Elevator Governor Housing in Machine Room Floor

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Solution Overview

Problem

Elevators face challenges in positioning the governor within the machine room to avoid interference with other equipment and ensure maintenance access without requiring significant changes to the machine room size.

Innovation Solution

The governor is housed in a space embedded within the machine room floor, allowing its bottom portion to be positioned lower than the floor surface, thus avoiding interference and enabling maintenance access while optimizing space usage.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Ease of operation

If the governor is installed on the machine room floor surface, then it is easy to access for installation and maintenance, but it interferes with other equipment and reduces passage space

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveaccessibility for installation and maintenanceVSAvoidpassage space and equipment arrangement space
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of operationVSArea of stationary object

Solution Approach 1:

The governor is relocated from the horizontal plane (floor surface) to the vertical dimension (below floor level). By creating a governor-housing space that extends downward from the machine room floor, the governor occupies vertical space rather than horizontal space, thereby resolving the conflict between accessibility and space utilization for equipment and passages.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #17Another dimension (Dimensionality change)

2Ease of operation

If the machine room size is increased to accommodate all equipment with proper passage space, then equipment interference is avoided and maintenance access is ensured, but the overall elevator system size and cost increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvemaintenance access and equipment non-interferenceVSAvoidmachine room size
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of operationVSVolume of stationary object

Solution Approach 1:

The invention utilizes the vertical dimension below the machine room floor to house the governor, effectively transferring the governor from occupying horizontal floor space to occupying vertical subsurface space. This dimensional transition allows the machine room to maintain a compact footprint while still accommodating the governor and ensuring adequate passage and equipment arrangement space.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #17Another dimension (Dimensionality change)

3Volume of stationary object

If the governor is positioned to optimize space usage, then passage space and equipment arrangement are improved, but installation and maintenance accessibility may be reduced

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvespace utilization efficiencyVSAvoidaccessibility for installation and maintenance
Core Design Contradiction:
Volume of stationary objectVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The governor-housing space is designed to be open to the machine room floor, creating a vertical access path. This allows the governor to be positioned in the vertical dimension for optimal space utilization while maintaining accessibility through the open housing structure, which facilitates installation and maintenance operations from above.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #17Another dimension (Dimensionality change)

Data Source

PatentEP2636627B1elevator
Publication Date: 2018.10.10 MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC CORP
  • EP2636627B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP2636627B1 patent drawingFigure 2~3
  • EP2636627B1 patent drawingFigure 4

AI summary

Provided is an elevator in which a governor can be located so as to avoid interference with equipment provided in a machine room and to ensure a passage for a worker and a maintenance space. An elevator (1) includes: a hoistway (3); and a machine room (5) located in an upper part of the hoistway, the machine room including at least a hoisting machine (13) and a governor (15) provided inside. The machine room includes a governor-housing space (35), which is open on a machine-room floor upper surface and is formed in a machine-room floor (17) constituting a bottom surface of the machine room. The governor is provided in the governor-housing space so that a governor bottom-portion is located at a position lower than the machine-room floor upper surface (33).