Patent Application
20180229965
This application claims priority to European Patent Application No. EP171555741 filed on Feb. 10, 2017, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
The invention concerns in general the technical field of an elevator technology. Especially, the invention concerns enhancing the safety of an elevator.
An elevator comprises typically an elevator car and a hoisting machine configured to drive the elevator car in an elevator shaft between the landings. For safety reasons the vertical position of the elevator car inside the elevator shaft in relation to the landings, i.e. absolute positioning, may be needed to be defined under certain conditions. In some circumstances the absolute position information may need to be known with an accuracy of approximately 10 mm. Examples of that kind of conditions may be elevators having reduced stroke buffers or in elevators used in a certain geographical location. Furthermore, the absolute positioning may be useful when implementing some safety functions of an elevator. In order to enhance the safety of an elevator system, the absolute positioning may be implemented to be independent from a drive control system of the elevator.
Preferably, the absolute positioning may be implemented by means of a component that fulfills the accuracy requirements. A Safety Integrity Level (SIL) may be used to indicate a tolerable failure rate of a particular safety function, for example a safety component. SIL is defined as a relative level of risk-reduction provided by the safety function, or to specify a target level of risk reduction. SIL has a number scheme from 1 to 4 to represent its levels. The higher the SIL level is, the greater the impact of a failure is and the lower the failure rate that is acceptable is.
According to one prior art solution absolute positioning of an elevator car is implemented by means of an ultrasonic position system (UPS) comprising a transmitter arranged on the elevator car, a first receiver at the upper end of the elevator shaft, and a second receiver at the bottom of the elevator shaft. The transmitter feeds an ultrasonic impulse into a signal wire running vertically through the elevator shaft between the first and the second receivers. Some of the drawbacks of this prior art solution are the expensive equipment and special material and high cost of the signal wire. Furthermore, the travelling height, i.e., the length in the vertical direction inside the elevator shaft is limited.
According to another prior art solution absolute positioning of an elevator car may be implemented by means of a magnetic tape installed along the elevator shaft and a reader having Hall sensors arranged on the elevator car. Some of the drawbacks of this prior art solution are the high cost of the magnetic tape and in some versions of this solution also the travelling height may be limited.
According to yet another prior art solution the absolute positioning of an elevator car may be implemented by means of a code tape mounted along the elevator shaft and an optical camera arranged on the elevator car. The code tape may be mounted to the elevator shaft with mounting clips containing a position indicator that enables floor level identification without the need for additional sensors. One of the drawbacks of this prior art solution is the high cost of code tape. Furthermore, the mounting clips may not be used to identify which landing door is on front side of the elevator car and which landing door is on rear side of the elevator car.
Thus, there is a need to further develop the absolute positioning solutions in an elevator system.
An objective of the invention is to present a method and a safety control unit, and an elevator system for defining absolute position information of an elevator car. Another objective of the invention is that the method and the safety control unit, and the elevator system for defining absolute position information of an elevator car improves at least partly the safety of the elevators.
The objectives of the invention are reached by a method, a safety control unit, and an elevator system as defined by the respective independent claims.
According to a first aspect, a method for defining absolute position information of an elevator car is provided, wherein the method comprising: obtaining continuously a pulse position information of the elevator car; and defining an absolute position information of the elevator car by adding a pre-defined correction value to the obtained pulse position information of the elevator car, wherein the predefined correction value indicates a drift between the obtained pulse position information of the elevator car and the actual pulse position of the elevator car.
Furthermore, the pulse position information of the elevator car may be obtained from a pulse sensor unit comprising at least one quadrature sensor measuring incremental pulses from a rotating magnet ring arranged in an overspeed governor arranged in the elevator shaft.
Alternatively or in addition, a pre-information about at least one door zone magnet at a door zone of each floor of an elevator shaft may be obtained and stored during a setup run, wherein the pre-information may comprise the following: floor number, identification code, magnet type, pulse position information, linear position information.
In addition, the floor number, identification code, magnet type, and the linear position of the elevator car within the door zone may be obtained from at least one door zone sensor unit comprising at least one Hall sensor and a RFID reader.
Moreover, the predefined correction value may be defined during a synchronization run, wherein the synchronization run may comprise: detecting a first door zone magnet of the elevator shaft; comparing the identification code of the detected first door zone magnet to the stored pre-information in order to identify the detected first door zone magnet; obtaining from the stored pre-information the pulse position information of the door zone magnet corresponding to the detected first door zone magnet; and defining the correction value by subtracting the pulse position information of the elevator car at the detection position of the first door zone magnet from the stored pulse position information of the door zone magnet corresponding to the detected first door zone magnet.
The synchronization run may further comprise: detecting a second door zone magnet of the elevator shaft; comparing the identification code of the detected second door zone magnet to the stored pre-information in order to identify the detected second door zone magnet; obtaining from the stored pre-information the pulse position information of the door zone magnet corresponding to the detected second door zone magnet; defining a pulse position distance between the detected first door zone mag-net and the detected second door zone magnet; and comparing the defined distance between the detected first door zone magnet and the detected second door zone magnet to the corresponding distance de-fined based on the pre-information.
Moreover, the method may further comprise defining the absolute position information at two channels.
According to a second aspect, a safety control unit for defining absolute position information of an elevator car is provided, wherein the safety control unit comprising: at least one processor, and at least one memory storing at least one portion of computer program code, wherein the at least one processor being configured to cause the safety control unit at least to perform: obtain continuously a pulse position information of the elevator car; and define an absolute position information of the elevator car by adding a predefined correction value to the obtained pulse position information of the elevator car, wherein the predefined correction value indicates a drift between the obtained pulse position information of the elevator car and the actual pulse position of the elevator car.
Furthermore, the safety control unit may be configured to obtain the pulse position information of the elevator car from a pulse sensor unit comprising at least one quadrature sensor configured to measure incremental pulses from a rotating magnet ring arranged in an overspeed governor arranged in the elevator shaft.
Alternatively or in addition, the safety control unit may be configured to obtain and store a pre-information about at least one door zone magnet at a door zone of each floor of an elevator shaft during a setup run, wherein the pre-information may comprise the following: floor number, identification code, magnet type, pulse position information, linear position information.
In addition, the safety control unit may be configured to obtain the floor number, identification code, magnet type, and the linear position of the elevator car within the door zone from at least one door zone sensor unit comprising at least one Hall sensor and a RFID reader.
Moreover, the safety control unit may be configured to define the predefined correction value during a synchronization run, wherein the safety control unit may be configured to perform the synchronization run comprising at least: detect a first door zone magnet of the elevator shaft; compare the identification code of the detected first door zone magnet to the stored pre-information in order to identify the detected first door zone magnet; obtain from the stored pre-information the pulse position information of the door zone magnet corresponding to the detected first door zone magnet; and define the correction value by subtracting the pulse position information of the elevator car at the detection position of the first door zone magnet from the stored pulse position information of the door zone magnet corresponding to the detected first door zone magnet.
The safety control unit may further be configured to perform the synchronization run comprising: detect a second door zone magnet of the elevator shaft; compare the identification code of the detected second door zone magnet to the stored pre-information in order to identify the detected second door zone magnet; obtain from the stored pre-information the pulse position information of the door zone magnet corresponding to the detected second door zone magnet; define a pulse position distance between the detected first door zone magnet and the detected second door zone magnet; and compare the defined distance between the detected first door zone magnet and the detected second door zone magnet to the corresponding distance defined based on the pre-information.
The safety control unit may further be configured to define the absolute position information at two channels.
According to a third aspect, an elevator system for defining absolute position information of an elevator car is provided, wherein the elevator system comprising: a pulse sensor unit, a door zone sensor unit, a safety control unit configured to: obtain continuously a pulse position information of the elevator car from the pulse sensor unit; and define an absolute position information of the elevator car by adding a predefined correction value to the obtained pulse position information of the elevator car, wherein the predefined correction value indicates a drift between the obtained pulse position information of the elevator car and the actual pulse position of the elevator car, wherein the safety control unit, the door zone sensor unit, and pulse sensor unit are communicatively coupled to each other.
The exemplary embodiments of the invention presented in this patent application are not to be interpreted to pose limitations to the applicability of the appended claims. The verb “to comprise” is used in this patent application as an open limitation that does not exclude the existence of also un-recited features. The features recited in depending claims are mutually freely combinable unless otherwise explicitly stated.
The novel features which are considered as characteristic of the invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method of operation, together with additional objectives and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings.
The embodiments of the invention are illustrated by way of example, and not by way of limitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawings.
Furthermore, the elevator system 100 comprises at least one door zone magnet 114a-114n at a door zone of each floor of the elevator shaft. The at least one door zone magnet 114a-114n is fixed to the elevator shaft. Preferably, the at least one magnet 114a-114n may be fixed to a landing door frame in the elevator shaft. The door zone may be defined as a zone extending from a lower limit below floor level 116a-116n to an upper limit above the floor level 116a-116n in which the landing and car door equipment are in mesh and operable. The door zone may be determined to be from −400 mm to +400 mm for example. Preferably, the door zone may be from −150 mm to +150 mm. Alternatively or in addition, the elevator system 100 according to the invention may comprise at least one terminal magnet at least at one terminal floor of the elevator shaft. The at least one terminal floor may be the top or the bottom floor. Each magnet may comprise at least one passive RFID tag. The at least one RFID tag comprises unique identification code (UID) and type code of the magnet.
Additionally, for safety reasons elevator system may comprise an overspeed governor (OSG) 112 arranged in the elevator shaft to stop the movement of the elevator car 102, if the elevator car 102 speed meets a predefined speed limit. The OSG 112 may comprise a sheave 113 rotated by a governor rope (not shown in
Next an example of a method according to the invention is described by referring to
The setup run is performed before the elevator car 102 may be taken into actual operation. During the setup run the elevator car 102 may be configured to drive first either at the top floor or at the bottom floor and then the elevator car 102 is configured to drive the elevator shaft from one end to the other end. The setup run may comprise obtaining and storing pre-information about the at least one door zone magnet 114a-114n at the door zone of each floor of the elevator shaft. The pre-information may be stored in a non-volatile memory of the safety control unit. The pre-information may comprise at least the following: floor number, identification code, magnet type, pulse position information, linear position information. The linear position information of the elevator car within the door zone, the floor number, identification code, and magnet type may be obtained from the door zone sensor unit 106 comprising at least one Hall sensor and RFID reader as will be described later. The pulse position information may be obtained from the pulse sensor unit 108 as will be described later. The pulse position information and linear position information may be obtained at mid-point of each door zone magnet.
Alternatively or in addition, the setup run may comprise defining the scaling factor in order to scale the pulse position information obtained from the pulse sensor unit 108 into some common unit system, such as SI-units. Number of pulses per meter, for example, may depend on mechanical arrangements of the rotating member, such as sheave of the OSG and magnet ring or Hall sensor type, for example. The scaling factor may be defined by dividing a pulse position difference between two points within a door zone of the elevator shaft by a linear position difference between said two points within the door zone. The linear position of the elevator car 102 may be obtained from the door zone sensor unit 106.
Furthermore, in order to enhance at least partly the safety of the elevator system 100 the absolute positioning is enabled during a power failure by implementing the absolute positioning independently from a drive control system of the elevator system. The safety control unit 104, door zone sensor unit 106 and pulse sensor unit 108 may be powered by means of an emergency alarm system comprising an emergency battery, which for clarity reason is not shown in
Additionally, in response to identification of the first door zone magnet a control signal for a safety device may be generated for controlling the movement of the elevator car 102. The control signal may comprise an instruction to the elevator car 102 to travel up to an elevator rated speed. The elevator rated speed may be defined to be the maximum speed limit defined for the elevator car in question. Alternatively, the control signal may comprise an instruction to the elevator car 102 to travel a buffer rated speed during further steps of the synchronization run. The buffer related speed may be defined to be less than 2.5 m/s, for example.
To ensure that the defined correction value and the defined absolute position information of the elevator car 102 are defined so that SIL3 level accuracy requirements are met, further steps in the synchronization run may be performed.
Additionally, a control signal for a safety device may be generated for controlling the movement of the elevator car 102 in response to that the defined distance between the first door zone magnet and the second door zone magnet corresponds to the distance defined based on the pre-information. The control signal may comprise an instruction to the elevator car 102 to travel up to the elevator rated speed.
A schematic example of the safety control unit 104 according to the invention is disclosed in
The processor 402 of the safety control unit 104 is at least configured to implement at least some method steps as described. The implementation of the method may be achieved by arranging the at least one processor 402 to execute at least some portion of computer program code 405a-405n stored in the memory 404 causing the one processor 402, and thus the safety control unit 104, to implement one or more method steps as described. The processor 402 is thus arranged to access the memory 404 and retrieve and store any information therefrom and thereto. For sake of clarity, the processor 402 herein refers to any unit suitable for processing information and control the operation of the safety control unit 104, among other tasks. The operations may also be implemented with a microcontroller solution with embedded software. Similarly, the memory 404 is not limited to a certain type of memory only, but any memory type suitable for storing the described pieces of information may be applied in the context of the present invention.
As described the pulse position information of the elevator car 102 may be obtained from the pulse sensor unit 108. A schematic example of the pulse sensor unit 108 according to the invention is disclosed in
The processor 501 of the pulse sensor unit 108 is at least configured to obtain the quadrature signal from the at least one quadrature sensor, define the pulse position information based on the quadrature signals and to store the defined pulse position information into the memory 503. The processor 502 is thus arranged to access the memory 504 and retrieve and store any information therefrom and thereto. For sake of clarity, the processor 501 herein refers to any unit suitable for processing information and control the operation of the pulse sensor unit 108, among other tasks. The operations may also be implemented with a microcontroller solution with embedded software. Similarly, the memory 503 is not limited to a certain type of memory only, but any memory type suitable for storing the described pieces of information may be applied in the context of the present invention. The pulse sensor unit 108 may be a separate unit communicatively coupled to the safety control unit 104. Alternatively, the pulse sensor unit 108 may be implemented as part of the safety control unit 104 or the pulse sensor unit may be implemented as an additional circuit board operating as an interface between the at least one quadrature sensor 504 and the safety control unit 104.
As described at least the linear position information of the elevator car 102 may be obtained from at least one door zone sensor unit 106. Preferably, one door zone sensor unit 106 may be provided for each elevator car door. A schematic example of the at least one door zone sensor unit 106 according to the invention is disclosed in
The processor 602 of the door zone sensor unit 106 is at least configured to provide at least the following door zone information within the door zone of each floor: floor number, magnet type, identification code of the magnet, linear position of the elevator car, speed of the elevator car. The at least one Hall sensor 610 of the door zone sensor unit 106 is configured to obtain the strength of magnetic field as the elevator car 102 bypassing the at least one door zone magnet 114a-114n at the door zone. Based on the obtained magnetic field strength at least the linear position and the speed of the elevator car 102 within the door zone may be defined. For example, the speed of the elevator car 102 may be defined from a rate of change of the linear position of the elevator car 102 defined from the obtained strength of magnetic field as the elevator car 102 bypasses the at least one door zone magnet 114a-114n at the door zone. The number of Hall sensors 610 may be determined based on the number of the door zone magnets 114a-114n at the door zone of each floor 116a-116n. The RFID reader 612 of the door zone sensor unit 106 is configured to obtain at least the floor number, magnet type and identification code of the magnet from the RFID tag of the at least one door zone magnet 114a-114n. The door zone information may be obtained only within the door zone of each floor of the elevator shaft.
The processor 602 is arranged to access the memory 604 and retrieve and store any information therefrom and thereto. For sake of clarity, the processor 602 herein refers to any unit suitable for processing information and control the operation of the door zone sensor unit 106, among other tasks. The operations may also be implemented with a microcontroller solution with embedded software. Similarly, the memory 604 is not limited to a certain type of memory only, but any memory type suitable for storing the described pieces of information may be applied in the context of the present invention.
The absolute position information of the elevator car 102 may be defined substantially accurately by means of the method, safety control unit and elevator system as described above. Alternatively or in addition, the absolute position information of the elevator car 102 may be defined at two channels in order to certainly meet the SIL3 level accuracy requirements. In order to define two-channel absolute position information the pulse position information and door zone information may be obtained at two channels. The two-channel pulse position information may be obtained from of the pulse sensor unit 108 comprising one quadrature sensor and at least one processor at each channel. Furthermore, the two-channel door zone information may be obtained from the door zone sensor unit 106 comprising at least one Hall sensor and at least one processor at each channel. The above presented method safety control unit, and elevator system may be implemented for two channels similarly as described above for one channel.
The present invention as hereby described provides great advantages over the prior art solutions. For example, the present invention improves at least partly the safety of the elevators. The present invention enables implementation of an absolute positioning by using already existing door zone sensor unit and safety control unit together with additional substantially inexpensive components, such as magnet ring in OSG, and a pulse sensor unit comprising at least one quadrature sensor. The total costs of the additional components may be substantially less than the total costs of the prior art solutions. Moreover, in the present invention the travelling height is not limited, because the absolute position information may be defined continuously regardless of the place of the elevator car in the elevator shaft without any expensive magnetic tape or similar extending from end to end of the elevator shaft. Furthermore, the present invention enables two-channel absolute positioning for SIL3 safety integrity level that may be required for many safety functions in an elevator system.
The verb “meet” in context of an SIL3 level is used in this patent application to mean that a predefined condition is fulfilled. For example, the predefined condition may be that the SIL3 level accuracy limit is reached and/or exceeded.
The specific examples provided in the description given above should not be construed as limiting the applicability and/or the interpretation of the appended claims. Lists and groups of examples provided in the description given above are not exhaustive unless otherwise explicitly stated.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17155574.1 | Feb 2017 | EP | regional |
