HK1069811B - Elevator system - Google Patents

Description

Elevator system

Technical Field

The present invention relates to an elevator system, and in particular to an elevator system of a high-rise building in which a passenger who wishes to reach an upper floor must take a change to an elevator serving mainly only the high floor.

Background

In very tall buildings it is often uneconomical to provide a shaft extending from the bottom floor to the top floor over the entire height so that each elevator serves all floors. For this reason, elevators are usually divided in the vertical direction into different zones, of which the lowest zone extends from the entrance floor, i.e. the bottom floor, to a floor of a given height, which zone is called the low-floor zone, and the high-floor zone, which is called the high-floor zone, extends from a given transfer floor, the so-called high-level lobby floor, to the topmost floor of the building. Between these areas, depending on the height of the building, there may be one or more intermediate areas, called mid-level areas, that serve the mid-level areas within the building from their respective transfer floors. The problem is that each zone is served by only one elevator in one shaft and a separate shaft must be provided for each zone and each car, extending from the bottom floor of the building to the top floor of the zone. Furthermore the machine room is usually placed above each elevator, requiring more space. Also, as the height of the building increases, there is a problem in that it is difficult to provide sufficient transport capacity for high floors, since the travel distance from the floor to the highest high-level porch floor is very long in the highest shaft. A further disadvantage is that it is difficult to compensate for long elevator ropes in the highest shaft and in lower shafts this problem is not encountered because the ropes are shorter.

However, in high-rise buildings, a single elevator with such zone divisions does not have sufficient capacity to serve all users; alternatively, several parallel elevators are needed in the same area to form a group. A typical group comprises 8 elevators serving the same area, which may for example comprise 1-15 floors. Often each zone requires such an elevator group, e.g. a middle zone serving 16-30 floors and an upper zone serving 31-45 floors. The problem is that in this example 24 shafts are needed, although the lowest group of 8 elevators, each extending upwards from the ground, serves only 15 floors or less. The elevators serving the intermediate and upper zones are not stopped at low floors, so that the lobby space, especially the shaft space, required by them becomes an expensive unused space for the building owner. The unused porch space can be used, for example, as a storage space or as a toilet on a different floor, but the corresponding vertical space cannot be used at all.

US patent US5,419,414 describes a prior art solution applicable to elevator arrangements for high-rise buildings. In this solution three cars are placed one above the other in the same shaft, whereby each car is driven separately by a shaft mounted above each common shaft, whereby a separate drive machine is provided for each car, and the elevator ropes are passed from the drive machine to the cars in an overlapping manner, whereby the ropes going to the lowest car are passed through the two higher cars and the ropes going to the middle car are passed through the highest car. The cars are relatively movable according to at least four different operating principles. According to a first operating principle, each car always moves in its own vertical group, never entering the vertical groups of the other cars. According to another principle, each car can serve all floors, but at the same time only one car is moving. According to a third principle, the cars can move in different zones simultaneously, but at the same time, only in one direction. Finally, according to a fourth operating principle, the car can be moved in different directions simultaneously as long as safety is ensured. For example, when two lower cars move downward, the higher car may move upward. Such elevator systems are very complex and it is clear that such systems involve a problem of how to construct a control system that is sufficiently simple and safe. Even if the control system is very safe, the system may still malfunction, in which case a collision between the two cars may occur.

US patent 6,273,217 also describes an elevator solution in which more than one elevator runs in the same shaft, which solution emphasizes that a collision of two cars is prevented by the program, and if the risk of a collision arises, one elevator moves away from the other elevator, freeing up the way for the other elevator. The problem here is also the risk of collisions, since there is always the possibility that two cars moving towards each other in the same shaft will collide if the program fails or is wrong.

Disclosure of Invention

The object of the present invention is to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks and thus to provide an economical, reliable and well-functioning elevator system for high-rise buildings, said system comprising one or more cars moving independently of each other in the same shaft.

In order to achieve the above object, according to the invention, an elevator system in a high-rise building is provided, which system comprises at least one first elevator shaft accommodating elevators arranged to stop at floors called transfer platforms and at least one second elevator shaft accommodating elevators whose cars are arranged one above the other in the elevator shaft, which elevator cars are designed to stop at any floor via which a call has been given or to which a call has been given during their operation, which second elevator shaft is divided into partial shafts one above the other in the vertical direction, the number of partial shafts being at least one for each zone between transfer platforms; the elevators in the local shafts are arranged to run one above the other in the same shaft in such a way that their paths are in the corresponding shaft spaces, which shaft spaces are arranged one above the other, characterized in that each elevator runs between the highest and lowest floors of its own local shaft, and that the highest floor of each elevator, except the topmost elevator, is the floor below the lowest floor of the elevator immediately above it; each transfer landing comprises an upper transfer floor and a lower transfer floor, such that each lower transfer floor is the highest floor of the elevator cars traveling in the local shaft, which reach this floor and leave this floor in the downward direction, and each upper transfer floor is the lowest floor of the cars traveling in the local shaft, which reach this floor and leave this floor in the upward direction.

Preferably, each partial shaft houses at least one car travelling in the shaft and the required elevator ropes.

Preferably, each partial shaft comprises, in addition to the elevator car and the hoisting ropes, an elevator drive machine and a counterweight for driving the elevator.

Preferably the elevator car, the elevator ropes and the counterweight in each local shaft are installed to operate only in the area of their own local shaft.

Preferably the elevator drive machine of the elevator operating in the local shaft is mounted in the upper part of the shaft space near the upper end of the local shaft.

Preferably the elevator drive machine in the partial shaft is mounted in the space between the car travelling in the shaft and the shaft wall.

Preferably the elevator shaft is equipped with a support structure disposed between the partial shafts and so disposed that it forms the shaft bottom of the elevator immediately above it and separates the partial shafts disposed one above the other from each other.

Preferably, the support structure is disposed between the partial shafts one above the other in such a way that a free space of sufficient height remains between the support structure and the elevator car in the upper part of the lower shaft when the elevator car is in its highest position and a free space of sufficient height remains between the support structure and the elevator car in the lower part of the upper shaft when the elevator car is in its lowest position.

The advantage of the solution according to the invention is that by using a simple solution a reliable and safe elevator system is obtained, which guarantees a good transport capacity in high-rise buildings, ensuring space savings with respect to expensive floor space. According to the invention, two instead of three elevator groups require shafts for the elevator system of the building of the same height, which achieves the same transport capacity as in the prior art. By omitting the aforementioned lowermost zone, i.e. the so-called lower zone as a separate shaft, a greater space saving is achieved, so that the entire shaft and lobby space for this zone, i.e. for example the 1 st floor to the 15 th floor, can be used for other purposes. When the elevator group has 8 elevators, the additional area provided per floor will be about 150 square meters. The elevator system of the invention allows the owner of the building to obtain better revenue from the rent, since floors below 15 can be used for commercial use, where the rent per square meter of floor space is rather high. A further advantage is that although the cars travelling in the same shaft move independently of each other, they never collide, since the drive machine ropes of different cars do not overlap each other in the vertical direction, and there is no risk of the cars colliding with each other in operation.

Drawings

The present invention will become more apparent from the detailed description of the embodiments given below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1 is a simplified schematic view showing a prior-art elevator system as seen from the front side of the elevator;

fig. 2 is a simplified diagrammatic view of an elevator system according to the invention, seen from the front side of the elevator;

fig. 3 is an enlarged view of a transfer platform in the elevator system shown in fig. 2, as seen from the front side of the elevator;

FIG. 4 is a simplified schematic top view of the transfer platform of FIG. 3;

fig. 5 is a cross-sectional side view taken along line V-V in fig. 4 showing the shaft serving each floor and the car in the shaft at a transfer platform in an elevator system according to the invention;

fig. 6 is a cross-sectional side view taken along line VI-VI in fig. 4, showing a shaft serving a transfer platform in an elevator system according to the invention and a double-deck car in the shaft at a transfer platform.

Detailed Description

The solution shown in fig. 1 represents the above-mentioned prior-art elevator system for high-rise buildings. We assume that the number of building floors is 45, with every 15 floors being one zone. The number of floors in each zone is determined by the number of elevators, the car size and the elevator speed. The system comprises three zones of different height, whereby three different groups 1, 2 and 3 of elevator shafts are required, group 1 forming the lowest zone, which comprises a group of e.g. 8 elevators serving all 15 lowest floors from the bottom floor 9 to the highest floor 10 of the zone, of which only the elevator doors of 4 elevators at the bottom floor 9 and the highest floor 10 are shown in fig. 1. In this zone the elevator can stop at any floor.

The second zone of the existing elevator system is the so-called intermediate zone, which may also comprise one of the 8 elevator groups in the separate elevator shaft group 2 serving only all floors of the bottom floor 9, the first transfer platform 8-which in the solution presented in this example is the 15 th floor, above the first transfer platform 8 up to the second transfer platform 8 a-which in the solution presented in this example is the 30 th floor of the building. Except at the bottom floor, the elevators in group 2 do not stop in zone 5 at the lowermost 15 th floor. If these elevators in group 2 do not have a so-called express function, they will not carry any passengers from the floor 9 at all, but they operate only in zone 4 of group 2. In this case, no doors are provided for the elevators in group 2 at floor level 9, so that if one wants to reach any floor in zone 4, e.g. floor 20, one first boards the elevators in group 1 to transfer platform 8 and then through transfer platform 8 to elevator lobby 10b of zone 4, the elevators in zone 4 reach floor 20.

The high rise areas of the existing elevator system are served by the elevator group in group 3. The elevators in the elevator group stop at no more than at those floors 7 in the lower and intermediate floor areas. Instead they either operate only between floors in the high-rise zone 6, for example between floors 31 and 45, or-if they are provided with express functions, they also run directly from the bottom floor 9 to the second transfer platform 8a, which is the lowest floor 11b of said high-rise zone. If the express function is not implemented, a passenger who thinks of a floor reaching the high-rise zone 6 must travel according to the following route: group 1, first transfer platform 8, region 4 of group 2, region 6 of group 3. For each zone, fig. 1 shows only the lowest levels 9, 10b and 11b and the highest levels 10, 11 and 12, the disadvantages of this system being as described above.

FIGS. 2-6 illustrate systems consistent with the present invention. In which system the separate elevator group 1 for the lowermost zone shown in fig. 1 and the elevator lobby of these floors have been omitted and which system comprises only two elevator shafts. In this example the first group 13 comprises 8 elevator shafts, each accommodating an elevator equipped with a double-deck elevator car 21 operating at a speed at least equal to or faster than the operating speed of the elevators in group 14. The floor 9 is equipped with an escalator arrangement 20, with which the passengers can ascend to the second floor 9a or descend from the second floor 9 a. In the lower part 15 of the group 13 the cars can only be accessed from the floor 9 and the second floor 9a and from the elevator lobbies 10 and 10a on the first transfer platform 8. Likewise, in the upper part 16 of the group 13, the car cannot be entered, except from the elevator lobbies 10 and 10a at the first transfer landing and from the elevator lobbies 11 and 11a at the second transfer landing 8 a. In this example the first elevator bank 13 extends from the bottom floor to a height corresponding to approximately 2/3 the full height of the building, i.e. in a building with 45 floors, the second transfer landing 8a at the top of the first bank comprises the 30 th and 31 th floors of the building, and likewise the first transfer landing in the middle of the first bank comprises the 15 th and 16 th floors of the building.

The second elevator bank 14 extends substantially continuously from the bottom floor 9 of the building through the entire height of the building, i.e. to the highest floor 45, represented by the elevator lobby 12. The second elevator bank 14 comprises three zones which are substantially similar to each other and one above the other. The shafts in these areas are referred to hereinafter as local shafts 17, 18 and 19, all of which are substantially identical in cross section, each of which houses an elevator car 22 operating therein to serve all floors in that local shaft. Thus, in the system of this example, each elevator shaft in the group 14 includes three elevators one above the other, each elevator being in its own local shaft. In this context, it should be understood that "elevator" includes at least one elevator car 22; a drive machine 23 and hoisting ropes 24. The elevators in the local shafts run slower or at most at the same speed as the so-called shuttle elevators in group 13.

The first and second elevator groups are connected to each other through a double-deck transfer platform. The first transfer platform 8 is at approximately the height 1/3 of the overall height of the building and therefore in this example comprises floors 15 and 16, equipped with elevator lobbies 10 and 10 a. Likewise, the second transfer platform 8a is at about 2/3 height of the overall height of the building, including in this example floors 30 and 31, equipped with elevator lobbies 11 and 11 a. Each transfer platform is provided with escalator means 20 for transporting passengers from the lower level of the transfer platform to the upper level of the transfer platform and vice versa.

As described above, the first transfer landing 8 and the second transfer landing 8a each comprise a lower transfer landing and an upper transfer landing, whereby each lower transfer landing, also with the elevator lobbies 10 and 11, is the highest landing reachable by an elevator car 22 operating in the local shafts 17 and 18, said car reaching this floor from below and leaving this floor in the downward direction. Likewise, each higher transfer floor, which also has the elevator lobbies 10a and 11a, is the lowest floor that can be reached by an elevator car 22 operating in the local shafts 18 and 19, which arrives at this floor from above and leaves it in the upward direction.

Although in this example the number of parallel silos selected is 8, the structure of only one silo within the second set 14 will be described, the structure of the other silos being the same as that described. Each shaft is continuous in terms of its basic structure and, if necessary, extends at least from the bottom floor 9 to the top floor of the building, where there is an elevator lobby 12. Each shaft comprises more than one local shaft 17, 18, 19 located one above the other, each local shaft accommodating an elevator with a car 22 serving all floors in the local shaft. The system presented in this example thus comprises three local shafts 17, 18 and 19 one above the other, each accommodating an elevator car. All elevator cars in the same shaft are substantially identical and are disposed one above the other in substantially the same vertical plane.

Fig. 5 shows in detail how the elevator cars 22 are accommodated in the same shaft above each other independently of each other. Here the elevator car 22 of the central partial shaft 18 is in its lowest position at the upper level of the transfer platform 8, at the elevator lobby 10 a. Below the elevator car the local shaft 18 is provided with supporting beams 25 forming the bottom of the shaft, which is additionally provided with a network of strong reinforcing bars for preventing any object from falling out of this part of the shaft. From the support beam to the lowest position of the elevator car 22 in the vertical direction a free space is formed below the car, the dimensions of which are in accordance with the relevant regulations. The local shaft is also equipped with a fixed buffer mounted on the support beam 25 or on the shaft wall in the lower part of the local shaft for stopping the car 22 on the buffer. The buffer is not shown.

Correspondingly, the lower partial shaft 17 is equipped with an elevator drive machine 23 for moving the lower elevator car, which machine 23 is mounted on the upper end of the partial shaft below the support beam 25. The hoisting ropes 24 are passed around the traction sheave of the drive machine and fixed in a suitable manner to the elevator car 22. In the figure the lower elevator car 22 is shown in its highest position in the local shaft 17 at the transfer platform 8, at the lower level of the transfer platform, at the elevator lobby 10. The elevator drive machines 23 of all elevators in the same shaft are mounted in a corresponding manner in the upper part of the partial shafts 17 above each other. In the solution presented in the example, which also comprises three elevator drive machines per shaft, the elevators in the local shafts 17 do not need a machine room. Each local shaft is additionally equipped with a counterweight 28 which is partially shown within the local shaft 17. The counterweight 28 is located in the lower part of the shaft when the elevator car 22 is in the upper part of the shaft and vice versa.

The drive machine 23 is of a gearless type and is substantially flat so that it can be mounted e.g. on the elevator guide rails or on the wall of the shaft in the space between the wall of the elevator car 22 and the wall of the shaft. Since the hoisting ropes of different elevators do not overlap each other in any part of the shaft in the vertical direction, the elevator car 22 can be arranged as separate units from each other.

Fig. 6 is also a simplified view of a double-deck elevator car 21 operating in the elevator shafts of the first group 13. At this point the elevator drive machine is placed in the upper end of each shaft, the elevator car 21 being suspended on its hoisting ropes. The upper and lower cars of the elevator car are connected to each other by means of fixing elements 26 so that, when the upper car is on the upper level of the first transfer platform 8, the lower car is on the lower level of the same transfer platform. The same is true when the car is at the second transfer landing 8a or the bottom floor 9.

The floor and each transfer platform porch are provided with clear guidance signs to indicate the landing of each floor that the passenger can reach from. Assuming the passenger wants to go to floor 20, he will see the guiding sign at the floor, prompting him to reach the floor in question by riding any elevator starting from floor 9. The passenger then rides the lower car of the double-deck elevator car 21 in group 13 at floor level 9 and rises to the second transfer landing 8a, where he leaves the elevator at lobby 11 and walks along the transfer floor to car 22 in group 14, which transports him from floor 30 down to floor 20. If the passenger wishes to go to the 50 th floor he will first go via the escalator to the second floor 9a and then board the upper car of the double-deck elevator car 21 to the transfer platform 8a, where he further goes via the elevator lobby 11a to the upward-running elevator in the group 14, which will pick up him to the desired floor.

It is obvious to the person skilled in the art that the invention is not limited to the examples described above, but that various variations are possible within the scope of the invention. For example the drive machine may be only partly inside the elevator shaft so that essentially only the traction sheave is inside the shaft, while the other parts of the drive machine are in a suitable recess or equivalent recessed from the shaft. The essential point is that each car in the shaft has its own drive machine near the upper or lower end of the shaft section in which it travels. Furthermore, the number of vertical zones need not be three but may vary depending on the building height, the required transport capacity and the elevator characteristics selected. These characteristics include, for example, the speed and size of the elevator car. The required height of the shafts is preferably selected such that the double-deck elevator car reaching the highest transfer landing can unload passengers, which can then transfer in upward and downward direction.

The number of transfer platforms and the relationship between local hoistways may vary for different heights of the building. Furthermore, there may be more than two transfer platforms if the height of the building is greater than the height of the building described in the example above. Also, the height of each shaft may vary according to the shape and space of the building.

Claims (8)

1. Elevator system in a high-rise building, which system comprises at least one first elevator shaft (13) and at least one second elevator shaft (14), said first elevator shaft (13) accommodating elevators arranged to stop at floors called transfer platforms (8, 8a), the second elevator shaft (14) accommodating elevators whose cars (22) are disposed one above the other in the elevator shaft, the elevator car is designed to stop during its operation at any floor from which a call has been issued or to which a visit signal has been issued, said second elevator shaft (14) is divided vertically into local shafts (17, 18, 19) located one above the other, the number of local shafts corresponding to at least one for each zone between transfer platforms (8, 8 a); the elevators in the local shafts (17, 18, 19) are arranged to travel one above the other in the same shaft in such a way that their paths are in the respective shaft spaces, which shaft spaces are arranged one above the other, characterized in that each elevator travels between the highest and lowest floors of its own local shaft (17, 18, 19) and that the highest floor of each elevator, with the exception of the topmost elevator, is the floor below the lowest floor of the elevator immediately above it; each transfer platform (8, 8a) comprises an upper transfer floor and a lower transfer floor, such that each lower transfer floor is the highest floor of an elevator car (22) travelling in a local shaft (17, 18), which elevator car arrives at the floor and leaves the floor in a downward direction, each upper transfer floor is the lowest floor of a car (22) travelling in a local shaft (18, 19), which car (22) arrives at the floor and leaves the floor in an upward direction.
2. The elevator system of claim 1, wherein: each partial shaft (17, 18, 19) accommodates at least one car (22) traveling in the shaft and the required elevator ropes (24).
3. The elevator system of claim 1, wherein: in addition to the elevator car and the hoisting ropes, each partial shaft (17, 18, 19) comprises an elevator drive machine (23) and a counterweight (28) for driving the elevator.
4. An elevator system as defined in claim 3, wherein: the elevator car (22), the elevator ropes (24) and the counterweight (28) in the local shafts (17, 18, 19) are fitted to operate only in the area of their own local shaft.
5. An elevator system as defined in any one of the preceding claims, wherein: the elevator drive machine (23) of the elevator operating in the local shaft (17, 18, 19) is mounted in the upper part of the shaft space near the upper end of the local shaft (17, 18, 19).
6. The elevator system of any of claims 1-4, wherein: the elevator drive machine (23) in a local shaft (17, 18, 19) is mounted in the space between the car travelling in the shaft and the shaft wall.
7. The elevator system of any of claims 1-4, wherein: the elevator shaft is equipped with a support structure (25) placed between the partial shafts (17, 18, 19) and placed so that it forms the shaft bottom of the elevator immediately above it and separates the partial shafts (17, 18, 19) placed one above the other from each other.
8. The elevator system of claim 7, wherein: the support structure (25) is arranged between the partial shafts (17, 18, 19) one above the other in such a way that a free space of sufficient height remains between the support structure and the elevator car (22) in the upper part of the lower shaft when the elevator car (22) is in its highest position and a free space of sufficient height remains between the support structure and the elevator car (22) in the lower part of the upper shaft when the elevator car (22) is in its lowest position.