US545981A

US545981A - Safety device for elevators

Info

Publication number: US545981A
Authority: US
Publication date: 1895-09-10
Anticipated expiration: 1912-09-10

Description

( M l.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 1. t G. H. REYNOLDS.

SAFETY-DEVICE FOR ELEVATORS.

No. 545,981. Patented Sept. -10, 1895.

3 Sheets-Shet 2.

(No Model.)

G.H.REYNOLDS. SAFETY DEVICE FOR ELEVATORS. No. 545,981. Patented Sept. 10, 1895;

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet a.

G." H. REYNOLDS. SAFETY DEVICE .FOR ELEVATORS. No. 545,981. Patented Sept. 10', 1895.

lln'rrao .Sra'IfEs Parana Erica.

iEoEeE H. REYNOLDS", OF NEW YORK, N. Y.,.AssIeNoR TO THE ORAFE ELEvAToE COMPANY, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

SAFETYA'DEVICE FOR ELEVATORS.

SPECIFICATION forming part or Letters Patent No. 545,981, dated September 10, 1895,

Application filed March 11, 1893.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE I-I. REYNOLDS, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city, county, and State of New York, have invented certain new and usefullmprovements in Safety Devices for'Elevators, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to that class of safety devices for elevator apparatus in which clam ps carried by the cage are caused to engage the guides; and my invention consists in con structing the parts so as to secure increased efficiency and certainty of action, as fully set forth hereinafter, and as illustrated in the ac companying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a front elevation of an elevatorcage provided with my improvements. Fig. 2 is a plan view showing the guides in section. Fig. 3 is aside view; Fig. 4, a detached view of a block-actuating shaft Fig. 5, a sideview of one of the clamp-brackets; Fig. 6, an end view of one of the clamp-brackets Fig. 7, a face view of the governor. Figs. 4,5, 6, and 7 are drawn to an enlarged scale.

To the platform bar or bottom of the cage or platform at each side is securely connected the guide-bracket A, which, as shown, is in the form of a heavy casting having at the outer side a vertical groove to to receive the web of the guide B, secured as usual within the well, the cage moving up and down upon and between the two guides. As the bracket A is for economic reasons made of cast metal and as the bracket is weakened by the groove 00, I compensate for such weakness by extending two cross-bolts 7 7 through the bracket directly behind the groove, as shown.

It has been common to make use of cams and clamps, wedges, &c., carried by the cage and to cause the same to engage the faces of the guides to clamp the cage to the guides in case of accident, or to prevent accidents by arresting the cage when the speed is unduly accelerated. When wedges are employed, dependence is placed uponthe frictional contact thereof with the guidesto insure the clamping effect, and when, as sometimes occurs, the wedges slide upon the guides they do not act effectively. When cams are arranged to grip the guides, they present but limited bearingsurfaces and are apt to wound the faces of the Serial No. 165,611. (No model.)

guides and difficult to disengage when the cage :must be released. To obviate these objections,

I provide each bracket A with a recess or the bracket is otherwise constructed to support at one side of the groove 0a a clamping-block C,

and I employ means for forcing the said block into said groove and against the adjacent face of the guide, and also for lifting it so as to secure a positive wedging effect. I secure these movements and actions of the block by means of any suitable mechanical devices preferably employing a rack and pinion for raising and depressing the block and a cam for forcing it toward the guide, so that there can'he certainty as to the action of the block and so that a broad bearing-face is presented and a powerful clamping effect secured without danger of wounding the faces of the guides.

A preferable arrangement is that shown in the drawings, where a shaft 10, having its bearings in the bracket A, carries a cam 11, that is in position to bear against the flat outer face of the block and force the latter toward the slot when the shaft is turned, while a rack 30 upon the outer face of the block engages a pinion-section 12 upon the shaft 10. As the block isforced away from the shaft 10 by the action of the cam 11 when the block is lifted, it is necessary to make use of a block having a vertical rack 30 and of a pinion-section of a curve corresponding to that of the cam, as shown, or the pinion may have its teeth on a circularline, in which case the rack would be inclined. While the shaft' 10 may be rocked positively by means of suitable devices in case of an accident I prefer to turn it so as to cause the block to engage the guide by means of a spring suitably 'arrangedas, for instance, a coiled spring bearing at one end upon the bracket A and at the other upon the side of an arm 15, extending from the shaft 10and in order to hold the clamping-block out of engagement with the guide I make use of a detent engaging the shaft 10, or, as shown, the arm 15 thereof, the detentbeing a lever or finger 17 upon a rock-shaft 16.

Any suitable means may be employed for rocking the shaft 16 or moving the detent in case of the cage attaining an undue speed. I prefer, however, to make use of a governor of any suitable character which, when it exceeds a certain speed, will'move the detent. Thus the governor D may consist of a revolving disk carried by the cage, and, as shown in Fig. 7, provided with a pivoted arm 33, against which bears a spring 34, tending to throw it inward, and from which projects a finger 23 in position to travel across the face of a shoe 21 upon a sliding shaft 20, which is thrown inward by a spring 22 and which is connected to one arm of the bell-crank lever 19, the other arm of which is connected by a rod 18 with an arm 32, extending from the shaft 16. A standing cable fixed at its ends to eyebolts at the top and bottom of the well passes round guide-pulleys 24: 25 and around the grooved periphery 26 of the governor D, so that the latter is rotated as the cage moves up and down. If the speed is excessive, the governor-arm 34 swings out and the lip 23 strikes the shoe 21, forces out the rod 20, and raises the connecting-rod 18 and rocks the shaft 16 to carry the detent-finger 17 away from the arm 15, when the spring 14 will rock the shaft 10 and the block 0 will be forced against the face of the guide and simultaneously lifted and wedged between the guide and the eccentric face of the cam 11.

In order to readily release the clamp when it is necessary to start the cage, I provide the bracket with a recess above the top of the block O, or otherwise provide a bearing 9, preferably inclined, so as to receive the inclined face of a wedge Y, (dotted lines, Fig. 6,) which wedge, when driven forward, will force down the block and relieve the parts from the binding action and rock the shaft 10,carrying the arm 15 beyond the engaging shoulder of the finger 17, when the latter will resume the position shown in Fig. 5 and again lock the parts in place.

While the shaft 10 may extend completely across the cage or platform and have a cam and pinion at each end, I prefer to use two independent shafts 10, each operating by an independent spring, so that in case one clamp is not operative the other will be operative, and while there may be a governor to each clamping device I prefer to use a single governor, as shown, connected to operate both detents, as a result when the two arms 17 are carried by one shaft 16.

It will be seen that in the operation of the the clamping device above described the springs that actuate the clamp-blocks O by forcing the latter against the guides secure in the first instance a certain amount of friction and resistance, and that these springs also carry the blocks upward, so as to force them and cams toward which they are also carried by the frictional adhesion of the blocks to the guides, which co-operate with and aid the effect of the springs, and that said springs, further, by turning the cams at the same time that the blocks are lifted by frictional contact with the guides facilitate the clamping operations.

Without confining myself to the precise construction and operation of the parts shown and described, I claim 1. The combination of a cage, guides, a clamp block for engaging each guide, means for forcing the block toward the guide as it moves longitudinally, and a rack and pinion, and means for turning the pinion to impart the longitudinal movement to the block, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination with the clamp block, having a rack of a shaft having a pinion for engaging the rack and a cam for engaging the block adjacent to the rack, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination of a clamp block, a rack and pinion for lifting the block and a cam arranged to bear against and force inward the block, substantially as set forth.

4. The combination in an elevator cage and guides of a clamp block and a shaft having two portions, one arranged to engage the block to lift the same and the other, to engage the block and force itinward, substantially as set forth.

5. The combination in a clamping device for an elevator cage, of a block provided with a rack, and a shaft provided with a cam and a pinion, substantially as set forth.

6. The combination of a cage, clamping blocks, independent shafts and connections whereby each block is moved longitudinally and inward on the turning of its shaft, a spring arranged to turn each shaft, a detent for holding each shaft in its position and means for disengaging the detents substantially as set forth.

7. The combination with the cage, guides, clamping blocks and actuating devices, and detents, of a governor consisting of a rotating disk provided with a radially moving finger, a shoe arranged in position to be struck by said finger when the latter moves outward,

tents, substantially as set forth.

GEO. H. REYNOLDS. Witnesses:

TODD MASON, E. NEMETT.

and connections between the shoe and the de-