Floor position detection device of an elevator system

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a floor position detection device of an elevator system, an elevator control system of an elevator system and an elevator system.

[0002] A floor position detection device of this type is known from WO 2018 / 219504 A1. This known floor position detection device can be used to determine whether an elevator car of the elevator system is located within or outside a floor area.

[0003] The object of the present invention is to further develop this known floor position detection device in such a way that it is as backward compatible as possible with the known floor position detection device and can still indicate whether the elevator car is located within the floor area above the door threshold or below the door threshold.

[0004] According to the invention, this object is achieved by the floor position detection device according to claim 1, by the elevator control system according to claim 6, and by the elevator installation according to claim 7. Advantageous embodiments are defined in the dependent claims and / or described in the description.

[0005] In the approach presented here, the floor signal can assume at least two distinguishable states within the floor area, with each of these distinguishable states corresponding to a sub-area of ​​the floor area. The sub-areas completely cover the floor area.

[0006] This makes it possible to easily implement a floor position detection device that can detect multiple positions relative to a door threshold in the floor area of ​​the elevator car. Furthermore, the floor position detection device according to the invention can also be used with elevator control systems designed for use with the floor position detection device according to WO 2018 / 219504 A1.

[0007] According to one aspect of the invention, the floor position detection device comprises a sensor unit and an evaluation device for generating a floor signal having at least two states. The floor position detection device is used in an elevator system to determine the position of a car of the elevator system relative to a floor. The floor signal can assume at least one "outside the floor area" state outside a floor area and one "in the floor area" state within the entire floor area. The sensor unit comprises at least two sensors, each of which generates a floor position parameter.Furthermore, the evaluation device is configured to generate the floor signal based on a comparison of at least two of the floor position parameters, wherein the floor signal can assume at least two mutually distinguishable states within the floor area, and wherein each of these mutually distinguishable states corresponds to a sub-area of ​​the floor area, wherein the sub-areas completely cover the floor area.

[0008] The floor position detection device or the evaluation device transmits the floor signal via a communication connection to an elevator control system of the elevator system. The elevator control system uses the floor signal in particular for the precise positioning of an elevator car movable in an elevator shaft at a floor or a shaft door assigned to a floor. In order to identify the position of a floor in a direction of travel of the elevator car, at least one magnetic means is attached in the elevator shaft at a location characterizing the position of the floor. The magnetic means can be arranged, for example, on the shaft door assigned to the floor, and the floor position detection device can be arranged on the elevator car, in particular on a car door of the elevator car. Thus, with the aid of the floor signal, the elevator control system can position the car door and thus the car precisely opposite the shaft door of the floor.The said magnetic means can also be considered as part of the floor position detection device.

[0009] If the magnetic means are positioned correctly in the elevator shaft and the floor position detection device is positioned correctly on the elevator car, the "in floor area" state of the floor signal indicates that the elevator car is correctly positioned relative to the floor. Then, in particular, the car door can be opened, which also opens the shaft door associated with the floor in a known manner. In this case, the "outside floor area" state of the floor area indicates that the elevator car is not in the immediate vicinity of a floor or at least not yet correctly positioned relative to the floor, and that, in particular, the car door cannot be opened.Furthermore, by dividing the floor area into sub-areas, information about the position of the elevator car relative to the floor can be transmitted to the elevator control system, allowing the position to be corrected. This may be necessary, for example, if an elevator car is being loaded or unloaded, or if people are entering or exiting the elevator car. In both cases, the total weight of the elevator car, including any additional load, changes. Weight changes can lead to a change in the position of the car within the shaft, which is corrected by the elevator control system.

[0010] The terms "in the floor area" and "outside the floor area" are only examples of two different states of the floor signal.

[0011] The floor position detection device can be configured such that the at least two sensors of the sensor unit are sensors for measuring a field. This allows the field to be measured in the vicinity of the element generating the field. For example, the field can be generated by a magnet, in which case the field is a magnetic field. Hall sensors, for example, can be used to measure the magnetic field.

[0012] The floor position detection device can be designed such that a unique floor signal can be derived from the floor position parameters for each position of the elevator car. This makes it possible, for example, to immediately determine the position of the elevator car relative to a floor, even after a power failure, without requiring any movement of the elevator car to determine the position.

[0013] The floor position detection device may be configured to detect one of the states in each position of the elevator car, the states being the "outside the floor area" state and one of the mutually distinguishable states within the floor area.

[0014] According to the invention, the floor position detection device is designed to detect the direction of entry into the floor area by means of the sensor unit.

[0015] The floor position detection device can be designed to divide the floor area into at least an upper sub-area and a lower sub-area, wherein the floor signal in the upper sub-area assumes the state "in the upper sub-area of ​​the floor area" and in the lower sub-area assumes the state "in the lower sub-area of ​​the floor area".

[0016] According to the invention, the floor position detection device is designed such that the floor signal is represented by a voltage at an output of the evaluation device or at an output of an output module connected to the evaluation device, wherein each state is characterized by one or more voltages and / or voltage ranges. It is particularly advantageous to assign respective, mutually different voltages to the different states assigned to the floor area, wherein these voltages lie in a voltage range in which, in particular, the voltage assigned to the "outside the floor area" state does not lie. For example, the "outside the floor area" state can be assigned a voltage of 0 volts, the "in the upper part of the floor area" state a voltage of 10 volts, and the "in the lower part of the floor area" state a voltage of 24 volts.Furthermore, the voltage range for the "in the floor area" state can be defined by a voltage greater than 8 volts, although no upper voltage is required for the range. Alternatively, the "upper part of the floor area" state could be defined by a voltage of 24 volts, and the "lower part of the floor area" state by a voltage of 10 volts. Other voltages are also possible. The voltages mentioned are only examples.

[0017] As described in WO 2018 / 219504 A1, the floor position detection device known from WO 2018 / 219504 A1 outputs either 0 volts or 24 volts. However, the elevator control system in which this known floor position detection device is used recognizes any voltage above 8 volts as "in the floor range." Consequently, the floor position detection device according to the present invention, in particular according to this preferred embodiment, is compatible with the floor position detection device known from WO 2018 / 219504 A1.

[0018] Furthermore, the state "in the floor area" can be characterized by several different voltages, each of which is assigned to one of the sub-areas of the floor area.

[0019] A further aspect of the invention relates to an elevator control system of an elevator installation with the floor position detection device as described above and below.

[0020] A further aspect of the invention relates to an elevator installation with the elevator control system as described above and below.

[0021] Further advantages, features and details of the invention will become apparent from the following description of embodiments and from the drawings, in which identical or functionally equivalent elements are provided with identical reference numerals.

[0022] The following show purely schematically: Fig. 1 shows a part of an elevator system with an elevator car, on which a floor position detection device is arranged, in an elevator shaft, Fig. 2 shows a schematic representation of a floor position detection device, Fig. 3 shows curves of floor position parameters and a floor signal when an elevator car passes a magnetic means identifying a floor, Fig. 4 shows curves of floor position parameters and a floor signal when an elevator car passes a magnetic means identifying a floor according to a further exemplary embodiment, Fig. 5 shows curves of floor position parameters and a floor signal when an elevator car passes a magnetic means identifying a floor according to a further exemplary embodiment, and Fig.6According to a further embodiment, curves of floor position parameters and a floor signal when an elevator car passes a magnetic means identifying a floor.

[0023] According to Fig. 1 An elevator system 10 has an elevator car 14 that can be moved in an elevator shaft 12. The elevator car 14 is suspended via a support means 16 in the form of a rope or a belt and can be moved up and down in the elevator shaft 12, i.e., in a direction of travel 13, by means of a drive machine (not shown). The elevator system 10 is controlled by an elevator control system 18, which, among other things, is in signal communication with the drive machine via communication links (not shown).

[0024] In the elevator shaft 12, a magnetic means 22 in the form of a permanent magnet is arranged at a location 20 indicating a floor. The magnetic means 22 is surrounded by a magnetic field 24, which is symbolically represented by several magnetic field lines. The magnetic means 22 indicates the floor in the vertical direction, i.e., in the direction of travel 13 of the elevator car 14. It can be arranged, for example, at a shaft door (not shown).

[0025] A floor position detection device 26 is arranged on the elevator car 14, which is in communication connection with the elevator control 18 and whose structure in Fig. 2 is shown in more detail. The floor position detection device 26 is arranged on the elevator car 14 such that, when passing the magnetic means 22, it preferably has a horizontal distance of between 5 and 25 mm from the magnetic means 22. For this purpose, the floor position detection device 26 can be arranged, for example, on a car door (not shown).

[0026] The floor position detection device 26 and the elevator control 18 are components of an elevator control system 19 of the elevator installation 10. The elevator control system 19 comprises, in particular, further sensors and actuators not shown.

[0027] According to Fig. 2 The floor position detection device 26 has a first Hall sensor 28, a second Hall sensor 30, a third Hall sensor 32, and a fourth Hall sensor 34, which are arranged one above the other in the direction of travel 13. The four Hall sensors 28, 30, 32, and 34 form a sensor unit 35. When the floor position detection device 26 is arranged on the elevator car 14, the four Hall sensors 28, 30, 32, 34 are arranged such that all have substantially the same minimum distance from the magnetic means 22 when the elevator car 14 passes the magnetic means 22.

[0028] Sensor signals from the four Hall sensors 28, 30, 32, 34 are forwarded to an evaluation device 36, which is designed as a programmable microprocessor. The evaluation device 36 first calculates four floor position parameters from the sensor signals and combines them into a floor signal, which it forwards to an output module 38. The output module 38 amplifies the floor signal and forwards it to the elevator control 18. The curves of the floor position parameters and the floor signal at the output of the evaluation device 36 are shown in the Fig. 3, Fig. 4 , Fig 5 und Fig. 6 shown. Output module 38 could also be omitted. Instead of the analog output signal described below, the output module 38 could also provide a purely digital output signal.

[0029] To calculate the floor position parameters, the evaluation device 36 calibrates the sensor signals of the four Hall sensors 28, 30, 32, 34 so that any measurement differences between the individual Hall sensors 28, 30, 32, 34 can be compensated. To do this, the evaluation device 36 multiplies each sensor signal by an associated calibration factor. The calibration factors are determined during a calibration of the floor position detection device 26 at the end of the production of the floor position detection device 26. For this purpose, one of four identical magnetic means is arranged at a specified distance in front of the four Hall sensors 28, 30, 32, 34. The specified distance is selected such that each of the four sensor signals from the four Hall sensors 28, 30, 32, 34 reliably exceeds a threshold value. As soon as the evaluation device 36 detects that all four sensor signals are greater than the threshold value, it automatically starts a calibration.The calibration factors are determined such that during calibration, each floor position parameter resulting from multiplying the sensor signal by the corresponding calibration factor has the same value, for example, 300 mV. Alternatively, the calibration can also be performed during a learning run of the elevator car 14.

[0030] The floor position detection device 26 also has a voltage supply device 40, which supplies the four Hall sensors 28, 30, 32, 34, the evaluation device 36, and the output module 38 with a supply voltage. The voltage supply device 40 supplies the four Hall sensors 28, 30, 32, 34 and the evaluation device 36 with the same supply voltage of 2 V and the output module 38 with a different supply voltage of 24 V. The voltage supply device 40 and thus the floor position detection device 26 are supplied with an input voltage of 24 V. Of course, other voltages could also be used.

[0031] In the Fig. 3 are shown the curves of floor position parameters, as well as an associated floor signal when passing the magnetic means 22 of the elevator car 14 and thus the floor position detection device 26 from top to bottom. Or in other words, there is Fig. 3 the floor signal depending on the position of the elevator car relative to the floor, whereby the relative position is measured from above.

[0032] Curve 48 shows the first floor position characteristic of the first Hall sensor 28, curve 50 shows the second floor position characteristic of the second Hall sensor 30, curve 52 shows the third floor position characteristic of the third Hall sensor 32, and curve 54 shows the fourth floor position characteristic of the fourth Hall sensor 34. Curve 56 shows the profile of the floor signal. The floor signal 56 can assume the state "outside the floor area" and "in the floor area," whereby the state "in the floor area" in this exemplary embodiment is divided into the two distinguishable states "in the upper part of the floor area" and "in the lower part of the floor area."

[0033] Further in the Fig. 3 The "outside the floor area" state is marked with "0," the "in the upper part of the floor area" state is marked with "1," and the "in the lower part of the floor area" state is marked with "2." The "in the floor area" state is marked with a value greater than or equal to "1."

[0034] The floor signal 56 is amplified by the output module 38 as follows: The logical signal "0," which corresponds to the "outside floor range" state, is mapped to a voltage of 0 volts at the output of the output module 38. The logical signal "1," which corresponds to the "in the upper part of the floor range" state, is mapped to a voltage of 10 volts at the output of the output module 38. The logical signal "2," which corresponds to the "in the lower part of the floor range," is mapped to a voltage of 24 volts at the output of the output module 38. Furthermore, a voltage of, for example, more than 8 V corresponds to the "in the floor range" state. Of course, the specified voltages are only examples and do not limit the invention.

[0035] The floor position parameters 48, 50, 52, and 54 each increase from a resting level when the corresponding Hall sensor 28, 30, 32, and 34 enters the area of ​​the magnetic means 22, i.e., enters the magnetic field 24. They reach their maximum when the corresponding Hall sensor 28, 30, 32, and 34 is located exactly at the height of the magnetic means 22, and then decrease back to the resting level when removed from the magnetic means 22. The magnitude of the corresponding floor position parameters 48, 50, 52, and 54 can thus be used to determine the distance of the corresponding Hall sensor 28, 30, 32, and 34 from the magnetic means 22 in the direction of travel 13.

[0036] The first Hall sensor 28 and the second Hall sensor 30 are arranged such that when the floor position detection device 26 approaches the magnetic means 22 and thus a floor, the approach can be derived from the first floor position parameter 48 and the second floor position parameter 50. This is evident from the fact that the first floor position parameter 48 increases before the second floor position parameter 50. The evaluation device 36 then assigns the state "in the upper part of the floor area" to the floor signal 56, starting from the state "outside the floor area", when the second floor position characteristic 50 becomes greater than or equal to the first floor position characteristic 48 and, at the same time, the second floor position characteristic 50 is greater than the third floor position characteristic 52.

[0037] When the elevator car 14 passes the magnetic means 22 again, the evaluation device 36 then assigns the state "in the lower part of the floor area" to the floor signal 56 if the third floor position characteristic 52 becomes greater than or equal to the second floor position characteristic 50 and, at the same time, the third floor position characteristic 52 is greater than the fourth floor position characteristic 54.

[0038] When the elevator car 14 passes the magnetic means 22 again, the evaluation device 36 assigns the status "outside the floor area" to the floor signal 56 if the fourth floor position parameter 54 becomes greater than or equal to the third floor position parameter 52.

[0039] As the car continues to travel, the strengths of the floor position parameters 48, 50, 52, 54, and in particular the floor position parameter 54, continue to decrease, so that all are below a threshold value 58.

[0040] In addition, the relative position of the elevator car to a floor can also be determined at any time from the floor position parameters 48, 50, 52, 54 of the Hall sensors 28, 30, 32, 34.

[0041] The position "outside the floor area" is characterized by the following alternatively valid conditions: All floor position parameters 48, 50, 52, 54 are less than or equal to the threshold value 58, or the first floor position parameter 48 is greater than the threshold value 58 and at the same time greater than the second position parameter 50, or the fourth floor position parameter 54 is greater than the threshold value 58 and at the same time greater than the third position parameter 52.

[0042] The state "in the upper part of the floor area" is characterized by the second position characteristic 50 being greater than or equal to the first position characteristic 48 and greater than or equal to the third position characteristic 52. Furthermore, the second position characteristic 50 is greater than the threshold value 58.

[0043] The state "in the lower part of the floor area" is characterized by the third position characteristic 52 being greater than the second position characteristic 50 and greater than or equal to the fourth position characteristic 54. Furthermore, the third position characteristic 52 is greater than the threshold value 58.

[0044] The magnetic means 22 and the floor position detection device 26 are arranged such that the floor signal 56 has the "in floor area" state when the elevator car 14 is positioned relative to a floor such that the car door, and thus also the shaft door, can be opened simultaneously. Furthermore, the magnetic means 22 and the floor position detection device 26 are aligned with each other such that the floor signal 56 changes between "in the upper part of the floor area" and "in the lower part of the floor area" when the threshold of the elevator car door is aligned flush with the threshold of the respective shaft door.

[0045] The states "outside the floor area," "in the floor area," "in the upper part of the floor," and "in the lower part of the floor" can also be defined by other conditions on the floor position parameters. An example is shown in Fig. 4 shown. Of course, the vertical distances between the sensors may need to be adjusted to the floor position parameters.

[0046] Im Example according to Fig. 4 the state "outside the floor area" is characterized by the fact that all floor position parameters 48, 50, 52, 54 are smaller than the threshold value 58.

[0047] The state "in the upper part of the floor area" is characterized in that the first position characteristic 48 is greater than or equal to the threshold value 58 or the second position characteristic 50 is greater than or equal to the threshold value 58 and at the same time is greater than or equal to the third position characteristic 52.

[0048] The state "in the lower part of the floor area" is characterized by the fourth position parameter 54 being greater than or equal to the threshold value 58 or the third position parameter 52 being greater than or equal to the threshold value 58 and at the same time being greater than or equal to the second position parameter 50.

[0049] Furthermore, the "in the floor area" state can be divided not only into two states, but also into more than two distinguishable states. For example, the "in the floor area" state, as in the embodiment according to Fig. 5 shown, be divided into the states "in the upper part of the floor area", "in the middle part of the floor area" and "in the lower part of the floor area".

[0050] Im Example according to Fig. 5 the state "outside the floor area" is characterized by the fact that all floor position parameters 48, 50, 52, 54 are smaller than the threshold value 58.

[0051] The state "in the upper part of the floor area" is characterized by the fact that the first position parameter 48 is greater than or equal to the threshold value 58 and at the same time is greater than the second position parameter 50.

[0052] The state "in the middle sub-area of ​​the floor area" is characterized by the second position characteristic 50 being greater than or equal to the first position characteristic 48 and the third position characteristic 52 being greater than or equal to the fourth position characteristic 54. Additionally, it is required that the second position characteristic 50 or the third position characteristic 52 be greater than the threshold value 58.

[0053] The state "in the lower part of the floor area" is characterized in that the fourth position characteristic 54 is greater than or equal to the threshold value 58 and the fourth position characteristic 54 is greater than or equal to the third position characteristic 52.

[0054] Furthermore, the number of Hall sensors in the sensor unit can be changed; for example, only two sensors can be used. A corresponding embodiment is shown in Fig. 6 described.

[0055] The first Hall sensor provides the Fig. 6 shown first floor position parameter 48 and a second Hall sensor provides the also in Fig. 6 shown second floor position parameter 50. From these two floor position parameters, the Fig. 6 shown floor signal 56 can be derived as follows: The state "outside the floor area" is characterized in that the first floor position characteristic 48 as well as the second floor position characteristic 50 is smaller than a threshold value 58.

[0056] The "in floor area" state is characterized by the first floor position characteristic 48 or the second floor position characteristic 50 being greater than the threshold value 58. As in the previous embodiments, the "in floor area" state is characterized by a value of the floor signal 56 greater than or equal to 1.

[0057] The state "in the upper part of the floor area" is characterized by the first floor position characteristic 48 being greater than or equal to the second floor position characteristic 50 and, at the same time, the first floor position characteristic 48 being greater than the threshold value 58. This state is represented by a value of 1 of the floor signal 56.

[0058] The state "in the lower part of the floor area" is characterized by the second floor position characteristic 50 being greater than the first floor position characteristic 48 and, at the same time, the second floor position characteristic 50 being greater than the threshold value 58. This state is represented by a value 2 of the floor signal 56.

[0059] It is also possible for the floor position detection device to have three or more than four Hall sensors.

[0060] Finally, it should be noted that terms such as "having," "comprising," etc., do not exclude other elements or steps, and terms such as "a" or "an" do not exclude a plurality. Furthermore, it should be noted that features or steps described with reference to one of the above embodiments may also be used in combination with other features or steps of other embodiments described above, within the scope of the appended claims. Reference signs in the claims are not to be considered as limitations.

Claims

1. Floor position detection device of an elevator system (10) for determining a position of an elevator car (14) of the elevator system (10) relative to a floor having a sensor unit (35) and an evaluation device (36) for producing a floor signal (56) having at least two states, wherein - the floor signal (56) can adopt at least one "outside the range of the floor" state outside a range of a floor and a "within the range of the floor" state within the overall range of the floor, wherein the floor signal (56) is mapped by a voltage at an output of the evaluation device (36) or at an output of an output module (38) connected to the evaluation device (36), wherein each state is characterized by one or more voltages and / or voltage ranges the sensor unit (35) has at least two sensors (28, 30, 32, 34) which each produce a floor position characteristic value (48, 50, 52, 54), and - the evaluation device (36) is configured to produce the floor signal (56) on the basis of a comparison between at least two of the floor position characteristic values (48, 50, 52, 54), characterized in that - the floor signal (56) can adopt at least two, mutually distinguishable states within the overall range of a floor, wherein each of these mutually distinguishable states corresponds to a partial range of the range of a floor, wherein the partial ranges fully cover the range of a floor, and the "within the range of the floor" state is characterized by a plurality of voltages different from one another, wherein each of these voltages is associated with one of the partial ranges of the range of a floor, and the entry direction into the range of a floor can be detected by means of the sensor unit.

2. Floor position detection device according to claim 1, characterized in that the at least two sensors (28, 30, 32, 34) of the sensor unit (35) are sensors for measuring a field.

3. Floor position detection device according to claim 2, characterized in that the at least two sensors (28, 30, 32, 34) are Hall effect sensors.

4. Floor position detection device according to any of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that a unique floor signal can be derived from the floor position characteristic values at each position of the elevator car.

5. Floor position detection device according to any of claims 1 to4, characterized in that the overall range of a floor is subdivided at least into an upper partial range and a lower partial range, and the floor signal (56) adopts the "within the upper partial range of the range of the floor" state in the upper partial range and adopts the "within the lower partial range of the range of the floor" state in the lower partial range.

6. Elevator control system of an elevator system having a floor position detection device (26) according to any of claims 1 to 5.

7. Elevator system having an elevator control system according to claim 6.