PATENT ABSTRACT
An elevator having deflecting rollers integrated in the cage floor or in the counterweight. The support and drive element is guided in the cage floor through a floor channel. By comparison with a conventional cage floor with deflecting rollers (bottom blocks) arranged underneath the cage floor, the cage floor is constructed to be very small in height overall, which has a direct effect on the shaft pit depth. The height gained by the cage floor can be saved in the shaft pit depth.

PATENT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    The present invention relates to an elevator consisting of an elevator cage movable in an elevator shaft, and a counterweight. The elevator cage and the counterweight are connected by means of a support and drive means guided over deflecting rollers. A drive drives the elevator cage and the counterweight.  
           [0002]    An elevator installation is known from European reference EP 01811132.8, in which an elevator cage and a counterweight are movable in an elevator shaft along guide rails. The elevator cage and the counterweight are connected by means of a belt, wherein a 2:1 belt guide with underlooping of the elevator cage is provided. The belt ends are each arranged at an upper end of a guide rail. The belt is guided by way of two deflecting rollers arranged underneath the elevator cage and supports the elevator cage, by way of a drive roller of a drive arranged at the upper end of a guide rail and by way of a deflecting roller supports the counterweight. The guide rails supporting the elevator cage, the counterweight and the drive introduce the vertical forces into the shaft pit.  
           [0003]    A disadvantage of the known equipment resides in the fact that the deflecting rollers arranged outside the elevator cage or the counterweight oblige a larger shaft height, a larger shaft width and a deeper shaft pit.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0004]    Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an elevator installation that avoids the disadvantages of the known equipment and is constructed to be smaller.  
           [0005]    Pursuant to this object, and others which will become apparent hereafter, one aspect of the present invention resides in an elevator having an elevator shaft, an elevator cage movable in the elevator shaft, and having a floor and a roof, and a counterweight. A support and drive means is arranged to connect the elevator cage with the counterweight. Deflecting rollers are integrated in either the floor or the roof of the elevator cage between two plates. A support and drive means is guided over the deflecting rollers and is driven by a drive so as to drive the cage and the counterweight.  
           [0006]    In another embodiment of the invention, the deflecting rollers are integrated in the floor and the support and drive means is guided in a channel in the floor.  
           [0007]    In still another embodiment of the invention, the deflecting rollers are integrated in the roof and the support and drive means is guided in a channel in the roof.  
           [0008]    In still a further embodiment of the invention, elements are provided for supporting the deflecting rollers. The support elements are connected with either the cage floor or the cage roof. The floor or roof to which the elements are connected is of a sandwich construction.  
           [0009]    In another embodiment of the invention, additional deflecting rollers are integrated into the counterweight. The counterweight has a cut out for receiving the additional deflecting rollers.  
           [0010]    The counterweight is provided with an offset in a further embodiment of the invention, which off set is configured so that the counterweight can move past the drive.  
           [0011]    The advantages achieved by the invention are essentially to be seen in that the elevator cage as well as the counterweight can be constructed to be more compact. By integration of the deflecting rollers in the elevator cage or in the counterweight, the shaft height, shaft width and pit depth can be dimensioned to be smaller. The cogged belt employed as support and drive means allows small bending radii and thus small diameters for the deflecting rollers and the drive wheels. Moreover, the cogged belt is disposed in mechanically positive connection with the drive wheels of the mechanical linear drive and with the deflecting rollers provided with a brake. A mechanically positive connection of the drive and support means with the drive wheels or with the brake rollers enables a lightweight mode of construction of the elevator cage. In particular, the cage floor or the cage roof with the integrated deflecting rollers can be realized by a stiff sandwich mode of construction capable of bearing loads. By comparison with a conventional cage floor with deflecting rollers (bottom blocks) arranged underneath, the cage floor of the present invention is constructed to be very small in height, which has a direct effect on the shaft pit depth. The height gained by the cage floor can be saved in the shaft pit depth. Moreover, the belt can be guided near the cage wall, which in turn has a favorable effect on shaft width. By comparison with a conventional cage roof with deflecting rollers (top blocks) arranged at the top the cage roof of the present invention can be constructed to be very small in height, which has a direct effect on the shaft head height. The height gained by the cage roof can be saved in the shaft head height.  
           [0012]    For a more complete understanding of the elevator of the present invention, reference is made to the following detailed description and accompanying drawings in which the presently preferred embodiments of the invention are illustrated by way of example. That the invention may be embodied in several forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof, it is expressly understood that the drawings are for purposes of illustration and description only, and are not intended as a definition of the limits of the invention. Throughout the following description and drawings, identical reference numbers refer to the same component throughout the several views.  
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0013]    [0013]FIG. 1 shows an elevator with deflecting rollers integrated in the floor of the elevator cage;  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 1 a  shows a cage floor without a centrally arranged profile roller;  
         [0015]    [0015]FIGS. 2, 3 and  4  show different arrangements of the deflecting rollers in the cage floor;  
         [0016]    [0016]FIGS. 5 and 6 show a deflecting roller arranged at the guide center of the elevator cage;  
         [0017]    [0017]FIGS. 7 and 8 show a deflecting roller arranged outside the guide center of the elevator cage;  
         [0018]    [0018]FIGS. 9 and 10 show a counterweight with integrated deflecting rollers; and  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 11 shows an elevator with deflecting rollers integrated in the roof of the elevator cage. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0020]    An elevator, which consists of an elevator cage  3  movable in an elevator shaft  2  and a counterweight  4  and which is denoted by  1 , is illustrated in FIG. 1. The elevator cage  3  is guided by means of a first guide rail  5  and by means of a second guide rail  6 . The counterweight  4  is guided by means of a third guide rail  7  and by means of a fourth guide rail, which is not illustrated. The guide rails are supported in a shaft pit  8 , wherein the vertical forces are conducted into the shaft pit  8 . The guide rails  5 ,  6  and  7  are connected with the shaft wall by brackets, which are not illustrated. Buffers  9 , on which buffer plates  10  of the elevator cage  3  or the counterweight  4  can be placed, are arranged in the shaft pit  8 .  
         [0021]    A belt  11 , for example a cogged belt, with a 2:1 belt guidance is provided as support and drive means. When a mechanical linear drive  12 , which is arranged at the second guide rail  6 , for example in the shaft head  2 . 1 , advances the belt  11  by means of a drive wheel  13  through one unit, the elevator cage  3  or the counterweight  4  moves through a half unit. One end of the belt  11  is arranged at a first cable fixing point  14  and the second end of the belt  11  is arranged at a second cable fixing point  15 . The belt  11  is guided over a first deflecting roller  16 , over a profiled roller  17 , over a second deflecting roller  18 , over a third deflecting roller  19 , over the drive wheel  13  and over a fourth deflecting roller  20 . The first deflecting roller  16 , the second deflecting roller  18  and the profiled roller  17  are integrated in the floor  21  of the elevator cage  3 , wherein the belt runs in a floor channel  21 . 1 . As in the embodiment of FIG. 1 a , the profiled roller  17  can be omitted. The profiled roller  17  has a toothing corresponding with the toothing of the belt  11 . The first deflecting roller  16  and the second deflecting roller  18  guide the belt  11  on the untoothed side by means of flanges arranged at the end faces of the rollers. The third deflecting roller  19  arranged at the second guide rail  6  is disposed by its toothing in engagement with the toothed side of the belt  11  and comprises a brake for normal operation. The drive wheel  13  is disposed by its toothing in engagement with the toothed side of the belt  11 . Diverting rollers  22  of the linear drive  12  increase the angle of looping of the belt  11  at the drive wheel  13 . The motor or motors for the drive wheel  13  is or are not illustrated. The fourth deflecting roller  20  is arranged in the counterweight and is comparable in construction with the first deflecting roller  16  or with the second deflecting roller  18 .  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 2, FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 show different arrangements of the deflecting rollers  16 ,  18  in the cage floor  21  in the region of the guide center  23  of the elevator cage  3 . FIG. 2 shows the deflecting rollers  16 ,  18 , which are arranged behind the guide rails  5 ,  6 , with a first roller R 1  and a second roller R 2 , wherein each roller is provided with a belt  11 . The rollers R 1 , R 2  are independent of one another and are free-running. The belts  11  run behind the guide shoe. Details with respect to these variants are illustrated in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6.  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 3 shows rollers R 1 , R 2  disposed outside the guide rails  5 ,  6 . The belts  11  run behind the guide shoe. The roller spacing determines the belt spacing and thus the spacing of the drive wheels  13  and the length of the mechanical linear drive  12 .  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 4 shows doubly executed deflecting rollers  16 ,  18 , which are comparable in construction with FIG. 2, with rollers R 1 , R 2  disposed outside the guide rails  5 ,  6 . This arrangement for four belts  11  is provided for larger support forces.  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 show the detail A of FIG. 1 a  with a first deflecting roller  16  arranged at the guide center  23  of the elevator cage  3 . FIGS. 5 and 6 are also applicable in the same sense for the second deflecting roller  18 . The section of the cage floor  21  is taken through the guide center  23 . The cage floor  21  constructed in sandwich mode of construction consists of a roof plate  24  and of a floor plate  25 , between which a foam filling  26  is arranged, wherein the floor channel  21 . 1  for the belt  11  is cut out. The roof plate  24  supports a floor covering  27  and, in the edge regions, a base profile member  28  on which wall elements  29  can be placed. In the corners of the cage floor  21  the base profile  28  is connected by means of rods, which are not illustrated, with the cage roof, which is not illustrated. The rollers R 1 , R 2  are arranged to be free running on an axle  30 , wherein the axle  30  is mounted in a base  31 . The base  31  is connected with the floor plate  25  and the roof plate  24 , and consists of a support element  31 . 1 , an insulating element  31 . 2  and a top element  31 . 3 . A safety brake device  3 . 1 , which stops the elevator cage  3  in the case of emergency, is arranged underneath the deflecting roller  16 . As shown in FIG. 6, the deflecting roller  16  is arranged below a bracket supporting a guide shoe  32 , wherein there is still place for the belts  11  between the bracket  33  and the rollers R 1 , R 2 .  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 7 and FIG. 8 show the detail A of FIG. 1 a  with first deflecting rollers  16 , which are arranged outside the guide center  23  of the elevator cage  3 , according to FIG. 4. FIGS. 7 and 8 are applicable in the same sense for the second deflecting rollers  18 . The construction and arrangement in the cage floor  21  of the deflecting roller  16  is comparable with the embodiments according to FIGS. 5 and 6.  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 9 and FIG. 10 show a counterweight  4  with integrated deflecting rollers  20 . In the upper region the counterweight  4  has an offset  4 . 1 , wherein the offset  4 . 1  is so dimensioned that the counterweight  4  can move past the mechanical linear drive  12 . Moreover, a cut-out  4 . 2 , in which the deflecting rollers  20  are integrated, is arranged at the counterweight  4 . With the offset  4 . 1  in the counterweight  4  and the deflecting rollers  20  integrated in the cut-out  4 . 2  the shaft height or the shaft head height can be fully utilized.  
         [0028]    [0028]FIG. 11 shows an elevator with deflecting rollers  16 ,  18  integrated in the roof  40  of the elevator cage  3 . The mechanical linear drive  12  and the counterweight  4  are constructed according to FIGS. 9 and 10. The roof  40  of the elevator cage  3  has a roof channel  40 . 1  in which the belt  11 , which serves as support and drive means, is guided. The arrangement of the deflecting rollers  16 ,  18  is in the same sense as FIGS. 1 a  to  8 .  
         [0029]    Although the present invention has been described in relation to particular embodiments thereof, many other variations and modifications and other uses will become apparent to those skilled in the art. It is preferred, therefore, that the present invention be limited not by the specific disclosure herein, but only by the appended claims.