EP1967478A1

EP1967478A1 - Electromechanical apparatus for raising persons and/or loads

Info

Publication number: EP1967478A1
Application number: EP08151325A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Stefano Rossi
Original assignee: Elevatori Normac Srl
Current assignee: Elevatori Normac Srl
Priority date: 2007-02-14
Filing date: 2008-02-12
Publication date: 2008-09-10
Also published as: ITGE20070015A1

Abstract

Electromechanical apparatus for raising persons and/or loads of various kinds, comprising a travel well (1) housing internally means (2) for transporting persons and/or loads of various kinds, such as a cage, a platform or the like; these transportation means (2) are raised or lowered inside said travel well (1) by means of motor-driven electromechanical components (8, 9) able to operate one or more traction cables (10) connected to these transportation means (2); this apparatus comprises a first multiple tackle provided with a series of pulleys (11, 11', 11 ") for transmission of the traction cable (10), fastened to a fixed frame (6) arranged at the top of said travel well (1); a second multiple tackle provided with a series of pulleys (13, 13', 14, 14') for transmission of the traction cable (10), fastened to a fixed frame (5) arranged on the bottom of this travel well (1); and a movable frame (302) to which pulleys (16, 16', 17, 17') for transmission of the traction cable (10) are fastened and to which these transportation means (2) are fixed.

Description

The present invention relates to electromechanical apparatuses for raising persons and/or loads of various kinds.
As is known, electromechanical apparatuses for raising persons or loads, usually called lifts or hoists, comprise a cage or a platform able to travel vertically inside a tower-type load-bearing structure or inside a reinforced-concrete travel well in new buildings, a motorized electric raising system, or winch, which operates cage traction cables, and a suitably sized counterweight able to balance the weight of the cage. In the case of lifts for raising persons, to be installed generally in an apartment block, this tower structure is formed normally in the empty space or well between the flights of stairs for access to the various floors of the building when there is no travel well specifically designed for installation of the lift. The use of this counterweight involves a series of drawbacks: firstly in such a tower structure a considerable part of the travel well intended for the cage for raising persons and/or loads is occupied by this counterweight; normally the ratio of useful cross-sectional area for the transportation of persons and/or loads and the cross-sectional area of the travel well is in traditional installations equal to about 0.50-0.55. The object of the present invention is therefore to provide a mechanism which is able to exploit in an optimum manner the empty space in the tower structure or the reinforced-concrete travel well specifically designed for the cage movement, resulting in a ratio of the useful cross-sectional area for the transportation of persons and/or loads and the cross-sectional area of the travel well equal to about 0.85-0.90, and which is designed to allow the use of traction cables and pulleys with a small diameter, thereby reducing costs.
This object is achieved by the present invention in the form of an electromechanical apparatus for raising persons and/or loads of various kinds, comprising a travel well housing internally means for transporting persons and/or loads of various kinds, such as a cage, a platform or the like; these transportation means are raised or lowered inside said travel well by means of motor-driven electromechanical means able to operate one or more traction cables connected to these transportation means, characterized in that it comprises a first multiple tackle provided with a series of pulleys for transmission of the traction cable, fastened to a fixed frame arranged at the top of said travel well, a second multiple tackle provided with a series of pulleys for transmission of the traction cable, fastened to a fixed frame arranged on the bottom of said travel well; and a movable frame to which pulleys for transmission of the traction cable are fastened and to which said transportation means are fixed.
Further characteristic features and advantages of the present invention will emerge more clearly from the following description, considered by way of a nonlimiting example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 shows a side elevation and cross-sectional view of an electrical apparatus for raising persons and/or loads of various kinds according to the present invention, having a cage for transporting persons and/or loads and provided with a first upper multiple tackle, a second lower multiple tackle and a movable frame fastened to the cage;
Fig. 2 shows a top plan and cross-sectional view of the electrical apparatus according to Fig. 1;
Fig. 3 shows a perspective schematic view of the upper and lower multiple tackles and the movable frame fastened to the cage and provided with double transmission pulleys.

With reference to these accompanying drawings and in particular to Fig. 1 thereof, 1 denotes a travel well housing internally a cage 2, for example for transporting persons, able to move vertically inside said well 1. A T-shaped guide rail 3 is fixed onto each of two opposite side walls 101 and 201 of said well 1, as clearly shown in Fig. 2. This cage 2 has two opposite side walls 102 and 202 close to said rails 3 and each of them has, fixed thereon, a pair of sliding shoes 4 which are engaged inside the associated guide rail 3 and are able to slide on it. These rails 3 extend along the entire length of the travel well 1, which comprises a first fixed frame 5, which essentially forms the bottom of this travel well 1, and a second fixed frame 6, which essentially forms the ceiling of the travel well 1. An electric motor 8 is attached laterally to said fixed frame 6 of the travel well 1 by means of an associated bracket 7 and operates a drive pulley 9 around which a traction cable 10 is wound. On the opposite side to said motor 8 one of the idle transmission pulleys 11 of a first upper multiple tackle can be seen and will be described in detail in Fig. 3. This transmission pulley 11 is also attached to this first fixed frame 6 of the travel well 1 by means of an associated bracket 12 and has the traction cable 10 wound around it. The second fixed frame 5 of the travel well has, fixed thereon, by means of associated brackets 15 two idle transmission pulleys 13 and 14 of a second lower multiple tackle, around which the traction cable 10 is wound. The cage 2 has at the top a movable frame 302 which in this case forms the roof of the cage and to which two double idle transmission pulleys 16, 16' and 17, 17', around which the traction cable 10 is wound, are fixed, by means of supports 18, 18'. This movable frame could be provided also at the bottom of the cage and therefore would consist in this case of the floor 402 of the said cage and the double pulleys would be fixed underneath this floor 402 in a manner entirely similar to that described.
As can be seen in Fig. 2, the cage 2 of the present apparatus occupies, in an optimum manner and without wasting too much space, the cross-sectional area of the travel well 1. One of the walls of the travel well 1 adjacent to the two side walls 101 and 201 to which the guide rails 3 are fixed, in particular the side wall 301, has formed therein at various levels, i.e. the floors at which the cage 2 stops, an opening 19 for accessing this cage of the present apparatus. A series of double pulleys 16, 16' and 17, 17' arranged in four parallel rows equidistant from each other are fixed onto the roof 302 of the cage by means of supports 18, 18'. The double pulleys 16, 16' are fixed in the vicinity of a side wall of the cage 2, in this case the side wall 202, and are coaxial with each other, while the double pulleys 17 and 17', which are also coaxial with each other, are positioned in the vicinity of the side wall 102 opposite to said side wall 202 of the cage 2. Moreover, in each row, see for example the first row of double pulleys closest to the opening 19, these double pulleys 16, 16' and 17, 17' are positioned so that the traction cable 10 is wound around them in a substantially horizontal direction.
Fig. 3 shows in schematic form the system for moving the cage 2 according to the present invention. The following are fastened to the first fixed frame 6 of the upper multiple tackle: the electric motor 8 with associated drive pulley 9, one end 110 of the traction cable 10 and the three transmission pulleys 11, 11', 11 ". The following are fastened to the second fixed frame 5 of the lower multiple tackle: the other end 210 of the traction cable 10 and four transmission pulleys 13, 13', 14, 14' which are arranged two on each side on said fixed frame 5. The four rows of double pulleys 16, 16' and 17, 17' are fastened onto the movable frame 302, as seen, and obviously the means for transporting persons and/or loads of various kinds, such as the cage 2, a platform or the like, are fastened to this frame. The centres of rotation of the pulleys of the upper multiple tackle and the lower multiple tackle are positioned in pairs on the same vertical axis, namely the pulley 11 and the pulley 13, the pulley 11' and the pulley 13', the pulley 11" and the pulley 14' and the pulley 14 with the drive pulley 9. Considering for example the case where the cage 2 must be raised, the operating principle of the present apparatus is as follows: the electric motor 8, when activated, rotates the drive pulley 9 in the direction of the arrow 0. Therefore it follows that the traction cable 10 is rewound as indicated along the section 10'. Following the directions of travel of the various arrows indicated in the figure for the various sections of the traction cable 10, the section fixed to the fixed frame 6 and indicated by 10" is reached: this section 10" "shortens" in the sense that the movable frame 302 is displaced upwards in the direction of the arrow V and consequently the section 10"' fixed to the lower fixed frame 5 "lengthens". As can be noted, the various sections of the traction cable which are wound around the double pulleys 16, 16' and 17, 17' are for each row of these pulleys in an alternating sense. Moreover, if in a given row of double pulleys a lower or upper section of cable travels in one direction, in the next row it travels in the opposite direction. The provision of four rows of double pulleys in the movable frame 302 and two pulleys per side for each of the upper and lower multiple pulleys ensures an optimum equilibrium of the structure: the cage or platform is therefore guided in an optimum manner during the ascent and descent inside the travel well, also owing to the T-shaped guides provided on the side walls of said travel well and engaged by the sliding shoes of the cage visible in Figs. 1 and 2. Descent of the movable frame 302 occurs in a manner entirely similar to that described, obviously with the arrows shown pointing in the opposite direction.
Owing to these upper and lower multiple tackles and the movable frame with double pulleys fastened to the cage it is therefore possible to move the cage or the platform in a perfectly vertical manner without incurring excessive vibration. Moreover, in the event of stoppage of the electric motor, the cage or the platform remains in position owing to the friction provided by the electric motor and by the plurality of single pulleys of said upper and lower tackle and double pulleys of the movable frame around which the traction cable is wound and tensioned.

Claims

Electrical apparatus for raising persons and/or loads of various kinds, comprising a travel well (1) housing internally means (2) for transporting persons and/or loads of various kinds, such as a cage, a platform or the like, said transportation means (2) being raised or lowered inside said travel well (1) by means of electric motor means (8, 9) able to operate one or more traction cables (10) connected to said transportation means (2), characterized in that it comprises a first multiple tackle provided with a series of pulleys (11, 11', 11 ") for transmission of the traction cable (10), fastened to a fixed frame (6) arranged at the top of said travel well (1); a second multiple tackle provided with a series of pulleys (13, 13', 14, 14') for transmission of the traction cable (10), fastened to a fixed frame (5) arranged on the bottom of said travel well (1); and a movable frame (302) to which pulleys (16, 16', 17, 17') for transmission of the traction cable (10) are fastened and to which these transportation means (2) are fixed.
Apparatus according to Claim 1, characterized in that said travel well (1) comprises on at least two opposite side walls (101, 201) guides (3) inside which sliding shoes (4) provided in said transportation means (2) engage.
Apparatus according to Claim 1, characterized in that said fixed frame (6) of said first multiple tackle comprises on each of two opposite sides at least one pair of said transmission pulleys (11, 11', 9, 11 "), one (9) of said pulleys being connected to said electric motor means (8) and one end (110) of said traction cable (10) being connected to said fixed frame (6).
Apparatus according to Claim 1, characterized in that said fixed frame (6) of the first multiple tackle is the ceiling of the travel well (1) inside which said transportation means (2) move.
Apparatus according to Claim 1, characterized in that said fixed frame (5) of said second multiple tackle comprises on each of two opposite sides at least one pair of said transmission pulleys (13, 13', 14, 14'), the other end (210) of the traction cable (10) being attached to said fixed frame (5).
Apparatus according to Claim 1, characterized in that said fixed frame (5) of the second multiple tackle is the floor of the travel well (1) inside which said transportation means (2) move.
Apparatus according to Claim 1, characterized in that the centres of rotation of said transmission pulleys (9, 11, 11', 11", 13, 13', 14, 14') of the first multiple tackle and the second multiple tackle are positioned in pairs on the same vertical axis.
Apparatus according to Claim 1, characterized in that said transmission pulleys (16, 16', 17, 17') of the movable frame (302) are double and arranged in several parallel rows equidistant from each other so that the traction cable (10) is wound around them so as to travel in a substantially horizontal direction.
Apparatus according to Claim 1, characterized in that said double pulleys (16, 16', 17, 17') are arranged in the vicinity of two opposite side walls (102, 202) of said transportation means (2).
Apparatus according to Claim 1, characterized in that said movable frame (302) is the ceiling or the floor of said means (2) for transporting persons and/or loads of various kinds.