HK40045317B - Method for roping an elevator - Google Patents

Description

Method for using elevator rope winding

Invention Field

This invention relates to a method for roping in elevators.

In elevator design, new rope materials and suspension technologies have enabled new technical solutions and construction concepts. This necessitates the development of new working methods for assembling modern elevators. Rope winding for elevators is no longer a simple task, as the number of parallel ropes, rope type, and suspension technology all affect the winding process. A common challenge in elevator rope winding is maintaining the same tension across all parallel lifting ropes. Lifting ropes tend to stretch or elongate when newly loaded, potentially leading to variations in tension. Furthermore, the high friction of materials like polyurethane (PU) ropes makes adjusting tension during assembly difficult, as PU ropes do not slip on mechanical pulleys or rope sheaves. Therefore, accurately planning the winding process is crucial for reducing labor, time, accidents, unnecessary work, rope jamming, and rope damage.

Background of the Invention

The development of elevators has led to more complex suspension technologies. A 2:1 suspension requires ropes twice as long as a 1:1 suspension, making rope winding a more complex task. This can cause problems when installing lifting ropes. To increase friction between the rope and the mechanical traction pulley, friction-increasing materials, such as polyurethane (hereinafter referred to as PU), can be applied to the rope.

One method of installing lifting ropes involves raising the rope drum to the top of the elevator shaft using suitable hoisting equipment, and then lowering the rope to the bottom of the shaft. The problem with this solution is, firstly, raising the heavy rope drum to the top of a high elevator shaft. Another issue is that lowering long, heavy ropes is difficult to control, as their weight exerts a greater influence on the rope descent machinery the further down the rope descends. A failed rope descent could result in the rope falling at high speed, potentially causing danger and/or structural damage.

In the traditional rope winding method, the free rope loop descends in the elevator shaft to the top of the counterweight, and the rope is placed into the counterweight's deflector groove. The rope is then tightened and secured to its terminal.

Among other drawbacks, the above solutions have the following disadvantages: the rope loops may bend or get stuck behind sharp objects (such as guide rail supports). In these cases, the PU-coated ropes can be easily damaged, and the elevator must be rewound. This translates to significant additional work time and costly material waste. Another disadvantage is that the conventional method can result in uneven tension of the parallel lifting ropes and does not account for rope elongation when the lifting ropes are reloaded.

Purpose of the invention

The purpose of this invention is to eliminate the above-mentioned defects and to provide a simple, safe, effective and inexpensive method for installing elevator lifting ropes, which is also particularly suitable for elevators with low to medium lifting heights.

A further objective is to balance the tension of the lifting ropes by maintaining a consistent tightness throughout the bundle. Newly installed ropes tend to stretch under load as they move through the pulley grooves. This method for rope-winding elevators utilizes the mass of a counterweight during installation to stretch the lifting ropes to their full length. This improves the quality of the rope winding.

Embodiments of the invention are also disclosed in the specification of this application. The scope of the invention may also be otherwise defined in the following claims. The scope of the invention may also be formed by several independent inventions, particularly if the invention is considered according to its expression or implicit subtask or according to the benefits obtained or a set of benefits. In such cases, some attributes included in the following patent claims may be redundant for a single inventive idea. Similarly, the various details presented in conjunction with each embodiment of the invention may also be used in other embodiments. Furthermore, it can be noted that at least some sub-claims may be considered inventive, at least where appropriate.

Summary of the Invention

A method for rope winding in an elevator shaft, wherein the winding begins at the bottom of the elevator shaft, wherein a first end of the lifting rope is taken from a drum at the top of the elevator car and passes through a deflector pulley (preferably below the car), and is pulled back to the top of the car by means of mounting components (such as one or more ropes), so that the lifting rope forms a loop (preferably below the car). The elevator car is then hoisted to the upper part of the elevator shaft, wherein the first end of the lifting rope is routed via a mechanical traction pulley and a counterweight deflector pulley, which has also been hoisted to the upper part of the elevator shaft. The first rope end is then secured to a rope terminal on the counterweight side. After the counterweight descends to the bottom of the elevator shaft and during descent, the lifting rope is unwound from the drum by means of the mass of the counterweight through the entire winding system. When the counterweight reaches the stopper component, it means that the rope length is substantially correct in the pit. The second end of the rope is then secured to a rope terminal on the car side and taut to the correct tension. This rope winding method ensures that the tension on all lifting ropes is equal.

advantage

The rope winding method according to the invention helps reduce labor, time, accidents, unnecessary work, rope jamming, and rope damage because it keeps a bundle of rope consistently taut. The lifting rope is unwound directly from the drum into the winding system, and no loops or rope ends are established, as the lifting rope unwinds from the drum in accordance with the controlled rope descent process. This prevents the rope from getting stuck behind obstacles, thus preventing any coating damage or other harm. It also helps keep the rope consistently taut. Therefore, this translates to a significant reduction in working time and an improvement in quality.

The advantage of the method according to the invention is that the installation of the rope is much faster than methods known in the art. An additional benefit is that the installation does not require physical labor. A further advantage is that the method is simple and inexpensive.

Attached Figure Description

The invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 presents a simplified and illustrated side view of the elevator shaft and rope winding method according to the present invention in the first stage;

Figure 2 presents a simplified and illustrated side view of the elevator shaft and rope winding method according to the present invention; and

Figure 3 presents a simplified and illustrated side view of the elevator shaft with the elevator rope already wound.

Detailed Implementation

Figure 1 presents an elevator shaft 1 (with one wall removed) in a simplified and illustrated side view; an elevator car 2 within the elevator shaft 1, the elevator car 2 including an elevator car pulley 10 acting as a deflector pulley; an auxiliary crane 8, such as a passenger crane equipped with an auxiliary lifting rope 9; lifting ropes 4; a drum 4a for the lifting ropes 4; a counterweight 3, including a counterweight pulley 11 acting as a deflector pulley; a mechanical traction pulley 5; car-side rope terminals 6 and counterweight-side rope terminals 7; mounting components 12, such as ropes, chains, or other tools; and an auxiliary deflector pulley 13. Preferably, the elevator includes several parallel lifting ropes 4. In this document, the term "lifting rope 4" refers to the entire set of parallel lifting ropes.

Preferably, the elevator car pulley 10 is placed at the bottom of the elevator car 2, and the counterweight pulley 11 is placed at the top of the counterweight 3.

At the bottom of elevator shaft 1, the first end of the lifting rope 4 is lowered from the drum 4a at the top of the car 2 on the car-side rope terminal 6 side into the pit of elevator shaft 1. The mounting member 12 is lowered from the other side of the car from the top of the elevator 2 into the pit. The lifting rope 4 is then routed through the car pulley 10. Using the mounting member 12, the lifting rope 4 is then pulled to the top of the elevator car 2 and secured there to fasteners that are part of or attached to the car 2, such as the car top railing.

For clarity, only one lifting rope 4 is mentioned here. However, an elevator may include more than one lifting rope 4, and when "one lifting rope" is mentioned, it means all lifting ropes. Similarly, when "one drum 4a" is mentioned, it means there may be more than one parallel drum 4a, each corresponding to one lifting rope.

Figure 2 presents the elevator shaft 1 according to Figure 1 in a simplified and illustrated side view manner in the next stage of the method.

In this stage of the method, the elevator car 2 is lifted to the upper part of the elevator shaft 1 by means of an auxiliary crane 8 and its ropes 9, which is placed on top of the elevator car 2. After the elevator car 2 is lifted, the auxiliary crane 8 is stopped and anchored at the upper part of the elevator shaft 1 by means of safety components, a stop chain and/or corresponding fixing components (not shown in the figure). Similarly, the counterweight 3 has been lifted to the upper part of the elevator shaft 1 by means of the same auxiliary crane 8 and its ropes 9. When the counterweight 3 is lifted by the auxiliary crane 8, the ropes 9 are routed on an auxiliary deflector pulley 13, which is properly mounted on the counterweight 3.

At the upper part of the elevator shaft 1, the first end of the lifting rope 4 is detached from the fastener, and at the bottom of the elevator shaft 1, the first end is fastened to the fastener. Then, the lifting rope 4 is routed on the mechanical traction pulley 5 and under the counterweight pulley 11. Then, the first end of the lifting rope 4 is fixed to the counterweight-side rope terminal 7 on the counterweight side of the elevator shaft.

Figure 3 presents the elevator shaft 1 according to Figure 1 in a simplified and illustrated side view, representing the next stage of the method.

In the next or final stage of the method, the counterweight 3 descends into the pit until it reaches the pre-set stopper member at the bottom of the elevator shaft 1. The stopper member is not shown in the figure. During the descent of the counterweight 3, the lifting rope 4 is unwound from the drum 4a through the entire winding system, and the mass of the counterweight 3 stretches the lifting rope 4 to its full length. The stopper member is positioned in the pit at such a height that, after descent, when the counterweight 3 is stopped by the stopper member, the lifting rope 4 has simultaneously been stretched to its normal working length. Therefore, when the counterweight 3 reaches the stopper member, the rope length is substantially correct. The second end of the lifting rope 4 is secured to the car-side rope terminal 6 and taut to the correct and required tension. The counterweight 3 is lowered by means of an auxiliary crane 8.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited to the examples described above, and that it can vary within the scope of the claims presented below. Therefore, for example, the method may also include stages different from those described above.

It will also be apparent to those skilled in the art that the method according to the invention can also be used for elevators of different types than those described above.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the deflector pulley in the elevator car can be located at the top of the elevator car, and the deflector pulley in the counterweight can be located at the bottom of the counterweight.

It will also be apparent to those skilled in the art that there is more than one mounting component, or that other methods can be used to lift the lifting ropes to the top of the car instead of using a mounting component (such as one or more ropes).

It will also be apparent to those skilled in the art that the counterweight during the installation phase is not necessarily its final weight. For example, only a portion of the weight may be installed during the installation phase, with the remainder added later.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the auxiliary crane can also be placed on top of the counterweight, rather than on top of the elevator car. In this case, the auxiliary deflector pulley is placed on top of the elevator car. In this way, the auxiliary deflector pulley is used to align the auxiliary lifting rope with the object to be lifted to the correct line.

Claims (13)

1. A method for winding ropes in an elevator, the elevator comprising: an elevator car (2) equipped with a car pulley (10) and arranged to move up and down in an elevator shaft (1); a counterweight (3) equipped with a counterweight pulley (11) and connected above to the elevator car (2) by at least one lifting rope (4); a mechanical traction pulley (5) located at the upper part of the elevator shaft (1); a car-side rope terminal (6); and a counterweight-side rope terminal (7); and in the method, a drum (4a) for each lifting rope (4) is placed on the top of the elevator car (2), characterized in that the method comprises at least the following steps: a) The elevator car is located at the lower part of the elevator shaft (1). The first end of each lifting rope (4) is taken out from each drum (4a) and routed from the first side of the elevator car (2) below the car pulley (10), and rises from the second side of the elevator car (2) to its temporary fastening point at the upper part of the elevator car (2), where the first end of each lifting rope (4) is temporarily fastened. b) The elevator car (2) and the counterweight (3) are hoisted to the top of the elevator shaft (1), after which the first end of each lifting rope (4) is routed around the mechanical traction pulley (5), and then around the counterweight pulley (11), and then secured to the counterweight-side rope terminal (7). c) The counterweight (3) is lowered to the bottom of the elevator shaft (1) such that the counterweight (3) pulls each lifting rope (4) from each drum (4a) through the entire rope winding system. d) The second end of each lifting rope (4) is fastened to the car-side rope terminal (6). 2. The method for rope winding in an elevator according to claim 1, characterized in that, in step a), each lifting rope (4) is routed from the first side of the elevator car (2) below the car pulley (10) below the elevator car (2), and rises from the second side of the elevator car (2) to its temporary fastening point at the upper part of the elevator car (2), at which the first end of each lifting rope (4) is temporarily fastened. 3. The method for rope winding in an elevator according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, in step a), the first end of each lifting rope (4) is lifted to the top of the elevator car by means of a mounting member (12). 4. The method for winding ropes in an elevator according to claim 3, wherein the mounting component is a rope. 5. The method for rope winding in an elevator according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, in step b), the elevator car (2) and the counterweight (3) are lifted to the upper part of the elevator shaft (1) by an auxiliary crane (8) equipped with an auxiliary lifting rope (9). 6. The method for using an elevator rope according to claim 5, characterized in that, in step b), the elevator car (2) and the counterweight (3) are hoisted to the upper part of the elevator shaft (1) using the same auxiliary crane (8) and the same auxiliary lifting rope (9), and the auxiliary lifting rope (9) is aligned with the object to be lifted to the correct line using an auxiliary deflector pulley (13). 7. The method for rope winding for an elevator according to any one of claims 1-2, characterized in that, in step b), after the lifting, the elevator car (2) and the counterweight (3) are fixed to the upper part of the elevator shaft (1) using suitable fixing members. 8. The method for rope winding for an elevator according to any one of claims 1-2, characterized in that, in step c), during the process of lowering the counterweight (3) until it reaches the preset stopper member in the pit of the elevator shaft (1), each lifting rope (4) is unwound from each drum (4a) through the entire rope winding system and is simultaneously stretched to its working length. 9. The method for rope winding in an elevator according to claim 8, characterized in that the stopper member is placed at a height in the pit such that, after the descent of the counterweight (3) and when the counterweight (3) is blocked by the stopper member, the lifting rope (4) has been stretched to its normal working length. 10. The method for rope winding in an elevator according to any one of claims 1-2, characterized in that, in step c), the counterweight (3) is lowered by means of an auxiliary crane (8). 11. The method for using elevator ropes according to any one of claims 1-2, characterized in that each lifting rope (4) is tightened by lowering the counterweight (3). 12. The method for rope winding for an elevator according to any one of claims 1-2, characterized in that, after step b), all of the lifting ropes (4) are kept at the same tension. 13. The method for winding an elevator rope according to any one of claims 1-2, characterized in that the drum (4a) for the lifting rope (4) is placed on top of the top of the elevator car (2).