The present invention relates to a procedure for fixing the ceiling of an elevator car as defined in the pream¬ ble of claim 1. The invention also relates to a system as defined in the preamble of claim 6.

An elevator car generally comprises a raw car which is mounted on a car frame or built as a self-supporting structure, in which case it has to bear all the forces that are applied to the car during operation of the ele¬ vator. The inside of the raw car is covered with surface materials such as wall and ceiling panels and floor ma- terials. Part of the interior surfaces of the car is also formed by indicator and control panels, lighting fixtures and fillets. The interior surface materials are attached to the raw car by means of screws, snap joints, glue or tape or stick-on tape. Such fixing methods are all usable when the raw car has a smooth interior sur¬ face. In this case, the raw car walls are built of con¬ tinuous sheets or adjacent plates attached to each other by their edges, which are bent out toward the outer sur¬ face of the car.

When the raw car structure is such that the sheets form¬ ing the raw car walls and ceiling are bent in toward the interior of the car and attached to each other by these bent parts, the wall and ceiling panels have to be fixed to these bent edges of the sheets. The area for fixing the panels is relatively small, which is why in many cases only screws can be used to fix them. The bent edges of the raw car form laminae, to which the decora¬ tive panels are fixed. The spacing of the laminae (200...450 mm, spacing 10 mm) varies greatly from case to case due to the varying dimensions of elevator cars. Therefore, the way of mounting the car ceiling has been dependent on the spacing of the laminae. For this rea-

son, it has been necessary to make the mounting holes by measuring their positions on site. Drilling the holes in the correct positions is a job that requires great pre¬ cision, because the mounting surface on the laminae is very narrow. When the screw fixing method is used, the screws break the decorative panel . For decorative rea¬ sons, the customer often wants the ceiling mounted at a certain height regardless of the height of the raw car. By adjusting the height of the ceiling or parts of it, it is possible to achieve a car that gives the passen¬ gers a desired impression of the car dimensions, such as depth and width. This has required complicated outfits and extra mounting parts . The customer can be given the possibility of choosing between different ceiling solu- tions, e.g. a low car can be made to look higher by us¬ ing certain adjustment and illumination effects.

The object of the invention is to solve the above- mentioned problems of prior art and to achieve a new so- lution for mounting the ceiling of an elevator car. To implement this, the procedure of the invention for mounting the ceiling of an elevator car is characterized by what is presented in the characterization part of claim 1. The apparatus of the invention is characterized by the features of claim 6. Other preferred embodiments of the invention are characterized by the features pre¬ sented in the subclaims.

The solution of the invention allows height adjustment of the ceiling to be achieved in a simple manner when the car is being fitted with interior decoration. The ceiling can be mounted independently of the spacing be¬ tween the laminae of the raw car ceiling when snap-on type spring clips are used. This obviates the need to make holes in the raw car laminae. The dimensions, size or appearance of the ceiling are of no importance re¬ garding the fixing element of the invention or its use for mounting the ceiling. The fixing elements can be

easily placed at appropriate points as required by the ceiling panels. This solution also makes it unnecessary to use hinges, which have been used before to open the ceiling panels during maintenance and installation work.

The ceiling parts can be taken to the site of installa¬ tion as loose parts, so the transport packages do not take up much room. The ceiling type can be selected at a late stage of installation. Also, different architec- tural solutions both during first installation and af¬ terwards are easy to implement. In the present solution, the ceiling panel and the positions of its fixing points are completely independent of the layout of the mounting parts, which provides a high degree of freedom for vari- ous modifications. Thus the invention can be applied to all types of raw car having inwards bent laminae.

In the following, the invention is described in detail by the aid of some of its embodiments by referring to the attached drawings, in which

- Fig. la, lb and lc present a fixing element,

- Fig. 2 presents a raw car ceiling, and

- Fig. 3 shows how the ceiling is mounted on the raw car.

Fig. la shows a fixing element used in applications of the invention, comprising two end sections 4 and 6 and a bottom section 8 connecting them. The bottom section 8 is in a position perpendicular to the end sections 4 and 6, and each one of the end sections 4 and 6 has lateral parts 10 and 12 extending toward the other end section, the lateral parts being also perpendicular to both the bottom section 8 and the end sections 4 and 6. When mounted in place, the bottom section 8 lies parallel to the ceiling of the elevator car while the end and side

parts are parallel to the walls of the elevator car, provided that the car is of a rectangular design.

The fixing element 2 is preferably fabricated from a punched steel plate 2' (Fig. lc), which is bent into the form shown in Fig. 1 on the site of installation. To make the element easier to bend, thinner areas or elon¬ gated punched holes 14 are provided between the bottom section 8 and the end sections 4 and 6. Each end section consists of a number of links 16 placed one over the other (as seen in the mounting position shown in Fig. la) . Each link is made up of a main portion 18, which forms part of the end section 4 or 6, and a fixing part 20, which forms part of the lateral part 10 or 12. Adja- cent fixing parts 20 are separated from each other by a slot 22. Adjacent main portions 18 are separated by a separation surface 26, along which the fixing element can be disjointed e.g. by bending it by means of a sim¬ ple pair of pincers 24 (Fig. lb) . For this purpose, the separating surface 26 is provided with elongated die-cut grooves 28 or the steel plate is made thinner in this area. Punched along the vertical centre line of the end sections 4 and 6 are holes 30, through which fixing bolts 32 (Fig. la) for tightening the fixing element 2 in place are fitted. Punched in the middle of the fixing parts 20 are mounting slots 34 extending somewhat deeper than halfway through the fixing part 20. The mounting slots 34 of opposite fixing parts 20 bent towards each other are in alignment with each other and the laminae 44 of the raw car are fitted in the mounting slots 34 as illustrated by Fig. 2 and 3.

When the ceiling is to be mounted in the raw car 40, the end sections 4 and 6 of the fixing elements are somewhat diverged, i.e. spread from their vertical position as depicted with broken lines in Fig. 2. The top of the raw car is made up of sheets 42 placed side by side and hav¬ ing their edges bent at right angles. Adjacent sheets 42

are fixed together by their bent edges and these edges are further bent to form flanges parallel to the ceiling surface, to which flanges the laminae 44 are attached. To mount the ceiling, while in their slightly diverged position as stated above, the fixing elements 2 are brought onto the lamina 44 formed by two adjacent sheets 42 so that the lamina 44 and the mounting slots of the fixing element 2 are in alignment with each other. Prior to mounting, the height of the fixing element has been adjusted as required (Fig. lb) . After this, the fixing element 2 is brought to the exactly correct position in the longitudinal direction of the lamina 44 and pressed against the lamina and tightened in position by means of the bolt 32. The position of the fixing element is de- termined by the position of the slot 46 in the mounting profile of the decorative panel. Fitted to the holes 48 provided in the bottom part 8 of the fixing elements are connecting elements, which are implemented as spring clips 50 (Fig. la) . The decorative panels 52 are lifted into position so that the spring clips enter into the slots 46 in the mounting profiles of the panel. The slots of the mounting profiles are separately attached to the decorative panels or they are completely or par¬ tially integrated with the decorative panel structure. The slot of the mounting profile may also be formed by an H-section element attached to the ceiling panel.

The fixing elements 2 can be freely positioned anywhere along the lamina 44. Therefore, the width of the ceiling panels and the positions of the mounting slots may vary absolutely freely. Besides ceiling panels, the same method can be used to mount illuminators. The height ad¬ justment described above makes it possible to mount some of the ceiling panels at a level higher or lower than the rest. In this way, the degree of freedom in interior decoration of the car is increased.

The invention has been illustrated above by describing some of its embodiments. However, it is obvious to the person skilled in the art that the invention is not lim¬ ited to the examples presented in the foregoing, but that the embodiments of the invention may vary within the scope of the following claims.