Elevator system

Abstract

To provide an elevator system that can operate in response to long-period seismic motion and suppress a decrease in operation efficiency.SOLUTION: An elevator system comprises an elevator device, a server device, and a remote monitoring device. The server device receives long-period seismic motion data distributed by the Japan Meteorological Agency when an earthquake occurs and estimates the magnitude class of long-period seismic motion occurring in a target building. The control device includes an operation control unit that controls car operation using a response operation corresponding to the estimated magnitude class, and a determination unit that determines whether the absolute value of acceleration measured by an accelerometer in the remote monitoring device is smaller than a threshold value corresponding to the current response operation. If the absolute value of acceleration measured by the accelerometer is smaller than the threshold value corresponding to the current response operation, the operation control unit starts a response operation corresponding to a class with a smaller long-period seismic motion than the class corresponding to the current response operation.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an elevator system that operates in response to long-period seismic motion during an earthquake. [Background technology]

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses a long-period ground motion prediction system. With this system, when an emergency earthquake warning is issued, it is possible to predict the occurrence of long-period ground motion that may occur in a building based on the emergency earthquake warning and information about the building in which the elevator equipment is installed. This eliminates the need to install equipment to respond to long-period ground motion in each building. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2017-040607 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In the elevator system described in Patent Document 1, if a long-period earthquake motion is predicted to occur in a building, the elevator car installed in the building evacuates to the nearest floor. However, even if the prediction is incorrect and the building does not experience much long-period earthquake motion, the car continues to stop at the floor after evacuation. This can reduce the operating efficiency of the elevator system.

[0005] The present disclosure has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present disclosure is to provide an elevator system that can operate in response to long-period seismic motion and suppress a decrease in operating efficiency. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The elevator system according to the present disclosure comprises an elevator device provided in a target building, the elevator device comprising a car and a control device for controlling the operation of the car; a server device provided in a building other than the target building; and a remote monitoring device having an accelerometer and collecting information from the control device and transmitting it to the server device. The server device receives long-period ground motion data distributed by the Japan Meteorological Agency when an earthquake occurs, and estimates the magnitude class of the long-period ground motion that will occur in the target building based on the building information and the long-period ground motion data of the target building. The control device comprises an operation control unit that, when the magnitude of the long-period ground motion is estimated by the server device, controls the operation of the car with a response operation corresponding to the estimated magnitude class, and a determination unit that determines whether the absolute value of the acceleration measured by the accelerometer of the remote monitoring device is smaller than a threshold value corresponding to the current response operation. If the absolute value of the acceleration measured by the accelerometer is smaller than the threshold value corresponding to the current response operation, the operation control unit starts a response operation corresponding to a class in which the long-period ground motion is smaller than the class corresponding to the current response operation. [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] According to the present disclosure, the control device controls the operation of the car using a response operation corresponding to the magnitude of the class estimated by the server device. Furthermore, when the absolute value of the acceleration measured by the accelerometer is smaller than the threshold value corresponding to the current response operation, the operation control unit starts a response operation corresponding to a class with a smaller long-period seismic motion than the class corresponding to the current response operation. This makes it possible to perform a response operation to long-period seismic motion while suppressing a decrease in operating efficiency. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic diagram of an elevator system according to a first embodiment. [Figure 2] 1 is a functional block diagram of an elevator system according to a first embodiment. [Figure 3] 5 is a flowchart showing an example of control performed by the server device of the elevator system in the first embodiment. [Figure 4]4 is a flowchart of a first example of control performed by the control device of the elevator system in the first embodiment. [Figure 5] 6 is a flowchart of a second example of control performed by the control device of the elevator system in the first embodiment. [Figure 6] 1 is a hardware configuration diagram of a control device of an elevator system in the first embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0009] The embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In each drawing, the same or corresponding parts are designated by the same reference numerals. Duplicate descriptions of these parts will be appropriately simplified or omitted.

[0010] Embodiment 1 Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of an elevator system according to embodiment 1. Fig. 2 is a functional block diagram of the elevator system according to embodiment 1.

[0011] The elevator system 1 in Fig. 1 includes an elevator apparatus 2 installed in a building 50, which is a target building. The building 50 is provided with a hoistway 51 that passes through each floor. The elevator apparatus 2 includes a control device 3, a driving machine 4, a car 5, and an earthquake detector 6. The control device 3 controls the overall operation of the elevator apparatus 2 and controls the operation of the car 5. The driving machine 4 raises and lowers the car 5 inside the hoistway 51 via a main rope.

[0012] For example, earthquake detector 6 is provided at the bottom of elevator shaft 51. For example, earthquake detector 6 has three levels of resolution: acceleration below the acceleration indicating P waves, acceleration between the acceleration indicating P waves and the acceleration indicating S waves, and acceleration above the acceleration indicating S waves. When earthquake detector 6 detects P waves caused by an earthquake, it transmits a signal indicating the detection of P waves to control device 3. When earthquake detector 6 detects S waves caused by an earthquake, it transmits a signal indicating the detection of S waves to control device 3. When control device 3 receives a signal indicating the detection of P waves or a signal indicating the detection of S waves, it operates car 5 in accordance with the signal.

[0013] The elevator system 1 further includes a remote monitoring device 7 and a server device 8. The remote monitoring device 7 is installed in the building 50 near the control device 3. The remote monitoring device 7 is electrically connected to the control device 3 and is capable of communicating with the control device 3. The remote monitoring device 7 is capable of communicating with the server device 8 via a network. The remote monitoring device 7 mediates communication between the control device 3 and the server device 8. The remote monitoring device 7 collects information related to the operation and equipment of the elevator device 2 from the control device 3 and transmits the information to the server device 8 at regular intervals.

[0014] The remote monitoring device 7 includes an accelerometer 7a. The accelerometer 7a is capable of measuring acceleration. The resolution of the acceleration measured by the accelerometer 7a is higher than the resolution of the acceleration measured by the earthquake detector 6.

[0015] The server device 8 is provided in a building 60 separate from the building 50. The server device 8 is managed by a company that maintains and manages the elevator device 2. The server device 8 performs maintenance management of the elevator device 2 based on information relating to the operation and equipment of the elevator device 2 received from the remote monitoring device 7. The server device 8 is capable of communicating with an external device 9 via a network.

[0016] The external device 9 is a device that distributes information about earthquakes. For example, the external device 9 is a device that distributes emergency earthquake warnings provided by the Japan Meteorological Agency. The emergency earthquake warnings include long-period ground motion data related to long-period ground motion. For example, the long-period ground motion data may include at least one of the following information: the latitude and longitude depth of the epicenter, the magnitude, the time of the earthquake occurrence, and an area where long-period ground motion of Class 3 or higher is expected. The long-period ground motion data may also include at least one of the following information for each area: the maximum value of the long-period ground motion class, the long-period ground motion class by period of the long-period ground motion, the maximum value of the absolute velocity response spectrum value in the period band from 1.6 seconds to 7.8 seconds, and the maximum value of the absolute velocity response spectrum value for each individual observation point.

[0017] 2, the server device 8 has, as its functions, an early warning receiving unit 8a, an estimating unit 8b, and a command unit 8c. The early warning receiving unit 8a receives an emergency earthquake warning including long-period seismic motion data from an external device 9.

[0018] The estimation unit 8b stores in advance building information about the building 50. For example, the building information may include at least one of the latitude and longitude of the building's location, the building's height, and the building's structural type (S construction, RC construction, SRC construction, etc.). The estimation unit 8b may calculate the resonant frequency of the building 50 from the height and structure of the building 50.

[0019] Based on the building information and the long-period seismic motion data, the estimation unit 8b estimates a class of long-period seismic motion that indicates the magnitude of the long-period seismic motion of the building 50. For example, the classes include a first class, a second class, and a third class in order of increasing magnitude of the long-period seismic motion.

[0020] Grade 1 long-period earthquake motion corresponds to a moderately large tremor, and the following events may occur: Most people in a room will feel the tremor. Some people will be startled. Blinds and other hanging objects will sway violently.

[0021] Grade 2 long-period ground motion corresponds to large shaking, and the following phenomena may occur: Large shaking is felt indoors, and people feel the need to hold on to something. People may find it difficult to walk without holding on to something, and other movements may be hindered. Furniture with casters may move slightly. Dishes on shelves and books on bookshelves may fall.

[0022] Grade 3 long-period earthquake motion corresponds to extremely strong shaking, and the following may occur: It becomes difficult to stand. Furniture with casters moves significantly. Unsecured furniture may move, and unstable items may fall over. Partition walls may crack.

[0023] The command unit 8c transmits a command to the control device 3 via the remote monitoring device 7, which command includes the class estimated by the estimation unit 8b and instructs the control device 3 to perform a countermeasure operation corresponding to the class. At this time, the command unit 8c may determine a countermeasure operation corresponding to the estimated class and transmit a command including the content of the countermeasure operation to the control device 3.

[0024] For example, in the first response operation corresponding to the first class, car 5 operates at a slower speed than in normal operation. In the first response operation, control other than the slow speed of car 5, specifically control of car 5 responding to calls, is performed in the same way as in normal operation. In the second response operation corresponding to the second and third classes, car 5 continues to be stopped at a landing on one of the floors.

[0025] The control device 3 includes, as its functions, a receiving unit 10, an operation control unit 11, and a determination unit 12. The receiving unit 10 receives commands from the server device 8 via the remote monitoring device 7. The receiving unit 10 receives acceleration measurement values ​​from the accelerometer 7a at a specified period.

[0026] The operation control unit 11 controls the operation of the car 5. For example, the operation control unit 11 controls the content of normal operation of the car 5. The operation control unit 11 stores in advance the correspondence relationship between the long-period seismic motion class and the response operation. When receiving a command from the command unit 8c, the operation control unit 11 starts the response operation corresponding to the class included in the command. Thereafter, the operation control unit 11 starts the response operation based on the content determined by the determination unit 12.

[0027] The determination unit 12 stores in advance thresholds of acceleration corresponding to classes of long-period seismic motion. The first threshold corresponding to the first class is smaller than the second threshold corresponding to the second class. The second threshold may be smaller than or equal to the third threshold corresponding to the third class.

[0028] The determination unit 12 identifies the class of long-period seismic motion corresponding to the current response operation and retrieves the threshold value corresponding to the identified class. The determination unit 12 determines whether the absolute value of the acceleration measured by the accelerometer 7a is smaller than the threshold value corresponding to the current response operation. Here, the acceleration measured by the accelerometer 7a is the largest or smallest acceleration detected by the accelerometer 7a during each specified determination time. This is because, when shaking occurs periodically, the acceleration measurement value may fluctuate over time as a wave.

[0029] If the judgment unit 12 determines that the absolute value of the acceleration measured by the accelerometer 7a is smaller than the threshold value corresponding to the current response operation, the operation control unit 11 switches to a response operation corresponding to a class of long-period seismic motion that is one level smaller than the class corresponding to the response operation currently being performed, and starts the switched response operation.

[0030] Next, the control performed in the elevator system 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. Fig. 3 is a flowchart showing an example of control performed by the server device of the elevator system according to embodiment 1. Fig. 4 is a flowchart of a first example of control performed by the control device of the elevator system according to embodiment 1. Fig. 5 is a flowchart of a second example of control performed by the control device of the elevator system according to embodiment 1.

[0031] For example, the flowchart in FIG. 3 starts when an earthquake occurs that requires the issuance of an emergency earthquake warning.

[0032] In step S01, the early warning receiver 8a receives an earthquake early warning including long-period ground motion data from the external device 9. Then, in step S02, the estimation unit 8b estimates the class of long-period ground motion of the building 50 in which the elevator device 2 is installed. Then, in step S03, the command unit 8c transmits a command including the class of the estimated long-period ground motion to the control device 3.

[0033] The flowchart of FIG. 4 starts when a command is sent from the server device 8 to the control device 3.

[0034] In step S11, the receiving unit 10 receives a command from the server device 8. Then, in step S12, the operation control unit 11 starts controlling the operation of the car 5 in response to the level of long-period seismic motion included in the command. Then, in step S13, the determination unit 12 waits for a specified waiting time.

[0035] Then, in step S14, the determination unit 12 determines whether the absolute value of the acceleration measured by the accelerometer 7a is smaller than a threshold value corresponding to the current response operation. Specifically, if the first response operation is currently being performed, the determination unit 12 determines whether the absolute value of the measured acceleration is smaller than the first response threshold value. If the second response operation is currently being performed, the determination unit 12 determines whether the absolute value of the measured acceleration is smaller than the second response threshold value.

[0036] If the absolute value of the measured acceleration is equal to or greater than the corresponding threshold in step S14, the operations from step S13 onwards are repeated. Note that the waiting time when step S13 is performed after step S14 may be shorter than the waiting time when step S13 is performed after step S12.

[0037] If the absolute value of the measured acceleration is smaller than the corresponding threshold in step S14, the operation of step S15 is performed. In step S15, the operation control unit 11 starts a response operation corresponding to a class with a smaller long-period seismic motion than the class corresponding to the current response operation. Specifically, if the absolute value of the measured acceleration is smaller than the second threshold while the second response operation is being performed, the operation control unit 11 starts a first response operation corresponding to class 1, which has a long-period seismic motion that is one level smaller than class 2. If the absolute value of the measured acceleration is smaller than the first threshold while the first response operation is being performed, the operation control unit 11 starts normal operation, which is an operation corresponding to class 0, which has a smaller long-period seismic motion than class 1.

[0038] The operation of the flowchart ends after step S15. For example, if the first response operation is being performed at the end of the flowchart, the operation control unit 11 may continue the first response operation until a maintenance worker confirms safety on-site.

[0039] In the flowchart of FIG. 5, steps S11 to S15 are the same as those in the flowchart of FIG.

[0040] After step S15, in step S16, the operation control unit 11 determines whether or not the current operation is normal operation corresponding to class 0. If normal operation is currently being performed in step S16, the operation of the flowchart ends.

[0041] If it is determined in step S16 that the current operation is not normal operation, the operations from step S13 onward are repeated. That is, the control device 3 continues or changes the adaptive operation until normal operation is started, depending on the absolute value of the acceleration measured by the accelerometer 7a. Note that the waiting time when step S13 is performed after step S16 may be shorter than the waiting time when step S13 is performed after step S12.

[0042] According to the first embodiment described above, the elevator system 1 includes the elevator device 2, the remote monitoring device 7, and the server device 8. The server device 8 estimates the magnitude class of long-period ground motion occurring in the target building 50. The control device 3 includes an operation control unit 11 and a determination unit 12. When the absolute value of the acceleration measured by the accelerometer 7a is smaller than the threshold corresponding to the current response operation, the operation control unit 11 starts a response operation corresponding to a class of long-period ground motion smaller than the class corresponding to the current response operation. For example, in the past, even when there was almost no long-period ground motion, the response operation continued until manual confirmation work was completed. According to the elevator system 1 of this embodiment, when the long-period ground motion is smaller than the specified threshold, the elevator system 1 starts a response operation corresponding to the class of long-period ground motion smaller than the specified threshold. Therefore, the elevator system 1 can suppress a decrease in operating efficiency while performing response operation in response to long-period ground motion.

[0043] The classes include at least a first class and a second class in which the long-period seismic motion is greater than that of the first class. In particular, the first threshold corresponding to the first class is smaller than the second threshold corresponding to the second class. The operation control unit 11 moves the car 5 at a slower speed than in normal operation during the first response operation. The operation control unit 11 stops the car 5 at any of the landings during the second response operation. By performing the first response operation of the lower class while performing the second response operation, the elevator device 2 can start transporting passengers while ensuring the safety of the car 5. As a result, operation efficiency can be improved. Furthermore, passenger evacuation can be facilitated.

[0044] Furthermore, the adaptive operation corresponding to a class smaller than the first class is normal operation. That is, when the absolute value of the acceleration measured during the first adaptive operation becomes smaller than the first acceleration, the operation control unit 11 returns the car 5 to normal operation. This makes it possible to improve the operation efficiency.

[0045] The remote monitoring device 7 and the accelerometer 7a may not be located in the building 50 as shown in Fig. 1. The earthquake detector 6 may be located inside a machine room in the upper part of the building 50 instead of as shown in Fig. 1.

[0046] The control device 3 may be a control panel for the elevator device 2, or may be a group control panel for group-controlling a plurality of elevator devices 2 installed in the building 50.

[0047] The content of the response operation corresponding to the class may be arbitrarily changed by a manager of a maintenance company, the owner of the elevator device 2, or the like, via a web server (not shown) or the like. For example, the same control as normal operation may be performed in the first response operation corresponding to the first class, control may be performed to operate the car 5 at a low speed in the second response operation corresponding to the second class, and control may be performed to keep the car 5 stopped at a landing on any floor in the third response operation corresponding to the third class. The control performed in each response operation may also be arbitrarily changed.

[0048] Next, an example of hardware constituting the control device 3 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 is a hardware configuration diagram of the control device of the elevator system according to the first embodiment.

[0049] Each function of the control device 3 may be realized by a processing circuit. For example, the processing circuit includes at least one processor 100a and at least one memory 100b. For example, the processing circuit includes at least one dedicated hardware 200.

[0050] When the processing circuit includes at least one processor 100a and at least one memory 100b, each function of the control device 3 is realized by software, firmware, or a combination of software and firmware. At least one of the software and firmware is written as a program. At least one of the software and firmware is stored in the at least one memory 100b. The at least one processor 100a realizes each function of the control device 3 by reading and executing the program stored in the at least one memory 100b. The at least one processor 100a is also referred to as a central processing unit, processing device, arithmetic unit, microprocessor, microcomputer, or DSP. For example, the at least one memory 100b may be a non-volatile or volatile semiconductor memory such as RAM, ROM, flash memory, EPROM, or EEPROM, a magnetic disk, a flexible disk, an optical disk, a compact disk, a minidisk, or a DVD.

[0051] When the processing circuit includes at least one dedicated hardware 200, the processing circuit may be realized, for example, as a single circuit, a composite circuit, a programmed processor, a parallel programmed processor, an ASIC, an FPGA, or a combination thereof. For example, each function of the control device 3 may be realized by a processing circuit. For example, each function of the control device 3 may be realized collectively by a processing circuit.

[0052] Some of the functions of the control device 3 may be realized by dedicated hardware 200, and the other parts may be realized by software or firmware. For example, the function of the determination unit 12 may be realized by a processing circuit as dedicated hardware 200, and functions other than the function of the determination unit 12 may be realized by at least one processor 100a reading and executing a program stored in at least one memory 100b.

[0053] In this way, the processing circuitry implements the functions of the control device 3 using hardware 200, software, firmware, or a combination thereof.

[0054] Although not shown, each function of the server device 8 is also realized by a processing circuit equivalent to the processing circuit that realizes each function of the control device 3.

[0055] At least some of the functions of the control device 3 or the server device 8 may be implemented on a cloud server. In this case, the processing circuit is composed of multiple partial circuits. The multiple partial processing circuits are provided in each of the multiple devices that make up the cloud server. The multiple devices that make up the cloud server may each be provided in a different building. [Explanation of symbols]

[0056] REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 elevator system, 2 elevator device, 3 control device, 4 drive machine, 5 car, 6 earthquake detector, 7 remote monitoring device, 7a accelerometer, 8 server device, 8a early warning receiving unit, 8b estimation unit, 8c command unit, 9 external device, 10 receiving unit, 11 operation control unit, 12 determination unit, 50 building, 51 elevator shaft, 60 building, 100a processor, 100b memory, 200 hardware

Claims

1. an elevator device provided in a target building, the elevator device comprising a car and a control device that controls the operation of the car; a server device installed in a building other than the target building; a remote monitoring device having an accelerometer and configured to collect information from the control device and transmit the information to the server device; Equipped with The server device receives long-period seismic motion data distributed by the Japan Meteorological Agency when an earthquake occurs, and estimates the magnitude of the long-period seismic motion occurring in the target building based on the building information of the target building and the long-period seismic motion data; The control device an operation control unit that, when the magnitude of the long-period seismic motion is estimated by the server device, starts operation of the car in a corresponding operation corresponding to the magnitude of the estimated class; a determination unit that determines whether an absolute value of acceleration measured by the accelerometer of the remote monitoring device is smaller than a threshold value corresponding to a current response operation; and the operation control unit starts a response operation corresponding to a class having a smaller long-period seismic motion than the class corresponding to the current response operation when the absolute value of the acceleration measured by the accelerometer is smaller than a threshold value corresponding to the current response operation; Elevator system.

2. The classes estimated by the server device include a first class and a second class having a larger long-period seismic motion than the first class, The operation control unit In a first response operation corresponding to the first class, the car is moved at a speed slower than that in a normal operation; stopping the car at a landing in a second response operation corresponding to the second class; 10. The elevator system of claim 1.

3. a first threshold value corresponding to the first response operation is smaller than a second threshold value corresponding to the second response operation; 3. The elevator system of claim 2.

4. the operation control unit, when performing the first response operation, returns the car to normal operation if an absolute value of the acceleration measured by the accelerometer is smaller than a first threshold value corresponding to the first response operation; 4. The elevator system according to claim 2 or 3.

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