ARRANGEMENT IN ELEVATOR CAR DOOR ASSEMBLY
The present -invention relates to an arrangement in an elevator car
door assembly as defined in the preamble of claim 1.
In prior art solutions elevators provided with automatic doors,
have usually a coupling between a car door and a landing door that
is generally implemented using a door operator assembly comprising
a door coupler which is mounted on the top part of the car door
assembly and which, by means of its gripping elements, engages
counterparts mounted on the landing doors. The door coupler and
the counterparts are so fitted relative to each other that, when
the elevator car is passing a floor and moving past a landing
door, the counterparts on the landing door pass the gripping
elements of the car door coupler without touching the gripping
elements. Whereas when the car has stopped at a landing floor and
the car doors are moving, the car door coupler is in engagement
with the landing counterparts. In this way, the landing door moves
together with the car door when the latter is moved by a power
means, such as a door motor connected to the car door. Often the
gripping elements are guiding metal vanes so called the door
coupler projecting from the car door operator towards the landing
door and forming a kind of a vertical slot which is open towards
the landing door. The counterparts used often consist of rollers
mounted on the landing door and projecting from the landing door
towards the elevator shaft, the axle of the rollers being mounted
in a position perpendicular to the plane of the landing door. Car
door has a lock hook which is part of coupler mechanism which acts
as a locking device, which locks the car door so that it cannot be
opened except when the elevator car is near a landing floor, i.e.
when the elevator car is within the so-called door zone.

In prior art there are various arrangements for locking the
elevator car door in a manner that is reliable and suited for use
with the elevator car door. For instance, a locking system
operated by a separate electromechanical actuator requires that
the elevator has a separate subsystem or a parallel system for the
control of the door operation that takes care of the locking and
unlocking the door. A locking system using a separate
electromechanical actuator always involves additional costs
corresponding to the price of the actuator.
There are also mechanical locking systems where the actuating
force for locking the door is taken from the motion of the
elevator car or the car door. In such systems the landing zone is
indicated and/or the operation of the lock is controlled by means
of a separate slide or other sign provided in the elevator shaft
at each landing and immovably fixed in place with respect to the
elevator shaft. Mounting such slides or signs in the elevator
shaft at each landing requires plenty of installation time. A long
installation time means again high labor costs.
In addition one problem is that usually the locking arrangement
according to the prior art is complicated in its structure and
occupies a large space and therefore the placement of the locking
devices more or less dictates the design of the door or door
suspension of the elevator car, and because of its complicated
structure the locking arrangement is also susceptible to
malfunctions.

The object of the present invention is to eliminate at least some
of the drawbacks described above and to achieve a reliable and
cost efficient arrangement for elevator car door operator, which
is also simple in its structure and does not cause vertical forces
in the door operator structure or door assembly. The arrangement
according to the invention is characterized by what is presented
in the characterization part of claim 1. Other embodiments of the
invention are characterized by what is presented in the other
claims.
The inventive content of the application can also be defined
differently than in the claims presented below. The inventive
content may also consist of several separate inventions,
especially if the invention is considered in the light of
expressions or implicit sub-tasks or from the point of view of
advantages or categories of advantages achieved. In this case,
some of the attributes contained in the claims below may be
superfluous from the point of view of separate inventive concepts.
Likewise the different details presented in connection with each
embodiment can also be applied in other embodiments. In addition
it can be stated that at least some of the subordinate claims can,
in at least some situations, be deemed to be inventive in their
own right.
The elevator car door operator according to the invention has the
advantage among other things that it saves a lot of time when
installing the door operator assembly because the structure is
extremely simple. And, thanks to its simple structure it is also
inexpensive and reliable to use. One advantage is also the fact
that the door motor is used to operate the locking mechanism. No
other actuators are needed. That gives another advantage, namely
all the main forces inside the door operating and locking
structure are now horizontal. This means that without internal
vertical forces it is possible to make a light structure that
saves space and is inexpensive.

The invention can be described as an elevator car door assembly in
an elevator. The assembly comprises at least an elevator car
having at least a car door with at least one door panel, a door
operating assembly, a landing door coupler mechanism with a
coupler element, car door locking mechanism, and means for opening
and closing the car door. Means for unlocking and locking the car
door by the horizontal motion that is arranged to move the car
door.
A preferred embodiment is an arrangement wherein in order to
unlock the car door the means for unlocking and locking the car
door are fitted to move linearly in relation to each other at the
beginning of the opening motion of the car door.
It is advantageous to apply invention so, that power for unlocking
and locking the car door is arranged to be taken from the means
for opening and closing the car door.
Further, it is advantageous to apply invention so, that the
meansfor unlocking and locking the car door are a part of the car
door locking mechanism. The car door locking mechanism can be
operated by the means for opening and closing the car door.
In an advantageous embodiment of the car door locking mechanism
comprises the means that is arranged to support a latch plate
pivoted to the body of the means, which body means is fastened to
move with the car door panel, and also the means that is arranged
to release the latch plate by its linear horizontal motion in
order to unlock the car door at the beginning of the opening
motion of the car door, and to transfer the horizontal motion
effected by the means for opening and closing the car door to the
car door.

An advantageous embodiment of the invention appears as an
arrangement wherein the means for releasing the latch plate
comprises push surfaces) at its edges for pushing the door panel
to the open the closing position through the means for supporting
the latch plate which means comprises thrust faces for receiving
the push force of the push surfaces of the means for releasing the
latch plate. In such an embodiment the mutual distance between the
push surfaces of the means for releasing the latch plate is
advantageously smaller than the mutual distance between the thrust
faces of the means for supporting the latch plate.
An advantageous application according the invention comprises in
the means for releasing the latch plate an activating rod for
releasing the latch plate from the locking ramp for unlocking the
car door at the beginning of the car door opening motion.
Advantageously the means for releasing the latch plate is fastened
to move with the coupler element that is fastened to move with the
means for opening and closing the car door.
Advantageously the coupler element has perpendicular bendings at
its vertical side edges forming vanes for landing door rollers,
which vertical side edges are stationary in relation to each
other.

In the following, the invention will be described in detail by the
aid of an example by referring to the attached simplified and
diagrammatic drawings, wherein
Fig. 1 presents in a simplified and diagrammatic front view a top
part of an elevator car door assembly according to the
invention in a closed position seen from a landing,
Fig. 2 presents in a simplified and diagrammatic front view the
top part of the elevator car door assembly according to
Fig. 1 when the doors have started to open,
Fig. 3 presents partially cut and in a simplified and
diagrammatic front view a door operator and a coupler
mechanism of the elevator car door assembly according to
Fig. 1 in a closed position seen from a landing,
Fig. 4 presents in a simplified and diagrammatic top view the
coupler mechanism of the elevator car door assembly
sectioned along the line A-A in Fig. 3,
Fig. 5 presents in a simplified and diagrammatic side view a
central part of a coupler element of the coupler mechanism
with a latch plate releasing piece,
Fig. 6 presents in a simplified and diagrammatic front view the
central part of the coupler element with the latch plate
releasing piece,
Fig. 7 presents in a simplified and diagrammatic top view the
central part of the coupler element with the latch plate
releasing piece where the coupler element is sectioned
along the line B-B in Fig. 6,
Fig. 8 presents in a simplified and diagrammatic side view a
latch plate supporting piece with the latch plate,
Fig. 9 presents in a simplified and diagrammatic front view the
latch plate supporting piece with the latch plate,

Fig. 10 presents in a simplified and diagrammatic top view the
latch plate supporting piece with the latch plate where
the latch plate supporting piece is sectioned along the.
line C-C in Fig. 9,
Fig. 11 presents in a simplified and diagrammatic front view a car
door locking mechanism according to the invention in a
situation where the car door is closed and locked,
Fig. 12 presents in a simplified and diagrammatic front view the
car door locking mechanism according to the invention in a
situation where the car door is still closed but unlocked,
Fig. 13 presents in a simplified and diagrammatic front view the
car door locking mechanism according to the invention in a
situation where the car door is opening,
Fig. 14 presents in a simplified and diagrammatic front view the
car door locking mechanism according to the invention in a
situation where the car door has started to move for
closing, and
Fig. 15 presents in a simplified and diagrammatic front view the
car door locking mechanism according to the invention in a
situation where the car door has moved near the closing
position and the locking phase has started.
The main focus of the invention is to achieve a simple,
lightweight, economical and reliably functioning coupler and
locking arrangement in an elevator car door assembly, in which
arrangement the door coupler causes internally only horizontal
linear forces, and almost all the coupling and locking functions
are implemented with horizontal lateral motions only.
In the example described below the lateral direction is defined to
be the direction where the elevator doors are moving when they are
opening and closing, and the depth direction is perpendicular to
the lateral direction, i.e. the direction of depth of the elevator
car.

Figures 1 and 2 present in a simplified and diagrammatic front
view a top part of an elevator car door assembly 1 according to
the invention seen from a landing. In the example described here
the elevator car door assembly 1 comprises two door panels 9a, 9b
that move in opposite directions, and the door 9 opens in the
middle. The door might as well open from one edge and instead of
two the number of door panels could be one, three, four or even
more. In Fig. 1 the elevator car door 9 is closed and locked, and
in Fig. 2 the elevator car door 9 is uto a full open position.
The elevator car door assembly 1 comprises a door operating
assembly or door operator la including for instance means, such as
a motor 3 and a toothed belt 4 with belt nlocked and the door panels
9a, 9b are moving in opposite directions pulleys 4a and 4b, for
opening and closing the car door 9, a car door coupler mechanism
10 with a coupler element 5, and a horizontal top track 2 at the
upper part of the door assembly 1. The ng rollers 8c that
roll on the support surface 2a when the doocar door coupler element 5
of the coupler mechanism 10 is purposed to connect to landing door
rollers situated at each floor and fastened to the upper part of
each landing door.
The top track 2 has a horizontal support surface 2a for supporting
the car door panels 9a, 9b that are fastened at their upper edge
to hanger plates 8a, 8b equipped with supportir panels 9a, 9b are
moving. In addition the top track 2 has been equipped with a
synchronization means that comprises a first rope sheave 6a, a
second rope sheave 6b and a synchronization rope 6c that is
arranged to turn around the rope sheaves 4a, 4b and whose both
ends 7a, 7b are fastened in the hanger plate 8a of the first door
panel 9a. And further the top track 2 has a base element 11 that
is fastened to the top track 2 substantially in the middle of the
door 9 in horizontal direction.

In the situation presented in Fig. 2 the latch plate 13 of the
locking mechanism has been released from the locking ramp 12 that
is fastened in the base element 11, and the unlocked car door
panels 9a, . 9b are moving to the full open position of the door 9
so that door motor 3 rotates the toothed belt 4 that is fastened
to the coupler element 5 that in turn is contact with the second
car door panel 9b and pushes the door panel 9b to the open
direction. At the same time the hanger plate 8b is fastened also
to the synchronization rope 6c, horizontally moves the
synchronization rope 6c around the rope sheaves 4a, 4b so that the
first end 7a of the synchronization rope 6c draws the first car
door panel 9a to its open direction that is opposite to the open
direction of the second car door panel 9b. Thus the car door
panels 9a, 9b move simultaneously at the same speed to opposite
directions. When the door 9 is closing the motion directions are
opposite. When the door 9 is opening or closing the coupler
element 5 is in contact with the landing door rollers during the
door zone levels as mentioned above and thus causes the opening or
closing of the landing door together with the car door 9 at the
same time and at the same speed.
Figures 3 and 4 present partially cut and in a simplified and
diagrammatic way the door operator la with the coupler mechanism
10 of the elevator car door assembly 1 according to Fig. 1 . when
the door 9 is in a closed position. Fig. 3 presents the structure
in the front view seen from a landing. For the clarity's sake the
middle part of the coupler element 5 has been cut away from the
front of a latch plate supporting piece 10a, though a latch plate
releasing piece 10b is left at its place but drawn in dashed line.
Fig. 4 presents the structure in top view and sectioned along the
line A-A in Fig. 3.

The landing door coupler mechanism 10 or shorter the coupler
mechanism 10 comprises for instance the coupler element 5 and the
latch plate, and is in contact with the latch plate supporting
piece 10a. The coupler element 5 is made for instance of a metal
plate by cutting and bending its two vertical side edges 5a into
right angle in relation to its base plate 5b. The horizontal
distance between the two vertical side edges 5a, which form the
vanes for the landing door rollers, is unchanged. Thus the
vertical side edges 5a are stationary in relation to each other.
That makes the coupler structure very simple, inexpensive and
reliable.
In addition the ends of the vertical side edges 5a has been bent
outwards so that the mutual distance between the two vertical side
edges 5a becomes bigger when approaching the ends of the vertical
side edges 5a. That helps passing the landing door rollers.
The latch plate releasing piece 10b is fastened to the second side
or backside of the base plate 5b of the coupler element 5. The
first side or front side of the coupler element 5 with the two
vertical side edges 5a is facing towards the landing. The coupler
element 5 is fastened at its upper part to the toothed belt 4 and
moves together with the toothed belt 4.
The latch plate supporting piece 10a comprises a plate like body
14 that is fastened to the hanger plate 8b of the second car door
panel 9b, and the latch plate 13 that is pivoted to the body 14
with a fulcrum pin 13a.

The latch plate supporting piece 10a and the latch plate releasing
piece 10b form together the means for unlocking and locking the
car door 9 by the horizontal motion that is arranged to move the
car door 9. In addition the latch plate supporting piece 10a and
the latch plate releasing piece 10b form together with the locking
ramp 12 a car door locking mechanism 10c that is operated by the
door motor 3 through the toothed belt 4 and the coupler element 5.
Only linear horizontal forces are directed to the car door locking
mechanism 10c.
Figures 5 -7 present in a simplified and diagrammatic way a central
section of the coupler element 5 of the coupler mechanism 10
together with the latch plate releasing piece 10b that is fastened
substantially in the middle of the second side or rear side of
base plate 5b of the coupler element 5. Fig. 5 presents the
structure in side view, Fig. 6 presents the structure in front
view, and Fig. 7 presents the structure in top view and sectioned
along the line B-B in Fig. 6.
The latch plate releasing piece 10b consists of a plate like base
plate 16 and of brackets 17 at its four corners. The brackets 17
extend perpendicular from the base plate 16 away from the base
plate 5b of the coupler element 5 and are equipped with a hole.
Two bushes 18 are installed to the holes of the brackets 17 so
that the first bush 18 connects the two upper brackets 17 and the
second bush 18 connects the two lower brackets 17. The first
brackets 17 or the leftmost brackets in the first edge of the
latch plate releasing piece 10b comprise a push surface 17a at
their outer side for pushing the second door panel 9b to the
closing position. Correspondingly the second brackets 17 or the
rightmost brackets in the second edge of the latch plate releasing
piece 10b comprise a similar push surface 17a at their outer side
for pushing the second door panel 9b to the open position.
Substantially in the middle of the base plate 16 of the latch

plate releasing piece 10b there is a cylindrical activating rod 15
that extends perpendicular from the base plate 16 away from the
base plate 5b of the coupler element 5. The purpose of the
activating rod 15 is to release the latch plate 13 from the
locking ramp 12 when the belt 4 is moved horizontally and the door
9 is opened.
Figures 8-10 present in a simplified and diagrammatic way the
latch plate supporting piece 10a with the latch plate 13. Fig. 8
presents the structure in side view, Fig. 9 presents the structure
in front view, and Fig. 10 presents the structure in top view and
sectioned along the line C-C in Fig. 9.
The latch plate supporting piece iOa consists of a plate like body
14 and of brackets 19 at its upper and lower edges. The brackets
19 extend perpendicular from the body 14 towards the base plate 5b
of the coupler element 5 and are equipped with a hole 20. The
first brackets 19 or the leftmost brackets at the first side of
the latch plate supporting piece 10a comprise a thrust face 19a at
their inner side for receiving the push force of the latch plate
releasing piece 10b when the second door panel 9b is moved to the
closing position. Correspondingly the second brackets 19 or the
rightmost brackets in the second side of the latch plate
supporting piece 10a comprise a similar thrust face 19a at their
inner side for receiving the push force of the latch plate
releasing piece 10b when the second door panel 9b is moved to the
open position.
The horizontal distance between the first and second brackets 17
of the latch plate releasing piece 10b is smaller than the
horizontal distance between the first and second brackets 19 of
the latch plate supporting piece 10a so that the latch plate
releasing piece 10b can move horizontally back and forth between
the first and second brackets 19 making a linear motion.

The latch plate 13 is pivoted near its second end to the body 14
with the fulcrum pin 13a. The latch plate 13 is a flat elongated
element having the first end or the locking end and the second end
or the activating end. At its first end the latch plate 13 has an
oblique sliding surface 13c and a vertical locking surface 13b,
and at its second end the latch plate 13 has a vertical activating
surface 13d. The activating surface 13d is horizontally and
vertically at the other side of the fulcrum pin 13a as the locking
surface 13b. Thus, when activated by horizontally pressing the
activating surface 13d the second end of the latch plate 13 goes
downwards and simultaneously at the other side of the fulcrum pin
13a the locking surface 13b goes upwards and releases the lock.
Figures 11-15 present in a simplified and diagrammatic way a car
the door locking mechanism according to the invention in different
situations. For the clarity's sake the coupler element 5 is
represented only by the latch plate releasing piece 10b whose base
plate 16 is drawn in dashed line. The coupler element 5 is
connected to the latch plate supporting piece 10a through the
latch plate releasing piece 10b that is slidably installed between
the brackets 19 of the latch plate supporting piece 10a. The
slidable installation has been implemented by the help of sliding
shafts 21 that are installed through the holes 20 of the latch
plate supporting piece 10a and the bushes 18 of the latch plate
releasing piece 10b. The horizontal width of the latch plate
releasing piece 10b is smaller than the horizontal distance of the
brackets 19 of the latch plate supporting piece 10a so that the
latch plate releasing piece 10b can slide back and forth along the
sliding shafts 21.
Fig. 11 presents the situation where the car door 9 is closed and
locked. Then the door toothed belt 4 has moved the door panel 9b
and the coupler element 5 with the latch plate releasing piece 10b

to their locking position and the latch plate releasing piece 10b
is in touch with the two brackets 19 of the latch plate supporting
piece 10a that are horizontally closer to the locking ramp 12 than
the other two furthermost brackets 19 of the latch plate
supporting piece 10a. Consequently the horizontal gap G between
the latch plate releasing piece 10b and the other two furthermost
brackets 19 of the latch plate supporting piece 10a is at its
biggest. The components of the structure have been dimensioned so
that at the same situation where the car door 9 is closed and
locked the latch plate activating rod 15 is in its free position
just beside the activating surface 13d but it does not press
horizontally the vertical activating surface 13d of the latch
plate 13. Therefore the latch plate 13 rests freely in horizontal
position on the locking ramp 12.
Fig. 12 presents the situation where the elevator car is at a
landing level and the elevator car door 9 has been started to
open. The door motor 3 rotates the toothed belt 4 that moves the
coupler element 5 horizontally away from the locking ramp 12.
Thanks to the gap G between the latch plate releasing piece 10b
and the other two furthermost brackets 19 of the latch plate
supporting piece 10a only the coupler element 5 with the latch
plate releasing piece 10b moves at first horizontally away from
the locking ramp 12. At the same time the latch plate activating
rod 15 moves with the latch plate releasing piece 10b and presses
horizontally the activating surface 13d of the latch plate 13. The
pressure against the activating surface 13d forces the latch plate
13 to turn around the fulcrum pin 13a so that the first end of the
latch plate 13 goes upwards and releases from the locking ramp 12.
The door 9 is now unlocked.
Fig. 13 presents the next situation where the elevator car door 9
opens. Then the latch plate releasing piece 10b has traveled its
free journey and the gap G has closed. Now the latch plate

releasing piece 10b starts to push the second door panel 9b open
as long as the door motor 3 rotates the toothed belt 4.
Fig. 14 presents the situation where the elevator car door 9
starts closing. At first only the coupler element 5 with the latch
plate releasing piece 10b move towards the locking ramp 12 when
the door motor 3 rotates the toothed belt 4 to the closing
direction. When the latch plate releasing piece 10b hits the
brackets 19 of the latch plate supporting piece 10a that are
closer to the locking ramp 12 the latch plate releasing piece 10b
starts to push the second door panel 9b to the closing position.
And at latest at this stage the first end of the latch plate 13
goes down to its horizontal position.
Fig. 15 presents the situation where the elevator car door 9
starts locking. The oblique sliding surface 13c at the first end
of the latch plate 13 has hit the oblique counter surface of the
locking ramp 12 and started to slide upwards along the counter
surface. When the door panel 9b continues its closing motion the
first end of the latch plate 13 passes the locking ramp 12 and the
drops down so that the locking surface 13b remains behind the
locking ramp 12. Then the door 9 is again closed and locked and
the situation corresponds the situation presented in Fig. 11.
According to the invention the mutual dimensioning of the
components of the door operator la and the coupler mechanism 10,
and the clearances between the components are fitted so that the
unlocking and opening of the car door 9 can be implemented in one
horizontal motion, and also the closing and locking the car door 9
can be implemented in one horizontal but opposite motion. That
makes the structure of the coupler mechanism very simple,
lightweight, inexpensive and reliable.

It is obvious to the person skilled in the art that the invention
is not restricted to the example described above but that it may
be varied within the scope of the claims presented below.

CLAIMS
1. Arrangement in an elevator car door assembly in an
elevator comprising at least an elevator car having at least
a car door (9) with at least one door panel (9a, 9b), a door
operating assembly (la), a landing door coupler mechanism
(10) with a coupler element (5), car door locking mechanism
(10c), and means (3, 4) for opening and closing the car door
(9), characterized in that the arrangement comprises means
(10a and 10b) for unlocking and locking the car door (9) by
the horizontal motion that is arranged to move the car door
(9) .
2. Arrangement according to claim 1, characterized in that
in order to unlock the car door (9) the means (10a, 10b) for
unlocking and locking the car door (9) are fitted to move
linearly in relation to each other at the beginning of the
opening motion of the car door (9).
3. Arrangement according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in
that power for unlocking and locking the car door (9) is
arranged to be taken from the means (3, 4) for opening and
closing the car door (9).
4. Arrangement according to claim 1, 2 or 3, characterized
in that the means (10a, 10b) for unlocking and locking the
car door (9) are a part of the car door locking mechanism
(10c) that is operated by the means (3, 4) for opening and
closing the car door (9).

5. Arrangement according to any of the claims above,
characterized in that the car door locking mechanism (10c)
comprises the means (10a) that is arranged to support a
latch plate (13) pivoted to the body (14) of the means
(10a), which body (14) is fastened to move with the car door
panel (9b); and the means (10b) that is arranged to release
the latch plate (13) by its linear horizontal motion in
order to unlock the car door (9) at the beginning of the
opening motion of the car door (9), and to transfer the
horizontal motion effected by the means (3, 4) for opening
and closing the car door (9) to the car door (9).
6. Arrangement according to any of the claims above,
characterized in that the means (10b) for releasing the
latch plate (13) comprises push surfaces (17a) at its edges
for pushing the door panel (9b) to the open the closing
position through the means (10a) for supporting the latch
plate (13) which means (10a) comprises thrust faces (19a)
for receiving the push force of the push surfaces (17a) of
the means (10b) for releasing the latch plate (13).
7. Arrangement according to claim 6, characterized in that
the mutual distance between the push surfaces (17a) of the
means (10b) for releasing the latch plate (13) is smaller
than the mutual distance between the thrust faces (19a) of
the means (10a) for supporting the latch plate (13).
8. Arrangement according to any of the claims above,
characterized in that the means (10b) for releasing the
latch plate (13) comprises an activating rod (15) in order

to release the latch plate (13) from the locking ramp (12)
for unlocking the car door (9) at the beginning of the car
door (9) opening motion.
9. Arrangement according to any of the claims above,
characterized in that the means (10b) for releasing the
latch plate (13) is fastened to move with the coupler
element (5) that is fastened to move with the means (3, 4)
for opening and closing the car door (9).
10. Arrangement according to any of the claims above,
characterized in that the coupler element (5) has
perpendicular bendings at its vertical side edges (5a)
forming vanes for landing door rollers, which vertical side
edges (5a) are stationary in relation to each other.

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to an arrangement in an elevator car
door assembly in an elevator comprising at least an elevator
car having at least a car door (9) with at least one door
panel (9a, 9b), a door operating assembly (la), a landing
door coupler mechanism (10) with a coupler element (5), car
door locking mechanism (10c), and means (3, 4) for opening
and closing the car door (9). The arrangement comprises
means (10a and 10b) for unlocking and locking the car door
(9) by the horizontal motion that is arranged to move the
car door (9).