Emergency drive device for an A.C. elevator

Claim 1

An emergency driving device for an A.C. elevator comprising: a rectifier connected to an A.C. power source for converting an alternating current input into a direct current output; and inverter for receiving said direct current output of said rectifier for converting said output of said rectifier into an alternating current output of a variable frequency; an A.C. motor which is driven by said output of said inverter; and an emergency power source connected across input terminals of said inverter in the same polarity as said input terminals; wherein said emergency power source has an output voltage which is selected to be to lower than the voltage across said input terminals of said inverter during normal operation and wherein a blocking means is further provided for blocking the flow of the current to said emergency power source during normal operation, said blocking means being in series with said emergency power source and said normal operation corresponding to that period of time when said A.C. power source if providing alternating current to said rectifier.