EP3156360B1 - Lift for small shaft dimensions - Google Patents

Description

State of the art

The invention relates to an elevator according to the preamble of the respective main claim.

Such lifts have long been known in the most varied of variants. Basically, the problem with lifts is that the space within a building that is occupied by the elevator shaft is not available for other purposes and also limits the architectural freedom in the layout design. Because of this, work has been going on for some time to keep the dimensions of the required elevator shaft as small as possible. The introduction of the so-called machine room-less elevators, i.e. the introduction of elevator constructions, in which the drive and all necessary components that were previously housed in the machine room are no longer housed in a separate machine room next to or above the elevator shaft, has made great progress find their place in the elevator shaft itself. The considerable space savings achieved as a result are no longer sufficient.

In the search for ever more space-saving constructions, thought has already been given to optimizing the car itself. One starting point here is the so-called car frame. Typically, car frames or "slings" are used, which encompass the elevator car on three or four sides. The rail guide is attached to the car frame and the brake or brake safety device and the suspension element strand are also attached to the car frame. The cabin sits muffled on the car frame. Almost all of the forces that occur during strong acceleration or catching are intercepted by the car frame and distributed to the cabin.

The disadvantage of such a car frame is that, as I said, it usually encompasses the elevator car on at least three sides and therefore either requires larger shaft dimensions or, for given shaft dimensions, only allows a less loadable base area for the elevator car.

Because of this is in the patent application WO 2008/107202 have already been proposed to dispense with a completely separate car frame and to integrate the car frame, which is still designed as a stable tubular frame construction, at least partially into the car. This already leads to a certain space saving. The still massive car frame, which is still required, nevertheless takes up some space, even if it is partially integrated into the wall of the elevator car.

The patent application WO 2011/036686 discloses a car cabin with a load-bearing frame, each corner element being formed from a differently curved longitudinal wall which ends in first L-shaped structures.

A car made in this way is also very expensive to manufacture, since it consists of a large number of different individual parts, most of which have to be welded together. Furthermore, it is not suitable for a modular construction in which cars with different transport capacities can be built very easily from many identical parts.

problem

In view of this, the object of the invention is to provide an elevator with an even further reduced space requirement, which can be manufactured efficiently.

Solution according to the invention and its variants

According to the invention, this object is achieved with an elevator which has the features of claim 1.

Accordingly, an elevator is proposed with a car that can be moved up and down along guide rails in the vertical direction. This is characterized by the fact that the car floor and the car roof are connected to each other by single-shell corner elements. Corner elements that are adjacent in the circumferential direction are not directly connected to one another along their vertical side edges.

The corner elements each form a type of single-layer belt or a single-layer pillar over which the entire (i.e. any or at least essentially any) vertical flow of force that can occur between the car roof and the car floor is passed on to the car floor. Such forces are of course exempted, e.g. B. when braking or catching due to inertia in the gap between the corner elements closing fillers themselves may arise and which are then forwarded by these themselves directly to the car floor.

In a particularly favorable embodiment, it is provided that the corner elements are made of a fiber material including fiber-reinforced plastic Fiber composite material exist. These materials are characterized by their high strength and their comparably low weight, even with thicker walls, as well as their inherent damping. In view of this, it is preferred that the single-shell corner elements preferably have a thickness of at least 5 mm and better of at least 7.5 mm.

The choice of a higher wall thickness is interesting because the large side walls tend to bulge and / or vibrate with small wall thicknesses.

It is particularly favorable if a corner element has at least one mat, preferably made of tangled or ideally woven fiber material, which spans an entire large area of the corner element formed with its participation. Large areas are the two largest surfaces that directly face the interior of the car and the exterior of the car. Such an embodiment is particularly favorable where a visible surface is to be created on the inside of the cabin, which is to be used unclad. Wherever a sophisticatedly designed visible surface is to be created in a particularly rational manner, the said mat can be made of a decorative material that does not or does not significantly contribute to the resilience of the corner element.

It is particularly expedient if at least three corner elements of the car have the shape of an L-profile, preferably each with a corner which is formed by an arc with a radius of curvature of preferably at least 40 mm. In any case, as soon as the legs of such corner elements have been attached to the flanges of the car roof and the car floor, profiled corner elements of this type form kink-stable columns which can also be loaded under the load of two Do not give in the elevator car roof with the necessary tools.

Preferably, one or more corner elements have on their outer side facing away from the interior of the car a plurality of preferably parallel slots that are filled with a filler material. These slots allow the particularly efficient production of curved corner elements. This is because they allow a straight sheet of fiber material, which is actually too thick for bending, to be weakened in such a way that it can be bent after its binder has hardened. The original plate then forms a two-legged corner element, the legs of which are connected to one another via a radius of curvature in the form of a polygonal shape which gives the corner element kink resistance.

After bending, the slits are filled with a filling material that firmly bonds to the material of the plate and prevents the plate from springing back into its flat starting position.

Particularly favorable conditions also result if each leg of a corner element taking the shape of an L-profile extends at least 25 cm, better at least 35 cm, in the horizontal direction along the side of the car to which it is assigned.

It is preferred if adjacent corner elements in the circumferential direction have a distance of at least 40 cm, better at least 60 cm, between their vertical side edges.

In a particularly preferred embodiment, it is provided that a filler element is arranged between two corner elements. Such a filler performs in As a rule, no additional contribution to the load transmission between the car roof and the car floor.

The filling element is typically also single-shell. Such a filling element can therefore consist of a very inexpensive material or a decorative material that takes no account of the strength conditions, such as an opaque or patterned or crystal clear acrylic glass.

The filling elements and / or the corner elements are preferably designed such that they can engage in one another at their vertical joint, preferably over their entire length, in the manner of tongue and groove boards. Last but not least, with fiber materials or fiber composite materials, this facilitates the secure joining and the production of a surface that may be suitable as a visible surface without further treatment.

It is particularly favorable if the tongue and groove connection is joined with the interposition of a rubber layer surrounding the tongue. In this way, it is excluded that squeaking or creaking noises or vibrating noises occur in the area of the tongue and groove connection, as typically occurs in the case of relative movements between plastic surfaces that bear against one another under tension.

Protection according to the invention is also claimed for a system for building an elevator car using the corner elements according to the invention. Such a system preferably comprises a car floor, ideally designed as a sandwich with the participation of a rigid foam core with two cover layers, with a circumferential flange for connection to the car side walls, a car roof with a circumferential flange for connection with the car side walls, with a single-skin design corner elements and filling elements that can be installed between the corner elements. The system preferably comprises filling elements with 6 different widths, so that the system can be used to manufacture cars with different base areas without having to produce individual corner elements.

This is where the decisive advantage of the invention can be seen once again - the fact that only the corner elements are responsible for transmitting the power flow from the car roof to the car floor means that filling elements of different widths can be used. As a result, cars with different layouts can be produced very efficiently. This is of particular advantage when renovating old buildings, where the new car has to be adapted as well as possible to the given shaft cross-section.

The system according to the invention can comprise prefabricated filler elements in different widths and / or filler elements, the width of which is individually tailored in individual cases.

Further modes of operation, design options and advantages of the construction according to the invention result from the exemplary embodiments described with reference to figures.

list of figures

• Figure 1 shows a car according to the invention in vertical section, ie in section along the longitudinal axis of the associated shaft.
• Figure 2 shows a car according to the invention in horizontal section just above the floor platform of the car.
• Figure 3 shows a corner element according to the invention in detail.
• Figure 4 shows a tongue and groove connection between a corner element and a filling element in detail.
• Figure 5 shows a car according to the prior art.

Embodiments according to the invention Preliminary note

The Figure 5 shows a car according to the state of the art.

The car frame 2, which surrounds the car 1 on all sides and encloses it like a ring, can be clearly seen here. The car or the actual cabin is placed on the lower, horizontal part of the car frame 2 in a noise-insulated manner using buffers 3. The upper part of the elevator car is often also connected to the car frame in a noise-isolating manner via additional buffers 3.

The rail guides are attached to the car frame 2 and also the brake or brake safety devices. In addition, the suspension means A are fastened to the car frame 2, here, for example, to its upper horizontally oriented support, so that all loads are carried away via the car frame.

Floor platform of the car

The elevator according to the invention, the car 1 (without suspension means connection) as a whole in Figure 1 is shown, takes a different path here.

The elevator according to the invention preferably has a so-called self-supporting floor platform 5.

A self-supporting floor platform 5 is used when the structure of the floor platform is capable of preferably absorbing all or at least all of the vertical forces that occur during operation without it being too inadmissible deformations. The side walls 6 of the 3 car then only have the task of holding the roof 6a of the car in this way and, if necessary, guiding the car vertically by forming a base on which the rail guides of the car are then mounted. The roof can be entered by at least two fitters in order to work on the elevator system from the roof, e.g. work on the drive that is housed in the shaft head without a machine room. In this respect, too, the side walls provide the necessary strength.

Otherwise, the side walls 6 of the car still have the function of supporting passengers who are leaning against the side walls or their possible handrail from the inside, and of course, as a rule, to form a cabin which is essentially closed to the outside when the car door is closed and which prevents the Passengers can come into contact with the shaft wall moving past the moving cabin or the shaft fittings found there. The self-supporting floor platform 5 can be designed in different ways, as will be explained in more detail.

Special structure of the car side walls

The Figures 1 and 2 show more details regarding the car.

The interaction of the side walls 6 according to the invention with a self-supporting floor platform 5 is particularly favorable.

It is therefore preferably the case that the car side walls 6 are designed to be continuous or at least 85% single-shell, the first alternative being clearly preferred. This shows the Figures 1 and 2 with their single-layer side walls. In its broader sense, the term “consistently single-shell design” in accordance with the invention means that nowhere in the car side walls is a tubular profile extending in the vertical direction along all or most of the side wall integrated or several separate plates placed on top of one another, with the exception of special attachment points, such as a guide shoe, which is (locally) attached to the car side wall 6 in order to interact with the respective guide rail. The term is preferably used in its narrower sense and then means that a tubular profile is also not integrated in some areas in the side walls.

The car floor 5 is advantageously from the in Fig. 1 hatched bottom plate 21 formed, which forms all around downwardly projecting flange surfaces 22. The base plate 21 is preferably also made of fiber material, but can also be made of sheet metal. The base plate is preferably designed to be self-supporting, ie it absorbs all loads resulting from the suspension of the car 1 on the suspension means, not shown, without substantial or completely without the involvement of the side walls 6 and the car roof 6a, which only "carry themselves" result and arise when braking or catching the car 1.

A hard foam core 23 ideally lies on the base plate 21 toward the inside of the cabin, which in turn has a core Fig. 1 Carries cover plate 24, not shown, which represents the bottom inner surface of the car floor. The base plate 21, the rigid foam core 23 and the cover plate 24 are preferably glued or welded to one another and thus form a sandwich base. Ideally, such a Sandwich floor, which is characterized by its light weight, underpinned by a chassis, ie a metal frame construction.

The car side walls 6 are generally in contact with the already described circumferential flange surface 22 of the base plate 21 of the car 1 and, as a rule, also against a corresponding flange surface 25 of the car roof 6a. Screws and particularly preferably rivets, ideally blind rivets, provide the necessary frictional connection. These fasteners each reach through the relevant car side wall 6 and the relevant flange surface of the car floor 5 or the car roof 6a and press them together.

The respective flange surface 22, 25 is typically designed such that it is not accessible from the inside of the cabin on its rear side facing the vertical central axis of the car, but from the outside, namely from the car floor or from the car roof, as in FIG Fig. 1 shown.

Ideally, the car side walls 6 are designed such that the material forming the car side wall forms a corner element 18 in the form of an L-profile in the area of the corners. Such an L-profile preferably has a generously rounded corner - that is, a corner which is formed by an arc with a radius of curvature of preferably at least 40 mm. As far as the curved corner is designed as a polygon, the said radius of curvature is the radius of a circle inscribed in the corner from the inside.

Ideally, each leg of such a corner element 18 extends at least 25 cm, better at least 35 cm in the horizontal direction along the side of the car to which it is assigned.

Such a corner element 18 has a high stiffness.

For example, it can also be made from sheet steel or other sufficiently load-bearing material, for example from twin-wall sheets or from aluminum. It can be made of sheet metal, for example.

Such a corner element very preferably consists of a fiber material or a fiber composite material. It then (measured perpendicular to its large area) preferably has a thickness of at least 5 mm, better even at least 7.5 mm. Unlike a thin and therefore possibly also very light sheet, a corner element made of a fiber material or fiber composite material has damping properties, so that no droning or audible vibrations can occur during operation.

A corresponding L-shaped corner element 18 is attached to at least three of the corners of the car, the fourth corner may be formed by a special corner element 18a with regard to a side-opening sliding door, which does not encompass the corner, but is flat. Apart from the L-shaped configuration, however, what has been said previously and subsequently for the regular corner elements 18 also applies mutatis mutandis to this particular corner element 18a.

From the perspective of the passenger inside the car, the corner elements 18, 18a may also cover the car rails, which are preferably also located here in the area of the corners.

Filling elements 19 are provided between two corner elements 18, 18a. These can also be made of glass or translucent or opaque plastic, for example, which is special creates inexpensive, new lighting options for the car. In order to be able to use these, illuminants that radiate from the outside inwards must be provided on the outside of the filler elements, for example corresponding LED fields, which can possibly also provide ambient lighting, by changing colors, for example between day and night.

Without prejudice to the fact that the side walls or their corner elements are single-shell, they can be provided with local reinforcement elements, which generally do not extend in the vertical direction over the entire corner element or the entire side wall, which is not shown here in the figures. Such a reinforcement element can be used, for example, to fasten an upper or lower rail guide to the outside of the car side wall and to be able to support it in such a way that the forces which increase and decrease during operation, in particular horizontal forces, do not cause any visible deformation of the relevant one to the naked eye Cause sidewall.

If the side wall or the corner element consists of a fiber material or fiber composite material, it is particularly expedient if the respective reinforcing element is laminated or inserted into the material and is preferably thereby already glued to it ready for use. Instead of this or, if the adhesive bond is not completely ready for use, the respective reinforcing element can also be screwed or riveted to the material. In this case, it is preferred to provide a metallic or threaded, possibly laminated counterpart on the inside of the cabin, so that the fiber or fiber composite material is held in a frictionally clamped manner between the reinforcing element and the counterpart.

If the car side walls are made of sheet metal, they can provide a firm hold for the rail guide to be mounted on the side wall by means of beads, recesses or local doubling from another sheet metal or sheet metal part, without losing their property of single-sheet form, as long as the term "single sheet" in one wider sense is used.

This type of wall design of a car 1 using prefabricated corner elements 18, 18a of the type just described is particularly favorable because it creates a modular wall system with which cars with different footprints can be produced very efficiently. This offers a considerable advantage, particularly when modernizing existing elevator systems, not least in connection with the possible framelessness of the elevator car.

With such a system i. d. R. always use the same corner elements 18, 18a. Since these are solely or essentially responsible for the non-positive connection between the accessible car roof 6a and the car floor, it is easily possible to respond to different footprint requirements. For this purpose, filling elements 19 of different widths are only required in the horizontal direction. Instead, it can also be considered to cut filler elements 19 with exactly the right width. Because of the single-shell nature and the fact that the filling elements are preferably non-load-bearing or at least essentially non-load-bearing elements, this can be accomplished simply and without the need for strength calculations or analyzes.

It is particularly expedient if the filling elements 19 or corner elements 18, 18a are designed such that they are attached to their vertical joint, preferably over its entire length, interlocking like tongue and groove boards. It is particularly expedient if it is the corner elements 18, 18a that each have a spring 26 integrally formed on them or made by partial milling along their vertical side edges, which can be inserted into the corresponding groove of a filler element 19, cf. Fig. 2 and 4 ,

With the tongue and groove connection, a visually flawless visible surface can be created in a single step on the inside of the cabin, despite the single-shell form, without the need for facing or additional interior cladding.

In many cases, preference is given to a pure plug connection instead of gluing. The tongue 26 of the one element is then preferably inserted into the groove with the interposition of a thin rubber or cellular rubber layer M placed around the tongue 26 in a V-shape. This ensures the necessary hold and that no annoying noises can be transmitted via the tongue and groove connection.

The corner elements preferably consist of a plurality of mats laminated on fiber material, which are mostly woven mats.

Ideally, at least one of these mats spans an entire large area of a corner element, preferably the visible side of the corner element facing the interior of the car.

If the corner element consists of two generally right-angled legs which are connected to one another via a radius, a corner element bears on its outside facing away from the interior of the car in the region of its radius of curvature a plurality of vertically extending slots 20 such as that Fig. 3 shows.

These slots 20 are typically made by milling or sawing or cutting into the initially flat plate, which is intended to form the respective corner element 18. Your preferred width in the horizontal direction is between 0.5 mm and 2.5 mm. These slots 20 therefore each cut a part of the layer of the hardened fiber material, but do not penetrate completely through the corner element 18, so that its visible side facing the cabin interior has an undisturbed surface. The slots have a slot base G and two side walls S.

These slots 20 allow a corner element to be bent from a fully hardened, flat plate, which has two legs projecting in different directions, which are connected to each other by a connecting section with a radius. The slots 20 define a number of slats on the corner element, which can be shaped into a curve. The strength of the corner element in the vertical direction is not or not significantly impaired by the slots 20.

After the initially flat plate has been bent to the corner element, the slots are filled with a filling material 20a, preferably with an adhesive or the resin-hardener mixture, optionally with the addition of fibers, which was also used as such in the manufacture of the plates. The filling material 20a has such a compressive strength that the corner profile automatically retains the shape given to it by the bending. A slight springback is harmless or can be compensated from the outset by a bend that is initially too strong.

General remarks

Finally, it should be said that in some cases (not preferred overall) one speaks of a self-supporting floor platform if the floor platform does not absorb the forces occurring during operation alone, but mainly contributes to stability, preferably at least 90%.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

1

car

2

Car frame

3

buffer

4

support means

5

baseplate

6

side walls

6a

Roof of the elevator car / car

7 to 17

not forgiven

18

Corner

18a

special corner element

19

filler

20

Slit in the corner element

20a

filling material

21

baseplate

22

Flange surface of the hard foam core base plate

23

Rigid foam core

24

cover plate

25

Flange surface of the car roof

26

Tongue and groove connection

G

slot base

S

Sidewall of a slot

M

Rubber / foam rubber layer

Claims (18)

1. An elevator comprising a car (1) that can be driven up and down in the vertical direction along guide rails (8),
   wherein the car floor (5) and the car roof (6a) are connected by single-skin corner elements (18, 18a), which are respectively not directly in connection with each other along their vertical lateral edges and via which the entire vertical flow of forces that may arise between the car roof (6a) and the car floor (5) is transmitted to the car floor (5), wherein one or several corner elements (18) are curved,
   characterized in that one or several corner elements (18), on their outer face facing away from the car interior, in the region of their radius of curvature, have several slits (20), which extend in the vertical direction and which are filled with a filler material (20a).
2. The elevator according to claim 1, characterized in that the corner elements (18, 18a), or at least a part of the corner elements (18), consist of a fiber material or of a fiber composite material.
3. The elevator according to claim 2, characterized in that a corner element (18, 18a) includes at least one mat spanning across an entire large surface of the corner element (18, 18a) formed with its involvement.
4. The elevator according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least two, better three, corner elements (18) have the shape of an L-profile, preferably with a corner formed by an arc with a radius of curvature of preferably at least 40 mm.
5. The elevator according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the slits (20) extend parallel to one another.
6. The elevator according to claim 4 or 5, characterized in that the slits (20) are milled or sawed into the corner element (18).
7. The elevator according to any one of the claims 4 to 6, characterized in that the slits (20) have a distance from each other in the vertical direction that is between 1 cm and 7 cm, preferably between 2 cm and 4 cm.
8. The elevator according to any one of the claims 4 to 7, characterized in that the slits (20), on the ready-to-mount corner element (18) have sidewalls (S) that diverge starting from the slit bottom (G).
9. The elevator according to any one of the claims 4 to 8, characterized in that the filler material (20a) comprises, or consists solely of, an adhesive or a curable resin.
10. The elevator according to claim 4, characterized in that each leg of a corner element (18) taking the shape of an L-profile extends over at least 25 cm, better at least 35 cm, in the horizontal direction along the car side with which it is associated.
11. The elevator according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that one filler member (19) is in each case disposed between two corner elements (18, 18a).
12. The elevator according to claim 11, characterized in that the filler member (19) is transparent or translucent and preferably consists of plastic, wherein a lighting means, which radiates through the filler member into the car interior, is preferably mounted on the shaft side of a filler member.
13. The elevator according to claim 11 or 12, characterized in that the filler members (19) or corner elements (18, 18a) are configured such that, at their vertical joint, they interlock like groove and tongue panels, preferably over the entire length.
14. The elevator according to claim 12, characterized in that the groove and tongue connection is joined with a rubber layer, which surrounds the tongue, being placed therebetween.
15. The elevator according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least one of the corner elements (18, 18a), preferably all corner elements (18, 18a), are each provided with at least one local reinforcing member forming the basis for the attachment of at least one functional member, which preferably directly enables the ferrying operation, such as a rail guide 7a, 7b.
16. The elevator according to claim 15, characterized in that at least one corner element (18, 18a) consists of a fiber material or a fiber composite material and the at least one reinforcing member, which is preferably provided, is laminated or inserted into the material and, preferably already thereby, is glued thereto so as to be ready to use.
17. The elevator according to claim 15 or 16, characterized in that the reinforcing member is directly connected in a non-positive manner to the car floor (5).
18. A system for building an elevator cabin according to any one of the preceding claims, comprising a car floor (5), which, with the involvement of a rigid foam core (23) with two cover layers, is preferably configured as a sandwich, with a circumferentially extending flange (22) for connection to the car side walls (6), a car roof (6a) with a circumferentially extending flange (25) for connection to the car side walls (6), corner elements (18, 18a) with a single-skin configuration, and filler members (19) that can be inserted between the corner elements, wherein the system preferably comprises filler members (1) with different widths, so that cars (1) with different base areas can be manufactured with the system, without having to manufacture individual side wall components.

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