Welded Brake Lining for Elevator Safety Gear
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Solution Overview
Problem
Elevator progressive safety gears face significant wear and damage due to high pressures and frictional heat during braking operations, leading to frequent replacement of steel brake blocks and linings due to cold welding and re-separation issues.
Innovation Solution
The use of welding beads with surface-layer welding on the brake lining, composed of materials like tungsten carbide or nickel-based alloys, which provide increased hardness and resistance to cold welding, and are designed to contact the guide rail along a narrow area, reducing wear and preventing re-separation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If steel brake blocks with surface-hardened lining are used, then the brake block has high hardness and initial wear resistance, but the high pressure and frictional heat cause instantaneous local cold welding and re-separation between the steel surfaces of the brake block and the guide rail during braking operations
Solution Approach 1:
The brake lining is constructed as a composite material system consisting of a steel substrate combined with a ceramic-containing composite lining material. This composite structure provides both the hardness needed for wear resistance and the material properties that prevent cold welding between the brake lining and guide rail steel surfaces.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the material composition parameters of the brake lining by incorporating ceramic particles or fibers into the lining material. This parameter change transforms the homogeneous steel lining into a composite material with enhanced hardness, thermal stability, and reduced tendency for cold welding under high pressure conditions.
2Duration of action of stationary object
If the brake lining surface is hardened through tempering, then wear on the brake block is reduced, but the brake lining still suffers from cold welding and re-separation damage after a small number of catching operations
Solution Approach 1:
The ceramic-containing composite lining material creates a durable surface that combines the benefits of hardness from ceramic particles with the toughness of the matrix material, achieving extended service life while preventing the cold welding damage that plagues traditional hardened steel linings.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention effectively creates a replaceable wear surface through the composite lining that can withstand many more operations than traditional linings, making the brake block itself a long-lasting component that doesn't require frequent replacement like previously damaged steel linings.
3Ease of manufacture
If conventional steel brake blocks are used, then the brake block structure is simple and manufacturing is easy, but the brake blocks require frequent replacement due to surface damage from cold welding
Solution Approach 1:
The ceramic-containing composite lining material is applied to the brake block substrate using established manufacturing techniques such as casting, molding, or surface coating methods. This approach maintains relative manufacturing simplicity while dramatically extending the operational life of the brake block, reducing replacement frequency.
Solution Approach 2:
The ceramic composite material is applied specifically to the brake lining surface where wear and cold welding occur, rather than requiring the entire brake block to be made of expensive or complex materials. This localized application maintains ease of manufacture while providing enhanced performance where needed.
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 welding bead brake lining system significantly increases the robustness and longevity of the brake components, allowing for multiple hard braking operations without damage, reducing maintenance costs and extending the lifespan of the brake blocks.
Implementation Method 1
the active surface of this brake block that comes into contact with the braking rail (i.e. the actual "brake lining") is at least one welding bead, which is most often produced on the brake lining support by means of surface-layer welding and whose surface hardness is greater than surface hardness of the braking rail
Implementation Method 2
it is possible to intentionally select a material for the welding bead that is not suitable for welding the steels used for manufacturing the braking rail or guide rail. Through such a material combination, it is possible from the outset to avoid the cold welding and re-separation
Data Source
AI summary
An elevator system with an elevator car, elevator en guide rails, at least one braking rail, and a brake mechanism and/or safety gear that determines the elevator car movement when activated and in turn has at least one brake block that cooperates with the braking rail. The active surface of this brake block that comes into contact with the braking rail functioning as the brake lining is at least one welding bead whose surface hardness is greater than surface hardness of the braking rail. A method for manufacturing such an elevator brake block includes welding at least two welding beads on a brake lining support composed of a weldable, preferably low-alloyed steel, which constitutes the brake lining that is brought into frictional contact with the braking rail during operation.