Cargo collapse suppressing device for parcel elevator

Abstract

This cargo collapse suppressing device comprises: a cargo installation floor (26) which is provided on a car floor (17) of a car body (15), and which can be inclined with the far end opposite to the door (20) serving as a fulcrum (M) so that the door (20) side is higher in the horizontal direction; and a floor inclination device (28) which is provided between the car floor (17) and the cargo installation floor (26) and is provided on the door (20) side of the fulcrum (M), and which inclines the cargo installation floor (26) by raising a movable body that can move in the vertical direction.

Description

Device for preventing luggage from falling over on small luggage elevators

[0001] The present invention relates to a device for preventing luggage from falling over in an elevator for small luggage, and more particularly to preventing luggage in a car body from falling over against a door.

[0002] Conventionally, small parcel elevators have been used to transport parcels between multiple floors. Users do not board the car of the small parcel elevator; only the parcels are placed inside the car and moved to the destination floor.

[0003] Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 5-89380 discloses a structure in which a baggage handling device is provided below the elevator car body. The baggage handling device is rotatably supported on the upper side of a floor support frame at the lower end of the car body, with the doorway end as a fulcrum, and includes a car floor that can be tilted downward toward the rear of the car body. The car floor is supported on the upper end of a hydraulic cylinder fixed to the center of the floor support frame and tilts when the hydraulic cylinder is lowered. When loading baggage into the car body, the car floor is tilted downward toward the rear. In this state, cylindrical baggage can be moved from the baggage doorway to the rear of the car body by rolling onto the car floor. When unloading baggage from the car body, the car floor is tilted upward toward the rear, and the baggage is rolled onto the car floor and unloaded to a landing.

[0004] Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open Publication No. 5-89380

[0005] When the car is loaded with luggage and is raised or lowered, the luggage may fall toward the door that is closing the entrance to the car. This may cause the door to be pushed by the luggage, preventing the door from opening when the car has reached its destination floor.

[0006] To prevent cargo from tipping toward the door, a possible solution is to use the car floor of the cargo handling device described in Patent Document 1 and a hydraulic cylinder that tilts the car floor. When the door is closed, the car floor is tilted downward toward the rear, causing the cargo to tip toward the rear of the car floor and preventing the cargo from tipping toward the door. However, in this case, when the car floor is returned to a horizontal position, a large space is formed between the car floor and the floor support frame below it to allow the car floor to tilt downward toward both the door and the rear for loading and unloading cargo. This could result in the cargo storage space in the car body being excessively small compared to the external dimensions of the car body.

[0007] The object of the present invention is to realize a luggage tipping prevention device for an elevator exclusively for small luggage, which can prevent the luggage storage space in the car body from becoming excessively small compared to the external shape of the car body, and can prevent luggage inside the car body from tipping toward the door.

[0008] The luggage tipping prevention device for an elevator dedicated to small parcels of the present invention is a luggage tipping prevention device for an elevator dedicated to small parcels, which is an elevator dedicated to small parcels and has a car body that stores luggage and moves up and down an elevator shaft, and a door that opens and closes the entrance and exit of the car body, and prevents the luggage from tipping toward the door.The luggage tipping prevention device for an elevator dedicated to small parcels is equipped with: a luggage placement floor that is provided on the car floor of the car body and can be tilted so that the door side is higher in the horizontal direction, with the back end opposite the door as a fulcrum; and a floor tilting device that is provided between the car floor and the luggage placement floor, closer to the door than the fulcrum, and tilts the luggage placement floor by raising a movable body that can move up and down.

[0009] According to the luggage tipping suppression device for a small parcel elevator of the present invention, with luggage placed on the luggage placement floor, the floor tilting device can be driven to tilt the luggage so that it tilts toward the rear of the car body. This prevents luggage from tipping toward the closed door when the car body is raised or lowered, making it difficult to open the door. This prevents unintentional interruptions to users' work of lifting or lowering luggage using the elevator and reduces the costs of dispatching workers to troubleshoot door opening problems for elevator maintenance companies. Furthermore, because the luggage placement floor tilts from the rear end as a fulcrum so that the door side is higher, unlike when the luggage placement floor is tilted from the entrance end as a fulcrum so that the rear side is lower or higher, this prevents the luggage storage space of the car body from becoming excessively small compared to the external dimensions of the car body when the luggage placement floor is not tilted.

[0010] The luggage tipping prevention device of the present invention may be configured to include an operating unit attached to a luggage entrance / exit, and a control device that controls the floor tilting device to tilt the luggage placement floor in response to a tilt instruction given by operating the operating unit, and to move the luggage placement floor to a horizontal state in response to a tilt cancellation instruction given by operating the operating unit.

[0011] With this configuration, the user can move the luggage placement floor while checking the safety of the area around the luggage placement floor.

[0012] The luggage fall prevention device of the present invention may include a control device that controls the operation of the door opening and closing device that opens and closes the door and the operation of the floor tilting device, and the control device may be configured to start the closing operation of the door and tilt the luggage placement floor when a condition for starting the closing operation of the door is met, and to start the opening operation of the door and move the luggage placement floor to a horizontal state when a condition for starting the opening operation of the door is met.

[0013] With this configuration, the luggage placement floor can begin moving between horizontal and inclined states at the same time as the door opening and closing operation begins, thereby preventing the time required to move luggage using an elevator from being extended by the movement of the luggage placement floor.

[0014] The luggage tipping prevention device of the present invention may be provided with a lower extension member fixed to extend downward near the entrance / exit of the luggage placement floor, and the lower extension member may be configured to cover the gap formed between the door side end of the luggage placement floor and the upper end of the car floor when the luggage placement floor is tilted.

[0015] This configuration more reliably prevents a user's hands or feet from being accidentally pinched in the gap formed between the luggage placement floor and the car floor when the luggage placement floor is tilted. Furthermore, there is no need to provide a plate member protruding upward from the top surface of the car floor near the entrance / exit of the car floor of the car body to cover the gap formed between the door-side edge of the luggage placement floor and the upper end of the car floor when the luggage placement floor is tilted. This makes it easy to load luggage into the car body when the luggage placement floor is horizontal.

[0016] In the luggage tipping prevention device of the present invention, the floor tilting device is the moving body, and is a solenoid device including a rod that has a tip facing the underside of the luggage placement floor and moves up and down, and a coil that raises the rod by supplying current, and is equipped with a position sensor that detects the vertical position of the rod, and a control device that supplies current to the coil according to the planned raised position of the rod, and the control device may be configured to reduce the current supplied to the coil when it determines, based on the relationship between the detected position of the position sensor and time, that the rod has stopped at a position lower than the planned raised position for a predetermined period of time or more when the rod is raised.

[0017] According to this configuration, when the luggage contacts the ceiling of the car due to the inclination of the luggage placement floor, the luggage can be prevented from being continuously pushed against the ceiling with a large force, thereby preventing damage to the luggage.

[0018] The luggage fall prevention device of the present invention may be configured to include a plurality of distance sensors that are provided at multiple positions above and below the rear wall of the cage body and measure the horizontal distance to the luggage that is facing horizontally within the cage body, and a control device that tilts the luggage placement floor only if the distances to the luggage measured by the plurality of distance sensors differ simultaneously with or after the start of the closing operation of the door.

[0019] With this configuration, when the luggage is rectangular or otherwise shaped with upright sides, the luggage placement floor is tilted after the door starts to close only if there is a high possibility that multiple pieces of luggage are stacked on top of each other, making the luggage more likely to tip over, thereby reducing energy consumption and improving the durability of the floor tilting device components.

[0020] The luggage tipping prevention device for a small luggage elevator of the present invention can prevent the luggage storage space in the car body from becoming excessively small compared to the external shape of the car body, and can prevent luggage inside the car body from tipping toward the door.

[0021] 1 is a diagram illustrating the overall configuration of a small parcel elevator equipped with a luggage tipping prevention device of an embodiment; FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the position of a luggage placement floor when the car door is open, in a cross-sectional view of a car including a luggage tipping prevention device of an embodiment; FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a control configuration for controlling the operation of a floor inclination device of an embodiment; FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the position of a luggage placement floor when the car door is closed, in a cross-sectional view of a passenger car including a luggage tipping prevention device of an embodiment; FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a control method for a floor inclination device when the rod is raised, in another example of an embodiment; FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a control method for a luggage tipping prevention device of another example of an embodiment; FIG. 7 is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 2 showing the door open state (a) and the door closed state (b) of the floor inclination device when there is no luggage piled up, in a luggage tipping prevention device of another example of an embodiment;

[0022] Hereinafter, an embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. The shapes, materials, positions, and numbers described below are examples for the purpose of explanation, and can be changed as appropriate depending on the specifications of the luggage tipping prevention device or the elevator for small luggage. In the following description, the same elements will be assigned the same reference numerals in all drawings.

[0023] First, a small parcel elevator to which the luggage tipping suppression device of the embodiment is applied will be described. FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of the small parcel elevator 10. The small parcel elevator 10 includes a car 11 that moves up and down a hoistway 80. Hereinafter, the small parcel elevator 10 will be referred to as the elevator 10. The car 11 is a box-shaped structure dedicated to lifting luggage, which accommodates luggage 100 and moves the luggage 100 up and down between floors H1 and H2. The hoistway 80 is disposed so as to extend vertically inside the building in which the elevator 10 is installed. In FIG. 1 , the car 11 is moving between two floors H1 and H2, and the luggage 100 in the car 11 is tilted toward the rear of the car 11 (the right side in FIG. 1 ) due to the tilt of the luggage placement floor 26. This prevents the luggage 100 from tilting toward the car door 20. The structure for tilting the luggage placement floor 26 will be described in detail later.

[0024] One end of a main rope 12 is connected to the upper end of the car 11, and a counterweight 13 is connected to the other end of the main rope 12. A car lifting device 82 is installed in a machine room 81 located at the top of the hoistway 80. The car lifting device 82 includes an electric motor 83 and a hoist 84 that is connected to the output shaft of the electric motor 83 via a gear mechanism such as a bevel gear mechanism so that power can be transmitted. The main rope 12 is wound around the hoist 84. The main rope 12 moves up and down when the hoist 84 is driven. The car lifting device 82 is controlled by a control device 86 installed in the machine room 81. As a result, the car 11 moves up and down in the hoistway 80.

[0025] A control cable 14 is led out from the underside of the car 11 and connected to a control device 86 in the machine room 81. The control cable 14 includes, for example, a signal line for transmitting and receiving control signals between the car 11 and the control device 86, and a power line for supplying power to the car 11.

[0026] The elevator 10 is provided with a luggage tipping suppression device 25 including a floor tilting device 28 to suppress tipping of luggage 100 inside the car 11 toward the car door 20. Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the car 11 showing the position of the luggage placement floor 26 when the car door 20 is open. Fig. 3 shows a control configuration for controlling the operation of the floor tilting device 28.

[0027] The car 11 has a car body 15 in which luggage 100 is stored and car doors 20 that open and close an entrance / exit 16 of the car body 15. The luggage 100 is a small parcel that can be moved by a person's own strength, for example, by a person holding it in their hands. While FIG. 1 shows two rectangular parallelepiped luggage 100 whose outer shape is defined by a box made of cardboard or the like stacked inside the car 11, the present invention is not limited to this. The car doors 20 include an upper door 21 and a lower door 22 that move in opposite directions in the vertical direction. The car doors 20 are closed when the upper door 21 and the lower door 22 move toward each other, and are opened when the upper door 21 and the lower door 22 move away from each other.

[0028] The car door 20 is opened and closed by a door opening / closing device 90 shown in FIG. 3 . The operation of the door opening / closing device 90 is controlled by a control device 86. Specifically, the door opening / closing device 90 includes, for example, a door opening / closing motor and a door moving mechanism that receives power from the door opening / closing motor and uses the power to move the upper door 21 and the lower door 22 in opposite directions in the up-down direction. The door opening / closing motor is controlled by a control signal from the control device 86. For example, consider a case where a user presses the current floor button on an operation panel (not shown) attached to the wall 94 of the baggage entrance / exit 92 on the first floor H1 (or the second floor H2) to register a call instructing the car 11 to move from the second floor H2 (or the first floor H1) to the first floor H1 (or the second floor H2) where the user is located. In this case, the control device 86 receives the call registration signal and controls the car lifting device 82 to move the car 11 to the floor where the user is located. When the car 11 arrives, it turns on the lifting light provided on the operation panel and sends a control signal to the door opening / closing device 90 (FIG. 3) to open the car door 20. At this time, the car arrival may be notified by a voice announcement. When the user recognizes that the car has arrived at their floor, they manually open the entrance door 60 that blocks the opening 93 of the baggage entrance / exit 92 and place the baggage in the car 11. Like the car door 20, the entrance door 60 is configured to include an upper door and a lower door that move in opposite directions in the vertical direction.

[0029] Next, the luggage tipping suppression device 25 will be described in detail using Figures 2 and 3. The luggage tipping suppression device 25 includes a luggage placement floor 26 provided above the car floor 17 that constitutes the bottom of the car body 15, a floor inclination device 28 that inclines the luggage placement floor 26, a floor inclination operation unit 40, and a control device 86. A recess 101 is provided on the top surface of the car floor 17, extending from a position slightly inboard of the doorway 16 to a middle portion of the car 11 in the front-to-rear direction (left-to-right direction in Figure 2). The luggage placement floor 26 is a flat plate formed, for example, from a metal plate, and is disposed so as to rest on the top surface of the car floor 17 and cover the opening of the recess 101. The luggage placement floor 26 is supported by the car body 15 with a fulcrum M at the rear end opposite the car door 20 (the right end in Figures 1 and 2). The fulcrum M is, for example, fixed to the far end of the luggage placement floor 26 and is configured by an axis extending in the left-right direction of the car 11 (the front-to-back direction in Figures 1 and 2). Both ends of the axis forming the fulcrum M are rotatably supported near the car floor 17 on the walls at both ends of the car body 15. This allows the luggage placement floor 26 to be tilted so that the car door 20 side is higher than the horizontal direction. When the luggage placement floor 26 is in a horizontal state, the upper surface of the entrance / exit side end of the car floor 17 and the upper surface of the luggage placement floor 26 are located on the same horizontal plane.

[0030] 3, the floor inclination device 28 is a solenoid device including a substantially cylindrical case 29 with a bottom, a rod 30 that is a movable body arranged so as to be movable in the vertical direction within the case 29, and a coil 32 that is arranged around the rod 30 inside the case 29. The rod 30 extends in the vertical direction, and the tip, which is the upper end, faces and contacts the underside of the luggage placement floor 26.

[0031] The floor inclination device 28 is attached, for example, by fitting from below, into a hole formed in the underside of the car floor 17 at a position corresponding to the central portion in the front-to-rear direction (left-to-right direction in FIG. 2 ) of a recess 101 that is closer to the car door 20 than the fulcrum M. In this state, the rod 30 is disposed in the space within the recess 101 of the car floor 17 and is provided so as to be movable in the vertical direction. The tip end portion of the rod 30 can protrude above the upper surface of the end of the car floor 17 on the doorway 16 side, which is the uppermost end of the car floor 17. When positioned at the lowest position, for example, the rod 30 has an upper portion 30a made of a non-magnetic material such as non-magnetic steel and formed above the vertical center of the coil 32, and a lower portion 30b made of a ferromagnetic material such as iron and formed below the boundary.

[0032] The coil 32 is disposed in the vertical middle of the inside of the case 29. Supplying current to the coil 32 generates a magnetic field, which attracts the lower portion 30b of the rod 30 to the coil 32, causing the rod 30 to rise. Current is supplied to the coil 32 by a solenoid current control section 87 of the control device 86. A position sensor 34 is provided inside the case 29 at a position facing the outer circumferential surface of the lower end of the rod 30. The position sensor 34 detects the vertical position of the rod 30 and transmits a detection signal to the control device 86.

[0033] The floor tilt operation unit 40 is attached to a wall 94 around an opening 93 that is closed by the entrance door 60 of the baggage entrance 92 at each of a plurality of floors at which the car 11 arrives. The floor tilt operation unit 40 may be provided on a control panel attached to the wall 94. The floor tilt operation unit 40 is, for example, an operation button that alternates between on and off by pressing the button, or a rocker-type on / off switch. When the floor tilt operation unit 40 is turned on, it outputs an instruction to tilt the baggage placement floor 26 to the control device 86, and when turned off, it outputs an instruction to cancel the tilt to move the baggage placement floor 26 to a horizontal state to the control device 86. For example, as shown in FIG. 4 , when the car door 20 is closed, the user turns on the floor tilt operation unit 40 to output an instruction to tilt the baggage placement floor 26 to the control device 86.

[0034] When the above tilt command is input in response to operation of the floor tilt operation unit 40, the control device 86 controls the floor tilt device 28 to supply current to the coil 32 of the floor tilt device 28 so as to tilt the luggage placement floor 26, as shown in Fig. 4. At this time, a solenoid current control unit 87 of the control device 86 supplies current to the coil 32 in accordance with a preset height of the planned raised position of the rod 30. A height adjustment operation unit capable of adjusting the planned raised position of the rod 30 may be provided on the wall 94 of the luggage entrance 92, and current may be supplied to the coil 32 in accordance with the height of the planned raised position adjusted by the height adjustment operation unit.

[0035] When this height adjustment operation unit is provided, the luggage placement floor 26 can be inclined to a large extent when the luggage does not contain fragile items and a large inclination is permitted, and the luggage placement floor 26 can be inclined to a small extent when the luggage contains fragile items and a large inclination is not permitted.

[0036] The solenoid current control unit 87 checks the vertical position of the rod 30 indicated by the detection signal from the position sensor 34, and when it detects that the rod 30 has risen to the planned raised position, it controls the current to the coil 32 so as to maintain that position. A direct current is supplied to the coil 32 from, for example, a direct current power supply. This allows the rod 30 of the floor tilting device 28 to be raised, and the baggage placement floor 26 pushed by the tip of the rod 30 tilts downward toward the back of the car 11.

[0037] On the other hand, when the tilt cancellation command is input in response to operation of the floor tilt operation unit 40, the control device 86 stops the supply of current to the coil 32 of the floor tilt device 28 so as to move the luggage placement floor 26 from the inclined position to a horizontal position. As a result, the rod 30 descends due to its own weight and the weight acting on the luggage placement floor 26, and the luggage placement floor 26 moves to a horizontal position.

[0038] In the embodiment, a lower extension member 36 extending downward from the underside of the luggage placement floor 26 is fixed to the tip of the luggage placement floor 26 near the entrance / exit 16. The lower extension member 36 does not protrude upward from the upper surface of the luggage placement floor 26 when the luggage placement floor 26 is in a horizontal position. The lower extension member 36 is a thin plate extending in the left-right direction of the car 11 (the front-to-back direction of the paper in FIG. 2 ) within the car 11, and has a curved surface whose side is convex toward the entrance / exit 16. Preferably, the left-to-right length of the lower extension member 36 is equal to or greater than the left-to-right length of the entrance / exit 16. As shown in FIG. 4 , the lower extension member 36 covers a gap formed between the end of the luggage placement floor 26 on the car door 20 side and the upper surface of the entrance / exit side end of the car floor 17 when the luggage placement floor 26 is tilted. For example, the lower extension member 36 is formed of metal or resin. Furthermore, regardless of the tilt state of the luggage placement floor 26, the lower extension member 36 is in sliding contact with or closely faces the opening end of the recess 101 in the car floor 17 on the entrance / exit 16 side so that no gap is formed between the luggage placement floor 26 and the entrance / exit side end of the car floor 17. This more reliably prevents the user's hands or feet from accidentally getting caught in the gap that is formed between the luggage placement floor 26 and the car floor 17 when the luggage placement floor 26 is tilted.

[0039] According to the above-described luggage tipping suppression device 25, with luggage 100 placed on the luggage placement floor 26, the floor inclination device 28 is driven to incline the luggage placement floor 26, thereby tilting the luggage 100 so that it falls toward the rear of the car body 15. This prevents the luggage 100 from tipping toward the car door 20 that closes the entrance / exit 16, making it difficult to open the car door 20, when the car body 15 is raised or lowered as shown in FIG. 1 . This prevents the user from unintentionally interrupting the operation of raising or lowering the luggage 100 using the elevator 10, and also reduces the cost to a company that maintains the elevator 10 of dispatching workers to deal with the problem of the car door 20 being unable to open. Furthermore, the luggage placement floor 26 is inclined so that the car door 20 side becomes higher with the back end as a fulcrum M, and therefore, unlike the case where the back side is inclined so that the entrance / exit side end becomes lower or higher with the entrance / exit side end as a fulcrum, the luggage storage space of the car body 15 can be prevented from becoming excessively small compared to the external shape of the car body 15 when the luggage placement floor 26 is not inclined.

[0040] Furthermore, the luggage tipping suppression device 25 is provided with a floor inclination operation unit 40 attached to the luggage entrance 92, and a control device 86 that controls the floor inclination device 28 to incline the luggage placement floor 26 in response to a tilt command issued by operating the floor inclination operation unit 40, and to move the luggage placement floor 26 to a horizontal state in response to a tilt cancellation command issued by operating the floor inclination operation unit 40. As a result, for example, when a user places luggage 100 in the car 11 and moves it from a departure floor to a destination floor, the user at the departure floor can operate the floor inclination operation unit 40 to incline the luggage placement floor 26 with the car door 20 and the entrance door 60 open. Furthermore, after the car 11 arrives at the destination floor, the user at the destination floor can operate the floor inclination operation unit 40 to move the luggage placement floor 26 from a tilted state to a horizontal state with the car door 20 and the entrance door 60 open. Therefore, the user can operate the floor inclination operation unit 40 to move the luggage placement floor 26 to a tilted state or from a tilted state to a horizontal state while checking the safety status of the area around the luggage placement floor 26.

[0041] 5 is a flowchart showing a control method for the floor inclination device 28 when the rod 30 is raised in another example of the embodiment. In this example, as with the configuration shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the control device 86 supplies a current to the coil 32 that constitutes the floor inclination device 28 according to the planned raised position of the rod 30. However, in the configuration of this example, unlike the configuration shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the control device 86 reduces the current supplied to the coil 32 when it determines, based on the relationship between the detected position of the position sensor 34 and time, that the rod 30 has stopped at a position lower than the planned raised position for a predetermined period of time or longer as the rod 30 is raised.

[0042] A method for controlling the floor inclination device 28 when the rod 30 is raised will be described using the flowchart of Figure 5. First, in step S10, the control device 86 determines whether the rod 30 has started to rise by supplying current (solenoid current supply) to the coil 32 in response to a tilt command input by operating the floor inclination operation unit 40. If the determination result in step S10 is positive (YES), the process proceeds to step S12, where it is determined from the detection value of the position sensor 34 whether the rod 30 has reached the planned raised position. On the other hand, if the determination result in step S10 is negative (NO), the process of step S10 is repeated.

[0043] If the determination result of step S12 is affirmative (YES), the process proceeds to step S18. On the other hand, if the determination result of step S12 is negative (NO), in step S14, it is determined from the relationship between the detection value of the position sensor 34 and time whether the rod 30 has stopped at a position lower than the planned raised position for a predetermined time or longer.

[0044] If the determination result in step S14 is affirmative (YES), in step S16, the current (solenoid current) supplied to the coil 32 is reduced by a predetermined current value, and the process proceeds to step S18.

[0045] If the determination result in step S14 is negative (NO), the process returns to step S12 and is repeated. In step S18, the supply of current to the coil 32 is maintained until a tilt solution command is input by operating the floor tilt operation unit 40. After step S18, the rod lift control process of the floor tilt device 28 ends.

[0046] According to the above configuration, when the luggage 100 on the luggage placement floor 26 comes into contact with the ceiling of the car 11 due to the inclination of the luggage placement floor 26, the luggage 100 can be prevented from being continuously pushed against the ceiling with a large force, thereby preventing damage to the luggage 100. In this example, the other configurations and operations are the same as those shown in Figures 1 to 4.

[0047] 6 is a flowchart showing a control method for a luggage tipping restraint device according to another embodiment. The luggage tipping restraint device of this example does not include the floor inclination operation unit 40 (FIGS. 2 and 3) for inclining the luggage placement floor 26. Instead, in this example, when a closing operation start condition for the car door 20 is met, the control device 86 starts the closing operation of the car door 20 and tilts the luggage placement floor 26. Furthermore, when an opening operation start condition for the car door 20 is met, the control device 86 starts the opening operation of the car door 20 and moves the luggage placement floor 26 to a horizontal state.

[0048] The "condition for starting the closing operation of the car door 20" is, for example, when the entrance / exit door 60 is manually closed by a user at the baggage entrance / exit 92 after loading baggage 100 into the car 11, and then a destination button (not shown) for the destination floor, which is provided on the control panel and instructs the car 11 to move to the destination floor, is pressed.

[0049] When the closing operation start condition is met, the control device 86 controls the door opening / closing device 90 to start the closing operation of the car doors 20, and also controls the floor tilting device 28 to tilt the luggage placement floor 26. This causes the closing operation of the car doors 20 to start and the movement of the luggage placement floor 26 to the inclined state to start simultaneously. After the closing operation of the car doors 20 and the tilting of the luggage placement floor 26 are completed, the control device 86 moves the car 11 to the destination floor.

[0050] Furthermore, when the car 11 arrives at the destination floor, the car door 20 is opened. An example of a "condition for starting the opening operation of the car door 20" is that a signal indicating that the car 11 has arrived at the destination floor is input to the control device 86. For example, the elevator 10 is provided with car position sensors arranged at multiple positions above and below the hoistway 80, each composed of a plurality of switches that are turned on and off depending on the position of the car 11. A signal indicating the position of the car 11 is input to the control device 86 from the car position sensors. When the control device 86 determines from the detection signal of the car position sensor that the car 11 has arrived at the destination floor and the opening operation start condition is met, the control device 86 controls the door opening / closing device 90 to start the opening operation of the car door 20 and controls the floor inclination device 28 to move the baggage placement floor 26 to a horizontal position. As a result, the opening operation of the car door 20 starts and the movement of the baggage placement floor 26 to a horizontal position start simultaneously.

[0051] A method for controlling the luggage tipping restraint device 25 during car movement will be described using the flowchart of Figure 6. First, in step S20 of Figure 6, it is determined whether or not a condition for starting the closing operation of the car door 20 is met. If the determination result of step S20 is affirmative (YES), then in step S22, the control device 86 starts the closing operation of the car door 20 and tilts the luggage placement floor 26. On the other hand, if the determination result of step S20 is negative (NO), the processing of step S20 is repeated.

[0052] After step S22, in step S24, the car door 20 is fully closed, thereby completing the closing operation of the car door 20, and the luggage placement floor 26 is tilted to the predetermined inclination state and maintained at that inclination. At this time, the door opening / closing device 90 and the floor inclination device 28 can be controlled so that the completion of the closing operation of the car door 20 and the completion of the inclination of the luggage placement floor 26 occur simultaneously.

[0053] Next, in step S26, it is determined whether or not a condition for starting the opening operation of the car door 20 is met. If the determination result of step S26 is affirmative (YES), in step S28, the control device 86 starts the opening operation of the car door 20 and moves the baggage placement floor 26 to a horizontal position. On the other hand, if the determination result of step S26 is negative (NO), the processing of step S26 is repeated.

[0054] After step S28, in step S30, the car door 20 is fully opened, thereby completing the opening operation of the car door 20, and the luggage placement floor 26 moves to a horizontal state and is maintained in that horizontal state. At this time, the door opening / closing device 90 and the floor inclination device 28 can be controlled so that the completion of the opening operation of the car door 20 and the completion of the movement of the luggage placement floor 26 to the horizontal state occur simultaneously.

[0055] According to the configuration of this example, the movement of the luggage placement floor 26 between the horizontal state and the inclined state can be started simultaneously with the start of the opening and closing operation of the car door 20, and the operation time for moving the luggage 100 using the elevator 10 can be prevented from being lengthened by the movement of the luggage placement floor 26. Furthermore, the floor inclination operation unit 40 (FIGS. 2 and 3) for inclining the luggage placement floor 26 can be omitted.

[0056] Furthermore, if a configuration is adopted in which the door opening / closing device 90 and the floor tilting device 28 are controlled so that the completion of the closing operation of the car door 20 and the completion of the tilting of the luggage placement floor 26 are simultaneous, it is possible to prevent the luggage placement floor 26 from tilting excessively quickly, and also to prevent the start of movement of the car 11 from being delayed by the tilting operation of the luggage placement floor 26 when the movement of the car 11 is started after the tilting of the luggage placement floor 26 is completed.

[0057] Furthermore, if a configuration is adopted in which the door opening / closing device 90 and the floor tilting device 28 are controlled so that the completion of the opening operation of the car doors 20 and the completion of the horizontal movement of the luggage placement floor 26 are simultaneous, the luggage placement floor 26 can be prevented from moving to a horizontal state excessively quickly, and the situation in which the luggage placement floor 26 moves to the horizontal state too slowly, resulting in the car 11 continuing to move to a horizontal state after the car doors 20 are fully opened, can be prevented. Furthermore, if the completion of the opening operation of the car doors 20 and the completion of the horizontal movement of the luggage placement floor 26 are simultaneous, the luggage placement floor 26 is always in a horizontal state when the car doors 20 are fully open. This eliminates the need for a pinch prevention member 35 ( FIGS. 2 and 4 ) to more reliably prevent a user's hands or feet from being pinched between the luggage placement floor 26 and the car floor 17, as in the configurations shown in FIGS. 1 to 4 . Other configurations and operations of this example are similar to those of the configurations shown in FIGS. 1 to 4 or the configuration shown in FIG. 5 .

[0058] Fig. 7 is a diagram corresponding to Fig. 2 showing the door-open state (a) and the door-closed state (b) of the floor inclination device 28 in the luggage tipping prevention device 25a of another example of the embodiment when there is no luggage 100 piled up. Fig. 8 is a diagram corresponding to Fig. 2 showing the door-open state (a) and the door-closed state (b) of the floor inclination device 28 in the luggage tipping prevention device 25a when there is luggage 100 piled up.

[0059] In the luggage tipping prevention device 25a of this example, multiple distance sensors 42 are provided at multiple positions spaced apart vertically on the rear wall 15a of the car body 15 of the car 11 to measure the horizontal distance to luggage 100 facing each other horizontally within the car body 15. The distance sensors 42 are, for example, infrared sensors having a light-emitting unit such as an infrared LED and a light-receiving unit that detects the infrared light receiving position. The infrared sensors measure the distance to the object by, for example, measuring the difference in the left-right direction (front-to-back direction in FIGS. 7 and 8 ) between the light-receiving positions of infrared rays 43 emitted from the light-emitting unit at a predetermined angle relative to the front-to-back direction (left-to-right direction in FIGS. 7 and 8 ). The infrared rays 43 are reflected from the object and incident on the light-receiving unit at an angle corresponding to the distance to the object. Note that the distance sensor may also be an ultrasonic generator or the like having a wave-transmitting unit and a wave-receiving unit and measuring the distance to the object based on the time between transmitting and receiving the wave. Since the distance sensors 42 are provided at multiple positions in the vertical direction of the wall 15a, it becomes easier to detect that the luggage 100 is highly likely to be stacked one on top of the other when the luggage 100 has an upright side, such as a rectangular parallelepiped shape, as shown in Figures 7 and 8. The luggage may have a cylindrical shape other than a rectangular parallelepiped shape.

[0060] A plurality of distance sensors 42 may be provided at the same vertical position on the innermost wall but at different horizontal positions, thereby making it easier to detect the inclination of the luggage 100 in the horizontal direction.

[0061] As described above, distance sensors 42 are provided at multiple positions in the vertical direction on the wall 15a of the car body 15. For example, as shown in Fig. 7, when only one piece of luggage 100 is accommodated in the car 11, the distance sensor 42 at the uppermost position detects a distance equal to the longitudinal length of the car 11, and the control device 86 can determine that no luggage is present at the vertical position corresponding to the distance sensor 42. Furthermore, when the distance sensor 42 detects a distance equal to or greater than the longitudinal length of the car 11 when the car door 20 is open, the control device 86 can determine that the entrance / exit 16 is not closed by the car door 20 and that no luggage is present at the vertical position corresponding to the distance sensor 42.

[0062] Furthermore, since it is determined that there is no luggage at the position corresponding to the topmost distance sensor 42, and the distance sensors 42 in the middle and bottom directions are shorter than the front-to-back length of the cage 11 and detect the same distance, the control device 86 can determine that there is a luggage 100 at the same position as the vertical positions of these two distance sensors 42, and that there is a high possibility that there is only one luggage 100 in the cage 11.

[0063] On the other hand, as shown in Figure 8, when two pieces of luggage 100 stacked vertically are contained in the car 11, the luggage 100, particularly the upper piece of luggage 100, is more likely to fall toward the car door 20 than when the luggage 100 are contained in a single car 11. In this case, if the first distance L1 detected by the distance sensor 42 at the top end position and the second distance L2 detected by the other two distance sensors 42 are shorter than the length of the car 11 in the front-to-rear direction and the first distance L1 and the second distance L2 are different, the control device 86 can determine that there is a high possibility that two or more pieces of luggage 100 are placed in the car 11. Then, simultaneously with or after the start of the closing operation of the car door 20, the control device 86 tilts the luggage placement floor 26 only when the distances to the luggage 100 measured by the multiple distance sensors 42 are different.

[0064] According to the configuration of this example, only when there is a high possibility that multiple pieces of luggage 100 are stacked one on top of the other, making it easy for the luggage 100 to tip over, is the luggage placement floor 26 tilted simultaneously with or after the start of the closing operation of the car door 20. This makes it possible to suppress the luggage 100 from tipping over toward the car door 20, while reducing the driving frequency of the floor inclination device 28, thereby reducing energy consumption and improving the durability of the components of the floor inclination device 28.

[0065] 8 , when the first distance L1 detected by the distance sensor 42 at the uppermost position and the second distance L2 detected by the other two distance sensors 42 are shorter than the longitudinal length of the car 11 and the first distance L1 is longer than the second distance L2, it is considered that the upper baggage 100 is positioned closer to the car door 20 than the lower baggage 100, making it more likely that the baggage 100 will tip toward the car door 20. For this reason, the control device 86 may be configured to tilt the baggage placement floor 26 only when, among the distances to the baggage 100 measured by the multiple distance sensors 42, the distance measured by the upper distance sensor 42 is longer than the distance measured by the lower distance sensor 42 simultaneously with or after the start of the closing operation of the car door 20. In this case, the baggage placement floor 26 is tilted simultaneously with or after the start of the closing operation of the car door 20 only when there is a higher possibility that the baggage 100 will tip. This makes it possible to further reduce energy consumption and further improve the durability of the components of the floor inclination device 28 while suppressing the baggage 100 from tipping toward the car door 20. In this example, other configurations and operations are the same as those of the configurations in Figures 1 to 4, 5, or 6.

[0066] In the present invention, the movable body that constitutes the floor tilting device and that can move up and down is not limited to a simple bar-shaped rod, but various members can be used as long as they can tilt the luggage placement floor by moving, such as a T-shaped member with a vertical bar extending up and down and a horizontal bar extending left and right at the end of the vertical bar. Also, the entrance door 60 is not limited to a configuration that opens and closes manually, but may be configured to be opened and closed by an electric motor in response to the operation of an operating unit, or to be opened and closed in conjunction with the operation of the car door.

[0067] 10 Small parcel elevator (elevator), 11 Cage, 12 Main rope, 13 Counterweight, 14 Control cable, 15 Cage body, 16 Entrance / exit, 17 Cage floor, 20 Cage door, 21 Guide cable, 25, 25a Luggage tipping prevention device, 26 Luggage placement floor, 28 Floor tilt device, 29 Case, 30 Rod, 32 Coil, 34 Position sensor, 36 Lower extension member, 40 Floor tilt operation unit, 42 Distance sensor, 43 Infrared, 60 Entrance / exit door, 80 Hoistway, 81 Machine room, 82 Cage lifting device, 83 Electric motor, 84 Hoist, 86 Control device, 87 Current control unit, 90 Door opening / closing device, 92 Luggage entrance / exit, 93 Opening, 100 Luggage, 101 Recess.

Claims

1. A luggage tipping prevention device for an elevator exclusively for small parcels, which is equipped with a car body that stores luggage and moves up and down the elevator shaft, and a door that opens and closes the entrance and exit of the car body, and which prevents the luggage from tipping towards the door, comprising: a luggage placement floor that is installed on the car floor of the car body and can be tilted so that the door side is higher in the horizontal direction, with the back end opposite the door as a fulcrum; and a floor tilting device that is installed between the car floor and the luggage placement floor on the door side of the fulcrum, and tilts the luggage placement floor by raising a movable body that can move up and down.

2. A luggage tipping prevention device for a small luggage elevator as described in claim 1, comprising: an operating unit attached to a luggage entrance / exit; and a control device that controls the floor tilting device to tilt the luggage placement floor in response to a tilt command given by operating the operating unit, and to move the luggage placement floor to a horizontal position in response to a tilt cancellation command given by operating the operating unit.

3. A luggage tipping prevention device for an elevator exclusively for small parcels as described in claim 1, comprising a control device that controls the operation of the door opening / closing device that opens and closes the door and the operation of the floor tilting device, wherein the control device starts the closing operation of the door and tilts the luggage placement floor when a condition for starting the closing operation of the door is met, and starts the opening operation of the door and moves the luggage placement floor to a horizontal position when a condition for starting the opening operation of the door is met.

4. A luggage tipping prevention device for a small parcel elevator as described in claim 1, comprising a lower extension member fixed to the luggage placement floor so as to extend downward near the entrance / exit, the lower extension member covering a gap formed between the door side edge of the luggage placement floor and the upper edge of the car floor when the luggage placement floor is tilted.

5. A luggage tipping prevention device for an elevator exclusively for small parcels as described in claim 1, wherein the floor inclination device is the moving body and is a solenoid device including a rod having a tip facing the underside of the luggage placement floor and moving up and down, and a coil which raises the rod by supplying current, and is equipped with a position sensor which detects the vertical position of the rod, and a control device which supplies current to the coil according to the planned raised position of the rod, and when the control device determines, from the relationship between the position detected by the position sensor and time, that the rod has stopped at a position lower than the planned raised position for a predetermined period of time or more, the luggage tipping prevention device.

6. A luggage tipping prevention device for an elevator exclusively for small parcels as described in claim 1, comprising: a plurality of distance sensors provided at a plurality of positions apart above and below the wall at the rear end of the car body, for measuring the horizontal distance to the luggage that is facing horizontally within the car body; and a control device that tilts the luggage placement floor only when the distances to the luggage measured by the plurality of distance sensors differ simultaneously with or after the start of the closing operation of the door.

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