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FORM 1

Regulation 9

COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

PATENTS ACT 1952

APPLICATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT

I/ Ke, JOHN OTTO VINCE

Jennifer Avenue,RUNAWAY BAY QLD. 4216

hereby apply for the grant of a standard patent for an

invention entitled:-

IMPROVEMENTS TO ELEVATOR ASSEMBLIES

provisionalwhich is described in the accompanying pv x

specification.

LODGED X SU3FF'ICE

2 N PIOV 1986

B C111eMy)DXLX address for service is:-

JOHN R.G. GARDNER,Patent Attorney,P.O. Box 255,BROADBEACH Q 4218

Dated this twenty-first day of November 1986

JOHN OTTO VINCE

By my Patent Attorney

JOHN R.G. GARDNER

I b_ e

(12) PATENT ABSTRACT (11) Document No. AU-A-81415/87

(19) AUSTRALIAN PATENT OFFICE

(54) TitleCHAIN-DRIVEN ELEVATOR

(51)4 International Patent Classification

B66B 009/02 B66B 013/04 B66B 005/02

(21) Application No. 81415/87 (22) Application Date 21.11.86

(23) Filing Date of Complete Specification 19.11.87

(43) Publication Date 26.5.88Related to Provisional(s) PH9096

(71) ApplicantVINCE J.O.;

(72) InventorJOHN OTTO VINCE

(57) Claim

1. An elevator assembly including elevator platform means,

drive means on said platform means, upright elongated guide

means, chain means extending subscantially longitudinally

of said guide means and supported thereby, sprocket means

rotatably supported to said platform means and engaged with

said chain means, said sprocket means being adapted to be

driven by said drive means to cause movement of said plat-

form means along said guide means.

J

Name of Applicant

Address of Applicant

Name of Inventor

Address for Service

Application Number

JOHN OTTO VINCE

:5 Jennifer Avenue,RUNAWAY BAY Q 4216

:As above

JOHN R.G. GARDNER,P.O. BOX 255,BROADBEACH Q 4218

:PH 9096 filed 21 November 1986

FORM

Regulation 13(2)

COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1952

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR THE INVENTION ENTITLED

IMPROVEMENTS TO ELEVATOR ASSEMBLIES

The following statement is a full description of this

invention including the best method of performing it

known to me

1

THIS INVENTION relates to improvements to elevator

assemblies and in particular to elevator assemblies which in

one aspect are suitable for use in domestic situations for

example for elevating wheelchair bound persons to a desired

level in a building.

Persons confined to wheelchairs often have difficulty

in gaining ready access to buildings particularly to an upper

storey of a two storey house. Whilst it is possible to design

or adapt buildings to suit wheelchairs for example by

1Q, providing ramps or other like structures, such arangements0 C C C

are generally not suitable for other than single level

buildings and of course are not suitable for multi-level unit

style buildings. In the latter situations, conventional lift

structures can be provided however such structures are

expensive and not suited to normal dwelling houses. External

lift structures have been proposed for use with dwelling

houses one such type being a water pressure driven lift.

These lifts however are generally large not aesthetically

pleasing structures and in many situations available water

pressure from normal domestic supplies is not sufficient to

drive such lifts.

The present invention aims to overcome or alleviate

one or more of the above disadvantages by providing an

elevator assembly particularly but not exclusively suited to

raising or lowering of persons, wheelchairs etc. in domestic

structures for example between different levels of a building.

The elevator assembly of the present invention however may be

applied to many different situations where raising or lowering

of goods or persons is required. Other objects and advantages

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of the invention will become apparent hereunder.

With the above and other objects in view, the

present invention resides in a preferred aspect in an

elevator assembly including elevator platform means, drive

means on said platform means, upright elongated guide means,

a chain extending substantially longitudinally of said guide

means and supported thereby, sprocket means rotatably

supported to said platform means and engaged with said chain,

said sprocket means being adapted to be driven by said drive

means to cause movement of said platform means along said

guidq means.

Preferably the guide means comprise a pair of

elongated guides disposed on opposite sides of said platform

o0 means, each guide including respective chains and respective

sprockets are associated with the chains to be driven by the0 .0

drive means which are suitable in the form of an electrico C

motor.

Suitably, the platform means is supported in

cantilever-like fashion from the guides and for this purpose,

the guides are in the form of channel sectioned members

suitably formed of aluminium and a pair of plate members

are secured to opposite sides of the platform means and

provided with respective upper and lower rollers to engage

the opposite flanges of the channel sectioned guides. The

drive sprockets are also suitably rotatably mounted to the

respective plate members.

Preferably, a brake is provided to lock the drive

means when not actuated to cause movement of the platform.

3

Preferably also, limit switches are associated with the

drive means to stop operation thereof when the platform

approaches the opposite ends of the guide means. Suitably,

means are provided to lock the platform against downward

movement in the event of chain breakage. Preferably also,

the platform is constructed so that the drive motor and

associated brake and limit switches are hidden from view.

Suitably the drive motor drives the elevator through a

gear box assembly and mean' are provided Lo lock the elevator

platform against downward movement in the event of gearbox

breakage.

In order that the Lnvention may be more readily

understood and put into practical effect, reference will now

be made to the accompanying drawings which illustrate a

preferred embodiment of the invention and wherein:-

Fig. 1 is a perspective partly cut-away view of

the elevator assembly according to the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view showing details of the

guides and drawing mechanism for the elevator platform;

Fig. 3 illustrates the brake assembly

for the elevator assembly;

Fig. 4 illustrates the mechanism, for stopping

operation of the elevator assembly at required spaced

positions;

Fig. 5 illustrates the operation of the platform

locking mechanism responsive to chain'breakage or

slackness;

Figs. 6 and 7 illustrate details of the locking

mechanism for the platform responsive to gearbox or

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other drive breakage;

Fig. 8 illustrates the operation of the door

opening mechanism; and

Figs 9 and 10 illustrate in sectional views the

safety switch mechanism for jamb prevention.

Referring to the drawings and firstly to Fig. 1,

there is illustrated the elevator assembly 10 according to

the present invention comprising an elevator platform 11

which is supported for movement along a pair of upstanding

guides 12 which are disposed on opposite sides of the

platform 11 and extend say between different floors or levels

13 and 14 of a building. The guides 12 may be fixed at their

lower ends via brackets 15 to the ground surface 13 and

towards their upper ends to the upper floor 14 so as to be

1 rigidly supported in an upright attitude.

The guides 12 are suitably of channel sectioned

form and each guide 12 supports therein a longitudinally

extending chain 16 which is secured to the lower end of the

guide 12 via a tensioning spring 17 at its upper end to a

tensioning screw 18 which is mounted to a cap 19 at the upper

end of the guide 12 so as to enable the tension in the chain

16 to be adjusted as desired.

The platform 11 is preferably a substantially

rectangular hollow structure comprising a rectangular frame

which is preferably covered by a cladding such as plywood

or sheet metal. Mounted on the framework 20 and within the

platform 11 is a sub frame 21 which supports an electric

motor 22 which is coupled via a right angled reduction gearbox

23 also mounted on the sub frame21 to a pair of opposite

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shafts 24 which extend suitable in bearings through

respective support members or plates 25 secured to opposite

sides of the platform 11 and arranged adjacent or within

the channol sectioned guides 12. As shown in Fig. 2, each

support member 25 is provided with upper and lower rollers

26 and 27 which preferably comprise double ball races and

which engage opposite flanges 28 and 29 of the guide 12 in

the manner shown so as to support the platform 11 in

cantilever like fashion from the guides 12. Each support

JO member 25 is also provided with rollers 30 which engage the

base of the channel sectioned guides 12 to space the

members 25 therefrom.

The opposite ends of the shafts 24 are provided

with sprockets 31 and it will be apparent from Fig. 2 that

the chain 16 in each guide 12 passes from the upper end of

the guide 12 about an idler roller 32 on the support member

and back around the sprocket 31 and thence to the lower

end of the auide 12. Thus when the motor 22 is driven,

rotary motion will be transmitted through the gearbox 23

to the shafts 24 and sprockets 31 which will cause the

sprockets 31 to be moved relatively, along the chain 16

and thus movement of the plLtform 11 vertically.

SSo as to prevent movement of the platform 11 when

motor 22 is not operating, a brake assembly 33 is assoc-

iated with a coupling 34 which is fitted to the shaft 35 of

the motor 22. The brake assembly 33 includes a brake band

36 which is fixed at one end to a U-shaped bracket 37

secured to the gearbox 23 and passes about the coupling 34

to be attached to a spring 38 mounted to the bracket 37

6

which serves to normally bias the band in engagement with

the coupling 34 to prevent the shaft 35 of the motor 22

from rotating. A solenoid 39 is coupled to the band

via a spring 40 and when actuated, the solenoid 39 over-

comes the bias of the spring 38 so as to disengage the

brake band 36 from the coupling 34. The solenoid 39 is

actuated whenever the motor 22 has current applied to it so

that the motor 22 may cause the platform 11 to move along

the guides 12 whilst when the motor 22 is not operating,

the brake assembly 32 functions to prevent movement of the

platform 11.

To stop operation of the motor 22 as the platform

11 approaches its desired stopping positions for example at

the levels 13 and 14, respective limit switches 41 and 42

(see Fig. 4) are provided to turn the motor 22 off at those

levels. For this purpose, one of the drive shafts 24 (incl-

S ude a threaded portion 43 which may comprise a sleeve about

the shaft 24 and which is threadedly engaged by a nut 44.C c l

c The nut 44 is prevented from rotation by means of finger

which is secured to the nut 44 to extend outwardly there-

from and project into a slot 46 formed in an extension 47

of the sub-frame 21 which also supports the limit switches

j 41 and 42. Thus rotation of the shaft 24 in opposite

directions will cause consequent reciprocal movement of the

nut 44 along the threaded portion 43 and movement of the

finger 45 in the slot 46 towards and away from the respect-

ive limit switches 41 and 42. These switches are so spaced

apart that when the platform 11 approaches the upper and

lower levels 14 and 13 respectively the actuating finger

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will approach and then engage the switch levers of the res-

pective limit switches 41 and 42 to cause actuation thereof

and thereby power to be removed from the drive motor 22.

This may be achieved by simply placing the switches 41 and

42 in series with the supply to the drive motor 22.

The elevator assembly 10 also suitably includes

means to lock the platform 11 against downward movement in

the event of breakage of either or both of the chains 16.

Such means include a lever assembly 48 which is pivotally

supported on the support member 25 and provided at one end

with a pivotal camming member 49 which slidably engages the

chain 16 in the manner shown in Figs. 2 and 5. The opposite

end of the lever assembly 48 is provided with a knife edge

for a reason which will hereinafter become apparent. The

pivot point of the lever assembly 46 is arranged so that the

camming member 49 is normally urged under the influence of

gravity into engagement with the chain 16 as shown in Fig.2.

A stop member 51 is arranged adjacent the knife edge end

of the lever assembly 48 to limit movement thereof and a

limit switch 52 is arranged adjacent the lever assembly 48

to be actuated thereby upon movement of the lever assembly

48 to its locking attitude.

In the event of chain breakage, the chain 16 ad-

jacent the member 49 will become slack as shown in Fig.

thus permitting the lever assembly 48 to pivot clockwise

and the knife edged end 50 t, move towards the adjacent

side flange 29 of the guide 12 and the stop member 51. The

knife edge 50 will engage the flange 29 and the adjacent

portion of the lever assembly 48 will engage the stop member

8

51 in the manner illustrated in Fig. 4 so as to prevent

downward movement of the platform 11, this being facilitated

by the fact that the guide 12 is suitably constructed of

aluminium which permits the knife edge 50 to dig into the

flange 29. When the chain 16 is repaired or replaced and

suitably tensioned, the lever 48 will again adopt the atti-

tude shown in Fig. 2 permitting movement of the platform 11.

The elevator assembly 10 also preferably includes

a platform locking assembly which is operable in the event

that the gearbox 23 breaks for example if the gears in the

gearbox strip their teeth. This platform locking assembly

includes as shown in Figs. 6 7 a wheel 53 fixed for rota-

tional movement with one of the drive shafts 24. The wheel

53 includes a number of radially extending slots 54 (in this

instance three) which open through the wheel periphery. Sup-

ported for free reciprocatory movement within the slots 54

are respective slidable stop fingers 55 which may project

outwardly of the wheel periphery but which are limited in

their outward movement by abutment members 56. Preferably

the slots have a circular or part circular cross section for

receipt of the stop fingers which are also preferably of

circular cross section.

Disposed adjacent the wheel 53 is a stop bracket

57 preferably forked at 58 and a limit switch 59 is option-

ally mounted to the bracket 57 adjacent the fork 58. In

normal operation of the elevator assembly, the fingers

simply reciprocate along the slots 54 under the influence

of gravity as shown in Fig. 6. In the event of gearbo)

breakage, the platform 11 will tend to fall towards the

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ground (if elevated) thus causing rapid rotation of the

shafts 24 and of the wheel 53. As shown in Fig. 7, the res-

ultant centrifugal forces on the fingers 55 will urge the

fingers 55 outwardly of the periphery of the wheel 53 so

that one of the fingers 55 will engage the bracket 58 and

thereby prevent movement of the shaft 24 and thus platform

11. The finger 55 on engaging the bracket 58 will also

trigger the limit switch 59 where used to remove drive

current from the motor 22.

Preferably and as shown in Figs. 1 and 8, the ele-

vator assembly 10 includes at the upper level 14 a pair of

gates 60 which move from the closed position shown in Fig. 1

to the open position of Fig. 8 in response to movement of

the platform 11 towards the upper level 14. For this purpose,

the gates 60 are provided with pivot tubes 61 which are

pivotally mounted to the respective guides 12 via brackets

62. The tubes 61 are provided on their outer surface with

helically extending cam follower ribs 63 which are adapted

to be engaged by camming fingers 64 fixed to for movement

2U with the members

Thus as the platform 11 elevates, the fingers 64

will engage the cam ribs 63 as the platform 11 approaches

the level 14 and move therealong to cause pivotal inward

movement of the gates 60 to the positions shown in Fig. 8

allowing access to the platform 11. Downward movement of the

platform 11 from the upper level will permit the doors 60 to

again move to their closed attitude and preferably, the

gates 60 are spring loaded so as to be normally urged to

their closed attitude.

10

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As an additional safety measure, safety switches

may be provided to prevent jamming between the platform 11

and the respective upper and lower levels 14 and 13, the

switches 65 being of the form shown in Fig. 9 and including

a flexible tubing 66 having located therein a longitudinally

curved channel sectioned member 67 provided at its opposite

ends with respective limit switches 68 placed in series with

the main supply to the motor 22. One switch means 65 as

shown is mounted to the underside of the level 14 whilst one

or more switch means 65 are fixed to the underside of the

platform. Thus when the tube 66 encounters an obstruction,

movement of the tube wall will cause actuation of either or

both switches 68 to cause the motor 22 to stc, operating and

thus the platform 11 to cease moving. In a further improve-

ment of the switch means 65, a bar or rod of metal or other

stiff material may be located in the tube 66 beneath the

switches 68 to facilitate switch operation.

The platform 11 may it desired be provided with an

enclosure 69 which may include upright members 70 formed of

plastics or any other material secured to the upper side of

the platform 11 which may support side fabric 71 or sheeting

and a roof (not shown) so that the elevator assemLly has

weather protection for persons where used in an outdoor

environment.

Operation of the motor 22 and thus the platform is

preferably controlled by a remote wired-in switch assembly

including one switch for "up" operation and one switch for

"down" operation however it will be realised that many other

control arrangements may be provided for the elevator

11

assembly such as a non-wired switching arrangement.

As stated above, the guides 12 may be supported

in any suitable manner and if desired fixed to a building

say on either side of a door opening. In such a configuratin,

it will be seen that the guides and platform provide minimum

impediment to movement through a door opening when the plat-

form 11 is either raised or lowered. The guides 12 may also

be mounted on a mobile frame sc that the elevator assembly

may be moved easily to different locations say for warehouse

operations or for restocking shelves in supermarkets or like

establishments.

The platform 11 may be constructed of any suitable

material and any suitable manner and it will be seen that

all drive and control mechanisms for the platform other than

the control switches therefor are located within the platform

or the guides to thereby render the assembly safe in use.

Of course, other means may be provided for stop-

ping operation of the platform 11 as it approaches the opp-

osite ends of the guides 12. Fr example, in lieu of the

arrangement illustrated in Fig. 4, respective limit switches

may be located adjacent each end of a guide 12 to be actuated

by the platform or member carried by the platform 11. Simi-

larly, other means may be provided for locking the platform

against movement in the event of chain breakage.

Whilst the above has been given by way of illust-

rative embodiment of the invention, all such modifications

and variations as would be apparent to persons skilled in

the art are deemed to fall within the broad scope and ambit

of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

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The claims defining the invention are as follows

1. An elevator assembly including elevator platform mea,is,

drive means on said platform means, upright elongated guide

means, chain means extending substantially longitudinally

of said guide means and supported thereby, sprocket means

rotatably supported to said platform means and engaged wit.L

said chain means, said sprocket means being adapted to be

driven by said drive means to cause movement of said plat-

form means along said guide means.

2. An elevator assembly according to claim 1 wherein said

guide means comprise a pair of elongated guides disposed

on opposite sides of said platform means, each said guide

supporting a respective chain and wherein said sprocket

means comprise a pair of sprockets engaged with the res-

pective chains.

3. An elevator assembly according to claim 2 wherein each

said guide is of channel sectioned form and wherein said

platform means includes respective pairs of rollers engaged

with the respective opposite flanges of the respective

said guides.

4. An elevator assembly according to claim 3 wherein said

platform includes a pair of plate-like members supported on

opposite sides thereof and extending longitudinallly of

of said guide members, each said plate-like member support-

ing a pair of said rollers, a said sprocket and a further

roller engageable with the base of said channel sectioned

guide to space said plate-like member therefrom.

An elevator assembly according to any one of the

preceding claims and including means engageable with said

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chain means and engageable with said guide means to

restrain said platform means against downwards movement in

the event of chain slackness or breakage.

6. An elevator assembly according to any one of the

preceding claims and including brake means associated with

said sprocket means and said drive means and adapted to

lock said sprocket means and said drive means against

movement when said drive means is not operating.

7. An elevator assembly according to any one of the

preceding claims and including means associated with said

sprocket means and adapted to lock said sprocket means and

thereby said platform means against downwards movement in

the event of excessive rotational speed of said sprocket

means consequent upon breakage of said drive means.

8. An elevator assembly according to any one of the

preceding claims and including means for sensing movement

of said platform means towards a desired stopping position

and operable to stop operation of said drive means when

said platform means reaches said stopping position.

9. An elevator assembly according to any one of the

preceding claims and including normally closed gate means

mounted hingedly to said guide means at a desired position

therealong and wherein said platform means includes means

engageable with said gate means and operable to cause said

gate means to move away from said normally closed attitude

as said platform means approaches said desired position.

14

d

An elevator assembly substantially as hereinbefore

described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

DATED this 19th.day of November 1987

JOHN OTTO VINCE

By my Patent Attorney

JOHN R.G. GARDNER

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