US3598202A — Elevator door control

Claim 1

Independent Claim 99 words

A transportation system including a structure having a hatchway with a plurality of landings, a vehicle having door means and mounted for movement in the hatchway relative to the structure to serve the landings, a control system for controlling the operation of the vehicle including the vehicle door means, sensor means for one of said landings operative from a first to a second condition in response to predetermined environmental conditions at the associated landing and modifying means operative in response to the operation of said sensor means to the second condition to modify the operation of the control system.

Claim 2

Dependent Claim 99 words

A transportation system including a structure having a hatchway with a plurality of landings, a vehicle having door means and mounted for movement in the hatchway relative to the structure to serve the landings, a control system for controlling the operation of the vehicle including the vehicle door means, sensor means for one of said landings operative from a first to a second condition in response to predetermined environmental conditions at the associated landing and modifying means operative in response to the operation of said sensor means to the second condition to modify the operation of the control system.

Claim 3

Dependent Claim 27 words

The system of claim 1 wherein the predetermined environmental conditions include the condition that the ambient air temperature at the associated landing is above a predetermined value.

Claim 4

Dependent Claim 93 words

The system of claim 1 including hatch door means for each of a plurality of landings to be served by the vehicle, wherein sensor means are provided for each of a plurality of said landings, wherein said control system includes master door operator means for applying an operating force to the hatch doors to open and close said hatch doors, and wherein said modifying means renders the master door operator means ineffective to apply an operating force to the hatch door means when one of the sensor means is in the second condition.

Claim 5

Dependent Claim 71 words

The system of claim 1 wherein the vehicle has an entranceway and wherein the control system includes means for establishing a beam of radiant energy across the entranceway and delay means responsive to interruptions in the transmission of the beam across the entranceway for delaying operation of the control system, said modifying means being operative to disable the delay means when one of the sensors is operated to the second condition.

Claim 6

Dependent Claim 86 words

The system of claim 3 wherein the master door operator includes master door drive means mounted on the vehicle and coupling means coupling the master door drive means to the hatch door means at the landing substantially adjacent the position of the vehicle, said modifying means being operative to render the coupling means ineffective to couple the master door drive means to the hatch door means at the landing substantially adjacent the position of the vehicle when the associated sensor means is in said second condition.

Claim 7

Dependent Claim 41 words

The system of claim 5 wherein the predetermined environmental conditions under which a sensor means is operated to the second condition include the condition that the temperature on the landing side of the associated hatch door means exceeds a predetermined value.

Claim 8

Dependent Claim 91 words

The system of claim 5 wherein the coupling means includes a vehicle-mounted master-coupling member connected to the master drive means and hatch door coupling means associated with a plurality of said hatch door means, said master coupling member assuming a coupling relationship with the hatch door means at a landing as the vehicle approaches that landing, said modifying means being operative to prevent the hatch door coupling means at a landing from assuming said coupling relationship with the master coupling member when the associated sensor means is in the second condition.

Claim 9

Dependent Claim 102 words

The system of claim 7 wherein the modifying means associated with each hatch door means comprises an actuator and biasing means operative to bias said actuator to an actuated condition, said actuator being restrained by the associated sensor means to an unactuated condition when said sensor is in its first condition, said restraint being removed when the sensor is operated to its second condition, whereby the actuator will be operated to the actuated condition by the biasing means to prevent the hatch door-coupling means from assuming a coupling relationship with the master-coupling member when said sensor is operated to the second condition.

Claim 10

Dependent Claim 100 words

The system of claim 8 including locking means for each of a plurality of said hatch door means for locking the associated door means in the closed position when engaged, said locking means being disengaged upon initial movement of the hatch door-coupling means by the master-coupling means whereby the hatch door at the landing adjacent the position of the vehicle is unlocked by the initial movement of the master drive means when the sensor means at the associated landing is in the first condition and remains locked when the sensor means at the associated landing is in the second condition.

Claim 11

Dependent Claim 50 words

The system of claim 9 including means by which a passenger in the vehicle can initiate movement of the hatch door coupling means to disengage the locking means associated with the hatch door means adjacent the position of the vehicle when the associated detector means is in the second condition.

Claim 12

Dependent Claim 110 words

The system of claim 7 wherein the vehicle has an entrance way and including vehicle door means for closing and exposing said entrance way, said vehicle door means on which said master-coupling member is mounted being connected to and operated by the master door drive means, whereby the hatch door means at the landing adjacent the position of the vehicle will be opened simultaneously with the vehicle door when the associated sensor means is in the first condition and whereby the hatch door means at the landing adjacent the position of the vehicle remains closed while the vehicle doors open when the associated sensor means is in the second condition.

Claim 13

Dependent Claim 134 words

A transportation system including a structure having a hatchway with doorways at a plurality of landings, a vehicle mounted for movement in the hatchway relative to the structure to serve the landings, hatch door means at a plurality of said landings for closing and exposing the associated doorway, master drive means mounted on said vehicle for operating the hatch door means, coupler means for coupling the master drive means on the vehicle to the hatch door means at the landing adjacent the position of the vehicle and detector means operative under predetermined conditions to render the coupler means ineffective to couple the hatch door means at the landing adjacent to the position of the vehicle to the master drive means whereby the associated hatch doors remain closed when the master drive means is operated.

Claim 14

Dependent Claim 134 words

A transportation system including a structure having a hatchway with doorways at a plurality of landings, a vehicle mounted for movement in the hatchway relative to the structure to serve the landings, hatch door means at a plurality of said landings for closing and exposing the associated doorway, master drive means mounted on said vehicle for operating the hatch door means, coupler means for coupling the master drive means on the vehicle to the hatch door means at the landing adjacent the position of the vehicle and detector means operative under predetermined conditions to render the coupler means ineffective to couple the hatch door means at the landing adjacent to the position of the vehicle to the master drive means whereby the associated hatch doors remain closed when the master drive means is operated.

Claim 15

Dependent Claim 75 words

The system of claim 12 wherein separate detector means at each of a plurality of said landings are responsive to the temperature on the landing side of the associated hatch door means, and wherein the individual detector means are operative to render the coupler means ineffective to couple the associated hatch door means to the master drive means when the temperature on the landing side of the associated hatch door means exceeds a predetermined value.

Claim 16

Dependent Claim 98 words

The system of claim 13 wherein each detector is comprised of an operating mechanism biased to an operated condition and a temperature responsive sensor conneCted to said operating means, said sensor being effective to retain the operating mechanism in an unoperated condition so long as the temperature at the associated landing remains below said predetermined value, said sensor being ineffective to hold the operating mechanism in the unoperated condition when the temperature exceeds the predetermined value, whereby said operating mechanism will be operated to said operated condition when the temperature at the associated landing exceeds said predetermined value.

Claim 17

Dependent Claim 61 words

The system of claim 14 wherein said operating mechanism comprises a housing having an aperture therethrough, a plunger inserted in said aperture and movable relative to the housing between a seated position and an extended position, and biasing means operative to bias said plunger toward the extended position, said operating mechanism being in the operated condition when the plunger is extended.

Claim 18

Dependent Claim 69 words

The system of claim 15 wherein said sensor comprises a heat deformable retainer connected to the plunger of the operating mechanism, said retainer being effective to retain the plunger in the seated position against the force exerted by the biasing means at normal ambient temperatures and being ineffective to prevent the biasing means from operating the plunger to the extended position when the ambient temperature reaches the predetermined value.

Claim 19

Dependent Claim 133 words

The system of claim 16 wherein the sensor comprises a housing having a receptacle therein rigidly attached to the associated hatch door means, a plug inserted in said receptacle and a connector fixedly attached to the plunger of the operating mechanism, said plug being composed of a material having structural rigidity at normal ambient air temperatures and being deformable when the ambient air temperature rises above a predetermined value, whereby the plunger is held in the seated position through the rigid retention of the connector by the plug at normal ambient air temperatures and whereby the plunger is operated to the extended position through movement of the connector relative to the housing as the plug is deformed under the force exerted by the biasing means when the temperature rises above said predetermined value.

Claim 20

Dependent Claim 46 words

The system of claim 17 wherein said housing is mounted with the receptacle in the face of the landing side of the associated hatch door means so that the plug is responsive to the ambient temperature on the landing side of the associated hatch door means.

Annuity Stage	Window Opens	Payment Deadline	Surcharge Period Until	Estimated Fee	Status
3.5 Years (Year 4)	1974-08-09	1975-02-08	1975-08-10	$2000.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8)	1978-08-09	1979-02-08	1979-08-10	$3760.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12)	1982-08-09	1983-02-08	1983-08-10	$7700.00	Window Closed / Lapsed

Elevator door control

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