Elevator control device and elevator system

Abstract

Provided are an elevator control device and an elevator system. The control device is provided with: a call registration unit that registers a call on the basis of a call registration request signal transmitted from a terminal; and a car allocation unit that determines a car to be allocated to the registered call. The call registration unit registers a priority call on the basis of the priority call registration request signal. The control device is further provided with: a candidate car selection unit that selects a priority call allocation candidate car when there is no car that can be allocated to the priority call when the priority call is registered; and an agreement confirmation unit that confirms whether or not reallocation is agreed with respect to the terminal that has transmitted the call registration request signal to which the call registration of the priority call allocation candidate car has been allocated. The car allocation unit allocates the priority call allocation candidate car to the priority call and re-determines the car allocated to the call registration to which the priority call allocation candidate car has been allocated when the reallocation is confirmed to be agreed.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to a control device of an elevator and an elevator system. Background Art

[0002] An elevator system is known in which users reserve in advance the elevator device's car distribution time and distribution floors, wherein a control device calculates the maximum number of floors that can be reserved for elevator distribution in one reciprocating operation of the car based on the number of floors at which the car can stop in a building, and is able to make elevator distribution reservations for floors below the maximum number in each reciprocating operation of the car (for example, refer to patent document 1).

[0003] Prior art literature

[0004] Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2020-066513 Summary of the invention

[0005] However, in the elevator system shown in Patent Document 1, when a priority call is registered for a user who should be given priority, such as a VIP, a wheelchair user, or a large robot, or a user who occupies a car, if there is no vacant car in the boarding section of the priority call, a car cannot be immediately allocated to the priority call. In this case, the waiting time of the user who should be given priority becomes longer.

[0006] The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and its object is to provide an elevator control device and an elevator system that can shorten the waiting time of a user who should be given priority when the user registers a call.

[0007] The elevator control device of the present invention is a control device for an elevator having a plurality of elevator cars, wherein the elevator control device comprises: an elevator call registration unit, which registers an elevator call according to an elevator call registration request signal sent from a terminal held by a user; and a car allocation unit, which determines the car to be allocated to the registered elevator call from the plurality of the cars, the elevator call registration unit registers a priority call according to a priority call registration request signal, and the elevator control device further comprises: a candidate car selection unit, which determines a car to be allocated to the priority call when the priority call is registered. The candidate car selection unit selects a candidate car for priority elevator call assignment from the plurality of cars; and a consent confirmation unit confirms whether the terminal that has sent the following elevator call registration request signal agrees to reallocation, wherein the elevator registration request signal is the basis for the elevator registration to which the priority elevator call assignment candidate car is assigned, and when confirming that the reallocation is agreed, the car allocation unit allocates the priority elevator call assignment candidate car to the priority call and decides again to allocate to the car to which the elevator call registration to which the priority elevator call assignment candidate car was once assigned.

[0008] The elevator system of the present invention includes the elevator control device configured as described above and the terminal.

[0009] Effects of the Invention

[0010] According to the elevator control device and the elevator system of the present invention, there is an effect that, when a user who should be given priority has registered a call, the waiting time of the user can be shortened. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0011] Figure 1 This is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of an elevator system including the elevator control device according to the first embodiment.

[0012] Figure 2 This is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the elevator system including the elevator control device according to the first embodiment.

[0013] Figure 3 This is a diagram for explaining a specific example of the operation of the elevator system including the elevator control device according to the first embodiment.

[0014] Figure 4 This is a diagram for explaining a specific example of the operation of the elevator system including the elevator control device according to the first embodiment.

[0015] Figure 5 This is a diagram for explaining a specific example of the operation of the elevator system including the elevator control device according to the first embodiment.

[0016] Figure 6 This is a diagram showing an example of a configuration for realizing the functions of the elevator control device according to the first embodiment.

[0017] Description of symbols

[0018] 1: landing station; 10: terminal; 20: terminal communication unit; 100: elevator management panel; 101: processor; 102: memory; 103: dedicated hardware; 111: car allocation unit; 112: candidate car selection unit; 113: passenger consent confirmation unit; 120: storage unit; 121: passenger allocation storage unit; 122: car allocation storage unit; 130: timer unit; 140: elevator call registration unit; 141: normal elevator call registration unit; 142: priority elevator call registration unit. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0019] The specific embodiments of the elevator control device and the elevator system of the present invention are described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In each figure, the same reference numerals are marked for the same or equivalent parts, and repeated descriptions are appropriately simplified or omitted. In the following description, for convenience, the positional relationship of each structure is sometimes expressed based on the state shown in the figure. In addition, the present invention is not limited to the following embodiments, and the various embodiments can be freely combined, any constituent elements of each embodiment can be deformed, or any constituent elements of each embodiment can be omitted without departing from the scope of the purpose of the present invention.

[0020] Implementation Method 1

[0021] Reference Figures 1 to 6 , embodiment 1 of the present invention is described. Figure 1 This is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of an elevator system including an elevator control device. Figure 2 This is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of an elevator system including an elevator control device. Figures 3 to 5 It is a diagram for explaining a specific example of the operation of an elevator system including an elevator control device. Figure 6 This is a diagram showing an example of a structure that realizes the functions of an elevator control device.

[0022] like Figure 1 As shown, the elevator system of this embodiment includes an elevator management panel 100 and a terminal 10. The elevator management panel 100 is a control device that controls an elevator. The elevator controlled by the elevator management panel 100 has a plurality of, that is, two or more, cars (not shown).

[0023] In a building equipped with an elevator, there are the same number of hoistways (not shown) as there are cars. The cars are configured to be able to rise and fall freely in the hoistways. Passengers can get on and off the cars. The cars rise and fall in the hoistways, and transport passengers in the cars between multiple floors of the building.

[0024] A terminal communication unit 20 is provided at the floor station 1 of each floor where the car can stop. The terminal communication unit 20 can communicate with the terminal 10 held by the user located at the floor station 1. The communication between the terminal communication unit 20 and the terminal 10 is wireless. The terminal 10 is, for example, a smart phone, a tablet PC, and a smart watch held by the user. By operating the terminal 10, the user can register a floor call to summon a car in the desired direction of travel to the floor. In addition, the floor call that can be registered by operating the terminal 10 can also be a floor call that can specify not only the direction of travel of the car but also the destination floor of the car.

[0025] The elevator management panel 100 controls the overall operation of the elevator including the operation of the elevator car. The elevator management panel 100 performs group management to manage multiple cars as a group. The elevator management panel 100 is configured to be able to communicate with the terminal communication unit 20 of each floor station 1. The communication between the elevator management panel 100 and the terminal communication unit 20 can be wireless or wired. Figure 1 As shown, the elevator management panel 100 includes a car allocating unit 111 , a storage unit 120 , and a call registering unit 140 .

[0026] The call registration unit 140 registers a landing call based on the call registration request signal. In the elevator of this embodiment, a priority is set for the landing call. That is, there are at least two types of landing calls: normal calls and priority calls. Priority calls are landing calls with a higher priority than normal calls. Figure 1 In the illustrated configuration example, the call registering unit 140 includes a normal call registering unit 141 and a priority call registering unit 142. The priority call registering unit 142 registers a priority call in response to a priority call registration request. The normal call registering unit 141 registers a normal call in response to a normal call registration request that is not a priority call registration request.

[0027] When a user uses the terminal 10 to perform a floor call registration operation, the terminal 10 sends a call registration request signal. The terminal communication unit 20 of the floor 1 where the terminal 10 is located receives the call registration request signal sent from the terminal 10. Then, the terminal communication unit 20 sends the received call registration request signal to the elevator management panel 100. The call registration request signal includes information indicating the boarding floor and information indicating the direction of travel of the car or the destination floor. The information indicating the boarding floor can also be added to the call registration request signal by the terminal communication unit 20 that receives the call registration request signal. When the elevator management panel 100 receives the call registration request signal, if the received call registration request signal is a normal call registration request signal that is not a priority call registration request signal, the normal call registration unit 141 registers a normal call with a normal priority.

[0028] For example, a user who should be given priority, such as a VIP (Very Important Person), a wheelchair user, a large robot, a hospital gurney, or a user occupying a car (referred to as a user who should be given priority, etc.) can perform a priority call registration by operating the terminal 10 held by the user. Alternatively, a landing button for priority call registration may be provided at the landing 1. When a user who should be given priority, etc. performs a priority call registration operation using the terminal 10, or operates a landing button for priority call registration, the terminal 10 or the landing button for priority call registration transmits a priority call registration request signal.

[0029] Similar to the normal elevator call registration request signal, the priority call registration request signal also includes information indicating the boarding floor and information indicating the traveling direction or destination floor of the car. Also, similar to the normal elevator call registration, the priority call registration request signal is sent from the terminal 10 to the elevator management panel 100 via the terminal communication unit 20, or directly from the priority call registration landing button to the elevator management panel 100. Then, when the elevator management panel 100 receives the priority call registration request signal, the priority call registration unit 142 registers a priority call having a higher priority than the normal call.

[0030] The car allocation unit 111 determines the car to be allocated to the registered landing call from a plurality of cars. In the case where the landing call is a normal call, the car to be allocated to the normal call is determined, for example, as described below. First, the car allocation unit 111 calculates an allocation evaluation value for each car based on the operating status of each car. The allocation evaluation value is calculated using, for example, the waiting time until the car that responds to the registered normal call arrives, the load of the car, and the like. Then, the car allocation unit 111 compares the calculated allocation evaluation values ​​of each car, and determines the car with the largest allocation evaluation value as the car to be allocated to the normal call. In this way, the car allocation unit 111 allocates a car to the normal call. Then, the elevator management panel 100 notifies the terminal 10 of the user who has registered the call of the machine information that has been determined to have been allocated to the car to which the call has been registered.

[0031] On the other hand, when the landing call is a priority call, the car allocation unit 111 allocates a dedicated car to the priority call. That is, until the car is dispatched to the boarding floor of the priority call and during the period when the car travels from the boarding floor of the priority call to the destination floor, the car will not stop at an intermediate floor due to responding to other calls.

[0032] If there is a car that can be immediately assigned to the registered priority call when a priority call is newly registered by the priority call registration unit 142, the car allocation unit 111 allocates the car to the priority call. The car that can be immediately assigned to the priority call by the car allocation unit 111 refers to, for example, a car that has not been assigned to any call and is on standby when a new priority call is registered. In addition, when there is no car on standby when a new priority call is registered and all cars have been assigned to the registered call, a car that has no users waiting to board the priority call in the section from the boarding floor to the exit floor is set as a car that can be immediately assigned to the priority call.

[0033] The storage unit 120 stores various data related to the control of the elevator by the elevator management panel 100. Figure 1In the illustrated configuration example, the storage unit 120 particularly includes a passenger assignment storage unit 121 and a car assignment storage unit 122. The car assignment storage unit 122 stores the call registrations assigned to each car.

[0034] The passenger allocation storage unit 121 stores the call registrations made by each user. In the passenger allocation storage unit 121, the currently registered call registration is stored in correspondence with the user who made the call registration. In addition, in the present embodiment, it is assumed that each user has a terminal 10. Therefore, each user and the terminal 10 held by the user can be regarded as one. Therefore, in the passenger allocation storage unit 121, the currently registered call registration can also be stored in correspondence with the terminal 10 that is the source of the call registration request signal that made the call registration.

[0035] The elevator system is provided with a car control unit which is not shown in the figure. The car control unit controls the operation of each of the plurality of cars. A car control unit is provided corresponding to each of the plurality of cars. That is, the car control units are provided in the same number as the cars. The car control unit may be provided in the elevator management panel 100, or may be provided separately from the elevator management panel 100 as a car control device. The car control unit controls the travel of the corresponding cars. For example, when the car assigned to the landing call is determined by the car assignment unit 111, the car control unit that controls the car causes the car to travel to the floor where the landing call is registered in order to respond to the registered landing call. Then, the car control unit causes the car to travel to the destination floor indicated by the call.

[0036] like Figure 1 As shown, the elevator management panel 100 of the present embodiment further includes a candidate car selection unit 112, a passenger consent confirmation unit 113, and a timer unit 130. When a priority call is registered and there is no car that can be assigned to the priority call, the candidate car selection unit 112 selects a candidate car for priority call assignment from a plurality of cars. The situation where there is no car that can be assigned to the priority call is equivalent to the situation where there is no car that can be immediately assigned to the priority call as described above. The candidate car selection unit 112 selects a car that satisfies all of the following conditions (A), (B), and (C) as a candidate car for priority call assignment, for example.

[0037] (A) A passenger who is already in the car does not continue to use the car within the priority call registration section.

[0038] (B) The time required to reach the boarding floor for the registered call (waiting time) is longer than a predetermined time set in advance.

[0039] (C) By canceling the allocation of the car to the call registration, the time (waiting time) required until reaching the boarding floor of the priority call can be shortened compared to the case where the registration is not canceled.

[0040] Furthermore, the candidate car selecting section 112 may add, for example, one or both of the following conditions (D) and (E) to the selection conditions for the priority call assignment candidate cars.

[0041] (D) The number of passengers who are about to board the car within the priority call registration section is less than a preset reference number of passengers.

[0042] (E) The number of call registrations to which the car is allocated is equal to or smaller than a preset reference allocation number.

[0043] The candidate cars for priority elevator call assignment selected by the candidate car selection unit 112 may be multiple. In addition, for example, it may be associated with condition (C), and the cars are selected as candidate cars for priority elevator call assignment in order, starting from the car whose waiting time for the priority elevator call is shortened more than the case where the car is not canceled by canceling the allocation of the call registration. In addition, for example, it may be associated with condition (D), and the cars are selected as candidate cars for priority elevator call assignment in order, starting from the car with a smaller number of passengers who will board the car within the call registration interval of the priority elevator. In addition, for example, it may be associated with condition (E), and the cars are selected as candidate cars for priority elevator call assignment in order, starting from the car with a smaller number of call registrations to which the car is allocated.

[0044] The passenger consent confirmation unit 113 confirms whether the user who has registered a call to which a priority call allocation candidate car is assigned agrees to cancel the allocation and reallocation of the car. The passenger consent confirmation unit 113 first refers to the information stored in the car allocation storage unit 122 to determine the call registration to which the priority call allocation candidate car is assigned. Next, the passenger consent confirmation unit 113 refers to the information stored in the passenger allocation storage unit 121 to determine the user who has registered a call to which a priority call allocation candidate car is assigned. Then, the passenger consent confirmation unit 113 notifies the determined user to confirm whether he agrees to cancel the allocation and reallocation of the car.

[0045] Here, as described above, each user has a terminal 10 and uses the terminal 10 that he / she has to perform call registration. That is, it is determined that the user who has performed call registration for a car to which a priority call allocation candidate is assigned is the same as the terminal 10 that has sent a call registration request signal that is the basis for the call registration for a car to which a priority call allocation candidate is assigned. Therefore, the passenger consent confirmation unit 113 sends a notification to the terminal 10 held by the determined user through the terminal communication unit 20 to confirm whether the cancellation of the allocation and the reallocation of the car are agreed.

[0046] On the terminal 10 that has received the notification, for example, a message for seeking consent for the cancellation of allocation and the reallocation of the car, and buttons for selecting whether to agree or not are displayed, such as "yes" and "no". The user, on whose terminal 10 the message and buttons are displayed, operates the buttons in such a manner that he selects "yes" if he agrees to the reallocation, and selects "no" if he disagrees with the reallocation. The terminal 10 transmits an operation signal corresponding to the operated button to the elevator management panel 100 via the terminal communication unit 20. The passenger consent confirmation unit 113 determines whether the user (terminal 10) who has registered a call for a car to which a priority call allocation candidate is assigned has agreed to the reallocation of the car based on the operation signal received by the elevator management panel 100. In this way, the passenger consent confirmation unit 113 confirms whether the terminal 10 that has transmitted the call registration request signal that is the basis for the call registration for a car to which a priority call allocation candidate is assigned agrees to the reallocation.

[0047] The timer unit 130 starts counting from the time when the passenger consent confirmation unit 113 notifies the user (terminal 10) who has registered a call to which a priority call allocation candidate car is allocated, of a request for consent to reallocation. Then, when the elevator management panel 100 does not receive a reply, i.e., an operation signal, from the user (terminal 10) indicative of whether or not to agree when the elapsed time from the time when the notification of the request for consent to reallocation, which is counted by the timer unit 130, reaches the reference time, the passenger consent confirmation unit 113 determines that the consent of the user (terminal 10) has not been obtained.

[0048] The reference time at this time may be a predetermined time or may be determined, for example, in association with the above-mentioned condition (C), based on the amount of time that the priority call waiting time is shortened by canceling the allocation of the priority call allocation candidate car to the call registration compared to the case where the car is not canceled. That is, when the time has passed and the priority call waiting time cannot be shortened even if the allocation is canceled at that moment assuming that the consent for the reallocation is obtained, the waiting for the reply of consent may be abandoned.

[0049] When the passenger consent confirmation unit 113 confirms that the user (terminal 10) who has registered a call to which a priority call allocation candidate car has been assigned agrees to the reassignment, the car allocation unit 111 allocates the priority call allocation candidate car to the priority call. Then, the car allocation unit 111 determines again the car to be allocated to the call registration to which the priority call allocation candidate car has been assigned.

[0050] On the other hand, when the passenger consent confirmation unit 113 cannot confirm the consent of the reallocation of the user (terminal 10) who has registered a call to which a priority call allocation candidate car is assigned, the car allocation unit 111 allocates, to the priority call, for example, a car that can respond to the priority call the earliest after completing the response to the currently registered call registration, including the cars currently responding and those scheduled to respond later. In addition, when the consent of only some of the users (terminals 10) who have registered a call to which a priority call allocation candidate car is assigned is not obtained, as long as the waiting time for the priority call can be shortened, the allocation of the call registration of only the users who have agreed is cancelled and the reallocation is performed.

[0051] Furthermore, it is also possible that, when multiple priority call elevator allocation candidate cars are agreed to at the same time, for example, the priority call elevator allocation candidate car with the shortest waiting time for the priority call is allocated to the priority call elevator. Furthermore, it is also possible that, for example, when multiple priority call elevator allocation candidate cars are agreed to at the same time, the priority call elevator allocation candidate car with the least number of users (terminals 10) who have registered calls for the priority call elevator allocation candidate car is allocated to the priority call elevator.

[0052] According to the elevator management panel 100 and the elevator system constructed as described above, when a priority call is registered by a user who should be given priority, even if there is no vacant car in the riding section of the priority call and a car cannot be immediately allocated to the priority call, it is possible to ask other users who have registered the call for their consent to reallocate the car to the call, and if consent is obtained, the car allocation to the call is temporarily canceled, and the car is preferentially allocated to the priority call. Therefore, the waiting time of the user who has registered the priority call can be shortened. At this time, by setting the above-mentioned condition (A), it is possible to prevent passengers who are already in the car from having to get off the elevator. In addition, by setting condition (B), it is possible to ensure the time to confirm the consent of the user and cancel the allocation, so that the number of passengers affected can be minimized.

[0053] In addition, the passenger consent confirmation unit 113 may explain the situation, for example, "because we want to give priority to passengers in wheelchairs" in the message for seeking consent to the reallocation. In addition, points may be awarded to users who agree to the reallocation. Furthermore, users may be able to make priority calls by consuming certain points. In this way, consent to the reallocation can be easily obtained.

[0054] Next, a modified example of the elevator management panel 100 and the elevator system of the present embodiment will be described. In this modified example, when the passenger consent confirmation unit 113 fails to confirm the consent to the reallocation during the process of confirming whether to agree to the reallocation, the car allocation unit 111 determines in advance the car to be allocated to the priority call. When the consent to the reallocation is not confirmed, the car allocation unit 111 determines, for example, the car that can respond to the priority call the earliest after completing the response to the currently registered call registration, including the car currently responding and the car planned to respond later, as the car to be allocated to the priority call.

[0055] In this modification, the reference time, i.e., the time for the passenger to wait for the reply of whether the reassignment is approved by the passenger approval confirmation unit 113, may be set based on the car allocation of the priority call determined in advance when the reassignment is not confirmed. In this case, for example, the reference time is set based on the difference between the waiting time of the priority call caused by the car allocation of the priority call determined in advance when the reassignment is not confirmed and the waiting time of the priority call when the call registration of the candidate car for the priority call allocation is cancelled after the reassignment is confirmed and the candidate car for the priority call allocation is allocated to the priority call.

[0056] Next, refer to Figure 2 An example of the operation flow of the elevator system provided with the elevator management panel 100 of the present embodiment will be described. First, in step S001, the car allocation unit 111 determines whether there is a priority call newly registered by the priority call registration unit 142. Then, if there is a new priority call registration, the elevator management panel 100 performs the processing of step S002.

[0057] In step S002, the car allocation unit 111 determines whether there is a car that can be immediately allocated to the new priority call registration. If there is a car that can be immediately allocated to the new priority call registration, the process of step S003 is performed, that is, the car allocation unit 111 allocates the car to the new priority call registration. On the other hand, if there is no car that can be immediately allocated to the new priority call registration in step S002, the elevator management panel 100 then performs the process of step S004.

[0058] In step S004, the candidate car selection unit 112 selects a priority call allocation candidate car. In subsequent step S005, the passenger consent confirmation unit 113 causes the terminal 10 of the user who has registered a call to which the priority call allocation candidate car selected in step S004 is allocated to display a notification for consent to reallocation. The elevator management panel 100 then performs the process of step S006.

[0059] In step S006, the timer unit 130 starts counting the time elapsed since the notification in step S005 was made. In subsequent step S007, the car assignment unit 111 determines in advance the car assigned to the priority call when the reallocation is not confirmed to be approved. The elevator management panel 100 then performs the process in step S008.

[0060] In step S008, the car allocation unit 111 determines whether there is a priority call allocation candidate car for which the passenger consent confirmation unit 113 has confirmed that the car is reallocated, for all users (terminals 10) who have registered their calls. If there is no priority call allocation candidate car for which all users (terminals 10) have agreed, the elevator management panel 100 then performs the process of step S009.

[0061] In step S009, the passenger consent confirmation unit 113 determines whether the elapsed time measured by the timer unit 130 has reached the reference time. If the elapsed time has not reached the reference time, the elevator management panel 100 returns to the process of step S008 to continue the operation. On the other hand, if the elapsed time has reached the reference time, the elevator management panel 100 performs the process of step S003, and the car allocation unit 111 allocates the car determined in advance in step S007 to the priority call.

[0062] On the other hand, when there is a priority call allocation candidate car that has been agreed to by all users (terminals 10) in step S008, the elevator management panel 100 then performs the processing of step S010. In step S010, the car allocation unit 111 cancels the priority call allocation candidate car that has been allocated to the normal call of the priority call allocation candidate car that has been agreed to by all users (terminals 10) in step S008. In the subsequent step S011, the car allocation unit 111 allocates the priority call allocation candidate car that has been agreed to by all users (terminals 10) in step S008 to the priority call. Then, in step S012, the car allocation unit 111 determines again the car to be allocated to the call registration of the priority call allocation candidate car that has been allocated.

[0063] Next, refer to Figures 3 to 5 A specific example of the operation of the elevator system including the elevator control panel 100 of the present embodiment will be described. In this example, the elevator includes four cars, namely, cars A to D. Figure 3 The black circles (●) shown are the current positions of the cars of the respective elevators. Figure 3 The white circles (○) shown are the scheduled stopping floors of the cars of each elevator. Figure 4The following table shows the scheduled stop floors of the elevator calls that were once assigned to the elevators of each elevator. In this example, the elevator car of the A elevator is currently located on the 1st floor, and stops and travels in the order of the 4th floor, the 6th floor, and the 8th floor. The elevator car of the B elevator is currently located on the 4th floor, and stops and travels in the order of the 5th floor and the 2nd floor. The elevator car of the C elevator is currently located on the 8th floor, and stops and travels in the order of the 7th floor, the 4th floor, and the 2nd floor. The elevator car of the D elevator is currently located on the 5th floor, and stops and travels in the order of the 9th floor, the 6th floor, the 3rd floor, and the 1st floor.

[0064] Figure 5 The following are the contents of the calls registered by each user. User a registered a call in the car of machine A that he is currently riding and will get off at the 4th floor. User b registered a call in the car of machine A that he is currently riding and will get off at the 6th floor. User c registered a call in the car of machine A that he is currently riding and will get off at the 8th floor. User d registered a call in the car of machine B that he is currently riding and will get off at the 2nd floor. User e registered a call in the car of machine C that he is currently riding and will get off at the 7th floor. User f registered a call in the car of machine C that he is currently riding and will get off at the 2nd floor. User g registered a call in the car of machine D that he is currently riding and will get off at the 9th floor. User h registered a call in the car of machine D that he is currently riding and will get off at the 9th floor. User i registers a call in the car of elevator D to get on the 6th floor and get off on the 3rd floor. User j registers a call in the car of elevator D to get on the 3rd floor and get off on the 1st floor.

[0065] In such a situation, suppose that a new priority call registrant X newly registers a priority call with the boarding floor being the 1st floor and the destination floor (get-off floor) being the 3rd floor. In addition, in this example, suppose that the maximum number of candidate cars for priority call allocation selected by the candidate car selection unit 112 is 2. In this case, at the time when the priority call is newly registered, all cars from A to D have been allocated to the call, and there is no car that can be immediately allocated to the priority call. Therefore, the candidate car selection unit 112 selects a candidate car for priority call allocation.

[0066] Here, it is assumed that the conditions for selecting a candidate car for priority call allocation are based on the above-mentioned conditions (A) to (C). In the car of machine A, there are already users riding in the 1st to 3rd floors, which are the priority call interval. Therefore, the car of machine A cannot meet condition (A) and is not selected as a candidate car for priority call allocation. The time taken by the car of machine B to travel from the current 4th floor to the 5th floor where user d is riding is short, and condition (B) cannot be met. Therefore, the car of machine B cannot meet condition (B) and is not selected as a candidate car for priority call allocation. Therefore, the candidate car selection unit 112 selects the two cars of machine C and machine D as candidate cars for priority call allocation.

[0067] Then, the passenger consent confirmation unit 113 sends a notification to the terminals 10 of users f, h, i, and j, who are waiting at the floor station 1 and are not in the car and are assigned cars of cars C and D, to solicit their consent for reallocation. Here, it is assumed that user f agrees to the reallocation before users h, i, and j. In this case, the car allocation unit 111 cancels the allocation of car C for the elevator call from the 4th floor to the 2nd floor registered by user f. The car allocation unit 111 allocates the car of car C, which has obtained the consent of all users (terminals 10), to the priority call. Then, the car allocation unit 111 again determines the car to be allocated for the elevator call from the 4th floor to the 2nd floor registered by user f. In this way, the car of car C is preferentially allocated to the priority call, thereby shortening the waiting time of the priority call registrant X.

[0068] Figure 6 1 is a diagram showing an example of a structure for realizing the functions of the elevator management panel 100 of the present embodiment. The functions of the elevator management panel 100 are realized by, for example, a processing circuit. The processing circuit may also include a processor 101 and a memory 102. The processing circuit may also be dedicated hardware 103. Alternatively, a part of the processing circuit may be formed as dedicated hardware 103, and the processing circuit may also include a processor 101 and a memory 102. In the example shown in the figure, a part of the processing circuit is formed as dedicated hardware 103. In addition, in the example shown in the figure, the processing circuit also includes a processor 101 and a memory 102.

[0069] The processing circuit of which a part is at least one dedicated hardware 103 is, for example, a single circuit, a composite circuit, a programmable processor, a parallel programmable processor, an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), or a combination thereof. When the processing circuit has at least one processor 101 and at least one memory 102, the functions of the elevator control panel 100 are implemented by software, firmware, or a combination of software and firmware.

[0070] Software and firmware are described as programs and stored in the memory 102. The processor 101 realizes the functions of each part by reading and executing the programs stored in the memory 102. The processor 101 is also called a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a central processing unit, a processing unit, an arithmetic unit, a microprocessor, a microcomputer, or a DSP. The memory 102 is, for example, a nonvolatile or volatile semiconductor memory such as a RAM (Random Access Memory), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a flash memory, an EPROM (Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory), and an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory), or a magnetic disk, a floppy disk, an optical disk, a CD (compact disk), a mini disk, and a DVD (Digital Versatile Disk).

[0071] In this way, the processing circuit of the elevator management panel 100 can realize the functions of the elevator management panel 100 by using hardware, software, firmware, or a combination thereof. When the processing circuit of the elevator management panel 100 has at least a processor 101 and a memory 102, in the elevator management panel 100, the processor 101 executes a program stored in the memory 102, and the functions of each part of the elevator management panel 100 are realized through the cooperation of the hardware and software of the elevator management panel 100.

[0072] In addition, in the present invention, each embodiment can be arbitrarily combined within the scope that does not deviate from the gist of the present invention. Hereinafter, examples of each mode of the present invention will be collectively described as supplementary notes.

[0073] (Note 1)

[0074] A control device for an elevator, wherein the elevator has a plurality of cars,

[0075] The elevator control device comprises:

[0076] a call registering unit that registers a call in response to a call registration request signal transmitted from a terminal held by a user; and

[0077] a car allocating unit that determines the car to be allocated to the registered call from among the plurality of cars,

[0078] The call registration unit registers the priority call according to the priority call registration request signal,

[0079] The elevator control device also includes:

[0080] a candidate car selecting unit for selecting a priority call allocation candidate car from among a plurality of the cars when there is no car that can be allocated to the priority call when the priority call is registered; and

[0081] an approval confirmation unit for confirming whether the terminal that has transmitted the following call registration request signal agrees with the reallocation, wherein the call registration request signal is a basis for the call registration of the car to which the priority call allocation candidate car is allocated,

[0082] The car assigning section assigns the priority call assignment candidate car to the priority call car when confirming that the reassignment is approved, and determines again to assign to the car of the call registration to which the priority call assignment candidate car was assigned.

[0083] (Note 2)

[0084] The control device for an elevator according to Supplement 1, wherein:

[0085] The candidate car selecting unit selects the car having the smaller number of assigned call registrations among the plurality of cars as the priority call assignment candidate car.

[0086] (Note 3)

[0087] The control device for an elevator according to Supplement 1 or 2, wherein:

[0088] When the passenger consent confirmation unit fails to confirm the consent to the reassignment in the process of confirming whether the reassignment is agreed, the car assignment unit determines the car to be assigned to the priority call.

[0089] (Note 4)

[0090] An elevator system, wherein the elevator system comprises:

[0091] The control device of an elevator as described in any one of Supplementary Notes 1 to 3; and

[0092] The terminal.

Claims

1. A control device for an elevator, the elevator having a plurality of cars, wherein: The elevator control device comprises: a call registering unit that registers a call in response to a call registration request signal transmitted from a terminal held by a user; and a car allocating unit that determines the car to be allocated to the registered call from among the plurality of cars, The call registration unit registers the priority call according to the priority call registration request signal, The elevator control device also includes: a candidate car selecting unit for selecting a priority call allocation candidate car from among a plurality of the cars when there is no car that can be allocated to the priority call when the priority call is registered; and an approval confirmation unit for confirming whether the terminal that has transmitted the following call registration request signal agrees with the reallocation, wherein the call registration request signal is a basis for the call registration of the car to which the priority call allocation candidate car is allocated, The car assignment section assigns the priority call assignment candidate car to the priority call car when confirming that the reassignment is approved, and determines again to assign to the car of the call registration to which the priority call assignment candidate car was assigned.

2. The elevator control device according to claim 1, wherein: The candidate car selecting unit selects the car having the smaller number of assigned call registrations among the plurality of cars as the priority call assignment candidate car.

3. The elevator control device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: The car allocating unit determines the car to be allocated to the priority call when the approval confirmation unit fails to confirm the approval of the reallocation in the process of confirming whether the reallocation is approved.

4. An elevator system, wherein: The elevator system comprises: The control device of an elevator according to any one of claims 1 to 3; and The terminal.

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