Improvements in Controlling Devices for Elevators.
Year: 1894

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Controlling Devices for Elevators.
I, CHARLES ASHLEY HARKNESS, of No. 97 Dover Street, Providence, in the
County of Providence and State of Rhode Island, United States of America,
Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of this invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement:-
This invention has relation to elevators, or lifts, used to carry passengers and
freight from story to story of high buildings or edifices.
It is the object of the invention to provide means of simple structural character
for controlling the movement of the car, which means cannot be actuated to start
the elevator in its movement up or down until the door of access and egress from
the car is closed, so that there may be no liability of accident or injury to persons
by means of an open or partially open door while the car is in motion.
It is also the object of the invention to provide a construction whereby the
starting rope may be arranged outside of the car so that passengers may not
mischievously or otherwise meddle with the rope.
It is also the object of the invention to provide improved means for stopping the
car of an elevator or lift in its upward or downward movement.
It is also the object of the invention to provide other improvements, of greater
or less importance, incident to the foregoing.
The invention consists of the novel construction, arrangement, and relationship
of parts, as I will now proceed to describe in detail and point out in the claims
hereto appended.
Reference is to be had to the annexed drawings and to the letters marked thereon,
forming a part of this Specification, the same letters designating the same parts
or features, as the case may be, wherever they occur.
Of the drawings-
Figure 1 is a horizontal sectional view of the front of a car or lift and the casing
of an elevator well and its door, the car being shown as equipped with my invention,
which is portrayed in plan.
Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view of part of the invention taken on the
line 2-2 of Figure 1.
Figure 3 is a view somewhat similar to Figure 2, but showing a different position
of some of the parts.
Figure 4 is a sectional front or outside view taken on the line 4-4 of
Figure 3.
Figure 5 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of Figure 1.
Figures 6, 7, and 8 are sectional detail views of parts of the devices for
effecting the starting of the car-moving means, hereinafter particularly described.
Figure 9 shows a modified form of means for connecting the door with the
controlling devices.
Figures 10 to 13, inclusive, are sectional views showing modified forms of parts
of the controlling devices.
Figures 14 to 16, inclusive, are detail views of parts hereinafter particularly
referred to.
Figures 17 to 20, inclusive, are illustrations of means which may be employed
to insure the stopping of the car with certainty at the desired points.

page_text: In the drawings-
a designates the frame of the car, and is the frame or casing to the elevator.
well in which the car runs.
My invention contemplates the co-operative employment of the door by which
access is gained to and egress had from the car, and this door may be in the
car itself, or in the casing to the elevator well. As the invention is herein
represented, it is employed in connection with the door c in the elevator well
casing.
d designates a wheel or pulley constructed and arranged so as to be normally
loose on a longitudinally movable shaft e, which shaft is supported in bearings in
the car casing and in the wheel or pulley, the latter having its bearings in a
bracket connected with the car casing.
g designates the starting and stopping rope by which the movements of the
car are controlled, which rope may be passed about the wheel or pulley d or
.otherwise connected therewith, so that by turning the said wheel slightly in one
direction the car may be started on its upward course, and by turning it to a
certain extent in the other direction the car may be started downward, while by
moving it to an intermediate point the car may be stopped. At the point where
the rope g passes onto and leaves the pulley d, a dividing or guide pulley h may be
employed to keep the crossing or meeting portions of the rope in proper position
on the said pulley.
i designates a clutch-member compounded or connected with the wheel or
pulley d, and jis a corresponding clutch-member secured to the shaft e, the teeth
of one of the said clutch-members facing the other.
The bearing in the car casing for the shaft e is constructed as a bushing
provided with an internal cam-groove k in which a pin or the projecting ends
thereof on the said shaft is or are adapted to operate.
m is a handle or crank secured to the inner end of the shaft e, by which the
latter may be turned.
The construction and arrangement of the parts last described are such that
when the shaft e is turned so as to bring the pin on the short surface or inward
or most rearward point n of the groove k, the said shaft and the clutch-member j
attached thereto will be drawn back, and the clutch-members ij disengaged, as
shown in Figures 1 and 2; but when the said shaft is turned so as to bring the
pin into the long or forward or outward part o of the groove k, the said shaft
and clutch-member j will be moved outwardly, bringing the clutch-members i
and j into mesh, and effecting a turning of the wheel or pulley d, as indicated in
Figure 3.
The bearing in the car for the shaft e may be constructed as a split bushing
or be otherwise formed, and secured in any suitable way in the car casing.
p is a disk or plate on the outer end of the shaft e, though it might be in some
cases the outer end of the shaft itself, adapted to be brought to bear against and
be stopped in its outward movement by the door when the latter is opened, but
being free to be moved outward when the door is closed.
9 is a spring-pressed bolt or pin, provided on its outer end with a gear r turning
loosely on the bolt or pin which is normally held pressed outward by the spring
operating on the said bolt or pin q, but which may be drawn inward or backward
by the said bolt against the pressure of its spring, so as to be engaged by a like
gears connected or compounded with the pulley d.
t is an air-tight drum or cylinder in which there is arranged a piston u, the
rod of which piston is connected by means of a pitman v with the gear r, the said
pitman being pivoted at its upper end upon a wrist-pin eccentrically located on the
said disk.
A spring wis located in the cylinder t, and is interposed between the bottom
thereof and the piston, so as to assist in raising the latter. The cylinder
near its top is provided with ports t¹ to admit air each time that the piston

page_text: is raised, as it will be by said spring to a point above the said air-inlet holes or
ports.
As thus far described, the operation of the invention may be explained as
follows:-
Supposing the car of the elevator to be in position at a floor to have the door
closed, and that this is done, and all is in readiness to start the car, say upward.-
The attendant taking hold of the handle m moves the same in the desired
direction, carrying the pin on the shaft e from the point n in the cam-groove k
outward and into the longer portion of the said cam-groove. The effect of
this movement will be to move the clutch-member into engagement with the
clutch-member i compounded with the pulley or wheel d, and to move the disk or.
plate on the outer end of the shaft e into the space behind the door c when
the latter is closed. When, however, the door is open or partially open, the
shaft e and plate thereon, if it is provided with one, will be stopped by the door so
that, the clutch-members i and j cannot be brought into mesh.
By a slight further movement of the handle in after the pin has reached the
portion o of the cam-groove k, and the clutch-members i and have been brought
into mesh one with the other, the pulley d will be turned sufficiently to actuate the
starting-rope g so that it will set the car in motion, after which the pin / may move
back in the groove k to the point n, when the clutch-members i. and i will be
disconnected or moved out of mesh, and the car will continue to rise until it reaches
a point where it is desired that it should be stopped, when the attendant, taking
hold of the bolt or pin q may draw the same inward, bringing the gear into
engagement with the gear s, when the former will be revolved until stopped by the
air compressed in the chamber t by the piston or plunger u operating through the
medium of the pitman e, the said compressed air acting with a cushioning tendency.
In some instances I may dispense with the use of compressed air, and employ the
spring alone. The stoppage of the gear r will act as a brake on the gear s, and
stop it and the connected pulley d, the stoppage of the latter acting upon the
starting rope to stop the movement of the car.
It will be understood, of course, that after the pulley d is actuated to 'set the
car in motion, it will be revolved by the action of the rope thereon so long as the
car is kept in motion, but will be brought to a stop when the car is stopped.
The door may now be opened; and after the passengers or freight are discharged:
and the door closed, but not before, the handle m may be moved in a direction
contrary to that before described, with the same effect excepting that the starting-
rope will be acted upon so as to cause the car to descend, as will be understood
without further description.
The stoppage of the car on its downward movement may be effected in the same
way as before described in stopping it in its ascent.
The spring-pressed bolt q may be provided with a laterally extending arm a²
(see Figure 1), which may act against a rod 2 extending from the top to the
bottom of the elevator shaft (see Figures 17 to 20, inclusive). The said rod 6² may
be provided at points where it is desired to stop the car, with offset portions c² so
arranged that when the bolt y is in its normal position the arm a² will as the car
moves ride on the straight part d², but as the car nears a landing and the attendant
draws inward on the bolt, said arm may be drawn in on the offset portion e² and
allow the device to operate to stop the elevator when it reaches the landing.
Instead of providing the rod 62 with offset points, as described, it may be cut
away at such points, as shown at e² in Figure 19.
Instead of arranging the invention on the front of the car, as shown, it may be
arranged on one side, in which case instead of the end of the shaft e or the plate or
disk on the outer end of the shaft being stopped by the door when the latter is
open or partially open, and so prevent the clutch-members i and j from being
brought into mesh and effecting the starting of the car, it may act against a
slide which may be moved in unison with the door by means of segmented

page_text: miter-gears yz, each provided with an arm a connected through the medium of
pitmen respectively with the door and with the said slide a, as shown in Figure 9.
Again, instead of providing the rod e with the pin / acting in the cam-groove k
of the bushing bearing, I may provide the said shaft e with a disk b¹ having a cam
projection e' adapted to act upon a cam projection d' supported in a stationary
manner, and provide the inner face of the clutch-member with a cam projection e
adapted to act upon a stationary cam surface at its back, so that by turning the
shaft e, through the medium of the handle m, the clutch-members i; may be moved
into and out of mesh, all as will be understood by an inspection of Figures 10 to 13,
inclusive. In Figure 10, the clutch-members ij are shown out of mesh, while in
Figure 13 they are shown as in mesh.
Instead of employing two pins 11 on the shaft e, as shown, I may use but one
such pin, constructing the cam-groove in the bushing accordingly.
I may provide the door of the car with a grooved guide-way fl and the door of
the elevator shaft frame with a rib g', or vice versa, so that the rib may move in the
grooved guide-way and the doors thus become locked together, and thus prevent
one from being opened or closed without opening or closing the other, Fig. 14.
The device may be employed to act in conjunction with the door of the car, by
supporting it, say at a point h¹ (see dotted lines in Figure 1) back from the extreme
front of the car.
It is obvious that other changes may be made in the form and arrangement of
the parts shown and described, without departing from the nature or spirit of the
invention, which broadly comprehends the employment of means substantially as
described for controlling the car in its movements, which means may be stopped
against movement, or against being actuated, by the door or means connected with
the door when the latter is not fully closed, so that the car cannot be set in motion
either up or down until the door is closed.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:
1. In a car-controlling device for elevators or lifts, a starting rope arranged
outside the car, a pulley engaging the said rope, a handle on the inside of the car,
and a clutch for operatively connecting the handle with the pulley, whereby the
pulley may be actuated by the handle, as set forth.
2. A car-controlling device for elevators or lifts, comprising in its construction a
shaft mounted to turn and also to move longitudinally in its bearings, a plate or
disk on one end of the said shaft co-acting with the elevator door, whereby the
shaft is prevented from outward movement except when the said door is closed, a
starting rope, a wheel or pulley loose on the said shaft and engaged by the said
rope, a clutch arranged to connect the pulley and shaft, and a handle for actuating
said shaft.
3. A car-controlling device for elevators or lifts, comprising in its construction a
shaft mounted to turn and also to move longitudinally in its bearings, a plate or
disk on one end of the said shaft co-acting with the elevator door whereby the
shaft is prevented from outward movement except when the said door is closed,
a starting rope, a wheel or pulley loose on the said shaft and engaged by the said
rope, a clutch-member compounded or connected with the said wheel or pulley, a
like clutch-member fast on the shaft and adapted to engage the first mentioned
clutch-member, a cam adapted to engage means connected with the shaft to move
the said shaft longitudinally, and a handle for turning the shaft, as set forth.
4. A car-controlling device for elevators or lifts, comprising in its construction a
starting rope, a rotary pulley engaging the said rope, the said pulley having a gear
compounded or connected therewith, a longitudinally movable bolt or pin, a gear on
the said bolt or pin adapted to be moved into and out of mesh with the first
mentioned gear, and a brake connected with the second mentioned gear to stop it

page_text: and the first mentioned gear when the two gears are brought into mesh, and so stop.
the pulley, move the starting rope, and stop the car, as set forth.
5. In a car-controlling device for elevators or lifts, a pulley on the car and
engaging the controlling rope, mechanism for stopping the pulley, a spring-pressed
bolt for throwing said mechanism iuto and out of operative adjustment, and having-
a lateral extension, and a rod or bar extending through the elevator well in a
position to be engaged by the lateral extension of the spring-pressed bolt, and
whose continuity in one plane is broken at intervals, substantially as and for the
purpose described.
Dated this 19th day of May 1801
CHARLES ASHLEY HARKNESS.
Haseltine, Lake & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, Agents for the Applicant..