GB2195980A - Lift apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

The apparatus comprises a lift cage (15) to accommodate a person for up and down movement from an upper floor (1) to a lower floor and vice versa, a lift housing (4) for fixing to an upper floor (1), a slidable guide frame (17) disposed within the lift housing (4) and surrounding the lift cage (15) to slide up and down between adjacent guide members (18,23) and drive means (8-14) for raising and lowering the lift cage (15) wherein at the upper limit of lift cage movement the cage (15) and guide frame (17) will be wholly retracted within the lift housing (4) and at the bottom limit of the lift cage movement the cage (15) will be wholly outside the lift housing (4) and part of the guide flame (17) will be outside the lift housing. The invention also includes a kit for assembling and fitting the lift apparatus, comprising the lift cage (15), the lift housing (4), the guide members (18,23), the slidable guide frame (17) and the drive means (8-14). <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Lift apparatus The present invention relates to a lift apparatus especially suitable for domestic use, for instance for installation in an upper room or space such as a loft in a house or bungalow to permit a person to be transported therefrom to a space or room below and vice versa.

It is often desirable to provide easy; quick and safe access to a loft space which may be used as a study, activity room or bedroom.

An ordinary ladder is very cumbersome. A retractible loft ladder is attendant with certain disadvantages; for instance they may be dangerous and noisy and there may be a risk of trapping one's fingers or banging zones head on the edge of the loft opening and when carrying anything up or down one can only grip the -ladder with one hand or not at all. A conventional staircase to a loft is very costly, takes up a great deal of wall space and in voles major structural alterations. A conventional lift apparatus will- require a lift shaft which takes up room on both floors it serves, and the loss of this space together with the cost of installation of a conventional lift apparatus makes the idea unattractive.

One advantage of a conventional lift apparatus relative to the other measures discussed is that the user of the loft space will have some privacy. A disadvantage of using ladders is that they cannot be drawn behind one, and since the majority of loft openings are over landings or hallways such ladders will cause an obstruction.

This invention overcomes or minimises the above described advantages by making use of a telescopic arrangement.

According to one aspect of the invention there is provided a lift apparatus comprising a lift cage to accommodate a person for up and down movement from an upper floor to a lower floor and vice versa, a lift housing adapted to be fired to an upper floor and surround a lift aperture in the upper floor, a slidable guide frame disposed within the lift housing and surrounding the lift cage and adapted for up and down sliding movement between adjacent guide members, and drive means for raising and lowering the lift cage wherein at the upper limit of lift cage movement the cage and guide frame are wholly retracted within the lift housing and at the bottom limit of the lift cage movement the lift cage is wholly outside the lift housing and part of the guide frame is outside the lift housing.

According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a kit for assembling and fitting the lift apparatus defined in the preceding paragraph, the kit comprising said lift cage, said lift housing, said guide members, said slidable frame and said drive means.

The lift cage may be raised and lowered-by a winch and pulley system. Preferably a plurality of runners is provided between the lift cage and slidable frame and between the slidable frame and the lift housing. Advantageously the base of the lift cage is so shaped and arranged as to close the lift aperture in the upper floor when the lift cage is at its upper limit. If desired, the lift cage may be constructed so that the bottom of the lift cage is detachable.

By way of example, a preferred form of lift apparatus embodying the invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawing which is a sectional elevation of a lift apparatus suitably fitted in a house or bungalow to trsnsport an individual from landing or hall or other space to a roof loft or other space at a higher level and vice versa.

1 denotes the floor of an upper room or space and 2 denotes the ceiling of a lower space or room. A lift housing 4 is fixed to the region of the floor 1 defining a floor opening 5 by fixing means 3. The top 6 of the lift housing 4 defines an aperture 7 through which passes a winch cable 8 passing at its top end over a winch drum 9 mounted on the top 6 of the housing 4 by means of bearings 10 and 11. The winch drum 9 incorporates an electric brake and ratchet gear mechanism (not shown). 12 denotes diagrammatically a reduction gearbox driven by an electric motor (not shown).

The lower end of the winch cable 8 passes over a pulley 13 which is mounted on the top of a movable lift cage 15 by a pulley mounting 14. The bottom 16 of the lift cage 15 is removable from the cage by means not shown, for instance, to enable long lengths of pipe, timber, etc. to be passed into the space or room above.

The operation of the lift apparatus is provided by heavy duty sliding means. Lift housing guideway means 18 are provided on the inside of the lift housing to enable a slidable hollow guide frame 17 to slide relative to the guideway means 18 via upper and lower runners 19,20. Lift cage guideway means 23 are provided on the inside of the hollow guide frame 17 to enable the lift cage 15 to slide relative to the guideway means 23 via upper and lower runners 21,22.

The lift apparatus described may be made quite small to economise on space available in a house or bungalow. Thus, if desired, the lift cage 15 may be made only large enough to accommodate one person, e.g. it will usually be sufficient for the internal height of the lift cage 15 to be 6 ft. 6 inches and to have a square cross-section of side 2 ft. to 2 ft. 3 inches. This small size is especially important where the lift is to be fitted into a residence of modest size. With such dimensions as given above a kit for assembly and fitting in cluding lift cage 15, lift housing 4, runners 19,20,21,22, guideway means 18,23 and guide frame 17 can be readily carried in through a front door and installed either in the first floor of a house or through a suitable hatch way into the loft space of a house or bungalow.

With the construction shown the installed lift apparatus can be made rigid and stable with substantially no swinging effect when the lift cage 15 is near or at the bottom of its downward travel.

The bottom 16 of the lift cage 15 may be provided with pressure sensitive switch (not shown) to prevent damage to a pet or other obstacle which may be obstructing the completion of the downward travel of the lift cage 15 and such switch may be located in a down coil closing circuit (not shown). The lift cage 15 is conveniently provided with a door (not shown)- which opens outwards. In normal practice, means will be provided, e.g. by electric door locle means, to ensure that such door cannot be opened until an upper or lower travel- limit switch (neither is shown in the drawing) is operated. As usual, the lift cage 15 will not move up or down until such door is closed. A push button station (UP STOP-DOWN) may be provided in the lift case 15, on the first floor (or loft) and on the ground or lower level floor.

In normal use certain desirable safety measures would be adopted. Thus, once someone is inside the lift cage the lift cage door would not be openable until the lift cage has reached the top or bottom limits of its travel. When the lift cage is in the bottom limit position all the winding gear mechanism will be unexposed with no danger to children and only in the upper limit position of the lift cage will the door of the lift housing be operable. Where conventional telescopic ladders are- used there is an inherent danger from open hatchways and a risk of children's fingers being trapped; the present lift apparatus will offer advantages in this respect. Preferably a warning buzzer will be provided in the lift apparatus to warn anyone in the vicinity when the lift cage is moving up or down.

In many homes where a loft ladder is used it may be used in a hallway or landing which may be only some three feet wide, and in such a case when the ladder is down it will create a substantial obstacle which can be removed only by raising the ladder slowly and carefully and possibly trapping temporarily any person who may be on the upper floor, whereas with the present lift apparatus the lift cage can be removed simply and quickly, e.g.

in 10 to 15 seconds, at a touch of a button.

In the event of the lift cage stopping somewhere between the upper and lower limits of travel some suitable means may be provided to deal with such emergency. For instance, an emergency cord could be installed in the lift cage to release the ratchet gear mechanism (as shown in the drawing) and controlled descent achieved by means of an overspeed governor type brake. Additionally or alternatively, where part of the floor of the lift cage is removable an emergency ladder retained in the lift cage, e.g. clipped to an inside wall, may provide a suitable means of escape.

Claims (8)

1. A lift apparatus comprising a lift cage to accommodate a person for up and down movement from an upper floor to a lower floor and vice versa, a lift housing adapted to be fixed to an upper floor and surround a lift aperture in the upper floor, a slidable guide frame disposed within the lift housing and surrounding the lift cage and adapted for up and down sliding telescopic movement between adjacent guide members, and drive means for raising and lowering the lift cage wherein at the upper limit of lift cage movement the cage and guide frame will be wholly retracted within the lift housing and at the bottom limit of the lift cage movement the lift cage will be wholly outside the lift housing and part of the guide frame will be outside the lift housing.

2. A lift apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a winch and pulley system is provided to raise and lower the lift cage.

3. A lift apparatus according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein a plurality of runners is provided between the lift cage and slidable frame and between the slidable frame and the lift housing.

4. A lift apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein the base of the lift cage is so shaped and arranged as to close the lift aperture in the upper floor when the lift cage is at its upper limit.

5. A lift apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein the lift cage is constructed so that the bottom of the lift cage is detachable.

6. A lift apparatus substantially as herein described and illustrated by the drawing.

7. A kit for assembling and fitting the lift apparatus defined in any preceding claim, the kit comprising said lift cage, said lift housing, said guide members, said slidable frame and said drive means.

8. A kit according to claim 7, which includes runners to engage the said guide members.