Patent Application
20190300327
The subject matter disclosed herein relates generally to the field of elevator systems, and specifically to a method and apparatus for coordinating the operation of multiple elevator cars.
Commonly, elevator cars are dispatched throughout the overall length of an elevator shaft to service every floor of a building. Providing service to every floor of a building may lead to a multitude of stops at various floors during peak hours of the elevator operations.
According to an embodiment, a method of operating a building elevator system within a building having a plurality of floors is provided. The method including: controlling a building elevator system comprising a first elevator system having a first elevator car and a second elevator system having a second elevator car, wherein the first elevator car and the second elevator car are configured to serve a plurality of floors; determining one or more sectors for the plurality of floors in response to at least one of a time of day, manual input, a density of the down peak traffic, and whether there is simultaneous up peak or inter-floor traffic, the one or more sectors comprising a first sector having a first plurality of floors and a second sector having a second plurality of floors; assigning the first elevator car to the first sector, the first elevator car being configured to transport passengers from the first sector to a first selected floor of the plurality of floors; and assigning the second elevator car to the second sector, the second elevator car being configured to transport passengers from the second sector to a second selected floor of the plurality of floors.
In addition to one or more of the features described herein, or as an alternative, further embodiments may include: receiving an elevator call from a floor of the first plurality of floors within the first sector; and moving the first elevator car to the floor of the first plurality of floors within the first sector.
In addition to one or more of the features described herein, or as an alternative, further embodiments may include: receiving an elevator call from a floor of the second plurality of floors within the second sector; and moving the second elevator car to the floor of the second plurality of floors within the second sector.
In addition to one or more of the features described herein, or as an alternative, further embodiments may include that the second selected floor is the first selected floor.
In addition to one or more of the features described herein, or as an alternative, further embodiments may include that the first selected floor is an exit floor.
In addition to one or more of the features described herein, or as an alternative, further embodiments may include that the second plurality of floors does not include any floors within the first plurality of floors.
In addition to one or more of the features described herein, or as an alternative, further embodiments may include that the second plurality of floors includes at least one floor within the first plurality of floors.
In addition to one or more of the features described herein, or as an alternative, further embodiments may include that the first plurality of floors includes contiguous floors of the plurality of floors.
In addition to one or more of the features described herein, or as an alternative, further embodiments may include that the first plurality of floors includes non-contiguous floors of the plurality of floors.
In addition to one or more of the features described herein, or as an alternative, further embodiments may include: receiving an elevator call from a floor of the first plurality of floors within the first sector; determining that the first elevator car assigned to the first sector is not eligible to be assigned to the elevator call; determining that a second elevator car is eligible to be assigned to the elevator call; and moving the second elevator car to the floor of the first plurality of floors within the first sector.
In addition to one or more of the features described herein, or as an alternative, further embodiments may include that the first elevator car is ineligible due to an opposite stop condition.
In addition to one or more of the features described herein, or as an alternative, further embodiments may include: receiving an elevator call from a floor of the first plurality of floors within the first sector; determining that the first elevator car assigned to the first sector will not arrive at the floor of the first plurality of floors within the first sector within a first selected time period; determining that a second elevator car will arrive at the floor of the first plurality of floors within the first sector within a first selected time period; and moving the second elevator car to the floor of the first plurality of floors within the first sector.
In addition to one or more of the features described herein, or as an alternative, further embodiments may include: moving the first elevator car through the first sector during a single trip; detecting a number of elevator stops made by the first elevator car during the single trip; and extending the first sector by a selected number of floors as the first elevator car moves through the first sector when the number of elevator stops is less than a selected number of elevator stops.
In addition to one or more of the features described herein, or as an alternative, further embodiments may include: moving the first elevator car through the first sector during a single trip; determining a reversal point of the first elevator car; and extending the first sector by a selected number of floors as the first elevator car moves through the first sector in response to the reversal point of the first elevator car.
In addition to one or more of the features described herein, or as an alternative, further embodiments may include that the first elevator car is moving downward through the first sector.
According to another embodiment, a control system of a building elevator system is provided. The control system including: a processor; a memory comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations. The operations including: controlling a building elevator system comprising a first elevator system having a first elevator car and a second elevator system having a second elevator car, wherein the first elevator car and the second elevator car are configured to serve a plurality of floors; determining one or more sectors for the plurality of floors in response to at least one of a time of day, manual input, a density of the down peak traffic, and whether there is simultaneous up peak or inter-floor traffic, the one or more sectors comprising a first sector having a first plurality of floors and a second sector having a second plurality of floors; assigning the first elevator car to the first sector, the first elevator car being configured to transport passengers from the first sector to a first selected floor of the plurality of floors; and assigning the second elevator car to the second sector, the second elevator car being configured to transport passengers from the second sector to a second selected floor of the plurality of floors.
In addition to one or more of the features described herein, or as an alternative, further embodiments may include that the operations further comprise: receiving an elevator call from a floor of the first plurality of floors within the first sector; and moving the first elevator car to the floor of the first plurality of floors within the first sector.
In addition to one or more of the features described herein, or as an alternative, further embodiments may include that the operations further comprise: receiving an elevator call from a floor of the second plurality of floors within the second sector; and moving the second elevator car to the floor of the second plurality of floors within the second sector.
In addition to one or more of the features described herein, or as an alternative, further embodiments may include that the second selected floor is the first selected floor.
In addition to one or more of the features described herein, or as an alternative, further embodiments may include that the first selected floor is an exit floor.
Technical effects of embodiments of the present disclosure include dividing an elevators operational route into sectors based upon contiguous floors in order to transport passengers from the sector to an exit or other floor.
The foregoing features and elements may be combined in various combinations without exclusivity, unless expressly indicated otherwise. These features and elements as well as the operation thereof will become more apparent in light of the following description and the accompanying drawings. It should be understood, however, that the following description and drawings are intended to be illustrative and explanatory in nature and non-limiting.
The present disclosure is illustrated by way of example and not limited in the accompanying figures in which like reference numerals indicate similar elements.
The tension member 107 engages the machine 111, which is part of an overhead structure of the elevator system 101. The machine 111 is configured to control movement between the elevator car 103 and the counterweight 105. The position reference system 113 may be mounted on a fixed part at the top of the elevator hoistway 117, such as on a support or guide rail, and may be configured to provide position signals related to a position of the elevator car 103 within the elevator hoistway 117. In other embodiments, the position reference system 113 may be directly mounted to a moving component of the machine 111, or may be located in other positions and/or configurations as known in the art. The position reference system 113 can be any device or mechanism for monitoring a position of an elevator car and/or counter weight, as known in the art. For example, without limitation, the position reference system 113 can be an encoder, sensor, or other system and can include velocity sensing, absolute position sensing, etc., as will be appreciated by those of skill in the art.
The controller 115 is located, as shown, in a controller room 121 of the elevator hoistway 117 and is configured to control the operation of the elevator system 101, and particularly the elevator car 103. For example, the controller 115 may provide drive signals to the machine 111 to control the acceleration, deceleration, leveling, stopping, etc. of the elevator car 103. The controller 115 may also be configured to receive position signals from the position reference system 113. When moving up or down within the elevator hoistway 117 along guide rail 109, the elevator car 103 may stop at one or more landings 125 as controlled by the controller 115. Although shown in a controller room 121, those of skill in the art will appreciate that the controller 115 can be located and/or configured in other locations or positions within the elevator system 101.
The machine 111 may include a motor or similar driving mechanism. In accordance with embodiments of the disclosure, the machine 111 is configured to include an electrically driven motor. The power supply for the motor may be any power source, including a power grid, which, in combination with other components, is supplied to the motor. The machine 111 may include a traction sheave that imparts force to tension member 107 to move the elevator car 103 within elevator hoistway 117.
Although shown and described with a roping system including tension member 107, elevator systems that employ other methods and mechanisms of moving an elevator car within an elevator hoistway may employ embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, embodiments may be employed in ropeless elevator systems using a linear motor to impart motion to an elevator car. Embodiments may also be employed in ropeless elevator systems using a hydraulic lift to impart motion to an elevator car.
Referring now to
Each floor 80a-80i in the building 102 of
The control system 110 is operably connected to the controller 115a, 115b of each elevator system 101a, 101b. The controllers 115a, 115b can be combined, local, remote, cloud, etc. The control system 110 is configured to the control and coordinate operation of multiple elevator system 101a, 101b. The control system 110 may be an electronic controller including a processor and an associated memory comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform various operations. The processor may be, but is not limited to, a single-processor or multi-processor system of any of a wide array of possible architectures, including field programmable gate array (FPGA), central processing unit (CPU), application specific integrated circuits (ASIC), digital signal processor (DSP) or graphics processing unit (GPU) hardware arranged homogenously or heterogeneously. The memory may be but is not limited to a random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), or other electronic, optical, magnetic or any other computer readable medium.
The control system 110 is configured to organize the elevator floors 80a-80i into one or more sectors 250a, 250b and each elevator car 103a, 103b may be applied to transport individuals in a specific sector 250a, 250b to selected floor, which may be an exit floor (e.g., floor 80a). In one embodiment, each sector 250a, 250b may be made up of a group of contiguous floors. In another embodiment, each sector 250a, 250b may be made up of a group of non-contiguous floors. In an example, the control system 110 may sector out the elevator floors 80b-80i into a first sector 250a that includes floors 80f-80i and a second sector 250b that includes floors 80b-80e. In this example, the first elevator car 103a may be assigned to the first sector 250a to transport individuals from the floors 80b-80e to the first floor 80a (i.e. exit floor) and a second elevator car 103b may be assigned to the second sector 250b to transport individuals from the floors 80f-80i to the first floor 80a. One or more elevator cars 103 may be assigned to a single sector 250a, 250b. Each sector 250a, 250b may contain a different number of floors 80a-80i.
The control system 110 can create any number of sectors 250. In an embodiment, the control system 110 may organize the floors 80a-80i in response to a down peak usage of the building elevator system 100. The control system 110 is configured to create and/or adjust the sectors 250a, 250b in response to sector parameters including but not limited to a time of day, a density of the down peak traffic, and whether there is simultaneous up peak or inter-floor traffic. The control system 110 is configured to adjust at least one of the number of sectors 250a, 250b, the number of floors 80a-80i in each sector 250a, 250b, and the number of elevator cars 103 assigned to each sector 250a, 250b in response to the sector parameter listed above. For example, the elevator systems 101 may operate using a single sector 250a, 250b for all the floors 80a-80i but then the floors 80a-80i may be broken up into multiple sectors 250a, 250b during down peak demand (e.g. at end of the day when everyone is taking the elevator cars 103a, 103b down and out of the building 102). Advantageously, by organizing the floors 80a-80i into multiple sectors 250a, 250b, each elevator car 103 may serve a specific sector and then transport individuals from the sector 250a, 250b directly to an exit floor, creating an “express path” from the sector 250a, 250b to the exit floor, thus reducing travel time for each individual. Also advantageously, by organizing the floors 80a-80i into multiple sectors 250a, 250b, an elevator car 103 may be moved to a sector 250a, 250b that is comprised of floors that are low in the building 102 (e.g., second sector 250b in
The assignment of an elevator car 103 to a sector 250a, 250b considers the time it would take the elevator car 103 to serve a first elevator call request in the sector 250a, 250b and the impact of adding the first elevator call to the elevator car 103 on top of other previous elevator calls already committed to be served by the elevator car 103. Once a first elevator car 103a is assigned to a first sector 250a, a second elevator car 103b may be chosen to serve an elevator call in the first sector 250a if another parameter such as opposite travel excludes the first elevator car 103a from being assigned or current conditions would result in a long wait for the passenger if they are assigned to the first elevator car 103a that is assigned to the first sector 250a. If a first elevator car 103a is assigned to a first sector 250a when there is low demand in the first sector 250a, then the first sector 250a may be extended by one floor at a time as the first elevator car 103a moves through the first sector 250a. For example, if there is a low number of stops in the first sector 250a for the first elevator car 103a moving through the first sector 250a then the first sector 250a may be extended from floors 80f-80i to floor 80e, floor 80d, etc. as the first elevator car 103a moves downward. In an embodiment, the number of floors that the first sector 250a may be extended by may be dependent upon the number of stops made in the first sector 250a. For example, the first elevator car 103a may be limited to a selected number of stops in the first sector 250a. In an embodiment, the number of floors that the first sector 250a may be extended by may be dependent upon a reversal point of the first elevator car 103a. As mentioned above, the reversal point is the position where the first elevator car 103a reverses direction. For example, the sector 250a, 250b may be extended by the number of floors between the top of the original defined sector 250a, 250b to the reversal point of the first elevator car 103a.
Referring now to
In an embodiment, the second plurality of floors 80b-80e does not include any floors within the first plurality of floors 80f-80i. In an embodiment, the first plurality of floors 80f-80i includes contiguous floors of the plurality of floors 80a-80i. In an embodiment, the second plurality of floors 80b-80e includes contiguous floors of the plurality of floors 80a-80i.
At block 308, the first elevator car 103a is assigned to the first sector 250a when an elevator call is received from a floor 80f-80i in the first sector 250a requesting transport to the exit floor 80a. The first elevator car 103a is configured to transport passengers from the first sector 250a to a first selected floor of the plurality of floors. When an elevator call is received from a floor of the first plurality of floors 80f-80i within the first sector 250a, the first elevator car 103a is moved to the floor of the first plurality of floors 80f-80i within the first sector 250a.
At block 310, the second elevator car 103b is assigned to the second sector 250b when an elevator call is received from a floor 80b-80e in the second sector 250b requesting transport to the exit floor 80a. The second elevator car 103b is configured to transport passengers from the second sector 250b to a second selected floor of the plurality of floors. When an elevator call is received from a floor of the second plurality of floors 80b-80e within the second sector 250b, the second elevator car 103b is moved to the floor of the second plurality of floors 80b-80e within the second sector 250b. In an embodiment, the second selected floor is the first selected floor, thus the first elevator car 103a and the second elevator car 103b will be transporting passenger to the same floor. In an embodiment, at least one of the first selected floor and the second selected floor may be an exit floor allowing egress from the building 102.
Other elevator cars 103 may be temporarily utilized for serving elevator calls from floors 80f-80i within the first sector 250a if the first elevator car 103a will not be able to serve the elevator call within a selected time or the first elevator car 103a becomes excluded. The first elevator car 103a may become excluded (i.e. ineligible) from serving an elevator call from a floor 80f-80i within the first sector 250a for multiple reasons including but not limited to the first elevator car 103a becoming full, the first elevator car 103a experiencing an opposite stop condition, etc. In an example of an opposite stop condition, if a first elevator car 103a is assigned an elevator call from a floor 80h in the first sector 250a to the exit floor 80 and is also moving up with a car call to floor 80g and then an elevator call is received from floor 80g, then the first elevator car 103a will be excluded from the elevator call for floor 80g and a second elevator car 103b may be utilized to serve the elevator call for floor 80g. If the second car 103b is busy serving elevator calls in the second sector 250b then a third elevator car (not shown) from a third elevator system (not shown) may be utilized when the elevator call is received from the floor 80g of the first plurality of floors 80f-80i within the first sector 250a.
In a second example, if an elevator call is received from a floor of the first plurality of floors 80f-80i within the first sector 250a and it is determined that the first elevator car 103a assigned to the first sector 250a will not arrive at the floor of the first plurality of floors 80f-80i within the first sector 250a within a first selected time period and then the second elevator car 103b may be utilized when the elevator call is received from the floor of the first plurality of floors 80f-80i within the first sector 250a. If the second car 103b is busy serving elevator calls in the second sector 250b then a third elevator car (not shown) from a third elevator system (not shown) may be utilized when the elevator call is received from the floor of the first plurality of floors 80f-80i within the first sector 250a
As the elevator car 103 is moving through the sector 250a, 250b additional floors may be added to the sector 250a, 250b if the elevator car 103 has not made a selected number of stops in the sector 250a, 250b. For example, the first elevator car 103a may make a selected number of stops as the first elevator car 103a is moved through the first sector 250a, which is less than the selected number of stops, then the first sector 250a may be extended by a selected number of floors until the selected number of stops is reached or until a maximum number of floors are added to the first sector. The maximum number of floors may be the number of floors necessary to extend the first sector 250a to the size of half the building 102. If the elevator car is moving downward through the sector 250a, 250b then floors may be added below the sector 250a, 250b. In another example, a reversal point for a first elevator car 103 may be determined as the first elevator car 103a is moving through the first sector 250a during a single trip and then the first sector 250a may be extended by a selected number of floors in response to the reversal point of the first elevator car 103a.
While the above description has described the flow process of
As described above, embodiments can be in the form of processor-implemented processes and devices for practicing those processes, such as processor. Embodiments can also be in the form of computer program code containing instructions embodied in tangible media, such as network cloud storage, SD cards, flash drives, floppy diskettes, CD ROMs, hard drives, or any other computer-readable storage medium, wherein, when the computer program code is loaded into and executed by a computer, the computer becomes a device for practicing the embodiments. Embodiments can also be in the form of computer program code, for example, whether stored in a storage medium, loaded into and/or executed by a computer, or transmitted over some transmission medium, loaded into and/or executed by a computer, or transmitted over some transmission medium, such as over electrical wiring or cabling, through fiber optics, or via electromagnetic radiation, wherein, when the computer program code is loaded into an executed by a computer, the computer becomes a device for practicing the embodiments. When implemented on a general-purpose microprocessor, the computer program code segments configure the microprocessor to create specific logic circuits.
The term “about” is intended to include the degree of error associated with measurement of the particular quantity and/or manufacturing tolerances based upon the equipment available at the time of filing the application.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the present disclosure. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, element components, and/or groups thereof.
Those of skill in the art will appreciate that various example embodiments are shown and described herein, each having certain features in the particular embodiments, but the present disclosure is not thus limited. Rather, the present disclosure can be modified to incorporate any number of variations, alterations, substitutions, combinations, sub-combinations, or equivalent arrangements not heretofore described, but which are commensurate with the scope of the present disclosure. Additionally, while various embodiments of the present disclosure have been described, it is to be understood that aspects of the present disclosure may include only some of the described embodiments. Accordingly, the present disclosure is not to be seen as limited by the foregoing description, but is only limited by the scope of the appended claims.
