Elevator

Abstract

To provide an elevator that is able to cancel prohibition of a normal operation after precisely determining that a maintenance person has been evacuated from a hoistway.SOLUTION: An elevator 10 includes: an operation control unit 44 (see FIG. 2) having a normal operation mode in which an elevator car 20 is raised / lowered, based on a call operation, to a predetermined landing position where a passenger can get on / off via a landing door 16 provided at a landing 14 and a prohibition mode in which execution of the normal operation mode is prohibited, and a door monitoring unit 46 (see FIG. 2) that monitors an open / closed state of the landing door 16. The operation control unit 44 cancels the prohibition mode on condition that the door monitoring unit 46 has monitored, during execution of the prohibition mode, that the landing door 16 is changed from a closed state to an open state and is further changed to a closed state again.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an elevator, and more particularly to maintenance work in an elevator hoistway.

Background Art

[0002] In an elevator, a normal operation is performed in which the car sequentially ascends and descends and stops in the hoistway toward the destination floor based on a call operation (destination floor operation) performed via a landing operation panel or a car operation panel. Also, equipment such as a control device necessary for the ascending and descending operation of the car is installed in the hoistway, for example, in a pit at the bottom of the hoistway or in a ceiling portion of the hoistway.

[0003] When it is necessary for a maintenance worker to enter the hoistway, such as when performing maintenance inspection work on these equipment, the normal operation of the car is stopped and then the maintenance worker enters the hoistway. For example, when equipment is installed in the pit, it is necessary to open the landing door on the lowest floor and enter the pit. This landing door is constantly biased in the closing direction by an elastic member such as a spring so as not to open when the car is not stopped at a preset landing position, and is fixed in a closed state via a locking mechanism. Therefore, the maintenance worker needs to unlock the locking mechanism with a dedicated tool or the like, open the door, enter the pit, and perform the work.

[0004] Regarding this point, Patent Document 1 discloses an elevator configured to be able to individually detect the opening of each landing door, and when it is detected that any landing door is open while the car door of the car is closed, the automatic operation of the car is invalidated. Also disclosed is that when the automatic operation is invalidated once, a reset switch outside the hoistway is operated, and the invalidation of the automatic operation continues until it is confirmed that the car door and the landing door are closed.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0005] Patent Document 1 International Publication No. 2012 / 105008 Summary of the Invention Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0006] In the elevator configuration described in the above Patent Document 1, when a reset switch installed outside the hoistway is operated, if all the landing doors and car doors are closed, the invalidation of the automatic operation will be canceled. Also, even if the reset switch is operated, if the landing door is open, the invalidation will not be canceled. However, as described above, the landing door is constantly biased in the closing direction.

[0007] Therefore, even if the door is prevented from closing by fixing means such as a door stopper in order to keep the landing door in an open state, if the fixing means comes off due to some factor, the landing door may close. In such a case, there is a problem in that the invalidation (prohibition) of the automatic operation can be canceled even though there is a maintenance worker in the hoistway.

[0008] The present invention provides an elevator that can accurately determine that a maintenance worker has evacuated from the hoistway and then cancel the prohibition of normal operation. Means for Solving the Problems

[0009] The elevator of the present invention is an elevator provided with a car that moves in an elevator hoistway, and has a normal operation mode in which the car is moved to a preset landing position facing the landing door based on a call operation, and a prohibition mode that prohibits the normal operation mode. It includes a driving control unit and a door monitoring unit that monitors the opening and closing state of the landing door. The driving control unit cancels the prohibition mode on the condition that the landing door changes from a closed state to an open state and then changes back to a closed state again through the door monitoring unit during the execution of the prohibition mode.

[0010] Here, when a maintenance worker who is performing maintenance and inspection work in the hoistway during the execution of the prohibition mode exits from the hoistway to the landing side, the landing door is opened once and the worker moves from the hoistway to the landing.

[0011] In the elevator of the present invention, the operation control unit may execute the prohibition mode on the condition that the landing door is open while the car is not located at a preset landing position.

[0012] In the elevator of the present invention, the operation control unit may resume the normal operation mode on the condition that a predetermined recovery operation has been performed via a first operation unit installed outside the hoistway.

[0013] In the elevator of the present invention, the operation control unit may be set not to cancel the prohibition mode when a predetermined operation is being performed via a second operation unit installed in the hoistway.

[0014] The elevator of the present invention includes a third operation unit configured to be switchable between a power supply state in which power is supplied to the operation control unit and a power cut-off state in which power is cut off. When the operation control unit is in the power cut-off state via the third operation unit during the execution of the prohibition mode, the operation control unit may be set such that the prohibition mode continues when the power supply state is changed again.

[0015] The elevator of the present invention includes a display unit that indicates the operation state of the car. When the operation control unit is executing the prohibition mode, the operation control unit may cause the display unit to display a display suggesting that the prohibition mode is being executed.

Advantages of the Invention

[0016] According to the elevator of the present invention, the prohibition mode is released on the condition that after the landing door changes from the closed state to the open state and then to the closed state again during the execution of the prohibition mode. Thereby, it is possible to accurately determine that the maintenance worker has evacuated from the hoistway based on the change in the opening and closing state of the landing door that inevitably occurs when the maintenance worker evacuates from the hoistway to the landing, and then release the prohibition mode.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0017]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

Figure 7

Figure 8

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0018] Hereinafter, an elevator 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration around the bottom of the hoistway of the elevator 10. FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram centered on the control device 40. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the elevator 10 is a traction-type rope elevator, and includes a car 20 suspended from one end side of a main rope 11, a counterweight (not shown) suspended from the other end side of the main rope 11, and a control device 40 that controls the operation of the car 20. The main rope 11 is spanned over a hoisting machine M (see FIG. 2), and has a role of relatively moving the car 20 and the counterweight (not shown) up and down (in other words, it can also be expressed as relatively moving in the vertical direction) by the rotational drive of the hoisting machine M. The hoisting machine M is installed in a machine room (not shown) provided directly above the hoistway 12 or in a pit 12P (bottom of the hoistway) of the hoistway 12. The control device 40 is installed in the pit 12P of the hoistway 12.

[0019] As shown in FIG. 1, the car 20 has double-opening car doors 22. On the other hand, double-opening landing doors 16A, 16B, 16C,... (hereinafter, appropriately referred to as landing door "16" when there is no particular need for distinction) are provided at each landing 14A, 14B, 14C,... (hereinafter, appropriately referred to as landing "14" when there is no particular need for distinction).

[0020] Each landing door 16 is constantly biased in the direction in which the door closes via an elastic member such as a spring, and is held in a closed state via locking mechanisms 17A, 17B, 17C,... (hereinafter, appropriately referred to as locking mechanism "17" when there is no particular need for distinction) attached to the upper part. And the above-described car 20 is stopped at a preset landing position, that is, a position where the landing door 16 through which passengers can get on and off the car 20 and the car door 22 face each other. Only in this case, the fixing by the locking mechanism 17 is released and it can be opened. Further, the locking mechanism 17 is provided with door open sensors 18A, 18B, 18C,... (hereinafter, appropriately referred to as door open sensor "18" when there is no particular need for distinction) having a function of detecting the open / closed state of the landing door 16.

[0021] Also, as shown in FIG. 1, an upper car operation unit 26 is provided above the car 20. The upper car operation unit 26 includes a switching operation unit 27 (see FIG. 2) for performing an operation to switch the operation mode of the car 20 from a normal operation mode described later to a manual operation, and a lifting operation unit 28 (see FIG. 2) for performing a lifting operation of the car 20 during manual operation. Thus, during maintenance and inspection, the car 20 can be lifted and lowered with a maintenance worker on board the car 20.

[0022] As shown in FIG. 2, the control device 40 includes a storage device (storage unit) 42 composed of a ROM, a RAM, an HDD, etc. in which various control programs are stored, and an arithmetic processing device (not shown) such as a CPU. The control device 40 reads the control program from the storage device 42 and performs arithmetic processing to control the driving of the hoist M by an operation control unit 44, and functions as a door monitoring unit 46 for detecting the open / closed state of the landing door 16 via the above-described door open sensor 18. The storage device 42 has a function of storing, as history information, the change over time in the open / closed state of the landing door 16 detected via the door monitoring unit 46. Thus, even when the power supply to the control device 40 is temporarily interrupted, the history information regarding the open / closed state of the landing door 16 before the power interruption is retained, and after the resumption of the power supply, the history information of the open / closed state of the landing door 16 before the power interruption can be taken over and used.

[0023] The operation control unit 44 is configured to be able to execute a normal operation mode in which the car 20 is lifted and lowered (moved) to each floor landing 14 based on a landing call for calling the car 20 to the landing 14 performed via the landing operation panels 15A, 15B, 15C,... (hereinafter, appropriately referred to as the landing operation panel "15" when there is no need for particular distinction) installed at each floor landing 14, and a destination floor operation, in other words, a car call operation, performed via the car operation panel 24 installed in the car 20.

[0024] The car operation panel 24 also has a function of switching the operation mode of the elevator car 20 from the normal operation mode (described later) to the manual operation, similar to the above-described car upper operation unit 26, and performing the up and down operation of the elevator car 20 during the manual operation.

[0025] Further, the operation control unit 44 also has a prohibition mode for prohibiting the execution of the above-described normal operation mode. This prohibition mode is executed when the opening of the landing door 16 is detected via the door monitoring unit 46 in a state where the elevator car 20 is not stopped (landed) at the preset landing position, in other words, the position facing the landing door 16, when the elevator car 20 stops at the landing 14.

[0026] Here, a rotary encoder (not shown) is attached to the rotating shaft of the hoist M (see FIG. 2) described above, and the operation control unit 44 is set to be able to grasp the vertical position of the elevator car 20 in the hoistway 12 based on the output value (rotation angle) of the rotary encoder.

[0027] Also, as shown in FIG. 1, a landing position detection unit 45 is attached to the bottom of the elevator car 20. This landing position detection unit 45 has a function of detecting light shielding plates 47A, 47B, 47C,... (hereinafter, appropriately referred to as "light shielding plate 47" when there is no need for particular distinction) provided on the wall surface of the hoistway 12 corresponding to each landing 14 as shown in FIG. 1. Thereby, the operation control unit 44 can grasp whether the elevator car 20 is located at the preset landing position or how much it is displaced vertically from the preset landing position.

[0028] The operation control unit 44 may determine whether the elevator car 20 is not located at the preset landing position based on at least one of the output value output via the rotary encoder of the hoist M described above or the detection state of the landing position detection unit 45.

[0029] Next, taking the lowest floor landing 14A as an example, the conditions under which the prohibition mode is executed will be described in more detail. For example, when the car 20 stops (lands) at the lowest floor landing 14A and the car 20 is not located at the preset landing position P (refer to the dashed line portion shown in FIG. 1), if the opening of the landing door 16A installed at the landing 14A is detected via the door open sensor 18A, the prohibition mode is executed.

[0030] Also, as will be described later, during the execution of the above-described prohibition mode, the operation control unit 44 releases the prohibition mode on the condition that the lowest floor landing door 16A changes from a closed state to an opened state once and then returns to a closed state again (hereinafter, appropriately referred to as the "evacuation determination condition" as necessary).

[0031] Subsequently, the movement procedure of the maintenance staff during the maintenance inspection work in the pit 12P of the hoistway 12 will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, with the car 20 not located at the above-described landing position P of the lowest floor landing 14A, the fixing of the locking mechanism 17A is released and the landing door 16A is opened. As a result, the opening of the landing door 16A is detected by the door open sensor 18A, and the above-described prohibition mode is executed. Then, the maintenance staff descends from the opened landing door 16A to the pit 12P and closes the landing door 16A once (A: Landing door 16A is closed). Then, maintenance inspection work is performed in the pit 12P. When the maintenance inspection work is completed, the maintenance staff opens the lowest floor landing door 16A (B: Landing door 16A is open), moves (evacuates) to the lowest floor landing 14A, and closes the landing door 16A (C: Landing door 16A is closed).

[0032] As described above, after the maintenance staff enters the pit 12P from the opened landing door 16A, that is, after the start of the execution of the prohibition mode, until evacuating from the pit 12P to the lowest floor landing 14A, the landing door 16A will change in sequence to (A) a closed state, (B) an opened state, and (C) a closed state. From this, it can be determined that the maintenance staff has evacuated from the hoistway 12 when the opening and closing state of the landing door 16A changes in the order of (A) to (C) during the execution of the prohibition mode, that is, when the evacuation determination condition is satisfied.

[0033] Then, the operation control unit 44 is set to cancel the prohibition mode and resume the normal operation mode on the condition that the above-described evacuation determination condition is satisfied.

[0034] Also, in the present embodiment, the storage device 42 has a function of storing the currently-executed operation mode. When the power supply to the control device 40 is cut off, it is preferable to set the operation control unit 44 to continue executing the operation mode that was being executed before the power supply was cut off by referring to the storage device 42 when the power supply is resumed. Thereby, if the prohibition mode was being executed before the power supply to the control device 40 was temporarily cut off, the prohibition mode will continue to be executed after the power supply is resumed. For this reason, there is an advantage that maintenance inspection work and the like that are performed by temporarily cutting off the power supply to the control device 40 are easy to perform.

[0035] Furthermore, it is preferable to set the operation control unit 44 not to determine whether or not the above-described evacuation determination condition is satisfied while the power supply to the control device 40 is cut off during the execution of the prohibition mode. More specifically, when the power supply to the control device 40 is temporarily cut off, the operation control unit 44 may determine whether or not the evacuation determination condition is satisfied based on the change in the opening / closing state of the landing door 16 in the order of (A) to (C) above after the power supply is resumed. Alternatively, when (A) above was detected before the power supply was cut off, the operation control unit 44 may determine whether or not the evacuation determination condition is satisfied based on the detection of (B) and (C) in order after the power supply is resumed.

[0036] Also, in the present embodiment, it is preferable to provide a safety operation unit (second operation unit) 52 having a function of setting the operation control unit 44 not to perform the above-described evacuation determination by performing a predetermined operation on the wall surface of the pit 12P in the hoistway 12. In this case, the above-described predetermined operation may be canceled when the maintenance worker evacuates from within the pit 12P. Thereby, it is possible to more reliably prevent the above-described evacuation determination by the operation control unit 44 from being performed during maintenance inspection work in the pit 12P.

[0037] In this embodiment, a power operation unit (third operation unit) 54 having a function of cutting off the power supply to the control device 40 and the hoist M may be provided on the wall surface of the pit 12P of the hoistway 12. This makes it possible to perform maintenance and inspection work that can only be carried out by cutting off the power supply.

[0038] Also, a recovery operation unit (first operation unit) 56 is provided on the wall surface of the landing 14A on the lowest floor. When the operation control unit 44 releases the prohibited mode, this recovery operation unit 56 has a function of restarting the normal operation mode in the operation control unit 44 by performing a predetermined recovery operation. In this way, after the prohibited mode is released, the maintenance staff can evacuate from the hoistway 12 and perform the above recovery operation at the landing 14A located outside the hoistway 12 to restart the normal operation mode.

[0039] Here, with reference to FIGS. 3(a) and 3(b), the display modes of the indicator 19B provided on the landing operation panel 15A during the execution of the normal operation mode and the prohibited mode will be described. FIG. 3(a) is a diagram showing an example of the display state of the landing operation panel 15A provided on the lowest floor during the execution of the normal operation mode. FIG. 3(b) is a diagram showing an example of the display state of the landing operation panel 15A on the lowest floor during the execution of the prohibited mode.

[0040] As shown in FIG. 3(a), a landing call button 19A for calling the car 20 to the lowest floor landing 14A is provided on the landing operation panel 15A, and an indicator 19B is provided above the button 19A. As shown in FIG. 3(a), during the execution of the normal operation mode, the operation control unit 44 causes the indicator 19B to display the floor number indicating the position of the car 20 and marks indicating the ascending / descending state.

[0041] On the other hand, as shown in Fig. 3(b), during the execution of the prohibition mode, it is preferable that the operation control unit 44 causes the indicator 19B to display an "X" mark indicating that the prohibition mode is being executed. This makes it easier for the maintenance staff to visually recognize that the prohibition mode is being executed. Therefore, by checking the display of the indicator 19B before the maintenance staff enters the pit 12P, it can be easily confirmed that the prohibition mode is being executed. Alternatively, it becomes possible to confirm by checking the display of the indicator 19B that the prohibition mode has been canceled before operating the above-described recovery operation unit 56. In addition, there is also an advantage that it is easy for the intended user to visually recognize that the elevator 10 cannot be used.

[0042] In the present embodiment, an example is described in which an "X" mark indicating that the prohibition mode is being executed is displayed on the indicator 19B of the landing operation panel 15A on the lowest floor. However, a mark or the like indicating the prohibition mode may be similarly displayed on the indicator (not shown) of the landing operation panel 15 installed at the landings 14 other than the lowest floor or on the indicator (not shown) of the car operation panel 24.

[0043] Note that in the present embodiment, an "X" mark is displayed, but any display mode that suggests that the prohibition mode is being executed may be used. For example, character information such as "Inspection in progress" may be displayed.

[0044] Fig. 4 is a flowchart showing the flow of control processing from when the operation mode is switched from the normal operation mode to the prohibition mode until the prohibition mode is canceled in the control device 40. The flow of the operation mode switching process in the control device 40 from when the maintenance staff enters the pit 12P in the hoistway 12 to perform maintenance inspection work until the normal operation mode is restarted will be described with reference to Fig. 4.

[0045] As shown in FIG. 4, when the car 20 is not located at the landing position P (see FIG. 1) (step S1: YES) and the landing door 16A at the lowest floor is detected to be in the open state (step S2: YES), the operation control unit 44 executes the prohibition mode (step S3). As a result, the normal operation mode is not executed. Then, while the operation control unit 44 is executing the prohibition mode, it causes the indicator 19B on the landing operation panel 15A to display an "X" mark (step S4). Thus, it can be visually confirmed that the operation mode has been changed to the prohibition mode.

[0046] Furthermore, when the evacuation determination condition is satisfied during the execution of the prohibition mode via the door monitoring unit 46 (step S5: YES), the operation control unit 44 releases the prohibition mode and ends the display of the "X" mark on the indicator 19B (steps S6, S7). Thus, it can be visually confirmed that the prohibition mode has been released.

[0047] Next, when a recovery operation is performed via the recovery operation unit 56 (see FIG. 1) installed at the lowest floor landing 14A (step S8: YES), the operation control unit 44 resumes the execution of the normal operation mode and ends a series of processes (step S9).

[0048] In addition, in the process of step S5 described above, the operation control unit 44 has been described by giving an example of releasing the prohibition mode on the condition that the evacuation determination condition is satisfied during the execution of the prohibition mode, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, it may be configured to release the prohibition mode on the condition that the predetermined operation described above is released via the safety operation unit 52 in the pit 12P together with the condition that the evacuation determination condition is satisfied during the execution of the prohibition mode.

[0049] According to the elevator 10 of the first embodiment, the prohibition mode is released by satisfying the evacuation determination condition during the execution of the prohibition mode. Here, when a maintenance worker evacuates from the hoistway 12 to the landing 14A during the execution of the prohibition mode, it is necessary to open the landing door 16A once. Therefore, when the maintenance worker evacuates from the pit 12P to the landing 14A, the opening / closing state of the landing door 16A will necessarily change so as to satisfy the evacuation determination condition. For this reason, it is possible to accurately determine whether or not the maintenance worker has evacuated from the hoistway 12 based on whether or not the evacuation determination condition is satisfied, and then release the prohibition mode.

[0050] In the above first embodiment, the control device 40 is installed in the pit 12P of the hoistway 12, and an example where a maintenance worker enters the pit 12P of the hoistway 12 to perform work during maintenance inspection has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the control device may be installed in the ceiling portion 12T of the hoistway 12, and the present invention may be applied when a maintenance worker enters the ceiling portion 12T of the hoistway 12 to perform work during maintenance inspection.

[0051] The second embodiment in this case will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6. In the following description of the elevator 60 according to the second embodiment, the parts having the same configuration as those in the first embodiment will be denoted by the same reference numerals as appropriate, and the description thereof will be omitted as appropriate, and mainly the parts having different configurations will be described. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the configuration around the top floor landing 14F in the hoistway 12 of the elevator 60. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a state in which the car 20 is lowered from the preset landing position Q shown in FIG. 5 in order for a maintenance worker to open the landing door 16F from the top floor landing 14F and board the upper part of the car 20.

[0052] As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the elevator 60 according to the second embodiment includes a control device 70 instead of the control device 40 in the first embodiment. This control device 70 is installed in the ceiling portion 12T of the hoistway 12 and has substantially the same functions and configuration as the control device 40. The control device 70 has a storage device 72 having the same configuration as the above-described storage device 42, and includes an operation control unit 74 and a door monitoring unit 76. The operation control unit 74 has the same function as the operation control unit 44 of the first embodiment, and the door monitoring unit 76 also has the same function as the door monitoring unit 46 of the first embodiment.

[0053] Also, a recovery operation unit 86 having the same configuration as the recovery operation unit 56 in the first embodiment may be installed at the landing 14F. Further, a power supply operation unit 84 having the same configuration as the power supply operation unit 54 in the first embodiment may be installed on the wall surface in the hoistway 12 around the control device 70.

[0054] Here, the flow of the maintenance inspection work when a maintenance worker enters the hoistway 12 from the top floor landing 14F to perform maintenance inspection work will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6. In the following description, when the car 20 lands on the top floor landing 14F, the position facing the landing door 16F where a preset passenger can get on and off and stop is defined as the landing position Q (see FIG. 5), and the case where two maintenance workers perform the work will be taken as an example for explanation.

[0055] First, the first maintenance worker operates the landing operation panel 15F on the top floor landing 14F to move the car 20 to the top floor landing 14F. Then, the first maintenance worker gets into the car 20 and switches from the normal operation mode to the manual operation using the car operation panel 24 (see FIG. 2). Further, the car operation panel 24 is operated to lower the car 20 to a position where the second maintenance worker remaining at the landing 14F can easily get into the upper part of the car 20 (see FIG. 6). As a result, the car 20 is in a state of not being located at the preset landing position Q for stopping at the landing 14F.

[0056] Next, the second maintenance staff member releases the lock mechanism 17F on the top floor landing 14F and opens the landing door 16F. As a result, the prohibition mode is executed in the operation control unit 74, and the normal operation mode is not executed. In this state, the second maintenance staff member gets on top of the car 20 and closes the landing door 16F (A: Landing door 16F is closed). Then, the second maintenance staff member operates the switching operation unit (second operation unit) 27 (see FIG. 2) of the car top operation unit 26 to switch to manual operation. Here, it is preferable that the switching operation unit 27 has the same function as the safety operation unit 52 of the first embodiment. In this case, the prohibition mode is executed in the operation control unit 74 while being switched to manual operation via the switching operation unit 27. Thereby, the prohibition mode can be executed more reliably.

[0057] Furthermore, the second maintenance staff member operates the lifting operation unit 28 (see FIG. 2) of the car top operation unit 26 to raise the car 20 to a position where it is easy to perform work on the control device 70 and performs maintenance and inspection work. After the completion of the maintenance and inspection work, the car 20 is lowered via the lifting operation unit 28, and the switching operation unit 27 (see FIG. 2) is switched from manual operation to the normal operation mode. Then, the fixing of the lock mechanism 17F is released, the landing door 16F is opened, and the second maintenance staff member moves (evacuates) from the upper part of the car 20 to the landing 14F (B: Landing door 16F is open). Next, the landing door 16F is closed and the maintenance and inspection work is completed (C: Landing door 16F is closed).

[0058] As described above, after the execution of the prohibition mode and until the end of the maintenance and inspection work, the landing door 16F changes in the order of (A) closed state, (B) open state, and (C) closed state, similar to the landing door 16A in the first embodiment.

[0059] Next, with reference to FIG. 7, the flow of operation mode switching in the control device 70 from when a maintenance worker enters the hoistway 12 from the top floor landing 14F to perform maintenance inspection work until the normal operation mode is resumed will be described. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the flow of control processing in the control device 70 from when it switches to the prohibited mode during the execution of the normal operation mode until the normal operation mode is resumed.

[0060] As shown in FIG. 7, when the operation control unit 74 detects that the landing door 16F on the top floor is open while the car 20 is not in the landing position Q (step S11: YES), it executes the prohibited mode (step S13). As shown in FIG. 3(b), during the execution of the prohibited mode, the operation control unit 74 displays an "X" mark on the indicator 19B of the landing operation panel 15 (step S14). This allows the visual confirmation that the operation mode has been set to the prohibited mode.

[0061] Furthermore, when the evacuation determination condition is satisfied during the execution of the prohibited mode via the door monitoring unit 76 (step S15: YES), the operation control unit 74 releases the prohibited mode and terminates the display of the "X" mark on the indicator 19B (steps S16, S17). This allows the visual confirmation that the prohibited mode has been released.

[0062] Next, when a recovery operation is performed via the recovery operation unit 86 (see FIG. 5) installed on the top floor landing 14F (step S18: YES), the operation control unit 74 resumes the normal operation mode and ends the series of processes (step S19).

[0063] According to the elevator 60 of the second embodiment, the prohibition mode is released on condition that the evacuation determination condition is satisfied during the execution of the prohibition mode. Here, when a maintenance worker evacuates from the hoistway 12 to the landing 14F during the execution of the prohibition mode, it is necessary to once open the landing door 16F. For this reason, it is possible to accurately determine the evacuation of the maintenance worker from the hoistway 12 based on whether or not the above-described evacuation determination condition is satisfied. As a result, the prohibition mode can be released after accurately determining that the maintenance worker has evacuated from the hoistway 12.

[0064] In the first embodiment described above, the operation control unit 44 is described by taking as an example the determination of whether or not the car 20 is located at a preset landing position based on at least one of the output value output via the rotary encoder of the hoist M or the detection state of the landing position detection unit 45. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, it may be determined whether or not the car 20 is located at a preset landing position by detecting the vertical position of the car 20 via a magnetic scale 90 (described in detail later) disposed in the hoistway 12. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the configuration of an elevator 100 according to a modified example in this case. In the following description, parts having the same configuration as those of the elevator 10 according to the first embodiment will be denoted by the same reference numerals as appropriate and the description thereof will be omitted, and only parts having different configurations will be described.

[0065] As shown in FIG. 8, the elevator 100 includes a magnetic scale 90 having a function of detecting the absolute position in the vertical direction in the hoistway 12. This magnetic scale 90 includes a magnetic tape 92 that records absolute position (distance) information from the ceiling portion 12T (see FIG. 1) of the hoistway 12 to the pit 12P as a magnetic pattern (magnetic scale), for example, with a resolution of 0.5 mm, and a reading unit 94 that reads the magnetic scale from the magnetic tape 92. The magnetic tape 92 is attached to the wall surface of the hoistway 12 with a constant tension acting thereon such that the vertical direction is the longitudinal direction. In this example, the magnetic tape 92 is set such that the scale value increases from bottom to top, that is, the magnetic scale value increases toward the upper side.

[0066] The reading unit 94 is attached to the car 20. The reading unit 94 is arranged to be movable along the magnetic tape 92 as the car 20 moves up and down, and has a function of reading the magnetic graduations recorded on the magnetic tape 92 and transmitting the values of the read magnetic graduations to the operation control unit 44.

[0067] The operation control unit 44 is configured to be able to determine whether or not the car 20 is located at a preset landing position based on the vertical position information of the car 20 obtained via the reading unit 94 of the magnetic scale 90.

[0068] Also in the elevator 100 according to the modification in this case, the same effects as those of the elevator 10 according to the first embodiment can be obtained.

[0069] In the above first embodiment, the operation control unit 44 has been described by taking as an example the process of ending the display of the "×" mark on the indicator 19B in the process of step S7 shown in FIG. 4, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the operation control unit 44 may cause the indicator 19B to display a display different from the "×" mark from the end of the display of the "×" mark on the indicator 19B in step S7 until the recovery operation is performed in the process of step S8. That is, the operation control unit 44 causes the indicator 19B to display a display suggesting that the prohibition mode has been released and the normal operation mode is in a state before resumption. More specifically, it is conceivable to cause the indicator 19B to display a display in a display mode different from that during the execution of the prohibition mode or during the execution of the normal operation mode, such as a "*" mark. Thereby, it becomes easier to grasp the operation state of the car 20, and it becomes easier for the maintenance staff to visually confirm the remaining procedures necessary for the recovery of the normal operation mode.

[0070] The present invention can also be implemented in various modified, corrected, or deformed forms based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art without departing from the gist thereof. Also, within the range where the same operation or effect is produced, it may be implemented in a form in which any of the invention-specific matters is replaced with other technologies.

Explanation of Signs

[0071] 10, 60, 100 Elevator 11 Main Rope 12 Hoistway 12P Pit 12T Ceiling Portion 14, 14A, 14B, 14C, 14F Landing 15, 15A, 15B, 15C, 15F Landing Operation Panel 16, 16A, 16B, 16C, 16F Landing Door 17, 17A, 17B, 17C, 17F Lock Mechanism 18, 18A, 18B, 18C, 18F Door Open Sensor 19A Landing Call Button 19B Indicator (Display Section) 20 Car 24 Car Operation Panel 26 Upper Car Operation Section 27 Switching Operation Section (Second Operation Section) 40, 70 Control Device 42, 72 Memory Device 44, 74 Operation Control Section 46, 76 Door Monitoring Section 52 Safety Operation Section (Second Operation Section) 54, 84 Power Supply Operation Section (Third Operation Section) 56, 86 Recovery Operation Section (First Operation Section) P, Q Landing Position S1~S19 Steps

Claims

1. An elevator comprising a car that moves in an elevator shaft, a driving control unit having a normal operation mode for moving the car to a preset landing position facing the landing door based on a call operation, and a prohibition mode for prohibiting the normal operation mode, a door monitoring unit for monitoring the open / closed state of the landing door, and comprising, wherein the driving control unit releases the prohibition mode on the condition that the landing door changes from a closed state to an open state and then changes back to a closed state again via the door monitoring unit during the execution of the prohibition mode, an elevator.

2. The driving control unit executes the prohibition mode on the condition that the landing door is open while the car is not located at the preset landing position, The elevator according to Claim 1.

3. The driving control unit resumes the normal operation mode on the condition that a predetermined recovery operation is performed via a first operation unit installed outside the elevator shaft, The elevator according to Claim 1.

4. The driving control unit is set not to release the prohibition mode when a predetermined operation is being performed via a second operation unit installed inside the elevator shaft, The elevator according to Claim 1.

5. including a third operation unit configured to be switchable between a power supply state for supplying power to the driving control unit and a power cut-off state for cutting off power, wherein the driving control unit is set such that when the power cut-off state is set via the third operation unit during the execution of the prohibition mode, the prohibition mode continues when the power supply state is changed back again, The elevator according to Claim 1.

6. including a display unit for indicating the operating state of the car, wherein the driving control unit causes the display unit to display a display suggesting that the prohibition mode is being executed when the prohibition mode is being executed, The elevator according to Claim 1.

Images