Multiple level building with an elevator system operable as a means of emergency egress and evacuation during a fire incident

A vertical transportation system in a multi-floor building usable for evacuation of a portion of the building during an emergency condition, the building having a plurality of floors including a building exit floor, and combustion detectors on the floors, each the combustion detectors adapted to detect a combustion by-product and to generate a detector signal when a combustion by-product is detected, the combustion detector that generates a detector signal being a signaling detector, comprising:

• an elevator car positionable in the hoistway to locations adjacent to selected floors;
• an elevator controller coupled to the elevator car to move the elevator car to the locations adjacent to the selected floors, the elevator controller receiving selected floor control signals;
• and
• a control unit coupled to the elevator controller to send a control signal to the elevator controller to move the elevator car to a selected one of the locations adjacent to the selected floors, the control unit being coupled to the combustion detectors to receive the detector signal from the signaling detector, the control unit being configured to define an evacuation zone in the building upon receiving the detector signal from the signaling detector, the control unit identifying the floor where the signaling detector is located as a signaling floor, the control unit defining the evacuation zone as including at least the signaling floor and an evacuation assistance floor that is not the building exit floor and that is spaced apart from the signaling floor, and defining floors considered to be non-emergency floors other than the evacuation assistance floor where the elevator car will be restricted from receiving building occupants during the emergency condition while the building occupants are being evacuated from the signaling floor, the control unit being configured to send the control signal to the elevator controller when the evacuation zone is established to cause movement of the elevator car between the floors of the evacuation zone and not the non-emergency floors during the emergency condition to evacuate building occupants from the signaling floor to the evacuation assistance floor during the emergency condition.

A method of evacuating building occupants from a building having a plurality of floors, including a building exit floor, and an elevator car that is positionable at locations adjacent to selected ones of the floors, comprising the steps of:

• detecting an emergency condition on a signaling floor in the building;
• defining an evacuation zone in a portion of the building during the emergency condition, the evacuation zone including the signaling floor and an evacuation assistance floor that is a selected number of floors away from the signaling floor and that is not the building exit floor, the evacuation zone being defined not to include floors considered to be non-emergency floors other than the evacuation assistance floor;
• moving the elevator car to the signaling floor to allow the building occupant to enter the elevator car from the signaling floor;
• moving the elevator car from the signaling floor after at least one of the building occupants from the signaling floor has entered the elevator car, to the evacuation assistance floor to allow the building occupant from the signaling floor to exit the elevator car onto the evacuation assistance floor;
• and
• restricting the movement of the elevator car to not include movement of the elevator car to the non-emergency floors other than the evacuation assistance floor while the building occupant is being evacuated from the signaling floor.

A method of automatically evacuating building occupants from a building having a plurality of floors, including a building exit floor, a hoistway and an elevator car movable in the hoistway to locations adjacent to selected ones of the floors, comprising the steps of:

• detecting smoke on a first evacuation priority floor of the building, thereby identifying an emergency condition in the building;
• automatically defining an evacuation zone in a portion of the building upon identification of the emergency condition, the evacuation zone including the first evacuation priority evacuation floor and an evacuation assistance floor that is not the building exit floor, the evacuation zone being defined not to include floors considered to be non-emergency floors other than the evacuation assistance floor;
• moving the elevator car from the evacuation assistance floor to the first evacuation priority floor to allow an occupant of the first evacuation priority floor to enter the elevator car;
• determining whether the occupant of the first evacuation priority floor has entered the elevator car;
• moving the elevator car from the first evacuation priority floor to the evacuation assistance floor in response to determining an occupant entering the elevator car;
• allowing the occupant of the first evacuation priority floor to exit the elevator car only at the evacuation assistance floor;
• and
• restricting movement of the elevator car to not include movement of the elevator car to floors defined as non-emergency floors other than the evacuation assistance floor while the occupants of the first evacuation priority floor are being evacuated after the elevator car has first moved to the evacuation priority floor during the identified emergency condition.