US1710066A

US1710066A - Controlling means for elevators and the like

Info

Publication number: US1710066A
Application number: US137714A
Authority: US
Inventors: Orcutt Philip Dana
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1926-09-25
Filing date: 1926-09-25
Publication date: 1929-04-23
Anticipated expiration: 1946-04-23

Description

April 23, 192 '1 P. D. ORCUTT cgnrhopnme MEANS FOR ELEVATORS ANDY'IHE LIKE Filed Sept. 25, 1926 5 Sheets-Sheet Il lllll Z w fi w 1 I a a 1 MN w i 1 w a a a w m NLVHF: .1 J N fi M .0 m 4 4, a. U a a J H fim 1 5 1 M a I- II w .0 6 J M a w w 1 m W 1 m .k N R m N V/ b P.- DAOR CUTT 1,710,066

CONTROLLING MEANS FOR ELEVATORS AND THE LIKE Filed Sept. 25, 1926 5 Sheets-$heet 2 April 23, 1929.

W671i. ATT RN Y5 4 L X i I 6/2 42/? 4 wM \\\\i-\\ E m l 2/? 2/ F v AW 3 j a K WA 95415EFF/5555551 v a a ulllllla I I 1 A L \IIL April 23, 1929. P. D. ORCUTT CONTROLLING MEANS FDR ELEVATORS AND THE LIKE Filed Sept. 25, 1926 3 Sheets-Sheet Patented Apr. 23, 1929.

mes

UNITE STATES PATENT OFFICE.

PHILIP DANA ORCU'IT, GE BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

CONTROLLING HEAR S ELEVATORS AND THE LIKE.

Application filed September 25, 1926. Serial No. 137,71

This invention relates especially, although to controlling mechanism for electric elevators whereby the elevator car can be conveniently and automatically stopp not exclusively,

ed at points accurately positioned with respect to the several floor stations.

JLlCQrUC elennors usually 1nsraneu are provided with manually operated controllers for the motor or motors which controllers are selectively movable into a variety of positions to cause the elevator car to be raised or lowered at a variety of speeds.

a floor station at which the car is to be the. controller 15 usually first moved to c In approaching stopped, heck the speed of the car and an attempt then made to throw 1t into the oft position at exactly the proper moment to bring the car to rest proximately the desired position.

T he present invention, in its preferred "form, contemplates the provision 1n conpinctron with a manually operated controller ot the t pe referred to, of auxiliary circuit controlling means which, as the car the floor station at which a stop is to be made may be manually set to cause automa approaches ti cally,

first, a progressive checking; or reduction of the speed of the car and a subsequent stop nngz of the same in accurately positioned relation to the floor station.

lhe foregoing and other objects oi? the in vention together with means whereby the latter may be carried into effect, will best be understood from the following description oi a prette red tor-1n thereof accompanying drawings.

illustrated in the It will be understood, however, tnat the construction. ar-

rangement, and

application shown and described have been chosen for purposes or exemplii'ic ation merely,

and that the invention.

defined by the claims hereunto appended,

may be ture from the In said drawings: Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic otherwise embodied without deparspirit and scope thereof.

vertical sectional view of an elevator well and an elevator car therein, showing the contact dev' which the automatic control is eltccted.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged plan view, section, of one of the contacts carried by car and associated parts.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation oi 521 it. contac ces through partly in L the and a portion of the coope 'atingstationary contact.

4 1s an elevation ot the ad usting means for the car contac in erior or the car.

Fig. 5 is an elevation,

t as viewed from the with the casing and a part of the controller handle in section, of

the controller, the parts being in ell position and set for manual control.

lig. 6 1s a section taken substantially on the line 6-6, Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a view similar to the parts is an on position and set for automatic control.

t o' Q lo. U

employed in connection Fig. 5 showing is a wiring diagram, the circuits with the present invention being shown in full lines, and the remainder of the circuits,

forming part of the usual manual control, being shown in broken lines.

In Fig. 1 is ing a plurality o'l floor etc,

shown an elevator well A havstations B B B and'in which is suspended an elevator car C h avinga manually operated controller D. Except hereinafter pointed out, these parts may all be of any usual constructimi and are represented only diagrammatically, certain other associated par s, such as the elevator guides, electric actuating means being omitted entirely.

The for the elevator car may be 0t any approved type, and in Fin. 8

there are indicated for t-l llS purpose two elcc trio motors E and F adapted respectively to cause upward and downward travel of the car C. The controller 1), as is usual in such devices. is shown in l to 8 as including;

a casing G in which is pivotally mounted a manually operated controller handle H carrymg a contact I \YlilCll, said handle is moved on its pivot, is brought gagement with two arcua selectively into ente ser1es of lined con tacts J J J and K K K, and an intermediate insulating bloc contacts being disposed pivotal axis or the handle.

k L, said series of concentric with the In the arrangement shown in Fin. 8, current is supplied. un-

der the control or a main cut-out switch N,

from any suitable source of which is connected a two branches 0 and ("I to the motors E and F.

leads a conductor P having a connected respectively branches P P P,

"ith the contacts J, J 0

sistance elements Q terpose resistances of cl M with one terminal conductor 0 having leading respectively From the motor E plurality of and including (If, adapted to inifierent magnitudes.

Similarly a conductor It leads from the motor F and has a plurality of branches R R, It leading to the contacts K K K and including resistance elements S S S similar to those included in the conductor P. The purpose and function of the two groups of resistance elements will be fully understood by those skilled in the art. As the controller handle H is moved toward the right, of Fig. 8, thecontact I carried thereby engages the contacts K Y and K successively, dependent upon the speed at which the car is to be operated, these contacts being a part of the conductor R which includes the resistance elements S S and S for each of the contacts. The resistance of the element S is greater than that of the element S and, therefore, the car runs at a slower speed when the contacts I and K are together than when the contact I engages the contact K The speed of the car is further increased as the handle is moved to bring the contacts I and K together by reason of the fact that the resistance element S in the circuit leading to the contact Y is smaller than the preceding resistance elements. It is, of course, desirable to start the car gradually and this is accomplished by the use of the progressively decreasing resistance connected with the contacts K K and K, respectively. This is true of the up circuit including the resistance elements Q Q and Q which are adapted to interpose resistances of (litter-entn'mgnitudcs, as previously explained. The contact I on the controller handle H is electrically connected, as hereinafter further described, with a con ductor T leading through the switch N to the other terminal of the source M. In the arrangement shown, when thecontroller handle H is in a position to bring the contact I into engagement with one of the contacts of the series J J etc., the car C will be moved upwardly by the motor E at a speed determined by the contact engaged; when said contact I is in engagement with one of the contacts K K ctc., said car will be moved downwardly under the control of the motor F; and when the controller handle is in the position shown in Figs. 5 and 6, the contact I engages the insulating section L and the car is at rest.

Except as hereinafter pointed out, the electric actuating means, manual controllingmeans, and connections may be of any usual type and arrangement well known in the art, form no portion of the present invention, and require no further description.

In accm'dance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, there are arranged, adjacent the well A and parallel to the fixed path of movement of the car C, two elongated fixed contact members or rails U and U which are engaged by cooperating contact members V and V carried by the car throughout the range of travel of the latter. Each of the contact rails U and U is made up of a series of individual contacts or rail sections 15", 15", and 15 suitably insulated from one another as indicated at 16, the sections l5 and 15 being separated from one another by slightly elongated insulating sections 16 which are engaged by the contacts V and V when the car C is in a position to bring its lloor accurately in position with respect to the floor stations B, 15", etc., as indicated in broken lines in Fig. 1. The sections 15 are preferably oil less length than the sections 15, and the sections 15 of less length than the sections 15', the sections 15" being interposed between the sections 15 and 15, and the latter being separated from the sections 15 by the insulating sections 16, thus prmJiding a plurality of zones ot progressively increasing resistance to gradually check the movement of the car as it approaches a floor station. In the construction shown, and as hereinafter described, the contact rail U controls the car during the upward movement of the latter, and the contact rail U controls said car during its downward movement, the sections 15, 15" and 15 being arranged in ascending order in the rail U and in descending order in the rail U The contacts or rail. sections 15'', 15 15 of the rail U are connected respectively by conductors 17, 17 17 With the conductor P, said conductors having inter- [N scd therein resistance elements 18, 18", 18 respectively, the element- 18 being of such a character as to interpose a greater resistance than the element 18", and the latter being such as to intcrpose a greater resistance than the element 18. Similarly, the contacts or sections 15, 15", 15 of the rail U are connected with the conductor R by conductors 19, 19", 19 having resistance elements As most clearly shown in Figs. 3, 3 and 4, each of the contacts V and V comprises a roller 21 engaging the commrating contactrail U or U said roller being carried by a ilork or yoke mounted to slide in a socket 23 with an interposed spring 2;! by which said roller is yieldingly pressed against said rail. The socket 23 forms part of a clamp adjustably secured to a suitable support, herein shown as the side wall 5 ol. the car. As shown, the b'fltlitt 23 has a stem 20 which extends through a vertical slot 27 in the wall and has a threaded end to receivea com bined clamping nut and handle 28. Mounted on the stem .26 at opposite sides of the wall are two clamping members 29 and 30, the former being engaged by the nut 28 and the latter engaging a collar 31 on said stem. The clamping member preferably carries a pointer or indicator 32 which cooperates with a fixed scale 33 on the wall 25. It will be seen that, by releasing the clamp, the roller 21 may be adjusted vertically in order that 1,710,ees

it may engage the insulating section 16- when the car is accurately positioned with respect to the corresponding floor station.

In addition to the contacts J J etc, and K ,'K etc., the controller D is provided with a pair of elongated arcuate contacts and disposed concentric with the arcuate series J J etc., and l K etc., and separated by an insulatingsection X. The contact is connected by a conductor 34: with the contact V and contact VV is connected by a conductor 35 with the contact V Cooperating with the contacts WV and N is a contact 36 carried by the controller handle H and electrically connected, as by a suitable conductor 3?, with another contact 38 also carried by said handle. Likewise the contact I is connected by a suitable conductor 39 with a contact 40 similar to the Contact 38. Cooperating with the contacts 38 and 40, and adapted to be brought alternatively into engagement with either, is a manually movable contact 41 electrically connected with the conductor T. As shown in'Figs. 5 and 7, the contact at is car ried by a button or plunger i2 mounted to slide in the outer end of the controller handle H, said but-ton being normally held by a spring d8 in position to bring the contact ll into engagement with the contact 40, but being manually depressible to move said contact 41 out of engagement with the contact to and into engagement with the contact 38.

In operation, when the button s2 is in its normal position, as shown in 5 and (3, the controller handle H may be moved to close the'circuit to the motor E or F through the contacts J J etc., or K K etc, to cause the elevator to move upwardly or downwardly respectively at varying speeds, or to stop the same by bringing said controller handle into its central or oil' position with the contact I in engagement with the insulating section L. In order to cause the car to stop automatically at any floor station and in accurately positioned relation thereto, the operator, after the car has passed the precedine floor station, depresses the button 432, as shown in Figs. 7 and 8, thereby breaking the circuit to the motor E or F (depending upon the direction of movement of the car) through the contact do and closingit through the contact 38. Thus, assuming the direction of movement of the car to be upward, as indicated bv the arrow in Fig. 8, the controller handle H n be in the position shown in said figure, the circuit to the motor E being then cl-o:;=.er through the conductor T, contact l1, contact 38, conductor 37, Contact 36, contact- \V conductor 34, contact V rail section 15, 15", or 15, and conductor 17, 17" or 1'4"", depending'upon the position of the car. t will be understood that when the parts are the position in which they are shown in A ig. S, the circuit is completed through the motor E to the source of current M tl rough the medium ot the conductors 31-, P, O and 0, rather than through the branches P P or 1" lependent upon which of the contacts J J or J are engaged by the contact I, and through the resistance elements Q, Q and Q", all of i 'hich are included in the conductor P leading to the motor E, when the button ii is in the position in which it is shown in Fig. 5 with the movable contact d1 in engagement with the fixed contact heir the controller handle H is moved to the right with the contact 36 engaging the contact ll, the button 4L2 being depressed, the circuit from and to the source of current M is completed through the switch N, conductor '1, contact 11, contact 38, conductor 37, contact contact conductor 85 to the contact V carried by the car and thence to the motor F through any of the branches 19, 19" or 19 and their corresponding resistance elements 20 et cetera, dependent upon which of the contact section 15, 15 or 15 the contact is in engagement with, and through the conductors R, O O and switch N, permitting the descentof the car. The depression of the button -12 preferably takes place while the contact V is in engagement with the contact or rail section 15. Thereafter, as the contact V passes from the contact 15" to the contact 15", the speed of the car will be lessened. by reason of the increased resistance 18". As the contact V reaches the contact 15", the speed of the car is further checked by reason of the further increased resistance 18, and when said contact V reaches the insulatir ,1; section. 16" the circuit is broken and the car stopped. Should the position of the car when stopped be slightly above or below the dos ed position, the contact Y may, with the assistance oi? the indicator 32 and scale 33, be adjusted a corresponding amount to correct the error. Similar adjustments of the contacts V and V may be made from time to time as. required by climatic or other conditions which may alicct the speed with wl ich the usual stopping brake (not shown) operates on the car supporting cable 15.

It will be understood that, after the car has been automati ally stopped, as above dcscribcd. the button may be released, thereby again placing the car under manual control. and permitting starting thereof in the usual manner.

Having thus described my claim 1. The combination with an elevator well having floor stations, an cl. aior car movable in said well, and actuating llltlllH tor causing said car to travel in said well, of means automatically controlled by the position of said car for controlling said actuating means including resistance arranged in zones adjacent each station to reduce the speed of the car a predetermined amount in each zone as it approaches a station.

invention, 1

2. The combination with a car movable in a fixed path and actuating means for causing said car to travel in said path, of manually set means automatically controlled by the position of said car for controlling said actuating means including varied resistance to progressively reduce the speed of the car at diiierent points of its travel.

The con'ibination with a car and electric actuating means therefor, of a circuit for supplying current to said actuating means, a controller for said. circuit including a plurality oi fixed contacts and a manually operated member having a contact selectively movable into engagement with said fixed contacts, another circuit for supplying current to said actuating means and including a fixed contact and a cooperating movable contact carried by said manually operated member, and manually set means on said member for alternatively closing said circuits.

4. The combination with a car movable in a fixed path and electric actuating means for causing said car to travel in said path, of a circuit for supplying current to said actuating means, a controller forsaid circuit including a plurality of fixed contacts and a manually operated member having a contact selectively movable into engagement with said fixed contacts, other circuits for supplying current to said actuating means automatically controlled by the position of said car to vary the speed of the latter at different points in its travel, said last named circuits including a fixed contact and a cooperating movable contact carried by said manually operated member, and manually set means on said member for alternatively closing said first named circuit or said last named circuits.

5. In a circuit controller for electric elevators and the like, in con'ibination, a series of fixed contacts, a controller handle, a con tact carried by said handle and selectively 'movable thereby into engagement with said fixed contacts, another elongated fixed contact, a second contact carried by said handle and engaging said elongated contact, a pair of contacts carried by said handle and con nectcd respectively with said other contacts carried thereby, and a contact movabl y mounted on said handle and alternatively engageable with the contacts of said pair.

(i. T he combination with a car movable in a fixed path to and from floor stations and electric actuating means for causing said our to travel in said path, 01 means for supplying current to said actuating means includ ing' circuits selectively closed in accordance with the position of said car to vary the speed of the latter at different points of its travel, said circuits including a contact carried by the car and a series of resistance zones arranged in groups parallel to said path adjacent said stations and successively engaged by said first named contact to reduce the speed of the car a predetermined amount in each zone.

7. The combination with a car movable in a fixed path and electric actuating means for causing said car to travel in said path, of means for supplying current to said actuating means including circuits selectively closed in accordance with the position of said car to vary the speed of the latter at difl'erent points oj its travel said circuits including a contact v.rried by the car and adjustable thereon in the direction of movement of the latter and a series of contacts arranged parallel to said path and successively engaged by said first named contacts.

8. The combination with an elevator car and. electric actuating means for raising and lowering the same, of circuits for controlling said actuating means and including fixed contacts disposed. adjacent the path of movement of said car, an interposed insulating section, a contact carried by the car and adapted to travel over said fixed contacts and insulating section, a support on the car upon which said last named contact is mounted for adjustment in the direction of travel of the car, and a scale for indicating the adjustment of said contact,

9. The combination with a car movable in a fixed path and electric actuating means for causing said car to travel in said path, of means for supplying current to said actuating means including circuits selectively closed in accordance with the position of said car, said circuits including a contact carried by the car and a series of contacts arranged parallel to said path and successively engaged by said first named contact, the circuits closed through the several contacts of said series being arranged to cause operation of said car by said actuating means at progressively decreasing speeds.

10. The combination with a car movable in a .fixed path and electric actuating means for causing said car to travel in said path. of means for supplying current to said actuating means including an elongated contact member disposed parallel to the path of movement of the car comprising a plurality of zones of progressively increasing resistance. to reduce the speed of the car a predetermined amount in each zone, and a cooperating contact member carried by the car, said elongated contact member being interrupted by an insulating section to break the circuit and automatically stop the car at a predetermined point.

11. The combination with an elevator well having floor stations, an elevator car movable in said well, and electric actuating means for causing said car to travel in said well, of means for supplying current to said actuating means including an elongated contact memcausing said car to travel in said path, of

means for supplying current to said actuatmg means including circuits selectively closed in accordance with the position of the parallel to said path and con'iprising car to check the speed of the latter and thereafter stop the same at a predetermined point, said circuits including a contact carried by the car and a lined contact rail arranger a series of contacts providing zones of resistance or increasing magnitudes and an insulating section successively engaged by said first named contact the circuits closed through the several contacts of said rail being" arranged to cause operation of said car by said actuating means at progressively decreasing speeds as said insulating section is approached.

In testimony whereof I atiix my signature.

PHILIP DANA ORGU. T.