GB2611073A

GB2611073A - Lift door linear rail guidance system

Info

Publication number: GB2611073A
Application number: GB2113719.5A
Authority: GB
Inventors: John Sherwood Graham
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2021-09-26
Filing date: 2021-09-26
Publication date: 2023-03-29
Also published as: GB202113719D0

Abstract

A door support for a lift or elevator having at least one linear rail 140A and a support frame 151A mounted on a support plate 132 that connects the lift door to the linear rail such that the lift door is movable along the linear rail. Preferably the door support has a bearing fixing 152A through which the linear rail is situated. Preferably the door support automatically adjusts to expansion and/or contraction of the lift door support and/or the lift door for mounting the linear rail by means of a vertical linear rail (255B, fig 2A) fixed to the support plate (234, fig 2A) by bush housings (253B, 254B, fig 2A). The bearing fixing (252B, fig 2A) may be supported by a bearing frame (251B, fig 2A) that may be mounted on a collar (256B, fig 2A) that is moveable vertically along the vertical linear rail.

Description

IMPROVEMENTS IN LIFT DOOR SUPPORTS

[001] The present invention relates to a lift door support frame. In this document, the English word "lift" will be used to refer to a car which is moved vertically through a shaft in a building; the word "lift" should be regarded as equivalent to the American term "elevator". The support frame is for use on lift doors on a lift car or on a lift landing at an aperture in a lift shaft.

[002] The usual lift door guidance systems have considerable complexity and are responsible for the majority of lift failures. Not only are the guidance systems complex to set up and liable to go wrong because of their complexity; they are also difficult to fix. This is because alignment issues can occur through lack of knowledge of the optimum settings and adjustments or through other issues 1 0 affecting alignment not covered by standard maintenance procedures. Part of the complexity of lift door guidance systems arises because of the need to compensate for temperature dependent expansion or contraction of metal components.

[003] According to the invention, there is provided a lift door support frame for use with lift car doors or with lift landing doors wherein the support frame comprises: 1 5 a. one or more lift doors; b. upper and lower linear rails; and c. upper and lower support mechanisms which mount the lift doors on the upper and lower linear rails, respectively.

[004] According to the invention there is also provided lift door support for use on a lift door of a lift car or on a lift landing wherein the support frame comprises: a. at least one support frame linear rail; and b. a support mechanism which comprises a support plate which connects the lift door to the linear rail such that the lift door is movable along the linear rail.

[005] The advantages of the invention include that it provides accurately guided lift doors in such a way that there is no visible means of lower door guidance so that the lift doors appear to glide over the floor threshold.

[006] In some embodiments, the support frame comprises upper and lower frame fixing plates on which the upper and lower linear rails are mounted. In some embodiments, the one or more lift doors comprises upper and lower support plates on which the upper and lower support mechanisms are mounted. In some embodiments, the support mechanism comprises a frame which supports a bearing through which a linear rail may be arranged.

[007] At present traditionally lift door manufacturers use a suspended door system using rollers fitted to a header panel which slides along a profiled track fitted above the doors. Adjustable (kicking) rollers are fitted underneath the same track in order to limit vertical movement in the doors and thus prevent them coming off the track. The base of the door has shoes or gibs fitted, often with a nylon type line which run inside a grooved track. This system is prone to jamming whenever debris gets caught up under the door, whilst in addition wear on the rollers can cause the doors to perform 1 0 erratically and in some case "bottom" on the lower track or cill. In addition, there is an element of play within the lower door jibs as by design, clearance is necessary between the shoe or jib and the runner of the track, in order to prevent frictional forces impeding door movement. Wear is more evident as components wear. Similarly the door shoe or jib is the only part of installation which prevents the door from swinging inwards and detaching itself from the suspended track. When this 1 5 has happened in the past, accidents and injuries have occurred. The use of a linear rail in the lift door support frame according to the invention overcomes these problems.

[008] During testing of this new design, it became apparent that temperature variations between the door panels and fixings points, caused temporary and minor elongation and/or reduction of the door panel lengths and typically this effect could be measured in microns or millimetres. This elongation or retraction could cause the door panel to "push up" or "pull down" against the linear bearings and the resulting force causes the linear bearings to incur additional frictional resistance causing a loss of performance or failure when the door panels were required to be placed in motion. In order to combat this, one of the fixing methods required an automatic adjustment be introduced, in order to allow for this temporary elongation or retraction. In some embodiments, the upper and/or 2 5 lower support mechanism may be a height adjustable support mechanism which is a support mechanism where the frame is mounted on the upper and/or lower support plate such that the frame can move relative to the upper and/or lower support plate. As a result of arranging relative movement of the frame to the upper and/or lower support plate, the lift door support frame according to the invention may compensate for temperature dependent expansion or contraction. In some embodiments, the height adjustable support mechanism comprises collars and parallel substantially vertical linear rails or double headed bolts or pins and slotted friction pads. The parallel substantially vertical linear rails may be mounted on one of the frame and upper and/or lower support plate and the collars may be mounted on the other of the upper and/or lower support plate and frame such that the collars are arranged on the parallel substantially vertical linear rails and such that the frame is connected to the upper and/or lower support plate and can move relative to the upper and/or lower support plate. Alternatively, slotted friction pads may be mounted on each of the frame and the upper and/or lower support plate and the double headed pins or bolts are arranged through the slots of the slotted friction pads such that the frame is connected to the upper and/or lower support plate and can move relative to the upper and/or lower support plate.

[009] In some embodiments, the lift door support may comprise a fixing plate to support the linear rail. In some embodiments, the support plate may comprise a bearing fixing for mounting on the linear rail.

1 0 [0010] In some embodiments, the support mechanism may automatically adjust for elongation or contraction of the lift door support and/or lift door. In some embodiments, the support mechanism may comprise a bearing frame for mounting on the linear rail and the support plate may be mounted on the bearing frame such that the support plate is movable relative to the bearing frame to provide the automatic adjustment. In some embodiments, the support plate may be movable vertically 1 5 relative to the bearing frame.

[0011] In some embodiments, the bearing frame may be mounted on the support plate on a slot or a support mechanism linear rail. In some embodiments, the slot or the support mechanism linear rail may be vertical. In some embodiments, the support plate may be a slotted support plate and the bearing frame may be a slotted bearing frame. In some embodiments, the slotted support plate and slotted bearing frame may have mutually facing low friction surfaces.

[0012] In some embodiments, the slotted support plate and slotted bearing frame may be held together by bolts. In some embodiments, the bearing frame may have one or more bearings for mounting on the support plate linear rail. In some embodiments, the elongation or contraction is temperature dependent. In some embodiments, the lift door support linear rail is horizontal.

[0013] The invention is illustrated with reference to the following Figures of the accompanying drawings which are not intended to limit the scope of the invention claimed: Figure 1A shows a schematic perspective view of a first embodiment of a lift door frame according to the invention; Figure 1B shows a schematic perspective view of a second embodiment of a lift door frame according to the invention; Figure 1C shows a schematic perspective view of a third embodiment of a lift door frame according to the invention; Figure 2 shows a schematic cross-sectional view of a first embodiment of a support mechanism according to the invention; Figure 24 shows a schematic cross-sectional view of a second embodiment of a support mechanism according to the invention; Figure 2B shows a schematic perspective view of the second embodiment of a support mechanism according to the invention; Figure 3A shows a schematic perspective view of a first part of a third embodiment of a 1 0 support mechanism according to the invention; Figure 38 shows a schematic perspective view of a second part of the third embodiment of a support mechanism according to the invention; Figure 3C shows a schematic perspective view of a third part of the third embodiment of a support mechanism according to the invention; and 1 5 Figure 3D shows a schematic cross-sectional view of the third embodiment of a support mechanism according to the invention.

[0014] A first embodiment of a lift door support frame according to the invention indicated generally at 100 is illustrated in Figures 1A, 1B and 1C of the accompanying drawings. The lift door support frame has a frame 110 comprising upper and lower frame fixing plates 120A,120B, lift doors 130,130A,130B,130C, upper and lower linear rails 140A,140B and upper and lower support mechanisms 150A,150B which mount the lift doors 130,130A,130B,130C on the upper and lower linear rails 140A,140B.

[0015] The lift door support frame 100 is suitable for attaching to an aperture (not shown) in a lift shaft (not shown) of a building (not shown) such that the aperture is covered by the lift doors 130A,130B and such that the lift door support frame 100 is wider and longer than the aperture. The lift door support frame 100 has a width which is approximately twice the width of the aperture such that the lift door support frame 100 is sufficiently wide that it can accommodate a lift door on each side of the aperture. In an alternative embodiment shown in Figure 1B, the lift door support frame 100 may have one door 130 and may be sufficiently wide that it can accommodate that lift door 130 on one side of the aperture. In a further alternative embodiment illustrated in Figure 1C, where the width of a lift door may be variable where a lift door may be an extendable/retractable lift door 130C, the width of the lift door support frame 100 may be sufficient to accommodate the minimum or retracted width of an extendable/retractable lift door 130C on one side of the aperture. In another alternative embodiment (not shown), extendable/retractable lift doors (not shown) may be provided on both sides of the aperture.

[0016] Typically, the upper frame fixing plate 120A has a lower edge 122A which is approximately at the same level as the ceiling of the aperture and the lower frame fixing plate 120B has an upper edge 124B which is approximately at the same level as the floor of the aperture. Thus the upper frame 1 0 fixing plate 120A is arranged above the aperture and the lower frame fixing plate 120B is arranged below the aperture.

[0017] The upper and lower frame fixing plates 120A,120B support the upper and lower linear rails 140A,140B, respectively.

[0018] The lift doors 130,130A,130B,130C form windows 135A,135B. The lift doors 1 5 130,130A,130B,130C have brushes (not shown) at their lower ends to prevent detritus from the aperture from falling into the lower frame fixing plate 120B. Each lift door 130,130A,130B,130C has an upper and lower support plate 132,132A,132B,134,134A,134B on which the upper and lower support mechanisms 105A,105B are mounted. In an alternative embodiment, the lift doors 130,130A,130B,130C do not have brushes where the lift door support frame 100 is to be used in an environment is to be used in a clean environment such as within an office building.

[0019] A first embodiment of an upper support mechanism 150A is illustrated in Figure 2. Upper support mechanism 150A is a simple support mechanism comprising a frame 151A mounted on upper support plate 132. Frame 151A has a box shape. Frame 151A supports a bearing fixing 152A through which upper linear rail 140A is arranged such that the lift door 130,130A,130B,130C mounted on upper support plate 132 may be moved along the upper linear rail 140A. In an alternative embodiment, the upper support mechanism 150A may comprise two or more frames 151A and bearing fixings 152A. In a further alternative embodiment, the upper support mechanism 150A may be used for the first embodiment of a lower support mechanism 150B where significant substantial expansion of metal components such as the lift door is not likely such as in a building where the temperature throughout the building is substantially constant or where there is sufficient play within lower support mechanism 150B to accommodate any expansion of metal components.

[0020] For applications where the temperature in the lift shaft varies along its length, for example where the lift shaft is exposed to an open environment and to the elements as well as to a closed environment and climate control or central heating, the lower support mechanism may be a second embodiment of a lower support mechanism 250B illustrated in Figure 2A. Lower support mechanism 2505 is a first embodiment of a height adjustable support mechanism. Lower support mechanism 2505 has a vertical linear rail 2555 which is fixed to lower support plate 234 by upper and lower bush housings 253B,254B and has a bearing fixing 2525 supported by bearing frame 2515 which is mounted on a collar 2568 which is moveable up and down vertical linear rail 2555. Lower linear rail 2408 is arranged to run through bearing fixing 2528 such that the lift door 240,240A,2405,240C attached to lower support plate 234 may be moved along the lower linear rail 2405. If the length of lift door 240,240A,2405,240C extends or shortens, for example due to a change in temperature and/or pressure, such movement is accommodated by the height adjustable support mechanism 2505 because support plate 234 can move relative to linear rail 2405 by virtue of vertical linear rail 2555 and collar 2565. In an alternative embodiment illustrated in Figure 25, the height adjustable support mechanism 2505 has two vertical rails 25551,25552 on which are mounted two bearing frames 25151,25152 having bearing fixings through which lower linear rail 2405 passes. In an alternative embodiment, the upper support mechanism 150A may be a height adjustable support mechanism as illustrated in Figures 2A and 25.

[0021] As an alternative to the first embodiment of a height adjustable support mechanism shown in Figures 2A and 25, the lower support mechanism may be a third embodiment of a lower support mechanism 3505 shown in Figures 3A, 35 and 3C. Thus the third embodiment of a lower support mechanism 350B may be a second embodiment of a height adjustable support mechanism. Lower support mechanism 350B has a modified support plate 334, a slotted friction pad 360, a slotted bearing frame 365, four double headed bolts 366A,366B,366C,366D and a bearing fixing 352. The four double headed bolts 366A,366B,366C,366D comprise an outer bolt head 367A,367B,367C,367D, a shaft 368A,368B,368C,368D and an inner bolt head 369A,3698,369C,369D. In an alternative embodiment, four double headed pins may be used instead of four double headed bolts 366A,366B,366C,366D. The four double headed pins may comprise an outer bolt head 367A,367B,367C,367D, a shaft 368A,368B,368C,368D and an inner pin.

[0022] Modified support plate 334 has four wide vertical slots 335,4,335B,335C,335D which are arranged at each of its corners. The four wide vertical slots 335A,335B,335C,335D each receive the outer bolt head 367A,367B,367C,367D of double headed bolts 366A,366B,366C,366D. The width of the four wide vertical slots 335A,335B,335C,335D is substantially the same as the width of the outer bolt head 367A,367B,367C,367D of double headed bolts 366A,366B,366C,366D such that the double headed bolts 366A,366B,366C,366D can move vertically within the four wide vertical slots 335A,335B,335C,335D.

[0023] Slotted friction pad 360 is fixed to the modified support plate 334 by four corner fixings 361.

On its inner surface, slotted friction pad 360 has a low friction coating such as Teflon (Trade mark) or Cross{Ion (Trade mark). Slotted friction pad 360 has four narrow vertical slots 362A,362B,362C,362D which are aligned with the wide vertical slots 335A,335B,335C,335D when slotted friction pad 360 is fixed to the modified support plate 334. The four narrow vertical slots 362A,362B,362C,362D each receive the shaft 368A,368B,368C,368D of double headed bolts 366A,366B,366C,366D. The width of 1 0 the four narrow vertical slots 362A,362B,362C,362D is substantially the same as the width of the shaft 368A,3688,368C,368D of double headed bolts 366A,366B,366C,366D such that the double headed bolts 366A,366B,366C,366D can move vertically within the four narrow vertical slots 362A,3628,362C,362D.

[0024] Slotted bearing frame 365 is arranged on slotted friction pad 360. Slotted bearing frame 365 1 5 has four bolt holes arranged to receive the shafts 368A,368B,368C,368D of double headed bolts 366A,366B,366C,366D which are each fixed in place by the inner bolt heads 369A,369B,369C,369D. Slotted bearing frame 365 bears a bearing fixing 352 on its inner surface and has a low friction coating such as Teflon (Trade mark) or Crossflon (Trade mark) on its outer surface which faces slotted friction pad 360 such that mutually facing low friction surfaces are formed. Inner bolt heads 369A,369B,369C,369D are tightened on the shafts 368A,368B,368C,368D of double headed bolts 366A,366B,366C,366D so that movement of slotted bearing frame 365 relative to slotted friction pad 360 is possible as a result of a predetermined force threshold which is calculated and adjusted to restrict any movement likely to cause the slotted friction pads 360,365 to separate and cause the lift doors 130,130A,130B,130C to rattle.

Claims

CLAIMS1. A lift door support for use on a lift door of a lift car or on a lift landing wherein the support frame comprises: a. at least one support frame linear rail; and b. a support mechanism which comprises a support plate which connects the lift door to the linear rail such that the lift door is movable along the linear rail.
2. A lift door support as claimed in Claim 1 which comprises a fixing plate which supports the linear rail.
3. A lift door support as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2 wherein the support plate comprises a 1 0 bearing fixing for mounting on the linear rail.
4. A lift door support as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the support mechanism automatically adjusts for elongation or contraction of the lift door support and/or lift door.
5. A lift door support as claimed in Claim 4 wherein the support mechanism comprises a bearing frame for mounting on the linear rail and wherein the support plate is mounted on the bearing frame 1 5 such that the support plate is movable relative to the bearing frame to provide the automatic adjustment.
6. A lift door support as claimed in Claim 5 wherein the support plate is movable vertically relative to the bearing frame.
7. A lift door support as claimed in Claim 5 or Claim 6 wherein the bearing frame is mounted on the support plate on a slot or a support mechanism linear rail.
8. A lift door support as claimed in Claim 7 wherein the slot or the support mechanism linear rail are vertical.
9. A lift door support as claimed in Claim 7 or Claim 8 wherein the support plate is a slotted support plate and the bearing frame is a slotted bearing frame.
10. A lift door support as claimed in Claim 9 wherein the slotted support plate and slotted bearing frame have mutually facing low friction surfaces.
11. A lift door support as claimed in Claim 9 or Claim 10 wherein the slotted support plate and slotted bearing frame are held together by bolts.
12. A lift door support as claimed in Claim 7 or Claim 8 wherein the bearing frame has one or more bearings for mounting on the support plate linear rail.
13. A lift door support as claimed in any one of Claims 4 to 12 wherein the elongation or contraction is temperature dependent.
14. A lift door support as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the support frame linear rail is horizontal.
15. A lift door support as claimed in any one of the preceding claims which comprises a lift door.1 0
16. A lift door support substantially as hereinbefore described and/or illustrated in the Figures of the accompanying drawings.