Patent ID: 8316996

Claim:
An elevator apparatus, comprising: a car and a counterweight, each being suspended by a suspending member in a hoistway; a brake device including a brake coil for canceling braking force by excitation thereof, the brake device being for braking the car against a state of imbalance between the car and the counterweight; a speed detector for detecting a speed of the car; and a rescue operation controller to determine that a rescue operation has been determined, wherein the rescue operation controller further determines an amount of imbalance between the car and the counterweight, to obtain a rescue operation voltage value corresponding to a value of a voltage necessary to reduce the braking force of the brake device to move the car by using the determined amount of the imbalance between the car and the counterweight and wherein the rescue operation controller applies a voltage having the rescue operation voltage value to the brake coil in response to a signal from the speed detector at a time of a rescue operation for the car.