Patents by Inventor Hans Kocher

Hans Kocher has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Publication number: 20080149426
    Abstract: An elevator includes at least two elevator cars which are disposed one above the other and vertically movable in a shaft independently of one another and which each have an associated drive with at least one motor and at least one drive pulley, an associated counterweight and at least one associated tension device. One of the drives is fixed to a first shaft wall and the other drive is fixed to an opposite second shaft wall. The drives can be passed by the elevator cars, wherein the drives are arranged vertically above the associated drive pulleys.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 21, 2007
    Publication date: June 26, 2008
    Inventor: Hans Kocher
  • Publication number: 20080142310
    Abstract: An elevator system has a lower elevator car, an upper elevator car and a common counterweight in an elevator shaft. A support device has a first support strand and a second support strand. Each of the elevator cars is connected with the two support strands. In addition, a drive for driving the elevator cars is arranged in the elevator shaft. The drive includes four drive pulleys, wherein a first drive pulley and a second drive pulley are associated with the first support strand and the third drive pulley and the fourth drive pulley are associated with the second support strand.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 14, 2007
    Publication date: June 19, 2008
    Inventor: Hans Kocher
  • Publication number: 20080142308
    Abstract: An elevator system has a lower elevator car, an upper elevator car and a counterweight. A first drive drives the lower elevator car and a second drive drives the upper elevator car. Two parallelly extending guide rails lying in the region of a vertical center plane guide the elevator cars. A support device for the elevator cars and the counterweight comprises two separate support strands. The lower elevator car is fixed at two substantially diagonally opposite points of a horizontal plane each at a respective end of one of the support strands. The upper elevator car is similarly fixed at two substantially diagonally opposite points of a horizontal plane each at an end of one of the support strands, wherein the two diagonals intersect.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 14, 2007
    Publication date: June 19, 2008
    Inventor: Hans Kocher
  • Publication number: 20080135345
    Abstract: An elevator installation includes a guide rail and brake equipment for guiding, holding and braking the elevator installation. The brake equipment has a brake lining which co-operates with a brake surface, advantageously with the brake surface of the guide rail, for the purpose of the braking and holding. The brake surface has at least one longitudinal wedge groove or wedge elevation which is oriented in the braking direction and on which the brake lining acts in case of need. An amplification of the braking force is achieved by the longitudinal wedge groove or wedge elevation.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 28, 2007
    Publication date: June 12, 2008
    Inventors: Hans Kocher, Josef A. Muff
  • Publication number: 20080078626
    Abstract: In an elevator system that has an elevator hoistway, a plurality of hoistway doors arranged above each other each with at least one horizontally moveable hoistway door panel, and an elevator car with a car door that has at least one horizontally movable car door panel, fastened to the car door panel is a vertically extending barrier rail. In each of the areas lying in the vertical direction between the hoistway door panels of adjacent hoistway doors two locationally fixed stopping dogs that are vertically spaced from each other are arranged so that in each case one of the stopping dogs limits the opening movement of the barrier rail, and thereby of the car door panel, when the position of the elevator car deviates in the upward direction or in the downward direction by a certain minimum distance from the intended stopping position.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 28, 2007
    Publication date: April 3, 2008
    Inventor: Hans Kocher
  • Publication number: 20080067014
    Abstract: An elevator installation with at least one upper elevator car and at least one lower elevator car includes a first electromechanical switching mechanism mounted on the upper car and having a weight fastened at a downwardly extending elongate run, the run being held in a travel setting by the weight force, and a second electromechanical switching mechanism mounted on the lower car vertically below the weight. In the case of undesired approach of the two elevator cars, the weight impinges on the second electromechanical switching mechanism and thereby opens a safety circuit of the lower elevator car. The safety circuit of the upper elevator car is also opened by a diminishing of the weight force.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 7, 2007
    Publication date: March 20, 2008
    Inventors: Hans Kocher, Georges Gisler
  • Publication number: 20080023271
    Abstract: A method of modernizing an elevator installation that comprises a first elevator car movable in a shaft by a first drive includes installing at least one second drive without changing the first drive. In addition, at least one second elevator car is installed in the shaft and connected with the second drive. Moreover, a control unit is installed or configured in such a manner that it controls the first drive and the second drive.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 25, 2007
    Publication date: January 31, 2008
    Inventors: Hans Kocher, Miroslav Kostka
  • Publication number: 20080006485
    Abstract: An elevator installation and a method of operating the elevator installation with a shaft, in which at least a first elevator car and second elevator car are separately movable upwardly and downwardly for serving destination calls includes a control device, which determines a suitable one of the elevator cars for serving the destination calls. The first elevator car is moved either synchronously in time with the second elevator car, or displaced in time relative to the second elevator car, in dependence on at least one operating parameter, but still within the time duration of a journey of the second elevator car.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 19, 2007
    Publication date: January 10, 2008
    Inventors: Hans Kocher, Miroslav Kostka
  • Publication number: 20070272500
    Abstract: An elevator installation has an elevator car that moves in a vertical direction along guide tracks and is braked or held at standstill by a braking equipment. The braking equipment includes at least two brake units, at least one of the brake units, but preferably each of the brake units, is provided with a wear-compensating device which, when the brake unit is opened or released, sets a clearance distance between a brake lining and an associated brake surface, which clearance arises on opening of the brake unit, in correspondence with a substantially constant value. Thereby, use may be made of customary and thus economic brake materials which may wear during braking.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 29, 2007
    Publication date: November 29, 2007
    Inventors: Nicolas Gremaud, Hans Kocher, Josef Muff
  • Publication number: 20070272494
    Abstract: The invention is an elevator comprising a movable component, a vertical track mounted along an elevator shaft, a driven frictional engagement device for frictional engagement with one side of the track with a coefficient of friction, and a connected support disposed on an opposite side of the track. The frictional engagement device is pivotally mounted on a lever which pivotally supports an effective weight of the movable component whereby the lever makes an angle ?1 with the horizontal. The tangent of the angle ?1 is less than or equal to the coefficient of friction.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 23, 2007
    Publication date: November 29, 2007
    Inventor: HANS KOCHER
  • Publication number: 20070199770
    Abstract: An elevator installation has an elevator car and a permanent magnet linear drive system with a stationary part and a movable part, which moves along the stationary part when the permanent magnet linear drive system is controlled in a drive mode. The elevator car is arranged in a rucksack configuration. The stationary part has two inclined interaction surfaces which include an angle between 0° and 180°. The movable part comprises two units which are so arranged in common on a rear side of the elevator car and mechanically positively connected with the elevator car that in the case of drive control each of the two units produces a movement along one of the interaction surfaces in order to thus move the elevator car.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 8, 2007
    Publication date: August 30, 2007
    Inventor: Hans Kocher
  • Publication number: 20060180406
    Abstract: An elevator installation has braking equipment for braking and holding an elevator car which moves in vertical direction within guide tracks or rails. The braking equipment consists of at least two brake units each comprising a normal force regulation device that sets a normal force (FN) in correspondence with a normal force value determined by a brake control unit and/or a locking device that locks the brake unit in a set braking position and which preferably maintains the set braking position in the case of an interrupted energy supply. The braking equipment provides a gentle braking or holding of the elevator car, which corresponds with the operational state of the elevator installation, with a low energy requirement.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 16, 2005
    Publication date: August 17, 2006
    Inventors: Nicolas Gremaud, Steffen Grundmann, Hans Kocher
  • Patent number: 6273216
    Abstract: An emergency release device for an elevator for persons that includes manually operable drive elements, by which the elevator cage can be moved by way of the elevator drive. The device further includes operating elements by which an operative connection with the elevator drive can be produced and the brake at the elevator drive released. A crank device, a flexible shaft and a switchable crown wheel gear transmission are present as drive elements. The switching or coupling in of the crown wheel gear transmission takes place via a handle with a toggle joint mechanism, a cable pull and an engaging fork. A handle for a remotely actuable brake release by way of a cable pull is present at the crank device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 28, 1999
    Date of Patent: August 14, 2001
    Assignee: Inventio AG
    Inventors: Hans Kocher, Dietrich Wegener