Patent Application
20230391583
The present invention relates to an elevator and a control method for the elevator.
As technology relating to an elevator and a control method for the elevator, there is technology disclosed in PTL 1 described below. This PTL 1 describes “When it has been detected that a car is full of passengers, an automatically canceled landing call is re-registered . . . . Even if anyone is left behind because the car is full, a call is automatically registered, which saves the trouble of making the registration again”.
PTL 1: JP H02-52880 A
However, registration of a landing call is automatically canceled in a case where a car is in a door open state in a landing. Therefore, in the above-described technology, it is necessary to make re-registration of a landing call after the door of a fully loaded car is closed; thus, it takes time for an additional car for left-behind passengers to arrive, and it is not possible to avoid the congestion in a landing.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an elevator and a control method for the elevator that can avoid congestion in a landing in a case where the car occupancy exceeds a full-car threshold.
To solve the above problem, for example, a configuration described in claims is adopted.
The present application includes more than one means for solving the above problem; to take one example of those, an elevator includes: a plurality of elevator units each including a car and a unit control section that controls operation of the car; and an operation management device that manages operation of the plurality of elevator units, in which, in a case where it is determined that any of the elevator units has left any of passengers behind, the operation management device additionally and immediately dispatches the car of another elevator unit to a floor where any of passengers has been left behind.
According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an elevator and a control method for the elevator that can avoid congestion in a landing in a case where the car occupancy exceeds a full-car threshold.
Embodiments to which the present invention is applied will be described in detail below on the basis of drawings. It is noted that in the respective embodiments, similar components are assigned the same reference numeral, and repetition of description of the similar components is omitted.
The elevator 1 shown in this diagram includes a plurality of (n) elevator units 10, a landing facility 20, and an operation management device 30 that manages the operation of the plurality of elevator units 10. These are connected to one another by a network 2. Details of the components constituting the elevator 1 are described below in order. It is noted that in the description of the present invention, an example is configured in a way that is generally easy to describe it; however, the configuration is not limited this. For example, the operation management device 30 and the elevator units 10 are separated in different configurations; however, the operation management device 30 may be included in the elevator unit 10. In this case, a master/slave configuration may be constructed among the elevator units 10, and the master unit may take on the role of the operation management device 30.
The elevator units 10 are provided in a building, and this elevator 1 here includes n elevator units 10 that are first to n-th units 10-1 to 10-n. Each elevator unit 10 includes a car 10a and a hoist (not shown) for causing the car 10a to travel. The car 10a has a car door (not shown) of which the opening and closing is freely controlled.
Furthermore, each elevator unit 10 includes a load detection section 11, an in-car camera 12, a destination floor registration section 13, a display section 14, a speaker 15, and a unit control section 16. These are as follows.
The load detection section 11 detects a load applied to the car 10a by a passenger or baggage having boarded the car 10a. A detected load value is transmitted to the unit control section 16.
The in-car camera 12 takes an image of the inside of the car 10a. Information of the taken image is transmitted to the operation management device 30 through the unit control section 16 or directly.
The destination floor registration section 13 is for a passenger of the car 10a to register his/her destination floor; for example, each destination floor is registered by a button operation. Information of the destination floor specified by the button operation is transmitted to the operation management device 30 through the unit control section 16 or directly.
The display section 14 displays information of a destination floor of the car 10a, etc. on the basis of an instruction from the unit control section 16. Such a display section 14 is one of informing means for informing passengers of the car 10a of information.
The speaker 15 makes a caution announcement, for example, that the car 10a is overloaded on the basis of an instruction from the unit control section 16. Such a speaker 15 is one of informing means for informing passengers of the car 10a of information.
The unit control section 16 controls the traveling of the car 10a driven by the hoist, the opening and closing of the car door provided in the car 10a, the display on the display section 14, and the informing from the speaker 15 on the basis of information from the load detection section 11 and the in-car camera 12 and further an instruction from the operation management device 30. Such a unit control section 16 includes a calculator. The calculator is hardware used as a so-called computer, and may include a central processing unit (CPU), a random access memory (RAM), and a non-volatile storage unit such as a read-only memory (ROM) or a hard disk drive (HDD), and further a network interface. It is noted that as for a configuration of the calculator, the same applies to the subsequent embodiments.
The unit control section 16 includes function parts that are a setting holding part 16a, a full-car determination part 16b, an output control part 16c, and a departure management part 16d. Of these parts, the setting holding part 16a holds various setting values such as an overfull-car threshold and a full-car threshold for controlling the traveling of the car 10a of each elevator unit 10 and the opening and closing of the car door. These setting values shall be a value input from an external device. The full-car determination part 16b determines the congestion state of the inside of the car 10a on the basis of information held by the setting holding part 16a and information obtained from the load detection section 11 and the in-car camera 12. The output control part 16c controls the informing of information by the display section 14 and the speaker 15. The departure management part 16d performs control for causing the car 10a to travel on the basis of information from the full-car determination part 16b and the operation management device 30. These function parts execute their respective functions in accordance with a program stored in the calculator included in the unit control section 16. The respective functions executed by the function parts will be described in detail in a control method for the elevator to be described later.
The landing facility 20 is a facility provided in each landing, and includes a call registration section 21, a landing camera 22, a response lamp 23, and a landing information section 24. Each of these may individually be a plurality of ones installed in each landing, or may be one. In a case where a plurality of ones is provided, as an example, the ones shall be installed for each one of the landing doors corresponding to the elevator units 10. Subsequently, the call registration section 21, the landing camera 22, the response lamp 23, and the landing information section 24 are described in order.
The call registration section 21 is for a passenger to input a destination floor, and may be, for example, a numeric keypad type or may be configured to read identification information that the passenger has. The destination floor input or read through the call registration section 21 is transmitted to the operation management device 30.
The landing camera 22 takes an image of a landing. This landing camera 22 only has to have a resolution enough to count, for example, the number of passengers waiting in the landing and an increase or decrease in the number of passengers. Furthermore, the landing camera 22 may be one of components constituting a personal identification system for passengers. The image taken by the landing camera 22 is subjected to image processing by, for example, a data processing section that is not shown in the diagram, and then transmitted to each elevator unit 10 and also transmitted to the operation management device 30.
The response lamp 23 is a display section for informing passengers waiting in a landing of an elevator unit 10 arriving on a floor of the landing, and is installed to correspond to the landing door of each elevator unit 10. Such a response lamp 23 also has a function of informing of a traveling direction of the arrived car 10a, and, for example, turns on either one of two directions that are up and down directions, thereby informing passengers waiting in the landing of the arrival and the traveling direction of the car
The landing information section 24 informs of a variety of information regarding the operation of the elevator units on the basis of an instruction from the operation management device 30 to be described below. This landing information section 24 is, for example, a display section or a speaker, and performs the informing by a display or a sound.
The operation management device 30 is for managing the operation of the plurality of elevator units 10, and includes a calculator. Such an operation management device 30 includes, function parts, a management control section 31 and a learning section 32. These are as follows.
The management control section 31 allocates the elevator units 10 to respective floors of the landings on the basis of information transmitted from each elevator unit 10, information transmitted from each landing facility 20, and information from the learning section 32 to be described next, and draws up an operation route of each elevator unit 10. Furthermore, the management control section 31 controls the turn-on of the response lamp 23 and the informing by the landing information section 24 in each landing facility 20.
Such a management control section 31 includes function parts that are an input information processing part 31a, a unit allocation part 31b, a landing output control part 31c, and a multi-car dispatch control part 31d. Of these parts, the input information processing part 31a controls information from each landing facility 20 and each elevator unit 10. The unit allocation part 31b controls the registration of a call to each elevator unit 10 and instructs the elevator unit 10 to register the call. The landing output control part 31c controls outputs from the response lamp 23 and the landing information section 24 in each landing facility 20. The multi-car dispatch control part 31d controls concentration of dispatches to a given landing in a given period.
These function parts execute their respective functions in accordance with a program stored in the calculator included in the management control section 31. The respective functions executed by the function parts will be described in detail in a control method for the elevator to be described later.
The learning section 32 selects a driving program on the basis of a variety of information, and instructs the management control section 31 to perform operation control based on this driving program.
Subsequently, a control method for the elevator of the first embodiment implemented by the elevator 1 described above is described.
With reference to
First, on the basis of the flow of
In step S11, the departure management part 16d determines whether or not an instruction to register a landing call has been received from the unit allocation part 31b of the management control section 31. In a case where it is determined that the instruction has been received (YES), the car 10a is caused to travel to a floor where the instruction to register a landing call has been issued, and the control process moves on to step S12. On the other hand, In a case where it is determined that no instruction has been received (NO), the process ends.
In step S12, in a case where the departure management part 16d determines that the car 10a registered in step S11 has arrived on the floor where the instruction to register a landing call has been issued and the door of the car 10a has been opened (YES), the process moves on to the next step S13; in a case where it is determined that the door has not been opened (NO), the process ends.
In step S13, the full-car determination part 16b determines whether or not a load value detected by the load detection section 11 exceeds the overfull-car threshold. The overfull-car threshold here is a threshold set with respect to the load value to suppress the departure of the car 10a and is a value held by the setting holding part 16a in advance; however, it may be a value input from an external device and held by the setting holding part 16a of each elevator unit 10 in some cases. Such an overfull-car threshold is a value of about 110% of the rated loading capacity of each elevator unit 10 under normal circumstances.
In this case, the full-car determination part 16b performs this determination by comparing the load value detected by the load detection section 11 with the overfull-car threshold held by the setting holding part 16a, and, in a case where it determines that the load value exceeds the overfull-car threshold (YES), the process moves on to step S14. On the other hand, in a case where the full-car determination part 16b determines that the load value detected by the load detection section 11 does not exceed the overfull-car threshold (NO), the process moves on to step S17.
In step S14, the full-car determination part 16b turns on an overfull-car signal to be transmitted to the management control section 31. This starts the transmission of the overfull-car signal to the management control section 31.
In step S15, the departure management part 16d maintains the door open state of the car door on the floor where the instruction to register a landing call has been issued. Through that process, control of suppressing the departure of the car 10a from the floor on is put into effect when it has been detected that the car is overfull.
In step S16, the output control part 16c instructs the speaker 15 to inform of guidance for passengers to alight from the car. Thus, the speaker 15 makes an announcement of guidance for passengers to alight from the car due to an overfull state. After that, returning to step S13, and processes in steps S13 to S16 are repeated until it is determined in step S13 that the load value does not exceed the overfull-car threshold (NO), i.e., until the load value of the inside of the car 10a is decreased to be equal to or lower than the overfull-car threshold by passengers getting off the car 10a or for some other reason.
On the other hand, step S17 is a step to which the process moves on when it is determined in step S13 that the load value does not exceed the overfull-car threshold (NO). In this step S17, the full-car determination part 16b turns off the overfull-car signal to be transmitted to the management control section 31.
In step S18, the departure management part 16d closes the door of the car 10a, and then causes the car 10a to travel toward the registered destination floor. After that, the process ends.
Subsequently, on the basis of the flow of
In step S101, the input information processing part 31a determines whether or not any of passengers has been left behind in any of landings. Here, it is determined by whether or not an overfull-car signal has been received from, for example, the first unit 10-1. When an overfull-car signal has been detected, control of suppressing the departure of the car 10a of the unit (for example, the first unit 10-1) is performed, and an announcement of calling for passengers to alight from the car is issued. That is, it can be seen that one or more persons are inevitably left in the landing. Therefore, the detection of an overfull-car signal is synonymous with the presence of left-behind passenger(s). The overfull-car signal is a signal transmitted from the full-car determination part 16b of the unit control section 16 in step S14 of
In step S102, the unit allocation part 31b determines whether or not there is an allocatable unit. At this time, if there is an elevator unit 10 of which the car 10a can be dispatched in the plurality of elevator units 10 other than the unit (here, for example, the first unit 10-1) that has left any of the passengers behind, except for a unit that cannot dispatch the car, the unit allocation part 31b determines that there is an allocatable unit (YES), and the process moves on to step S103. On the other hand, if there is no elevator unit 10 that can dispatch the car in the elevator units 10 other than the first unit 10-1 that has left any of the passengers behind, the unit allocation part 31b determines that there is no allocatable unit (NO), and the process moves on to step S105.
In step S103, the unit allocation part 31b additionally and immediately dispatches the car of the elevator unit 10 determined to be an allocatable unit to a landing where any of the passengers has been left behind. Thus, the car of the additional elevator unit 10 is immediately dispatched to the landing where any of the passengers has been left behind.
In step S104, the landing output control part 31c transmits, to the response lamp 23 installed to correspond to the additional elevator unit 10 in the landing where any of the passengers has been left behind, an instruction to turn on a light that indicates the same direction as the last call. Thus, the response lamp 23 on the arrival floor turns on the light that indicates the same direction as the last call.
On the other hand, step S105 is a step to which the process moves on when it is determined in step S102 that there is no allocatable unit (NO). The unallocatable unit here means, as an always unallocatable unit, a unit that cannot respond to a landing call, such as a unit that is out of order or under maintenance and inspection. Furthermore, as for a unit that cannot be allocated temporarily, it indicates a case where the overfull car described in the foregoing part has been detected, and the car 10a of the unit 10 is temporarily in no fit state to allow passengers to get on or a state that prohibits people from riding together because it is in special driving and does not respond to a landing call. In this step S105, the call registration section 21 re-registers the last landing call instructed with respect to the first unit 10-1 that has left any of the passengers behind. Then, the allocation of the re-registered landing call is put on hold, and the process ends. Thus, even if the car 10a of the first unit 10-1 that has left any of the passengers behind is in the door open state on the floor where the instruction to register the landing call has been issued, the re-registered landing call is not canceled. Therefore, after the first unit 10-1 that has left any of the passengers behind has departed the arrival floor, without a user again registering a call through the call registration section 21 of the landing facility 20, when an allocatable unit becomes available from a temporarily unallocatable state, the landing call is allocated to the unit. Furthermore, in a case where a unit that is under inspection or an out-of-order unit has become available for car dispatch, the unit may be dispatched. After this step S105 is performed, the process moves on to step S104.
According to the control method of the first embodiment described above, in a case where it is confirmed that any of the elevator units 10 has left passenger(s) behind in a landing, the car of an additional unit is immediately dispatched to the landing where the left-behind passenger(s) is present by the unit allocation part 31b of the management control section 31. Therefore, the left-behind passenger(s) on the arrival floor of the first unit 10-1 can get on the next unit arrived after a shorter waiting time. As a result, it is possible to efficiently dispatch the car 10a to passengers who could not get on the car 10a and have been waiting in a landing, which makes it possible to avoid the congestion in the landing. Furthermore, even in a case where there is no allocatable unit at the point when the management control section 31 has confirmed the left-behind passengers in the landing, the last landing call is automatically re-registered by the call registration section 21, and the allocation of a unit is put on hold; therefore, it is possible to save a passenger waiting in the landing the trouble of re-registering a landing call.
The second embodiment is a modification example of the first embodiment, and is an example in a case where a full-car threshold used for determination in a case where full-car passage is performed is set. The full-car passage means a state in which even if a landing call is made, it is necessary to pass through a floor where the landing call has been made because the inside of the car 10a is in a crowded state. The second embodiment like this differs from the first embodiment in the respective programs that the unit control section 16 and the management control section 31 constituting the elevator 1 described with
First, on the basis of the flow of
In step S21, the departure management part 16d determines whether or not an instruction to register a landing call has been received from the unit allocation part 31b of the management control section 31. In a case where it is determined that the instruction has been received (YES), the car 10a is caused to travel to a floor where the instruction to register a landing call has been issued, and the control process moves on to step S22. On the other hand, In a case where it is determined that no instruction has been received (NO), the process ends.
In step S22, in a case where the departure management part 16d determines that the car 10a has arrived on the floor where the instruction to register a landing call has been issued and the door of the car 10a has been opened (YES), the process moves to the next step S23; in a case where the door has not been opened (NO), the process ends.
In step S23, to determine whether or not the inside of the car 10a of the elevator unit 10 is in a crowded state, the full-car determination part 16b determines whether or not an in-car density value exceeds a full-car threshold. The in-car density value here only has to be a value indicating a crowded state (a congestion state) of the inside of the car 10a, and is, for example, a load value of the car 10a, the number of boarding passengers, or an unexposed floor area ratio. Furthermore, the full-car threshold is a value used for determination in a case where full-car passage is performed in normal operation, and is an allowable maximum in-car density value for a congestion state of the inside of the car 10a. Such a full-car threshold is a value input from an external device and held by the setting holding part 16a of each elevator unit 10, and is set to, for example, a value of about 50% of the rated loading capacity of each elevator unit 10.
Furthermore, in a case where the in-car density value is the number of boarding passengers in the car, the full-car determination part 16b detects the number of boarding passengers in the car 10a on the basis of, for example, image information from the in-car camera 12, and compares the detected number of boarding passengers with a threshold calculated by the capacity and the full-car threshold of each unit held by the setting holding part 16a.
Moreover, in a case where the in-car density value is an exposed floor area ratio of the car 10a, the full-car determination part 16b detects an unexposed floor area occupied in the floor area of the car 10a, for example, on the basis of a value obtained by binarizing the image information from the in-car camera 12 or on the basis of range image information from a 3D camera used as the in-car camera 12. For example, in a case where there is no user in the car 10a, and only the floor face has been detected, the unexposed floor area is 0%. Furthermore, in a case where the entire floor area is in a jam-packed state, the unexposed floor area is 100%. Then, the detected unexposed floor area is compared with the full-car threshold held by the setting holding part 16a.
In a case where the full-car determination part 16b determines that the in-car density value exceeds the full-car threshold and the inside of the car is crowded (YES), the process moves on to step S24; in a case where it is determined that the in-car density value does not exceed the full-car threshold and the inside of the car is not crowded (NO), the process moves on to step S26.
In step S24, the full-car determination part 16b transmits, to the management control section 31, a full-car signal for informing that the in-car density value exceeds the full-car threshold.
In step S25, the output control part 16c instructs the speaker 15 to inform that the car is full and in a crowded state. Thus, the speaker 15 makes an announcement informing that the inside of the car 10a is in a crowded state.
In step S26, the departure management part 16d closes the door of the car 10a, and then causes the car 10a to travel toward the registered destination floor. After that, the process ends.
Subsequently, on the basis of the flow of
In step S101, the input information processing part 31a determines whether or not any of passengers has been left behind in any of landings. Here, it is determined by a decrease in the load value of the inside of the car of, for example, the first unit 10-1 by a fixed value or more having been detected after a full-car signal has been received from the first unit 10-1. After a full-car state has been detected, when an announcement of the car being crowded is made, since it is assumed that a user's psychological state may cause him/her to get off the car because it is in a crowded state, the presence of left-behind passenger(s) is detected by a change in load after the announcement of a crowded state. This full-car signal is a signal transmitted from the full-car determination part 16b of the unit control section 16 in step S24 of
According to the control method of the second embodiment described above, in a case where the load value of the inside of the car 10a of the elevator unit 10 that has transmitted a full-car signal is decreased, and thereby it is detected that any of passengers has got off the car 10a, the unit allocation part 31b of the management control section 31 immediately dispatches the car of an additional unit to the arrival floor of the elevator unit 10 that has transmitted the full-car signal. Therefore, it is possible to efficiently dispatch the car 10a also for a passenger who has got on the car on the arrival floor of the first unit 10-1 and voluntarily got off the car because the car is full, which makes it possible to avoid the congestion in the landing.
Such a system configuration of the elevator 1′ of the third embodiment shown in
The multi-car dispatch control part 31d′ of the management control section 31′ includes a threshold correction part d1 and a multi-car dispatch control determination part d2. It is noted that a predicted boarding passenger number correction part d3 in
Of these, the threshold correction part d1 is a part that corrects each threshold used for multi-car dispatch control. Furthermore, the multi-car dispatch control determination part d2 is a part that determines whether multi-car dispatch control is performed and calculation of the number of cars to be dispatched. Details of the control performed by the threshold correction part d1 and the multi-car dispatch control determination part d2 are described in detail in a control method for the elevator described later.
Subsequently, a control method for the elevator of the third embodiment implemented by the elevator 1′ described above is described. The control method for the elevator of the third embodiment is a control method performed in a configuration in which the full-car threshold used for determination of whether or not the inside of the car is in a crowded state in the control method for the elevator of the second embodiment can be changed. First, control of the elevator unit by the unit control section 16 is described below, and, next, each control by the operation management device 30′ is described.
In step S31, the departure management part 16d determines whether or not an instruction to register a landing call has been received from the unit allocation part 31b of the management control section 31′. In a case where it is determined that the instruction has been received (YES), the car 10a is caused to travel to a floor where the instruction to register a landing call has been issued, and the control process moves on to step S32. On the other hand, In a case where it is determined that no registration has been made (NO), the process ends.
In step S32, in a case where the departure management part 16d determines that the car 10a has arrived on the floor where the instruction to register a landing call has been issued and the door of the car 10a has been opened (YES), the process moves on to the next step S33; in a case where the door has not been opened (NO), the process ends.
In step S33, to determine whether or not the inside of the car 10a of the elevator unit 10 is in a crowded state, the full-car determination part 16b determines whether or not an in-car density value exceeds a full-car threshold. Here, the in-car density value and the full-car threshold are values described in step S23 of the second embodiment (see
However, the full-car threshold is a reference full-car threshold set in advance as a value in a case where full-car passage is performed in normal operation, or is a full-car threshold rewritten to a value different from the preset reference value. It is not only simply rewritten but also set to a numerical value lower than the reference value, thereby a use scene in which an in-car crowded state is detected is assumed. In this case, the setting holding part 16a holds rewriting information in a case where the reference full-car threshold is rewritten.
In a case where the full-car determination part 16b determines that an in-car density value exceeds the full-car threshold with reference to the information held by the setting holding part 16a (YES), the process moves on to step S34; in a case where it is determined that the in-car density value does not exceed the full-car threshold (NO), the process moves on to step S36.
In step S34, the full-car determination part 16b determines whether or not the full-car threshold used for the determination in step S33 has been corrected. In a case where the full-car threshold held by the setting holding part 16a includes rewriting information, the full-car determination part 16b determines that it has been rewritten (YES), and the process moves on to step S35. On the other hand, in a case where the full-car threshold held by the setting holding part 16a does not include rewriting information, the full-car determination part 16b determines that it has not been rewritten (NO), and the process moves on to step S36.
In step S35, the full-car determination part 16b transmits a full-car signal including the rewriting information to the management control section 31′. The full-car signal including the rewriting information here is a full-car signal for informing that the in-car density value exceeds the full-car threshold and information indicating that the full-car threshold has been rewritten.
In step S36, the departure management part 16d closes the door of the car 10a, and then causes the car 10a to travel toward the registered destination floor. After that, the process ends.
In step S301, the input information processing part 31a determines whether or not a full-car signal including rewriting information has been received from the elevator unit Here, it is assumed that a full-car signal including rewriting information has been received from, for example, the first unit 10-1. This full-car signal including rewriting information is a signal transmitted from the full-car determination part 16b of the unit control section 16 in step S35 of
In step S302, the threshold correction part d1 of the multi-car dispatch control part 31d′ calculates, on the basis of a load value of the inside of the car transmitted from the first unit 10-1, the current full-car threshold that is a full-car threshold set with respect to the first unit 10-1 and is one that the reference full-car threshold has been rewritten to. It is noted that in a case where the management control section 31′ can directly acquire the value of the rewritten full-car threshold from the unit control section 16 of the elevator unit 10, this step S302 may be omitted.
In step S303, the threshold correction part d1 of the multi-car dispatch control part 31d′ corrects each threshold used for multi-car dispatch control on the basis of the current full-car threshold calculated in step S302. Here, for example, with [the current full-car threshold]/[the full-car threshold before correction (the reference value)] as a coefficient, the threshold correction part d1 corrects each threshold by multiplying each threshold before rewriting by this coefficient.
In step S304, the multi-car dispatch control determination part d2 of the multi-car dispatch control part 31d′ calculates a predicted boarding passenger number to be used for multi-car dispatch control in each landing. The predicted boarding passenger number here is a predicted value of the number of passengers boarding the car 10a that travels from each floor heading in each direction in each time slot of a predetermined unit. Here, for example, a predicted boarding passenger number created by the learning section 32 on the basis of operation data of the elevator 1 accumulated in the past is used.
In step S305, the multi-car dispatch control determination part d2 of the multi-car dispatch control part 31d′ determines whether or not any of the landing floors meets conditions for performing the multi-car dispatch control. For example, it is determined by whether or not a predicted boarding passenger number on the floor exceeds the corrected threshold. The corrected threshold here is the one calculated in step S303, and the predicted boarding passenger number is the one calculated in step S304. An object to be compared may be the number of left-behind passengers on the floor, the number of boarding passengers on the floor at the time of the last departure, etc. Alternatively, it may be determined by whether or not a new landing call heading in the same direction (the direction) has been made on the floor until a predetermined time (for example, 5 seconds) has passed since the departure of, for example, the first unit 10-1 from the floor. Alternatively, it may be determined by a combination of these multiple conditions. In a case where the multi-car dispatch control determination part d2 determines that the conditions for performing the multi-car dispatch control are met (YES), the process moves on to step S306, otherwise the process ends.
In step S306, the multi-car dispatch control determination part d2 of the multi-car dispatch control part 31d′ sets the direction on the floor determined to meet the conditions for performing the multi-car dispatch control in the determination in step S305 as the subject of multi-car dispatch control.
In step S307, the multi-car dispatch control determination part d2 of the multi-car dispatch control part 31d′ performs multi-car dispatch control operation on the landing floor determined to be the subject of multi-car dispatch control in step S306. For example, the multi-car dispatch control determination part d2 of the multi-car dispatch control part 31d′ keeps dispatching a certain number of elevator units 10 to the floor at all times. Here, the number of cars to be dispatched, i.e., the number of cars of the elevator units 10 to be dispatched to the landing floor may be determined from a magnitude relationship between a predicted boarding passenger number on the floor and the threshold. The threshold is the one calculated in step S303, and the predicted boarding passenger number is the one calculated in step S304.
In step S308, the multi-car dispatch control determination part d2 of the multi-car dispatch control part 31d′ determines whether or not the landing floor set as the subject of multi-car dispatch control in step S306 meets conditions for termination of the multi-car dispatch control. For example, it is determined by whether or not there is any unit waiting for the door to be closed on the floor. In a case where the multi-car dispatch control determination part d2 determines that the conditions for performing multi-car dispatch control are met (YES), the process moves on to step S309, otherwise the process returns to step S307.
In step S309, the multi-car dispatch control determination part d2 of the multi-car dispatch control part 31d′ cancels the setting of multi-car dispatch control of the landing floor set in step S306, and the process ends.
According to the third embodiment described above, even in a case where the full-car threshold for determining a crowded state of the inside of the car 10a is changed, the multi-car dispatch control part 31d′ corrects the threshold used for multi-car dispatch control, which makes it possible to determine whether to perform multi-car dispatch control in accordance with the rewritten full-car threshold and dispatch a necessary number of cars that is just the right amount of cars to the target floor. Thus, by changing the full-car threshold, it becomes possible to perform multi-car dispatch control that can resolve a crowded state in the landing while keeping the social distance between passengers in the car 10a in a state that conforms with the world affairs.
The fourth embodiment is a modification example of the third embodiment, and is a configuration example where a full-car threshold used for determination in a case where full-car passage is performed in normal operation is changed to a value different from a reference value, for example, for the purpose of ensuring the social distance between passengers.
As shown in
The control method for the elevator of the fourth embodiment is a modification example of the control method for the elevator of the third embodiment, and a control method for the elevator unit implemented by the unit control section 16 is similar to the control method in the third embodiment described with reference to
In this fourth embodiment, the operation management device 30′ performs: (1) multi-car dispatch control associated with correction of a predicted boarding passenger number; and (2) correction of the predicted boarding passenger number after performing of the multi-car dispatch control in this order. These are described below in order.
Of the control method for the elevator according to the fourth embodiment, the procedure of multi-car dispatch control performed by the operation management device is described on the basis of the flow of
With reference to
In step S401, the predicted boarding passenger number correction part d3 of the multi-car dispatch control part 31d′ calculates a transportable passenger number [Na] per unit time slot from the current full-car threshold calculated by the threshold correction part d1 in step S302 (see
In step S402, the predicted boarding passenger number correction part d3 of the multi-car dispatch control part 31d′ performs a process of setting a time slot [t] to the current time slot [t0] ([t]=[t0]) (
In step S403, the predicted boarding passenger number correction part d3 of the multi-car dispatch control part 31d′ determines whether or not a predicted boarding passenger number [Nrt] in a time slot [t] created by the learning section 32 exceeds the transportable passenger number [Na] calculated in step S401 in the time slot [t] (first, a time slot [to]) (see
In step S404, the predicted boarding passenger number correction part d3 of the multi-car dispatch control part 31d′ corrects so that the predicted boarding passenger number [Nrt] in the time slot [t] (first, the time slot [t0]) does not exceed the transportable passenger number [Na]. For example, the predicted boarding passenger number [Nrt] in the time slot [t] (first, the time slot [t0]) is corrected (see
In step S405, the predicted boarding passenger number correction part d3 of the multi-car dispatch control part 31d′ performs a process of setting the time slot [t] to the next time slot [t+1] ([t]=[t+1]) (see
Step S406 is a step to which the process moves on when it is determined in step S403 that the predicted boarding passenger number [Nrt] in the time slot [t] does not exceed the transportable passenger number [Na] (NO). In this step S406, the landing output control part 31c instructs the landing information section 24 to give information to inform of the time slot [t]. The time slot [t] informed here is a time slot in which all passengers heading in the direction in the landing complete boarding the car 10a, and is a time slot [t0+2] in the example shown in
As described above, in a case where the full-car threshold is rewritten, the predicted boarding passenger number [Nrt] used for multi-car dispatch control is corrected on the basis of the rewritten full-car threshold, thereby multi-car dispatch control can be performed in accordance with the rewritten full-car threshold. Furthermore, correction of the predicted boarding passenger number makes it possible to perform multi-car dispatch control taking into consideration passengers likely to be present in a case of operation based on the rewritten full-car threshold even in a time slot in which no passengers are predicted in a case of operation based on the reference full-car threshold. Moreover, it is possible to predict a time slot in which all passengers in the landing complete boarding the car, and therefore, by performing multi-car dispatch control until that time slot has passed, it becomes possible to resolve a crowded state in the landing. By informing of that time slot through the landing information section, it becomes possible to provide a user who has arrived at a landing with information for making a decision when a means of transportation in a building is selected.
With reference to
In step S501, the predicted boarding passenger number correction part d3 of the multi-car dispatch control part 31d′ determines whether or not a landing call has continuously been made from the time slot [t0]. At this time, in a case where a landing call heading in each direction on each floor has been made continuously from the time slot [t0] to the next time slot [t0+1] and onward, the predicted boarding passenger number correction part d3 determines that the landing call has been made continuously (YES), and the process moves on to step S502, otherwise the process ends.
In step S502, the predicted boarding passenger number correction part d3 of the multi-car dispatch control part 31d′ determines whether or not there is a record of performance of multi-car dispatch control in the time slot [t0]; in a case where it is determined that there is a record (YES), the process moves on to step S503, otherwise the process ends.
In step S503, the predicted boarding passenger number correction part d3 of the multi-car dispatch control part 31d′ sets a time slot (here, the time slot [t0+2]) in which the continuation of the landing call has stopped as a time slot [t1] (see
In step S504, the predicted boarding passenger number correction part d3 of the multi-car dispatch control part 31d′ sets the predicted boarding passenger number [Nrt] in the time slot [t0] to be the sum of predicted boarding passenger numbers [Nrt] in the time slots [t0] to [t1] (see
In step S505, the predicted boarding passenger number correction part d3 of the multi-car dispatch control part 31d′ sets each predicted boarding passenger number [Nrt] in the time slots [t0+1] to [t1] to zero (see
In step S506, the predicted boarding passenger number correction part d3 of the multi-car dispatch control part 31d′ performs a process of setting the time slot [t0] to [t] ([t]=[t0]) (see
In step S507, the predicted boarding passenger number correction part d3 of the multi-car dispatch control part 31d′ determines whether or not the predicted boarding passenger number [Nrt] in the time slot [t] exceeds a transportable passenger number [Nas] based on the reference full-car threshold (see
In step S508, the predicted boarding passenger number correction part d3 of the multi-car dispatch control part 31d′ corrects the predicted boarding passenger number [Nrt] in the time slot [t] (first, the time slot [t0]) so as not to exceed the transportable passenger number [Nas] based on the reference full-car threshold (see
In step S509, the predicted boarding passenger number correction part d3 of the multi-car dispatch control part 31d′ performs a process of setting the time slot [t] to the next time slot [t+1] ([t]=[t+1]) (see
In step S510, the predicted boarding passenger number correction part d3 of the multi-car dispatch control part 31d′ determines whether or not the time slot [t] is the time slot [t1] or before; in a case where it is determined that the time slot [t] is the time slot [t1] or before (YES), the process returns to step S507, and after that, step S507 and subsequent steps are repeated. On the other hand, in a case where the predicted boarding passenger number correction part d3 determines that the time slot [t] is not the time slot [t1] or before (NO), the process ends.
As described above, the predicted boarding passenger number correction part d3 recorrects the predicted boarding passenger number [Nrt] corrected for performing the multi-car dispatch control in accordance with the rewritten full-car threshold on the basis of the reference full-car threshold before the rewriting, and therefore, the predicted boarding passenger number [Nrt] can be brought closer to the value before the correction created by the learning section 32. Therefore, even in a case where the rewriting of the full-car threshold is canceled, it is possible to perform the multi-car dispatch control in accordance with the reference full-car threshold.
It is noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments and their modification examples, and further includes various modification examples. For example, the above-described embodiments are described in detail to explain the present invention in a comprehensible way, and the present invention is not necessarily limited to those including all the components described above. Furthermore, some of the components of one embodiment can be replaced with those of another embodiment, and a component of another embodiment can be added to the components of one embodiment. Moreover, addition of another component, deletion, and replacement can be made with respect to some of the components of each embodiment. For example, the setting and cancellation of the multi-car dispatch control described in the third and fourth embodiments may be performed by other methods; for example, in a case where the number of people in a landing can be detected by the landing camera 22, the detected number of people may be set as the number of left-behind passengers, and the setting and cancellation of the multi-car dispatch control may be performed on the basis of the number of left-behind passengers.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/JP2020/041161 | 11/4/2020 | WO |
