US1927194A - Inclined elevator - Google Patents

Description

Sept. 19, 1933. H. A. w. WOOD 7,

INCLINED ELEVATOR Original Filed Dec. 23, 1926 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Q Fri.

INVENTOR lienryA. ll ils'e Wood ATTOR N EY Sept. 19, 1933. H. A. w. WOOD INCLINED ELEVATOR Original Filed Dec. 23, '1926 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR JYerqg/A. Wlpe 11 0 06 BY I TTCJRNEY Sept. 19, 1933. w, WOQD 1,927,194

INCLINED ELEVATOR Original Filed Dec. 23. 1926 3 Sheecs-Sheet 5 I v "r ATTORNEY Patented Sept. 19, 1933 warren STATES INCLINED ELEVATOR Henry A. Wise Wood, New York, N. Y., assignoi to Elizabeth Ogden Wood, John C. Distler,

and Henry A. Wise Wood, as trustees Original application December 23, 1926, Serial No. 156,635, now Patent 1,768,650, dated July 1,- 1930. Divided and 25, 1928. Serial No- 9 Claims.

My invention relates to improvements in inclined elevators and particularly to elevators of the type which may be installed as an adjunct to a stairway in a dwelling house or other build- An object of my invention is to provide a substitute for the ordinary house lift which will be very simple and inexpensive in initial outlay and which can be operated at a very moderate cost.

Another object of my invention is to provide an elevator which can be applied to existing buildings and which will occupy a part of the space devoted to the staircase. Ordinarily, the main staircase is wide enough to permit of utilizing a portion thereof for a lift and my inclined elevator may be laid over a part of the stairway or a portion of the staircase may be cut away and my inclined lift installed therein.

Another object of my invention is to provide an inclined conveyor with a platform carried thereby and angularly adjustable thereto. It will be understood that stairways differ somewhat in inclination and the angular adjustment permits of setting the platform to. a truly horizontal position regardless of the inclination of the stairway. Y

Another object of myinvention is to provide a construction in which the platform is hinged at its rear edge to the conveyor carriage so that if the platform should encounter an obstacle, when running downward, it will merely swing up on its hinges and avoid crushing the object or breaking any of the mechanism;

Another object of my invention is to provide safety devices for automatically stopping the lift when an obstacle is encountered thereby, so as to prevent injury to persons or objects which might happen to be in the path of the traveling platform and also to provide means for automatically stopping the lift when it reaches the top or the bottom of the stairway, together with hand control means for starting the lift in either direction desired.

The present application is a division of my copending application, Serial No. 156,635, filed December 23, 1925 now Patent 1,768,650, and is directed particularly to what I term a double chainway lift. In other words, while the specific claims in my copending application are directed to an inclined elevator having a single guideway and a carriage supported on a pair of wheels running in tandem in the guideway, and with a single chain belt for propelling the carriage, my present application is more specifically directed to an inclined elevator employing a pair of parthis application October 314,896

allel guideways with a carriage supported on Wheels running in said guideways and with a chain belt for propelling the carriage in each of the guideways.

With the above named objects in view and others which will appear hereinafter, I shall now describe a specific embodimentof my invention, in connection with the accompanying drawings, and shall thereafter point out the scope and novelty of my invention in the claims.

In the drawings,

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a staircase with my lift installed therein, part of the floor at the foot of the stairs being broken away for purposes of illustration; 1

Fig. 2 is a view in vertical section taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a view of cross section taken on the line of 33 of Fig. 2 and looking down the stair- 'Fig. 4 is a View in section taken on the line 44 of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 5 is a side view of the conveyor carriage and platform showing a hand support carried by the carriage.

In the drawings I show a staircase comprising the customary stair stringers which are notched to support the stair treads 21 and risers 22 Y The staircase shown is of the type which is bordered on one side by a wall, while the opposite or outer side carries a balustrade 23. Nor- 'mally three stringers are used to support the stairs but in the present instance the treads and risers extend from the outer stringer to the center stringer only, while the balance of the staircase between the center stringer and the wall is left open (or is cut away) to receive my improved lift. The inner stringer 24, (Fig. 3) i. e., the one against the wall, is not notched, and secured to the adjacent face of the center stair stringer 20, is a furring strip 26.

My improved lift comprises in general a pair of chainways, driving mechanism for operating the chainways, and a platform carried by the chainways. Supported on the stringer 24 and on the furring strip 26, respectively, are two Z-beams 27, which extend the full length of the stairway, and project through an opening 28 cut into the floor 29 at the lower landing of the stairway. Supported on and secured to the lower flange of each Z-beam is a channel beam 30 with the flanges of the latterfacing inward toward the Z-beam, the two beams thus forming a conduit or casing for the chainway.

Traveling in each conduit is a truck comprising a body 31 in the form of a vertical plate bearing a pair of studs 32, on which are mounted a pair of wheels 33. The wheels 33 are adapted to run on the lower flange of the channel beam 30 and as the flange is usually tapered in cross section, the wheels 33 are preferably formed with rounded tread surfaces. The wheels are of such diameter that they will just clear the upper flange of the channel while rolling along the lower flange thereof. The upper flange thus forms a guide to prevent fore-and-aft tipping of the truck. Each plate 31 projects above the upper surface of the Z-beam and channel beam, and near the rear end thereof carries a pin 34, on which is hinged a bracket 35. Secured to the brackets 35 is a platform 37 which ties the two trucks together to form a carriage. Each bracket 35 is formed with a shoulder 38 which normally rests upon an adjustable stop 39. The stop 39 may consist of a bolt screwed into the bracket 31 and locked at the desired adjustment by means of lock nuts. By this means the angle of the platform with respect to the trucks, may be varied. As explained above, different stairways vary in steepness, and hence the necessity of the adjustable stops 39 to set the platform to a truly horizontal position.

To propel each truck along its conduit, I provide a chain belt 40, which passes around a pair of sprocket wheels 41, located respectively at the upper and lower ends of the conduit, the opposite ends of the chain being connected respectively to pins 42 carried by the truck. At a convenient location adjacent the chainways I place driving mechanism for driving the chains 40. Usually the space under a stairway is employed for closet room and in this closet the driving mechanism may be conveniently installed, where it will be out of the way and not likely to be tampered with.

The driving mechanism comprises an electric motor 44 which through suitable reduction gearing drives a shaft 51. The latter has secured thereto a pair of sprocket wheels 52, one for each chain 40. The lower reach of each chain passes through an opening in the bottom of the conduit and about a pair of opposed idler sprocket wheels 53 and 54, journaled-in plates 55; thence the chain is looped about the driving sprocket wheel 52. Thus, when the motor 44 is actuated, the sprocket wheels 52 will drive the chain 40 at a reduced speed by reason of the step-down gearing between the motor and the shaft 51. In order to take up slack in each chain individually, each sprocket wheel 53 is mounted on a shaft 56 which may be adjusted along a slot 5? in the plate 55. The shaft may then be held in adjusted position by any suitable means.

The lower reach of each chain 40 rests on the floor of the chain-way casing, i. e., on the lower flange of the Z-beam. An angle iron 59 (Fig. 3) is secured to the faceof the Z-beam to provide a support for the upper reach of the chain and thus prevent clanking noises caused by whipping of the chain as the lift is operated.

To close the space between the channel beams 3O, I provide a cover plate 60 which extends across the entire upper face of the two chainways and is formed with a pair of slots 61, as shown in Fig. 1, just wide enough for the carriage plates 31 to passtherethrough. The plate 60 is held in place by means of lag screws 62 which pass through the upper flanges of the Z-beams and into the numbers 24 and 26 respectively, thereby securing the chainways to said members.

A hand rail 63 may be secured to the wall to provide support for a person riding on the platform 37. If desired the hand rail 63 may be dispensed with and a post or hand support 64 substituted. This post would then be secured to the carriage 31, as shown in Fig. 5.

The motor 44 may be started from either the lower or the upper landing of the staircase, by means of switches 90 and 90' respectively, to propel the platform either up or down the incline. As this lift is to be used in the household, special precautions have to be taken to prevent injury to the occupants of the building. If, for instance, the lift were coming down, there might be danger of trapping a child or an object under the platform. For this reason the platform is hinged so that it will swing up to vertical position in case any obstruction should lie in its path. The vertical position of the platform is shown in broken lines in Fig. 2. However, as a further precaution against accident, I provide trips at the forward and rear edges respectively, of the platform. Each trip is in the form of a bumper rail 65 supported on pins 66, which have sliding engagement with the platform, and

springs 67 serve to hold the rail spaced from the forward edge of the platform. Each pin 66 constitutes an electric switch in the circuit of the motor, so that when the bumper is pressed inward by engagement with an obstacle, the circuit is broken and the motor is stopped. A similar spring-pressed bumper '72 is provided at the bottom of the platform near the forward edge thereof, and the bumper when pressed upward also breaks the circuit of the motor and brings the conveyor to a stop.

It will be understood that various changes can be made in the arrangement and construction of my invention and I wish it would be understood that I consider myself at liberty to make such variations, alterations or modifications as fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An elevator comprising a pair of inclined conduits, a carriage having wheels running in said conduits, a conveyor belt in each conduit for propelling the carriage along the conduits and a platform non-rigidly connected to the carriage whereby said platform will yield when encountering an obstacle in its path.

2. An inclined elevator comprising a pair of laterally spaced conduits, each formed with a slot, a conveyor within each conduit and having I a part projecting through the slot, a platform exterior to the conduits and hingedly connected to the projecting parts, and adjustable stops carried by said parts for supporting the platform angularly with respect to said conduits, said platform being free to swing away from said stops.

3. An inclined elevator comprising a pair of conduits each formed with a slot and interiorly with a track, wheels engaging each track, a carriage projecting through each slot and sup- J ported by the wheels, a platform exterior to the conduits and hinged to the carriage, and a stop on each carriage against the platform normally rests. J

l. An inclined elevator comprising a pair of laterally spaced conduits, a cover plate connecting the conduits and having a pair of slots therein providing communication respectively with the interior of each conduit, a conveyor within each} conduit, a platform exterior to the conduits,

means projecting through each slot and connecting the platform with said conveyors.

5. In combination a conduit formed with a slot and interiorly with a track, wheels engaging the track, a carriage supported by the wheels and projecting through the slot, a flexible draft member attached to the carriage and means for supporting said member substantially throughout the length of said conduit.

6. In combinatioma conduit formed with a slot and interiorly with a track, wheels engaging the track, a carriage supported by the wheels and projecting through the slot, a pair of sprocket wheels mounted on horizontal axes at opposite ends respectively of the conduit, a conveyor chain passed about and engaging said sprocket wheels and secured at opposite ends thereof to the carriage, and a shelf within the conduit for supporting the upper reach of the chain.

7. In combination, a conduit formed with a slot and interiorly with a track, wheels engag- 8. An inclined elevator comprising a pair of conduits, a conveyor belt in each conduit, a carriage propelled by said belts, a driving means common to both of the belts, and means for taking up slack in each belt separately.

9. In combination with a stairway, an inclined conduit paralleling the stairway, a carriage, means for propelling the carriage along the conduit, a platform hinged on the carriage and overlying the conduit, and a hand post secured to the carriage.

HENRY A. WISE WOOD.

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