D E S C R I P T I O N

Definitions

In this patent, the term "vertical facing" refers to an element with a width equal to the floor doors placed below the cabin threshold to prevent people from falling into the travel compartment in the event of an accidental off-floor stop.

Furthermore, the term "fan-folding" refers to objects or sets of elements which have or can take the shape and arrangement characteristic of an open fan, i.e., an object adapted to open and close on itself.

Field of application

The present invention is applicable to the field of lifting systems for things and people. In particular, it relates to a safety device adapted to prevent people from falling in the travel compartment of a lifting system.

Background art

Lifting systems generally comprise a cabin coupled to cables which, by means of an electric motor, allow it to move from one level of a construction to another. Such systems can be used for lifting people (lifts) or for lifting goods and objects (hoists) and are generally moved within a travel compartment.

In this context, the complexity and dangerousness of managing lifting systems has necessarily achieved particular care regarding the safety to be evaluated during the operation thereof, especially with reference to lifts in which the movement involves people. Since the first technological developments related to lifting systems, in fact, multiple methodologies have been studied for controlling speed and fall risk.

In particular, the present invention refers to the case in which the malfunction of a lift involves an "off-floor" stop, i.e., an accidental stop of the lifting system at a height which is different from the level of a floor of the construction/building, with the risk of falling within the travel compartment.

Usually, in the event of an accidental "off-floor" stop, the people trapped inside the lifting system try to free themselves by manually opening the cabin doors so that they can reach the nearest level. However, if the distance between the cabin and the nearest floor is considerable, there is a risk of falling within the travel compartment of the lifting system while trying to reach the floor itself due, for example, to insufficient momentum or due to a rotation of the body during the aerial step.

To overcome such a drawback, in the known lifting systems vertical facings are usually installed below the cabin threshold. They allow to extend the delimitation of the travel compartment below the lifting system so as to avoid or at least limit the risk of people falling.

However, the possibility of preparing this typically rigid vertical facing beneath the cabin is subject to the presence of a safety pit at the bottom of the travel compartment.

In fact, such a pit, used by technical staff to perform maintenance operations on the lifting system, comprises a space suitable to contain the vertical facing when the lift is positioned at the lowest level.

However, sometimes the features of constructions do not allow making a pit with dimensions such as to accommodate the vertical facing and, consequently, given the impossibility of installing the vertical facing, the aforementioned risks of falling arise again.

Such situations may arise, for example, in historic buildings where architectural constraints or building regulations do not allow excavation at depths such as to create an adequate pit.

Furthermore, it is also difficult to make a suitable pit in the case where objective impossibilities such as natural geological or structural constraints arise.

In addition, document ES 1075518 U is known, which describes a protection for lifts which is located at the bottom of the cabin to close the space created between the cabin itself and the flooring of the floor below, when the lift is stopped between two floors. However, such a protection comprises a mechanism which uses telescopic blades involving significant impacts with the bottom of the pit and, consequently, a high risk of incurring damage to the protection itself.

Presentation of the invention

The object of the present invention is to provide a safety device which allows to at least partially overcome the drawbacks highlighted above. In particular, an object of the present invention is to provide a safety device adapted to eliminate, or at least limit, the risk of falling within the travel compartment of a lifting system.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a safety device adapted to extend the delimitation of the travel compartment below the cabin of a lifting system.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a safety device suitable for use also in the event that the pit comprised in the travel compartment of the lifting system is limited in size.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a safety device which can be coupled to the cabins of any lifting system.

Said objects, as well as others which will become clearer in the following description, are achieved by a safety device of a lifting system according to the claims which follow, which are to be considered an integral part of the present patent.

In particular, it comprises at least one support structure and at least one covering stably coupled to the support structure itself.

According to an aspect of the invention, the support structure is fan-foldable and can be stably coupled to the lifting system typically, but not necessarily, below the threshold of a cabin.

According to another aspect of the invention, the covering is shaped to make a vertical facing when the support structure is fan-folded open.

In other words, the safety device of the invention comprises at least one structure and at least one covering which, by fan-folding open, allows to make a vertical facing which can be coupled to a lifting system.

Advantageously, making a vertical facing allows to limit, and possibly eliminate, the risk of falling within the travel compartment of the lifting system.

In fact, the safety device can be coupled below the cabin threshold to extend, still advantageously, the delimitation of the travel compartment of the lifting system.

Still advantageously, the opening and closing of the support structure, and consequently of the covering, in a fan-folding manner allows the use of the safety device of the invention even if the pit has reduced dimensions.

Still advantageously, the safety device of the invention can be coupled to any lifting system allowing, therefore, to increase the safety even of previously installed lifts and/or hoists.

From what has been said, it is evident that the objects described are also achieved by a lifting system comprising at least one cabin, at least one lifting assembly and a safety device as reported above and coupled to the lifting system itself.

Brief description of the drawings

Further features and advantages of the invention will become more evident in light of the detailed description of a preferred but non-exclusive embodiment of a safety device according to the invention, illustrated by way of non-limiting example with the aid of the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 depicts the safety device according to the invention;

FIGS. 2 to 4 depict some details of the safety device of FIG. 1 .

Detailed description of some preferred embodiments

With reference to the above-mentioned drawings, and in particular fig. 1 , a safety device 1 of a lifting system according to the invention is described.

In particular, it comprises a support structure 3 and a covering 4 stably coupled to the support structure 3 itself. Obviously, the number of support structures and coverings should not be considered limiting for embodiments of the invention.

According to an aspect of the invention, the support structure 3 can fan-fold open, as can also be seen in the detail of FIG. 2, and can be permanently coupled to a lifting system. Typically, but not necessarily, such coupling between the support structure 3 and the lifting system occurs by positioning the safety device 1 below the cabin near the access threshold to the floor.

According to the embodiment of the invention which is described, such a support structure 3 comprises a plurality of support elements 6 operatively coupled to each other and arranged so as to be fan-folded open. Flowever, the manufacture of the support structure is a feature which must not be understood in a limiting sense for different variants of the invention. According to another aspect of the embodiment of the invention which is described, the support structure 3 also comprises a first support element 8 shaped to accompany the fan-folded closure of the structure 3 itself when the safety device 1 comes into contact with an obstacle present in the travel compartment of the lifting system.

In other words, the first support element 8 guides the fan-folded closure of the support structure 3 when it contacts an obstacle such as, for example, the bottom of the pit of the travel compartment or a barrier specifically positioned therein.

As regards the covering 4, as can also be seen in the detail of fig. 4, it is shaped to make a vertical facing when the support structure 3 is fan-folded open.

Furthermore, according to the embodiment of the invention which is described, the covering 4 is flexible. Obviously, such an aspect must not be considered limiting for different embodiments of the invention, where, for example, the covering comprises a plurality of rigid panels fan-folding open.

On closer inspection, the safety device 1 of the invention advantageously allows to create a vertical facing, which can be coupled below the cabin of a lifting system, such as to allow the travel compartment to be delimited, limiting, if not eliminating, the risk of falling therein.

Still advantageously, the safety device 1 of the invention is adapted to be coupled with any lifting system.

Still advantageously, the fan-folding of the support structure 3 allows the safety device 1 to be closed again so as to have a footprint such as to allow it to be contained inside the pit even if it is limited in size.

According to what has been said, the safety device 1 of the invention reduces the risk of falling within the travel compartment of lifting systems, similar to what occurs using the vertical facings present in the prior art. However, still advantageously, the safety device 1 can be fan-folded closed so as to be adapted to be used even in the presence of limited spaces which would not allow the use of known equivalent facings.

According to the embodiment of the invention which is described, the safety device 1 also comprises a sliding system 12, as can also be seen in the detail of fig. 3, to facilitate the fan-folding closure of the support structure 3 and the covering 4.

Advantageously, the presence of the sliding system 12 allows, both during closing and opening, to facilitate the movement of the support structure 3 by eliminating, or at least limiting, the scraping risk of the support structure 3 against, for example, the bottom of the pit.

In addition, as a result of these scrapes, the safety device 1 is likely to deteriorate rapidly. Furthermore, again due to the rubbing of the safety device 1 against the bottom of the pit, sounds are generated which, due to the shape of the travel compartment of the lifting system, are very annoying inside the cabin.

Still advantageously, eliminating the risk of scraping, the sliding system 12 avoids the occurrence of such inconveniences.

According to the embodiment of the invention which is described, the sliding system 12 comprises a first wheel 13 typically, but not necessarily, coupled to an end 16 of the first support element 8.

Advantageously, the first wheel 13 allows to slide the support structure 3 without running the risk that the support elements 6 scratch the bottom of the pit.

Obviously, such an aspect must not be considered limiting for different embodiments of the invention where, for example, the first wheel is coupled in a different portion of the first support element or to a different support element.

Furthermore, according to the embodiment of the invention which is described, the safety device 1 comprises additional wheels 20 which, advantageously, allow to further facilitate the sliding of the support structure, consequently facilitating the opening and closing thereof.

Obviously, such an aspect must not be considered limiting for different embodiments of the invention where, for example, the additional wheels are not present.

In addition, according to an embodiment of the invention not shown in the figures, the safety device includes the installation of a damper typically, but not necessarily, a plate operatively coupled to a spring arranged on the bottom of the travel compartment.

Advantageously, the presence of the damper allows to attenuate the contact between the support structure, and in particular with the first support element, to dampen the mutual contact so as to further reduce the production of annoying noises or scrapes, all independently of the presence or not of wheels coupled to the support structure.

Obviously, such an aspect must not be considered limiting for different embodiments of the invention where, for example, the damper is coupled to the support structure, in particular to the first support element.

According to an embodiment of the invention not shown in the figures, the safety device also comprises a control group of the fan-folding closure of the support structure.

Advantageously, the control group allows to automate the opening and closing of the support structure by, for example, using a photocell comprised in the control group itself.

Operationally, when the safety device 1 is coupled to a lifting system, the support structure 3 and the covering 4 integrally fan-fold open so as to make a vertical facing below the cabin threshold to delimit the travel compartment and prevent the fall of people or objects therein.

If the safety device 1 is coupled to lifting systems which have a pit of reduced size, during the closing step the support structure 3 comes into contact with an obstacle, for example the bottom of the pit, which, as a result of the cabin lowering, imparts the fan-folding closure on the covering 4 and on the support structure 3.

Advantageously, the fan-folding opening and closing mechanism allow the safety device 1 of the invention to be used with any lifting system regardless of the size of the pit.

Still advantageously, making a vertical facing to protect the travel compartment of the lifting system allows to eliminate, or at least limit, the risk of falling inside the pit itself.

From the above, it is evident that the object of the invention is also a lifting system comprising a cabin, a lifting assembly and a safety device 1 , coupled to the cabin of the lifting system, as indicated above.

A complete description of the lifting system of the invention is omitted here, since it would replicate what is already written about the same during the description of the safety device 1. What is observed is that it achieves all the aforementioned advantages.

In light of the foregoing, it is understood that the safety device of the invention achieves all the intended objects.

In particular, it allows to delimit the travel compartment of the lifting system, limiting, or even eliminating, the risk of falling therein.

Furthermore, the safety device of the invention is adapted to be used even if the pit comprised in the travel compartment of the lifting system is limited in size.

Finally, the safety device of the invention can be coupled to any lifting system.

The invention might be subject to many changes and variants, which are all included in the appended claims. Moreover, all the details and steps may furthermore be replaced by other technically equivalent elements, and the materials may be different depending on needs, without departing from the protection scope of the invention defined by the appended claims.