Abstract: An elevator car having a clutch pivotally carried by a car door and biased to an operative position in which drive rollers of an adjacent hatch door may be engaged by "open" and "close" vanes. A first parallelogram linkage operates the close vane in direct response to car door position, in a direction opposite to initial car door opening movement. A second parallelogram linkage, associated with the open vane, is operated when the open vane contacts a hatch door roller at the start of door opening, to unlock the car door by retracting a plunger from an opening in the car door sill. The car door clutch bias may be manually overcome by authorized maintenance personnel, to disengage the car door from a hatch door.

Abstract: An elevator car having a clutch carried by a car door for engaging drive rollers of an adjacent hatch door via "open" and "close" vanes of the clutch. A door operator mounted on the car includes a door drive arm which is linked to the car door via a door crank arm. A door lock carried by the door clutch prevents normal operation of the door crank arm, unless the open vane of the door clutch contacts a hatch door drive roller. Thus, unless the car is in a floor landing zone, the car door cannot be opened by a passenger inside the car.

Abstract: Traction enhancement for a traction elevator system has an elevator car and counterweight connected by a plurality of wire ropes reeved about a drive sheave with a predetermined angle of wrap. An arcuate frame having a plurality of rollers has one end pivotally and adjustably fixed, while its other end biases the rollers against the ropes in the angle of wrap with a tension spring. Over travel of the elevator car releases the bias to allow the ropes to slip should the counterweight reach an end of its travel path.

Abstract: A traction elevator system including elevator ropes, and hitch plates for terminating the elevator ropes. At least one of the hitch plates includes first and second vertically spaced, aligned support levels, with the rope terminations defining first and second complementary patterns, respectively, selected to reduce the maximum fleet angle by providing components thereof in the axial direction, with respect to the sheave axis, and transverse thereto, and by reducing the cross-sectional area occupied by the ropes at the hitch plate.