1. An elevator comprising: 1 7 FEB 2014 a cage; and a counterweight, the elevator moving up and down in a well bucket manner, wherein a buffer is located under the counterweight, a single or a plurality of adjuster blocks as H-shaped members are attached to a bottomof the counterweight, the bottom being vertically above the buffer, and 10 the adjuster block has a connecting portion and a distance adjusting portion and is detachably attached through the connecting portion.

2. The elevator according to claim 1, 15 wherein two flat surfaces which constitute the distance adjusting portions of the neighboring adjuster blocks coupled with each other are arranged so as to be perpendicular to each other. 2 0 3. An elevator-, substantially as hereindescribed with reference to accompanying drawings.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION:
5 The present invention relates to an elevator having a
counterweight.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION:
Generally, a rope-type elevator includes an adjuster
10 blockon abottomofthe counterweightorabufferbaseinorder
to adjust a clearance between a counterweight and a buffer as
a main rope stretches.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei
07 (1995)-267537 (Patent Document 1) describes a spacer for a
15 counterweight which includes a plurality of spacer bodies
stacked one upon another to adjust a clearance between the
counterweight and a buffer for receiving the counterweight.
It also describes that each of the spacer bodies includes a
latchmember anda latchedmember to engage with the latchmember.
2 0
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION:
In order to solve the above problem, according to one
aspect ofthe present invention, there is provided an elevator
which includes a cage and a counterweight and moves up and down
25 in a well bucket manner, in which a buffer is located under
* the counterweight, a single or a plurality of adjuster blocks
as H-shapedmembers are attached to a bottomof the counterweight,
the bottom being vertically above the buffer, and the adjuster
block(s) has a connecting portion and a distance adjusting
5 portion and is detachably attached through the connecting
portion.
According to the present, it is possible to provide a
counterweight having adjuster blocks which are sufficiently
strong, though being inexpensive and structurally simple and
10 can be manufactured more easily.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS:
Fig. 1 is a front view showing a structure of a
counterweight according to an embodiment of the present
15 invention;
Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing a bottom portion
of the counterweight shown in Fig. 1;
Fig. 3 is a front view showing a structure of a
counterweight according to another embodiment of the present
20 invention;
Fig. 4 is a perspective view showing a bottom portion
of the counterweight shown in Fig. 3; and
Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing a bottom portion
of a conventional counterweight.
. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS:
The spacer bodies described in Patent Document 1 are
I structurally complicated, and due consideration is not paid
to manufacturing ease.
5 Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide
a counterweight having adjuster blocks which are inexpensive,
structurally simple and sufficiently strong, and can be
manufactured more easily.
A c o u n t e r w e i g h t o f a n e l e v a t o r a c c o r d i n g t o a n e m b o d i m e n t
10 of the present invention includes a plurality of adjuster blocks
as members with a virtually H cross section (H-section steel
or wide-flange beam) which are detachably attached. The
members with a virtually H cross section are also called the
"H-shaped members."
15 Each adjuster block has a connectingportion and a distance
adjusting portion and a plurality of such adjuster blocks are
coupled with each other, and preferably the two flat surfaces
of the neighboring adjuster blocks which constitute distance
adjusting portions are arranged so as to be perpendicular to
20 each other.
Fig. 5 shows a conventional spacer for a counterweight
described in Patent Document 1.
In the figure, the spacer for the counterweight which
is composed of a first spacer body 8a and a second spacer body
25 8b is attached to a bottom of the counterweight 1. The first
spacer body 8a has a support 9a and a mount piece 10a. The
second spacer body 8b has a support 9b and a mount piece lob.
The first spacer body 8a and second spacer body 8b are temporarily
coupled by engaging the latched part lla of the mount piece
5 10a with the latch of the mount piece lob. After that, they
are coupled by coupling bolts 17. The supports 9a and 9b are
cylindrical.
The conventional spacer bodies shown in the figure have
a special and complicated form.
10 Next, the preferredembodiments ofthe present invention
will be described referring to drawings.
[First Embodiment]
In a first embodiment, main surfaces of flat portions
15 (webs of H-section steel) of two adjuster blocks which constitute
distance adjusting portions are arranged so as to be
perpendicular to each other. The adjuster blocks are each
composed of connecting portions (flanges) and a distance
adjusting portion (web).
2 0 Figs. 3 and 4 illustrate the structure of the counterweight
according to this embodiment.
Fig. 3 is a front view of the counterweight and Fig. 4
isaperspectiveviewofthebottomportionofthecounterweight
shown in Fig. 3.
As shown in Fig. 3, the counterweight 1 of the elevator
is suspended by a plurality of main ropes 2 and guided by guide
rails 3 to move up and down in the vertical shaft. Adjuster
blocks 6a and 6b composed of members with a virtually H cross
section (H-section steel) are attached to the bottom of the
5 counterweight 1 tomake an adjustment so that clearance C between
t h e c o u n t e r w e i g h t 1 i n i t s l o w e s t p o s i t i o n a n d a b u f f e r 5 m o u n t e d
on a pit bottom 4 is within a prescribed range. The bottom
of the counterweight 1 and the adjuster block 6a are coupled
withmountingbolts 7 andtheadjusterblock 6a andthe adjuster
10 block 6b are coupled with mounting bolts 7.
The adjuster blocks 6a and 6b are manufactured simply
by making holes for the mounting bolts 7 in H-section steel,
are structurally simple and can be manufactured more easily
than the conventional adjuster blocks. In addition, the
15 adjuster blocks 6a and 6b each have a weight of about 5 kg,
so one worker can attach and detach them easily.
As shown in Fig. 4, the adjuster blocks 6a and 6b are
attached with the mounting bolts 7. They are coupled in a way
that the web 6c of the adjuster block 6a and the web 6d of the
20 adjuster block 6b are perpendicular to each other.
In this embodiment, when the main rope 2 stretches as
the elevator is operated and the clearance C between the adjuster
block 6b and the buffer 5 becomes smaller than a prescribed
value, the mounting bolts 7 which couple the adjuster block
25 6a and adjuster block 6b are removed to remove the adjuster
block 6b.
Furthermore, when the main rope 2 stretches and the
clearance C between the adjuster block 6a and the buf fer 5 becomes
smaller than the prescribed value again, the mounting bolts
5 7 which couple the counterweight 1 and the adjuster block 6a
are removed to remove the adjuster block 6a.
Thus the clearance C above the buffer 5 can be easily
adjusted..
Consequently, the strength against the force in the
10 direction parallel to the flat surface of the web 6c and the
force in the direction parallel to the flat surface of the web
6d is increased. Therefore, the strength against the
compressiveforcegenerateduponcollisionbetweentheadjuster
block6bandthebuffer 5 i s i n c r e a s e d u s i n g t h e a d j u s t e r b l o c k s
15 6a and 6b which use lighter supports than the supports of the
conventional spacer bodies and can be manufactured simply by
cutting H-section steel. Even when the rated load of the
elevator is large and the weight of the counterweight 1 is large,
this approach is effective.
2 0
[Second Embodiment]
In the second embodiment, the main surfaces of the flat
portions (webs of H-section steel) of the two adjuster blocks
which constitute distance adjusting portions are arranged so
25 as to be parallel to each other.
Figs. 1 and2 illustrate the structure of the counterweight
according to this embodiment.
In the explanation below, description of the same
constituent elements as in the first embodiment is omitted.
5 As shown in Fig. 2, adjuster blocks 6a and 6b are mounted
with mounting bolts 7. They are coupled in a way that the web
6c ofthe adjuster block 6a and the web 6dofthe adjuster block
6b are parallel to each other.

WE CLAIM:
1. An elevator comprising:
1 7 FEB 2014
a cage; and
a counterweight,
the elevator moving up and down in a well bucket manner,
wherein a buffer is located under the counterweight,
a single or a plurality of adjuster blocks as H-shaped
members are attached to a bottomof the counterweight, the bottom
being vertically above the buffer, and
10 the adjuster block has a connecting portion and a distance
adjusting portion and is detachably attached through the
connecting portion.
2. The elevator according to claim 1,
15 wherein two flat surfaces which constitute the distance
adjusting portions of the neighboring adjuster blocks coupled
with each other are arranged so as to be perpendicular to each
other.
2 0 3. An elevator-, substantially as hereindescribed with
reference to accompanying drawings.