Elevator control methods

Abstract

This invention discloses an elevator control method, comprising the following steps: S1, obtaining the number of ascending and descending passengers on intermediate floors; S2, determining congested floors; S3, calculating the capacity demand of the congested floors based on the determination result of step S2, wherein the capacity demand includes ascending capacity demand and / or descending capacity demand; S4, determining candidate elevators using the current operating information of each elevator; S5, calculating the available capacity of the candidate elevators when they reach the congested floors using the car load and operating information of the candidate elevators; S6, determining a selected elevator from the candidate elevators according to a preset matching method based on the capacity demand and available capacity, wherein the selected elevator includes ascending selected elevators and / or descending selected elevators; S7, controlling the selected elevators to serve the congested floors.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention belongs to the field of elevator technology, and specifically relates to an elevator control method. Background Technology

[0002] Patent document CN202011578616.9 discloses a scheme for determining whether an occasional large passenger flow occurs at a floor based on elevator car load information, and dispatching additional elevators to the floor with the occasional large passenger flow to quickly transport the passengers away from that floor. However, since this scheme only uses elevator car load information and cannot obtain information on waiting passengers at the floor, it cannot accurately dispatch additional elevators based on the actual number of people waiting.

[0003] Patent document JP2002302348A discloses a method of capturing images of the elevator car interior and the elevator lobby, and using image recognition to determine the remaining passenger space inside the elevator car and the area occupied by waiting passengers in the lobby. Based on the recognition results, additional elevators are then dispatched. While this method can accurately determine and dispatch additional elevators, it requires cameras to be installed both inside the elevator car and on the floors, resulting in high costs, complex construction, and the inability to dispatch elevators only after passengers have arrived in the lobby. Furthermore, when the floors experiencing occasional large passenger flows are located in the middle of the building (i.e., floors with both ascending and descending passengers), the cameras cannot capture the passengers' ascending and descending directions, thus hindering effective elevator dispatch.

[0004] Patent document CN201280070755.8 discloses a scheme for allocating elevators based on meeting information. Although this scheme does not require cameras, it can only handle fixed meetings (meeting floor, meeting start time, and meeting end time). When there are temporary changes to the meeting (such as the end time being brought forward or postponed), the elevator allocation scheme is no longer reasonable, and it usually requires the building management to provide the elevators with meeting information in advance.

[0005] In real life, scenarios like these often occur: a meeting room is located on a middle floor of a building, and after the meeting, attendees gather at the elevator station to register, leading to overcrowding in the waiting area due to the large number of people waiting in a short period; similar scenarios include the aftermath of a movie screening; and peak passenger flow when returning from a meal. These scenarios share the following characteristics: 1) The congestion occurs on a middle floor of the building; 2) A large demand for elevators arises in a short period; 3) The timing of the large-scale congestion is unpredictable and random (e.g., meetings end earlier or later; moviegoers usually leave a few minutes early; peak passenger flow when returning from a meal is influenced by the type of food and the gender and age of the diners); 4) There are passengers going up and down simultaneously. Clearly, to alleviate congestion on the elevator station as quickly as possible and shorten passenger waiting times, multiple elevators should be deployed to the congested floor to transport passengers waiting there as quickly as possible.

[0006] To dispatch multiple elevators, several methods can be adopted: 1) For example, the method disclosed in CN202011578616.9. However, this method requires passengers to enter one elevator car before adding other elevators, thus the timeliness of transporting passengers away from crowded floors needs improvement; 2) For example, the image recognition method in JP2002302348A. Although this method can dispatch multiple elevators simultaneously based on the number of waiting passengers, it only dispatches elevators after passengers have entered the waiting hall and congestion has occurred. In particular, since only the total number of waiting passengers is known, but not the number of passengers going up and down, the dispatched elevators cannot be rationally configured according to the demand for up and down transport capacity. Therefore, this method needs improvement in terms of timeliness and efficiency in transporting waiting passengers away. Good; 3) For example, the CN201280070755.8 method is adopted, but due to the uncertainty of the peak passenger flow time in this requirement, even if the meeting information is informed to the elevator in advance, multiple elevators cannot be dispatched at the same time when the arrival time of the large passenger flow is earlier or later, so there will be almost no expected timeliness; 4) Set up a destination floor registration device on the floor where the congestion occurs, use the destination floor information registered by passengers to determine the number of passengers going up and down, and dispatch an appropriate number of elevators to complete the transportation of passengers on the congested floor according to the number information, but this method requires the configuration of a destination floor registration device, which is costly and not suitable for occasions where no destination floor registration device is configured. Moreover, it requires passengers to input each destination floor and its corresponding number of passengers at least separately. For a specific scenario such as the end of a meeting, the input registration of passengers is time-consuming and laborious.

[0007] As can be seen from the above analysis, how to simply, directly and accurately increase the number of elevators to alleviate the congestion in the waiting hall as soon as possible for temporary large crowds caused by the end of meetings on middle floors has become a technical problem to be solved. Summary of the Invention

[0008] The summary of this invention introduces a series of simplified concepts, all of which are simplifications of existing technologies in the field, and will be further explained in detail in the detailed description section. This summary is not intended to limit the key features and essential technical features of the claimed technical solution, nor is it intended to determine the scope of protection of the claimed technical solution.

[0009] To solve the above-mentioned technical problems, the present invention provides an elevator control method, comprising the following steps:

[0010] S1. Obtain the number of passengers going up and down on the middle floor;

[0011] S2. Determine the congested floor: When the number of upward or downward passengers on the intermediate floor exceeds a preset threshold, the intermediate floor is determined as the upward congested floor and / or the downward congested floor.

[0012] S3. Calculate the capacity demand of the crowded floor based on the determination result of step S2. The capacity demand includes the up-line capacity demand and / or the down-line capacity demand.

[0013] S4. Based on the determination result of step S2, determine the candidate elevators using the current operating information of each elevator. The candidate elevators include upward candidate elevators that can provide upward transportation services for the crowded upward floors and / or downward candidate elevators that can provide downward transportation services for the crowded downward floors.

[0014] S5. Based on the determination result of step S2, calculate the available capacity of the candidate elevator when it reaches a crowded floor using the car load and operation information of the candidate elevator. The available capacity includes the available capacity for upward travel and / or the available capacity for downward travel.

[0015] S6. Based on the transportation capacity demand and available transportation capacity, determine the selected elevator from the candidate elevators according to a preset matching method. The selected elevator includes an upward selected elevator and / or a downward selected elevator.

[0016] S7. Control the selected elevator to serve congested floors.

[0017] Preferably, when the elevator is about to reach the crowded floor and is going upwards, and there is an assigned unanswered call signal ahead of it, or when the elevator is about to reach the crowded floor and is going upwards, and there is at least one passenger in the car whose destination floor is ahead of the crowded floor, step S4 designates it as an upward-going candidate elevator; when the elevator is about to reach the crowded floor and is going downwards, and there is an assigned unanswered call signal ahead of it, or when the elevator is about to reach the crowded floor and is going downwards, and there is at least one passenger in the car whose destination floor is ahead of the crowded floor, step S4 designates it as a downward-going candidate elevator; when the elevator is about to reach the crowded floor and there is no assigned unanswered call signal and there are no passengers in the car, step S4 designates it as either an upward-going candidate elevator or a downward-going candidate elevator.

[0018] Preferably, when at least one elevator can be included in both the upward and downward candidate elevator ranges simultaneously, the upward and downward candidate elevators are determined according to any one of the following rules: Rule 1: Minimize the difference between the number of upward and downward candidate elevators; Rule 2: Minimize the difference between the sum of the available capacity of all upward candidate elevators and the sum of the available capacity of all downward candidate elevators; Rule 3: Minimize the difference between the ratio of the number of upward to downward candidate elevators and the ratio of the number of upward to the number of downward passengers; Rule 4: Minimize the difference between the ratio of the sum of the available capacity of all upward candidate elevators to the sum of the available capacity of all downward candidate elevators and the ratio of the number of upward to the number of downward passengers; Rule 5: When the elevator arrives at a crowded floor in the upward direction, the elevator is determined as an upward candidate elevator; when the elevator arrives at a crowded floor in the downward direction, the elevator is determined as a downward candidate elevator.

[0019] Preferably, when there are crowded floors going up, the selected elevators going up are determined in step S6 according to the following preset matching method: C11. For each elevator to be selected going up, enumerate all possible combinations to obtain each elevator group to be selected going up; C12. Calculate the sum of the available capacity going up for each elevator in each elevator group to be selected going up, and use it as the available capacity of the elevator group to be selected going up; C13. Calculate the difference between the available capacity of the group and the demand for the upward capacity; C14. Select the smallest difference from all non-negative differences as the selected difference; C15. Select the elevator in the elevator group to be selected going up corresponding to the selected difference as the selected elevator to be selected going up. When there are congested floors on the downhill side, in step S6, the selected downhill elevator is determined according to the following preset matching method: C21. For each downhill candidate elevator, enumerate all possible combinations to obtain each downhill candidate elevator group; C22. Calculate the sum of the downhill available capacity of each downhill candidate elevator in each downhill candidate elevator group, and use it as the group available capacity of the downhill candidate elevator group; C23. Calculate the difference between the group available capacity and the downhill capacity demand; C24. Select the smallest difference from all non-negative differences as the selected difference; C25. Select the downhill candidate elevator in the downhill candidate elevator group corresponding to the selected difference as the downhill selected elevator.

[0020] Preferably, when there are congested floors for upward travel, the selected upward elevators are determined in step S6 according to the following preset matching method: A11, estimating the arrival time of each candidate upward elevator to the congested floor; A12, sorting the candidate upward elevators according to the arrival time in the order of arrival at the congested floor; A13, accumulating the available upward transport capacity of each candidate upward elevator in order of arrival until the accumulated available upward transport capacity first exceeds the upward transport capacity demand; A14, selecting the candidate upward elevators at the point where the accumulated available upward transport capacity first exceeds the upward transport capacity demand as the selected upward elevators. When there are congested floors on the downhill side, in step S6, the selected downhill elevators are determined according to the following preset matching method: A21, estimate the arrival time of each downhill candidate elevator to the congested floor; A22, sort the downhill candidate elevators according to the arrival time in the order of arrival at the congested floor; A23, accumulate the downhill available capacity of each downhill candidate elevator in the order of arrival until the accumulated downhill available capacity exceeds the downhill capacity demand for the first time; A24, select the downhill candidate elevators when the accumulated downhill available capacity first exceeds the downhill capacity demand as the selected downhill elevators.

[0021] Preferably, when there are congested floors for upward travel, the selected upward elevator is determined in step S6 according to the following preset matching method: B11, estimate the arrival time of each candidate upward elevator to the congested floor; B12, sort the candidate upward elevators according to the arrival time in the order of arrival at the congested floor; B13, accumulate the available upward transport capacity of each candidate upward elevator in the order of arrival until the accumulated available upward transport capacity first exceeds the upward transport capacity demand; B14, determine whether the excess capacity when the accumulated available upward transport capacity first exceeds the upward transport capacity demand is greater than the available transport capacity of at least one of the candidate upward elevators; if yes, proceed to step B15; if no, select the candidate upward elevators when the accumulated available upward transport capacity first exceeds the upward transport capacity demand as the selected upward elevators; B15, determine the selected upward elevator from the candidate upward elevators according to the principle of selecting the fewest elevators. When there are congested floors on the downhill side, in step S6, the selected downhill elevator is determined according to the following preset matching method: B21, estimate the arrival time of each downhill candidate elevator to the congested floor; B22, sort the downhill candidate elevators according to the arrival time in the order of arrival at the congested floor; B23, accumulate the downhill available capacity of each downhill candidate elevator in the order of arrival until the accumulated downhill available capacity exceeds the downhill capacity demand for the first time; B24, determine whether the excess capacity when the accumulated downhill available capacity first exceeds the downhill capacity demand is greater than the available capacity of at least one of the accumulated downhill candidate elevators. If yes, proceed to step B25. If no, select the downhill candidate elevators when the accumulated downhill available capacity first exceeds the downhill capacity demand as the selected downhill elevators; B25, determine the selected downhill elevator from the candidate elevators according to the principle of selecting the fewest elevators.

[0022] Preferably, step B15 further includes the following sub-steps: Sub-step B15-1: Obtain the number of eligible upward-bound elevators, where the condition refers to the condition mentioned in step B14, where the accumulated upward capacity first exceeds the upward capacity demand, and the excess capacity is greater than the number of upward-bound elevators involved in the accumulated capacity of the available upward capacity; when the number of eligible upward-bound elevators is 1, proceed to sub-step B15-2; when the number of eligible upward-bound elevators is greater than 1, proceed to sub-step B15-3; Step B15-2: Delete the eligible upward-bound elevators from the corresponding accumulated upward capacity available upward capacity, and delete the remaining upward-bound elevators... Step B15-3: Sort the elevators selected for upward travel when the available capacity exceeds the demand for the first time, in ascending order of their available capacity. Step B15-4: Calculate the total available capacity of the first few elevators in turn until the total available capacity exceeds the difference between the total available capacity and the demand for the first time. Step B15-5: Determine the last elevator combination before the first occurrence of the total available capacity exceeding the difference between the total available capacity and the demand for the first time. Step B15-6: Remove the elevators in this combination from the elevators selected for upward travel when the available capacity exceeds the demand for the first time, and select the remaining elevators as the selected elevators for upward travel.

[0023] Preferably, step B25 further includes the following sub-steps: Sub-step B25-1: Obtain the number of eligible downstream elevators, where the condition refers to the condition mentioned in step B24, where the accumulated downstream available capacity first exceeds the downstream capacity demand, and the excess capacity is greater than the downstream elevators involved in the accumulated downstream available capacity; when the number of eligible downstream elevators is 1, proceed to sub-step B25-2; when the number of eligible downstream elevators is greater than 1, proceed to sub-step B25-3; Step B25-2: Delete the eligible downstream elevators from the downstream elevators corresponding to the accumulated downstream available capacity, and add the remaining downstream elevators... Step B25-3: Sort the candidate elevators for the downward trip when the available capacity exceeds the demand for the first time, in ascending order of their available capacity. Step B25-4: Calculate the total available capacity of the first few elevators in turn until the total available capacity exceeds the difference between the total available capacity and the demand for the first time. Step B25-5: Determine the last candidate elevator combination before the first occurrence of the total available capacity exceeding the difference between the total available capacity and the demand for the first time. Step B25-6: Remove the candidate elevators in this combination from the candidate elevators for the downward trip when the available capacity exceeds the demand for the first time, and select the remaining elevators as the candidate elevators for the downward trip.

[0024] Preferably, step S7 further includes: acquiring the current operating information of each elevator in real time; when the change in the operating information causes a change in the result of determining the candidate elevator, returning to step S4; otherwise, continuing to execute step S7 until all selected elevators have completed their service to the crowded floors.

[0025] Preferably, the elevator control method further includes the following steps: S8, when the sum of the available capacity provided by the selected elevators going up is less than the up capacity demand of the crowded floor, calculate the remaining up capacity demand of the crowded floor; or, when the sum of the available capacity provided by the selected elevators going down is less than the down capacity demand of the crowded floor, calculate the remaining down capacity demand of the crowded floor; S9, based on the determined selected elevators serving the crowded floor, the call signals of other floors besides the crowded floor, and their response elevator allocation results, estimate the future operating information of each elevator; S10, use the future operating information of each elevator as the current operating information, and return to step S4.

[0026] Preferably, the number of passengers going up and / or going down is input by operating the elevator direction registration button of the floor registration device located on the intermediate floor using a preset operation method.

[0027] Compared with existing technologies, this invention obtains the number of passengers going up and down, and allocates elevator capacity more rationally to achieve the goal of quickly removing passengers from crowded floors. Attached Figure Description

[0028] The accompanying drawings are intended to illustrate the general characteristics of the methods, structures, and / or materials used in specific exemplary embodiments of the invention, supplementing the description in the specification. However, the drawings are schematic diagrams not drawn to scale and may not accurately reflect the precise structural or performance characteristics of any of the given embodiments. The drawings should not be construed as limiting or restricting the range of numerical values ​​or properties covered by exemplary embodiments of the invention. The invention will now be described in further detail with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments:

[0029] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the elevator control method steps in Example 1. Detailed Implementation

[0030] The following specific embodiments illustrate the implementation of the present invention. Those skilled in the art can fully understand other advantages and technical effects of the present invention from the content disclosed in this specification. The present invention can also be implemented or applied through different specific embodiments, and the details in this specification can also be applied based on different viewpoints, with various modifications or changes made without departing from the overall design concept of the invention. It should be noted that, unless otherwise specified, the following embodiments and features can be combined with each other. The following exemplary embodiments of the present invention can be implemented in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the specific embodiments set forth herein. It should be understood that these embodiments are provided to make the disclosure of the present invention thorough and complete, and to fully convey the technical solutions of these exemplary embodiments to those skilled in the art.

[0031] Currently, there are two basic information scenarios for elevator dispatch control. One scenario involves using up / down registration buttons at each floor to obtain passengers' departure floor and direction of travel. The elevator responds sequentially to call signals assigned to it in the direction of travel where the desired departure direction matches the current direction. After responding to a call signal in the same direction, the elevator changes direction to respond to a call signal in the opposite direction. The other scenario involves equipping each floor with a destination floor registration device for passengers to input their destination floor information. This device obtains the passengers' departure and destination floor information, and then dispatches the elevator using the current elevator operating information and the passengers' departure and destination floor information. However, this method does not consider the number of passengers going up or down during the dispatch result generation process. Therefore, it can only be applied to scenarios where the congested floors are at the terminal floors, and cannot meet the needs of congested floors in the middle floors, as illustrated in published documents CN201780095708.1 and CN201870007381.2.

[0032] The elevator control method of the present invention differs from the two existing technologies. The present invention utilizes the passenger's departure floor and the number of passengers going up and down on that departure floor. It can be considered a completely new elevator control method. Overall, it is a control method based on matching the demand for transportation capacity with the available transportation capacity. The following specific embodiments will be used to further illustrate this in detail.

[0033] Example 1

[0034] This embodiment describes an elevator control method, such as... Figure 1 As shown, it includes the following steps:

[0035] S1. Obtain the number of passengers going up and down on the middle floor;

[0036] S2. Determine the congested floor. When the number of ascending or descending passengers on an intermediate floor exceeds a preset threshold, the intermediate floor is determined as an ascending congested floor and / or a descending congested floor. Specifically, in step S2, ascending and descending congested floors are determined independently. Once an intermediate floor is determined as either an ascending or descending congested floor, that floor is a congested floor. Furthermore, if both the ascending and descending passenger numbers on an intermediate floor exceed the preset threshold, that intermediate floor is both an ascending and descending congested floor.

[0037] S3. Calculate the capacity demand of the crowded floor based on the determination result of step S2. The capacity demand includes the up-line capacity demand and / or the down-line capacity demand.

[0038] S4. Based on the determination result of step S2, determine the candidate elevators using the current operating information of each elevator. The candidate elevators include upward candidate elevators that can provide upward transportation services for the crowded upward floors and / or downward candidate elevators that can provide downward transportation services for the crowded downward floors.

[0039] The elevator's current operating information includes at least its current location, direction of travel, and location of the most crowded floor.

[0040] S5. Based on the determination result of step S2, calculate the available capacity of the candidate elevator when it reaches a crowded floor using the car load and operation information of the candidate elevator. The available capacity includes the available capacity for upward travel and / or the available capacity for downward travel.

[0041] S6. Based on the transportation capacity demand and available transportation capacity, determine the selected elevator from the candidate elevators according to a preset matching method. The selected elevator includes an upward selected elevator and / or a downward selected elevator.

[0042] S7. Control the selected elevator to serve congested floors.

[0043] When there are crowded floors going up, the selected elevator going up is determined in step S6 according to the following preset matching method: C11. For each elevator going up, enumerate all possible combinations to obtain each elevator group going up; C12. Calculate the sum of the available up-going capacity of each elevator in each elevator group going up, and use it as the available up-going capacity of the elevator group going up; C13. Calculate the difference between the available up-going capacity and the up-going capacity demand; C14. Select the smallest difference from all non-negative differences as the selected difference; C15. Select the elevator going up in the elevator group going up corresponding to the selected difference as the selected elevator going up.

[0044] When there are congested floors on the downhill side, the selected downhill elevator is determined in step S6 according to the following preset matching method: C21. For each downhill candidate elevator, enumerate all possible combinations to obtain each downhill candidate elevator group; C22. Calculate the sum of the downhill available capacity of each downhill candidate elevator in each downhill candidate elevator group, and use it as the group available capacity of the downhill candidate elevator group; C23. Calculate the difference between the group available capacity and the downhill capacity demand; C24. Select the smallest difference from all non-negative differences as the selected difference; C25. Select the downhill candidate elevator in the downhill candidate elevator group corresponding to the selected difference as the downhill selected elevator.

[0045] The above-mentioned preset matching method adopts the principle of capacity matching. In addition, the preset matching method can also be constructed based on the current position and running direction of each candidate elevator, as well as the floors to be stopped before reaching the congested floor, to estimate the time required for the candidate elevator to reach the congested floor, so as to shorten the waiting time of passengers waiting on the congested floor. The specific preset matching method is as follows:

[0046] When there are congested floors for upward travel, in step S6, the selected upward elevators are determined according to the following preset matching method: A11, estimate the arrival time of each candidate upward elevator to the congested floor; A12, sort the candidate upward elevators according to the arrival time in the order of arrival at the congested floor; A13, accumulate the available upward transport capacity of each candidate upward elevator in the order of arrival until the accumulated available upward transport capacity first exceeds the upward transport capacity demand; A14, select the candidate upward elevators at the point when the accumulated available upward transport capacity first exceeds the upward transport capacity demand as the selected upward elevators.

[0047] When there are congested floors on the downhill side, the selected downhill elevators are determined in step S6 according to the following preset matching method: A21, estimate the arrival time of each downhill candidate elevator to the congested floor; A22, sort the downhill candidate elevators according to the arrival time in the order of arrival at the congested floor; A23, accumulate the downhill available capacity of each downhill candidate elevator in the order of arrival until the accumulated downhill available capacity exceeds the downhill capacity demand for the first time; A24, select the downhill candidate elevators when the accumulated downhill available capacity first exceeds the downhill capacity demand as the selected downhill elevators.

[0048] A preset matching method can also be constructed based on the principle of minimizing the number of selected elevators. The specific preset matching method is as follows:

[0049] When there are congested floors for upward travel, in step S6, the selected upward elevator is determined according to the following preset matching method: B11, estimate the arrival time of each candidate upward elevator to the congested floor; B12, sort the candidate upward elevators according to the arrival time in the order of arrival at the congested floor; B13, accumulate the available upward transport capacity of each candidate upward elevator in the order of arrival until the accumulated available upward transport capacity exceeds the upward transport capacity demand for the first time; B14, determine whether the excess capacity when the accumulated available upward transport capacity first exceeds the upward transport capacity demand is greater than the available transport capacity of at least one of the candidate upward elevators. If yes, proceed to step B15. If no, select the candidate upward elevators when the accumulated available upward transport capacity first exceeds the upward transport capacity demand as the selected upward elevators; B15, determine the selected upward elevator from the candidate upward elevators according to the principle of selecting the fewest elevators.

[0050] Step B15 further includes the following sub-steps: Sub-step B15-1: Obtain the number of eligible uphill elevators, where the condition refers to the condition mentioned in step B14, where the accumulated uphill available capacity first exceeds the uphill capacity demand, and the excess capacity is greater than the available capacity of the accumulated uphill elevators; when the number of eligible uphill elevators is 1, proceed to sub-step B15-2; when the number of eligible uphill elevators is greater than 1, proceed to sub-step B15-3; Step B15-2: Delete the eligible uphill elevators from the uphill elevators corresponding to the accumulated uphill available capacity, and process the remaining uphill elevators... Select an elevator for upward travel and end; Step B15-3: Sort the elevators available for upward travel when the initial capacity exceeds the demand in ascending order of their available capacity; Step B15-4: Calculate the total available capacity of the first few elevators in turn until the total available capacity exceeds the difference between the total available capacity and the demand for the first time; Step B15-5: Determine the last elevator combination before the initial occurrence of the total available capacity exceeding the difference between the total available capacity and the demand; Step B15-6: Remove the elevators in this combination from the elevators available for upward travel when the initial capacity exceeds the demand and select the remaining elevators as the elevators for upward travel.

[0051] When there are congested floors on the downhill side, in step S6, the selected elevator for the downhill side is determined according to the following preset matching method: B21, estimate the arrival time of each candidate elevator for the downhill side to the congested floor; B22, sort the candidate elevators for the downhill side according to the arrival time in the order of arrival at the congested floor; B23, accumulate the available downhill capacity of each candidate elevator for the downhill side in the order of arrival until the accumulated available downhill capacity exceeds the downhill capacity demand for the first time; B24, determine whether the excess capacity when the accumulated available downhill capacity first exceeds the downhill capacity demand is greater than the available capacity of at least one of the candidate elevators for the downhill side; if yes, proceed to step B25; if no, select the candidate elevators for the downhill side when the accumulated available downhill capacity first exceeds the downhill capacity demand as the selected elevators for the downhill side; B25, determine the selected elevator for the downhill side from the candidate elevators for the downhill side according to the principle of selecting the fewest elevators.

[0052] Step B25 further includes the following sub-steps: Sub-step B25-1: Obtain the number of eligible downstream candidate elevators, where the condition refers to the condition mentioned in step B24, where the accumulated downstream available capacity first exceeds the downstream capacity demand, and the excess capacity is greater than the downstream candidate elevators involved in the accumulated downstream available capacity; when the number of eligible downstream candidate elevators is 1, proceed to sub-step B25-2; when the number of eligible downstream candidate elevators is greater than 1, proceed to sub-step B25-3; Step B25-2: Delete the eligible downstream candidate elevators from the downstream candidate elevators corresponding to the accumulated downstream available capacity, and process the remaining downstream candidate elevators... Select an elevator for the downhill section and end; Step B25-3: Sort the downhill candidate elevators when the available capacity exceeds the capacity demand for the first time in ascending order of their available capacity; Step B25-4: Calculate the total available capacity of the first few elevators in turn until the total available capacity exceeds the difference between the total available capacity and the capacity demand for the first time; Step B25-5: Determine the last candidate elevator combination before the first occurrence of the total available capacity exceeding the difference between the total available capacity and the capacity demand; Step B25-6: Remove the candidate elevators in this combination from the downhill candidate elevators when the available capacity exceeds the capacity demand for the first time, and select the remaining elevators as the downhill selected elevators.

[0053] For example, when determining the upward and downward candidate elevators, if the elevator is about to arrive at the crowded floor and is going upwards with an assigned unanswered call signal ahead, or if the elevator is about to arrive at the crowded floor and is going upwards with at least one passenger in the car whose destination floor is ahead of the crowded floor, step S4 designates it as an upward candidate elevator; if the elevator is about to arrive at the crowded floor and is going downwards with an assigned unanswered call signal ahead, or if the elevator is about to arrive at the crowded floor and is going downwards with at least one passenger in the car whose destination floor is ahead of the crowded floor, step S4 designates it as a downward candidate elevator; if the elevator is about to arrive at the crowded floor and there is no assigned unanswered call signal and no passenger in the car, step S4 designates it as either an upward or downward candidate elevator.

[0054] Of course, when there are both crowded floors going up and crowded floors going down, when determining the range of elevators to be selected for going up and going down, care should be taken not to include the same elevator in both ranges at the same time. When the same elevator can be included in both the range of elevators to be selected for going up and the range of elevators to be selected for going down, the elevators to be selected for going up and going down shall be determined according to any one of the following rules;

[0055] Rule 1: Minimize the difference between the number of elevators available for upward movement and the number of elevators available for downward movement;

[0056] Rule 2: Minimize the difference between the sum of the available capacity of all upward-bound elevators and the sum of the available capacity of all downward-bound elevators.

[0057] Rule 3: Minimize the difference between the ratio of the number of elevators available for upward travel to the number of elevators available for downward travel, and the ratio of the number of passengers traveling upward to the number of passengers traveling downward.

[0058] Rule 4: Minimize the difference between the ratio of the sum of the available capacity of all upward-bound elevators to the sum of the available capacity of all downward-bound elevators, and the ratio of the number of upward-bound passengers to the number of downward-bound passengers.

[0059] Rule 5: When an elevator arrives at a crowded floor in an upward direction, the elevator is designated as an upward candidate elevator; when an elevator arrives at a crowded floor in a downward direction, the elevator is designated as a downward candidate elevator.

[0060] The differences in the above rules can be calculated separately by enumeration.

[0061] Preferably, as the operating information of each elevator changes, the candidate elevator also changes dynamically. Therefore, preferably, step S7, when controlling the selected elevator to serve congested floors, further includes:

[0062] The system acquires the current operating information of each elevator in real time. When the change in the operating information causes a change in the result of determining the candidate elevator, it returns to step S4 to update the candidate elevator in real time. Otherwise, it continues to execute step S7 until all selected elevators have completed their service to the crowded floors.

[0063] Example 2

[0064] When there are too many passengers waiting for elevators on crowded floors, the elevators dispatched once for the crowded floors may not be enough to transport all the passengers or eliminate the congestion. In this case, it is necessary to dispatch elevators for the crowded floors again. This raises another question: under what circumstances should elevators be dispatched for crowded floors again?

[0065] To solve this technical problem, this embodiment, based on embodiment 1, further includes the following step after step S7:

[0066] S8. When the sum of the available capacity provided by the selected elevators going up is less than the up capacity demand of the crowded floor, calculate the remaining up capacity demand of the crowded floor; or, when the sum of the available capacity provided by the selected elevators going down is less than the down capacity demand of the crowded floor, calculate the remaining down capacity demand of the crowded floor.

[0067] S9. Estimate the future operating information of each elevator based on the selected elevators serving the crowded floor, the elevator call signals of other floors besides the crowded floor and their response elevator allocation results.

[0068] S10. Use the future operating information of each elevator as the current operating information, and return to step S4.

[0069] Example 3

[0070] This embodiment provides an exemplary method for obtaining the number of passengers going up and down on intermediate floors.

[0071] The number of passengers going up and / or going down is input by operating the elevator direction registration button on the floor registration device located on the intermediate floor using a preset operation method.

[0072] A preset operating method: The passenger presses the corresponding elevator direction registration button according to the desired elevator direction. The floor registration device generates a signal corresponding to the pressed button. At the same time, it uses the built-in information of the floor registration device corresponding to the current floor to generate the passenger's departure floor information. The two are combined to obtain the passenger's registered elevator direction and departure floor information.

[0073] Another preferred preset operating mode: When a passenger is detected operating the registration device in a first preset pressing manner, the registration device will switch from the regular registration mode to the passenger count registration mode. The first preset pressing manner can be any operation method of the passenger operating the registration device that is different from the regular registration mode (as long as it will not cause confusion), such as: pressing the buttons simultaneously, or further requiring a certain duration; pressing one or two buttons in a manner of varying lengths, or further requiring repetition several times, etc.

[0074] In the passenger registration mode, the number of passengers going up or down is entered via a second preset pressing method on the elevator direction registration button. This second preset pressing method can involve passengers pressing the elevator direction registration button on the floor, with the button corresponding to the direction and the number of presses corresponding to the number of passengers. This method is suitable for situations with a limited number of floors, such as the podium of a large hotel. Each press can correspond to one passenger, or a change greater than one (in which case it is best to have a notification device—such as voice playback or display—to inform the operating passenger of the current number of registered passengers); alternatively, passengers can continuously press the elevator direction registration button on the floor, with the button corresponding to the direction and the duration corresponding to the number of passengers. The registration device informs the operating passenger of the current number of registered passengers through a visually acceptable display or voice playback.

[0075] The change in the second preset pressing method and the change in the number of passengers per unit time are determined by the number of floors above and below the departure floor, such as taking a value of one-nth of the number of floors above and below.

[0076] After completing the upward registration, the system is considered to have entered the downward registration phase as soon as the downward button is pressed. After completing the registration, it is necessary to switch back to the normal registration mode, that is, to exit the passenger number registration mode by pressing the first preset button of the elevator direction registration mode.

[0077] The registration method in this embodiment is primarily designed for the following scenario: the meeting room is located on a middle floor of a building, and the meeting may end earlier or later than scheduled. The meeting organizer needs to provide prior guidance on the total number of participants and the number of attendees who need to take the elevator up or down from the meeting room floor to return to their original work floors after the meeting. The meeting organizer cannot provide the number of attendees via mobile phone or other means to the elevator control system, nor can they request the building management to provide this information through the building management system. In this case, the preset operation method of this embodiment (which can be obtained from the building management in advance) can be used to call the elevator at the actual end time of the meeting or slightly before. This allows the elevator to quickly reach the waiting area where attendees gather to return to their original work floors, while simultaneously avoiding or quickly alleviating congestion in the waiting area.

[0078] Preferably, to prevent the default operation method from being abused, the meeting organizer can apply to the building management in advance. After the building management approves the meeting organizer's operation request, a certain verification method is set (mainly for switching to the default operation method, and setting the number of valid times and / or the valid time range of the default operation method).

[0079] Unless otherwise defined, all terms used herein (including technical and scientific terms) shall have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention pertains. It will also be understood that, unless expressly defined herein, terms such as those defined in a general dictionary shall be interpreted as having the meaning consistent with their meaning in the relevant field context, and not as having an idealized or overly formal meaning.

[0080] The present invention has been described in detail above through specific embodiments and examples, but these are not intended to limit the invention. Many modifications and improvements can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the principles of the invention, and these should also be considered within the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. An elevator control method, characterized in that, It includes the following steps: S1. Obtain the number of passengers going up and down on the middle floor; S2. Determine the congested floor: When the number of upward or downward passengers on the intermediate floor exceeds a preset threshold, the intermediate floor is determined as the upward congested floor and / or the downward congested floor. S3. Calculate the capacity demand of the crowded floor based on the determination result of step S2. The capacity demand includes the up-line capacity demand and / or the down-line capacity demand. S4. Based on the determination result of step S2, determine the candidate elevators using the current operating information of each elevator. The candidate elevators include upward candidate elevators that can provide upward transportation services for the crowded upward floors and / or downward candidate elevators that can provide downward transportation services for the crowded downward floors. S5. Based on the determination result of step S2, calculate the available capacity of the candidate elevator when it reaches a crowded floor using the car load and operation information of the candidate elevator. The available capacity includes the available capacity for upward travel and / or the available capacity for downward travel. S6. Based on the transportation capacity demand and available transportation capacity, determine the selected elevator from the candidate elevators according to a preset matching method. The selected elevator includes an upward selected elevator and / or a downward selected elevator. S7. Control the selected elevator to serve congested floors.

2. The elevator control method according to claim 1, characterized in that: When the elevator is about to reach the crowded floor and there is an assigned unanswered call signal ahead, or when the elevator is about to reach the crowded floor and there is at least one passenger in the car whose destination floor is ahead of the crowded floor, step S4 will select it as the elevator to go up. When the elevator is about to arrive at the crowded floor and is going down and there is an assigned unanswered call signal ahead of it, or when the elevator is about to arrive at the crowded floor and is going down and there is at least one passenger in the car whose destination floor is ahead of the crowded floor, step S4 will select it as the elevator to go down. When the elevator is about to arrive at the crowded floor and there is no assigned unanswered call signal and no passengers in the car, step S4 designates it as either an upward or downward candidate elevator.

3. The elevator control method according to claim 2, characterized in that: When at least one elevator can be included in both the upward and downward candidate elevators, the upward and downward candidate elevators shall be determined according to any one of the following rules; Rule 1: Minimize the difference between the number of elevators available for upward movement and the number of elevators available for downward movement; Rule 2: Minimize the difference between the sum of the available capacity of all upward-bound elevators and the sum of the available capacity of all downward-bound elevators. Rule 3: Minimize the difference between the ratio of the number of elevators available for upward travel to the number of elevators available for downward travel, and the ratio of the number of passengers traveling upward to the number of passengers traveling downward. Rule 4: Minimize the difference between the ratio of the sum of the available capacity of all upward-bound elevators to the sum of the available capacity of all downward-bound elevators, and the ratio of the number of upward-bound passengers to the number of downward-bound passengers. Rule 5: When an elevator arrives at a crowded floor and its direction of travel is upward, the elevator is designated as an upward candidate elevator. When an elevator arrives at a crowded floor and its direction of travel is downward, the elevator is identified as a candidate elevator for downward travel.

4. The elevator control method according to claim 1, characterized in that, When there are crowded floors for upward travel, the selected elevator for upward travel is determined in step S6 according to the following preset matching method: C11. For each upward-moving candidate elevator, enumerate all possible combinations to obtain each upward-moving candidate elevator group. C12. Calculate the sum of the available uphill capacity of each elevator in each uphill candidate elevator group, and use this sum as the available capacity of that uphill candidate elevator group. C13. Calculate the difference between the available capacity of the group and the upstream capacity demand separately; C14. Select the smallest difference from all non-negative differences as the selected difference; C15. Select the upward candidate elevator in the upward candidate elevator group corresponding to the selected difference as the upward selected elevator; When there are crowded floors on the downhill side, the selected elevator for the downhill side is determined in step S6 according to the following preset matching method: C21. For each downstream candidate elevator, enumerate all possible combinations to obtain each downstream candidate elevator group; C22. Calculate the sum of the down-going capacity available for each down-going elevator in each down-going elevator candidate group, and use this sum as the group available capacity for that down-going elevator candidate group; C23. Calculate the difference between the available capacity of the group and the downstream capacity demand separately; C24. Select the smallest difference from all non-negative differences as the selected difference; C25. Select the down-going candidate elevator from the down-going candidate elevator group corresponding to the selected difference as the down-going selected elevator.

5. The elevator control method according to claim 1, characterized in that, When there are crowded floors for upward travel, the selected elevator for upward travel is determined in step S6 according to the following preset matching method: A11, estimate the arrival time of each elevator waiting to be selected for the congested floor; A12, based on the arrival time, sort the up-selectable elevators according to the order in which they arrive at the crowded floors; A13, the available up-going capacity of each elevator in the order of priority is accumulated until the accumulated available up-going capacity exceeds the up-going capacity demand for the first time; A14, when the cumulative available uphill capacity first exceeds the uphill capacity demand, each of the uphill candidate elevators will be selected as the uphill elevator; When there are crowded floors on the downhill side, the selected elevator for the downhill side is determined in step S6 according to the following preset matching method: A21, estimate the arrival time of each descending elevator to the congested floor; A22, based on the arrival time, sort the descending elevators in order of arrival at the most crowded floors; A23, the available down-going capacity of each down-going elevator in order of priority is accumulated until the accumulated down-going available capacity exceeds the down-going capacity demand for the first time; A24, when the cumulative downlink available capacity first exceeds the downlink capacity demand, each of the downlink candidate elevators will be selected as the downlink elevator.

6. The elevator control method according to claim 1, characterized in that, When there are crowded floors for upward travel, the selected elevator for upward travel is determined in step S6 according to the following preset matching method: B11, estimate the arrival time of each elevator waiting to be selected for the congested floor; B12, based on the arrival time, sort the up-selectable elevators according to the order in which they arrive at the most crowded floors; B13: The available up-going capacity of each elevator in the waiting list is accumulated in order until the accumulated available up-going capacity exceeds the up-going capacity demand for the first time. B14. Determine whether the excess capacity when the cumulative available capacity for the upward trip first exceeds the demand for the upward trip is greater than the available capacity of at least one of the cumulative available elevators for the upward trip. If yes, proceed to step B15. If no, select each of the available elevators for the upward trip when the cumulative available capacity for the upward trip first exceeds the demand for the upward trip as the selected elevators for the upward trip. B15. Based on the principle of minimizing the number of selected elevators, the selected elevator for going up is determined from the available elevators for going up on each platform. When there are crowded floors on the downhill side, the selected elevator for the downhill side is determined in step S6 according to the following preset matching method: B21, estimate the arrival time of each descending elevator to the congested floor; B22, based on the arrival time, sort the descending elevators in order of arrival at the most crowded floors; B23, the available down-going capacity of each down-going elevator in order of priority is accumulated until the accumulated down-going available capacity exceeds the down-going capacity demand for the first time; B24. Determine whether the excess capacity when the cumulative downlink available capacity first exceeds the downlink capacity demand is greater than the available capacity of at least one of the cumulative downlink candidate elevators. If yes, proceed to step B25. If no, select each downlink candidate elevator when the cumulative downlink available capacity first exceeds the downlink capacity demand as the selected downlink elevator. B25. Based on the principle of minimizing the number of selected elevators, the selected elevator for the downward journey is determined from among the candidate elevators for the downward journey.

7. The elevator control method according to claim 6, characterized in that, Step B15 further includes the following sub-steps: Sub-step B15-1: Obtain the number of up-line candidate elevators that meet the conditions. The conditions refer to the conditions mentioned in step B14, where the cumulative up-line available capacity exceeds the up-line capacity demand for the first time, and the excess capacity is greater than the available capacity of the up-line candidate elevators involved in the cumulative up-line candidate elevators. When the number of eligible upward elevators is 1, proceed to sub-step B15-2; when the number of eligible upward elevators is greater than 1, proceed to sub-step B15-3. Step B15-2: Remove the qualified up-line candidate elevators from the corresponding cumulative up-line candidate elevators that can provide transport capacity, and select the remaining up-line candidate elevators as the selected up-line elevators, then end; Step B15-3: Sort the available elevators for the first time when the available capacity exceeds the demand by order of their available capacity from smallest to largest. Step B15-4: Calculate the total available capacity of the previous elevators in turn until the total available capacity exceeds the difference between the total available capacity and the capacity demand for the first time. Step B15-5: Determine the last candidate elevator combination before the first occurrence of a total available capacity exceeding the difference between the total available capacity and the capacity demand. Step B15-6: Remove the candidate elevators from the upward candidate elevators in the combination when the available capacity exceeds the capacity demand for the first time, and use the remaining elevators as the selected upward elevators.

8. The elevator control method according to claim 6, characterized in that, Step B25 further includes the following sub-steps: Sub-step B25-1: Obtain the number of eligible downhill elevators. The condition refers to the condition mentioned in step B24, where the cumulative downhill available capacity exceeds the downhill capacity demand for the first time, and the excess capacity is greater than the available capacity of the downhill elevators involved in the cumulative downhill available elevators. When the number of eligible downward elevators is 1, proceed to sub-step B25-2; when the number of eligible downward elevators is greater than 1, proceed to sub-step B25-3. Step B25-2: Remove the eligible downhill elevators from the list of downhill elevators with available capacity, and select the remaining downhill elevators as the selected downhill elevators. End. Step B25-3: Sort the downstream elevators that can provide capacity to exceed the capacity demand for the first time in ascending order of their available capacity. Step B25-4: Calculate the total available capacity of the previous elevators in turn until the total available capacity exceeds the difference between the total available capacity and the capacity demand for the first time. Step B25-5: Determine the last candidate elevator combination before the first occurrence of a total available capacity exceeding the difference between the total available capacity and the capacity demand. Step B25-6: Remove the candidate elevators from the downbound candidate elevators in the combination when the available capacity exceeds the capacity demand for the first time, and use the remaining elevators as the selected downbound elevators.

9. The elevator control method according to claim 2, characterized in that, Step S7 also includes: The system acquires the current operating information of each elevator in real time. If the change in the operating information causes a change in the result of determining the candidate elevator, it returns to step S4; otherwise, it continues to execute step S7 until all selected elevators have completed their service to the crowded floors.

10. The elevator control method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The elevator control method further includes the following steps: S8. When the sum of the available capacity provided by the selected elevators going up is less than the up capacity demand of the crowded floor, calculate the remaining up capacity demand of the crowded floor; or, when the sum of the available capacity provided by the selected elevators going down is less than the down capacity demand of the crowded floor, calculate the remaining down capacity demand of the crowded floor. S9. Estimate the future operating information of each elevator based on the selected elevators serving the crowded floor, the elevator call signals of other floors besides the crowded floor and their response elevator allocation results. S10. Use the future operating information of each elevator as the current operating information, and return to step S4.

11. The elevator control method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The number of passengers going up and / or going down is input by operating the elevator direction registration button on the floor registration device located on the intermediate floor using a preset operation method.

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