The present invention concerns in the first place an elevator without machine room and provided with a substantially flat discoid hoisting machine, in which elevator the hoisting ma- chine is mounted e. g. on one or more guide rails in the eleva- tor shaft. The invention relates in particular to so-called Double Wrap suspension, which is used e. g. in traction sheave machines provided with a coating to improve the frictional engagement between the traction sheave and the hoisting ropes.

Previously known is e. g. an elevator solution without machine room as disclosed in specification WO 03/066498, wherein a gearless hoisting machine having an axial length larger than the diameter of the machine is mounted on guide rails in an elevator shaft. One end of the machine is supported on a coun- terweight guide rail while the other end is supported on a car guide rail, the guide rail lines of the guide rails being per- pendicular to each other. In addition, a diverting pulley is provided below the machine for so-called Double Wrap roping.

The diverting pulley is placed in a typical manner in the rope suspension and the diverting pulley is aligned at installation time very accurately with the traction sheave to ensure a cor- rect passage of the ropes.

A drawback with the disclosed solution is the space required in the elevator shaft due to the placement of the machine. The size of the machine itself and the size of the mounting of the machine take up space in the cross-sectional area of the ele- vator and thus reduce e. g. the cross-sectional area of the elevator that can be accommodated in the shaft. An additional drawback is that the auxiliary diverting pulley required in the Double Wrap solution has to be aligned at an exactly cor- rect angle relative to the position of the traction sheave.

This aligning has to be done accurately, so it is difficult and takes time in cramped shaft conditions. Moreover, special tools may be needed. As a consequence of the above circum- stances, the aligning is on the whole a relatively expensive operation.

The object of the present invention is to overcome the above- mentioned drawbacks and to achieve a space-saving elevator suspension arrangement of economical cost that will make it possible to install an auxiliary diverting pulley for Double Wrap suspension below the traction sheave in an exactly cor- rect position without time-consuming and difficult adjust- ments. A further object of the suspension arrangement of the invention is to enable the aforesaid auxiliary diverting pul- ley to be secured in conjunction with the hoisting machine without separate and voluminous mounting solutions.

The elevator of the invention is characterized by what is dis- closed in the characterization part of claim 1. The elevator hoisting machine of the invention is characterized by what is disclosed in the characterization part of claim 7. Other em- bodiments of the invention are characterized by what is dis- closed in the other claims. Inventive embodiments are also presented in the description part of the present application.

The inventive content disclosed in the application can also be defined in other ways than is done in the claims below. The inventive content may also consist of several separate inven- tions, especially if the invention is considered in the light of explicit or implicit sub-tasks or in respect of advantages or sets of advantages achieved. In this case, some of the at- tributes contained in the claims below may be superfluous from the point of view of separate inventive concepts.

The elevator hoisting machine suspension arrangement and the hoisting machine of the invention provide the advantage of a sturdy mounting solution in which the auxiliary diverting pul- ley to be installed in conjunction with it can be automati-

cally mounted at an exactly correct setting angle relative to the position of the traction sheave without any adjustments of setting angles. A further advantage is that no separate mount- ing structures are needed for mounting the auxiliary diverting pulley, because such separate mounting structures always re- quire a strong steel structure to which the diverting pulley is secured. In addition, mounting the auxiliary diverting pul- ley in conjunction with the hoisting machine reduces the over- all space requirement of the hoisting machine and the auxil- iary diverting pulley. This allows a saving of transverse space in the elevator shaft, so that it is possible e. g. to place an elevator car of a larger cross-section in the same space.

The elevator hoisting machine of the invention comprises at least a stator frame and a rotor frame that forms a fixed as- sembly with the traction sheave, which assembly is mounted on bearings so as to be rotatable with respect to the stator frame. The hoisting machine is secured to a stiffener bracing the stator frame. The stiffener comprises a support for a bearing, said support being preferably situated below the traction sheave and extending in a direction towards the hoisting machine, on which support is mounted with a bearing a freely rotatable auxiliary diverting pulley.

In the following, the invention will be described in'detail with reference to an embodiment example and the attached draw- ings, wherein Fig. 1 is a general representation of an traction sheave elevator without counterweight according to the invention, seen in an oblique top view, Fig 2 presents a hoisting machine according to the in- vention in front view, Fig. 3 presents a more detailed side view of a placement according to the invention of an auxiliary divert- ing pulley in conjunction with the hoisting ma-

chine, seen in a sectioned view, and Fig. 4 presents a sectioned side view of a stator frame stiffener according to the invention.

Fig. 1 presents a general view of a traction sheave elevator without counterweight according to the invention, wherein the elevator is preferably an elevator without machine room and with a drive machine 4 placed in the elevator shaft. The ele- vator presented in the figure is a traction sheave elevator without counterweight and with machine above, in which the elevator car 1 moves along guide rails 2. The elevator pre- sented in Fig. 1 is a side rucksack-type elevator in which the elevator guide rails 2, hoisting machine 4, diverting pulleys, rope compensating device 15 and hoisting ropes 3 are arranged on one side of the elevator car 1, which in this case is lo- cated to the right of the elevator car 1 as seen from the door opening towards the elevator shaft. This arrangement can also be implemented on any side of the elevator car 1, such as e. g. in the case of a rucksack solution in the space between the back wall of the elevator car and the elevator shaft. The ele- vator can also be implemented by placing the guide rails of the elevator car and some of the diverting pulleys on differ- ent sides of the elevator car.

In Fig. 1, the hoisting ropes run as follows: One end of the hoisting ropes is secured to the sheave of smaller diameter in a compensating device 15 placed on the elevator car, which sheave is immovably fitted fast to a sheave of larger diame- ter. From the compensating device 15, the hoisting ropes 3 go upwards and meet a diverting pulley 14 placed above the eleva- tor car in the elevator shaft, preferably in the upper part of the elevator shaft, passing around it along rope grooves pro- vided on the diverting pulley 14. These rope grooves may be coated or uncoated. The coating used is e. g. a friction- increasing material, such as polyurethane or some other appro- priate material. From diverting pulley 14, the ropes go fur- ther downwards to a diverting pulley 13 fitted in place on the

elevator car, and having passed around this pulley the ropes go further upwards to a diverting pulley 12 fitted in place in the upper part of the elevator shaft. Having passed around diverting pulley 12, the ropes come again downwards to a di- verting pulley 11 fitted in place on the elevator car, pass around it and go further upwards to a diverting pulley 10 fit- ted in place in the upper part of the elevator shaft, and hav- ing passed around this pulley the hoisting ropes 3 go further downwards to a diverting pulley 9 fitted in place on the ele- vator car. Having passed around this pulley 9, the ropes 3 go further upwards in tangential contact with an auxiliary di- verting pulley 7 to the traction sheave 5.

The auxiliary diverting pulley 7 is preferably fitted in con- junction with the hoisting machine 4, near and below the trac- tion sheave 5. Between the auxiliary diverting pulley 7 and the traction sheave 5, the figure shows Double Wrap (DW) rop- ing, in which roping the hoisting ropes 3 run in tangential contact with the auxiliary diverting pulley 7 upwards to the traction sheave 5 and, having passed around the traction sheave 5, the hoisting ropes return to the auxiliary diverting pulley 7, pass around it and go back to the traction sheave 5.

In Double Wrap roping, when the auxiliary diverting pulley 7 is substantially the same size with the traction sheave 5, the auxiliary diverting pulley 7 can also function as a damping pulley. In this case, the ropes going from the traction sheave 5 to the elevator car 1 pass via the rope grooves of the aux- iliary diverting pulley 7 and the deflection of the rope caused by the auxiliary diverting pulley is very small. It could be stated that the ropes going from the traction sheave and the ropes coming to it only run in"tangential contact" with the auxiliary diverting pulley. Such"tangential contact" functions as a solution damping vibrations of the outgoing ropes and it can also be applied in other roping solutions.

Diverting pulleys 14,13, 12,11, 10,9, 7 together with the trac-

tion sheave 5 of the hoisting machine and the compensating device 15 form the suspension above the elevator car, which has the same suspension ratio as the suspension below the ele- vator car, which in Fig. 1 is 7: 1.

From the traction sheave 5, the ropes go further in tangential contact with the auxiliary diverting pulley 7 to a diverting pulley 8, which is preferably fitted in place in the lower part of the elevator shaft. Having passed around diverting pulley 8, the ropes 3 go further upwards to a diverting pulley 16 fitted in place on the elevator car, and having passed around this pulley the ropes go further downwards to a divert- ing pulley 17 in the lower part of the elevator shaft, pass around it and return to a diverting pulley 18 fitted in place on the elevator car. Having passed around diverting pulley 18, the hoisting ropes 3 go further downwards to a diverting pul- ley 19 in the lower part of the elevator shaft and, having passed around this pulley, the ropes go further upwards to a diverting pulley 20 on the elevator car. Having passed around diverting pulley 20, the hoisting ropes 3 go further downwards to a diverting pulley 21 fitted in place in the lower part of the elevator shaft, pass around it and go further upwards to the compensating device 15 fitted in place on the elevator car, the second end of the hoisting ropes being secured to the sheave of larger diameter in the compensating device. Divert- ing pulleys 8,16, 17,18, 19,20, 21 and the compensating device 15 form the hoisting rope suspension below the elevator car.

The hoisting machine 4 and traction sheave 5 of the elevator and/or auxiliary diverting pulley 7 and diverting pulleys 10,12, 14 in the upper part of the elevator shaft may be mounted in place on a frame structure formed by the guide rails 2 or on a beam structure at the upper end of the eleva- tor shaft or separately in the elevator shaft or on some other appropriate mounting arrangement. The diverting pulleys in the lower part of the elevator shaft may be mounted in place on a frame structure formed by the guide rails 2 or to a beam

structure placed at the lower end of the elevator shaft or separately in the lower part of the elevator shaft or on some other appropriate mounting arrangement. The diverting pulleys on the elevator car may be mounted in place on the frame structure of the elevator car 1 or to a beam structure or beam structures in the elevator car or separately on the elevator car or some other appropriate mounting arrangement. The com- pensating device 15 as illustrated in Fig. 1, used as a rope elongation compensating assembly and functioning as a tension- ing sheave assembly, can also be advantageously placed to re- place diverting pulley 21 on the bottom of the shaft, which pulley is preferably secured in place to the floor of the shaft, or diverting pulley 14 in the upper part of the shaft, which pulley is preferably secured in place to the ceiling of the shaft if an even suspension ratio is used, in which case the compensating device is not mounted in conjunction with the elevator car. In this case, the number of diverting pulleys needed is smaller by one. In advantageous cases, this also allows easier and faster installation of the elevator.

In the embodiment example according to the invention, an ele- vator hoisting machine e. g. as presented in Fig. 2 is used.

The hoisting machine comprises at least a stator frame 26 se- cured to a guide rail 2 in the elevator shaft and an assembly consisting of a traction sheave 5 and a rotor frame 25, said rotor frame having preferably a substantially discoid shape and said rotor frame being mounted on bearings so as to be rotatable with respect to the stator frame 26. Secured to the stator frame 26 is a stiffener 22 bracing the stator frame, which stiffener, when mounted in the elevator shaft, is sub- stantially vertical and extends along the center line of the stator frame substantially over the entire stator frame. The stiffener 22 may form an integral part of the stator frame 26, i. e. it may be part of the same casting, or the stiffener may be a separate body secured to the stator frame. In Fig. 2, the stiffener 22 is a separate body with a number of supporting brackets 29 extending from its central part in different di-

rections, the outer end of each bracket being connected to the stator frame 26 by means of a fastening part 30. In addition, the stiffener 22 or the stator frame 26 comprises at least one brake 24 serving as the brake of the elevator. The brake 24 may simultaneously function as a mass body that has been ar- ranged to make the mass distribution and bending stiffness of the stator frame substantially unsymmetrical to suppress unde- sirable vibrations.

The lower part of the stiffener 22 stiffening and bracing the hoisting machine is close to the traction sheave 5, at a suit- able distance below the traction sheave a support 23 for a bearing, said support being preferably a cylindrical projec- tion extending from the stiffener 22 towards the hoisting ma- chine. The support 23 constitutes an axle for the auxiliary diverting pulley 7, which is mounted with a bearing on the support 23 below the traction sheave 5 so as to be freely ro- tatable. The auxiliary diverting pulley 7 makes it possible to use so-called Double Wrap suspension, which can be utilized to increase the contact angle on the traction sheave 5 and thereby the gripping force achieved via friction. In such Dou- ble Wrap suspension, the ropes 3 coming to the traction sheave run tangentially past the auxiliary diverting pulley 7 as ex- plained above.

3 presents a vertically sectioned hoisting machine 4 and Fig.

4 presents a vertically sectioned stiffener 22 partially inte- grated with the stator frame. In Fig. 3, the vertical section of the hoisting machine is not taken along a plane passing directly via the center line. Fig. 3 also shows the stator frame 26 secured to the stiffener 22. The traction sheave 5 is shown in a sectioned form and rotatably mounted on the bearing surface 27 of the support for the traction sheave bearing 31 on the stiffener 22, said support being preferably a cylindri- cal projection. The support for the traction sheave bearing 31 is integrated with the stiffener 22 and extends from the stiffener towards the hoisting machine, forming the axle of

the traction sheave 5. The auxiliary diverting pulley 7 below the traction sheave 5 is mounted with a bearing on a bearing surface 28 machined on the cylindrical support 23 permanently integrated with the stiffener 22, which bearing surface has been ready machined at the desired angle to the corresponding bearing surface 27 for the traction sheave 5, which bearing surface has likewise been integrated with and machined in the stiffener 22. In other words, both bearing surfaces have been ready machined at a desired angle to each other already during manufacture of the stiffener 22. Therefore, both the traction sheave 5 and the auxiliary diverting pulley 7 can be automati- cally mounted at the correct angle relative to each other dur- ing installation.

It is obvious to the person skilled in the art that the inven- tion is not limited to the example described above, but that it may be varied within the scope of the claims presented be- low. Thus, the invention is not necessarily limited even to Double Wrap type elevators, but the elevator suspension ar- rangement can be implemented in the same way even in Single Wrap type elevators in which the auxiliary diverting pulley is disposed in the same way as described above but the hoisting ropes are passed only once around the traction sheave, so the contact angle of the rope on the traction sheave is about 180°.

The auxiliary diverting pulley below the traction sheave is only used for"tangential contact"of the rope in the manner described above, in which case the auxiliary diverting pulley functions as a rope guide and a damping sheave suppressing vibrations. The hoisting ropes may also be passed crosswise by means of the auxiliary diverting pulley, in which case a con- tact angle larger than 180° on the traction sheave is obtained.

It is further obvious to the person skilled in the art that the place and method of suspension may differ from the above description. Instead of being mounted on a guide rail, the hoisting machine may be mounted on a supporting beam connect- ing the guide rails, or the hoisting machine may be mounted on

any part suited for use as a mounting point in the shaft, e. g. on a wall of the elevator shaft. Similarly, the structure and integration of the stiffener with the stator frame may differ from the above description. It is additionally obvious that the solution of the invention can as well be applied in eleva- tor solutions provided with a counterweight.