Patent ID: 7267201

Claim:
An emergency brake apparatus for an elevator system, installed in combination with and for braking movement of an elevator cage or a balance weight of said elevator system and comprising; a grip member having a pressing surface and two adjoining slant surfaces forming a wedging surface, wherein the wedging surface and the pressing surface sandwich a guide rail, and the two adjoining slant surfaces of the wedging surface are furthest from the guide rail where the two adjoining slant surfaces adjoin and the two slant surfaces become closer to the guide rail with increasing distance from the location where the two adjoining slant surfaces adjoin; a pressing member disposed movably between the wedging surface of the grip member and the guide rail, wherein the pressing member is movable along both of the two adjoining slant surfaces in opposing directions generally along the guide rail for braking movement of the elevator cage or balance weight regardless of movement direction of the elevator cage or balance weight; and an electric solenoid connected to the pressing member and activated in response to an electric signal, wherein the electric solenoid positions the pressing member so as not to contact the guide rail in a non-braking operation of the brake apparatus and pushes the pressing member into contact with the guide rail in a braking operation of the braking apparatus, whereby the pressing member becomes wedged between the wedging surface and the guide rail to stop movement of the wedging surface relative to the guide rail in the braking operation.