EP2676914A1

EP2676914A1 - Elevator guide shoe

Info

Publication number: EP2676914A1
Application number: EP12172601.2A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Pekka PERÄLÄ; Tapio Tyni; Ari HÄNNINEN
Original assignee: Kone Corp
Current assignee: Kone Corp
Priority date: 2012-06-19
Filing date: 2012-06-19
Publication date: 2013-12-25

Abstract

The invention relates to an elevator guide shoe (24) comprising a guide shoe base supporting a guide roller arrangement, in which at least two guide rollers (46, 48) having parallel rotation axes are provided, whereby the circumferences of the guide rollers are/can be spaced apart by a distance as to take up a guide rail part of an elevator in between, and wherein the guide shoe base further supports at least one slide shoe (54) with a sliding surface, which slide shoe is located on one side of the guide rollers with its sliding surface extending in a plane perpendicular to the guide roller axes. The slide shoe as well as the guide roller arrangement are located on a common carrier element (38), which is releasable fastened to the guide shoe base (30, 32, 34, 36). This guide shoe allows easy mounting and maintenance of all wearing parts of the guide shoe.

Description

The present invention relates to an elevator guide shoe which is mounted to an elevator car and/or counterweight. Usually elevators comprise guide rails mounted in the elevator shaft along which an elevator car and eventually a counterweight move vertically. The guide rails have e.g. a T shaped profile whereby the horizontal shank of the T-profile is fixed in the elevator shaft and the vertical center shank of the T-profile is used as guiding element coacting with elevator guide shoes mounted normally near the top and bottom of the elevator car on the sides facing the guide rails.
In small elevators these guide shoes comprise slide shoes which grip the guide rail on three sides whereby two sides are opposite each other and the third side (the free end of the vertical shank of the T-profile) is perpendicular to the other two opposite guiding surfaces of the guide rail. Of course, also other profiles are used for guide rails wherein a beam of the guide rail is contacted on three of its surfaces by guiding elements of the guide shoe.
Thus, having three slide shoes the guide shoe of the elevator car provides a good and smooth car movement along the guide rails. In more sophisticated elevators (e.g. high rise elevators) the guide shoe comprises guide rollers instead of slide shoes which rollers are located in an mutual arrangement at one level whereby two rollers with parallel rotation axes are in opposite arrangement and the third roller is arranged between and perpendicular to them so that the three rollers are in contact with the three guide surfaces of the guide rail. This guide shoe arrangement with rollers has less friction than one with slide shoes and provides a good ride comfort. On the other hand the guide shoe having three rollers is quite voluminous.
The US 7,455,151 discloses a guide shoe having two guide elements embodied as a guide roller arrangement with two guide rollers having parallel rotation axes, and third guide element embodied as a slide shoe. This arrangement is compact and has a low friction compared with guide shoes only consisting of slide shoes. Anyway, the mounting and maintenance of such a guide shoe arrangement is troublesome.
It is therefore object of the present invention to provide an elevator guide shoe which is easy to handle.
The invention is solved with an elevator guide shoe according to claim 1. The object is also solved with an elevator according to claim 12. Advantageous embodiments of the invention are subject matter of the dependent claims.
According to the invention the elevator guide shoe comprises guide shoe base supporting a guide roller arrangement with at least two rollers having parallel rotation axes as well as at least one slide shoe with a sliding surface located between them, e.g. according to US 7,455,151 . The guide shoe base is mounted to an elevator car wall or to the elevator car sling or frame. The advantage of a guide shoe base is that the complete guide shoe can be mounted and detached as one unit. Further, the guide shoe base can be made rigid enough as to carry all the forces taken up by the guide rollers and the slide shoe. Further, the guide shoe base may be mounted on buffers mounted to the car wall or car sling as to dampen the transmission of the impacts on the guide shoe to the elevator cabin and thus to further increase the ride comfort.
The distance between the circumferences of the guide rollers of the guide roller arrangement is or can be spaced part by a gap as to take up a part of the guide rail of an elevator in between. On the side of the guide rollers facing the car wall or the car sling the slide shoe is provided at least in the area in between the two guide rollers. This slide shoe is in contact with a third guiding surface, i.e. the free edge of the middle shank of a guide rail beam.
According to the invention the guide roller arrangement and the slide shoe are located on a carrier element which is releasable fixed to the guide shoe base. This arrangement allows a fast and reliable mounting and maintenance of all guide elements which are subject to wear.
The term "car sling" is a synonym to the term "car frame". Hereinafter only the term car sling is used representative for both. Generally, the elevator car consists of a cabin carried by the car sling. The car sling is a frame surrounding the elevator cabin at least on the top and its sides. Regularly, the sling is a closed frame surrounding the cabin from the top to the bottom. Normally, the car sling carries the diverting pulley or a fixing point for the hoisting ropes for the suspension of the elevator car and the gripping devices, i.e. all components which impose forces on the elevator car. Accordingly, the car sling preferably also carries the guide shoes of the elevator car. By this measure the elevator cabin itself is kept free from forces resulting from the car suspension and occurring during the use of the elevator. The frame is a rigid structure which is able to bear all these forces.
In a very simple and easy installation which does not take a lot of space the guide shoe base has a main plate, on which the carrier element with the guide elements (guide rollers and/or slide shoe) of the guide shoe are mounted.
Preferably, the carrier element is a roller arm plate supporting a pivotable roller arm on a pivot joint. Formed as a plate the roller arm plate provides a support of the guide elements against the guide shoe base via a large contact area, particularly if the guide shoe base comprises a main plate to which the roller arm plate is mounted. Accordingly, the impact forces can be reliably transmitted from the guide elements to the guide shoe base. The fact, that the carrier is a roller arm plate which carries a pivot for a roller arm has the advantage, that the guide rollers can be biased with the pivoted roller arm against the opposite guide surfaces of the guide rails.
The roller arm plate can be mounted fast and reliably to the guide shoe base /main plate when the roller arm plate is fixed to the main plate / guide shoe base via flared laps which embrace the roller arm plate at least two sides.
This mounting can be kept free of play wherein the roller arm plate (38) is trapezoidal and two straight flared laps (40, 41) are provided which are inclined with respect to each other. In this preferred embodiment the roller arm plate can be shoved with its trapezoidal form into the inclined laps, which then grip the roller arm plate free of play, if the roller arm plate is fixed in this position.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention the position of the roller arm plate on the main plate is secured by a bolt which perforates the roller arm plate as well as the main plate. This enables a secure fixing of the roller arm plate on the main plate.
In a very easy and economical solution the roller arm supports the guide rollers of the guide roller arrangement at its ends and the slide shoe in between. Via this measure the roller arm supports all three guide elements which saves place and enables fast exchange of the guide elements on the roller arm.
Preferably, a releasable lock, e.g. a snap lock, is provided for the fixing of the carrier element to the guide shoe base, e.g. the roller arm plate to the main plate. This enables fast and secure locking and detaching of the carrier to/from the guide shoe base.
Preferably, at least one of the guide rollers is movably mounted to the guide shoe base as to change the width of the gap between the circumferences of both guide rollers. This arrangement can e.g. be a pivoted roller arm on which both or only one guide roller is mounted, whereby the pivot axis of the roller arm is parallel to the rotation axes of the guide rollers. Via this arrangement both guide rollers can be kept in continuous contact with both opposite guide surfaces of a guide rail. Preferably, the guide roller or roller arm is biased with a spring means in a direction to decrease the vertical projection of the gap between the rollers (the gap which is effective for the vertical guide rails). This arrangement provide a simple and low-cost spring loaded contact of both guide rollers with the opposite guide surfaces of the guide rails. Via adjustment of the spring force the supporting force of the guide rollers on the guide rail can be adjusted.
In a very simple arrangement both guide rollers are mounted on a pivoted roller arm and the roller arm is spring loaded in one turning direction so that both guide rollers are pressed against the guide rail with an identical force, whereby one guide roller contacts the guide rail at a higher point and the other guide roller contacts the guide rail at a lower point with respect to the pivot axis of the roller arm. With this arrangement a balanced symmetrical support force of the guide rollers against the opposite guiding surfaces of a guide rail is obtained which improves the ride comfort of the elevator car along the guide rails.
Instead of a pivotable roller arm also sliding tracks can be used for at least one guide roller as to vary the mutual distance of the guide rollers of the guide roller arrangement.
The invention also relates to an elevator having an inventive guide shoe according to the above description.
The slide shoe comprises preferably a piece of sliding material, commonly plastics, with good friction properties with respect to the guide rail surface. This material may be greased to reduce the friction against the guide rail. The slide shoe can be mounted on the pivoted roller arm or at any other place at the guide shoe. Buffers or springs can be provided for the mounting of the slide shoe to avoid the transmission of impacts caused by the guide rail to the car sling.
Preferably, the guide rail (e.g. a T-profile) has a beam with three guiding surfaces whereby the two opposite sides of the beam are the guide surfaces for the guide rollers of the guide roller arrangement and the free edge of the beam is met by the slide shoe of the guide shoe. With this arrangement a very compact and comfortable guide shoe arrangement of the elevator car is provided which has only low friction with respect to the guide rail and provides a good ride comfort combined with only minor space requirement compared with common guide shoes having three rollers.
Preferably, the guide shoe base supports a carrier element comprising or consisting of a roller arm plate on which a roller arm supporting the two guide rollers of the guide roller arrangement is pivotably supported. This arrangement has the advantage that the guide rollers together with the pivot axis can be changed and replaced quite easily as only the carrier element has to be replaced. Preferably the roller arm plate is releasable fixed on the guide shoe base, e.g. with a snap-lock. This allows easy replacement of the complete roller arrangement of the two rollers with parallel axes. Also the slide shoe is mounted to the roller arm plate, in which case all components subject to wear, i.e. the guide roller arrangement, the slide shoe and the pivot axis can be easily replaced by simply exchanging the carrier element.
Preferably, the guide shoe base has a back plate and a main plate which are fixed on opposite sides of the car sling whereby the main plate is used for mounting of the rollers of the guide roller arrangement, e.g. for the releasable mounting of the roller arm plate.
Preferably the guide shoe is isolated from the car sling or from the car with rubber buffers. This easy arrangement produces less noise and the ride quality is improved compared with guide shoes directly attached to the car sling.
An adjustment means may be provided in connection with the spring means to adjust the force of the guide rollers acting on the guide rails. Via this measure the supporting force of the spring can be adjusted according to need, e.g. according to the nominal car load and imbalance of the car suspension. The spring force of the spring means can thus be adjusted to provide a suspension function with automatic lateral movement limiter and maximum stroke buffer (like the springs of a car). As the rollers are constantly kept in contact with the guide rail the wear of the rollers during elevator usage is even and reduced.
In an economical solution the pivot joint of the roller arm can be made by punching bearing seats into the main plate or the roller arm plate and to provide a loose bearing race in connection with the roller arm.
In case at least one of the guide rollers with parallel axes is movably mounted on the guide shoe base, e.g. on a pivotable roller arm, the stroke of the movement, e.g. the deflection angle of the roller arm, can be used as an indicator for the wear of the guide rollers. Accordingly, the timing to replace the guide rollers can be better evaluated. Preferably on this behalf a visual marking can be provided or a switch can be provided to feed out wear information to a central control unit or car control unit which could then be forwarded to a remote maintenance center.
The inventive elevator guide shoe can be produced at low costs and the essential components can be manufactured from sheet metal so that no parts of the guide shoe have to be cast. The integration of the roller arm bearing into a plate structure is a cost effective solution which also takes less space in the depth of the guide shoe which enables the arrangement of a larger cabin between guide rails of a certain mutual distance. Due to the fact that the essential forces acting on the elevator car are carried by the guide rollers the guide shoe of the inventions saves energy due to low friction which enables the provision of an VDI4707 A-class elevator in standard deliveries.
Of course, the invention may also be used in elevators having guide rails which do not have a T-profile but have three guide surfaces to be met by corresponding guide elements (guide rollers or slide shoe) of the guide shoe, e.g. L-profiles or other profiles with a different shape.
The invention is now schematically described via the enclosed drawings.

Figure 1: shows a perspective view of an elevator car suspended on hoisting ropes and being guided with guide shoes along elevator guide rails,
Figure 2: shows a detailed view of one guide shoe of the elevator car of Fig. 1 in a horizontal view from the front,
Figure 3: shows a horizontal side view of the guide shoe of Figure 2,
Figure 4: shows the guide shoe of Figures 2 and 3 in a view from above.

Figure 1 shows an elevator 10 with an elevator car 12 comprising an elevator cabin 14 supported in a car sling 16. The elevator car 12 is suspended on hoisting ropes 26 via a diverting pulley 18 mounted on the top and in the center of the car sling 16 as to be vertically movable between two guide rails 20, 22 extending vertically in an elevator shaft (not shown). On both opposite side beams of the car sling 16 two guide shoes 24 are provided which are configured to run along three guide surfaces of the guide rails 20, 22. For example, the guide rails 20, 22 may have a T-shaped profile and the three guide surfaces of the guide rails are located on both opposite sides and the center edge of the vertical center shank of the T-profile whereas the horizontal shank is used for fixing the guide rails in an elevator shaft. The hoisting ropes 26 are driven via an elevator motor, for example via a traction sheave.
Usually, two guide shoes 24 are provided laterally on each side of the car sling 16 whereby the upper guide shoe 24 is located near the top of the car sling 16 whereas the other lower guide shoe 24 is located near the bottom of the car sling. But the number of guide shoes on each side may also be larger according to the size of the car.
Figure 1 also shows an automatic car door 28 of the elevator car 12.
Figures 2, 3 and 4 show a first embodiment of the inventive guide shoe 24 in more detail.
The guide shoe 24 comprises a main plate 30 and a back plate 32. The main plate 30 and the back plate 32 are mounted via bolts 34 and rubber bushings 36 on both sides of a part of the car sling 16 whereby the rubber bushings 36 isolate and dampen the guide shoe from the car sling 16.
The main plate 30 carries a roller arm plate 38 which has a trapezoidal form. The roller arm plate 38 is fixed to the main plate 30 via flared laps 40, 41 which are inclined with respect to each other and embrace the two sides of the roller arm plate 38. Via the inclined arrangement of the flared laps 40, 41 the roller arm plate is immovably fixed between them. The fixed position is secured by a bolt 39 which perforates the roller arm plate 38 as well as the main plate 30 thus fixing their mutual position. The roller arm plate 38 comprises in its center a pivot joint 42 carrying a roller arm 44 to which both guide rollers 46, 48 of a guide roller arrangement are pivotally mounted on parallel rotation axes 50, 52. The roller arm 44 further carries on its center a slide shoe 54 so that both guide rollers 46, 48 are in contact with the both opposite sides of a beam of the guide rail 20, 22 whereas the slide shoe 54 slides along a free edge of the beam of the guide rail 20, 22. As it may be seen in Figure 2 and 3 an adjustable spring means 56 is provided which acts on the roller arm 44 so that it is pivoted around the pivot 42 pressing both guide rollers 46, 48 of the guide roller arrangement against the opposite guiding surfaces of the guide rail 20, 22.
Via the strength/size of the spring in the spring means 56 the supporting force of the guide rollers 46, 48 against the guide rail 20, 22 can be adjusted. Additionally a set screw 58 is used as adjustment means to compress the spring of the spring means to a higher or lower degree to vary the supporting force of the guide rollers 46, 48 of the guide roller arrangement on the guide rail 20, 22 according to the actual needs.
It is clear for the skilled person that the invention can vary from the above arrangements. Accordingly, the guide roller arrangement may comprise three or more guide roller instead of two guide rollers. It is further not necessary that the slide shoe is arranged on the pivoted roller arm 44. It is further not necessary that the slide shoe 54 is mounted in the same horizontal level as the guide rollers but it can be located above or below on a fixed structure mounted to the main plate 30 of the guide shoe 24. The invention may vary within the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

Elevator guide shoe (24) comprising a guide shoe base supporting a guide roller arrangement, in which at least two guide rollers (46, 48) having parallel rotation axes are provided, whereby the circumferences of the guide rollers are/can be spaced apart by a distance as to take up a guide rail part of an elevator in between, and wherein the guide shoe base further supports at least one slide shoe (54) with a sliding surface, which slide shoe is located on one side of the guide rollers with its sliding surface extending in a plane perpendicular to the guide roller axes, characterized in that the slide shoe as well as the guide roller arrangement are located on a carrier element, which is releasable fastened to the guide shoe base.
Elevator guide shoe (24) according to claim 1, wherein the guide shoe base (30, 32, 34, 36) comprises a main plate (30).
Elevator guide shoe (24) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the carrier element is a roller arm plate (38) supporting a pivotable roller arm (44) on a pivot joint (42).
Elevator guide shoe (24) according to claims 2 and 3, wherein the roller arm plate (38) is fixed to the main plate (30) via flared laps (40, 41) which embrace the roller arm plate at least two sides.
Elevator guide shoe (24) according to claim 4, wherein the roller arm plate (38) is trapezoidal and two straight flared laps (40, 41) are provided which are inclined with respect to each other.
Elevator guide shoe (24) according to claims 2 and 3 or 4 or 5, wherein the position of the roller arm plate (38) on the main plate (30) is secured by a bolt (39) which perforates the roller arm plate as well as the main plate.
Elevator guide shoe (24) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein roller arm supports (44) the guide rollers (46, 48) of the guide roller arrangement at its ends and the slide shoe (54) in between.
Elevator guide shoe (24) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the guide shoe base (30, 32, 34, 36) wherein a releasable lock (40), e.g. a snap lock, is provided for the fixing of the carrier element (38) to the guide shoe base (30).
Elevator guide shoe (24) according to claim 2 or 3, wherein at least one guide roller (46, 48) of the guide roller arrangement is movably mounted to the guide shoe base (30, 32, 34, 36).
Elevator guide shoe (24) according to claim 4, wherein the movably mounted guide roller (46, 48) is biased with a spring means (56) in one moving direction.
Elevator guide shoe (24) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein both guide rollers of the guide roller arrangement are mounted on a roller arm (44) which is pivoted with respect to the guide shoe base (30, 32, 34, 36).
Elevator (10) comprising at least one elevator car (12) which is movable via guide shoes (24) along guide rails (20, 22), wherein at least one of the guide shoes corresponds to any of claims 1 to 11.
Elevator according to claim 12, wherein the elevator car (12) comprises an elevator cabin (14) supported in a car sling (16) via which the elevator car is suspended on hoisting ropes (26) in the elevator shaft, wherein the guide shoes (24) are mounted to the car sling (16).
Elevator according to claim 12 or 13, wherein the guide shoes (24) are mounted to the car sling (16) via at least one buffer (36), preferably a rubber buffer.
Elevator according to any of claims 12 to 14, wherein the guide rail (20, 22) has a T-profile and wherein the guide rollers (46, 48) are in contact with the opposite sides of the center arm of the T-profile whereas the sliding surface of the slide shoe (54) is in contact with the free edge of the center shank of the T-profile.