An elevator car including: a door; and an apron movable between a deployed position and a retracted position; wherein in the deployed position the apron hangs below the door; wherein in the retracted position the apron is vertically overlapped with the door; and wherein in the retracted position the apron is engaged with the door such that it is movable sideways together with the door. As the apron is displaced upwards relative to the elevator car it will block the doorway. However, as the apron is engaged with the door in the retracted position, opening the door also moves the apron out of the way of the doorway so that the apron does not hinder passengers from using the elevator car.

An elevator installation includes an elevator shaft provided with shaft doors and a car moveable up and down in the shaft. The car has a car skirt moveable between a horizontal rest position and a vertical blocking position. The car skirt is pivotally and displaceably mounted on the car by a guideway. When the car skirt is in the blocking position, it can be supported on an adjacent one of the shaft doors.

An elevator installation includes an elevator shaft provided with shaft doors and a car moveable up and down in the shaft. The car has a car skirt moveable between a horizontal rest position and a vertical blocking position. The car skirt is pivotally and displaceably mounted on the car by a guideway. When the car skirt is in the blocking position, it can be supported on an adjacent one of the shaft doors.

An elevator system includes a car that can be moved along guide rails in an elevator shaft and a car apron attached to the car. The car apron is supported on the guide rails. The car apron is collapsible with two flat apron elements hinged together at a horizontal fold line. For the support, the car apron has a support structure that adjoins a lower end of the lower flat apron element and includes guide elements that engage the guide rails.

An elevator car (6) which is configured for traveling along a hoistway (4) extending between a plurality of landings (8a, 8b, 8c), comprises an apron (20) arranged below the elevator car (6). The apron (20) is movable between at least two positions including: a blocking position in which the apron (20) extends downward from a bottom (9) of the elevator car (6) blocking access to the hoistway (4) through an area below the elevator car (6); and an access position, in which the apron (20) allows access to the hoistway (4) through an area below the elevator car (6).

A protective device for a transportation system, wherein the protective device is disposed at each platform landing in a shaft and configured to direct falling objects away from moving components of the transportation system within the shaft.

Elevator systems are provided. The elevator systems include an elevator car movable along an elevator shaft having a pit floor and a shaft top, the elevator car having a car door lock arranged to enable opening of doors by a landing door lock mechanism when the elevator car is located at a landing and an elevator safety system. The elevator safety system includes a car door lock securing device arranged to prevent manual opening of the elevator car doors when in a first state and permits opening of the elevator car doors when in a second state and a car apron affixed to the car door sill and operable from a stowed state to a deployed state, wherein when the car apron transitions from the stowed state to the deployed state, the car door lock securing device is transitioned from the first state to the second state.

Elevator systems including an elevator car having a car door sill and car apron assembly movable along an elevator shaft having a pit floor, are provided. The car apron assembly includes a collapsible guard with at least one guard element that is moveable from a deployed state to a compressed state. In the compressed state the at least one guard element is positioned within the car door sill. A guard frame is fixedly connected to the at least one guard element by one or more reinforcement elements, a translating member is arranged at each end of the guard frame, and a guide member fixedly connected to the elevator car. The collapsible guard is urged from the deployed state toward the compressed state as the guard element contacts the pit floor, and when transitioning from the deployed state to the compressed state, the translating member translates along the guide member.

An illustrative example elevator sill assembly includes a sill plate and at least one support arm secured to the sill plate. A mounting bracket is configured to be mounted to an elevator car. The support arm is supported on the mounting bracket to allow the support arm to pivot relative to the mounting bracket. At least one linear actuator has a moving portion that moves in a vertical direction to cause the at least one support arm to pivot relative to the mounting bracket to thereby cause the sill plate to pivot from a stored position to an actuated position.

An illustrative example elevator sill assembly includes a sill plate and at least one support arm secured to the sill plate. A mounting bracket is configured to be mounted to an elevator car. The support arm is supported on the mounting bracket to allow the support arm to pivot relative to the mounting bracket. At least one linear actuator has a moving portion that moves in a vertical direction to cause the at least one support arm to pivot relative to the mounting bracket to thereby cause the sill plate to pivot from a stored position to an actuated position.