Elevator system

Abstract

To provide an elevator system capable of eliminating confinement of passengers inside a car at an early stage.SOLUTION: An elevator system includes a car capable of moving up and down inside a hoistway, a control panel for controlling operation of the car, and a remote monitoring device provided in the hoistway or a machine room and configured to transmit operation information acquired from the control panel to an information center, wherein the remote monitoring device includes an acceleration sensor capable of measuring acceleration, and when the car suddenly stops at a place other than a landing, the control panel moves the car to a nearest landing and opens a door when the acceleration measured by the acceleration sensor becomes smaller than a restart threshold value.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to elevator systems. [Background technology]

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses an elevator system. In the event of an earthquake, the elevator car retreats to the nearest floor and opens the doors, allowing passengers to evacuate from the car. After that, an automatic diagnostic operation is performed, and a temporary restoration operation is initiated, in which the car's speed is reduced to respond to calls. Furthermore, if the car is unable to evacuate to the nearest floor and passengers become trapped inside the car, maintenance personnel can be dispatched as a priority. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 7226657 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, in the elevator system described in Patent Document 1, if a passenger is trapped, the car remains stopped in place until a maintenance worker arrives at the scene. Alternatively, the car remains stopped in place until a specified waiting time has elapsed. Therefore, even if the shaking from the earthquake subsides before the waiting time has elapsed, passengers will remain trapped in the car until a maintenance worker arrives or the waiting time has elapsed.

[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 quickly release passengers from being trapped inside the car. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The elevator system according to the present disclosure comprises a car that can move up and down inside the elevator shaft, a control panel that controls the operation of the car, and a remote monitoring device that is installed in the elevator shaft or the machine room and transmits operation information obtained from the control panel to an information center, the remote monitoring device having an acceleration sensor that can measure acceleration, and when the car suddenly stops at a location that is not a landing, the control panel moves the car to the nearest landing and opens the doors when the acceleration measured by the acceleration sensor becomes smaller than a restart threshold. [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] According to the present disclosure, if the car suddenly stops at a location other than a landing, the control panel moves the car to the nearest landing and opens the doors when the acceleration measured by the acceleration sensor becomes smaller than the restart threshold, thereby quickly resolving the situation where passengers are trapped inside the car. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] 1 is a configuration diagram of a building to which the elevator system according to the first embodiment is applied. [Figure 2] 1 is a functional block diagram of an elevator system according to a first embodiment. [Figure 3] 4 is a flowchart of an operation when an earthquake occurs in the elevator system according to the first embodiment. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a hardware configuration diagram of a control panel of the elevator system according to 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 configuration diagram of a building to which the elevator system according to embodiment 1 is applied. Fig. 2 is a functional block diagram of the elevator system according to embodiment 1. Fig. 3 is a flowchart of the operation of the elevator system according to embodiment 1 when an earthquake occurs.

[0011] In the elevator system 1 of FIG. 1, a hoistway 2 passes through each floor of a building B. A machine room 3 is provided directly above the hoistway 2. A plurality of landings 4 are provided on each of the plurality of floors of the building B.

[0012] The hoisting machine 5 is provided in the machine room 3. The car 6 is suspended inside the hoistway 2 by a main rope 7 wound around the hoisting machine 5. The car 6 can be raised and lowered inside the hoistway 2 by being driven by the hoisting machine 5.

[0013] The car 6 is provided with a safety device 6a and an alarm 6b. The safety device 6a transmits an emergency stop signal when a dangerous event occurs in the car 6. As an example, the safety device 6a can detect when the door of the car 6 opens while the car is moving. When the safety device 6a detects that the door of the car 6 opens while the car is moving, it transmits an emergency stop signal.

[0014] The alarm 6b is provided inside the car 6. The alarm 6b notifies information inside the car 6. The alarm 6b includes a display that visually displays information. The alarm 6b may further include a speaker that emits sound.

[0015] For example, earthquake detector 8 is provided at the bottom of elevator shaft 2. Earthquake detector 8 is capable of detecting shaking that exceeds a specified control threshold. That is, earthquake detector 8 detects whether an earthquake has occurred. When earthquake detector 8 detects shaking that exceeds the control threshold, it transmits a detection signal indicating that an earthquake has occurred.

[0016] The control panel 10 is provided in the machine room 3. The control panel 10 is capable of communicating with the hoisting machine 5, the devices in the car 6, and the earthquake detector 8.

[0017] The elevator system 1 further includes a remote monitoring device 20 and an information center device 30. The remote monitoring device 20 is provided near the control panel 10. The remote monitoring device 20 is capable of communicating with the control panel 10. The remote monitoring device 20 acquires operation information of the car 6 from the control panel 10 and transmits the information to the information center device 30 via a network. The remote monitoring device 20 is provided with an acceleration sensor 21. The acceleration sensor 21 is capable of measuring acceleration. Hereinafter, the absolute value of the measured acceleration will be used as the measurement result of the acceleration sensor 21.

[0018] The information center device 30 is installed in a building separate from building B. The information center device 30 is installed in an information center of a maintenance management company for the elevator system 1. For example, in the event of a disaster, a maintenance worker receiving an instruction from the information center may visit building B and perform elevator recovery work. The information center device 30 is capable of communicating with the remote monitoring device 20 via a network.

[0019] When the control panel 10 receives a detection signal from the earthquake detector 8, i.e., when it detects the occurrence of an earthquake, it starts controlled operation of the car 6. In controlled operation, the car 6 stops at the nearest evacuation floor and opens the doors. Thereafter, when the acceleration measured by the acceleration sensor 21 is smaller than the diagnostic threshold, the control panel 10 performs automatic diagnostic operation with the car 6 without waiting for the arrival of a maintenance worker. When the automatic diagnostic operation ends and the recovery conditions are met, the control panel 10 resumes normal operation of the car 6.

[0020] When the earthquake detector 8 detects the occurrence of an earthquake, if the car 6 is traveling in an area where stopping is not possible, such as an express zone, the car 6 will not be able to stop at the nearest floor within the specified evacuation time. In this way, if it is determined that the car 6 cannot stop at the platform 4 within the evacuation time when an earthquake occurs, the control panel 10 will make the car 6 stop suddenly at a location other than the platform 4. In this case, passengers may become trapped inside the car 6.

[0021] Furthermore, when the control panel 10 receives an emergency stop signal from the safety device 6a, it brings the car 6 to an emergency stop. At this time, the car 6 comes to an emergency stop at a location that is not a hall 4 on any floor. In this case, passengers may be trapped inside the car 6.

[0022] If the car 6 suddenly stops at a location that is not a landing 4 on any floor, the control panel 10 determines whether the acceleration measured by the acceleration sensor 21 is smaller than a specified restart threshold. If the acceleration is smaller than the restart threshold, the control panel 10 starts a restart operation. In the restart operation, the control panel 10 moves the car 6 to the landing 4 on the nearest floor and stops it there. Then, the control panel 10 opens the doors of the car 6.

[0023] 2, the control panel 10 has, as its functions, an operation control unit 11, a response unit 12, a determination unit 13, a notification unit 14, and a prediction unit 15. The operation control unit 11 controls the overall operation of the car 6. For example, when an emergency stop signal is received, the operation control unit 11 brings the car 6 to an emergency stop.

[0024] The response unit 12 has a function of responding to earthquakes, and controls the operation of the car 6 when an earthquake is detected. Specifically, when the response unit 12 receives a detection signal, it executes controlled operation. Thereafter, the response unit 12 executes automatic diagnostic operation.

[0025] The determination unit 13 performs various determinations. For example, when the car 6 suddenly stops at a location other than the landing 4 due to an emergency stop signal, the determination unit 13 determines whether the acceleration measured by the acceleration sensor 21 is smaller than the restart threshold. If it is determined that the acceleration measured by the acceleration sensor 21 is smaller than the restart threshold, the operation control unit 11 starts restart operation. Note that when the car 6 suddenly stops due to a detection signal, the response unit 12 may start restart operation.

[0026] The alarm unit 14 controls the alarm operation of the alarm 6b. The prediction unit 15 predicts the resumption time until the acceleration measured by the acceleration sensor 21 becomes smaller than the resumption threshold, based on the acceleration currently measured by the acceleration sensor 21. For example, the prediction unit 15 predicts the resumption time using a model representing the attenuation of shaking in building B and the currently measured acceleration.

[0027] Next, the operation performed by the elevator system 1 when an earthquake occurs will be described with reference to Fig. 3. The flowchart in Fig. 3 starts at any timing.

[0028] In step S1, the response unit 12 determines whether or not a detection signal has been received from the earthquake detector 8, i.e., whether or not an earthquake has been detected. If no earthquake is detected in step S1, the operation of step S1 is repeated. Note that the response unit 12 may proceed to the operation of step S2 by determining that an earthquake has been detected when a detection signal is received, without constantly making the determination.

[0029] If a detection signal is received in step S1, the determination unit 13 determines in step S2 whether or not the car 6 can arrive at the landing 4 of the nearest floor within the evacuation time.

[0030] If it is determined in step S2 that the car 6 cannot arrive at the hall 4 of the nearest floor within the evacuation time, then in step S3, the handling unit 12 brings the car 6 to an emergency stop at that location. That is, the handling unit 12 brings the car 6 to an emergency stop at a location that is not a hall 4 of any floor.

[0031] Thereafter, in step S4, the determination unit 13 determines whether the acceleration measured by the acceleration sensor 21 is smaller than the restart threshold. That is, the determination unit 13 determines whether the shaking has subsided. Here, the restart threshold may be set to a value greater than the diagnosis threshold. For example, the restart threshold is set to 10 gal.

[0032] If the acceleration is smaller than the restart threshold in step S4, the response unit 12 starts restart operation in step S5. That is, the response unit 12 starts the operation of moving the car 6 to the landing 4 on the nearest floor.

[0033] If it is determined in step S2 that the car 6 can arrive at the landing 4 of the nearest floor within the evacuation time, or after the operation of step S5, the operation of step S6 is performed. In step S6, the handling unit 12 moves the car 6 to the nearest floor and stops it there. Thereafter, the handling unit 12 opens the door of the car 6 and keeps it open. In this state, the handling unit 12 suspends the operation of the car 6.

[0034] Thereafter, in step S7, the determination unit 13 determines whether or not the diagnostic condition for the car 6 is satisfied. Specifically, the determination unit 13 determines whether or not the acceleration measured by the acceleration sensor 21 is smaller than the diagnostic threshold. If the acceleration measured by the acceleration sensor 21 is smaller than the diagnostic threshold, the determination unit 13 determines that the diagnostic condition is satisfied.

[0035] In step S7, if the acceleration measured by the acceleration sensor 21 is equal to or greater than the diagnostic threshold, the operation of step S7 is repeated. That is, the operation of the car 6 is stopped until the acceleration measured by the acceleration sensor 21 becomes smaller than the diagnostic threshold.

[0036] If the acceleration measured by the acceleration sensor 21 is smaller than the diagnostic threshold in step S7, then in step S8 the response unit 12 starts automatic diagnostic operation of the car 6. If the recovery conditions are met based on the data obtained in the automatic diagnostic operation, the operation control unit 11 resumes normal operation of the car 6. Thereafter, the operation of the flowchart ends.

[0037] If the acceleration is equal to or greater than the restart threshold in step S4, the operation of step S9 is performed. In step S9, the alarm unit 14 causes the alarm 6b to issue an alarm to wait until driving is resumed. Furthermore, the alarm unit 14 may cause the alarm 6b to notify the restart threshold together with the acceleration currently measured by the acceleration sensor 21. At this time, a waveform representing the time progression of acceleration measured by the acceleration sensor 21 after the sudden stop may be displayed on the display as the currently measured acceleration. Furthermore, the prediction unit 15 predicts the restart time based on the acceleration currently measured by the acceleration sensor 21. The alarm unit 14 may also cause the alarm 6b to notify the predicted restart time. After the operation of step S9, the operations from step S4 onwards are performed.

[0038] According to the first embodiment described above, the elevator system 1 includes a car 6, a control panel 10, and a remote monitoring device 20. The remote monitoring device 20 is provided with an acceleration sensor 21. Conventionally, when a car suddenly stops at a location other than a hall, it is necessary to wait for a maintenance worker to arrive or for a waiting time to elapse before a restart operation is performed to move the car to the nearest floor. In this embodiment, in such a case, when the acceleration measured by the acceleration sensor 21 is smaller than the restart threshold, the control panel 10 performs a restart operation by stopping the car 6 at the nearest hall 4 and opening the doors. This allows passengers to be quickly released from being trapped inside the car 6.

[0039] The elevator system 1 also includes an earthquake detector 8. The control panel 10 initiates restart operation based on the acceleration measured by the acceleration sensor 21, even if the car 6 is forced to a sudden stop after an earthquake is detected and unable to retreat to the nearest floor. This allows passengers to be quickly released from the car 6 during an earthquake. Furthermore, even after the waiting time has elapsed, large shaking exceeding the restart threshold may continue. In this case, the control panel 10 does not initiate restart operation, thereby improving safety.

[0040] Furthermore, the control panel 10 performs automatic diagnostic operation when the acceleration measured by the acceleration sensor 21 becomes smaller than the diagnostic threshold. The restart threshold is set to a value smaller than the diagnostic threshold. Until automatic diagnostic operation is performed, the car 6 keeps the doors open at the nearest evacuation floor, so no passengers are trapped inside the car 6. Therefore, there is no problem in waiting for automatic diagnostic operation to begin until the shaking of the building has sufficiently subsided. On the other hand, by setting the restart threshold to a value smaller than the diagnostic threshold, restart operation can be performed at an earlier stage. As a result, passengers trapped inside the car 6 can be quickly released.

[0041] The elevator system 1 further includes an alarm 6b. The control panel 10 causes the alarm 6b to notify passengers to wait until the elevator is restarted. The control panel 10 may also cause the alarm 6b to notify passengers of the currently measured acceleration and the restart threshold. The control panel 10 may also estimate the restart time and cause the alarm 6b to notify passengers of the restart time. This reduces the anxiety felt by trapped passengers.

[0042] The present disclosure can also be applied to a so-called machine-room-less elevator system in which a machine room 3 is not provided, and the hoisting machine 5, control panel 10, and remote monitoring device 20 are provided inside the hoistway 2. In this case, the acceleration sensor 21 is provided inside the hoistway 2 together with the remote monitoring device 20. Specifically, the acceleration sensor 21 is provided at the upper end or lower end of the hoistway 2.

[0043] Note that, in step S4 and subsequent steps of the flowchart in FIG. 3, if a specified waiting time has elapsed since the car 6 made a sudden stop, the operation control unit 11 or the corresponding unit 12 may initiate restart operation of the car 6. The waiting time is set to, for example, one minute. Conventionally, restart operation has been initiated when the condition that a waiting time of about one minute has elapsed after the sudden stop is met. If priority is given to resolving passenger entrapment as quickly as possible, restart operation may be performed after the waiting time has elapsed according to conventional standards, without waiting until the acceleration measured by the acceleration sensor 21 becomes smaller than the restart threshold.

[0044] 3, if the waiting time has elapsed since the sudden stop, the control panel 10 may reset the restart threshold to a larger value. For example, the restart threshold that was set to 10 gal may be set to 20 gal after step S9 and after the waiting time has elapsed. This makes it possible to quickly release passengers from being trapped inside.

[0045] Next, an example of hardware constituting the control panel 10 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a hardware configuration diagram of a control panel of the elevator system according to the first embodiment.

[0046] Each function of the control panel 10 may be realized by a processing circuit. For example, the processing circuit may include at least one processor 100a and at least one memory 100b. For example, the processing circuit may include at least one dedicated hardware 200.

[0047] When the processing circuit includes at least one processor 100a and at least one memory 100b, each function of the control panel 10 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 at least one memory 100b. The at least one processor 100a realizes each function of the control panel 10 by reading and executing the program stored in the at least one memory 100b.

[0048] 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 panel 10 may be realized by a processing circuit. For example, each function of the control panel 10 may be realized collectively by a processing circuit.

[0049] Some of the functions of the control panel 10 may be realized by dedicated hardware 200, and the other parts may be realized by software or firmware. For example, the function of the prediction unit 15 may be realized by a processing circuit as dedicated hardware 200, and functions other than the function of the prediction unit 15 may be realized by at least one processor 100a reading and executing a program stored in at least one memory 100b.

[0050] Thus, the processing circuitry implements each function of the control panel 10 using hardware 200, software, firmware, or a combination thereof.

[0051] To summarize the above explanation, possible configurations of the technology according to the present disclosure include the configurations listed below as appendices. (Appendix 1) A car that can ascend and descend inside the elevator shaft, a control panel that controls the operation of the car; a remote monitoring device that is provided in the elevator shaft or the machine room and transmits operation information acquired from the control panel to an information center; Equipped with the remote monitoring device has an acceleration sensor capable of measuring acceleration, When the car suddenly stops at a location other than a landing, the control panel moves the car to the nearest landing and opens the door when the acceleration measured by the acceleration sensor becomes smaller than a restart threshold. Elevator system. (Appendix 2) an earthquake detector provided in the elevator shaft and configured to detect an earthquake when shaking caused by an earthquake exceeds a control threshold; Further provided with The control panel includes: When the earthquake detector detects an earthquake, if the car can arrive at the landing of the nearest floor within the evacuation time, the car is stopped at the landing of the nearest floor and the door is opened, When the earthquake detector detects an earthquake, if the car cannot arrive at the landing of the nearest floor within the evacuation time, the car is brought to an emergency stop at a location other than the landing. 10. The elevator system of claim 1. (Appendix 3) When the acceleration measured by the acceleration sensor becomes smaller than a diagnostic threshold after the earthquake detector detects an earthquake and the car is evacuated to a landing at the nearest floor, the control panel causes the car to perform automatic diagnostic operation in the event of an earthquake, and returns the car to normal operation based on the result of the automatic diagnostic operation, The restart threshold is set to a value greater than the diagnostic threshold. 1. The elevator system of claim 2. (Appendix 4) an alarm that notifies information inside the car; Further provided with When the car suddenly stops at a location other than a landing, the control panel causes the alarm to notify the driver to wait until the car resumes operation. 4. The elevator system of claim 1. (Appendix 5) When the car suddenly stops at a location other than a landing, the control panel causes the alarm to notify the acceleration currently measured by the acceleration sensor and the restart threshold value. 10. The elevator system of claim 4. (Appendix 6) When the car suddenly stops at a location other than a landing, the control panel estimates a restart time until the acceleration measured by the acceleration sensor becomes smaller than the restart threshold based on the acceleration currently measured by the acceleration sensor, and causes the annunciator to notify the estimated restart time. 10. The elevator system of claim 4 or 5. [Explanation of symbols]

[0052] 1 elevator system, 2 hoistway, 3 machine room, 4 landing, 5 hoisting machine, 6 car, 6a safety device, 6b alarm, 7 main rope, 8 earthquake detector, 10 control panel, 11 operation control unit, 12 response unit, 13 judgment unit, 14 alarm unit, 15 prediction unit, 20 remote monitoring device, 21 acceleration sensor, 30 information center device, 100a processor, 100b memory, 200 hardware, B building

Claims

1. A car that can ascend and descend inside the elevator shaft, a control panel that controls the operation of the car; a remote monitoring device that is provided in the elevator shaft or the machine room and transmits operation information acquired from the control panel to an information center; Equipped with the remote monitoring device has an acceleration sensor capable of measuring acceleration, When the car suddenly stops at a location other than a landing, the control panel moves the car to the nearest landing and opens the door when the acceleration measured by the acceleration sensor becomes smaller than a restart threshold. Elevator system.

2. an earthquake detector provided in the elevator shaft and configured to detect an earthquake when shaking caused by an earthquake exceeds a control threshold; Further provided with The control panel includes: When the earthquake detector detects an earthquake, if the car can arrive at the landing of the nearest floor within the evacuation time, the car is stopped at the landing of the nearest floor and the door is opened, When the earthquake detector detects an earthquake, if the car cannot arrive at the landing of the nearest floor within the evacuation time, the car is brought to an emergency stop at a location other than the landing.

10. The elevator system of claim 1.

3. When the acceleration measured by the acceleration sensor becomes smaller than a diagnostic threshold after the earthquake detector detects an earthquake and the car is evacuated to a landing at the nearest floor, the control panel causes the car to perform automatic diagnostic operation in the event of an earthquake, and returns the car to normal operation based on the result of the automatic diagnostic operation, The restart threshold is set to a value greater than the diagnostic threshold.

3. The elevator system of claim 2.

4. an alarm that notifies information inside the car; Further provided with When the car suddenly stops at a location other than a landing, the control panel causes the alarm to notify the driver to wait until the car resumes operation. An elevator system according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

5. When the car suddenly stops at a location other than a landing, the control panel causes the alarm to notify the acceleration currently measured by the acceleration sensor and the restart threshold value.

5. The elevator system of claim 4.

6. When the car suddenly stops at a location other than a landing, the control panel estimates a restart time until the acceleration measured by the acceleration sensor becomes smaller than the restart threshold based on the acceleration currently measured by the acceleration sensor, and causes the annunciator to notify the estimated restart time.

5. The elevator system of claim 4.

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