The present invention relates to an elevator arrangement as defined in the preamble of claim 1.

The invention in question relates to an elevator where maintenance work is done mainly in an elevator shaft and in particular in a headroom part of the elevator shaft. The headroom in this context means the clearance between the roof of the elevator car and the ceiling of the elevator shaft in the situation when the elevator car is at its up permost position. Various tasks, such as inspections, ad justment works, maintenance or repairs, later referred in a shorter way only as "maintenance work", are often performed at the upper part of the elevator shaft. In that case, the safety of the persons performing the tasks mentioned above has always to be secured. Since the headroom space is very dangerous area, especially when the elevator moves, only au thorized persons, like maintenance people may have access to the headroom space. Unauthorized access to the headroom needs to be reliably prevented.

It is proposed that the elevator car comprises a maintenance opening for the maintenance person to access the headroom maintenance space. The maintenance opening can be for exam ple an openable roof, such as a lifting roof or a hole in the elevator car roof or wall equipped with a lockable door or hatch. For safety reasons, the access to the headroom via maintenance opening should be normally locked to avoid an access of unauthorized persons to the headroom. Lock ing/unlocking can be done manually using a special opening means, like a traditional key or a keycard or a code. Lock ing/unlocking could be done electrically in a particu larswitching box. One problem is, however, that an unauthorized person has somehow got a switching box key or he/she breaks the switch ing box lock and thus have access to the operating controls and may lift-up the car roof or open the maintenance opening lock causing a hazardous situation to himself/herself or to any other. Another problem is that a maintenance person could forget to lock the switching box and an unauthorized person is able to lift up the car roof or open the mainte nance opening lock causing a hazardous situation to him self/herself or to any other person.

In addition to the aforementioned, the safety solutions are often based on mechanical or electrical supervision controls in the elevator car switching box.

One objective of the present invention is to eliminate draw backs of prior art technology and to achieve safe and easy- to-operate elevator arrangement where there is no chance for an unauthorized person to access the maintenance opening by lifting up the elevator car roof or by opening any other maintenance door or hatch in the elevator car.

The elevator arrangement according to the invention is char acterized by what is disclosed in the characterization part of claim 1. Other embodiments of the invention are charac terized by what is disclosed in the other claims.

The inventive content of the application can also be defined differently than in the claims presented below. The in ventive content may also consist of several separate inven tions, 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 present ed 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.

In order to achieve the objectives mentioned above, the pre sent invention provides an elevator arrangement having an elevator comprising an elevator car that is arranged to run up and down in an elevator shaft along guide rails, and a maintenance opening, from where a maintenance person works from inside the elevator car in the elevator shaft, and also an operating switch for locking and unlocking the mainte nance opening. Advantageously, the arrangement comprises a separate actuator in order to activate and deactivate the operating switch for locking and unlocking the maintenance opening .

The car switching box is in the elevator car and it has a lockable door, that can be opened with a special opening means. From the switching box, the maintenance opening can be unlocked/operated via a switch, when for example the car roof can be lifted upwards or the door/hatch can be opened. In some solutions, to obtain double security, an additional special unlocking means is needed in the switching box to lift up the car roof or open the maintenance door/hatch.

One advantage of the solution according to the invention is, that elevator car safety will improve. From inside the ele vator car unauthorized persons are not able to unlock the elevator car maintenance opening, such as a lifting roof of the elevator car or door/hatch, even though they have man- aged to access elevator car switching box. Only an author ized person can open the lifting roof or another manhole or hatch in order to get an access to the elevator shaft from inside the elevator car.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention the separate ac tuator is or comprises an actuator switch. The actuator switch can be called also an activation switch.

Another advantage of the solution according to the invention is that when using the same actuator switch in a maintenance access panel (MAP) to activate the unlocking of the car maintenance opening and to switch the elevator system to a safe inspection mode or to a maintenance mode the mainte nance opening cannot be left unlocked after the maintenance tasks have been completed because the actuator switch in the MAP must be switched back to its normal position before the normal elevator use.

Yet another advantage of the solution according to the in vention is that the arrangement is very easy to deploy cost effectively either to a new elevator environment, or to ex isting elevator environments.

In the following, the invention will be described in detail by the aid of example embodiments by referring to the at tached simplified and diagrammatic drawings, wherein

Fig . 1 presents in a simplified and diagrammatic back view the elevator car when it is parked at the top lev el,

Fig . 2 presents in a simplified and diagrammatic back view the elevator car at the top level when the elevator car maintenance opening or the roof of the elevator car has been lifted up for the maintenance work and a maintenance or repair task is in progress,

Fig . 3 presents in a simplified and diagrammatic front view the interior of the elevator car when a maintenance person is operating in the car switch ing box,

Fig. 4 presents in a simplified and oblique top view a maintenance access panel (MAP) ,

Fig. 5a presents in a simplified and diagrammatic view a schematic circuit diagram of an electric locking circuit of the maintenance opening according to the invention in the situation where the maintenance opening is locked for a normal elevator use,

Fig. 5b presents in a simplified and diagrammatic view the schematic circuit diagram of Fig. 5a in the situa tion where the maintenance person has activated the operating switch for unlocking the maintenance opening,

Fig. 5c presents in a simplified and diagrammatic view the schematic circuit diagram of Fig. 5a in the situa tion where the maintenance person has switched the operating switch on and the lock of the maintenance opening has opened, and

Fig . 6 presents in a simplified and diagrammatic side view of the elevator shaft, the maintenance access panel at the bottom level, and the maintenance person in a top level working in the shaft headroom through the lifting roof of the elevator car. An aspect of the invention is to achieve a safe and reliable elevator arrangement, where passengers or unauthorized per sons in the elevator car are prevented to open the elevator car maintenance opening, such as a roof or door of the ele- vator car or a hatch on a wall of the elevator car, to the elevator shaft.

Figure 1 presents in a simplified and diagrammatic back view an elevator car 2 when it is parked to the top level 4. The clearance between the elevator car openable roof, such as a lifting roof 3, and the elevator shaft ceiling 4a forms a headroom 5, where usually maintenance or repair works needs to be done.

Figure 2 presents in a simplified and diagrammatic back view the elevator car 2 in the top level 4 when the elevator car lifting roof 3 is open for maintenance work and the mainte nance or repair task is in progress. In this embodiment of the invention the car lifting roof 3 acts as a maintenance opening hereinafter referred also by number 3.

Advantageously the maintenance opening 3 is a lockable and openable lifting roof. In some other embodiments, the maintenance opening 3 can be a hole in the elevator car 2 roof or in the wall, which hole is equipped with a lockable door or hatch. The maintenance person 7 is standing on a stand 6 for accessing the elevator system mechanisms in the headroom 5. The maintenance person 7 is working through the elevator car roof, since the lifting roof is open in its up per position. In this case, the required safety space is created at least partly inside the elevator car 2. The up lifted roof protects the maintenance person 7 also from falling tools and other objects that may fall down into the elevator shaft 1 from other working sites above, for in stance from a top part of a neighboring elevator shaft where another elevator is installed at the same time. Figure 3 presents in a simplified and diagrammatic front view the interior of the elevator car 2, when the mainte nance person 7 operates the elevator car switching box 8. In prior art solutions the maintenance opening 3, for example the lifting roof, can be opened by an operating switch 8a that is placed inside the switching box 8, which is inside the elevator car 2. The switching box 8 is lockable and only authorized maintenance persons 7 have a special opening means, such as a traditional key or a keycard or a code, to open the lock of the switching box 8. Also in some prior art solutions, the operating switch 8a inside the switching box 8 requires an additional unlocking means to double secure the malpractice.

In this embodiment of the invention, the maintenance opening 3 can be operated from the elevator car 2 switching box 8 as described above. The difference compared to the prior art solutions is, that the operating switch 8a inside the switching box 8 cannot be used until the maintenance person 7 has activated the operating switch 8a with a separate ac tuator 11 that may advantageously be placed in a separate maintenance access panel 10. The maintenance access panel 10 is not located inside the elevator car 2, but it is normally placed, for example, at the bottom level 4b next to a land ing door of the elevator.

Figure 4 presents in a simplified and oblique top view the maintenance access panel (MAP) 10 of the elevator. The maintenance access panel 10 comprises a lockable door 10a, and only authorized maintenance persons 7 have a special un locking means to open the door 10a. Among other control means of the elevator system, the maintenance access panel 10 also comprises the actuator 11 with an activation switch. Figures 5a-5c present in a simplified and diagrammatic view a schematic circuit diagram of the electric locking circuit 14 of the maintenance opening 3 according to the arrangement of the invention.

An advantageous arrangement of the invention comprises an electric circuit for locking and unlocking the maintenance opening 3, in which electric circuit the operating switch 8a and the activation switch of the actuator 11 are connected in series with each other. Hereinafter the electric circuit for locking and unlocking the maintenance opening 3 is called a locking circuit 14.

The locking circuit 14 of the maintenance opening 3 is ex tended to circulate via the maintenance access panel 10. The activation switch of the actuator 11 closes and opens the locking circuit 14 and thereby activates and deactivates the operating switch 8a inside the elevator car 2 switching box 8. Only after the operating switch 8a is activated, the maintenance person 7 is enabled to use the operating switch 8a to unlock or lock the maintenance opening 3.

In the situation of figure 5a the maintenance opening 3 is locked for a normal elevator use and the latch 13 of the lock 12 of the maintenance opening 3 is in its extended po sition .

In the situation of figure 5b the maintenance opening 3 is still locked and the latch 13 of the lock 12 is still in its extended position but the maintenance person 7 has now acti vated the operating switch 8a by switching on the activation switch of the actuator 11 in order to unlock the maintenance opening 3. However, the locking circuit 14 is still discon- nected because the operating switch 8a has not been switched on .

The activation of the operating switch 8a in this way means that the locking circuit 14 is made ready for closing or connecting it completely with the operating switch 8a when the operating switch 8a is switched on.

In the situation of figure 5c the maintenance person 7 has switched the operating switch 8a on and the locking circuit 14 is now closed or connected and as a result of that the lock 12 of the maintenance opening 3 has opened, and the lifting roof of the elevator car 2 or another maintenance opening 3 can now be opened for the access to the elevator shaft 1.

The actuator 11 may also switch the elevator system to a safe inspection mode or to maintenance mode, later in a shorter way referred only as "inspection mode". The inspec tion mode is here a common term for the operation mode which is activated when performing inspections, maintenance or re pair work or other operations that require a safe working environment .

Figure 6 presents in a simplified and diagrammatic side view the elevator shaft 1, the maintenance access panel 10 at the bottom level 4b, and the maintenance person 7 on top level 4 working through the maintenance opening 3 in the headroom 5 of the elevator shaft 1. In this case the lifting roof of the elevator car 2 acts as the maintenance opening 3.

At first the maintenance person 7 has used the actuator 11, for example switched the activation switch of the actuator 11 on in the maintenance access panel 10, in order to switch the elevator system to the inspection mode and to activate the operating switch 8a inside the elevator car 2 switching box 8. Next the maintenance person 7 has opened the elevator car 2 switching box 8 with a special unlocking means and switched the operating switch 8a on to unlock or open the lock 12 of the maintenance opening 3. Then the maintenance person 7 has driven the elevator car 2 to the desired posi tion in the elevator shaft 1, a bit downwards from the top level 4. The inspection mode permits such a special motion of the elevator car 2 by the maintenance person 7. Finally, the maintenance person 7, using for instance a special stand 6, performs desired maintenance and repair tasks in the headroom 5 of the elevator shaft 1.

The type of the elevator that moves the elevator car 2 and the elevator car 2 suspension mechanism presented above and in the figures, are examples of the possible solutions. The suspension solution can be for example a rucksack, an under slung, or another suitable car suspension solution. The ele vator type can be for example a traction elevator or a hy draulic elevator or another suitable elevator type. It is also important, that the hoisting or suspension mechanism interfaces to the elevator car 2 does not interfere the maintenance opening 3 or its mechanisms .

In addition, the elevator car maintenance opening (3) can advantageously be any of the following; openable roof, roof hatch, car door or openable part of the car wall.

It is obvious to the person skilled in the art that the in vention is not restricted to the examples described above but that it may be varied within the scope of the claims presented below. Thus, for instance, the location of the ac tuator by which the operating switch for locking and unlock- ing of the maintenance opening is activated, can be differ ent from what is presented above. It is essential that the activation of the operating switch is done with a separate actuator that may preferably be outside the elevator car.

It is also obvious to the person skilled in the art that the actuator for activating the operating switch can be a handheld mobile device, such as a mobile phone or tablet with a suitable application. In that case a maintenance per son may activate and deactivate the operating switch outside or inside the elevator car using the suitable application.

It is also obvious to the person skilled in the art that the location of the operating switch can be different from what is presented above. The operating switch, for instance, may locate on the elevator car wall and may be operable with a special unlocking means, such as a key or a key card.

It is also obvious to the person skilled in the art that, for instance, the maintenance opening can be different from what is presented above.

It is further obvious to the person skilled in the art that the location of the maintenance access panel (MAP) can be different from what is presented above. The maintenance ac cess panel, for instance, may locate on the top landing door level of the elevator.