Patent ID: 7156209

Claim:
An elevator installation for use in a hoistway having an upper portion, the elevator installation comprising: an elevator car being located in the hoistway and having a floor, said elevator car having a front, a rear wall and opposed side walls extending upward from said floor; a counterweight located in the hoistway adjacent to said rear wall of said elevator car; an underslung sheave assembly mounted on said elevator car below said floor; a drive machine mounted in the upper portion of the hoistway; a drive sheave operatively engaging said drive machine and located above said counterweight, with said drive sheave having a front edge; a deflector sheave mounted in the upper portion of the hoistway generally below said drive sheave and having a rear edge that vertically overlaps with said front edge of said drive sheave; and a first rope and a second rope each having a first end attached to an associated one of a pair of dead end hitches in the upper portion of the hoistway, said first and second ropes extending along adjacent ones of said side walls near said front of said elevator car and into operative engagement with said underslung sheave assembly to support said elevator car, said first and second ropes extending from said underslung sheave along said rear wall of said elevator car, said first and second ropes extending around said rear edge of said deflector sheave and said front edge of said drive sheave such that said first and second ropes wrap around said drive sheave greater than 180 degrees, and said first and second ropes operatively engaging said counterweight whereby said front of said elevator car is unobstructed for use as an; wherein said underslung sheave assembly includes a first underslung sheave and a second underslung sheave operatively engaging said first rope and a third underslung sheave and a fourth underslung sheave operatively engaging said second rope, said first underslung sheave being located adjacent said rear wall about mid-way between said side walls, said second underslung sheave being located adjacent one of said side walls and near said front, said third underslung sheave being located adjacent said rear wall near said first underslung sheave, and said fourth underslung sheave being located adjacent another of said side walls and near said front.