Elevator apparatus

Abstract

An elevator apparatus according to the present disclosure comprises a speed governor, wherein the speed governor is provided with a pulley, a flyweight which moves according to the rotational speed of the pulley, a ratchet which is for actuating an emergency stop device, a claw which moves together with the flyweight and which is capable of engaging with the ratchet, and a biasing member which is for biasing the claw so as to prevent the claw from disengaging from the ratchet when the claw engages with the ratchet. Preferably, the biasing member does not bias the claw until the claw engages with the ratchet and the emergency stop device is actuated, and the biasing member biases the claw when the claw engages with the ratchet and the emergency stop device is actuated, to prevent the claw from disengaging from the ratchet.

Description

elevator equipment

[0001] The present disclosure relates to elevator systems.

[0002] Patent Document 1 below discloses an elevator governor. In this elevator governor, an inspection lever is provided on a base and is movable between a standby position and an inspection position where a flyweight is rotated to engage a latch with a ratchet. The inspection lever is remotely operated from the landing side via an inspection wire to move the lever.

[0003] Japanese Patent No. 4437574

[0004] In the conventional elevator system described above, the pawl is biased away from the ratchet, so that when the car rises after the safety device is activated, the pawl automatically returns to its normal operating position.

[0005] Emergency stop tests are sometimes required during qualification tests, pre-completion inspections, periodic inspections, etc. If the emergency stop device is activated during an emergency stop test, the counterweight may jump due to inertia and then fall, causing the claw to separate from the ratchet due to the resulting swing back movement, potentially resetting the speed governor. If the speed governor does reset, the car may once again free fall to an abnormal speed, which is a problem.

[0006] The present disclosure has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present disclosure is to provide an elevator system that can prevent the governor from returning to its original position due to backswing when an emergency stop device is activated.

[0007] The elevator apparatus according to the present disclosure is an elevator apparatus equipped with a speed governor, the speed governor including a pulley, a flyweight that displaces in accordance with the rotational speed of the pulley, a ratchet for activating an emergency stop device, a pawl that displaces together with the flyweight and is engageable with the ratchet, and a biasing member that biases the pawl when the pawl engages with the ratchet to prevent the pawl from disengaging from the ratchet.

[0008] According to the present disclosure, it is possible to provide an elevator device that can prevent the governor from returning to its original position due to backswing when the emergency stop device is activated.

[0009] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a speed governor provided in the elevator apparatus according to Embodiment 1. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the initial positions of the flyweight and the pawl. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a state in which the speed of the car has increased from the state in FIG. 2. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a state at the moment when the pawl engages with the ratchet, the rope catch catches the governor rope, and the safety device is activated. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a state when the safety device has stopped the car and the rotation of the pulley has stopped. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a state when the car has risen slightly due to rebound after the safety device has been activated. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a state when the car has descended.

[0010] Hereinafter, embodiments will be described with reference to the drawings. Common or corresponding elements in each drawing are designated by the same reference numerals, and descriptions thereof will be simplified or omitted. When angles are referred to in this disclosure, if there is a reflex angle and a minor angle whose sum is 360 degrees, this generally refers to the minor angle. If there is an acute angle and an obtuse angle whose sum is 180 degrees, this generally refers to the acute angle. Furthermore, the configurations shown in the following embodiments are examples of the technical ideas of the present disclosure, and may be combined with other known technologies, or multiple technical ideas described in the present disclosure may be combined. Furthermore, parts of the configurations may be omitted or modified without departing from the spirit of the present disclosure.

[0011] Embodiment 1. Figure 1 is a diagram showing a speed governor provided in an elevator system according to Embodiment 1. The speed governor 1 shown in Figure 1 is a device for forcibly stopping the movement of an elevator car (not shown) when the moving speed of the car exceeds a specific speed.

[0012] The speed governor 1 includes a pulley 2. A speed governor rope (not shown) is wound around the pulley 2. The speed governor rope is connected to the car. The speed governor rope moves as the car moves, causing the pulley 2 to rotate. When the car rises, the pulley 2 rotates clockwise in FIG. 1, and when the car descends, the pulley 2 rotates counterclockwise in FIG. 1.

[0013] A flyweight 3 is attached to the pulley 2. The flyweight 3 is displaced according to the rotational speed of the pulley 2. The flyweight 3 is rotatable about a first rotation axis 4 relative to the pulley 2. The flyweight 3 is displaced by the centrifugal force of the rotation of the pulley 2. A pair of flyweights 3 are provided point-symmetrically with respect to the center of the pulley 2. Only one of the flyweights 3 is shown in FIG. 1.

[0014] The governor 1 includes a ratchet 5 for activating an emergency stop device. The ratchet 5 is a ratchet wheel provided concentrically with the pulley 2.

[0015] The governor 1 includes a pawl 6. The pawl 6 is displaceable together with the flyweight 3 and is engageable with the ratchet 5. The pawl 6 is rotatable about a first rotation shaft 4 relative to the flyweight 3. When the flyweight 3 is displaced by centrifugal force, the pawl 6 is displaced in an actuating direction toward the ratchet 5. In the example of FIG. 1 , the actuating direction is a counterclockwise direction about the first rotation shaft 4.

[0016] When the flyweight 3 rotates to a certain angle, the pawl 6 engages with the ratchet 5. When the pawl 6 engages with the ratchet 5, the ratchet 5 rotates and a rope catch (not shown) catches the governor rope, activating the car's emergency stop device (not shown) and forcibly stopping the car.

[0017] The pawl 6 is biased by a spring (not shown) in a direction away from the ratchet 5, i.e., in the return direction. In the example of Fig. 1, the return direction is a clockwise direction around the first rotation shaft 4. If the biasing member 7 (described later) were not present, when the car rises after the safety device is activated, the pawl 6 would disengage from the ratchet 5, and the biasing force of the spring would automatically return the pawl 6 to the position it would be in during normal driving.

[0018] The emergency stop device is normally activated when the main rope suspending the car and counterweight breaks. However, an operational test of the emergency stop device may be required during certification testing, pre-completion inspections, periodic inspections, and other such testing. In such cases, the emergency stop device is activated when the main rope is still suspended and not broken. When the emergency stop device is activated and the car suddenly stops, the counterweight jumps due to inertia, and when the speed reaches zero, it begins to free fall by the amount of the jump. If the hoist brake is not activated at this time, the energy of the counterweight's free fall causes the car to rise slightly. In this disclosure, this phenomenon is referred to as "swing back." If the governor 1 is reset due to the rise of the car during this swing back, there is a problem in that the car will again free fall to an abnormal speed after the emergency stop device is activated.

[0019] Normally, the main rope breaks when the safety device operates, so the above-mentioned situation does not occur. However, when testing the safety device in a suspended state where the main rope is not broken, the governor 1 may automatically return to its original position due to swing back, which can be a problem. In consideration of this, in the elevator device of this embodiment, a biasing member 7 is provided on the flyweight 3 to bias the pawl 6 so that the pawl 6 does not disengage from the ratchet 5 when the pawl 6 engages with the ratchet 5. The biasing member 7 in this embodiment is a leaf spring. The biasing member 7 in the present disclosure is not limited to a leaf spring, and may be, for example, a coil spring.

[0020] Figure 2 shows the initial positions of the flyweight 3 and pawl 6. Figure 2 shows the state when the speed of the car is below the rated speed. In the state shown in Figure 2, the biasing member 7 is not biasing the pawl 6. In other words, the pawl 6 is not receiving force from the biasing member 7 in either the operating direction or the return direction. In the example shown in Figure 2, a bolt 9 provided at the rear end of the pawl 6 abuts against a recess 8 formed in the flyweight 3.

[0021] Figure 3 is a diagram showing a state in which the car speed has increased from the state in Figure 2. Figure 3 shows a state in which the car descends at an abnormal speed higher than the rated speed. In the state in Figure 3, the flyweight 3 and the pawl 6 rotate together in the operating direction around the first rotating shaft 4. The relative positional relationship between the pawl 6 and the biasing member 7 is the same as in Figure 2. In this embodiment, the biasing member 7 does not bias the pawl 6 until the pawl 6 engages with the ratchet 5, preventing the biasing member 7 from affecting the original function of the governor 1.

[0022] 4 shows the state at the moment when the pawl 6 engages with the ratchet 5, the rope catch catches the governor rope, and the emergency stop device is activated. In this state, the relative positional relationship between the pawl 6 and the biasing member 7 is the same as in FIG. 2.

[0023] 5 shows the state when the car is stopped by the safety device and the rotation of the pulley 2 is stopped. When the rotation of the pulley 2 is stopped, the flyweight 3 returns to its original position due to the force of the spring (not shown). However, because the pawl 6 is engaged with the ratchet 5, it does not return to its original position and the rotation angle of the pawl 6 is maintained. As a result, the biasing member 7 enters under the bolt 9 of the pawl 6, and the biasing member 7 biases the pawl 6 in the operating direction. In this embodiment, because the pawl 6 is rotatable relative to the flyweight 3 about the first rotation shaft 4, the pawl 6 can maintain its engagement with the ratchet 5 even when the flyweight 3 rotates in the return direction and returns to its original position.

[0024] 6 shows the state when the car rises slightly due to the backswing after the safety device has been activated. In this state, the pawl 6 and the ratchet 5 attempt to disengage, but the biasing member 7 contacts the bolt 9 and biases the pawl 6 in the activation direction, so the pawl 6 remains engaged with the ratchet 5. Therefore, the governor 1 does not return to its original position, and the safety device remains activated. Furthermore, even if the car moves upward after the pawl 6 engages with the ratchet 5, the pawl 6 rides over the teeth of the ratchet 5, so the movement of the pawl 6 and the ratchet 5 is not impeded.

[0025] Figure 7 shows the state when the car descends. After the state in Figure 6, when the car descends, the biasing member 7 holds the pawl 6 in a position where it engages with the ratchet 5, so the pawl 6 engages with the ratchet 5 regardless of the speed. Therefore, even if the car descends, the governor 1 does not return to its original position, and the rope catch catches the governor rope, instantly activating the safety device. In this way, the safety device remains activated. The relative positional relationship between the biasing member 7 and the pawl 6 is the same as in Figure 5.

[0026] The biasing member 7 is detachable from the flyweight 3. The biasing member 7 is a jig that is attached only when testing the safety device. Under normal circumstances, the biasing member 7 is left detached. This allows the governor 1 to be in an automatically resettable state under normal circumstances, and to be in an automatically resettable state during inspection.

[0027] As described above, in this embodiment, the biasing member 7 does not bias the pawl 6 until the pawl 6 engages with the ratchet 5 and the safety device is activated, and once the pawl 6 engages with the ratchet 5 and the safety device is activated, the biasing member 7 biases the pawl 6 in the activation direction so that the pawl 6 does not come off the ratchet 5. As a result, the safety device does not immediately activate when the car descends, but rather allows normal movement (travel at rated speed) until it is activated once.

[0028] REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 governor, 2 pulley, 3 flyweight, 4 first rotating shaft, 5 ratchet, 6 pawl, 7 biasing member, 8 recess, 9 bolt

Claims

1. An elevator device equipped with a governor, The speed governor is Pulley and a flyweight that is displaced in accordance with the rotational speed of the pulley; a ratchet for activating the emergency stop device; a pawl displaceable together with the flyweight and engageable with the ratchet; a biasing member that biases the pawl so that the pawl does not come off the ratchet when the pawl engages with the ratchet; An elevator device comprising:

2. The biasing member does not bias the pawl until the pawl engages with the ratchet and the safety device is activated, 2. The elevator apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the pawl engages with the ratchet and the safety device is activated, the biasing member biases the pawl so as to prevent the pawl from disengaging from the ratchet.

3. 3. The elevator apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the pawl is rotatable relative to the flyweight.

4. the flyweight is rotatable about a first rotation axis relative to the pulley, 3. The elevator apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the pawl is rotatable about the first rotation axis relative to the flyweight.

5. 3. The elevator apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the biasing member is removable.

6. 3. The elevator apparatus according to claim 1, wherein after the pawl engages with the ratchet, the pawl rides up on the teeth of the ratchet and does not interfere with the movement of the car even when the car moves in the upward direction.