Smoke and in noxious gases can be very dangerous to occupants during a building fire. Generally, noxious gases pose a more significant risk to the occupants than the fire itself. This is particularly true for multi-story buildings that are equipped with an elevator. Elevator shafts provide significant paths by which smoke and noxious gases can spread rapidly throughout a building, thus putting even those occupants of a building in danger who are far away from the fire.
To prevent the spread of dangerous gases, many devices and assemblies have been designed to cut off possible paths for gases. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,028,742 B2 describes a system and method for sealing openings and in response to smoke, noxious fumes, or contaminated air using a roll-down barrier. A similar solution has been disclosed in US 2006/0226103 A1, U.S. Pat. No. 5,195,594, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,383,510.
A typical high-rise building has many elevator doors and thus requires a significant number of these systems.
It is desirable to have a simple and robust closure member control system in place.
Due to the law and regulations, fire and/or smoke protection systems must be tested regularly, e.g. every few months. It is desirable to make these tests as easy and as a little time-consuming as possible.