WO2018109257A1

WO2018109257A1 - Elevator call controller

Info

Publication number: WO2018109257A1
Application number: PCT/FI2016/050881
Authority: WO
Inventors: Lassi Ylä-Soininmäki
Original assignee: Kone Corporation
Priority date: 2016-12-15
Filing date: 2016-12-15
Publication date: 2018-06-21

Abstract

An elevator call controller (106) controls elevator calls and operation of an elevator according to the traffic conditions. The elevator call controller (106) is configured to detect situations where the elevator is already full and no more passengers enter the elevator during stops. In such a situation, the elevator call controller provides instructions to drive the elevator to the next floor (100, 101, 102, 103) where at least one passenger is expected to leave the elevator.

Description

ELEVATOR CALL CONTROLLER

DESCRIPTION OF BACKGROUND

The following disclosure relates to elevators and particularly to the controlling of elevator calls and operating of elevators according to received calls .

Elevator efficiency is an important issue in modern buildings. Particularly in high buildings, elevators are key components of controlling people flows inside the building. High-rise buildings typically have tens of floors, and high elevator efficiency is required in order to provide a pleasant user experience of the whole building.

There are several solutions that are addressing the problem of elevator efficiency. For example, destination control systems are used to group persons in order to reduce stops during the ride. Express elevators are used in order to provide faster rides to higher located floors. The aim of these solutions is to provide a faster and more pleasant ride .

The solutions discussed above, however, are not able to address all possible problems. An obvious conventional solution to increase throughput of an elevator system is to use more and/or larger elevators. This is, however, an expensive solution. Additional costs are not only caused due to the cost of an additional elevator but also due to the space required. Large elevator systems require a lot of space that could be used for other purposes.

It is particularly difficult to handle unexpected situations. For example, the elevator system may get overcrowded because of a conference or meeting involving a large number of persons. In such a situation it is possible that several successive elevators are completely full and persons calling the elevator on other floors are not able to get in.

Similar situations may occur, for example, at entrance or parking levels when a bus arrives to a building. Furthermore, it is not always necessary to have one big group, but similar situations may occur during rush hour traffic just because people are leaving or entering their offices. This typically causes higher traffic because people tend to arrive at same time in the morning and leave in the afternoon. During the day, a similar situation may happen at lunch time. Sometimes in over traffic situations people start to enter elevators whenever they can, even if the elevator car was going to the opposite direction. This will make the problem even worse by extending the problems in both directions.

Thus, there is a continuous need to improve the capacity of elevator systems. Particularly, there is a need for providing solutions to improve the capacity of existing elevator systems so that the capacity can be increased without changing elevators.

SUMMARY

An elevator call controller is disclosed. The elevator call controller controls elevator calls and operation of an elevator according to traffic conditions. The elevator call controller is configured to detect situations where the elevator is already full and no more passengers enter the elevator during stops. In such a situation the elevator call controller provides instructions to drive the elevator to the next floor where at least one passenger is expected to leave the elevator.

In one aspect a method for operating at least one elevator is disclosed. The method comprises opening doors of an elevator car at a called floor; detecting changes in occupancy of said elevator car; closing the doors of the elevator car at the called floor; and as a response to same detected occupancy, driving said elevator car directly to the next destination floor. In an implementation, the method further comprises driving said elevator car directly to the next destination floor by skipping floors with only an origin call. In another implementation, the method further comprises, as a response to skipping at least one floor, rescheduling said origin calls of said skipped floors. In a further implementation, monitoring of occupancy comprises measuring a change in the weight of said elevator car. In another implementation, monitoring of occupancy comprises measuring a change of occupancy using a machine vision system. In an implementation, monitoring of occupancy comprises measuring a change of occupancy using a curtain of light.

In one aspect a computer program configured to cause the method described above when said computer program is executed in a computing device is disclosed .

In an aspect a control device for an elevator is disclosed. The control device further comprises at least one processor (206) configured to execute computer programs; at least one memory (207) configured to store computer programs and related data; and at least one network connection (208) configured to send and receive data; wherein said processor is configured to detect changes in occupancy of an elevator car during a stop and, as a response to same detected occupancy, said processor is configured to drive said elevator car directly to the next destination floor.

In an implementation the processor is configured to drive said elevator car directly to the next destination floor by skipping floors with only an origin call. In a further implementation the processor is further configured, as a response to skipping at least one floor, to reschedule said origin calls of said skipped floors. In another implementation, the processor is further configured to monitor occupancy by measuring a change in the weight of said elevator car. In a further implementation, the processor is further configured to monitor occupancy by using a machine vision system. In another implementation, the processor is further configured to monitor occupancy by using a curtain of light.

In an aspect, an elevator comprising a control device as described above is disclosed. In a further implementation, the elevator further comprises at least one of the following: a weighing device, a curtain of light and one or more cameras.

The benefits of the elevator call controller include reducing unnecessary stops during elevator journeys. This will increase the overall throughput of the elevator system. Furthermore, as the journeys will be performed in a more efficient and fluent way, the passengers will have a more pleasant user experience.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the elevator call controller and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments and together with the description help to explain the principles of the elevator call controller. In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of the use of an elevator call controller,

Fig. 2 is a block diagram of an example embodiment using an elevator call controller,

Fig. 3 is a block diagram of an example embodiment using an elevator call controller,

Fig. 4 is an example of a method for controlling elevator calls . DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings .

In the following description, the expressions

"origin call" and "destination call" are discussed. The expression "origin call" is used to mean an elevator call where a person places the elevator call at the elevator lobby. Thus, the intention of the calling person is to start an elevator journey. The destination call is used to mean a call indicating the floor where at least one passenger wants to exit the elevator. In a conventional elevator the destination call is placed inside the elevator car by choosing the destination floor. In modern installations the destination may be chosen already when placing an origin call by using a so-called destination control system. The elevator call controller and the respective methods described in the following description are able to handle both the conventional and more modern destination control system approaches.

In Figure 1 a block diagram of an example of the use of an elevator call controller is illustrated. In the figure, an elevator car 100 is shown on the ground floor of a building. The floors from first to third above the ground floor are illustrated by a landing side door 101, 102, 103. In the figure it can be seen that the elevator is crowded already on the ground floor, and the floors above each have one person waiting for the elevator. In the example of Figure 1, only four floors are shown. However, similar principles can be applied to higher buildings as well.

In Figure 1, the ground floor 100 is illustrated. This may also be any other floor level that is below or above the ground level. Furthermore, even if the passengers are assumed to be travelling on the ground floor, they may have entered the elevator car below the ground floor 100 and not necessarily from the same floor. From the ground floor 100, the elevator car is travelling upwards. In the example of Figure 1, the elevator car is full of people who are going to the third floor 103. Thus, they have not placed calls to the first 101 and second 102 floors. Persons on the first 101 and second 102 floors have called an elevator upwards. The elevator of Figure 1 comprises an operation unit 104 where a hoisting machine 105 and a controller 106 are located. The controller 106 controls all moves of the elevator and is connected to calling equipment. Thus, the controller 106 receives calls from the first 101 and second 102 floor.

When the elevator arrives at the first 101 floor, the doors are opened. The person standing on the first 101 floor notices that the elevator is full and does not want to enter the overcrowded elevator car. Furthermore, nobody leaves the elevator car. Then the doors are closed, and the elevator system detects that the occupancy of the elevator car is the same as before stopping.

The controller 106 is configured to determine that the elevator car is full. Thus, as there is no destination calls to the second 102 floor, and if the elevator car stops on the second 102 floor, the result will be the same and time will be lost. Based on the observation that nobody entered or left the elevator car on the first 101 floor, the controller 106 reschedules the elevator journeys and skips the second floor 102. Thus, the passengers of the elevator car reach their destination in a shorter time compared to the case where the elevator car would have stopped on the second 102 floor. In the example of Figure 1, journeys are rescheduled; however, it is not necessary. The elevator car can be marked to be full, and when it is full it just skips all floors before it reaches the next destination floor. The calls from skipped floors can just be ignored and served after the direction change or cancelled. Thus, the rescheduling as described above is beneficial, as it improves journey comfort for people who are still waiting for their elevator.

Figure 2 is an example of an elevator using an elevator call controller 204 as described. An elevator car 200 is operated by an operating unit 201 comprising a hoisting machine 202 and a weighing device 203. In the example of Figure 2, the weighing device 203 is arranged into the operating unit; however, this is not necessary. Any weighing unit suitable for measuring the weight of the passengers directly or indirectly can be used. The weighing device may be located, for example, on the elevator car or in ropes between the hoisting machine 202 and elevator car 200.

The elevator of Figure 2 is controlled by using a destination control system 205. Passengers will indicate the destination floor already when placing the origin call for an elevator. The controller 204 receives the call from the destination control system 205. Then the controller 204 controls the hoisting machine 202 and the whole elevator accordingly .

The controlling may be performed by using a schedule. The schedule includes all called journeys with a starting floor, a destination floor and possibly the number of passengers if that is identified in the call. The controller is further configured to determine if the elevator is full and the next floor should be skipped.

In the example of Figure 2, the controller 204 uses the weighing device 203 for determining the change in occupancy by receiving the weight before the doors are opened and after the doors have been closed during a stop. If there is no change in the weight, it can be assumed that there is no change in the occupancy. In another example the weighing device directly indicates if there was any change of weight. Thus, if a person leaves the elevator car, a change of weight can be registered. This also applies in cases where the leaving person is replaced by another person weighing exactly the same. The controller does not necessarily need to know how big the change was, however, it is also possible to use absolute weights to support the decision making.

The controller 204 of Figure 2 comprises at least one processor 206 and at least one memory 207. The at least one processor 206 together with the at least one memory 207 processes received calls and observations and makes the required conclusions. The observations, such as weight measurement, schedules, calls and similar, are all received using at least one network connection 208. In Figure 2, a fixed network connection between the components is illustrated, however, it is possible to use wireless data transfer technologies alone or together with fixed connections.

If the elevator is considered full, i.e., there was no change in the weight during a stop, the next scheduled floor side call can be rescheduled. In case of the example of Figure 2 it means that the skipped floor side call also includes a destination call that need to be treated as a pair. Thus, if the floor side call is rescheduled, also the corresponding destination call will be rescheduled. It should be noted that there may be other calls with the same destination floor. Thus, even if one call stopping at the destination floor is cancelled, the elevator car may stop at the destination floor because of other calls.

In the description above it is indicated that the skipping is done immediately after the elevator has been observed to be full. However, it is possible to increase the probability of the correctness of the skipping decision by performing the skipping, for example, after a second occurrence of the full- observation.

In Figure 3, another example of an elevator using an elevator call controller is disclosed. The elevator car 300 may be used in the example of Figure 2. In the arrangement of Figure 3, the elevator car comprises a curtain of light 301 and a camera system 302, which is in this example located at the lobby side so that it can acquire images from the elevator car 300. In another embodiment, one or more cameras are located at the elevator car itself.

The curtain of light 301 can be used independently or to support the decision making based on the weighing device. A curtain of light is a device indicating if a person or some other object has passed through the door to which the curtain of light is installed. The curtain of light can be implemented, e.g., using at least one transmitter transmitting a ray of light which is detected at the other side of the door. If the light cannot be detected, it can be determined that something was in between the transmitter and the detector. From the curtain of light it is difficult to interpret if a person left or entered the elevator. However, if the curtain of light remained intact during the stop, it can be determined that nobody left or entered.

The camera 302 is configured to acquire images of passengers in the elevator car 300. The acquired images may then be processed using machine vision technology. For example, from the images it can be deduced if anyone moved out or went in. Furthermore, it is possible to recognize every person in the elevator immediately after the doors opened and then just before the doors close. From these figures one can then count the number of persons in the elevator car or even recognize every person in the elevator, and if they are recognized similarly, it can be determined that there was no change in the occupancy. It should be noted that even if the persons are recognized for counting purposes, they need not to be identified, and the recognizing can be done by comparing with earlier acquired images. The acquired images or the information derived from the acquired images need not to be stored for a longer period of time. However, this information may also be collected and processed for statistical purposes.

In Figure 4, an example of a method for controlling elevator calls is illustrated. In the example, the elevator is driven normally until it stops at a floor. The method is initiated by opening the doors, step 400. The doors are opened normally, so that people can enter and exit the elevator car.

When the doors are open, the changes in the occupancy are detected, for example, using a weighing device, curtain of light or machine vision system, step 401. When the stop is over, the doors are closed again, step 402. Then the collected information is processed, and it is determined if the occupancy of the elevator car changed, step 403. If there was no change in the occupancy, it can be assumed that the elevator was full and the person having called the elevator to that floor did not enter because there was no space. In such a case the driving schedule of the elevator is modified, step 405. For example, the calls to following floors only with an origin call are cancelled or rescheduled, so that the full elevator can be rapidly driven to the next floor where at least one of the passengers is expected to leave the elevator car, step 406. If a change was detected, for example a person entered the elevator car or somebody accidentally left the elevator car, the operation of the elevator is continued according to the previously determined schedule, step 404.

In a more advanced embodiment, a curtain of light and/or machine vision system is used. For example, the machine vision system may be configured to detect if there are still persons in the elevator lobby when the elevator stops at the floor. For example, it is possible that the person who called the elevator changes his mind and leaves the elevator lobby before the elevator arrives at the lobby. Thus, there would be no change in the occupancy even if the elevator was not full. In such a situation there is no need to skip next called floors. In another embodiment, the machine vision system is configured to recognize a person waiting for the elevator. If the same person is still waiting for the elevator after the stop, it can be determined that the elevator was considered too full by the person and the following floors should be skipped.

The above mentioned method may be implemented as computer software which is executed in a computing device, such as the controller discussed above. When the software is executed in a computing device it is configured to perform the above described inventive method. The software is embodied on a computer readable medium so that it can be provided to the computing device, such as the controller 106 of Figure 1 or the controller 204 of Figure 2.

As stated above, the components of the exemplary embodiments can include a computer readable medium or memories for holding instructions programmed according to the teachings of the present embodiments and for holding data structures, tables, records, and/or other data described herein. A computer readable medium can include any suitable medium that participates in providing instructions to a processor for execution. Common forms of computer-readable media can include, for example, a floppy disk, a flexible disk, hard disk, magnetic tape, any other suitable magnetic medium, a CD-ROM, CD±R, CD±RW, DVD, DVD-RAM, DVD±RW, DVD±R, HD DVD, HD DVD-R, HD DVD-RW, HD DVD- RAM, Blu-ray Disc, any other suitable optical medium, a RAM, a PROM, an EPROM, a FLASH-EPROM, any other suitable memory chip or cartridge, a carrier wave or any other suitable medium from which a computer can read .

It is obvious to a person skilled in the art that with the advancement of technology, the basic idea of the elevator call controller may be implemented in various ways. The elevator call controller and its embodiments are thus not limited to the examples described above; instead they may vary within the scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A method for operating at least one elevator, which method comprises:

opening doors of an elevator car at a called floor;

detecting changes in occupancy of said elevator car ;

closing the doors of the elevator car at the called floor; and

as a response to same detected occupancy:

driving said elevator car directly to the next destination floor.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises driving said elevator car directly to the next destination floor by skipping floors with only an origin call.

3. A method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the method further comprises, as a response to skipping at least one floor, rescheduling said origin calls of said skipped floors.

4. A method according to any of preceding claims 1 - 3, wherein said monitoring of occupancy comprises measuring a change in the weight of said elevator car.

5. A method according to any of preceding claims 1 - 4, wherein said monitoring of occupancy comprises measuring a change of occupancy using a machine vision system.

6. A method according to any of preceding claims 1 - 5, wherein said monitoring of occupancy comprises measuring a change of occupancy using a curtain of light.

7. A computer program configured to cause the method according to claims 1 - 6 when said computer program is executed in a computing device.

8. A control device for an elevator, which control device further comprises: at least one processor (206) configured to execute computer programs;

at least one memory (207) configured to store computer programs and related data; and

at least one network connection (208) configured to send and receive data;

wherein said processor is configured to detect changes in occupancy of an elevator car during a stop; and

as a response to same detected occupancy, said processor is configured to drive said elevator car directly to the next destination floor.

9. The control device according to claim 8, wherein said processor is configured to drive said elevator car directly to the next destination floor by skipping floors with only an origin call.

10. The control device according to claim 8 or 9, wherein said processor is further configured, as a response to skipping at least one floor, to reschedule said origin calls of said skipped floors.

11. The control device according to any of preceding claims 8 - 10, wherein said processor is further configured to monitor occupancy by measuring a change in the weight of said elevator car.

12. The control device according to any of preceding claims 8 - 11, wherein said processor is further configured to monitor occupancy by using a machine vision system.

13. The control device according to any of preceding claims 8 - 12, wherein said processor is further configured to monitor occupancy by using a curtain of light.

14. An elevator comprising a control device according to any of preceding claims 8 - 13.

15. An elevator according to claim 14, wherein the elevator further comprises at least one of the following: a weighing device, a curtain of light and one or more cameras .