ROTARY ELEVATOR OBSERVATION TOWER

• US 3,633,904 A
• Filed: 01/13/1970
• Issued: 01/11/1972
• Est. Priority Date: 01/13/1970
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Masayoshi Kojima
• Original Assignee: Masayoshi Kojima
• Inventors: Kojima, Masayoshi
• Primary Examiner(s): Pinkham, Richard C.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Stouffer, R. T.
• Application Number:
  US05/002,557
• Time in Patent Office: 728 Days
• Field of Search: 272/6,7,16,17,42,43,46,48,50,51 182/141,148 187/12 104/53,56,57 52/31,65,116
• US Class Current: 472/2
• CPC Class Codes: A63G 31/02 with moving substructures
• CPC Class Codes: B66B 9/00 Kinds or types of lifts in, or associated with, buildings or other structures characterised by control systems B66B1/00; apparatus for raising or lowering persons on stages of theatres A63J5/12

Abstract

A rotary elevator observation tower. A tower body has an elevator body mounted on the outside thereof for vertical movement on the tower body. An annular observation room is mounted on the elevator body and rotatable therearound at an inclination to the horizon. An annular platform is provided at the bottom of the tower which is also inclined at the same angle, and surrounds the observation room when the observation room is at its lowest position.

Claims

1. In a passenger-carrying combined elevator and rotary observation enclosure having passenger ingress and egress means and mounted on a vertical centrally disposed tower, the improvement comprising an annular-shaped observation enclosure with means for rotatably mountIng said enclosure at a fixed nonvariable predetermined inclined angle relative to the horizon upon an elevatable but nonrotatable elevator body disposed concentrically within said annular enclosure;

means mounting said elevator body concentrically and coaxially around said central support tower;

means for selectively elevating and lowering said elevator body and the attached observation enclosure; and

cooperative means on said elevator body and said enclosure for selectively revolvably rotating said enclosure around said elevator body and tower at said fixed inclined angle and independent of said means for elevating and lowering said elevator body.

2. The combined elevator and rotary observation enclosure as defined in claim 1 further comprising a boarding and disembarking platform at the base of said tower and having a common ingress and egress surface of substantially fully angular configuration, said surface being inclined relative to the horizon at the identical angle as that of said observation enclosure;

said surface being located so as to be closely adjacent the outer periphery of said observation enclosure and at a predetermined level relative thereto to facilitate safe passenger ingress and egress when said enclosure is in a stopped and fully lowered condition and irrespective of the stopped state of revolution thereof.

3. The combined elevator and rotary observation enclosure as defined in claim 2 wherein said observation enclosure is of generally doughnut shape and has an equatorial division line through its major annular dimension constituting a generally medial orientation plane by which said observation enclosure is inclinedly oriented, and further having a generally upright central axis normal to and centrally intersecting said inclined orientation plane, said upright axis being inclined relative to the center vertical axis of said support tower;

said equatorial division line serving to further define said enclosure into lower and upper portions, the upper portion of which comprises transparent viewing panels or sections, at least some of which are selectively openable and closeable to permit said ingress and egress relative to said platform surface and observation enclosure.

4. The combined elevator and rotary observation enclosure as defined in claim 2 wherein said enclosure is divided into passenger compartments and provided with seating means.

5. The combination as defined in claim 2 wherein the means for nonrotatably mounting said elevator body include fixed vertical guide rails on at least two circumferentially spaced portions of said tower'"'"''"'"'s outer periphery, and antifriction means on said elevator body complementally coacting with said rail means.

6. The combination as defined in claim 2 wherein said support tower has a hollow central portion and said means for elevating and lowering said elevator body and its rotatably attached observation enclosure comprises a primary and secondary power source of which means are provided for selectively connecting said secondary source into the system only in emergency conditions in the event of a failure of said primary power source, a power drive train connected with a main drive pulley means, a plurality of drive cables operably connected at one end with said elevator body and extended up the center of said tower and trained over a support pulley means mounted in the upper end of said tower and then connected at their other cable ends to counterweight means having suitable guide means within said tower for vertically guiding said counterweight means.

7. The combination as defined in claim 2 wherein said means for rotatably mounting said observation enclosure on said elevator body comprise frame means on said elevator body defining an annular pathway disposed at the predetermined angle of inclination of said observation enclosure, said annular pathway having a radially upright circumferential surface and lower and upper planar surface means;

a complementary annular framework for complemental dispositiOn within said pathway and having a plurality of outwardly radial extending connecting arms connected to the inner periphery of said annular enclosure;

fixed annular rail means and complementally engaging antifriction rollers operatively mounted on said pathway surfaces and on said complementary annular framework to facilitate relative rotation of said enclosure and elevator body;

an annular ring gear fixedly mounted on said complementary annular framework and a separate drive motor and drive train means including a drive gear disposed to peripherally engage with and rotate said annular ring gear to impart revolving rotation to said observation enclosure.

8. The combination as defined in claim 7 further including means for conducting electrical power into said enclosure including annular electric power supplying sliprings and sliding electrodes cooperably mounted on said elevator body framework and on said complementary annular framework rotatable within said annular pathway of said elevator body.