Elevator with governor

Abstract: An elevator comprising a moving cage (8) capable of ascending and descending in a elevator shaft (1) and a governor (13) for detecting the speed of the moving cage (8) to effect an emergency stop of the cage (8), t the governor (13) being fixed by means of a support member (18) to a guide rail (5a, 9b) extending along the elevator shaft (1).

Description: The present invention relates to an elevator with a governor for automatically controlling the speed of a moving cage. Elevators are incorporated in high-rise buildings such as office buildings. In general, these elevators comprise an elevator shaft vertically extending in a building, a pair of guide rails in the shaft, a moving cage capable of ascending and descending between the guide rails with the aid of a cage frame, a rope for suspending the cage, and a winding machine for driving the rope to move the cage up and down. One such elevator is provided with an emergency stop device for safely stopping the moving cage in case of trouble. The emergency stop device comprises a governor for detecting the moving speed of the cage and an emergency stop mechanism adapted to stop the cage when the governor detects the attainment of a speed higher than a predetermined value by the cage. The emergency stop mechanism is provided on the cage side, and can mechanically stop the moving cage by means of a brake system. The governor, which includes a sheave wound with a governor rope, can be actuated to restrain the motion of the rope by the centrifugal force of whirling weights that are incorporated in the sheave. The governor rope, which usually moves at the same speed with the moving cage, is stopped from moving by the governor when the cage descends at a speed higher than a predetermined value. The emergency stop mechanism on the cage side is connected to the governor rope. When the rope stops, the stop mechanism is instantaneously actuated to stop the moving cage compulsorily. In the conventional elevators, the winding machine and the governor are set in a machine room that is located above the elevator apparatus, that is, on the uppermost floor such as the rooftop of the building. The machine room requires a considerably wide space, and its installation entails high costs. Recently, therefore, attempts have been made to develop elevators that dispense with a machine room. One prior art that has no machine room is WO-A-98 40304 that discloses an elevator comprising a movable cage ascending and descending in an elevator shaft and having a governor for detecting the speed of the cage to effect an emergency stop when the speed of the cage is too high. In this prior art the governor is fixed by means of a support member to a guide rail serving to guide the cage in the shaft. The governor is so attached to the guide rail that it is located nearer to an elevator hall than is the guide rail fitted with said governor. This prior art is said to be useful where the elevator accommodating structure is without a machine room since it permits all the shaft equipment to be mainly installed in the shaft space. However, in this prior art, no consideration is given to the problem as to how the governor can be so located that it can readily be serviced after it has operated to stop a too speedy descent of the cage as may be the case, for example, to stop a free fall. In these elevators that have no machine room, however, other spaces than the upper part of the elevator shaft are so narrow that locating the governor, as well as the winding machine, is a critical problem. The present invention has been contrived in consideration of these circumstances, and its object is to provide an elevator governor locatable in an optimum position in an elevator shaft. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention is as defined in the accompanying claims in which claim 1 has been divided into a two-part form based on the assumption that WO-A-98 40304 is the nearest state of the art. In the present invention the elevator comprises a moving cage capable of ascending and descending in an elevator shaft and wherein each floor portion of the shaft is provided with an opening which communicates with an elevator hall. A governor is provided for detecting the speed of the moving cage to effect an emergency stop of the cage. The governor is fixed by means of a support member to a guide rail extending along the elevator shaft, the governor being so attached to said guide rail that the governor is located nearer to an elevator hall than is said guide rail. The elevator includes a control panel stored in a door box portion of an automatic door apparatus at a shaft opening at the uppermost floor of the elevator shaft, the governor being so positioned behind said door box portion that a locked governor can be unlocked through the interior of said door box portion when opened. According to this arrangement, there may be provided a machine-room-less elevator, in which the governor is located in the elevator shaft. The guide rail fitted with the governor may be a guide rail for guiding the moving cage or a guide rail for guiding a counterweight balanced with the moving cage. Preferably, the moving cage of the elevator is provided with a drive unit mounted on the guide rail extending along the elevator shaft. Preferably, moreover, the support member for supporting the governor includes a plurality of fixing spots fixed to the guide rail, a specific one of the fixing spots being fixed to the guide rail by means of a pin-shaped member penetrating the guide rail, another one being fixed to the guide rail by means of a clip member. Preferably, the governor is held on the support member for movement away from the wall surface of the elevator shaft. Preferably, furthermore, the governor includes a cover removably attached to the opposite side thereof remoter from the wall surface of the elevator shaft. With this arrangement, the governor can be easily accessed from the elevator hall. According to the invention, furthermore, there is provided an elevator in which the governor includes an endless rope supplied with a speed input from the moving cage and a jockey pulley for tensioning the rope, the jockey pulley being fitted with a pulse generator for detecting the floor for a stop. This summary of the invention does not necessarily describe all necessary features so that the invention may also be a sub-combination of these described features. The invention can be more fully understood from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG. 1 is a plan view for illustrating an elevator governor according to a first embodiment of the present invention; FIGS. 2A and 2B are views for illustrating a mounting structure for the governor that constitutes a principal part of the embodiment; FIGS. 3A and 3B are views for illustrating operation for checking the operation of an elevator; FIGS. 4A and 4B are views for illustrating a fixing structure for a support member of the governor; FIG. 5 is a view for illustrating the way the fixing structure facilitates the elevator operation check; FIG. 6 is a view for illustrating a fixing structure for the support member of an alternative governor; FIGS. 7A and 7B are views for illustrating a cover mounting structure of the governor; FIGS. 8A and 8B are views for illustrating a cover mounting structure of an alternative governor; FIGS. 9A and 9B are views for illustrating a mounting structure for a pulse generator; FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing an outline of a machine-room-less elevator; and FIG. 11 is a schematic view for illustrating emergency stop mechanisms. Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, there will be described a first embodiment of the invention. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of the uppermost floor portion of an elevator incorporated in a building. Numeral 1 denotes an elevator shaft with, for example, a square cross section formed in a structure 2. The shaft 1 vertically extends, for example, from the lowermost floor of the structure 2 to the uppermost floor. As shown in FIG. 1, each floor portion of the shaft 1 is provided with an opening 1a, which communicates with an elevator hall. The opening 1a is provided with an automatic door apparatus 3. In the opening of the uppermost floor, a control panel 4 is stored in a door box portion of the door apparatus 3. A pair of vertically extending cage guide rails 5a and 5b are arranged on left- and right-hand wall surfaces, respectively, of the elevator shaft 1. The rails 5a and 5b are fixed to their corresponding wall surfaces of the shaft 1 by means of first brackets 6 (only one of which is shown in FIG. 1) that protrude from the wall surfaces, individually. A moving cage 8 is liftably supported on the rails 5a and 5b by means of a cage frame 8a. Further, a pair of vertically extending counterweight guide rails 9a and 9b are arranged on one wall surface side of the elevator shaft 1. The one counterweight guide rail 9a is fixed to a wall surface of the shaft 1 that corresponds to the back of the moving cage 8, and the other rail 9b to its corresponding first bracket 6. A counterweight 12 is mounted on the rails 9a and 9b for up-and-down motion. The moving cage 8 and the counterweight 12 are coupled to each other by means of a movable pulley structure that includes a long rope for vertical balancing. In the elevator shaft 1, as shown in FIG. 10, the moving cage 8 and the counterweight 12 are suspended and balanced by means of a rope 52. On the left-hand side of the upper part of the interior of the shaft 1, a drive unit 53 (a winding device or traction machine) is set in a narrow space between an inner wall of the shaft 1 and a side wall of the cage 8. The drive unit 53, which is fixed to the guide rails 5a and 9b, can wind up the rope 52, thereby relatively moving the cage 8 and the counterweight 12 up and down. Thus, one end portion of the rope 52, which is wound up by the drive unit 53, is fixed to a rope hitch 55 that is attached to the upper end portion of the guide rail 5a, while the other end portion is fixed to a rope hitch 56 that is attached to the upper end portion of the counterweight guide rail 9a. The middle portion of the rope 52 is passed around a lower sheave 57 that is attached to the lower part of the moving cage 8, extends through the drive unit 53, and is then passed around a counterweight sheave 58 that is attached to the upper part of the counterweight 12. Accordingly, the moving cage 8 can be moved to and stopped at each floor by controlling the drive unit 53 by means of the control panel 4. As shown in FIG. 11, emergency stop mechanisms 60 are provided on the lower end of the cage 8. The mechanisms 60 compulsorily stop the cage 8 from descending in a manner such that wedge members (not shown) are driven between the cage 8 and the guide rails 5a and 5b. In a space portion that is defined between the rail 5a and the automatic door apparatus 3, as shown in FIG. 1, moreover, a governor 13 is fixed to the rail 5a by means of a second bracket 18. FIGS. 2A and 2B show a layout of the governor 13. As shown in FIG. 2A, the governor 13 has a frame 14, on which a sheave 15, a centrifugal rope binding mechanism 16, and a limit switch 17 for releasing the power supply are combined as a unit. The governor 13 is fixed to the left-hand cage guide rail 5a by means of the second bracket 18 of steel. The bracket 18 is composed of a steel plate that combines a cranked vertical plate 19, an L-shaped horizontal plate 20 on one end side of the upper part of the vertical plate 19, and various reinforcing plates 21. The frame 14 is fixed to the top surface of the horizontal plate 20, whereby the governor 13 is mounted on the second bracket 18. A pair of through holes 22 are formed in the upper and lower stages of the horizontal plate 20 at the other end portion thereof. The holes 22 are arranged at a space that is equivalent to the width of a fixed seat 5c of the guide rail 5a. In the middle stage, moreover, a pair of through holes 23 are arranged at a space corresponding to the proximal side of the seat 5c of the rail 5a. Among these through holes 22 and 23, six in total, the two holes 23 in the middle stage are positioned and fixed to the guide rail 5a by means of bolts 24, individually, and the four remaining holes 22 in the upper and lower stages are fixed to the guide rail 5a by means of their corresponding clips 25 and bolts. Thus, the second bracket 18 is positioned with respect to the guide rail 5a by means of the middle-stage through holes 23 and fixed firmly by means of the remaining holes 22. In this arrangement, the governor 13 is set near the hall door apparatus 3 on the uppermost floor, and more specifically, by the wall of the elevator shaft 1 behind the door box within 1 meter from the apparatus 3. An endless governor rope 27, which is connected to the emergency stop mechanisms 60 of the moving cage 8, is passed around the sheave 15 of the governor 13. As indicated by two-dot chain line in FIG. 2A, moreover, a jockey pulley 29 having a weight 28 is suspended by the lower part of the rope 27, whereby the rope 27 is tensioned. The governor 13 serves to detect the moving speed of the moving cage 8. If the moving speed of the cage 8 exceeds a predetermined value due to snapping of the rope for cage suspension or the like, the governor 13 actuates the centrifugal rope binding mechanism 16. Thereupon, the governor rope 27 is bound to activate the emergency stop mechanisms 60 of the moving cage 8. A first advantage of the present invention arranged in this manner is that the governor 13 does not require any machine room because it is fixed to the cage guide rail 5a for guiding the moving cage 8 in the elevator shaft 1. The governor 13 can be located in an optimum position in consideration of the size of the shaft 1, the relative position of the cage 8, etc. Since the same support member (second bracket) 18 can be used to support the governor 13 without regard to the configuration of the building structure 2, moreover, the cost performance can be improved. Secondly, only specific portions of the support member 18 for supporting the governor 13 are fixed by means of the bolts 24, and the other portions by means of the rail clips 25. In fixing the support member 18, therefore, it is necessary only that the member 18 be led to its optimum position on the cage guide rail 5a with the clips 25 as guides and then fixedly positioned by means of the bolts 24 that penetrate the fixed seat 5c of the rail 5a. This operation is very easy. Further, the positioning bolts 24 need not be fixed in many places. They may be fixed in two places, as shown in FIG. 2A, or in one place. Thus, at least one bolt should only be used to fix the support member 18, that is, the fixing operation can be carried out efficiently. Since fixing the support member 18 does not require many through holes, moreover, the strength of the cage guide rail 5a can be restrained from lowering. Thirdly, according to this arrangement, the governor 13 is located near the hall door apparatus 3, so that the governor rope 27 in a bound state can be released by a maintenance man who unlocks the governor 13 behind the door box by means of a tool (not shown). This releasing operation is easy. It is to be understood that the governor 13 may be unlocked through the interior of the opened door box. Referring now to FIGS. 3A to 3B, there will be described an arrangement for the inspection of the governor. The elevator must be checked to see if the governor 13 operates normally. More specifically, in this operation check, the maintenance man checks the governor 13 to see if it operates at a specific speed such that the emergency stop mechanisms are activated. In starting this operation check, a tachometer 30 is first set on the sheave 15 without the governor rope 27 thereon, as shown in FIG. 3B. Then, the maintenance man holds a roller 32, which is set on the distal end of a power drill 31 (shown in FIG. 3A), against the outer peripheral portion of the sheave 15, thereby rotating the sheave 15. When the rotational speed of the sheave 15 reaches an emergency stop speed for the moving cage 8, whether or not the centrifugal rope binding mechanism 16 operates is checked. The sheave 15 is rotated in one specific direction for consideration of the check of the operation for the descent of the moving cage 8. The power drill 31 must also be rotated in one specific direction. In the case where the governor 13 is located near the wall surface of the elevator shaft 1, as shown in FIG. 1, therefore, the power drill 31 sometimes must be held in the position indicated by two-dot chain line in FIG. 3A. In this case, the wall surface of the shaft 1 may possibly prevent the drill 31 from being held in position. Thus, according to the present embodiment, there is provided an arrangement, as described below, that facilitates the hold of the power drill 31. FIGS. 4A and 4B show the arrangement according to this embodiment. These drawings, which correspond to the drawing of FIG. 2B, are top views showing the relative positions of the frame 14 (see FIG. 2A) of the governor 13 and the support member 18 supporting the frame 14. As shown in FIG. 2A, the frame 14 serves to hold the governor 13. According to this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4B, the frame 14 for holding the governor 13 is designed to be rockable around one point (33) on one end portion thereof on the side of the guide rail 5a. More specifically, the one and the other end portions of the frame 14 are fixed to the horizontal plate 20 of the support member 18 by means of bolts 33 and 34, respectively. Thus, the frame 14 can be rocked away from the wall surface of the elevator shaft 1 by removing the bolt 34 on the other end side. Thereupon, a space A is created between the governor 13 and the wall surface of the elevator shaft 1, as shown in FIG. 5. The power drill 31 can be inserted into and held in the space A shown in FIG. 5. The governor 13 may be formed having a slidable structure, as shown in FIG. 6, in place of the rockable structure. According to this embodiment, a bolt hole 35 in the horizontal plate 20 that is penetrated by the bolts 33 and 34 is a slot that extends toward the inner part of the elevator shaft 1. In this case, the whole governor 13 can be slid toward the inner part of the shaft 1 after the bolts 33 and 34 are loosened. By doing this, the governor 13 can be moved away from the wall surface of the shaft 1. A slot may be formed as a bolt hole in the frame 14. FIGS. 7A and 7B show a cover structure for the sheave 15 of the governor 13. In an elevator having the governor in its shaft, the governor is located near the maintenance man who gets on the top side of the moving cage to carry out inspection for maintenance, so that the sheave of the governor is expected to be concealed under a cover for safety's sake. If the cover were to be fixed by welding or the like, however, the governor cannot be inspected. Accordingly, the cover should be designed to be removable. In the case where the governor 13 is located by the wall of the elevator shaft 1, as shown in FIG. 1, however, the space between the wall surface of the shaft 1 and the governor 13 is so narrow that the cover requires troublesome attachment and detachment operations. Accordingly, the cover structure of this embodiment is provided with a mounting portion in a region other than the region that faces the shaft wall and is unfit for the attachment and detachment operations. FIGS. 7A and 7B show a specific example of this structure. These drawings are views of the governor 13 taken from the hall door side. The frame 14 of the governor 13 is substantially in the shape of a U, open-topped, and a cover 40 is located over the frame 14 to cover the sheave 15. The cover 40 is substantially in the shape of an inverted L, combining a horizontal plate portion 41 covering the top side of the sheave 15 and a vertical plate portion 42 covering a side face of the sheave 15 on the inner side of the elevator shaft, for example. A fixed seat 43 is formed on the distal end side of the vertical plate portion 42. The seat 43 overlaps a vertical wall 14a of the frame 14 on the inner side of the shaft. The fixed seat 43 and the vertical wall 14a are removably fastened to each other by means of a fixing member, e.g., a bolt 44 (equivalent to the mounting portion) that penetrates the two, whereby the cover 40 is removably attached to the frame 14. The cover 40, thus incorporated in the frame 14, be easily removed despite its location beside the wall, since the bolt 44 for use as the mounting portion is located on the side of the moving cage 8 so that the maintenance man on the cage can work with ease. The cover structure shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B is designed so that it opens to the wall of the elevator shaft 1. Alternatively, however, an upwardly extending plate 45 may be welded to a vertical wall 14b of the frame 14 on the shaft wall side so as to cover the open wall-side portion, as shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B. In this case, the upper end portion of the plate 45 and the distal end of the horizontal plate portion of the cover 40 are removably fastened to each other by means of a bolt 46 so that the cover 40 is detachably attached to the frame 14. FIGS. 9A and 9B show a pulse generator located in a space in the elevator shaft 1 and used to detect stopping floors. In general, an elevator is designed so that the actual position of the moving cage is detected by the position of the governor rope. To attain this, a pulse generator is attached to the governor so as to be coaxial with the sheave. In the particular embodiment the governor 13 is located by the wall of the elevator shaft 1, as shown in FIG. 1, and the pulse generator 50 may therefore also be expected to be held in the space between the wall surface and the moving cage. However, this space may be too narrow to hold the pulse generator (50) with ease therein. According to this embodiment, therefore, the pulse generator 50 is attached to the tensioning jockey pulley 29 that is thinner than the governor 13 and leaves a good vacant space between the wall surface of the elevator shaft and the moving cage. Thus, the pulse generator 50 can be stored in a limited space in the elevator shaft. More specifically, a pulse generator 50 is attached coaxially to a side portion of the jockey pulley 29, as shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B, whereby it can be stored in the limited gap between the wall surface of the elevator shaft 1 and the moving cage 8. In FIG. 9A, numeral 51 denotes a regulator mechanism for restraining deflection of the pulley 29 toward the gap. According to the embodiments herein, the object of detection (moving body capable of ascending and descending in the elevator shaft) of the governor is a moving cage. However, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and may be also applied to a governor that uses a weight as its object of detection. In this case, the governor may be fixed to the counterweight guide rail by means of a support member.

Claims: An elevator comprising a moving cage (8) capable of ascending and descending in an elevator shaft (1) and wherein each floor portion of the shaft is provided with an opening (1a) which communicates with an elevator hall; a governor (13) for detecting the speed of the moving cage (8) to effect an emergency stop of the cage; the governor (13) being fixed by means of a support member (18) to a guide rail (5a, 9b) extending along the elevator shaft; and wherein the governor (13) is so attached to said guide rail (5a, 9b) that the governor is located nearer to said elevator hall than is said guide rail (5a, 9b); characterized in that a control panel (4) is stored in a door box portion of an automatic door apparatus (3) at a shaft opening at the uppermost floor of the elevator shaft and in that ; the governor is positioned behind said door box portion, the arrangement being such that a locked governor (13) can be unlocked through the interior of said door box portion when opened. An elevator according to claim 1 wherein said guide rail fitted with the governor (13) is a guide rail (5a) for guiding the moving cage (8) An elevator according to claim 1 wherein said guide rail fitted with the governor (13) is a guide rail (9b) for guiding a counterweight (12) balanced with the moving cage (8). An elevator according to claim 1 wherein said moving cage (8) is provided with a drive unit (53) mounted on the guide rail (5a, 9b) extending along the elevator shaft. An elevator according to claim 4, wherein the guide rail fitted with the drive unit (53) is a guide rail (5a) for guiding the cage (8). An elevator according to claim 4, wherein said guide rail fitted with the drive unit (53) is a guide rail (9b) for guiding a counterweight (12) balanced with the moving cage (8). An elevator according to claim 1 wherein said support member (18) for supporting the governor (13) includes a plurality of fixing spots (22, 23) fixed to the guide rail (5a) for guiding the moving cage (8), a specific one of the fixing spots being fixed to said guide rail (5a) by means of a pin-shaped member (24) penetrating the guide rail, another one being fixed to the guide rail (5a) by means of a clip member (25). An elevator according to claim 1 wherein said governor (13) is held on the support member (18) for movement away from the wall surface of the elevator shaft (1). An elevator according to claim 1 wherein said governor (13) includes a cover (40) removably attached to the opposite side thereof remoter from the wall surface of the elevator shaft (1). An elevator according to claim 1 wherein said governor (13) includes and endless rope (27) supplied with a speed input from the moving cage (8) and a jockey pulley (29) for tensioning the rope, the jockey pulley being fitted with a pulse generator (50) for detecting the floor for a stop.

Inventors: SASAKI HIROTADA, SASAKI, HIROTADA, Sasaki, Hirotada, Intellectual Property Division
Applicants: TOSHIBA KK, KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOSHIBA
Application year: 1999
Main classification: B66B5
IPC codes: B66B5, B66B1