Arrangement for damping lateral sways of a rope fixed to an elevator unit and an elevator

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9045312-B2
Application number	US-201414162842-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 24, 2014
Priority date	Feb 12, 2013
Publication date	Jun 2, 2015
Grant date	Jun 2, 2015

Abstract

An arrangement is provided for damping lateral sways of a rope fixed to a movable elevator unit, such as an elevator car in an elevator hoistway, the bottom end of which rope has an upward opening bottom loop. The arrangement includes a freely hanging damper supported on the top surface of the bottom loop, which damper includes a device for measuring acceleration and/or twisting of said rope.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An arrangement for damping lateral sways of a rope fixed to at least one elevator unit movable in a hoistway of an elevator including at least an elevator car, the elevator being suitable for transporting passengers and/or goods, the bottom end of the rope having an upward opening bottom loop, which arrangement comprises a freely hanging damper supported on a top surface of the bottom loop, wherein said damper comprises a device for measuring acceleration and/or twisting of said rope,
wherein acceleration and/or twisting values measured by said device for said rope are communicated to an elevator controller and if a certain pre-set acceleration threshold value is exceeded or if twisting is detected, an alarm is triggered and predetermined actions for damping sway of said rope are carried out.

2. The arrangement according to claim 1 , wherein said device for measuring acceleration of said rope comprises an accelerometer measuring lateral accelerations of said rope in directions perpendicular to the direction of elevator movement.

3. The arrangement according to claim 1 , wherein said device for measuring twisting of said rope comprises a gyroscope for measuring loop twisting of said rope.

4. The arrangement according to claim 1 , wherein said damper comprises a Radio Frequency transmitter linked with a receiver located in the elevator hoistway.

5. The arrangement according to claim 1 , wherein if a certain pre-set acceleration threshold value is exceeded or if twisting is detected, a speed of said elevator is reduced or said elevator is stopped.

6. The arrangement according to claim 1 , wherein said damper comprises at least a roller mounted on bearings that allow rotation on an essentially horizontal axis, supported by which the damper is arranged to move freely in relation to the top surface of the bottom loop in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the rope when the elevator car moves upwards and downwards.

7. The arrangement according to claim 6 , wherein said damper also comprises a roller below the bottom loop of the rope, which roller is mounted on bearings on an essentially horizontal axis, and the rollers are fixed to each other into an essentially ring-like structure around the bottom loop by the aid of a fixing device.

8. The arrangement according to claim 6 , wherein in addition to roller supported by the top surface of the bottom loop and mounted on bearings on an essentially horizontal axis, said damper comprises two rollers mounted on bearings on an essentially vertical axis, one roller on both sides of the rope.

9. The arrangement according to claim 1 , wherein the width of the bottom loop of the rope is essentially greater than its thickness.

10. The arrangement according to claim 1 , wherein said damper comprises at least one roller made of a soft material at least on a surface thereof.

11. The arrangement according to claim 1 , wherein said damper comprises a first roller, a second roller and third rollers, wherein a vertical distance between the first and second rollers is greater than a thickness of the bottom loop of the rope and the horizontal distance between the third rollers is greater than a width of the bottom loop of the rope, and the bottom loop of the rope is disposed in the vertical direction between the first and second ropes and in the horizontal direction between the third rollers.

12. The arrangement according to claim 1 , wherein said rope is the travelling cable of an elevator.

13. The arrangement according to claim 1 , wherein the rope is a compensating rope or compensating roping of an elevator.

14. An elevator suitable for transporting passengers and/or goods, which elevator comprises:
a hoistway, at least one elevator unit movable in the hoistway, including at least an elevator car, a lifting device, and one or more ropes fixed to the movable elevator unit, wherein damping of lateral sways of a rope fixed to said elevator unit is arranged with an arrangement according to claim 1 .

15. The arrangement according to claim 2 , wherein said device for measuring twisting of said rope comprises a gyroscope for measuring loop twisting of said rope.

16. The arrangement according to claim 2 , wherein said damping means comprises a Radio Frequency transmitter linked with a receiver located in the elevator hoistway.

17. The arrangement according to claim 3 , wherein said damping means comprises a Radio Frequency transmitter linked with a receiver located in the elevator hoistway.

Assignees

• Kone Corp

Inventors

• Puranen Mikko
• Ropponen Tuomo

Classifications

• B66B7/064

  Power supply or signal cables · CPC title

• B66B7/06 Primary

  Arrangements of ropes or cables · CPC title

• B66B7/068

  Cable weight compensating devices · CPC title

• B66B5/02 Primary

  responsive to abnormal operating conditions · CPC title

• B66B5/022 Primary

  where the abnormal operating condition is caused by a natural event, e.g. earthquake · CPC title