Elevator control system and elevator control method

Abstract

To more appropriately determine success of automatic recovery after an earthquake occurrence when elevator control is performed.SOLUTION: This elevator control system comprises: an earthquake detection unit 9 that detects an earthquake occurrence; an abnormality detection unit 10 that detects disengagement of a car 1 from a guide rail; and an operation control unit 6 that, when the earthquake detection unit 9 detects an earthquake, executes an automatic recovery function and recovers a car operation. The operation control unit 6 performs control for pausing the operation of the car 1 when the earthquake detection unit 9 detects the earthquake occurrence and the abnormality detection unit 10 detects disengagement of the car from the guide rail. Thus, performing the automatic recovery operation with the car 1 disengaged from the guide rail can be prevented from being executed.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an elevator control system and an elevator control method.

Background Art

[0002] An elevator is provided with a long object swing amount determination device for dealing with earthquakes. When an earthquake is detected by an earthquake sensor, the long object swing amount determination device determines the swing amount of a long object provided in the elevator and determines whether automatic recovery operation during an earthquake is possible. The determination of the swing amount of the long object is performed based on a long object swing amount prediction map in which the swing amount of the long object is predicted in advance according to the length of the long object and the level of the earthquake.

[0003] By the way, currently, when detecting a large earthquake intensity with high shaking, it is determined that there may be snagging of long objects or failures of each device, and automatic recovery operation is not performed. That is, the automatic recovery operation during an earthquake is performed during an earthquake with a relatively small earthquake intensity.

[0004] Patent Document 1 describes a technique for predicting the swing amount of a long object constituting an elevator during an earthquake and increasing the possibility of automatic recovery after automatic diagnosis operation during an earthquake.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0005]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0006] As described in Patent Document 1, whether to perform the conventional automatic recovery operation after an earthquake has been determined from the swing amount of a long object such as a tail cord provided in the elevator. However, the determination of whether the automatic recovery operation is possible may not be appropriate based only on the determination of the swing amount of the long object.

[0007] In view of this point, an object of the present invention is to provide an elevator control system and an elevator control method capable of more appropriately determining whether automatic recovery is possible after an earthquake occurs.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0008] In order to solve the above problems, for example, the configuration described in the claims is adopted. This application includes a plurality of means for solving the above problems. For example, the elevator control system includes an earthquake detection unit that detects the occurrence of an earthquake, an abnormality detection unit that detects that the car has deviated from the guide rail, and a driving control unit that executes an automatic recovery function to restore the operation of the car when the earthquake detection unit detects an earthquake. Here, when the earthquake detection unit detects the occurrence of an earthquake, the driving control unit performs control to stop the car when the abnormality detection unit detects that the car has deviated from the guide rail.

Effects of the Invention

[0009] According to the present invention, it is possible to appropriately determine whether the automatic recovery function can be executed based on the detection of the car deviating from the guide rail, so it is possible to appropriately determine whether automatic recovery is possible after an earthquake occurs. Problems, configurations, and effects other than those described above will be clarified by the description of the following embodiments.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0010]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

Figure 7

Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0011] Hereinafter, an example of an elevator control system and an elevator control method according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to the following embodiments. In each of the drawings described below, common members are denoted by the same reference numerals. Also, in the drawings used in this specification, the same or corresponding components are denoted by the same reference numerals, and duplicate descriptions of these components are omitted.

[0012] [Configuration of Elevator Control System] First, with reference to FIG. 1, the overall configuration of the elevator control system common to each embodiment of the present invention will be described.

[0013] The elevator car 1 is suspended by a main rope (not shown) and travels (ascends and descends) in the hoistway by the drive of a hoisting machine (not shown). When the car 1 stops at each floor, the car door (not shown) on the car 1 side opens and closes in conjunction with the hall door 2. Note that a door sensor is installed in the car 1, and the door sensor detects the opening and closing status of the hall door 2 and the car door. In addition, a load sensor 3 is installed on the bottom surface of the car 1.

[0014] The car 1 travels along the guide rail 4 installed in the hoistway. In Fig. 1, only one guide rail 4 is shown, but actually, as shown in Fig. 5 described later, two guide rails are installed. And the car 1 is arranged at a position sandwiched between the two guide rails 4. In addition, a sensor 5 is installed in the car 1. As the sensor 5, for example, a distance sensor or a magnetic sensor is used. Specific examples of the sensor 5 will be described later.

[0015] And the elevator control device includes an operation control unit 6, an earthquake detection unit 7, a load detection unit 8, a seismograph 9, and an abnormality detection unit 10. The operation control unit 6 controls the operation of the car 1, that is, the operation of the elevator. In normal times, the operation control unit 6 performs operation control for transporting passengers based on the hall buttons on each floor and the button operations on the operation panel in the car 1. Also, the operation control unit 6 controls the opening and closing of the doors (the landing door 2 and the car door) when the car 1 stops at each floor.

[0016] When the earthquake detection unit 7 detects an earthquake of a predetermined level or more, the operation control unit 6 receives the detection signal from the earthquake detection unit 7 and performs control to suspend the operation of the car 1. And the operation control unit 6 determines whether the elevator whose operation has been suspended can implement the automatic recovery function. For example, when the opening and closing of the doors can be executed, the operation control unit 6 determines that it has not deviated from the guide rail 4 and enables the implementation of the automatic recovery function.

[0017] When the car 1 has not deviated from the guide rail 4, the operation control unit 6 confirms that there are no passengers in the car 1 based on the data from the load detection unit 8. When there are no passengers in the car 1, the operation control unit 6 performs diagnostic operation control on the car 1. Then, when the abnormality detection unit 10 does not detect an abnormality as a result of the diagnostic operation control, the operation control unit 6 performs control of a temporary recovery operation for the car 1. Further, after the control of this temporary recovery operation and inspection by a technician, the operation control unit 6 performs normal operation control for the car 1. The temporary recovery operation is, for example, an operation in a state where the traveling speed is restricted more than normal, such as making the traveling speed slower than normal.

[0018] The earthquake detection unit 7 performs earthquake detection processing to detect that an earthquake has occurred in the facility where the car 1 is installed. Then, the earthquake detection unit 7 notifies the operation control unit 6 that an earthquake has been detected. When the earthquake detected by the seismometer 9 has a shake (acceleration) equal to or greater than a predetermined level, the earthquake detection unit 7 detects the occurrence of an earthquake to the operation control unit 6 and transmits it to the operation control unit 6. The seismometer 9 is a seismometer installed in a building, and detects the acceleration generated by an earthquake in a unit called gal. Note that the earthquake detection unit 7 may receive earthquake information from the outside and detect the occurrence of an earthquake instead of receiving data from the seismometer 9. Based on the detection data of the load sensor 3, the load detection unit 8 detects whether there are passengers in the car 1.

[0019] Based on the detection data of the sensor 5 and the detection data of the sensor that detects the opening and closing state of the door, etc., when an abnormality occurs in each part of the elevator, the abnormality detection unit 10 detects the abnormality (abnormality detection processing). The abnormalities detected by the abnormality detection unit 10 include an abnormality in a state where the car 1 has deviated from the guide rail 4 based on the detection data of the sensor 5.

[0020] When the abnormality detection unit 10 detects an abnormality, the abnormality detection unit 10 notifies the operation control unit 6 of the detection of the abnormality. When there is a notification of the detection of an abnormality from the abnormality detection unit 10, the operation control unit 6 performs control processing corresponding to the abnormality.

[0021] [Hardware Configuration of the Control Device Included in the Elevator Control System] FIG. 2 shows an example of the hardware configuration of the elevator control system shown in FIG. 1. The control device 100 is composed of a computer which is an information processing device. That is, the control device 100 is composed of a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 101, a memory 102, a storage 103, an input / output unit 104, a communication interface unit 105, etc., which are respectively connected to a bus.

[0022] The CPU 100 is an arithmetic processing unit that reads and executes the program code of software that realizes the functions performed by the control device 100 from the memory 102 or the storage 103. The CPU 101 reads the program code from the memory 102 or the storage 103 and executes arithmetic processing in the work area of the memory 102. Thereby, the CPU 100 configures various processing function units including the operation control unit 6 in the memory 102. That is, in the memory 102, the operation control unit 6, the earthquake detection unit 7, the load detection unit 8, the abnormality detection unit 10, etc. shown in FIG. 1 are configured.

[0023] For the storage 103, for example, a large-capacity information storage medium such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), an SSD (Solid State Drive), or a memory card is used. The storage 103 stores the software that realizes the functions of the control device 100, the data obtained by the execution of the program, and the data necessary for display screen setting.

[0024] The input / output unit 104 outputs operation control data of the elevator hoist, door opening / closing data, etc. Also, detection data from each sensor, operation data of the car call button installed at the landing, and operation data of the buttons on the operation panel in the car 1 are input to the input / output unit 104. The communication interface unit 105 performs communication processing with an external device such as an elevator control center.

[0025] [Control Processing at the Time of Earthquake Occurrence According to the First Embodiment Example] Next, the elevator control process according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described. The elevator control process according to the first embodiment is executed by the elevator control system shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. FIGS. 3 and 4 are flowcharts showing the elevator control process according to the first embodiment. FIGS. 3 and 4 show a series of processes divided, and the part indicated as "A" in FIG. 3 is connected to the part indicated as "A" in FIG. 4.

[0026] First, the operation control unit 6 determines whether an earthquake with shaking above a predetermined level has occurred from the information detected by the earthquake detection unit 7 (step S11). If no earthquake is detected in step S11 (No in step S11), the operation control unit 6 does not execute the process during an earthquake. Then, when an earthquake is detected in step S11 (Yes in step S11), the operation control unit 6 stops the operation of the elevator (step S12). In this elevator operation stop, the operation control unit 6 stops the car 1 at the nearest floor and controls to keep the door open.

[0027] Then, the operation control unit 6 determines whether the door of the stopped car 1 can be opened and closed (step S13). When it is in a state where it cannot be opened and closed in step S13 (No in step S13), the operation of the elevator is stopped (step S14). Also, when it is in a state where it can be opened and closed in step S13 (Yes in step S13), the operation control unit 6 determines whether a predetermined time has elapsed since the operation stop (step S15). The predetermined time here is, for example, about several minutes, which is assumed to be the time when the evacuation of passengers is completed after the stop of the car 1. When the predetermined time has not elapsed since the operation stop in step S15 (No in step S15), the operation control unit 6 repeats the determination in step S15.

[0028] When a predetermined time has elapsed since the operation was suspended in step S15 (Yes in step S15), the operation control unit 6 checks whether there is a person in the car 1 (step S16). If there is a person in the car 1 in step S16 (Yes in step S16), the operation control unit 6 returns to the determination in step S15. And if there is no person in the car 1 in step S16 (No in step S16), the operation control unit 6 checks from the detection data of the seismometer 9 whether a large shake, that is, a shake with an acceleration equal to or higher than a predetermined level, has been detected (step S17). Note that the acceleration (gal) determined in step S17 may be higher than the acceleration (gal) for detecting the occurrence of an earthquake in step S11. Alternatively, the acceleration determined in step S11 and the acceleration determined in step S17 may be the same.

[0029] If a high shake is detected in step S17 (Yes in step S17), the operation control unit 6 determines whether the abnormality detection unit 10 can open and close the door (step S18). If an abnormality where the door cannot be opened and closed is detected in step S18 (Yes in step S18), since automatic recovery of the elevator is impossible, the operation control unit 6 ends the process while the operation is suspended (step S19).

[0030] And if a high shake is not detected in step S17 (No in step S17), and if the door can be opened and closed in step S18 (No in step S18), the operation control unit 6 proceeds to the process in FIG. 4. That is, as shown in FIG. 4, the operation control unit 6 implements an automatic recovery function (step S20). In the automatic recovery function, the operation control unit 6 performs, for example, a round-trip operation of stopping the car 1 at all floors in order, going up and down, and checks whether the door can be opened and closed at each stopped floor.

[0031] After executing the automatic recovery function, the operation control unit 6 determines whether there was any abnormality during the execution of the automatic recovery function (step S21). If there is no abnormality in the execution of the automatic recovery function in step S21 (Yes in step S21), the operation control unit 6 sets the elevator to a temporary recovery operation (step S22). During the temporary recovery operation, the operation control unit 6 performs a restricted operation compared to normal, for example, setting the operation speed to a speed slower than normal. After the inspection by the elevator technician is completed in the state where this temporary recovery operation is being performed (step S23), the operation control unit 6 returns the elevator to normal operation (step S24). Also, if there is an abnormality in the execution of the automatic recovery function in step S20 (No in step S21), the operation control unit 6 stops the operation of the elevator (step S25).

[0032] As described above, according to the first embodiment, at the time of an earthquake, the abnormality detection unit 10 detects an abnormality that the car 1 has deviated from the guide rail 4 by performing door opening and closing. And when the operation control unit 6 detects an abnormality of deviation from the guide rail 4, it sets the elevator to the operation stop state without executing the automatic recovery function. For this reason, since the automatic recovery function at the time of an earthquake is executed only when there is a possibility of automatic recovery, it is possible to prevent damage to the elevator due to the execution of an unreasonable automatic recovery function in a situation where automatic recovery is not possible. Also, since the operation control unit 6 does not execute the automatic recovery function in a situation where recovery is not possible, the burden of control processing at the time of an earthquake can be reduced.

[0033] Also, according to the first embodiment, since an abnormality of deviation from the guide rail 4 is detected by performing door opening and closing, the operation control unit 6 can detect that it has deviated from the guide rail 4 with the function of detecting the opening and closing of the door provided in the elevator. That is, according to the first embodiment, as a configuration for detecting an abnormality of deviation from the guide rail 4, no special function is required.

[0034] Also, according to the first embodiment example, a load detection unit 8 for detecting the load in the car is provided. When the load detection unit 8 detects a load corresponding to the presence of passengers, the operation control unit 6 performs subsequent processing after changing to a state where the load detection unit 8 detects a load corresponding to the absence of passengers. As a result, the door opening and closing is not attempted when there are passengers in the car 1, and the attempt to open and close the door does not interfere with the evacuation of the passengers.

[0035] Also, as an automatic recovery operation function, by performing operation control to stop the car at all floors and execute the opening and closing of the doors, it becomes possible to appropriately determine that there is no problem with the operation of the elevator after an earthquake occurs. Furthermore, when there is no abnormality due to the execution of the automatic recovery function, the operation that the operation control unit 6 restores is a temporary recovery operation. By executing an operation restricted more than the normal operation by the temporary recovery operation, the temporary recovery operation can be appropriately executed.

[0036] [Control Processing at the Time of Earthquake Occurrence According to the Second Embodiment Example] Next, the control processing of the elevator according to the second embodiment example of the present invention will be described. The control processing of the elevator according to the second embodiment example is also executed by the elevator control system having the configuration shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

[0037] [Configuration Example of Sensors] First, with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6, the sensors 5 provided in the elevator of the present embodiment example will be described. FIGS. 5 and 6 are views of the positional relationship between the car 1 of the elevator and the hall door 2 as seen from above the car 1. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, guides 1a are installed on the left and right of the car 1, and the left and right guides 1a are in a state of being fitted into the guide rails 4. A in FIG. 5 and A in FIG. 6 respectively show a state where the guide 1a of the car 1 is correctly fitted into the guide rail 4, and B in FIG. 5 and B in FIG. 6 show a state where the guide 1a of the car 1 has come off the guide rail 4 due to the occurrence of an earthquake.

[0038] FIG. 5 shows an example in which a distance sensor 5a for detecting the distance between the car 1 and the hall door 2 is installed as the sensor 5. In this example, the distance sensors 5a are installed at two locations, the left end and the right end of the car 1. When configured as in FIG. 5, as shown in A of FIG. 5, when the distances detected by the two distance sensors 5a are approximately equal, the abnormality detection unit 10 (FIG. 1) determines that the car 1 is properly fitted to the guide rail 4 and there is no abnormality. On the other hand, as shown in B of FIG. 5, when the distances detected by the two distance sensors 5a are different, the abnormality detection unit 10 detects an abnormality that the car 1 is in a state of being disengaged from the guide rail 4.

[0039] FIG. 6 shows an example in which a magnetic sensor 5b for detecting the direction (azimuth) of the car 1 is installed as the sensor 5. In this example, the magnetic sensor 5b is installed approximately at the center of the ceiling or the floor surface of the car 1. And the abnormality detection unit 10 stores the direction detected by the magnetic sensor 5b in the normal state shown in A of FIG. 6. Then, as shown in B of FIG. 6, the abnormality detection unit 10 detects that the direction detected by the magnetic sensor 5b has changed from the direction in the normal state due to the car 1 being disengaged from the guide rail 4. Thereby, the abnormality detection unit 10 detects an abnormality that the car 1 is in a state of being disengaged from the guide rail 4.

[0040] Normally, either the distance sensor 5a shown in FIG. 5 or the magnetic sensor 5b shown in FIG. 6 is installed in the car 1. Alternatively, both the distance sensor 5a and the magnetic sensor 5b may be installed in the car 1, and the abnormality detection unit 10 may detect an abnormality when at least one of the outputs of the distance sensor 5a and the magnetic sensor 5b is in an abnormal state.

[0041] [Control Processing at the Time of Earthquake According to the Second Embodiment Example] FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the control processing of the elevator according to the second embodiment example. In the flowchart of FIG. 7, the same step numbers are assigned to the steps of the same processing as the flowchart shown in FIG. 3, and redundant explanations are omitted. Note that the location indicated by "A" in Fig. 7 is connected to the location indicated by "A" in Fig. 4 which has been described above.

[0042] In the present exemplary embodiment, when high shaking is detected in step S17 (Yes in step S17), the operation control unit 6 determines whether or not an abnormal state of deviating from the guide rail 4 is detected from the detection data of the distance sensor 5a (or the magnetic sensor 5b) by the abnormality detection unit 10 (step S31). Judgment from the detection data of the distance sensor 5a is in the case of the configuration of Fig. 5. When the magnetic sensor 5b shown in Fig. 6 is installed, the abnormality detection unit 10 makes a judgment from the detection data of the magnetic sensor 5b. Alternatively, when both the distance sensor 5a and the magnetic sensor 5b are installed, the abnormality detection unit 10 makes a judgment from the detection data of both sensors 5a and 5b.

[0043] In step S31, when an abnormality of deviating from the guide rail 4 is detected (Yes in step S31), the process proceeds to step S19. Since automatic recovery of the elevator is impossible, the operation control unit 6 ends the process while the operation is suspended. Also, in step S31, when it is not detected that the elevator car has deviated from the guide rail 4 (No in step S31), the operation control unit 6 proceeds to the process of Fig. 4. Other processes in the flowchart of Fig. 7 are the same as the processes in the flowchart of Fig. 3 described in the first exemplary embodiment.

[0044] As described above, according to the second exemplary embodiment, at the time of an earthquake, a process of detecting an abnormality that the elevator car 1 deviates from the guide rail 4 is performed by the distance sensor 5a or the magnetic sensor 5b installed in the elevator car 1. Detection by these sensors 5a and 5b is detection of a state in which the elevator car 1 is tilted, and it is possible to more reliably detect a state in which the elevator car 1 has deviated from the guide rail 4. Therefore, according to the second exemplary embodiment, an abnormality of deviating from the guide rail 4 can be more reliably detected by the distance sensor 5a or the magnetic sensor 5b. As a result, it becomes possible to more reliably determine whether or not the automatic recovery function can be executed at the time of an earthquake.

[0045] [Modification Example] Note that the embodiments described so far have been described in detail for the purpose of explaining the present invention in an easy-to-understand manner, and are not necessarily limited to those having all the configurations described. For example, each of the above-described embodiments has been described in detail for the purpose of explaining the present invention in an easy-to-understand manner, and the present invention is not necessarily limited to an aspect having all the configurations described. Also, a part of the configuration of one embodiment can be replaced with a part of the configuration of another embodiment. Also, a part of the configuration of another embodiment can be added to the configuration of one embodiment. Also, for a part of the configuration of each embodiment, it is also possible to delete it, or add and replace a part of another configuration.

[0046] Also, in the configuration diagrams shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, only the control lines and information lines considered necessary for explanation are shown, and not all the control lines and information lines are necessarily shown on the product. In practice, it may be considered that almost all the components are interconnected. Also, the flow of the processes shown in the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 3, 4, and 7 is also an example, and if the processing results are the same, the order of some processes may be changed, or a plurality of processes may be executed simultaneously.

[0047] Furthermore, the control device 100 may, for example, implement a program for executing the processes described in each embodiment on an existing computer to perform similar control processing. In this case, the program to be implemented on the computer may be prepared in a storage or memory within the control device 100, or may be placed on a recording medium such as an external memory, an IC card, an SD card, or an optical disk and transferred.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0048] 1... car, 1a... guide, 2... hold door, 3... load sensor, 4... guide rail, 5... sensor, 5a... distance sensor, 5b... magnetic sensor, 6... operation control unit, 7... earthquake detection unit, 8... load detection unit, 9... seismometer, 10... abnormality detection unit, 100... control device (computer), 101... CPU, 102... memory, 103... storage, 104... input / output unit, 105... communication interface unit

Claims

1. An earthquake detection unit that detects the occurrence of an earthquake, An abnormality detection unit that detects that the car has deviated from the guide rail, An elevator control system comprising: a driving control unit that, when the earthquake detection unit detects an earthquake, executes an automatic recovery function to restore the operation of the car, When the earthquake detection unit detects the occurrence of an earthquake, the driving control unit performs control to stop the car when the abnormality detection unit detects that the car has deviated from the guide rail. Elevator control system.

2. When the abnormality detection unit detects a situation where the door of the car cannot be opened or closed, the abnormality detection unit detects that the car has deviated from the guide rail. The elevator control system according to claim 1.

3. Furthermore, it is provided with a distance sensor that detects the distance between the car and the landing door, The abnormality detection unit detects that the car has deviated from the guide rail from the detection data of the distance sensor. The elevator control system according to claim 2.

4. Furthermore, it is provided with a magnetic sensor that detects the direction of the car, The abnormality detection unit detects that the car has deviated from the guide rail from the detection data of the magnetic sensor. The elevator control system according to claim 2.

5. Furthermore, it is provided with a load detection unit that detects the load inside the car, When the load detection unit detects a load corresponding to the presence of passengers, the driving control unit performs control based on the detection situation of the abnormality detection unit after the load detected by the load detection unit changes to a load corresponding to the absence of passengers. The elevator control system according to claim 1.

6. The automatic recovery function is a driving control that stops the car at all floors and executes the opening and closing of the doors. The elevator control system according to claim 1.

7. When there is no abnormality due to the execution of the automatic recovery function, the operation restored by the driving control unit is a temporary recovery operation, and a more restricted operation than the normal operation is executed by the temporary recovery operation. The elevator control system according to claim 6.

8. An elevator control device, An earthquake detection process that detects the occurrence of an earthquake, An abnormality detection process that detects that the car has deviated from the guide rail, An elevator control system that, when an earthquake is detected by the earthquake detection process, executes an automatic recovery function to recover the operation of the car, and performs driving control processing. When the control device detects that the car has come off the guide rail in the abnormal detection process in a situation where the occurrence of an earthquake is detected by the earthquake detection process, the control device performs control to stop the car. Elevator control method.

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