Elevator arrangement to open the roof of an elevator car

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11560291-B2
Application number	US-201816220290-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 14, 2018
Priority date	Jul 15, 2016
Publication date	Jan 24, 2023
Grant date	Jan 24, 2023

Abstract

The invention relates to an elevator arrangement comprising an elevator with a control system, and an inspection or maintenance mode, which elevator further comprises an elevator car arranged to run up and down in an elevator shaft along its guide rails, and which elevator car is equipped with a roof and a car operating panel. The arrangement comprises actuating means to open the roof of the elevator car, which actuating means are operatively connected to the car operating panel of the elevator.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An elevator car configured to move in an elevator shaft along guide rails, the elevator car comprising:
a roof configured to transition between a closed position and an open position by moving with respect to an upper part of the elevator car;
an actuator configured to at least transition the roof to the open position by moving the roof in a direction that does not penetrate an inside of the elevator car to provide access to elevator components in the elevator shaft during a maintenance mode from inside the elevator car; and
a car operating panel operatively connected to the actuator to control access to the elevator components in the elevator shaft by moving the roof.

2. The elevator car according to claim 1 , wherein the actuator is further configured to transition the roof to the closed position by moving the roof to prevent access to the elevator components in the elevator shaft from inside the elevator car.

3. The elevator car according to claim 1 , wherein the car operating panel comprises:
a plurality of buttons, at least one of the plurality of buttons having at least two different functions depending on an operating mode, at least one of the at least two different functions being associated with the roof.

4. The elevator car according to claim 3 , wherein the at least one of the plurality of buttons of the car operating panel are configured to switch between the at least two different functions based on whether the operating mode is a normal operating mode or the maintenance mode.

5. The elevator car according to claim 4 , wherein the at least one of the plurality of buttons of the car operating panel are configured to switch between controlling a first function in the normal operating mode and a second function to control the actuator to open and close the roof of the elevator car in the maintenance mode.

6. The elevator car according to claim 5 , wherein the at least one of the plurality of buttons of the car operating panel are configured to control the first function when pressed for a first time period and to control the second function when pressed for a second time period longer than the first time period.

7. The elevator car according to claim 3 , wherein the at least one of the plurality of buttons of the car operating panel include a door opening button and a door closing button, the door opening button configured to control the actuator to open the roof of the elevator car when pressed in the maintenance mode, and the door closing button configured to control the actuator to close the roof of the elevator car when pressed in the maintenance mode.

8. The elevator car according to claim 3 , wherein the at least one of the plurality of buttons of the car operating panel include an uppermost floor button and a lowermost floor button, the uppermost floor button configured to control the actuator to open the roof of the elevator car when pressed in the maintenance mode, and the lowermost floor button configured to control the actuator to close the roof of the elevator car when pressed in the maintenance mode.

9. The elevator car according to claim 1 further comprising:
a movable roof support configured to support the roof.

10. The elevator car according to claim 9 , wherein the actuator comprises:
a motor configured to control the movable roof support.

11. The elevator car according to claim 9 , wherein the movable roof support comprises:
a first pair of arms attached between a ceiling of the elevator car and a first end of the roof; and
a second pair of arms attached between the ceiling and a second end of the roof.

12. The elevator car according to claim 9 , wherein the actuator is configured to control the movable roof support to move the roof from the closed position to the open position in response to an instruction from the car operating panel inside the elevator car during the maintenance mode via a same button utilized to control movement of the elevator car during a normal operating mode.

13. The elevator car according to claim 12 , wherein the actuator is configured such that the movable roof support does not move the roof from the closed position to the open position in response to receipt of the instruction from the car operating panel during the maintenance mode while the elevator car is situated at an uppermost floor.

14. The elevator car according to claim 1 , wherein an elevator control system is configured to restrict the roof from transitioning from the closed position to the open position during the maintenance mode while the elevator car is situated at an uppermost floor.

15. The elevator car according to claim 1 , wherein the car operating panel is configured to control the actuator to move the roof only after the elevator car has been set to the maintenance mode via an maintenance access panel (MAP) accessible from outside of the elevator car.

16. A movable roof of an elevator car configured to move in an elevator shaft along guide rails, the movable roof comprising:
a ceiling including a movable panel therein;
a movable roof support attached to the movable panel, the movable roof support configured to move between a closed position in which the movable panel is aligned with the ceiling to restrict access to the elevator shaft and an open position in which the movable panel moves with respect to the ceiling in a direction that does not penetrate an inside of the elevator car to allow access to the elevator shaft; and
an actuator configured to control the movable roof support to move from the closed position to the open position in response to an instruction from a car operating panel inside the elevator car during a maintenance mode via a same button utilized to control movement of the elevator car during a normal operating mode.

Assignees

• Kone Corp

Inventors

• Haapaniemi Markku
• Aulanko Esko
• Rasanen Matti
• Kattainen Ari
• Hovi Antti

Classifications

• B66B1/466

  facilitating maintenance, installation, removal, replacement or repair · CPC title

• B66B1/14

  with devices, e.g. push-buttons, for indirect control of movements · CPC title

• B66B5/0087

  Devices facilitating maintenance, repair or inspection tasks (devices incorporated in the buffer B66B5/288; railings on top of the car B66B11/0226) · CPC title

• B66B5/005

  Safety of maintenance personnel · CPC title

• B66B11/0246 Primary

  Maintenance features (devices facilitating maintenance in general B66B5/0087) · CPC title