US2586464A

US2586464A - Single rail elevator guide equalizer

Info

Publication number: US2586464A
Application number: US119521A
Authority: US
Inventors: Hicks Seymour George
Original assignee: Rotary Lift Corp
Current assignee: Rotary Lift Corp
Priority date: 1949-10-04
Filing date: 1949-10-04
Publication date: 1952-02-19
Anticipated expiration: 1969-02-19

Description

Feb. 19, 1952 s. G. HICKS SINGLE-RAIL ELEVATOR GUIDE EQUALIZER Filed Oct. 4, 1949 Patented Feb. 19, 1952 SINGLE RAIL ELEVATORGUIDE EQUALIZER vSeymour George Hicks, Memphis, Tenn., assignor to Rotary Lift Company, Memphis, Tenn., a

corporation of Delaware Application October 4, 1949, Serial No. 119,521

9 Claims. 1 My invention relates to elevato;` guides for the cars of .freight and passenger elevators. More specifically -it relates to guides adapted to be used in conjunction with a single guide rail which distributes the load over a substantially luiereased` length of the guide .rail `so as to make more effective use of the inherent strength of the rail,

An elevator guide functions not only to center the load bearing car in the shaft, but also to maintain the platform thereof in its horizontal Orientation though the `load be not centered With respect to the point of power application, such as the suspending cable or Athe supporting ram. The general guiding structure usually employed takes the form of a vertical stile on each side of the car, two guides on each stile at the extremities thereof, and guide rails on. each side of the elevator shaft (viewing the point of entry into the shaft as the front), engaged by the guides. The

platform, of course, is rigidly fixed with respect to the Stiles.

One .such guiding structure has usually ineluded and been characterized by a single shoe or its equivalent attached to each end of each of the soies and a single rail on each side of the shalt on which the two shoes carried by each stile run- The capacity oi the elevator is determined in part by the thrust applied against the rails by the .shoes in the ease of maximum unbalance of the loading. The point of failure in the guide rails occurs in the somewhat narrowed web thereof, and the nature of the failure in the event of overloading lies moet generally ln the ilexing of the web adjacent the point of guide shoe engagement which produces a slight tilting ol the platform- Greatly excessive loading will Cause a bending or collapsing of the rails or a failure of the means attaching the rail to the wall which of course would make the elevator inoperative.

For greatly increased loads which would overtaX by far the capacity o f the largest standard vguide rails, a solution appears in the patent to Lawrence F. Jaseph, No. 2,489,140, dated November 22, 1949. AIn that case two rails are employed on each side of the elevator shaft with paired guide shoes engaging each of the rails at both top and bottom of the stile. The principal suhject of that application is not only the concept of guiding the platform by two rails on each side but also in insuring that the load is distributed evenly between the two rails by the slices Thus, absolute parallelism both as between the two rails and as between the rails and the shaft at all points is exceedingly dihcult to provide and being taken substantially on the line 2,-2 of 2 structure is shown that application whereby, as the rails converge or diverge slightly, a link,- age to which the shoes are connected spaces the slices exactly with the spacing 0f the rails to insure an equal distribution of load between the two rails.

This structure, while exceedingly useful for its purpose, namely, the accommodation of exceedingly heavy loads, is expensiveg and great aclvantage would lie in the provision of a substantially less expensive structure for accommodating loads which, while excessive for the single rail, single shoe guide arrangement, do not demand the use of the two-rail guiding arrangement.

The object of my invention, therefore, is the provision of ,guide means -for an elevator which will accommodate loads larger than the single shoe single rail guiding means and yet which is substantially less expensive than the two-rail guide means with its associated load equalizing arrangement.

Another object of my invention is the provision of a guiding arrangement for an elevator which increases substantially the load carrying capacity of a single standard guide rail.

Still another object of my invention is the provision of such an elevator guide which permits the carrying o f greater loads by an elevator guided by a single rail on either side through a distribution of load over an extended portion of the rail length.

Still another object of my invention is the provision of a guide arrangement for an elevator which engages a guide rail at spaced points and yet which insures an even division of load 'between these points.

Yet another object of Iny invention is the provision of a guide for an elevator which engages a guide rail secured to the wall of the elevator shaft b y regularly spaced securing means in such fashion that the force applied by the guide is carried by at least 4two of the spaced securing means.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will appear from the following description and drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective, broken away in part, of the guide embodying my invention as situated at the top of one of the stiles of an elevator;

Fig. 2 is a section Which may be consideradas Fig 3 ,section which may be. considered as being .taken substantially the. line. ,3e-3 of Fie.- 2: and

Fig. 4 is an elevation of a guide rail and the guides as employed with an elevator platform shown in section.

In the drawings, the elevator platform l is` joiried to the stiles I2 at the point I4 of intersection of the two members and connected to the stile heads I8 at the upper portion of the stile I2 by tie rods I6. The means of connection may be the threading of the tie rod I6 into a cross pin 2U between the members of the stile head I8. The guides, indicated generally as 22, are connected to the head and foot of each stile. It will be remembered that the stile I2 and guides 22 and structure associated therewith shown in Fig. 4 will be duplicated on the other side of the elevator platform ID.

The guide rails 24, one of which is fixed to each side of the elevator shaft, are standard articles of manufacture and of standard section and are characterized by a guiding portion 2G and a web 28 -of somewhat reduced width. The rails may be secured to the wall 29 of the elevator shaft by clips 3l. The guide shoes 30 are likewise old and well known and are characterized by a U- shaped cross section. The interior surfaces 32 embrace closely the guiding portion 26 of the guide rail.

As was pointed out before, the prior practice has been to employ, instead of one of my illustrated guides appearing at the head and foot of the stile I 2, only a shoe such as the shoe 30. Such a shoe must embrace very closely the guiding surface of therail in order that the platform be held firmly horizontal thereby. It is apparent that the longer the area of engagement between the shoe and the rail can be made, the greater will be the strength of the guiding structure. The load will be distributed more evenly among the rail supporting clips and over a greater section of rail web.

It is exceedingly difficult, however, to insure that a guide rail be mounted in an elevator shaft so as to be absolutely straight, and a positive assurance of such straightness adds substantially to the expense of the installation-indeed, to a near prohibitive extent. Granting, then, slight curvatures in the rail at different points, the shoe must be kept relatively short in order to engage the rail over the whole of its rail engaging surfaces and to avoid seizing and binding in the areas of these curvatures. An incidental hazard from the use of a long shoe also lies in the point contact between the rail and shoe in a region of rail curvature breaking the lubrication film and producing excessive wear, so impairing the platform .stability This necessary shortness of the shoe, however, results in the application of the pressure, consequent from the torque imposed on the elevator platform by an uncentered load, to a relatively small area of the rail, `and the smaller the portion of rail engaged by the shoes the more likely will be the possibility of failure.

Applicant avoids these material disadvantages of a single guide shoe constituting the guide and obtains the advantages of an elongated bearing surface which nevertheless can follow the abovementioned rail curvatures by the employment of two short guide shoes 30 for each guiding unit.

These guide shoes are 'pivotally mounted as by pins 33 on` an elongated member 34, hereinafter referred'to ,as the equalizer, which maintains the shoes 3U in spaced relation. Such spacing of the shoes will have the effect of distributing the load on the rails over a length substantially greater than the combined length of the shoes. The center portion of the equalizer is enclosed by the two plates 36 which make up the stile head I8 and a pin 38 is passed through the plates 36 and the equalizer 34 so as to secure the equalizer 34 pivotally within the stile head I8.

The operation of my elevator guide and pary ticularly the equalizer will be readily understood from the foregoing description. Assuming that a portion of the guide rail 24 is bowed slightly, the two guide shoes 30 will follow the rail exactly, their pivotal mounting on the equalizer 34 by the pins 33 enabling them to deviate, as the rail, from absolute perpendicularity. Because of the short shoes permissible in this employment, the fit with the guiding portion 26 of the rail may be 'made exceedingly close without danger of binding since the degree of curvature of such bows in the rails is relatively slight.

The shoes thus following and fitting the rail closely but without danger of binding, the remaining problem to be solved is the equal distribution of thrust on the guide to the two shoes, and this is accomplished by the equalizer. By virtue of the pivotal attachment of the equalizer to the stile, the equalizer may turn with the shoes as they follow the rail curvatures, and the central locus of the attachment point assures an equal distribution of load between the two shoes of each guide. In this fashion, the load is evenly apportioned between the shoes and thence to a substantial length of rail.

Having thus described one embodiment of mv invention, I claim:

l. In an elevator installation including an elevator shaft, an elevator car vertically movable in said shaft, and single guide rails on opposite sides of the shaft for guiding the car; a guide device secured to a side of the car facing one of said rails comprising an equalizer pivotally attached at its center portion to the car, and a pair of guide shoes pivotally attached to the end portions of the equalizer, said guide shoes enga-ging the guide rail.

2. In an elevator installation including an elevator shaft, an elevator car vertically movable in said shaft, and single guide rails on opposite sides of the shaft for guiding the elevator; a guide device secured to a side of the car facing one of said rails comprising an equalizer pivotally attached at its center portion to the car, and a pair of rail engaging guides pivotally attached to the end portions of the equalizer so as to be spaced from each other, said guides engaging the guide rail and all of said pivotal attachments permitting movement in a vertical plane parallel to the guide-carrying side of the car.

3. In an elevator installation including an elevator shaft, an elevator car vertically movable in said shaft, and single guide rails on opposite side of the shaft for guiding the car; a guide device secured to a side of the car facing one of said rails comprising an equalizer pivotally attached at its center portion to the car, and a pair of guide shoes pivotally attached to the end portion of the equalizer so as to be spaced from each other, said guide shoes engaging the guide rail and all of said pivotal attachments permitting movementin a vertical plane parallel to the guide-carrying side of the car.

4. An elevator guide device for use with an 'elevator car of the type guided by single guide rails on opposite sides of the car, comprising an equalizer adapted for pivotal attachment of the center portion thereof to the side of the car faclng one: of said rails, and a pair of guide shoes pivotally attached to the ends of said equalizer,`

said shoes being adapted to engage said rail, all of said pivotal attachments permitting movement in a vertical plane parallel to the guidecarrying side of the car.

5. An elevator guide device for use with an elevator car of the type guided by single guide rails on opposite sides of the car, comprising an equalizer adapted for pivotal attachment of the center position thereof to the side of the car facing one of said'rails, and a pair of guide shoes pivotally attached to the ends of said equalizer so as to be substantially spaced from each other by said equalizer, said shoes being adapted to engage said rail, all of said pivotal attachments permitting movement in a vertical plane parallel to the guide-carrying side of the car.

6. An elevator guide device for use with an elevator car of the type guided by single guide rails on opposite sides of the car, comprising an equalizer adapted for pivotal attachment to the side of the car facing one of said rails, and a pair of rail engaging guides pivotally attached to the ends of said equalizer so as to be substantially spaced, all of said pivotal attachments permitting movement in a vertical plane parallel to the guide-carrying side of the car.

7. 1n an elevator installation including an elevator shaft, an elevator car movable in said shaft, and single guide rails on opposite sides of the shaft for guiding the car; a guide device secured to a side of the car facing one of said rails comprising a pair of guides engaging one of said rails, and an elongated member, said guides being pivotally secured to the ends of said member and said member being pivotally secured between said guides to said car, all of said pivotal attachments permitting movement in a vertical plane parallel to the guide-carrying side of the car.

8. In an elevator installation including an elevator shaft, an elevator car movable in said shaft. and single guide rails on opposite sides of the shaft for guiding the car; a guide device secured to a side of the car facing one of said rails comprising a pair of guides engaging one of said rails and an elongated member to the end portions of which the guides are pivotally secured, said member being pivotally secured between its end portions to said car.

9. In an elevator installation including an elevator shaft, an elevator car movable in theeshaft, and a single guide rail on one side of the shaft for guiding the car; a guide device secured v:to the side of the car facing said rail comprising r`a pair of guides engaging said rail, and an elongated member having pivotally secured to the end p0rtions thereof said guides and being pivotally secured between its end portions to said car.

SEYMOUR GEORGE HICKS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the