Residential elevator

A residential elevator mounted in a building, said residential elevator being limited to movement along a path of travel no more than 50 feet long, said residential elevator comprising:

• (a) guide rail structure mounted to the building in an upright orientation and extending generally along the 50 foot path of travel;
• (b) a car mounted to said guide rail structure, said car having a top, and a range of upward and downward movement on said guide rail structure along the path of travel between an upper limit and a lower limit thereby to service the no more than 50 feet of travel;
• (c) lift apparatus operable for lifting and lowering said car, said lift apparatus comprising an outer housing, and an internal drive unit disposed inwardly of said outer housing, said internal drive unit driving rotation of said outer housing, said lift apparatus being mounted to said guide rail structure at a location such that said outer housing is above a height of the top of said car when said car is at the upper limit of movement;
• and
• (d) elongate connection apparatus connecting said lift apparatus to said car, for lifting said car and lowering said car.

A method of installing an elevator in a building, the method comprising:

• (a) mounting guide rail structure to the building in an upright orientation;
• (b) mounting a car to the guide rail structure, the car having a top, and a range of upward and downward movement on the guide rail structure along a path of travel between an upper limit and a lower limit;
• (c) mounting lift apparatus, operable for lifting and lowering the car, to the guide rail structure at a location such that the lift apparatus is above a height of the top of the car when the car is at the upper limit of movement;
• and
• (d) mounting elongate connection apparatus to the lift apparatus and to the car and thus connecting the lift apparatus to the car, for lifting the car and lowering the car