WO2015056255A1

WO2015056255A1 - Mechanical activation of separate safety gears for the upward and downward direction

Info

Publication number: WO2015056255A1
Application number: PCT/IL2014/000054
Authority: WO
Inventors: Yoram Madar
Original assignee: Yoram Madar
Priority date: 2013-10-20
Filing date: 2014-10-19
Publication date: 2015-04-23
Also published as: IL228963A0

Abstract

An elevator system for mechanical activation of separate elevator safety gears with a single over speed governor in the upwards and downwards direction is provided. One or more elevator safety gear activated mechanically by the OSG every time there is an over speed or uncontrolled movement of the elevator car in the downward direction. One or more elevator safety gear activated mechanically by the OSG every time there is an over speed or uncontrolled movement of the elevator car in the upward direction. One or more safety gear lever arm mechanically operated when the elevator car is in over speed in the upward direction. One or more safety gear lever arm mechanically operated when the elevator car is in over speed in the downward direction. The governor rope is linked to the safety gears by the safety gear lever arms, wherein, when the elevator car is in over speed in the downward direction the safety gear lever arm mechanically operates the respective safety gear in the downward direction thereby, causing the elevator car to stop or to slowdown, and, wherein, when the elevator car is in over speed in the upward direction the safety gear lever arm mechanically operates the respective safety gear in the upward direction thereby, causing the elevator car to stop or to slowdown.

Description

MECHANICAL ACTIVATION OF SEPARATE SAFETY GEARS FOR THE UPWARD AND DOWNWARD DIRECTION

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to activation of safety gear mechanism for elevators, more particularly the present invention relates to a system and method for activation with a single Over Speed Governor (OSG) a plurality of elevator safety gears in the upwards and downwards direction.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The most popular elevator design is the roped /traction elevator. In roped elevators, the car is raised" and lowered by traction steel hoist ropes. The ropes are attached to the elevator car, and looped around a sheave. The sheave is a pulley with grooves around the circumference. The sheave grips the hoist ropes, so when the sheave is rotated, the ropes move too. The sheave is connected to an electric motor. When the motor turns one way, the sheave raises the elevator; when the motor turns the other way, the sheave lowers the elevator. In gearless elevators, the motor rotates the sheaves directly. In geared elevators, the motor turns a gear train that rotates the sheave. Typically, the sheave, the motor and the elevator control system are all housed in a machine room usually above the elevator shaft.

The ropes that lift the car are also connected to a counterweight, which hangs on the other side of the sheave. The counterweight weighs about the same as the car filled to 40-percent capacity. In other words, when the car is 40 percent full (an average amount), the counterweight and the car are perfectly balanced. The purpose of this balance is to conserve energy. With equal loads on each side of the sheave, it only takes a little bit of force to tip the balance one way or the other. Basically, the motor only has to overcome friction; the weight on the other side does most of the work. To put it another way, the balance maintains a near constant potential energy level in the system as a whole. Using up the potential energy in the elevator car (letting it descend to the ground) builds up the potential energy in the weight (the weight rise to the top of the shaft). The same thing happens in reverse when the elevator goes up. Both the elevator car and the counterweight ride on guide rails along the sides of the elevator shaft. The rails keep the car and counterweight from swaying back and forth, and they also work as part of the safety system to stop the car in an emergency.

Referring to Fig. 1, roped elevator cars have a built-in braking systems, or safeties, that can grab onto the rail when the car moves too fast. The safeties are activated by an over speed governor (OSG) 20 when the elevator moves too quickly. Most governor systems are built around a sheave 22 positioned at the top of the elevator shaft (not shown). The endless governor rope 24 is looped around the governor sheave 22 and another weighted sheave 26 at the bottom of the shaft. The rope 24 is also linked to the elevator car by a safety gear lever arm 28, so the rope 24 moves when the car goes up or down. As the car speeds up, so does the governor 20.

In this OSG example, the sheave 22 is outfitted with two hooked flyweights 30 (weighted metal arms) that pivot on pins 32. The flyweights 30 are attached in such a way that they can swing freely back and forth on the governor 20. But most of the time, they are kept in position by a high-tension spring 34. As the rotary movement of the governor builds up, centrifugal force moves the flyweights outward, pushing against the spring 34. If the elevator car falls fast enough, the centrifugal force will be strong enough to push the ends of the flyweights all the way to the outer edges of the governor. Spinning in this position, the hooked ends of the flyweights catch hold of ratchets mounted to a stationary cylinder surrounding the sheave. This works to stop the governor.

The governor ropes 24 are connected or linked to the elevator car via safety gear lever arm 28 attached to a lever linkage. When the governor ropes can move freely, the arm stays in the same position relative to the elevator car (it is held in place for example by tension springs). But when the governor sheave locks itself, this moves the lever linkage, which triggered the brakes, safety gears that pushed into the guide rails and brings the elevator car to a stop. Elevator safety gear is an important braking safety device, every elevator need to have an elevator safety gear. Every elevator car has elevator safety gear which is intended to catch/lock the elevator car on the guide rails of the elevator car every time the elevator car is falling downwards or when the elevator car is in over speed. Due to elevators accidents caused by unwanted or uncontrolled movement of the elevator car also in the upward direction the elevator safety standards were changed so that in the new elevator safety standards there is a requirement that the elevator safeties must include an elevator safety device that will prevent the elevator from an unwanted upward movement of the elevator car and catch/lock the elevator car on the guide rails of the elevator car.

In old elevators (elevators before the new safety standard) a safety gear is required to be installed only for the downward direction meaning that this device is used to lock the elevator car on the elevator rails in cases where there is an unwanted movement of the elevator car in the downward direction only. For new elevators many types of bi-directional safety gear devices are exist which are capable to catch/lock the elevator car in the upward and/or in the downward direction when they are activated with a single OSG that is capable of doing lock of the elevator car in both the upward and downward movement.

An OSG for an elevator as described hereinabove is a mechanical device that is used for activating mechanically the safety gear of the elevator every time there is an over speed or uncontrolled movement of the elevator. The elevator safety gear is a mechanical device that is used for lock or catches the elevator car to the rails of the elevator. The safety gear is activated mechanically by the OSG's arm. The OSG cable is rigidly connected to the activation arm which activates the safety gears. The activation arm moves with the OSG cable.

In old elevators (that were built before the new standard) to replace the one way safety gear to a bi-directional safety gear it is almost impossible and this kind of action is complex to replace and relatively cost much. In addition, if a safety gear operated electrically will be used for the upward direction for the old elevators this kind of solution will not comply in accordance of the elevator safety standard requirements because the activation of the safety gear will not work when there is an electrical current break down in the elevator system. In the current situation, adding another independent upwards mechanical safety gear will require another OSG which is also an expensive and complex action which in some situations may not be Possible.

Thus, one of the objects of the present invention is to add separate mechanical safety gears for the upward direction for old elevators which can be activated together with the existing downward safety gear by utilizing the existing single OSG of the elevator which can be easy to install and relatively inexpensive compared to other solutions known in the prior art.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a low-cost add-on safety gear for existing elevators, and for problem involving high-speed elevators. Moreover, it can be applied to elevators with heavy loads that cannot make use of small bidirectional safety gears with limited allowable capacity.

Plurality of safety gears for an elevator is addressed for example in WO/2011/006287. However, this disclosure show a solution of safety gears only for the elevator downward direction and not both for the upward and the downward direction.

WO/2011/006287 discloses a connection device of safety gear for a large loading elevator is composed of even number of safety gears and a linkage device, and any of safety gears is composed of a body, wedges, an active mechanism and spring assemblies. Even safety gears are arranged in an upper rank and a lower rank, and the number of the safety gears in the upper rank and in the lower rank is more than two. The linkage device is composed of more than two transverse linking rods and more than one longitudinal linking rod, active mechanisms of two transversely adjacent safety gears are connected by one transverse linking rod, and at least one transverse linking rod between safety gears in the upper rank is connected with at least one transverse linking rod between safety gears in the lower rank by the longitudinal linking rod. The transverse linking rods and the longitudinal linking rods connect all the active mechanisms of the safety gears so that the safety gears can act consistently, the safety gears in the upper rank and in the lower rank apply the brake force synchronously to the elevator, thus it produces large brake force and is suitable for the large loading elevator.

A bidirectional safety gear for the upwards and downwards direction is addressed for example in US patent application US 20070107991.

US 20070107991 discloses a progressive bidirectional safety gear that allows to brake the car both in an upward and downward direction, formed by a main block in charge of the engagement action comprising a floating brake-shoe disposed over an elastic element and by a set of rollers that move independently of each other, and on another hand comprises a linkage associated to the main block and means to maintain the linkage in its resting and central position. The proposed system allows making the brake-shoe rest on the guiderail in a perfectly flat manner, and allows the block to be smaller than the elastic element, as well as making the entrance of the roller as smooth as possible during the engagement action.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to activation of safety gear mechanism for elevators, more particularly the present invention relates to a system and method for activation with a single Over Speed Governor (OSG) a plurality of elevator safety gears mechanism in the upwards and downwards direction.

In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention there is provided an elevator system including an elevator guide rails installed within an elevator shaft. The rails keep an elevator car from swaying back and forth within the elevator shaft. In normal operation the elevator car moves upwards or downwards in normal speed, the elevator car moves on the guide rails along the sides of the elevator shaft. An over speed governor (OSG) is installed within the shaft, the OSG having an endless governor rope that is looped around a governor sheave that is typically installed at the upper portion of the shaft and another weighted sheave typically installed at the bottom portion of the shaft. In some embodiments of the present invention the governor sheave that is installed at the bottom portion of the shaft and the weighted sheave installed at the upper portion of the shaft. One or more elevator safety gear activated mechanically by the OSG every time there is an over speed or uncontrolled movement of the elevator car in the downward direction, the rails also work with the safety gear that operates in the downward direction to stop or to slow down the elevator car in an over speed in the downward direction. One or more elevator safety gear activated mechanically by the OSG every time there is an over speed or uncontrolled movement of the elevator car in the upward direction, the rails also work with the safety gear that operates in the upwards direction to stop the elevator car in an over speed in the upwards direction. One or more safety gear lever arm mechanically operated when the elevator car is in over speed in the upward direction. One or more safety gear lever arm mechanically operated when the elevator car is in over speed in the downward direction. The governor rope is linked to the safety gears by the safety gear lever arms.

wherein, when the elevator car is in over speed in the downward direction the safety gear lever arm mechanically operates the respective safety gear in the downward direction thereby, causing the elevator car to stop or to slowdown, and, wherein, when the elevator car is in over speed in the upward direction the safety gear lever arm mechanically operates the respective safety gear in the upward direction thereby, causing the elevator car to stop or to slowdown.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention may be understood upon reading of the following detailed description of non-limiting exemplary embodiments thereof, with reference to the following drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a schematic side view of an over speed governor (OSG) as known in the prior art;

Fig. 2 is a schematic side view of a safety gear system in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention for a roped elevator in the upward and downward directions when both safety gears are in the natural position and the elevator car is controlled and moves normally; Fig. 3 is a schematic enlarge sectional view of the safety gear and the safety gear lever arm in normal position in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 4 is a schematic side view of a safety gear system in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention for the roped elevator in the upward and downward direction when the downwardly safety gear is activated while the elevator car moves down in over speed;

Fig. 5 is a schematic enlarge sectional view of the downwardly safety gear and the downwardly safety gear lever arm when activated as shown in Fig. 4

Fig. 6 is a schematic side view of a safety gear system in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention for the roped elevator in the upward and downward direction when the upwardly safety gear is activated while the elevator car moves up in over speed;

Fig. 7 is a schematic enlarge sectional view of the upwardly safety gear and the upwardly safety gear lever arm when activated as shown in Fig. 6.

Fig. 8 is a schematic side view of a safety gear system in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention for the roped elevator in the upward and downward direction;

Fig. 9A is a schematic side view of safety gear system in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention when the safety gear system is in natural/normal position;

Fig. 9B is a schematic side view of a safety gear system as shown in Fig. 9A in an emergency when the elevator car over speed upwards and the safety gear system is activated to stop/slowdown the unwanted movement;

Fig. 9C is a schematic side view of a safety gear system as shown in Fig. 9A in an emergency when the elevator car over speed downwards and the safety gear system is activated to stop/slowdown the unwanted movement;

Fig. 10 is a more detailed perspective view of the embodiment of the invention shown in Figs. 9A-9B;

Fig. 11 is a side view of the embodiment of the invention shown in Fig.

10; Figs. 12A-14A are perspective view of several variations of safety gears with a ring in one side of the lever arms in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention for the elevator car upwards and downward direction; and

Figs. 12B-14B are side view of several variations of safety gears with a ring in one side of the lever arms as shown in Figs. 12A-14A respectively.

The following detailed description of the invention refers to the accompanying drawings referred to above. Dimensions of components and features shown in the figures are chosen for convenience or clarity of presentation and are not necessarily shown to scale. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings and the following description to refer to the same and like parts.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with some embodiments of the present invention there is provided a separate elevator safety gear(s) for the upward direction which will be used to stop/slow down the unwanted motion of the elevator car upwards when there is an over speed of the elevator car in the upward direction. In accordance with the present invention a single OSG is connected to a safety gear locking means that is used for locking the upward safety gear when the elevator car over speed in the upward direction. The same OSG is also connected to another safety gear locking means that is used for locking the downward safety gear when the elevator car over speed in the downward direction.

Referring now to Figs.2 and 3, the elevator comprises essentially an elevator car 50, rigid guide rails 52 for guiding the car in its upward and downward motion, and a rope 54 for raising and lowering the elevator car 50. The elevator safety mechanism comprises a governor, an endless governor rope 56 (in the figure part of the endless governor tope is shown), a safety gear for the upward direction 58, a safety gear 60 for the downward direction are mounted on the elevator car 50 for stopping the elevator car in the event of over speeding in both directions. The elevator safety mechanism further comprises a mechanical linkage or arm 62 for safety gear 58 and a mechanical linkage or arm 64 for safety gear 60. Safety gears 60 and 58 include tapered slopes boards 61 and 63 typically made of metal where pulleys 70 and 72 are positioned between the tapered slops 61, 63 and the elevator rail 52 respectively. In accordance with some embodiments of the present invention the system may include a plurality of safety gear locking means, for example mechanical linkages 62, 64 and a plurality of safety gears 58, 60 in particularly when operating with heavy elevators.

In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention the mechanical linkages 62 and 64 include gear lever arms 66 and 68 respectively. One end of the gear lever arms 66 and 68 is pivotally connected to pulleys 70 and 72 respectively. The mechanical linkages 62 and 64 further include longitudinal rigid plates 76 and 78 preferably made of metal. Each plate 76 and 78 is having a longitudinal slot 80 and 82 respectively and connected from both sides to OSG rope 56 as shown for example in Fig. 2. The rear portion of the lever arms 66 and 68 is having slots 86 and 88 respectively. The rear portion of the lever arms 66 and 68 is pivotally connected to plates 76 and 78 for example via connecting pins 83 and 85 in such a way that the lever arms can slide along slots 76 and 78 respectively and can slide along slots 86 and 88 respectively as can be shown for example in Fig. 2. In some embodiments of the present invention the lever arms may also have a certain freedom to swing around the respective connecting pin 83 and 85.

In Fig. 2, the elevator car 50 is shown moving downwardly at a normal speed, and pulling the governor rope 56 downwardly at the same speed, thereby causing the governor to rotate at this speed. Referring now to Figs.4 and 5, as the elevator car 50 starts to over speed downwardly, designated by arrow direction 90, the OSG rope 56 and the OSG sheaves stop moving. The elevator car 50 continues to move down until the connecting pin 85 slides down along slot 78 to the bottom end of slot 78 as shown for example in Fig. 4. Thereby, the upper portion of lever arm 68 where pulley 72 positioned is forced upwards inside the tapered slope of the safety gear 60 while lever arm 66 continues to stay in its natural or normal position. Although the elevator car moves relative to the OSG rope the longitude slot allows the car to move down without changing the lever arm position, thus it does not activate the upward safety gear during operation of the downwardly one, the same happened during activation of the upward safety gear it does not activate the downward safety gear. Pulley 72 is rotated and pushed into the space between the guide rail 52 and the tapered slope board 63 that becomes narrower as pulley 72 moves upwards until the safety mechanism

60 brings the elevator car to a stop or in some embodiments to slowdown.

Referring now to Figs.6 and 7, as the elevator car 50 starts to over speed upwardly, designated by arrow direction 91, the OSG rope 56 and the OSG sheaves stop moving. The elevator car 50 continues to move up until the connecting pin 83 slides up along slot 80 to the upper end of slot 80 as shown for example in Fig. 7. Thereby, the upper portion of lever arm 66 where pulley 70 positioned is forced downward inside the tapered slope of the safety gear 58 while lever arm 68 continues to stay in its natural or normal position. Pulley 70 is rotated and pushed into the space between the guide rail 52 and the tapered slope board 61 that becomes narrower as pulley 70 moves downwards along the slope

61 until the safety mechanism 60 brings the elevator car to a stop or in some embodiments to slowdown.

Referring now to Fig. 8 there is shown another embodiment of the present invention, in this embodiment a single plate 98 is used instead of plates 78 and 76 that were shown for example in Fig. 2. The plate 98 have a longitudinal slot 100 connected from both sides to OSG rope 56 as shown in Fig. 8. The length of slot 100 is longer than the length between safety gears 58 and 60. As the elevator car 50 starts to over speed downwardly, the OSG rope 56 and the OSG sheaves stop moving. The elevator car 50 continues to move down until the connecting pin 85 slides down along slot 100 to the bottom end of the slot 100. Thereby, the upper portion of lever arm 68 where pulley 72 positioned is forced upwards inside the tapered slope of the safety gear 60 while lever arm 66 slides downwardly without being damaged. Pulley 72 is rotated around pivot 73 and pushed into the space between the guide rail 52 and the tapered slope board 63 that becomes narrower as pulley 72 moves upwards until the safety mechanism 60 brings the elevator car to a stop or in some embodiments to slowdown.

As the elevator car 50 starts to over speed upwardly, the OSG rope 56 and the OSG sheaves stop moving. The elevator car 50 continues to move up until the connecting pin 83 slides up along slot 100 to the upper end of the slot 100. Thereby, the upper portion of lever arm 66 where pulley 70 positioned is forced downwards inside the tapered slope of the safety gear 58 while lever arm 68 slides upwardly without being damaged. Pulley 70 is rotated around pivot 71 and pushed into the space between the guide rail 52 and the tapered slope board 61 that becomes narrower as pulley 70 moves downward until the safety mechanism 58 brings the elevator car to a stop or in some embodiments to slowdown.

Referring now to Figs. 9A, 9B and 9C, safety gear locking means 102 and 104 includes a pair of rigid stoppers for example having a structure of rectangular plates 106 and 108 connected perpendicular to OSG rope 56 in a way that preventing them from moving. Safety gear lever arms 110 and 112 having in one end rigid rings 114 and 116 respectively. The rings are preferably made of metal. The rings 114 and 116 are passed through the OSG rope 56 in such a way that ring 114 positioned underneath plate 106 and the ring 116 positioned above plate 108. Each of the stoppers 106 and 108 has length longer than their rings diameter in order that the rings would not be able to pass through the stoppers plates 106 and 108. Additionally, rings 114 and 116 are positioned between plates 106 and 108. The second ends of the safety gear lever arms 110 and 112 are mechanically linked with the elevator's safety gears, not shown in the Figs. 9A- 9B and will be described later below. Safety gear locking means 102 is used to stop/slow down the unwanted movement of the elevator car upwards when there is an over speed of the elevator car in the upward direction. Safety gear locking means 104 is used to stop/slow down the unwanted movement of the elevator car downwards when there is an over speed of the elevator car in the downward direction. Instead of plates 106 and 108 other rings blocking means can be used to block the rings from continue moving upwards or downwards depending if the elevator safety gear breaking system will be mechanically activated in the upward or downward direction.

Referring also to Figs. 10 and 11, a counterweight 120 is attached in one side to elevator car rope 54. The rope is attached also to the elevator car 50, and looped around one or more sheaves 122 and 124. The sheaves grip the rope 54, so when the sheaves are rotated, the rope moves too. The sheave 124 is connected to an electric motor, not shown, having a motor shaft 126. The elevator car 50 is attached to the elevator car sling, which is a metal platform that safety gears 58 and 60 are connected thereto. The elevator guide rail, not shown are fixed to two sides of the elevator shaft, one guides the elevator car and the other for the counterweight. These rails operate both as stabilization within the shaft during routine use and as a safety system in case of emergency stops. The elevator guide rails are typically made of structural steel with a T-shape cross section. One end of the gear lever arms 66 and 68 is pivotally connected to pulleys 70 and 72 respectively.

During normal operation, car movement creates a minor impact between a stopper and its ring. When the elevator car moves up, the upper ring collids with the upper stopper, causing the OSG rope to move up with the car. The same happens when the car moves down: the bottom ring collides with the bottom stopper and moves the rope down, along with the car motion.

Referring now to Fig. 9B, Fig.10 and Fig.ll, as the elevator car 50 starts to over speed upwardly, the OSG rope 56 and the OSG sheaves stop moving. The elevator car 50 continues to move up until the ring 114 engages with plate 106. Thereby, the upper portion of lever arm 110 where pulley 70 positioned is forced downwards inside the tapered slope of the safety gear 58 while at the same time the distance between plate 108 and ring 116 increases thereby; the lever arm 112 is not being damaged. Pulley 70 is rotated and pushed into the space between the guide rail 52 and the tapered slope board 61 that becomes narrower as pulley 70 moves downward until the safety mechanism 58 brings the elevator car to a stop or in some embodiments to slowdown. Referring now to Fig. 9C, Fig.10 and Fig.ll, as the elevator car 50 starts to over speed downwardly, the OSG rope 56 and the OSG sheaves stop moving. The elevator car 50 continues to move down until the ring 116 engages with plate 108. Thereby, the upper portion of lever arm 112 where pulley 72 positioned is forced upwards inside the tapered slope of the safety gear 60 while at the same time the distance between plate 106 and ring 114 thereby; the lever arm is not being damaged. Pulley 72 is rotated and pushed into the space between the guide rail 52 and the tapered slope board 63 that becomes narrower as pulley 70 moves downward until the safety mechanism 58 brings the elevator car to a stop or in some embodiments to slowdown.

Referring now to Figs. 12A-12B and Figs. 12B-12C there is shown several variations of safety gears with a ring in one side of the lever arm for the elevator car upwards and downward direction. Referring to Fig. 12A and Fig. 12B in this variation, safety gears 130 and 132 positioned opposite to one another and in inverse position to one another. Ringed lever arm 134 is positioned above plate 136 and ringed lever arm 138 is positioned blow plate 140. When elevator car moves up in an over speed lever arm 134 and safety gear 130 are operated mechanically to stop/slow down the elevator car on the elevator guide rail. When elevator car moves down in an over speed lever arm 138 and safety gear 132 are operated mechanically to stop/slow down the elevator car on the elevator guide rail.

Referring to Fig. 13A and Fig. 13B in this variation, safety gears 142 and 144 are positioned opposite to one another and in inverse position to one another. Plate 146 is positioned between lever arms 148 and 150. Safety gears 152 and 154 are positioned opposite to one another and in inverse position to one another. Plate 156 is positioned between lever arms 158 and 160. When elevator car moves up in an over speed lever arm 150 and safety gear 144 are operated mechanically and lever arm 160 and safety gear 154 are operated mechanically to stop/slow down the elevator car on the elevator guide rail. When elevator car moves down in an over speed lever arm 148 and safety gear 142 are operated mechanically and lever arm 158 and safety gear 152 are operated mechanically to stop/slow down the elevator car on the elevator guide rail.

Referring to Fig. 14A and Fig. 14B in this variation, safety gears 170 and 172 are positioned opposite to one another and in inverse position to one another. Rings lever arms 171 and 173 are positioned between Plates 174 and 176. Safety gears 178 and 180 are positioned opposite to one another and in inverse position to one another. Rings lever arms 182 and 184 are positioned between Plates 186 and 188. When elevator car moves up in an over speed lever arm 171 and safety gear 170 are operated mechanically and lever arm 182 and safety gear 178 are operated mechanically to stop/slow down the elevator car on the elevator guide rail. When elevator car moves down in an over speed lever arm 173 and safety gear 172 are operated mechanically and lever arm 184 and safety gear 180 are operated mechanically to stop/slow down the elevator car on the elevator guide rail.

It should be noted that the present invention can be applied with variety types of safety gears such as but not limited to, bi-directional progressive safety gear, single acting progressive safety gears and instantaneous safety gears.

It should be understood that the above description is merely exemplary and that there are various embodiments of the present invention that may be devised, mutatis mutandis, and that the features described in the above-described embodiments, and those not described herein, may be used separately or in any suitable combination; and the invention can be devised in accordance with embodiments not necessarily described above.

Claims

1. An elevator system for mechanical activation of separate elevator safety gears with a single over speed governor in the upwards and downwards direction comprising:

At least one elevator guide rail installed within an elevator shaft said rails keep an elevator car from swaying back and forth within said shaft;

said elevator car moves in normal operation upwards or downwards in normal speed, said elevator car moves on said guide rails along the sides of said elevator shaft;

an over speed governor (OSG) installed within said shaft, said OSG having an endless governor rope that is looped around a governor sheave and another weighted sheave;

at least one elevator safety gear activated mechanically by said OSG every time there is an over speed or uncontrolled movement of said elevator car in the downward direction, said rails also work with said safety gear that operates in the downward direction to stop or to slow down said elevator car during an over speed in the downward direction;

at least one elevator safety gear activated mechanically by said OSG every time there is an over speed or uncontrolled movement of said elevator car in the upward direction, said rails also work with said safety gear that operates in the upward direction to stop said elevator car in an over speed in the upwards direction;

at least one safety gear locking means operated when said elevator car is in over speed in the upward direction;

at least one safety gear locking means operated when said elevator car is in over speed in the downward direction;

said governor rope is linked to said safety gears by said safety gear locking means;

wherein, when said elevator car is in over speed in the downward direction said safety gear locking means operates the respective safety gear in the downward direction thereby, causing said elevator car to stop or to slowdown, and, when said elevator car is in over speed in the upward direction said safety gear locking means operates said respective safety gear in the upward direction thereby, causing said elevator car to stop or to slowdown.

2. An elevator system according to claim 1 wherein, said safety gear locking means for the upwards direction comprising at least one safety gear lever arm mechanically operated when said elevator car is in over speed in the upward direction;

said safety gear locking means for the downward direction comprising at least one safety gear lever arm mechanically operated when said elevator car is in over speed in the downward direction;

said governor rope is linked to said safety gears by said safety gear lever arms;

wherein, when said elevator car is in over speed in the downward direction said safety gear lever arm mechanically operates the respective safety gear in the downward direction thereby, causing said elevator car to stop or to slowdown, and when said elevator car is in over speed in the upward direction said safety gear lever arm mechanically operates said respective safety gear in the upward direction thereby, causing said elevator car to stop or to slowdown.

3. An elevator system according to claim 2 wherein, one end of said lever arms is pivotally connected to a pulley; said safety gear locking means further having a plurality of longitudinal rigid plates; each of said plates is having a longitudinal slot; said plurality of plates are connected from both side of each of said plates to said OSG rope; the rear portion of said plurality of lever arms having a slot; said rear portion of said lever arms is pivotally connected to plates in such a way that said lever arms can slide and swing along their respective said lever arm slots and said plates slots.

4. An elevator system according to claim 2 wherein, one end of said lever arms is pivotally connected to a pulley; said safety gear locking means further having a single plate having a longitudinal slot connected from both sides to said OSG rope; the rear portion of said plurality of lever arms having a slot; said rear portion of said lever arms is pivotally connected to said single plate via a connecting pin in such a way that said lever arms can slide and swing along said single plate slot and the respective said lever arm slots.

5. An elevator system according to claim 2 wherein, said safety gear locking means includes a plurality of blocking means connected perpendicular to said OSG rope in such a way that preventing them from moving; said safety gear lever arms having in one of their ends rigid rings; said rings are passed through said OSG rope; each of said blocking means preventing said rings from being able to pass through said blocking means; said plurality of elevator safety gears are positioned opposite to one another and in inverse position to one another, where some of them are used for the elevator safeties in the upwards direction and the others safety gears are used for the elevator safeties in the downwards direction.

6. An elevator system according to claim 2 wherein, said safety gear locking means includes a pair of blocking means connected perpendicular to said OSG rope in such a way that preventing them from moving; said safety gear lever arms having in one of their ends rigid rings; said rings are passed through said OSG rope in such a way that one ring positioned underneath one blocking means and the second ring is positioned above the second blocking means; each of said blocking means preventing said rings from being able to pass through said blocking means; additionally, said rings are positioned between said blocking means; the second end of said safety gear lever arms are mechanically linked with the elevator's safety gears.

7. An elevator system according to claim 6 and 7 wherein, said blocking means is a plate connected perpendicular to said OSG rope in such a way that preventing said plate from moving; each of said perpendicular plates has length longer than their lever arms rings diameter in order that the rings would not be able to pass through said perpendicular plates.

8. An elevator system according to claim 1, wherein said elevator safety gears are selected from a group of bi-directional progressive safety gears, single acting progressive safety gears and instantaneous safety gears.