Elevator Door Coupling Mechanism with Separate Drive
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing door drive devices for elevator systems lack a reliable and simple mechanism for actuating the coupling mechanism between car and shaft doors, often relying on common drives that compromise safety and reliability.
Innovation Solution
A door drive device with a separate drive mechanism for the coupling mechanism, featuring a lever element and an actuating element that moves the driver skids into spaced and decoupling positions, ensuring safe and reliable actuation through a compact and simple mechanical design.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If a common drive is used for both car door and coupling mechanism, then device complexity is reduced, but reliability and safety deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The drive system is segmented into two independent drives: a first drive for the car door and a second drive for the coupling mechanism. This segmentation allows each drive to be optimized for its specific function and ensures that a failure in one drive does not compromise the other, thereby improving reliability while maintaining manageable complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
A lever element acts as an intermediary mechanism between the second drive and the adjustment elements. The lever element translates the actuating element's movement into the required motion for the driver skids, providing a simple mechanical connection that enhances reliability without significantly increasing overall system complexity.
2Reliability
If a separate drive is provided for the coupling mechanism, then reliability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The second drive and its associated components (lever element, actuating element) are localized specifically to the coupling mechanism area. This localized approach provides the necessary reliability improvement for the coupling operation without distributing complexity throughout the entire door system, making the added complexity manageable and focused.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of integrating the coupling actuation into the car door drive system, the invention inverts the approach by providing an independent drive for the coupling mechanism. This inversion prioritizes reliability of the coupling operation over minimizing overall system complexity, accepting the trade-off as necessary for safe operation.
3Ease of operation
If driver skids are biased in spaced position, then ease of coupling is improved, but manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The driver skids are preliminarily positioned in the spaced-apart coupling position through the biasing force of the springs, ready for engagement before the actual coupling operation begins. This preliminary positioning, achieved through elastic biasing rather than precise mechanical adjustment, improves ease of coupling while reducing the stringency of manufacturing precision requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the positioning parameter from a fixed, precisely-manufactured position to a spring-biased position that can accommodate normal manufacturing tolerances. The elastic force of the springs provides the necessary positioning force, transforming a precision-dependent parameter into a force-balanced parameter that is more tolerant of manufacturing variations.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution provides a safer, more reliable, and easier-to-assemble door drive system by using a separate drive for the coupling mechanism, enhancing the operational safety and reliability of the door opening and closing process.
Implementation Method 1
The coupling mechanism has a spring element, the elastic force of which biases the adjustment elements into their spread coupling position
Implementation Method 2
The coupling mechanism also has a lever element, one end of which is non-rotatably connected to one of the pivotable adjusting elements and the other end of which can be moved up and down in the direction of travel of the elevator car according to the pivoting movement of the adjusting element
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~4
AI summary
The device has coupling device (16) comprising a lever element with an end, which is moveable to and fro in a traveling direction of a lift cabin corresponding to a pivot movement of an adjusting element (46). An actuating element (54) is moveable to and fro in the traveling direction of the cabin by a drive mechanism (52) e.g. crank drive. The actuating element acts on the end of the lever element so that driving runners (42, 44) of the coupling device are brought into coupling and decoupling positions during opened and closed conditions of cabin door leaves (14.1, 14.2), respectively.