Elevator hoistway access safety

An elevator system in a building comprising:

• a hoistway having a plurality of hoistway doors;
• a car moveable in said hoistway and having a door to provide access to said car through any of said hoistway doors;
• an inspection switch disposed on said car and operable to transfer said car between a normal operating mode and an inspection operating mode;
• and
• signal processing means for monitoring the open/closed status of all of said doors, and responsive to one of said hoistway doors not being fully closed when said car door is fully closed, to cause an emergency stop of said car and terminating normal operation thereof;
• responsive to said inspection switch to place said car in an inspection operation mode;
• and, responsive to said inspection switch being set in its normal operating mode position contemporaneously with one of said hoistway doors open, followed by all of said hoistway doors being closed, to place said car in a normal operation mode.

A method of providing hoistway access safety in an elevator system having a car with a door and having a hoistway with a plurality of hoistway doors, comprising:

• monitoring continuously the open/closed status of all of said hoistway doors and said car door;
• in the event that one of said hoistway doors is not fully closed contemporaneously with said car door being fully closed, causing an emergency stop of said car, if necessary, and terminating normal operation of the elevator;
• in the event said hoistway doors are all fully closed and an inspection switch on said car has been set into an inspection operation mode position, eliminating the emergency stop and enabling operation in an inspection operation mode;
• providing inspection speed limit switches positioned in said hoistway so that actuation thereof by said elevator when operating in said inspection operation mode will cause said elevator to stop at a distance from either terminal end of said hoistway which is safe for persons which may be between the elevator and such terminal end;
• and
• activating said inspection speed limit switches in response to said inspection switch being in said inspection operation mode position.