Note : Les descriptions sont présentées dans la langue officielle dans laquelle elles ont été soumises.
~l39~;~8t~3
SPECIFICATION
"Thi~ invention relates to a new approach of the thematic
screw powered elevators, called "ROL~I~G THREADfl, which
avoids the disadvantage~ of the prior art by improYing
substantially the friction between the two main components
and al~o enabling to drive elevators or material handling
equipments not only in a vertical direction~O
"It is common in screw powerd ele~ators to make use of a
draving screw, centrally disposed in the hoistway and
running through the elevator cab, like in the Canadian
Patent No. 67, 415 to ~orri~on issued ~ay 18, 1900, and in
the Canadian Patent No. 291, 69g to Ereutækamp issued July
30, 1929; or to locate the screw outside the elevator cab
and secure the driving nut on the elevator like in the
Canadian Patent No.t69,120 to Schnitzer issued April 25,
1916, and in the Canadian Patent ~o. 860,727 to I~tz
i~ued Jan. 12, 1971.
Elevators of this type are, however, limited in travel and
capacity and the design in which the screw i9 penetrating
centrally the elevator cab, cannot be used in residential
buildings.
Another approach is made in the Canadian Patent No. 1259049
issued April 199 1910 to New~on, where two pairs o~ upright
racks and a jac~ screw for supporting each rack are used,
and the newly Canadian Patent ~o. 1,029,~13 issued April
1 11, 1978 to Blanchette, which is using two cylindrical
section~ having a longitudinally e~tending slot ha~ing a
width not more than one third o~ the periphery o~ the
cylindrical section, and two dri~e units mounted one on
the top and one at the bottom of the elevator cage and
~3~
each including a transver3ely extending dri~e sha~t
entering at b~th ends into the respective cylindrical
cylinder ~ections through the respective ~lots,
This kind of driving sy3tems are ine~icient because o~
the complicated gear transmitions which are parts oX the
patented matter, i.e, they cannot operate ~ithout them.
Moreover the synchronization of two separate machines
acting simultaneously on such a precise mechanism like a
square ~crew, will be a task by it self,
The only sorew elevator which i~ also manu~actured - in
Australia - is described in "~IEVATOR WORLD" ~ay 1980; it
has four saginaw screws held stationary and in tension
with movement being achieved by driving the reciprocating
ball nuts. lhe available speed is 25 fpm,
"I have found that the~e disadvantages may be overcome by
providing a guiding path equiped with a plurality of
equally ~paced apart rollers wherein the distance
between two consecutive adjacent rollers is equal to a
pitch "R"- e~tending between a starting point "A" and a
de~tination point "B", and a rotating driving sheave
5o secured to a body carriage and equiped with a~ external
helicoidal profile having the same said pitch-"R"; will
transf orm its rotations in translation mo~ement by
stepping on each rotation over the ne~t adjacent roller,
Since the drive machine is brought into the hoistway and
secured directly to the car or container, there i~ no need
~or a machine room or a hole in the ground for the ~ac~
- as by conventional tractio~ or hydraulic în~tallations-
any more~
Some other equipment like the controller a~d an emergency
battery bo~ to drive the car in the event of a complete
failure o~ power supply, may also be secured directly on
the elevator's carr~ing frame, saving in this way the
travelling cable - provided the hall ætations may control
the car in a wireless system - and making the car more
independent in travel.
This driving system may be used in the hoistway of a build-
ing~ outside a building just by securing to the building
walls one or more masts equiped with equidistant rollers
or helicoidal segments, or as an independent package in a
self-supporting steel to~er to which will be attached the
guiding means and the landing doors.
Depending on the pursueded aim this driving system may be
used with a counterweight - for energy saving reasons - or
without a counterweight - for more ~reedom in travel -.
If used without a counterweight and in countries where the
elevator code allows contact rails ~or power supply in the
hoistway, - or by using combustion engines in outseide
installations - this driving system enables to have a car
which is totally independent in travel ~rom an outside
control. This could be a~ as~et for custom build material
handling equipment; ~or example where i8 required to trans-
port materials in a contaminated or a high temperature areaO
This driving s~stem ma~ be used in both vertical or
inclined installations.
If used in an inclined installation this driYing system
allows changes in the degree of incline, however the joint
point between two adjacent degrees of incli~e 3hall be
rounded with a large enough radius and the distance "R~
between two consecutive rollers shall remai~ constantO I~
~3~
the elevator is a passenger one, then the cab shall be
hanged on a pivot - to stay always in a vertioal poqition -
and secured against oscillations with shock absorbersO
Furthermore this driving system ma~ ~ollow a curvelinear
path, provided the radius is large enough and the distance
"R" between two consecutive rollers is held constant in
both linear and curve legs of path.
With this driving system any desired speed ma~ be reached
by simple means since V=RxN, where V is the speed of the
car in fpm, R the drive sheave's helicoidal pitch in ~t,
100 and ~ is expresed in rpm's applied on the drive ~heave's
sha~t.
When using this driving system some qafety device~ may be
changed from mechanical to electro-mechanical type. So the
mechanical type governor bound with the car sa~ety device
through a cable running along the hoi~tway, may be replaced
by a microprocessor and a serie o~ microswitches or sensors
mounted on equal intervals along the hoistway into the
threaded segments or rollers. The microprocessor which i~
electrically conneGted with the microswitches or sensors
1lo in the hoistwsy9 will comparatively appreciate the '1EFPEC-
TIVE TIME'l needed by the drive sheave to step over two or
more microswitches or sensors, cutting the power supply to
the drive machine if the "EFFECTIVE TI~E" ~ill be appreci-
ated a~ shorter than a "C~ITICA~ TI~E" which wa~ initially
preset. At the same time the power supply interuption auto~
matically applies the spring activated brake on the drive
sheave or directly on the motor whatever i9 the situation.
"In drawings which illustrate embodiments o~ the invention
Figure 1 is a sectional elevation o~ one embodiment shswing
, ., ~ , , ~
, j, .~
120 an e~ample with one drive sheave engaged with two threaded
segment~ and guided on four guide rails,
Figure 2 is a section o* the line I-I o~ Figure 1,
Figure 3 i9 a front and a side sectional elevation of
another embodiment showing an example with one drive
sheave engaged with one threaded segment, guided on two
guide rails and using a counterweight,
~igure 4 is a section of the line II-II of ~igure 3,
Figure 5 is another embodiment showing an application of
this driYing system on a material handling installation,
130 Figure 6 is a ~ection of the line III-III of Figure 5,
Figure 7 is an entlarged detail "X" of Figure 5,
Figure 8 is another embodiment ~howing an example with a
large freight elevator where two drive sheave~ are u3ed,
Figure 9 is an elevation o~ one embodiment o~ a "SO~ID"
threaded segment,
Figure 10 i~ a-se~tion~of~th~ e IV IV of Figure 9,
Figure 11 is a plan view and an elevation of a "ROL~ING"
drive sheave,
Figure 12 is an elevation and a plan view showing the
140 engagement between the helix of a drive ~heave and a
"RO~LING" segment,
Figure 13 is a side elevation of another embodiment show-
ing one posible application to an inclined elevator,
Figure 14 is a section of the line V-V of Figure 13.
Since the driving system which makes the object o~ thi3
invention is going to be applied to a large variety of
elevatoring installation~ where capacities may vary from
as little a8 150 lb by a dumbwaiter to 50,000 lb b~ a
large freight, the speed~ may vary from 25 ~pm by a large
~3~
150 freight to 2,000 fpm for a high rise commercial building
elevator, and the moving direction i~ ~ometimes vertical,
~ometimes inclined and ~ometimes curvilinear, it i8 ~el~-
evident that although the principle used to drive the ele-
vators is always the same, the design of the t~o ba~ic
components - the drive sheave and the guiding segment -
must vary and so does the hoistway layout to ~it the
requirements of every particular job.
The basic idea o~ this driving system is shown in the
Figures 12 9 11, 10 and 9.
160 Several pos~ible hoistwa~ layouts are shown in the Figures
1 & 2, 3 & 4, 5 ~ 6, 8, and 13 ~ 14.
In Figure 12 is shown the engagement between a helix
having a nominal diameter "Dm" and a pitch "R", arranged
to rotate adjacent to a mast to which are 3ecured a plu-
rality o~ equidistant rollers, wherein the distance
between two consecutive adjacent rollers i9 equal to "R",
and the distance from the centre line of helix to the
radial centre line of engaged roller is equal to half o~
"Dm" i.e. "Dm"/2 .
l70 In Figure 11 is sho~n a "RO~ING DRIVE SHEAYE" comprising
a plurality of rollers wraped around a body alo~g an im-
aginary helix line with the parameters I~Dm" representing
the heli~'s medium diameter and "Rl' representing the
heli~'s pitch. Item 1 i~ the body, item 2 the roller~.
In Figure 9 is shown one possible embodiment of a so
called "SO~ID" threaded segment - to distingui~h it from
a "RO~ G" one ~hown in ~igure 12 - consi~ting of iden-
tical casted elements 1 which are secured with the boltes
3 to two guide rail~ 2.
180 The distance between two consecutive elements 1, is equal
~ 3~
to a pitch "R" and the medium diameter o~ each element is
equal to "Dm" , since they are sector~ cut from a helix
with the same parameters "R" and "Dm".
In ~igure 10, which is a section of the line IV-IV of
~igure 9,is shown the engagement between the "SO~ID"
thresded segment and a coa2ial "RO~ G" driving sheave
- shown with imaginary lines - having the sams medium
diameter "Dm" and pitch "R" as the threaded segment.
One possible hoistway layout ~ho~ing the use o~ a HSOLID"
190 threaded segment and a "ROLLING" dri~e shea~e is shown in
the Figures 3 and 4.
In Figure 1 and 2 is shown one pos~ible hoi~tway laiout
using two opposit~ "SO~ID~" threaded segments engaged by
a "RO~LING" drive sheave. The machine 3 is brought into
the hoistway and secured underneath an elevator cab or con-
tainer 8 thra.ugh the platform 5. The "ROLLING" drive sheave
1 ls secured to machine's 3 output shaft and arranged to
rotate between two oppo~ite "SOLID" threaded segments 2,
e~tending lengthwise betwee~ a starting poînt "A" and a
200 destination point "B~ along the hoistway wall~. Two guide
rails 7 are ~ecured along each side of the threaded seg-
ments 2 with the brackets 100 The drive sheave 1 is cen-
tred bet~een the threaded segment~ 2 through the frame 4
on which are secured ~our upper and ~our lower guids ~hoes
6 sliding slong the guide rails 70
To rise or lower the elevator cab or container 8 in the
hoi~tway, the rotary motion produced by machine 3 will be
trans~ormed into 8 linear motion by the ''RO~LI~G'I drive
sheave 1 rotating between the two stationar~ "SOLID"
210 threaded segments.
,
~l3~
Inside drive qheave 1 is brought an internal type oY brake
9, usually u~ed where rotation ocures in both dlrection~.
The blocks will be lined with a ~uitable Yriction material
and the braking force will be ~upplied by an adjustable
spring which iq counteracted by the force o~ a ~olenoidO
Interuption of current automatically applies the spring
activated blocks on the drive sheave 1.
The rubber insulati~n pads 11 are brought between the
threaded segments 2 and the hoistway walls as well as
220 between the machine 3 and the platform 5, to diminish the
transmittance of noise or vibrations o-utside the hoistway
or into the car. For the ~ame reasons the dri~e sheave's 1
rollers may be covered with a suitable rubber or other
synthetic material to diminish the noi~e produced by the
roller~ (not shown) stepping over the threaded segments 2.
Considering the possibility on having current rails in the
hoistway and current collector shoes on the car, a~ well
as to control the car in the hoistway in a wirelees manner,
under these circumstances this driving 3ystem could make an
230 elevator totally independent in travel~
In the Figures 3 and 4 is ~hown another possible hoistway
layout where ~or more efficiency, a counterweight is added
to the system.
A "RO~LI~G" drive sheave 1 is secured on machine's 3 out-
put sha~t and arranged to rotate adjacent to one "SOIID'I
threaded segment 2 extending lengthwise along the hoist-
way'~ back wall. Said threaded segment 2 i~ fixed to the
wall with ~pecial bracket~ 14, on ~hich will be slso
secured the guide rail~ 13, on whioh will run the coun-
240 terweight 11. ~he machine 3 is mounted eccentrically
underneath car 8 through the platform 5 which is al~osecured ~o frame 4 consisting o~ two side channels, called
slings, secured to two upper channel~ - the cross head -
and on two more lower channels - the safety plank -.
Two upper guide shoe3 6 bolted to the cross head and two
lower guide shoes 6 bolted directly or through a safet~
device (not ~hown) to the sa~ety plank, will guide the
elevator cab 8 in the hoistway o~ two guide rails 7
extending lengthwise along the hoistway' 9 side walls and
250 secured to them through the brackets 15. To have a better
distribution of forces in the platform 5, frame 4 and guide
shoe~ 6, the box 9 which may contain emergency batteries
for driving the car in the event of a complete failure o~
pover supply, and eventually may contain the controller,
is secured underneath plat~orm 5 opposite to machine 3.
As mentioned earlier, for energy saving reason~, in this
installation the elevator's weight - i.e. cab 8, frame 4,
platform 5, machine 3, drive sheave 1, guide shoes 6 and
the battery and controller bo~ 9 - will be counterbalanced
260 with the counterweight 11; the connection bet~een them
being done by the cable 17 running over the counterweight's
sheave 10 which is sitting on two beams 18 on the top o~
the hoistway.
In the Figures 5, 6 and 7 is another embodiment o~ thi~
invention applied to a material handling equipment7 having
the target to move a container 8 from a-~tart~ng point "A"
to a destination point ":EI", and bac~ o drive the contain-
er on the rails 7, lRill be used a similar drivîng 3~9tem
as shown in the ~igure~ 1, 2, ~ and 4 - i,e. a threaded
270 drive sheave 1 which may be ~ecured to the output 3ha~ o~
~ 3~ "~
a gear 9 as shown, or directly on the machine' 8 3 output
~haft and arranged to rotate ad~acent to a statio~ary
threaded segment 2 extending lengthwi~e along the way
between ~aid points "A" and "~"~. The machine 3 i8 ~ecured
to a cha~sis consisting of frame 4, platform 5 and ~our
weels 6 rolling on two rails 7.
If desired, the thread detail shown in Figure 7 may be
replaced with those shown in the Figure 12 or in the
Figures 9 and 10.
280 In Figure 8 this driving system is applied to a large
freight elevator. The difference to the layout~ shown in
the Figures 1, 2, 3 and 4 is that here, to overcome the
platform's 5 width, two drive sheaves 1 will be used
instead of one. ~he drive sheaves 1 are Recured to two
oppo~ite outputs of a high ratio reducing gear 10 - iY
de~ired there could have been three or four outputs, each
with its own drive sheave -. The machine 3 is flanged in
the middle of gear 10 and the break 9 is operating on an
extention of machine's 3 ~haft.
290 The gear 10 i~ secured underneath platform 5, which
supports the elevator cab 8, and together with the frame
4 centred the installation in the hoistway through four
upper and four lower guide shoe~ 6 running on four guide
rails 7, each pair of rails being secured to one threaded
segment 2 and together to the hoi~tway ~alls.
lhe above described installation could be also employed
as a temporary hoisting device in the event that i~ a
multi~loor factory emerge~ the need to lift a large ma-
chine -let say from the ~rd to the 5th floor - which doe~
300 not fit in the existing elevator and from s~me rea~on~
cannot be take~ apart~ The only thing should be done in
such a case is to provide suitable holes in the 3rd, 4th,
and 5th ~loor slab~ and to install temporary side mas~
with guide rails and threaded segment~, on which will
slide a suitsble plat~orm with the drive system mounted
underneath.
In the ~igures 13 and 14 is shown o~e pos~ible applicatio~
o~ this driving system by an inclined elevatoring in~tal-
lation. Although the principle used is the same a~ in the
310 embodiments shown in the ~igures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 8,
the hoistway layout wa~ modi~ied to meet the requirements
of an inclined in~tallation~ So here i~ only one guide
rail 7, which may be a wideflange beam secured on its
upper flange on a plurality of transversal beams 8 which
may be resting on the hoistway walls. In~ide the wide-
flange beam 7 -on the lower ~lange- are rolling four
wheels 6, two wheels on each side of the beam. ~ach wheel
6 i~ ed through its shaft to one end of a hanger piece
4 and the other end of said hanger is secured to the
320 plat~orm 5. To compen~ate the slope of guide rail 7 the
two hangers on the hill have to be accordingly longer.
A plurality of equally spaced -~part roller~ 2 - wherein
the di~tance between two adjacent rollers iæ alwai~ a
constant pitch equal "R" - are secured underneath the
guide rail 7 forming the "RO~ING ~HREAD~ against which
the drive sheaYe'~ helix 1 having the ~ame pitch egual "Rl'
is rotating 9 moving the entire asYembly up or down the
hill accordingly to the drive sheaYe' 3 direction o~ rota-
tion. The drive sheaYe 1 i~ secured on the machi~e's out-
~30 put sha~t, while the machine itsel~ i3 ~ecured to the
plat~orm 5 through an inclined ~upport 10 to bring thedriving a~i~ Y-Y to be paralel with the guide rail 7, re-
spectively with the engaged rollers 2 - wherein the dis-
tance between the a~i~ Y-Y o~ helix 1 and the radial-
centr~ line o~ each roller 2 is alwai~ equal to one hal~
o~ helix' 9 1 medium diameter "Dm".
Contrary to embodiments shown in the ~igures 1~ 2, 37 4,
5, 6, and 8 where the driving system was mounted under-
neath the platform~ here the driving system iB mounted on
340 the top of the platform 5, so that the imaginary drawn
elevator cab or container will be secured underneath said
platform.
For the very unlikely event that the drive sheave's helix
1 breaks-down and the elevator begins to run down the hill
at e~cesive speed, there must be at lea3t two centrifugal
actionated safety devices built-in into two opposite
wheels 6.
The hoistway walls and the elevator cab or container are
drawn with imaginary lines on account o~ the ~act that
350 this kind o~ driving system may find a very large range
of applications in di~ferent ele~atoring installation~,
352 running inside or outside a hoi~tway."
,
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