between said car (3) and said sheave (7);

wherein said sheave (7) and said car side deflection wheel (15) are arranged on a straight line when viewed along said hoistway (1), and

characterized in that

said idle wheel (19) is arranged under said sheave (7) in an overlapped relation, and said idle wheel (19), said sheave (7) and said car side deflection wheel (15) have their respective axes arranged in parallel with respect to one another; and

wherein said main rope (14), after ascending from said weight (4) along said hoistway (1), is wrapped around said idle wheel (19), said sheave (7) and said car side deflection wheel (15), and thereafter descends in said hoistway (1) to arrive at said car (3).
The machine-room-less elevator as set forth in claim 1, wherein the respective axes of said sheave (7) and said car side deflection wheel (15) are parallel with respect to each other.
The machine-room-less elevator as set forth in any one of claim 1 through claim 2, wherein a wrapping angle of said main rope (14) with respect to said sheave (7) is in the range of 120 - 270°.
The machine-room-less elevator as set forth in any one of claim 1 through claim 3, wherein said main rope (14) comprises a wire rope or a belt.
The machine-room-less elevator as set forth in claim 1, wherein said idle wheel (19) is arranged inside the top (2) of said hoistway (1) at a location under a bed (12) that supports said winch (6).
The machine-room-less elevator as set forth in any one of claim 1 through claim 5, wherein said bed (12), which is provided inside the top (2) of said hoistway (1) to support said winch (6), is arranged so as to fit in a heightwise range of said winch (6).
The machine-room-less elevator as set forth in claim 5 or claim 6, wherein a control console (16) that controls the operation of said elevator, a speed governor (17) that stops said elevator upon emergency by detecting the vertical moving speed of said elevator, and a maintenance gangway (18) are respectively mounted on said bed (12), and the height of each of said control console (16), said speed governor (17) and the maintenance gangway (18) is lower than the height of said winch (6).
The machine-room-less elevator as set forth in any one of claim 5 through claim 7, wherein said bed (12) is fixedly secured to either one of said car side guide rails (9), said weight side guide rails (10) and a wall portion of said hoistway (1).
The machine-room-less elevator as set forth in claim 8, wherein said bed (12) is fixedly secured through a resilient member (13) to either one of said car side guide rails (9), said weight side guide rails (10) and a wall portion of said hoistway (1).
The machine-room-less elevator as set forth in any one of claims 4 and 6 through 9, wherein one end of said belt is clamped by a fixture having protruded portions and a presser plate having concave portions formed so as to conform to said protruded portions.