The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
May. 12, 1998
Filed:
Oct. 31, 1995
Clement A Skalski, Avon, CT (US);
Otis Elevator Company, Farmington, CT (US);
Abstract
A contactless slide guide or magnetic bearing for guiding an elevator vertically along a hoistway rail has one or more electromagnet actuators spring-mounted within a yoke attached to the elevator car at a corner thereof. The positioning of the electromagnets within the yoke is such that they are positioned extremely close to the surface of the rail so as to form a magnetic bearing having a gap of just a few millimeters, and which is controlled in a position feedback control loop to keep the gap constant. The contactless slide guide may be used for low-rise buildings with a rigid connection between the yoke and the elevator, or may be used in conjunction with an active suspension system more typically used in mid- to high-rise buildings. The active suspension system may be used, for example, in conjunction with a pendulum car suspended within the elevator frame to which contactless slide guides are attached at the top and bottom. The active suspension is controlled with a feedback control system that is completely separate from the position control loops used to control the individual contactless slide guides.