ALEXANDRIA, Va., Aug. 12 -- United States Patent no. 12,384,659, issued on Aug. 12.
"Smart multi-car elevator system" was invented by Libo Zhou (Changsha, China) and Ziwei Huang (Changsha, China).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A smart multi-car elevator system, comprising at least two hoistways, a switch mechanism, a power mechanism and multiple cars; the hoistways are internally provided with rails for the movement of the cars, the switch mechanism is provided between adjacent hoistways, the position of the cars being switched, by means of the switch mechanism, between the adjacent hoistways; the perform, driven by the power mechanism, upward or downward movement within the hoistways or switc...