Patent ID: 7287624

Claim:
A double-deck elevator comprising: an upper cage and a lower cage for accommodating passengers and vertically movable together in a hoistway provided in a building; covers positioned so as to cover a space between the upper cage and the lower cage at a doorside, two lateral sides, and a backside of the space; and a catching plate for catching objects dropped through a clearance between the doorside inner wall of the hoistway and the upper cage sill, wherein the covers and the cages are connected such that, at the point of connection, the outer surfaces of the covers and the cages are in the same plane, the doorside cover, which covers the doorside of the space, has a first portion extending downwardly from an end of an upper cage sill along a doorside inner wall of the hoistway, a second portion extending from a lower end of the first portion and curving into said space, and a third portion extending from a lower end of the second portion to a doorside end of a ceiling of the lower cage, said catching plate is capable of swinging about a horizontal axis between a first position in which a distal end thereof contacts the doorside inner wall of the hoistway and a second position in which the distal end retracts from the doorside inner wall, and said catching plate is disposed to open and close an opening provided at the second portion of the doorside cover.