WO2002060802A2

WO2002060802A2 - Moveable toe guard assembly for elevators

Info

Publication number: WO2002060802A2
Application number: PCT/US2002/001769
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jyunichiro Mori; Masaharu Hongo
Original assignee: Otis Elevator Company
Priority date: 2001-01-31
Filing date: 2002-01-23
Publication date: 2002-08-08
Also published as: AU2002241939A1; WO2002060802A3; TW513372B

Abstract

An elevator toe guard (7) has a fixed portion (7a) and a sliding portion (7b) that will move upwardly in response to contact with the floor (13a) of the pit (13) of an elevator hoistway thereby to avoid being damaged by contact with the floor. A toe guard (15) has a fixed portion (15a) and a rotatable portion (15b) that is held against rotating by locking levers (21a, 21b) unless the elevator is sufficiently close to the floor (13a) of the hoistway pit (13) so that release brackets (22) will move the locking levers, permitting the rotatable portion (15b) to rotate in response to contact with the floor of the pit, thereby to avoid being damaged by contact with the floor.

Description

Moveable Toe Guard Assembly for Elevators

Technical Field

This invention relates to an elevator toe guard assembly that will not be damaged even when the depth of the pit at the lowest floor is less than the standard depth.

Background Art

In Fig. 1 , an elevator car 1 moves up and down within an elevator hoistway (not shown), suspended by a cable 2. A doorway having a door 4, through which passengers board and exit the car 1 , is formed between the hallway of each floor 3 and the hoistway. As the car 1 descends, if the door 4 opens after the bottom plate 1 a of car 1 has reached the same height as the floor 3, there will be no problem; but door 4 may start to open before bottom plate 1 a and floor 3 are aligned; in such a case, the feet of passengers may come between car 1 and floor 3. Therefore, a toe guard 1 b (also called a platform guard or apron) is furnished to prevent that from happening.

However, since the toe guard is fixed to the car, if the hoistway pit is shallow, when the car reaches the floor position at the lowest floor, the toe guard will strike the floor of the pit and be damaged.

Disclosure of Invention

Objects of this invention include an elevator toe guard assembly that will not be damaged if it strikes the floor of a hoistway pit.

According to the invention, an elevator toe guard assembly, which projects downward from the bottom, front side of an elevator car, includes a contracting means to reduce the height of said toe guard when said car descends into the elevator pit. According further to the invention, said toe guard telescopes so that it will contract when it is pushed upward by the floor of the pit. In accordance further with the invention, said toe guard is rotated upwardly under the elevator by the floor of the pit when a rotation- restricting means contacts a releasing means in the hoistway pit.

Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent in the light of the following detailed description of exemplary embodiments thereof, as illustrated in the accompanying drawing.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Fig. 1 is a partial, perspective view of an elevator having a conventional toe guard.

Fig. 2 is a partial, front elevation view of a sliding embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 3 is a partial, side elevation view of the embodiment of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a partial, front elevation view of a rotating embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 5 is a partial, side elevation view of the embodiment of Fig. 4.

Mode(s) for Carrying Out the Invention

The embodiment of Figs. 1 and 2 telescopes vertically, so that part of it will rise upwardly in response to force resulting from contact of the toe guard with the floor 1 3a of the hoistway pit 1 3. In Fig. 1 , toe guard 7 includes a fixed plate 7a and a moveable plate 7b, furnished on the floor side 1 2 of bottom plate 6 of the car 1 . The upper part of fixed plate 7a is joined to bottom plate 6 by screws, not shown. The lower part of fixed plate 7a is supported by a pair of reinforcements 8 having one end fixed to the underside of bottom plate 6, and the other end fixed to the lower part of fixed plate 7a. A guide member 9 is fixed to each side of fixed late 7a. The guide members 9 are L-shaped in cross section, when cut parallel to the horizontal plane (looking downward) . Each end of moveable plate 7b is inserted between fixed plate 7a and the related guide member 9, which confine the moveable plate 7b while allowing it to slide upwardly. The pair of reinforcements 8 are inserted into a pair of slots 1 0 in moveable plate 7b so that the movement of moveable plate 7b is not hindered by the reinforcements 8. A lip 1 1 formed at the top edge of moveable plate 7b prevents the moveable plate 7b from falling downwardly. The bottom edge is bent at an appropriate angle toward the inside, as required by some government regulatory codes.

Under normal circumstances, moveable plate 7b hangs down due to its own weight, and is stopped by the lip 1 1 touching the guide members 9. In this position, toe guard 7 provides its intended function of preventing feet from being pinched between floor 1 2 and bottom plate 6. In the unlikely event that the depth of pit 1 3 is less than a standard value, moveable plate 7b is pressed upward by floor 1 3a and moves upwardly relative to fixed plate 7a, whereby toe guard 7 contracts. For this reason, damage to the toe guard 7 caused by striking floor 1 3a is prevented.

In the embodiment of Figs. 4 and 5, part of the toe guard rotates upwardly when upward force is applied by the pit floor. A toe guard 1 5 includes a fixed plate 1 5a and rotatable plate 1 5b, disposed on the boarding hall side 1 2 of floor plate 6. The upper edge of fixed plate 1 5a is fastened to floor plate 6, such as by screws (not shown). The rotatable plate 1 5b is disposed to rotate around a pair of pivot shafts 1 6 disposed within bushings 1 7 formed at both ends of fixed plate 1 5a, and bushings 1 8 formed at both ends of the upper edge of rotatable plate 1 5b. Counterclockwise rotation (as seen in Fig. 5) of rotatable plate 1 5b around pivot shaft 1 6 is stopped by the upper edge of rotatable plate 1 5b touching the lower edge of fixed plate 1 5a, with fixed plate 1 5a and plate 1 5b forming a single plane. At the same time, clockwise rotation is blocked by a pair of locking levers 21 a, 21 b. A pair of posts 1 9, project downward from floor plate 6 at both sides of toe guard 1 5. A horizontal pivot shaft 20, projecting toward floor 1 2, is capable of rotating within the bottom of each post 1 9, and locking levers 21 a, 21 b are attached to each pivot shaft 20. A pair of springs (not shown for clarity), force locking lever 21 a counterclockwise and locking lever 21 b clockwise (as seen in Fig. 4), while a stop (not shown for clarity) is furnished to stop the locking levers 21 from turning beyond horizontal in response to the spring force.

Normally, locking levers 21 a, 21 b will be in the horizontal state, as indicated in Fig. 4, to block rotating plate 1 5b from turning. A pair of L-shaped release brackets 22 disposed on the floor side 1 2 of pit 1 3 rotate the restriction levers 21 a, 21 b when the bottom plate 6 drops below a certain position in the pit 1 3. The bottom ends of the release brackets 22 are fixed to the pit floor 1 3a, and the top ends are fixed to the side wall of the pit 1 3.

Under normal conditions, rotatable plate 1 5b hangs down due to its own weight, the locking levers 21 a, 21 b are horizontal, and rotatable plate 15b will not pivot from the position at point C in Fig. 5 to the position at point D. For this reason, rotatable plate 15 performs its intended function. In the rare event that the depth of pit 1 3 is less than the standard value, the outside ends of the locking levers 21 a, 21 b are pressed upward by the release brackets 22 which turns the locking levers 21 from horizontal to nearly vertical, and the restriction on turn plate 1 5b is released. For example, the left end of locking lever 21 b (Fig. 4) is rotated from being near point A to being near point B. Thereafter, if the bottom end of rotatable plate 1 5b touches the floor 13a, horizontal force is applied to the end of the slanted lower part of rotatable plate 15b which moves from near point C (Fig. 5) to near point D. Therefore, damage caused to the toe guard 15 by striking the floor 13a is prevented.

On the other hand, when bottom plate 6 rises again along with the car, release bracket 22 separates from the locking levers 21 a, 21 b which then return to the horizontal position due to the force of the springs (not shown) and the rotatable plate 15b returns to a state where it performs its intended function.

With the elevator toe guard assembly of the invention, the height of the toe guard becomes smaller when the bottom end of the toe guard touches the floor of the pit. Thus, even in the rare event that the depth of the pit is less than the standard value, the toe guard will not be squeezed between the pit floor and the car, and damage to the toe guard will thus be prevented.

Claims

1 . A toe guard (1 b, 7, 1 5) for an elevator car (1 ) moveable within a hoistway which has a pit (1 3) with a floor (1 3a), said toe guard extending downwardly from the bottom surface (6) of the elevator car, beneath the door thereof; characterized by the improvement comprising: at least a portion (7b, 1 5b) of said toe guard being moveable in response to contact with the floor of the pit, thereby to avoid being damaged.

2. A toe guard according to claim 1 wherein said portion slides upwardly in response to contacting the floor of the pit.

3. A toe guard according to claim 1 wherein said portion is rotatable about at least one pivot shaft (1 6); and further comprising: at least one locking lever (21 a, 21 b) disposed to prevent rotation of said portion when said locking lever is in a first position; and a release bracket (22) disposed near the bottom of the pit to move said locking lever from said first position to a second position in which said portion can rotate in response to contact with the floor of the pit.