Title: Method of contactlessly monitoring elevator shaft doors
Abstract: A method for monitoring shaft doors of a elevator installation uses at least one contactlessly acting shaft door monitoring sensor to emit a beam of electromagnetic waves, wherein at least during specific detection phases the beam extends over several floors and is detected by a receiver. The beam is influenced by a shaft door panel not being completely closed and/or a shaft door lock not being disposed in the locking setting such that a disturbance signal is generated to the elevator control.
Patent Number: 6,945,363 Issued on 09/20/2005 to Angst, et al.
| Inventors:
|
Angst; Philipp (Zug, CH);
Baumgartner; Urs (Merenschwand, CH)
|
| Assignee:
|
Inventio AG (Hergiswil, CH)
|
| Appl. No.:
|
428602 |
| Filed:
|
May 2, 2003 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
| Current U.S. Class: |
187/317; 187/300; 187/301; 187/303 |
| Intern'l Class: |
B66B 013/26 |
| Field of Search: |
187/300,301,303,316,317,391,393
49/26,28
|
References Cited [Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
| 5476157 | Dec., 1995 | Todaro.
| |
| 5616895 | Apr., 1997 | Spiess.
| |
| 5644111 | Jul., 1997 | Cerny et al.
| |
| 5712458 | Jan., 1998 | McCandless et al.
| |
| 6382362 | May., 2002 | Kutz.
| |
| 6443265 | Sep., 2002 | Nakamori et al.
| |
| 6467585 | Oct., 2002 | Gozzo et al.
| |
| 6550585 | Apr., 2003 | Schoppa et al.
| |
| 6591947 | Jul., 2003 | Horbrügger et al.
| |
| 6603398 | Aug., 2003 | Tinone et al.
| |
| 6626268 | Sep., 2003 | Masuda et al.
| |
| 6732839 | May., 2004 | Schuster.
| |
| Foreign Patent Documents |
| 0897892 | Feb., 1999 | EP.
| |
| 2775272 | Aug., 1999 | FR.
| |
Primary Examiner: Salata; Jonathan
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Long; Buizel
Claims
1. A method of monitoring shaft doors of a elevator installation with a elevator
shaft and a elevator car vertically movable along one shaft wall, wherein the shaft
wall has several shaft doors each with at least one horizontally displaceable shaft
door panel, wherein when the elevator car stops at a floor at least one shaft door
panel of the shaft door respectively opposite the elevator car is opened and closed
by a corresponding car door panel, wherein the elevator installation includes an
elevator control by which the movements of the elevator car, the car door panel
and thus the respectively corresponding shaft door panel are controlled, and wherein
a closed setting of the shaft door panel is monitored by at least one contactlessly-acting
shall door monitoring sensor emitting electromagnetic waves, comprising the steps of:
a. emitting from an emitter at least during specific detection phases a beam
in the form of eleotromagnetic waves, the beam extending along a generally straight
line path over several floors in the elevator shaft;
b. detecting the beam with a receiver arranged so that when one of the shaft
door panels is not completely closed and/or a shaft door lock is not disposed in
locking state the beam is influenced in such a manner that it is recognized by
the receiver that the one of the shaft doors is not completely closed and/or not
locked; and
c. generating a disturbance signal from the shaft door monitoring sensor to the
elevator control in response to the influenced beam.
2. The method according to claim 1 including a step of responding to the disturbance
signal by stopping the elevator car when in motion and/or activating at least one
of optical and acoustic alarm signals on at least one of the floors.
3. The method according to claim 1 wherein said step a. is performed by emitting
a focussed beam of incoherent light waves or a laser light beam of coherent light waves.
4. The method according to claim 3 wherein the beam is formed of light in wavelength
ranges of ultraviolet light, visible light or infrared light.
5. The method according to claim 1 including mounting a receiver a., distance
of several floors from an emitter, operating the emitter to perform said step a
performing said step b. by determining whether the beam reaches the receiver or
is interrupted as a consequence of a shaft door panel which is not completely closed
or a shaft door lock which is not disposed in a locking state.
6. The method according to claim 1 including operating the emitter to emit the
beam only during a detection period of operation of the elevator installation.
7. The method according to claim 1 including providing a reflection surface mounted
several floors from the emitter and the receiver and oriented so that the beam
arriving from the emitter is reflected to the receiver.
8. The method according to claim 7 wherein the reflection surface is a main reflection
surface and including ascertaining a reference distance covered by the beam on
its path from the emitter by way of the main reflection surface and back to the receiver.
9. The method according to claim 8 including ascertaining a current distance
covered by the beam between the emitter and the receiver, comparing the current
distance with the reference distance and performing said step c. when the current
distance is shorter than the reference distance.
10. The method according to claim 8 where the current distance is ascertained
by one of measurement of the transit time of individual pulses of the electromagnetic
wave forming the beam and measurement of the shift, which occurs between emission
and reception, of the phase position of the coherently emitted electromagnetic
waves forming the beam.
11. The method according to claim 1 including performing said steps a. through
c. independently for each shaft door panel and each shaft door lock associated
with the elevator installation.
12. The method according to claim 1 including reflecting the beam to define at
least two spaced apart vertical paths in the elevator shaft between the emitter
and the receiver.
13. The method according to claim 1 including activating remotely controllable
auxiliary locks acting on the shaft door panels in response to the disturbance
signal when the beam is influenced by an incompletely closed shaft door panel during
an operational state in which all shaft doors should be closed.
14. The method according to claim 1 including activating at least one of an optical
alarm signal, an acoustic alarm signal and a remotely controllable auxiliary lock
acting on the shaft door panel at a floor in response to the disturbance signal
when the beam is influenced at that floor.
15. A method of monitoring shaft doors of a elevator installation with a elevator
shaft and a elevator car vertically movable along one shaft wall, wherein the shaft
wall has several shaft doors each with at least one horizontally displaceable shaft
door panel, wherein when the elevator car stops at a floor at least one shaft door
panel of the shaft door respectively opposite the elevator car is opened and closed
by a corresponding car door panel, wherein the elevator installation includes in
elevator control by which the movements of the elevator car, the car door panel
and thus the respectively corresponding shaft door panel are controlled, and wherein
a closed setting of the shaft door panel is monitored by at least one contactlessly-acting
shaft door monitoring sensor emitting electromagnetic waves, comprising the steps of:
a. emitting from an emitter at least during specific detection phases a beam
in the form of electromagnetic waves and extending from several floors in the elevator
shaft;
b. detecting the beams with a receiver arranged so that when one of the shaft
door panels is not completely closed and/or a shaft door lock is not disposed in
locking state the beam is influenced in such a manner that it is recognized by
the receiver that the one of the shaft doors is not completely closed and/or not
locked;
c. providing a reflection surface mounted several floors from the emitter and
the receiver, and oriented so that the beam arriving from the emitter is reflected
to the receiver, and wherein the reflection surface is a main reflection surface;
d. ascertaining a reference distance covered by the beam on its path from the
emitter by way of the main reflection surface and back to the receiever; and
e. generating a disturbance signal from the shaft door monitoring sensor to the
elevator control in response to the influenced beam.
16. The method according to claim 15 including ascertaining a current distance
covered by the beam between the emitter and the receiver, comparing the current
distance with the reference distance and performing said step e. when the current
distance is shorter than the reference distance.
17. The method according to claim 15 where the current distance is ascertained
by one of measurement of the transit time of individual pulses of the electromagnetic
wave forming the beam and measurement of the shift, which occurs between emission
and reception, of the phase position of the coherently emitted electromagnetic
waves forming the beam.
18. A method of monitoring shaft doors of a elevator installation with a elevator
shaft and a elevator car vertically movable along one shaft wall, wherein the shaft
wall has several shaft doors each with at least one horizontally displeceable shaft
door panel, wherein when the elevator car stops at a floor at least one shift door
panel of the shaft door respectively opposite the elevator car is opened and closed
by a corresponding car door panel, wherein the elevator installation includes an
elevator control by which the movements of the elevator car, the car door panel
and thus the respectively corresponding shaft door panel are controlled, and wherein
a closed setting of the shaft door panel is monitored by at least one contactlessly-acting
shaft door monitoring sensor emitting electromagnetic waves, comprising the steps of:
a. emitting from an emitter at least during specific detection phases a beam
in the form of electromagnetic waves, the beam being propagated in a generally
vertical plane over several floors in the elevator shaft;
b. detecting the beam with a receiver arranged so that when one of the shaft
door panels is not completely closed and/or a shaft door lock is not disposed in
locking state the beam is influenced in such a manner that it is recognized by
the receiver that the one of the shaft doors is not completely closed and/or not
locked; and
c. generating a disturbance signal from the shaft door monitoring sensor to the
elevator control in response to the influenced beam.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to a method for monitoring shaft doors
of an elevator installation.
Elevator installations usually include shaft doors that in closed state
separate, on each floor, the elevator shaft from the adjoining spaces. In the case
of elevator installations of the conventional kind, the load receiving means (elevator
car) is also equipped with a door, which is termed a car door and which moves together
with the elevator car from floor to floor. The opening and closing of the car doors
is normally effected, during stopping of the elevator car at a floor, by a car
door drive controlled by an elevator control. In that case the car door panels
are coupled with the respectively corresponding shaft door panels so that the shaft
door panels accompany the movement of the car door panels.
For the safety of users of the elevator installation and passers-by in the building
it is of great importance that a shaft door should be open only if the elevator
car stops at the associated floor. In order to ensure this, there is monitored,
apart from other elevator parameters, the positions not only of the shaft door
panels, but also of the shaft door locks locking the shaft door panels. This usually
takes place in such a manner that each shaft door lock is associated with a safety
contact which forms a part of an electrical safety circuit and interrupts this
circuit in the case of incorrect locking of the shaft door panels.
Such safety circuits, which in the case of high buildings can comprise a serial
connection of more than twenty safety contacts, are known as one of the principal
causes of disturbances in elevator operation. Due to corrosion and contamination
the contact resistance of the individual safety contacts increases in a relatively
short time, which in the case of serial connection of several contacts causes such
a high voltage decay that the safety circuit system switches off the elevator even
when the doors are correctly closed. Moreover, the investigation to find an individual
defective safety contact or to find an incorrectly closed shaft door in a building
with many floors is extremely time-consuming.
Additional problems with the monitoring of shaft doors have resulted in
recent years from persons who enter the elevator shaft in unauthorized manner,
whether it be to undertake highly risky "elevator surfing" or to block the elevator
car between two floors and threaten or rob elevator passengers.
A shaft door monitoring system for a conventional elevator installation, which
is to eliminate the above-described problems, is known from the U.S. Pat. No. 5,644,111.
In this shaft door monitoring system, a contactlessly acting sensor in the form
of a photoelectric detector with emitter and receiver is installed on each floor
at the shaft wall opposite the shaft door. The light beam of the sensor is directed
to the closing edge region of the closed shaft door panel and is reflected by the
shaft door panel insofar as the shaft door panel is completely closed and the elevator
car is not disposed between the sensor and the shaft door. If the shaft door panel
is not completely closed and the elevator car is not in the region of the sensor,
then the light beam exits into the elevator lobby from where it is no longer reflected
in sufficient strength, so that the receiver of the photoelectric detector can
register this state. A corresponding item of information is passed on to the elevator
control, which stops the elevator and triggers suitable alarm signals (sirens,
flashing light at the floor, etc.). If the elevator car is disposed at the floor
with the unclosed shaft door, then the light beam of the sensor is reflected by
the rear car wall so that the sensor correctly does not detect an impermissible state.
Such a shaft door monitoring system does indeed solve some of the afore-described
problems, but has certain deficiencies.
The problem with the susceptibility of the safety circuit to disturbance is not
eliminated by the disclosed solution, since such obviously exists unchanged and
monitors, additionally to the photoelectric detectors, whether the shaft doors
are closed and locked. Moreover, reliable functioning of the photoelectric detectors
could be prejudiced by the fact that a person or an object disposed in front of
the door gap of an incompletely closed shaft door reflects the light beam issuing
into the elevator lobby and thus renders the monitoring system ineffective. In
addition, a strong light source in the elevator lobby could impair reliable functioning
of the sensor in the case of an incompletely closed shaft door. Further disadvantages
result from the fact that a contact-free sensor has to be present at each floor.
In the case of buildings with a large number of floors, an increased susceptibility
to disturbance is inevitably caused by the correspondingly large number of sensors
and the cost of periodic checking of the sensors is considerable. In addition,
high costs arise for acquisition and installation of this multiplicity of sensors.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention concerns an apparatus for operation.
The present invention has an object of creating a method for monitoring shaft
doors of a elevator installation by which the stated prior art disadvantages can
be avoided, i.e. in which, in particular, a safety circuit with a plurality of
serially connected shaft door safety contacts is avoided, in which the number of
monitoring sensors required is reduced and the efficiency of which cannot be influenced
by persons or objects present in front of the shaft door or by the light conditions
in the elevator lobby.
The method according to the present invention is accordingly based on the concept
of eliminating the problems, which are known in conjunction with the previously
usual multiplicity of sensors and/or contacts for the monitoring of shaft doors,
by a method in which during the detection phases at least one beam in the form
of focused electromagnetic waves and extending over several floors is emitted by
an emitter of a shaft door monitoring sensor and is detected by a receiver, the
beam being influenced in such a manner by a shaft door panel which is not completely
closed and/or by a shaft door lock which is not disposed in locking setting that
it is recognized by a receiver of the shaft door monitoring sensor that a shaft
door is not completely closed and/or not locked, wherein this information is signaled
by the shaft door monitoring sensor to the elevator control.
As detection phases there are designated those time segments in which, in the
case of an operational sequence according to a program, all shaft doors must be
closed and locked.
The monitoring of the locking state of the shaft door locks is preferably carried
out in the manner that the beam is interrupted or reflected by screens which are
associated with the shaft door locks and which project into the beam part when
the respective door lock is not disposed in its locking setting.
The advantages achieved by the method according to the present invention are
essentially to be seen in that the closed setting and the locked state of a large
number of shaft doors can be contactlessly monitored by a single shaft door monitoring
sensor. A significant cause for operational disturbances is thereby eliminated
and at the same time the costs for acquisition, installation and later maintenance
of a large number of monitoring sensors and/or monitoring contacts is substantially
reduced. Moreover, in the case of this method the beam of the shaft door monitoring
sensor is not able to be influenced in any situation by persons or objects disposed
in front of the shaft door or by the light conditions in the elevator lobby.
According to an advantageous refinement of the method according to the
present invention, a travelling elevator car is stopped by the elevator control
and/or optical and/or acoustic alarm signals on at least one of the floors is or
are activated if the shaft door monitoring sensor signals a shaft door panel which
is not completely closed and/or a shaft door lock which is not disposed in locking
setting during an operational state in which all shaft doors must be completely
closed and locked. Stopping of the elevator car prevents a person from being injured,
in the region of a shaft door which is not closed due to faulty functioning or
due to unauthorized opening, by the moving elevator car. By alarm signals, such
as flashing light and/or sirens, passengers are kept back from approaching an unclosed
or unlocked shaft door so as to avert the risk of falling into the elevator shaft.
Any form of electromagnetic waves, by which a beam capable of being sufficiently
focused over the requisite length can be produced and which can be so influenced
by mechanical components connected with the shaft door panels and/or with the shaft
door locks that a receiver can detect this influence, is in that case suitable
as the beam for scanning the closed setting of the shaft door panels and the locking
setting of the shaft door locks. Obviously excluded from use are electromagnetic
waves which can pose a risk to life-forms or destroy materials.
Preferably, laser light beams or—for smaller beam lengths—infrared
light barriers or infrared scanners come into consideration as the beam for the
shaft door monitoring sensor. Laser light beams are, due to the coherence, i.e.
the phase equality of the electromagnetic waves forming the light beam, capable
of being focussed very well even in the case of large beam lengths, i.e. the increase
in beam cross-sectional diameter with increasing beam length is very small. For
buildings with a few floors, i.e. for shaft door monitoring sensors with a relatively
short beam length, beams are also usable, in order to save costs, which are formed
by incoherent infrared light.
With elevators having a large number of floors and consequently large shaft
heights, the monitoring length required for monitoring all shaft doors can be divided
up into several segments in all method variants described in the following, wherein
each segment is monitored by at least one beam generated by a separate shaft door
monitoring sensor with emitter and receiver.
Advantageously, shaft door monitoring sensors are used which emit
light beams in the wavelength ranges of ultraviolet light, visible light or infrared
light. Such sensors are available commercially and have the advantage that the
beam path is visible by eye or is able to be checked by simple sensors.
According to a particularly simple embodiment of the method according to
the present invention the beam is emitted by an emitter which is preferably arranged
in the region of a shaft end (for example, in the shaft head) and received and
evaluated by a receiver which is preferably arranged in the region of the other
shaft end (for example, in the shaft pit). Such an arrangement, which is designated
emitter/receiver principle in the following, has the shortest possible length of
the beam path, which allows use of simpler and more economic beam systems, does
not require complicated alignment of a reflection surface and minimizes sensitivity
with respect to contamination. As already mentioned, the requisite monitoring length
can also be achieved by arrangement of several segments in succession each with
a respective emitter/receiver system.
According to a further embodiment of the present invention, the beam is
emitted by an emitter, which is preferably mounted in the region of one shaft end,
in the direction of a reflection surface, which is preferably mounted in the region
of the opposite shaft end and from where the beam is reflected to a receiver present
in the region of the emitter, wherein the receiver detects whether the beam reaches
the receiver or is interrupted as a consequence of a shaft door panel which is
not completely closed or a shaft door lock which is not disposed in locking setting.
Advantageously, in the case of this method, which is termed reflection principle
in the following, emitter and receiver are integrated in a single apparatus, which
reduces production costs for the shaft door monitoring sensor and substantially
simplifies installation in the shaft. In addition, in the case of this method variant
the necessary monitoring lengths can be achieved by arrangement of several monitoring
segments in succession each with a respective shaft door monitoring sensor according
to the reflection principle.
A particularly advantageous development of the method according to the present
invention consists in constructing the shaft door monitoring sensor as a distance
measuring instrument, for example in the form of a laser distance measuring instrument.
In that case the beam is emitted at least during the detection phases by an emitter,
which is preferably mounted in the region of one shaft end, in the direction of
a main reflection surface, which is preferably mounted in the region of the opposite
shaft end, so that the beam is reflected by this main reflection surface or by
a reflection surface, which is formed by a mechanical component connected with
the associated shaft door panel or the shaft door lock and which protrudes into
the beam when a shaft door panel is not completely closed and/or a shaft door lock
is not disposed in locking setting, to a receiver present in the region of the
emitter. Emitter and the receiver of the beam are constructed so that the distance
covered by the beam on its path from the emitter back to the receiver by way of
one of the reflection surfaces can be ascertained. This embodiment of the method
has the advantage that it can not only be established whether one of the shaft
door panels is not completely closed and/or one of the shaft door locks is not
disposed in locking setting, but that it can also be ascertained on the basis of
the measured distance where, i.e. at which floor, the source of disturbance is
disposed. The division of the necessary monitoring length into several segments
is also possible in the case of this method variant.
A particularly advantageous embodiment of the method according to the present
invention
is that the distance, which is measured during the detection phase, to an instantaneously
effective reflection surface and/or an identification, which is ascertained therefrom,
of the floor can be stored and/or displayed. A maintenance expert can immediately
recognize, from the stored data or the display, the floor at which he or she has
to look for a shaft door panel which is not completely closed or a shaft door lock
which is not disposed in locking setting.
With advantage, the distance measurement is carried out in accordance with one
of the following distance measuring methods able to be employed in the case of
use of electromagnetic waves:
- Measurement of the transit time of individual pulses of the electromagnetic
wave forming the beam. This method known as "Time of Flight Measurement (TOF)"
is based on the fact that individual electromagnetic pulses are emitted by an emitter
and are detected—in the present application after reflection at a reflective
surface—by a receiver. The "flight time" of the individual pulses is detected
by means of an electronic circuit, from which, with consideration of the known
speed of propagation of electromagnetic waves, a distance covered by the pulse
can be calculated. The application of this principle is preferably carried out
with laser light beams or—for smaller distances—with focused incoherent
infrared light. TOF laser apparatus are suitable for use in the highest buildings,
deliver measurement values with high resolution, are tried and tested many times
and can be obtained commercially.
- Measurement of the phase shift (Phase Shift Measurement) between emission
and reception of a continuously emitted electromagnetic wave forming the beam.
Preferably, in this measurement principle, lasers radiating coherent light are
used as the beam generator. The detection of the distance covered by the beam between
emitter and receiver—here via reflection surface—is based on the measurement
of the shift in the phase position of the radiated sinusoidal wave on its path
from the emitter to the receiver. The wavelength in that case must correspond with
at least the distance to be measured. For relatively large distances, the measurement
resolution in a given case is then too small. In this instance several waves of
different wavelength are radiated, wherein that with the largest wavelength yields
a relatively imprecise absolute value and that or those with the smaller wavelength
or wavelengths enables or enable a higher resolution.
A development of the method according to the present invention, which is advantageous
for certain arrangements of the shaft doors, is that several independent beams
can be used for the shaft door monitoring. For example, the shaft door panel and
the associated shaft door lock can thereby be monitored independently of one another
or several mechanically intercoupled shaft door panels and/or shaft door locks
of multi-panel shaft doors can be monitored independently of one another. Thus,
on the one hand there results a redundancy of the shaft door monitoring which is
desirable in terms of safety technology. On the other hand, distinction can be
made between unclosed shaft door panels and unlocked shaft door locks, which makes
it possible to react in optimum manner to difference disturbance reports. For example,
in the case of detection of an unlocked shaft door lock with still locked shaft
door, travel of the elevator car to the next stop can be continued instead of an
immediate emergency braking, whereby trapping of passengers can be avoided.
An advantageous embodiment of the method according to the present invention is
that the beam emitted by an emitter is so deflected on its path to the receiver
at least once by means of a mirror or mirrors or an optical prism or prisms that
it transits at least two vertical beam paths displaced relative to the shaft cross-section.
The following advantages, for example, can thereby be achieved:
- Two or more shaft door panels, which are arranged with a lateral offset,
of several shaft doors arranged one above the other can be monitored by a single
beam, i.e. by a single shaft door monitoring sensor.
- The shaft door panels of several shaft doors arranged one above the
other and screens, which are arranged offset relative to these in the shaft cross-section
and are positioned depending on the locking state of associated shaft door locks,
can be monitored by a single beam.
- Initially all shaft door panels can be monitored with at least one vertical
segment of the beam path, and all screens, which are positioned depending on the
locking state of associated shaft door locks, can be monitored with at least one
laterally offset further segment of the beam path produced by deflection, by a
single beam of a shaft door monitoring sensor with distance measurement. If the
beam is reflected by an incompletely closed shaft door panel and/or by one of the
screens then due to the detected distance relative to the disturbing object it
can be recognized whether at least all shaft door panels are closed which, as already
described, enables differentiated control reactions to the signaled disturbance.
An interesting extension of the method according to the present invention with
beam deflection is that the beam of a shaft door monitoring sensor equipped for
distance measurement is guided, after it has transited the shaft door monitoring
regions, by a further beam deflecting device in vertical direction to a reflection
surface mounted at the elevator car, from where the beam is reflected to the receiver
of the shaft door monitoring sensor. In this manner continuous information about
the position of the elevator car within its shaft path can additionally be generated
and can serve, for example, in a comparison circuit, for increase in reliability
relative to faulty functioning of a main car position detecting system.
According to a further refinement of the method according to the present
invention, remotely controlled auxiliary locks acting on the shaft doors can be
activated—preferably by the elevator control—if the shaft door monitoring
sensor signals a shaft door panel which is not completely closed and/or a shaft
door lock which is not disposed in the locking setting during an operational state
in which all shaft doors should be closed. Safety against the fall of a person
and, in particular, against entry of an unauthorized person into the elevator shaft
can be substantially increased by such a device. As soon as one of the shaft doors
is detected as being not completely closed, an activation of the auxiliary locks
takes place before the unlocked shaft door is opened to such an extent that a person
can go through.
A further embodiment, which is of particular interest in terms of safety engineering,
of the method according to the present invention can be achieved with an elevator
installation which is equipped with a shaft door monitoring sensor with distance
measurement. In that case optical and/or acoustic alarm signals and/or remotely
controllable auxiliary locks acting on the shaft door panels can be activated exclusively
at that floor at the shaft doors of which a shaft door panel which is not completely
closed and/or a shaft door lock which is not disposed in locking setting is or
are detected during an operational state in which all shaft doors should be closed
and locked. Such a system has the advantage that alarm devices are observed only
at the floor concerned, so that persons at the other floors are not unnecessarily
disturbed. Auxiliary locks for the shaft door panels similarly act only at the
floor concerned, so that in the case of a elevator car possibly at standstill between
two floors the maintenance personnel can gain access to the elevator shaft without
problems by way of another shaft door which is not additionally locked.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The above, as well as other advantages of the present invention, will become
readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description
of a preferred embodiment when considered in the light of the accompanying drawings
in which:
FIG. 1 is a schematic vertical section through a elevator shaft with a elevator
car and several shaft doors, wherein the shaft doors are monitored by a beam emitted
by an emitter to a receiver in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 2 is fragmentary schematic elevation view of a two-panel elevator shaft
door, seen from the shaft interior, with two locking devices and one monitoring beam;
FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 1 wherein the shaft doors are monitored by
a beam that is emitted by an emitter to a reflection surface and reflected to a
receiver in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 2 of a two-panel shaft door, seen from the
shaft interior, with two locking devices and two monitoring beams;
FIGS. 5, 6 and 7 are fragmentary side elevation views of the
shaft doors, which are illustrated in FIG. 2 and FIG. 4, showing the position
of the monitoring beams;
FIG. 8 is an elevation view from the shaft interior of a group of shaft doors,
the closed state and locking of which are monitored by means of a deflected beam; and
FIG. 9 is a side elevation view of the group of shaft doors shown in FIG. 8.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
An elevator installation
1 with an elevator shaft
2 and an elevator
car
3 is illustrated schematically in FIG.
1. The elevator car
3
is equipped with a car door
4, which has two car door panels
5 which,
for opening and closing, are horizontally displaced by a door drive unit
6
mounted at the elevator car. The elevator shaft
2 includes three shaft doors
7, which each have two shaft door panels
8. The opening and closing
of the shaft door
7 is effected by horizontal movement of the shaft door
panels
8 thereof when the elevator car
3 is disposed at the corresponding
floor, wherein the drive force for this horizontal movement is transmitted by means
of a door actuating mechanism from the car door panels
5 to the shaft door
panels
8.
In the closed state, the shaft door panels
8 are locked by means of a
shaft
door lock—not shown here—with a stationary part of the shaft doors.
An emitter installed in the region of the shaft pit and near the shaft wall containing
the shaft doors is denoted by
10.
1. This emitter
10.
1
emits—at least during a detection phase—a beam
10.
3 in
the form of focused electromagnetic waves, preferably a laser light beam. The beam
10.
3 emitted by the emitter
10.
1 is oriented towards
a receiver
10.
2 which is fixed in the region of the shaft head and
which receives the beam
10.
3 insofar as this is not interrupted in
consequence of a shaft door panel
8 which is not completely closed and/or
a shaft door lock which is not disposed in the locking setting. The emitter
10.
1
and the receiver
10.
2 together form the shaft door monitoring sensor
10. The arrangement described here is designated emitter/receiver principle
in the following. If the beam
10.
3 during the detection phase is
interrupted, then the shaft door monitoring sensor signals to the elevator control
that one of the shaft door panels
8 is not completely closed or that one
of the shaft door locks is not disposed in the locking setting. Designated as detection
phases are those time segments in which, in the case of an operating sequence according
to program, all shaft doors must be closed and locked.
In the illustrated version, the beam
10.
3 extends in a vertical
plane which lies between the shaft doors
7 and the car doors
4 and
which is defined by the gap between a shaft door threshold
14 and a car
door threshold
15. Since the beam in the case of this embodiment of the
method extends in vertical direction between the shaft doors and the car door,
it is of advantage if the beam emission takes place only during the detection phase
so that passengers are not irritated by the beam, which is possibly visible. The
beam
10.
3 is influenced by screens
12 which are associated
with each of the shaft doors
7 and which are so disposed in connection with
the shaft door panels and the shaft door locks that they interrupt the beam
10.
3
if the shaft door
7 is not completely closed and/or a shaft door lock is
not disposed in the locking position, as is illustrated in more detail in FIG.
2.
FIG. 2 illustrates (to enlarged scale and schematically) a view in a direction
A, which is identified in FIG. 1, of the upper region of one of the shaft doors
7 in FIG.
1. This shaft door has two shaft door panels
8 which
are each fastened to a respective door panel carrier
18. These door panel
carriers
18 are guided by means of guide rollers
19 at a guide rail
20 to be horizontally displaceable, wherein the guide rail
20 is
fastened to a door support
21 connected with the door frame. The beam, which
is described in connection with FIG. 1, of the shaft door monitoring sensor
10
is denoted by
10.
3. A respective shaft door lock
22 is pivotably
mounted at each of the two door panel carriers
18.
On the right-and side of FIG. 2 it is illustrated how the shaft door lock
22
locks the door panel carrier
18 with a locking abutment
23, which
is immovably connected with the door support
21, when the shaft door panel
8 is completely closed. During the opening and closing of the shaft door
panel
8 the shaft door lock
22 is kept, in a manner which is not
illustrated here, in unlocked setting by the door actuating mechanism acting from
the elevator car. As soon as the car door and the shaft door are closed, this action
is cancelled and the shaft door lock
22 tips as a consequence of its closing
weight
22.
1 into its locking setting. In that case a locking hook
22.
2 of the shaft door lock so acts on two swivel arms
24,
which are mounted on the non-movable locking abutment and carry one of the screens
12, that these pivot out of their basic setting—illustrated on the
left—to the right which causes a displacement of the screen
12 to
the right and thus out of the beam path of the beam
10.
3.
On the left-and side of FIG. 2 there is illustrated a shaft door panel
8
which is not completely closed (door gap
25) and the shaft door lock
22
of which consequently—possibly for another reason—is not disposed in
its locking setting. Since in this situation the locking hooks
22.
2
of the shaft door lock
22 do not act on the swivel arms
24 carrying
the screen
12, the screen remains in its basic setting which results, without
external action, by itself from the swivel arm arrangement and in which it interrupts
the beam path of the beam
10.
3.
The afore-described method thus enables monitoring of the closed state and the
locking state of a plurality of centrally or laterally closing single-panel, two-panel
or multi-panel shaft doors with the help of a single beam.
A side view in a direction D, shown in FIG. 2, of the described shaft door arrangement,
from which also the position of the beam
10.
3 is evident, is illustrated
in FIG.
5.
FIG. 3 in turn shows a elevator installation with a shaft door monitoring sensor
10 which monitors the setting of the shaft door panels
8 and the
shaft door locks thereof with the help of at least one beam
10.
3
formed by electromagnetic waves able to focused, preferably a laser light beam.
In the case of this shaft door monitoring sensor, however, emitter
10.
1
and receiver
10.
2 are arranged in the same shaft end region, preferably
in the same housing, and the beam
10.
3 emitted by the emitter
10.
1
is directed towards a reflection surface
11 which is mounted in the region
of the opposite shaft end and which reflects the beam
10.
3 to the
emitter
10.
1 insofar as the beam is not interrupted in consequence
of a shaft door panel
8 which is not completely closed and/or a shaft door
lock which is not disposed in locking setting.
The afore-described arrangement of emitter, receiver and reflection surface is
designated reflection principle in the following. Emitted and reflected beams in
that case lie closely adjacent to one another so that the sensor characteristics
of shaft door monitoring sensors according to the reflection principle substantially
correspond with those of shaft door monitoring sensors according to the emitter/receiver
principle. In the subsequent drawings, therefore, distinction between the two principles
is no longer made and in each instance only one beam is shown.
In the arrangement version, which is shown in FIG. 3, of the shaft door monitoring
sensor
10 at least one laser light beam
10.
3 so extends along
the shaft wall containing the shaft doors
7 that it is interrupted by an
incompletely closed shaft door panel
8 and/or by one of the screens
17,
which project into the beam
10.
3 when they are not prevented from
that by the respectively associated shaft door lock disposed in locking setting.
Details for the arrangement of these screens—here illustrated only schematically—are
explained below with respect to FIG.
4.
FIG. 4 shows (to enlarged scale) the view, which is identified by B in FIG.
3, of the upper region of one of the shaft doors
7 illustrated in FIG.
3.
This shaft door similarly has two shaft door panels
8 which are each fastened
to the respective door panel carrier
18. These door panel carriers
18
are guided by means of the guide rollers
19 at the guide rail
20
to be horizontally displaceable, wherein the guide rail
20 is fastened to
the door support
21 connected with the door frame. To the left and the right
of the two shaft door panels
8 there is recognizable the respective beam
10.
3—preferably a laser light beam—as already explained
in connection with FIG.
1 and FIG.
3. The two beams are each emitted
and detected by the respective shaft door monitoring sensor
10, the sensors
being installed for monitoring the row of shaft door panels in the elevator shaft
respectively at the left-hand side and at the right-hand side. The single path
beam principle, in which emitter and receiver are arranged at a spacing from one
another, and also the reflection principle, as described in connection with FIG.
3, are usable.
Here, too, the respective shaft door lock
22 is pivotably mounted at
each of the two door panel carriers
18. It can be recognized on the right-hand
side of FIG. 4 how the shaft door lock
22 locks the door panel carrier
18
with the locking abutment
23, which is immovably connected with the door
support
21, when the shaft door panel
8 is completely closed. During
opening and closing of the shaft door panel
8 the shaft door lock
22
is held by the door actuating mechanism, which acts from the elevator car, in unlocked
setting in a manner which is not illustrated here. As soon as the car door and
the shaft door are closed, this action is cancelled and the shaft door lock tips
into its locking setting as a consequence of its closing weight
22.
1,
shown here on the right-hand side. In that case the locking hook
22.
2
of the shaft door lock so acts on the two swivel arms
24, which are mounted
on the immovable locking abutment
23 and carry one of the screens
17,
that these are pivoted to the left out of their basic setting—recognizable
on the left-hand side—which causes a displacement of the screen to the left
and thus out of the beam path of the beam
10.
3.
The left-hand side of FIG. 4 in turn shows one of the shaft door panels
8
that is not completely closed (door gap
25) and the shaft door lock
22
of which accordingly not disposed—possibly for another reason—in its
locking setting. Since in this situation the locking hook
22.
2 of
the shaft door lock
22 does not act on the swivel arms
24 carrying
the screen
17, the screen
17 remains in its basic setting which results,
without external action, by itself from the swivel arm arrangement and in which
it interrupts the beam path of the beam
10.
3. The automatic adoption
of the screen basic setting, in which the beam
10.
3 is interrupted,
could in addition be secured by a suitably mounted spring. A side view E of the
afore-described shaft door arrangement according to FIG. 4, from which the position
of the beams
10.
3 is also evident, is illustrated in FIG.
6.
The foregoing method described in connection with FIG. 4 has the advantage that
a beam does not, as in the arrangement according to FIGS. 1 and 2, have to propagate
within the relatively narrow gap between the shaft door threshold and the car door
threshold, but the space laterally adjacent to the shaft doors is used for that
purpose. The emission of the beam here should not be interrupted during the door
opening phase. Moreover, this method brings an increased reliability in the shaft
door monitoring, since on the one hand an incompletely closed shaft door panel
directly interrupts the beam and on the other hand a certain degree of safety redundancy
results from the separate monitoring of the left-hand and right-hand shaft door
panel, even if the movements thereof are not mechanically synchronized in each case.
FIG. 5 shows a side view of the shaft door arrangement according to FIG. 2 (view
D) in which the closed setting of the shaft door panels
8 and also the locking
state of the shaft door lock
22 are monitored by a single beam
10.
3,
wherein the vertical gap
25 extends approximately in the center of the door
openings and in the gap between the shaft door thresholds and the car door threshold.
The following components can be recognized in FIG.
5:
- a shaft wall 30, which contains the shaft doors 7, with
the door opening,
- the door support 21, which is fixed to the shaft wall, with the
guide rail 20 fastened thereto,
- the door panel carrier 18 which carries the shaft door panels
8 and which is guided at the guide rail 20 by means of the guide
rollers 19 mounted thereon,
- the shaft door lock 22 which is pivotably mounted at the door
panel carrier 18 and which locks the door panel carrier 18 with the
locking abutment 23, and
- the swivel arms 24 which are moved by the shaft door lock 22
and which move the screen 12 into or out of the beam path of the central
beam 10.3 depending on the setting of the shaft door lock 22.
FIG. 6 shows a side view of the shaft door arrangement according to FIG. 4 (view
E) in which the closed setting of each shaft door panel
8 is monitored jointly
with the locking state of its shaft door lock
22 by the beam
10.
3.
In that case the vertical beam
10.
3 extends so closely behind the
narrow side, which is opposite the closing edge, of the closed shaft door panel
8 that it is interrupted, in the case of an incompletely closed shaft door
panel
8, by a lower edge
8.
1 thereof or an upper edge
8.
2
thereof and/or by the screen
17 not retracted by the shaft door lock
22.
The components, which are illustrated in FIG. 6, of the shaft doors correspond,
with the exception of these differently arranged screens
17, with the components
explained in connection with FIGS. 4 and 5.
FIG. 7 shows the side view of a variant of the shaft door monitoring system
with improved functionality. Such is achieved by the fact that the closed setting
of the shaft door panels arranged one above the other in the elevator shaft and
the locking state of the shaft door locks
22 associated with the shaft door
panels
8 are separately monitored. Such a monitoring can be realized in
that, for example, each of the two individual beams
10.
3 shown in
FIG. 4 are replaced by two parallel beams
10.
3 (FIG.
7), which
are offset relative to one another in the direction of the plane of the drawing
and of which one monitors the lower edge
8.
1 or the upper edge
8.
2
of the associated shaft door panel
8 and the other the screen
17
arranged somewhat laterally of the shaft door panel
8 (corresponding with
the screen
17 in FIG.
4). The two parallel beams
10.
3
are in that case produced by two separate shaft door monitoring sensors, wherein
the emitter/receiver principle or the reflection principle can come into use.
Another possibility of realization of the stated separate monitoring results
from the fact that the locking state of the shaft door locks
22, as illustrated
in FIG. 2, is monitored by the central beam
10.
3 detecting one of
the two screens
12 and the closed state of the shaft door panels is monitored
by two beams
10.
3 arranged in correspondence with FIG.
4.
The side view shown in FIG. 7 is also applicable to this possibility of realization.
The advantages of the separate monitoring of the closed state and locking state
are to be seen in the fact that different reactions to a detected fault state can
be derived therefrom. For example, the moving elevator car can, on occurrence of
a locking fault, still move on to the next floor, whereas in the case of detection
of an opened shaft door an emergency stop is generated. However, if, for example,
two beams monitoring the locks and a beam monitoring the closed setting of all
shaft door panels on the left-hand side signal correct states, whilst an unclosed
state is reported for the shaft door panel on the right-hand side, it could be
concluded therefrom that in the case of the shaft door reported as not closed a
detection error must be present and that travel to the next destination floor can
be continued. Respectively adapted reactions can be programmed for a plurality
of different signal combinations.
Particularly efficient reactions to fault signals can be derived if,
as described in the following, the position of the components causing the fault
signals can additionally be detected. It can be recognized without difficulty from
the previous descriptions and FIGS. 1 to
7 that through use of shaft door
monitoring sensors constructed for distance measurement the distance between a
shaft door monitoring system and a shaft door panel which is not completely closed
or a screen associated with a shaft door lock which is not disposed in locking
setting can be detected. The beam emitted by an emitter of a shaft door monitoring
sensor is in that case not simply interrupted by the screens and/or the lower or
upper edges of the shaft door panels, but reflected to a receiver. Screens and
lower or upper edges are for this purpose equipped at suitable locations with reflectors
or coated with reflective material. In that case the shaft door monitoring sensor
can, for example due to the transit time of individual light pulses or the phase
position of the laser light detected at the receiver, ascertain the distance covered
by the beam. The elevator control can determine from the measured distance the
floor at which a fault state exists and store this information on behalf of maintenance
personnel, transmit it to a maintenance center and/or utilize it to activate an
optical or acoustic alarm signal in the region of the shaft door concerned. In
the case of a shaft door panel which is closed, but not correctly locked, it is
also possible to start a program in which, after all passengers have left the elevator
car, the elevator car is moved in creeping motion to the fault-affected floor where
it is sought, by opening and closing car and shaft doors, to eliminate the locking fault.
FIG.
8 and FIG. 9 schematically show a group of shaft doors which are
arranged one above the other and the closed state and locking state of which are
monitored by means of a multiply deflected beams
10.
3. FIG. 9 in
that case illustrates a view F, from the right, on the stated group of shaft doors.
As recognizable in FIG. 8, the beam
10.
3 is emitted vertically
upwardly
by an emitter
10.
1, which is arranged below a lowermost shaft door
of the group, of a shaft door monitoring sensor
10 laterally adjacent to
the shaft door panels
8.
3 of the left-hand side. After running through
a first vertical segment
10.
3.
1 of its beam path it is deflected
above the uppermost shaft door of the monitored group by a first beam deflecting
device
32.
1 to the right towards a second beam deflecting device
32.
2. By this the beam is redeflected by 90° so that this runs,
laterally adjacent to shaft door panels
8.
4 at the right-hand side,
through a second vertical segment
10.
3.
2 in downward direction
and is incident on a third beam deflecting device
32.
3. This deflects
the beam
10.
3 through 180°, wherein at the same time a displacement
of the beam through a specific distance X in direction towards the shaft wall is
to be carried out, as is recognizable in FIG.
9. Subsequently, the beam
runs in a third vertical section
10.
3.
3 back up to the beam
deflecting device
32.
2, which diverts it through 90° to the
left (in FIG. 8) relative to the beam deflection direction
32.
1.
Here the beam is diverted a final time through 90°, whereafter it covers a
fourth vertical segment
10.
3.
4 and is finally detected by
the receiver
10.
2 of the shaft door monitoring sensor
10.
In the region of its vertical segments the beam can be influenced by incompletely
closed shaft door panels or by the screens
17 which are not retracted by
their associated shaft door locks. Shaft door panels
8.
3 at the left-hand
side can influence the vertical segment
10.
3.
1 of the beam
10.
3 and the shaft door panels
8.
4 at the right-hand
side can influence the vertical segment
10.
3.
2 of the beam
10.
3. Screens
17.
1 at the left-hand side can influence
the vertical segment
10.
3.
4 of the beam
10.
3
and screens
17.
2 at the right-hand side can influence the vertical
segment
10.
3.
3 of the beam
10.
3.
Mirrors and/or suitable optical prisms can be used as beam deflecting devices
32.
1,
32.
2 and
32.
3.
If the shaft door moni
