Patent ID: 7353912

Claim:
Elevator system, comprising: at least one shaft, at least two cars which can be made to travel along a common traveling path in said at least one shaft, the cars respectively comprising a safety gear, an associated control unit, a drive, and a brake, an electrical safety device, and a shaft information system for determining respective positions and speeds of the cars, said shaft information system being connected to said electrical safety device, wherein: an emergency stop of a first car is triggerable independently of the control units by means of the safety device if a distance which said first car assumes from a neighboring second car or from an end of the traveling path goes below a preselectable critical distance, and the safety gear of the first car is triggerable to stop the first car if the distance which the first car assumes from the neighboring second car or from the end of the traveling path goes below a preselected minimum distance, said preselected minimum distance being less than said critical distance, the control units of at least all the cars of one traveling path being connected to one another and altogether forming a group control device, and the cars are controlled by the control units in normal operation of the elevator system independently of the safety device while maintaining a safety distance.