Elevator

Abstract

An elevator (10) includes a car (11), a car lifting mechanism (25) that lifts and lowers the car (11), and a transmission / reception unit that receives an earthquake occurrence signal indicating occurrence of an earthquake. If the transmission / reception unit receives the earthquake occurrence signal, a low-speed car operation is performed in which the car (11) moves at a speed lower than the highest moving speed of the car (11) during a normal operation in which the car (11) moves up and down on the basis of landing input information input on a car call button (15) provided in each of a plurality of landings (22) and car input information input on a destination floor designation button (16) provided in the car (11).

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an elevator.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, there is an elevator described in Patent Document 1. When the control device receives an emergency earthquake early warning, this elevator is configured to move the car to a position where it does not engage with the landing door. In this way, it prevents the engaging means between the car door and the landing door from being damaged due to the shaking of the earthquake.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] When an earthquake occurs, the frequency of the building's shaking may match the resonance frequency of the long members of the elevator, such as ropes or control cables. As a result, the vibration of the long members is amplified, and the long members may get caught on the hoistway equipment installed in the hoistway. Therefore, an object of the present disclosure is to provide an elevator that can suppress the long members from getting caught on the hoistway equipment when an earthquake occurs.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0005] In order to solve the above problems, an elevator according to the present disclosure includes a car, a car hoisting mechanism for raising and lowering the car, and a receiving unit that receives an earthquake occurrence signal indicating the occurrence of an earthquake. When the receiving unit receives the earthquake occurrence signal, a car low-speed operation is performed in which the car moves at a speed slower than the maximum moving speed of the car during normal operation in which the car moves up and down based on landing input information input to a landing operation unit installed at each of a plurality of landings and car input information input to a destination floor designation operation unit installed in the car.

[0006] Note that, except when the speed of the car becomes 0 at the turning position, a state where the speed of the car is 0 is not included in the car low-speed operation. Also, except when the car is performing a stop operation for turning, a state where the car is performing a stop operation and the speed of the car is greater than 0 is not included in the car low-speed operation. The landing input information includes car call information, and the car input information includes destination floor information.

[0007] According to the present disclosure, when the receiving unit receives the earthquake occurrence signal, the car moves at a speed slower than the maximum moving speed of the car during normal operation. Therefore, the resonance frequency of the long object can be continuously varied by the low-speed movement of the car, and it is possible to prevent the resonance frequency of the long object from matching the frequency of the building sway for a long time. Thus, it is possible to suppress an increase in the swing of the long object and suppress the long object from getting caught on the hoistway equipment.

[0008] When a long object gets caught on the hoistway equipment during an earthquake, the operation of the elevator becomes impossible and it takes a long time to recover. On the other hand, conventionally, when an earthquake occurs, it has been common to stop the car at the landing, and there has been no technical idea of deliberately moving the car at a low speed during an earthquake. However, if the car is deliberately moved at a low speed during an earthquake like the elevator of the present disclosure, it is possible to obtain a particularly remarkable effect of suppressing the long object from getting caught on the hoistway equipment while keeping the behavior of the car stable.

[0009] Also, it includes a low-speed operation end specifying unit for specifying the end of the cage low-speed operation, and a low-speed operation end determination unit for determining whether to end the cage low-speed operation based on the information from the low-speed operation end specifying unit. When the low-speed operation end determination unit determines the end of the cage low-speed operation, the cage low-speed operation may end.

[0010] Note that after the cage low-speed operation ends, the cage may be stopped at any landing or at a location other than a landing. Or, when the cage low-speed operation ends, it may directly shift from the cage low-speed operation to the normal operation without stopping the cage.

[0011] According to this configuration, when the low-speed operation end determination unit determines that no snagging of a long object on the hoistway equipment occurs, the cage low-speed operation can be ended, and the shift to the normal operation can be smoothly performed.

[0012] Also, when the receiving unit receives the earthquake occurrence signal, it includes a long-distance direction specifying unit for specifying the long-distance direction in which the cage can move a long distance, and the cage may move in the long-distance direction at the beginning of the cage low-speed operation.

[0013] According to this configuration, when an earthquake occurs, the cage low-speed operation can be performed for a long time with the behavior of the cage 11 being stable. Therefore, even if the earthquake continues for a long time, it is easy to suppress the snagging of a long object.

[0014] The cage low-speed operation ends after a predetermined time, and the cage does not have to perform a reverse operation during the cage low-speed operation.

[0015] Note that by calculating the speed of the cage during the cage low-speed operation based on the cage movable distance in the long-distance direction, the cage moving distance during cage acceleration, the cage stop distance required for the cage to stop, and the above-mentioned predetermined time, the cage can be prevented from performing a reverse operation during the cage low-speed operation.

[0016] According to this configuration, the cage does not perform a turning operation during low-speed cage operation. Therefore, the behavior of the cage during low-speed cage operation can be stabilized, and the snagging of long objects on the hoistway equipment can be more reliably suppressed.

[0017] Further, the low-speed operation end specifying unit may include a seismic sensor, and the low-speed operation end determination unit may determine whether to end the low-speed cage operation based on the physical quantity detected by the seismic sensor.

[0018] According to this configuration, the snagging of long objects on the hoistway equipment can be more effectively suppressed.

[0019] Further, the low-speed operation end specifying unit may include an imaging device capable of imaging long objects, the low-speed operation end determination unit may include an image analysis unit that performs image analysis on the images captured by the imaging device, and the low-speed operation end determination unit may determine whether to end the low-speed cage operation based on the image information from the imaging device.

[0020] According to this configuration, the snagging of long objects on the hoistway equipment can be more effectively suppressed.

[0021] Further, it is provided with a person detection unit capable of detecting whether a person is present in the cage. When the person detection unit detects a person, the low-speed cage operation may not be performed, and after the cage stops at any landing, the cage door and the landing door may be opened.

[0022] According to this configuration, when an earthquake occurs and there is a person in the cage, the person in the cage can be quickly evacuated from the cage.

Effect of the Invention

[0023] According to the elevator according to the present disclosure, when an earthquake occurs, it is possible to suppress a long object from getting caught on the hoistway equipment.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0024]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0025] Hereinafter, embodiments according to the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following, when a plurality of embodiments, modified examples, etc. are included, it is assumed from the beginning that new embodiments can be constructed by appropriately combining their characteristic parts. Also, in the following examples, the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals in the drawings, and overlapping explanations are omitted. Also, among the components described below, components not described in the independent claims indicating the highest-level concept are optional components and not essential components. Also, in the elevators 10, 110, 210 of the present disclosure, unless the speed of the car 11 becomes 0 at the turning position, the state where the speed of the car 11 is 0 is not included in the low-speed operation of the car. Also, in the elevator 10 of the present disclosure, unless the car 11 is performing a stop operation for turning, the state where the car 11 is performing a stop operation and the speed of the car 11 is greater than 0 is not included in the low-speed operation of the car.

[0026] FIG. 1 is a wide-area block diagram for explaining a method of identifying an earthquake occurrence, where an elevator 10 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. As shown in FIG. 1, the elevator 10 receives, for example, an emergency earthquake warning issued by the Japan Meteorological Agency via at least one of Route A and Route B using a Wide Area Network or a Local Area Network. In Route A, an information processing system 3 of an information processing center 2 such as a maintenance company that performs maintenance on the elevator 10 receives the emergency earthquake warning issued by the Japan Meteorological Agency 1, and transmits an earthquake occurrence signal (information) indicating the earthquake occurrence directly or indirectly to the transceiver 42 of the elevator 10. The transceiver 42 is an example of a receiving unit. There are, for example, multiple information processing centers 2 throughout Japan.

[0027] The multiple information processing systems 3 installed in the multiple information processing centers 2 manage and utilize data of devices including, for example, hundreds of thousands of elevators (e.g., 200,000 units) and hundreds of thousands of air conditioners (e.g., 300,000 units) throughout Japan, and handle repairs and malfunctions and remotely monitor the devices. The earthquake occurrence signal (information) indicating the earthquake occurrence is transmitted from one or more information processing systems 3 in one or more information processing centers 2 related to the earthquake to multiple elevators 10.

[0028] The information processing system 3 may transmit the earthquake occurrence signal to multiple elevators 10 it manages simultaneously. Each information processing system 3 may include one or more processing system servers 4 and one or more database (DB) system servers 5 that store data of the above multiple devices. Also, in Route A, the information processing system 3 may transmit the earthquake occurrence signal directly to the elevator 10. Or, when the information processing center 2 is the upper-level organization of one or more workplaces, the information processing system 3 may transmit the earthquake occurrence signal indirectly to the elevator 10 via an information processing device installed at the workplace.

[0029] Alternatively, the elevator 10 may receive the earthquake occurrence signal on Route B. On Route B, an information processing device 7 installed in the facility 6 where the elevator 10 is installed, such as a building, amusement park, museum, etc., receives the emergency earthquake warning issued by the Meteorological Agency 1 and transmits the earthquake occurrence signal to the transceiver unit 42 of the elevator 10.

[0030] The elevator 10 includes a car 11, a car hoisting mechanism 25, a transceiver unit 42, a timer 43 as an example of a low-speed operation end specifying unit, an encoder 45, a weighing device 46 as an example of a person detection unit, and a control device 19 including a control panel and the like. The car hoisting mechanism 25 includes a hoist and the like and hoists and lowers the car 11. The car hoisting mechanism 25 will be described in detail later with reference to FIG. 2. The transceiver unit 42 is an interface for transmitting and receiving data with an external device via a network (not shown) connected to the elevator 10, and is configured by, for example, an interface compatible with Ethernet. When the transceiver unit 42 receives an earthquake occurrence signal from the information processing system 3 (or the information processing device 7), it may transmit a reception signal indicating that the signal has been received to the information processing system 3 (or the information processing device 7). Alternatively, the elevator of the present disclosure may have a receiving unit instead of the transceiver unit, and signal transmission may not be possible.

[0031] The timer 43 is a control device that outputs an output signal at a predetermined time after an input signal is received. In the present embodiment, it outputs an output signal to the control device 19 after a predetermined time from receiving an input signal from the control device 19. The encoder 45 is an absolute type encoder, and detects the presence position and movement direction of the car 11 by detecting the rotational distance and rotational direction from the origin of the motor 12a (see FIG. 2) of the hoist 12. The encoder 45 may be configured by any of a mechanical (contact type), optical, magnetic, or electromagnetic induction type.

[0032] The weighing device 46 detects whether or not a person is present in the basket 11. The weighing device 46 may be configured by any known device. The basket 11 has, for example, a lower frame of a basket frame suspended by a wire rope 14 and a bottom of the basket 11 disposed via an elastic body such as anti-vibration rubber on the lower frame. The weighing device 46 detects whether or not a person is present in the basket 11, for example, by detecting a change in the distance between the lower frame and the bottom.

[0033] The control device 19 is preferably configured by a computer, for example, a microcomputer, and includes a control unit 40 and a storage unit 41. The control unit 40, that is, the processor, includes, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit). Further, the storage unit 41 is configured by a hard disk drive (HDD), a solid state drive (SSD), etc., and may include a non-volatile memory such as a ROM (Read Only Memory) and a volatile memory such as a RAM (Random Access Memory). Further, the storage unit 41 may be configured by only one storage medium or may be configured by a plurality of different storage media. The CPU reads and executes a program etc. stored in advance in the storage unit 41. Further, the non-volatile memory stores in advance a control program, a predetermined threshold value, etc. Further, the volatile memory temporarily stores the read program and processing data. The control unit 40 includes an earthquake determination unit 40a, a person presence determination unit 40b, a cage stop determination unit 40c, a cage control operation control unit 40d, a long distance direction specifying unit 40e, a cage speed calculation unit 40f, a low speed operation control unit 40g, a low speed operation end determination unit 40h, and a normal operation control unit 40i. The operation of the control unit 40 will be described in detail later with reference to FIG. 3.

[0034] Figure 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of the elevator 10. In Figure 2, the X direction is the depth direction of the car 11, the Y direction is the width direction of the car 11, and Z is the height direction of the car 11. The X direction, Y direction, and Z direction are orthogonal to each other. The elevator 10 includes a car 11, a hoist 12, a counterweight 13, a wire rope 14, a car call button 15 as a landing operation unit, a destination floor designation button 16 as a destination floor designation operation unit, a landing position detection sensor 18, and a control device 19. The control device 19 and the hoist 12 are provided in the machine room 30 above the hoistway 20. When the elevator does not have a machine room, the control device (control panel) and the hoist are provided, for example, on the pit below the hoistway. The wire rope 14 is wound around the hoist 12, one end is fixed to the upper part of the car 11, and the other end is fixed to the counterweight 13 via a deflector sheave (not shown). The car call button 15 is a button for calling the car 11 and designating the moving direction of the car 11, and is provided at the landing 22 on all floors. The destination floor designation button 16 is provided in the car 11 to designate the destination floor of the car 11.

[0035] Each of the car 11 and the counterweight 13 is guided by a guide rail provided in the hoistway 20. The control device 19 that receives signals from the car call button 15, the destination floor designation button 16, and the encoder 45 appropriately controls the rotation speed and rotation direction of the motor 12a of the hoist 12, so that the car 11 moves up and down in the hoistway 20. The landing position detection sensor 18 detects the landing position of the landing 22 where the car 11 lands. The landing position detection sensor 18 is composed of, for example, a vane 18a such as an iron plate provided at the hoistway position corresponding to the landing position of each floor, and a magnetic detector 18b that detects the vane 18a. The landing position detection sensor 18 detects the landing of the car 11 when the detector 18b detects the vane 18a. When the control device 19 receives a signal indicating that the car 11 has landed on the landing 22 from the landing position detection sensor 18 and controls a car door motor (not shown), the car door 32 and the landing door 31 open, and people can get on and off the car 11. The wire rope 14, the hoist 12, the motor 12a, the deflector sheave, and the counterweight 13 constitute a car hoisting mechanism 25.

[0036] FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining an example of the movement control of the cage 11 of the control device 19 during an earthquake. When normal operation for controlling the raising and lowering of the cage 11 based on the input information to the car call button 15 and the destination floor designation button 16 starts by the first drive or the shift from the maintenance mode to the normal operation mode of the new elevator 10, the movement control starts. In step S1, the earthquake determination unit 40a (see FIG. 1) of the control device 19 determines whether an earthquake occurrence signal has been received via the transmission / reception unit 42. If a negative determination is made in step S1, step S1 is repeated. On the other hand, if an affirmative determination is made in step S1, the process proceeds to step S2, and the person presence determination unit 40b (see FIG. 1) determines whether a person is present in the cage 11 based on the information from the weighing device 46.

[0037] If an affirmative determination is made in step S2, the process proceeds to step S3, and the car control operation control unit 40d lands the cage 11 at any landing 22. For example, the cage 11 is landed at the nearest landing 22 in the moving direction of the cage 11. Thereafter, in step S4, the control device 19 controls the motor for opening and closing the car door 32 to open the car door 32 and the landing door 31 so that the people in the cage 11 can escape from the cage 11 to the outside.

[0038] Note that if the cage 11 has landed at any landing 22 at the time of the determination in step S2, the process directly proceeds to step S4 to open the car door 32 and the landing door 31. When step S4 ends, in step S5, a recovery operation is executed. When it is confirmed in the recovery operation that each device of the elevator 10 is normal, the process proceeds to step S6, and the normal operation control unit 40i performs the normal operation of the elevator 10. Thereafter, the control returns, and steps S1 and below are repeated.

[0039] On the other hand, if a negative determination is made in step S2, the process proceeds to step S7, where the cage stop determination unit 40c determines whether the cage 11 has stopped. If an affirmative determination is made in step S7, in step S8, the long-distance direction specifying unit 40e specifies the direction when the cage 11 is operated at low speed, and in step S9, the cage speed calculation unit 40f calculates the maximum speed and the like of the low-speed operation of the cage. By performing steps S8 and S9, it is ensured that the cage 11 does not perform a turning operation when operating at low speed.

[0040] In step S8, based on the position information of the cage 11 from the encoder 45, the position information of the turning point above the cage 11 (for example, the landing position of the landing area on the top floor), and the position information of the turning point below the cage 11 (for example, the landing position of the landing area on the bottom floor), the cage speed calculation unit 40f specifies the direction in which the cage 11 can move longer in the height direction to the turning point. Also, in step S9, for example, the maximum speed and the like of the cage are specified as follows.

[0041] Specifically, let the acceleration during acceleration until the cage 11 reaches the maximum speed be a 1 and the acceleration during deceleration when the cage 11 stops be a 2 Let the distance in the long-distance direction (the height direction distance between the cage position and the cage position at the turning point in the long-distance direction) be L, the time of the low-speed operation of the cage (predetermined time) be T, the time when the cage 11 is accelerating be t1, the time when the cage 11 is moving at a constant speed be t 2 and the time when the cage is decelerating be t3, and let the maximum speed of the cage 11 during normal operation be V.

[0042] Here, the predetermined time T is the time when it can be determined that the earthquake has subsided. For example, when a seismic motion with a period of 2 to 20 seconds is defined as a long-period seismic motion, the predetermined time T can be set to the occurrence time in the long-period seismic motion with the longest occurrence time among a plurality (for example, 10) of different long-period seismic motions in Japan picked up in ascending order of the time from occurrence to the present.

[0043] In step S9, for example, a is determined such that the following equations (1) to (4) are simultaneously satisfied 1 , a 2 , t 1 , t 2 , t 3 to determine the moving speed of the cage 11 and prevent the cage 11 from performing a turning operation when performing the cage low-speed operation. When step S9 ends, the process proceeds to step S10. (1 / 2)·(a 1 ·t 1 2 +a 2 ·t 3 2 )+a 1 ·t 1 ·t 2 =L···(1) t 1 +t 2 +t 3 =T···(2) a 1 ·t 1 =a 2 ·t 3 ···(3) a 1 ·t 1 <V···(4)

[0044] On the other hand, if a negative determination is made in step S7, the process immediately proceeds to step S10. In step S10, when the low-speed operation control unit 40g starts the cage low-speed operation, the timer 43 starts timing at the same time. In the cage low-speed operation, the cage 11 moves at a speed slower than the maximum moving speed V of the cage 11 during normal operation. The control program of the elevator 10 during the cage low-speed operation and the control program of the elevator 10 during normal operation are stored in the storage unit 41 in advance. When performing step S10 via step S9, in the cage low-speed operation, the cage 11 is prevented from performing a turning operation.

[0045] In step S11 after step S10, the low-speed operation end determination unit 40h determines whether the time of the car low-speed operation has reached a predetermined time T or more. As described above, the predetermined time T is a time that can determine whether the earthquake has subsided. When a negative determination is made in step S11, the process proceeds to step S12, the car low-speed operation is continued, and then the process proceeds to step S11. On the other hand, when an affirmative determination is made in step S11, the process proceeds to step S13, and the operation shifts from the car low-speed operation to the normal operation. Thereafter, the control returns, and the steps below S1 are repeated. This control ends, for example, when the elevator 10 enters the maintenance mode for maintenance.

[0046] As described above, the elevator 10 includes a car 11, a car hoisting mechanism 25 that raises and lowers the car 11, and a transceiver 42 that receives an earthquake occurrence signal indicating the occurrence of an earthquake. When the transceiver 42 receives an earthquake occurrence signal, the car 11 moves at a speed slower than the maximum moving speed of the car 11 during normal operation based on the landing input information input to the car call buttons 15 installed at each of the plurality of landings 22 and the car input information input to the destination floor designation buttons 16 installed in the car 11. A car low-speed operation is performed.

[0047] According to the present disclosure, when the transceiver 42 receives an earthquake occurrence signal, the car 11 moves at a speed slower than the maximum moving speed of the car during normal operation. Therefore, by the low-speed movement of the car 11, the resonance frequency of the long object (for example, the wire rope 14 or the control cable) can be continuously varied, and it is possible to prevent the resonance frequency of the long object from coinciding with the frequency of the building sway for a long time. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the amplification of the swing of the long object, and it is possible to suppress the long object from getting caught on the hoistway equipment (for example, the counterweight 13, the vane 18a, the guide rail, and the members fixed to the guide rail (for example, brackets supporting the guide rail)).

[0048] When a long object gets caught on the hoistway equipment during an earthquake, the elevator operation becomes impossible and it takes a long time to recover. On the other hand, conventionally, when an earthquake occurs, it is common to stop the car at the landing, and there has been no technical concept of deliberately moving the car at a low speed during an earthquake. However, if the car 11 is deliberately moved at a low speed during an earthquake like the elevator 10, a special and remarkable effect can be obtained that the long object can be prevented from getting caught on the hoistway equipment while keeping the behavior of the car 11 stable.

[0049] Also, it includes a timer 43 for specifying the end of the car low-speed operation, and a low-speed operation end determination unit 40h for determining whether to end the car low-speed operation based on the information from the timer 43. When the low-speed operation end determination unit 40h determines the end of the car low-speed operation, the car low-speed operation may end. After the car low-speed operation ends, the car 11 may be stopped at any landing 22, or may be stopped at a location other than the landing 22. Or, when the car low-speed operation ends, the car 11 may directly shift from the car low-speed operation to the above normal operation without stopping.

[0050] According to this configuration, when the low-speed operation end determination unit 40h determines that no long object is caught on the hoistway equipment, the car low-speed operation can be ended, and the transition to the normal operation can be smoothly performed.

[0051] Also, when the transmission and reception unit 42 receives an earthquake occurrence signal, it may identify the long-distance direction in which the car 11 can move a long distance, and the car 11 may move in the long-distance direction at the beginning of the car low-speed operation.

[0052] According to this configuration, when an earthquake occurs, the car low-speed operation can be performed for a long time with the behavior of the car 11 being stable. Therefore, it is easy to suppress the catching of long objects even if the earthquake continues for a long time. In the case where the car 11 moves in the long-distance direction at the beginning of the car low-speed operation, the car may perform a reverse operation during the car low-speed operation.

[0053] Also, after the cage low-speed operation is performed for a predetermined time and then ends, the cage 11 does not need to perform a turning operation during the cage low-speed operation. As described above, based on the cage movable distance in the long-distance direction, the cage moving distance during acceleration of the cage 11, the cage stopping distance required during deceleration of the cage 11, and the above-mentioned predetermined time, by calculating the speed of the cage 11 during the cage low-speed operation, it is possible to prevent the cage 11 from performing a turning operation during the cage low-speed operation.

[0054] According to this configuration, the cage 11 does not perform a turning operation during the cage low-speed operation. Therefore, the behavior of the cage 11 during the cage low-speed operation can be stabilized, and the snagging of long objects on the hoistway equipment can be more reliably suppressed.

[0055] Also, a weighing device 46 capable of detecting whether or not a person is present in the cage 11 is provided. When the weighing device 46 detects a person, the cage low-speed operation may not be performed, and after the cage 11 stops at any landing 22, the cage door 32 and the landing door 31 may be opened.

[0056] According to this configuration, when there is a person in the cage 11 when an earthquake occurs, the person in the cage 11 can be quickly evacuated from the cage 11.

[0057] Note that the present disclosure is not limited to the above-described embodiments and their modifications, and various improvements and changes are possible within the scope of the matters described in the claims of the present application and their equivalent scope. For example, in the above embodiment, the weighing device 46 was used to determine whether there was a person in the cage 11. However, the timer 43 may be used to determine that there is no person in the cage 11 when the cage 11 has not moved for a predetermined time or more. Alternatively, the timer 43 and a sensor capable of detecting the operation in the cage 11 (for example, a photographing device) may be used to determine that there is no person in the cage 11 when no operation can be confirmed for a predetermined time or more in the cage 11. Alternatively, a photographing device for photographing the inside of the cage 11 may be used to determine whether there is a person in the cage 11. Further, it may be determined that there is no person in the cage 11 when the cage is in an energy-saving mode in which the lighting inside the cage is turned off, or it may be determined that there is no person in the cage 11 when the lighting inside the cage is turned off.

[0058] In addition, the case where the cage 11 is moved in the long-distance direction and the cage 11 does not perform a turning operation during low-speed cage operation has been described. Further, the low-speed operation end specifying unit is the timer 43, and the case where the low-speed operation end determination unit 40h determines that the earthquake has subsided when a predetermined time has elapsed since the start of the low-speed cage operation and directly shifts from the low-speed cage operation to the normal operation has been described.

[0059] However, when the low-speed operation end determination unit determines that the earthquake has subsided, it may not directly shift to the normal operation, but may stop the cage 11 at the landing at the tip of the cage moving direction in the long-distance direction (the landing on the top floor or the landing on the bottom floor). Further, as the movable distance of the cage in the long-distance direction becomes longer, the maximum speed of the cage during low-speed cage operation may be increased continuously or stepwise. Alternatively, as the movable distance of the cage in the long-distance direction becomes longer, the predetermined time for performing the low-speed cage operation may be increased continuously or stepwise. Alternatively, as the movable distance of the cage in the long-distance direction becomes longer, the maximum speed of the cage during low-speed cage operation may be increased continuously or stepwise, and the predetermined time for performing the low-speed cage operation may be increased continuously or stepwise.

[0060] Further, as the movable distance of the cage in the long-distance direction becomes shorter, the maximum speed of the cage in the low-speed operation of the cage may be continuously or stepwise decreased. Alternatively, as the movable distance of the cage in the long-distance direction becomes shorter, the predetermined time for performing the low-speed operation of the cage may be continuously or stepwise shortened. Alternatively, as the movable distance of the cage in the long-distance direction becomes shorter, the maximum speed of the cage in the low-speed operation of the cage may be continuously or stepwise decreased, and the predetermined time for performing the low-speed operation of the cage may be continuously or stepwise shortened. Further, the control program for the low-speed operation of the cage exists for each floor of the elevator 10, and when the control device 19 recognizes the occurrence of an earthquake, the control program for the low-speed operation of the cage on the floor where the cage 11 stops is executed, so that the specific position in the long-distance direction and the low-speed operation of the cage without performing the reverse operation may be executed.

[0061] Further, referring to FIG. 1, like the elevator 110 of the modification example, it may not have the timer 43, and the low-speed operation end specifying unit may be the earthquake sensor 47. The earthquake sensor 47 includes an acceleration sensor, for example, a capacitance-type acceleration sensor, etc., and can detect acceleration. FIG. 4 is a flowchart corresponding to FIG. 3 in the elevator 110 of the modification example. In FIG. 4, the same step numbers are assigned to the same steps as in FIG. 3, and the description of the operation of the step is omitted.

[0062] In the elevator 110, when the control starts, in step S1′, it is determined whether the earthquake sensor 47 has detected an earthquake. If a negative determination is made in step S1′, step S1′ is repeated, and if an affirmative determination is made in step S1′, the process proceeds to step S2. As shown in FIG. 2, the earthquake sensor 47 is installed, for example, in the machine room 30, and detects the occurrence of an earthquake by detecting acceleration. Further, when the control device that has received the signal from the earthquake sensor 47 determines that the acceleration detected by the earthquake sensor 47 is equal to or greater than the first threshold value, it determines the occurrence of an earthquake. Also, in the control shown in FIG. 4, step S3′ is performed instead of step S3.

[0063] In step S3′, when the cage 11 has landed on any floor, the stop of the cage 11 is maintained. On the other hand, when the cage 11 is moving, the cage 11 is landed on a floor where the wire rope 14 does not resonate. Since the earthquake sensor 47 can detect the direction of acceleration, the period of the earthquake, that is, the period of vibration of the building in which the elevator 10 is installed, can be estimated. Also, the positions of the wire rope 14, the cage 11, and the counterweight 13 when the cage 11 has landed on each landing can be specified from the information from the encoder 45. Therefore, since the period of vibration of the building can be estimated from the information from the earthquake sensor 47 and the resonance frequency of the wire rope 14 can be specified from the information from the encoder 45, a floor where the wire rope 14 does not resonate can be specified.

[0064] Therefore, in step S3′, when the cage 11 is moving, the cage 11 is landed on a floor where the wire rope 14 does not resonate. In this case, when the control device 19 recognizes the occurrence of an earthquake, the cage 11 may be stopped on a floor that is the closest to the position where the cage 11 is located and is in the advancing direction of the moving direction of the cage 11, and further, where the wire rope 14 does not resonate.

[0065] By doing so, when there is a person in the cage 11 when the control device detects an earthquake, if the cage 11 has landed on any floor, the person can quickly evacuate from the cage 11. On the other hand, when the cage 11 is moving, the person can quickly evacuate from the cage 11 and the snagging of the wire rope 14 on the hoistway equipment can also be effectively suppressed.

[0066] Also, in the control shown in FIG. 4, step S10′ is performed instead of step S10, and step S11′ is performed instead of step S11. In step S10′, the cage is operated at a low speed. Also, in step S11′, when the control device that has received the signal from the earthquake sensor 47 determines that the acceleration detected by the earthquake sensor 47 is equal to or less than the second threshold value, it determines that the earthquake has ended. The first threshold value may be the same as or different from the second threshold value. If a negative determination is made in step S11′, the process proceeds to step S12, the cage is continuously operated at a low speed, and then step S11′ is repeated. If an affirmative determination is made in step S11′, the process proceeds to step S13.

[0067] As described above, in the elevator 110 of the modification, the low-speed operation end specifying unit may include the earthquake sensor 47, and the low-speed operation end determination unit may determine whether to end the cage low-speed operation based on the physical quantity detected by the earthquake sensor 47. According to this configuration, it is possible to more effectively suppress the snagging of long objects on the hoistway equipment. In the above modification, the end of the earthquake is determined when the acceleration is equal to or less than the second threshold value. However, the amplitude of the vibration of the wire rope may be calculated based on the physical quantity detected by the earthquake sensor 47, and the end of the earthquake may be determined when the calculated amplitude is equal to or less than a predetermined value.

[0068] Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 1, in another modified example, the elevator 210 may employ a photographing device 48 capable of photographing long objects in the hoistway 20 as the low-speed operation end specifying unit instead of the timer 43 or the earthquake sensor 47. Also, as shown in FIG. 2, the photographing device 48 may include an upper photographing unit 48a installed at the upper end portion of the cage 11 and capable of photographing a region located above the cage 11, and a lower photographing unit 48b installed at the lower end portion of the cage 11 and capable of photographing a region located below the cage 11.

[0069] Further, the low-speed operation end determination unit may include an image analysis unit that performs image analysis on the image captured by the imaging device 48, and the low-speed operation end determination unit may determine whether to end the cage low-speed operation based on the image information from the imaging device 48. Also, in this case, the low-speed operation end determination unit may determine to end the cage low-speed operation when the amplitude of the swing of the wire rope 14 is equal to or less than a third threshold value and the amplitude of the swing of the control cable is equal to or less than a fourth threshold value, and in that case, the cage low-speed operation may be ended. Even in this way, it is possible to effectively suppress the snagging of the long object on the hoistway equipment.

[0070] Note that the maximum speed of the cage 11 during the cage low-speed operation may be a speed that is 4 / 5 or less of the maximum speed of the cage 11 during normal operation, or may be a speed that is 3 / 5 or less of the maximum speed of the cage 11 during normal operation. Alternatively, the maximum speed of the cage 11 during the cage low-speed operation may be a speed that is 2 / 5 or less of the maximum speed of the cage 11 during normal operation, or may be a speed that is 1 / 5 or less of the maximum speed of the cage 11 during normal operation. Also, the elevator of the present disclosure may be a hydraulic elevator, and in the hydraulic elevator, it is possible to suppress the long object such as the control cable from snagging on the hoistway equipment during an earthquake.

Description of Reference Numerals

[0071] 1 Meteorological Agency, 2 Information Processing Center, 3 Information Processing System, 4 Processing System Server 5 Database server, 7 Information processing device, 10,110,210 Elevator, 11 Car, 12 Hoisting machine, 12a Motor, 13 Counterweight, 14 Wire rope, 15 Car call button, 16 Destination floor designation button, 18 Landing position detection sensor, 18a Vane, 18b Detector, 19 Control device, 20 Hoistway, 22 Landing, 25 Car lifting mechanism, 30 Machine room, 31 Landing door, 32 Car door, 40 Control unit, 40a Earthquake determination unit, 40b Occupancy determination unit 40c Car stop determination unit, 40d Car control operation control unit, 40e Long-distance direction identification unit, 40f Car speed calculation unit, 40g Low-speed operation control unit, 40h Low-speed operation end determination unit, 40i Normal operation control unit, 41 Memory unit, 42 Transceiver unit, 43 Timer, 45 Encoder, 46 Scale device, 47 Earthquake sensor, 48 Imaging device, 48a Upper imaging unit, 48b Lower imaging unit.

Claims

1. A basket and A cage lifting mechanism for lifting and lowering the cage; A receiving unit that receives an earthquake occurrence signal indicating an occurrence of an earthquake, when the receiving unit receives the earthquake occurrence signal, a car low-speed operation is performed in which the car moves at a speed slower than a maximum moving speed of the car during normal operation in which the car ascends and descends, based on hall input information inputted to a hall operation unit installed at each of a plurality of halls and car input information inputted to a destination floor designation operation unit installed in the car, When the receiving unit receives the earthquake occurrence signal, a long-distance direction in which the cage can move a long distance is identified, An elevator, wherein the car moves in the long distance direction at the beginning of the car low speed operation.

2. A low-speed driving end determination unit for determining the end of the car low-speed driving; A low-speed driving end determination unit that determines whether to end the car low-speed driving based on information from the low-speed driving end determination unit, The elevator according to claim 1 , wherein the car low-speed operation is terminated when the low-speed operation termination determination unit determines termination of the car low-speed operation.

3. The car low-speed operation is ended after a predetermined time, 2. The elevator according to claim 1, wherein the car does not perform a turnaround operation during the car low speed operation.

4. The low-speed driving end determination unit includes an earthquake sensor, The elevator according to claim 2 , wherein the low-speed operation end determination unit determines whether or not to end the low-speed car operation based on a physical quantity detected by the earthquake sensor.

5. The low-speed driving end determination unit includes an imaging device capable of imaging a long object, The low-speed driving end determination unit includes an image analysis unit that performs image analysis of the image captured by the imaging device, The elevator according to claim 2, wherein the low-speed operation end determination unit determines whether or not to end the low-speed operation of the car based on image information from the photographing device.

6. A basket and A cage lifting mechanism for lifting and lowering the cage; a receiving unit for receiving an earthquake occurrence signal indicating the occurrence of an earthquake; A human detection unit capable of detecting whether or not a person is present in the car, when the receiving unit receives the earthquake occurrence signal, a car low-speed operation is performed in which the car moves at a speed slower than a maximum moving speed of the car during normal operation in which the car ascends and descends, based on hall input information inputted to a hall operation unit installed at each of a plurality of halls and car input information inputted to a destination floor designation operation unit installed in the car, When the human detection unit detects a human, the car is not operated at a low speed, and the car door and the hall door are opened after the car stops at any hall.

Images