Elevator damping element

An elevator comprising:

• an elevator car movable in an elevator shaft along guide rails;
• a counterweight;
• a support means connecting and supporting said elevator car and said counterweight;
• a drive for driving said support means;
• a fixing point attaching an end of said support means in said elevator shaft, said fixing point including a slide and a damping element, said slide carrying said support means end and being held in a starting position by a mechanism during normal operation of said elevator car, said slide being releasable in an emergency stop situation of the elevator by said mechanism when said mechanism is triggered by a safety circuit of the elevator, wherein retardation forces applied to said support means by said elevator car and said counterweight during an emergency stop of said drive produce a displacement of said slide away from the starting position against a damping capability of said damping element;
• and
• a hook lock of said mechanism detents with a pin of a strap arranged at a yoke carrying connecting elements of said support means end arranged at said slide and frees said pin in case of an emergency stop operation of said hook lock.

A method of operating an elevator comprising the steps of:

• a. providing an elevator car movable in an elevator shaft along guide rails and connected to a counterweight by a support means guided over rollers, the support means being driven by a drive;
• b. providing a fixing point for each end of the support means, at least one of the fixing points including a slide and a damping element, the slide carrying the support means end associated with the at least one fixing point and being held in a starting position by a mechanism during normal operation of the elevator car, the mechanism including a hook lock detenting with a pin of a strap arranged at a yoke carrying connecting elements of the support means end arranged at the slide and freeing the pin in case of an emergency stop operation of the hook lock, the slide being releasable in an emergency stop situation of the elevator by the mechanism when the mechanism is triggered by a safety circuit of the elevator, wherein retardation forces applied to the support means by the elevator car and the counterweight during an emergency stop of the drive produce a displacement of the slide away from the starting position against a damping capability of the damping element;
• and
• c. releasing the slide by the mechanism before a braking moment for retardation of movement of the elevator car is built up, wherein upon release the at least one fixing point attenuates the retardation forces of the elevator car to an amount acceptable for elevator passengers.