Door sill for an elevator car

Abstract: Sill system for an elevator car, comprising a sill profile (5), a lower door guide (7) movable in a slot (12) in the sill profile (5) and a guide holding bracket (9) for connecting the lower door guide (7) to the door. The guide holding bracket (9) is passed to the lower door guide (7) from below the surface level of the car floor (3).

Description: The present invention relates to a door sill system for an elevator as defined in the preamble of claim 1. It is known e.g. DE-U-940 9561.2, that the car sill of the door of an elevator car is located on the top surface of the car floor next to the decorative surface, with the guide slot turned upwards. Door operation is often impeded by litter that has gathered in the sill. The litter is supposed to fall down through holes provided in the car sill into the elevator shaft, from where it is periodically removed. Large items of litter may stick to the sill, impeding the movement of the car doors, and this may result in the elevator being immobilized. Litter may also get between the landing doors below, causing operational disturbances or noise. Disturbing noise is also generated when the car is travelling downwards as air is forced through the litter holes. Especially in the case of fast elevators, this may generate a whistling or turbulence-type noise. Besides, other kinds of noise originating in the elevator shaft can penetrate into the elevator car through these holes. In addition, the car sill is structurally inelegant, and architects in particular have been displeased with the sills because these are esthetically unsuitable for use with surface materials and other solutions selected by architects for the elevator car. If a soft car insulation material is used and the car is suspended in the safety gear frame, which is a very common construction, then there is the risk that the sill base of the car may come out of the sill recess. This is an extremely dangerous situation especially during downward travel as the door of the elevator car may crash into a landing sill, which may even involve a mortal danger to the passengers. To eliminate the drawbacks described above, a new invention is presented. The object of the present invention is to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks. The car sill of an elevator as provided by the invention is characterized by the features presented in the characterization part of claim 1. Other preferred embodiments of the invention are characterized by what is said in the other claims. The advantages achieved by the invention include the following: the danger and inconvenience caused by litter are reduced and reliability of the door is improved the appearance of the elevator car is improved as the use of different floor materials is made easier if the doors are mounted in the safety gear frame, then it is possible to use soft rubbers and the new sill fully eliminates the above-mentioned risk of the sill coming off from its recess car sills can be made of cheaper materials because the car sill is not exposed to view the door works more reliably and landing door disturbances disappear noise can be more easily eliminated architects will be pleased because the car sill is placed below the decorative surface and need not be considered at all architects now have full freedom to design the decorative surface. In the following, the invention is described by the aid of an example by referring to the attached drawings, in which Fig. 1 presents the sill system of the invention, and Fig. 2a and 2b present alternative solutions. Fig. 1 shows a car sill as provided by the invention, a car door and a safety edge 2 in an elevator car. The floor of the elevator car is marked with number 3 and it lies below the decorative surface 4. 'Decorative surface' 4 means the surface material topmost on the floor 3 of the elevator car, which may consist of various materials, depending on the situation. The car sill of the invention comprises a cover plate 6 placed on top of the sill to protect it from litter dropped from above. The cover plate 6 also keeps the lower door guide 7 in its guide track. The car sill further comprises a holding bracket 9, one end of which is attached to the bottom edge 8 of the car door 1 and the other end to the lower door guide 7. The lower door guide 7 guides the bottom edge of the car door so that it moves along the rail. The car sill profile 5 is located on the side facing towards the floor 3 of the elevator car. The litter hole 10 is located below the lower door guide 7. Litter can fall down into a space inside the car floor 3, from where it is periodically removed. In the solution depicted in Fig. 1, the car sill is placed under the floor surface 4 so that it remains out of sight. The car sill is laid in the same direction with the direction of opening of the doors, so that the cover plate 6 lies in the same plane with the floor edge 11 on the side under the door. The sill slot 12 is large enough to allow vertical movement of the lower door guide 7 when the soft rubber insulation below the car is compressed. The aperture 13 in the cover plate 6 permits the same vertical movement but still prevents the lower door guide 7 from coming out of the slot 12. The bottom edge 8 of the car door may extend farther down than in Fig. 1, e.g. so that it covers the floor edge 11 under the door. This prevents litter from getting into the door sill when the door is closed. Because of the door coupler rollers, part of the bottom edge of the lower door guide 7 can be left out in the region of roller travel. This allows the use of sill clearances of the same size as before with the old sill. In the case of a two-panel side-opening door or a four-panel centre-opening door, two sills or two slots are needed, and in the case of a three-panel side-opening door, three sills or three slots are needed. Figures 2a and 2b present two other embodiments. In Fig. 2a, the sill profile 5 is so placed on the floor surface that the lower door guide 7 lies horizontally. In the floor surface 3, a recess is made to accommodate this guide rail profile 5. In Fig. 2b, the guide rail profile 5 is so placed that it extends down to the bottom edge of the floor surface 3. This provides the advantage that litter will fall directly into the shaft. It is obvious to a person skilled in the art that the embodiments of the invention are not restricted to the examples described above, but that they may instead be varied in the scope of the following claims. The car sill can be placed in different locations in the car floor 3, e.g. in a recess made for the car sill, in different positions, and also below the car floor 3. The car sill can also be placed in the lower part of the car floor 3 so that litter can fall directly into the shaft. In any case, the sill must be placed below the decorative surface 4.

Claims: Lower guiding arrangement for a door of an elevator car, comprising a sill profile (5), a lower door guide (7) movable in a slot (12) in the sill profile (5) and a guide holding bracket (9) for connecting the lower door guide (7) to the door, the guide holding bracket (9) being passed to the lower door guide (7) from below the surface level of the car floor (3), characterized in that the lower edge (8) of the door covers the slot (12). Lower guiding arrangement for a door of an elevator car, comprising a sill profile (5), a lower door guide (7) movable in a slot (12) in the sill profile (5) and a guide holding bracket (9) for connecting the lower door guide (7) to the door, the guide holding bracket (9) being passed to the lower door guide (7) from below the surface level of the car floor (3), characterized in that the slot (12) for the lower door guide (7) is covered with a cover plate (6) provided with an aperture (13) for the guide holding bracket (9), and that the lower edge (8) of the door covers the aperture (13). Arrangement according to claim 2 characterized in that the cover plate (6) keeps the lower door guide (7) in its guide track. Arrangement according to the precedent claims characterized in that the bottom edge (8) of the car door extends far down as to cover the floor edge (11) under the door. Arrangement according to the precedent claims characterized in that the sill profile (5) is located below the floor surface (4) and cannot be seen from above. Arrangement according to the precedent claims characterized in that the slot (12) for the lower door guide (7) permits some vertical movement of the lower door guide (7). Arrangement according to the precedent claims characterized in that holes (10) for the discharge of litter are provided in the bottom of the slot (12). Arrangement according to the precedent claims characterized in that the guide rail profile (5) extend down to the bottom edge (11) of the floor surface (3).

Inventors: DE JONG JOHANNES, DE JONG, JOHANNES
Applicants: KONE CORP, KONE CORPORATION
Application year: 1995
Main classification: B66B13
IPC codes: B66B13