Elevator Rope Storage Unit with Rotatable Guide Rollers
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for storing and installing elevator ropes face challenges such as difficulty in controlling the rope end during unwinding, excessive space requirements for storage, and potential for the rope to straighten and escape due to bending tension, leading to safety and efficiency issues.
Innovation Solution
A new rope storage unit featuring a spiral-wound rope reel with a support frame and rotatable rollers that compress the rope reel's rim, preventing expansion and facilitating controlled unwinding, allowing the rope to be stored and transported compactly while maintaining stability and safety during installation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If the rope is wound in a spiral form on a drum to create a compact storage unit, then the storage compactness is improved, but the rope end becomes difficult to control during unwinding due to bending tension
Solution Approach 1:
A guide device is introduced as an intermediary component between the rope reel and the rope end. This guide device includes guide rollers that direct the rope end in a controlled manner during unwinding, preventing the rope from escaping due to bending tension while maintaining the compact spiral storage configuration.
Solution Approach 2:
The guide device is pre-configured on the rope reel before unwinding begins. The guide rollers are positioned to automatically engage with the rope end as it exits the spiral wound configuration, establishing control over the rope end trajectory before bending tension can cause escape.
2Ease of operation
If the rope storage unit is designed to allow easy unwinding, then the ease of operation is improved, but the space required for the storage unit increases
Solution Approach 1:
The rope is wound in a spiral form around a drum, creating a compact cylindrical storage configuration. This curved spiral arrangement allows the rope to be densely packed while maintaining a small footprint. The guide device follows this curved path to extract the rope end smoothly without requiring additional linear space.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of linear unwinding that would require axial space, the spiral wound configuration utilizes rotational dimension. The rope unwinds by rotating the compact drum in place, extracting the rope end in a controlled manner without expanding the storage unit's footprint in any linear dimension.
3Device complexity
If the rope is stored in a conventional reel without additional support structures, then the device complexity is reduced, but the rope may escape during unwinding due to uncontrolled bending tension
Solution Approach 1:
Guide rollers are introduced as intermediary elements that mediate between the rope end and the external environment. These rollers provide a simple mechanical interface that directs the rope end along a predetermined path, containing it within the storage unit boundaries during unwinding without requiring complex containment structures.
Solution Approach 2:
The guide device is designed to automatically engage and control the rope end during unwinding without requiring external intervention or complex active control systems. The geometric configuration of the guide rollers naturally directs the rope end, allowing the system to self-regulate rope containment during the unwinding process.
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 enables stable, compact, and safe storage and installation of elevator ropes by preventing unwinding issues and minimizing space requirements, ensuring controlled unwinding and reducing the risk of rope escape or damage during handling.
Implementation Method 1
the rope being under substantial bending tension in said spiral form
Data Source
AI summary
A rope storage unit for storing an elevator rope during transportation and/or installation of the elevator rope includes a rope reel, formed by a rope wound in a spiral form and having a central axis; and a support frame provided with an inner space inside which the rope reel is positioned supported by the support frame such that it can in use be rotated in the inner space for unwinding the rope. The rope is a rod having a straight form when in rest state and elastically bendable away from the straight form, the rope being under substantial bending tension in the spiral form, and wherein the support frame comprises three or more rotatable support rollers delimiting the inner space and surrounding radially the rope reel. A method for installing an elevator rope implements the rope storage unit.