ELEVATOR AND TRACTION SHEAVE OF AN ELEVATOR
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an elevator and traction sheave of an elevator.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The operation of a conventional traction sheave eleva-
tor is based on a solution in which steel wire ropes
- serving as hoisting ropes and also as suspension ropes
are moved by means of a metallic traction sheave, of-
ten made of cast iron, driven by an elevator drive ma-
chine. The motion of the hoisting ropes produces a mo-
tion of a counterweight and elevator car suspended on
them. The tractive force from the traction sheave to
the hoisting ropes, as well as the braking force ap-
plied by means of the traction shesave, is transmitted
by the agency of the friction between the traction
sheave and the ropes.
The coefficient of friction between the steel wire
ropes and the metallic traction sheaves used in eleva-
tors is often insufficient in itself to maintain the
required grip between the traction sheave and the
hoisting rope in normal situations during elevator op-
eration. The friction and the forces transmitted by
the rope are increased by modifying the shape of the
rope grooves on the traction sheave. The traction
sheaves are provided with undercut or V-shaped rope
grooves, which create a strain on the hoisting ropes
and therefore also cause more wear of the hoisting
ropes than rope grooves of an advantageous semi-
circular cross-sectional form as used e.g. in divert-
ing pulleys. The force transmitted by the rope can
also be increased by increasing the angle of bite be-
tween the traction sheave and the ropes, e.g. by using
a so-called "double wrap" arrangement.
In the case of a steel wire rope and a cast-iron or
cast-steel traction sheave, a lubricant is almost al-
ways used in the rope to reduce rope wear. A 'lubricant
especially reduces the internal rope wear resulting
from the interaction between rope strands. External
wear of the rope consists of the wear of surface wires
mainly caused by the traction sheave. The effect of
the lubricant is also significant in the contact be-
tween the rope surface and the traction, sheave.
To provide a substitute for the rope groove shape -that
causes rope wear, inserts placed in the rope groove to
achieve a greater friction coefficient have been used.
Such prior-art inserts are disclosed e.g. in specifi-
cations US3279762 and US4198196. The inserts described
in these specifications are relatively thick. The rope
grooves of the inserts are provided with a transverse
or nearly transverse corrugation creating additional
elasticity in the surface portion of the insert and in
a way softening its surface. The inserts undergo wear
caused by the forces imposed on them by the ropes, so
they have to be replaced at intervals.. Wear: of the in-
serts occurs in the rope grooves, at the interface be-
tween insert and traction sheave and internally.
EP-A-194948 discloses the use of anti-abrasive coating with a hardness of more
than 60 shore A. It merely discloses a double layer of rubber but not different
elasticities between the groove bottom and the groove flange.
It is an object of the invention to achieve an eleva-
tor in which the traction sheave has an excellent grip
on a steel wire rope and in which the traction sheave
is durable and of a design that reduces rope wear. An-
other object of the invention is to eliminate or avoid
the above-mentioned disadvantages of prior-art solu-
tions and to achieve a traction sheave that provides
an excellent grip on the rope and is durable and re-
duces rope wear. A specific object of the invention is
to disclose a new type of engagement between the trac-
tion sheave and the rope in an elevator. It is also an
object of the invention to apply said engagement be-
tween the traction sheave and the rope to possible di-
verging pulleys of the elevator.
As for the features characteristic of the invention,
reference is made to the claims.
In an elevator provided with hoisting ropes of sub-
stantially round cross-section, the direction of de-
flection of the hoisting ropes can be freely changed
by means of a rope pulley. Thus, the basic layout of
the elevator, i.e. the disposition of the car, coun-
terweight and hoisting machine can be varied rela-
tively freely. Steel wire ropes or ropes provided with
a load-bearing part twisted from steel wires consti-
tute a tried way of composing a set of hoisting ropes
for suspending the elevator car and counterweight. An
elevator driven by means of a traction sheave may com-
prise other diverting pulleys besides the traction
sheave. Diverting pulleys are used for two different
purposes: diverting pulleys are used to establish a
desired suspension ratio of the elevator car and/or
counterweight, and diverting pulleys are used to guide
the passage of the ropes. Each diverting pulley may be
mainly used for one of these purposes, or it may have
a definite function both regarding -;he suspension ra-
tio and as a means of guiding the ropes. The traction
sheave driven by the drive machine additionally moves
the set of hoisting ropes. The traction sheave and
other eventual diverting pulleys are provided with
rope grooves, each rope in the set of hoisting ropes
being thus guided separately.
When a rope pulley has against a steel wire rcpe a
coating containing :"pe grooves and giving great fric-
tion, a practically non-slip contact between rope pul-
ley and rope is achieved. This is advantageous espe-
cially in the case of a rope pulley used as a traction
sheave. If the coating is relatively thin, the force
difference arising from the differences between t.he
rope forces acting on different sides of the rope pul-
ley will not produce a large tangential displacement
of the surface that would lead to a large extension or
compression in the direction of the tractive force
when the rope is coming onto the pulley or leaving it.
The greatest difference across the pulley occurs at
the traction sheave, which is due to the usual differ-
ence of weight between the counterweight and the ele-
vator car and to the fact that the traction sheave is
not. a freely rotating pulley but produces, at least
during acceleration and braking, a factor either add-
ing to or detracting from the rope forces resulting
from the balance difference, depending on the direc-
tion of the balance difference and that of the eleva-
tor motion. A thin coating is also advantageous in
that, as it is squeezed between the rope and the trac-
tion sheave, the coating can not be compressed so much
that the compression would tend to evolve to the sides
of the rope groove. As such compression causes lateral
spreading of the material, the coating might be dam-
aged by the great tensions produced in it. By making
the coating thicker in the bottom area of the groove
than in its lateral parts, a groove bottom portion
having a greater elasticity than the edges is
achieved. In this way, the surface pressure imposed on
the rope can be more evenly distributed over the rope
surface and the surface of the rope groove. Thus, the
rope groove also provides more uniform support to the
rope, and the pressure imposed on the rope maintains
the cross-sectional form of the rope better. However,
the coating must have a thickness sufficient to re-
ceive the rope elongations resulting from tension so
that no rope slip fraying the coating occurs. At the
same time, the coating has to be soft: enough to allow
the structural roughness of the rope, in other words,.
the surface wires to sink at least partially into the
coating, yet hard enough to ensure that the coating
will not substantially escape from under the roughness
of the rope.
For steel wire ropes less than 10 mm thick, in which
the surface wires are of a relatively small thickness,
a coating hardness ranging from below 60 shoreA up to
about 100 shoreA can be used. For ropes having surface
wires thinner than in conventional elevator ropes,
i.e. ropes having surface wires only about 0.2 mm
thick, a preferable coating hardness is in the range
of about 80...90 shoreA or even harder. A relatively
hard coating can be made thin. When a rope with some-
what thicker surface wires (about 0.5...1 mm) is used, a
good coating hardness is in the range of about 7 0...85
shoreA and a thicker coating is needed. In other
words, for thinner wires a harder and thinner coating
is used, and for thicker wires a softer and thicker
coating is used. As the coating is firmly attached to
the sheave by an adhesive bond comprising the entire
area resting against the sheave, there will occur be-
tween the coating and the sheave no slippage causing
wear of these. An adhesive bond may be made e.g. by
vulcanizing a rubber coating onto the; surface of a me-
tallic rope sheave or by casting polyurethane or simi-
lar coating material onto a rope sheave with or with-
out an adhesive or by applying a coating material on
the rope sheave or gluing a coating element fast onto
the rope sheave.
Thus, on the one hand, due to the total load or aver-
age surface pressure imposed on the coating by the
rope, the coating should be hard and thin, and or t^e
other hand, the coating should be sufficiently soft
and thick to permit the rough surface structure of the
rope to sink into the coating to a suitable degree to
produce sufficient f riction between the rope and the
coating and to ensure that the rough surface structure
will not pierce the coating.
A highly advantageous embodiment of the invention is
the use of a coating on the traction sheave. Thus, a
preferred solution is to produce an elevator in which
at least the traction sheave is provided with a coat-
ing. A coating is also advantageously used on the di-
verting pulleys of the elevator. The coating functions
as a damping layer between the metallic rope pulley
and the hoisting ropes.
The coating of the traction sheave and that of a rope
pulley may be differently rated so that the coating on
the traction sheave is designed to accommodate a
larger force difference across the sheave. The proper-
ties to be rated are thickness and material properties
of the coating. Preferable coating materials are rub-
ber and polyurethane. The coating is required to be
elastic and durable, so it is possible to use other
durable and elastic materials as far as they can be
made strong enough to bear the surface pressure pro-
duced by the rope. The coating may be provided with
reinforcements, e.g. carbon fiber or ceramic or metal-
lic fillers, to improve its capacity to withstand in-
ternal tensions and/or the wearing or other properties
of the coating surface facing the rope.
The invention provides the following advantages, among
other things:
great friction between traction sheave and hoisting
rope
a coating having r, greater thickness in the bettor;:
area of the groove distributes the load evenly in
the transverse direction of the rope groove, so the
groove bottom is not subjected to a greater strain
than the edge portions
uniform support of the rope reduces the strain on
the internal portions of the rope
the coating reduces abrasive wear of the ropes,
which means that less wear allowance is needed in
the surface wires of the rope, so the ropes can be
made entirely of thin wires of strong material
since the ropes can be made of thin wires, and since
thin wires can be made relatively stronger, the
hoisting ropes may be correspondingly thinner,
smaller rope pulleys can be used, which again allows
a space saving and more economical layout solutions
the coating is durable because in a relatively thin
coating no major internal expansion occurs
in a thin coating, deformations are small and there-
fore also the dissipation resulting from deforma-
tions and producing heat internally in the coating
is low and heat is easily removed from the thin
coating, so the thermal strain produced in the coat-
ing by the load is small
as the rope is thin and the coating on the rope pul-
ley is thin and hard, the rope pulley rolls lightly
against the rope
no wear of the coating occurs at the interface be-
tween the metallic part of the traction sheave and
the coating material
the great friction between the traction sheave and
the hoisting rope allows the elevator car and coun-
terweight to be made relatively light, which means a
cost saving.
Accordingly, the present invention provides an elevator, in which a counterweight
and an elevator car are suspended on a set of hoisting ropes consisting of hoisting ropes
of substantially round cross-section and which comprises one or more rope pulleys
provided with rope grooves, one of said pulleys being a traction sheave driven by a drive
machine and moving the set of hoisting ropes, wherein
- at least one of said rope pulleys has against the hoisting rope a coating
adhesively bonded to the rope pulley and containing the rope grooves,
- said coating having an elasticity that is smaller in the edge parts of the rope
groove than near the bottom of the rope groove, and
- the coating thickness in the bottom of the rope groove is half the rope thickness
at the maximum.
The present invention also provides a traction sheave of an elevator, designed for
hoisting ropes of substantially round cross-section, wherein the traction sheave has
against the hoisting rope a coating bonded to the traction sheave and provided with rope
grooves, said coating having an elasticity that is smaller in the edge parts of the rope
groove than near the bottom of the rope groove and the coating thickness in the bottom
of the rope groove is half the rope thickness at the maximum.
The present invention further provides a coating for the rope grooves of the
traction sheave of an elevator, characterized in that the coating is adhesively bonded to
the rope groove on the traction sheave and in that the thickness of the coating is largest
at the bottom of the rope groove and diminishes gradually toward the edges of the rope
groove.
In the following, the invention will be described in detail with reference to the
accompanying drawings wherein
Fig. 1 presents a diagram representing an elevator
according to the invention,
Fig. 2 presents a rope pulley applying the inven-
tion,
Fig. 3 presents a coating solution according to the
invention, e-ind
Fig. 4 and 5 present alternative coating solu-
tions according to the invention.
Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic representation of the struc-
ture of an elevator. The elevator is preferably an
elevator without machine room, in which the drive ma-
chine 6 is placed in the elevator shaft, although the
invention is also applicable for use in elevators with
machine room. The passage of the hoisting ropes 3 of
the elevator is as follows: One end of the ropes is
immovably fixed to an anchorage 13 located in the up-
per part of the shaft above the path of a counter-
weight 2 moving along counterweight guide rails 11.
From the anchorage, the ropes run downward and are
passed around diverting pulLeys 9 suspending the coun-
terweight, which diverting pulleys 9 are rotatably
mounted on the counterweight 2 and from which the
ropes 3 run further upward to the traction sheave 7 of
the drive machine 6, passing around the traction
sheave along rope grooves on the sheave. From the
traction sheave 7, the ropes 3 run further downward to
the elevator car 1 moving along car guide rails 10,
passing under the car via diverting pulleys 4 used to
suspend the elevator car on the ropes, and going then
upward again from the elevator car ;o an anchorage 1 4
in the upper part of the elevator shaft, to which an-
chorage the second end of the ropes 3 is fixed. An-
chorage 13 in the upper part of the shaft, the trac-
tion sheave 7 and the diverting pulley 9 suspending
the counterweight on the ropes are preferably so dis-
posed in relation to each other that both the rope
portion going from the anchorage 13 to the counter-
weight 2 and the rope portion going from the counter-
weight 2 to the traction sheave 7 are substantially
parallel to the path of the counterweight 2 . Simi-
larly, a solution is preferred in which anchorage 14
in the upper part of the shaft, the traction sheave 7
and the diverting pulleys 4 suspending the elevator
car on the ropes are so disposed in relation to each
other that the rope portion going from the anchorage
14 to the elevator car 1 and the rope portion going
from the elevator car 1 to the traction sheave 7 are
substantially parallel to the path of the elevator car
1. With this arrangement, no additional diverting pul-
leys are needed to define the passage of the ropes in
the shaft. The rope suspension acts in a substantially
centric manner on the elevator car 1, provided that
the rope pulleys 4 supporting the elevator car are
mounted substantially symmetrically relative to the
vertical center line passing via the center of gravity
of the elevator car 1.
The drive machine 6 placed in the elevator shaft is
preferably of a flat construction, in other words, the
machine has a small depth as compared with its width
and/or height, or at least the machine is slim enough
to be accommodated between the elevator car and a wall
of the elevator shaft. The machine iray also be placed
differently. Especially a slim mach:.ne can be fairly
easily fitted above the elevator car. The elevator
shaft can be provided with equipment required for the
supply of power to the motor driving the traction
sheave 7 as well as equipment for elevator control,
both of which can be placed in a common instrument
panel 8 or mounted separately from each other or inte-
grated partly or wholly with the drive machine 6. The
drive machine may be of a geared or gearless type. A
preferable solution is a gearless machine comprising a
permanent magnet motor. The drive machine may be fixed
to a wall of the elevator shaft, to the ceiling, to a
guide rail or guide rails or to some other structure,
such as a beam or frame. In the case of an elevator
with machine below, a further possibility is to mount
the machine on the bottom of the elevator shaft. Fig.
1 illustrates the economical 2:1 suspension, but the
invention can also be implemented in an elevator using
a 1:1 suspension ratio, in other words, in an elevator
in which the hoisting ropes are connected directly to
the counterweight and elevator car without diverting
pulleys, or in an elevator implemented using some
other suspension arrangement suited for a traction
sheave elevator.
Fig. 2 presents a partially sectioned view of a rope
pulley 100 applying the invention. The rope grooves
101 are in a coating 102 placed on the rim of the rope
pulley. The rope pulley is preferably made of metal or
plastic. Provided in the hub of the rope pulley is a
space 103 for a bearing used to support the rope pul-
ley. The rope pulley is also provided with holes 105
for bolts, allowing the rope pulley to be fastened by
its side to an anchorage in the hoisting machine 6,
e.g. to a rotating flange, to form a traction sheave
7, in which case no bearing separate from the hoistxng
machine is needed.
Fig. 3 presents a solution in which the rope groove
201 is in a coating 202 which is thinner at the sides
of the rope groove than at the bottom. In such a solu-
tion, the coating is placed in a basic groove 220 pro-
vided in the rope pulley 2 00 fo that deformations pro-
duced in the coating by the pressure imposed on it by
the rope will be small and mainly limited zo the rope
surface texture sinking into the coating. Such a solu-
tion often means in practice that the rope pulley-
coating consists of rope groove-specific sub-coatings
separate from each other, but the inventive idea does
not exclude an alternative in which the rope pulley
coating extends continuously over a number of grooves.
By making the coating thinner at the edges of the
groove than at its bottom, the strain imposed by the
rope on the bottom of the rope groove while sinking
into the groove is avoided or at least reduced. As the
pressure cannot be discharged laterally but is di-
rected by the combined effect of the shape of the ba-
sic groove 22 0 and the thickness variation of the
coating 2 02 to support the rope in the rope groove
201, lower maximum surface pressures acting on the
rope and the coating are also achieved. One method of
making a grooved coating 2 02 like this is to fill the
round-bottomed basic groove 220 with coating material
and then form a half-round rope groove 2 01 in this
coating material in the basic groove. The shape of the
rope grooves is well supported and the load-bearing
surface layer under the rope provides a better resis-
tance against lateral propagation of the compression
stress produced by the ropes. The lateral spreading or
rather adjustment of the coating caused by the pres-
sure is promoted by thickness and elasticity of the
coating and reduced by hardness and eventual rein-
forcements of the coating. The coating thickness on
the bottom of the rope groove can be made large, even
as large as half the rope thickness, in which case a
hard and inelastic coating is needed. On the other
hand, if a coating thickness corresponding to only
about one tenth of the rope thickness is used, then
the coating material may be clearly softer. An eleva-
tor for eight persons could be implemented using a
coating thickness at the bottom of the groove equal to
about one fifth of the rope thickness if the ropes and
the rope load are chosen appropriately. The coating
thickness should equal at least 2-3 times the depth of
the rope surface texture formed by the surface wires
of the rope. Such a very thin coating, having a thick-
ness even less than the thickness of the surface wire
of the rope, will not necessarily endure the strain
imposed on it. In practice, the coating must have a
thickness larger than this minimum thickness because
the coating will also have to receive rope surface
variations rougher than the surface texture. Such a
rougher area is formed e.g. where the level differ-
ences between rope strands are larger than those be-
tween wires. In practice, a suitable minimum coating
thickness is about 1-3 times the surface wire thick-
ness . In the case of the ropes normally used in eleva-
tors, which have been designed for a contact with a
metallic rope groove and which have a thickness of 8-
10 mm, this thickness definition leads to a coating at
least about 1 mm thick. Since a coating on the trac-
tion sheave, which causes more rope wear than the
other rope pulleys of the elevator, will reduce rope
wear and therefore also the need to provide the rope
with thick surface wires, the rope can be made
smoother. The use of thin wires allows the rope itself
to be made thinner, because thin steel wires can be
manufactured from a stronger material than thicker
wires. For instance, using 0.2 mm wires, a 4 mm thick
elevator hoisting rope of a fairly good construction
can be produced. A traction sheave coating well suited
for such a rope is already clearly below 1 mm thick.
However, the coating should be thick enough to ensure
that it will not be very easily scratched away or
pierced e.g. by an occasional sand grain or similar
particle having got between, the rope groove and the
hoisting rope. Thus,. a desirable minimum coating
thickness, even when thin-wire hcisting ropes are
used, would be about 0. 5...1 mm. For hoisting ropes 'hav-
ing small surface wires and an otherwise relatively
smooth surface, a coating having a thickness of the
form A+Bcosa is well suited. However, such a coating
is also applicable to ropes whose surface strands meet
the rope groove at a distance from each other, because
if the coating material is sufficiently hard, each
strand meeting the rope groove is in a way separately
supported and the supporting force is the same and/or
as desired. In the formula A+Bcosa, A and B are con-
stants so that A+B is the coating thickness at the
bottom of the rope groove 2 01 and the angle a is the
angular distance from the bottom of the rope groove as
measured from the center of curvature of the rope
groove cross-section. Constant A is larger than or
equal to zero, and constant B is always larger than
zero. The thickness of the coating growing thinner to-
wards the edges can also be defined in other ways be-
sides using the formula A+Bcosa so that the elasticity
decreases towards the edges of the rope groove. Fig. 4
and 5 present cross-sectional views of rope grooves in
which the elasticity of the middle portion of the rope
groove has been specially increased. The rope groove
in Fig. 4 is an undercut groove. In Fig. 5, the coat-
ing on the bottom of the rope groove comprises a par-
ticularly elastic area 221 of a different material,
where the elasticity has been increased, in addition
to increasing the material thickness, by the use of a
material that is softer than the rest of the coating.
In the foregoing, the invention has been described by
way of example with reference to the attached drawing
while different embodiments of the invention are pos-
sible within the scope of the inventive idea defined
in the claims. In the scope of the inventive idea, it
is obvious that a thin rope increases the average sur-
face pressure imposed on che rope groove if the rope
tension remains unchanged. This can be easily taken
irico account by adapting the thickness and hardness of
the coating, because a thj.n rope has thin surface
wires, so for instance the use of a harder and/or
thinner coating will not cause any problems. It is
also obvious to a skilled person that, the bearing sur-
face of a rope groove of semi-circular cross-section
may be less than 180 degrees.
WE CLAIM :
Elevator, in which a counterweight and an elevator car (1) are suspended on a set
of hoisting ropes (3) consisting of hoisting ropes of substantially round cross-section and
which comprises one or more rope pulleys (4, 7, 9) provided with rope grooves, one of said
oulleys being a traction sheave (7) driven by a drive machine (6) and moving the set of
noisting ropes, wherein
- at least one of said rope pulleys (7) has against the hoisting rope a coating (102,
202) adhesively bonded to the rope pulley and containing the rope grooves (101, 201),
- said coating having an elasticity that is smaller in the edge parts of the rope groove
than near the bottom of the rope groove, and
- the coating thickness in the bottom of the rope groove is half the rope thickness at
the maximum.
2. Elevator as claimed in claim 1, wherein the traction sheave (7) is provided with a
coating.
3 Elevator as claimed in claim 1, wherein all rope pulleys (4, 7, 9) are provided with
coatings.
4. Elevator as claimed in claim 1, wherein the coating (202) is thinner in the edge parts
of the rope groove (201) than at the bottom of the rope groove.
5 Elevator as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the thickness of the
coating (102, 202) in the bottom area of the rope groove (101, 201) is substantially less
than half the thickness of the rope running in the rope groove and a hardness less than
about 100 shoreA and greater than about 60 shoreA.
6 Elevator as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the hoisting ropes
(3) have a load-bearing part twisted from steel wires.
Traction sheave (7) of an elevator, designed for hoisting ropes (3) of substantially
ound cross-section, wherein the traction sheave has against the hoisting rope a coating
102, 202) bonded to the traction sheave and provided with rope grooves (101, 201), said
aoating having an elasticity that is smaller in the edge parts of the rope groove than near
the bottom of the rope groove and the coating thickness in the bottom of the rope groove
is half the rope thickness at the maximum.
3. Traction sheave as claimed in claim 7, wherein the coating (102, 202) has a
thickness that, at the bottom of the rope groove, is substantially less than half the
thickness of the rope running in the rope groove and a hardness less than about 100
shoreA and greater than about 60shoreA.
9. Traction sheave as claimed in any one of claims 7 and 8 wherein the coating (102,
202) is made of rubber, polyurethane or some other elastic material.
10 Traction sheave as claimed in any one of claims 7 to 9, v/herein the coating (202) is
thinner in the edge parts of the rope groove than at the bottom of the rope groove.
11 Elevator as claimed in any one of claims 7 to 10, wherein the thickness of the
coating (202) is defined according to the formula A+Bcosa, in which formula A and B are
constants and the angle a is the angular distance from the bottom of the rope groove.
12. Coating for the rope grooves of the traction sheave of an elevator, characterized in
that the coating (202) is adhesively bonded to the rope groove on the traction sheave and
in that the thickness of the coating is largest at the bottom of the rope groove and
diminishes gradually toward the edges of the rope groove.

A counterweight and an elevator car (1) are suspended on a set of hoisting ropes
(3). The elevator comprises one or more rope pulleys (4, 7, 9) provided with rope grooves,
one of said pulleys being a traction sheave (7) driven by a drive machine (6) and moving
the set of hoisting ropes. At least one of the rope pulleys (7) has against the hoisting rope
a coating (102, 202) adhesively bonded to the rope pulley and containing the rope grooved
101, 201) said coating having an elasticity that is greater in the edge portions of the rope
groove than at the bottom of the rope groove. In a preferred solution, the traction sheave is
a rope pulley.