Termination for flat flexible tension member

• US 6,353,979 B1
• Filed: 01/19/2000
• Issued: 03/12/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 01/19/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Otis Elevator Company (Otis Worldwide Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Otis Elevator Company (Otis Worldwide Corp.)
• Inventors: Traktovenko, Boris
• Primary Examiner(s): Knight, Anthony
• Assistant Examiner(s): Rodriguez, Ruth C.
• Application Number:
  US09/487,447
• Time in Patent Office: 783 Days
• Field of Search: 241/15.M, 241/35.A, 241/35.R, 241/36.K, 241/36.L, 241/36.R, 187/264, 187/20, 187/22, 187/23, 187/26, 187/254, 187/266, 187/349, 187/350, 187/351, 187/373, 187/404, 187/411, 187/412, 187/414, 254/335, 254/400, 403/16, 403/210, 403/211, 403/213, 403/314, 403/374.1, 188/188
• US Class Current: 24/136.00R
• CPC Class Codes: B66B 7/085 Belt termination devices
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 24/3969 Sliding part or wedge

Abstract

Several embodiments of terminations for flat flexible tension members include wedge type terminations, pinching terminations, and frictional terminations and combinations of the above.

Claims

1. A termination device for a tension member suspending an elevator car, said device comprising:

a socket having a load side friction surface, the load side friction surface being oriented generally orthogonally relative to an opening of the socket through which suspending the elevator car can extend; and

a wedge receivable in said socket with the tension member threaded between the wedge and the socket, said wedge providing compressive and frictional force to the tension member threaded therethrough.

2. The termination device for an elevator car tension member as claimed in claim 1 wherein said socket routes the tension member around said wedge and back into contact with said tension member to provide a compressive force on a portion of said tension member.

3. The termination device for an elevator car tension member as claimed in claim 1 wherein the load side friction surface is oriented at an angle of about 90 degrees from a vertical reference direction of loading the tension member.

4. The termination device for an elevator car tension member as claimed in claim 1 wherein said wedge further includes a through hole to pry said wedge out of said socket during disassembly of said termination device.

5. The termination device according to claim 1, wherein the socket further comprises a region shaped to redirect the tension member from a vertical orientation into engagement with the load side friction surface.

6. The termination device for an elevator car tension member as claimed in claim 1 wherein said socket includes a dead hitch connector positioned in a centered relationship to a load to be placed in the tension member.

7. The termination device according to claim 6, wherein the dead hitch connector is aligned with a length of the tension member suspending the elevator car, and the load side friction surface projects at an angle relative to the length of the tension member.

8. A termination device, for a tension member which extends in a longitudinal direction and by which an elevator car is engaged for movement in the longitudinal direction, the termination device comprising:

a body having surfaces that define a space for receiving the tension member, wherein the space is elongated in a direction generally orthogonal to the longitudinal direction in which the elevator car is moved, such that retention forces are applied in the generally orthogonal direction to the tension member.

9. The termination device according to claim 8, further including a wedge adapted to be received within the space with the tension member wrapped around the wedge, so that tension in the tension member urges the wedge into the body.

10. The termination device according to claim 8, wherein the body further comprises a region shaped to redirect the tension member from the longitudinal direction into the space.

11. A reduced vertical clearance termination device for a tension member, wherein an elevator car is suspended for motion in a generally vertical direction by a length of the tension member, the termination device comprising:

a socket having two surfaces tapered relative to one another, each of the two surfaces being angled relative to the length of the tension member by which the elevator car is suspended, reducing a vertical dimension of the socket; and

a wedge configured to fit between the two surfaces of the socket with the tension member wrapped around the wedge, so that tension in the length of the tension member draws the wedge into the socket with the tension member trapped between the wedge and at least one of the two surfaces of the socket.

12. The termination device according to claim 11, wherein the socket further comprises a dead hitch connector that is located over an axis of the length of the tension member.

13. The termination device according to claim 11, wherein the socket further comprises a region shaped to redirect the tension member from a generally vertical orientation into engagement with a first of the two surfaces of the socket.

14. The termination device according to claim 13, wherein, when the tension member is wrapped around the wedge and the tension in the tension member draws the wedge into the socket, the one of the two surfaces of the socket is the first of the two surfaces of the socket.