WO2025068283A1

WO2025068283A1 - Template for installing elevator hardware in a building

Info

Publication number: WO2025068283A1
Application number: PCT/EP2024/076926
Authority: WO
Inventors: Prasanna POTDAR; Om Prakash
Original assignee: Inventio AG
Current assignee: Inventio AG
Priority date: 2023-09-27
Filing date: 2024-09-25
Publication date: 2025-04-03
Anticipated expiration: 2026-03-27

Abstract

A template (102) for installing elevator hardware (108) in a building, in particular, in a building without a structural (RCC) elevator shaft is disclosed. The template (102) is adapted to be aligned to a hoistway (106) of the elevator where the hoistway (106) intersects a floor slab (100) of the building. The template (102) comprises an array of anchor points (112) adapted to anchor the aligned template (102) to the floor slab (100), a pattern of mounting points (110) adapted to mount the hardware (108) to the aligned template (102), and a frame (114) connecting the anchor points (112) and the mounting points (110), wherein the frame (114) is adapted to be arranged laterally offset to the hoistway (106).

Description

TEMPLATE FOR INSTALLING ELEVATOR HARDWARE IN A BUILDING

The present disclosure relates to elevators and more particularly, to a template for installing elevator hardware in a multi-story building having an elevator opening formed within a perimeter of each floor slab, without the need of a Reinforced Cement Concrete (RCC) hoistway.

Nowadays, elevators are an essential part of multi-story buildings, such as commercial buildings and residential buildings. Generally, elevators are available in different configurations which can be deployed in the building based on factors, such as estimated passengers load, traffic flux, building dimensions, elevator location, and car arrangement. One of the vital factors to be considered for installing the elevator is the location where such an elevator is needed to be installed. In fact, it is critical to plan the location of the elevator in a building at an initial stage of construction. This is because the buildings currently include an elevator shaft formed of concrete walls, such as RCC C2- /25, to accommodate the installation and movement of the elevator. Therefore, it becomes critical to finalize the location of the shaft in the initial stages only, say, at the time of designing the superstructure of the building, as any modification or correction at a later stage may result in significant inconvenience and would also incur significant cost. Once these shafts are constructed, the location of the elevators is permanently fixed and the builder cannot make any changes to the location of the elevators, without significant reconstruction.

Moreover, an orientation of the elevator can also not be changed once the shaft is constructed. This is because the builder is required to leave a space for installation of a landing door at each floor for people to access the elevator. Since the shaft is made of RCC concrete, these spaces are also to be provided at the time of construction of the superstructure only and cannot be reoriented at a later stage without significant reconstruction. Therefore, the builder does not have the flexibility to change the orientation of the elevator as well at a later stage.

Also, the use of RCC in the construction of the shaft directly adds to the overall construction cost of the building. First of all, the cost of the RCC is high. Moreover, the construction of the RCC shafts requires additional labor which leads to a substantial increase in the overall labor cost as well. Furthermore, the overall time required for completion of the building construction is also increased.

In addition, in the RCC shafts, various sub-components, such as guide rails and mounting brackets of the elevator are installed directly on an inner surface of the RCC shaft. Therefore, installation of such sub-components can only be performed while being physically present within the RCC shaft. Generally, a supporting platform is required within the RCC shaft, for a person to stand and install various sub-components at predefined locations within the RCC shaft. Such platforms are also hoisted through a hoisting arrangement to enable smooth movement of the platform in the shaft, and thereby enabling installation of the sub-components at different heights. This substantially increases overall complexity of the installation process. In fact, the time needed for installation is also significant. Also, owing to presence of personnel within the RCC shaft, additional measures are required to ensure safety of personnel while installing the elevator and associated sub-components. This adds to the overall cost of installation of the elevator in the building.

WO 2013/186096 Al describes a method and a mounting system for mounting lift components of a lift system in a vertical shaft of a building with a mounting system which can be moved in the shaft. The lift system has at least one cage which can travel along guide rails in the shaft. The mounting system positioned in the shaft includes a support platform and a mounting platform disposed one above the other and a lifting and pulling device. The support platform and the mounting platform are alternatively fixed in position in the shaft and the platform which is not fixed in position at any one time is displaced in the vertical direction by means of the lifting and pulling device relative to the platform fixed in position. As mentioned, the lift components are needed to be mounted in the vertical shaft, such as the RCC shaft, of the building. This substantially increases the overall construction cost of the building and leads to various disadvantages associated with implementation of the RCC shaft for installing the elevators as described earlier. Further, in order to mount the lift components in the vertical shaft, the support platform and the mounting platform are required for assisting an assembler to mount the lift components at different locations within the shaft. This substantially increases the overall complexity of the installation process. In fact, the time needed for installation is also significant. Also, owing to the presence of the assembler within the RCC shaft, additional measures are required to ensure the safety of the assembler while installing the elevator and associated sub-components.

In a building without an RCC shaft, locations for mounting hardware of an elevator are limited to surfaces of floor slabs of the building. The hardware can be mounted by drilling holes into the RCC of the floor slabs and screwing the hardware to nuts and/or bolts inside the holes. To transfer loads into the floor slabs, the nuts and bolts may be wedged or glued in the holes. For structural integrity and to withstand the loads, the floor slabs are reinforced with extra concrete reinforcement around the opening for the elevator. Consequentially, drilling holes around the elevator openings has a high probability of hitting reinforcing steel bars. The concrete reinforcement may stop or deflect a drill bit, leading to incompletely drilled holes and/or displaced holes. To alleviate this, hardware with large fixpoint tolerances is necessary. Additionally, drilling into RCC is loud, dusty and wears down the drills rapidly.

Therefore, there is a need to simplify the installation of hardware for an elevator, particularly in a building without the requirement of an RCC shaft, reducing or eliminating the abovementioned associated shortcomings.

It is in particular the object of the invention to submit a template for installing elevator hardware in a building, in particular, in a building without a structural RCC elevator shaft and to eliminate the abovementioned associated shortcomings. According to the invention, this object is solved by a template having the features of claim 1, an elevator having the features of claim 11 and a method for installing elevator hardware having the features of claim 12.

According to a first aspect, a template for installing elevator hardware in a building, in particular, in a building without a structural (RCC) elevator shaft is disclosed in the present invention. The template is adapted to be aligned to the hoistway where the hoistway intersects a floor slab of the building. The template includes an array of anchor points adapted to anchor the aligned template to the floor slab, a pattern of mounting points adapted to mount the hardware to the aligned template, and a frame connecting the anchor points and the mounting points, wherein the frame is adapted to be arranged laterally offset to the hoistway, where the hoistway intersects the floor slab. Elevator hardware may in particular be immobile and be permanently attached to the building. The hardware may for example comprise brackets for connecting guidance elements of the elevator to the building. The brackets are configured to transfer loads from the guidance elements to the building. In particular, the loads to be transferred to the building may be mainly or in part horizontal loads. Vertical loads may be supported mainly by the guidance elements themselves. Guidance elements may be rails or profiles for guiding a car and/or counterweight of the elevator or a door sill for guiding a landing door of the elevator.

An elevator hoistway may be a clear space including a travel path for moving parts of the elevator. The moving parts may be the at least one car, at least one counterweight and traction members connecting car and counterweight. The hoistway may intersect all floors connected by the elevator. The hoistway may be formed by vertically aligned, essentially similar elevator openings in floor slabs of the connected floors. The elevator openings may be enclosed by the floor slab on all sides. Alternatively, the elevator openings may be open to at least one side. The elevator openings may have a bigger clearance than the hoistway. The hoistway may end in an elevator pit at a lower end and a headroom at an upper end.

A floor slab may be a body of RCC with an upper surface creating a floor of a story and a lower surface creating a ceiling of a lower story.

A frame may be a structural element. The frame may be made from a metal material, particularly from a metal sheet or a metal profile. The frame may have a shape corresponding to at least one side of the elevator opening. In particular, the frame may correspond to multiple sides of the elevator opening. The frame may have a bigger clearance than the hoistway, for example by between 1% and 10%. The frame may have a geometry or contour equal to or corresponding to a contour of the opening in the slab forming the hoistway. For example, the frame may be rectangular.

An anchor point may be arranged on or in the frame. The anchor point may be a hole for a bolt, for example. The hole may be slotted for adjusting small misalignments of the template. Anchor points may be arranged at a distance from an edge of the elevator opening. The frame may need less bolts than individually fixed hardware. A mounting point may also be arranged on or in the frame. The mounting point may be a hole for a bolt. The mounting point may be threaded, or a nut may be affixed to the mounting point. The mounting point may also be threadless. A threadless mounting point may also be slotted for adjusting small misalignments. A mounting point may substitute a drilled hole in the floor slab. The mounting points may be arranged closer to the edge than the anchoring points. The mounting points may be arranged close to the edge, since there is no minimum thickness of concrete required between the edge and the mounting point, like with a drilled hole.

At least one of the anchor points may feature an anchor configured to be cast-in- place while pouring concrete for the floor slab. Concrete may be poured into a shuttering. This process may be referred to as concreting. The mixed but uncured concrete flows around objects inside the shuttering and embeds these objects. When the concrete sets, these objects are firmly fused to the concrete. In particular, the objects are reinforcing rebars. The objects may also be anchors. Embedded anchors may have a very high load capacity. The load capacity may be higher than the load capacity of drilled anchors. This way, less anchors may be used to support the loads of the hardware. The anchors may be aligned by aligning the template to the hoistway before pouring the concrete. An anchor may be a bent rod, a T-rod, a U-rod, a threaded rod with a washer and nut, a welded anchor or anchor bolt. With threaded anchors the anchor points may be slotted holes in the frame for the possibility of adjustments after the concrete has set.

An anchor of an anchor point and especially above mentioned anchor configured to be cast-in-place while pouring concrete for the floor slab may be welded to the frame at the anchor point. The anchor may be an integral part of the frame. The anchor may have some kind of undercut, to transfer loads into the concrete. A welded anchor may be non-losable, especially in a rough construction work environment. At least one and preferably at least two anchors may be arranged on a side of the frame. Alternatively, the at least one anchor may be a part formed on the frame in one piece therewith. Thus, the anchor may be, together with the frame, made from a metal material, particularly from a metal sheet or a metal profile. Such anchors can be embedded in or with the floor slab. After alignment, the anchor may extend in vertical direction. However, it would be conceivable that the anchor extends in horizontal or other directions. The frame may be configured to at least partially protrude horizontally into the hoistway opening in the floor slab, for example by a few centimeters, e.g. by between 1 cm and 20 cm, preferably between 2 cm and 10 cm. The opening may be bigger than the hoistway, for example by a few centimeters, e.g. by between 1 cm and 20 cm, preferably between 2 cm and 10 cm. That way, the frame may still be arranged outside the hoistway. The mounting points may be located in the protruding parts. The protruding parts are accessible from both sides. In the protruding parts, the mounting points may be threadless holes and the hardware may be attached using nuts and bolts. With nuts, the mounting points may be able to bear high loads, even if the frame is made from mild steel, since the nuts are made of selected material. With the mounting points inside the opening, the hardware may be reduced in size, since the need for bridging a gap to the floor slab is reduced.

The template may comprise at least two plumb line points to align the template to the hoistway and to other templates arranged at other floor slabs of the building. The plumb line points may be arranged spaced apart on the frame and may be adapted to protrude into the hoistway opening. Plumb lines are a very effective and cheap solution to align objects vertically. With two plumb lines, the objects may be aligned in two dimensions. The plumb line is attached to a plumb bob. The plumb bob will be aligned true vertical below the plumb line point by gravity. The plumb line may for example be suspended from the highest available plumb line point. The highest plumb line point is then moved until the plumb bob is aligned to a lower reference point at the other end of the plumb line. The reference point may be in the elevator pit or on a lower, already aligned template. Other templates may be arranged between the highest point and the reference point and may be aligned to the vertical plumb lines. A plumb line point may have at least one notch to fix the plumb line. The notch may be wedge-shaped notch forming a triangle contour defining a precise reference marker for the plumb line point. The notch may be made by an opening in the frame. For example, the frame can comprise two such wedge-shaped notches on diametrical opposite sides of the frame. An other notch may comprise a circular opening and an adjoining bar-shaped opening leading to an inner edge of the frame. Alternatively to said notches the plumb line points may be designed as projections projecting from the frame. These projections may be arranged at inner edges of the frame and formed theron in one piece therewith. Plumb lines may be set up for a long time, since they donot consume energy.

The pattern of mounting points may comprise at least two separate bracket groups of bracket mounting points adapted to mount brackets for guidance elements of the elevator. A guidance element may be a rail or linear profde to guide movable parts of the elevator in a vertical direction. The guidance element may hinder movements of the movable element in a horizontal direction. The bracket may transfer horizontal loads from the guidance elements to the template. A bracket may be a fastener to connect and align at least one guidance element to the building. A bracket may have mounting points for one or more guidance elements. Bracket mounting points of the template may be grouped on the template to mimic screw patterns of the brackets. When the bracket is configured to mount one guidance element, the mounting points for the guidance element and the screw pattern may essentially be at opposite ends of the bracket. A bracket may also have multiple screw patterns. For example, the screw patterns may be arranged at opposite ends of the bracket. The brackets may be mounted to the template before aligning the template.

The bracket groups may be arranged on opposite sides of the frame. Each bracket group may be intended for one bracket each. At least one of the brackets may be configured to mount more than one guidance element. In particular, one bracket may be configured to mount three guidance elements. This bracket may be referred to as omega bracket. The other bracket may be configured to mount one guidance element. This bracket may be referred to as Z-bracket.

The pattern of mounting points may comprise at least one sill group of sill mounting points configured to mount a landing door sill of the elevator. A landing door sill may be a guidance element for a landing door. The landing door sill may be arranged on the edge of the elevator opening. The landing door sill may be arranged so, that an upper surface of the landing door sill coincides with a finished floor surface. Therefore, the landing door sill may protrude upward from the surface of the raw floor slab. The landing door sill may be mounted to the template before aligning the template. The sill group may be arranged on another side of the frame than the bracket mounting points. The bracket groups may be arranged on opposite sides of the frame. The sill group may be arranged on a side of the frame, connecting the opposite sides. There may be another sill group of mounting points for an alternative position of the landing door sill. The alternative position may be on an opposite side of the frame.

The frame may be configured to be arranged flat on a horizontal surface of the floor slab. Anchors connected to the anchor points may be oriented transverse to the frame. The frame may be arranged on an underside or on an upper side of the floor slab. In particular, the frame may be arranged on the upper side and the anchors may be oriented downwards and/or outwards from the frame. A flat frame may easily be aligned to the hoistway by moving the frame on a surface perpendicular to the hoistway. This surface may be provided by the shuttering for pouring the concrete for the floor slab. The aligned frame may be fixed to the shuttering before pouring the concrete, to prevent misalignment during the pouring.

The template may comprise a frame which is made of steel material, especially made of a steel sheet. The frame may be formed as rectangular frame. Further. The frame amay be configured such that the connection takes place on an upper horizontal side of the frame.

The frame may be in one piece, i.e. the frame may be an integral component which may preferably be fabricated prior to installation in a building. The frame may be cut from sheet metal. Alternatively, the frame may be assembled from multiple parts connected to each other. A one-piece frame may be dimensionally stable. In particular, angles between sides of the frame may be precisely cut by a cutting machine. The flat frame provides a high resistance against deforming the angles, while being flexible perpendicular to a plane of the frame.

The template may comprise at least one stiffening member configured to stiffen the frame while aligning the template. A stiffening member may be temporarily fixed to the frame. The stiffening member may be removed after the template is anchored to the floor slab. The stiffening member may be arranged diagonal across the frame. The stiffening member may traverse the hoistway. The stiffening member may be in one piece with the frame and may be cut away after anchoring the template to the floor slab. Alternatively, the stiffening member may be screwed to the frame and may be reused for another frame after unscrewing it from the frame. The screwable stiffening member may connect at least two mounting points of the template. The stiffening member may be removed before mounting the hardware. The stiffening member may comprise a hoisting point to hoist the template to its installation location. The stiffening member may comprise plumb line points for aligning the template to the floor slab, making plumb line points on the frame unnecessary.

According to a second aspect, an elevator for a building, in particular, a building without a structural (RCC) elevator shaft is disclosed, wherein elevator hardware of the elevator is mounted to mounting points of a plurality of aligned templates according to the first aspect. The templates are arranged where a hoistway of the elevator intersects floor slabs of the building. The frames of the aligned templates are anchored to the floor slabs by the arrays of anchor points and are arranged laterally offset to the hoistway.

According to a third aspect, a method for installing an elevator in a building, in particular, a building without a RCC elevator shaft is disclosed. The method comprises: Aligning a plurality of templates according to the first aspect so that the frame is laterally offset to a hoistway of the elevator and the templates are aligned to the hoistway where the hoistway intersects floor slabs of the building; Anchoring the aligned templates to the floor slabs, using the arrays of anchor points; and Mounting hardware of the elevator to the aligned templates, using the patterns of mounting points.

The templates may be aligned before concrete is poured for the floor slabs. At least one anchor connected to one of the anchor points may be cast-in-place during the pouring. Cast-in-place anchors provide high stability and reduce stress transferred to the floor slabs, compared to drilled anchors. By casting in the anchors, drilling holes is unnecessary, reducing noise, vibration, and dust exposure for the construction workers. Without percussion or hammer drilling, one potential cause of damage to the floor slabs is removed, since the need to fracture the hardened concrete structure is removed.

The hardware may be adjusted to the hoistway during mounting the hardware to the mounting points. The mounting points of the templates and/or the fixpoints of the hardware may be slotted holes to provide limited adjustability. This way, small misalignments of the aligned template during the pouring of the concrete and the setting of the concrete may be corrected. Alternatively, or supplementary, the frame may be adjusted to the anchors before mounting the hardware to the mounting points. If the anchors are cast-in-place bolts and the anchor points are slotted holes, the bolts may be loosened in the anchor points and the frame may be adjusted relatively to the hoistway. By adjusting the frame, all mounting points are adjusted at the same time, since the mounting points are in fixed positions on the frame. Adjusting the frame may save time.

The term 'floor slab' refers to a structural feature, usually of constant thickness, that may be formed using concrete (and generally steel reinforcement) and may form part of the structure of the building. The floor slab refers to the structural feature defining each floor/level of the building except the lowest floor, i.e., a floor at the lowest level of the building. A top surface of the floor slab may be referred to as a floor and a bottom surface of the floor slab may be referred to as a roof or ceiling.

The term ‘elevator pit’ refers to an enclosed space formed below the lowest floor, i.e., the floor at the lowest level of the building.

The term ‘elevator opening’ refers to a through-hole formed between the top surface of the floor slab and the bottom surface of the floor slab.

The term ‘horizontal surface’ of the floor slab refers to either the top surface or the bottom surface of the floor slab.

The term ‘hoistway’ refers to a passage, through the elevator opening of each floor slab, extending from a top floor slab of the building to the lowest floor slab of the building.

Additional advantages, features, and details of the invention result using the following description of exemplary embodiments and using drawings in which the same or functionally identical elements are provided having identical reference signs.

To further clarify advantages and features of the present invention, a more particular description of the invention will be rendered by reference to specific embodiments thereof, which is illustrated in the appended drawings. It is appreciated that these drawings depict only typical embodiments of the invention and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope. The invention will be described and explained with additional specificity and detail with the accompanying drawings.

These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood when the following detailed description is read with reference to the accompanying drawings in which like characters represent like parts throughout the drawings, wherein:

Figure la illustrates a partial perspective view of a floor slab depicting an installed template, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

Figure lb illustrates a perspective view of the template, according to another embodiment of the present disclosure;

Figures 2a and 2b illustrate perspective views of mounting points of a template, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; and

Figure 2c illustrates a perspective view of a mounting point of a template, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Further, skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the drawings are illustrated for simplicity and may not have necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, in terms of the construction of the device, one or more components of the device may have been represented in the drawings by conventional symbols, and the drawings may show only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments of the present invention so as not to obscure the drawings with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having benefit of the description herein.

For the purpose of promoting an understanding of the principles of the invention, reference will now be made to the embodiment illustrated in the drawings and specific language will be used to describe the same. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of the invention is thereby intended, such alterations and further modifications in the illustrated system, and such further applications of the principles of the invention as illustrated therein being contemplated as would normally occur to one skilled in the art to which the invention relates. Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. The system, methods, and examples provided herein are illustrative only and not intended to be limiting.

The term “some” as used herein is defined as “none, or one, or more than one, or all.” Accordingly, the terms “none,” “one,” “more than one,” “more than one, but not all” or “all” would all fall under the definition of “some.” The term “some embodiments” may refer to no embodiments or to one embodiment or to several embodiments or to all embodiments. Accordingly, the term “some embodiments” is defined as meaning “no embodiment, or one embodiment, or more than one embodiment, or all embodiments.”

The terminology and structure employed herein is for describing, teaching and illuminating some embodiments and their specific features and elements and does not limit, restrict or reduce the spirit and scope of the claims or their equivalents.

More specifically, any terms used herein such as but not limited to “includes,” “comprises,” “has,” “consists,” and grammatical variants thereof do NOT specify an exact limitation or restriction and certainly do NOT exclude the possible addition of one or more features or elements, unless otherwise stated, and furthermore must NOT be taken to exclude the possible removal of one or more of the listed features and elements, unless otherwise stated with the limiting language “MUST comprise” or “NEEDS TO include.”

Whether or not a certain feature or element was limited to being used only once, either way it may still be referred to as “one or more features” or “one or more elements” or “at least one feature” or “at least one element.” Furthermore, the use of the terms “one or more” or “at least one” feature or element do NOT preclude there being none of that feature or element, unless otherwise specified by limiting language such as “there NEEDS to be one or more . . . ” or “one or more element is REQUIRED.”

Unless otherwise defined, all terms, and especially any technical and/or scientific terms, used herein may be taken to have the same meaning as commonly understood by one having an ordinary skill in the art. Reference is made herein to some “embodiments.” It should be understood that an embodiment is an example of a possible implementation of any features and/or elements presented in the attached claims. Some embodiments have been described for the purpose of illuminating one or more of the potential ways in which the specific features and/or elements of the attached claims fulfil the requirements of uniqueness, utility and nonobviousness.

Use of the phrases and/or terms such as but not limited to “a first embodiment,” “a further embodiment,” “an alternate embodiment,” “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” “multiple embodiments,” “some embodiments,” “other embodiments,” “further embodiment”, “furthermore embodiment”, “additional embodiment” or variants thereof do NOT necessarily refer to the same embodiments. Unless otherwise specified, one or more particular features and/or elements described in connection with one or more embodiments may be found in one embodiment, or may be found in more than one embodiment, or may be found in all embodiments, or may be found in no embodiments. Although one or more features and/or elements may be described herein in the context of only a single embodiment, or alternatively in the context of more than one embodiment, or further alternatively in the context of all embodiments, the features and/or elements may instead be provided separately or in any appropriate combination or not at all. Conversely, any features and/or elements described in the context of separate embodiments may alternatively be realized as existing together in the context of a single embodiment.

Any particular and all details set forth herein are used in the context of some embodiments and therefore should NOT be necessarily taken as limiting factors to the attached claims. The attached claims and their legal equivalents can be realized in the context of embodiments other than the ones used as illustrative examples in the description below.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Figure la illustrates a partial perspective view of a floor slab 100 of a building depicting an installed template 102, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The floor slab 100 is a flat plate made of reinforced cement concrete (RCC). An upper side of the floor slab is referred to as floor of the respective level of the building. An underside of the floor slab is referred to as roof or ceiling of a level below. The floor slab 100 has an elevator opening 104. The elevator opening 104 pierces through the floor slab 100 from floor to ceiling. Vertical surfaces of the elevator opening define an exterior limit of an elevator hoistway 106 for an elevator. Here, the elevator opening 104 is roughly square. The hoistway 106 consists of multiple vertically aligned elevator openings 104 in multiple floor slabs 100 of different levels of the building. The hoistway 106 is a column of empty space for mobile components of the elevator. Hardware 108 of the elevator protrudes into the hoistway 106.

In the approach presented here, the hardware 108 is mounted to the template 102 and the template 102 is anchored to the floor slab 100. The hardware 108 is connected to the template 102 at mounting points 110. The template 102 is connected to the floor slab 100 at anchor points 112. The mounting points 110 are arranged in a predetermined pattern. The anchor points 112 form an array distributed over the template 102. The mounting points 110 and the anchor points 112 are held in fixed relative positions to each other by a rigid frame 114 of the template 102. The frame 114 is arranged outside the hoistway 106. The anchor points 112 are connected to anchors 116 embedded in the floor slab 100.

A template of the cut-out size engineered to accommodate installation of the brackets will make the installation mistake proof and robust.

Figure lb illustrates a perspective view of the template 102, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The template 102 corresponds to the template in Figure 1.

Figures 2a and 2b illustrate perspective views of mounting points 110 of a template 102, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The template 102 corresponds to the template in Figure 1.

Figure 2c illustrates a perspective view of an anchor point 112 of a template 102, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The template 102 corresponds to the template in Figure 1. In an embodiment, the anchors 116 have threaded rods and the anchor points 112 are holes in the frame 114. The rods protrude from the floor slab 100 and through the holes. On an opposite side of the frame 114 the rods protrude through washers and nuts are tightened on them. The rods may be cast-in-place, glued into drilled holes or wedged into the holes. When the anchors 116 are cast-in-place, the template 102 is aligned to the hoistway 106 before the concrete for the floor slab 100 is poured. During the pouring, the pourable concrete flows around the anchors 116 and hardens around the anchors 116. Preferably, the anchors 116 have an undercut for a positive locking in the concrete.

As illustrated in Figure 2c, the embedded anchors 116 may alternatively have negative threads and threaded bolts 200 may be screwed through the anchor points 112.

The frame 114 is made of steel sheets and is formed as a rectangular frame. The frame 114 is configured such that the connection takes place on an upper horizontal side of the frame 104.

In an embodiment, the holes of the anchor points 112 are elongated, making them slotted holes. By loosening the connection to the anchors 116, the template 102 may be adjusted within a clearance of the slotted holes. When the template 102 is adjusted, the connection to the anchors 116 may be tightened again. By adjusting the template 102, the whole pattern of mounting points 110 is adjusted at once. The slotted holes reduce the requirements for the alignment of the template 102. The template 102 only needs to be roughly aligned to the hoistway 106 within the clearance of the slotted holes. Fine adjustment is accomplished using the clearance of the slotted holes.

In an alternative embodiment, the anchors 116 are welded to the anchor points 112. The anchors 116 are cast-in-place during the fabrication of the floor slab 100. Here, the template 102 is thoroughly aligned to the hoistway 106 before pouring the concrete.

In an embodiment, the mounting points 110 are slotted holes. By loosening the connection to the hardware 108, the hardware 108 may be adjusted within a clearance of the slotted holes. When the hardware 108 is adjusted, the connection to the hardware may be tightened again. The slotted mounting points 110 may be used for fine adjustment of the hardware 108. As illustrated in Fig. 2b, the hardware 108 may also have slotted holes for final adjustments.

In an embodiment, the template 102 comprises two plumb line points 118. The plumb line points 118 protrude over the edge of the elevator opening. For aligning the template to the hoistway 106 and to other templates on other floors of the building, plumb lines are attached to the plumb line points 118 and plumb bobs orient the plumb lines true vertically by gravity. Using the plumb lines as reference markers, other templates with plumb line points may be aligned with the template 102. Alternatively, the plumb lines may be installed along the whole hoistway 106 as reference markers and the templates 102 may be aligned to the plumb lines using the plumb line points 118.

In an embodiment, the pattern of mounting points 110 is split into groups of mounting points 110. Each group corresponds to a specific piece of hardware. The groups are distributed over the template 102.

In an embodiment, two bracket groups 120 of bracket mounting points 110 are arranged on opposite sides of the template 102. The bracket groups 120 are configured to mount brackets 122 for rails 124 of the elevator. One bracket 122 is referred to as omegabracket and is configured to fix three rails 124. Two of the rails 124 are intended to guide a counterweight of the elevator along the hoistway 106, the third rail 124 is intended to guide one side of a car of the elevator along the hoistway 106. The other bracket 122 is referred to as Z-bracket and is configured to fix one rail 124. The rail 124 is intended to guide the other side of the car along the hoistway 106.

In an embodiment, the brackets 122 are mounted to the template 102 in the factory, before the template 102 is transported to the construction site.

In an embodiment, one sill group 126 of sill mounting points 110 is arranged along a third side of the template 102. The sill group 126 is configured to mount a landing door sill 128 for that level of the building. The landing door sill 128 is intended to guide a landing door between an open position and a closed position. The landing door sill 128 may be premounted to the template 102. As illustrated in Figure 2c, the landing door sill 128 may protrude vertically above the template 102. The landing door sill 128 may be height adjustable, to compensate a misalignment of the floor slab 100.

In an embodiment, the frame 114 is arranged flat on the upper side of the raw floor slab 100 and protrudes slightly over the edge of the elevator opening 104. The anchors 116 are oriented downwards into the floor slab 100. The flat shape makes production and transport of the template 102 easy. The template 102 has stability in the horizontal plane to fix the relative positions of the mounting points 110 and anchor points 112. The template 102 is flexible in the vertical direction to adapt to the surface of the raw floor slab 100. When the raw floor slab 100 is covered with impact sound insulation and screed, the template 102 will be at least partially covered. In particular, the landing door sill 128 will sit flush with a flooring surface arranged on top of the screed.

In an embodiment, the template 102 is stiffened by a temporary stiffening member 130. The stiffening member 130 enhances a stiffness of the frame 114 in the plane of the floor slab 100. The stiffening member 130 prevents a deformation of the pattern of mounting points 110 during the installation of the template 102. The stiffening member 130 is removed before further installation of the elevator.

While specific language has been used to describe the present subject matter, any limitations arising on account thereto, are not intended. As would be apparent to a person in the art, various working modifications may be made to the method in order to implement the inventive concept as taught herein. The drawings and the foregoing description give examples of embodiments. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that one or more of the described elements may well be combined into a single functional element. Alternatively, certain elements may be split into multiple functional elements. Elements from one embodiment may be added to another embodiment.

Claims

1. A template (102) for installing elevator hardware (108) in a building, in particular, in a building without a structural (RCC) elevator shaft, wherein the template (102) is adapted to be aligned to a hoistway (106) of the elevator where the hoistway (106) intersects a floor slab (100) of the building, the template (102) comprising: an array of anchor points (112) adapted to anchor the aligned template (102) to the floor slab (100); a pattern of mounting points (110) adapted to mount the hardware (108) to the aligned template (102); and a frame (114) connecting the anchor points (112) and the mounting points (110), wherein the frame (114) is adapted to be arranged laterally offset to the hoistway (106).

2. The template (102) according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the anchor points (112) features an anchor (116) configured to be cast-in-place while pouring concrete for the floor slab (100).

3. The template (102) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein an anchor (116) is welded to the frame (114) at the anchor point (112).

4. The template (102) according to any one of claims 1 to 3, comprising at least two plumb line points ( 118) to align the template ( 102) to the hoistway (106) and to other templates ( 102) arranged at other floor slabs ( 100) of the building, wherein the plumb line points (118) are arranged spaced apart on the frame (114) and are adapted to protrude into an elevator opening (104) in the floor slab (100).

5. The template (102) according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the pattern of mounting points (110) comprises at least two separate bracket groups (120) of bracket mounting points (110) adapted to mount brackets (122) for rails (124) of the elevator.

6. The template (102) according to claim 5, wherein the bracket groups (120) are arranged on opposite sides of the frame (114).

7. The template (102 according to any one of claims 1 to 6. wherein the pattern of mounting points (110) comprises at least one sill group (126) of sill mounting points (110) configured to mount a landing door sill (128) of the elevator.

8. The template (102) according to claim 7 in combination with one of claims 5 and 6, wherein the sill group (126) is arranged on another side of the frame (114) than the bracket mounting points (110).

9. The template (102) according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the frame (114) is configured to be arranged flat on a horizontal surface of the floor slab (100).

10. The template (102) according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the frame (114) is made of steel material, especially is made of a steel sheet, the frame (104) is formed as rectangular frame and wherein the frame (114) is configured such that the connection takes place on an upper horizontal side of the frame (104).

11. The template (102) according to any one of claims 1 to 10, comprising at least one stiffening member (130) configured to stiffen the frame (114) while aligning the template (102), wherein the stiffening member (130) is removable after anchoring the template (102) to the floor slab (100).

12. An elevator for a building, in particular, a building without a structural (RCC) elevator shaft, wherein elevator hardware (108) of the elevator is mounted to mounting points (110) of a plurality of aligned templates (102) as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the templates (102) are arranged where a hoistway (106) of the elevator intersects floor slabs (100) of the building, wherein the frames (114) of the aligned templates (102) are anchored to the floor slabs (100) by the arrays of anchor points (112) and are arranged laterally offset to the hoistway (106).

13. A method for installing elevator hardware (108) in a building, in particular, a building without a structural (RCC) elevator shaft, the method comprising: -aligning a plurality of templates (102) as claimed in any of claims 1 to 11 so that the frame (114) is laterally offset to a hoistway (106) of the elevator and the templates (102) are aligned to the hoistway (106) where the hoistway (106) intersects floor slabs (100) of the building;

-anchoring the aligned templates (102) to the floor slabs (100), using the arrays of anchor points (112); and

-mounting hardware (108) of the elevator to the aligned templates (102), using the patterns of mounting points (110).

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein the templates (102) are aligned before concrete is poured for the floor slabs (100), wherein at least one anchor (116) connected to one of the anchor points (112) is cast-in-place during the pouring.

15. The method according to any one of claims 13 to 14, wherein the hardware (108) is adjusted to the hoistway (106) during mounting the hardware (108) to the mounting points (110).

16. The method according to any one of claims 13 to 15, wherein the frame (114) is adjusted to the anchors (116) before mounting the hardware (108) to the mounting points (110).