Elevator Door Profiles Reduce Sill Gap and Dirt

Resolve Bottlenecks,
Find Innovative Solutions
Generate Solutions

Solution Overview

Problem

Elevator door systems with sliding panels face issues of dirt accumulation in grooved sills, noise, and a significant gap between the car and floor sills, which can cause tripping and interference, and existing solutions are bulky, complex, and require frequent cleaning.

Innovation Solution

An elevator door system with two sliding panels and counter-shaped profiles that assemble and disassemble to form a sill, reducing the gap between the car and floor sills, eliminating the need for hollow guides, and incorporating load detection and safety devices to manage obstacles.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Manufacturing precision

If a grooved sill is used to guide sliding door panels, then precise opening and closing is achieved, but dirt and waste accumulate in the groove making it difficult to clean and potentially hindering sliding

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveprecise opening and closingVSAvoidcleaning difficulty
Core Design Contradiction:
Manufacturing precisionVSEase of manufacture

Solution Approach 1:

The patent removes the grooved sill structure entirely and replaces it with a flat sill surface. The guiding function is transferred to the profiles attached to the door panels, which slide on the flat sill surface. This extraction of the groove eliminates the dirt accumulation problem while maintaining precise sliding through the profile-guided mechanism.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent divides the guiding function into separate components: the flat sill provides the sliding surface, while the profiles attached to each door panel provide the guiding constraints. This segmentation allows the sill to remain clean and simple while the profiles ensure precise movement, resolving the contradiction between precision and ease of cleaning.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

2Object-affected harmful factors

If the gap between car sill and floor sill is reduced to eliminate tripping hazards, then safety is improved, but the car may interfere with the wall during vertical motion causing collisions and noise

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvetripping hazardVSAvoidcar wall interference
Core Design Contradiction:
Object-affected harmful factorsVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The patent employs dynamic profiles that can move relative to the door panels. During door operation, the profiles extend to reduce the gap and eliminate tripping hazards. During normal car movement, the profiles retract to maintain the necessary clearance from the wall, preventing interference and noise. This dynamic adjustment resolves the contradiction between safety and reliability.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #15Dynamics

Solution Approach 2:

The profiles are positioned and adjusted in advance during door opening/closing operations to temporarily reduce the gap when needed for safety, while maintaining normal clearance during vertical car motion. This preliminary positioning resolves the contradiction by preparing the system in advance for different operational requirements.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

3Object-affected harmful factors

If complex auxiliary sill mechanisms with rollers, helical wheels, or cams are used to reduce the gap, then the gap reduction is achieved, but the device becomes bulky and complex

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvegap sizeVSAvoidmechanism complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Object-affected harmful factorsVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts the complex mechanisms (rollers, helical wheels, cams) from the system and replaces them with a simplified profile-based solution. The profiles, which are simple sliding components attached to the door panels, perform the gap reduction function without requiring complex auxiliary mechanisms, thereby reducing device complexity while maintaining effectiveness.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent replaces complex mechanical systems (rollers, helical wheels, cams) with a simpler sliding profile mechanism. The profiles slide along the flat sill surface and can be actuated more simply, substituting the complex mechanical systems with a more elegant and less bulky solution that achieves the same gap reduction effect.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

4Object-affected harmful factors

If an extractable auxiliary sill is used to cover the gap during door opening, then the gap is reduced, but the sill requires frequent cleaning as it gets filled with dirt

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvegap sizeVSAvoidcleaning frequency
Core Design Contradiction:
Object-affected harmful factorsVSEase of manufacture

Solution Approach 1:

The patent removes the extractable auxiliary sill and its associated grooved structure, replacing it with a flat sill surface and profile-based gap reduction. This extraction eliminates the dirt-trapping groove and the need for extractable sills, resulting in a system that requires minimal cleaning while still achieving gap reduction during door operation.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Data Source

PatentEP3271280B1Elevator door having two sliding door panels
Publication Date: 2019.12.11 WITTUR HLDG GMBH
  • EP3271280B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3271280B1 patent drawingFigure 2~3
  • EP3271280B1 patent drawingFigure 4~5

AI summary

Car door (1) comprising: two sliding door panels (2, 3); two profiles (6, 7), each of which is arranged below one of the two door panels (2, 3), the profiles (6, 7) being partially counter-shaped so as to slide with respect to one another therefore while the door (1) is opening they move towards one another to compose a sill (5).