ELEVATOR APRON

• Main Authors: Rocher, Jean-Emile, Billant, Etienne
• Format: Patent
• Language: English; French; German
• Published: 15.02.2023
• Subjects: ELEVATORS; ESCALATORS OR MOVING WALKWAYS; HAULING; HOISTING; LIFTING; PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING

An elevator car comprising: a door; and an apron movable between a deployed position and a retracted position; wherein in the deployed position the apron hangs below the door; wherein in the retracted position the apron is vertically overlapped with the door; and wherein in the retracted position the apron is engaged with the door such that it is movable sideways together with the door. Allowing the apron to overlap vertically with the door (i.e. such that the door and the apron share an amount of vertical extent or such that a certain height range is occupied by both the apron and the door) means that the apron can be simply displaced upwards when the elevator car reaches the lowest landing and the apron contacts the pit floor. As the apron is displaced upwards relative to the elevator car it will block the doorway However, as the apron is engaged with the door in the retracted position, opening the door also moves the apron out of the way of the doorway so that the apron does not hinder passengers from using the elevator car. This arrangement is especially useful in elevators with shallow pits as a full length apron can be used without needing to fold it or rotate it out of the way in order to allow access to the lowest floor.