LIFT SYSTEM WITH A CABIN ASKIMME THAT CAN BE SUPPORTED ON GUIDE RAILS

Description

[0001] The invention relates to an elevator system according to the preamble of claim 1.

[0002] Elevator systems for transporting people and goods contain cabins that can move up and down in an elevator shaft. The cabins are moved by a drive unit via suspension elements, such as cables or belts. Due to malfunctions or emergency stops, a cabin can become stuck between floors. In such cases, the trapped passengers must be evacuated from the cabin to the next landing. A gap could form between the underside of the cabin and the landing floor, through which a person could fall into the shaft during evacuation. To prevent such incidents, the cabins are equipped with cabin skirts. Various regulations exist for the elevator industry with precise specifications for the design of cabin skirts. Rigid cabin skirts have long been known and commonly used.The European standard EN81-20:2014 stipulates in section 5.4.5 that the vertical length of the apron must be at least 750 mm and that the apron must be designed to be so stable that it practically does not give way under a point load of 300 N.

[0003] Elevator systems with reduced pit depths have become increasingly popular in recent years. To enable this reduction in pit depth, the car skirts are designed to be movable or adjustable. Telescopic car skirts, such as those shown in EP 2 042 463 A1, are known. Car skirts can also be designed to be foldable. Such a car skirt is known, for example, from CH 431 864 A. Swiveling and foldable car skirts are also known from EP 1 118 576 A2. In practice, it has been shown that the high stability requirements are difficult or only achievable with considerable effort using known car skirts. US 1 004 744 A discloses an elevator system according to the preamble of claim 1.

[0004] It is therefore an object of the present invention to avoid the disadvantages of the known invention and, in particular, to create an elevator system with which the evacuation of persons from the cabin can be ensured in a simple and safe manner. In particular, the cabin skirt used for this purpose should meet high stability requirements.

[0005] These problems are solved according to the invention with an elevator system having the features of claim 1. The elevator system comprises an elevator shaft and a cabin that moves up and down along guide rails in the elevator shaft. The cabin also has a cabin skirt. The fact that the cabin skirt is supported by the guide rails offers several advantages. The cabin skirt is characterized by high stability. Thanks to the support, it is ensured that undesired deflection into the shaft interior due to impacts on the cabin skirt from the floor side, for example, if a person falls during an evacuation from the cabin and presses against the skirt, can be easily prevented. In particular, this arrangement reliably enables even stringent standard requirements to be easily met.Elaborate, complex and costly structural measures for the stable and rigid attachment of the cabin skirt to the cabin can be omitted.

[0006] Two guide rails can be provided in the elevator shaft to guide the cabin. These guide rails are preferably arranged opposite each other on the corresponding shaft walls. The guide rail can be a conventional cabin guide rail. T-shaped metal profiles are frequently used for such cabin guide rails.

[0007] The cabin guide rails have guide surfaces along which a cabin guide shoe can move to guide the elevator cabin. According to the invention, the cabin skirt is supported on the guide rails in such a way that the cabin skirt contacts at least one of the guide surfaces of the cabin guide rail. The guide surfaces can be assigned to a rail web of the T-shaped guide rail. However, instead of T-shaped metal profiles, other guide rails are also conceivable for the elevator system with the cabin skirt in operative contact with the guide rails.

[0008] The present elevator system is distinguished, among other things, by the fact that the guide rails already installed in the elevator shaft can be used to support the cabin skirt; these guide rails extend essentially over the entire height of the elevator shaft. No elaborate additional support devices are necessary.

[0009] Instead of having the two guide rails positioned on opposite shaft walls of the elevator shaft, they can also be positioned differently within the shaft. For example, the guide rails could be mounted on the shaft wall opposite the shaft door wall. This arrangement with the cabin skirt could then also be used in elevator systems with backpack-style cabins. It is also conceivable that the guide rails could be mounted on the shaft wall on the side facing the shaft door.

[0010] The guide rail can, for example, also be designed as a hollow profile. The guide rail could, for instance, be a guide arrangement made of a rolled profile with locally separated braking and guiding sections, as described in WO 2016 / 078726. The guide rail can then also be designed in such a way that it can guide both the cabin and a counterweight, which is connected to the cabin via support elements and can move in the opposite direction to the cabin.

[0011] Shaft doors may be provided on each floor for passenger and freight access to the cabin. The cabin may have a cabin door. The cabin may have a front, a rear opposite the front, and a parallel side connecting the front and rear. Typically, the cabin door, and therefore also the cabin skirt, is located at the front. The guide rails for guiding the cabin may be attached to shaft walls adjacent to the two aforementioned parallel cabin sides. The guide rails may be positioned in the shaft so that, viewed from above, they are approximately centered on these cabin sides.

[0012] The cabin skirt can be designed to be static. A rigid cabin skirt is relatively simple and inexpensive to manufacture and is particularly suitable for elevator systems with sufficiently deep pits.

[0013] For certain applications, and especially for elevator systems with shallow pit depths or for pitless elevators, it is advantageous if the car skirt is designed to be movable or movable. It is particularly preferred that the car skirt be designed to be movable in such a way that, by moving the car skirt towards the pit, a gap between the car and a floor can be closed. The car skirt can be moved downwards from a rest position near the car floor or underside of the car into a locking position to close the gap between the car and the floor.

[0014] The cabin skirt, which can be moved between a rest position and a locked position, is particularly suitable for elevator systems with shallow pits or for pitless elevators. The cabin skirt can rest against the guide rails in both the rest and locked positions. Instead of a permanent contact between the cabin skirt and the guide rails, it would also be conceivable to design the cabin skirt so that it rests against the guide rails only temporarily during specific operating phases and does not contact the guide rails during normal operation.

[0015] The rest position corresponds to the normal operating position, in which the cabin skirt is positioned close to the underside of the cabin. In this rest position, a gap would exist between the cabin and the floor if the cabin were to become stuck between floors. To safely evacuate trapped passengers from the cabin, this gap must be closed. This is achieved by moving the cabin skirt downwards into the locking position. The locking position seals the gap between the floor and the underside of the cabin, thus preventing people from falling from the floor into the elevator shaft through an open shaft door.

[0016] The movement of the cabin skirt from its rest position to the locked position can, for example, be a pivoting motion. With appropriate mechanical design, other types of movement are of course conceivable. For instance, the cabin skirt could be telescopically designed. The cabin skirt could also be designed to extend vertically as a whole. In this case, the movement of the cabin skirt to establish the locked position would be a vertical extension. It would also be conceivable to design the cabin skirt to roll out.

[0017] It can be particularly advantageous if the cabin skirt is a hinged or collapsible cabin skirt with preferably at least one flat skirt element. In the rest position, the cabin skirt or the at least one flat skirt element of the cabin skirt can be oriented approximately horizontally and rest against or close to the underside of the cabin. In the locked position, the cabin skirt or its skirt elements can be oriented vertically or run parallel to the shaft wall on the side facing the shaft door. In an advantageous embodiment, the collapsible cabin skirt can have two flat skirt elements hinged to each other via a horizontal fold line.

[0018] In the area of ​​a cabin door threshold, the cabin skirt can have at least one flat upper skirt element, which is hinged to the cabin at one upper end about a horizontal pivot axis. The second skirt element connects to the upper skirt element via the fold line. The fold line can be formed by a hinge or another joint rotatable about a horizontal axis.

[0019] Locking devices may be provided to secure the fully extended cabin skirt, i.e., when the cabin skirt is in the locked position. Such locking devices could also be used for other movable cabin skirts.

[0020] The locking means can comprise at least one pivotable locking element which, when the cabin skirt is fully extended, engages in a locking receptacle. To secure the fully extended cabin skirt, two or more pivotable locking elements may also be provided, which can engage in corresponding locking receptacles.

[0021] The cabin skirt can include at least one guide element for supporting it against the guide rails. This guide element can be guided along one of the guide rails. It can be guided along the guide rail by sliding or by means of rollers. However, the guide element does not need to be in constant contact with the guide rail during cabin travel. It may be sufficient if actual contact only occurs in an emergency, for example, if a person pushes against the skirt during an evacuation.

[0022] The cabin skirt can have two opposing guide elements, each guide element being assigned to a guide rail and operatively connected to it.

[0023] For a reliable connection between the cabin skirt and the guide rail, it can be advantageous if the respective guide element has a cutout that surrounds a web-like guide section of the associated guide rail. This web-like guide section could, for example, be the rail web of a T-shaped profile for the guide rail. The guide element thus has a guide cutout to form a female guide element, which surrounds the web-like guide section that forms a male guide element complementary to the female guide element. Alternatively, a reversed arrangement, in which the female and male guide elements are reversed on the cabin skirt and guide rail, would also be conceivable.

[0024] The at least one guide element can be part of a support structure for creating the support arrangement that braces the cabin skirt against the guide rails. The support structure can connect to the lower end of a flat skirt element and form the bottom edges of the cabin skirt. If, as mentioned above, the cabin skirt has two flat skirt elements hinged to each other via a horizontal fold line, the support structure can connect to the lower end of the lower skirt element. The support structure with the at least one guide element interacting with one of the guide rails results in a particularly stable arrangement.

[0025] The support structure can further comprise a preferably horizontal support frame. The preferably rectangular support frame can include front, rear, and side frame sections that form a closed frame. A flat skirt element can be attached to at least the front frame section.

[0026] The cabin skirt can include controllable or manually operated locking devices that secure the cabin skirt to the cabin in its rest position. In this position, the support frame can be attached directly to the cabin floor. The cabin skirt can also be designed so that, after releasing or unreleasing the locking devices, gravity allows the cabin skirt to move into the locked position.

[0027] Particularly for cabins with two doors, it can be advantageous to have hinged or collapsible partial cabin skirts on the front and rear of the cabin opposite the front, mechanically coupled to each other for simultaneous unfolding or folding. Such a mechanical coupling is easily achieved using the aforementioned support frame.

[0028] Further individual features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description of exemplary embodiments and from the drawings. These show: Fig. 1 is a highly simplified and schematic representation of an elevator system according to the invention with a cabin that can be moved up and down in an elevator shaft and is equipped with a cabin skirt. Fig. 2 is an enlarged representation of the elevator system according to the invention. Fig. 1 with an elevator car stuck between floors, the car skirt being in a rest position, Fig. 3 the car with the car skirt made of Fig. 2 , however in a locked position, Fig. 4 a simplified perspective view of a cabin for an alternative elevator system, wherein the cabin has a rigid cabin skirt supported on guide rails, Fig. 5 a perspective view of a cabin skirt for another elevator system, wherein the cabin skirt is in the rest position, Fig. 6 the cabin skirt made of Fig. 5 in an intermediate position, and Fig. 7 the fully unfolded cabin skirt (locked position).

[0029] Fig. 1 Figure 1 shows an elevator system for a multi-story building. The building has one elevator shaft 2 or, depending on requirements, several elevator shafts. The elevator system 1 shown here contains a cabin 3 that moves vertically up and down in the elevator shaft 2 for transporting people or goods to individual floors. Each floor is assigned a shaft door 12. The cabin has a cabin door 11 adapted to the shaft doors 12. In addition to the cabin 3, the elevator system includes a counterweight 26, suspension elements 27, and a drive unit. The drive unit (e.g., a traction drive) drives the suspension element(s) 27 (e.g., belts, steel cables) via one of the pulleys, thereby moving the cabin 3 and the counterweight 26 in opposite directions.

[0030] The cabin, which generally comprises a cuboid cabin body, has a front 8, a rear 9 opposite the front, and parallel cabin sides 13 connecting the front and rear. A cabin floor is designated by 28.

[0031] Guide rails 7, indicated by a dashed line, are arranged in the elevator shaft 2 to guide the cabin 3. For the sake of clarity, the counterweight guide rails and other components of the elevator system 1 have been omitted from the illustration.

[0032] Below cabin 3 is a special cabin skirt 10, which is described in detail below. Fig. 1 The cabin skirt is in a resting position close to cabin 3, the position in which the cabin skirt is normally located. Only in special situations, for example for emergency evacuations of people from cabin 3, is the cabin skirt moved into a locking position.

[0033] Fig. 2 The figure shows cabin 3 in a position between floors where such an emergency evacuation may be necessary. To allow people to safely reach the next floor from cabin 3, the cabin skirt 10 must be removed from the position shown in the figure. Fig. 2 The cabin 3 is moved from its resting position to the locked position. To do this, the cabin skirt 10 is moved downwards. Once the cabin skirt 10 has been moved downwards into the locked position, the cabin 3 is in... Fig. 3 shown.

[0034] The cabin skirt 10 is evidently supported on the guide rails 7 by a support arrangement. This support arrangement is formed by a support structure, the support structure comprising a support frame 17 which is slidably connected to the guide rail 7 via a guide element 16. Each of the guide rails 7 is assigned a guide element 16 for sliding guidance. However, it would also be conceivable that the cabin skirt 10 could be supported on only one side by only one guide rail instead of by two guide elements 16. In the exemplary embodiment according to the Fig. 1 bis 3 The cabin skirt 10 is designed as a telescopic skirt. The telescopically connected skirt elements are designated 29. The vertical length of the cabin skirt 10, when the telescopic skirt is fully extended, is at least 750 mm. A guide 34 for the rear guidance of the cabin skirt 10 is attached to the rear 9 of the cabin. Thanks to the rear guide 34, it can be reliably ensured that the support frame 17 remains in a horizontal position. The support structure, which is operatively connected to the guide rails and the support frame 17, ensures that the telescopic skirt, or its skirt elements 29, hardly yields under a point load of 300 N and can, for example, meet the stability requirements stipulated in the European standard EN81-20:2014.

[0035] The fact that the cabin skirt 10 is supported on the guide rails 7 via a support arrangement, as described above, can also be used for other types of movable or movable cabin skirts and offer advantages. As shown in approximately... Fig. 4 As can be seen, there are even conceivable versions of cabin skirts in which the cabin skirts are not movable or are rigidly designed. Fig. 4 Figure 1 shows such a cabin skirt 10 with a rigid cabin skirt 10, which has a flat skirt element 14 that is rigid and firmly connected to the cabin 3. The skirt element 14 can, for example, be made of a metal sheet. The cabin skirt 10 is connected to the guide rails 7 via a support arrangement with one roller 31 per guide rail 7.

[0036] Furthermore, in Fig. 4 It is shown by way of example that the guide rails 7 are designed as T-shaped profiles. The guide rails 7 are, by way of example, positioned in the elevator shaft such that, in plan view, they are located approximately in the middle of the cabin sides 13.

[0037] The Fig. 5 bis 7 This relates to a further embodiment of a cabin skirt 10 for a cabin 3 of an elevator system 1. To form the support structure for bracing the cabin skirt against the guide rails, the cabin skirt 10 has a horizontal support frame 17 with a front frame part 20, a rear frame part 19, and side frame parts 18. The frame parts 18, 19, and 20 define a rectangular, closed frame. Furthermore, a support frame 28 is provided for supporting the cabin skirt 10. The support frame 28 can be fixed to the underside of the cabin 3 (not shown here). However, the support frame 28 could also be integrated into the cabin floor. Normally, the support frame 17 is secured to the support frame 28 and, as Fig. 5 The figure shows the cabin skirt 10 connected to the support frame 28 with almost no gap. This position corresponds to the rest position assigned during normal operation. If necessary, the locking devices for holding the cabin skirt 10 in the rest position can be released, for example, with a triangular key (not shown). After release, the cabin skirt 10 can be moved into the locked position by gravity. The cabin skirt 10 in the locked position is in Fig. 7 shown. Fig. 6 The cabin skirt 10 is shown in an intermediate position between the resting position and the locked position. Based on Fig. 6 It is clearly evident that the cabin apron 10 according to this embodiment is a foldable cabin apron.

[0038] The foldable cabin skirt 10 has two flat skirt elements 14, 15 on each side, which are articulated to each other via a horizontal fold line 22. The respective upper skirt element 14 is hinged at its upper end about a horizontal pivot axis to the support frame 28 and thus to the cabin. The support structure with the support frame 17 connects to the respective lower end of the lower skirt element 15. The support frame 17 thus forms, in a sense, the lower end of the cabin skirt 10.

[0039] The cabin skirt 10 shown here has foldable partial cabin skirts on two opposite sides. These partial cabin skirts are designated 21 and 21'. The partial cabin skirts 21 and 21' are mechanically coupled to each other via the common support frame 17, resulting in simultaneous unfolding. The partial cabin skirts 21 and 21' are assigned to the front and opposite rear of the cabin, respectively. The cabin can thus have two cabin doors. However, the cabin skirt 10 shown here could also be used for a cabin with only one cabin door. Furthermore, it would be conceivable to omit the second partial cabin skirt 21' for such cabins. As an alternative to this second partial cabin skirt 21', a simple folding mechanism, for example composed of rods or lever elements, could also be used.

[0040] The cabin skirt has two opposing guide elements 16 molded onto the side frame parts 18. Each guide element 16 is assigned to a guide rail 7. The respective guide element 16 has a cutout 25 that surrounds a web-like guide section of the associated guide rail 7. Fig. 7 It can be seen that the guide rail 7 is a T-profile. However, other rail profiles or guide arrangements are also conceivable instead of such conventional cabin guide rails. For example, the guide cutout 25 of the guide element 16 could also engage in a web-like guide section of a guide arrangement of the type described in WO 2016 / 078726.

[0041] To secure the fully unfolded cabin skirt 10 ( Fig. 7 Locking means are provided. These locking means comprise two pivotable locking parts 23 per side or per section of the cabin skirt, which engage in corresponding locking receptacles 24 and thus prevent the unfolded cabin skirt 10 from folding in unintentionally. The pivoting movement of the locking parts 23 is Fig. 6 This is illustrated only by means of arrows. The pivot axes for the locking elements 23 are labelled 32. When the cabin skirt 10 is unfolded, the locking elements 23 are pivoted downwards by gravity and engage with the corresponding locking receptacles 24. To return the cabin skirt 10 to its rest position, the locking elements 23 are pivoted back to their original horizontal position. Of course, other locking devices than those shown here could also be used to secure the fully unfolded cabin skirt. Figuren 5 bis 7The locking means shown as an example, with the bolt parts and bolt receiving parts, are conceivable. As an alternative to the described pivoting bolt parts, sliding bolt parts and complementary bolt receiving parts could also be provided. The locking means could furthermore include a detent mechanism.

[0042] The cabin skirt 10 described above is also suitable for retrofitting or upgrading existing elevator systems.

Claims

1. An elevator installation (1) comprising a car (3) movable along guide rails (7) within an elevator shaft (2), wherein the car guide rails (7) have guide surfaces along which a car guide shoe is movable to guide the elevator car, and the car (3) has a car apron (10), characterized in that the car apron (10) is supported on the guide rails (7) in such a way that the car apron (10) contacts at least one of the guide surfaces of the car guide rail (7).

2. Elevator system according to claim 1, characterized in that the car apron (10) is designed to be movable.

3. Elevator system according to claim 2, characterized in that the car apron (10) is a foldable or collapsible car apron.

4. Elevator system according to claim 3, characterized in that the collapsible car apron (10) has two flat apron elements (14, 15) hinged together via a horizontal fold line (22).

5. Elevator system according to claim 4, characterized in that locking means are provided for securing the completely unfolded car apron.

6. Elevator system according to claim 5, characterized in that the locking means comprises a pivotable bolt part (23) which engages in a bolt receiving part (24) when the car apron (10) is completely unfolded.

7. Elevator system according to any of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that, in order to support the car apron on the cabin guide rails (7), the car apron (10) comprises at least one guide element (16) which can be guided along one of the cabin guide rails (7).

8. Elevator system according to claim 7, characterized in that the car apron (10) has two mutually opposing guide elements (16), with each guide element (16) being associated with a cabin guide rail (7).

9. Elevator system according to either claim 7 or claim 8, characterized in that the relevant guide element (16) has a cutout (25) which surrounds a web-like guide portion of the associated cabin guide rail (7).

10. Elevator system according to any of claims 5 to 9, characterized in that the at least one guide element (16) is part of a support structure which adjoins a lower end of a flat apron element (15, 21).

11. Elevator system according to claim 10, characterized in that the support structure has a support frame (17).

12. Elevator system according to any of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that foldable or collapsible partial car aprons (21, 21') are provided on a front side (8) of the car (3) and on a rear side (9) of the car (3) opposite the front side, and are mechanically coupled to one another.