GB2193750A

GB2193750A - Elevator landing door unfastening apparatus

Info

Publication number: GB2193750A
Application number: GB08716043A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Isao Okubo; Katutaro Masuda
Original assignee: Hitachi Ltd
Current assignee: Hitachi Ltd
Priority date: 1986-07-22
Filing date: 1987-07-08
Publication date: 1988-02-17
Anticipated expiration: 2007-07-08
Also published as: CN87105024A; GB2193750B; KR880001512A; HK51291A; SG42091G; GB8716043D0; JPS6331987A; CN1006979B

Abstract

The apparatus comprises a movable plate 11 supported on landing door 1 and formed with a hook 13 and groove 14 cooperable with an engaging piece 15A mounted on the door frame 5 in the locked position of the door 1; to release the door 1 for maintenance purposes when the elevator car is not located on the same level, a key is turned in a keyhole 17 by an operator standing outside the elevator to move a rod 16 to move plate 11 and hook 13 away from piece 15A. The door 1 can then be moved slightly to a position where the hook 13 engages with a second engaging piece 18A-the operator is then able to insert his hand through the limited space to pull a wire 19 on the rear surface of door 1 to move hook 13 away from engaging piece 18A so that door 1 can be moved to its fully open position. Movable plate 11 is supported on a support plate 8 on which are also supported rollers 9, 10 engageable by device 22 on a car door 23. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Elevator landing unlocking apparatus The present invention relates to an apparatus for unlocking an elevator landing door.

Generally, an elevator landing door, which is opened and closed together with a car door that forms part of the elevator when the elevator car reaches that landing door, cannot be opened by a person standing outside the elevator when the elevator car is not adjacent thereto because of the engagement of a hook mounted on the landing door with an engaging piece mounted on an adjacent part of the building(as disclosed in the specification of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 89147/1978).

However, the landing door must sometimes be opened even when the elevator car is not located that level for the purposes fo maintenance and inspection by maintenance staff. For this reason, the landing door is provided with a key hole, and the hook is disengaged from the engaing piece by the turning of a key inserted into this key hole, so as to unlock the landing door. The landing door can thereby be opened and closed by someone standing outside the elevator.

When the landing door is unlocked in the above-described manner, it can be opened and closed freely until the landing door is relocked.This is very dangerous in the sense that a janitor or someone else who knows very little about the operation of the elevator may carelessly thrust his or her body forward into the elevator shaft and fall when unlocking the landing door while the elevator car is not located at that level, because the landing door can be opened fully very easily.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an elevator landing door unlocking apparatus which is capable of eliminating the danger of someone falling into an elevator shaft, and which is therefore secure.

The above-described object of the present invention can be achieved by providing an elevator with an engaging portion which allows the landing door to be opened only to an extent that will be insufficient to aliow a human body to slip through the gap when the landing door is unlocked and opened, and which prevents it from being opened any further, and a releasing mechanism for releasing the engagement of the engaging portion, the releasing mechanism being mounted on the rear side of the landing door.

More specifically, the landing door, when unlocked, can be easily opened to an extent that will, for example, allow an operator to insert his or her hand. However, it is prevented from being further opened by the engaging portion. In consequence, the landing door cannot be fully opened by the unlocking operation, and the possibility of someone falling in to the elevator shaft which might occur should the landing door be capable of being fully opened by the unlocking operation is thereby prevented.

To fully open the landing door, the operator inserts his or her hand through the gap formed as the landing door opens, and he or she is then able to operate the releasing mechanism.

The invention will now be described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein.

Figure 1 is a rear view of an landing door incorporated in an embodiment of an elevator landing door unlocking apparatus according to the present invention; Figure 2 is an enlarged plan view of an essential part of a locking device of Fig. 1; Figure 3 is an enlarged side view of the locking device of Fig. 1, illustrating the relationship between a hook and an engaging piece of the locking device, as viewed from the right side thereof; Figures 4 and 5 are side views of the locking device, illustrating the operation of the hook of Fig. 3; and Figures 6 to 8 are enlarged front views of the locking device, illustrating the positional relationship between the operation of the hook and the engaging piece.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail by referring to Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 6.

The upper end of an landing door 1 (which forms a partition between an elevator shaft and each landing floor of a building) mounts a door hanger 2. The door hanger 2 rotatably supports guide rollers 3A and 3B at the left and right sides thereof, respectively. The guide rollers 3A and 3B roll on a door rail 4 horizontally supported on a frame 5 fixed to the structure of the building (not shown) so as to open and close the landing door 1. The lower end of the landing door 1 is provided with a door shoe 6 which is guided along a guide groove 7G of a doorsill 7 provided at each floor of the building.

With this arrangement, the landing door 1 can be moved by a predetermined amount.

However, since this arrangement enables the landing door 1 to be opened and closed freely, a locking device is required for preventing the opening and closing thereof without restriction. This locking device includes a support plate 8 fixed to the door hanger 2, and engaging rollers 9 and 10 supported on the support plate 8. The engaging roller 9 is rotatably supported on a shaft 9S fixed to the support plate 8, while the engaging roller 10 is supported on a shaft 10S fixed to a movable plate 11 which is in turn supported on a shaft 12 fixed to the support plate 8. When the engaging rollers 9 and 10 are stationary, they are aligned in the horizontal direction with the shaft 12 positioned below and midway between the two aligned engaging rollers 9 and 10.The movable plate 11 is elongated substantially in the horizontal direction, and has one end that protrudes from the end of the door hanger 2. The protruded portion of the movable plate 11 forms a hook 13, and the. underside thereof is provided with a groove 14 which opens downward. A locking piece 13K is mounted on the distal end of the hook 13. An engaging member 15 comprises an engaging piece 1 5A to be received in the groove 14 and a mounting portion 15B, and is fixed on the frame 5 through the mounting portion 15B by means of fixing means such as bolts. An unlocking rod 16 is fixed to the movable plate 11 at a position which is relatively close to the hook 13 in such a manner that it hangs next to the rear surface of the landing door 1.A key hole 17 is formed through the landing door 1 adjacent to the unlocking rod 16. An engaging member 18 comprises an engaging piece 1 8A and a mounting portion 18B, and is fixed to the frame 5 via the mounting portion 18B. The engaging piece 18A engages with the locking piece 13K when the hook 13 is moved to a position at which the engaging piece 15A is disengaged from the groove 14 and the ianding door 1 is moved and opened to such an extent which enables the operator to put his hand on the rear surface of the landing door 1. One end of a string member 19 such as a wire rope is coupled to the other end 11E of the movable plate 11. The string member 19 extends downwardly via a guide 21, and the other end thereof is coupled to a pin 20 fixed on the lower portion of the landing door 1 adjacent to the lateral end thereof.The pin 20 must be provided near the lateral end of the landing door 1 on the side which is closer to the hook 13 in order to enable the string member 19 to be operated by the operator.

With the above-described arrangement, when the elevator car arrives at a position at which it faces the landing door 1 during normal operation of the- elevator, an engaging device 22 which has a U-shaped form as viewed from above and is provided on a car door 23 holds the engaging rollers 9 and 10, as shown by the two dot chain line in Fig. 2.

When the car door 23 is driven in the door opening direction (to the left as viewed in Figs. 1 and 2) in this state, the engaging device 22 first makes contact with the engaging roller 10. It then pushes the engaging roller 10 as the car door 12 is driven further in the door opening direction. At this time, the movable plate 11 supporting the engaging roller 10 is pivoted counterclockwise about the shaft 12from the position shown in Fig. 6 to the position shown in Fig. 8, whereupon the hook 13 of the movable plate 11 moves away from the engaging pieces 1 5A and 18A, unlocking the landing door (Fig. 5). When the car door 23 is driven further, the engaging device 22 starts to move the landing door 1 in the opening direction in the state wherein the movable plate 11 is inclined, as shown in Fig. 8.The landing door 1 can thus be opened.

On the other hand, when the car door 23 is driven in the door closing direction to close the landing door 1, the engaging device 22 first moves away from the engaging roller 10, and- then makes contact with the other engaging roller 9. At this time, support of the movable plate 11 is released, as a result of which it lies substantially in the horizontal direction again. Since the engaging roller 9 is supported on the shaft 9S that is fixed on the support plate 8, the landing door 1 is pushed by the urging force of the engaging device 22, and is moved in the door closing direction. When the landing door 1 approaches its closed position, the hook 13 located at the distal end of the movable plate 11 runs on to the engaging piece 18A, as shown in Figs. 4 and 7, and proceeds toward the right.The hook 13 then passes over the engaging piece 15A, as shown in Figs. 3 and 6, locking the landing door 1.

The landing door 1 can be opened in the following manner even when the elevator car is not located at a position at which it faces the landing door 1.

The operator who is standing outside the elevator first inserts the key into the key hole in the landing door 1 and turns it through about 90 degrees toward the unlocking rod.

This causes the unlocking rod 16 to be displaced, as shown by the one dot chain line in Fig. 1, inclining the movable plate 11 formed integrally with the unlocking rod 16, as shown by the one dot chain line, and thereby moving the hook 13 away from the engaging piece 1 5A and unlocking it, as shown in Figs. 4 and 7. In this state the landing door 1 can be easily moved to a position at which the engaging piece 1 8A engages with the locking piece 13K, but is prevented from being opened any further.

To fully open the landing door 1, the operator inserts his hand through the space formed as the landing door 1 is opened and pulls the string member 19 hanging next to the rear surface of the landing door toward himself (in the direction shown by the arrow in Fig. 1), thereby to displace it, as shown by the two dot chain line. This causes the movable plate 11 to pivot counterclockwise about the shaft 13, inclining it through a larger angle, as shown by the two dot chain line and as illustrated in Figs. 5 and 8, and thereby moving the locking piece 13K away from the engaging piece 18A. In this state, the landing door 1 can be moved to its fully opened position.

After the landing door 1 has started to move, the operator releases the string member 19, so that he can open the landing door 1 without being forced to take an unnatural posture.

When the string member 19 has been re leased from the grasp of the operator, the movable plate 11 lies substantially in the horizontal direction again.

To close the landing door 1, it is merely moved in the door closing direction, and the key is then removed from the key hole 17 when the landing door 1 is fully closed, as a result of which the groove 14 of the hook 13 engages with the engaging piece 1 5A so as to lock the landing door, as shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 6.

As can be seen from the foregoing description, when opening the landing door 1 at the time when the elevator car is not facing the same, it can only be opened slightly by the unlocking operation with the key. This is effective in preventing an operator from accidentally falling into the elevator shaft if he forgets that he has unlocked the landing door 1 with the key and carelessly opens the landing door 1 fully.

Further, since the string member 19 which is pulled when unlocking the landing door 1 is mounted on the rear surface thereof, only a maintenance man who has knowledge of this face can manually open the landing door 1, thereby preventing any worker who has little knowiedge of the operation of the elevator from fully opening the landing door 1.

In consequence, even if a person other than a maintenance worker unlocks the landing door 1 by this operation with the key, he cannot open it fully without the help of the maintenance man qualified to do so. This makes this unlocking apparatus very safe.

The amount of movement of the landing door 1 which is secured by the first unlocking operation can be freely set by changing an interval L between the engaging pieces 1 5A and 18A.

It is also to be understood that the positional relationship between the engaging pieces 15A and 18A and the groove 14 and the locking piece 13K is not limited to that described in this embodiment.

Claims

1 For use with an elevator having an landing door being movable sideways to open or close and forming a partition between an elevator shaft and each landing floor of a building, an elevator landing door unlocking apparatus including a hook mounted on the landing door, an engaging piece mounted on an adjacent portion of the building to engage with said hook when the landing door fully closes, and an unlocking mechanism allowing said hook to disengage from said engaging piece by someone standing outside the elevator, the improvement comprising a second engaging piece engaging with said hook and being mounted at a position at which said landing door openes slightly further, and a second unlocking mechanism for disengaging said second engaging piece from said hook, said second unlocking mechanism being mounted on the rear side of said landing door.

2. An elevator landing door unlocking apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said hook is provided on one end portion of a movable plate supported on a shaft fixed to said landing door, and said second unlocking mechanism is an operating member coupled to said movable plate.

3. An elevator landing door unlocking apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said operating member constituting said second unlocking mechanism is a string member having one end coupled to the other end portion of said movable plate which is the other side of said shaft, the other end of said string member being coupled to the lower portion of the rear surface of said landing door.

4. An elevator landing door unlocking apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said hook has a downwardly opened groove, and the top of said second engaging piece to be engaged with said hook is located at a higher position than the top of said first engaging piece.

5. An elevator landing door unlocking apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said first and second engaging pieces are hung horizontally with different intevals between their respective mounting portions and the positions at which they hand.

6. An elevator landing door unlocking apparatus constructed substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.