Guide rail element and guide rail arrangement for an elevator system, and corresponding mounting method

Abstract

A guide rail element (1) of a guide rail arrangement (3) for an elevator system (5) is described, which is of multipart construction and has an elongate guide part (7) and an elongate foot part (15). The guide part forms, with a lateral face (9), a guide face (11) for guiding an elevator component to be moved along the guide rail arrangement (3). The foot part forms a support face (17), extending transversely to the guide face, for supporting the guide rail element relative to a shaft wall (19) of the elevator system. The foot part is formed as a hollow profile (23) formed from a metal sheet (21). The foot part is shaped in such a way and the guide part is received in the foot part with a section (25) in such a way that the guide part is supported on a contact face (31) formed by an inner surface (29) of the foot part (15) in a direction transversely to the support face by way of an end face (27) extending transversely to the lateral face. A two-stage method for mounting a guide rail arrangement on a shaft wall (19) of an elevator system is also described.

Description

[0001] Guide rail element and guide rail arrangement for an elevator system and corresponding assembly method

[0002] The present invention relates to a guide rail element of a guide rail arrangement for an elevator system, as well as to a corresponding guide rail arrangement and a corresponding elevator system. Furthermore, the invention relates to a method for assembling a guide rail arrangement.

[0003] In an elevator system, a car is used to transport people or objects between different floors. During a movement along an elevator shaft, the car is guided along one or more guide rail arrangements. For example, a guide shoe can be attached to the car and rest on a guide surface formed by the guide rail arrangement when the car is moved. Additionally, the guide surface can be used as a braking surface, for example, to decelerate the car using a safety brake (also known as "safety gear").

[0004] Traditionally, the guide rail arrangement is formed using several elongated guide rails arranged vertically along the elevator shaft, one behind the other and butting against each other, forming a continuous guide surface. Conventional guide rails are usually used as solid components in the form of steel profiles.

[0005] Such guide rails are generally manufactured using a hot-rolling process and then cut to the desired lengths and post-processed. The manufacturing and post-processing processes can be relatively complex and may include, for example, drilling holes for attaching rail connectors (also known as "fishplates"), milling holes for the rail connectors, creating a tongue-and-groove connection by milling the corresponding tongue and groove, generating corrosion protection, and / or appropriately creating the guide surfaces by cold drawing. Furthermore, the guide rails, which are usually several meters long, are very heavy. For example, a guide rail with a typical length of 5 m can weigh well over 100 kg. This can be very labor-intensive during transport or during installation in the elevator shaft.Furthermore, the production of conventional guide rails requires a large amount of steel, which significantly increases manufacturing costs and CO2 emissions. Furthermore, when storing the heavy rails, it may be necessary to ensure that they do not deform due to their own weight.

[0006] CN 215755826 U describes a guide rail element which is constructed in two parts, wherein a solid guide part is fixed to a base part in the form of a rolled profile which is formed with a sheet metal bent into a hollow profile.

[0007] There may be a need for an alternative guide rail element that, among other things, at least partially avoids the aforementioned problems of conventional guide rails. In particular, there may be a need for a guide rail element that can be manufactured easily and / or with few post-processing steps, that is lightweight or requires a small amount of material to manufacture, such as high-quality steel in particular, and thus produces less CO2, that is easy to store and / or transport, that enables improved installation accuracy, and / or that can be manufactured and / or assembled overall with less effort and / or lower cost than conventional guide rails.Furthermore, there may be a need for a guide rail element in which forces, such as those generated when guiding a car, can be efficiently transferred to a supporting structure on which the guide rail element rests within the elevator shaft. Furthermore, there may be a need for a corresponding guide rail assembly and a corresponding elevator system. Furthermore, there may be a need for a method for mounting a corresponding guide rail assembly in an elevator shaft of an elevator system.

[0008] Such a need can be met by the subject matter according to the independent claims. Advantageous embodiments are defined in the dependent claims and the following description or illustrated in the accompanying figures.

[0009] According to a first aspect of the invention, a guide rail element of a guide rail arrangement for an elevator system is described, which has an elongated guide part and an elongated base part. The guide part, with a side surface, forms a guide surface for guiding an elevator component to be displaced along the guide rail arrangement. The base part forms a support surface extending transversely to the guide surface for supporting the guide rail element relative to a shaft wall of the elevator system. The base part is designed as a hollow profile formed from a sheet metal. Furthermore, the base part is shaped in such a way, and a partial region of the guide part is received in the base part in such a way that the guide part is supported with an end face extending transversely to the side surface on a contact surface formed by an inner surface of the base part in a direction transverse to the support surface.

[0010] According to a second aspect of the invention, a guide rail arrangement is described which has a plurality of guide rail elements according to an embodiment of the first aspect, wherein the guide rail elements are arranged one behind the other in the longitudinal direction and are connected to one another.

[0011] According to a third aspect of the invention, an elevator installation is described which has an elevator shaft delimited by shaft walls, at least one guide rail arrangement according to an embodiment of the second aspect of the invention, which is fastened to one of the shaft walls, and an elevator component to be displaced, such as a car, which is displaceable along the elevator shaft guided on the guide rail arrangement.

[0012] According to a fourth aspect of the invention, a method for mounting a guide rail arrangement on a shaft wall of an elevator system is described, which method comprises at least the following method steps, preferably in the specified order:

[0013] Installing wall brackets on the shaft wall, attaching a first foot part to one of the wall brackets, attaching a second foot part to another of the wall brackets, then attaching a first guide part to the first foot part and a second guide part to the second foot part.

[0014] By way of introduction, a basic idea for embodiments of the invention described herein will be briefly explained, whereby this explanation is to be interpreted as merely a rough summary and not as limiting the invention:

[0015] A guide rail element is described which, in contrast to guide rails conventionally used in elevator systems, is essentially constructed in at least two parts and comprises a guide part and a base part.

[0016] The guide part forms the guide surface along which an elevator component to be relocated, such as the elevator car, can be guided. For this purpose, the guide part can be solid, for example, in particular as a solid component manufactured using an extrusion process. The guide part can be made of high-quality materials, such as high-quality steel, thus enabling the formation of the guide surface with excellent properties, such as high load-bearing capacity, a smooth and even surface, etc.

[0017] The base part can be manufactured as a separate component and subsequently connected to the guide part. In particular, the base part can be formed into a hollow profile by suitable punching and / or bending or by roll-forming a sheet metal, in particular a steel sheet. The base part can thus be manufactured using generally known techniques for producing rolled sheet metal profiles. The sheet metal surrounds an internal cavity. Accordingly, the base part can be formed with significantly less weight and significantly less material compared to a solid component. Furthermore, a lower material quality can be selected for the base part than for the guide part.

[0018] To provide the entire guide rail element with sufficient mechanical stability and, in particular, sufficient mechanical load-bearing capacity for guiding the elevator car, the base section is specially shaped, and the guide part is housed in the base section in a special manner. In particular, the base section is designed to have a contact surface against which a portion of the guide part, which is inserted into and housed within the interior volume of the base section, can rest. This ensures that forces acting on the guide part in various directions can be efficiently transmitted to the base section and ultimately diverted from there to a supporting structure on which the guide rail element is mounted.

[0019] Using several of the described guide rail elements, a guide rail arrangement can be formed in an efficient manner and ultimately an elevator system can be equipped with it.

[0020] The guide rail elements can be pre-assembled and brought to the construction site where the elevator system is being installed. However, it can be advantageous to bring the guide rail elements to the construction site individually and then assemble and connect them there. When installing such a guide rail arrangement, the two-part design of the guide rail elements can be particularly advantageous. In particular, base parts can be attached to wall brackets (also known as "brackets") previously installed on the shaft wall first, and only in a subsequent step can one or more guide parts be attached to these base parts. This can simplify the assembly process, among other things.

[0021] In the following, possible configurations and advantages of embodiments of the guide rail element, the guide rail arrangement, the elevator system and the assembly method are described in more detail.

[0022] The multi-part guide rail element, as described herein, can have similar or identical dimensions to conventional, one-piece guide rail segments. Furthermore, it can be used to implement similar or analogous functionalities to those achieved with conventional guide rails. In particular, a guide rail arrangement can be assembled from several guide rail elements by mounting the guide rail elements one behind the other and adjacent to one another along the elevator shaft. The guide surfaces formed by adjacent guide rail elements preferably merge continuously and flush into one another, so that a preferably flat, smooth guide surface is formed along the entire guide rail arrangement.A guide shoe attached to a car, for example, can then slide or roll along this guide surface and thereby guide the car along a desired travel path.

[0023] The guide rail element is constructed in several parts and has at least a guide part and a base part. The guide part forms the guide surface, while the base part is configured to attach and support the guide rail element, including its guide part, to a shaft wall of the elevator system.

[0024] The guide part is elongated. For example, it can have a length of several meters, in particular more than 2 m, preferably more than 4 m, but in most cases less than 20 m or preferably less than 10 m. The guide part can be constructed in one piece or in multiple pieces. For example, the guide part can be designed as a one-piece metal profile, in particular a steel profile. The guide part can be solid. The guide part can be produced by extrusion. In particular, the guide part can be designed as cold-drawn flat steel. Alternatively, the guide part can be designed in multiple pieces and / or as a composite component. At least a region close to the surface, preferably even the entire guide part, can be made of a material capable of withstanding high mechanical loads, in particular a metal, furthermore in particular steel.The quality of the guide surface formed by the guide part should be the same as that of conventional guide rails. The guide part can have a cuboid-shaped cross-section. In other words, the guide part can have a constant cross-section along its length. The cross-section can be rectangular. Alternatively, the cross-section can be approximately rectangular and, for example, have rounded edges and / or surfaces that are not completely parallel but rather at a slight angle to one another. The guide part has wide surfaces running parallel to its longitudinal direction, which are referred to herein as side surfaces, as well as narrow surfaces also running parallel to its longitudinal direction, which are referred to herein as end surfaces. At its opposite ends, the guide part has small surfaces, which are referred to herein as abutment surfaces.At least one of the side surfaces of the guide part forms a guide surface for guiding, for example, the elevator car. This guide surface is preferably straight, i.e., substantially flat along the longitudinal direction. The guide surface can be flat overall. The guide part can preferably have two oppositely directed side surfaces, which, for example, form guide surfaces running parallel to one another.

[0025] A further advantage of this multi-part guide rail element, which has at least a guide part and a base part, is that it can meet high requirements in terms of corrosion resistance. Both components can each have a corrosion protection. However, it is also conceivable for the guide part to have a different corrosion protection than the base part, or for the guide part to have no corrosion protection at all. For example, the corrosion protection for the base part can be provided by a coating such as anti-corrosive paint or powder coating; the corrosion protection for the guide part can be provided by a wax-based coating (e.g. Tectyl™) or a self-adhesive plastic film. The latter agents and films are usually removed at the installation site, whereas the corrosion protection for the base part can remain in place.

[0026] The base part is also elongated. Preferably, the base part has a length equal to the length of the guide part. However, it is also conceivable for the base part to be longer or shorter than the guide part. The base part can be made of one piece or multiple pieces. The base part has a hollow profile formed from a sheet metal, in particular a steel sheet. The base part can be manufactured, in particular, using a roll-forming process. In other words, the base part can be formed using a sheet metal bent in such a way that it surrounds an internal cavity. Such a profile can, in particular, be designed as a rolled or roll-formed profile.The hollow profile does not necessarily have to completely surround the cavity, but an elongated opening can remain in the hollow profile into which the guide part can then be inserted in order to close the hollow profile and completely surround the cavity. The hollow profile can have a constant cross-section along its longitudinal direction. One of the outer surfaces formed by the hollow profile forms a support surface with the help of which the guide rail element can be supported relative to the shaft wall of the elevator system. The support surface runs transversely, preferably perpendicular to the guide surface formed by the guide part. The support surface is generally directed away from the guide part. The support surface is preferably flat along the longitudinal direction of the base part and can be planar overall. The support surface can be one-piece, i.e. continuous.Alternatively, the support surface can also be multi-piece, i.e. have several separate partial surfaces.

[0027] Corrosion protection can be applied to the base part independently of the guide part. This corrosion protection can be achieved, for example, by an appropriate coating such as anti-corrosive paint or powder coating.

[0028] The foot part and the guide part are each shaped and arranged relative to each other in such a way that the guide part can be held on the foot part and can be efficiently supported on it.

[0029] For this purpose, a portion of the guide part is housed within the interior volume of the hollow base. In other words, the guide part extends through an elongated opening in the base into its interior volume, while another portion of the guide part extends outside the base, forming the required guide surface there.

[0030] On the other hand, the base part is designed such that it forms a partial surface on an inner surface of the sheet metal forming the hollow profile, which is referred to herein as the contact surface. This contact surface is designed, i.e., arranged, dimensioned, and shaped, such that the guide part, with its partial region accommodated in the base part and, in particular, with the end face extending thereon, can be supported on this contact surface.

[0031] For this purpose, the contact surface can have the same length as the guide part and / or the same width, but possibly also a greater or smaller width, than the end face of the guide part. The contact surface is oriented such that it can support the guide part in a direction transverse to the support surface of the base part. For this purpose, the contact surface can in particular be oriented substantially parallel to the support surface. Preferably, the contact surface can run in a direction orthogonal to it and spaced from the support surface. In other words, the contact surface can be formed by a part of the sheet metal forming the base part that projects further into the cavity surrounded by the hollow profile than a part of this sheet metal that forms the support surface.

[0032] Because the guide section can be efficiently supported by the base section, forces acting on the guide section can ultimately be diverted to the shaft wall via the base section. Overall, this results in a high mechanical load-bearing capacity of the guide rail element.

[0033] According to one embodiment, the foot part has a first curvature on the contact surface, wherein the guide part has a second curvature on the end face that is complementary to the first curvature and wherein the first and the second curvature interact in an engaging manner.

[0034] In other words, where the sheet metal of the base part forms the contact surface, it can have an unevenness in the form of a protruding, i.e. convex curvature or an unevenness in the form of a recessed, i.e. concave curvature. Such a curvature can also be referred to as crowning. The end face of the guide part that rests against the contact surface can have a second curvature that is essentially complementary to this first curvature. The two curvatures can form elevations or depressions with a height of, for example, several millimeters or more. Accordingly, the guide part with its curved end face and the base part with its curved contact surface can engage with one another.

[0035] Because the two curvatures interact in this way, forces acting transversely on the guide surface of the guide part, sometimes also referred to as FF2 forces, can be efficiently transferred from the guide part to the base part. The base part can thus act as a counterbearing for the guide part with respect to such forces. The first curvature on the base part can be created, for example, during roll forming of the sheet metal used to create the base part. The second curvature on the guide part can be created, for example, during cold drawing of the flat steel used for the guide part.

[0036] According to one embodiment, the hollow profile of the foot part has a groove extending in the longitudinal direction of the foot part and forming an undercut.

[0037] In other words, the sheet metal forming the base part can be bent to form a groove that runs in the longitudinal direction of the base part. This groove can be designed with a cross-section such that an undercut is formed. For example, the groove can be designed with a T-shaped cross-section. The groove can have a constant cross-section along the longitudinal extent of the base part. The groove can preferably run centrally or centrally along the support surface of the base part.

[0038] The undercut groove can, for example, be used to accommodate a widened part of a fastening component such as a screw head, a screw nut, a threaded sliding block or similar in the groove and then to fix the base section to the shaft wall or a wall bracket anchored there using the fastening component. Using the groove and the fastening component, the base section can thus be very easily attached to the shaft wall. Furthermore, the fastening component can be moved along the groove relative to the base section. This allows the base section to be easily moved and thus aligned relative to the fastening component held on the wall bracket, for example, during the assembly process.On the other hand, unless the fastening component is fixed relative to the groove, for example, by subsequently tightening the screw used for this purpose, it can shift at least slightly within the groove during the subsequent service life of the elevator system, so that, for example, a changing length of the elevator shaft, which may result from building settlement, can be compensated. According to a specific embodiment, the contact surface is arranged on a portion of the hollow profile of the base section surrounding the groove.

[0039] In other words, the part of the sheet metal forming the hollow profile of the base part, where the contact surface for supporting the guide part is located, can be located on, or coincide with, the part of the sheet metal surrounding the elongated groove of the base part. In this area, the hollow profile, due to its profiled shape surrounding the groove, is particularly resilient. On the other hand, forces can also be transferred particularly efficiently to a fastening component accommodated in the groove.

[0040] According to one embodiment, the foot part has two tabs which are formed by edge regions adjacent to opposite edges of the sheet metal forming the foot part, wherein the tabs rest on opposite side surfaces of the guide part.

[0041] In other words, opposing edges of the sheet metal forming the base part can be referred to as tabs and can be designed and arranged on the base part in such a way that these tabs rest on opposite side surfaces of the guide part when the guide part is attached to the base part. The base part can thus clamp the guide part arranged between it from both sides with its tabs. This allows the base part to use its tabs to hold the guide part at least temporarily, for example, during an assembly process, particularly as long as no significant guiding forces are yet needed to be transferred from the guide part to the base part.

[0042] In order to divert the often considerable forces generated during operation of the elevator system from the guide section to the base section and ultimately to the shaft wall, the brackets can, according to one embodiment, be connected to the guide section in a force-fitting, form-fitting, and / or material-fitting manner. For this purpose, the brackets of the base section can be pressed together with the guide section held between them, for example, using pliers, riveted, glued, nailed, screwed, welded, or mechanically connected in another way that is permanent and sufficiently resilient. According to one embodiment, the guide section is arranged offset longitudinally from the base section.

[0043] In other words, the guide part and the foot part can have the same or similar lengths, but they do not need to be arranged congruently relative to each other in terms of their longitudinal extension. Instead, the foot part can extend longitudinally beyond the guide part with a partial section, or vice versa. An offset between the guide part and the foot part can be at least several millimeters, preferably several centimeters. In other words, the offset can, for example, amount to between 1% and 50%, preferably between 3% and 20%, of the total length of the guide part or the foot part.

[0044] Due to such an offset arrangement, in a guide rail arrangement according to the second aspect of the invention, in which several guide rail elements are arranged one behind the other in the longitudinal direction and are connected to one another, a guide part of one of the guide rail elements can overlap several adjacent foot parts and be supported on them.

[0045] In other words, a single foot part can overlap and connect two adjacent guide parts, or conversely, a single guide part can overlap two adjacent foot parts and be held by both. The overlapping arrangement of the guide parts and foot parts can, among other things, ensure that adjacent guide parts or foot parts are connected to one another by the foot part or guide part that overlaps them. With conventional one-piece guide rails, however, it was necessary to connect adjacent guide rails with very stable rail connectors (sometimes also called "fishplates"). On the one hand, the rail connectors added weight to the guide rail arrangement, and on the other hand, the rail connectors had to be attached to the guide rails in a complex and stable manner.Instead of conventional, very stable and heavy rail connectors, the concept presented here allows the use of significantly less stable and thus lighter rail connector plates due to the possible overlap of the guide parts and base parts. Furthermore, forces acting on one guide part can be distributed across and diverted from several base parts.

[0046] According to one embodiment, the guide rail elements can be provided with a groove running along the base part and forming an undercut, as described above, and adjacent guide rail elements can be connected to one another via rail connector plates which are fastened to the guide rail elements by means of fastening elements which engage in the grooves in the respective guide rail elements.

[0047] In other words, the optional undercut grooves provided on the guide rail elements can be used not only to fix the guide rail elements to the shaft wall or a wall bracket anchored there using fasteners that engage in the grooves, but also to attach rail connector plates to them, which can be used to securely connect adjacent guide rail elements. In this case, the fasteners can be screws, bolts, or similar items, the head of which can be inserted into a groove and thus engage behind the undercut. An opposite end of the fasteners can then be fixed to a rail connector plate, for example, by screwing it to it.In this way, rail connector plates can be attached to the adjacent guide rail elements quickly and easily, connecting them to each other in a mechanically resilient manner.

[0048] In an elevator system according to the third aspect of the invention, at least one of the guide rail assemblies described herein is fastened to one of the shaft walls. For this purpose, the individual guide rail elements can be fixed, for example, to anchored wall brackets. If the guide rail elements are designed with an undercut groove as described above, the guide rail elements can be fastened to the shaft wall via wall brackets, wherein the wall brackets are fastened to the guide rail elements by means of fastening elements that engage in the grooves in the respective guide rail elements. In order to fasten the guide rail assembly described herein to a shaft wall of an elevator system, the assembly method according to the fourth aspect of the invention can be used, in particular.In contrast to the assembly of conventional single-piece rail segments, the multi-piece design of the guide rail elements described here can be used to design the assembly process in a correspondingly multi-stage manner.

[0049] In particular, a first and a second base section can first be attached to wall brackets that have previously been installed on the shaft wall, and only then can a first guide section be attached to the first base section and a second guide section to the second base section. The attachment and, if necessary, adjustment of the base sections can thus be carried out as a separate first process step. Due to the low weight of the hollow base sections, their installation is significantly easier than the conventional installation and adjustment of heavy guide rails. The guide sections can then be attached to the pre-assembled base sections in a second process step. For this purpose, for example, a guide section can be pushed between opposing tabs of the associated base section and thus at least temporarily held to the base section.The guide part can then be firmly and mechanically connected to the base part, for example by clamping, screwing, riveting, welding, etc.

[0050] According to one embodiment, at least one of the guide parts can be attached in an overlapping manner to both the first base part and the second base part. As already explained above, the overlapping arrangement of the guide part relative to two adjacent base parts can create a mechanical connection between the two base parts and also dissipate forces acting on the guide part to the shaft wall, distributed across both base parts. Such an overlapping arrangement can be easily implemented by first mounting the two base parts on the shaft wall and only then mounting the guide part.

[0051] According to one embodiment, the guide rail elements can be designed with an undercut groove, as explained above. In this case, during the assembly process, adjacent guide rail elements can be connected to one another via rail connector plates, which are attached to the guide rail elements by means of fastening elements that engage in the grooves in the respective guide rail elements. Alternatively or additionally, the guide rail elements can be attached to the shaft wall via wall brackets, which are attached to the guide rail elements by means of fastening elements that engage in the grooves in the respective guide rail elements.

[0052] The two-stage assembly process allows the rail connector plates to be easily attached to the lightweight base sections of adjacent guide rail elements, for example, using screws that engage, on the one hand, in the groove of the respective base sections and, on the other hand, in recesses in the rail connector plate, connecting them together. Furthermore, the two-stage assembly process allows the lightweight base sections to be attached to one of the wall brackets on the shaft wall using the fastening elements that engage in the groove. Only after both process steps have been completed can the corresponding guide part be attached to the previously connected base sections and attached to the shaft wall.

[0053] It should be noted that some of the possible features and advantages of the invention are described herein with reference to different embodiments of the guide rail element described herein, as well as the guide rail arrangement and elevator system formed therewith, and with reference to an assembly method, on the one hand. A person skilled in the art will recognize that the features can be combined, transferred, adapted, or exchanged in a suitable manner to achieve further embodiments of the invention.

[0054] Embodiments of the invention are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein neither the drawings nor the description are to be construed as limiting the invention.

[0055] Fig. 1 shows an elevator system according to an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 2 shows a sectional view of a guide rail element according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0056] Fig. 3 shows a side view of a guide rail arrangement according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0057] The figures are merely schematic and not to scale. Like reference symbols denote like or equivalent features.

[0058] Figure 1 shows an elevator system 5 with a guide rail arrangement 3 according to one embodiment of the invention. An elevator component 13 to be displaced, for example in the form of a car 14 or a counterweight (not shown), is accommodated in an elevator shaft 6. The car 14 is held by support means 57 and displaced vertically along the elevator shaft 6 by a drive 59. The car 14 is guided along the guide rail arrangement 3 by means of guide shoes 61. The guide rail arrangement 3 is composed of a plurality of guide rail elements 1 arranged one behind the other in a longitudinal direction 45 and connected to one another.

[0059] Figure 2 shows a cross-section of a guide rail element 1. Figure 3 illustrates the guide rail arrangement 3 with several guide rail elements 1, which are attached to a shaft wall 19.

[0060] The guide rail element 1 is constructed in several parts. In particular, the guide rail element 1 consists of an elongated guide part 7 and an elongated base part 15.

[0061] In the example shown, the guide part 7 is a cold-drawn flat steel bar. The guide part 7 has a rectangular cross-section. Opposing side surfaces 9 of the cuboid-shaped guide part 7 form two parallel guide surfaces 11. The component 13 to be moved can be guided along these guide surfaces 11. For this purpose, the guide shoes 61 can roll along the guide surface 11 with rollers or slide along this guide surface 11 with sliding elements. Furthermore, the guide surfaces 11 can serve as a braking surface for a safety brake.

[0062] The base part 15 forms a support surface 17, which runs transversely or, in the example shown, perpendicular to the guide surface 11 and by means of which the base part can be supported relative to the shaft wall 19 of the elevator system 5. The support surface 17 is directed toward the shaft wall 19 and can run essentially parallel to the shaft wall 19. The base part 15 of the guide rail element 1 is generally not supported directly on the shaft wall 19, but is connected to it via several wall brackets 55 anchored in the shaft wall 19.

[0063] The base part 15 is not solid, but rather a hollow profile 23 manufactured, for example, by a profiling process using a suitably bent sheet metal 21. The base part 15 is thus advantageously rolled from sheet metal and butt-welded at a suitable location. A flat outer surface of the hollow profile 23 facing the shaft wall 19 forms the support surface 17.

[0064] Edge regions adjacent to the two opposite edges 43, extending in the longitudinal direction 45, of the sheet metal 21 forming the base part 15 form two tabs 41. The tabs 41 delimit an elongated opening on a side of the base part 15 directed away from the support surface 17. Through this opening, the guide part 7 can be partially inserted with a partial region 25 thereof into an internal volume of the hollow profile 23 during assembly of the guide rail element 1. The tabs 41 then rest laterally against the opposite side surfaces 9 of the guide part 7 and can at least temporarily clamp the guide part 7 between them.

[0065] In order to subsequently connect the guide part 7 to the base part 15 in a highly resilient manner, the tabs 41 can be pressed, riveted, glued, nailed, screwed and / or welded to the guide part 7, for example using pliers, and in this way a force-fitting, form-fitting and / or material-fitting connection can be created between the guide part 7 and the base part 15. It can be particularly advantageous if the base part 15, which consists of a sheet metal, is connected to the guide part 7 in the area of ​​the tabs 41 using a clinching process. For clamping by clinching, special tools can be used which deform the sheet metal at specific points and thus bring about a sufficiently strong clamping.

[0066] However, the guide part 7 is not only connected to the base part 15, in particular to its tabs 41, along its side surfaces 9. In addition, the base part 15 also contacts, with an end face 27 extending transversely, in particular perpendicularly, to the side surfaces 9, a surface of the sheet metal 21 forming the base part 15 directed toward the interior of the hollow profile 23. In particular, the end face 27 of the guide part 7 bears against a contact surface 31 formed by an inner surface 29 of the base part 15 and is supported by it in a direction transverse to the support surface 17.

[0067] In the example shown, the hollow profile 23 of the base part 15 is provided with a groove 37 extending in the longitudinal direction 45 of the base part 15. The groove 37 is T-shaped in the example shown and thus forms an undercut 39. The groove 37 is formed by appropriately bending the sheet metal 21 forming the hollow profile 23. The contact surface 31, against which the end face 27 of the guide part 7 rests, is arranged on a portion of the hollow profile 23 surrounding the groove 37.

[0068] The contact surface 31 has a first curvature 33 in the form of a crown. In the example shown, the first curvature 33 projects toward the guide part 7, i.e., is convex, and is formed by a suitably curved region of the sheet metal 21. The guide part 7 has, on its end face 27, a second curvature 35 complementary to this first curvature 33. The second curvature 35 is formed as a depression, i.e., concave. Accordingly, the two curvatures 33, 35 can engage with one another on the contact surface 31 of the base part 15, on the one hand, and on the end face 27 of the guide part 7, on the other. As a result, in addition to supporting forces that are transmitted from the guide part 7 to the foot part 15 in a direction perpendicular to the contact surface 31, so-called FF2 forces that act transversely to these supporting forces, in particular forces that act perpendicularly to the guide surfaces 11, can also be transmitted to the foot part 15.

[0069] The undercut groove 37 can also be referred to as a sliding groove. The groove 37 can be used to connect adjacent guide rail elements 1 to each other using rail connector plates 47. Alternatively or additionally, the groove 37 can be used to attach guide rail elements 1 to wall brackets 55 anchored in the shaft wall 19.

[0070] For this purpose, a fastening element 49 can engage in the groove 37. In particular, a widened portion of such a fastening element 49 can be inserted into the undercut 39 of the groove 37 and serve there as a counterbearing for the fastening element 49. Specifically, for example, a screw head 53 of a screw 51 serving as a fastening element 49 can be inserted from a longitudinal end of the hollow profile 23 in the longitudinal direction 45 into the groove 37 and its undercut 39. An opposite end of the screw 51 can then, as illustrated in Figure 2, be guided, for example, through a suitable opening in the rail connector plate 47 and secured using a screw nut 54.

[0071] Alternatively, the screw 51 can be used to fix the base part 15 of the guide rail element 1 to one of the wall brackets 55, as indicated in Figure 3. Advantageously, the screw head 53 can be displaced along the groove 37 running in the longitudinal direction 45. Accordingly, for example, a sinking or shrinking of the elevator shaft 6, as can occur due to so-called building shrinkage, can be compensated for by a corresponding displacement of the fastening elements 49, which are used to fasten the guide rail arrangement 3 to the shaft wall 19 and which can be displaced within the groove 37 in the longitudinal direction 45.

[0072] Furthermore, it is also possible to fasten other components such as various additional equipment using screws 51 or other fastening elements 49 via the groove 37 to the base part 15 of the guide rail element 1.

[0073] As can be seen in Figure 3, in the guide rail arrangement 3, several guide rail elements 1', 1" are arranged one behind the other in the longitudinal direction 45 and connected to one another. The foot parts 15', 15" and the guide parts 7', 7" are arranged with an offset 63 relative to one another in the longitudinal direction 45.

[0074] Accordingly, the guide part 7" of the lower guide rail element 1" overlaps both the foot part 15" of this guide rail element 1" and the foot part 15' of the adjacent guide rail element 1' arranged above it. The adjacent guide rail elements 1', 1" are thus connected to one another not only via the rail connector plate 47, but also via the guide part 7" overlapping their two foot parts 15".

[0075] Due to the supporting connection provided by the overlapping 7" guide part, the rail connector plate 47 can therefore be significantly smaller and lighter than conventional rail connectors, such as those used in conventional, non-overlapping, solid and therefore very heavy guide rails.

[0076] In order to mount the guide rail arrangement 3 on the shaft wall 19 of the elevator system 5, first several wall brackets 55 are installed on the shaft wall 19 at a distance from one another in the vertical direction.

[0077] Subsequently, a first foot part 15' is attached to one of the wall brackets 55 and a second foot part 15" is attached to another wall bracket 55. This can be done very simply, for example, by inserting a screw 51 with its screw head 53 into the groove 37 of the respective foot part 15', 15" and then securing it to the wall bracket 55 with a screw nut 54. The screw nut 54 is preferably only slightly tightened during the assembly process so that the screw head 53 is loosely received in the undercut 39 of the groove 37 and the screw 51 can thus move along the groove 37.

[0078] After the foot parts 15', 15" have been assembled in this way, the corresponding guide parts 7', 7" are attached to these foot parts 15', 15". The guide parts 7', 7" can initially be pushed with their partial area 25 between the tabs 41 of the foot parts 15', 15" until their end face 27 abuts the respective contact surface 31 of the foot parts 15', 15", whereby they are clamped by the tabs 41 and thus held at least temporarily.

[0079] Subsequently, if necessary, it can be checked whether a tongue and groove connection at the abutting ends of the two guide parts 7', 7" of the adjacent guide rail elements 1', 1" meshes properly. After the two guide parts 7', 7" have been adjusted relative to each other, if necessary, they can then be firmly connected to the corresponding foot parts 15', 15", for example by pressing, screwing, riveting, welding, etc., with the tabs 51 of the foot parts 15', 15".

[0080] Subsequently, the first rail section formed in this way can be suitably aligned relative to the shaft wall 19 or the wall brackets 55.

[0081] The sliding screws 51 received in the groove 37 can then be tightened with a predetermined torque in order, on the one hand, to ensure that the guide rail elements 1 are sufficiently held on the wall brackets 55 and, on the other hand, to possibly allow the guide rail elements 1 to be displaced at least slightly relative to the wall brackets 55 along the longitudinal direction 45.

[0082] In order to form the entire guide rail arrangement 3, the above-mentioned process can be repeated several times with a suitable number of guide rail elements 1.

[0083] The guide rail elements 1 described herein, or the guide rail arrangement 3 formed therewith, can enable a multitude of advantages. For example, the individual parts comprising the guide rail arrangement 3 can be significantly lighter than those of conventional rail constructions and are therefore easier to transport. Furthermore, due to their low weight, the rail parts are less likely to bend if stored incorrectly, as is sometimes the case with conventional, heavy guide rails. Furthermore, the sensitive guide parts are easier to stack due to their relatively simple shape and are therefore less susceptible to damage. The base parts can be made of relatively lower-quality material than the guide parts and conventional guide rails.In other words, high-quality material only needs to be used where its properties are actually required, i.e. only for the guide parts, not necessarily for the base parts. This can save material costs. A further advantage is that, with regard to corrosion resistance, the respective parts can be specifically equipped with corrosion protection. For example, the base parts can have a different corrosion protection than the guide part, or at least one guide part can have no corrosion protection. Furthermore, conventionally used heavy connector plates can be replaced by relatively lighter rail connector plates, since the possible offset between the guide parts and the base parts means that a mechanical connection between adjacent guide rail elements does not have to be created exclusively via the connector plates.This also allows for weight and material savings. Finally, assembly speed can be maintained, as the proposed fastening of the guide rail elements using fasteners that engage in the groove and the resulting sliding capability in the longitudinal direction within the groove generally requires only a single fastener per wall bracket, meaning that, for example, only a single screw serving as the fastening element needs to be tightened.

[0084] Finally, it should be noted that terms such as "having," "comprising," etc., do not exclude other elements or steps, and terms such as "a" or "an" do not exclude a plurality. Furthermore, it should be noted that features or steps described with reference to one of the above embodiments may also be used in combination with other features or steps of other embodiments described above. Reference signs in the claims are not to be considered as limitations.

Claims

Patent claims 1. Guide rail element (1) of a guide rail arrangement (3) for an elevator system (5), comprising: an elongate guide part (7) which, with a side surface (9), forms a guide surface (11) for guiding an elevator component (13) to be displaced along the guide rail arrangement (3), and an elongate base part (15) which forms a support surface (17) extending transversely to the guide surface (11) for supporting the guide rail element (1) relative to a shaft wall (19) of the elevator system (5), wherein the base part (15) is designed as a hollow profile (23) formed with a sheet metal (21), wherein the base part (15) is shaped in such a way and the guide part (7) is received with a partial region (25) in the base part (15),that the guide part (7) is supported with an end face (27) extending transversely to the side surface (9) on a contact surface (31) formed by an inner surface (29) of the foot part (15) in a direction transverse to the support surface (17).

2. Guide rail element (1) according to claim 1, wherein the foot part (15) has a first curvature (33) on the contact surface (31), wherein the guide part (7) has a second curvature (35) complementary to the first curvature (33) on the end face (27), and wherein the first and the second curvature (33, 35) interact in an engaging manner.

3. Guide rail element (1) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the hollow profile (23) of the foot part (15) has a groove (37) extending in the longitudinal direction (45) of the foot part (15) and forming an undercut (39).

4. Guide rail element (1) according to claim 3, wherein the contact surface (31) is arranged on a partial region of the hollow profile (23) of the foot part (15) surrounding the groove (37).

5. Guide rail element (1) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the base part (15) has two tabs (41) which are formed by edge regions adjacent to opposite edges (43) of the sheet metal (21) forming the base part (15), and wherein the tabs (41) bear against opposite side surfaces (9) of the guide part (7).

6. Guide rail element (1) according to claim 5, wherein the tabs (41) are connected to the guide part (7) in a force-fitting, form-fitting and / or material-fitting manner.

7. Guide rail element (1) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the guide part (7) is arranged offset in the longitudinal direction (45) relative to the foot part (15).

8. Guide rail arrangement (3) comprising: a plurality of guide rail elements (1) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the guide rail elements (1) are arranged one behind the other in the longitudinal direction (45) and are connected to one another.

9. Guide rail arrangement (3) according to claim 8, wherein a guide part (7) of one of the guide rail elements (1) overlaps several adjacent foot parts (15) and is supported on these.

10. Guide rail arrangement (3) according to one of claims 8 to 9, wherein the guide rail elements (1) are designed according to one of claims 3 and 4, and wherein adjacent guide rail elements (1) are connected to one another via rail connector plates (47) which are fastened to the guide rail elements (1) by means of fastening elements (49) which engage in the grooves (37) in the respective guide rail elements (1).

11. Elevator installation (5) comprising: an elevator shaft (6) delimited by shaft walls (19), at least one guide rail arrangement (3) according to one of claims 8 to 10, which is fastened to one of the shaft walls (19), an elevator component (13) to be displaced, which is displaceable along the elevator shaft (6) guided on the guide rail arrangement (3).

12. Elevator installation (5) according to claim 11, wherein the guide rail elements (1) are designed according to one of claims 3 and 4, and wherein the guide rail elements (1) are fastened to the shaft wall (19) via wall brackets (55), wherein the wall brackets (55) are fastened to the guide rail elements (1) by means of fastening elements (49) which engage in the grooves (37) in the respective guide rail elements (1).

13. Method for mounting a guide rail arrangement (3) on a shaft wall (19) of an elevator installation (5), comprising: Installing wall brackets (55) on the shaft wall (19), Attaching a first foot part (15') to one of the wall brackets (55), Fastening a second foot part (15") to another of the wall brackets (55), then fastening a first guide part (7) to the first foot part (15') and a second guide part (7") to the second foot part (15").

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein at least one of the guide parts (7', 7") is attached in an overlapping manner to both the first foot part (15') and the second foot part (15").

15. Method according to one of claims 13 and 14, wherein the guide rail elements (1) are designed according to one of claims 3 and 4, wherein adjacent guide rail elements (1) are connected to one another via rail connector plates (47) which are fastened to the Guide rail elements (1) are fastened, and / or wherein the guide rail elements (1) are fastened to the shaft wall (19) via wall brackets (55) which are fastened to the guide rail elements (1) by means of fastening elements (49) which engage in the grooves (37) in the respective guide rail elements (1).

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