Elevator – industrial lift truck – or stationary lift for vehicle – With call registration means – Also directs response
Reexamination Certificate
1999-08-27
2001-08-14
Salata, Jonathan (Department: 2837)
Elevator, industrial lift truck, or stationary lift for vehicle
With call registration means
Also directs response
C187S382000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06273217
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for group control of a plurality of elevators moving in a single elevator shaft.
2. Background Art
A plurality of elevators installed side by side are usually operated through group control. In an ordinary elevator, as is well known, one car moves in one elevator shaft. In association with an increase in the height of recent buildings, as shown in
FIG. 2
, for example, moving a plurality of cars within a single elevator shaft has been proposed in order to improve the operating efficiency of the elevator and service to the user. In
FIG. 2
, two cars are moving within each of four elevator shafts; namely, cars A
1
and A
2
are moving within an elevator shaft #A; cars B
1
and B
2
are moving within an elevator shaft #B; cars C
1
and C
2
are moving within an elevator shaft #C; and cars D
1
and D
2
are moving within an elevator shaft #D.
The most significant point of difference between the case where group control is applied to an ordinary elevator in which one car moves within an elevator shaft and the case where a group control is applied to an elevator in which a plurality of cars move within a single elevator shaft is that the plurality of cars moving within a single elevator must be controlled so as to prevent a collision therebetween.
A group control system taking into consideration the aforementioned problem is described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. Hei-8-133611, which provides a safety measure for preventing collision between the cars. Under this system, for each car there is designated a segment of the shaft into which another car is prohibited from entering, and the other car is controlled so as not to enter the designated segment.
In the group control apparatus that controls the elevators in which a plurality of cars move within each single elevator shaft, car entry prohibition segments are designated to thereby prevent a car from colliding with another. Therefore, such a group control apparatus may be said to be adequate in terms of preventing collision between cars, but must be said to be inadequate in terms of attaining more efficient group control.
The present invention has been conceived to solve the problem described above, and the object of the present invention is to provide an elevator group control apparatus which enables prevention of collision between a plurality of cars within each single elevator shaft and an improvement in operating efficiency.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to one aspect of the present invention, an elevator group control apparatus is provided which controls a plurality of cars moving in each single elevator shaft and which determines a car to respond to an elevator-hall call when the elevator-hall call is registered and outputs an operation instruction to the thus-assigned car. The apparatus comprises shunting determination means, shunting planning means and operation control means.
Shunting determination means computes the probability of occurrence of a collision between the cars within the single elevator shaft when the elevator-hall call is registered and determines whether or not the remaining car other than the thus-assigned car must be shunted. Shunting planning means designates a shunting floor when the remaining car is determined to be shunted. Further, operation control means outputs a shunting instruction to the remaining car within the single elevator shaft such that the remaining car moves aside to the thus-designated shunting floor.
According to another aspect of the present invention, an elevator group control apparatus is provided which controls operations of a plurality of cars moving within each single elevator shaft. The apparatus comprises the followings.
Expected arrival time computation means computes expected times at which individual cars arrive at individual floors when an elevator-hall call is registered. Shunting determination means computes the probability of occurrence of a collision between the cars within the single elevator shaft from the positions, states, and expected arrival times of the individual cars within the single elevator shaft and determines whether or not the individual car must be shunted. Shunting planning means designates a shunting floor when the individual car is determined to be shunted and computes a possible shunting start time. Modified expected arrival time computation means modifies the expected arrival times on the basis of the result of the computation performed by the shunting planning means and computes modified times at which the individual cars are expected to arrive at the individual floors when the individual car is shunted. Car-to-be-assigned determination means determines a car to be assigned the elevator-hall call by evaluation of operation conditions of the individual cars being assigned the elevator-hall call, on the basis of the modified expected arrival times. Further, operation control means outputs a shunting instruction to the car to be shunted on the basis of the result of the computation performed by the shunting planning means and outputs an operation instruction to the car assigned the elevator-hall call on the basis of the result of the computation performed by the car-to-be-assigned determination means.
Other and further objects, features and advantages of the invention will appear more fully from the following description.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5107962 (1992-04-01), Ekholm
patent: 5419414 (1995-05-01), Sakita
patent: 5663538 (1997-09-01), Sakita
patent: 5865274 (1999-12-01), Kiji et al.
patent: 5877462 (1999-03-01), Chenais
patent: 8133611 (1996-05-01), None
Leydig , Voit & Mayer, Ltd.
Mitsubishi Denki & Kabushiki Kaisha
Salata Jonathan
LandOfFree
Elevator group control apparatus for multiple elevators in a... does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Elevator group control apparatus for multiple elevators in a..., we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Elevator group control apparatus for multiple elevators in a... will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2493495