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US 5,651,426 AGranted
Synchronous elevator shuttle system
AssigneeOtis Elevator Company
InventorsJoseph Bittar, Anthony Cooney, Richard C. McCarthy, Frederick H. Barker, Bruce A. Powell, Samuel C. Wan, Paul Bennett, LucyMary Salmon
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Horizontally moveable elevator cabs A-E are transferrable between the car frames (72) of two elevators HI, LO in adjacent hoistways which extend between at least three levels (GND, MID, SKY) of a building, and between the car frames and landings L, R at said levels. The vertical movement of cars in the hoistways is synchronized, and transfer of elevator cabs between landings and car frames is simultaneous.
Claims21
A method of moving a first elevator cab from a first floor of a building, past a second floor of said building, to a third floor of said building, comprising the steps of:
- (a) moving said first elevator cab from said first floor to said second floor along a first elevator hoistway in said building;
- (b) at said second floor, moving said first cab to a second hoistway in said building;
- and
- (c) moving said first cab along said second hoistway from said second floor to said third floor;
- characterized by the improvement in which step (b) comprises:
- (d) at said second floor, moving said first cab to said second hoistway simultaneously with moving a second cab from a first landing on said second floor to said first hoistway, and while simultaneously moving a third cab from said second hoistway to a second landing on said second floor on the opposite side of said hoistway from said first landing.
3 more elements
A method of moving passengers between two passenger lobby floors of a building, comprising:
- providing a plurality of elevators, each having an elevator car movable between two terminal levels in a hoistway, a lower one of said terminal levels of one of said elevators being a lower passenger lobby floor and an upper one of said terminal levels of another of said elevators being an upper passenger lobby floor, the terminal levels of all of said elevators other than said upper and lower passenger lobby floors being at a transfer level of said building along with a terminal level of another one of said elevators, and a plurality of cabs which may be moved horizontally between said landings and said cars;
- loading passengers from said lower lobby floor into a cab at a first landing on the corresponding one of said lower terminal levels;
- moving said cab from said first landing onto a first one of said cars;
- then moving said first car to the other of its terminal levels;
- then moving said cab from said first car to another of said cars;
- thereafter moving said cab on a second one of said cars to said upper terminal level;
- then moving said cab to a second landing at the other of said lobby floors;
- and
- then discharging passengers from said cab at said other lobby floor.
6 more elements
An elevator system for a building having a plurality of levels, comprising:
- a plurality of overlapping elevator hoistways, each having an elevator car frame movable from a low end of the corresponding hoistway to a high end of the corresponding hoistway, each hoistway except the lowest of said hoistways in said system having its low end at the same intermediate building level as the high end of another of said hoistways, each hoistway except the highest of said hoistways in said system having its high end at the same intermediate building level as the low end of another one of said hoistways;
- a plurality of elevator cabs;
- and
- means for transferring one of said elevator cabs to one of said elevator car frames in one of said hoistways from another of said elevator car frames in another one of said hoistways simultaneously with transferring another of said elevator cabs from said one elevator car frame to a landing at said same intermediate building level of said one and another hoistways.
1 more element
A synchronized elevator shuttle, comprising:
- a building having three, mutually-separated levels, with two passenger landings on opposite sides of a hoistway on each level;
- a pair or elevators having cars vertically movable in corresponding hoistways, each hoistway extending between two of said levels, each hoistway being adjacent the other at a middle one of said levels to which both hoistways extend;
- five elevator cabs, each movable between one of said elevator cars and the other of said elevator cars, each movable between said elevator cars and said landings;
- and
- means for, alternatively
- moving one of said cabs in a first horizontal direction onto a first one of said landings from a first one of said cars, while simultaneously moving another one of said cabs in said first horizontal direction onto said first car from a second one of said cars, and while simultaneously moving another one of said cabs in said first horizontal direction onto said second car from a second one of said landings, or
- moving one of said cabs in a second horizontal direction onto said first car from said first landing, while simultaneously moving another one of said cabs in said second horizontal direction onto said second car from said first car, and while simultaneously moving another one of said cabs in said second horizontal direction onto said second landing from said second car, or
- moving one of said cabs in one of said horizontal directions onto a third one of said landings from said first car while simultaneously moving another one of said cabs in said one horizontal direction onto said first car from a fourth one of said landings, and moving one of said cabs in either one of said horizontal directions onto a fifth one of said landings from said second car while simultaneously moving another one of said cabs in said either one direction onto said second car from a sixth one of said landings.
5 more elements
A method of operating an elevator shuttle including a plurality of elevators, each having an elevator car frame moveable within a corresponding hoistway between a plurality of levels of a building, each hoistway overlapping at a transfer level of said building with another of said hoistways, and including a plurality of elevator cabs that are moveable onto and off of said car frames, comprising:
- (a) loading and unloading passengers to and from elevator cabs that are out of the elevator hoistway at floor landings;
- (b) horizontally moving a plurality of cabs in unison to transfer cabs from said landings onto elevator car frames in said hoistways and simultaneously transfer cabs to said landings from said car frames, and, at said transfer level, also simultaneously transfer cabs from one of said car frames to another of said car frames;
- and
- (c) moving said car frames in said hoistways between said levels.
1 more element
A synchronized elevator shuttle, comprising:
- a building having three, mutually-separated levels, with two passenger landings on opposite sides of a hoistway on each level;
- a pair or elevators having cars vertically movable in corresponding hoistways, each hoistway extending between two of said levels, each hoistway being adjacent the other at a middle one of said levels to which both hoistways extend;
- five elevator cabs, each movable between one of said elevator cars and the other of said elevator cars, each movable between said elevator cars and said landings;
- and
- means for moving each of said cabs in turn along a common path, which is the same for all cabs, between levels, between car frames, between landings and car frames, and between car frames and landings, each cab leaving a particular landing always being bound, along said path, to a given corresponding landing, there being a cab leaving each landing periodically in a repetitive cycle.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.