US2518920A

US2518920A - Directory sign for elevator cars

Info

Publication number: US2518920A
Application number: US36586A
Authority: US
Inventors: Merker David; Brounn Morrison John
Original assignee: Otis Elevator Co
Current assignee: Otis Elevator Co
Priority date: 1948-07-02
Filing date: 1948-07-02
Publication date: 1950-08-15
Anticipated expiration: 1967-08-15

Description

5, 1950 o. MERKER ETAL 2,518,920

DIRECTORY SIGN FOR ELEVATOR CARS Filed July 2, 1948 3 Shees-Shet 1 Fl 6. I

MmvQu/b }INVENTOP BY m AT T02 NEY Aug. 15, 1950 D. MERKER ETAL 2,518,920

DIRECTORY SIGN FOR ELEVATOR CARS Filed July 2, 1948 3 Sheets-Sheet 320 27 I;

onues OMEN F N 5& /M Ns WEAR 145% Zflr Z%o TIN SH 5/ P A L 005/ as l v I5 65 5 2 lb 5M MM W%(BW INVENTOIQ BYW ATTOQNEY Aug. 1950 D. MERKER ETAL 2,518,920

DIRECTORY SIGN FOR ELEVATOR CARS Filed July 2, 1948 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 }INVENTOR BY W ATTORNEY latented Aug. 15, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE DIRECTORY SIGN FOR ELEVATOR CARS tion of New Jersey Application July 2, 1948, Serial No. 36,586

6 Claims. 1

The invention relates to floor directory signs for elevator cars.

It is of advantage in elevator installations for certain types of buildings to provide a floor directory sign in each elevator car. Such a directory is of especial advantage for department store installations where it can be utilized to advise the passengers as to the principal lines of merchandise on each floor. This relieves the car attendant of announcing this merchandise to the passengers, enabling him to give his attention principally to operating the car.

One object of the invention is to provide for an elevator car a floor directory sign in which the portion of the sign related to each floor served by the car is emphasized as the car arrives at that floor.

Another object of the invention is to provide for an elevator car a combination floor directory sign and car position indicator.

The invention will be described as applied to a store directory sign for an elevator car of a department store installation. In carrying out the invention according to the arrangement which will be described, the sign is arranged to extend horizontally across the front of the car above the door. It is divided into sections, one for each floor served by the car. Each section comprises a window upon which appears the number of the floor and the names of principal lines of merchandise on that floor. Constant overall illumination by reflected light is provided for all windows in order that the passengers may ascertain in advance the floors upon which are located the particular items of merchandise in which they are interested. Also each individual window is further illuminated by transmitted light as the car arrives at the floor for which the section having that window is provided, advising the passengers when the car comes to the floors having the merchandise in which they are interested.

Features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the above statements and from the following description and appended claims.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a view in trimetric of an elevator cab with parts broken away, illustrating a floor directory sign embodying the invention;

Figure 2 is a detail in cross section of the upper portion of the cab illustrating in front elevatim the directory sign of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2 with parts broken away to illustrate the arrangement I for lighting individual compartments of the sign;

Figure 4 is an enlarged detail in section of the upper front portion of the elevator cab including a section through a compartment of the directory sign taken along the line 4-4 of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a detail in section of a directory sign compartment taken along the line 5--5 of Figure 4; and

Figure 6 is a simplified schematic wiring diagram of control circuits for the lamps of the directory sign compartments.

Referring to Figures 1 to 5 of the drawings, the elevator car comprises a cab 9 secured to the car floor Ill. The cab is made up of a plurality of panels to form the back ll, sides I2 and front section 13. The front of the cab is formed to provide a door opening l5 which is closed by a door IS.

The top of the cab is provided with a roof plate I! and a ceiling plate i8 arranged in spaced relationship and separated along the sides, back and front of the cab by channel shaped spacers and 2!. The ceiling plate l8 curves downwardly along the front of the cab and is bent under spacer 2|, this spacer being of a greater height than spacers 20 to provide this construction. A blower 22 for blowing ventilating air into the cab is mounted on the roof plate ll. This blower is in the form of a centrifugal fan 23 driven by an electric motor 24 and has its inlet 25 from the side and, its outlet 26 extending downwardly through the roof plate 11 into the plenum chamber formed between the roof plate and ceiling plate 18. Air is admitted to the cab from the plenum chamber through a series of openings 2'! provided along the sides and back of the ceiling plate and through the spaces 28 provided at the ends of the curved portion of the ceiling plate. Exhaust openings 39 are provided in the back H along the bottom of the cab.

Arranged beneath the channel 2| and extending across the front of the cab is a light trough 35. This trough comprises a back portion 36, a top portion 31, and ends 34. The top portion is secured as by bolts 40 to channel 2! and extends well out into the cab. The bottom portion extends only a short distance into the cab and is secured as by bolts 4| to the cross plate 42 upon which are mounted the supporting brackets 43 for the door track 39. Within this trough and substantially coextensive therewith is a box 44. This box is secured as by screws 45 to brackets 46 welded to the trough and as by bolts 41 to the top portion 31- of the trough. The box is provided, With a plurality of partitions 50 to form light compartments 5| corresponding in number to the number of floors served by the elevator car. The partitions are secured to the box as by screws 52 extending through brackets 53 welded to the partitions. Arranged in each compartment is a pair of T lamps 54 extending oppositely longitudinally thereof. The lamp sockets 55 for these lamps are mounted on the partitions 5!! and the ends 56 of the box. Apertures 51 are provided in the box for the connectin wires (not shown) to the lamp sockets, a suitable opening (not shown) being also provided in the light trou h for these wires. Also louvers 60 are provided in each compartment for venting the heated air, ventilating apertures 6| being also provided in the back of the light trough.

A door 63 is provided for the light trough, this door extendin across the front of the cab. A hinge 64 for the door is provided at the edge of the too portion 31 of the trou h. At the bottom, the door is curved towar the front of the cab so as to fit under the bottom portion 38 of the trough w ere it is secured as by thumb screws 65. The door is ro ided ith a plurality of o n n s E correspond ng in number to the umb r of comp rtments 5! a d direct y in front thereof. Welded to the back of the door at each open ng is a frame 61 slig tly lar er t an the openin A sheet of trans ucent glass in fits in t e frame and is held in place by a second frame II having an openin coext nsive with opening 66 and secured in place as by wing nuts 12 on screws embedded in frame 61. B flie plates 13 are arranged between the frames 61.

With t is arrangement there is provided one li ht compartment for each floor served by the car, each compartment having a translucent glass window. As schematically indicated in Figure 2, the names of various princ pal articles of merchandise sold on the particular floors are lettered as by painting on the fronts of the glass windows.

of the corresponding compartments. Also the numbers of the floors for which the compartments are provided are similarly applied to these windows. Thus this device constitutes a floor directory for use by the passengers in the car.

The compartments are lighted in succession as the car reaches the floors for which they are provided, the device thus funct oning as a combined car position indicator and store directory. A suitable circuit arrangement for the lamps of the compartments is illustrated in Figure 6. LI and L2 are the supply lines for the lamps. The lamps 54 for each compartment are connect ed from supply line Ll in parallel to a stationary contact 15 for the floor for which the lamps are provided. A brush [6 is connected to line L2 subject to a cut-out switch illustrated as a knife switch 11. This brush is actuated in accordance with car movement and engages these stationary contacts in succession as the car approaches the respective floors for which the stationary contacts are provided. This completes the circuits t these pairs of lamps in succession, causing the lighting of the compartments in succession as the car approaches the floors. Thus not only is the position of the car indicated in the car but the attention of the passengers is directed especially to the directory of merchandise on the particular floor at which the car is arriving.

Constant overall illumination is provided for the whole indicator in order that the passengers may ascertain in advance the floors on which particular articles of merchandise are 50151.- 91

illumination is illustrated as obtained from a fluorescent lamp extending across the front of the cab above and somewhat in front of the door 63. A bafile 8|, extending across the front of the cab and secured as by welding to the sides of the cab, shields the lamp 80 from the direct view of the passengers. The lamp holder brackets 82 for this lamp are mounted in an elongated fixture box 83. This box comprises a pan 84 secured to the top portion 31 of the light trough 35 as by the bolts 41. On top of this pan is an inverted trough 85. Brackets 86 are secured as by Welding to the pan 84 and the inverted trough is secured on top of the pan as by thumb screws extending into the upper arms 8'! of the brackets. The mounting brackets 82 for lamp 80 extend horizontally from the front side of the trough. Another fluorescent lamp 90 is utilized to provide indirect lighting for the cab. Its lamp holder brackets 9| extend vertically and are also mounted in fixture box 83. The bafile 8| also shields lamp 90 from the eyes of the passengers.

With this arrangement, the whole face of the directory sign is constantly illuminated by reflected light while the windows of the various compartments are individually illuminated by transmitted light of more intense illumination as the car approaches the corresponding floors. The arrangement is of pleasing appearance and attracts the attention of the passengers, The passengers can readily ascertain ahead of time the floors at which they desire to alight and the arrival of the car at these floors is emphatically brought to their attention.

As many changes could be made in the above construction and many apparently widely different embodiments of this invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

What is claimed is:

1. A floor directory sign for an elevator car comprising; a directory for each floor served by the car, said directories being arranged side by side in the car in position to be viewed by the passengers; means providing constant overall i1- lumination of all said directories; and means for providing in addition to said constant overall illumination accentuated individual illumination of said directory for each floor as the car arrives at that floor.

2. A floor directory sign for an elevator car comprising; a directory for each floor served by the car, said directories being arranged side by side overhead across the front of the car in the order of succession of floors; means providing overall illumination of all said directories in order that passengers may ascertain in advance the floors at which they desire to alight; and means for providing accentuated individua1 illumination of said directory for each floor as the car arrives at that floor, thereby advising the passengers of the arrival of the car at the floors at which they desire to alight.

3. A floor directory sign for an elevator car comprising; a plurality of translucent windows, one for each floor served by the car, extending side by side overhead across the front of the car; a directory of each floor on said window for such floor; means providing constant overall illumination of all said directories in order that passengers may ascertain in advance the floors at which they desire to alight; and means for providing accentuated illumination of said directory for each floor by light transmitted through the window for that floor as the car arrives at that floor, thereby advising the passengers of the arrival of the car at the floors at which they desire to alight.

4. A floor directory sign for an elevator car comprising; a plurality of compartments, one for each floor served by the car, extending side by side overhead across the front of the car; a translucent window for each compartment; a directory of each floor on said window of the compartment for such floor; means providing constant overall illumination by reflected light of all said directories in order that passengers may ascertain in advance the floors at which they desire to alight; lighting means in each compartment; and means for causing lighting of said lighting means for each floor to provide accentuated illumination of said directory for that floor by light transmitted through the window having such directory thereon as the car arrives at that floor, thereby advising the passengers of the arrival of the car at the floors at which they desire to alight.

5. A floor directory sign for an elevator car comprising; an elongated box extending overhead across the front of the car and having a plurality of compartments, one for each floor served by the car; lighting means in each compartment; a translucent window for each compartment; a directory of each floor on the window of the compartment for that floor; means providing constant overall illumination of said windows by refiected light; and means for causing illumina- 3 tion of said compartments by their lighting means in succession as the car arrives at the floors for which the compartments are provided to further illuminate the compartment windows individually by transmitted light in accordance with the position of the car in its hoistway.

6. A store directory sign for a department store elevator car comprising; an elongated box extending overhead across the front of the car; a plurality of partitions in said box to form a plurality of compartments, one for each floor served by the car; a pair of tubular lamps in each compartment extending oppositely therein longitudinally of said box; a face for said box having a plurality of translucent windows, one for each compartment; indicia on each window listing the floor number and items of merchandise 0n the particular floor for which the compartment having that window is provided; an elongated tubular lamp mounted above and to the front of said face for providing constant overall illuminiation of said face; a baflle for shielding said lamp from the passengers in the car; and means for lighting said pairs of compartment lamps in succession as the car arrives at the floors for which the compartments for such lamps are provided to further illuminate the compartment windows individually by transmitted light in accordance with the position of the car in its hoistway.

DAVID MERKER. MORRISON JOHN BROUNN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in th file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,197,507 Lee July 31, 1934 1,968,427 Sanford July 31, 1934 2206,9985" Beizer July 9, 1940 2,463,050 Pasternak Mar. 1, 1949