SUPPORTING LINTEL FOR ELEVATOR D OORS WITH A SIDE OPENING

AND WITH A REDUCED NUMBER OF GUIDING TRACKS The invention relates to a supporting lintel for elevator doors with a side opening and with a reduced number of guide tracks. It is known tnat the supporting lintels of elevator doors with telescopic (side) opening, the door panels of which move in the same direction and at different speeds, are provided with as many panel guiding tracks as pa_nels, which poses problems of access to the rear panel guide components for maintenance and makes their manufacturing relatively complex and expansive.

The invention Is directed to finding a remedy to these drawbacks and it proposes a supporting lintel for elevator doors with a telescopic opening, which doors include two panels moving in the same direction and at different speeds, characterized in that it is provided with only one panel guiding track, which panels are each suspended from said track by means of an upper carriage witli two distant rollers., a carriage roller of a panel being positioned between both carriage rollers of the other panel and both, respective carriage rollers of a panel being spaced apart on the track, offset from both carriage rollers of the otbier panel on the same track, by at least a sufficient distance in order to allow opening and closing of the elevator car doors.

The rollers of each carriage are offset from each other by an equivalent value, equal to at least the half opening distance or the half- width of the door clearance plus two roller diameters plus tne operating plays.

Said door opening distance corresponds to the door's clearance or to the distance traveled by the fast panel or twice that of the slow driven panel, the panels opening edge-to-edge and closing with slight inner overlapping. This implies that the center- distance of both pajiel carriage rollers is larger than the conventional center distance of lintel panel carriage rollers with conventional telescopic side opening doors, which rollers are positioned at the ends of the vertical projections of the panel, on the inside.

The carriage rollers are indeed spaced out by at least a distance equal to the half of said clearance, plus two roller diameters, plus the operating plays, the fast panel being driven at twice the speed of the

slow panel, the fast panel moving on a course equal to the distance of the clearance and the slow panel over the half distance of the clearance.

This large center distance of the rollers of the panel carriages according to the invention, larger than the panel width, improves guiding and stability of the panels, notably for panels of small width.

Thus, owing to this larger center distance of the panel carriage rollers, the guide rail for the rollers will be lengthened relatively to that of a convention lintel, the length of which is conventionally one and a half times the door's clearance, by the distance of four rollers diameters respectively.

In addition, owing to the fact that this large center distance of the rollers exceeds the width of the panel, it is possible to integrate the roping system of the panels into the guide rollers of the carriage bearing the slow panel, this by providing an additional groove for the rope on these rollers and by suitably connecting the lintel and the fast carriage to this rope.

With this arrangement, it is possible to do without the rollers of a relative driving system (roping system) for the panel attached to the slow carriage. Moreover, the transverse section of the carriages bearing the panels is suitably profiled with a slight gap between each other in order to allow them to cross each other in their displacement. The slow carriage is further comprised with a recess to allow the roller of the fast carriage to pass through the slow carriage between its rollers on the relative course of the fast carriage with respect to the slow carriage.

Naturally, the invention is applied to a lintel of elevator landing doors, as well as to a lintel of elevator car doors.

The invention is illustrated hereafter by an exemplary embodiment with reference to the appended drawings wherein: - Fig. 1 is an elevational view of a supporting lintel for elevator car doors according to the invention with a side opening and in the closed position,

- Fig. 2 is a similar view to Fig. 1 _} the doors being open.

- Fig. 3 is a partial top view of the inside of the lintel, and - Fig. 4 is a side view of the lintel.

A supporting lintel 1 for elevator car doors according to the invention is illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2.

The exemplary embodiment may indifferently relate to a lintel for car doors or a lintel for landing doors. A lintel for car doors is thereafter described.

This lintel 1 supports two door panels 5, with a telescopic opening, i.e. which open and close in the same translational direction and at different speeds, for the fast panel at a speed double of that of the slow panel.

Each panel 5 is attached to an upper carriage 7 translationally guided by two end rollers, respectively 9a, 9b for the left carriage and 9c, 9d for the right carriage, on a single horizontal guide rail 11 attached to the lintel 1. One of the rollers 9b of a carriage is between both rollers 9c, 9d of the other. These panels 5 are conventionally guided at the lower level by door step grooves (not shown).

The lintel 1 is a conventional metal case attached onto the columns for opening 13 and closing 15 the landing access 17, or onto the front of the car in the case of car doors (not shown). It houses in its middle portion both carriages 7 bearing the door panels 5 as well as the rail 11 for guiding these carriages.

With reference to Fig. 4, the fast (left) panel 5 is external, itself attached onto the external carriage 7. The slow panel 5 is internal, attached onto the internal carriage 7. The panels 5 open edge- to- edge upon opening and closing the doors of the car, they will slightly overlap inside. They are attached to the lower portion of the carriages 7, which receive at their upper ends the shafts of the guide rollers 9. These carriages 7 are profiled in section, with a slight gap from each other to allow their overlapping during their displacement, and the shafts of the rollers 9 of each carriage are adapted in length in order to allow the inline rolling of the rollers on the guide rail 11. Overlapping of the carriages is made possible by forming an upper recess 10 (fig-1) in the slow carriage cut in an horizontal line of the carriage wall providing a passage for the shaft of the fast carriage roller into the slow carriage.

The carriages 7 have a length equal to at least the spacing distance of both of their upper rollers 9a, 9b, 9c, 9d, the latter distance being equal to at least the door opening half-width plus two roller diameters plus the operating plays of both rollers. This distance allows the rollers of the carriages on the same rail 11 , one 9b being between both rollers 9c, 9d of a same carriage 7, to move on the rail 11 over the

door clearance or door opening half- width for the slow carriage and the clearance width for the fast carriage.

Thus, in Fig. 1, tne roller 9d of the slow panel carriage, on the opening column 13 side (the rightmost), is substantially positioned in the vertical projection of the side of the panel 5, on the opening col ^~ umn side 13, the opposite roller 9c of this carriage (the second on the right) is positioned well beyond, at a distance equal to the half of the width of the door clearance, plus two roller diameters, plus the operating plays, and therefore above trie fast panel 5 upon closing the door. The corresponding roller 9a of the fast carriage T (the leftmost), on. the closing column side 15, -upon closing extends to the end of the closing column 15 and therefore well beyond this panel 5, at a distance of the aforementioned first end roller 9d (the rightmost) equal to one and the half times the door opening width plus four roller diameters 9. The opposite roller 9b of this fast carriage 7 is then positioned close to said opposite roller 9c of the slow carriage 7, slightly on the right t of the latter in the figure.

The useful length of the guide rail 11 and therefore of the lintel 1 by extension, is therefore equal to at least this aforementioned distance of tine far rollers 9a, 9d of the carriages upon closing, i.e. one and s half times the door opening width plus four roller diameters. This increased length of the guide rail 11 relatively to a conventional lintel rail generally does not require an increase in the width of the door frame 17.

Upon opening the doors (Fig. 2), the rollers move in the direction of the opening column 13 and the rightmost roller 9d of the slow carriage reaches the end of the opening column 13 and. the corresponding roller 9b of the fast carriage coira.es close to the latter 9d witih the operating play. Also, the left roller 9 c of the fast carriage 7 comes close to the corresponding roller 9a of the slow carriage 7 with an operating play.

It will be noted tliat this increased distance of the rollers of a same carriage 7, relatively to the conventional center distance of lintel carriage rollers of this type with two guiding tra_cks, improves guiding of the panels and their in-line stability. Additionally, by naving this center dista_nce of the rollers larger than the width of a panel 5, the roping system. 19 of the panels with a rope 21 is integrated into the slow carriage 7 (on the right in fig. L ). For

thie landing doors, under the coupling driving of the car doors, trie fast panel drives through thie landing lock fixed on the fast panel the slow panel at a half speed.

Thus, (Fig. 4) the rollers 9c, 9d of the slow carriage are externally widened to the guide rail 11 in order to con"tain a receiving groove 23 for the rope 21 of the roping system of the panels. As is also seen in Fig. 1 and 3, the rope 21 is gripped at a first point 25 at the lower level integrally with the guide rail 1 1 and therefore with lintel 1 , and at the ixpper level in a second point 27 close to the extreme roller 9b of ttie fast carriage, integrally with- this fast carriage. In so doing, the displacement of the fast carriage 7 at a given speed drives the slow carriage 7 st half speed by reeving.

On the landing doors, the roping system of the panels woxild be identical to that of the car doors, the fast carriage of the latter being directly driven by a motor through a conventional loop belt.

The invention thus provides a lintel, the design of which ^" with a single rail for doors with a telescopic side opening, as compared with to tine corresponding conventional lintel, provides savings in parts, material, assembly and maintenance time, and therefore in cost and further improves the guiding and stability of the panels of doors.