Elevator Car Pivotable Working Platform
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing working platforms in elevators are heavy and cumbersome, making them difficult to use for maintenance tasks, especially in low-headroom scenarios where space is limited.
Innovation Solution
A lightweight and easily handled working platform system with pivotable and movable components, including horizontal roof guide rails, a support structure with suspension bars, and a locking mechanism, allowing for safe access and reduced storage space, suitable for various elevator dimensions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a working platform is provided for maintenance work above the elevator car, then maintenance personnel can access components on shaft walls and outside the car, but the platform becomes heavy and cumbersome making it difficult to use
Solution Approach 1:
The working platform is made dynamically movable through a pivotable support structure that allows the platform to be positioned in different locations above the elevator car. The support structure can pivot between a retracted position (storing the platform close to the car) and a deployed position (extending the platform to shaft walls), enabling easy access to various maintenance points without requiring a permanently extended heavy structure.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the working platform is extended to reach shaft walls and components outside the car, then maintenance access is improved, but the storage space requirement increases
Solution Approach 1:
The working platform is designed to nest within or adjacent to the elevator car when not in use. The support structure allows the platform to be retracted to a compact storage position that minimizes the volume occupied, while still providing full extension capability when deployed for maintenance work at shaft walls or external components.
3Reliability
If a heavy-duty working platform is provided for safety and stability, then reliability is improved, but ease of operation deteriorates due to weight
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a pivotable support structure with joints that leverage mechanical advantage to support the working platform's weight. The pivotable connection points and support structure design distribute and counterbalance the platform's weight, providing stable support during maintenance operations while keeping the platform lightweight for easy deployment and retraction.
Data Source
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Figure 5~6
AI summary
An elevator car (100) defining an interior space (1) for accommodating passengers. The elevator car (100) comprises an openable roof (2), horizontal roof guide rails (13a, 13b) arranged on a top side of the elevator car (100), a support structure (4) pivotably mounted to the guide rails (13a, 13b) by a first joint (5a, 5b), and a working platform (6) pivotably and movably mounted to the support structure (4) by a second joint (7a, 7b) arranged at a distance from the first joint (5a, 5b). The working platform (6) is pivotable between a retracted position, in which said working platform is oriented close to the guide rails (13a, 13b) in the top side of the elevator car, and a deployed position, in which the working platform (6) is in the interior space (1), at a distance from the guide rails (13a, 13b). The first joint (5a, 5b) being arranged movable along the guide rails (13a, 13b).