Elevator – industrial lift truck – or stationary lift for vehicle – With monitoring – signalling – and indicating means
Reexamination Certificate
2001-04-02
2002-08-06
Salata, Jonathan (Department: 2837)
Elevator, industrial lift truck, or stationary lift for vehicle
With monitoring, signalling, and indicating means
C187S263000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06427809
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an auxiliary device for displacing a payload receptacle of an elevator and to a device for monitoring the position and the movement of a cage in a shaft of an elevator.
2. Description of the Related Art
Elevators with an auxiliary device of that kind are usually used for the transport of persons or goods in a vertical direction between at least two vertically offset stations and are arranged in an elevator shaft in or at a building. The wall bounding the elevator shaft has at the level of each station a loading/unloading opening which is closable by means of a door device and at which a waiting zone adjoins, in which the payloads are disposed before loading or after unloading of the payload receptacle. Such an elevator essentially comprises a payload receptacle such as a platform or a cage, a counterweight for the payload receptacle, a drive device, a braking device, at least one flexible support and drive element, such as for example a cable or rope, and the necessary electronic power and control system. The flexible support and drive element connects the payload receptacle with its counterweight and runs between the payload receptacle and counterweight by way of a drive wheel of the drive device. The drive device is disposed in the transport shaft above the zone thereof usable by the payload receptacle. If braking takes place in consequence of a technical problem, thus an emergency braking, the load receptacle is usually not disposed in a station. The auxiliary device then has to be actuated in order to bring the load receptacle to a station in the shortest time, so that the persons and/or goods being transported do not have to remain in or on the load receptacle in the transport shaft. The auxiliary device comprises on the one hand a temporarily activatable brake release device, by which the braking device is released, and on the other hand an auxiliary drive device actuable in the case of emergency in order to raise or lower the load receptacle when the release device is activated; in that case, the load receptacle has to be brought into one of the stations or at least in to a region in the vicinity of a station where a risk-free unloading can take place. The auxiliary drive device is generally constructed so that it allows manual actuation of the drive pulley, which in normal operation is actuated by motor, of the drive device; consequently, this drive pulley can also be considered as part of the auxiliary drive device. For elevators which are mounted in buildings with few storeys and are designed for transport of relatively small payloads, simple, manually actuable and mechanically operating brake release and auxiliary drive devices are preferably provided.
EP 0 947 460 A1 describes such an auxiliary device for an elevator for persons, with a release device and an auxiliary drive device. This possesses a crank rod linkage, which is so constructed that it is used not only for activating a brake release device, but also for the drive of an auxiliary drive device. The upper end region of the crank rod linkage can be coupled with the brake release element and with the element of the auxiliary drive and is disposed in the uppermost part of the transport shaft. The crank rod linkage is constructed to be pivotable and mounted in such a manner that it can be pivoted from a rest position in which it is disposed entirely in the elevator shaft into an operative position in which its lower end region projects through a window opening of a wall bounding the elevator shaft. The window opening lies in the upper region of the uppermost station, so that the crank rod linkage can be readily actuated at its lower end by way of appropriate handle elements by a person standing in the waiting zone of the station. The disadvantage of this device is to be seen in that the actuation thereof has to take place at the level of the uppermost station; this disadvantage is of particular significance when this station is disposed within a residential unit, as is frequently the case in superior dwellings and particularly in maisonette dwellings and penthouse dwellings.
There is known from DE GM 296 15 921 U1 an auxiliary device which is improved with respect thereto and in which the operation of the device can take place from a location disposed at a certain distance from the uppermost station of the elevator. However, this auxiliary device is of comparatively complicated construction. A substantial disadvantage of such auxiliary devices resides in the fact that it is not possible for a person who is actuating it to observe the movement, which is taking place in the uppermost region of the elevator shaft, of the auxiliary drive device as generally no direct visual link exists between this uppermost region of the elevator shaft and the person carrying out the operation. Certainly with a suitable arrangement of an observation window the flexible support and drive element at which the load receptacle is suspended can be observed without further measures from a location outside the elevator shaft and thus an indication obtained about the movement of the payload receptacle, but in many cases this is considered to be an inadequate solution. In order to actually observe an element of the auxiliary drive device such as the drive pulley the person carrying out the operation is obliged to move at least his or her head and neck region into the elevator shaft, which forms a source of risk for this person and can hinder them during actuation of the auxiliary device.
Moreover, the view of the uppermost region of the elevator shaft through the payload receptacle is obstructed if this is disposed above the location of the person carrying out the operation.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an auxiliary device for displacing a payload receptacle of an elevator and a device for monitoring the position and the movement of a cage in a shaft of an elevator which are simple with respect to construction, arrangement and operation and which can be operated from a storey lying at one or more levels below the uppermost storey.
The auxiliary device according to the invention comprises an image transmission device which essentially consists of a sensor, a display device and a transfer path. The sensor serves the purpose of detecting at least one image of the movement of the auxiliary drive. The display device serves the purpose of making visible the images, which are picked up by the sensor, for the attention of the person carrying out the operation. The transfer path serves for transmission to the display device of the images detected by the sensor. In the case of arrangement of the operating elements of the auxiliary device far below the uppermost floor, thanks to an image transmission device of that kind the display device can be mounted in the immediate vicinity of the operating elements of the brake release and auxiliary drive device.
In the case of the device according to the invention for monitoring the position and the movement of a cage in a shaft of an elevator there is provided a first means for monitoring the movement of the cage, which comprises a unit for detection of the movement, an information transmission path and a display unit. In addition, there is provided a second means for monitoring the position of the cage, which comprises a means for reproducing the position of the cage.
In a first embodiment of the auxiliary device the image transmission device thereof is formed by at least two mirrors. The first mirror serves as a sensor and is oriented towards the auxiliary drive; the second mirror serves as a display device and is oriented towards an observation window, which is arranged in the wall of the elevator shaft at the location provided for the person carrying out the operation. The transfer path is formed by the optical coupling region between the first and the second mirror. This arrangement is comparatively simple in construction and reliable in operation. Moreover, it allow
Cohen & Pontani, Lieberman & Pavane
Inventio AG
Salata Jonathan
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