HK1246261B - Elevator landing door leaf - Google Patents

Description

Elevator floor door leaf

Technical Field

The invention relates to an elevator door leaf, for a car door and/or a floor door in an elevator, comprising at least one door panel and a supporting structure (e.g. a door frame) having at least one profile, the profile advantageously extending vertically in the front edge region of the door leaf during its closing movement.

Background Art

The door leaf types mentioned above are commonly used for elevator car doors or floor doors. In elevator door leaves, the contours typically extend along the horizontal and vertical side edges of the door panels, forming a rectangular frame. This rectangular frame is covered on one side by the door panels, which typically surround the contours of the rectangular door frame, providing a visible decorative surface for passengers. In the event of a fire, these door leaves can become problematic in conventional elevator floor door leaf arrangements, where the door leaves are supported on upper support elements. Most elevators today have at least two door leaves that move in opposite directions. During a fire, when the elevator floor door arrangement heats up, the upper support elements tend to bend downward. In this situation, the adjoining side edges of two adjacent door leaves tend to open at the bottom of the floor door arrangement, creating a V-shaped gap. Fire can then enter the elevator floor/car from the elevator shaft through this V-shaped gap, or vice versa.

Summary of the Invention

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an elevator door leaf and floor door/car door arrangement which offers better protection in the event of a fire.

This object is achieved by a door leaf and an elevator door arrangement according to the present invention. Some inventive embodiments of the invention are also described in the description or drawings of the present application. The content of the present invention may also consist of several separate inventions, especially if the invention is considered in terms of expressions or implicit subtasks, or from the perspective of the advantages achieved. In this case, some attributes contained in the following claims may be superfluous from the perspective of the separate inventive concepts.

According to the invention, a door leaf comprises a door panel and a supporting structure comprising at least one profile, the door leaf including a vertically extending expansion member which is fixed to the door leaf only at one vertical level, whereby the expansion member consists of a material having a greater coefficient of thermal expansion than the material of the door panel and/or the profile. In the case of the door leaf, the expansion profile preferably abuts or is located above or around the bottom edge of the profile and/or door leaf at room temperature.

When a fire occurs, the door leaf heats up, causing the expansion member (which has a greater coefficient of thermal expansion than the typical steel profile, door panel, and supporting structure of the door leaf) to expand and thus protrude from the bottom edge of the door leaf, where it can interact with the floor structure and/or threshold. Therefore, the expansion member is preferably fixed only at one vertical level, preferably at its upper end to the profile and/or any other structure of the door leaf. The expansion member protrudes from the bottom edge of the door leaf and thus interacts with the floor or threshold to hold the front edge of the door leaf immovable relative to the floor or threshold in the direction of door opening/closing. This fixing can be accomplished with bolts, or simply by form interlocking, or by any other known technique to hold the two parts immovable relative to each other at a point. This measure prevents the formation of a V-shaped gap between two adjacent door leaves moving in opposite directions, as both door leaves are fixed to the floor or threshold in a horizontally immovable manner by their adjacent and abutting edges. Therefore, the door leaf of the present invention offers improved fire protection compared to conventional door leaves.

Preferably, the profile is a vertically extending longitudinal profile, preferably in the side edge region of the door leaf, and the expansion member is located in connection with said profile. This provides a sufficiently stable structure to resist any opening movement of the door leaf after the expansion member is extended and engages with the floor or the threshold.

Preferably, the profile is a hollow profile, and the expansion member is located within the hollow profile. This has the advantage that the hollow profile provides better stability for the door leaf than an open profile. Furthermore, the hollow profile offers the possibility of placing the expansion member completely within the hollow profile, so that the expansion member does not affect the door leaf or any other element of the door arrangement.

Preferably, the profile is a vertical profile of the door frame forming a door leaf support structure. In this case, during the door leaf closing movement, this vertical profile is preferably located on the front side edge of the door leaf.

Preferably, the hollow profile is a rectangular profile, which is simple to manufacture and to use in the construction of the door leaf, since one side of the rectangular profile can be easily connected to the door panel of the door leaf with a flat surface.

However, the hollow profile can also be closed at its lower end by a cover which can be easily penetrated by the expansion member when the expansion member is extended due to a fire. Preferably, the hollow profile is open at its lower end. Of course, a cover (for example made of plastic) can be placed at the lower end of the hollow profile, which cover is easily destroyed in the event of a fire so as not to prevent the lower end of the expansion member from protruding from the bottom edge of the door leaf.

Preferably, as already described above, the expansion member is located within the hollow profile.

In an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the profile is made of steel and the expansion member is made of aluminum, which can be manufactured and mounted on the door leaf relatively easily and economically.

Preferably, the expansion member is a beam, preferably a solid beam, as it provides a strong structure and is able to transmit vertical blocking forces to the door or threshold.

Since the door panels and supporting structures of the door leaves are usually made of metal or metal alloys (such as stainless steel), the expansion member includes aluminum, magnesium, or a composite structure of materials that are fire-resistant and have a larger thermal expansion coefficient than steel or its alloys.

Preferably, the expansion member is located in connection with the front profile. When the door leaf moves in the closing direction, this front profile is located at the front side edges of the door leaf, since these are the edges that come into contact with the side edges of the door leaf moving in the opposite direction, forming a V-shaped gap between these side edges. The expansion member is thus preferably fixed to the door leaf only at its upper end, in particular to the front profile. This has the advantage that a sufficient differential expansion will cause the expansion member to protrude from the bottom end of the door leaf and thus better grip the floor or door sill. The same conclusions apply if only the expansion member (without the profile) is located in the side edge region of the door leaf, preferably in the front edge region of the door leaf in its closing direction. Of course, advantageous effects can also be achieved if the expansion member is not located near this front edge region, but rather slightly spaced therefrom.

Preferably, at room temperature, the lower end of the expansion member abuts the lower edge of the profile and/or the bottom door edge of the door leaf, so that the expansion member does not protrude from the bottom edge of the door leaf, which could cause problems during normal operation of the floor door at room temperature. On the other hand, this ensures that as soon as the floor door is heated to a temperature above the room temperature, the expansion member immediately begins to extend from the bottom edge of the door leaf toward the floor or threshold, so that the entire extension of the expansion member is directed from the bottom edge of the door leaf. At critical temperatures (e.g., 300 to 500°C), this ensures that the expansion member protrudes by a distance d that is sufficiently large to react against the floor or threshold, thereby securing the side edge of the corresponding door leaf horizontally to the threshold. For example, at a temperature of 400°C, this distance d can be 15 mm.

The invention is based on the principle that the profile and/or the complete structure of the door leaf has a smaller coefficient of thermal expansion than the expansion element. As the material of the door leaf structure, steel-based alloys, in particular stainless steel, are usually used, while aluminum or similar materials with a larger coefficient of thermal expansion than steel can be used for the expansion element.

Preferably, the expansion member is a heavy element that can exert sufficient force on the floor or door sill to keep the side edge of the door leaf immovable in the horizontal direction or in the opening direction of the door leaf, which is a key feature to prevent the formation of a V-shaped gap between two adjacent door leaves of the floor door moving in opposite directions.

Preferably, the front profile is part of the door leaf frame, which supports the door panel of the door leaf.Through this measure, no additional structure needs to be provided, in particular no additional profile needs to be provided for accommodating the expansion member.

The present invention also relates to an elevator door arrangement comprising an upper support element carrying at least one door leaf according to the above description. The door arrangement also comprises a threshold or floor at the bottom of the door leaf. The floor or threshold thus comprises a structure configured to cooperate with the lower end of the expansion member to prevent horizontal movement of the expansion member relative to the floor or threshold (in the direction of opening the door leaf). This measure ensures that a gap cannot form between two adjacent door leaves, as the facing and abutting side edges of the adjacent door leaves remain immovable relative to the floor or threshold, and thus, in the event of a fire or extensive heating, the two adjacent door leaves remain closed.

Preferably, the upper support element supports at least two door leaves that move in opposite directions, whereby, in the closing direction of the door leaves, the profile and expansion member of each door leaf are located at the leading edge of the door leaf, which abuts the side edge of the door leaf moving in the opposite direction when the elevator door is closed. Therefore, even though the present invention is suitable for use on elevator car doors and/or floor doors having only one door leaf, it is preferably designed for use on elevator car doors and/or floor doors having two door leaves that move in opposite directions, or on elevator car doors and/or floor doors having four door leaves, thus a group of two or three telescopic door leaves that move in one direction. In summary, during heating of the elevator door mechanism, the formation of a V-shaped gap always occurs only between the facing and abutting side edges of two adjacent door leaves moving in opposite directions. Clearly, the expansion member need only be provided at these two side edges of the door leaves and not at any side edges of the other door leaves. Therefore, the expansion member only needs to be provided at those door leaves that come into contact with the door leaves moving in the opposite direction.

Preferably, the structure of the floor or door sill includes at least one structure, such as a recess in the guide groove, that horizontally secures the lower end of the expansion member. This structure can be a sawtooth or sinusoidal structure that matches a corresponding counter-structure at the lower end of the expansion member. The counter-structure can be, for example, a point or a corresponding sawtooth structure. Thus, the structure in the floor or door sill (e.g., in the guide groove) cooperates with the lower end of the expansion member to prevent the expansion member from moving horizontally relative to the floor (e.g., in the guide groove) in the opening direction. The arrangement of the structure in the guide groove further ensures that the structure of the floor or door sill does not cause problems during normal elevator operation.

Of course, the invention also relates to an elevator having at least one door leaf according to the above description and/or an elevator door arrangement according to the above description. As is clear to the skilled person, a corresponding floor door arrangement is provided in each floor door of the elevator in order to provide the required fire protection in the entire building and in all elevator cars.

It is clear to a person skilled in the art that the above-mentioned embodiments can be combined with each other in any manner.

It is also obvious to the skilled person that the components mentioned in the claims of the present invention can be provided as a single component or as a plurality of components, unless the number of these components is explicitly mentioned in the claims. The following synonyms are used in this specification: "elevator door leaf" = "door leaf", "profile" (unspecified) = "front profile".

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will now be described by way of example in the accompanying schematic drawings.

FIG1 shows a horizontal cross section through a door leaf according to the invention,

FIG2 shows a side view of II in FIG1 ,

FIG. 3 shows an elevator door arrangement with two door leaves according to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 moving in opposite directions,

FIG4 shows a detail of the door arrangement of FIG3 between the door leaf and the threshold, and

FIG5 is a schematic view showing the interaction between the lower end of the expansion member and the serration structure in the sill guide channel.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The elevator door leaf 10 of the present invention will be described with reference to Figures 1 and 2. The door leaf 10 comprises a door frame 12, which includes a vertical front profile 14, a vertical rear profile 16 (referenced to the closing movement of the door leaf), a horizontal upper profile 18, and a horizontal lower profile 20. All profiles 14, 16, 18, 20 are connected at their endpoints to form a rectangular frame 12. This frame 12 carries a door panel 22, which surrounds the vertical profiles 14, 16 to provide a decorative surface for passengers. All profiles 18, 20, 14, 16 are hollow rectangular profiles made of a steel-based metal (preferably stainless steel). When the door moves in the closing direction, the door leaf 10 has a vertical front edge 24 and a vertical rear edge 26. A thermal expansion member 28 is housed in the profile 14 adjacent to the front edge 24. The expansion member 28 is secured at its upper end to the hollow rectangular front profile 14 of the front edge 24 via a securing element (e.g., bolt 30). The expansion member can also be secured to any other part of the door leaf structure using any conventional connection technique. At room temperature, the lower end of the thermal expansion member 28 abuts the bottom edge 32 of the door leaf. However, the expansion member can also be offset slightly, for example, by 5 mm, relative to the bottom edge 32 of the door leaf 10. The door leaf 10 shown in Figures 1 and 2 is typically supported by an upper support element 42 of an elevator door mechanism 40 shown in Figure 3. In this embodiment, the bottom edge 32 of the door leaf 10 faces the door sill 44. During heating of the door leaf 10, such as due to a building fire or any other heat-generating incident, the expansion member 28, which has a greater coefficient of thermal expansion than the surrounding hollow front profile 14, begins to protrude downward from the bottom edge 32 of the door panel and thereby cooperates with the door sill to prevent the rear edge 24 of the door leaf 10 from moving relative to the door sill 44 in the horizontal or opening direction. This measure effectively prevents the formation of cracks between the door leaves 10a, 10b or between the door leaf and the door jamb during a fire.

FIG3 shows an elevator door arrangement 40, such as for an elevator car or elevator floor. The arrangement includes an upper support element 42 carrying two door leaves 10a and 10b, which are supported on the upper support element 42 so as to be movable in opposite directions and to open from the center. The door leaves 10a and 10b are guided in grooves in a threshold 44 located below the bottom edges 32 of the door leaves 10a and 10b. To this end, guide pins 46 of the door leaves 10 extend from the bottom edges 32 of the door leaves 10 and into corresponding guide grooves in the threshold 44. In addition to having only two door leaves 10a and 10b, four or six door leaves can also be arranged, in which case two or three of the door leaves move in the same direction at different rates using a telescopic mechanism. In this case, the thermal expansion member 28 is provided only in the door leaf 10a whose front edge 24 contacts the front edge 24 of the door leaf 10b moving in the opposite direction.

The door leaves 10a, 10b are typically supported by an upper support element via supports 48 that extend from the door leaves 10a, 10b to the upper support element 42 and that carry rollers (not shown) that run on tracks on the supports 42. At least one of the supports 48 is typically connected to a drive for horizontally moving the door panels 10a, 10b relative to the upper support element 42.

Figure 4 shows a detail of the door leaf 10b and the lower end of the threshold in the region of the expansion member 28. In the figures, the same reference numerals are used for elements that are the same or have the same function.

4 shows the arrangement of one door leaf 10b and a threshold 44 in a case where the floor door arrangement 40 is heated to approximately 400° C. In this case, the expansion member 28 projects downwardly at its lower end 50 from the bottom edge 32 of the door leaf 10b by a distance d and is thus clamped in a guide groove 52 of the threshold 44. This guide groove is usually provided for guiding a guide pin 46 of the door leaves 10a, 10b in the opening/closing direction h.

The expansion member 28 can, for example, have a wedge shape at its lower end 50 so that it is frictionally pressed into a guide groove 52 of the threshold 44, rendering it immovable in the opening/closing direction h. Consequently, the corresponding vertical profile 14 at the front edge 24 of the door leaf 10b remains immovable in the opening/closing direction h, and thus, no gap can form between the facing rear edges 24 of the two door leaves 10a, 10b. Thus, even in the event of a fire or at higher temperatures, where the upper support element could bend downward, the adjacent front edges 24 of the two door leaves 10a, 10b remain in contact with each other, preventing the formation of a gap through which fire or heat could pass.

FIG5 shows another embodiment of a guide groove 52 and a lower end 50 of an expansion member. In the region of the lower end 50 of the expansion member 28, the surface of the guide groove 52 of the threshold 44 has a first sawtooth structure 54. This first sawtooth structure 54 matches a second sawtooth structure 56 located at the lower end 50 of the expansion member 28. Therefore, when the expansion member 28 extends a certain distance from the bottom edge 32 of the door leaf 10b, the expansion member 28 interacts with the first sawtooth structure 54 of the guide groove 52, thereby securing the expansion member 28 to the threshold 44 in the opening/closing direction h.

Of course, the device also has the other door leaf 10a of the elevator floor door device 40 of FIG. 3 .

The structure that holds the expansion member 28 immovable may be different from the serrated structure 54 shown. Other structures may have a sinusoidal curve or even one or more recesses in the guide groove 52, which interact with a pin, preferably a conical pin, at the lower edge 50 of the expansion member 28. The structure can also be placed directly on the floor without any guide grooves.

The invention is not limited to the described embodiments but may be varied within the scope of the appended patent claims.

Claims (18)

1. An elevator door (10) comprising a door panel (22) and a support structure (12) having at least one profile (14, 16, 18, 20), wherein the door panel includes at least one expansion member (28) composed of a material having a greater coefficient of thermal expansion than the material of the door panel (22) and/or the profile (14), the expansion member (28) extending vertically, characterized in that the expansion member extends vertically and is fixed (30) to the door panel (10) only at its upper end, such that at a critical temperature, the expansion member extends a distance d from the bottom edge of the door panel to be configured to react with a floor or threshold to horizontally fix the corresponding side edge of the door panel to the floor or the threshold. 2. The elevator door (10) according to claim 1, wherein the critical temperature is from 300°C to 500°C. 3. The elevator door (10) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the profile (14) is a vertically extending longitudinal profile (14), and the expansion member (28) is located at a position connected to the profile (14). 4. The elevator door (10) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the profile (14) in the side edge (24) region of the door is a vertically extending longitudinal profile (14). 5. The elevator door (10) according to claim 3, wherein the profile (14) is a hollow profile and the expansion member (28) is located within the hollow profile (14). 6. The elevator door (10) according to claim 3, wherein the profile (14) is made of steel and the expansion member (28) is made of aluminum. 7. The elevator door (10) according to claim 4, characterized in that, in the closing direction of the door (10), the profile (14) is located in the side edge (24) region of the door (10). 8. The elevator door (10) according to any one of claims 1, 2 and 5-7, characterized in that the expansion member (28) is located in the side edge (24) region of the door. 9. The elevator door (10) according to any one of claims 1, 2 and 5-7, characterized in that the expansion member (28) is a beam. 10. The elevator door (10) according to any one of claims 1, 2 and 5-7, characterized in that, at indoor temperature, the lower end (50) of the expansion member (28) is adjacent to the lower end of the profile (14) and/or the bottom edge (32) of the door (10). 11. The elevator door (10) according to any one of claims 1, 2, 5 and 7, characterized in that the expansion member (28) comprises aluminum or magnesium, or a composite structure comprising a fire-resistant material having a greater coefficient of thermal expansion than steel or its alloys. 12. The elevator door (10) according to any one of claims 1, 2 and 5-7, characterized in that the expansion member (28) is located in the side edge (24) region of the door (10) in the closing direction of the door. 13. The elevator door (10) according to any one of claims 1, 2 and 5-7, characterized in that the expansion member (28) is a solid beam. 14. An elevator door assembly comprising at least one elevator door leaf (10a, 10b) according to any one of the preceding claims, an upper support element carrying at least one of the elevator door leaves (10a, 10b), and a threshold (44) at the bottom of the elevator door leaf, characterized in that the threshold (44) comprises a first structure (54) configured to cooperate with the lower end (50) of the expansion member. 15. The elevator door device according to claim 14, wherein the first structure (54) includes at least one recess, the at least one recess fixing the lower end (50) of the expansion member (28) in the opening/closing direction (h). 16. The elevator door device according to claim 14, characterized in that the upper support element (42) carries at least two elevator door panels (10a, 10b) moving in opposite directions, and wherein the profile (14) of each elevator door panel and the expansion member (28) are located at the side edge (24) of the elevator door panel, wherein when the elevator door panel is closed, the side edge (24) abuts against the side edge (24) of the elevator door panel moving in opposite directions. 17. The elevator door device according to claim 14, wherein the first structure (54) is located in the guide groove (52) of the threshold (44). 18. An elevator having at least one of an elevator door leaf according to any one of claims 1 to 13 or an elevator door device (40) according to any one of claims 14 to 17.