Patent Application
20210032075
The present disclosure generally relates to methods and systems for configuring in-car displays of cabin operating panels and/or in-car voice annunciators in elevators.
Based on U.S. Pat. No. 8,688,664 B2, an in-car or in-cabin digital elevator display unit is known that provides information to passengers. The elevator display unit also shows floor-specific information, such as the name of a particular floor, a list of tenants or residents living on that floor, or any other information associated with the particular floor. Before it can display this information, the elevator display unit must somehow acquire the information. This can be done by programming each elevator display unit initially at the time of installation.
One difficulty with this approach is that floor information is not static. For instance, as tenants change, information must constantly be updated. Each elevator display unit in zo each elevator in a building can be reprogrammed every time a change is required.
However, for a property manager who manages numerous buildings, some of which may be quite remote from one another, this can be a laborious undertaking.
Further, U.S. Patent Publication No. 2007/0246306 A1 discloses a method for setting floor associations of a plurality of operating units of an elevator system or installation. The operating units are panels that are provided in an access region of each floor to the elevator system and are distributed over a plurality of floors. The operating units can be activated by transmission of an activation signal from a transmitter unit. According to the described method, an elevator car is moved to a predetermined floor and the operating unit allocated to that floor is activated. The position data that describe the floor in which the operating unit is located are communicated from a transmitter unit located at the elevator car to the operating unit. The transmitted position data are stored in the operating unit or in an elevator control system. The position data contain details of an underlying floor of the building, such as a floor number and a designation of an access door to the elevator system. The elevator control system thus can recognize, upon issuance of a destination call via the operating unit, at which floor and in which area of the floor access by a person to be conveyed is located. A setting program is provided that enables travel to all floors for the purpose of association of the individual operating units. In order to achieve setting of the floor associations of all operating units for all floors, these steps are repeated for all floors present in the respective building.
Further, U.S. Pat. No. 10,303,744 B2 teaches creating a kiosk database including kiosk data, where the kiosk data outline width and height of a primary display area and a set of destination floors associated with a lift destination dispatch kiosk. A computing structure remote from the lift destination dispatch kiosk is used to automatically access the kiosk data in the kiosk database, calculate height of the floor button portion using the height of the primary display area, generate a floor button layout, and communicate the floor button layout from the computing structure to the lift destination dispatch kiosk to cause the floor button layout to be published on a display, where a network interface zo of the computing structure allows the floor button layout to be previewed before the floor button layout is communicated from the computing structure to the lift destination dispatch kiosk.
In addition, in WIPO Patent Publication No. WO2017/016937 A1 an elevator arrangement for automatically executing a fixture position learning procedure performed by an elevator control is described. The elevator arrangement automatically determines position information for all fixtures included in the elevator arrangement. The fixtures are located at various floors within a building and each fixture comprises a pressure sensor for sensing an absolute environmental pressure. The position information for the fixtures is thus based on the environmental pressure.
Such in-car elevator display systems for call input are becoming more desirable as the prevalence of touchscreen interfaces increases. Yet the configuration of in-car displays (ICDs) of respective cabin operating panels (COPs), in view of the corresponding graphical and/or audible user interface (AUI) elements, requires significant time investment to set-up or layout corresponding touchscreen buttons and/or corresponding audible voice annunciators. In addition, the ICDs and/or voice annunciators must be configured to display a specific number of buttons with correct floor labels as well as the correct names of each floor of the underlying building. A voice annunciator of an AUI must also rely on a correct configuration of corresponding audio files to announce when voice annunciation is activated. For example, if a “Floor 1” needs to be displayed as “L” on a virtual button, a corresponding voice announcement needs to announce the letter “L” as well.
At present, all these configurations are configured manually via a dedicated configuration tool that is used during the elevator engineering or production process in an elevator factory. This configuration represents an additional process and thus causes additional production costs. In addition, if a customer (e.g., a building manager) wants to change the configuration, such as the identifier for Floor 1 from “L” to “1,” a field technician or field engineer would need to use a configuration tool to update the ICDs of each elevator car. Such configuration tool is commonly a separate computer system zo that cannot be connected to an ICD. Consequently, a technician would be required to manually change the configuration, download a corresponding updated configuration file, go to the building, put each car into service mode, and then update the ICDs of each elevator car. This causes time-extensive interruptions to elevator service, and such configuration processes are prone to errors.
In view of the foregoing, there exists a need for more efficient updating of floor information for display by elevators. To that end, a need exists for methods and systems that provide the capability of real-time installing or updating of floor names and other configurations for in-car elevator displays and voice annunciators.
Although certain example methods and apparatuses are disclosed herein, the scope of coverage of this patent is not limited thereto. On the contrary, this patent covers all methods, apparatuses, and articles of manufacture fairly falling within the scope of the appended claims either literally or under the doctrine of equivalents. Moreover, those zo having ordinary skill in the art will understand that reciting “a” element or “an” element in the appended claims does not restrict those claims to articles, apparatuses, systems, methods, or the like having only one of that element, even where other elements in the same claim or different claims are preceded by “at least one” or similar language. Similarly, it should be understood that the steps of any method claims need not necessarily be performed in the order in which they are recited, unless so required by the context of the claims. In addition, all references to one skilled in the art shall be understood to refer to one having ordinary skill in the art.
In some examples, a learning system to be implemented in an in-car display (ICD) may learn configurations or configuration changes through communication with an elevator control system. Although the present disclosure refers to the ICD generally, those having ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the ICD may comprise various subcomponents such as an ICD controller, for example and without limitation. Such configurations or configuration changes may be based at least in part on car position indicator (CPI) information, as explained below, which describes, is based on, and/or relates to a car's position, speed, acceleration, origin, and/or destination(s) within a shaft. It should be understood that the elevator control system may continuously or io periodically provide CPI information to the ICD, even when/where not explicitly recited below. Further, such learning eliminates the need for a dedicated configuration tool for installation of an elevator system or for quick configuration updates such as changing car floor labels. In addition, the example methods of the present disclosure allow for a true plug-and-play solution that considerably reduces the amount of effort or field labor to install an underlying elevator system. Still further, such example methods and systems eliminate the risk of receiving incorrectly configured ICDs from the factory.
Some aspects of the present disclosure are directed to elevator systems, and some aspects of the present disclosure are directed to methods for configuring ICDs of elevator systems based on a learning procedure. One example method comprises the following steps:
Other aspects of the present disclosure are directed to methods where the information required for the learning procedure includes an access authorization code and/or the total number of floors accessed by the elevator system. The floor information of all floors of the elevator system may be gathered from an elevator control system. The installing or updating of the configuration of the ICD may include generating a graphical user interface (GUI) touchscreen implementation of virtual user buttons for receiving car calls and/or corresponding audio signals of an underlying audible user interface (AUI). It should be understood that the virtual buttons may in some cases be touchless or at least have the capability to be activated without physical contact (e.g., gesture-based io triggering, IR sensor triggering, light curtain triggering). Further, the audio signals may be intended to be broadcast in an elevator car, and the audio signals may correspond to at least one of the floor information or CPI information.
The configuration of the ICD may concern, for example, displaying floor numbers or names on an elevator car position indicator as floors are passed, indicating a destination floor number by the GUI and/or the AUI, audio signals to be broadcast by the AUI, and/or indicating a list of tenants or residents occupying the destination floor. The configuration of the ICD may be based on the CPI information and/or the floor information such that at least two virtual buttons are configured for display on a touchscreen portion of the ICD for floors where an elevator car may be accessible via zo one of two different doors. Likewise, the configuration of the ICD may be based on the
CPI information and/or the floor information such that a virtual button is hidden or, if configured for display on the touchscreen portion of the ICD, is indicated as being locked out for a floor that is inaccessible or otherwise unavailable as a destination floor.
In some examples, the step of gathering floor information of all floors of the elevator system may include running the car from the first floor to the top floor, gathering floor information for each floor being passed by the car, and examining or determining based on CPI information, for example, whether the top floor is reached by the car and, if the top floor is not reached, then continuing with running the car from the first floor to the top floor and, if the top floor is reached, generating a revised configuration of the ICD, based on CPI information and/or the gathered floor information.
Still other aspects of the present disclosure are directed to a method where the learning procedure executed during installation of the elevator system may be divided into three processing parts. The first processing part may in some cases be associated with or performed by an installer. The second processing part may in some cases be associated with or performed by an ICD of a cabin operating panel (COP). The third processing part may in some cases be associated with or performed by an elevator control system. The three processing parts may execute the following process steps of the learning procedure:
the installer powers on the COP, enters an access authorization code, enters the total number of floors accessed by the elevator system, and initiates the learning procedure;
the ICD puts a first call to the first floor of the building being accessed by the elevator system and puts a second call to the top floor of the building being accessed by the elevator system; and the elevator control system, according to the first call, moves the car to the first floor and, according to the second call, moves the car to the top floor, wherein during movement of the car from the first floor to the top floor the elevator control system provides floor information for each floor being passed by the car to the ICD, wherein the ICD may check whether the car has reached the top floor and, if this condition is fulfilled, generate respective buttons for the recognized floors and update the voice annunciator accordingly.
Other aspects of the present disclosure are directed to methods where the learning procedure executed during normal operation of the elevator system, during which the elevator system transports passengers or is at least available and prepared to transport passengers, is divided into four processing parts. The first processing part may in some cases be associated with or performed by a technician. The second processing part may in some cases be associated with or performed by a user. The third processing part may in some cases be associated with or performed by an ICD of a COP. The fourth processing part may in some cases be associated with or performed by an elevator control system. In some examples, the following process steps of the learning procedure may be performed in accordance with the four processing parts:
A slight variation of the example method disclosed above, which can also be performed during normal operation of the elevator system, may involve determining whether the elevator car has passed all of the floors that are accessible to the elevator system in a predetermined time period (e.g., an hour, a day, etc.). Until the elevator car passes all of the floors during the predetermined time period and hence until the ICD receives current floor information for all of the floors during the predetermined time period, the elevator control system may continue to provide the floor information for each floor that the elevator car passes while moving the elevator car in response to additional requests for travel until all floors are passed.
Yet further aspects of the present disclosure are directed to a learning system for the ICD device that includes the following components:
During an installation setup or a configuration update, the ICD may show that the elevator “is in learning mode” while the ICD is retrieving floor information.
According to another aspect, it may be determined whether there exist floors for which corresponding floor information is missing. From a property server, for example, data indicative of a floor for which the elevator lacks floor information is received. From a remotely-executed process, new floor information for the floor may be received and stored in a floor information database. From the property server, in addition, a request identifying the remote property may be received and an updated floor information for the remote property may be requested. The updated floor information may be retrieved from the floor information database. The received new floor information may include the name of a respective floor, for instance.
Further aspects of the present disclosure may be directed to a control system for controlling operation of an elevator system. The control system may enable zo configuration of an ICD of the elevator system based on the exemplary learning procedure referenced above. The control system may include an elevator control system that controls at least the operation of a motor of the elevator system. The control system may further include a car controller disposed on a side of an elevator car and connected to the elevator control system via a communication bus. The car controller may be connected to the ICD. The communication between the ICD and the car controller may be bi-directional. This control system or device enables the learning procedure to be executed by way of the ICD.
The disclosed methods and systems advantageously provide real-time updating capability for an ICD for use within an elevator system so that it can learn the floor label changes from communication with the control system or, more specifically, an elevator control system of the more-general control system. In view of its plug-and-play nature, these methods and systems can be utilized much more frequently than prior art methods and systems since the disclosed methods and systems will require less labor efforts or less configuration efforts over traditional methods and corresponding tools.
Furthermore, the continued configuration monitoring aspect of the system means that should a floor label or floor service need to be modified on the system the technician will io not need to notify an ICD of a COP. Rather, the COP itself will keep the configuration up to date. This simplifies the training requirements for field technicians since they will only need to know how to make the changes using the traditional field configuration tools that they understand well.
With respect now to the drawings,
As described in more detail below, the example elevator system may be programmed or configured by using the COP 10. In the presently depicted stage of the entire learning process, which is communicated to the user or programmer by the wording “Elevator is in learning mode,” the present car or cabin may go to a next car floor #1. The latter information is communicated to the programmer by the wording “Going to Car Floor #1.”
At the bottom of the programming display 25, it is communicated to the programmer that a label “L” is found being assigned to the current floor.
The example elevator systems described herein may also comprise out-of-car operating units, which may also be known as “landing operating panels” (LOPs), which are panels provided in an access region of each floor to the elevator system. The LOPs can be activated, which may involve awakening the LOP from a sleep mode and/or indicating the approach of the elevator car on the LOP, by transmission of an activation signal from a transmitter unit on the elevator car.
The learning procedure 110 may include process steps 115 and 120. According to step 115, floor information of all floors is gathered from, for instance, the elevator control zo system. Based on CPI information and/or the gathered floor information, the configuration of the COP 10 may be generated 120 or, in some instances, updated, which in this example includes generating or updating a GUI implementation of the user buttons for display on a COP and the corresponding audio signals of an underlying AUI, such as underlying voice annunciator, for instance.
Generating or updating the configuration of the COP 10 may involve, at least in the present example, causing the GUI and/or the AUI to indicate to users or passengers CPI information such as floor numbers as they are passed and/or a destination floor number. In addition, the GUI and/or the AUI may present respective floor names and/or a list of tenants or residents living on the destination floor, or any other information associated with a particular floor.
In a final step 125, the learning procedure may be completed upon receiving a “completion” command or acknowledgement at the COP 10, which in some instances may come from the user or installer.
According to step 150, the elevator control system may be engaged to run the car io (cabin) from the first floor to the top floor. According to step 155, floor information for each floor being passed by the car may be gathered via the elevator control system. CPI information may be used, for example, to display the current location of an elevator car on LOPs on landings at different floors or on ICDs. In examining step 160, it may be determined whether the top floor is reached by the car. If examination by step 160 reveals that the top floor is not yet reached, then the method may revert to step 150.
Otherwise, if the top floor is reached, the learning procedure may continue with the above-described step 120.
According to still another example method in
The learning process during installation of the elevator system, which is depicted purely by way of example in
In order to start the installation process based on the herein described learning approach, the installer 200 may manually power on 215 the COP and enter 220 a COP identification number for authorization purposes. Then the installer 200 may enter 225 the total number of floors of the underlying building to be accessed or serviced by the elevator system. After that, the installer may initiate 230 the learning procedure described below.
As a first step 235 of the learning procedure, the ICD 205 may put a call to the first (i.e., lowest) floor of the building being serviced by the elevator system. The elevator control system 210 may then move 240 the car to the first floor. As a next step 245 of the learning procedure, the ICD 205 may put a call to the top floor of the building being serviced by the elevator system, so that the elevator control system 210 moves 250 the car to the top floor.
During movement 250 of the car from the first floor to the top floor, the elevator control system 210 may send 255 the latest, or “current,” floor information for each floor being passed by the car. All the while, the elevator control system 210 may provide CPI information too. The data format of the CPI information, in some examples, is the known ASCII format. Exemplary ASCII characters or codes for the CPI are “↓B2↓” or “↑8”.
In the following step 265 it may be checked whether the car has reached the top floor. If not, step 255 may be repeated as long as the car has not yet reached the top floor. If step 265 reveals that the top floor has been reached by the car, the ICD 205 may generate 270 respective buttons for the recognized floors and update the voice annunciator accordingly for anticipated downward travel. Although some examples herein describe the ICD 205 as updating its configuration after floor information for all floors has been collected, it should be understood that the ICD 205 may in some cases update 260 its configuration based on the sent CPI information and/or floor information, continuously, periodically, intermittently, or as necessary.
The learning procedure according to some examples may be finished through acknowledgement 275 of completion of the entire configuration procedure, which in some cases may be initiated by the installer 200.
The flow diagram depicted in
The learning procedure according to the example represented by
The installation process based on learning may start when the COP is powered on 315, in some cases manually by the installer 300. The COP may then receive 320, in some cases from the installer 300, a COP identification number 320 and a number of floors 325. Thereafter, the learning procedure may be initiated 330.
As a first step 335 of the learning procedure, the ICD 305 may request floor information from the elevator control system 310. The elevator control system 310 may then provide zo 340 all available floor information to the ICD 305, which can generate 345 the respective buttons and update the voice annunciator accordingly, as described above. Finally, completion of the procedure may be acknowledged 350 by, for example, the installer 300. The interaction between the elevator control system 310 and the ICD 305 can be implemented, for example, by way of a communication protocol run by a system such as the example shown in
Four processing parts may be associated with or performed by different entities, namely, a technician 400, a user 405, an ICD 410, and an elevator control system 415.
At the beginning of the procedure, a configuration change 420 may be requested, in some cases by the technician 400, to existing elevator labels during normal operation of the elevator system. It may be further assumed that, in a next step, a user 405 presses 425 a button indicating his/her desire to go to a destination floor. The ICD 410 may therefore put 430 a corresponding call to the destination floor. As a reaction to this call, the elevator control system 415 may then begin to move 435 the car to the destination floor.
io In the following step 440, it may be checked whether the car has already reached the destination floor. Once the car reaches this destination floor, the learning procedure may be complete based on the gathered floor information and may be ended 445 manually by the technician 400. As long as the destination floor has not yet been reached by the car, the elevator control system 415 may send 450 the floor information for each floor passed by the car to the ICD. Based on this sent information, the ICD 410 may compare 455 the floor information of the floors that are passed with the respective configurations for those floors. If the check 455 reveals that the configuration is as expected, the procedure may revert to step 440 where it may be checked again whether the car has already reached the destination floor. However, if the check 455 reveals that zo the current configuration is different from the floor information of the floor being passed, the ICD 410 may update the buttons and the voice annunciator of the COP to match the new value. Thereafter, the procedure may revert to step 440 to check again whether the car has already reached the destination floor.
The elevator control system 500 may be connected to an Ethernet card 515 by which operation of the elevator control system 500, and in some cases other control units described in the following as well, can be monitored remotely. The elevator control system 500 may also be connected to further subunits, such as a keyboard debugger 520 for enabling manual input of control parameters and a group control card 525. The group control card 525 allows for control of an elevator system comprising more than one elevator shaft, in order to coordinate operation of the at least two elevator shafts for a better operation performance and according improved passenger experience. However, as indicated by the dotted line, those having ordinary skill in the art will recognize that there can be even more subunits, such as a pre-opening door module, for example.
The main control system in
The CCB 530 may be connected to an ICD board 540, which is positioned on a side of the elevator car and in some cases controls operation of an ICD 542 inside the car. It should be understood that communication between the ICD board 540 and the CCB 530 may be bi-directional, in contrast to the state of the art where communication is only unidirectional from the CCB 530 to the ICD 540. One reason for the bi-directional communication is that the ICD board 540 participates significantly in the learning process and thus may require the ability to deliver and/or to send control commands/requests to the CCB 530.
The CCB 530 may further communicate with controller subunits, such as a door controller 545 for controlling the opening and closing of the car doors, for example, or a voice announcer 550 for acoustically announcing actual elevator status information to the car passengers, as another example. However, communication may also occur with further subunits, such as a weighing sensor for preventing overload of the car caused by too many passengers or too many heavy objects to be transported by the car, for example.
Within the dotted line 555, there are shown further exemplary subunits that are positioned in a main operation panel or front door operation panel of the car and that communicate with the CCB 530, preferably bi-directionally as well. The example of
Of course, the disclosed methods and systems are merely exemplary. Those having ordinary skill in the art will recognize how to modify such methods and systems in various ways that are consistent with and covered by the underlying concept of the present disclosure.
This application is a U.S. Non-Provisional Patent Application, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/879,902, filed Jul. 29, 2019, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62879902 | Jul 2019 | US |
