WO2024033373A1

WO2024033373A1 - System for installing an elevator unit

Info

Publication number: WO2024033373A1
Application number: PCT/EP2023/071957
Authority: WO
Inventors: Akash KALAMBE; Prasanna POTDAR; Om Prakash
Original assignee: Inventio Ag
Priority date: 2022-08-11
Filing date: 2023-08-08
Publication date: 2024-02-15

Abstract

A system (1) comprises a building structure (100) and an elevator unit (102) installed in the building structure (100). in a The building structure (100) comprises a plurality of floor slabs (106) and an elevator opening (104) formed within a perimeter of each floor slab (106) of the building structure (100). The system (105) includes a plurality of guide rail brackets (302) disposed on a periphery (104-1) of the elevator opening (104) on each floor slab (106). The periphery (104-1) is defined by vertical surfaces (107) of each floor slab (106) forming the elevator opening (104). The system (105) further includes a plurality of guide rails (502, 504) supported on the plurality of guide rail brackets (302) designed to guide movement of at least one of a counterweight and an elevator car (108) in a vertical direction.

Description

SYSTEM FOR INSTALLING AN ELEVATOR UNIT

The present disclosure relates to elevators and more particularly, to a system for installing the elevator unit in a multi-story building structure having an elevator opening formed within a perimeter of each floor slab, without the need of a Reinforced Cement Concrete (RCC) hoistway.

Nowadays, elevators are an essential part of multi-story buildings, such as commercial buildings and residential buildings. Generally, elevators are available in different configurations which can be deployed in the building based on factors, such as estimated passengers load, traffic flux, building dimensions, elevator location, and car arrangement. One of the vital factors to be considered for installing the elevator is the location where such an elevator is needed to be installed. In fact, it is critical to plan the location of the elevator in a building at an initial stage of construction. This is because the buildings currently include a hoistway formed of concrete walls, such as RCC C2-/25, to accommodate the installation and movement of the elevator. Therefore, it becomes critical to finalize the location of the hoistway in the initial stages only, say, at the time of designing the superstructure of the building, as any modification or correction at a later stage may result in significant inconvenience and would also incur significant cost. Once these hoistways are constructed, the location of the elevators is permanently fixed and the builder cannot make any changes to the location of the elevators, without significant reconstruction.

Moreover, an orientation of the elevator can also not be changed once the hoistway is constructed. This is because the builder is required to leave a space for installation of a landing door at each floor for people to access the elevator. Since the hoistway is made of RCC concrete, these spaces are also to be provided at the time of construction of the superstructure only and cannot be reoriented at a later stage without significant reconstruction. Therefore, the builder does not have the flexibility to change the orientation of the elevator as well at a later stage.

Also, the use of RCC in the construction of the hoistway directly adds to the overall construction cost of the building. First of all, the cost of the RCC is high. Moreover, the construction of the RCC hoistways requires additional labour which leads to a substantial increase in the overall labour cost as well. Furthermore, the overall time required for completion of the building construction is also increased.

In addition, in the RCC hoistways, various sub-components, such as guide rails and mounting brackets of the elevator are installed directly on an inner surface of the RCC hoistway. Therefore, installation of such sub-components can only be performed while being physically present within the RCC hoistway. Generally, a supporting platform is required within the RCC hoistway, for a person to stand and install various sub-components at predefined locations within the RCC hoistway. Such platforms are also hoisted through a hoisting arrangement to enable smooth movement of the platform in the hoistway, and thereby enabling installation of the sub-components at different heights. This substantially increases overall complexity of the installation process. In fact, the time needed for installation is also significant. Also, owing to presence of personnel within the RCC hoistway, additional measures are required to ensure safety of personnel while installing the elevator and associated sub-components. This adds to the overall cost of installation of the elevator in the building.

WO 2013/186096 Al describes a method and a mounting system for mounting lift components of a lift system in a vertical shaft of a building with a mounting system which can be moved in the shaft. The lift system has at least one cage which can travel along guide rails in the shaft. The mounting system positioned in the shaft includes a support platform and a mounting platform disposed one above the other and a lifting and pulling device. The support platform and the mounting platform are alternatively fixed in position in the shaft and the platform which is not fixed in position at any one time is displaced in the vertical direction by means of the lifting and pulling device relative to the platform fixed in position. As mentioned, the lift components are needed to be mounted in the vertical shaft, such as the RCC shaft, of the building. This substantially increases the overall construction cost of the building and leads to various disadvantages associated with implementation of the RCC shaft for installing the elevators as described earlier. Further, in order to mount the lift components in the vertical shaft, the support platform and the mounting platform are required for assisting an assembler to mount the lift components at different locations within the shaft. This substantially increases the overall complexity of the installation process. In fact, the time needed for installation is also significant. Also, owing to the presence of the assembler within the RCC hoistway, additional measures are required to ensure the safety of the assembler while installing the elevator and associated sub-components.

Therefore, there is a need for a system to enable the installation of the elevators in a building without the requirement of an RCC hoistway, eliminating the abovementioned associated shortcomings.

It is in particular the object of the invention to submit a system to enable the installation of the elevators in a building without the requirement of an RCC hoistway and to eliminate the abovementioned associated shortcomings. According to the invention, this object is solved by a system having the features of claim 1 and an elevator unit having the features of claim 16.

The system for installing the elevator unit comprises a building structure having a plurality of floor slabs and an elevator opening formed within a perimeter of each floor slab of the building structure is disclosed in the present invention. The system includes an elevator unit installed in the building structure. The elevator unit comprises an elevator car. The system further includes a plurality of guide rail brackets disposed on a periphery of the elevator opening on each floor slab. The periphery is defined by vertical surfaces of each floor slab forming the elevator opening. Further, the system includes a plurality of guide rails supported on the plurality of guide rail brackets designed to guide movement of at least one of a counterweight and the elevator car in a vertical direction. The building structure may be regarded as a shell for the building, the building structure comprising floor slabs with elevator openings. This building structure may not comprise a preassembled or prefabricated elevator hoistway, such as a RCC shaft, enclosed by shaft walls.

As mentioned, the plurality of guide rail brackets may be directly mounted on the periphery of the floor slab and the plurality of guide rails may be supported on the plurality of guide rail brackets. This eliminates the requirement of an RCC shaft for supporting different sub-components, such as brackets and guide rails, of the elevator unit. In particular, various sub-components, such as the guide rails for an elevator car and a counterweight assembly, may be directly supported on the floor slab of each of the floors of the building structure and thereby, rendering the requirement for constructing any RCC shaft around the elevator openings of the floor slabs.

Owing to the absence of any RCC shaft, the installation of various sub-components of the elevator unit may be performed directly from the floor slab through the elevator opening formed in each of the floor slabs. The elevator opening is opened from each side which provides flexibility for installing brackets, from any side of the elevator opening, to support the guide rails. This eliminates the requirement of installing the brackets from within the hoistway, such as the RCC shaft, and thereby, increasing overall safety during the installation of the elevator unit.

Further, owing to the elimination of the RCC shaft, the overall cost for building construction and installation of the elevator unit is substantially reduced. Also, the time required for installing the elevator unit is substantially reduced. Furthermore, elimination of the RCC shaft provides flexibility to a builder to vary the dimension of the elevator opening formed in each of the floor slabs and thereby, varying the overall dimension of the hoistway. Also, elimination of the RCC shaft provides flexibility to the builder to finalize the location of the elevator openings in the floor slabs even after completing the construction of the superstructure of the building. This substantially reduces the overall time consumed during construction planning for the building, as the builder can plan a location for installing the elevator unit even after completing the construction of the building structure.

Furthermore, the RCC shaft wall may usually be constructed with 30 mm variation, along a height of the RCC shaft, between mounting locations of the brackets defined on a wall of the RCC shaft. However, if the variation between mounting locations is beyond 30 mm, then either a portion of the wall respective to such mounting location requires to be re-worked for achieving optimal variation or mounting locations of the brackets needed to be changed to mount and align the brackets. In order to perform such re-working, a construction worker may need to physically enter the hoistway defined by the RCC shaft using safety equipment, such safety harness. Therefore, re-working on the undulation of the RCC shaft may be difficult compared to the re-working of the elevator opening of the floor slabs. For instance, in the present invention, the re-working, such as chipping process, of mounting locations on the periphery of the floor slab may be performed directly from the floor slab through the elevator opening without requiring the construction worker to physically enter the hoistway in order to maintain optimal variation between mounting locations for mounting the bracket. Also, the mounting locations of the brackets may be simply changed while standing on the floor slabs to align the brackets for supporting guide rails. Therefore, implementation of the system in the elevator openings of the building structure without the RCC shaft results in higher error tolerances compared to implementation of the conventional elevator system in the RCC shaft.

Preferably, the plurality of guide rail brackets includes a first set of brackets disposed on one side of the periphery of the elevator opening. Further, the plurality of guide rail brackets may include a second set of brackets disposed opposite to the first set of brackets on the periphery of the elevator opening. The plurality of mounting brackets, such as the guide rail brackets may be mounted around the elevator opening of each floor slab to enable mounting of the guide rails and other sub-components of the elevator unit. Owing to such positioning of the guide rail brackets, the load of the elevator car and the counterweight acting on the guide rails in a lateral direction are transferred to the floor slabs compared to the conventional system in which the load is transferred to the walls of the RCC shaft. Further, the first set of brackets and the second set of brackets may be installed on the periphery of the elevator opening of the floor slab by an assembler while standing on the respective floor slab. This eliminates the requirement of physically traversing in the hoistway to mount the brackets at different locations within such hoistway.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the first set of brackets and the second set of brackets may be mounted manually by the assembler with the aid of appropriate assembly tools. In another embodiment of the present disclosure, the first set of brackets and the second set of brackets may be at least partially or completely automatically mounted with an aid of automated mounting devices.

Preferably, each of the first set of brackets and each of the second set of brackets includes an Omega-shaped bracket and a Z-shaped bracket, respectively. It should be appreciated by a person skilled in the art that different types of brackets as explained in the present disclosure should not be construed as limiting, and other types of brackets can equally be mounted on the floor slab for supporting the guide rails of the elevator unit, without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Preferably, the system includes a plurality of partition walls disposed around the elevator opening on each floor slab, forming a continuous shaft for movement of at least one of the elevator car and the counterweight. The plurality of partition walls may be disposed around the elevator opening upon completion of the installation process of various sub-components, such as the brackets, the guide rails, the elevator car, and the counterweight assembly. This substantially improves overall accessibility of the hoistway while performing the installation process for the aforesaid components of the elevator unit. For example, the assembler for installing the brackets and/or the guide rails on the floor slab may access the elevator opening from any side of such opening without physically entering within the hoistway.

Preferably, at least one of the plurality of partition walls is removably disposed around the elevator opening and may be adapted to be removed to access the continuous shaft from one of the floor slabs. In particular, a space defined between two consecutive floors and in the vicinity of the elevator opening of each floor may be covered with the partition walls. Such partition walls may be removably positioned around the elevator opening of each of the floor slabs. This increases overall flexibility for performing any maintenance operation on the elevator unit as the partition walls may be easily removed, from the elevator opening, from more than one side to access the hoistway and subcomponents of the elevator unit. Further, this eliminates the requirement for the assembler to physically access the hoistway from within to perform any maintenance operation. Therefore, overall time consumption during maintenance operations is substantially reduced and overall safety increases while performing such operations.

Preferably, at least one of the plurality of partition walls is permanently disposed around the elevator opening.

In one embodiment, a combination of permanently disposed partition walls and removably disposed partition walls may be provided on at least one floor slab. In another embodiment, each partition wall may be permanently disposed around the elevator opening of at least one floor slab. In yet another embodiment, as mentioned earlier, each partition wall may be removably disposed around the elevator opening of at least one floor slab. Such implementations of the partition walls may provide flexibility for users to opt between different combinations of permanent partition walls and removable partition walls based on their requirements. Further, a removably disposed partition wall may be replaced with a permanent partition wall even after the completion of the installation process of the elevator unit.

Preferably, each of the plurality of partition walls is formed of at least one of brick, concrete, polymer, composite, glass, and wood. It should be appreciated by a person skilled in the art that the material for partition walls as explained in the present disclosure should not be construed as limiting, and the partition walls can be formed of other materials, without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the partition walls may be mounted manually by the assembler with the aid of appropriate assembly tools. In another embodiment of the present disclosure, the partition walls may be at least partially or completely automatically mounted with an aid of automated mounting devices.

Preferably, the system includes a plurality of landing door brackets mounted on the periphery of the elevator opening on each floor slab to support a landing door on one side of the elevator opening at a floor slab. This enables mounting of the landing door directly on the floor slab using the landing door brackets. Said one side of the elevator opening assigned to the landing door may be a side of the elevator opening which lies between the opposing sides assigned to the guide rail or guide rail brackets.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the landing door brackets may be mounted manually by the assembler with the aid of appropriate assembly tools. In another embodiment of the present disclosure, the landing door brackets may be at least partially or completely automatically mounted with an aid of the automated mounting devices.

Preferably, the landing door is mounted on one side of the elevator opening on each of floor slab of the building structure. The partition walls and the landing door together conceals the elevator opening on each floor slab of the building structure. As mentioned earlier, the partition wall is removably disposed around the elevator opening, and therefore a position of each of the partition walls may be changed with respect to each other. Further, a position of the landing door may be interchanged with one of the partition walls disposed opposite to the landing door. This provides flexibility for changing the position of the landing door on one or more than one floor slabs of the building structure.

The plurality of partition walls may be removably disposed around the elevator opening in a manner that a position of each of the plurality of partition walls around the elevator opening is changeable with respect to each other to vary positioning of the landing door and to change an orientation of the elevator car and the counterweight with respect to the positioning of the landing door.

Preferably, a thickness of the plurality of partition walls may be substantially less than thickness of the RCC shaft employed for the conventional elevator system. Therefore, replacement of the RCC shaft with the plurality of partition walls may result in overall increase of Floor Space Index (FSI) as the partition walls may be thinner compared to the RCC shaft. Therefore, implementation of the partition walls around the hoistway is substantially economical, compared to implementation of the RCC shaft, for the builder and the user.

Preferably, the plurality of guide rails includes a plurality of counterweight guide rails supported on the first set of brackets and adapted to guide movement of the counterweight in a vertical direction. Further, the plurality of guide rails includes a plurality of car guide rails supported on the first set of brackets and the second set of brackets, and adapted to guide movement of the elevator car in the vertical direction. As mentioned earlier, the first set of brackets and the second set of brackets may be directly supported on the floor slabs and, the guide rails are thereafter supported on the first set of brackets and the second set of brackets. Owing to such positioning of the guide rails on the brackets, the load of the elevator car and the counterweight acting on the guide rails in the lateral direction are transferred to the floor slabs compared to the conventional system in which the load is transferred to the walls of the RCC shaft. The lateral direction may be referred to a direction parallel to the floor slabs of the building structure. Further, the load of the elevator car and the counterweight acting on the rails in a vertical direction is transferred to an elevator pit or the lowest floor of the building structure via the guide rails . The vertical direction may be referred to as a direction of movement of the elevator car within the hoistway. Preferably, the system includes a hitch member fixed to an overhead structure or in one embodiment fixed on a roof of a top floor of the building structure and adapted to enable hoisting of the elevator car and associated loads along the continuous shaft in the vertical direction. The hitch member preferrable one of a C-shaped channel beam, an I- shaped beam, and hitch box. The hitch member may enable hoisting of various subcomponents, such as the guide rails, of the elevator unit through the elevator opening to each floor slab for mounting during installation process of the elevator unit.

The first set of brackets and/or second set of brackets may comprise at least one horizontal anchor portion, wherein the anchor portion lies on a horizontal surface of the floor slab. Such brackets can be easily installed and fixed from the floor. At least for this work step the installation personnel has not to be present in within the open area inside or defined by the opening.

Said horizontal anchor portion of the first set of brackets and/or of the second set of brackets may comprise a bottom side which contacts the horizontal surface of the floor slab. The anchor portion may comprise a top side (i.e. the side which is opposite to the bottom side) which is covered or in contact with a partition wall. This partition wall preferably together with adjoining partition walls disposed around the elevator opening forms a continuous shaft.

Each of the first set of brackets may include an elongated supporting portion, a plurality of mounting portions, and a plurality of anchor portions. The plurality of mounting portions extends orthogonally from opposite ends of the elongated supporting portion. The plurality of mounting portions support or are adapted to support the plurality of counterweight guide rails. The plurality of anchor portions extends from the plurality of mounting portions. Obviously, the respective bracket of such a first set of brackets comprising an elongated supporting portion, mounting portions and anchor portions is embodied as an Omega-shaped bracket.

Preferably, each anchor portion is mounted or is adapted to be mounted on a horizontal surface, adjacent to the elevator opening, of each floor slab for positioning each of the first set of brackets on the periphery. At least one of the plurality of partition walls may be mounted or adapted to be mounted around the elevator opening via the plurality of anchor portions in a manner that at least one of the plurality of partition walls at least partially conceals the respective anchor portion. This substantially improves the aesthetic value of the elevator unit and in particular, provides better visual appeal for an area around the concealed elevator opening on each floor slab.

The elongated supporting portion may include a first surface facing the periphery of the elevator opening and a second surface facing the second set of brackets. Each of the second surface of the elongated supporting portion and the second set of brackets may support the plurality of car guide rails.

A space is defined between the periphery of the elevator opening and the first surface of the elongated supporting portion, wherein the counterweight is adapted to traverse in the vertical direction through the space. This enables movement of the counterweight in the hoistway through each elevator opening without any obstruction and thereby, providing smooth operation of the elevator unit.

The object mentioned above is solved by an elevator unit for a building structure having an elevator opening formed within a perimeter of each floor slab of the building structure is disclosed. The elevator unit includes an elevator car adapted to move through the elevator opening on each floor slab. The elevator unit includes a counterweight assembly having a counterweight frame adapted to support at least one counterweight. Further, the elevator unit includes a system for installing at least one of the elevator car and the counterweight assembly in the building structure. The system includes a plurality of guide rail brackets adapted to be disposed on a periphery of the elevator opening on each floor slab. The periphery is defined by vertical surfaces of each floor slab forming the elevator opening. The system includes a plurality of guide rails adapted to be supported on the plurality of guide rail brackets to guide movement of at least one of the counterweight assembly and the elevator car in a vertical direction. The system of the elevator unit enables a particularly simple, efficient, durable, flexible in implementation, cost-effective, and convenient installing of the elevator unit in the building structure.

The term 'floor slab' refers to a structural feature, usually of constant thickness, that may be formed using concrete (and generally steel reinforcement) and may form part of the structure of the building. The floor slab refers to the structural feature defining each floor/level of the building structure except the lowest floor, i.e., a floor at a ground level of the building structure. A top surface of the floor slab may be referred to as a floor and a bottom surface of the floor slab may be referred to as a roof.

The term ‘elevator pit’ refers to an enclosed space formed below the lowest floor, i.e., the floor at the ground level of the building structure.

The term ‘elevator opening’ refers to a through-hole formed between the top surface of the floor slab and the bottom surface of the floor slab.

The term ‘horizontal surface’ of the floor slab refers to either the top surface and the bottom surface of the floor slab.

The term ‘hoistway’ refers to a passage, through the elevator opening of each floor slab, extending from a top floor slab of the building to a lowest floor slab of the building structure.

The term ‘continuous shaft’ refers to a shaft defined collectively by the plurality of partition walls and/or landing doors disposed around the elevator openings of the floor slabs.

Additional advantages, features, and details of the invention result using the following description of exemplary embodiments and using drawings in which the same or functionally identical elements are provided having identical reference signs.

To further clarify advantages and features of the present invention, a more particular description of the invention will be rendered by reference to specific embodiments thereof, which is illustrated in the appended drawings. It is appreciated that these drawings depict only typical embodiments of the invention and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope. The invention will be described and explained with additional specificity and detail with the accompanying drawings.

These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood when the following detailed description is read with reference to the accompanying drawings in which like characters represent like parts throughout the drawings, wherein:

Figure la illustrates a partial perspective view of a building structure depicting installation of an elevator unit, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

Figures lb and 1c illustrate partial perspective views of the building structure with an elevator pit depicting installation of the elevator unit, according to another embodiment of the present disclosure;

Figures 2a and 2b illustrate perspective views of the building structure depicting an elevator opening on each floor slab of the building structure for installing the elevator unit, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

Figures 2c and 2d illustrate perspective views of the building structure with the elevator pit depicting an elevator opening on each floor slab of the building structure for installing the elevator unit, according to another embodiment of the present disclosure;

Figure 3a illustrates a partial perspective view of the building structure depicting a plurality of guide rail brackets of a system being positioned at the elevator openings for installing the elevator unit, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

Figure 3b illustrates a perspective view of an elevator opening depicting positioning of the plurality of guide rail brackets therein, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

Figure 4a illustrates a perspective view of one of a first set of brackets, from among the plurality of guide rail brackets, disposed on a periphery of the elevator opening, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

Figure 4b illustrates a perspective view of one of the first set of brackets disposed on the periphery of the elevator opening, according to another embodiment of the present disclosure; Figure 5a illustrate a perspective view of the building structure depicting positioning of a plurality of guide rails supported on the plurality of guide rail brackets, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

Figure 5b illustrate a perspective view of the building structure with the elevator pit depicting positioning of a plurality of guide rails supported on the plurality of guide rail brackets, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

Figure 5c illustrates a partial perspective view of the building structure depicting positioning of the plurality of guide rails supported on the plurality of guide rail brackets, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

Figure 5d illustrates a planar view of the plurality of guide rails supported on the plurality of guide rail brackets, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

Figure 6a illustrates a perspective view of the building structure depicting installation of an elevator car and a counterweight assembly being supported on the plurality of guide rails, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

Figure 6b illustrates a perspective view of the building structure with the elevator unit depicting installation of the elevator car and the counterweight assembly being supported on the plurality of guide rails, according to another embodiment of the present disclosure;

Figure 6c illustrates a partial cross-sectional view of the building structure depicting installation of the elevator car and the counterweight assembly being supported on the plurality of guide rails, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

Figure 6d illustrates a partial cross-sectional view of the building structure with the elevator pit depicting installation of the elevator car and the counterweight assembly being supported on the plurality of guide rails, according to another embodiment of the present disclosure; Figure 6e illustrates a planar schematic view depicting installation of the elevator car and the counterweight assembly, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

Figures 7a and 7b illustrate a perspective view and a partial perspective view, respectively, of the building structure depicting positioning of a plurality of partition walls around the elevator opening on each floor slab, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

Figure 7c illustrates a perspective view of a floor of the building structure depicting positioning of the plurality of partition walls around the elevator opening, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

Figure 8 illustrates a partial perspective view of the floor slab depicting installation of a landing door of the elevator unit, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; and

Figures 9a and 9b illustrate a planar cross-sectional view and a perspective view, respectively, of the building structure depicting a headroom of the building structure for hoisting and accommodating various sub-components of the elevator unit, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Further, skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the drawings are illustrated for simplicity and may not have necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the flow charts illustrate the method in terms of the most prominent steps involved to help to improve understanding of aspects of the present invention. Furthermore, in terms of the construction of the device, one or more components of the device may have been represented in the drawings by conventional symbols, and the drawings may show only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments of the present invention so as not to obscure the drawings with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having benefit of the description herein.

For the purpose of promoting an understanding of the principles of the invention, reference will now be made to the embodiment illustrated in the drawings and specific language will be used to describe the same. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of the invention is thereby intended, such alterations and further modifications in the illustrated system, and such further applications of the principles of the invention as illustrated therein being contemplated as would normally occur to one skilled in the art to which the invention relates. Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skilled in the art to which this invention belongs. The system, methods, and examples provided herein are illustrative only and not intended to be limiting.

The term “some” as used herein is defined as “none, or one, or more than one, or all.” Accordingly, the terms “none,” “one,” “more than one,” “more than one, but not all” or “all” would all fall under the definition of “some.” The term “some embodiments” may refer to no embodiments or to one embodiment or to several embodiments or to all embodiments. Accordingly, the term “some embodiments” is defined as meaning “no embodiment, or one embodiment, or more than one embodiment, or all embodiments.”

The terminology and structure employed herein is for describing, teaching and illuminating some embodiments and their specific features and elements and does not limit, restrict or reduce the spirit and scope of the claims or their equivalents.

More specifically, any terms used herein such as but not limited to “includes,” “comprises,” “has,” “consists,” and grammatical variants thereof do NOT specify an exact limitation or restriction and certainly do NOT exclude the possible addition of one or more features or elements, unless otherwise stated, and furthermore must NOT be taken to exclude the possible removal of one or more of the listed features and elements, unless otherwise stated with the limiting language “MUST comprise” or “NEEDS TO include.”

Whether or not a certain feature or element was limited to being used only once, either way it may still be referred to as “one or more features” or “one or more elements” or “at least one feature” or “at least one element.” Furthermore, the use of the terms “one or more” or “at least one” feature or element do NOT preclude there being none of that feature or element, unless otherwise specified by limiting language such as “there NEEDS to be one or more . . . ” or “one or more element is REQUIRED.” Unless otherwise defined, all terms, and especially any technical and/or scientific terms, used herein may be taken to have the same meaning as commonly understood by one having an ordinary skill in the art.

Reference is made herein to some “embodiments.” It should be understood that an embodiment is an example of a possible implementation of any features and/or elements presented in the attached claims. Some embodiments have been described for the purpose of illuminating one or more of the potential ways in which the specific features and/or elements of the attached claims fulfil the requirements of uniqueness, utility and nonobviousness.

Use of the phrases and/or terms such as but not limited to “a first embodiment,” “a further embodiment,” “an alternate embodiment,” “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” “multiple embodiments,” “some embodiments,” “other embodiments,” “further embodiment”, “furthermore embodiment”, “additional embodiment” or variants thereof do NOT necessarily refer to the same embodiments. Unless otherwise specified, one or more particular features and/or elements described in connection with one or more embodiments may be found in one embodiment, or may be found in more than one embodiment, or may be found in all embodiments, or may be found in no embodiments. Although one or more features and/or elements may be described herein in the context of only a single embodiment, or alternatively in the context of more than one embodiment, or further alternatively in the context of all embodiments, the features and/or elements may instead be provided separately or in any appropriate combination or not at all. Conversely, any features and/or elements described in the context of separate embodiments may alternatively be realized as existing together in the context of a single embodiment.

Any particular and all details set forth herein are used in the context of some embodiments and therefore should NOT be necessarily taken as limiting factors to the attached claims. The attached claims and their legal equivalents can be realized in the context of embodiments other than the ones used as illustrative examples in the description below.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Figure la illustrates a partial perspective view of a system 1 with a building structure 100 depicting installation of an elevator unit 102, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Figures lb and 1c illustrate a partial perspective view of the building structure 100 with an elevator pit 101 depicting installation of the elevator unit 102, according to another embodiment of the present disclosure. In an embodiment, the elevator unit 102 is or can be installed in the building structure 100 having an elevator opening 104 formed within each floor slab 106 of the building structure 100. The floor slabs define different floors of the building expect the lower floor, i.e., the floor at the ground level of the building.

The elevator unit 102 may include, but is not limited to, an elevator car 108 and a counterweight assembly 110. The elevator car 108 may be adapted to move through the elevator opening 104 on each floor slab 106 of the building structure 100. The building structure 100 defines a shell for the building comprising floor slabs 106 with elevator openings 104. As can be seen in Figure la, the building structure 100 does not comprise a preassembled or prefabricated elevator shaft enclosed by shaft walls.

In an embodiment, the counterweight assembly 110 may include, but is not limited to, a counterweight frame adapted to support at least one counterweight. The counterweight assembly 110 may be movably coupled to the elevator car 108 via a plurality of traction members (not shown). The counterweight assembly 110 may be adapted to counterbalance a sum of a load of the elevator car 108 and a predetermined load associated with a payload capacity of the elevator car 108.

As would be gathered from the illustrated embodiments of the present disclosure, the elevator unit 102 is shown to include the counterweight assembly 110. However, as would be appreciated by a person skilled in the art, the installation system 105 of the present disclosure is equally applicable for elevator units without the counterweight assembly 110, without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, the scope of the present disclosure cannot be limited to the elevator units having the counterweight assembly 110. Further, the elevator unit 102 may also include an installation system 105 for installing one of the elevator car 108 and the counterweight assembly 110 in the building structure 100. The installation system 105 may further be adapted to install various other sub-components of the elevator unit 102 in the building structure 100. The installation system 105 may be adapted to enable installation of the elevator unit 102 in a manner that load of various sub-components of the elevator unit 102 acting in the lateral direction is transferred to each floor slab 106 and load of various sub-components of the elevator unit 102 applied in the vertical direction is transferred to the elevator pit 101 via guide rails. This substantially eliminates the requirement of any permanent shaft, such as RCC hoistways, around the elevator openings 104 for installation of such sub-components.

In an embodiment, a space defined around the elevator openings 104 and between the consecutive floor slabs 106 may remain unconcealed from each side while installing the elevator unit 102 in the building structure 100. In another embodiment, the space around the elevator opening 104 of at least one floor slab 106 may be concealed while installing the elevator unit 102. In yet another embodiment, at least one side of the elevator opening 104 of at least one floor slab 106 may be concealed while installing the elevator unit 102 in the building structure 100. Further, in an embodiment, the space around the elevator opening 104 of at least one floor slab 106 may be concealed permanently or temporarily, which is further explained in detail in the subsequent sections of the present disclosure.

Figures 2a and 2b illustrate perspective views of the building structure 100 depicting the elevator opening 104 on each floor slab 106 of the building structure 100 for installing the elevator unit 102, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Figures 2c and 2d illustrate perspective views of the building structure 100 with the elevator pit depicting an elevator opening on each floor slab of the building structure for installing the elevator unit, according to another embodiment of the present disclosure;

Referring to Figures 2a and 2b, the elevator opening 104 may be formed within a perimeter of each floor slab 106 of the building structure 100. The elevator opening 104 of each floor slab 106 may coaxially align in a vertical direction, along a length of the building structure 100, to define a hoistway for guiding movement of the elevator car 108 and the counterweight assembly 110. In an embodiment, the installation system 105 may enable installation of the elevator car 108 and the counterweight assembly 110 in a manner that each of the elevator car 108 and the counterweight assembly 110 may move in a vertical direction through each of the elevator openings 104.

In the illustrated embodiment, each of the elevator openings 104 is shown to have a rectangular profile. However, it should be appreciated by a person skilled in the art that the profile of the elevator openings 104 is not limited to being rectangular. In other embodiments, the elevator openings 104 may have any other profile, without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. For example, the elevator openings 104 may have square profile and a circular profile. Further, in such embodiments, the constructional and operational requirement of the elevator unit 102 and the associated components may vary based on the profile of the elevator openings 104.

In the illustrated embodiment, each of the floor slabs 106 may include a plurality of vertical surfaces 107 (as shown in Figure 3b) collectively forming the elevator opening 104 on each floor slab 106. In an embodiment, a height of each of the vertical surfaces 107 may be substantially equal to a thickness of respective floor slab 106.

Further, in one embodiment, the building structure 100 may include, but is not limited to, an elevator pit 101 (as shown in Figures Ib-lc and 2c-2d) formed below the lowest floor 111 and a headroom 103 (as shown in Figures 9a-9b) formed on a top floor slab 106 of the building structure 100. In another embodiment, referring to Figures la, 2a, and 2b, the building structure 100 may be provided without any elevator pit. Although, the details of the installation system 105 and the elevator unit 102 are explained with respect to the building structure 100 having the elevator pit 101. It should be appreciated by a person skilled in the art that the installation system 105 and the elevator unit 102 can equally be implemented in the building structure 100 without any elevator pit, without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

The headroom 103 may be adapted to accommodate at least an elevator machine (not shown) for driving the elevator car 108 and the counterweight assembly 110 along the hoistway through each of the elevator openings 104. Constructional details of the headroom 103 are explained in detail with respect to the description of Figures 9a-9b. In an embodiment, the installation system 105 may include, but is not limited to, a plurality of guide rail brackets (as shown in Figures 3a-3b) adapted to be supported on each floor slab 106 to enable mounting of a plurality of guide rails (as shown in Figures 5a-5d) for guiding movement of one of the elevator car 108 and the counterweight assembly 110 along the hoistway.

Figure 3a illustrates a partial perspective view of the building structure 100 depicting the plurality of guide rail brackets of the installation system 105 being positioned at the elevator openings 104 for installing the elevator unit 102, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 3b illustrates a perspective view of the elevator opening 104 depicting positioning of the plurality of guide rail brackets therein, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to Figures 3a and 3b, the plurality of guide rail brackets, such as a plurality of brackets 302, may be adapted to be supported on each floor slab 106 around the elevator opening 104. In an embodiment, the plurality of guide rail brackets 302 may be adapted to be disposed on a periphery 104-1 of the elevator opening 104 on each floor slab 106. The periphery 104-1 may be defined by the vertical surfaces 107 of each floor slab 106 forming the elevator opening 104.

The plurality of guide rail brackets 302 may include, but is not limited to, a first set of brackets 302-1 and a second set of brackets 302-2. In an embodiment, each of the first set of brackets 302-1 and each of the second set of brackets 302-2 may be embodied as an Omega-shaped bracket and a Z-shaped bracket, respectively. The first set of brackets 302- I may be adapted to be disposed on one side of the periphery 104-1 of the elevator opening 104. In one embodiment, the second set of brackets 302-2 may be adapted to be disposed opposite to the first set of brackets 302-1 on the periphery 104-1 of the elevator opening 104. In another embodiment, the second set of brackets 302-2 may be adapted to be disposed on a side, of the periphery 104-1 of the elevator opening 104, adjoining to a side on which the first set of brackets 302-1 is mounted. Referring to Figure 3a, the first set of brackets 302-1 mounted on the periphery 104-1 of the elevator opening 104 may be collinearly aligned with respect to each other in the vertical direction along the hoistway. Referring to Figure 3b, in the illustrated embodiment, the vertical surfaces 107 may include a first vertical surface 107-1 and a second vertical surface 107-2 opposite to the first vertical surface 107-1. In the illustrated embodiment, the first set of brackets 302-1 and the second set of brackets 302-2 may be disposed on the first vertical surface 107-1 and the second vertical surface 107-2, respectively, of each floor slab 106 around the elevator opening 104. Each of the first set of brackets 302-1 and the second set of brackets 302-2 may be removably disposed on the first vertical surface 107-1 and the second vertical surface 107-2, respectively, via a plurality of fastening members, such as threaded fasteners, without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

In one embodiment, the first set of brackets 302-1 may be anchored to one of the vertical surfaces 107, such as the first vertical surface 107-1 and the second vertical surface 107-2, of the floor slabs 106 in a manner that each of the first set of brackets 302-1 may be aligned with the respective vertical surface 107. In another embodiment, the first set of brackets 302-1 may be anchored to a horizontal surface 109, adjacent to the elevator opening 104, of the floor slabs 106 in a manner that each of the first set of brackets 302-1 may be aligned with an adjacent vertical wall, such as the first vertical surface 107-1 and the second vertical surface 107-2, of each floor slab 106.

Referring to Figure 3b, each floor slab 106 may include atop horizontal surface 109- 1 and a bottom horizontal surface 109-2 distal to the top horizontal surface 109-1. In an embodiment, each of the first set of brackets 302-1 may be anchored to the top horizontal surface 109-1 of each floor slab 106 to align each of the first set of brackets 302-1 to one of the vertical surfaces 107 of each floor slab 106. Different positioning of the first set of brackets 302-1 are further explained in detail in the subsequent section of the present disclosure.

Similar to the first set of brackets 302-1, in one embodiment, each of the second set of brackets 302-2 may be anchored to one of the vertical surfaces 107, such as the first vertical surface 107-1 and the second vertical surface 107-2, of the floor slabs 106 in a manner that each of the second set of brackets 302-2 may be aligned with the respective vertical surface 107. In another embodiment, the second set of brackets 302-2 may be anchored to a horizontal surface 109, adjacent to the elevator opening 104, of the floor slabs 106 in a manner that each of the second set of brackets 302-2 may be aligned with an adjacent vertical wall, such as the first vertical surface 107-1 and the second vertical surface 107-2, of each floor slab 106.

Figure 4a illustrates a perspective view of one ofthe first set of brackets 302-1, from among the plurality of guide rail brackets 302, disposed on the periphery 104-1 of the elevator opening 104, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Referring to Figures 3b and 4a, in the illustrated embodiment, each of the first set of brackets 302-1 may include, but is not limited to, an elongated supporting portion 304, a plurality of mounting portions 306, and a plurality of anchor portions 308. The elongated supporting portion 304 may be adapted to mount the plurality of guide rails for enabling movement of the elevator car 108 within the hoistway through each of the elevator openings 104.

In the illustrated embodiment, the elongated supporting portion 304 may include, but is not limited to, a first surface 310 facing the periphery 104-1 of the elevator opening 104 and a second surface 312 facing the second set of brackets 302-2. Each of the second surface 312 of the elongated supporting portion 304 and the second set of brackets 302-2 may be adapted to support the plurality of guide rails for enabling movement of the elevator car 108.

The plurality of mounting portions 306 may extend orthogonally from opposite ends 304-1, 304-2 of the elongated supporting portion 304. In an embodiment, each of the plurality of mounting portions 306 may be adapted to mount the plurality of guide rails for enabling movement of the counterweight assembly 110 within the hoistway. Each of the first set of brackets 302-1 may be disposed on the periphery 104-1 of the elevator opening 104 in a manner that a space ‘S’ is defined between the periphery 104-1 and the first surface 310 of the elongated supporting portion 304. In an embodiment, the counterweight assembly 110 may be adapted to traverse in the vertical direction through the space ‘S’.

Further, the plurality of anchor portions 308 may extend from the plurality of mounting portions 306. Each of the anchor portions 308 may be adapted to be fastened to the floor slab 106 around the elevator opening 104. As explained earlier, each ofthe first set of brackets 302-1 may be anchored to one of a horizontal surface, such as the first horizontal surface 109-1, and a vertical surface, such as the first vertical surface 107-1, of each floor slab 106. Referring to Figure 4a, in the illustrated embodiment, each of the first set of brackets 302-1 may be anchored to the first vertical surface 107-1 of each floor slab 106. Each of the anchor portions 308 may be adapted to be mounted on the first vertical surface 107-1 of each floor slab 106 for positioning each of the first set of brackets 302-1 on the periphery 104-1 of the elevator opening 104. In such an embodiment, mounting surfaces of the anchor portions 308 may be oriented in a parallel direction with respect to surfaces, such as the first surface 310 and the second surface 312, of the elongated supporting portion 304.

Each of the mounting surface may be adapted to abut the first vertical surface 107- 1, of each floor slab 106, to form a surface contact therebetween and subsequently, being fastened to the first vertical surface 107-1 via the plurality of fastening members. In particular, the first set of brackets 302-1 may be positioned on the periphery 104-1 of the elevator opening 104 in a manner that the mounting surfaces of the anchor portions 308 may align parallel to the first vertical surface 107-1 of each floor slab 106.

Figure 4b illustrates a perspective view of one of the first set of brackets 302-1’ disposed on the periphery 104-1 of the elevator opening 104, according to another embodiment of the present disclosure. In the illustrated embodiment, each of the first set of brackets 302-1 ’ may be anchored on the horizontal surface 109, adjacent to the elevator opening 104, of each floor slab 106. Referring to Figure 4b, similar to the first set of brackets 302-1 of Figure 4a, the first set of brackets 302-1’ of the illustrated embodiment may include, but is not limited to, the elongated supporting portion 304, the plurality of mounting portions 306, and the plurality of anchor portions 308.

However, in the illustrated embodiment, mounting surfaces of the anchor portions 308 of the first set of brackets 302-1’ may be oriented in an orthogonal direction with respect to the surfaces, such as the first surface 310 and the second surface 312, of the elongated supporting portion 304. Each of the mounting surface may be adapted to abut the horizontal surface 109, such as the top horizontal surface 109-1, to form a surface contact therebetween and subsequently, being fastened to the top horizontal surface 109-1, via the plurality of fastening members. Each of the anchor portions 308 may be adapted to be mounted on the top horizontal surface 109-1, adjacent to the elevator opening 104, of each floor slab 106 for positioning each of the first set of brackets 302-1’ on the periphery 104- 1. In particular, the first set of brackets 302-1' may be positioned on the periphery 104-1 of the elevator opening 104 in a manner that the mounting surfaces of the anchor portions 308 may align parallel to the top horizontal surface 109-1 of each floor slab 106.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the first set of brackets 302-1 and the second set of brackets 302-2 may be mounted manually by the assembler with the aid of appropriate assembly tools. In another embodiment of the present disclosure, the first set of brackets 302-1 and the second set of brackets 302-2 may be at least partially or completely automatically mounted with an aid of automated mounting devices, such as industrial robots.

Figure 5a illustrate a perspective view of the building structure 100 depicting positioning of the plurality of guide rails supported on the plurality of guide rail brackets 302, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 5b illustrates a perspective view of the building structure 100 with the elevator pit 101 depicting positioning of the plurality of guide rails supported on the plurality of guide rail brackets 302, according to another embodiment of the present disclosure;

Figure 5c illustrates a partial perspective view of the building structure 100 depicting positioning of the plurality of guide rails supported on the plurality of guide rail brackets 302, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 5d illustrates a planar view of the plurality of guide rails supported on the plurality of guide rail brackets 302, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

In an embodiment, the installation system 1 may include, but is not limited to, the plurality of guide rails, such as a plurality of guide rails 502, 504, adapted to be supported on the plurality of guide rail brackets 302 designed to guide movement of the counterweight assembly 110 and the elevator car 108 in the vertical direction along the hoistway.

Figure 6a illustrate a perspective view and a partial cross-sectional view of the building structure 100 depicting installation of the elevator car 108 and a counterweight assembly 110 being supported on the plurality of guide rails 502, 504, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 6b illustrates a perspective view of the building structure 100 with the elevator unit 102 depicting installation of the elevator car 108 and the counterweight assembly 110 being supported on the plurality of guide rails 502, 504, according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.

Figure 6c illustrates a partial cross-sectional view of the building structure depicting installation of the elevator car 108 and the counterweight assembly 110 being supported on the plurality of guide rails 502, 504, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 6d illustrates a partial cross-sectional view of the building structure with the elevator pit 101 depicting installation of the elevator car 108 and the counterweight assembly 110 being supported on the plurality of guide rails, according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to Figures 5a-5d and Figures 6a-6d, the plurality of guide rails 502, 504 may include, but is not limited to, a plurality of counterweight guide rails 502 and a plurality of car guide rails 504. The plurality of counterweight guide rails 502 may be adapted to guide movement of the counterweight assembly 110 in the vertical direction. In the illustrated embodiment, referring to Figures 5b, 6b, and 6d, each of the plurality of counterweight guide rails 502 may extend parallel to each other and, in the vertical direction from the top floor slab to the elevator pit 101 of the building structure 100. In another illustrated embodiment, referring to Figures 5a, 6a, and 6c, each of the plurality of counterweight guide rails 502 may extend parallel to each other and, in the vertical direction from the top floor slab to the lowest floor 111 of the building structure 100. The plurality of counterweight guide rails 502 may be supported on the first set of brackets 302- 1.

Figure 6e illustrates a planar schematic view depicting installation of the elevator car 108 and the counterweight assembly 110, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Referring to Figures 5c, 5d, and 6e, the plurality of mounting portions 306 may be adapted to support the plurality of counterweight guide rails 502.

In the illustrated embodiment, the plurality of mounting portions 306 may include, but is not limited to, a first mounting portion 306-1 and a second mounting portion 306-2. The first mounting portion 306-1 and the second mounting portion 306-2 may be spaced apart from each other by the elongated supporting portion 304. The first mounting portion 306-1 may be adapted to support mounting of one of the plurality of counterweight guide rails 502 on a surface, of the first mounting portion 306-1, facing the second mounting portion 306-2. Similarly, the second mounting portion 306-2 may be adapted to support mounting of one of the plurality of counterweight guide rails 502 on a surface, of the second mounting portion 306-2, facing the first mounting portion 306-1.

Further, the plurality of car guide rails 504 may be supported on the first set of brackets 302-1 and the second set of brackets 302-2. The plurality of car guide rails 504 may be adapted to guide movement of the elevator car 108 in the vertical direction. In the illustrated embodiment, referring to Figures 5b, 6b, and 6d, each of the plurality of car guide rails 504 may extend parallel to the plurality of counterweight guide rails 502 and, in the vertical direction from the top floor slab to the elevator pit 101 of the building structure 100. In another illustrated embodiment, referring to Figures 5a, 6a, and 6c, each of the plurality of car guide rails 504 may extend parallel to the plurality of counterweight guide rails 502 and, in the vertical direction from the top floor slab to the lowest floor 111 of the building structure 100.

Referring to Figures 5c, 5d, and 6e, the elongated supporting portion 304 may be adapted to mount one of the plurality of car guide rails 504 for enabling movement of the elevator car 108 within the hoistway through each of the elevator openings 104. In the illustrated embodiment, the second surface 312 of the elongated supporting portion 304 may be adapted to support mounting of at least one of the plurality of car guide rails 504. Further, each of the second set of brackets 302-2 may be adapted to support mounting of one of the plurality of car guide rails 504 on a surface, of each of the second set of brackets 302-2, facing the second surface 312 of the elongated supporting portion 304.

In an embodiment, at least one of the guide rails 502, 504 may have a length greater than 5 meters. In another embodiment, at least one of the guide rails 502, 504 may have a length equal to 1.5 times greater than the vertical distance between consecutive floor slabs 106.

In an embodiment, the system 1 may include, but is not limited to, a plurality of partition walls adapted to be disposed around the elevator opening 104 on each floor slab 106. In an embodiment, each of the plurality of partition walls may be formed of at least one of brick, concrete, polymer, composite, glass, and wood. Figures 7a and 7b illustrate a perspective view and a partial perspective view of the building structure 100 depicting positioning of the plurality of partition walls around the elevator opening 104 on each floor slab 106, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 7c illustrates a perspective view of a floor of the building structure 100 depicting positioning of the plurality of partition walls around the elevator opening 104, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to Figures 7a, 7b, and 7c, the partition walls, such as a plurality of partition walls 702, may be disposed around the elevator openings 104 of the floor slabs 106 to form a continuous shaft for movement of at least one of the elevator car 108 and the counterweight. In an embodiment, a height of each of the partition walls 702 may be substantially equal to a vertical distance between consecutive floor slabs 106 of the building structure 100.

As explained earlier, the space defined between the consecutive floor slabs 106 around the elevator openings 104 may be concealed permanently or temporarily. In the illustrated embodiment, the partition walls 702 may be disposed around the elevator opening 104 of each floor slab 106 to either permanently or temporarily conceal the space around the elevator opening 104.

Referring to Figure 7c, at least one side of the elevator opening 104 of each floor slab 106 may remain unconcealed for mounting a landing door 802 (shown in Figure 8) of the elevator unit 102. The partition walls 702 may be disposed on sides, other than the side on which the landing door 802 is to be positioned, of the elevator opening 104 in a manner that the partition walls 702 and the landing door 802 together surround the elevator opening 104 on each of the floor slabs 106. Constructional and installation details of the landing door 802 are explained in detail with respect to the description of Figure 8 of the present disclosure.

In an embodiment, at least one of the partition walls 702 may be removably disposed around the elevator opening 104 and adapted to be removed to access the continuous shaft from one of the floor slabs 106. In such an embodiment, at least one of the partition walls 702 may be removably mounted via a plurality of fastening members around the elevator openings 104.

In one example, at each floor slab 106, the partition walls 702 may be removably disposed around the elevator opening 104 and adapted to be removed from at least one side of the elevator opening 104 to access the continuous shaft. In another example, one or more than one floor slabs 106 may be provided with the partition walls 702 which may be removably disposed around the elevator openings 104.

In yet another example, at each floor slab 106, at least one of the partition walls 702 may be removably disposed around the elevator opening 104. In another example, one or more than one floor slabs 106 may be provided with at least one of the partition walls 702 which may be removably disposed around the elevator openings 104 of respective floor slabs 106.

The partition walls 702 may be removably disposed around the elevator opening 104 in a manner that a position of each of the partition walls 702 around the elevator opening 104 is changeable with respect to each other to vary positioning of the landing door 802 and to change an orientation of the elevator car 108 and the counterweight of the counterweight assembly 110 with respect to the positioning of the landing door 802.

Referring to Figures 6c and 7c, in the illustrated embodiment, the partition walls 702 may be disposed on sides 600-1, 600-2, 600-4 of the periphery 104-1 of the elevator opening 104. Further, the landing door 802 may be adapted to be disposed on a side 600-3 of the periphery 104-1 of the elevator opening 104. In the present embodiment, to vary the positioning of the landing door 802, a partition wall 702 disposed on the side 600-1 may be removed and subsequently, positioned at the side 600-4 corresponding to a space provided for mounting the landing door 802. Accordingly, the landing door 802 may be disposed on the side 600-1 of the periphery 104-1 of the elevator opening 104.

Further, in the illustrated embodiment, the first set of brackets 302-1 and the second set of brackets 302-2 may be positioned on the sides 600-2, 600-4, respectively, of the periphery 104-1 of the elevator opening 104. In order to change the orientation of the elevator car 108 and the counterweight assembly 110, the first set of brackets 302-1 and the second set of brackets 302-2 may be removed from the sides 600-2, 600-4, and subsequently attached to the sides 600-1, 600-2 of the periphery 104-1 of the elevator opening 104. Accordingly, the plurality of car guide rails 504 and the plurality of counterweight guide rails 502 may be fastened to the first set of brackets 302-1 and the second set of brackets 302-2.

It should be appreciated by a person skilled in the art that different positioning of removable partition walls 702 at different floor slabs 106 as explained in the present disclosure should not be construed as limiting, and other combinations of removable partition walls 702 can equally be implemented in the system 1 comprising the building structure 100 using the installation system 105, without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

In another embodiment, at least one of the partition walls 702 may be permanently disposed around the elevator opening 104. In one example, at each floor slab 106, the partition walls 702 may be permanently disposed around the elevator opening 104. In another example, one or more than one floor slabs 106 may be provided with the partition walls 702 which may be permanently disposed around the elevator openings 104 of respective floor slabs 106.

In yet another example, at each floor slab 106, at least one of the partition walls 702 may be permanently disposed around the elevator opening 104. In another example, one or more than one floor slabs 106 may be provided with at least one of the partition walls 702 which may be permanently disposed around the elevator opening 104 to access the continuous shaft from at least one side of such opening.

In an embodiment, at least one of the partition walls 702 may be adapted to be mounted around the elevator opening 104 via the plurality of anchor portions 308. As explained earlier, the plurality of anchor portions 308 may be mounted on one of the horizontal surface, such as the top horizontal surface 109-1, and the vertical surface, such as 107-1 and 107-2, of the floor slab 106. Accordingly, in one embodiment, the partition walls 702 may be positioned on the top horizontal surface 109-1 around the elevator opening 104 and mounted on the plurality anchor portions 308 fastened to the top horizontal surface 109-1 of the floor slab 106. In such an embodiment, at least one of the partition walls 702 may be mounted on the plurality of anchor portions 308 in a manner that at least one of the partition walls 702 at least partially conceals the respective anchor portion. In another embodiment, the partition walls 702 may be mounted on the plurality of anchor portions 308 fastened to one of the vertical surfaces, such as 107-1 and 107-2, of the floor slab 106.

In an embodiment, at least one wall portion may be fixed to at least one of the partitions walls 702. In one embodiment, the wall portion may be fixed to at least one permanently fixed wall 702. In another embodiment, the wall portion may be fixed to at least one removably fixed wall 702. The wall portion may either be removably fixed or movably fixed to the permanently fixed wall 702. Similarly, the wall portion may either be removably fixed or movably fixed to the removably fixed wall 702.

In an embodiment, the wall portion may be removably fastened, via fasteners, to conceal an opening formed in the partition wall 702, such as permanently fixed wall or removably fixed wall. In such an embodiment, the wall portion may be detached from the partition wall 702 to access the elevator shaft through the opening formed in the partition wall 702. In another embodiment, the wall portion may be movably hinged to the partition wall 702, such as permanently fixed wall or removably fixed wall, for concealing an opening formed in such partition wall. In such an embodiment, the wall portion may be pivotally moved about a hinge to access the elevator shaft through the opening formed in the partition wall 702.

The wall portion may be removed from the partition wall 702 or pivotally moved with respect to the partition wall 702 for accessing the elevator shaft to perform maintenance operations on the elevator unit 102 or during any emergency scenario. In an embodiment, the wall portion may be embodied as a trap door, without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the partition walls 702 may be mounted, around the elevator opening 104, manually by the assembler with the aid of appropriate assembly tools. In another embodiment of the present disclosure, the partition walls 702 may be at least partially or completely automatically mounted, around the elevator opening 104, with an aid of automated mounting devices, such as industrial robots. Figure 8 illustrates a partial perspective view of the floor slab 106 depicting installation of the landing door 802 of the elevator unit 102, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As mentioned earlier, at least one side of the elevator opening 104 of each floor slab 106 may remain unconcealed for mounting the landing door 802 of the elevator unit 102. The landing door 802 may be disposed on one of the sides, adjacent to the sides on which the plurality of guide rail brackets 302 is supported, of each floor slab 106. The partition walls 702 and the landing door 802 may together surround the elevator opening 104 on each floor slab 106 to conceal the elevator opening 104 from each side.

In an embodiment, the installation system 1 may include a plurality of landing door brackets 804 adapted to be mounted on the periphery 104-1 of the elevator opening 104 on each floor slab 106 to support the landing door 802 on one side of the elevator opening 104 at the floor slab 106. Referring to Figure 8, in the illustrated embodiment, the landing door 802 may be disposed on each floor slab 106 and removably supported by another floor slab 106, referred to as an upper floor slab 106’, positioned above the floor slab 106 on which the landing door 802 is intended to be disposed.

Each of the landing door brackets 804 may be removably fastened to at least one of the top horizontal surface 109-1 and a vertical surface 107-3 from among the vertical surfaces 107 of the floor slab 106. In an embodiment, each of the landing door brackets 804 may extend in a vertically downward direction from the upper floor slab 106’ towards the floor slab 106 below the upper floor slab 106’. In particular, each of the landing door brackets 804 may include a first end 804-1 and a second end 804-2 distal to the first end 804-1.

The first end 804-1 may be fastened to the top horizontal surface 109-1 of the upper floor slab 106’ and the second end 804-2 may extend to a predefined distance ‘d’ in the vertically downward direction from the upper floor slab 106’. Such extension of the second end 804-2 to the predefined distance ‘d’ may ensure that the landing door 802 may be secured on the floor slab 106 and subsequently, fastened to the second end 804-2 of each of the plurality of landing door brackets 804. The predefined distance ‘d’ associated with the extended second end 804-2 may vary based on dimensional characteristics, such as a height, of the landing door 802. In an embodiment, the landing door 802 may be supported by a plurality of supporting walls 806 disposed around a periphery of the landing door 802. In one embodiment, constructional aspects of the plurality of supporting walls 806 may be similar to the constructional aspects of the partition walls 702. In another embodiment, constructional aspects of the plurality of supporting walls 806 may be different from the constructional aspects of the partition walls 702. In the illustrated embodiment, a width ‘w’ of the landing door 802 may be less than a length ‘L’ of the side, on which the landing door 802 is intended to be disposed, of the elevator opening 104. The supporting walls 806 may be disposed around the periphery of the landing door 802 to conceal the elevator opening 104 from the side on which the landing door 802 is positioned. Further, each of the supporting walls 806 may be fastened to the landing door 802 to provide a structural support to the landing door 802 from each side of the periphery of such landing door 802.

In one embodiment, each of the supporting walls 806 may be removably disposed around the periphery of the landing door 802. In another embodiment, at least one of the supporting walls 806 may be removably disposed around the periphery of the landing door 802. In yet another embodiment, each of the supporting walls 806 may be permanently disposed around the periphery of the landing door 802. In another embodiment, at least one of the supporting walls 806 may be permanently disposed around the periphery of the landing door 802.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the landing door brackets 804 may be mounted manually by the assembler with the aid of appropriate assembly tools. In another embodiment of the present disclosure, the landing door brackets 804 may be at least partially or completely automatically mounted with an aid of automated mounting devices, such as industrial robots.

Again, referring to Figures Ib-lc, 2c-2d, 5b, 6b, and 6d, the elevator pit 101 may be formed below the lowest floor 111 of the building structure 100. The elevator pit 101 may be coaxially formed with respect to the elevator opening 104 of each floor slab 106.

In an embodiment, the elevator pit 101 may be embodied as an enclosed space defined by a plurality of walls 112 (as shown in Figure 2d) for accommodating various sub- components including, but not limited to, buffer springs, hydraulic or electrical jacks, ladders, and electrical wirings, of the elevator unit. In an embodiment, each of the walls 112 may be embodied as a permanent wall formed on Reinforced Cement Concrete (RCC), without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

In one embodiment, the first set of brackets 302-1 and the second set of brackets 302-2 may be mounted on at least one wall 112 of the elevator pit 101 to mount the counterweight guide rails 502 and the car guide rails 504 along the at least one wall 112of the elevator pit 101. In another embodiment, the first set of brackets 302-1 and the second set of brackets 302-2 may be mounted on a slab corresponding to the lowest floor 111 of the building structure 100.

Referring to Figures Ib-lc and 2c-2d, in the illustrated embodiment, each of the first set of brackets 302-1 may be vertically spaced apart from each other on at least one wall 112 of the elevator pit 101. The first set of brackets 302-1 mounted on at least one wall 112may vertically align with the first set of brackets 302-1 disposed on the periphery 104-1 of the elevator opening 104 of each floor slab 106.

Further, the second set of brackets 302-2 may be mounted opposite to the first set of brackets 302-2 on at least one wall 112 of the elevator pit 101. Each of the second set of brackets 302-2 may be vertically spaced apart from each other on at least one wall 112. The second set of brackets 302-2 mounted on at least one wall 112 may vertically align with the second set of brackets 302-2 disposed on the periphery 104-1 of the elevator opening 104 of each floor slab 106.

In an embodiment, the elevator pit 101 may provide a space for temporarily accommodating a support platform (not shown) for assembling the elevator car 108. Further, the installation system 105 may include a hoisting provision explained in subsequent sections of the present disclosure, adapted to hoist the elevator car 108 from the elevator pit 101 and associated loads through the elevator openings 104 in the vertical direction.

Figures 9a and 9b illustrate a perspective view and a planar cross-sectional view, respectively, of the building depicting the headroom 103 of the building structure 100 for hoisting and accommodating various sub-components of the elevator unit, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As explained earlier, the building structure 100 may include the headroom 103 disposed on the top floor slab 106 of the building structure 100. The headroom 103 may be adapted to accommodate at least an elevator machine (not shown) for driving the elevator car 108 and the counterweight assembly 110.

Referring to Figures 9a and 9b, in the illustrated embodiment, the headroom 103 may be disposed on a horizontal surface, such as the top horizontal surface 109-1, of the top floor slab 106 of the building structure 100. The headroom 103 may include, but is not limited to, a top wall 902 and a plurality of side walls 904. In the illustrated embodiment, each of the top wall 902 and the side walls 904 may be embodied as a concrete slab. In another embodiment, the headroom 103 may be formed of steel or any other suitable metallic/alloy material, without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Each of the top wall 902 and the side walls 904 may together define a space 906 adapted to accommodate the elevator machine for driving the elevator car 108 and the counterweight assembly 110.

The headroom 103 may be disposed on the top floor 106 in a manner that the space 906 defined by walls 902, 904 of the headroom 103 coaxially aligns with the elevator opening 104 of each floor slab 106 of the building structure 100. As shown in Figures 9a and 9b, the car guide rails 504 and the counterweight guide rails 502 may vertically extend to the space 906 defined in the headroom 103. In an embodiment, the elevator machine may be adapted to be mounted on ends of the car guide rails 504 and the counterweight guide rails 502 extending within the space 906 of the headroom 103.

In an embodiment, the installation system 105 may include, but is not limited to, a hitch member 908 fixed on a roof, i.e., the top wall 902, of the top floor 106 of the building structure 100 and adapted to enable hoisting of the elevator car 108 and associated loads along the continuous shaft in the vertical direction. The hitch member 908 may be embodied as one of a C-shaped channel beam, an I-shaped beam, and Jakob hitch box. In the illustrated embodiment, the hitch member 908 may be fixed on the top wall 902 of the headroom 103 disposed on the top floor slab 106. In an embodiment, the hitch member 908 may be adapted to movably support a hoisting cable having a first end coupled to a hoisting motor and a second end coupled to one of the elevator car 108 and associated loads, such as the guide rails 502, 504. The hitch member 908 may enable hoisting of the guide rails 502, 504 through the elevator opening 104 to each floor slab 106 for mounting such guide rails to the guide rail brackets 302.

As would be gathered, the present disclosure offers the installation system 105 for installing the elevator unit 102 in the building structure 100. The present disclosure relates also to a installation system 105 for installing the elevator unit 102 in a multi-story building having the elevator opening 104 formed within the perimeter of each floor slab 106 of the building structure 100 for the building. The installation system 105 eliminates the requirement of an RCC shaft for supporting different sub-components of the elevator unit 102 and for enabling the movement of the elevator car 108 between different floors of the building structure 100. In particular, various sub-components, such as the guide rails 502, 504, for the elevator car 108 and the counterweight assembly 110, may be directly supported on the floor slab 106 of each of the floors of the building structure 100.

The plurality of mounting brackets, such as the guide rail brackets 302, is mounted around the elevator opening 104 of each floor slab 106 to enable mounting of the guide rails 502, 504 and other sub-components ofthe elevator unit 102. Owing to such positioning of the guide rail brackets 302, the load of the elevator car 108 and the counterweight 110 acting on the guide rails 502, 504 in the lateral direction are transferred to the floor slabs 106 compared to the conventional system in which the load is transferred to the walls of the RCC shaft. Further, the load of the elevator car 108 and the counterweight 110 acting on the guide rails 502, 504 in the vertical direction are transferred to the elevator pit 101 or to the lowest floor 111 of the building structure 100 via the guide rails 502, 504.

Further, a space defined between two consecutive floors and in the vicinity of the elevator opening 104 of each floor is covered with the partition walls 702. Such partition walls 702 may be removably positioned around the elevator opening 104 of each of the floor slabs 106. This increases overall flexibility for performing any maintenance operation on the elevator unit 102 as the partition walls 702 may be easily removed, from the elevator opening 104, from more than one side to access the hoistway and sub-components of the elevator unit 102. Further, this eliminates the requirement for the assembler to physically access the hoistway from within to perform any maintenance operation. Therefore, overall time consumption during maintenance operations is substantially reduced and overall safety increases while performing such operations.

Further, the landing door 802 is mounted on one side of the elevator opening 104 on each of floor slab 106 of the building structure 100. The partition walls 702 and the landing door 802 together conceals the elevator opening 104 on each floor slab 106 of the building structure. As mentioned earlier, the partition walls 702 is removably disposed around the elevator opening 104, and therefore a position of each of the partition walls 702 may be changed with respect to each other. Further, a position of the landing door 802 may be interchanged with one of the partition walls disposed opposite to the landing door 802. This provides flexibility for changing the position of the landing door 802 on one or more than one floor slabs 106 of the building structure 100.

As explained earlier, the partition walls 702 may be removably disposed around the elevator opening 104 in a manner that the position of each of the partition walls 702 around the elevator opening 104 is changeable with respect to each other to vary positioning of the landing door 802 and to change the orientation of the elevator car 108 and the counterweight assembly 110 with respect to the positioning of the landing door 802.

Owing to the absence of any RCC shaft, the installation of various sub-components of the elevator unit 102 may be performed directly from the floor slab 106 through the elevator opening 104 formed in each of the floor slabs 106. The elevator opening 104 is opened from each side which provides flexibility for installing brackets, from any side of the elevator opening 104, to support the guide rails 502, 504. In particular, the guide rail brackets 302 and the landing door brackets 804 may be installed on the periphery 104-1 of the elevator opening 104 of the floor slab 106 by an assembler while standing on the respective floor slab 106. This eliminates the requirement of installing the brackets 302, 804 from within the hoistway and thereby, increasing overall safety during the installation of the elevator unit 102.

Further, owing to the elimination of the RCC shaft, the overall cost for building construction and installation of the elevator unit 102 is substantially reduced. Also, the time required for installing the elevator unit 102 is substantially reduced. Furthermore, elimination of the RCC shaft provides flexibility to a builder to vary the dimension of the elevator opening 104 formed in each of the floor slabs 106 and thereby, varying the overall dimension of the hoistway. In particular, the hoistway defined by the partition walls 702 may be smaller in dimension due to the elimination of concrete walls and thus, providing extra floor space (carpet area) on each of the floors of the building structure 100. Further, a thickness of the plurality of partition walls are substantially less than thickness of the RCC shaft employed for the conventional elevator system. Therefore, replacement of the RCC shaft with the plurality of partition walls results in overall increase of Floor a Space Index (FSI) as the partition walls are thinner compared to the RCC shaft. The FSI is a maximum permissible floor area, that the builder can build on a land. Therefore, implementation of the partition walls around the hoistway is substantially economical, compared to implementation of the RCC shaft, for the builder and the user.

Therefore, the system 1 as well as the the elevator unit 102 and the installation system 105 of the present disclosure are efficient, durable, flexible in implementation, cost- effective, and convenient.

While specific language has been used to describe the present subject matter, any limitations arising on account thereto, are not intended. As would be apparent to a person in the art, various working modifications may be made to the method in order to implement the inventive concept as taught herein. The drawings and the foregoing description give examples of embodiments. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that one or more of the described elements may well be combined into a single functional element. Alternatively, certain elements may be split into multiple functional elements. Elements from one embodiment may be added to another embodiment.

Claims

1. A system (1) comprising a building structure (100) and an elevator unit (102) installed in the building structure (100), the building structure (100) having a plurality of floor slabs and an elevator opening (104) formed within a perimeter of each floor slab (106) of the building (100), the system (1) further comprising: a plurality of guide rail brackets (302) disposed on a periphery (104-1) of the elevator opening (104) on each floor slab (106), wherein the periphery (104-1) is defined by vertical surfaces (107) of each floor slab (106) forming the elevator opening (104); and a plurality of guide rails (502, 504) supported on the plurality of guide rail brackets (302) designed to guide movement of at least one of a counterweight and an elevator car (108) of the elevator unit (102) in a vertical direction.

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of guide rail brackets (302) comprising: a first set of brackets (302-1) disposed on one side of the periphery (104-1) of the elevator opening (104); and a second set of brackets (302-2) disposed opposite to the first set of brackets (302-1) on the periphery (104-1) of the elevator opening (104).

3. The system according to claim 2, wherein each of the first set of brackets (302-1) and each of the second set of brackets (302-2) comprises an Omega-shaped bracket and a Z-shaped bracket, respectively.

4. The system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, comprising a plurality of landing door brackets (804) mounted on the periphery (104-1) of the elevator opening (104) on each floor slab (106) to support a landing door (802) on one side of the elevator opening (104) at a floor slab.

5. The system according to according to any one of claims 1 to 4, comprising a plurality of partition walls (702) disposed around the elevator opening (104) on each floor slab (106), forming a continuous shaft for movement of at least one of the elevator car (108) and the counterweight. The system according to claim 5, wherein at least one of the plurality of partition walls (702) is removably disposed around the elevator opening (104) and adapted to be removed to access the continuous shaft from one of the floor slabs (106). The system according to claim 5, wherein at least one of the plurality of partition walls (702) is permanently disposed around the elevator opening (104). The system according to any one of claims 5 to 7, wherein each of the plurality of partition walls (702) is formed of at least one of brick, concrete, polymer, composite, glass, and wood. The system according to to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the plurality of guide rails (502, 504) comprising: a plurality of counterweight guide rails (502) supported on the first set of brackets (302-1) and adapted to guide movement of the counterweight in a vertical direction; and a plurality of car guide rails (504) supported on the first set of brackets (302- 1) and the second set of brackets (302-2), and adapted to guide movement of the elevator car (108) in the vertical direction. The system according to any one of claims 1 to 9, comprising a hitch member (1008, 1108) fixed on a roof of a top floor of the building structure (100) and adapted to enable hoisting of the elevator car (108) and associated loads along the continuous shaft in the vertical direction, wherein the hitch member (1008, 1108) preferrable one of a C-shaped channel beam, an I-shaped beam, and Jakob hitch box. The system according to any one of claims 2 to 10, wherein the first set of brackets (302-1) and/or second set of brackets (302-2) comprising at least one horizontal anchor portion (308), wherein the horizontal anchor portion (308) lies on a horizontal surface (109-1) of the floor slab (106). The system according to any one of claims 2 to 11, wherein each of the first set of brackets (302-1) comprising: an elongated supporting portion (304); a plurality of mounting portions (306) extending orthogonally from opposite ends of the elongated supporting portion (304), wherein the plurality of mounting portions (306) is adapted to support the plurality of counterweight guide rails (502); and a plurality of anchor portions (308) extending from the plurality of mounting portions (306). The system according to claim 11 or 12, wherein each anchor portion (306) is mounted on a horizontal surface (109-1) of the floor slab (106), adjacent to the elevator opening (104), of each floor slab (106) for positioning each of the first set of brackets (302-1) on the periphery (104-1), wherein at least one of the plurality of partition walls (702) is mounted or adapted to be mounted around the elevator opening (104) via the plurality of anchor portions (306) in a manner that at least one of the plurality of partition walls (702) at least partially conceals the respective anchor portion (306). The system according to claim 12 or 13, wherein the elongated supporting portion (304) comprising a first surface (310) facing the periphery (104-1) of the elevator opening (104) and a second surface (312) facing the second set of brackets (302-2), wherein each of the second surface (312) of the elongated supporting portion (304) and the second set of brackets (302-2) are adapted to support the plurality of car guide rails (504).