elevator

Abstract

To provide an elevator that can reduce the workload involved in maintenance and inspection work. [Solution] The elevator 10 includes a housing 41 positioned close to the lifting range of the elevator car 20, a first maintenance target equipment 52 and a second maintenance target equipment 54 housed in the housing 41, and a front cover portion 60 whose upper end is rotatably supported by the housing 41 and which is configured to be openable and closable by bending, the front cover portion 60 includes a control panel 40 configured to be held in a first open position where the second maintenance target equipment 54, which is located on the lower side of the two maintenance target equipment 51 and 52, is exposed by bending it so as to protrude from the housing 41, and a first operating unit 28A that raises and lowers the elevator car 20 to a first predetermined position L1, which is a vertical position close to the front cover portion 60, and where the safety fence 70 does not obstruct the displacement of the front cover portion 60 when the front cover portion 60 of the control panel 40 is displaced from a closed state to the first open position.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an elevator, and more particularly to maintenance inspection work in an elevator hoistway.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, some elevators have a control unit installed for storing maintenance target devices such as electronic devices for controlling the operation of the car during maintenance inspection in the pit (bottom) of the hoistway.

[0003] By the way, when a control unit is installed in the pit of the hoistway, if the pit is flooded due to heavy rain or the like, the control unit will also be flooded, and subsequent restoration work will take time. Therefore, some elevators install the control unit at a position higher than the pit in the hoistway, for example, at the uppermost part in the hoistway.

[0004] Also, when installing the control unit at a high position in the hoistway, a maintenance worker gets on the car top, installs a safety fence around the car top, and then operates the car via the car top operation unit installed on the car top to raise and lower the car to the vicinity of the position where the control unit is installed before performing the work.

[0005] Regarding this point, Patent Document 1 discloses a control unit configured to be rotatably displaced between an upper normal position and a lower inspection position by rotating a rotating panel integrally with a maintenance target device attached to an equipment mounting plate around a rotation axis by operating an operation lever attached to the rotating panel.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0006]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

[0007] In the elevator described in Patent Document 1 above, if the control unit is installed at a position higher than the pit in the hoistway, maintenance personnel need to board the elevator car and raise or lower the car to a position close to the control unit to perform maintenance and inspection work. In this case, if the vertical position of the elevator car is relatively too low, the opening and closing operation of the control unit may not be able to be performed smoothly.

[0008] On the other hand, if the elevator car is positioned too high vertically, while maintenance personnel can reach the operating lever, the lever and rotating panel may protrude towards the center of the elevator shaft and come into contact with the safety fence, making it difficult to open and close the elevator car smoothly.

[0009] From these points, in order to perform maintenance and inspection work on the control unit without any problems, maintenance personnel must adjust the elevator car's lifting and lowering position while visually checking it through the control panel on top of the car, which presents a problem as adjusting the lifting and lowering position is time-consuming.

[0010] The present invention provides an elevator that can reduce the workload involved in maintenance and inspection work. [Means for solving the problem]

[0011] The present invention provides an elevator comprising a car that moves up and down an elevator shaft and a safety fence installed on the car, and includes a housing positioned close to the range of movement of the car, an object to be maintained and inspected housed inside the housing, and a cover portion whose upper end is rotatably supported by the housing and which is configured to be openable and closable by being folded so as to protrude from the housing, wherein the cover portion is configured to be held in a first open position in which the lower object to be inspected, which is located on the lower side of the object to be maintained and inspected, is exposed by being folded so as to protrude from the housing, and a first lifting operation unit that moves the car up and down to a first predetermined position which is a vertical position close to the cover portion and in which the safety fence does not obstruct the displacement of the cover portion when the cover portion of the control unit is displaced from a closed state to the first open position.

[0012] In the elevator of the present invention, the housing is configured to hold the cover portion in a second open position in which an upper inspection target located on the upper side of the maintenance and inspection target is also exposed, and may include a second lifting operation unit provided on the elevator car that raises and lowers the elevator car to a second predetermined position which is a vertical position close to the cover portion and is such that the safety fence does not obstruct the displacement of the cover portion when displacing the cover portion from the first open position to the second open position.

[0013] In the elevator of the present invention, the first lifting / lowering operation unit may be provided on top of the elevator car.

[0014] In the elevator of the present invention, the first lifting / lowering operation unit may be provided inside the elevator car.

[0015] In the elevator of the present invention, the first predetermined position may be set to a position where the cover portion can be reached while the passenger is on top of the elevator car. [Effects of the Invention]

[0016] According to the elevator of the present invention, by raising or lowering the vertical position of the elevator car to a first predetermined position via a first lifting operation unit, maintenance personnel can smoothly fold and open the cover from a closed position to a first open position. As a result, the workload for maintenance and inspection work can be reduced. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0017] [Figure 1] This figure shows the configuration around the ceiling of the elevator shaft in an elevator according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] This is a functional block diagram centered around the control panel shown in Figure 1. [Figure 3] Figure 3(a) shows the front view of the control panel, and Figure 3(b) shows the side view of the control panel along with the position of the elevator car. [Figure 4] This diagram schematically illustrates the movement of the front cover when the cover is displaced from a fully closed state to a partially open state while the elevator car is stopped at a first predetermined position. [Figure 5] Figures 5(a) and 5(b) show the operation of the cover, along with the position of the elevator car, from a state where the lower end of the lower panel of the front cover is inserted into the receiving part to expose the second maintenance target equipment in a half-open state, to a state where the cover is fully opened by further rotating the second panel upward and engaging the projection provided on the panel with the hook of the main body. [Figure 6] This is a functional block diagram centered on the control panel of an elevator according to a modified example of this embodiment. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0018] Hereinafter, the elevator 10 which is an embodiment of the present invention will be described while referring to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing the configuration of the hoistway 12 of the elevator 10. FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram centered on the control panel 40. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the elevator 10 includes a car 20 and a counterweight 21 suspended so as to be movable vertically in the hoistway 12 via a steel main rope 11, a first fixed pulley 13A, a second fixed pulley 13B, and a hoisting machine M. The first fixed pulley 13A and the second fixed pulley 13B are respectively attached to support portions FL1 and FL2 fixed to a beam 12A disposed at the top 12T which is the uppermost part of the hoistway 12.

[0019] Also, in the elevator 10 of the present embodiment, the main rope 11 is spanned so that the speed ratio (roping ratio) between the hoisting speed of the rope wheel M1 provided in the hoisting machine M and the ascending / descending speed of the car 20 becomes 2:1. Specifically, one end side of the main rope 11 is fixed to a support frame FL3 provided near the top 12T of the hoistway 12 via a hitch BL1, and hangs vertically downward to a pair of car lower pulleys 20a and 20b provided at the bottom of the car 20, the first fixed pulley 13A installed at the top 12T of the hoistway 12, the rope wheel M1 of the hoisting machine M fixed directly above the pit 12P in the hoistway 12, the second fixed pulley 13B at the top 12T of the hoistway 12, and a pulley 21a provided at the upper part of the counterweight 21, and is spanned in this order and the other end side is connected and fixed to the beam 12A of the hoistway 12 via a hitch BL2. In the present embodiment, the car lower pulleys 20a and 20b of the car 20 function as movable pulleys.

[0020] In the present embodiment, the hoisting machine M is disposed slightly above the pit 12P of the hoistway 12 as part of flood countermeasures during floods and the like, but it may be disposed in the pit 12P or at other locations in the hoistway 12.

[0021] The elevator 10 includes a control panel (control unit) 40 that comprehensively controls the operation of the car 20. The control panel 40 is installed on the top 12T of the hoistway 12, that is, on the wall surface of the hoistway 12 located slightly above the top floor landing 14A. In the present embodiment, the control panel 40 is installed slightly above the top floor landing 14A, but the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, the control panel 40 may be installed at other locations in the hoistway 12, such as slightly above the intermediate floor or the bottom floor landing 14.

[0022] As shown in FIG. 1, the car 20 has a car door 22. On the other hand, landing doors 16A, 16B, 16C,... (hereinafter, appropriately referred to as landing door "16" when there is no need to particularly distinguish) are provided at each floor landing 14A, 14B, 14C,... (hereinafter, appropriately referred to as landing "14" when there is no need to particularly distinguish).

[0023] Each landing door 16 is constantly biased in the direction in which the door closes via an elastic member such as a spring, and is held in a closed state via locking mechanisms 17A, 17B, 17C,... (hereinafter, appropriately referred to as locking mechanism "17" when there is no need to particularly distinguish) attached to the upper part. And each landing door 16 is provided so that the fixing by the locking mechanism 17 can be released and opened only when the above-described car 20 stops at a preset landing position, that is, a position where the vertical position of the floor surface in the car interior space of the car 20 substantially coincides with the vertical position of the floor surface at the landing 14 where passengers can board and alight from the car 20 via the landing door 16 (in other words, a position where the landing door 16 and the car door 22 face each other).

[0024] In addition, the locking mechanism 17 is provided with door open sensors 18A, 18B, 18C,... (hereinafter, appropriately referred to as door open sensor "18" when there is no need to particularly distinguish) having a function of detecting the open / closed state of the landing door 16.

[0025] As shown in Figure 1, an overhead control unit 26 is provided on the upper part 20T of the elevator car 20. The overhead control unit 26 includes a switching control unit 27 (see Figure 2) for switching the operating mode of the elevator car 20 from the normal operating mode (described later) to manual operation, and a lifting control unit 28 (see Figure 2) for raising and lowering the elevator car 20 when it is in manual operation mode. This allows the elevator car 20 to be raised and lowered while a maintenance worker is on the upper part 20T of the elevator car 20 during maintenance and inspection.

[0026] Furthermore, the lifting operation unit 28 is provided with a first operation unit (first lifting operation unit) 28A for raising and lowering the elevator car 20 to a first predetermined position L1 (see Figure 3(b)), which will be described in detail later, and a second operation unit (second lifting operation unit) 28B for raising and lowering the elevator car 20 from the first predetermined position L1 to a second predetermined position L2 (see Figure 5(a)).

[0027] As shown by the dashed line in Figure 1, a safety fence 70 is installed on the outer perimeter of the upper part 20T of the elevator car 20, which serves as a platform for maintenance personnel during maintenance inspections. This safety fence 70 is, for example, a prefabricated fence and is installed along the outer perimeter of the upper part 20T only during maintenance inspections. The safety fence 70 is then removed from the outer perimeter of the upper part 20T after the maintenance inspection is completed and stored in a designated place on the upper part 20T.

[0028] As shown in Figure 2, the control panel 40 includes a storage device 43 consisting of a ROM, RAM, and HDD in which various control programs are stored, and a processing unit such as a CPU (not shown). It functions as an operation control unit 44 that controls the drive of the hoisting machine M by reading the control programs from the storage device 43 and performing calculations, and a door monitoring unit 46 that detects the open / closed state of the landing door 16 via the door open sensor 18 described above.

[0029] The operation control unit 44 is configured to execute a normal operation mode in which the elevator car 20 is raised or lowered (moved) to each floor landing 14 based on landing calls made via landing control panels 15A, 15B, 15C, ... (hereinafter referred to as "landing control panel 15" as appropriate unless there is a need to distinguish between them) installed at each floor landing 14, or destination floor operations made via the car control panel 24 installed inside the elevator car 20, in other words, car call operations.

[0030] The car control panel 24 (see Figure 2), like the car control unit 26 described above, also has the function of switching the operating mode of the elevator car 20 from the normal operating mode (described later) to manual operation, and of raising and lowering the elevator car 20 when it is in manual operation mode.

[0031] Here, the elevator car 20 is fitted with a floor position detection unit 45 that has the function of detecting the position of the elevator car 20. This landing position detection unit 45 has the function of detecting light-shielding plates (not shown) provided on the wall surface of the hoistway 12 corresponding to each landing 14. As a result, the operation control unit 44 can determine whether or not the elevator car 20 is located at a preset landing position.

[0032] Next, the configuration of the control panel 40 will be explained with further reference to Figures 3(a) and 3(b). Figure 3(a) is a diagram showing the front configuration of the control panel 40, and Figure 3(b) is a diagram showing the side configuration of the control panel 40.

[0033] As shown in Figures 3(a) and 3(b), the control panel 40 has a housing 41 that has a roughly vertically elongated box-like appearance and is installed on the wall of the elevator shaft 12. The housing 41 houses a first maintenance target equipment (upper inspection target) 52 and a second maintenance target equipment (lower inspection target) 54, which consist of various electronic devices for controlling the raising and lowering of the elevator car 20. The first maintenance target equipment 52 is located at the top, and the second maintenance target equipment 54 is located at the bottom. In addition, a front cover section 60 that can be opened and closed in the middle is attached to the front side of both maintenance target equipment 52 and 54.

[0034] As shown in Figure 3(a), the front cover portion 60 includes a first panel 62 whose upper end is rotatably supported by the housing 41, and a second panel 64 which is rotatably connected to the lower end of the first panel 62. Both panels 62 and 64 are members that have a roughly rectangular shape when viewed from the front, and projections Q1 and Q2 that protrude in the width direction are provided slightly above both ends of the second panel 64 in the width direction. The lower ends of the second panel 64 are fixed to the housing 41 using bolts BT1 and BT2. The bolts BT1 and BT2 are inserted into slits SL1 and SL2 provided on both ends of the lower end of the second panel 64 in the width direction, thereby fixing the second panel 64 to the housing 41.

[0035] The first panel 62 is positioned to cover the upper front side of the first maintenance target equipment 52 and the second maintenance target equipment 54 described above, and the second panel 64 is positioned to cover the front side of the entire part of the second maintenance target equipment 54 except for the upper part.

[0036] In this embodiment, the central part of the front cover portion 60 in the vertical direction, more specifically the lower end of the first panel 62 and the upper end of the second panel 64, are not fixed to the housing 41, but they may be fixed detachably using bolts.

[0037] Here, Figure 4 shows the relationship between the movement of the front cover portion 60 from the fully closed position to the half-open position and the position of the safety fence 70 installed on the elevator car 20 when it is in the first predetermined position L1. The dashed line P1 shows the state of the front cover portion 60 when it is slightly open, the dashed line P2 shows the state of the front cover portion 60 when it is opened further than P1, and the solid line P3 shows the state of the front cover portion 60 when it is in the half-open position (first open position).

[0038] As shown in Figure 4, when the front cover portion 60 is in a half-open state, the lower end of the second panel 64 is inserted into the receiving portion U1 of the housing 41, so that the front cover portion 60 is held in a roughly triangular folded state when viewed from the side.

[0039] As shown in Figure 4, the front cover portion 60 becomes rotatable when the bolts BT1 and BT2 (see Figure 3(a)) that connect and fix the lower end of the second panel 64 to the housing 41 are removed. Then, by pushing the second panel 64 upward, the front cover portion 60 is rotated while being folded upward in the order of P1, P2, and P3.

[0040] In this configuration, the elevator car 20 is positioned at a first predetermined position L1 such that the upper end 70T of the safety fence 70 is opposite the lower end of the front cover portion 60, i.e., the lower end of the second panel 64, or directly below the lower end of the front cover portion 60. In this embodiment, the vertical length of the safety fence 70 (the distance between the upper end 70T of the safety fence 70 and the top of the elevator car 20T) is set to 900 mm as an example.

[0041] The first predetermined position L1 described above is a position that does not hinder the displacement of the second panel 64 when the front cover portion 60 is displaced to positions P1 to P3, and is also a position close to the front cover portion 60 in the fully closed state. Therefore, a maintenance worker who has boarded the elevator car 20T can easily reach the front cover portion 60 by extending their hand. As a result, the front cover portion 60 can be easily opened, and the lower end of the second panel 64 can be easily inserted into the receiving portions U1 and U2 when it is in the half-open state. As a result, the front cover portion 60 can be held in place by the housing 41.

[0042] As a result, the front cover 60 is left partially open, exposing the second maintenance target equipment 54, allowing maintenance personnel to perform maintenance work such as visual inspection and replacement from the outside.

[0043] In this embodiment, the first predetermined position L1 is set so that the elevator car 20 stops at a position slightly lower than the preset landing position of the top floor landing 14A.

[0044] Next, using Figures 5(a) and 5(b), we will explain the procedure for moving the front cover portion 60 from the half-open state to the fully open position described above. As shown in Figure 5(a), the elevator car 20 is raised from the first predetermined position L1 to the second predetermined position L2. Here, the second predetermined position L2 is set directly below and close to the second panel 64 of the front cover portion 60, which is held in the half-open state. This makes it easier for maintenance personnel on top of the elevator car 20T to push the second panel 64 further upward by hand.

[0045] As shown in Figure 5(b), hooks R1 and R2 (see Figure 3(a)) are rotatably mounted on both ends in the width direction of the upper end of the housing 41 (in other words, above the front cover portion 60). The maintenance worker lifts the second panel 64 and rotates the hooks R1 and R2 from the position indicated by the dashed line to the position indicated by the solid line in the enlarged partial view included in part of Figure 5(b), engaging the projections Q1 and Q2 with the projections Q1 and Q2, respectively.

[0046] This allows the front cover 60 to be fully opened, exposing the first maintenance target equipment 52 housed in the housing 41. As a result, maintenance and inspection work on the first maintenance target equipment 52 can also be performed. The fully open position corresponds to the second open position.

[0047] Next, we will explain the procedure for maintenance and inspection of the control panel 40 described above. As shown in Figures 3(a) and 3(b), for example, when two maintenance personnel perform the inspection work, one of the maintenance personnel will be inside the elevator car 20 beforehand and will switch from normal operation mode to manual operation mode via the car operation panel 24. Then, the elevator car 20 will be raised or lowered to a position where it is possible to board the upper part of the elevator car 20T from the top floor landing 14A.

[0048] Next, the other maintenance worker, who is waiting at the top floor landing 14A, uses a special tool to open the landing door 16A and boards the elevator car 20T, switching to manual operation via the switching operation unit 27 in the elevator car operation unit 26. Then, as shown by the dashed line in Figure 1, the safety fence 70, which is pre-loaded on the elevator car 20T, is assembled and installed.

[0049] Next, as shown in Figure 3(b), the elevator car 20 is manually raised or lowered via the first operating section 28A of the elevator car operating section 26 (see Figure 2) to a first predetermined position L1 close to the control panel 40.

[0050] Here, Figure 4 shows the positional relationship between the front cover portion 60 and the safety fence 70 when the front cover portion 60 is displaced from a fully closed state to a half-open state at the first predetermined position L1. In this state, as shown in Figure 4, the front cover portion 60 is displaced in the order of symbols P1, P2, and P3 to a half-open state and maintenance and inspection work is performed on the first maintenance target equipment 52.

[0051] Subsequently, as shown in Figure 5(a), the elevator car 20 is raised from the first predetermined position L1 (shown by a dashed line) to the second predetermined position L2 (shown by a solid line) via the second operating section 28B of the elevator car operating section 26 (see Figure 2). This allows maintenance personnel to approach the partially open front cover section 60 sufficiently. Then, the partially open front cover section 60 is further raised, and the projections Q1 and Q2 of the second panel 64 are engaged with the hooks R1 and R2 to fully open it. In this state, maintenance and inspection work is performed on the first maintenance target equipment 52.

[0052] After the maintenance and inspection work on the first maintenance target equipment 52 is completed, the front cover portion 60 is returned to its original position in the reverse order of the procedure described above. More specifically, the engagement of the protrusions Q1, Q2 and hooks R1, R2 of the second panel 64 of the front cover portion 60 is released, and the lower end of the second panel 64 is rotated downward to a position where it can be inserted into the receiving portions U1, U2 of the housing 41, and then held in a half-open state. Next, the elevator car 20 is lowered from the second predetermined position L2 to the first predetermined position L1 via the second operating portion 28B of the elevator car operating portion 26, and then the lower end of the second panel 64 is pulled out from the receiving portions U1, U2 and rotated downward, and bolts BT1, BT2 are inserted into the slits SL1, SL2 at the lower end of the panel 64, respectively, to secure it.

[0053] Subsequently, the vertical position of the elevator car 20 is adjusted via the elevator car control unit 26, and it moves from the elevator car 20T to the top floor landing 14A. Then, a maintenance worker inside the elevator car 20 uses the elevator car control panel 24 to raise and lower the elevator car 20 in manual operation mode to a predetermined landing position at the designated landing, and then switches to normal operation mode. This completes the series of maintenance and inspection work on the control panel 40.

[0054] According to the control panel 40 of this embodiment, by raising or lowering the vertical position of the elevator car 20 to a first predetermined position L1 via the first operation unit 28A, maintenance personnel can smoothly fold and open the front cover 60 from the closed position (fully closed) to the first open position (half-open). As a result, the workload for maintenance and inspection work can be reduced.

[0055] Furthermore, according to the housing 41 of this embodiment, the front cover portion 60 can be held in a folded state by engaging the projections Q1 and Q2 with the hooks R1 and R2 provided above the front cover portion 60, thereby exposing the first maintenance target equipment 52 and the second maintenance target equipment 54. This allows maintenance and inspection work to be performed without moving the first maintenance target equipment 52 and the second maintenance target equipment 54. As a result, the workability of maintenance and inspection work can also be improved.

[0056] In the first embodiment described above, the housing 41 is shown as being able to hold the front cover portion 60 in both a half-open and fully-open state, but the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, if it is only necessary to hold the front cover portion 60 in a half-open state, the hooks R1 and R2 described above do not need to be provided. Also, if it is only necessary to hold the front cover portion 60 in a fully-open state, the receiving portions U1 and U2 may not be provided on the side plates 41A and 41B of the housing 41.

[0057] In the above embodiment, a control panel 40 for controlling the operation of the elevator car 20 is used as an example, but the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, the present invention may be applied to other control units installed in the elevator shaft 12.

[0058] In the above embodiment, the case in which a first lifting operation unit 28A is provided as a first lifting operation unit on the car-top operation unit 26 is given as an example, but the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, instead of providing the first operation unit 28A on the car-top operation unit 26, or in addition to this, a first lifting operation unit 24A may be provided on the car control panel 24 inside the elevator car 20 so that maintenance work can be performed by even just one maintenance worker. An elevator 100 according to this modified example will be explained with reference to Figure 6. In the following description, parts that differ in configuration from the above embodiment will be mainly explained, and parts that are the same as in the above embodiment will be indicated by the same reference numerals as appropriate, and their explanation will be omitted.

[0059] Figure 6 shows a functional block centered on the control panel 40 in elevator 100, which is a modified example of the above embodiment. As shown in Figure 6, elevator 100 has the same configuration as elevator 10, except that it is equipped with a first lifting / lowering operation unit 24A on the car operation panel 24 provided inside the elevator car 20. This first lifting / lowering operation unit 24A has the function of raising and lowering the elevator car 20 between a preset landing position on the top floor landing 14A and the first predetermined position L1, similar to the first operation unit 28A in the above embodiment.

[0060] On the other hand, the first lifting operation unit 24A differs from the first operation unit 28A in the above embodiment in that it has the function of raising and lowering the elevator car 20 between a preset landing position on the top floor landing 14A and the first predetermined position L1, even when there are no maintenance personnel inside. The following describes the differences between the work procedure for maintenance and inspection work using the first lifting operation unit 24A and the above embodiment.

[0061] The first lifting operation unit 24A opens the landing door 16A and the car door 22 for a predetermined time after switching from normal operation mode to manual operation mode via the car control panel 24 while the elevator car 20 is stopped at a preset landing position on the top floor landing 14A. At this time when the doors are open, maintenance personnel can move from inside the elevator car 20 to the top floor landing 14A.

[0062] Then, after the predetermined time has elapsed, the landing door 16A and the car door 22 close (door closed), and the elevator car 20 descends to the first predetermined position L1 with the elevator car 20 unoccupied. The maintenance worker who has moved to the top floor landing 14A opens the landing door 16A using a special tool and boards the elevator car 20T. Once on the elevator car 20T, the maintenance worker closes the landing door 16A and switches from normal operation mode to manual operation mode via the switching operation unit 27.

[0063] Next, the maintenance worker, similar to the embodiment described above, installs the safety fence 70 on the outer perimeter of the upper part of the elevator car 20T and moves the front cover 60 from a fully closed state to a half-open state. Then, using the second operating section 28B of the upper elevator car operating section 26, the maintenance worker raises the elevator car 20 from a first predetermined position L1 to a second predetermined position L2, thereby moving the front cover 60 from a half-open state to a fully open state and performing maintenance and inspection work.

[0064] After the maintenance work is completed, the maintenance worker first opens the front cover section 60 from the fully open state to a partially open state using the reverse procedure of the above, and then lowers the elevator car 20 from the second predetermined position L2 to the first predetermined position L1 via the second operating section 28B to fully close the front cover section 60.

[0065] Then, after removing the safety fence 70 from the outer perimeter of the upper car 20T, the maintenance worker opens the landing door 16A by hand and moves from the upper car 20T to the top floor landing 14A. From the top floor landing 14A, the maintenance worker reaches out and operates the switching operation unit 27 on the upper car 20T to switch from manual operation mode to normal operation mode. In this embodiment, after the switching operation from manual operation mode to normal operation mode is performed via the switching operation unit 27 and the landing door 16A is closed, the operation control unit 44 raises the elevator car 20 to the preset landing position on the top floor landing 14A. The maintenance worker then moves into the elevator car 20 from the top floor landing 14A and switches from manual operation mode to normal operation mode via the car operation panel 24, completing the series of maintenance and inspection work on the control panel 40.

[0066] In the case of the elevator 100 according to this modified example, the same effects as in the above embodiment can be obtained.

[0067] The present invention can be implemented in various forms with improvements, modifications, or alterations based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art, without departing from its spirit. Furthermore, the invention may be implemented in a form in which any of its defining features is replaced with other technologies, as long as the same function or effect is achieved. [Explanation of symbols]

[0068] 10 Elevators 11 Main rope 12 elevator shaft 12T top Platforms 14, 14A, 14B, 14C 15, 15A, 15B, 15C Platform control panel Doors to platforms 16, 16A, 16B, and 16C 17, 17A, 17B, 17C Locking mechanism 18, 18A, 18B, 18C Door Open Sensor 20 car 24. Cage control panel 24A First lifting operation unit 26. Control panel on top of the elevator car 27 Switching operation unit 28 Lifting and lowering control unit 28A First operating section (first lifting / lowering operating section) 28B Second control unit (second lifting / lowering control unit) 40 Control panel (control unit) 41 cabinets 43. Memory Devices 44 Operation control panel 46 Door Monitoring Unit 52. Equipment subject to maintenance (objects to be inspected from above) 54. Second-tier equipment subject to maintenance (items to be inspected from below) 60 Front cover section 62 Panel 1 64 Panel 2 BT1, BT2 bolts U1, U2 receiving part Q1,Q2 protrusion R1, R2 hooks

Claims

1. An elevator comprising a car that moves up and down an elevator shaft, and a safety fence installed on the car of the elevator, A control unit comprising a housing positioned close to the lifting and lowering range of the elevator car, an object to be maintained and inspected housed within the housing, and a cover portion whose upper end is rotatably supported by the housing and which is configured to be openable and closable by being bent so as to protrude from the housing, wherein the cover portion is configured to be held in a first open position where the lower object to be inspected, located on the lower side of the object to be maintained and inspected, is exposed when bent so as to protrude from the housing, A first lifting operation unit that, when displacing the cover portion of the control unit from a closed state to the first open position, raises and lowers the elevator car to a first predetermined position which is a vertical position close to the cover portion and where the safety fence does not obstruct the displacement of the cover portion, An elevator that includes this.

2. The housing is configured to hold the cover portion in a second open position in which the upper inspection target, located on the upper side of the maintenance and inspection target, is also exposed. The elevator car includes a second lifting operation unit provided on the elevator car, which raises and lowers the elevator car to a second predetermined position that is a vertical position close to the cover portion and where the safety fence does not obstruct the displacement of the cover portion when the cover portion is displaced from the first open position to the second open position. The elevator according to claim 1.

3. The first lifting operation unit is provided on the elevator car, The elevator according to claim 1.

4. The first lifting operation unit is located inside the elevator car. The elevator according to claim 1.

5. The first predetermined position is set to a position where the cover portion can be reached when the passenger is seated on the elevator car. The elevator according to claim 1.

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