METHOD FOR MOUNTING AN ELEVATOR AND ITS GUIDE RAILS
The invention concerns a method for mounting an elevator via the successive placing of guide rails. The current elevator mounting methods consist of lifting up and fixing the elements of the elevator using hoisting equipment or similar lifting devices and whose fixing points are located on the ceiling of the elevator casing, which results in strengthening the rigidity of the ceiling, and possibly using an upper support' crosspiece of the suspension cable with an additional space at the top of the casing. The invention seeks to mitigate these drawbacks and offers a method for mounting an elevator via the successive placing of guide rails from the bottom of the elevator casing, said method being characterised in that it consists of successively mounting the first lower booth guide rails in support on the casing bottom and on at least two sides of the casing, of mounting the booth, at least partially, without its lateral panels to enable it to move on said two guide rails and also enable at least one operator to carry out mounting work on the elevator from the floor and/or the roof of the booth, of having available to the upper extremity of said rails a link element mounted integral with the booth and connected to a traction hoisting element so as to lift up the booth on the guide rails with the aid of said two link elements pulled identically by the hoisting element up to an upper position approximately at the upper extremity of the rails, of securing this upper position so that the- booth is joined to the rails, of mounting a set of second successive guide rails in the casing and lifted up from the booth or similar element in continuity with said first rails, each of these second rails being fixed to the casing by at least their fastening points, respectively the linking point of the first and second rails and the
linking point of the immediately upper fastening bracket, of removing the link element of the extremity of the first rails and of attaching it to the extremity of each of the second upper rails to allow the booth to be lifted up again by the hoisting element, whereas the booth is previously unblocked from its first upper position, and of continuing mounting of the elevator in the same way as described previously from rail to rail until reaching the top of the casing of the elevator. These arrangements result in obtaining a mounting of the elevator without the need to lift the elements of the elevator suspended from the top of the casing on reinforced fixing points on the ceiling, thus making it possible to mount the elevator successively at a specific height and using the booth as a work support platform. Said link element can be a cable, chain, belt or a strap . This link element is advantageously fixed to the upper extremity of the rails by means of a fastening bracket bolted onto the junction fishplate holes of the rails and dismantled after the lifting up of the booth by the hoisting element and the locking of said booth in an upper position. The hoisting element advantageously consists of a hoist provided with two pulleys of the same diameter coupled to a same drive shaft, each link element associated with a rail being wound onto a pulley so as to be pulled equally in relation to the other. Each of said link elements is joined to the booth by means of an idle return pulley fixed to the lower portion of the booth vertically to their fastener on the associated rail, said idle pulley sending back the link element to a pulley of the hoist, the latter being secured to the floor of the booth or a rigid structural element at the level of the floor of the booth.
The locking of the booth in an upper position can be ensured by the locking cams of the parachute device of the booth, but it is preferably obtained with the aid of a second link element, a chain for example, fixed via each of its ends to one extremity of a rail in place and joined to the booth, for example placed under the latter. The rails can be lifted up from the bottom of the casing by a lifting element placed on the last upper stairs-head of the building, but they are preferably lifted up from an elevator device situated on the roof of the booth, for example a bracket mounted rotating on the roof of the booth, said rails being pulled by a cable passed on the latter. Whilst these rails are lifted between the casing and the booth on their installation side on the casing with the booth having been previously brought into an upper position and locked in said position, the extremity of the lifting up link element is detached from the lower rail
(in place) and attached to the new lifted up rail whereas its upper extremity arrives at the booth, this new rail then being lifted up with the link element until being mounted on the rail immediately below. Then, when the two new upper rails are mounted on the casing with their link element in attack on the hoist, the booth is then able to be unlocked and again lifted up. Of course, all the mounting elements of the elevator, such as the counter-weight guide rails, the electric cables and other elements, can be mounted in the casing as the booth is gradually lifted up inside the casing, rail by rail. The invention is illustrated hereafter with the aid of an embodiment example and with reference to the accompanying drawings on which : Figures la to le diagrammatically show the various elevator successive mounting phases,
Figure 2 is a front view of the fastener of the link element secured to the junction zone of two successive guide rails, and Figure 3 is a diagrammatic view of the hoisting device for lifting up the booth. With reference to the figures and more particularly to figures la to le, the elevator mounting method of the invention is carried out on a bare elevator casing 1 and from its lower portion, as shown on figure la. The two booth guide rails 3 are first of all mounted by a mechanic from the bottom of the casing 1 on two opposite sides of the casing in the embodiment example shown. Each of these lower rails 3 is secured to the casing 1 by means of two spaced fasteners 5, resting on the bottom of the casing. The booth 7 is then mounted resting in a lower position via its floor 9 on a fall damping element 11 fixed at the casing bottom. It is laterally connected to each of the rails 3 by two spaced guiding slides 13 via which it is able to be moved along said rails in the casing. These slides 13 are mounted with symmetry relatively to a ^vertical median plane of the booth on each of the opposing sides of the booth and placed on the lower mid-height portion of the booth. The booth is mounted without its side panels so as to constitute a work support platform for a mechanic. The mechanic (operator) can also access the roof 15 of the booth from the floor 9 by. a suitable ladder, and on the roof he can use an elevator element 17 of the small crane type secured to the roof of the booth. The operator then mounts at the upper extremity of each of the rails in place a bracket 19 (figure 2) which can be bolted on the fishplate junction holes 21 of the rails. It comprises two opposing external holes, one 23 being used for the fastener of the lifting up link element
link element 27 for locking the booth n position. The operator can then mount the hoisting traction element 29 of the two link elements 25 attached to each rail 3. This hoisting element 29 is fixed to the level of the floor 9 of the booth approximately m a central position (figure 3) and receives each link element by means of a return pulley 31 placed laterally on the booth approximately vertically to said upper brackets 19. Each of these link elements 25 consist on a chain about 10 m long and are wound onto two identical pulleys 33 driven by the same drive shaft of the hoist 29. Once this is done, the chains are pulled identically by the hoist one relative to the other so as to regularly move the booth via its slides on the guide rails. The booth can thus be lifted up by activating the hoist from its initial bottom position (figure lb) to an upper position (figure lc) where the upper slides 13 are a short distance away from the upper brackets 19, this movement being protected by adequate end-of-travel contactors at the top of the rails. The operator then attaches the locking link element 27, chain included, to each of the brackets 19 of the two rails via said second bracket hole 23'. This link element is passed under the booth under the floor 9 and once taut, it firmly keeps the booth in its upper position. The lifting up link elements 25 can now be detached from their bracket 19. A rail 3 can then be lifted up from the bottom of the casing by means of said elevator device 17 on the roof of the booth, and whilst its upper extremity moves to the level of the booth, a second bracket 19 is fixed to this extremity and then the lifting link element 25, now freed, is again fixed to this second bracket 19.
The rail is then lifted up with its link up to an upper position (figure Id) where it can be secured to the casing and connected to the rail immediately lower by a junction fishplate 35 and by a second upper bracket 5. The opposing rail is mounted in the same way (figure le) The two link elements 25 can then be engaged in the hoist 29, whereas the locking link element 23 is detached from the initial brackets 19. These brackets are then dismantled and the booth can then again be lifted up according to a new elevator mounting cycle identical to the previous one onto the second upper rails. Mounting is thus carried out successively from rail to rail as far as the top of the casing where the final upper rails can be cut to the desired length so as to be adapted to the size of the casing.