Improvements in and Connected with the Operating of Elevators or Lifts.
Year: 1888

page_text: Date of Application, 5th Oct., 1888
Complete Specification Left 5th July 1889-Accented 24th Aug 1889
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and Connected with the Operating of Elevators
or Lifts.
We, THOMAS РOWNALL FORD and WILLIAM AUGUSTUS GIBSON, both of 4 Queen
Victoria Street in the City of London, Engineers, do hereby declare the nature of
this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates more particularly to the class of elevators or lifts which are
actuated by hydraulic pressure but the invention may also be applied to steam or
other like pressure apparatus.
The invention consists in the hereinafter described improvements whereby the
valve governing the main cylinder is actuated and the motion of the cage regulated.
An operating handle is placed in the cage and is connected with a pivoted lever carry-
ing two wheels or discs which ride freely on the valve operating ropes or wires of which
there are two, said ropes or wires crossing between the wheels or discs so that as the
handle is moved both wheels or discs will press upon the one rope or wire the other
being allowed to straighten and consequently become more or less slack. Said ropes or
wires act upon separate valves normally in position to leave the pressure open through
a common pipe to both sides of a piston in a pressure cylinder. The rod or stem
of said piston passes through a suitable stuffing box and is slotted so as to allow
for upward play without moving a counterbalanced lever, the weight upon which is
sufficient when the pressure upon both sides of the piston is equal to raise said
piston, its rod and a second smaller piston mounted thereon and resting in a smaller
part of said cylinder, any movement of which will operate the valve governing the
main or lifting cylinder. The action of the counterbalance is limited by a suitable
stop to raising the first described piston to the middle of its stroke, in which position
it has so operated the valvo governing the main or lifting cylinder as to hold the cage
in its then position. If either of the operating ropes or wires be then pressed the
corresponding valve will be so moved as to shut off the supply to one end of the
cylinder and open said end to discharge, the result being an unequal pressure upon
the opposite sides of the contained piston and a consequent movement thereof in the
direction of least resistance with a corresponding movement of the valve governing
the main or lifting cylinder. If the operating handle be then released it will return
to its normal position, the relaxed pressure upon the operating rope or wire per-
mitting its connected valve to return to its normal position, closing the discharge and
opening the pressure supply, so that the pressure upon either side of the piston is
again equalized, when if the piston is at the top of its stroke the extra pressure upon
the second or smaller piston will through their common rod be sufficient to bring the
larger piston to the centre of its stroke, when any further downward movement will
be prevented by the counterbalanced lever. If however the piston is at the bottom of
its stroke the counterbalance will draw it up to its normal position so soon as the
pressures are equalized as before described.
With this construction, should both of the operating ropes or wires break, the
action of their valves would automatically cause the cage to be stopped and held in
its then position, while if only one should break, it would still be possible to move
the cage in one direction and stop it when desired, while as a still further security a
second set of operating ropes or wires may be placed in the well provided with
operating handles at each floor so that the motion of the cage may be governed
independently of the cage handle, and curved or other stops may be placed at the top
and bottom of the well so that the operating handle will be automatically brought to
its normal position, causing the cage to be stopped when it reaches those points.
Dated this 5th day of October 1998.
PHILIP M. JUSTICE,
55 & 56, Chancery Lane, London, Applicants' Agent.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements.in and Connected with the Operating of Elevators
or Lifts.
We, THOMAS POWNALL FORD and WILLIAM AUGUSTUS GIBSON both of 4 Queen
Victoria Street in the City of London, Engineers, 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 relates more particularly to the class of elevators or lifts which are
actuated, by hydraulic pressure, but the invention may also be applied to steam or
other like pressure apparatus.
The invention consists in the hereinafter described improvements whereby the
valve governing the main cylinder is actuated, and the motion of the
cage regulated.
In order that the invention may be clearly understood reference is made to the
accompanying drawings which form part of this specification, and in which :-
Fig. 1 is a general elevation partially in section of an elevator or lift to which the
invention has been applied the valvo operating mechanism being in its midway or
normal position.
Fig. 2 is.a sectional elevation on a larger scale of the valve operating mechanism
when, two pistons are employed and when in position to hold the discharge open from
the actuating cylinder, and-
Fig. 3 a corresponding view when the valve operating mechanism is in position to
hold the said discharge closed.
An operating handle a is placed in the cage and is connected with a pivoted lever a¹
carrying two wheels or discs a², a², which ride freely on the valve operating ropes or
wires b, b, of which there are two, said ropes or wires being secured at the top to the
elevated framework and crossing between the wheels or discs a³, a³, so that as the
handlo a is moved both wheels or dises will press upon the one rope or wire b or ',
the other being allowed to straighten and consequently become more or less slack.
The ropes or wires b, 61, after passing around suitable guide pulleys are attached to
separate valves c, c, normally in position to leave the pressure open through a
common pipe d to both sides of a piston D in a pressure cylinder D¹. The rod or
stem d' of said piston passes through a suitable stuffing box at the top of said cylinder
and is slotted so as to allow for upward play without moving a counterbalance
lever D, the weight upon which is sufficient when the pressure upon both sides of the
piston D is equal to raiso said piston, its rod d¹ and a second smaller piston d²
mounted thereon and resting in a smaller part of said cylinder D, or as shown in
Fig,, 1, said piston & may be the piston or main valve. It will be seen that any
movement of the pistons and rod will operate the valve governing the inlet or dis-
charge from the main or lifting cylinder E', but the operation of this valve being well
known description thereof is doemed unnecessary. The action of the counter-
balance D is limited by a suitable stop d³ to raising the piston D to the middle of its
stroke, in which position it has so operated the valve of the main or lifting cylinder E'
as to cause the cage to be held in its then position as shown in Fig. 1..
When the piston D is at the top of its stroke, if the handle a be placed and held in
the position shown in Fig. 2, the wheels or discs a² will draw up the rope or wire 6,
thus closing valvo c' to inlet, and opening the discharge from beneath the pistons D
or between the pistons D, d, as the case may be, through pipe e¹, the result being
that as rope is not operated the counterweight c² (or a spring may be employed)
keeps valve c in its normal position, or open as between the pressure pipe d and the
top of the piston D, upon the opposite sides of which there will then be an unequal
pressure and a consequent movement thereof in the direction of least resistance as
indicated by the arrows, with a corresponding movement of the valve governing the
main or lifting cylinder. If the operating handle a be then. released it will return to
its normal position, the relaxed pressure upon the operating rope or wire b¹ per-
mitting counterweight c³ to return its connected valve c¹ to its normal position,

page_text: CHO
closing the discharge e¹ and opening the pressure supply from a to beneath
piston D so that the pressure upon either side of the said piston D is again equalized,
but if the piston is at the top of its stroke the extra pressure upon the second or
smaller piston open to the same source of supply will through their common rod d'
be sufficient to bring the larger piston to the centre of its stroke as shown in Fig. 1,
the excess water beneath piston D circulating through the valves c², c, to the top
thereof. When the piston D reaches its central position any further downward move-
ment will be prevented by the counterbalanced lever D. If however instead of
releasing the handle a it is held in the position shown in Fig. 2, the excess pressure
upon the top of the piston I will cause it to continue its stroke and raise the counter-
balance lever D into the position shown in Fig. 3, when if the handle a be allowed to
return to its normal position, thus leaving the supply open through both valves c, c¹,
the pressure upon the opposite sides of D will be equalized, while the effect of the
extra pressure upon the top of piston d² together with the weight of the rod and con-
uected parts, will be overcome by the counterbalance D' which will raise piston D to
the position shown in Fig. 1, the water from above piston D circulating through
valves c, c', to the underside of the piston. To hasten the action or to cause the
piston D to complete its upward stroke, it is only necessary to move and hold the
handle in the position indicated in Fig. 3, as this will close the supply to the top of
With this construction should
said piston and open it to: discharge through pipe e.
both of the operating ropes or wires break, the action of their valves c, c', would
automatically cause the cage to be stopped and held in its then position, while if only
one should break it would still be possible to move the cage in one direction and
stop it when desired, while as a still further security a second set of operating ropes
or wires h, h, may be placed in the well provided with an operating handle gat
each floor so that the motion of the cage may be governed independently of the cage
handle.
This arrangement is most completely shown in Fig. 1, where, to avoid confusion
in the drawing, a single handle is shown; it being understood that duplicates thereof
may be placed at each floor or level as may be desired. The supplementary valve
ropes or wires h, h', are shown as connected with ropes or wires 6, 61, but it will be
evident that they may be continued to the valves c, c', if deemed necessary. The
handle is shown as being pivoted at gl, and stops h², ³, as being placed upon the
ropes h, h, so that if the said handle be moved to either side as indicated in dotted
lines, there will be a corresponding movement of the valve c or c¹ as the case
may be.
In order that there may be no possible overtravel of the cage, curved or other
stops i, ¹, are placed at the top and bottom of the well, so that the operating handle a
will be automatically brought to its normal position by reason of the contact of pins
or projections a³, a', with said stops i, 2, the result being that piston D will return to
its central or normal position and the cage be stopped more or less rapidly depending
upon the rapidity of the action of said piston.
When the water supply to operate the lift is taken from a tank, such as indicated
at A, or other limited source of supply, it might sometime happen that an attempt
5 would be made to operate the elevator when the supply of water was insufficient.
To prevent this the motor supply pipe d is connected to the source of supply above
the level of the pipe B which connects same with the main cylinder as indicated in
Fig. 1, so that said motor supply pipe d becomes the first to run short of water.
To counterbalance the weights c, c³, the top wheel or disc a' may be made slightly
0 heavier than the lower one, thus requiring less pressure on handle a to operate the
valves.
It will be understood that in Fig. 1, the invention is shown as applied to the
ordinary construction of what are known as the "Standard Elevators" in which a
circulating pipe is employed in connection with the main or lifting cylinder, while
5 the double piston arrangement shown in Figs. 2 and 3 is not only applicable to that
type, but may also be used with various forms of valves or taps.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what
we claim is :-
1. In an elevator or lift the combination with the main or lifting cylinder and its
supply pipe, of a motor cylinder and its supply pipe, the latter being connected to the
source of supply at a higher level than the supply pipe of the main cylinder, sub-
stantially as and for the purposes set forth.
2. In an elevator or lift the combination with the main or lifting cylinder, of a
motor cylinder, supply pipe thereto and valves for governing the supply, the parts
being so arranged that when in their normal position the pressure is open to both
ends of the motor cylinder, substantially as described.
3. In an elevator or lift the combination with the valve governing the main
cylinder of a motor cylinder, a supply pipe thereto and governing valves therefor,
said valves being so adjusted and attached to the operating ropes that they normally
keep the supply open to both ends of the motor cylinder, substantially as described.
4. In an elevator or lift the combination with a motor cylinder provided with a
supply pipe and governing valves of operating ropes attached thereto, the parts being
so adjusted that on the breakage or stretching of said ropes the corresponding valves
will remain in or return to their normal position, substantially as and for the purposes
set forth.
5. In an elevator or lift the combination with the valve governing the main
cylinder, a motor cylinder and supply pipe, of two valves governing the supply to
said motor cylinder and attached to two separate operating ropes, substantially as set
forth.
.
6. In an elevator or lift the combination with a motor cylinder and its supply pipe,
of two governing valves, each valve being connected to two separate operating ropes,
substantially as and for the purposes described.
7. In an elevator or lift the combination with a motor cylinder and its supply pipe
and two governing valves, of two operating ropes crossing between two wheels or
discs, carried by a pivoted frame and actuated by an operating handle from within
the cage, substantially as set forth.
8. In an elevator or lift the combination with the valve governing the main
cylinder of a motor cylinder, the piston rod of which is so connected to a counter-
weight lever that during half its travel it does not affect and is not affected thereby,
substantially as and for the purposes set forth.
9. In an elevator or lift the combination with the valve governing the main
cylinder, of a motor cylinder containing a main and a supplementary or second piston,
a piston rod connecting both pistons and the main valve, a counterweight attached to
said rod and valves for governing the supply to the motor cylinder, all substantially
as and for the purposes set forth.
10. In an elevator or lift the combination with a motor cylinder, of a supply pipe
thereto, and governing valves therefor, said supply pipe forming a circulating pipe
when both valves are open to supply, substantially as set forth.
11. In an elevator or lift the combination with the operating ropes b, b, operating
handle a, carrying wheels or discs a¹, a², and pins or projections a³, a*, of stops i, i,
substantially as and for the purposes set forth.
Dated this 5th day of Jul 1880
PHILIP M. JUSTICE,
55 & 56, Chancery Lane, London, Agent for the Applicants.