Group management control device and group management control method

Abstract

The invention provides a group management control device and a group management control method. A group management control device for a double-deck elevator is provided with an operation prediction unit, a distribution mode evaluation unit, and a distribution car determination unit. The operation prediction unit generates operation prediction information for each distribution pattern of a car called for a landing that specifies a destination floor, performs an operation simulation on each of the generated operation prediction information, and predicts whether or not there is an occurrence of an indwelling situation every time any one of the cars is opened. The indwelling situation indicates that the waiting user of the opened floor cannot reach the target floor due to taking a car different from the car assigned by calling the registered landing. The allocation mode evaluation unit calculates an allocation evaluation value for each car. The assigned car determination unit determines an assigned car for a new landing call on the basis of the presence or absence of a remaining situation in each assignment pattern and the assignment evaluation value.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The embodiments relate to a group management control device for a double-deck elevator and a group management control method for a double-deck elevator. Background Art

[0002] A system that centrally controls a plurality of elevators is referred to as an elevator group control system. In particular, a group control system in which each elevator is composed of a double-deck elevator in which an upper cage and a lower cage are connected is referred to as a double-deck group control system.

[0003] In the group management control system of elevators, when a user performs a registration operation for a landing call, allocation processing is performed to determine a passenger car (allocated car) that responds to the landing call so that the user can be transported most efficiently.

[0004] When performing allocation processing for landing calls involving multiple elevators, first, an allocation pattern is assumed in which multiple elevators are temporarily allocated various passenger cars to the generated landing calls. Then, the time required until the landing call is responded to is estimated for each of the assumed allocation patterns, and the optimal allocation pattern that can respond to the landing call and the registered calls as a whole as soon as possible is selected. Then, the allocation is actually performed based on the information in the selected allocation pattern.

[0005] Prior art literature

[0006] Patent Literature

[0007] Patent Document 1: WO2013 / 164882A1 Summary of the invention

[0008] When a landing call involving a double-deck elevator is assigned, the upper car and the lower car are distinguished and processed. On the other hand, when a landing call is registered by inputting a destination floor using a destination floor landing registration device, the destination floor landing registration device displays the assigned car to the user who inputs the destination floor, but does not inform the user whether it is an upper car or a lower car.

[0009] When the destination floor registration device is used to register a call, if the assigned car responds at the departure floor, the assigned car will be automatically registered as calling the destination floor. Therefore, the user does not operate the call button for the destination floor in the car. Alternatively, in this type of elevator, there is also a case where the call button for the destination floor is not provided in the car.

[0010] If another car of the same number as the car assigned to the user arrives at the landing of the floor where the user has made a landing call operation and opens its door, it is generally considered that the user will mistakenly board the car with the door opened. Since the call to the destination floor is not automatically registered in the car that has been mistakenly boarded, if the user who has input the destination floor to the destination floor registration device mistakenly boards the car with the door opened, the user cannot get off at the destination floor.

[0011] In order to avoid such a situation, when another car of the same elevator arrives first in the same direction as the registered call and opens its door, the assigned car may be changed to the car that arrived first.

[0012] On the other hand, in a double-deck elevator, there are floors that can be served only by the upper car, such as the top floor, or floors that can be served only by the lower car, such as the bottom floor. Therefore, depending on the user, there are cases where the destination floor cannot be reached by using only one of the upper car or the lower car. For such a user, if another car of the same number as the assigned car arrives first and opens its door, the call of the user to the destination floor cannot be automatically registered in the first-arrived car, and therefore the allocation of the first-arrived car cannot be changed.

[0013] Therefore, users who want to move to a destination floor that can only be reached by the upper or lower car need to avoid the first-arriving car and wait for the response from the originally assigned car before getting on the elevator. However, they may mistakenly take the first-arriving car, which makes use difficult.

[0014] The present invention is completed in view of the above situation, and its purpose is to provide a double-deck elevator group management control device and a double-deck elevator group management control method that can accurately perform passenger car allocation processing for the generated landing station call in the group management control of the double-deck elevator.

[0015] In order to achieve the above-mentioned purpose, the group management control device of the double-deck elevator of the embodiment comprises an operation prediction unit, an allocation pattern evaluation unit and an allocation car determination unit. The operation prediction unit generates operation prediction information according to each allocation pattern of the car for the landing call with the specified destination floor, performs operation simulation for each generated operation prediction information, and predicts whether a retention condition occurs every time any car opens its door. The retention condition refers to the situation that the waiting users on the floor with the opened door cannot reach the destination floor because they take a car different from the car allocated to the registered landing call. The allocation pattern evaluation unit calculates the allocation evaluation value of each car. The allocation car determination unit determines the allocation car for the new landing call based on whether the retention condition occurs and the allocation evaluation value of each allocation pattern.

[0016] The group management control device is used to perform group management on a plurality of double-deck elevators consisting of an upper car and a lower car, and comprises: a floor call registration unit, which registers floor call information registered by a user specifying a destination floor at a floor; and an operation prediction unit, which generates operation prediction information for each allocation mode of the cars in the plurality of double-deck elevators for the registered floor call if a new floor call is registered in the floor call registration unit, performs operation simulation on each generated operation prediction information, and predicts whether a retention condition occurs whenever any car opens its door in the executed operation simulation, the retention condition referring to the floor on which the door has been opened. a waiting user who cannot reach the destination floor because he or she takes a car different from the car assigned to the floor call registered for the waiting user; an allocation pattern evaluation unit, which calculates, based on the execution result of the operation simulation, an allocation evaluation value indicating the appropriateness of the allocation for the new floor call for each car of the multiple double-decker elevators; and an allocation car determination unit, which determines the allocation car for the new floor call from the cars of the multiple double-decker elevators based on whether the retention condition of each allocation pattern predicted by the operation prediction unit occurs and the allocation evaluation value calculated by the allocation pattern evaluation unit.

[0017] A group management control method uses a group management control device, which performs group management on a plurality of double-deck elevators consisting of an upper car and a lower car, and is provided with a landing call registration unit, which registers information of a landing call registered by a user specifying a destination floor at a landing. In the group management control method: if a new landing call is registered in the landing call registration unit, operation prediction information for each allocation mode of the cars in the plurality of double-deck elevators for the registered landing call is generated, and an operation simulation is performed for each generated operation prediction information, and whenever any car is in the executed landing call, an operation prediction information is generated. In the operation simulation of the operation, when the door is opened, it is predicted whether a detention situation will occur, and the detention situation refers to that a waiting user on the floor with the door opened cannot reach the destination floor because he / she takes a car different from the car assigned to the floor call registered for the waiting user. Based on the execution result of the operation simulation, an allocation evaluation value indicating the appropriateness of the allocation for the new floor call is calculated for each car of the multiple double-decker elevators, and based on the predicted occurrence of the detention situation for each of the allocation patterns and the calculated allocation evaluation value, the allocated car for the new floor call is determined from the cars of the multiple double-decker elevators. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0018] Figure 1 It is a block diagram of a double-deck group management control system using the group management control device for double-deck elevators according to the embodiment.

[0019] Figure 2A This is a flowchart showing the operation of the assigned car determination process executed by the group management control device for double-deck elevators according to the embodiment.

[0020] Figure 2B This is a flowchart showing the operation of the assigned car determination process executed by the group management control device for double-deck elevators according to the embodiment.

[0021] Figure 3 This is a flowchart showing the generation of operation prediction information and the calculation process of the operation evaluation value for each allocation pattern executed by the group management control device for double-deck elevators according to the embodiment.

[0022] Figure 4 This is a flowchart showing the processing executed by the group management control device for double-deck elevators in the operation simulation according to the embodiment.

[0023] Figure 5 This is a diagram for explaining an example of an operation simulation executed by the group management control device for double-deck elevators according to the embodiment.

[0024] Figure 6 It is a flowchart showing the processing performed by the group management control device when, in response to an unanswered allocation request, another car with the same number as the allocated car arrives in the same direction and opens its door at the departure floor, during the operation of multiple elevators controlled by the group management control device of the double-deck elevator of the implementation mode. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0025] Hereinafter, an embodiment of a double-deck group management control system using a group management control device for group management of a plurality of double-deck elevators consisting of an upper cage and a lower cage installed in a building will be described using the drawings.

[0026] <Structure of a two-layer group management control system using a group management control device according to an embodiment>

[0027] Reference Figure 1 The structure of a double-deck group control system using a group control device of an embodiment is described. A double-deck group control system 1 of the embodiment includes a plurality of double-deck elevators (A elevator 10A, B elevator 10B, and C elevator 10C) installed in a building with m floors, destination floor station registration devices 20-1 to 20-m installed at the landing stations of each floor, and a group control device 30. The double-deck group control system 1 is configured using a destination floor control system (DCS: Destination Control System) in which the destination floor station registration devices 20-1 to 20-m are installed on each floor of the building. In the embodiment, the case where there are three double-deck elevators installed in the building is described, but the number is not limited to this number, and may be two or four or more.

[0028] The A elevator 10A includes an upper car 11A, a lower car 12A, and an A elevator control device 13A. The A elevator control device 13A outputs position information, travel status information, door opening and closing status information, load status information, etc. of the upper car 11A and the lower car 12A of the A elevator 10A to the group control device 30 as elevator information. In addition, the A elevator control device 13A makes the A elevator 10A respond to the registered floor for calling according to the allocation instruction from the group control device 30, and opens the door of the corresponding passenger car.

[0029] The B elevator 10B and the C elevator 10C have the same structure as the A elevator 10A, and therefore detailed descriptions thereof will be omitted.

[0030] The destination floor registration devices 20-1 to 20-m are devices for allowing floor users to register a floor call, respectively. The destination floor is designated by the floor call, and any one of the cars 11A to 11C and 12A to 12C is called.

[0031] The group control device 30 performs group management on the A elevator 10A, the B elevator 10B, and the C elevator 10C. The group control device 30 includes a landing call registration unit 31, a non-stop floor information storage unit 32, an elevator information acquisition unit 33, an operation prediction unit 34, a counting unit 35, an allocation pattern evaluation unit 36, an allocation car determination unit 37, an allocation information output unit 38, and an allocation change unit 39.

[0032] The hall call registration unit 31 receives and registers the hall call information acquired from the destination hall registration devices 20 - 1 to 20 - m.

[0033] The non-stop floor information storage unit 32 stores information about non-stop floors for each car of each elevator. For example, since the lower car of a double-decker elevator cannot stop at the top floor, the non-stop floor information storage unit 32 stores information that sets the top floor (mth floor) as a non-stop floor for the lower car 12A of the A elevator 10A, the lower car 12B of the B elevator 10B, and the lower car 12C of the C elevator 10C.

[0034] In addition, since the upper cage of a double-deck elevator cannot stop at the lowest floor, the non-stop floor information storage unit 32 stores information that sets the lowest floor (1st floor) as a non-stop floor for the upper cage 11A of the A elevator 10A, the upper cage 11B of the B elevator 10B, and the upper cage 11C of the C elevator 10C.

[0035] The elevator information acquisition unit 33 acquires the elevator information output from each of the control devices 13A, 13B, and 13C.

[0036] The operation prediction unit 34 generates operation prediction information for each elevator based on the generated allocation request and the operation table generated by the call that has been registered and allocated to the elevator, if a new allocation request is generated due to the registration of a new landing call in the landing call registration unit 31. In the generation process of the operation prediction information, a plurality of allocation patterns are assumed according to which car is temporarily allocated to the allocation request, and the future operation is predicted for each allocation pattern. The allocation pattern includes the number of cars that can be allocated to the allocation request in the elevators 10A, 10B, and 10C, and the operation prediction unit 34 generates the operation prediction information for each allocation pattern.

[0037] The operation prediction unit 34 performs operation simulation for each operation prediction information generated, and predicts whether a user retention situation occurs each time a car opens its door in the executed operation simulation. The user retention situation refers to a situation in which a waiting user at a floor with an open door cannot reach the destination floor because he or she takes a car different from the car assigned to the landing call registered for the user.

[0038] In addition, when executing the operation simulation, the operation prediction unit 34 predicts whether a user's wrong boarding situation will occur every time any car opens its door in the executed operation simulation. The user's wrong boarding situation refers to a situation in which a waiting user on a floor with an open door takes a car different from the car assigned to the landing call registered for the user and moves to the destination floor.

[0039] The counting unit 35 counts the number of retention times, which is the number of times retention situations occur, and the number of missed boarding times, which is the number of times missed boarding situations occur, in the operation simulation executed by the operation prediction unit 34 for each operation prediction information.

[0040] The allocation pattern evaluation unit 36 ​​estimates the time required to respond to the allocation request for each operation prediction information generated by the operation prediction unit 34 and calculates the operation evaluation value related to the service performance based on the execution result of the operation simulation and the count values ​​of the number of retentions and the number of missed rides counted by the counting unit 35. In addition, the allocation pattern evaluation unit 36 ​​calculates the allocation evaluation value indicating the appropriateness of the allocation to the allocation request for each car of the elevators 10A, 10B, and 10C based on the calculated operation evaluation value.

[0041] The allocated car determination unit 37 selects the best allocation pattern that can most efficiently transport users as a whole for the generated allocation request and the registered call based on the allocation evaluation value calculated by the allocation pattern evaluation unit 36. The allocated car determination unit 37 determines the passenger car (allocated car) to be allocated to the allocation request based on the selected allocation pattern.

[0042] The allocation information output unit 38 outputs an allocation instruction to the corresponding elevator based on the information of the allocated car determined by the allocated car determination unit 37.

[0043] When the assigned car for the assignment request determined by the assigned car determination unit 37 is another car of the same number and arrives at the registered floor of the assignment request first in the same direction as the assignment request and opens the door, the assignment change unit 39 changes the assigned car for the assignment request to another car of the same number that arrived first and makes it respond immediately. However, when the assignment request is a call with information on both the departure floor and the destination floor registered by the destination floor station registration device, the assignment change unit 39 changes the assigned car for the assignment request to another car of the same number that arrived first only when the other car of the same number that arrived first can stop at the destination floor of the assignment request (can serve). The assignment change unit 39 does not change the assigned car for the assignment request when the other car of the same number that arrived first cannot stop at the destination floor of the assignment request.

[0044] <Operation of the Two-Tier Group Management Control System of the Implementation Method>

[0045] Figure 2A , Figure 2B This is a flowchart showing the operation of the assigned car determination process executed by the group control device 30 when the two-deck group control system 1 according to the embodiment is in operation.

[0046] If a user performs a landing call registration operation through the destination floor landing registration device of a landing of any floor in the building, for example, the destination floor landing registration device 20-1 of the landing of the first floor, the information of the landing call (allocation request) is registered in the landing call registration unit 31 of the group control device 30 ("Yes" in S1). If the allocation request information is registered, the following loop processing is started: for each elevator and each allocation mode, the operation prediction unit 34 generates the operation prediction information, and the allocation mode evaluation unit 36 ​​calculates the evaluation value.

[0047] As allocation modes, there are an allocation mode of "no temporary allocation" in which an allocation request is not temporarily allocated to the elevator that is the object of generation of operation prediction information and calculation of evaluation values, an allocation mode of "temporarily allocating the lower car" in which an allocation request is allocated to the lower car, and an allocation mode of "temporarily allocating the upper car" in which an allocation request is allocated to the upper car.

[0048] First, the case where the A elevator 10A performs the generation of the operation prediction information and the calculation process of the operation evaluation value in the allocation pattern "no temporary allocation" will be described (S2).

[0049] Figure 31 is a flowchart showing the process of generating operation prediction information and calculating the operation evaluation value for each allocation pattern executed by the group supervisory control device 30 .

[0050] The operation prediction unit 34 sets the current status of the upper car 11A and the lower car 12A of the current A elevator 10A acquired from the elevator information acquisition unit 33 and the allocation status to calls to the initial state, and starts the operation prediction process (S21).

[0051] Here, since the processing related to the allocation mode without temporary allocation is executed ("Yes" in S22), the process proceeds to step S23, and the operation prediction unit 34 generates the operation prediction information of the A elevator 10A based on the operation table generated by the call etc. that has been registered and allocated to the elevator (S23). The operation prediction unit 34 performs the operation simulation based on the generated operation prediction information (S24).

[0052] Figure 4 : is a flowchart showing the processing performed by the operation prediction unit 34 in the operation simulation. In the operation simulation, first, based on the generated operation prediction information, the operation prediction unit 34 responds to the calls in sequence while appropriately causing the upper car 11A and the lower car 12A of the A elevator 10A to travel in a specified direction at a specified speed. Then, if there are no more calls that can be further responded to in the direction of travel, the travel direction is reversed to further respond to the calls. In this way, the time required until all registered calls are responded to is measured. In addition, the operation prediction unit 34 stores information on the time when the registered user gets on the elevator in any passenger car and the time when he gets off the elevator from the passenger car for each registered call in the operation simulation.

[0053] In the operation simulation, the door of any of the elevator cars A 10A, B 10B, and C 10C is opened ("Yes" in S41). Then, the operation prediction unit 34 obtains, for example, the time when the door is opened as the time to get off the elevator for a call with the floor at which the door is opened as the destination floor, and stores the obtained time to get off the elevator and the current state "getting off the elevator state" for the call. In addition, the operation prediction unit 34 obtains, for example, the time when the door is opened as the time to get on the elevator for a call with the floor at which the door is opened as the departure floor, and stores the obtained time to get on the elevator and the current state "getting on the elevator" for the call (S42).

[0054] Here, the operation prediction unit 34 determines whether the car with the door opened is a car different from the car assigned to the landing call registered by the waiting user on the floor with the door opened, that is, the car assigned to the landing call with the floor with the door opened as the departure floor (S43). If the car with the door opened is a car different from the car assigned to the landing call registered by the waiting user on the floor, specifically, another car of the same number as the car assigned to the landing call ("Yes" in S43), the operation prediction unit 34 examines the car with the door opened for the waiting user to board.

[0055] This is because the following situation is envisioned: if another car with the same car number as the car assigned to the landing call arrives at the floor where the landing call occurs before the assigned car in the forward direction and opens its door, the user will think that the car responding to the landing call registered by himself has arrived and will board it.

[0056] The operation prediction unit 34 determines whether the car with the door opened can stop at the destination floor called by the waiting user. When the destination floor called by the waiting user is stored as the non-stop floor of the car with the door opened in the non-stop floor information storage unit 32 ("Yes" in S44), the operation prediction unit 34 determines that the car with the door opened cannot stop at the destination floor of the waiting user. In this case, the operation prediction unit 34 predicts that a situation in which the user riding the car cannot reach the destination floor, i.e., a "detention situation", will occur. Based on this, the counting unit 35 increases the number of occurrences of the detention situation in the operation simulation, i.e., the number of detention times (S45). When the number of detention times is increased, the operation prediction unit 34 predicts that the waiting user will use the allocated car to move to the destination floor.

[0057] In addition, when the destination floor of the landing call of the waiting user is not the non-stop floor of the car with the door opened (No in S44), the operation prediction unit 34 predicts that the waiting user will take the car to move to the destination floor. Since the car predicted to be taken by the waiting user is not the car originally assigned to the call of the waiting user, the operation prediction unit 34 predicts that a "wrong ride situation" will occur with respect to the call, and based on this, the counting unit 35 increases the number of occurrences of the wrong ride situation in the operation simulation, that is, the number of wrong rides (S46).

[0058] When the number of missed boardings increases, the operation prediction unit 34 predicts that the allocation of the landing call for the assumed missed boarding will be changed to another car whose door is opened this time (S47). Then, for example, the time when the door of the other car is opened is obtained as the time to get on the elevator for the landing call, and the obtained time to get on the elevator and the current state "riding the elevator" for the call are stored. In addition, in the case where it is predicted that a missed boarding will occur in this way, the operation prediction unit 34 also changes the car that opens the door at the destination floor of the landing call by exchanging the upper car and the lower car.

[0059] This allocation change is a prediction in the operation simulation that the allocation of the landing call may be changed to another car that arrives at the landing where the landing call is generated first, and is not a change in actual operation.

[0060] After executing the processing of step S45 or S47, if there is an unanswered call among the calls registered in the landing call registration unit 31 ("Yes" in S48), that is, if there is a call whose current state has not yet become the "downward elevator state", return to step S41. Then, every time any car opens its door before the end of the operation simulation, the processing of steps S41 to S47 is repeated.

[0061] If the simulation is finished, it returns Figure 3 The allocation pattern evaluation unit 36 ​​calculates an operation evaluation value of the operation simulation for the allocation pattern "no temporary allocation" (S25). The operation evaluation value is, for example, the waiting time from the time when the call is generated to the time when the car door opens at the departure floor.

[0062] If the running evaluation value of the allocation mode "no temporary allocation" is calculated, it returns Figure 2A The operation prediction unit 34 generates operation prediction information and calculates operation evaluation values ​​for the allocation mode "temporary allocation of lower car" of the A elevator 10A (S3). The generation of operation prediction information and calculation of operation evaluation values ​​for the allocation mode "temporary allocation of lower car" are also based on the same method as the allocation mode "no temporary allocation". Figure 3 to execute the flowchart.

[0063] In the case of the allocation mode "temporarily allocate the next car", because Figure 3 In step S22 of the flowchart of , it is not an allocation mode without temporary allocation ("No" in S22), so the process proceeds to step S32. Based on the information stored in the non-stop floor information storage unit 32, the operation prediction unit 34 determines whether the departure floor or destination floor of the allocation request generated this time is the non-stop floor of the lower car 12A of the A elevator 10A set as the processing object (S32).

[0064] Here, when the operation prediction unit 34 determines that the departure floor or destination floor of the allocation request generated this time is the non-stop floor of the lower car 12A of the A elevator 10A ("Yes" in S32), the operation evaluation value of the allocation mode cannot be calculated, and it is determined that the evaluation cannot be performed and the processing is terminated (S33).

[0065] In step S32, when the operation prediction unit 34 determines that the condition that the vehicle does not stop at either the departure floor or the destination floor of the allocation request generated this time is not satisfied (No in S32), the allocation request is added as a call to be responded to (S34). Then, the operation prediction information of the A elevator 10A is generated based on the generated allocation request and the operation table generated by the calls that have been registered and allocated to the elevator (S23).

[0066] The operation prediction unit 34 performs an operation simulation based on the generated operation prediction information (S24). The operation simulation process performed by the operation prediction unit 34 is the same as the process described in the case of the allocation mode "no temporary allocation", so the detailed description is omitted.

[0067] When the operation simulation is completed, the allocation mode evaluation unit 36 ​​calculates the operation evaluation value of the operation simulation for the allocation mode "temporarily allocate the lower car" (S25). When the allocation mode evaluation unit 36 ​​calculates the operation evaluation value for the allocation mode "temporarily allocate the lower car", it returns to Figure 2A , the allocation evaluation value for the lower car 12A is calculated (S4).

[0068] The allocation evaluation value is a value indicating the appropriateness of the allocation of the corresponding car for the allocation request. The allocation mode evaluation unit 36 ​​calculates the value obtained by subtracting the operation evaluation value of the allocation mode "no temporary allocation" calculated in step S2 from the operation evaluation value of the allocation mode "temporary allocation of the lower car" calculated in step S3 as the allocation evaluation value for the lower car 12A.

[0069] Next, the allocation pattern evaluation unit 36 ​​adjusts each allocation evaluation value so that the allocation evaluation for the allocation pattern predicted to cause the retention situation is greatly reduced. The allocation pattern evaluation unit 36 ​​compares the number of retentions counted when the allocation pattern is "no temporary allocation" and when the allocation pattern is "temporary allocation of the lower car" (S5).

[0070] Here, when the count value of the number of retentions when the allocation mode is "temporarily allocating the lower car" is greater than that when "no temporary allocation" ("Yes" in S5), the allocation mode evaluation unit 36 ​​applies strong allocation suppression to the allocation mode of the lower car 12A of the A elevator 10A (S6).

[0071] Specifically, the allocation pattern evaluation unit 36 ​​adds a sufficiently large value, such as 300 seconds, to the waiting time until the door of the lower car 12A of the A elevator 10A opens at the departure floor, which is represented by the allocation evaluation value calculated in step S4, thereby significantly reducing the allocation evaluation for the lower car 12A. By adjusting the allocation evaluation value in this way, it is possible to avoid allocating the lower car 12A to the allocation request in the allocation car determination process described later.

[0072] In addition, in step S5, when the number of retention times when the allocation mode is "temporarily allocated lower car" is less than the number of retention times when "no temporary allocation" is performed ("No" in S5), the allocation mode evaluation unit 36 ​​compares the number of missed rides counted when the allocation mode is "no temporary allocation" and when the allocation mode is "temporarily allocated lower car" (S7).

[0073] Here, when the count value of the number of missed rides when the allocation pattern is "temporarily allocating the lower car" is greater than that when "no temporary allocation" ("Yes" in S7), the allocation pattern evaluation unit 36 ​​applies weak allocation suppression to the allocation pattern of the lower car 12A of the A elevator 10A (S8).

[0074] Specifically, the allocation pattern evaluation unit 36 ​​slightly reduces the allocation evaluation for the lower car 12A by adding a slightly increased value as a waiting time, such as 10 seconds, to the waiting time until the door opening time of the lower car 12A of the A elevator 10A at the departure floor, which is represented by the allocation evaluation value calculated in step S4. This value is smaller than the value added when the count value of the number of retention times is large in the case of "temporary allocation of the lower car". By adjusting the allocation evaluation value in this way, it is possible to reduce the priority while retaining the possibility of allocating the lower car 12A to the allocation request in the allocation car determination process described later.

[0075] Next, the operation prediction unit 34 generates operation prediction information and calculates the operation evaluation value when the allocation mode "temporarily allocates the upper car" is used for the A elevator 10A (S9). The generation of operation prediction information and the calculation of operation evaluation value when the allocation mode "temporarily allocates the upper car" is based on the same method as the allocation mode "temporarily allocates the lower car". Figure 3 to execute the flowchart.

[0076] If the allocation mode evaluation unit 36 ​​calculates the operation evaluation value for the allocation mode "temporary allocation of the upper car", it returns Figure 2B , the allocation evaluation value for the upper car 11A is calculated (S10).

[0077] The allocation pattern evaluation unit 36 ​​calculates a value obtained by subtracting the operation evaluation value of the allocation pattern "no temporary allocation" calculated in step S2 from the operation evaluation value of the allocation pattern "temporary allocation of upper car" calculated in step S9 as an allocation evaluation value for the upper car 11A.

[0078] Next, the allocation mode evaluation unit 36 ​​adjusts each allocation evaluation value so that the evaluation of the allocation mode predicted to cause a retention situation is greatly reduced. If the allocation mode evaluation unit 36 ​​calculates the evaluation value when the allocation mode is "temporarily allocated to the upper car", it compares the number of retentions counted when the allocation mode is "no temporary allocation" and when the allocation mode is "temporarily allocated to the upper car" (S9).

[0079] Here, when the count value of the number of retentions when the allocation mode is "temporary allocation of upper car" is greater than that when "no temporary allocation" ("Yes" in S11), the allocation mode evaluation unit 36 ​​applies strong allocation suppression to the allocation mode of the upper car 11A of the A elevator 10A in the same way as in step S6 (S12).

[0080] In addition, in step S11, when the number of retention times when the allocation mode is "temporary allocation of the upper car" is less than the number of retention times when the allocation mode is "no temporary allocation" ("No" in S11), the allocation mode evaluation unit 36 ​​compares the number of missed rides counted when the allocation mode is "no temporary allocation" and when the allocation mode is "temporary allocation of the upper car" (S13).

[0081] Here, when the count value of the number of missed rides when the allocation mode is "temporarily allocated upper car" is greater than that when "no temporary allocation" is used ("Yes" in S13), the allocation mode evaluation unit 36 ​​applies weak allocation suppression to the allocation mode of the upper car 11A of the A elevator 10A in the same manner as in step S8 (S14). The group control device 30 also performs the above-mentioned processing of steps S2 to S14 on the B elevator 10B and the C elevator 10C.

[0082] Figure 5 It is a diagram for explaining an example of the operation simulation executed on the A elevator 10A and the B elevator 10B.

[0083] In this example, in the initial state, the upper cages 11A and 11B of the A elevator 10A and the B elevator 10B are stopped at the 2nd floor, and the lower cages 12A and 12B are stopped at the 1st floor. In addition, many users are already on the lower cages 12A and 12B, and the congestion degree is greater than a predetermined value. The group control device 30 has a constraint condition that a new call generated later cannot be allocated to the cages with a congestion degree greater than a predetermined value.

[0084] In addition, the landing call Q1 made by the user P1 and the landing call Q2 made by the user P2 are registered in the landing call registration unit 31. The departure floor of the landing call Q1 is the 5th floor and the destination floor is the 9th floor, and the lower car 12A of the A elevator 10A is allocated to the landing call Q1 by the allocated car determination unit 37. The departure floor of the landing call Q2 is the 5th floor and the destination floor is the 13th floor, and the lower car 12B of the B elevator 10B is allocated to the landing call Q2 by the allocated car determination unit 37. Figure 5 In the figure, the △ mark indicates the departure floor for station calls at each floor, and the 0 mark indicates the next floor.

[0085] In addition, the information that "machine A" is assigned to the landing call Q1 is notified to user P1, and the information that "machine B" is assigned to the landing call Q2 is notified to user P2. As a result, user P1 waits for the arrival of the car of the machine A elevator 10A at the 5th floor landing, and user P2 waits for the arrival of the car of the machine B elevator 10B at the 5th floor landing.

[0086] In this example, the 9th floor is a floor dedicated to the lower car, and the non-stop floor information storage unit 32 stores the 9th floor as a non-stop floor for the upper cars 11A and 11B.

[0087] Here, when a landing call (allocation request) Q3 with the departure floor being the 3rd floor and the destination floor being the 5th floor is newly registered in the landing call registration unit 31 by the operation of the user P3, the operation prediction unit 34 first generates operation prediction information for the A elevator 10A and executes an operation simulation.

[0088] The operation prediction unit 34 is considered to generate operation prediction information for the A elevator 10A for each of the allocation modes "no temporary allocation", "temporary allocation of the lower car", and "temporary allocation of the upper car". However, the lower car 12A of the A elevator 10A cannot be allocated a call because the congestion degree is greater than the specified value, so it can only be allocated to the upper car 11A. Therefore, for the A elevator 10A, the operation prediction information is first generated and the operation simulation is executed when the allocation mode is "no temporary allocation", and then the operation prediction information is generated and the operation simulation is executed when the allocation mode is "temporary allocation of the upper car".

[0089] Regarding the allocation mode "temporarily allocate the upper car", the operation prediction information is generated that the upper car 11A of the A elevator 10A arrives at the 3rd floor in response to the landing call Q3 for the user P3 to get on, and then the upper car 11A arrives at the 5th floor, which is the destination floor of the user P3, for the user P3 to get off, and the operation simulation is performed. In this operation simulation, the car allocated to the landing call Q1 is the lower car 12A of the A elevator 10A, but since only the information "A car" is notified to the user P1 as the allocated car, the operation prediction unit 34 predicts that when the upper car 11A opens its door at the 5th floor, the user P1 will think that the car allocated to the landing call Q1 has opened its door and will get on it.

[0090] However, the destination floor of user P1 is the 9th floor, and since the 9th floor is a floor exclusively for the lower car, the upper car 11A cannot arrive and open the door. In this case, the operation prediction unit 34 determines that the upper car 11A, which is the same car (car A) as the lower car 12A assigned to the landing call Q1, arrives at the landing call generating floor, i.e., the 5th floor, in the forward direction before the assigned lower car 12A and opens the door for user P1 to board. However, the upper car 11A cannot stop at the destination floor of the landing call Q1, i.e., the 9th floor, and the user P1 is left unable to arrive at the destination floor, and the counting unit 35 increases the number of times left.

[0091] Furthermore, a case will be described in which, when the hall call Q3 is registered, the operation prediction unit 34 generates operation prediction information for the B elevator 10B and executes an operation simulation.

[0092] In this case, the operation prediction unit 34 is also considered to generate operation prediction information for the B elevator 10B for each of the allocation modes "no temporary allocation", "temporary allocation of the lower car", and "temporary allocation of the upper car". However, the lower car 12B of the B elevator 10B has a congestion degree greater than the specified value, and a call cannot be allocated. Therefore, only the upper car 11B can be allocated here. Therefore, for the B elevator 10B, the operation prediction information is first generated and the operation simulation is executed when the allocation mode is "no temporary allocation", and then the operation prediction information is generated and the operation simulation is executed when the allocation mode is "temporary allocation of the upper car".

[0093] Regarding the allocation mode "temporarily allocate the upper car", the operation prediction information is generated that the upper car 11B of the B elevator 10B arrives at the 3rd floor in response to the landing call Q3 for the user P3 to get on, and then the upper car 11B arrives at the 5th floor, which is the destination floor of the user P3, for the user P3 to get off, and the operation simulation is performed. In this operation simulation, the car allocated to the landing call Q2 is the lower car 12B of the B elevator 10B, but only the information that "B car" is the allocated car is notified to the user P2. Therefore, the operation prediction unit 34 predicts that when the upper car 11B opens its door at the 5th floor, the user P2 will think that the car allocated to the landing call Q2 has opened its door and will get on it.

[0094] At this time, the destination floor of user P2 is the 13th floor. Since the 13th floor is a floor that the upper car 11B can reach and open its door, the operation prediction unit 34 predicts that user P2 will use the upper car 11B to move to the destination floor 13th floor. In this case, the operation prediction unit 34 determines that the upper car 11B, which is the same car (B car) as the lower car 12B assigned to the landing call Q2, will arrive at the allocation request generation floor, the 5th floor, in the forward direction before the assigned lower car 12B and open its door for user P2 to board. In addition, the operation prediction unit 34 determines that the upper car 11B will move to the destination floor of the landing call Q2, the 13th floor, due to the missed boarding condition, and the number of missed boardings will increase.

[0095] Using the values ​​of the number of times of retention and the number of times of missed rides thus counted, the allocation pattern evaluation unit 36 ​​calculates the operation evaluation value for each elevator and each allocation pattern, and calculates the allocation evaluation value for each car based on the calculated operation evaluation value. Figure 5 Instructions for running the simulation example.

[0096] The loop of steps S2 to S14 for all elevators in the two-deck group management control system 1 is completed. Then, the allocated car determination unit 37 selects the optimal elevator allocation pattern based on the allocation evaluation value calculated by the allocation pattern evaluation unit 36, and determines the passenger car to be allocated to the allocation request of the processing object based on the selected elevator allocation pattern (S15).

[0097] Specifically, the allocated car determination unit 37 selects the allocation pattern of the elevator with the shortest sum of waiting times for each call as the allocation pattern of the elevator with a high evaluation value and the best. At this time, the allocation pattern predicted to cause retention sets the waiting time to be sufficiently large, so the possibility of being selected is reduced. In addition, the allocation pattern predicted to cause a wrong ride has an increased waiting time, so although there is a possibility of selection, the priority is reduced. Therefore, the allocated car determination unit 37 avoids selecting the allocation pattern predicted to cause retention as much as possible, reduces the priority of the allocation pattern predicted to cause a wrong ride, and selects the best elevator allocation pattern according to the calculated evaluation value.

[0098] The allocation information output unit 38 outputs an allocation instruction to the control device of the elevator to be allocated based on the information of the allocated car for the allocation request determined by the allocated car determination unit 37. Each control device 13A, 13B, 13C controls the equipment in each elevator 10A, 10B, 10C in response to the corresponding landing call based on the acquired allocation instruction.

[0099] Figure 6 The flowchart shows the processing performed by the group control device 30 when, in the operation of the elevators 10A, 10B, and 10C controlled by the group control device 30, another car with the same number as the assigned car arrives in the same direction and opens its door at the departure floor in response to an unresponded allocation.

[0100] When elevators 10A, 10B, and 10C are in operation, at the departure floor, for an unresponded allocation, if another car with the same machine number as the allocated car arrives first in the same direction and opens its door ("Yes" in S51), the allocation change unit 39 determines whether the allocation is an allocation registered by the destination floor station registration device and has information on both the departure floor and the destination floor (S52).

[0101] When determining that the assignment is an assignment for a call registered by the destination floor registration device (Yes in S52), the assignment changing section 39 determines whether another car of the same elevator that arrived earlier can stop at the assigned destination floor (can be served) (S53).

[0102] Here, when the first-arrived car of the same number can stop at the assigned destination floor (can be served) ("Yes" in S53), the assignment change unit 39 changes the assigned car for the assignment to the first-arrived car of the same number (S54). In step S52, when it is determined that the assignment does not have information about the destination floor ("No" in S52), the assignment change unit 39 also changes the assigned car for the assignment to the first-arrived car of the same number (S54).

[0103] If the allocation change unit 39 changes the allocated car, the allocation information output unit 38 outputs an allocation change instruction to the control device of the corresponding elevator, so that the changed allocated car responds immediately. Each control device 13A, 13B, 13C controls the equipment in each elevator 10A, 10B, 10C in a manner that responds to the corresponding allocation based on the acquired allocation change instruction. As a result, the user can take the first car to move to the destination floor and get off at the destination floor.

[0104] When it is determined in step S53 that the other car of the same elevator that arrived first cannot stop at the assigned destination floor (No in S53), the assignment changing section 39 does not change the assigned car for the assignment.

[0105] According to the above embodiment, when the group control device of the double-deck elevator performs the allocation processing of the riding car in response to the generated allocation request, when it is predicted through the operation simulation that another car of the same number as the car allocated to the allocation request arrives at the landing call generation floor before the allocated car and opens the door, it is determined whether the user will be left behind or boarded by mistake, and the service evaluation of each allocation pattern is performed based on the determination to determine the allocated car. By performing the processing in this way, the group control device can perform the allocation car determination processing with good accuracy based on actual operation in response to the generated allocation request, so as to avoid the occurrence of the retention situation and the mis-boarding situation as much as possible.

[0106] In the above-mentioned embodiment, in the operation simulation related to each car in the A elevator 10A, the B elevator 10B, and the C elevator 10C, the allocation evaluation value for each car is adjusted according to whether the number of retentions increases due to the temporary allocation of the allocation request, or whether the number of missed rides increases due to the temporary allocation of the allocation request, and the allocation car for the allocation request is determined based on the adjusted allocation evaluation value. However, this is not limited to this, and the allocation car determination process may be performed in other ways as long as the allocation request can be allocated to a car that does not cause a retention situation or a missed ride situation as much as possible.

[0107] Another method of determining the assigned car will be described. In this method, the operation prediction unit 34 of the group control device 30 calculates the increase in the number of retention times caused by provisional assignment of assignment requests and the increase in the number of missed rides caused by provisional assignment of assignment requests in the operation simulation of each car.

[0108] Then, the operation prediction unit 34 first extracts the car with the smallest increase in the calculated number of retention times, and then further extracts the car with the smallest increase in the calculated number of missed rides in the extraction, and then, in the extraction, determines the car with the smallest increase in the operation evaluation value (waiting time) caused by the temporary allocation of the allocation request as the allocated car for the allocation request. By this embodiment, it is possible to perform the allocation process of the boarding car with good accuracy based on actual operation without causing retention and missed ride conditions as much as possible.

[0109] In addition, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the case where the destination floor station registration device 20-1 to 20-m is set at the floor station of each floor in the building, thereby using the destination floor control system (DCS) to constitute the double-floor group management control system 1 is described. However, this is not limited to this, and the double-floor group management control system can also be constituted by using a hybrid DCS, in which the destination floor station registration device is set only at the floor station of some floors, and the floor station call registration device that only specifies the destination direction (up and down direction) but does not specify the destination floor is set at the other floors.

[0110] In the case of a double-deck group control system using a hybrid DCS, since the destination floor is unknown in the landing call registered by the landing call registration device, the presence or absence of a retention state or a mis-ride state is not determined for the landing call. In addition, in the hybrid DCS, there is a case where a derived car call is set as a temporary destination floor for the landing call registered by the landing call registration device to perform operation prediction, but since the derived car call is a call that is not reliable for the stop of the riding car, the presence or absence of a retention state or a mis-ride state is not determined for the derived car call. That is, in the hybrid DCS, only the landing call registered by the destination floor landing registration device is determined to determine whether a retention state or a mis-ride state has occurred, and the allocation evaluation value is adjusted based on this. By processing in this way, even in a double-deck group control system using a hybrid DCS, it is possible to perform the allocation processing of the riding car with good accuracy based on actual operation without causing a retention state or a mis-ride state as much as possible.

[0111] In addition, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the case where the allocation of a car predicted to be left unused is avoided as much as possible for the generated allocation request, and the priority is lowered while the possibility of allocating a car predicted to be missed is kept. However, since the possibility of causing inconvenience to the user is low even if a missed ride occurs, the allocation of the car may be determined by considering only the number of occurrences of the left unused condition without considering the number of occurrences of the missed ride condition.

[0112] Some embodiments of the present invention have been described, but these embodiments are presented as examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These new embodiments can be implemented in various other ways, and various omissions, substitutions, and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the subject matter of the invention. These embodiments and their variations are included in the scope and subject matter of the invention, and are included in the invention described in the claims and the scope of their equivalents.

Claims

1. A group management control device for group management of a plurality of double-deck elevators consisting of an upper car and a lower car, characterized in that: have: a landing call registering unit for registering information on a landing call registered by a user designating a destination floor at a landing; an operation prediction unit, wherein if a new landing call is registered in the landing call registration unit, the operation prediction unit generates operation prediction information for each allocation pattern of the cars of the plurality of double-deck elevators for the registered landing call, performs operation simulation for each generated operation prediction information, and predicts whether a retention condition occurs whenever any car opens its door in the executed operation simulation, wherein the retention condition refers to a situation in which a waiting user at a floor with an opened door cannot reach a destination floor because he or she takes a car different from the car allocated for the landing call registered for the waiting user; an allocation pattern evaluation unit that calculates, based on the execution result of the operation simulation, an allocation evaluation value indicating the appropriateness of allocation to the new landing call for each of the plurality of double-deck elevators; as well as An allocated car determining unit determines an allocated car for the new landing call from among the cars of the plurality of double-deck elevators based on the occurrence or non-occurrence of the retention condition for each of the allocation patterns predicted by the operation prediction unit and the allocation evaluation value calculated by the allocation pattern evaluation unit.

2. The group management control device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The allocation pattern evaluation unit performs adjustment so as to reduce the allocation evaluation value of the allocation pattern predicted by the operation prediction unit to cause the retention situation.

3. The group management control device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The assigned car determination unit determines an assigned car for the new landing call from the assignment pattern predicted by the operation prediction unit as having the least number of occurrences of the retention situation.

4. The group management control device according to claim 1, characterized in that: When executing the operation simulation, the operation prediction unit predicts whether a mis-boarding situation occurs whenever any car opens its door in the executed operation simulation, wherein a waiting user on a floor with an open door takes a car different from the car assigned to the landing call registered by the waiting user to move to the destination floor. The assigned car determination unit determines an assigned car for the new landing call based on the occurrence of the retention situation and the occurrence of the wrong boarding situation for each of the assignment patterns predicted by the operation prediction unit and the assignment evaluation value calculated by the assignment pattern evaluation unit.

5. The group management control device according to claim 4, characterized in that: When the operation prediction unit executes the operation simulation, each time any car opens its door in the executed operation simulation, it predicts whether there are any waiting users on the floor with opened doors who may be delayed or mis-boarded due to boarding another car of the double-decker elevator which is the same as the car assigned to the floor call registered by the waiting user.

6. The group management control device according to claim 4, characterized in that: The group control device further includes a non-stop floor information storage unit for storing information on non-stop floors preset for each of the plurality of double-deck elevators. The operation prediction unit predicts whether or not the retention situation and the wrong boarding situation will occur based on the information of the non-stop floors stored in the non-stop floor information storage unit.

7. A group management control method, using a group management control device, the group management control device performs group management on a plurality of double-deck elevators consisting of an upper cage and a lower cage, and is provided with a landing call registration unit, the landing call registration unit registering information of a landing call registered by a user specifying a destination floor at a landing, the group management control method being characterized in that: If a new landing call is registered in the landing call registration unit, operation prediction information for each allocation pattern of the cars in the plurality of double-deck elevators is generated for the registered landing call, Performing an operation simulation for each operation prediction information generated, Whenever any car opens its door in the executed operation simulation, it is predicted whether a detention situation will occur, in which a waiting user on the floor with the door opened cannot reach the destination floor because he / she takes a car different from the car assigned to the landing call registered by the waiting user. calculating, based on the execution result of the operation simulation, an allocation evaluation value indicating the appropriateness of the allocation to the new landing call for each of the plurality of double-deck elevators; Based on the predicted occurrence of the retention situation for each of the allocation patterns and the calculated allocation evaluation value, an allocation car for the new landing call is determined from among the plurality of double-deck elevator cars.

Images