Door sill arrangement for an elevator car

Abstract: A door sill arrangement (20) comprising a profiled sill element (7) with grooves in which the front sliding guides (3,12) of the door panels (23,29) move. Attached to the door panels (2,32) are two front sliding guides (3,12) to which are attached upper and lower plastic bars (9,11), which, when the door panels (2,32) are opened, are pulled by the front sliding guides (3,12) towards the door opening, thus substantially covering the grooves (23,29) in the profiled sill element (7).

Description: The present invention relates to a door sill arrangement for an elevator car. The door sill of an elevator car is generally made of profiled aluminium or a steel tube structure with a groove for the sliding guides of the door panels. Such a door sill structure always remains visible, so in a visual sense it is not a good solution. In the elevator car, the profiled aluminium element, termed aluminium profile in this application, is attached to the car frame structure, and on the landing to the door sill base plate or to the shaft wall by means of bolts. The aluminium profile is also provided with holes to allow litter to fall down. Such a sill structure is not favoured by architects because the aluminium profile is expose to view when the door is open and partly also when it is closed, and also because the groove gathers litter and dirt. In some cases the door sill is implemented using a narrow aluminium profile which is hid from view under the door panels when the door panels are closed. However, it is still visible when the door panels are open. It is also possible to attach to this aluminium profile a mat strip consisting of a narrow profiled aluminium strip. The door material is fixed under the mat strip. JP-A-612 78 75 discloses a horizontal sill arrangement which is covered with band like structures fixed on two rollers at the end of each groove, respectively. The object of the present invention is to eliminate the drawbacks referred to above. The door sill arrangement of the invention comprises a profiled sill element having upper and lower grooves slidingly receiving a sliding guide for each door panel, upper and lower straight elongate bars being slideably located in the corresponding upper and lower grooves such as to move together with the corresponding sliding guide and to act as closing elements for covering the grooves when the door panels are moved to the open position. Other embodiments of the invention are characterized by what is said in the other claims. Advantages: easy to extend the floor material right up to the sill clearance only the edge of the sill plate is visible when the doors are open no uneven surface; useful e.g. in hospitals no dirt can be accumulated inside the door sill profile a smooth surface on the side of the shaft permits advance opening of the doors, because in this case the grooves are covered by closing elements prevents the accumulation of litter. In the following, the invention is described by the aid of a few examples of its embodiments by referring to the attached drawings, in which Fig. 1a presents a landing door sill in side view, Fig. 1b shows how the upper and lower plastic bars are attached to the frames of the front sliding guides, Fig. 1c presents the grooves of the front sliding guides, Fig. 2 presents the parts of the door sill of the invention in an exploded view, and Fig. 3a and 3b illustrate the operation of the door sill of the invention. Fig. 1a shows a door sill arrangement according to the invention in side view. The door sill profile is composed of two separate profiled aluminium elements or aluminium profiles. The first aluminium profile 7 is mounted between a sill base plate 6 and sill brackets 8. The door sill arrangement comprises door panels 2,32. Door panel 2 is provided with a front sliding guide 3 mounted on lower edge of the door panel. near the side edge facing to the door opening, preferably attached by means of screws, to which sliding guide 3 is further attached, likewise with screws, an upper plastic bar 9 for the front sliding guide 3. The upper plastic bar 9 again is fitted into an upper groove 23 in the first aluminium profile 7. The upper plastic bar 9, which forms a straight elongated closing element closing the groove, is attached to the front sliding guide 3 by means of an anchor pin 19, which in turn is fastened to a metal plate 18 with screws 21. Front sliding guide 12 is identical with front sliding guide 3 excerpt that it is of a longer structure, extending to the lower groove 29. Front sliding guide 12 is correspondingly attached to a lower plastic bar 11 by means of an anchor pin. The front sliding guides 3,12 are preferably connected to the upper and lower plastic bars 9,11 by their lower ends. The joints between the anchor pins and the front sliding guides 3,12 have a free play that allows upward and downward movement. The elongated plastic bars acting as closing elements can also be replaced with bands or belts. The back sliding guides 25,26 are preferably placed in the lower parts of the outer edges of the door panels and attached to the door panel 2,32 by means of screws. The back sliding guides 25,26 slide along guide bars 5,27. The sliding element 4 consists of a piece of plastic provided with a groove and attached to the back sliding guide 25,26 by means of screws. The guide bars 5,27 are mounted directly above the first aluminium profile 7. Fitted into the groove 34 in the middle part of the first aluminium profile 7 is a second aluminium profile 10. Fitted in the groove 29 below it is the lower plastic bar 11. The second aluminium profile 10 is attached to the first aluminium profile 7 by means of thread cutting screws and has a protective plastic cover 33 in front of it. When the plastic bars 9,11 of the front and back sliding guides 3,12 get worn down or dirty and must be replaced in connection with maintenance, the protective plastic cover 33 is first removed from the second aluminium profile 10 and the thread cutting screws behind the plastic cover 33 are unscrewed, whereupon the second aluminium profile 10 can be easily removed and the upper and lower plastic bars can be replaced. Attached with thread cutting screws to the first aluminium profile 7 is also a toe guard 14. The front sliding guides 3,12 are of identical structure, but they are connected to different door panels 2,32, front sliding guide 3 being mounted on the lower edge of door panel 2 near the side edge facing to the door opening, while the second front sliding guide 12 is mounted on the lower edge of door panel 32 near the side edge facing to the door opening. In the bottom left corner of Fig. 1a, the raw edge 16 of the shaft opening is also visible. Fig. 1b illustrates the attachment of the upper plastic bar 9 to front sliding guide 3. Fraised in the upper plastic bar 9 is an empty space 17. Placed on the bottom of this space is a metal plate 18 for fastening screws 21. The anchor pin 19 connects the frame part 15 of the front sliding guide 3 to the metal plate 18. In a corresponding manner,the lower plastic bar 11 is attached with an anchor pin to the respective sliding guide frame part. In Fig. 1b, only the attachment of sliding guide 3 is shown, because both front sliding guides 3 and 12 are mounted in the same way and they are identical in structure except that front sliding guide 12 is somewhat longer because it must extend to the lower plastic bar 11. Fig. 1c shows the grooves 23,29 in which the upper and lower plastic bars move. The back wall of groove 23 is formed by the upper front edge 24 of the first aluminium profile 7 and the upper edge 28 of the second aluminium profile. Groove 29 is correspondingly formed by the lower front edge 30 of the first aluminium profile 7 and the lower edge 31 of the second aluminium profile. The second aluminium profile 10 is placed in the middle groove 34 (not visible in the figure). Fig. 2 shows the parts of the door sill of the invention in an exploded view: the door panels 2,32 and below them the door sill base plate 6, the first aluminium profile 7 and attached to it the front sliding guides 3,12, the upper and lower plastic bars 9,11, the toe guard 14, the second aluminium profile 10, the back sliding guides 25,26, the guide bars 5,27 and a number of different hold fixtures 22, which may vary in respect of design and hole layout as required in each case. These serve in the first place to attach the door sill to the wall. Figures 3a and 3b illustrate the operation of the door sill of the invention. When the door panels 2,32 are opened, the front sliding guides 3,12 attached to them move with the door panels 2,32 towards the edges of the door opening. At the same time, the upper and lower plastic bars 9,11 attached to the front sliding guides 3,12 move into the door opening area, thus closing the gaps of the grooves 23,29 in the door opening area. When the doors are closed, the upper and lower plastic bars only partially overlap each other. The front sliding guides 3,12 are connected to the ends of the upper and lower plastic bars 9,11, front sliding guide 3 being attached to the left-hand end of the upper plastic bar 9 and front sliding guide 12 to the right-hand end of the lower plastic bar 11. Advance opening of the door is allowed, which means that the opening movement of the door can be started before the elevator car has reached the landing level. At this stage, the upper and lower plastic bars 9,11 do not yet cover the door opening completely. The grooves 23,29 for the front sliding guides 3,12 can be fitted in the lateral surface of the door sill profile 7. When the door is completely open, a flat and smooth surface is formed, leaving only the edge of the door sill plate visible. It is obvious to a person skilled in the art that different embodiments of the invention are not limited to the examples described above, but that they can be varied within the scope of the claims presented below. The aluminium profiles can be replaced with roll formed section and the frame parts of the back sliding guides can be integrated into a single part. The plastic guides can also be manufactured by the extrusion moulding technique. The door sill fastenings can also be implemented using simpler structures.

Claims: Door sill arrangement (20) for an elevator car, comprising a profiled sill element (7) having upper and lower grooves (23,29) slidingly receiving a sliding guide (3,12) for each door panel (2,32), upper and lower straight elongate bars (9,11) being slideably located in the corresponding upper and lower grooves (23,29) such as to move together with the corresponding sliding guide (3,12) and to act as closing elements for covering the grooves when the door panels (2,32) are moved to the open position. Door sill arrangement (20) for an elevator car as defined in claim 1, characterized in that the elongated bars (9,11) are attached to the sliding guide (3,12) of the door panel (2,32). Door sill arrangement (20) for an elevator car as defined in claim 1, characterized in that the elongated bars (9,11) are attached to a front sliding guide (3,12) located at the edge of the door panel (2,32) facing to the door opening and that the elongated bars (9,11) extend in a direction away from the door panels (2,32). Door sill arrangement (20) as defined in claim 1 for an elevator car having a door with two door panels (2,32) moving in opposite directions, characterized in that the front sliding guide (3) of door panel (2) moves in groove (23) provided in the first profiled sill element (7) while the front sliding guide (12) of door panel (32) moves in groove (29) provided in the first profiled sill element (7), so that the elongated bars (9,11) attached to the sliding guides (3,12) of different door panels move in opposite directions. Door sill arrangement for an elevator car as defined in claim 1, characterized in that the elongated bar (9,11) is a bar which, in the open position of the door, extends substantially across the whole width of the door opening. Door sill arrangement for an elevator car as defined in claim 1, characterized in that the profiled sill element consists of two aluminium profiles such that the second aluminium profile (10) matches the first aluminium profile (7) so that these together form an upper and a lower groove (23,29) for the sliding guides (3,12). Door sill arrangement for an elevator car as defined in claim 1, characterized, in that the grooves (23,29) for the front sliding guides (3,12) can be fitted on a lateral surface of the profiled sill element (7). Door sill arrangement for an elevator car as defined in claim 1, characterized in that it comprises guide bars (5,27) on the top surface of the first aluminium profile (7), along which guide bars the back sliding guides (25,26) attached to the door panel (2,32) edges facing towards the elevator car are fitted to run.

Inventors: ANTTILA HARRI, KETONEN ARI, ANTTILA, HARRI, KETONEN, ARI
Applicants: KONE CORP, KONE CORPORATION
Application year: 1997
Main classification: B66B13
IPC codes: E05D15, B66B13