Abstract: In an elevator system utilizing up-peak channeling which displays the floors of the sectors to be served by each elevator during its next trip, visually handicapped persons alert the system by means of a signal transmission from a portable device, and are then enabled to enter a car call for any floor in the building. An embodiment with a lobby receiver enables calls to any floor in the next several elevators which may leave the lobby floor. An embodiment with receivers in every car enables calls to any floor in a car which receives the signal.

Abstract: Cabs, such as passenger and freight cabs, are transferred from one horizontal transport bogie that is moving along a track to another horizontal transport bogie moving at the same speed on an adjacent track. The cab may be transferred from one train or shuttle of moving bogies to another train of moving bogies, or may be transferred from a train of moving bogies to an auxiliary shuttle or bogie on a siding so as to permit the cab to be brought to a stop, either to allow transfer of passengers, to be moved into the car frame of an adjacent elevator for vertical transport within the building, or to simply await the coming of another train, traveling in either the same or in opposite direction, to which the cab may then be transferred.

Abstract: An elevator system comprises a plurality of low rise elevators providing service between a lobby floor and the highest floor of a low rise in the building, high rise elevators providing express service between a lobby floor and the lowest floor of a high rise in the building as well as providing service to floors between the lowest floor of the high rise and the highest floor of the high rise, and a plurality of high-only elevators which provide service only to floors between the lowest floor of the high rise and the highest floor of the high rise, having no express zone to extend service downward to the lobby. Hall calls are entered as up calls, down calls, or lobby calls distinct from the down calls. The lobby calls are assigned only to the high rise elevators having express zones to provide service to the lobby. Up calls and down calls (not to the lobby) may be preferentially assigned to the high-only elevators.

Abstract: An elevator system provides service between a ground level and each of three upper levels through a single elevator shuttle hoistway system. Three elevator cabs 34-36, B, D, F are moved in a triple deck elevator car frame 35, or a four deck elevator car frame 75 in a low hoistway 26, 76; two cabs are moved in a double deck elevator car frame 30 or four deck car frame 76 in a mid hoistway 27, 52; and one cab is moved in a single deck car frame 31 or triple deck car frame 77 in a high hoistway 28, 53. Other embodiments have other car frame arrangements.

Abstract: To prevent elevator rope stretch effects when a horizontally transferable elevator cab (18) is rolled onto and off of an elevator car frame (10), an elevator car/floor lock (31) includes a bolt (47) which extends across the interface between the car frame and the building and engages a strike (39). Jack screw (44) and solenoid (60) embodiments are shown. To take the weight off the lock bolts so that they may be retracted to permit moving the car frame vertically in the hoistway, strain gages (64, 65) or load sensors (62, 63) provided in or adjacent the bolts sense the weight supported thereby, and a pretorque program (FIG. 6) provides armature current to the hoisting motor to raise or lower the car frame sufficiently to reduce the load on the bolts to nil.

Abstract: Elevator cabs are transferred between elevators, which may be shuttles, in various levels of a building, such as transport floors, in response to car calls registered in the cabs and hall calls registered on the transport floors. The cabs may be transferred from carriages or bogeys onto elevator car frames in a lateral direction, which is perpendicular to the motion of the cab on a carriage or bogey, or in a longitudinal direction which is the same as the direction of motion of a cab on a carriage or bogey. The horizontal/vertical control and transfer may be effected in response to the arrival at transport floors of elevators having cabs therein, or in response to the arrival at an elevator of a bogey carrying a cab which must be transported between a transport floor on one level of a building and a transport floor on another level of a building, in order to serve the need of a car call registered therein or a hall call.

Abstract: A first slidable auxiliary pinion (58a) on the bottom of a horizontally moveable elevator cab A (FIGS. 2-6) disposed on a car frame (14) or a landing is moved out from under the cab toward another car frame (13) or landing by means of a motorized pinion (56) until it engages a motorized pinion (57) on the adjacent car frame (13) or landing, which then pulls the auxiliary pinion and the entire cab toward the other car frame or landing until a main rack (45) fixed to the bottom of the cab engages a motorized pinion (34) on the other car frame (13) or landing, which pinion then pulls the entire cab onto the other car frame or landing. The auxiliary racks (58a, 58b) may be mounted on a common auxiliary rack member (58), or may be separate. The auxiliary motorized pinions (55, 56, 57) may be bidirectional, or may be; and auxiliary pinions (32C, 33C, 34C) may be; mounted on the same shaft with main pinions (32b, 33b, 34b).

Abstract: A plurality of express shuttle elevators S1-S4 exchange elevator cabs at a transfer floor 26 with local elevators L1-L10 by means of a carriage 107, the casters of which 93 are guided by tracks 70-83. The transfer floor has linear induction motor (LIM) primary segments 60-67 disposed on the transfer floor; the carriage has a LIM secondary 128 thereon for propulsion. The carriages can be locked 91, 92 to the transfer floor for loading, and cabs can be locked 131 onto the carriages for stability when being moved. A controller (FIGS. 10-13) keeps track of the progress of the cabs from one elevator to another.

Abstract: The arrival of each of four dual-hoistway shuttle elevators S1-S4 is synchronized with a selected one of ten local elevators L1-L10, or ten low rise elevators L1-L10 and ten high rise elevators H1-H10 at a transfer floor 26 by limiting 140 the speed of the shuttle, gradually 149, or rapidly 154, 155 decreasing the speed of the shuttle, delaying a local elevator by holding its doors open for extra time, or controlling the speed of a local elevator, by cancelling or avoiding hall calls. Empty local elevators may be allowed to remain at the high end of the building, or compelled to travel to the lobby if needed. Elevators approaching a transfer floor may be synchronized by adjusting the speed of one of them until the remaining distance is the same for both. Hall calls may be prevented, cancelled, or negatively biased in dependence upon the tardiness of a local elevator.

Abstract: A plurality of express shuttle elevators S1-S4 exchange elevator cabs at a transfer floor 26 with local elevators L1-L10 by means of a carriage 107, the casters of which 93 are guided by tracks 70-83. The transfer floor has linear induction motor (LIM) primary segments 60-67 disposed on the transfer floor; the carriage has a LIM secondary 128 thereon for propulsion. The carriages can be locked 91, 92 to the transfer floor for loading, and cabs can be locked 131 onto the carriages for stability when being moved. A controller (FIGS. 10-13) keeps track of the progress of the cabs from one elevator to another.

Abstract: To prevent elevator rope stretch effects when a horizontally transferable elevator cab (18) is rolled onto and off of an elevator car frame (10), an elevator car/floor lock (31) includes a bolt (37) which extends across the interface between the car frame and the building and engages a strike (39). Jack screw (44) and solenoid (60) embodiments are shown. The bolt may extend from the car frame to the building (FIGS. 1-4) or from the building to the car frame (FIG. 5).

Abstract: An elevator cab X is moved from a hoistway TL to a car frame (11) simultaneously with moving a cab Y from the car frame (11) onto a landing TR. Double deck car frames (11a) may be utilized with cars P, Q going in the opposite direction of cars X, Y as they are transferred between the car frame and corresponding landings.

Abstract: Elevator cabs A-C move upwardly through three or more contiguous overlapping hoistways 38-40 in the upper decks of double deck car frames 41-43, and move downwardly through the hoistways in the lower decks (or vice versa). To switch between decks, the cabs are offloaded from the hoistways into auxiliary elevators 50, 51 at the terminal ends of the shuttle, and are moved to be adjacent to the other deck by the auxiliary elevator and loaded thereon for the trip in the opposite direction. A second embodiment has additional auxiliary elevators 64, 65 and additional cabs D, E so that loading and unloading of passengers do not delay movement of the cabs in the hoistways.

Abstract: An elevator shuttle includes a plurality of elevator hoistways (14, 19, 24) which overlap, the elevator car frames (13, 21, 25) traveling in each hoistway including two decks per cab being carried by the car frame, plus an extra deck on car frames (20) in other than the highest (24) and lowest (14) hoistways. This allows cabs (C) traveling simultaneously, upwardly, in three or more hoistways to pass cabs (A, B) simultaneously traveling downwardly in those hoistways. The cabs may be loaded and unloaded while in the hoistway (FIGS. 1, 13, 21) or while in off-hoistway landing areas (FIG. 28). Embodiments include one cab per hoistway and two cabs per hoistway; three hoistways and four hoistways.

Abstract: Normal power for the fan (22), lights (23), operating car panel (26), and cab controller functions (29) is provided from a voltage regulator (41) driven by a flywheel motor generator (38) which is accelerated when the elevator car (11) is near a landing by power supplied through brushes (34) from power tracks (32) disposed on the building (33). Power for the cab door operator (21) is supplied only directly from the brushes (34). A transceiver (46) provides all operational, safety and emergency phone voice communication with the building, whereby the traveling cable normally used on an elevator car is eliminated. The brushes are extended to engage the power tracks by means of springs (176), and are retracted into a clearance position by means of solenoids (174).

Abstract: An elevator system, having a three phase rectifier (20) which converts energy from a three phase AC main (21) to provide DC power on a bus (19) to a three phase inverter (18) that drives a three phase inductive hoist motor (17), utilizes regenerated energy applied (46, 47) to a boost regulator (52) to drive (54, 55) a flywheel motor generator (26) to store the regenerated energy in the form of inertia therein. When the flywheel motor generator reaches a limiting speed, any continued regenerated energy is dumped (59, 60) in an energy dissipating device (61). During periods of high demand, the inertial energy stored in the flywheel motor generator is utilized (67, 68) to add energy to the DC bus to provide additional current to the three phase inverter for driving the hoist motor. The control is provided by software embedded in an elevator computer (such as used for dispatching and motion control).

Abstract: A safety gate (24) is slidable vertically from an upper position at an elevator cab landing (22) where it obstructs movement of the elevator cab (20) into a hoistway, and a lower position that permits cab travel between a car frame (29) and the landing. An actuator (42) normally urges the gate upwardly; the actuator is moved by a cam assembly (36) on an approaching elevator car frame so as to slide the gate (24) downward, out of the way of cab motion.

Abstract: Double deck elevator cars (10-12) are moveable in corresponding adjacent overlapping hoistways (7-9). Passengers entering the bottom deck (39) from a ground landing are transferred into the bottom deck (47) of a second elevator as passengers in the upper deck (46) of the second elevator are transferred to the upper deck (38) of the first elevator. Passengers in the lower deck (31) of a third elevator (10) are transferred to a lower landing (33) as passengers in an upper landing (32) enter an upper deck (30) of the third elevator. Passengers are thereafter transferred in the same fashion between the second elevator and the third elevator at a second transfer level (49).

Abstract: Horizontally moveable elevator cabs (22, 23) are transferred from the upper deck of a first car frame (26) to the upper deck of a second car frame (27) and from the lower deck of the second car frame to the lower deck of the first car frame. Three elevator hoistways, each with a double deck car frame are controlled by computer routines. A rack and pinion horizontal motive means, for moving the cab from car frame to car frame is also briefly disclosed.

Abstract: A horizontally moveable elevator cab (14) is transferred between a plurality of car frames (16-18) in successive hoistways (11-13) by horizontal motive means (44-47) in response to a signal processing controller (43, FIGS. 4 and 5).