Elevator System With Reduced Vertical Extent for Retrofitting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing elevator systems face challenges in retrofitting and safety, particularly in existing buildings, due to spatial constraints and the need for additional space for underpasses and overpasses, which complicates the installation and ensures the safety of service personnel when accessing the shaft floor.
Innovation Solution
A cable-mechanical elevator system with a reduced vertical extent between the shaft floor and ceiling, allowing flexible installation in existing buildings, featuring a movable apron for safety and a control system that prevents unintended movement during maintenance, ensuring the elevator car does not protrude into the shaft space and providing protection without battery-operated devices.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a conventional elevator system with base frame and elevator car is used, then the elevator can transport people and loads vertically, but the system requires additional space for underpass and overpass, making retrofitting in existing buildings difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The invention repositions the drive system from the traditional shaft ceiling location to the shaft floor level, fundamentally changing the vertical dimension arrangement. This dimensional reconfiguration eliminates the need for overpass space above the shaft and reduces underpass requirements below, enabling retrofitting in existing buildings without requiring additional floor space.
Solution Approach 2:
The base frame is designed with dynamic characteristics, featuring a cantilever-shaped support that extends beyond the shaft opening. This dynamic structural arrangement allows the base frame to accommodate the repositioned drive system while maintaining structural integrity, and enables the elevator car to be mounted vertically on this support without requiring traditional fixed overhead support structures.
2Ease of operation
If service personnel access the shaft floor for maintenance, then maintenance work can be performed, but there is risk of injury from unintended elevator car movement
Solution Approach 1:
The control system is designed to automatically detect when service personnel are present on the shaft floor and preemptively prevent unintended elevator car movement. This preliminary protective action occurs before any harmful movement can occur, ensuring safety without requiring personnel to carry additional protective devices or follow complex safety procedures.
Solution Approach 2:
The elevator system provides its own safety protection through integrated sensors and control logic that automatically monitor shaft floor conditions and prevent dangerous movements. The system self-regulates to protect service personnel without requiring external battery-operated safety devices or manual safety checks by the personnel themselves.
3Reliability
If battery-operated protective devices are carried by service personnel, then protection against unintended movement is provided, but the devices may run low on battery capacity, compromising safety
Solution Approach 1:
The safety protection system is integrated into the elevator's own power and control systems, eliminating the need for separate battery-operated portable devices carried by service personnel. The elevator system itself provides the protective function through its control logic and sensors, ensuring continuous reliable operation without concerns about portable battery capacity.
Solution Approach 2:
The control system acts as an intermediary between service personnel presence detection and elevator movement prevention. Instead of relying on portable devices carried by personnel, the control system receives signals from sensors detecting personnel on the shaft floor and automatically mediates by preventing unintended elevator movements, providing reliable protection through the building's existing infrastructure.
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
Enables flexible installation and operation in buildings with irregular geometries, reduces construction costs, and ensures absolute safety for service personnel by eliminating the need for underpasses and providing automatic protection against falls into the shaft.
Implementation Method 1
An elevator with a cable pull for the vertical transport of people and/or loads between different vertically stacked levels of a building
Implementation Method 2
the base frame, i.e., the supporting structure, and the actual elevator car are independent elements of the elevator system
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3~4
AI summary
The system (1) has a lift shaft including a shaft base (5), shaft cover (6) and a shaft opening sealed with a shaft door. A lift is provided with a drive, control system, base frame and a lift cabin that includes a cabin wall, cabin door, cabin base and cabin cover, where the lift cabin is arranged at the base frame. Light vertical extension of the system between the shaft base and shaft cover is small and/or equal to distance between a raw cover (18) of top of a development level (2) and a raw base of bottom of the development level.