Patent ID: 7350623

Claim:
An elevator door apparatus including an engaging device for joining car doors with hall doors, and a lock mechanism for keeping the hall doors in a closed state, wherein the engaging device comprises: a first engaging member provided in the hall door to transmit a driving force to the hall door; a second engaging member provided in the hall door to move relative to the first engaging member to activate the lock mechanism; a fixed vane provided at the car door and located on one side of the first and second engaging members, the fixed vane transmitting, to the second engaging member, the driving force applied in an opening direction of the car door, thereby releasing a locked state of the hall doors by the lock mechanism; link plates rotatably provided on the car door, each of the link plates including a first end and a second end; a movable vane rotatably attached to the first ends of the link plates, located on another side of the first and second engaging members, and movable in parallel with the fixed vane; a spring mechanism coupled to one of the link plates and including a spring member which urges the movable vane toward and away from the fixed vane, the spring mechanism urging the movable vane toward the fixed vane via the one link plate when the car door is moved in a closing direction, thereby holding the first and second engaging members between the fixed vane and the movable vane, the spring mechanism reversing a direction of a force applied by the spring member to the movable vane via the one link plate to keep the movable vane away from the fixed vane, when the hall door has been closed and the car door is still being moved in the closing direction; and a cam mechanism rotatably attached to the second ends of the link plates, the cam mechanism rotating the link plates to move the movable vane toward the fixed vane against the force of the spring member, when the car door is moved from its closed state.