The present invention relates to an elevator car including a car frame and a cage supported by the car frame and to a method of installing same.

With a conventional method of installing an elevator car, a car frame is first assembled in a hoistway. At this time, a car platform is first fixed to a lower frame of the car frame. Next, a ceiling of a cage is carried into the hoistway to be suspended below a top beam of the car frame. This is because it is difficult to carry the ceiling to the inside through an entrance of the cage after the assembly of the cage wall assembly. After the ceiling is carried to the inside, the cage wall assembly is placed on the car platform and fixed thereto. Then, the ceiling is brought down to fasten the ceiling and the cage wall assembly to each other (for example, see Patent Document 1).

• Patent Document 1: JP 2006-103906 A

In the conventional elevator car as described above, the cage wall assembly is often divided into a plurality of panels. Therefore, the shape of upper part of the cage wall assembly after assembly is not in an ideal shape in many cases. On the other hand, the ceiling and the cage wall assembly are fastened to each other after the assembly of the cage wall assembly in the conventional method of installing the elevator car, and hence the shape of the upper part of the cage wall assembly does not fit the shape of the ceiling. Therefore, much effort is required to fasten the ceiling and the cage wall assembly to each other. To cope with this, holes, into which fasteners are inserted, are made large in consideration of a certain degree of manufacturing error or assembly errors at the time of installation. In some cases, however, there arises the need to forcibly twist the cage wall assembly to force it to fit the shape of the ceiling or to perform adjustment by re-assembly of the cage wall assembly.

The present invention has been made to solve the problem described above, and therefore has an object to provide an elevator car which allows a cage to be easily assembled with good accuracy and a method of installing the same.

An elevator car according to the present invention includes: a car frame including a car platform frame, a top beam located above the car platform frame, and stiles provided between the car platform frame and the top beam; and a cage including a cage wall assembly provided on the car platform frame and a ceiling provided on the cage wall assembly, in which: a ceiling guide body is provided to a ceiling guide body-side member corresponding to one of the top beam and the ceiling; and a ceiling engaging portion for restricting horizontal displacement of the ceiling while allowing vertical displacement of the ceiling with respect to the top beam upon engagement with the ceiling guide body during installation is provided to a ceiling engaging portion-side member corresponding to the other of the top beam and the ceiling.
Further, a method for installing an elevator car according to the present invention, includes the steps of: assembling a car frame including a car platform frame, a top beam located above the car platform frame, and stiles provided between the car platform frame and the top beam; lifting a ceiling of a cage up below the top beam and engaging a ceiling guide body provided to one of the top beam and the ceiling with a ceiling engaging portion provided to the other one of the top beam and the ceiling to restrict horizontal displacement of the ceiling with respect to the top beam; connecting a cage wall assembly to the ceiling to suspend the cage wall assembly from the ceiling; and bringing the ceiling and the cage down on the car platform frame to connect the ceiling and the cage to the car platform frame and disengaging the ceiling guide body from the ceiling engaging portion.

• FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating an elevator car according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
• FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating a state where the elevator car illustrated in FIG. 1 is being installed.
• FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating a state where a ceiling is carried to be situated below a top beam illustrated in FIG. 2.
• FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating a state where right and left side walls are connected to the ceiling illustrated in FIG. 3.
• FIG. 5 is a perspective view illustrating a state where a back wall is connected to the ceiling illustrated in FIG. 4.
• FIG. 6 is a perspective view illustrating a state where right and left wing walls are connected to the ceiling illustrated in FIG. 5.
• FIG. 7 is a perspective view illustrating a state where an entrance top panel is fixed between the wing walls illustrated in FIG. 6.
• FIG. 8 is a perspective view illustrating a state where the ceiling and a cage wall assembly illustrated in FIG. 7 are brought down on a kick panel base.

Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of the present invention is described referring to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating an elevator car according to a first embodiment of the present invention. In the drawing, a car frame 1 has a car platform frame 2, a top beam 3 located above the car platform frame 2, and a pair of right and left stiles 4a and 4b provided between the car platform frame 2 and the top beam 3. The top beam 3 is horizontally fixed between an upper end portion of the stile 4a and that of the stile 4b. A safety device 17 is fixed to a lower part of the car platform frame 2.

On the car platform frame 2, a car platform 5 is mounted through the intermediation of a platform vibration isolator 18 including a plurality of vibration isolation rubbers. A kick panel base 6 for mounting a kick panel (not shown) thereon is provided upright on both end portions of the car platform 5 in a width direction and a rear end portion thereof in a longitudinal direction.

A cage wall assembly 7 is provided upright on the car platform 5 including the kick panel base 6. The cage wall assembly 7 includes a pair of right and left side walls 8a and 8b opposed to each other, a back wall 9 (see FIG. 5), and a pair of right and left wing walls 10a and 10b opposed to the back wall 9. Each of the side walls 8a and 8b and the back wall 9 is constituted by arranging a plurality of wall panels. A lower end portion of each of the side walls 8a and 8b and the back wall 9 is fastened to the kick panel base 6 through the intermediation of a fastening. An entrance top panel 11 is fixed between an upper end portion of the wing wall 10a and that of the wing wall 10b.

A ceiling 12 is fastened to an upper end portion of the cage wall assembly 7 through an intermediation of a fastening. A pair of right and left ceiling anti-vibration members 13a and 13b are mounted onto the ceiling 12. The ceiling anti-vibration member 13a includes a vibration isolation rubber 14 brought into contact with the stile 4a and a vibration isolation rubber supporting device 15 mounted onto the ceiling 12 to support the vibration isolation rubber 14, whereas the ceiling anti-vibration member 13b includes the vibration isolation rubber 14 brought into contact with the stile 4b and the vibration isolation rubber supporting device 15.

At the time of installation of the elevator car, a plurality of (two in this case) ceiling guide pins 16, each corresponding to a ceiling guide body, are provided upright on an upper surface of the ceiling 12. The ceiling guide pins 16 are provided upright at a distance from each other in both a width direction and a longitudinal direction. Moreover, each of the ceiling guide pins 16 is removably attached to the ceiling 12 by, for example, a screw and is removed from the ceiling 12 after installation of the elevator car.

A plurality of ceiling guide holes 3a serving as ceiling engaging portions, into which the ceiling guide pins 16 are inserted at the time of installation, are provided to the top beam 3. In the state where the ceiling guide pins 16 are inserted into the ceiling guide holes 3a, vertical displacement of the ceiling 12 with respect to the top beam 3 is allowed, whereas horizontal displacement of the ceiling 12 with respect to the top beam 3 is restricted. Moreover, a plurality of guide-pin bypass holes 3b are provided immediately above the ceiling guide holes 3a of the top beam 3.

Note that, in this example, the ceiling 12 is a ceiling guide body-side member, whereas the top beam 3 is a ceiling engaging portion-side member.

A plurality of wall upper-part positioning/connection mechanisms 21 for connecting the cage wall assembly 7 to the ceiling 12 and for positioning the cage wall assembly 7 with respect to the ceiling 12 at the time of installation are provided between an upper end portion of the cage wall assembly 7 and the ceiling 12. A plurality of wall lower-part positioning mechanisms 22 for positioning the cage wall assembly 7 with respect to the kick panel base 6 at the time of installation are provided between a lower end portion of the cage wall assembly 7 and the kick panel base 6.

Next, a method of installing the elevator car is described. FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating a state where the elevator car illustrated in FIG. 1 is being installed. In the operation of installing the elevator car, the safety device 17 is first mounted horizontally to a car guide rail (not shown) provided in advance in the hoistway. This is because horizontal adjustment of the safety device 17 is difficult after the installation of the elevator car.

Thereafter, an assembly obtained by assembling the car platform frame 2, the car platform 5, and the platform vibration isolator 18 in advance at a factory is mounted onto the safety device 17. As the kick panel base 6, there is an integral type that is provided integrally with the car platform 5 and a separate type that is fixed to the car platform 5 by a fastening. The kick panel base 6 of the separate type is precisely positioned with respect to the car platform 5 to be fixed thereto.

After the assembly including the car platform 5 is mounted onto the safety device 17, the stiles 4a and 4b are placed upright to be fixed onto the car platform frame 2 or the safety device 17. Thereafter, the top beam 3 is fixed between the upper end portions of the stiles 4a and 4b, and guide shoes (not shown) are mounted to upper and lower end portions of the stiles 4a and 4b, thereby completing the assembly of the car frame 1.

Next, as illustrated in FIG. 3, the ceiling 12 is carried inside of the car frame 1. The ceiling 12 is lifted up through the intermediation of a wire 19 for lifting up the ceiling to insert the ceiling guide pins 16 into the corresponding ceiling guide holes 3a. Thereafter, as illustrated in FIG. 4, the side walls 8a and 8b are connected to the ceiling 12. At this time, after the adjacent wall panels of each of the side walls 8a and 8b are first connected to each other, the side walls 8a and 8b are connected to the ceiling 12 while being positioned with respect to the ceiling 12 by the wall upper-part positioning/connection mechanisms 21.

Subsequently, as illustrated in FIG. 5, the back wall 9 is connected to the ceiling 12 as in the case of the side walls 8a and 8b to connect the side walls 8a and 8b to the back wall 9. Further, as illustrated in FIG. 6, the wing walls 10a and 10b are connected to the ceiling 12 to connect the side walls 8a and 8b to the wing walls 10a and 10b.

In the states illustrated in FIGS. 4 to 6, the cage wall assembly 7 is suspended from the ceiling 12. Therefore, a gap g (FIG. 4) is provided between the lower end portion of the cage wall assembly 7 and the kick panel base 6.

As each of the wall upper-part positioning/connection mechanisms 21, a combination of a positioning hole provided to the ceiling 12 and an insertion-type clip provided on an upper part of the cage wall assembly 7, which is restrained from being pulled out of the positioning hole once inserted, is used. In this manner, the positioning and the connection of the cage wall assembly 7 with respect to the ceiling 12 can be simultaneously performed. Moreover, the combination of the positioning hole and the insertion-type clip can also be used as a mechanism for connecting the wall panels to each other.

The operation of connecting the cage wall assembly 7 to the ceiling 12 and the operation of connecting the wall panels to each other as described above can be performed on the car platform 5 (inside the cage). In the case where a sufficiently large working space can be ensured outside the cage, however, it is apparent that the connecting operations described above can be also performed outside the cage.

Next, as illustrated in FIG. 7, the entrance top panel 11 is fixed between the upper part of the wing wall 10a and that of the wing wall 10b. Thereafter, as illustrated in FIG. 8, the ceiling 12 and the cage wall assembly 7 are brought down on the car platform frame 2 to be connected to the car platform frame 2. In this example, after the lower end portion of the cage wall assembly 7 is joined onto the kick panel base 6 while the positioning is being performed by the wall lower-part positioning mechanisms 22, the lower end portion of the cage wall assembly 7 is fastened to the kick panel base 6 by fastening.

When the ceiling 12 and the cage wall assembly 7 are lowered, a proper positional relation between the top beam 3 and the ceiling 12 is maintained because the ceiling guide pins 16 are slid along the ceiling guide holes 3a. Note that the length of each of the ceiling guide pins 16 is equal to or greater than the distance over which the ceiling 12 is lowered.

As each of the wall lower-part positioning mechanisms 22, a combination of the positioning hole provided to the lower end portion of the cage wall assembly 7 and a positioning pin provided to the kick panel base 6 to be inserted into the positioning hole is used.

Next, an operator moves onto the top of the ceiling 12 to perform the main operation of fastening the ceiling 12 and the cage wall assembly 7 to each other and also to attach the ceiling anti-vibration members 13a and 13b to the ceiling 12. Thereafter, the ceiling guide pins 16 are removed from the ceiling 12.

In the elevator car as described above, the ceiling guide pins 16 are provided to the ceiling 12, whereas the ceiling guide holes 3a are provided in the top beam 3. Therefore, by engaging the ceiling guide pins 16 with the ceiling guide holes 3a at the time of installation, the horizontal positioning of the ceiling 12 with respect to the top beam 3 can be easily performed. Moreover, by fixing the cage wall assembly 7 using the thus positioned ceiling 12 as a reference, the cage can be easily assembled with good accuracy.

Moreover, the ceiling guide pins 16 are removable from the ceiling 12, and hence restrictions on the horizontal displacement of the cage with respect to the car frame 1 can be easily cancelled after the installation.
Further, the ceiling guide pins 16 are used as the ceiling guide bodies, whereas the ceiling guide holes 3a are used as the ceiling engaging portions. Thus, the horizontal positioning of the ceiling 12 with respect to the top beam 3 at the time of installation can be performed with a simple structure.

Further, the wall upper-part positioning/connection mechanisms 21 for connecting the cage wall assembly 7 to the ceiling 12 and positioning the cage wall assembly 7 with respect to the ceiling 12 at the time of installation are provided to the ceiling 12 and the cage wall assembly 7. Therefore, the connection and the positioning of the cage wall assembly 7 with respect to the ceiling 12 can also be easily performed.

Moreover, in the method of installing the elevator car according to the first embodiment, the ceiling 12 is lifted up below the top beam 3 and the ceiling guide pins 16 are engaged with the ceiling guide holes 3a after the assembly of the car frame 1, thereby restricting the horizontal displacement of the ceiling 12 with respect to the top beam 3. Thus, the horizontal positioning of the ceiling 12 with respect to the top beam 3 can be easily performed. As a result, the cage can be easily assembled with good accuracy.
Further, the cage wall assembly 7 is connected to the ceiling 12 so that the cage wall assembly 7 is supported by the ceiling 12 while the ceiling guide pins 16 are engaged with the ceiling guide holes 3a, and hence the horizontal positioning of the cage wall assembly 7 with respect to the top beam 3 can also be easily performed.

Further, the ceiling guide pins 16 remain engaged with the ceiling guide holes 3a even when the ceiling anti-vibration members 13a and 13b are being attached to the ceiling 12, and hence the ceiling anti-vibration members 13a and 13b can be easily adjusted for attachment.

Note that, although the ceiling guide pins 16 corresponding to the ceiling guide bodies are provided to the ceiling 12 and the ceiling guide holes 3a corresponding to the ceiling engaging portions are provided to the top beam 3 in the above-mentioned example, the relations therebetween may be reversed.
Moreover, the ceiling guide bodies are not limited to the ceiling guide pins 16, while the ceiling engaging portions are not limited to the ceiling guide holes 3a.
Further, though the positioning holes are provided to the ceiling 12 and the insertion-type clips are provided to the cage wall assembly 7 as the wall upper-part positioning/connection mechanisms 21 in the above-mentioned example, the relations therebetween may be reversed. Moreover, holes and pins for positioning may be provided independently of holes and clips for connection.
Further, though the positioning holes are provided to the cage wall assembly 7 and the positioning pins are provided to the kick panel base 6 as the wall lower-part positioning mechanisms 22 in the above-mentioned example, the relations therebetween may be reversed.
Moreover, the present invention is also applicable to a fixed platform type elevator car, in which the car platform 5 also serves as the car platform frame 2.