Elevator system and elevator control method

Abstract

To prevent elevator confinement from occurring even when supplied power decreases while an elevator is driven by electric power from a vehicle such as an electric car.SOLUTION: An elevator system comprises a power input unit 301 that receives power from a vehicle equipped with a power supply function and drives the elevator with the supplied power, a transmitting / receiving unit 302 that receives a vehicle disconnection notice signal or a power reduction signal indicating that the power supplied to the power input unit 301 is below a predetermined threshold, a determining unit 307 that determines whether an elevator car is moving between floors when the transmitting / receiving unit 302 receives the power reduction signal or the disconnection notice signal, and an elevator control unit 303 that stops the car at the nearest floor and stops operating the elevator after the door opens when the determining unit 307 determines that the car is moving.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

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

[0002] 2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, battery-powered electric vehicles have become increasingly popular, and the installation of charging equipment for electric vehicles in large facilities such as shopping centers, apartment buildings, and office buildings has also become increasingly popular. This charging equipment is usually used to charge electric vehicles, but a product called a hybrid electric vehicle charging equipment has also been developed that can switch from charging to discharging in the event of a power outage in the building, using the electric vehicle's battery to supply power to the equipment within the building.

[0003] On the other hand, many of the buildings mentioned above are equipped with elevators as lift facilities, and in the event of a power outage, the elevators are often equipped with equipment that allows them to run to the nearest floor using batteries to prevent passengers from being trapped inside. However, the batteries installed in elevators are basically designed to prevent people from becoming trapped inside and have a small capacity, so after the elevator reaches the nearest floor, it stops operating until the power is restored.

[0004] Patent Document 1 discloses an interlocking control technology that uses a hybrid electric vehicle charging facility to supply power from an electric vehicle to an elevator, allowing the elevator to run even during a power outage. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] JP 2015-51844 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] As described in Patent Document 1, it is possible to enable an elevator to run during a power outage by supplying power from an electric vehicle to an elevator using a hybrid electric vehicle charging facility. In addition, in the technology described in Patent Document 1, when the remaining capacity of the battery in the electric vehicle becomes low, control is performed to select whether to reduce the elevator's running speed or to stop the elevator.

[0007] However, the technology described in Patent Document 1, while it performs processing to slow down the elevator's travel speed or stop the elevator when the remaining battery power is low, does not take into consideration elevator control when the battery is depleted.

[0008] In other words, if the power supply from the electric vehicle is cut off and the elevator stops with people inside, they will become trapped. However, in this case, the elevator can be operated to the nearest floor using the battery installed in the elevator, preventing people from being trapped for long periods of time. In this way, it is assumed that the elevator will operate to the nearest floor at least once (multiple times in the case of intermittent power outages) using the built-in battery when a power outage occurs. In this case, if the capacity of the built-in battery of the elevator is low and it becomes impossible to supply power from either the electric vehicle or the elevator's own battery, the elevator may not complete its operation to the nearest floor, and there is a risk that passengers may be trapped inside.

[0009] Furthermore, older elevators may not be equipped with emergency batteries, and in such cases, a cutoff in the power supply from the electric vehicle could lead to passengers being trapped inside.

[0010] An object of the present invention is to provide an elevator system and an elevator control method that prevent elevator entrapment from occurring even when the power supply from a vehicle such as an electric vehicle drops. [Means for solving the problem]

[0011] In order to solve the above problems, for example, the configurations described in the claims are adopted. The present application includes multiple means for solving the above-mentioned problems, and one example is an elevator system to which a vehicle equipped with a battery is connected and capable of driving an elevator with power supplied from the vehicle, the system comprising: a power input unit that receives power from the vehicle and drives the elevator with the supplied power; a transceiver unit that receives a power reduction signal or a car separation warning signal indicating that the power supplied to the power input unit is below a predetermined threshold; a determination unit that determines whether the elevator car is moving between floors when the transceiver unit receives the power reduction signal or the separation warning signal; and an elevator control unit that stops the car at the nearest floor and ceases operation of the elevator after the doors open when the determination unit determines that the elevator car is moving. Here, power is supplied to the power input unit via a charging / discharging device corresponding to the battery installed in the vehicle, and when the elevator control unit stops the car at the nearest floor and opens the door after the judgment by the judgment unit, the transmitting / receiving unit transmits an elevator arrival and door open signal to the charging / discharging device, and the charging / discharging device receiving the elevator arrival and door open signal permits the stopping of power supply from the vehicle or the disconnection of the vehicle. Effect of the Invention

[0012] According to the present invention, it is possible to prevent people from being trapped inside an elevator due to a sudden interruption in the power supply from an electric vehicle or the like while the elevator is moving. Problems, configurations and effects other than those described above will become apparent from the following description of the embodiments. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0013] [Figure 1] 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of an elevator system and a charge / discharge device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. [Diagram 2] 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of a control device for an elevator system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing signals transmitted and received between an electric vehicle charging and discharging equipment and an elevator-side transceiver unit according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4] 5 is a flowchart showing an example of a process from start to stop of battery power supply according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 5]1 is a diagram showing a display example of a display panel of an electric vehicle charging / discharging equipment according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. [Figure 6] FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of an elevator system according to another embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0014] An elevator system according to one embodiment of the present invention (hereinafter referred to as "this embodiment") and an elevator control method performed using the system will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0015] [Elevator system and charging / discharging device configuration] First, with reference to FIG. 1, the configurations of an elevator system 3 of this embodiment and a charge / discharge device 2 connected to the elevator system will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, an elevator system 3 of this example is configured to receive commercial power via a charge / discharge device 2, and is configured so that under normal circumstances the commercial power source operates as an input power source. In addition, an electric vehicle 1 is connected to the charging / discharging device 2, and in the event of a commercial power outage, power from a battery installed in the electric vehicle 1 is supplied from the charging / discharging device 2 to the elevator system 3, causing the elevator system 3 to operate.

[0016] First, the configuration of the charging / discharging device 2 will be described. The charging / discharging device 2 is a hybrid electric vehicle charging facility that is connected as a standby power source to the building in which the elevator system 3 of this example is installed. The charge / discharge device 2 includes an AC / DC conversion unit 201, a charging unit 202, a charge / discharge switching unit 203, a discharging unit 204, a charge / discharge control unit 205, a battery remaining capacity detection unit 206, a transmitting / receiving unit 207, a power switching unit 208, a charge / discharge connector 210, and a user operation unit 220.

[0017] In the charging / discharging device 2, during normal operation when commercial power is supplied, the AC / DC conversion unit 201 converts the commercial power (an alternating current power supply of 200 V or the like) into DC power supply (direct current power supply) and supplies the converted DC power supply to the charging unit 202. The charging unit 202 supplies the obtained DC power supply to the electric vehicle 1 connected by the connector 210 via the charging / discharging switching unit 203, and charges the battery mounted on the electric vehicle 1.

[0018] Here, the battery remaining capacity detection unit 206 detects the remaining battery capacity by communicating with the electric vehicle 1 or by monitoring the charging current and charging voltage to the electric vehicle 1 , and supplies the detected remaining battery capacity to the charge / discharge control unit 205 . Normally, the remaining battery charge and charging / discharging of the battery of the electric vehicle 1 are managed by a battery control unit (not shown) mounted on the electric vehicle 1, but the battery remaining charge detection unit 206 of the charging / discharging device 2 communicates with the battery control unit mounted on the electric vehicle 1 to manage the charging and discharging of the battery of the electric vehicle 1. However, the battery remaining charge detection unit 206 of the charging / discharging device 2 may independently detect (estimate) the remaining battery charge from the charging current and charging voltage to the electric vehicle 1.

[0019] Furthermore, the charge / discharge control unit 205 controls switching between charging and discharging in the charge / discharge switching unit 203, as well as the start / end of charging and the start / end of discharging. The control of the start and end of charging by the charge / discharge control unit 205 is performed based on the remaining battery level detected by the battery remaining level detection unit 206 and the start and stop operation of charging by the user operation unit 220. The user operation unit 220 is configured, for example, with a touch panel with a display function, and the user operation unit 220 also displays whether the connector 210 can be disconnected from the electric vehicle 1. The connector 210 is equipped with a locking mechanism 211 that maintains the connected state to the electric vehicle 1, and the charge / discharge control unit 205 is configured to prevent the connector 210 from being disconnected from the electric vehicle 1 by the locking mechanism 211 during charging or discharging.

[0020] Furthermore, the power switching unit 208 of the charge / discharge device 2 performs switching processing of the power supplied to the elevator system 3 in response to a command from the charge / discharge control unit 205. That is, the power switching unit 208 supplies commercial power to the power input unit 301 of the elevator system 3 during normal times when commercial power is available. Furthermore, in the event of a power outage in the commercial power supply, the power switching unit 208 supplies power supplied from the electric vehicle 1 to the power input unit 301 of the elevator system 3 in response to a command from the charge / discharge control unit 205.

[0021] When power is being supplied from the electric vehicle 1, the charge / discharge control unit 205 switches the charge / discharge switching unit 203 to discharging, and supplies the power from the electric vehicle 1 obtained by the charge / discharge switching unit 203 to the AC / DC conversion unit 201 via the discharge unit 204. The AC / DC conversion unit 201 converts the DC power from the electric vehicle 1 into AC power, and supplies it to the power input unit 301 of the elevator system 3 via the power switching unit 208.

[0022] When power is being supplied from the electric vehicle 1, the charge / discharge control unit 205 transmits and receives data to and from the elevator control unit 303 via the transceiver unit 207 of the charge / discharge device 2 and the transceiver unit 302 of the elevator system 3, and power is supplied from the electric vehicle 1 appropriately only when this is possible. Details of the power supply process performed by transmitting and receiving data between the charge / discharge control unit 205 and the elevator control unit 303 will be described later.

[0023] Next, the configuration of the elevator system 3 will be described. The elevator system 3 includes a power supply input unit 301, a transmission / reception unit 302, an elevator control unit 303, a car 304, a hoisting machine 305, and an emergency battery 306. The elevator control unit 303 also includes a determination unit 307 that determines the state of the car 304.

[0024] To the power input unit 301, power from a commercial power source or the electric vehicle 1 is supplied from the power switching unit 208 of the charge / discharge device 2. That is, the power input unit 301 performs a power input process and operates the entire elevator system 3 with the power supplied from the power switching unit 208. The transmitting / receiving unit 302 performs transmission and reception processing with the transmitting / receiving unit 207 on the charging / discharging device 2 side. The elevator control unit 303 operates using power supplied to the power input unit 301, and controls elevator operation such as running and stopping the car 304 using the hoist 305, and opening and closing the doors of the car 304.

[0025] Furthermore, the elevator control unit 303 transmits and receives data to and from the charge / discharge device 2 as needed through communication between the transmission / reception unit 302 on the elevator system 3 side and the transmission / reception unit 207 on the charge / discharge device 2 side. Details of data transmission and reception by the elevator control unit 303 will be described later. The determination unit 307 in the elevator control unit 303 performs a process of determining the operating status of the car 304 of the elevator system 3.

[0026] Although not shown in the figure, the elevator car 304 is equipped with guide lights, a liquid crystal indicator, and an automatic announcement function to provide guidance and display status to elevator users. When the power supply to the elevator system 3 is cut off due to a power outage, the emergency battery 306 runs the car 304 to the nearest floor, opens and closes the door, and then stops the car. However, the capacity of the emergency battery 306 is only large enough to run the car 304 to the nearest floor at least once, open and close the door, and then stop the car 304. Therefore, when the emergency battery 306 runs out of charge, it will take a certain amount of time after the commercial power supply is restored for the emergency battery 306 to be fully charged. Depending on the configuration of the elevator system 3, this emergency battery 306 may not be provided.

[0027] [Elevator control unit hardware configuration example] FIG. 2 shows an example of the hardware configuration of the elevator control unit 303. The elevator control unit 303 can be configured, for example, by a computer which is an information processing device. FIG. 2 shows an example in which the elevator control unit 303 is configured using a computer. The computer serving as the elevator control unit 303 includes a processor, that is, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 303a, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 303b, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 303c, and a non-volatile storage 303d. As the non-volatile storage 303d, for example, a hard disk drive (HDD), a solid state drive (SSD), or a semiconductor memory is used. The computer also includes a network interface 303e for transmitting and receiving data to and from other devices.

[0028] The CPU 303a causes the RAM 303c to execute a program stored in the ROM 303b or the non-volatile storage 303d, thereby implementing each processing unit such as the determination unit 307 shown in FIG. The non-volatile storage 303d stores a program that performs processing as the elevator control unit 303, and also stores information necessary for controlling the elevator.

[0029] The network interface 303e has a communication function as the transmitting / receiving unit 302. In addition, transmission and reception with each unit in the elevator system 3 is also performed via the network interface 303e or an interface not shown.

[0030] Although not shown in the drawings, the charge / discharge control unit 205 of the charge / discharge device 2 is also configured with a similar computer. However, the charge / discharge control unit 205 of the charge / discharge device 2 differs from the elevator control unit 303 in that an input unit and a display unit corresponding to the user operation unit 220 are connected to the CPU.

[0031] [Signal transmission and reception relationship between the elevator system and the charging and discharging device] Fig. 3 shows an example of signals transmitted and received between the transceiver 302 of the elevator system 3 in this example and the transceiver 207 of the charging / discharging device 2. The signals shown in Fig. 3 are an example when a commercial power supply fails and power is supplied to the elevator system 3 from the battery of the electric vehicle 1. Transmission and reception at the transceiver 302 of the elevator system 3 is performed under the control of the elevator control unit 303, and transmission and reception at the transceiver 207 of the charging / discharging device 2 is performed under the control of the charging / discharging control unit 205.

[0032] First, when power supply from the electric vehicle 1 to the elevator system 3 from the charge / discharge device 2 is started, the transmitter / receiver 207 transmits an independent power supply establishment signal 401 in response to an instruction from the charge / discharge control unit 205 . Here, the independent power source establishment signal 401 is assumed to be a signal transmitted from the charging / discharging device 2 at the instruction of the charging / discharging control unit 205, but it may also be a signal received by the power switching unit 208 of the charging / discharging device 2, or a signal received by user operation of the user operation unit 220.

[0033] After the power supply from the electric vehicle 1 is established, the transmitter / receiver 207 of the charging / discharging device 2 transmits an independent operation command signal 402 to the elevator system 3. This independent operation command signal 402 is a signal that indicates to the elevator system 3 that it will operate with power supplied from the electric vehicle 1. Upon receiving the independent operation command signal 402, the elevator control unit 303 of the elevator system 3 performs constant speed operation at a speed lower than the normal steady speed. This makes it possible to reduce deterioration of the battery of the electric vehicle 1 due to large current discharge caused by the load current that occurs when the elevator system 3 operates at the normal steady speed.

[0034] Incidentally, since the independent operation command signal 402 is intended to reduce the load current, it does not have to be used when there is no need to take into consideration deterioration of the battery of the electric vehicle 1 due to large current discharge. Alternatively, the elevator control unit 303 of the elevator system 3 may be configured to automatically perform constant speed operation at a speed lower than the normal steady speed, without the need for an autonomous operation command signal 402, upon simply receiving the independent power supply establishment signal 401.

[0035] When the battery of electric vehicle 1 drops to a certain capacity and power supply to elevator system 3 cannot be maintained after a certain time remaining, or when a user operates user operation unit 220 to disconnect electric vehicle 1 from charge / discharge device 2, battery disconnection notice signal 403 is transmitted to elevator system 3. The user here refers to the owner of the electric vehicle or the building manager. The fact that the battery has dropped to a certain capacity is detected by charge / discharge control unit 205 from the detection value in battery remaining capacity detection unit 206.

[0036] Upon receiving the battery separation warning signal 403, the elevator control unit 303 of the elevator system 3 controls the elevator to stop traveling. Specifically, the elevator control unit 303 operates the car 304 to the nearest floor while it is running, opens the door of the car 304 to guide passengers out of the car 304 by announcements and displays, and then closes the door of the car 304 to stop the car. The elevator control unit 303 also opens and closes the doors of the landing area in conjunction with the opening and closing of the door of the car 304.

[0037] The elevator control unit 303 may run the car 304 to the registered destination floor in accordance with the destination floor registration button pressed in the car 304, open the door of the car 304 to guide passengers out of the car 304, and then close the door, stop the car, and enter a pause state. Also, if the car 304 is not being used and is in a standby state, the elevator control unit 303 may continue to enter a pause state.

[0038] Here, in order to appropriately guide passengers or to prevent new elevator use, the elevator control unit 303 can also stop the elevator more safely by informing passengers of the status using guide lights, liquid crystal indicators, or automatic announcements installed in the elevator car 304 or at the landing. After elevator system 3 opens and closes the doors and stops, transmitting / receiving unit 302 on the elevator system 3 side transmits elevator landing and door opening / closing signal 404 to transmitting / receiving unit 207 of charge / discharge device 2.

[0039] On the condition that the elevator landing and door opening / closing signal 404 is received, the charge / discharge control unit 205 of the charge / discharge device 2 controls the disconnection of the battery of the electric vehicle 1 or displays to the user a state in which the electric vehicle 1 can be disconnected. For example, the charge / discharge control unit 205 locks the lock mechanism 211 of the connector 210 until the elevator landing and door opening / closing signal 404 is received, and unlocks the lock mechanism 211 after the elevator landing and door opening / closing signal 404 is received. Alternatively, the charge / discharge control unit 205 causes the user operation unit 220 to display that the connector 210 can be disconnected from the electric vehicle 1.

[0040] [Processing flow when supplying from a vehicle] Fig. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of processing when an elevator is operated by receiving power from an electric vehicle 1 during a power outage using the elevator system 3 and the charging / discharging device 2 of this example. In the flowchart of Fig. 4, the processing in the left half (processing of steps S11, S12, and S15-S19) is processing performed by the elevator system 3, and the processing in the right half (processing of steps S13, S14, and S20-S26) is processing performed by the charging / discharging device 2.

[0041] First, when a power outage causes a power cut in the building (step S11), the elevator control unit 303 switches to emergency operation using the emergency battery 306, drives the car 304 to the nearest floor, and opens and closes the doors to guide passengers out of the elevator before stopping the elevator (step S12). Next, the charge / discharge control unit 205 of the charge / discharge device 2 determines whether or not power is being supplied from the electric vehicle 1 (step S13). If power is not being supplied in step S13 (NO in step S13), the charge / discharge control unit 205 waits and repeats the determination in step S13.

[0042] If power is being supplied from the electric vehicle 1 in step S13 (YES in step S13), the charge / discharge control unit 205 starts the power supply from the electric vehicle 1 and supplies power to the elevator system 3 (step S14). Note that the power supply here is performed when a user such as a building manager or the owner of the electric vehicle connects the electric vehicle 1 to the charge / discharge device 2 and operates the user operation unit 220 to set power supply from the electric vehicle 1 to be enabled. As a result, an independent power supply establishment signal 401 and an independent operation command signal 402 are transmitted from the charge / discharge device 2 to the elevator system 3, and the elevator control unit 303 of the elevator system 3 performs operation control in accordance with the power supply from the electric vehicle 1 (step S15).

[0043] Since the battery of the electric vehicle 1 is depleted and a capacity drop occurs when power is supplied for a long period of time, the charge / discharge control unit 205 judges whether or not the battery remaining capacity detection unit 206 detects a capacity drop to a preset threshold (step S20). If the battery remaining capacity detection unit 206 does not detect a capacity drop to the threshold (NO in step S20) in step S20, the charge / discharge control unit 205 further judges whether or not a signal for a disconnection operation of the electric vehicle 1 has been received from, for example, an operation received by the user operation unit 220 (step S21). If the battery of the electric vehicle 1 has not been received in step S21 (NO in step S21), the charge / discharge control unit 205 returns to the judgment in step S20.

[0044] When a capacity drop to the threshold value is detected in step S20 (YES in step S20), the charge / discharge control unit 205 notifies the user operation unit 220 of the battery capacity drop (step S22). After notifying the user of the battery capacity drop, or when a signal for a disconnection operation of the electric vehicle 1 is received in step S21 (YES in step S21), the charge / discharge control unit 205 transmits a battery disconnection notice signal 403 to the elevator system 3 (step S23).

[0045] Then, the user operation unit 220 displays a state that the power supply is being disconnected (step S24), and the charge / discharge control unit 205 determines whether or not to receive the elevator landing and door opening / closing signal 404 (step S25). If the elevator landing and door opening / closing signal 404 is not received in step S25 (NO in step S25), the charge / discharge control unit 205 waits while continuing to supply power from the electric vehicle 1.

[0046] Meanwhile, on the elevator system 3 side, after starting operation using power supplied from the electric vehicle 1 in step S15, the elevator control unit 303 determines whether or not to receive the battery disconnection notice signal 403 (step S16). If the battery disconnection notice signal 403 is not received in step S16 (NO in step S16), the elevator control unit 303 continues operation using power supplied from the electric vehicle 1 and repeats the determination in step S16.

[0047] If the battery disconnection warning signal 403 is received in step S16 (YES in step S16), the elevator control unit 303 determines whether the current operating status is that the car 304 is stopped at the landing with the doors closed, and is in a standby state with no buttons being operated inside the car 304 (step S17). In step S17, if the elevator car 304 is running (NO in step S17), the elevator control unit 303 opens the door after the elevator car 304 runs to the nearest floor, and then closes the door after the passenger gets off, thereby stopping the operation (step S18). After stopping the operation, the elevator control unit 303 returns to the judgment in step S17.

[0048] In step S17, if the car 304 is not moving (YES in step S17), the elevator control unit 303 maintains the elevator stopped state and transmits an elevator landing and door opening / closing signal 404 to the charging / discharging device 2 (step S19).

[0049] When the processing up to this point is performed, the charge / discharge control unit 205 determines in step S25 that it has received the elevator landing and door open / close signal 404 (YES in step S25), and notifies the user of the disconnection possible state via the user operation unit 220 (step S26). In addition, the charge / discharge control unit 205 unlocks the lock mechanism 211 of the connector 210, making it possible to disconnect the connector 210 from the electric vehicle 1. Incidentally, the charge / discharge control unit 205 may stop the power supply to the elevator system 3 at the same time as determining whether the elevator has landed on the floor and whether the door opening / closing signal 404 has been received.

[0050] [Example of user operation section display] FIG. 5 shows an example of a display on the display panel 221 of the user operation unit 220. As shown in FIG. 5A shows an example of a state in which power is being supplied from electric vehicle 1 to an elevator. At this time, display panel 221 displays that the building is experiencing a power outage, i.e., displays 222 that power is being supplied to the elevator. Display panel 221 may also display that locking mechanism 211 is locked. The display panel 221 then displays a button 223 for disconnecting the electric vehicle 1. When the user touches the button 223 for disconnecting the electric vehicle 1, processing is performed in response to a signal for a disconnection operation of the electric vehicle 1 being received in step S21 of the flowchart in FIG.

[0051] 5B shows an example when an elevator landing and door opening / closing signal 404 is received from the elevator system 3. At this time, the display panel 221 displays 224 that the power supply to the elevator has been stopped and can be disconnected. It may also display that the locking mechanism 211 has been unlocked.

[0052] [Effects of this embodiment] By carrying out the above-described processing, the elevator system 3 of this example can perform operation control to prevent elevator entrapment before the power supply from the electric vehicle 1 is cut off. Here, the state in which the power supply from the electric vehicle 1 is cut off includes a case in which the electric vehicle 1 is disconnected due to a decrease in battery capacity of the electric vehicle 1, as well as a case in which the user, such as a building manager or an electric vehicle owner, wishes to disconnect the electric vehicle 1 for their own convenience. However, in any case, it becomes possible to perform operation control that appropriately prevents elevator entrapment. In this case, the transmitter / receiver unit 302 of the elevator system 3 transmits an elevator landing and door open signal to the charge / discharge device 2, and the charge / discharge device 2, upon receiving the elevator landing and door open signal, permits the stopping of the power supply from the electric vehicle 1 or the disconnection of the vehicle, thereby reliably preventing the charge / discharge device 2 from disconnecting the electric vehicle 1 before the elevator stops and reliably preventing people from being trapped in the elevator.

[0053] Furthermore, the user operation unit 220 of the charging / discharging device 2 displays whether the electric vehicle 1 is in a state where it can be disconnected, etc., so that the user of the electric vehicle 1 can appropriately perform the disconnection operation according to the displayed notification. Note that this notification may be made by outputting a voice message in addition to the display. Furthermore, by providing a locking mechanism 211 to the connector 210 connected to the electric vehicle 1 and releasing the locking mechanism 211 after the elevator stops, it is possible to reliably prevent the elevator from being disconnected before it stops, and it is possible to more reliably prevent people from being trapped in the elevator. Furthermore, the charging / discharging device 2 is equipped with a battery remaining capacity detection unit 206, and when the remaining battery capacity detected by the battery remaining capacity detection unit 206 is equal to or lower than a predetermined threshold, a battery disconnection warning signal 403, which corresponds to a power reduction signal, is transmitted to the transmitting / receiving unit 302 of the elevator system 3, thereby enabling an appropriate decision to stop elevator operation.

[0054] [Variations] It should be noted that the embodiment examples described so far have been described in detail in order to explain the present invention in an easily understandable manner, and are not necessarily limited to those having all of the configurations described.

[0055] For example, in the embodiment described above, the charging / discharging device 2 is configured to have a built-in power switching unit 208 that switches power to the elevator system 3, but the power switching unit 208 that switches power to the elevator system 3 may be provided outside the charging / discharging device 2. That is, as shown in FIG. 6, a power switching unit 208′ may be provided separately from the charge / discharge device 2′, and the power switching unit 208′ may switch between the supply of commercial power from the elevator system 3 and the supply of power from the electric vehicle 1 in response to an instruction from the charge / discharge control unit 205 of the charge / discharge device 2′.

[0056] 6, user operation unit 220' may be separate from charging / discharging device 2'. In this case, user operation unit 220' may be a terminal such as a smartphone carried by the user. Charging / discharging device 2′ does not include power switching unit 208 and user operation unit 220, and other configurations are the same as those of charging / discharging device 2 shown in Fig. 1. Furthermore, the processes performed by power switching unit 208′ and user operation unit 220′ are the same as the processes performed by power switching unit 208 and user operation unit 220 shown in Fig. 1.

[0057] In addition, in the configuration shown in FIG. 1, connector 210 is provided with locking mechanism 211, but locking mechanism 211 may be omitted and the user may be notified of whether or not disconnection is possible only by a display on user operation unit 220'. Furthermore, in the configurations of FIG. 1 and FIG. 6, the elevator system 3 is provided with the emergency battery 306, but the present invention may be applied to an elevator system that does not include the emergency battery 306. In addition, in the above-described embodiment, the process when the power supply from the electric vehicle is stopped involves stopping at the nearest floor, opening the doors, and closing the doors after passengers disembark. However, it is also possible to at least stop at the nearest floor and open the doors, omitting the door closing.

[0058] In addition, in the above-described embodiment, the vehicle connected to the charge / discharge device 2 is an electric vehicle, but a vehicle equipped with other power supply functions, such as a hybrid vehicle equipped with an engine and a generator, or a hydrogen vehicle that generates electricity using hydrogen fuel, may be connected to the charge / discharge device 2 and similar power supply processing may be performed. In this case, instead of determining whether to stop power supply based on the remaining battery charge of the vehicle, the decision to stop power supply will be made based on the remaining power supply amount of the vehicle (such as the remaining amount of fuel).

[0059] In addition, in the configuration shown in FIG. 1 and the flowchart shown in FIG. 4, the elevator control unit 303 provided in the elevator system 3 performs processing during a power outage, but a program implemented in the control unit of an existing elevator system may be modified to perform similar processing. In this case, the program may be stored in a non-volatile storage or memory within the computer constituting the elevator control unit 303 shown in Figure 2, or it may be stored on a recording medium such as an external memory, an IC card, an SD card, or an optical disk and transferred. Furthermore, some or all of the functions performed by the elevator control unit 303 may be realized by dedicated hardware such as a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC).

[0060] In addition, in the configuration diagrams shown in Figures 1 and 6, only control lines and information lines that are considered necessary for explanation are shown, and not all control lines and information lines in the product are necessarily shown. In reality, it can be considered that almost all components are connected to each other. Also, in the flowchart shown in Figure 4, the processing order may be changed or multiple processes may be executed simultaneously as long as the processing results are the same. [Explanation of symbols]

[0061] 1...electric vehicle, 2,2'...charging / discharging device, 3...elevator system, 201...AC / DC conversion unit, 202...charging unit, 203...charging / discharging switching unit, 204...discharging unit, 205...charging / discharging control unit, 206...battery remaining capacity detection unit, 207...transmitting / receiving unit, 208,208'...power switching unit, 210...charging / discharging connector, 211...locking mechanism, 220,220'...user operation unit, 221...display panel, 223...electric vehicle disconnect button , 301...power supply input unit, 302...transmitter / receiver unit, 303...elevator control unit, 303a...CPU, 303b...ROM, 303c...RAM, 303d...non-volatile storage, 303e...network interface, 305...hoisting machine, 306...emergency battery, 307...determination unit, 401...independent power supply establishment signal, 402...independent operation command signal, 403...battery separation notice signal, 404...elevator landing and door opening / closing signal

Claims

1. An elevator system to which a vehicle equipped with a battery is connected and capable of driving an elevator with power supplied from the vehicle, a power supply input unit that receives power from the vehicle and drives an elevator with the power; a transmission / reception unit that receives a power reduction signal indicating that the power supplied to the power supply input unit is equal to or lower than a predetermined threshold or a vehicle separation notice signal; a determination unit that determines whether an elevator car is moving between floors when the transmission / reception unit receives the power reduction signal or the separation notice signal; and an elevator control unit that stops the car at the nearest floor when the determination unit determines that the elevator is moving and stops operation of the elevator after the door opens, The power supply input unit is supplied with power via a charging / discharging device corresponding to a battery mounted on the vehicle, When the elevator control unit stops the car at the nearest floor and opens the door after the determination by the determination unit, the transmission / reception unit transmits an elevator arrival and door open signal to the charging / discharging device, and the charging / discharging device, having received the elevator arrival and door open signal, permits the stopping of power supply from the vehicle or the disconnection of the vehicle. Elevator system.

2. The charging / discharging device includes a user operation unit having a display function, When an operation to disconnect the vehicle is performed on the user operation unit, the charging / discharging device transmits the disconnection notice signal, and when the charging / discharging device receives a signal permitting the subsequent disconnection, the user operation unit displays that disconnection is now possible.

2. The elevator system of claim 1.

3. The charging / discharging device is connected to the vehicle via a connector, When the charging / discharging device receives a signal permitting the stopping of power supply or the disconnection of the vehicle, the connector releases a locking mechanism to enable disconnection from the vehicle.

2. The elevator system of claim 1.

4. The charging / discharging device includes a battery remaining capacity detection unit for the vehicle connected thereto, When the remaining battery charge detected by the battery remaining charge detection unit is equal to or lower than a predetermined threshold, the power reduction signal is transmitted to the transmitting / receiving unit.

2. The elevator system of claim 1.

5. An elevator control method for controlling an operation of an elevator that is connected to a vehicle equipped with a battery and can be driven by power supplied from the vehicle, comprising: a power input process that receives power from a vehicle equipped with a power supply function and drives the elevator with the supplied power; a transmission / reception process for receiving a power reduction signal indicating that the power supplied by the power supply input process is equal to or lower than a predetermined threshold value or a vehicle separation notice signal; a determination process for determining whether or not an elevator car is moving between floors when the power reduction signal or the separation notice signal is received by the transmission / reception process; and an elevator control process for stopping the car at the nearest floor and stopping the operation of the elevator after the door is opened when the determination process determines that the elevator is moving. In the power supply input process, power is supplied via a charge / discharge device corresponding to a battery mounted on the vehicle, After the determination by the determination process, when the elevator control process stops the car at the nearest floor and opens the door, the transmission / reception process transmits an elevator landing and door open signal to the charging / discharging device, and the charging / discharging device that has received the elevator landing and door open signal permits the stopping of power supply from the vehicle or the disconnection of the vehicle. Elevator control method.

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