ELEVATOR INFORMATION SYSTEM FOR A SAFE CAR ENVIRONMENT

Description

[0001] The present invention refers to an elevator information system, that informs the passengers before they enter in the cabin about the environment, the air quality and mobility inside the cabin. The passenger is able to check several information while waiting the cabin's landing and make a choice, of entering or not, depending on these pieces of information. Following are described further details about the invention.

[0002] The daily use of elevators, and the range of people who use them, makes it essential to protect the users due to airborne microorganisms, such as viruses, that may be transferred between people. These airborne microorganisms may be blamed for the spread of diseases over a number of people. It is estimated that almost 5.9 million elevators are in use, according to statistics of ELA (European Lifts Association), while elevators and escalators, are used 1 billion times per day.

[0003] Although passengers can choose if they will board the elevator or not when the cabin door is opening, based on the people who are already in the elevator cabin, they do not have any clue of passenger previous load when nobody is present at the moment of opening the door. It could be however the case that the elevator was traveling with full passenger capacity few seconds before entry. The indoor environment of the cabin is loaded with airborne microorganisms and odors. While the odors are just unpleasant, the airborne microorganisms, which are transferred via human breath, cough or sneeze, may spread contagious diseases. Even if there is an air filter, an air purifier or a fan system, it would take several seconds to completely clean the indoor cabin air.

[0004] The abovementioned situation reveals the need of an information system about the previous use of the elevator. The present invention is an information system that briefly informs someone about the last use of the elevator. The details that the invention holds are the number of users in the last ride, the time elapsed since the elevator was last used and the air quality level according to the ability of the air purifier or filter, that is installed in the cabin, to fully recycle the Indoor cabin air. The invention is a system according to claim 1.

[0005] CN 209 038 824 U discloses quality sensor used for acquiring air quality information in the elevator car and a second switch component which controls the operation of air conditioning equipment and is able to turn on and off the air condition and / or the fan. CN 205 739 932 U discloses a detector of inside air quality and sensors that detect PM2.5 and CO 2 . This system purifies the air inside the cabin. CN 205 802 725 U discloses a light intensity sensor, an air matter level sensor and an ultrasonic sensor. These sensors constitute a measurement system that controls the fan to freshen the air inside the cabin. CN 210 594 778 U discloses a system that is based on Internet of Things (IoT) technology and demands internet connection.

[0006] Figure 1 describes further the details of the present invention. Specifically, Figure 1 presents the given information about the last ride, which are the number of persons who used the elevator (1), the time elapsed since they all got out of the cabin (2), the number of times that the indoor cabin air has been renewed (3), and finally an estimation of the time remaining until the indoor cabin air is completely refreshed according to the characteristics of the fan and / or the air purifier that are installed in the cabin (4). After checking the status, the users are able to choose if they are willing to enter the cabin or choose another elevator of the building, if there is one, or even wait a small amount of time before using the elevator, until the indoor cabin air is completely renewed. It should be mentioned that the number of persons who were in the elevator cabin are detected through a camera and this information is recorded by the elevator controller, which transfers all the information to the presented invention, the elevator information system for safe cabin environment.

[0007] Furthermore, Figures 2 and 3 present two different versions of the invention. In Figure 2 the case of a user approaching an elevator is presented (5). The data, which are collected by the elevator controller, are transferred via means of wireless communication technology, such as Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, to the mobile phone (6) of the user. Then, the user is able to check the information provided just by opening the corresponding application and make their choice of boarding or waiting.

[0008] On the other hand, Figure 3 presents the second version of the invention. In case of a group of elevators, such as (5a) and (5b), it is usual to install a destination selection control terminal at the entrance (6). The destination selection control is enhanced for the building traffic situation in order to increase the handling capacity with high traffic and / or to generate as few runs as possible with low traffic volume. The screen on the terminal is showing also the information (1), (2), (3) and (4) depicted in Figure 1. The passenger enters their destination at a terminal in the landing, in response to which the most favourable elevator is calculated and assigned, by also taking into account the information about the indoor cabin air quality. The assigned elevator is immediately displayed to the passenger. The passenger waits in front of the elevator assigned to them. The same idea can be used even if the destination selection control is not applicable. There could be a terminal (6) only with the information (1), (2), (3) and (4), and the system would recommend to passengers which cabin to be used based on level of clean air, as it is presented in Figure 4.

[0009] The invention is useful for any kind of public building, such as buildings with professional offices, educational buildings and shopping centres. Especially, the invention is even more appropriate for places with high microbial and virus load, such as hospitals, medical centres and generally health related services and research centres.

Claims

1. An elevator information system for safe cabin environment, characterized in that it is a system comprising of a) a camera provided in the cabin and configured to detect the number of passengers in the cabin, b) an elevator controller configured to calculate or correlate the operation time of the air circulation fan and / or air purifier / filter of the elevator and c) a means of wireless communication technology, wherein the system is configured to inform a passenger on parameters affecting cabin air quality prior to his entrance in the elevator, namely on the number of persons who used the elevator (1), the time elapsed since the cabin emptied (2), the number of times that the indoor cabin air has been renewed (3), and finally an estimation of the time remaining until the indoor cabin air is completely refreshed, according to the characteristics of the fan and / or the air purifier that are installed in the cabin (4).

2. The system according to Claim 1, characterized in that the information is displayed to any mobile device of passenger, such as mobile phone, by means of the wireless communication technology, such as Bluetooth or Wi-Fi.

3. The system according to Claim 1-2, characterized in that in case of group of elevators the system recommends to passenger which cabin to be used based on level of clean air, through a terminal (7) placed out of the entrance or any mobile device of passenger.

4. The system according to Claim 1-3, characterized in that the elevator controller records time elapsed since the last ride.

5. The system according to Claim 1-4, characterized in that the elevator controller incorporates positive compensation factor in time needed for complete cabin volumetric air recirculation in correlation with number of passengers in the ride and air cleaning efficiency of fan system.