Patent ID: 8556041

Claim:
An elevator, comprising: a set of hoisting ropes supporting a counterweight and an elevator car moving on respective tracks, each hoisting rope having a substantially round cross-section; and a hoisting machine engaging the set of hoisting ropes via a traction sheave; wherein the traction sheave has a plurality of rope grooves, wherein each of the plurality of rope grooves generally conforms to a substantially circular shape, wherein each of the plurality of rope grooves has an opening for receiving a hoisting rope from among the set of hoisting ropes, wherein a width of the opening is less than a diameter of a respective rope groove, wherein a coating is adhesively bonded to each of the plurality of rope grooves, wherein in each rope groove, the coating has a crescent-shaped cross-section, wherein each hoisting rope has a diameter below 8 mm, wherein each hoisting rope is composed of steel wires having a strength exceeding 2000 N/mm 2 , and wherein a contact angle between the set of hoisting ropes and the traction sheave is greater than about 180 degrees.