Double deck elevator and control method for the same

Abstract

To provide a control method for a double deck elevator, which can efficiently rescue passengers during a rescue operation, and the double deck elevator.SOLUTION: This double deck elevator comprises: a stop floor setting unit that calculates an upper-lower car nearest floor where two cars can be simultaneously stopped or a one-car nearest floor where only one car can stop during a rescue operation; and a contact determination unit that determines a possibility of contact between the cars and a balance weight during movement to the upper-lower car nearest floor or the one-car nearest floor. The stop floor setting unit sets, as a stop floor, a nearest floor where no possibility of contact between the cars and the balance weight is determined by the contact determination unit.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a double-deck elevator and a control method for the double-deck elevator. [Background technology]

[0002] In a double-deck elevator with two cars in the up-down direction, passengers in both cars need to be rescued during a power outage. Patent Document 1 discloses a method for setting rescue priorities when rescuing passengers by moving a car to the nearest floor during a power outage in a double-deck elevator. In Patent Document 1, the priority order of cars for rescuing passengers is determined based on the presence or absence of a call for a disabled person and a comparison of the load values ​​of the upper and lower cars. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2006-199422 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] Incidentally, when rescuing passengers from an elevator, it is recommended to move the car to the nearest floor away from the counterweight, taking into consideration the risk of contact between the counterweight and the car. However, the control method disclosed in Patent Document 1 does not take into consideration avoiding contact between the car and the counterweight. Especially after an earthquake occurs, there is a risk of contact due to the swinging of the car and the counterweight.

[0005] Therefore, the present invention provides a control method for a double-deck elevator and a double-deck elevator that can efficiently rescue passengers during rescue operation. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to solve the above problems and achieve the object of the present invention, the double-deck elevator of the present invention includes a hoist, a car that moves up and down in a hoistway by the hoist and has two cars arranged above and below in the direction of ascent and descent, a counterweight connected to the car via a main rope, and a control device that controls the ascent and descent operation of the car. The control device includes a nearest floor calculation unit that calculates the nearest floors for the upper and lower cars, which are the nearest floors at which the two cars can stop simultaneously, or the nearest floor for one car, which is the nearest floor at which only one of the cars can stop, during rescue operation, and a contact determination unit that determines whether there is a possibility of contact between the car and the counterweight when the car moves to the nearest floors for the upper and lower cars or the nearest floor for one car. The control device also includes a stop floor setting unit that sets the nearest floor that the contact determination unit determines to be unlikely to cause contact between the car and the counterweight as a stop floor.

[0007] The control method for a double-deck elevator of the present invention sets, in the above-mentioned double-deck elevator, as a stopping floor during rescue operation after the occurrence of an earthquake, the nearest floor at which both cars can be stopped simultaneously, or the nearest floor at which only one of the cars can be stopped, and at which there is no contact between the car and the counterweight when the car moves to the nearest floor. Effect of the Invention

[0008] According to the present invention, passengers in a double-deck elevator can be rescued safely and efficiently. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a double-deck elevator 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a control system of a double-deck elevator 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 3] 1 is a control flow relating to a method for rescuing passengers after an earthquake occurs. [Figure 4]4 is a control flow for preventing entrapment that is performed after the rescue operation shown in FIG. 3. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0010] Hereinafter, an example of a double-deck elevator and a control method for a double-deck elevator according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to the following example. In each of the drawings described below, the same reference numerals are used to denote common members.

[0011] 1. Double-deck elevator configuration First, a double-deck elevator according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a double-deck elevator 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention (hereinafter, referred to as this embodiment).

[0012] As shown in Fig. 1, the double-deck elevator 1 moves up and down in a hoistway 10 formed in a building structure. The double-deck elevator 1 includes a car 2 having an upper car 12 and a lower car 13 arranged above and below in the ascending and descending direction, a main rope 3, a counterweight 4, and a hoist 6. The double-deck elevator 1 also includes a control device 8 that controls each part.

[0013] [Elevator shaft] The elevator shaft 10 is a space for the car 2 to ascend and descend, and is provided vertically penetrating each floor inside the building. A guide rail (not shown) that guides the car 2 as it ascends and descends is attached to the inner wall surface of the elevator shaft 10. Furthermore, at each floor on the wall surface of the elevator shaft 10, at the floors where the upper car 12 and the lower car 13 stop, landing doors (not shown) leading to each floor are provided. Furthermore, a machine room 10a is provided at the top of the elevator shaft 10, and a pit (not shown) is provided at the bottom.

[0014] [Car] The car 2 has an upper car 12 and a lower car 13 arranged in the ascending / descending direction (vertical direction). The upper car 12 and the lower car 13 are each formed in a hollow, approximately rectangular parallelepiped shape. The upper car 12 and the lower car 13 are arranged in a car frame (not shown) such that the upper car 12 is located higher than the lower car 13. For example, in this embodiment, when the upper car 12 stops at the second floor, the lower car 13 stops at the first floor. Also, when the upper car 12 stops at the 32nd floor, the lower car 13 stops at the 31st floor.

[0015] A car frame housing the upper car 12 and the lower car 13 is connected to a counterweight 4 via a main rope 3, and moves up and down in the hoistway 10. The car frame housing the upper car 12 and the lower car 13 is guided by a guide rail provided on a wall surface in the hoistway 10, and moves up and down in the hoistway 10. Cage doors (not shown) are provided on the side surfaces of the upper car 12 and the lower car 13 at positions corresponding to the landing doors, and when the upper car 12 and the lower car 13 stop at a predetermined stopping floor, the car doors and the landing doors open, allowing passengers and luggage to get on and off the car 2. In the following description, when both the upper car 12 and the lower car 13 are described, they will be referred to as the upper and lower cars 12, 13, and when either the upper car 12 or the lower car 13 is described, they will be referred to as the single car. In addition, when there is no need to distinguish between the upper car 12 and the lower car 13, they will simply be referred to as cars.

[0016] [Main rope] One axial end of the main rope 3 is connected to the upper part of the car 2, and the other end is connected to the upper part of the counterweight 4. The middle part of the main rope 3 is wound around a hoisting machine 6 arranged in the machine room 10a, and is mounted on a deflector wheel 7 arranged near the hoisting machine 6.

[0017] [Counterweight] The counterweight 4 is accommodated in the hoistway 10 in a state in which it is suspended from the other end of the main rope 3. The counterweight 4 moves up and down in the hoistway 10 along a weight-side guide rail (not shown).

[0018] Incidentally, the double-deck elevator 1 is often installed in buildings with express zones. In this embodiment, the elevator has stop floors on the 1st and 2nd floors and the 31st and 32nd floors, and the car 2 moves up and down between these floors. In addition, in buildings with express zones, there may be an emergency stop floor within the express zone where only one car can stop. There may also be floors where the elevator cannot stop for security reasons, or floors where both cars cannot be stopped due to the structure of the building. In this embodiment, as an example, the 7th floor is set as an emergency stop floor where only one car can stop, as shown in FIG. 1.

[0019] 2. Double-deck elevator control system Next, the configuration of the control system of the double-deck elevator 1 of this embodiment will be described. Figure 2 is a block diagram showing the control system of the double-deck elevator 1 according to this embodiment. In Figure 2, the same reference numerals are used for the parts corresponding to those in Figure 1, and duplicated explanations will be omitted.

[0020] 2, the car 2 of the double-deck elevator 1 is provided with a car position detection device 5, and open buttons 53, 55 and load sensor devices 52, 54 provided on the upper car 12 and the lower car 13, respectively. The double-deck elevator 1 also includes an earthquake sensor 9 and a control device 8.

[0021] [Car position detection device] The car position detection device 5 detects the position of the elevator car 2 moving up and down (more specifically, the positions of the upper car 12 and the lower car 13) and transmits the detection result to the control device 8. In this embodiment, after operation is stopped following the occurrence of an earthquake, the car position detection device 5 detects the stopping position of the elevator car 2 and transmits the detection result to the control device 8.

[0022] [Load sensor device] The load sensor devices 52, 54 are provided in the upper car 12 and the lower car 13, respectively. The load sensor device 52 provided in the upper car 12 and the load sensor device 54 provided in the lower car 13 have the same configuration, so here, only the load sensor device 52 provided in the upper car 2 will be described.

[0023] The load sensor device 52 is a device that detects the load value applied to the upper car 12. The load sensor device 52 is installed, for example, on a lower frame that supports the car floor of the upper car 12. The load sensor device 52 detects the amount of displacement of a plurality of vibration-proof rubbers provided below the car floor, thereby detecting the load value applied to the passenger car 2. A commonly used device can be applied as the load sensor device 52. In this embodiment, the load sensor device 52 is provided below the car floor, but various forms can be adopted as long as it is configured to detect the load applied to the upper car 12. The load data acquired by the load sensor device 52 is transmitted to a control device 8, which will be described later.

[0024] [Open button] The opening buttons 53, 55 are provided on each of the upper car 12 and the lower car 13. The opening button 53 provided on the upper car 12 and the opening button 55 provided on the lower car 13 have the same configuration, so here, only the opening button 53 provided on the upper car 12 will be described.

[0025] The open button 53 is a button that can be operated by a user riding in the upper car 12. When the upper car 12 stops at a predetermined floor, the landing door and the car door can be opened by pressing the open button 53. In this embodiment, after the passengers in the car have been rescued after an earthquake occurs, the passengers left behind in the car can press the open buttons 53, 55 to start rescue control again. In this case, a signal generated by pressing the open buttons 53, 55 is transmitted to the control device 8, and the control device 8 performs control related to the entrapment prevention operation. This control related to the entrapment prevention operation will be described in detail later.

[0026] [Earthquake detector] The earthquake sensor 9 is a device that detects shaking of the building caused by an earthquake or the like. Information about the shaking of the building detected by the earthquake sensor 9 is transmitted to the control device 8. Based on the shaking information transmitted from the earthquake sensor 9, the control device 8 stops the operation of the double-deck elevator 1 when the shaking of the building is equal to or greater than a predetermined seismic intensity. Then, the control device 8 starts control related to rescue operation. This embodiment is characterized by the control related to rescue operation after the occurrence of an earthquake. This control method will be described in detail later.

[0027] [Control device] The control device 8 includes an operation control unit 101, an abnormality detection unit 102, a car position detection unit 103, a possible stop floor memory unit 104, a stop floor setting unit 105, a weight position detection unit 106, a contact determination unit 107, and a stop floor memory unit 108. Furthermore, the control device 8 includes a rescue order setting unit 109, a rescue time calculation unit 110, a rescue time memory unit 111, a rescue time comparison unit 112, and an entrapment prevention operation unit 113.

[0028] The operation control unit 101 controls normal operation, stops operation after an earthquake occurs, and controls rescue operations. Based on signals from each unit, the operation control unit 101 controls the drive of the hoist 6, which is involved in the lifting and lowering operation of the car 2, and controls the opening and closing of the landing door and car door.

[0029] The abnormality detection unit 102 detects the presence or absence of an abnormality based on signals transmitted from each unit after operation is stopped after an earthquake occurs, etc. The abnormality detected here is an abnormality related to the operation of the double-deck elevator 1. The detection result in the abnormality detection unit 102 is transmitted to the operation control unit 101.

[0030] The car position detection unit 103 detects the position of the car 2 based on the information transmitted from the car position detection device 5. In addition, the weight position detection unit 106 detects the position of the counterweight 4 based on the information transmitted from the car position detection device 5. Information regarding the position of the car 2 detected by the car position detection unit 103 and the position of the counterweight detected by the weight position detection unit 106 is transmitted to the contact determination unit 107.

[0031] The possible stop floor storage unit 104 stores floors at which the train can stop. In this embodiment, for example, the possible stop floor storage unit 104 stores the 1st and 2nd floors and the 31st and 32nd floors as stop floors at which the upper car 12 and the lower car 13 (hereinafter, upper and lower cars) can stop simultaneously. On the other hand, the possible stop floor storage unit 104 stores the 7th floor as a stop floor at which only one of the upper car 12 or the lower car 13 (hereinafter, one car) can stop.

[0032] The stop floor setting unit 105 calculates the nearest stop floor (nearest floor) from the position where the car 2 has stopped, based on the stopping position of the car 2 detected by the car position detection unit 103 and the information on the possible stop floors stored in the possible stop floor storage unit 104. In this embodiment, the stop floor setting unit 105 calculates the nearest floor where the upper and lower cars 12, 13 can stop simultaneously, and the nearest floor where only one of the cars can stop. In addition, based on the judgment result from the contact judgment unit 107 described later, the stop floor setting unit 105 sets the nearest floor where the upper and lower cars 12, 13 can stop without contact between the car 2 and the counterweight 4 when moving to the nearest floor as the "nearest floor for the upper and lower cars". Similarly, the stop floor setting unit 105 sets the nearest floor at which one of the cars can stop and where no contact occurs between the car 2 and the counterweight 4 when moving to the nearest floor as the ``nearest floor for one car'' based on the judgment result from the contact judgment unit 107 described later.

[0033] In addition, the stop floor setting unit 105 sets either the "closest floor to the upper and lower cars" or the "closest floor to one of the cars" as the stop floor during rescue operation based on the comparison result of the rescue time comparison unit 112 described later.

[0034] The stop floor setting unit 105 of this embodiment serves both as the "nearest floor calculation unit" and the "nearest floor setting unit" of the present invention. In this embodiment, the stop floor setting unit 105 calculates the nearest floor and sets the stop floor, but the nearest floor calculation unit may calculate the nearest floor, and the stop floor setting unit 105 may set the stop floor based on the judgment result from the contact judgment unit 107 and the comparison result from the rescue time comparison unit 112.

[0035] The contact determination unit 107 determines whether or not the car 2 will come into contact with the counterweight 4 when the car 2 moves to the nearest floor calculated by the stop floor setting unit 105. The contact determination unit 107 determines whether or not the car 2 will come into contact with the counterweight 4 based on information from the stop floor setting unit 105, the current position information of the car 2 sent from the car position detection unit 103, and the position information of the counterweight 4 sent from the weight position detection unit 106. The determination result in the contact determination unit 107 is transmitted to the stop floor setting unit 105.

[0036] The stop floor memory unit 108 stores information on the "closest floor for the upper and lower cars" and the "closest floor for one car" transmitted from the stop floor setting unit 105. The "closest floor for the upper and lower cars" and the "closest floor for one car" stored in the stop floor memory unit 108 are the nearest floors that are determined not to cause contact between the car 2 and the counterweight 4 when the car ascends or descends during rescue operation after an earthquake occurs. The stop floor memory unit 108 also stores information on the stop floors during rescue operation set by the stop floor setting unit 105.

[0037] The rescue order setting unit 109 determines the order of rescue of passengers from the upper car 12 and the lower car 13 at the "closest floor to one car" set by the stop floor setting unit 105. At the closest floor to one car, passengers can only be rescued from either the upper car 12 or the lower car 13 of the cars 2. For this reason, the rescue order setting unit 109 sets the rescue order when the car 2 is stopped at the "closest floor to one car". Here, the rescue order is determined based on the load information of each car transmitted from the load sensor devices 52, 54 installed in the upper car 12 and the lower car 13 so that the car with the heavier load is rescued first.

[0038] The rescue time calculation unit 110 calculates the time (first rescue operation time) from when the car 2 starts moving to when the car 2 is stopped at the "nearest floor to both the upper and lower cars" where the upper car 12 and the lower car 13 can stop simultaneously and the passengers are rescued. Furthermore, the rescue time calculation unit 110 calculates the time (second rescue operation time) from when the car 2 starts moving to when the car 2 is stopped at the "nearest floor to one car" where only one of the upper car 12 or the lower car 13 can stop and the passengers in both the upper car 12 and the lower car 13 are rescued. Information related to the rescue time calculated by the rescue time calculation unit 110 is transmitted to the rescue time storage unit 111. The calculation method of the first rescue operation time and the second rescue operation time in the rescue time calculation unit 110 will be described in detail later.

[0039] The rescue time memory unit 111 stores the rescue time when the car 2 is stopped at the "closest floor to the upper and lower cars" and the rescue time when the car 2 is stopped at the "closest floor to one of the cars".

[0040] The rescue time comparison unit 112 compares the first rescue operation time required for rescue at the "closest floor for both the upper and lower cars" stored in the rescue time memory unit 111 with the second rescue operation time required for rescue at the "closest floor for one of the cars". The stop floor setting unit 105 determines the stop floor during rescue operation based on the comparison result in the rescue time comparison unit 112. Information regarding the determined stop floor is stored in the stop floor memory unit 108 and is also transmitted to the operation control unit 101. The operation control unit 101 executes rescue operation control based on the information on the stop floor during rescue operation.

[0041] If the open button 53 of the upper car 12 or the open button 55 of the lower car 13 is pressed after the rescue operation, the entrapment prevention operation unit 113 determines that there is an unrescued passenger in the car, and starts the entrapment prevention operation. The entrapment prevention operation unit 113 determines the lifting and lowering operation of the car 2 and the door opening operation of the landing door and the car door based on the stopping floor stored in the stopping floor memory unit 108. The control method for the entrapment prevention operation will be described in detail later.

[0042] Meanwhile, each of the above-mentioned components of the control device 8 is controlled under the control of a control processing unit (not shown). The control processing unit includes, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), and a non-volatile storage, each of which is connected to a bus.

[0043] The CPU reads out the program code of the software that realizes each function according to the present embodiment from the ROM, expands it in the RAM, and executes it in each part. The control processing unit may include a processing device such as an MPU (Micro-Processing Unit) instead of the CPU. Variables, parameters, etc. generated during the calculation process are temporarily written to the RAM.

[0044] Examples of non-volatile storage that can be used include a hard disk drive (HDD), a solid state drive (SSD), a flexible disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, a CD-ROM, a CD-R, a magnetic tape, and a non-volatile memory card. In addition to an operating system (OS) and various parameters, programs for operating the control processing unit are recorded in the non-volatile storage. The programs may be stored in a ROM.

[0045] The program is stored in the form of a computer-readable program code, and the CPU sequentially executes operations according to the program code. In other words, a ROM or non-volatile storage is used as an example of a computer-readable non-transitory recording medium that stores a program to be executed by a computer.

[0046] 3. Control method of double deck elevator (How to rescue passengers after an earthquake) Next, a control method for the double-deck elevator 1 of this embodiment will be described. Here, a control method for rescuing passengers in the car 2 after an earthquake occurs will be described. Fig. 3 shows a control flow relating to the method for rescuing passengers after an earthquake occurs. Note that, although the control flow will be described here assuming that an earthquake occurs, the control method for the double-deck elevator according to this embodiment can be applied not only to the occurrence of an earthquake, but also to rescue operations when an abnormality occurs.

[0047] When an earthquake occurs, the earthquake sensor 9 detects the shaking of the building and transmits information about the shaking of the building to the control device 8. When the shaking of the building is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold based on the information transmitted from the earthquake sensor 9, the operation control unit 101 stops the operation of the double-deck elevator 1. Specifically, the driving of the hoisting machine 6 is stopped to stop the upward and downward movement of the car 2. The flow according to FIG. 3 is started at the point when the operation of the double-deck elevator 1 is stopped after the occurrence of an earthquake.

[0048] After the operation of the double-deck elevator 1 is stopped after an earthquake occurs, the abnormality detection unit 102 checks for the presence or absence of an abnormality based on signals transmitted from each part of the double-deck elevator 1 (step S100). If an abnormality causing the elevator to be unable to run occurs in the double-deck elevator 1, the flow in FIG. 3 ends at this stage. In this embodiment, only the case where no abnormality causing the elevator to be unable to run occurs will be described. In other words, if no abnormality causing the elevator to be unable to run is confirmed in step S100, the process proceeds to step S110.

[0049] In step S110, the nearest floor where the upper and lower cars 12 and 13 can stop simultaneously is calculated. Here, first, the car position detection unit 103 detects the current position information (stop position) of the car 2 based on the position information of the car 2 transmitted from the car position detection device 5, and transmits the position information to the stop floor setting unit 105. Next, the stop floor setting unit 105 calculates the stop floor that can be stopped nearest to the current positions of the upper and lower cars 12 and 13 based on the current position information of the car 2 and the information of the stop floor where the upper and lower cars 12 and 13 can stop simultaneously stored in the stop floor storage unit 104, and sets the stop floor as the nearest floor. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 1, the stop floor that is nearest to the current stop position of the car 2 among the 1st floor and the 2nd floor, or the 31st floor and the 32nd floor is calculated as the nearest floor.

[0050] Next, the contact determination unit 107 determines whether or not there is contact between the car 2 and the counterweight 4 when the car 2 moves to the nearest floor where the upper and lower cars 12, 13 set in step S110 can stop (step S120). Here, the contact determination unit 107 determines whether or not there is contact between the car 2 and the counterweight 4 based on the position information of the car 2 detected by the car position detection unit 103, the position information of the counterweight 4 detected by the counterweight position detection unit 106, and the information of the nearest floor of the upper and lower cars 12, 13.

[0051] If the answer is "NO" in step S120, i.e., if it is determined that there will be no contact, the stop floor setting unit 105 sets the nearest floor set in step S110 as the "nearest floor for the upper and lower cars" (step S140).

[0052] On the other hand, if the answer is "YES" in step S120, that is, if it is determined that contact will occur, the process proceeds to step S130. In step S130, the stop floor setting unit 105 calculates the nearest floor (corresponding to the second nearest floor in the present invention) at which the upper and lower cars 12 and 13 can stop in the opposite direction to the nearest floor (corresponding to the first nearest floor in the present invention) set in step S110. Thereafter, in step S140, the nearest floor calculated in step S130 is set as the "nearest floor for the upper and lower cars". Information on the "nearest floor for the upper and lower cars" set in step S140 is transmitted to the stop floor memory unit 108 and stored therein.

[0053] Next, the stop floor setting unit 105 calculates the nearest floor at which one of the cars can stop (step S150). First, the car position detection unit 103 detects the current stop position of the car 2 based on information on the position of the car 2 transmitted from the car position detection device 5, and transmits the position information to the stop floor setting unit 105. Then, the stop floor setting unit 105 calculates the nearest possible stop floor from the current position of the car 2 based on the current position information of the car 2 and the information on the possible stop floors at which each car can stop, stored in the possible stop floor storage unit 104, and sets the possible stop floor as the nearest floor. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 1, the 7th floor is calculated as the nearest floor.

[0054] Next, the contact determination unit 107 determines whether or not there is contact between the car 2 and the counterweight 4 when the car 2 moves to the nearest floor where one car can stop, which has been set in step S150 (step S160). Here, the contact determination unit 107 determines whether or not there is contact with the counterweight 4 when the car 2 moves, based on the position information of the car 2 detected by the car position detection unit 103, the position information of the counterweight 4 detected by the counterweight position detection unit 106, and the information of the nearest floor where one car can stop.

[0055] If the answer is "NO" in step S160, i.e., if it is determined that there will be no contact, the stop floor setting unit 105 sets the nearest floor at which one of the cars can stop, which was set in step S150, as the "nearest floor for one car" (step S180).

[0056] On the other hand, if the answer is "YES" in step S160, that is, if it is determined that contact will occur, the process proceeds to step S170. In step S170, the stop floor setting unit 105 calculates the nearest floor at which one car can stop, in the opposite direction to the nearest floor set in step S150. Then, in step S180, the nearest floor calculated in step S170 is set as the "nearest floor for one car." Information on the "nearest floor for one car" set in step S180 is transmitted to the stop floor memory unit 108 and stored therein.

[0057] Next, the rescue order setting unit 109 determines the rescue order when rescue is performed at the "floor nearest to one car" (step S190). Here, the rescue order setting unit 109 sets the rescue order based on the load values ​​transmitted from the load sensor devices 52, 54 of the upper car 12 and the lower car 13, respectively. In this embodiment, it is estimated that the car with the larger load has more passengers on board, and the car estimated to have the most passengers on board is set to be rescued first.

[0058] For example, when the 7th floor in Fig. 1 is set as the "nearest floor for one car", even if the car stops at a floor higher than the 7th floor, if there are more passengers in the upper car 12 than in the lower car 13, the setting is such that the passengers in the upper car 12 are rescued first. Therefore, in this case, the car 2 is first raised and lowered downward to rescue the passengers in the upper car 12, and then the car 2 is raised and lowered one floor upward to rescue the passengers in the lower car 13.

[0059] In this embodiment, when rescuing passengers at the "nearest floor of one car", the car with the most passengers is rescued first, but the order of rescuing passengers is not limited to this. For example, passengers may be rescued in the order of the car that arrives at the "nearest floor of one car" first in the moving direction of the car 2.

[0060] Next, the rescue time calculation unit 110 calculates a rescue time T1 (corresponding to the first rescue operation time of the present invention) when rescuing passengers at the "closest floor for the upper and lower cars" (step S200). The rescue time T1 is the sum of the operation time (travel time t1) from the stopping position of the car 2 to the "closest floor for the upper and lower cars" and the time (evacuation time t2) for passengers in the upper car 12 and the lower car 13 to evacuate to each landing floor. That is, it is calculated as rescue time T1 = travel time t1 + evacuation time t2. Here, since passengers evacuate from the upper and lower cars 12 and 13 at the "closest floor for the upper and lower cars" at the same time, the evacuation time t2 is set to the time for passengers to evacuate from both cars at the same time. Information on the rescue time T1 calculated by the rescue time calculation unit 110 is stored in the rescue time storage unit 111.

[0061] Next, the rescue time calculation unit 110 calculates a rescue time T2 (corresponding to a second rescue operation time) when rescuing passengers at the "nearest floor for one car" (step S210). The rescue time T2 is the sum of the operation time (travel time t3) from the stopping position of the car 2 to the "nearest floor for one car", the time (evacuation time t4) for passengers in the upper car 12 and the lower car 13 to evacuate to the landing floor, and the time (exchange time t5) for the upper car 12 and the lower car 13 to switch positions with respect to the "nearest floor for one car". That is, the rescue time T2 is calculated as follows: rescue time T2 = travel time t3 + evacuation time t4 + exchange time t5. Here, at the "nearest floor for one car", passengers evacuate one car at a time, so the evacuation time t4 is set to the sum of the time for passengers to evacuate from the upper car 12 and the time for passengers to evacuate from the lower car 13. Information on the rescue time T2 calculated by the rescue time calculation unit 110 is stored in the rescue time storage unit 111.

[0062] Next, the rescue time comparison unit 112 compares the rescue time T1 and the rescue time T2 (step S220). In step S220, if T1 < T2, the stop floor setting unit 105 sets the "nearest floor of the up and down car" as the stop floor during the rescue operation (step S230). Thereafter, the information on the stop floor during the rescue operation is transmitted to the stop floor storage unit 108. In the stop floor storage unit 108, the "nearest floor of the up and down car" is stored as the stop floor during the rescue operation. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S250.

[0063] On the other hand, in step S220, if T1 > T2, the stop floor setting unit 105 sets the "nearest floor of the single car" as the stop floor during the rescue operation (step S240). Thereafter, the information on the stop floor during the rescue operation is transmitted to the stop floor storage unit 108. In the stop floor storage unit 108, the "nearest floor of the single car" is stored as the stop floor during the rescue operation. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S260.

[0064] In step S250, the operation control unit 101 starts the up and down movement of the car 2 to the "nearest floor of the up and down car" and rescues the passengers at the "nearest floor of the up and down car". Here, after moving the car 2 to the "nearest floor of the up and down car", the operation control unit 101 prompts the passengers to evacuate with the door open.

[0065] On the other hand, in step S260, the operation control unit 101 starts the up and down movement of the car 2 to the "nearest floor of the single car" and rescues the passengers at the "nearest floor of the single car". When rescuing the passengers at the "nearest floor of the single car", the passengers are rescued one single car at a time according to the rescue order set by the rescue order setting unit 109. For example, when rescuing the passengers from the upper car 12, first, the upper car 12 is stopped at the "nearest floor of the single car", and the passengers in the upper car 12 are prompted to evacuate with the door open. Thereafter, the car 2 is moved to stop the lower car 13 at the "nearest floor of the single car", and the passengers in the lower car 13 are prompted to evacuate with the door open.

[0066] In this manner, rescue operation of the double-deck elevator 1 after an earthquake is completed. In this embodiment, the car 2 and the counterweight 4 can be prevented from passing each other during rescue operation after an earthquake. This makes it possible to avoid the risk of the car 2 and the counterweight 4 coming into contact with each other due to the car or counterweight shaking. In addition, a landing floor that can shorten the rescue time can be determined as a stopping floor during rescue operation. This makes it possible to rescue passengers more safely and efficiently.

[0067] However, if passengers are still trapped in the upper car 12 or the lower car 13 after the rescue operation following the occurrence of an earthquake, it is necessary to rescue the passengers again. In the following, the entrapment prevention control that can be performed after the rescue operation shown in FIG. 3 will be described.

[0068] 4. Control methods to prevent entrapment Fig. 4 shows a control flow for preventing entrapment that is carried out after the rescue operation in Fig. 3. The flow shown in Fig. 4 starts after the flow in Fig. 3 ends.

[0069] First, the operation control unit 101 confirms the end of the rescue operation in step S250 or step S260 in Fig. 3 (step S300). After that, the operation control unit 101 halts the operation of the double-deck elevator 1 (step S310).

[0070] Next, the confinement prevention operation unit 113 judges whether the open button 53 of the upper car 12 or the open button 55 of the lower car 13 has been pressed (S320). While the confinement prevention operation unit 113 judges that the open button 53, 55 has not been pressed, the process returns to step S310 and the confinement prevention operation unit 113 continues making judgments.

[0071] On the other hand, when the result of the determination in step S320 is "YES", that is, when the entrapment prevention operation unit 113 detects that the open button 53 or the open button 55 has been pressed, the process proceeds to step S330. Note that, when the entrapment prevention operation unit 113 makes the determination, control may be performed such that the open button 53 of the upper car 12 and the open button 55 of the lower car 13 are made to flash in the preceding stage of step S320 so that a passenger who is entrapped in the upper car 12 or the lower car 13 can promptly press the open button 53 or the open button 55. Alternatively, a confinement confirmation announcement may be made at predetermined time intervals so that a trapped passenger can promptly press the open button 53 or the open button 55.

[0072] In step S330, the entrapment prevention operation unit 113 judges whether the car for which the open button 53 or the open button 55 has been pressed is currently stopped at a stop floor. Here, the entrapment prevention operation unit 113 makes the judgment based on the current position of the car 2 detected by the car position detection unit 103 and the information on the stop floor during rescue operation stored in the stop floor memory unit 108.

[0073] If the answer is "YES" in step S330, that is, if it is determined that the car on which the open button 53 or the open button 55 is pressed is stopped at the stop floor where rescue was performed in rescue operation, the confinement prevention operation unit 113 opens the landing door and the car door (step S340). This makes it possible to encourage the evacuation of passengers left behind in the car.

[0074] On the other hand, if the result of step S330 is "NO", that is, if it is determined that the car on which the open button 53 or the open button 55 was pressed is not stopped at the stopping floor where rescue was performed during rescue operation, the process proceeds to step S350.

[0075] In step S350, the operation control unit 101 moves the car 2 to the stopping floor where rescue was performed during rescue operation based on a signal from the entrapment prevention operation unit 113 (step S350). After that, the entrapment prevention operation unit 113 opens the landing door and the car door after the car for which the open button 53 or the open button 55 was pressed stops at the stopping floor (step S360). This makes it possible to encourage the evacuation of passengers left behind in the car.

[0076] This ends the entrapment prevention operation. In Fig. 4, an example is shown in which the flow ends after step S340 or step S360, but after step S340 or step S360, the flow may return to step S310 again. In this way, when passengers are trapped in both the upper car 12 and the lower car 13, the passengers trapped in the upper car 12 and the lower car 13 can be evacuated in the order in which the open buttons were pressed.

[0077] As described above, in this embodiment, even if there are passengers left behind in the car after the rescue operation, the car 2 can be moved again to the stopping floor to allow the passengers to evacuate. This makes it possible to more reliably rescue passengers after the occurrence of an earthquake.

[0078] The above-mentioned embodiment has been described in detail to clearly explain the present invention, and is not necessarily limited to having all of the configurations described. For example, it is possible to replace a part of the configuration of the embodiment with another configuration, and it is also possible to add another configuration to the configuration of the embodiment. Also, it is possible to add, delete, or replace a part of the configuration of the embodiment with another configuration. [Explanation of symbols]

[0079] 1...double deck elevator, 3...main rope, 5...car position detection device, 6...hoisting machine, 8...control device, 9...earthquake detector, 10...hoistway, 10a...machine room, 52, 54...load sensor device, 53, 55...open button, 101...operation control unit, 102...abnormality detection unit, 103...car position detection unit, 104...stoppable floor memory unit, 105...stop floor setting unit, 106...weight position detection unit, 107...contact determination unit, 108...stop floor memory unit, 109...rescue order setting unit, 110...rescue time calculation unit, 111...rescue time memory unit, 112...rescue time comparison unit, 113...entrapment prevention operation unit

Claims

1. A hoisting machine; a passenger car that moves up and down in a hoistway by the hoist and has two cars arranged above and below in a lifting direction; A counterweight connected to the car via a main rope; A control device for controlling the lifting and lowering operation of the car, The control device includes: a nearest floor calculation unit that calculates, during a rescue operation, upper and lower car nearest floors that are nearest floors at which the two cars can be stopped simultaneously, or a one-car nearest floor that is the nearest floor at which only one of the cars can be stopped; When the elevator car moves to the floor nearest to the upper or lower car, or to the floor nearest to one of the cars, A contact determination unit that determines whether there is a possibility of contact between the car and the counterweight; a stop floor setting unit that sets the nearest floor, where the contact determination unit has determined that there is no possibility of contact between the elevator car and the counterweight, as a stop floor; Equipped Double deck elevator.

2. The stop floor setting unit calculates a first nearest floor that is closest to a current position of the elevator car based on position information of the stopped elevator car and information on a stoppable floor at which the elevator car can be stopped, When the contact determination unit determines that there is a possibility of contact between the car and the counterweight when the car moves to the first nearest floor, the contact determination unit calculates a second nearest floor in an opposite direction to the first nearest floor with respect to a stopping position of the car, and sets the second nearest floor as a stopping floor after an earthquake occurs.

2. The double deck elevator according to claim 1.

3. The control device includes: When the stop floor is the nearest floor where only one of the cars can stop, a rescue order setting unit is provided for setting the rescue order of the two cars at the stop floor.

3. The double deck elevator according to claim 2.

4. The elevator car has a load sensor device capable of detecting a load value in each of the two cars, The rescue order setting unit sets a rescue order such that, of the two cars, a car having a heavier load value detected by the load sensor device is stopped at the stopping floor preferentially.

4. The double deck elevator according to claim 3.

5. The control device includes: a rescue operation time calculation unit that calculates a first rescue operation time when the nearest floor at which the two cars can be stopped simultaneously is set as the stopping floor, and a second rescue operation time when the nearest floor at which only one of the cars can be stopped is set as the stopping floor, The stop floor setting unit sets, as the stop floor, a floor nearest to the first rescue operation time or the second rescue operation time, whichever is shorter.

2. The double deck elevator according to claim 1.

6. The control device includes: a confinement prevention operation unit that detects whether passengers are confined in the two cars after a rescue operation; When the entrapment prevention operation unit detects a passenger being entrapped in at least one of the two cars, the control device controls the hoist so that the car in which the entrapment has been detected moves to a stopping floor during the rescue operation in the car in which the entrapment has been detected, and also performs door opening control. A double-deck elevator according to any one of claims 1 to 5.

7. Equipped with earthquake detectors, The control device starts the rescue operation based on the information transmitted from the earthquake sensor.

2. The double deck elevator according to claim 1.

8. A hoisting machine; a passenger car that moves up and down in a hoistway by the hoist and has two cars arranged above and below in a lifting direction; A counterweight connected to the car via a main rope; A control device for controlling the lifting and lowering operation of the car. A control method for a double-deck elevator comprising: During rescue operation, calculating upper and lower car nearest floors at which the two cars can be stopped simultaneously, or a single car nearest floor at which only one of the cars can be stopped; determining whether there is a possibility that the car will come into contact with the counterweight when the car moves to the floor nearest to the upper or lower car or to the floor nearest to one of the cars; The nearest floor where it is determined that there is no possibility of contact between the elevator car and the counterweight is set as a stop floor. How to control a double deck elevator.

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