Elevator control system and control method

Abstract

Enable group management control for a plurality of cars to be realized without being restricted by the number of cars targeted. 【Solution means】In an elevator equipped with a plurality of cars and a plurality of destination floor registration devices, two or more destination floor registration devices, which are part or all of the plurality of destination floor registration devices, are made to share a plurality of tasks (tasks for group management control) for performing group management control for the plurality of cars.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an elevator control technology provided with a destination floor registration device.

Background Art

[0002] There are elevators equipped with a plurality of carriages and a plurality of destination floor registration devices (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In such an elevator, by performing group management control for the plurality of carriages, every time a user registers their destination floor at any one of the destination floor registration devices, a candidate car is selected from among the plurality of carriages, and then, the landing call for that user is assigned to the candidate car. Conventionally, such group management control has been performed by a dedicated device, the group management control device.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Patent Document 2

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] On the other hand, Patent Document 2 discloses a technique for performing group management control at the destination floor registration device where the registration is made every time a user registers their destination floor.

[0005] In recent years, with the increase in the size of buildings, the number of carriages provided by a single elevator tends to increase. On the other hand, if we try to manage a large number of carriages with a single group management control device, the higher the number of carriages to be managed, the more processing power is required for the group management control device. For example, every time the number of carriages to be managed increases by one, the required processing power increases exponentially. Therefore, the number of carriages that can be managed by a single group management control device is limited to a number corresponding to the processing power of that group management control device. In other words, it becomes difficult to perform group management control for a large number of carriages exceeding that number.

[0006] Also, if we try to perform group management control using only one destination floor registration device instead of a group management control device as in Patent Document 2, the number of carriages that can be the target of group management control is limited to a number corresponding to the processing power of one destination floor registration device. In this case as well, it becomes difficult to perform group management control for a large number of carriages exceeding that number.

[0007] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to enable group management control for a plurality of carriages without being limited by the number of carriages to be targeted.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0008] The control system according to the present invention is a control system in an elevator including a plurality of carriages and a plurality of destination floor registration devices, in which two or more destination floor registration devices, which are part or all of the plurality of destination floor registration devices, share and perform a plurality of tasks (tasks for group management control) for performing group management control for the plurality of carriages (Aspect 1).

[0009] According to the above-described aspect 1, two or more destination floor registration devices form a cluster for group management control, and within the cluster, a plurality of tasks (tasks for group management control) for performing group management control can be distributed and processed. As a result, the entire cluster can exhibit high processing capabilities. Further, even when any one of the destination floor registration devices fails to operate normally (such as in the case of a malfunction), the other normally operating destination floor registration devices can share the tasks and perform group management control.

[0010] The control system according to the above-described aspect 1 may have the following configuration (aspect 2). When the above-described plurality of tasks (tasks for group management control) include a calculation task and an allocation task, any one of the plurality of destination floor registration devices provided in the elevator may be responsible for executing the allocation task as the first upper device, and one or more destination floor registration devices other than the first upper device among the plurality of destination floor registration devices may be responsible for executing the calculation task as the first lower device. Here, in the calculation task, when a user registers a destination floor in any of the plurality of destination floor registration devices, for each car, a process of calculating an evaluation value assuming that the landing call for the user is assigned to the car is executed. In the allocation task, when a user registers a destination floor in any of the plurality of destination floor registration devices, based on the evaluation value obtained for each car by the execution of the calculation task, a candidate car is selected from among the plurality of cars as the allocation destination for the landing call for the user, and then the allocation of the landing call for the user is performed for the candidate car.

[0011] According to the above-described aspect 2, a cluster is formed by the first upper device and the first lower device, and within the cluster, each device can be made to execute a task corresponding to the device.

[0012] The control system according to the above-described aspect 2 may have the following configuration (Aspect 3). In the assignment task, when a user registers a destination floor at any one of a plurality of destination floor registration devices provided in the elevator, the first upper device transmits a request to execute the calculation task to the first lower device, and then, using the evaluation value obtained by the execution of the calculation task, may execute the selection of a candidate car.

[0013] According to the above-described aspect 3, it becomes possible to configure one cluster with the first upper device as a management node and the first lower device as a calculation node.

[0014] The control system according to the above-described aspect 3 may have the following configuration (Aspect 4). Each time a user registers a destination floor at any one of a plurality of destination floor registration devices provided in the elevator, the destination floor registration device may execute the assignment task as the first upper device.

[0015] According to the above-described aspect 4, it becomes possible to create a situation in which any of the plurality of destination floor registration devices can be either the first upper device or the first lower device (a situation where the degree of freedom in configuring the cluster is high).

[0016] The control system according to the above-described aspect 4 may have the following configuration (Aspect 5). When the first upper device transmits a request to execute the calculation task to the first lower device, for each car, the request to execute the calculation task for the same one car may be transmitted to two or more first lower devices.

[0017] According to the above-described aspect 5, even when any one of the first lower devices fails to operate normally, the evaluation value for the car that the first lower device was in charge of can be obtained from other first lower devices that are in charge of the same car as that car.

[0018] The control system according to the above aspect 5 may have the following configuration (Aspect 6). After the first upper-level device transmits a request to execute a calculation task to the first lower-level device, it adopts, as the evaluation value of each car, the one that is returned earliest from the first lower-level device, and when all the evaluation values for the car (part or all of the plurality of cars) targeted by the calculation task among the plurality of cars provided in the elevator are available, the selection of the candidate car may be executed.

[0019] According to the above aspect 6, it becomes possible to improve the processing speed until the allocation is completed.

[0020] The control system according to any one of the above aspects 4 to 6 may have the following configuration (Aspect 7). In the first lower-level device, an upper limit value may be provided for the number of calculation tasks that can be processed individually in parallel. In this case, each of the first lower-level devices, when receiving a request to execute a calculation task, determines whether the number of calculation tasks being executed by itself at that time has reached the upper limit value, and if it determines that it has not reached the upper limit value, it can execute the calculation task corresponding to the request.

[0021] According to the above aspect 7, by providing an upper limit value for the number of calculation tasks borne by the first lower-level device, the load generated on the first lower-level device can be limited. Therefore, without interfering with the original mechanism of the first lower-level device (the function as a user interface for enabling the user to register the destination floor), a part of the tasks (calculation tasks) for performing group management control can be borne by the first lower-level device.

[0022] The control system according to the above aspect 7 may have the following configuration (Aspect 8). After the first upper device transmits a request to execute a calculation task to the first lower device, when an evaluation value is returned from the first lower device, if all the evaluation values for the car targeted by the calculation task among the plurality of cars provided in the elevator (a part or all of the plurality of cars) are not available, the first lower device may be requested again to execute the calculation task for the cars for which the evaluation values are not yet available at that time.

[0023] According to the above aspect 8, even when the number of users increases and the requests to execute the calculation tasks to the same first lower device overlap, and in a situation where the number of calculation tasks being executed in each first lower device easily reaches the upper limit value, it becomes possible to always make the evaluation values for all the cars uniform.

[0024] The control system according to any one of the above aspects 4 to 8 may have the following configuration (Aspect 9). When the first upper device transmits a request to execute a calculation task to the first lower device, the first upper device may be responsible for executing the calculation task for any one of the plurality of cars provided in the elevator, and for the other cars, the first lower device may be requested to execute the calculation tasks for each of them.

[0025] According to the above aspect 9, the first upper device can execute the calculation task together with the first lower device. As a result, it becomes possible to efficiently distribute the calculation tasks to all of the destination floor registration devices that make up the cluster.

[0026] The control system according to the above-described Aspect 2 or 3 may have the following configuration (Aspect 10). The control system may include a first cluster including a first upper device and a first lower device, and a second cluster different from the first cluster, as a cluster for group management control composed of two or more destination level registration devices. Here, the second cluster is a cluster including a second upper device and a second lower device. The second upper device is any one of the destination level registration devices outside the first cluster and is responsible for executing the assigned task. The second lower device is one or more destination level registration devices outside the first cluster and other than the second upper device, and is responsible for executing the calculation task. When any of the destination level registration devices in the first cluster fails to operate normally, the second upper device and the second lower device in the second cluster may share and perform a plurality of tasks (tasks for group management control) for performing group management control, instead of the first cluster.

[0027] According to the above-described Aspect 10, even when the first cluster fails to operate normally, the first cluster can be replaced (backed up) by the second cluster. Therefore, all group management control including the control during backup can be performed only by the destination level registration devices.

[0028] The control system according to the above-described Aspect 2 or 3 may have the following configuration (Aspect 11). The control system may include only a first cluster including a first upper device and a first lower device, as a cluster for group management control composed of two or more destination level registration devices. The destination level registration devices outside the first cluster may include a second upper device that is responsible for executing the assigned task instead of the first upper device when the first upper device fails to operate normally, and a second lower device that is responsible for executing the calculation task instead of the first lower device when the first lower device fails to operate normally.

[0029] According to the above-described aspect 11, even when the first cluster fails to operate normally, only the destination-level registration device that has failed to operate normally within the first cluster can be replaced (backed up) by another destination-level registration device. Therefore, all group management controls, including the control during backup, can be performed only by the destination-level registration device.

[0030] The control system according to the above-described aspect 10 or 11 may have the following configuration (aspect 12). When the first upper-level device and the first lower-level device are all operating normally, the first upper-level device distributes an assigned task signal indicating that it is in charge of executing the assigned task to the destination-level registration devices other than itself. On the other hand, when any of the first lower-level devices fails to operate normally, the distribution of the assigned task signal from itself may be stopped. In this case, when the second upper-level device can no longer receive the assigned task signal from the first upper-level device, the second upper-level device can start executing the assigned task on behalf of the first upper-level device and start distributing the assigned task signal to the destination-level registration devices other than itself.

[0031] According to the above-described aspect 12, when the first cluster fails to perform the group management control, the interruption of the distribution of the assigned task signal from the first upper-level device can surely make the second upper-level device recognize that the replacement (backup) of the first cluster is necessary. Then, the second upper-level device that has recognized this starts executing the assigned task on behalf of the first upper-level device and starts distributing the assigned task signal, so that the control subject of the group management can be smoothly shifted from the first upper-level device to the second upper-level device. In addition, each destination-level registration device can accurately recognize which of the first upper-level device and the second upper-level device is in charge of the assigned task.

[0032] The control system according to the above-described aspect 10 or 11 may have the following configuration (aspect 13). Each of the plurality of destination floor registration devices provided in the elevator may distribute an alive state signal indicating that it is operating normally to other destination floor registration devices. In this configuration, the alive state signals distributed by each of the first upper device and the second upper device may include allocation responsibility information indicating whether the upper device is in a state of being responsible or not responsible for executing the assigned task. Further, when both the first upper device and the first lower device are operating normally, the first upper device distributes its alive state signal with the allocation responsibility information in the signal being in the responsible state. On the other hand, when any one of the first lower devices fails to operate normally, the allocation responsibility information in the alive state signal of the first upper device may be changed to a non-responsible state. In this case, when the allocation responsibility information in the alive state signal received from the first upper device is in the responsible state, the second upper device can distribute its alive state signal with the allocation responsibility information in the signal being in the non-responsible state. Then, when the second upper device can no longer receive the alive state signal from the first upper device, or when the allocation responsibility information in the alive state signal received from the first upper device becomes a non-responsible state, the second upper device starts executing the assigned task on behalf of the first upper device and can change the allocation responsibility information in its alive state signal to the responsible state.

[0033] According to the above-described aspect 13, when the first cluster becomes unable to perform group management control, by changing the allocation responsibility information in the alive state signal of the first upper-level device to a non-responsible state, it becomes possible to surely cause the second upper-level device to recognize, using the alive state signal, that an alternative (backup) of the first cluster is required. Then, the second upper-level device that has recognized this starts executing the allocated task in place of the first upper-level device and changes the allocation responsibility information in its own alive state signal to the in-charge state, so that the control entity of the group management can be smoothly shifted from the first upper-level device to the second upper-level device. Also, it becomes possible to accurately cause each destination floor registration device to recognize, using the alive state signal, which of the first upper-level device and the second upper-level device is in charge of the allocated task.

[0034] In the control system according to any one of the above-described aspects 2 to 13, when selecting a first lower-level device from among a plurality of destination floor registration devices provided in the elevator, as the first lower-level device, it may be selected in order from the one with the lowest registration frequency of the destination floor among the plurality of destination floor registration devices (aspect 14).

[0035] According to the above-described aspect 14, the processing ability of the destination floor registration device can be effectively utilized for the first lower-level device without disturbing the original function (function as a user interface) of the destination floor registration device as much as possible.

[0036] The control system according to any one of the above-described aspects 1 to 3 may have the following configuration (aspect 15). The control system may include, separately from the plurality of destination floor registration devices provided in the elevator, a group management control device that executes a plurality of tasks (tasks for group management control) for performing group management control. And when the group management control device becomes unable to operate normally, two or more destination floor registration devices, which are part or all of the plurality of destination floor registration devices, may share and perform a plurality of tasks (tasks for group management control) for performing group management control in place of the group management control device.

[0037] According to the above aspect 15, when the group management control device fails to operate normally, two or more destination floor registration devices form a cluster for group management control, and the group management control device can be replaced (backed up) by the cluster. In other words, the processing capabilities of the destination floor registration devices can be effectively utilized to continue the operation of the elevator.

[0038] The control method according to the present invention is an elevator including a plurality of carriages and a plurality of destination floor registration devices. Two or more destination floor registration devices, which are part or all of the plurality of destination floor registration devices, are assigned a plurality of tasks (tasks for group management control) for performing group management control for the plurality of carriages (aspect 16).

Advantages of the Invention

[0039] According to the present invention, group management control for a plurality of carriages can be realized without being limited by the number of carriages to be targeted.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0040]

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MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

[0041] [1] First Embodiment [1-1] Overall Configuration of Elevator FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram showing the overall configuration of an elevator according to the first embodiment. In this embodiment, the elevator includes a plurality of destination floor registration devices 1, a plurality of carriages G, and a plurality of elevator control devices 2 that individually control the plurality of carriages G. Here, the destination floor registration device 1 is a device having a function as a user interface for enabling a user to register a destination floor Fd. The destination floor registration devices 1 are connected to each other via a network W, and each elevator control device 2 is connected to each destination floor registration device 1 via the network W.

[0042] Conventionally, the group management control (control for centrally managing a plurality of carriages G provided in an elevator through an elevator control device 2) for a plurality of carriages G provided in an elevator has been performed by a dedicated group management control device. On the other hand, in the present embodiment, instead of such a group management control device, two or more destination floor registration devices 1 that are part or all of the plurality of destination floor registration devices 1 provided in the elevator share and perform a plurality of tasks (tasks for group management control). Specifically, the plurality of tasks (tasks for group management control) are distributed by being allocated to two or more destination floor registration devices 1 that are part or all of the plurality of destination floor registration devices 1, and each destination floor registration device 1 executes the task allocated to itself, so that the two or more destination floor registration devices 1 form a cluster Q and perform group management control. This will be specifically described below.

[0043] <Tasks for group management control> The tasks for group management control include a calculation task, an allocation task, and a learning task.

[0044] In the calculation task, when a user registers a destination floor Fd in any of the plurality of destination floor registration devices 1 provided in the elevator, for each carriage G, an evaluation value Vx(Pg) is calculated when it is assumed that a landing call X for the user is allocated to the carriage G. That is, the following process is executed.

[0045] Here, the evaluation value Vx for each car G quantifies how suitable the car G is as an assignment destination for the landing call X (in other words, the degree of fitness as an assignment destination). For the evaluation value Vx, the expected arrival time of the car G at the departure floor Fc (the floor where the user boards) indicated by the landing call X, and the expected waiting time required until the car G arrives at the departure floor Fc are used. When the expected arrival time is used as the evaluation value Vx, the earlier the time indicated by the evaluation value Vx, the higher the evaluation of the car G as an assignment destination (the higher the degree of fitness as an assignment destination). Also, when the expected waiting time is used as the evaluation value Vx, the shorter the time indicated by the evaluation value Vx, the higher the evaluation of the car G as an assignment destination (the higher the degree of fitness as an assignment destination).

[0046] In the assignment task, when a user registers the destination floor Fd at any one of the multiple destination floor registration devices 1 provided in the elevator, based on the evaluation value Vx obtained for each car G by executing the calculation task, a candidate car Gk is selected from among the multiple cars G as the assignment destination for the landing call X for the user, and then the assignment of the landing call X for the user is performed for the candidate car Gk. Such a process is executed.

[0047] In the learning task, for each car G, the operation data of the car G sequentially transmitted from the elevator control device 2 is statistically analyzed, and the analysis data obtained thereby is accumulated as learning data Dp. Furthermore, learning is performed using the learning data Dp to improve the calculation accuracy when calculating the evaluation value Vx of the car G. Here, the learning data Dp includes analysis data on the operating status of the car G (average value of door opening time, average value of door closing time, average value of running time between each floor, average value of stop time at each floor, etc.) and analysis data on the usage status of the car G (average value of the occurrence number of landing calls X in the past 5 minutes, average value of the congestion level inside the car G in the past 5 minutes, etc.). Note that for the analysis of the operation data, not only statistical analysis but also AI (such as a neural network) may be used.

[0048] <Destination Floor Registration Device> In this embodiment, every time a user registers a destination floor Fd in any one of the plurality of destination floor registration devices 1 provided in the elevator, that destination floor registration device 1 is responsible for executing the assigned task as the first upper device. Also, one or more destination floor registration devices 1 other than the first upper device among the plurality of destination floor registration devices 1 are responsible for executing the calculation task as the first lower devices. More specifically, it is as follows.

[0049] When the first upper device is responsible for the assigned task, first, it sends a request to execute the calculation task to the first lower devices. At this time, the first upper device should specify for each first lower device which car G the execution request is for calculating the evaluation value Vx, so it sends the car information Pg for identifying the car G to be the calculation target from other cars. Also, the first upper device sends the device information Pd for identifying itself from other registration devices to the first lower devices so that the first lower devices can recognize which destination floor registration device 1 the execution request is from.

[0050] Here, in an elevator where the total number of destination floor registration devices 1 is twice or more the total number of cars G, when the first upper device sends a request to execute the calculation task to the first lower devices, for each car G, it sends a request to execute the calculation task for the same one car G to two or more first lower devices. At this time, the first upper device can evenly distribute the cars G to be responsible for to all the first lower devices.

[0051] When the first lower device receives a request to execute the calculation task, it executes the calculation task corresponding to the request. Specifically, the first lower device calculates the evaluation value Vx(Pg) for the car G specified in the request to execute the calculation task, and returns the evaluation value Vx(Pg) to the first upper device (response processing).

[0052] Thereafter, the first upper-level device executes the selection of the candidate car Gk using the evaluation value Vx(Pg) obtained from the reply of the first lower-level device. Specifically, after transmitting a request to execute a calculation task to the first lower-level device, the first upper-level device adopts, as the evaluation value Vx(Pg) of each car G, the one that is replied from the first lower-level device the earliest, and when all the evaluation values Vx(Pg) for the cars G (a part or all of the plurality of cars G) targeted by the calculation task among the plurality of cars G provided in the elevator are obtained, the selection of the candidate car Gk is executed.

[0053] On the other hand, regarding the learning task, each of the plurality of destination floor registration devices 1 provided in the elevator executes the learning task for all the cars G to perform learning for improving the calculation accuracy of the evaluation value Vx(Pg) for all the cars G. As a result, when a calculation task is allocated to each destination floor registration device 1 as the first lower-level device, regardless of which car G the calculation task targets (that is, regardless of which car G's evaluation value Vx is calculated), the evaluation value Vx of the car G can be accurately calculated.

[0054] According to such a control system, a cluster Q for group management control is configured by the first upper-level device and the first lower-level device, and within the cluster Q, each device can be made to execute a task corresponding to the device. In other words, one cluster Q can be configured with the first upper-level device as the management node and the first lower-level device as the calculation node. Therefore, within the cluster Q, a plurality of tasks (tasks for group management control) for performing group management control can be distributed and processed. As a result, the entire cluster Q can exhibit high processing power. Thus, group management control for a plurality of cars G can be realized without being limited by the number of cars G targeted.

[0055] In addition, according to the control system of the present embodiment, in addition to being able to exhibit high processing capabilities throughout cluster Q, it becomes possible to create a situation where any of the plurality of destination floor registration devices 1 provided in the elevator can be either a first upper device or a first lower device (a situation where the degree of freedom in configuring cluster Q is high). Therefore, even when any one of the destination floor registration devices 1 fails to operate normally (such as in the case of a failure), other normally operating destination floor registration devices 1 can share tasks and perform group management control.

[0056] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration applied to each destination floor registration device 1 in the present embodiment. As shown in this figure, each destination floor registration device 1 includes an operation unit 10, a storage unit 11, and a control unit 12.

[0057] The operation unit 10 is configured by a device that combines the functions of an input unit and a display unit, such as a touch panel. Through the operation unit 10, the user registers the destination floor Fd and various information is notified to the user. Note that the operation unit 10 may be configured by separate devices for the input unit and the display unit. For example, the input unit may be composed of mechanical buttons (such as a numeric keypad), and the display unit may be composed of a dedicated display monitor.

[0058] The storage unit 11 is a part configured by a storage device such as a ROM or a RAM. In the storage unit 11, information necessary for the control processing performed by the destination floor registration device 1 is stored. In the present embodiment, as such information, information necessary for the operation as a user interface and information necessary when taking charge of a part of the tasks for group management control (the learning data Dp described above, the device management data Dr and the car management data Dt described below) are stored in the storage unit 11. In the present embodiment, all the data of the learning data Dp, the device management data Dr, and the car management data Dt are stored in the storage unit 11 of each destination floor registration device 1 so that any task can be executed.

[0059] Here, the device management data Dr is a database for managing, for each destination floor registration device 1, a plurality of pieces of information related to the registration device by associating them with each other (see Fig. 3(A)). The car management data Dt is a database for managing, for each car G, a plurality of pieces of information related to the car by associating them with each other (see Fig. 3(B)).

[0060] Fig. 3(A) is a conceptual diagram illustrating the device management data Dr used in this embodiment. In the device management data Dr, for each destination floor registration device 1, device information Pd for identifying the destination floor registration device 1 from other registration devices and the installation floor Fs of the destination floor registration device 1 are recorded in a state where they are associated with each other.

[0061] Thereby, each destination floor registration device 1 can specify its own installation floor Fs from its own device information Pd by referring to the device management data Dr. And in this embodiment, when each destination floor registration device 1 serves as the first upper-level device for an assigned task, the installation floor Fs of the registration device is used as the departure floor Fc of the user who registered the destination floor Fd by operating the registration device.

[0062] Fig. 3(B) is a conceptual diagram illustrating the car management data Dt used in this embodiment. In the car management data Dt, for each car G, the car information Pg and the current state Ps of the car G are recorded in a state where they are associated with each other. Here, in the current state Ps of each car G, information for indicating whether the car G is in operation (in the example of Fig. 3(B), "in operation" or "in standby") is recorded.

[0063] The control unit 12 is a part that undertakes the control processing performed by the destination floor registration device 1 (including operations as a user interface and execution of tasks assigned among tasks for group management control). Specifically, the control unit 12 is composed of processing devices such as a CPU and an MPU, and realizes the control processing it undertakes in software by executing a control program installed in the destination floor registration device 1. Incidentally, this control program may be stored in a portable storage medium (for example, a flash memory, etc.) in a readable state before being installed in the destination floor registration device 1, or may be stored in a downloadable state in another server or the like. Also, the control processing performed by the destination floor registration device 1 is not limited to being realized in software by program execution, and may be realized in hardware by a processing circuit constructed in the destination floor registration device 1.

[0064] <Elevator control device> Each elevator control device 2 controls the operation of the corresponding car G (such as the movement of the car G and the opening and closing of the door) according to the landing call X assigned to the car G by the first higher-level device at any time, and distributes operation data indicating the operation status (such as the operation status and usage status) of the car G at that time to all of the plurality of destination floor registration devices 1 provided in the elevator. As described above, this operation data is used for the learning (execution of the learning task) performed by each destination floor registration device 1.

[0065] [1-2] Control processing performed by the destination floor registration device [1-2-1] Assignment tasks performed by the first higher-level device FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 are flowcharts showing the assignment tasks executed in this embodiment. This assignment task is started in the destination floor registration device 1 (the first higher-level device) every time a user registers a destination floor Fd in any of the plurality of destination floor registration devices 1 provided in the elevator.

[0066] When the allocation task is started, the first higher-level device first extracts all the device information Pd of the destination level registration device 1 (hereinafter referred to as the "cluster configuration device") that is operating normally from the device information Pd recorded in the device management data Dr in order to grasp the device information Pd of the destination level registration device 1 that is responsible for performing group management control as the cluster Q. Then, it lists those device information Pd as the target device information Pdk(I) (step S101). Here, the list number I is a number starting from 1. And the first higher-level device substitutes the total number of the target device information Pdk(I) (here, the value at the end of the list number I) into the variable M1.

[0067] In this embodiment, each destination level registration device 1 periodically distributes an alive state signal Sx indicating that it is operating normally to other destination level registration devices 1 together with its own device information Pd when it is operating normally. And each destination level registration device 1 grasps the individual operating states (whether they are operating normally or not) of other destination level registration devices 1 based on the distribution status of the alive state signal Sx from other destination level registration devices 1. Therefore, when the first higher-level device executes step S101, it can extract only the device information Pd of the destination level registration device 1 that is operating normally from the device information Pd recorded in the device management data Dr.

[0068] As an example of the listing in step S101, the first higher-level device can randomly arrange the device information Pd of the destination level registration device 1 that is operating normally and then number them and list them.

[0069] Next, the first higher-level device extracts all the car information Pg whose associated current state Ps is "in operation" from the car information Pg recorded in the car management data Dt in order to grasp which car G the car G in operation is. Then, it lists those car information Pg as the operating car information Pgk(J) (step S102). Here, the list number J is a number starting from 1. And the first higher-level device substitutes the total number of the operating car information Pgk(J) (here, the value at the end of the list number J) into the variable M2.

[0070] After step S102, the first upper-level device extracts, as the first lower-level device, a destination-level registration device 1 other than itself from among the cluster configuration devices, and transmits a request to execute a calculation task to the first lower-level device. Specifically, it is as follows.

[0071] The first upper-level device first sets a variable Ix for reading target device information Pdk(I) in order of the list to Ix = 1 (step S110).

[0072] After step S110, the first upper-level device determines whether the target device information Pdk(Ix) matches its own device information Pd (step S111).

[0073] If the first upper-level device determines "No (not match)" in step S111, based on this determination, it can be determined that the destination-level registration device 1 specified by the target device information Pdk(Ix) is a registration device other than itself, and thus it should be the first lower-level device. In this case, the first upper-level device selects, from among the carriages G in operation, the car information Pg of the carriage G to be assigned to the first lower-level device, in order to assign the calculation task to the destination-level registration device 1 (the first lower-level device). The car information Pg is selected from the running car information Pgk(J) (step S112).

[0074] As an example of step S112, but not limited thereto, the first upper-level device obtains one number Jx from the range (1 ≤ J ≤ M2) that the list number J of the running car information Pgk(J) can take, using the calculation formula Jx = Ix % M2 + 1 (% is the remainder operator), and selects the running car information Pgk(Jx) corresponding to that number Jx as the car information Pg of the carriage G to be assigned to the first lower-level device.

[0075] According to such a selection method, it becomes possible to evenly distribute the car G to be assigned to the first subordinate devices among all the first subordinate devices. Specifically, the number of first subordinate devices that calculate the evaluation value Vx(Pg) for the same one car G is made the same or within the range of ±1 for any car G during operation, so that it becomes possible to distribute the car G to be responsible for the calculation task to the first subordinate devices.

[0076] Therefore, in an elevator where the total number of destination floor registration devices 1 is twice or more the total number of cars G, the first upper device can send a request to execute a calculation task for the same one car G for each car G in operation to two or more first subordinate devices.

[0077] Thereby, even when any of the first subordinate devices fails to operate normally, it becomes possible to obtain the evaluation value Vx(Pg) for the car G that the first subordinate device was in charge of from other first subordinate devices that are in charge of the same car G as that car G.

[0078] After step S112, the first upper device sends a request to execute a calculation task for the car G (the car G specified by the operation car information Pgk(J = Jx)) selected in step S112 to the destination floor registration device 1 (the first subordinate device) specified by the target device information Pdk(Ix) (step S113). At this time, the first upper device also sends its own device information Pd to the first subordinate device so that the first subordinate device can recognize which destination floor registration device 1 is the transmission source of the execution request. Then, the first upper device proceeds to step S114.

[0079] On the other hand, when the first upper device determines "match (Yes)" in step S111, it can determine that the destination floor registration device 1 specified by the target device information Pdk(Ix) is itself based on this determination. In this case, the first upper device proceeds to step S114 without performing steps S112 and S113.

[0080] In step S114, the first higher-level device increments the value of variable Ix by 1 in order to advance the target device information Pdk(Ix) to be the subject of judgment in step S111 to the next one in the list order. Then, the first higher-level device determines whether variable Ix satisfies Ix > M1 in order to determine whether the judgment in step S111 has been performed for all the listed target device information Pdk(I) (step S115).

[0081] When the first higher-level device determines "No" in step S115, it repeatedly executes the processes of steps S111 to S114 until it can determine "Yes" in step S115. As a result, a request to execute a calculation task is transmitted to all the first lower-level devices that are cluster configuration devices.

[0082] After that, when the first higher-level device can determine "Yes" in step S115, it executes the process from step S120 (see FIG. 5). Note that the details of the process from step S120 will be described later.

[0083] [1-2-2] Response process performed by the first lower-level device (including calculation task) FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the response process executed in the present embodiment. This response process is started by the destination floor registration device 1 (the first lower-level device) that has received the request to execute the calculation task from the first higher-level device each time the destination floor registration device 1 receives the request.

[0084] When the response process is started, the first lower-level device determines whether the number of tasks N, which is the number of calculation tasks being executed by itself at that time, has reached the upper limit value Nt1 in order to be able to limit the load imposed on itself by undertaking the calculation task (step S200). Here, the upper limit value Nt1 is provided to limit in advance the number of calculation tasks to be processed in parallel by one first lower-level device. Also, this upper limit value Nt1 is set to a value of 1 or more.

[0085] When the first subordinate device determines "No" in step S200, it can determine that it has the capacity to execute the requested calculation task based on this determination. In this case, the first subordinate device executes the calculation task corresponding to the received request (step S210). Specifically, the first subordinate device calculates the evaluation value Vx(Pg) for the car G specified in the execution request of the calculation task.

[0086] By setting the upper limit value Nt1 for the number of tasks N of the first subordinate device in this way, the load generated in the first subordinate device can be limited. Therefore, without interfering with the original function of the first subordinate device (function as a user interface), a part of the tasks (calculation tasks) for performing group management control can be assigned to the first subordinate device.

[0087] After step S210, the first subordinate device returns the evaluation value Vx(Pg) calculated in step S210 to the first upper-level device that requested the execution of the calculation task (step S211). At this time, the first subordinate device also transmits its own device information Pd to the first upper-level device in order to make the first upper-level device recognize which destination floor registration device 1 the reply source of the evaluation value Vx(Pg) is. Then, the first subordinate device terminates the response process.

[0088] On the other hand, when the first subordinate device determines "Yes" in step S200, it can determine that it does not have the capacity to execute the requested calculation task based on this determination. In this case, without executing the requested calculation task, the first subordinate device sets the evaluation value Vx(Pg) for the car G specified in the execution request of the calculation task to Vx(Pg)=-1 in order to indicate that it could not execute the calculation task corresponding to the request (step S220).

[0089] After step S220, the first subordinate device returns the evaluation value Vx(Pg) set in step S220 to the first host device that requested the execution of the calculation task (step S221). At this time, the first subordinate device also transmits its own device information Pd to the first host device so that the first host device can recognize which destination floor registration device 1 the source of the evaluation value Vx(Pg) is from. Then, the first subordinate device terminates the response process.

[0090] [1-2-3] Assignment task performed by the first host device (continued) If the first host device can determine "satisfied (Yes)" in step S115 (see FIG. 4), then, in order to collect the evaluation values Vx(Pg = Pgk(J)) for all cars G specified by the running car information Pgk(J), the first host device executes the following process (see FIG. 5).

[0091] First, the first host device defines an evaluation variable Cv(Pg = Pgk(J)) for substituting the evaluation value Vx(Pg = Pgk(J)) obtained by executing the calculation task for each car G specified by the running car information Pgk(J) (step S120).

[0092] After step S120, the first host device determines whether there is a new return of the evaluation value Vx(Pg) from any of the first subordinate devices (step S121). If the first host device determines "no return (No)" in step S121, it repeatedly executes step S121 until it can determine "return received (Yes)" in step S121.

[0093] After that, if the first host device can determine "return received (Yes)" in step S121, it sets the car information Pg of the car G assigned to the first subordinate device that was the source of the return at that time as the target car information Pgs (step S122).

[0094] After step S122, the first higher-level device determines whether the evaluation value Vx(Pgs) is set to Vx(Pgs) = -1 in order to exclude what has been returned as a result of being unable to execute the calculation task for the returned evaluation value Vx(Pg=Pgs) (step S123).

[0095] If the first higher-level device determines "not set (No)" in step S123, based on this determination, it can be determined that the evaluation value Vx(Pgs) is obtained by executing the calculation task. In this case, the first higher-level device determines whether it is necessary to substitute the evaluation value Vx(Pgs) into the evaluation variable Cv(Pg=Pgs), and determines whether another evaluation value Vx has already been substituted into the evaluation variable Cv(Pgs) (step S124).

[0096] If the first higher-level device determines "not substituted (No)" in step S124, it substitutes the evaluation value Vx(Pgs) into the evaluation variable Cv(Pgs) (step S125), and then proceeds to step S126. On the other hand, if the first higher-level device determines "substituted (No)" in step S124, it proceeds to step S126 without executing the substitution into the evaluation variable Cv(Pgs) in step S125.

[0097] As a result, as the evaluation value Vx(Pg) of each car G, the one that is returned earliest from the first lower-level device is adopted and substituted into the evaluation variable Cv(Pg).

[0098] In step S126, the first higher-level device determines whether all the evaluation values Vx(Pg=Pgk(J)) for the car G in operation (the car G specified by the running car information Pgk(J)) are complete, and determines whether the evaluation value Vx has been substituted into all the evaluation variables Cv(Pg) for the car G in operation (step S126).

[0099] When the first upper device determines "substituted (Yes)" in step S126, even if the reply of the evaluation value Vx(Pg) from all the first lower devices is not completed, at that time (i.e., when all the evaluation values Vx(Pg) for the running car cage G are complete), it proceeds to step S130 (selection of candidate cage Gk). According to such processing, it becomes possible to improve the processing speed until the allocation is completed.

[0100] On the other hand, when the first upper device determines "not substituted (No)" in step S126, it proceeds to step S127 and determines whether the reply of the evaluation value Vx(Pg) from all the first lower devices is completed. In this embodiment, each time the first upper device receives a reply of the evaluation value Vx(Pg) from the first lower device, it uses the device information Pd transmitted from the first lower device together with the evaluation value Vx(Pg) to grasp from which first lower device the reply of the evaluation value Vx(Pg) was received.

[0101] Also, when the first upper device determines "set (Yes)" in step S123, it can be determined based on this determination that the evaluation value Vx(Pgs) has been returned as a result of being unable to execute the calculation task. Also in this case, the first upper device proceeds to step S127 and determines whether the reply of the evaluation value Vx(Pg) from all the first lower devices is completed.

[0102] When the first upper device determines "not completed (No)" in step S127, it returns to step S121 and repeats the processing of steps S121 to S127 until it can determine "substituted (Yes)" in step S126 or until it can determine "completed (Yes)" in step S127.

[0103] And when the first host device determines "completed (Yes)" in step S127, based on this determination, it can be judged that, without all the evaluation values Vx(Pg) for the running car G being complete, the reply of the evaluation values Vx(Pg) from all the first subordinate devices has ended. In other words, it can be judged that a large number of first subordinate devices that were unable to execute the calculation task have occurred.

[0104] In this case, the first host device re-lists all the car information Pg for the car G for which the evaluation value Vx(Pg) could not be substituted into the evaluation variable Cv(Pg) as the running car information Pgk(J) (step S128). Also, the first host device re-substitutes the total number of the running car information Pgk(J) (here, the value at the end of the list number J) into the variable M2. Then, the first host device executes the process from step S110 again. As a result, a request to execute the calculation task for the car G that still does not have the evaluation value Vx(Pg) at that time is re-specified for the first subordinate devices to handle, and then it is executed again.

[0105] And the first host device repeatedly executes the process from step S110 via step S128 until it can be determined "substituted (Yes)" in step S126 (that is, until all the evaluation values Vx(Pg) for the running car G are complete).

[0106] According to such processing, even when the number of users increases and the request to execute the calculation task for the same one first subordinate device overlaps, and in a situation where the number of calculation tasks being executed (task number N) in each first subordinate device easily reaches the upper limit value Nt1, it is always possible to make all the evaluation values Vx(Pg) for all the cars G complete.

[0107] When the first upper device can determine "substituted (Yes)" in step S126, it evaluates the car G by comparing all values (evaluation values Vx(Pg)) of the evaluation variable Cv(Pg), and selects the car G with the highest evaluation as the candidate car Gk (step S130). For example, when the predicted arrival time is used as the evaluation value Vx, the earlier the time indicated by the evaluation value Vx, the higher the evaluation of the car G as the assignment destination (the higher the fitness as the assignment destination). Also, when the predicted waiting time is used as the evaluation value Vx, the shorter the time indicated by the evaluation value Vx, the higher the evaluation of the car G as the assignment destination (the higher the fitness as the assignment destination).

[0108] After step S130, the first upper device assigns the landing call X for the user who registered the destination floor Fd at the first upper device to the candidate car Gk selected in step S130 (step S131). Then, the first upper device guides the user on which car G to board by displaying the information of the assignment performed in step S131 (car information Pg of the candidate car Gk, etc.) on its own operation unit 10 (step S132). After that, the first upper device ends the assignment task.

[0109] [1-3]Modification example [1-3-1]First modification example In the first embodiment above, when the first upper device transmits a request to execute a calculation task to the first lower device, it is responsible for executing the calculation task for any one of the cars G in operation, and for the other cars G, it may send a request to execute the calculation task for each of them to the first lower device. In this case, the first upper device selects the candidate car Gk using the evaluation value Vx(Pg) calculated by itself and the evaluation value Vx(Pg) obtained from the reply from the first lower device.

[0110] FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a part of the allocation tasks executed in the first modification example. In this modification example, the first host device is configured to be able to execute the calculation task by itself among the allocation tasks in FIG. 7. On the other hand, in order to limit the load on itself by undertaking the calculation task, after step S101, the first host device determines whether or not the number of tasks N, which is the number of calculation tasks being executed by itself at that time, has reached the upper limit value Nt2 (step S300). Here, the upper limit value Nt2 is provided to limit in advance the number of calculation tasks to be processed in parallel by the first host device. Also, this upper limit value Nt2 is set to a value of 1 or more.

[0111] When the first host device determines "not reached (No)" in step S300, it can determine, based on this determination, that it has the capacity to execute the calculation task. In this case, the first host device executes the calculation task for any one of the running carriages G (hereinafter, let the car information Pg of this carriage G be Pg = Pgt) among the running carriages G (step S301). Specifically, the first host device selects any one of the car information Pg recorded in the car management data Dt, where the current state Ps associated with the car information Pg is "running", and then executes the calculation task for the carriage G specified by the car information Pg (= Pgt).

[0112] After step S301, the first host device defines an evaluation variable Cv (Pg = Pgt) for substituting the evaluation value Vx (Pg = Pgt) obtained by the execution of the calculation task in step S301 (step S302), and then substitutes the evaluation value Vx (Pgt) into the evaluation variable Cv (Pgt) (step S303).

[0113] After step S303, in order for the first upper-level device to grasp the carriages G other than the carriage G (carriage information Pg = Pgt) that it was in charge of in step S301 (calculation task) among the running carriages G, among the carriage information Pg recorded in the car management data Dt, those whose current state Ps associated with the carriage information Pg is "running" and Pg ≠ Pgt are listed as the running carriage information Pgk(J) (step S304). Here, the list number J is a number starting from 1. Then, the first upper-level device substitutes the total number of the running carriage information Pgk(J) (here, the value at the end of the list number J) into the variable M2. After that, the first upper-level device executes the process from step S110.

[0114] On the other hand, if the first upper-level device determines "reached (Yes)" in step S300, it can be determined based on this determination that it has no capacity to execute the calculation task. In this case, the first upper-level device executes the process from step S102 in order to cause another destination floor registration device 1 (the first lower-level device) to execute the calculation task without itself executing the calculation task.

[0115] According to the first modification example, the first upper-level device can execute the calculation task together with the first lower-level device. As a result, it becomes possible to efficiently distribute the calculation task to all of the destination floor registration devices 1 that make up the cluster Q.

[0116] [1-3-2] Second Modification Example In the above first embodiment, when the first lower-level device receives a request to execute a calculation task, if at that time the user is operating to register the destination floor Fd at the first lower-level device, instead of executing the requested calculation task, the evaluation value Vx(Pg) for the carriage G specified in the execution request of the calculation task may be set to Vx(Pg) = -1 to indicate that the calculation task requested according to the request could not be executed.

[0117] FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing response processing (including a calculation task) executed in the second modification example. In this modification example, when the response processing is started, the first subordinate device determines whether or not the user is operating to register the destination floor Fd at that time (step S310).

[0118] When the first subordinate device determines "not operating (No)" in step S310, it executes the processing from step S200 described in the first embodiment (see FIG. 6). On the other hand, when the first subordinate device determines "operating (Yes)" in step S310, it skips the determination in step S200 and proceeds to step S220.

[0119] According to the second modification example, while prioritizing the function as a user interface, which is the original function, of the first subordinate device, when the first subordinate device is not under load (that is, when the user is not performing a registration operation on that device), only a part (calculation task) of the task for performing group management control can be assigned to the first subordinate device.

[0120] [1-3-3] Third Modification Example In the above-described first embodiment, as the number of destination floor registration devices 1 provided in the elevator increases, the number of destination floor registration devices 1 that execute the calculation task for the same one car G among the first subordinate devices also increases. For this reason, the number of evaluation values Vx(Pg) that are calculated but not adopted and wasted (that is, the number of wasted calculation tasks executed) also increases.

[0121] Therefore, in order to reduce such waste as much as possible, the destination floor registration devices 1 may be assigned to two or more groups in advance, and for each group, the destination floor registration devices 1 that are operating normally within the group may form one cluster Q and perform group management control.

[0122] [1-3-4] Fourth Modification Example In the above first embodiment, when the first upper device transmits a request to execute a calculation task to the first lower device, each time it does so, it selects the same number or more destination floor registration devices 1 as the number of cars G in operation as the first lower devices, and forms a cluster Q together with these destination floor registration devices 1 to perform group management control. At this time, as a method for selecting the first lower devices, the first upper device can randomly select the first lower devices.

[0123] Instead of the above selection method, the first upper device acquires the registration frequency (the number of times used for registering the destination floor Fd) within the most recent predetermined period (for example, one month) from all the destination floor registration devices 1, and as the first lower devices, sequentially selects the required number from the destination floor registration devices 1 with the lowest registration frequency. According to this selection method, the processing capacity of the destination floor registration device 1 can be effectively utilized for the first lower devices without disturbing the original function (function as a user interface) of the destination floor registration device 1 as much as possible.

[0124] [2] Second Embodiment [2-1] Overall Configuration of Elevator FIG. 9 is a conceptual diagram showing the overall configuration of an elevator according to the second embodiment. This elevator, similar to the first embodiment, includes a plurality of destination floor registration devices 1, a plurality of cars G, and a plurality of elevator control devices 2.

[0125] On the other hand, in this embodiment, any one of the plurality of destination floor registration devices 1 is pre-selected as the registration device responsible for the first upper device. Also, one or more destination floor registration devices 1 other than the first upper device are pre-selected as the registration devices responsible for the first lower devices. Specifically, the same number of destination floor registration devices 1 as the number of cars G provided in the elevator are pre-selected as the first lower devices. Also, for each first lower device, the car G for which the first lower device is to be responsible for the calculation task is predetermined.

[0126] As a method for selecting the first upper device and the first lower device, these devices can be selected in order from those with the lowest registration frequency (the number of times used for registering the destination floor Fd) within the most recent predetermined period (for example, one month) among all the destination floor registration devices 1. According to such a selection method, the processing capacity of the destination floor registration device 1 can be effectively utilized for the first upper device and the first lower device (that is, for the first cluster Q1) without disturbing the original function (function as a user interface) of the destination floor registration device 1 as much as possible.

[0127] And, a cluster Q for group management control (hereinafter, this cluster Q is referred to as "the first cluster Q1") is configured by these destination floor registration devices 1 (the first upper device and the first lower device).

[0128] Furthermore, a second cluster Q2 different from the first cluster Q1 is configured by two or more destination floor registration devices 1 other than the destination floor registration devices 1 constituting the first cluster Q1 (two or more destination floor registration devices 1 outside the first cluster Q1). This second cluster Q2 is a backup cluster Q that performs group management control in place of the first cluster Q1 when the first cluster Q1 fails to operate normally.

[0129] Specifically, any one of the destination floor registration devices 1 outside the first cluster Q1 is pre-selected as the second upper device responsible for executing the assigned tasks during backup. Also, one or more destination floor registration devices 1 outside the first cluster Q1 and other than the second upper device are pre-selected as the second lower devices responsible for executing the calculation tasks during backup. In this embodiment, the same number of destination floor registration devices 1 as the number of carriages G provided in the elevator are pre-selected as the second lower devices. Also, for each second lower device, the carriage G for which the second lower device is responsible for the calculation task is determined in advance.

[0130] As a method for selecting the second upper device and the second lower device, those devices can be selected in order from the destination floor registration devices 1 with the lowest registration frequency within the most recent predetermined period (for example, one month) among the destination floor registration devices 1 excluding those selected as the first upper device or the first lower device among all the destination floor registration devices 1. According to such a selection method, the processing capacity of the destination floor registration device 1 can be effectively utilized for the second upper device and the second lower device (i.e., for the second cluster Q2) without disturbing the original function (function as a user interface) of the destination floor registration device 1 as much as possible.

[0131] And these destination floor registration devices 1 (the second upper device and the second lower device) constitute the second cluster Q2 (cluster Q for backup).

[0132] As a result, even during backup, two or more destination floor registration devices 1 can share and perform a plurality of tasks (tasks for group management control) for performing group management control. Specifically, even during backup, a plurality of tasks (tasks for group management control) for performing group management control are distributed by being allocated to two or more destination floor registration devices 1, and each destination floor registration device 1 executes the task allocated to itself, so that the two or more destination floor registration devices 1 can function as one cluster Q and perform group management control. This will be specifically described below.

[0133] FIG. 10(A) is a block diagram showing the configuration applied to each of the first upper device and the second upper device in the present embodiment. As shown in this figure, the destination floor registration device 1 selected as the first upper device or the second upper device is configured to be able to execute only the assigned task among the tasks for group management control. Therefore, in the destination floor registration device 1, it is sufficient that the information necessary for the operation as a user interface and the information necessary for the execution of the assigned task (device management data Dr and basket management data Dt) are stored in the storage unit 11, and the information necessary for the execution of the learning task and the calculation task (learning data Dp) does not have to be stored in the storage unit 11.

[0134] Figure 10(B) is a conceptual diagram illustrating the device management data Dr used in the present embodiment. In this device management data Dr, for each destination floor registration device 1, in addition to the device information Pd and the installation floor Fs of the destination floor registration device 1, the attribute information Pt of the destination floor registration device 1 is further associated. Here, the attribute information Pt is information indicating which destination floor registration device 1 constitutes each of the first cluster Q1 and the second cluster Q2. In other words, the attribute information Pt of each destination floor registration device 1 is information indicating which cluster Q, either the first cluster Q1 or the second cluster Q2, the destination floor registration device 1 constitutes when it is a registration device that constitutes one of the clusters Q. In the example of Figure 10(B), "Q1" is recorded in the attribute information Pt of the destination floor registration device 1 (the destination floor registration device 1 selected as the first upper device or the first lower device) that constitutes the first cluster Q1, and the case where "Q2" is recorded in the attribute information Pt of the destination floor registration device 1 (the destination floor registration device 1 selected as the second upper device or the second lower device) that constitutes the second cluster Q2 is shown.

[0135] Figure 11 is a block diagram showing the configuration applied to each of the first lower device and the second lower device. As shown in this figure, the destination floor registration device 1 selected as the first lower device or the second lower device is configured to be able to execute only the calculation task and the learning task among the tasks for group management control. Therefore, in the destination floor registration device 1, it is sufficient that the information necessary for the operation as the user interface and the information necessary for the execution of the calculation task and the learning task (learning data Dp) are stored in the storage unit 11, and the information necessary for the execution of the assignment task (device management data Dr and basket management data Dt) does not have to be stored in the storage unit 11.

[0136] In this embodiment, each time a user registers a destination floor Fd at any one of the plurality of destination floor registration devices 1 (including the registration devices in the first cluster Q1 and the registration devices in the second cluster Q2) provided in the elevator, that destination floor registration device 1, unless it is responsible for an assigned task as the upper device (the first upper device during normal operation and the second upper device during backup) at that time, transmits the registered destination floor Fd to the destination floor registration device 1 (the first upper device during normal operation and the second upper device during backup) responsible for the assigned task at that time. As a result, a request for assignment of a landing call X for that user is made to the first upper device or the second upper device responsible for the assigned task at that time. At this time, in order to make the upper device (here, the first upper device or the second upper device) recognize which registration device the operated destination floor registration device 1 is, the device information Pd of that destination floor registration device 1 is also transmitted to the upper device.

[0137] When the upper device receives an assignment request from another destination floor registration device 1, by referring to the device management data Dr, it identifies the destination floor registration device 1 that transmitted the assignment request from the device information Pd received at that time, and also identifies the installation floor Fs of that registration device. On the other hand, when the upper device registers the destination floor Fd at that upper device, by referring to the device management data Dr, it identifies its own installation floor Fs from its own device information Pd. And in any case, the installation floor Fs identified by the upper device is used as the departure floor Fc of the user who registered the destination floor Fd.

[0138] Here, when the first upper device and all of its first lower devices are operating normally, in addition to the alive state signal Sx, the first upper device periodically distributes an assignment responsible signal Sy indicating that it is in the process of executing an assigned task to all destination floor registration devices 1 other than itself. Specifically, the first upper device distributes the assignment responsible signal Sy to all destination floor registration devices 1 other than itself when it is operating normally and can receive the alive state signal Sx from all first lower devices in the first cluster Q1 (that is, when it can confirm that all first lower devices are operating normally).

[0139] On the other hand, when any of the first subordinate devices fails to operate normally, the first upper device stops executing the assigned task and stops distributing the assigned responsibility signal Sy from itself.

[0140] As a result, when the destination floor registration device 1 other than the first upper device regularly receives the assigned responsibility signal Sy from the first upper device, it can recognize that the transmission destination of the landing call X assignment request is the first upper device based on this reception. Also, when the first cluster Q1 becomes unable to perform group management control, the interruption of the distribution of the assigned responsibility signal Sy from the first upper device enables the second upper device to surely recognize that an alternative (backup) for the first cluster Q1 is required.

[0141] When the second upper device can receive the assigned responsibility signal Sy from the first upper device, it distributes only the alive state signal Sx to other destination floor registration devices 1 without distributing the assigned responsibility signal Sy from itself. Then, when the second upper device can no longer receive the assigned responsibility signal Sy from the first upper device (when the distribution of the assigned responsibility signal Sy from the first upper device is interrupted), it starts executing the assigned task on behalf of the first upper device and starts distributing the assigned responsibility signal Sy to destination floor registration devices 1 other than itself (backup process).

[0142] As a result, when the destination floor registration device 1 other than the second upper device can no longer receive the assigned responsibility signal Sy from the first upper device but can receive the assigned responsibility signal Sy from the second upper device, it can recognize that the transmission destination of the landing call X assignment request has changed from the first upper device to the second upper device based on this reception.

[0143] As described above, in this embodiment, when the first cluster Q1 becomes unable to perform group management control, the control subject of group management can be smoothly transferred from the first upper device (the first cluster Q1) to the second upper device (the second cluster Q2). Also, it becomes possible to accurately make each destination floor registration device 1 recognize which of the first upper device and the second upper device is in charge of the assigned task (that is, to which one the assignment request of the landing call X should be transmitted).

[0144] When the first upper device is distributing the assignment responsibility signal Sy, if the destination floor Fd is registered at the first upper device, or if the first upper device receives an assignment request for the landing call X from another destination floor registration device 1, the first upper device always executes the assigned task even if the user is operating to register the destination floor Fd at the first upper device.

[0145] Specifically, the first upper device requests the execution of the calculation task each is responsible for by transmitting information on the landing call X (the departure floor Fc and the destination floor Fd of the user), which is the target of the assigned task (the target of the assignment), to all the first lower devices within the first cluster Q1 (transmitting the request for the execution of the calculation task to the first lower devices).

[0146] When each first lower device receives a request for the execution of the calculation task from the first upper device, each first lower device always executes the calculation task it is responsible for even if the user is operating to register the destination floor Fd at the first lower device. Specifically, each first lower device calculates the evaluation value Vx(Pg) for the car G it is responsible for and returns the evaluation value Vx(Pg) to the first upper device.

[0147] After that, the first upper device selects the candidate car Gk using the evaluation value Vx(Pg) obtained from the reply from the first lower device, and then assigns the landing call X for the user to the candidate car Gk.

[0148] On the one hand, when the first upper-level device itself is operating normally (although it can distribute the alive state signal Sx), but stops distributing the assigned signal Sy from itself because one of the first lower-level devices in the first cluster Q1 cannot operate normally, and when the destination floor Fd is registered by the user on the first upper-level device, a request for assigning the landing call X for the user is transmitted to the second upper-level device.

[0149] When the second upper-level device is distributing the assigned signal Sy itself (i.e., during backup), when the destination floor Fd is registered on the second upper-level device, or when a request for assigning the landing call X is received from another destination floor registration device 1, the second upper-level device always executes the assignment task even if the user is in the process of registering the destination floor Fd on the second upper-level device.

[0150] Specifically, the second upper-level device transmits the information of the landing call X (the departure floor Fc and the destination floor Fd of the user), which is the object of the assignment task (the object of allocation), to all the second lower-level devices in the second cluster Q2, thereby requesting the execution of the calculation task that each is responsible for (requesting the execution of the calculation task to the second lower-level device).

[0151] When each second lower-level device receives a request for executing the calculation task from the second upper-level device, it always executes the calculation task that it is responsible for even if the user is in the process of registering the destination floor Fd on the second lower-level device. Specifically, each second lower-level device calculates the evaluation value Vx(Pg) for the car G that it is responsible for, and returns the evaluation value Vx(Pg) to the second upper-level device.

[0152] After that, the second upper-level device selects the candidate car Gk using the evaluation value Vx(Pg) obtained from the reply of the second lower-level device, and then assigns the landing call X for the user to the candidate car Gk.

[0153] On the other hand, in the case where the second upper device is operating normally (although it can distribute the alive state signal Sx), but has stopped distributing the assigned signal Sy from itself because it can receive the assigned signal Sy from the first upper device, when the user registers the destination floor Fd at the second upper device, a request for assigning the landing call X for the user is transmitted to the first upper device.

[0154] According to such a control system, even when the first cluster Q1 cannot operate normally, the first cluster Q1 can be replaced (backed up) by the second cluster Q2. Therefore, all group management controls including the control during backup can be performed only by the destination floor registration device 1.

[0155] [2-2] Control Process Performed by Destination Floor Registration Device [2-2-1] Assignment Task Performed by Upper Device FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the assignment task executed in the present embodiment. This assignment task is started by the upper device (normally the first upper device, and the second upper device during backup) when the destination floor Fd is registered, or when the upper device receives a request for assigning the landing call X from another destination floor registration device 1.

[0156] When the assignment task is started, the upper device first substitutes its own attribute information Pt into the variable Kx (step S401). Specifically, the upper device specifies its own attribute information Pt from its own device information Pd by referring to the device management data Dr (FIG. 10(B)), and substitutes the attribute information Pt into the variable Kx. Thereby, it is specified which cluster Q of the first cluster Q1 and the second cluster Q2 the group management control including the assignment task is being performed at that time.

[0157] Next, the upper-level device identifies the lower-level devices (the first lower-level device during normal times and the second lower-level device during backup) within the same cluster Q as itself (step S402). In other words, the upper-level device identifies the destination floor registration device 1 that, together with itself, forms one cluster Q (the first cluster Q1 during normal times and the second cluster Q2 during backup) and is responsible for performing group management control. Specifically, the upper-level device extracts, from the device information Pd recorded in the device management data Dr, those for which the attribute information Pt associated with the device information Pd matches the information within the variable Kx (the attribute information Pt substituted into the variable Kx in step S401).

[0158] After step S402, the upper-level device requests the execution of the calculation tasks each is responsible for by transmitting the information of the landing call X (the departure floor Fc and the destination floor Fd of the user), which is the target of the assigned task (the target of assignment), to all the lower-level devices identified in step S402 (transmission of the request for execution of the calculation task to the lower-level devices).

[0159] When each lower-level device receives a request for execution of a calculation task from the upper-level device, it always executes the calculation task it is responsible for, even if the user is in the process of operating to register the destination floor Fd at that lower-level device. Specifically, each lower-level device calculates the evaluation value Vx(Pg) for the car G it is responsible for and returns the evaluation value Vx(Pg) to the upper-level device.

[0160] After that, the upper-level device selects the candidate car Gk using the evaluation value Vx(Pg) obtained from the reply from the lower-level device, and then assigns the landing call X for the user to the candidate car Gk (steps S404 to S406).

[0161] Specifically, after step S403, the upper-level device determines whether the reply of the evaluation value Vx(Pg) from all the lower-level devices has been completed (step S404). And the upper-level device repeatedly executes step S404 until it can determine "completed (Yes)" in step S404.

[0162] When the host device can determine "completed (Yes)" in step S404, it evaluates the car G by comparing all the evaluation values Vx(Pg) acquired from the slave device, and selects the car G with the highest evaluation as the candidate car Gk (step S405).

[0163] After step S405, the host device assigns the landing call X for the target user to the candidate car Gk selected in step S405 (step S406). Then, the host device guides the user on which car G to board by displaying the information of the assignment performed in step S406 (such as the car information Pg of the candidate car Gk) on the operation unit 10 of the destination floor registration device 1 where the user has registered the destination floor Fd (step S407). After that, the host device ends the assignment task.

[0164] [2-2-2] Backup process performed by the second host device FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing the backup process executed in this embodiment. In this backup process, the second host device first determines whether the distribution of the assignment responsibility signal Sy from the first host device has stopped in order to determine whether backup of the group management control (replacement of the first cluster Q1) is required (step S501).

[0165] When the second host device determines "not stopped (No)" in step S501, it repeats step S501 to monitor the state of the first cluster Q1. When the second host device determines "stopped (Yes)" in step S501, it starts executing the assignment task on behalf of the first host device and starts distributing the assignment responsibility signal Sy to the destination floor registration devices 1 other than itself (step S502).

[0166] As a result, the destination floor registration device 1 other than the second higher-level device will recognize that the transmission destination of the allocation request for the landing call X has become the second higher-level device. As a result, when a user registers the destination floor Fd at any of the destination floor registration devices 1 other than the second higher-level device, that destination floor registration device 1 will transmit the registered destination floor Fd to the second higher-level device.

[0167] After that, when the first cluster Q1 becomes able to perform group management control due to maintenance or the like, the distribution of the allocation responsibility signal Sy from the first higher-level device is resumed, and the second higher-level device can receive the allocation responsibility signal Sy from the first higher-level device again. Therefore, after step S502, the second higher-level device determines whether the distribution of the allocation responsibility signal Sy from the first higher-level device has resumed (step S503). If it can be determined in step S503 that "resumed (Yes)", the execution of the allocation task is stopped and the distribution of the allocation responsibility signal Sy from itself is stopped (step S504).

[0168] As a result, the destination floor registration device 1 other than the first higher-level device will receive the allocation responsibility signal Sy from the first higher-level device again, and recognize from this reception that the transmission destination of the allocation request for the landing call X has returned to the first higher-level device.

[0169] After step S504, as long as the second higher-level device is operating normally, the above-described backup process is repeatedly executed.

[0170] [2-3] Variation [2-3-1] Fifth Variation <Configuration of Higher-Level Device> In the second embodiment described above, instead of the higher-level device responsible for executing the assigned task among the first higher-level device and the second higher-level device (normally the first higher-level device and the second higher-level device during backup) distributing the assignment responsibility signal Sy, the alive state signal Sx distributed by each of the first higher-level device and the second higher-level device may be provided with assignment responsibility information Py indicating whether the higher-level device responsible for executing the assigned task is in the state of being responsible or not responsible. Specifically, it is as follows.

[0171] When the first higher-level device and the first lower-level device are all operating normally, the first higher-level device distributes its alive state signal Sx with the assignment responsibility information Py in the signal in the state of being responsible (Py = "being responsible"). More specifically, when the first higher-level device is operating normally and can receive the alive state signal Sx from all the first lower-level devices in the first cluster Q1 (that is, when it can confirm that all the first lower-level devices are operating normally), the assignment responsibility information Py in the alive state signal Sx of the first higher-level device is set to the state of being responsible (Py = "being responsible").

[0172] On the other hand, when any of the first lower-level devices fails to operate normally, the first higher-level device stops executing the assigned task and changes the assignment responsibility information Py in its alive state signal Sx to the state of not being responsible (Py = "not being responsible").

[0173] As a result, when the destination floor registration device 1 other than the first higher-level device regularly receives the alive state signal Sx from the first higher-level device, if the assignment responsibility information Py in the signal is in the state of being responsible (Py = "being responsible"), it can recognize that the transmission destination of the boarding call X assignment request is the first higher-level device based on this state. Also, when the first cluster Q1 becomes unable to perform group management control, by changing the assignment responsibility information Py in the alive state signal Sx of the first higher-level device to the state of not being responsible (Py = "not being responsible"), it becomes possible to surely make the second higher-level device recognize that the replacement (backup) of the first cluster Q1 is necessary using the alive state signal Sx.

[0174] When the assignment information Py in the alive state signal Sx received from the first upper device by the second upper device is in the state being in charge (Py = "being in charge"), the second upper device distributes its own alive state signal Sx with the assignment information Py in the signal being in the state not in charge (Py = "not in charge"). Then, when the second upper device can no longer receive the alive state signal Sx from the first upper device, or when the assignment information Py in the alive state signal Sx received from the first upper device becomes in the state not in charge (Py = "not in charge"), the second upper device starts executing the assigned task on behalf of the first upper device and changes the assignment information Py in its own alive state signal Sx to the state being in charge (Py = "being in charge") (backup process).

[0175] Thereby, when the assignment information Py in the alive state signal Sx received from the first upper device by the destination floor registration device 1 other than the second upper device is changed to the state not in charge (Py = "not in charge"), and when the assignment information Py in the alive state signal Sx received from the second upper device is changed to the state being in charge (Py = "being in charge"), the destination floor registration device 1 can recognize that the transmission destination of the assignment request for the landing call X has been changed from the first upper device to the second upper device based on the change in those states.

[0176] In this way, also in this modified example, when the first cluster Q1 becomes unable to perform the group management control, the control subject of the group management can be smoothly shifted from the first upper device (the first cluster Q1) to the second upper device (the second cluster Q2). Further, according to this modified example, it becomes possible to accurately make each destination floor registration device 1 recognize which of the first upper device and the second upper device is in charge of the assigned task (that is, to which the assignment request for the landing call X should be transmitted) by using the alive state signal Sx.

[0177] <Backup process performed by the second upper device> FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing the backup process executed in this modified example. In this backup process, the second highest-level device first determines whether the delivery of the alive state signal Sx from the first highest-level device has stopped in order to determine whether a backup of the group management control (replacement of the first cluster Q1) is required (step S511). If it is determined in step S511 that "it has not stopped (No)", then further, it is determined whether the assignment information Py in the alive state signal Sx received from the first highest-level device has been changed to a non-assigned state (Py = "not in charge") (step S512).

[0178] When the second highest-level device determines "not changed (No)" in step S512, it repeatedly executes steps S511 and S512 until it determines "stopped (Yes)" in step S511 or determines "changed (Yes)" in step S512. In this way, the second highest-level device monitors the state of the first cluster Q1. Then, when the second highest-level device determines "stopped (Yes)" in step S511 or determines "changed (Yes)" in step S512, it starts executing the assigned task on behalf of the first highest-level device and changes the assignment information Py in its own alive state signal Sx to an in-charge state (Py = "in charge") (step S513).

[0179] As a result, the destination floor registration device 1 other than the second highest-level device will recognize that the transmission destination of the assignment request for the landing call X has become the second highest-level device. As a result, when a user registers the destination floor Fd at any one of the destination floor registration devices 1 other than the second highest-level device, that destination floor registration device 1 will transmit the registered destination floor Fd to the second highest-level device.

[0180] After that, when the first cluster Q1 becomes capable of performing group management control due to maintenance or the like, the first upper-level device will again distribute its own alive state signal Sx with the assigned responsibility information Py within the signal in the state of being in charge (Py = "in charge"), whereby the second upper-level device will be able to recognize that the first cluster Q1 has become capable of performing group management control again. Therefore, after step S513, the second upper-level device determines whether or not the assigned responsibility information Py within the alive state signal Sx received from the first upper-level device has returned to the state of being in charge (Py = "in charge") (step S514). If it can be determined as "returned (Yes)" in step S514, the execution of the assigned task is stopped and the assigned responsibility information Py within its own alive state signal Sx is returned to the state of not being in charge (Py = "not in charge") (step S515).

[0181] As a result, the destination floor registration device 1 other than the first upper-level device will recognize that the transmission destination of the assignment request for the landing call X has returned to the first upper-level device.

[0182] After step S515, as long as the second upper-level device is operating normally, the above-described backup process is repeatedly executed.

[0183] [2-3-2] Sixth Modification Example FIG. 15 is a conceptual diagram showing the overall configuration of an elevator according to the sixth modification example. In any of the above-described second embodiment and fifth modification example, as shown in FIG. 15, instead of being selected as devices for constructing the second cluster Q2 (backup cluster Q), the second upper-level device and the second lower-level device may be respectively selected as devices for individually replacing the first upper-level device and the first lower-level device.

[0184] Specifically, the second upper-level device is selected as a device that undertakes the execution of the assigned tasks in place of the first upper-level device when the first upper-level device fails to operate normally (a backup device for the first upper-level device). Also, the second lower-level device is selected as a device that undertakes the execution of the calculation tasks in place of the first lower-level device when the first lower-level device fails to operate normally (a backup device for the first lower-level device). More specifically, the second lower-level device is selected as a backup device for each car G with respect to the first lower-level device that undertakes the calculation tasks for that car G.

[0185] According to this modified example, even when the first cluster Q1 fails to operate normally, only the destination floor registration device 1 that has failed to operate normally within the first cluster Q1 can be replaced (backed up) by another destination floor registration device 1. Therefore, also in this modified example, all group management controls including the control during backup can be accomplished by only the destination floor registration device 1.

[0186] [2-3-3] Seventh Modified Example In any of the above-described second embodiment and fifth modified example, the second cluster Q2 is not limited to one, and a plurality of clusters Q may be constructed as backup clusters Q. According to such a configuration, the robustness of the backup function can be enhanced.

[0187] [2-3-3] Eighth Modified Example In any of the above-described second embodiment and fifth to seventh modified examples, one cluster Q may be composed of an upper-level device that performs assigned tasks, a lower-level device that only performs calculation tasks without performing learning tasks, and a lower-level device that only performs learning tasks without performing calculation tasks. In this case, the lower-level device that only performs calculation tasks obtains necessary information from the lower-level device that only performs learning tasks and executes the calculation tasks.

[0188] [3] Third Embodiment [3-1] Overall Configuration of Elevator Fig. 16 is a conceptual diagram showing the overall configuration of an elevator according to the third embodiment. As shown in Fig. 16, the elevator of this embodiment includes a group management control device 3 that executes all tasks for group management control, separate from the destination floor registration device 1. This group management control device 3 is connected to the destination floor registration device 1 and the elevator control device 2 via a network W. Furthermore, when the group management control device 3 itself is operating normally, it periodically distributes an alive status signal Sx indicating this to other devices (including the destination floor registration device 1 and the elevator control device 2).

[0189] In this embodiment, if the group management control device 3 is unable to operate normally, two or more destination floor registration devices 1, which are some or all of the multiple destination floor registration devices 1 equipped in the elevator, will share and perform the group management control tasks in place of the group management control device 3.

[0190] Specifically, a cluster Q similar to the second cluster Q2 described in the second embodiment (in this embodiment, this cluster Q is called the "first cluster Q1", and the upper device and lower device (corresponding to the second upper device and second lower device) within that cluster Q are called the "first upper device" and the "first lower device", respectively) is constructed as a backup cluster Q that performs group management control in place of the group management control device 3, by using two or more of the destination floor registration devices 1 provided in the elevator of this embodiment.

[0191] Then, when the first higher-level device in the first cluster Q1 detects that the distribution of the alive status signal Sx from the group management control device 3 has been interrupted, it starts executing the allocation task in place of the group management control device 3 and starts distributing the allocation responsibility signal Sy to destination floor registration devices 1 other than itself (backup processing). At this time, the first higher-level device may change the allocation responsibility information Py in its own alive status signal Sx to an in-response state (Py="in-response").

[0192] As a result, the destination floor registration devices 1 other than the first higher-level device will no longer be able to receive the alive status signal Sx from the group management control device 3, but when they start to receive the allocation responsibility signal Sy from the first higher-level device, or when the allocation responsibility information Py in the alive status signal Sx received from the first higher-level device is changed to an in-charge state (Py="in-charge"), they will be able to recognize that the destination of the allocation request for the hall call X has changed from the group management control device 3 to the first higher-level device.

[0193] According to this embodiment, if the group management control device 3 becomes unable to operate normally, a cluster Q for group management control is formed of two or more destination floor registration devices 1, and this cluster Q can substitute for (back up) the group management control device 3. In other words, the processing capacity of the destination floor registration device 1 can be effectively utilized to continue elevator operation.

[0194] [3-2] Modified Examples [3-2-1] 9th Variation In the above third embodiment, the first cluster Q1 may include, for each car G, a plurality of first lower-level devices that are in charge of the calculation task for the same car G. In this case, after transmitting a request to execute the calculation task to the first lower-level devices in the first cluster Q1, the first higher-level device can adopt, for each car G, the evaluation value Vx(Pg) of that car G that is returned earliest from the first lower-level device.

[0195] According to this modified example, even if one of the first lower-level devices is unable to operate normally, the evaluation value Vx(Pg) for the car G that was in charge of that first lower-level device can be obtained from another first lower-level device that is in charge of the same car G as that car G.

[0196] [3-2-2] 10th Variation In the above ninth modification, one or more destination floor registration devices 1 other than the destination floor registration devices 1 constituting the first cluster Q1 (one or more destination floor registration devices 1 outside the first cluster Q1) may be selected as backup devices that will be responsible for executing the assigned task in place of the first higher-level device when the first higher-level device is unable to operate normally. Such a configuration increases the robustness of the backup function.

[0197] The above-described embodiments and modifications should be considered to be illustrative in all respects and not restrictive. The scope of the present invention is defined not by the above-described embodiments and modifications, but by the claims. Furthermore, the scope of the present invention is intended to include all modifications that are equivalent to the scope of the claims and fall within the scope thereof.

[0198] From the above-described embodiments and modifications, the subject matter of the invention is not limited to a control system that configures a cluster Q with a plurality of destination floor registration devices 1, but may also be extracted individually from part or all of the control processes (including control methods corresponding to the control processes) and programs executed in the control system. Also, part or all of the above-described elevators may be extracted as the subject matter of the invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0199] 1. Destination floor registration device 2. Elevator control device 3 Group management control device G car I, J List Number N number of tasks Q Cluster W Network X Platform call 10 Control section 11 Storage section 12 Control Unit CV evaluation variables Dp training data Dr. Device management data Dt Cage management data Fc Departure Floor Fd Destination floor Fs setting level Gk candidate basket Ix, Kx variables Jx number M1, M2 variables Pd device information Pg basket information Ps current state Pt attribute information Py assigned person information Q1 first cluster Q2 second cluster Sx alive state signal Sy assigned person signal Vx evaluation value Nt1, Nt2 upper limit values Pdk target device information Pgk operation basket information Pgs target basket information

Claims

1. In an elevator having a plurality of carriages and a plurality of destination floor registration devices, a control system for an elevator, wherein two or more destination floor registration devices, which are part or all of the plurality of destination floor registration devices, share and perform a plurality of tasks for performing group management control for the plurality of carriages, The plurality of tasks include: When a user registers a destination floor at any one of the plurality of destination floor registration devices, a candidate car is selected from among the plurality of carriages as an assignment destination for a landing call for the user, and then, an assignment task of assigning the landing call for the user to the candidate car is performed, is included, A control system for an elevator, wherein any one of the plurality of destination floor registration devices is responsible for executing the assignment task.

2. In an elevator having a plurality of carriages and a plurality of destination floor registration devices, a control system for an elevator, wherein two or more destination floor registration devices, which are part or all of the plurality of destination floor registration devices, share and perform a plurality of tasks for performing group management control for the plurality of carriages, The plurality of tasks include: When a user registers a destination floor at any one of the plurality of destination floor registration devices, a calculation task of calculating an evaluation value for each carriage assuming that an assignment of a landing call for the user is made to the carriage, When a user registers a destination floor at any one of the plurality of destination floor registration devices, as an assignment destination for a landing call for the user, a candidate car is selected from among the plurality of carriages based on the evaluation value obtained for each carriage by executing the calculation task, and then, an assignment task of assigning the landing call for the user to the candidate car is performed, is included, Any one of the plurality of destination floor registration devices is responsible for executing the assignment task as a first upper device, One or more destination floor registration devices other than the first upper device among the plurality of destination floor registration devices are responsible for executing the calculation task as first lower devices, a control system for an elevator.

3. In the allocation task, when a user registers a destination floor at any one of the plurality of destination floor registration devices, the first upper device transmits a request to execute the calculation task to the first lower device, and then uses the evaluation value obtained by the execution of the calculation task to execute the selection of the candidate car. The elevator control system according to claim 2.

4. Each time a user registers a destination floor at any one of the plurality of destination floor registration devices, that destination floor registration device executes the allocation task as the first upper device. The elevator control system according to claim 3.

5. When the first upper device transmits a request to execute the calculation task to the first lower device, for each car, the request to execute the calculation task for the same one car is transmitted to two or more first lower devices. The elevator control system according to claim 4.

6. After the first upper device transmits a request to execute the calculation task to the first lower device, as the evaluation value of each car, the one that is returned earliest from the first lower device is adopted, and when all the evaluation values for the cars targeted by the calculation task among the plurality of cars are available, the selection of the candidate car is executed. The elevator control system according to claim 5.

7. In the first lower device, an upper limit value is provided for the number of the calculation tasks that can be processed individually in parallel. When each of the first lower devices receives the execution request, it determines whether the number of the calculation tasks being executed by itself at that time has reached the upper limit value. If it determines that it has not reached, it executes the calculation task corresponding to the request. The elevator control system according to any one of claims 4 to 6.

8. After the first upper device transmits a request to execute the calculation task to the first lower device, when the evaluation value is returned from the first lower device, if all the evaluation values for the cars targeted by the calculation task among the plurality of cars are not available, at that time, a request to execute the calculation task for the cars for which the evaluation value is not yet available is made to the first lower device again. The elevator control system according to claim 7.

9. When the first upper device transmits a request to execute the calculation task to the first lower device, it is responsible for executing the calculation task for any one of the plurality of carriages, and for the other carriages, it requests the first lower device to execute the calculation task for each of them. The elevator control system according to any one of claims 4 to 6.

10. As a cluster for group management control composed of two or more destination floor registration devices, a first cluster including the first upper device and the first lower device, and a second cluster different from the first cluster are provided. The second cluster A second upper device that is any one destination floor registration device outside the first cluster and is responsible for executing the assigned task, One or more destination floor registration devices outside the first cluster and other than the second upper device, which are second lower devices responsible for executing the calculation task, including When any destination floor registration device in the first cluster fails to operate normally, instead of the first cluster, the second upper device and the second lower device in the second cluster share and perform the plurality of tasks for performing the group management control. The elevator control system according to claim 2.

11. As a cluster for group management control composed of two or more destination floor registration devices, a first cluster including the first upper device and the first lower device is provided. Among the destination floor registration devices outside the first cluster, A second upper device that is responsible for executing the assigned task instead of the first upper device when the first upper device fails to operate normally, A second lower device that is responsible for executing the calculation task instead of the first lower device when the first lower device fails to operate normally, The elevator control system according to claim 2, which is included.

12. When the first upper device and the first lower device are all operating normally, the first upper device distributes an assignment responsibility signal indicating that it is in the process of executing the assigned task to destination floor registration devices other than itself. On the other hand, when any one of the first lower devices fails to operate normally, the distribution of the assignment responsibility signal from itself is stopped. When the second upper device can no longer receive the assignment signal from the first upper device, it starts executing the assigned task on behalf of the first upper device and starts distributing the assignment signal to destination floor registration devices other than itself. The elevator control system according to claim 10 or 11.

13. When each of the plurality of destination floor registration devices is operating normally, it distributes an alive state signal indicating this to other destination floor registration devices. The alive state signals distributed by each of the first upper device and the second upper device include assignment responsibility information indicating whether the upper device is in a state of being responsible or not responsible for executing the assigned task. When the first upper device and the first lower device are all operating normally, the first upper device distributes its alive state signal with the assignment responsibility information in the signal being in a state of being responsible. On the other hand, when any one of the first lower devices fails to operate normally, the assignment responsibility information in the alive state signal of the first upper device is changed to a state of not being responsible. When the assignment responsibility information in the alive state signal received by the second upper device from the first upper device is in a state of being responsible, the second upper device distributes its alive state signal with the assignment responsibility information in the signal being in a state of not being responsible. When the second upper device can no longer receive the alive state signal from the first upper device, or when the assignment responsibility information in the alive state signal received by the second upper device from the first upper device becomes a state of not being responsible, the second upper device starts executing the assigned task on behalf of the first upper device and changes the assignment responsibility information in its alive state signal to a state of being responsible. The elevator control system according to claim 10 or 11.

14. When selecting the first lower device from among the plurality of destination floor registration devices, as the first lower device, it is selected in order from the one with the lowest registration frequency of the destination floor among the plurality of destination floor registration devices. The elevator control system according to any one of claims 2 to 6, 10, and 11.

15. A group management control device that executes the plurality of tasks for performing the group management control is provided separately from the plurality of destination floor registration devices. When the group management control device fails to operate normally, two or more destination floor registration devices, which are part or all of the plurality of destination floor registration devices, share the plurality of tasks for performing the group management control in place of the group management control device. The elevator control system according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

16. In an elevator including a plurality of cars and a plurality of destination floor registration devices, a method for controlling an elevator, in which two or more destination floor registration devices, which are part or all of the plurality of destination floor registration devices, share a plurality of tasks for performing group management control for the plurality of cars. The plurality of tasks include When a user registers a destination floor at any one of the plurality of destination floor registration devices, a candidate car is selected from among the plurality of cars as an assignment destination for a landing call for the user, and then the assignment of the landing call for the user is made to the candidate car. An assignment task. is included. A method for controlling an elevator, in which any one of the plurality of destination floor registration devices is responsible for executing the assignment task.

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