Elevator control method and elevator control program

Abstract

To improve convenience for users while maintaining the operation efficiency of an elevator even when a user mistakenly gets into a car different from the one designated. [Solution] An elevator control method in an embodiment accepts input of a destination floor from a destination floor registration device that allows a user to input a destination floor before boarding the elevator, registers a destination floor call, assigns a car from among multiple cars equipped in the elevator to respond to the destination floor call, and if it is determined that a user has mistakenly boarded a non-allocated car among the multiple cars that has arrived at a floor where there was a destination floor call based on the detection results of user detection devices provided for the allocated car and the non-allocated car, respectively, the destination floor specified in the destination floor call is added to the destination floor of the non-allocated car, and the destination floor specified in the destination floor call is deleted from the destination floor of the allocated car.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] An embodiment of the present invention relates to an elevator control method and an elevator control program. [Background technology]

[0002] In recent years, a technology has been developed that allows users to register a destination floor call from a destination floor registration device installed at a landing or the like before boarding an elevator. After calling the destination floor, the user can travel to the desired destination floor by boarding a car specified by the destination floor registration device. With such a technology, if a user mistakenly boards a car different from the one specified, the user may be unable to reach the desired destination floor.

[0003] Patent Document 1 relates to a technology for changing or canceling a destination floor automatically registered by a personal authentication device. Patent Document 2 relates to a technology for making an announcement to a user in a car when the user mistakenly boards a car different from the one specified. Patent Document 3 relates to a technology for lifting the prohibition on registering destination floor calls in a car only while the car door is open, allowing the user to register a car call for the destination floor again even if the destination floor registered in the destination floor registration device is different from the user's destination floor. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] JP 2012-524366 A [Patent Document 2] JP 2020-019602 A [Patent Document 3] JP 2003-292256 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] However, in the technology of Patent Document 1, after the personal authentication procedure, the user must change or cancel the destination floor again, forcing the user to go through a cumbersome procedure. In addition, in the technology of Patent Document 2, the user must get off the car once boarded and re-board the designated car. In addition, in the technology of Patent Document 3, as in the technology of Patent Document 1, the user must re-register the destination floor.

[0006] Thus, the techniques of Patent Documents 1 to 3 have the problem that users have to go through complicated procedures to transfer to the correct car and re-register the destination floor, which makes it take time for the user to reach the desired destination floor. Also, by allowing the re-registration of the destination floor, multiple responses are generated for one user, which reduces the efficiency of elevator operation.

[0007] The problem that this embodiment aims to solve is to provide an elevator control method and an elevator control program that can maintain elevator operation efficiency while increasing user convenience, even if a user mistakenly boards a car other than the one specified. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] In an embodiment of an elevator control method, a destination floor call is registered by receiving an input of a destination floor from a destination floor registration device that allows a user to input a destination floor before getting into the elevator, a car that responds to the destination floor call is assigned from among a plurality of cars equipped in the elevator, and when it is found that the user has mistakenly boarded the non-allocated car among the plurality of cars that has arrived at a floor where the destination floor call was made based on a detection result from a user detection device provided for each of the assigned car and the non-allocated car, the destination floor specified in the destination floor call is added to the destination floor of the non-allocated car, and the destination floor specified in the destination floor call is deleted from the destination floor of the assigned car. The user detection device is a load sensor capable of detecting the load of the car to be allocated and the load of the car not to be allocated, respectively, and when determining whether or not the user has boarded the car by mistake, if a first load sensor equipped in the car to be allocated does not detect an increase in the load of the car to be allocated and a second load sensor equipped in the car not to be allocated detects an increase in the load of the car not to be allocated, it is determined that the user has boarded the car not to be allocated by mistake. . [Brief description of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of an overall configuration of an elevator system according to an embodiment. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of an elevator control device according to an embodiment. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of the elevator control device according to the embodiment. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of the operation of the elevator system according to the embodiment. [Diagram 5] FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of the operation of the elevator system according to the embodiment. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating an example of a procedure of a car allocation process performed by the elevator control device according to the embodiment. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a procedure of a car allocation process performed by the elevator control device according to the first modification of the embodiment. [Figure 8] FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of an elevator control device according to the second modification of the embodiment. As illustrated in FIG. [Figure 9] FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of the operation of the elevator system according to the second modification of the embodiment. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of the operation of the elevator system according to the second modification of the embodiment. [Figure 11] FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing another example of the operation of the elevator system according to the second modification of the embodiment. [Figure 12] FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing another example of the operation of the elevator system according to the second modification of the embodiment. [Figure 13] FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a procedure of a car allocation process performed by the elevator control device according to the second modification of the embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0010] (Example of elevator system configuration) 1 is a diagram showing an example of an overall configuration of an elevator system 1 according to an embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the elevator system 1 according to the embodiment includes an elevator control device 10, a plurality of cars 50, a plurality of halls 60, and a hoistway 70.

[0011] The elevator shaft 70 is provided across multiple floors inside a building or the like in which the elevator system 1 is installed. The multiple cars 50 are configured to enable passengers to travel between different floors by ascending and descending in the elevator shaft 70. On each floor of the building or the like, a landing 60 is provided where passengers can board and disembark from the cars 50.

[0012] Within the elevator shaft 70, a rope 71, a counterweight 72, and a winch 73 are provided for each car 50.

[0013] Each car 50 is connected to a counterweight 72 via a rope 71. The rope 71 is stretched across a hoist 73, and the rope 71 is sent out by driving the hoist 73, so that the car 50 moves up and down in the hoistway 70 while balancing with the counterweight 72.

[0014] Each car 50 is provided with a car door 52, a camera 53, and a load sensor 54.

[0015] The car door 52 is provided at the entrance of the car 50. The car door 52 is in a closed state while the car 50 is moving in the elevator 70, and is in an open state when the car 50 arrives at a landing 60 on a predetermined floor, allowing passengers to get on and off the car 50.

[0016] The camera 53 is, for example, a surveillance camera that monitors the inside of the car 50. The camera 53 is provided at a position where it can capture an image of substantially the entire inside of the car 50, such as near the ceiling inside the car 50.

[0017] The load sensor 54 as a user detection device is provided, for example, on the underside of the outside of the car 50, and detects the weight of the entire car 50. Since the weight of the car 50 itself is known, the total weight of passengers in the car 50 can be detected by detecting the weight of the entire car 50. This makes it possible to estimate the number of users in the car 50 and the number of users getting on and off the car 50.

[0018] A destination floor registration device 61, a landing door 62, and a camera 63 are provided at each landing 60 on each floor.

[0019] The destination floor registration device 61 is configured to have a button indicating a destination floor, a monitor, etc. When a user at the landing 60 presses a predetermined destination floor button, the destination floor registration device 61 accepts the destination floor call, and transmits it to the elevator control device 10 described below and registers it. In addition, the destination floor registration device 61 notifies the user of the car 50 assigned to respond to the destination floor call by displaying it on a monitor, etc.

[0020] This allows the user to call the car 50 heading to the desired destination floor to the platform 60. Also, the user can travel to the desired destination floor by getting on the designated car 50.

[0021] In this way, the elevator system 1 of the embodiment employs a destination floor registration system (DCS: Destination Control System) that allows users to register destination floor calls before getting into the elevator. This allows the elevator system 1 to know the number of users and the destination floors in advance, enabling efficient elevator operation. As an example, by assigning different cars 50 to multiple users for different destination floors, the number of floors each car 50 stops at can be reduced, and the waiting time of users when using the elevator can be shortened.

[0022] Furthermore, in the elevator system 1 and other embodiments in which a DCS is adopted, for example, a destination floor call device that accepts destination floor calls can be removed from inside the elevator car 50, making it possible to achieve a simpler system configuration.

[0023] The landing door 62 provided at the landing 60 is provided at the entrance to the car 50 within the landing 60. The landing door 62 is in a closed state until the car 50 arrives at the landing 60, and when the car 50 arrives, the landing door 62 opens in conjunction with the car door 52 of the car 50. This allows users to get on and off the car 50.

[0024] The camera 63 provided at the platform 60 is, for example, a surveillance camera that monitors the platform 60. The camera 63 is provided at a position where it can capture an image of substantially the entire platform 60, such as near the ceiling of the platform 60.

[0025] The elevator control device 10 controls the operation of an elevator including the car 50 and the like. As an example, when a destination floor registration device 61 of a specific hall 60 accepts a destination floor call, the elevator control device 10 registers the destination floor call, and assigns a car 50 from among the multiple cars 50 to respond to the destination floor call, and causes the car 50 to respond to the destination floor call. In addition, the car number of the assigned car 50 and the like are notified to the destination floor registration device 61, which then displays them to the user.

[0026] The car 50 assigned to respond to a predetermined destination floor call moves to the landing 60 where the destination floor call was made under the control of the elevator control device 10, picks up the passenger and moves to the destination floor specified by the destination floor call.

[0027] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of a configuration of the elevator control device 10 according to the embodiment.

[0028] 2, the elevator control device 10 is configured as a computer including a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 11, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 12, and a ROM (Read Only Memory) 13. In addition, the elevator control device 10 includes a storage device 14 and a communication I / F (interface) 15, etc.

[0029] The CPU 11 is a hardware processor that controls the entire elevator control device 10. The RAM 12 is, for example, a volatile semiconductor memory, and functions as a primary storage device and serves as a work area for the CPU 11. The ROM 13 functions as a storage area in the elevator control device 10, and stores, for example, an elevator control program 13p that is executed by the CPU 11 and realizes the functions of the elevator control device 10. The information stored in the ROM 13 is retained even when the power to the elevator control device 10 is turned off.

[0030] The elevator control program 13p executed by the elevator control device 10 can be provided by being recorded in an installable or executable file format on a computer-readable recording medium such as a CD-ROM, a FD, a CD-R, or a DVD. The elevator control program 13p may also be provided or distributed via a network such as the Internet.

[0031] The storage device 14 is an HDD, an SSD, or the like, and functions as an auxiliary storage device for the CPU 11. The communication I / F 15 is a communication device or the like having a predetermined communication protocol. Through the communication I / F 15, the elevator control device 10 can transmit and receive information to and from, for example, a car door 52, a camera 53, and a load sensor 54 provided in the car 50, a hoist 73 in the elevator shaft 70, and a destination floor registration device 61, a hall door 62, and a camera 63 provided in the hall 60.

[0032] FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of a functional configuration of the elevator control device 10 according to the embodiment.

[0033] 3, the elevator control device 10 includes, as functional units, a registration unit 101, an allocation unit 102, an operation control unit 103, a mistaken boarding detection unit 104, and a storage unit 105. These functional units are realized, for example, by the CPU 11 included in the elevator control device 10 expanding an elevator control program 13p stored in the ROM 13 or the like into the RAM 12 and executing it.

[0034] However, some or all of the above-mentioned functional units of the elevator control device 10 may be configured with dedicated hardware such as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) or an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array).

[0035] The registration unit 101 registers a destination floor call from a user, when the destination floor registration device 61 receives the destination floor call. Information on the destination floor call registration is stored in the storage unit 105, for example.

[0036] When a destination floor call is registered, the allocation unit 102 allocates a car 50 to respond to the destination floor call based on the operation status of the multiple cars 50. The operation status of the multiple cars 50 includes the operation status previously set for each car 50 and stored in the memory unit 105, and real-time operation status obtained from each part of the elevator via the operation control unit 103, and an appropriate car 50 is allocated from among the multiple cars 50 according to these operation statuses.

[0037] Furthermore, when the erroneous boarding detection unit 104 described below detects that a user has erroneously boarded a car 50 different from the designated car 50, the allocation unit 102 appropriately changes the allocation of the car 50. As an example, the allocation unit 102 deletes the destination floor of the user who erroneously boarded the car 50 from the destination floors of the initially allocated car 50, and adds the destination floor of the user to the destination floor of the car 50 that the user erroneously boarded.

[0038] The operation control unit 103 controls each part of the elevator, such as the hoist 73, the car door 52, and the hall door 62. At this time, the operation control unit 103 performs various controls based on status information obtained from each part of the elevator and the boarding status of each car 50 obtained from the load sensor 54 via the erroneous boarding detection unit 104. This allows the elevator to be operated appropriately.

[0039] When a user who has called a destination floor from the destination floor registration device 61 mistakenly boards a car 50 different from the designated one, the erroneous boarding detection unit 104 detects the erroneous boarding of the car 50 based on the load of each car 50 obtained from the load sensor 54. The method of detecting erroneous boarding will be described later in detail.

[0040] The storage unit 105 stores the above-mentioned elevator control program 13p as well as control parameters and the like necessary for the operation of the elevator control device 10. The storage unit 105 also stores destination floor call registration information registered by the registration unit 101, operation statuses set for each car 50, and the like.

[0041] (Example of elevator system operation) Next, an operation example of the elevator system 1 according to the embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 4 and Fig. 5. Fig. 4 and Fig. 5 are explanatory diagrams showing an example of the operation of the elevator system 1 according to the embodiment.

[0042] In the example shown in Figures 4 and 5, of the two cars 50 (50a, 50b), the car 50a on the left side of the page is designated as car No. 1. The car 50a of the first car is equipped with a car door 52a, a camera 53a, and a load sensor 54a. Moreover, of the two cars 50 (50a, 50b), the car 50b on the right side of the page is designated as car No. 2. The car 50b of the second car is equipped with a car door 52b, a camera 53b, and a load sensor 54b.

[0043] As shown in Fig. 4, initially, car 50a of the first car is located on the first floor of the building with one user Ue on board. Car 50b of the second car is located on the second floor of the building with two users Ue on board. Under these circumstances, user U at platform 60 on the third floor inputs a destination floor call from destination floor registration device 61 provided at platform 60.

[0044] The elevator control device 10 of the embodiment registers the destination floor call, and assigns the first car 50a of the two cars 50a, 50b as the car 50 that responds to the call. The elevator control device 10 also causes a destination floor registration device 61 provided at a landing 60 on the third floor to display that the first car has been assigned.

[0045] As shown in FIG. 5, the elevator control device 10 causes the No. 1 car 50a assigned to the destination floor call from user U to arrive at the third floor where user U is located, and opens the No. 1 car door 52 and the landing door 62 corresponding to the arrival position of the car 50a.

[0046] It is assumed that around this time, car 50b of car No. 2 also arrives at platform 60 on the third floor and opens its door, regardless of the destination floor call from user U. Furthermore, it is assumed that user U mistakenly boards car 50b of car No. 2 instead of car No. 1 as specified.

[0047] In this case, if no other user Ue gets on or off the car 50a of the first car, the load sensor 54a of the first car will not detect an increase or decrease in the load of the car 50a of the first car. On the other hand, if no other user Ue gets on or off the car 50b of the second car, the load sensor 54b of the second car will detect that the load of the car 50b of the second car has increased by one person.

[0048] The erroneous boarding detection unit 104 of the elevator control device 10 detects the erroneous boarding of the user U who made the destination floor call based on the detection results of these load sensors 54a, 54b. That is, the erroneous boarding detection unit 104 determines that the user U who was supposed to board the car 50a of the first car has mistakenly boarded the car 50b of the second car, because no one has boarded the car 50a of the first car, even though the car has arrived at the landing 60 on the third floor in response to the destination floor call, and because the car 50b of the second car, which has also arrived at the landing 60 on the third floor, has experienced an increase in the load of one person.

[0049] When the erroneous boarding detection unit 104 detects that the user U has erroneously boarded a car, the allocation unit 102 of the elevator control device 10 reallocates the car 50 in response to the destination floor call from the user U. That is, the allocation unit 102 adds the destination floor specified by the user U to the destination floor of the car 50b of the second car. In addition, the allocation unit 102 deletes the destination floor specified by the user U from the destination floors of the car 50a of the first car.

[0050] The operation control unit 103 of the elevator control device 10 thereafter controls each of the cars 50a, 50b in accordance with the new allocation by the allocation unit 102. That is, the operation control unit 103 appropriately stops the car No. 2 car 50b that the user U mistakenly boarded at the destination floors specified by the user U, together with the destination floors of the other users Ue. In addition, the operation control unit 103 appropriately stops the car No. 1 car 50a that the user U was originally supposed to board at the destination floors of the other users Ue, without stopping it at the destination floor specified by the user U.

[0051] In this way, in the elevator system 1 of the embodiment, when an increase in load is detected only in one car 50 that is not the assigned car among multiple cars 50 that have arrived at a floor where a destination floor call has been made, and no increase or decrease in load is detected in the other cars 50 including the assigned car, it is possible to detect that a user U has boarded a wrong car, and the allocation is changed between multiple cars 50.

[0052] Therefore, the above-mentioned reallocation control by the elevator system 1 of the embodiment is applicable not only to the examples shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, but also to other situations in which it is possible to identify that the user U has boarded a wrong elevator.

[0053] (Example of elevator system processing) Next, a processing example by the elevator control device 10 of the embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 6. Fig. 6 is a flow diagram showing an example of a procedure of a car 50 allocation process by the elevator control device 10 according to the embodiment.

[0054] 6, when a destination floor call is received from the destination floor registration device 61, the registration unit 101 of the elevator control device 10 registers the destination floor call (step S101), and the allocation unit 102 allocates a car 50 that will respond to the destination floor call from among the multiple cars 50 (step S102). The allocation unit 102 also transmits the car number of the allocated car 50 to the destination floor registration device 61 and causes the destination floor registration device 61 to display it (step S103).

[0055] The operation control unit 103 causes the assigned car 50 to respond to the platform 60 from which the destination floor call was made (step S104). In addition, the erroneous boarding detection unit 104 determines whether or not the load of the car 50 that has arrived at the platform 60 has changed based on the detection result of the load sensor 54 of the car 50 (step S105).

[0056] If a change in load is detected in the elevator 50 that has arrived at the platform 60 in response to a destination floor call (step S105: Yes), the operation control unit 103 assumes that the user U who made the destination floor call has boarded the elevator 50 as specified, and causes the elevator 50 to travel to a floor including the destination floor specified in the destination floor call (step S106).

[0057] When no load change is found in the car 50 that has arrived at the landing 60 in response to the destination floor call (step S105: No), the erroneous boarding detection unit 104 judges whether or not another car 50 has arrived at the landing 60 (step S107). When another car 50 has arrived at the landing 60 (step S107: Yes), the erroneous boarding detection unit 104 judges whether or not a load change has occurred in the car 50 based on the detection result of the load sensor 54 of the car 50 (step S108).

[0058] If a load change is found in another car 50 other than the car 50 to be allocated (step S108: Yes), the erroneous boarding detection unit 104 determines that the user U has mistakenly boarded that car 50, and the allocation unit 102 adds the destination floor specified in the destination floor call to the destination floor of the car 50 into which the user has mistakenly boarded (step S109). In response to the re-allocation by the allocation unit 102, the operation control unit 103 drives the car 50 into which the user has mistakenly boarded to a floor including the destination floor specified in the destination floor call (step S110).

[0059] Furthermore, the allocation unit 102 deletes the destination floor specified in the destination floor call from the destination floors of the car 50 that was initially the target of allocation (step S111). Note that the process of step S111 may be performed at any timing after the erroneous boarding of the user U is detected by the erroneous boarding detection unit 104 in the process of step S108 described above. That is, the process of step S111 may be performed prior to the process of step S109, or in parallel with the process of step S109, or before the process of step S110.

[0060] However, by performing the processing of step S110 to determine that there is no change in the load of the originally assigned car 50 until the other car 50 that is presumed to have been mistakenly boarded by user U starts traveling from the platform 60, the possibility of user U being left behind can be reduced, and these cars 50 can be operated more appropriately.

[0061] On the other hand, if no load change is observed in the elevator 50 that has arrived at the platform 60 in response to the destination floor call (step S105: No), if there is no other elevator 50 that has arrived at the same platform 60 (step S107: No), or if there is no load change in the other elevators 50 (step S108: No), the erroneous boarding detection unit 104 determines, for example, whether a predetermined time has elapsed since the elevator 50 originally assigned to the elevator arrived at the platform 60 (step S112).

[0062] In this case, the processing from step S105 is repeated until a predetermined time has elapsed (step S112: No), and once the predetermined time has elapsed (step S112: Yes), the allocation unit 102 cancels the destination floor call of the elevator 50 that was originally allocated, without re-allocating it to another elevator 50, etc. (step S111).

[0063] This completes the car 50 allocation process by the elevator control device 10 of the embodiment.

[0064] (Overview) In recent years, elevator systems have begun to adopt DCS technology, which allows users to register destination floors in advance using a destination floor registration device installed at the elevator hall. With DCS technology, when a user gets into a designated elevator car, the elevator car automatically starts moving to the destination floor without the user having to call out the destination floor from inside the elevator.

[0065] However, if a passenger mistakenly boards a car other than the one specified, the passenger must, for example, operate a destination floor call device in the car to call the destination floor again. In elevator systems that use a DCS, destination floor call devices are often not provided in the car, and in such cases, the passenger must get off at a floor other than the destination floor and re-register the destination floor.

[0066] In this way, if a passenger gets on the wrong car, the user must go through complicated procedures, which not only delays the user's arrival at the destination floor, but also makes the elevator operation inefficient as the assigned car's response is wasted and multiple responses are required for one passenger.

[0067] According to the elevator control method of the embodiment, when a car 50 among a plurality of cars 50 arrives at a floor for which a destination floor call has been made, and it is found based on the detection results of load sensors 54a, 54b provided respectively on the assigned car 50a and the non-assigned car 50b that a user U has mistakenly boarded the non-assigned car 50b, the destination floor specified in the destination floor call is added to the destination floor of the non-assigned car 50b, and the destination floor specified in the destination floor call is deleted from the destination floor of the assigned car 50a.

[0068] As a result, the car 50a to be assigned does not stop at the destination floor specified in the destination floor call, so that the response of the car 50a to be assigned is not wasted, and the elevator operation efficiency can be maintained.

[0069] Furthermore, even if the user U mistakenly boards a car 50b other than the one designated, the user U does not have to go through the trouble of changing cars 50 or re-registering the destination floor, thereby improving the convenience for the user U.

[0070] According to the elevator control method of the embodiment, when the load sensor 54a, 54b provided on the assigned car 50a and the non-assigned car 50b does not detect the boarding of user U, but the load sensor 54b provided on the non-assigned car 50b detects the boarding of user U, it is determined that user U has mistakenly boarded the non-assigned car 50b.

[0071] In this way, by using the load sensor 54 to detect erroneous boarding by the user U, erroneous boarding can be easily detected by the change in load in the multiple cars 50a, 50b. In addition, since the load change in both the assigned car 50a and the non-assigned car 50b is compared for judgment, erroneous boarding can be detected with higher accuracy.

[0072] (Variation 1) Next, a processing example by the elevator control device of the first modified embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 7. The elevator control device of the first modified embodiment differs from the above-mentioned embodiment in that it does not assign a car to a destination floor registration when the operating status of the car satisfies a predetermined condition. Hereinafter, the same reference numerals are used for the same configurations as those of the above-mentioned embodiment, and the description thereof may be omitted.

[0073] FIG. 7 is a flow chart showing an example of a procedure of a car 50 allocation process performed by the elevator control device according to the first modification of the embodiment.

[0074] As shown in Fig. 7, the elevator control device of the first modification generally performs the same processes as the elevator control device 10 of the above-mentioned embodiment, except for additionally performing the processes of steps S201a and S213. That is, the processes of steps S201, and S202 to S212 shown in Fig. 7 are performed in the same manner as the processes of steps S101 to S112 shown in Fig. 6 of the above-mentioned embodiment.

[0075] Specifically, in the elevator control device of variant example 1, before the allocation unit 102 allocates cars 50 to respond to a destination floor registration, it refers to the operation status that is pre-set for multiple cars 50 in the elevator system and stored in the memory unit 105, and determines whether at least some of these cars 50 are set to operate between two floors including the floor where the destination floor call was made (step S201a).

[0076] If these elevators 50 are set for two-floor inter-floor operation, including the floor for which the destination floor call was made (step S201a: Yes), the elevator 50 among these elevators 50 that first arrives at the boarding point 60 for which the destination floor call was made is made to run to the other floor of the two-floor inter-floor operation, which is the destination floor specified in the destination floor call (step S213).

[0077] If none of the elevator cars 50 is set for two-floor operation including the floor for which the destination floor call was made (step S201a: No), the elevator control device of variant example 1 executes the processing from step S202 onwards, similar to the elevator control device 10 of the above-mentioned embodiment.

[0078] In this manner, the process of allocating the cars 50 by the elevator control device of the first modified example is completed.

[0079] According to the elevator control method of variant 1, when multiple cars 50 are set to operate between two floors, the destination floor specified in the destination floor call is added to the destination floor of the car 50 that has arrived at the floor where the destination floor call was made, without allocating a car 50 to respond to the destination floor call.

[0080] This simplifies control by the elevator control device, since it is not necessary to assign a car 50 to respond to a destination floor call under certain conditions, such as when the car 50 is reciprocating between two floors. Also, since a user can board a car 50 that has arrived at the landing 60 without worrying about whether the car 50 is the designated car 50 or not, it is possible to prevent users from boarding the wrong car.

[0081] According to the elevator control method of the first modification, other effects similar to those of the elevator control method of the above-mentioned embodiment can be obtained.

[0082] In the elevator control device of the above-mentioned modified example 1, when multiple cars 50 arrive at the landing 60 where a user is waiting during a shuttle operation between two floors, the car 50 in which an increase in load is recognized may be made to run to the destination floor of the user based on the detection results of the load sensors 54 provided in each of these cars 50. This makes it possible to identify the car 50 in which the user has boarded among the multiple cars 50 and move it to the destination floor, thereby preventing the other cars 50 from being operated unnecessarily.

[0083] (Variation 2) Next, an elevator system 2 according to a second modification of the embodiment will be described with reference to Figs. 8 to 13. The elevator system 2 according to the second modification is different from the above-described embodiment in that, when a user mistakenly boards a car, it is determined whether or not to reallocate the car 50 depending on the running direction of the car 50 into which the user mistakenly boarded. In the following drawings, configurations similar to those in the above-described embodiment are given the same reference numerals, and descriptions thereof may be omitted.

[0084] FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing an example of a functional configuration of an elevator control device 20 according to the second modification of the embodiment.

[0085] As shown in FIG. 8, the elevator control device 20 of the second modification includes an allocation unit 202 and an operation control unit 203 instead of the allocation unit 102 and the operation control unit 103 included in the elevator control device 10 of the above-described embodiment.

[0086] In the case where a user mistakenly boards a car, the allocation unit 202 of the second modified example determines whether the traveling direction of the car 50 that the user mistakenly boarded matches the direction of the destination floor specified by the user in the destination floor call.

[0087] That is, when the car 50 where the erroneous boarding occurred is heading to a higher floor and the destination floor specified by the user is also on a higher floor, the allocation unit 202 determines that the running direction of the car 50 and the direction of the destination floor specified by the user match. On the other hand, when the car 50 where the erroneous boarding occurred is heading to a higher floor and the destination floor specified by the user is on a lower floor, the allocation unit 202 determines that the running direction of the car 50 and the direction of the destination floor specified by the user do not match, that is, they are opposite directions.

[0088] Furthermore, if the traveling direction of the car 50 in which the erroneous boarding occurred coincides with the direction of the destination floor specified by the user, the allocation unit 202 adds the user's destination floor to the destination floor of the car 50 in which the erroneous boarding occurred, and deletes the user's destination floor from the destination floor of the car 50 that was originally assigned, as in the above-described embodiment.

[0089] In addition, the allocation unit 202 does not reallocate the car 50 when the traveling direction of the car 50 in which the erroneous boarding occurred is opposite to the direction of the destination floor designated by the user.

[0090] The operation control unit 203 of the second modification, like the above-described embodiment, controls the hoist 73, the car door 52, and the hall door 62, as well as the notification device 55. In the elevator system 2 of the second modification (see FIG. 9 etc.), the notification device 55 is a speaker or the like provided in each car 50 and makes a predetermined announcement inside the car 50.

[0091] If the traveling direction of the car 50 in which the user mistakenly boarded is opposite to the direction of the destination floor specified by the user, the operation control unit 203 notifies the user in the car 50 in which the user mistakenly boarded by using an alarm device 55.

[0092] 9 and 10 are explanatory diagrams showing an example of the operation of the elevator system 2 according to the second modification of the embodiment.

[0093] In the example shown in Figures 9 and 10, of the two cars 50 (50a, 50b), the car 50a on the left side of the page is designated as car No. 1. The car 50a of the first car is equipped with a car door 52a, a camera 53a, a load sensor 54a, and an alarm device 55a. Moreover, of the two cars 50 (50a, 50b), the car 50b on the right side of the page is designated as car No. 2. The car 50b of the second car is equipped with a car door 52b, a camera 53b, a load sensor 54b, and an alarm device 55b.

[0094] As shown in Fig. 9, initially, the elevator car 50a of the first car is located on the first floor of the building with one user Ue on board and heading to a higher floor. The elevator car 50b of the second car is located on the third floor of the building with two users Ue on board and heading to a lower floor. Under these circumstances, a user U at a boarding platform 60 on the second floor inputs a destination floor call with the third floor as the destination floor from a destination floor registration device 61 provided at the boarding platform 60.

[0095] The elevator control device 20 of the second modification registers the destination floor call, and assigns the first car 50a of the two cars 50a, 50b as the car 50 that will respond to the call. The elevator control device 20 also causes the destination floor registration device 61 provided at the landing 60 on the second floor to display that the first car has been assigned.

[0096] As shown in FIG. 10, the elevator control device 20 causes the No. 1 car 50a assigned to the destination floor call from user U to arrive at the No. 2 floor where user U is located, and opens the No. 1 car door 52 and the landing door 62 corresponding to the arrival position of the car 50a.

[0097] It is assumed that around this time, car 50b of car No. 2 also arrives at platform 60 on the second floor and opens its door, regardless of the destination floor call from user U. Furthermore, it is assumed that user U mistakenly boards car 50b of car No. 2 instead of car No. 1 as specified.

[0098] The erroneous boarding detection unit 104 of the elevator control device 20 determines that user U, who was supposed to board car 50a of the first car, has mistakenly boarded car 50b of the second car, because the load sensor 54a installed in car 50a, which is the assigned machine, did not detect a change in load, and the load sensor 54b installed in car 50b, which is not the assigned machine, detected an increase in load.

[0099] When the erroneous boarding detection unit 104 detects that user U has erroneously boarded a train, the allocation unit 202 of the second modified example judges whether the running direction of the car 50b of the second train that user U erroneously boarded coincides with the direction of the destination floor specified by user U. In this example, the running direction of the car 50b of the second train is toward the lower floors, and the destination floor specified by user U is the third floor, which is an upper floor. Therefore, the allocation unit 202 judges that the running direction of the car 50b of the second train is opposite to the direction of the destination floor of user U.

[0100] In this case, the allocation unit 202 does not reallocate the elevators 50, such as adding the user's destination floor to the elevator 50b of the second elevator and deleting the user's destination floor from the elevator 50a of the first elevator.

[0101] In the elevator control device 20 of the second modification, instead of reassigning the car 50, the operation control unit 203 notifies the user U in the car 50b that he has mistakenly boarded the car by using the notification device 55b provided in the car 50b of the second car that the user U mistakenly boarded. This allows the user U to notice that he has boarded the car by mistake, and urges the user U to transfer to the correct car 50a according to the initial allocation.

[0102] After that, the operation control unit 203 continues the running of the No. 1 car 50a to the upper floor and the running of the No. 2 car 50b to the lower floor. At this time, before the cars 50a and 50b start running, the elevator control device 20 may again compare the detection result of the load sensor 54a of the car 50a with the detection result of the load sensor 54b of the car 50b to confirm that the user U has transferred to the correct car 50a.

[0103] 11 and 12 are explanatory diagrams showing another example of the operation of the elevator system 2 according to the modified example 2 of the embodiment. In the example shown in Fig. 11 and Fig. 12, of the two cars 50 (50a, 50b), the car 50a on the left side of the paper is No. 1, and the car 50b on the right side of the paper is No. 2.

[0104] As shown in Fig. 11, initially, the elevator car 50a of the first car is located on the first floor of the building with one user Ue on board and heading to a higher floor. The elevator car 50b of the second car is located on the first floor of the building with two users Ue on board and heading to a higher floor. Under these circumstances, a user U at a boarding platform 60 on the second floor inputs a destination floor call with the destination floor being the third floor from a destination floor registration device 61 provided at the boarding platform 60.

[0105] The elevator control device 20 of the second modification registers the destination floor call, and assigns the first car 50a of the two cars 50a, 50b as the car 50 that will respond to the call. The elevator control device 20 also causes the destination floor registration device 61 provided at the landing 60 on the second floor to display that the first car has been assigned.

[0106] As shown in FIG. 10, the elevator control device 20 causes the No. 1 car 50a assigned to the destination floor call from user U to arrive at the No. 2 floor where user U is located, and opens the No. 1 car door 52 and the landing door 62 corresponding to the arrival position of the car 50a.

[0107] It is assumed that around this time, car 50b of car No. 2 also arrives at platform 60 on the second floor and opens its door, regardless of the destination floor call from user U. Furthermore, it is assumed that user U mistakenly boards car 50b of car No. 2 instead of car No. 1 as specified.

[0108] The erroneous boarding detection unit 104 of the elevator control device 20 determines that user U, who was supposed to board car 50a of the first car, has mistakenly boarded car 50b of the second car, because the load sensor 54a installed in car 50a, which is the assigned machine, did not detect a change in load, and the load sensor 54b installed in car 50b, which is not the assigned machine, detected an increase in load.

[0109] When the erroneous boarding detection unit 104 detects that user U has erroneously boarded a train, the allocation unit 202 of the second modified example judges whether the running direction of the car 50b of the second train that user U erroneously boarded coincides with the direction of the destination floor specified by user U. In this example, the running direction of the car 50b of the second train is toward the upper floors, and the destination floor specified by user U is also the third floor, which is an upper floor. Therefore, the allocation unit 202 judges that the running direction of the car 50b of the second train coincides with the direction of the destination floor of user U.

[0110] In this case, the allocation unit 202 performs reallocation of the car 50, such as adding the destination floor of the user to the car 50b of the second car and deleting the destination floor of the user from the car 50a of the first car, as in the above embodiment. Therefore, the notification device 55a of the car 50b of the second car does not notify the erroneous boarding.

[0111] The operation control unit 203 continues the running of the No. 1 car 50a to the upper floors and appropriately stops the car 50a at other destination floors except the destination floor of the user. In addition, the operation control unit 203 continues the running of the No. 2 car 50b to the upper floors and appropriately stops the car 50b at destination floors including the destination floor of the user.

[0112] FIG. 13 is a flow diagram showing an example of a procedure of a car 50 allocation process performed by the elevator control device 20 according to the second modification of the embodiment.

[0113] As shown in Fig. 13, the elevator control device 20 of the second modification additionally performs the processes of steps S308a, S308b, and S308c in addition to the processes shown in Fig. 6 of the above-mentioned embodiment, to determine whether or not to reallocate the car 50 in response to the erroneous boarding. That is, the processes of steps S301 to S308, and S309 to S312 shown in Fig. 13 are performed in the same manner as the processes of steps S101 to S112 shown in Fig. 6 of the above-mentioned embodiment.

[0114] Specifically, in the elevator control device 20 of the second variant example, when a destination floor is registered and a user mistakenly boards another car 50 instead of the assigned car 50 (steps S301 to S308), the allocation unit 202 determines whether the traveling direction of the car 50 that the user mistakenly boarded coincides with the direction of the user's destination floor (step S308a).

[0115] If the traveling direction of the car 50 where the erroneous boarding occurred matches the direction of the user's destination floor (step S308a: Yes), the allocation unit 202 executes the processing from step S309 onwards, as in the elevator control device 10 of the above-mentioned embodiment, and reallocates the car 50.

[0116] If the running direction of the car 50 where the erroneous boarding occurred is opposite to the direction of the destination floor of the user (step S308a: No), the allocation unit 202 judges whether or not another destination floor is registered in the car 50 where the erroneous boarding occurred (step S308b). Even if another destination floor is not registered (step S308b: No), the allocation unit 202 executes the process from step S309 onwards and reallocates the car 50, as in the elevator control device 10 of the above-mentioned embodiment. That is, in this case, the running direction of the car 50 is changed.

[0117] On the other hand, if another destination floor is registered for the car 50 where the erroneous boarding occurred (step S308b: Yes), priority is given to maintaining the running direction of the car 50. That is, the allocation unit 202 does not reassign the car 50, and the car 50 continues to move in the original running direction. Prior to that, the operation control unit 203 notifies the user in the car 50 that they have boarded the car by mistake, using the notification device 55 of the car 50 (step S308c).

[0118] After that, the operation control unit 203 causes the elevator car 50, which was initially assigned to the destination floor call of the user, to travel to the destination floor of the user (step S306).

[0119] In this manner, the process of allocating the cars 50 by the elevator control device 20 according to the second modification is completed.

[0120] According to the elevator control method of variant example 2, when it is found that user U has mistakenly boarded a non-allocated car 50b, it is determined whether or not other destination floors of the non-allocated car 50b are in the same direction as the destination floor specified in the destination floor call, and then it is determined whether or not to add the destination floor specified in the destination floor call to the destination floor of the non-allocated car 50b and to delete the destination floor specified in the destination floor call from the destination floors of the allocated car 50a.

[0121] This makes it possible to prevent the original running direction of the car 50a in which a passenger has erroneously boarded from being changed due to reassignment, thereby improving the operation efficiency of the elevator system 2.

[0122] According to the elevator control method of variant example 2, even if it is found that user U has mistakenly boarded a non-allocated car 50b, if the other destination floor of the non-allocated car 50b is in the opposite direction to the destination floor specified in the destination floor call, the destination floor specified in the destination floor call is not added to the destination floor of the non-allocated car 50b, nor is the destination floor specified in the destination floor call removed from the destination floor of the allocated car 50a, and the alarm device 55b installed in the non-allocated car 50b alerts user U that he has boarded by mistake.

[0123] This makes it possible to inform the user U that he or she has boarded the wrong car and to encourage the user U to transfer to the correct car 50a. In addition, the original running direction of the car 50a in which the user has boarded the wrong car can be maintained, and the operation efficiency of the elevator system 2 can be further improved.

[0124] According to the elevator control method of the second modification, other effects similar to those of the elevator control method of the above-mentioned embodiment can be obtained.

[0125] In the above-described embodiment and modified examples 1 and 2, the load sensor 54 provided in each car 50 is used to detect a user getting on or off by mistake. However, the camera 53 provided in each car 50 and the camera 63 provided at the landing 60 may be used as a user detection device for detecting a user getting on or off a specific car 50.

[0126] In this case, erroneous boarding may be detected by comparing images from both the camera 53 installed in the car 50 to be allocated and the camera 53 installed in the car 50 not to be allocated. Alternatively, erroneous boarding may be detected by using the camera 63 at the platform 60 when a user is not permitted to board the car 50 to be allocated and is permitted to board the car 50 not to be allocated. Alternatively, erroneous boarding may be detected by using both the camera 53 at the car 50 and the camera 63 at the platform 60.

[0127] Although some embodiments of the present invention have been described, these embodiments are presented as examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, substitutions, and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. These embodiments and their modifications are included in the scope and spirit of the invention, and are included in the scope of the invention and its equivalents described in the claims. [Explanation of symbols]

[0128] 1,2...elevator system, 10,20...elevator control device, 13p...elevator control program, 50...car, 53,63...camera, 54...load sensor, 55...alarm device, 61...destination floor registration device, 101...registration unit, 102,202...allocation unit, 103,203...operation control unit, 104...misboarding detection unit, 105...memory unit.

Claims

1. receiving an input of a destination floor from a destination floor registration device that allows a user to input a destination floor before getting into the elevator, and registering a destination floor call; assigning a car to respond to the destination floor call from among a plurality of cars equipped in the elevator; among the plurality of cars, when it is found that the user mistakenly boarded the non-allocated car for a car that has arrived at the floor where the destination floor call was made, based on the detection results of user detection devices provided for the allocated car and the non-allocated car, respectively, the destination floor specified in the destination floor call is added to the destination floor of the non-allocated car, and the destination floor specified in the destination floor call is deleted from the destination floor of the allocated car, The user detection device includes: a load sensor capable of detecting a load of the car to be assigned and a load of the car not to be assigned, When determining whether the user has boarded the wrong train, A first load sensor provided in the car to be assigned does not detect an increase in the load of the car to be assigned, When an increase in the load of the non-allocation car is detected by a second load sensor provided in the non-allocation car, It is determined that the user has mistakenly boarded the car that is not the target of the allocation. An elevator control method.

2. the plurality of cars includes a car configured to operate between two floors; the car operating between the second floors is excluded from the allocation, and when there is a destination floor call on any of the second floors, the destination floor designated by the destination floor call is added to the destination floor of the car operating between the second floors that has arrived at the floor on which the destination floor call was made; 2. The elevator control method according to claim 1.

3. When two or more elevators for second-floor inter-floor operation arrive at the floor where the destination floor call was made, the destination floor specified in the destination floor call is added to the destination floor of the elevator in which the passenger detection device detects that the passenger is boarding among the two or more elevators.

3. The elevator control method according to claim 2.

4. when it is found that the user has mistakenly boarded the non-allocated car, it is determined whether or not another destination floor of the non-allocated car is in the same direction as the destination floor specified in the destination floor call, and then it is determined whether or not to add the destination floor specified in the destination floor call to the destination floors of the non-allocated car and to delete the destination floor specified in the destination floor call from the destination floors of the allocated car; 2. The elevator control method according to claim 1.

5. Even if it is found that the user has mistakenly boarded the non-allocated car, if the other destination floor of the non-allocated car is in the opposite direction to the destination floor specified in the destination floor call, the destination floor specified in the destination floor call is not added to the destination floor of the non-allocated car, nor is the destination floor specified in the destination floor call deleted from the destination floor of the allocated car, and an alarm device provided in the non-allocated car notifies the user that he or she has mistakenly boarded the car.

5. The elevator control method according to claim 4.

6. A program to be executed by a computer of an elevator control device, a process of receiving an input of a destination floor from a destination floor registration device that allows a user to input a destination floor before getting into the elevator, and registering a destination floor call; A process of allocating a car to respond to the destination floor call from among a plurality of cars equipped in the elevator; when it is found that the user mistakenly boarded a car that has arrived at the floor where the destination floor call was made among the plurality of cars and that is not an assigned car based on the detection results of user detection devices provided for each of the assigned car and the non-assigned car, the computer is caused to execute a process of adding the destination floor specified in the destination floor call to the destination floors of the non-assigned car and deleting the destination floor specified in the destination floor call from the destination floors of the assigned car; The user detection device includes: a load sensor capable of detecting a load of the car to be assigned and a load of the car not to be assigned, When determining whether the user has boarded the wrong train, A first load sensor provided in the car to be assigned does not detect an increase in the load of the car to be assigned, When an increase in the load of the non-allocation car is detected by a second load sensor provided in the non-allocation car, causing the computer to execute a process of determining that the user has mistakenly boarded the car that is not the target of the allocation; Elevator control program.

Images