Double-deck elevator group management control device and double-deck elevator group management control method

Abstract

To provide a group management control device for double-deck elevators capable of accurately allocating cars to generated hall calls. [Solution] According to an embodiment, a group management control device for a double-deck elevator includes an allocation change unit, an allocation change prediction unit, a preliminary processing unit, and an assigned car determination unit. The allocation change unit changes the assigned car for a registered hall call to a different car of the same elevator when the assigned car and another car of the same elevator arrive at the floor where the hall call occurs in the forward direction first and open their doors. When new hall call information is registered, the allocation change prediction unit predicts, for each car, the likelihood that the assigned car will be changed if the car is provisionally assigned to the new hall call. The preliminary processing unit generates an evaluation value for the new hall call for each car based on the predicted information. The assigned car determination unit determines an assigned car to be assigned to the new hall call based on information including the evaluation value.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] An embodiment of the present invention relates to a group management control device for a double-deck elevator and a group management control method for a double-deck elevator. [Background technology]

[0002] A system that controls multiple elevators is called an elevator group control system. In particular, a group control system in which each elevator is a double-deck elevator with an upper car and a lower car connected together is called a double-deck group control system.

[0003] In an elevator group management control system, when a user registers a hall call, an assignment process is performed to determine which car (assigned car) will respond to the hall call so that the user can be transported most efficiently. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 5761454 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] When performing allocation processing for hall calls for double-deck elevators, the upper and lower cars are distinguished from each other. On the other hand, when hall calls are registered by inputting the destination floor using a hall destination floor registration device, the hall destination floor registration device displays the assigned car number to the user who inputs the destination floor, but does not notify the user whether it is the upper car or the lower car.

[0006] When a call is registered using a hall destination floor registration device, the call to the destination floor is automatically registered when the assigned car responds at the departure floor. Therefore, the user does not operate the destination floor call button inside the car. Alternatively, in such elevators, there may be no destination floor call button installed inside the car.

[0007] If another car of the same model as the car assigned to the user arrives at the platform at the floor where the user has made a platform call and travels in the same direction as the user is heading to the destination floor, and opens its doors before the assigned car, it is possible that the user may mistakenly board the car with the door open.If a user who has entered a destination floor into the platform destination floor registration device mistakenly boards a car with the door open as described above, the call for the destination floor will not be automatically registered in the car that the user mistakenly boarded, and the user will not be able to disembark at the destination floor.

[0008] To avoid such a situation, when another car of the same car arrives first at the hall call registration floor in the same direction as the registered call and opens its doors, an allocation change can be made in which the assigned car is changed to the car that arrived first.

[0009] However, when deciding which car to assign to a hall call, the operating conditions of the first-arriving car of the same car, such as congestion and the duration of door opening, are not taken into consideration. Therefore, when an assignment change occurs, the operating efficiency of the double-deck elevator decreases, which can significantly reduce convenience for users.

[0010] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and aims to provide a group management control device for double-deck elevators and a group management control method for double-deck elevators that are capable of accurately allocating cars to generated hall calls in group management control of double-deck elevators. [Means for solving the problem]

[0011] According to an embodiment for achieving the above object, a group management control device for a double-deck elevator includes an allocation change unit, an allocation change prediction unit, a preliminary processing unit, and an assigned car determination unit. The allocation change unit changes the assigned car for a registered hall call to the other car of the same elevator when the assigned car and another car of the same elevator arrive at the floor where the hall call occurs in the forward direction first and open their doors. When new hall call information is registered, the allocation change prediction unit predicts, for each car, the likelihood that the assigned car will be changed if the car is provisionally assigned to the new hall call. The preliminary processing unit generates an evaluation value for the new hall call for each car based on the predicted information. The assigned car determination unit determines the assigned car to be assigned to the new hall call based on information including the evaluation value. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0012] [Figure 1] 1 is a block diagram of an elevator group management control system using a group management control device according to an embodiment. [Figure 2A] 10 is a flowchart illustrating a process of updating an evaluation value indicating the priority of allocation of each car, which is executed by a group management control device for double-deck elevators according to one embodiment. [Figure 2B] 10 is a flowchart illustrating a process executed by a group management control device for a double-deck elevator according to an embodiment, for predicting the likelihood of an allocation change to a first-arrival car occurring. [Figure 2C] 10 is a flowchart illustrating a process of calculating a final evaluation value of each car and a process of determining an assigned car for a hall destination call based on the calculated evaluation value, which are executed by a group management control device for a double-deck elevator according to one embodiment. [Figure 3] 1 is an explanatory diagram relating to a specific example (1) of an assigned car determination process executed by a group management control device for double-deck elevators according to an embodiment. FIG. [Figure 4] 10 is an explanatory diagram relating to a specific example (2) of the assigned car determination process executed by the group management control device for double-deck elevators according to one embodiment. FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0013] Before describing the embodiments of the present invention, the technical content of an elevator system that is the premise will be described.

[0014] A system that controls multiple elevators collectively is called an elevator group management control system. An elevator group management system that has a hall destination controller (HDC) installed at the elevator hall is called a DCS (Destination Control System). A DCS in which each elevator is a double-deck elevator with a two-story structure is called a double-deck DCS.

[0015] When a user inputs a destination floor into the HDC and performs a hall call operation, the HDC displays the car number that the user should board. The user waits at the hall in front of the door of the displayed car, and boards the car when it arrives at the hall call originating floor (the floor where the hall call operation was performed) and opens its doors, with the direction of travel of that car toward the destination floor as its travel direction. For example, if car A is assigned to a user going from the second floor to the eighth floor, the user boards the car when car A opens its doors with its travel direction facing upwards. In this embodiment, the "travel direction" refers to the expected direction of travel next when the car is stopped (the direction indicated by announcement information output to users or by flashing lights installed at the hall), and refers to the direction in which the car is moving when the car is moving.

[0016] Each double-deck elevator has an upper car and a lower car, but when a hall call is made, the passenger is not instructed as to whether to board the upper or lower car, so they board the car of the assigned car that first opens its doors in the direction of the floor where the hall call occurred. Here, the passenger can determine which direction the elevator is traveling based on the announcement made when the call is answered or the display on the hall lantern.

[0017] On the other hand, in a double-deck DCS, when a new hall call occurs, the allocation process is performed so that the car to be assigned is determined not only by the car number but also by whether the passenger will be transported in the upper or lower car, taking this into account in the schedule. For example, the "upper car of car A" is assigned to a hall call generated by the hall call operation performed by the above-mentioned passenger.

[0018] When passengers board a car, they do not need to press a button for their destination floor. The destination floor information entered at the hall is sent to the elevator control device, so the car they board will open the doors at their destination floor. This means that passengers can get off at their destination floor without having to do anything inside the car. However, some DCSs are configured so that car call buttons are installed inside the car, allowing passengers to get off at the floor they operate using these buttons. In particular, DCSs (hybrid DCSs) that are equipped with hall call registration devices that register up and down calls at some floors require the installation of car call buttons inside the car.

[0019] In a double-deck DCS, it is possible that a car of the same car number as the car assigned to a passenger's hall call may arrive at the floor where the hall call occurred and open its doors, traveling in the same direction as the passenger is heading to their destination floor. In this case, there is a high possibility that the passenger will mistakenly board the car with its door open for the car assigned to them. This is because passengers are not instructed as to whether to board the upper or lower car, and the doors of the upper and lower cars open using the same hall door, making it difficult for them to distinguish between the upper and lower cars and board.

[0020] When a car lands at a hall and the doors open, passengers are generally notified by lanterns or announcements as to whether the car is heading up or down. Therefore, even if a car assigned to a hall call arrives first and a different car from the same car as the one assigned to the hall call arrives first, if a car traveling in the opposite direction to the passenger's destination floor opens its doors, the passenger is unlikely to board the wrong car, and this does not pose a major problem. On the other hand, if a car assigned to a hall call travels in the direction of the passenger's destination floor and passes through the floor where the hall call occurred earlier than the assigned car, the passenger is more likely to board the wrong car, which could cause a problem.

[0021] To deal with this, in principle, if a car of the same model assigned to a hall call opens its doors at the floor where the hall call occurred earlier than the assigned car, traveling in the direction toward the passenger's destination floor, the assignment to this hall call is switched to the car with its door open, and the operation schedule is changed so that the car with its door open serves the call. Switching assignments in this way is called an assignment change. Furthermore, since the assigned car after the assignment change is the car that arrived earlier than the assigned car before the assignment change, it is called the "first-arriving car," and therefore the assignment change performed as described above is called an "assignment change to the first-arriving car."

[0022] However, depending on the operating conditions of the double-deck elevator, an assignment change may occur, which may result in a decrease in the convenience of users or the operating efficiency of the double-deck elevator. In particular, such problems are likely to occur when other cars of the same elevator are crowded, when the doors are open for a long time, or when the destination floor is a non-stop floor. Therefore, it is necessary to perform assignment processing for the generated hall calls while checking the likelihood of an assignment change taking into account the operating conditions of the double-deck elevator.

[0023] Below, we will use drawings to explain an embodiment of a double-deck group management control system in which the operating status of double-deck elevators is taken into consideration to check the likelihood of allocation changes, while accurately allocating elevator cars to incoming hall calls.

[0024] <Configuration of a double-deck group management control system using a group management control device according to one embodiment> The configuration of a double-deck group management control system using a group management control device according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 1. The double-deck group management control system 1 according to this embodiment includes multiple double-deck elevators (elevator A 10A, elevator B 10B, and elevator C 10C) installed in an n-story building, landing destination floor registration devices 20-1 to 20-m installed at landings on each floor, and a group management control device 30. The double-deck group management control system 1 of this embodiment is configured using a destination floor control system (DCS) in which landing destination floor registration devices (HDC) 20-1 to 20-m are installed on each floor in the building. In this embodiment, a case will be described in which three double-deck elevators are installed in the building, but the number is not limited to three and may be two, four, or more.

[0025] Elevator A 10A has an upper car 11A, a lower car 12A, and an A-car control device 13A. The A-car control device 13A outputs elevator information such as position information, running status information, door opening / closing status information, load status information, and car call registration information of the upper car 11A and the lower car 12A to the group management control device 30. In addition, in response to an allocation command from the group management control device 30, the A-car control device 13A causes elevator A 10A to respond to the registered call floor and open the door of the corresponding car.

[0026] The elevator B 10B and the elevator C 10C have the same configuration as the elevator A 10A, and therefore detailed description thereof will be omitted.

[0027] The hall destination floor registration devices 20-1 to 20-m are devices that allow hall users to register hall calls that specify a destination floor and call one of the cars 11A to 11C, 12A to 12C. The hall destination floor registration devices 20-1 to 20-m each output identification information of the car number to be boarded to the user who has registered the hall call.

[0028] Hereinafter, when it is not specified which of the landing-destination floor registration devices 20-1 to 20-m it is, it will be referred to as landing-destination floor registration device 20. Similarly, when it is not specified which of the car A control device 13A, the car B control device 13B, and the car C control device 13C it is, it will be referred to as control device 13.

[0029] The group management control device 30 performs group management of the elevator A 10A, the elevator B 10B, and the elevator C 10C. The group management control device 30 has a hall call registration unit 31 and a CPU 32.

[0030] The hall call registration unit 31 receives and registers hall call information acquired from the hall destination floor registration devices 20-1 to 20-m.

[0031] The CPU 32 is, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) provided in a general-purpose microcomputer, and by installing and executing a predetermined elevator group management control program, constitutes one or more of the following information processing units: The CPU 32 has an elevator information acquisition unit 321, an assigned car determination unit 322, an assignment information output unit 323, an assignment change unit 324, a preliminary round processing unit 325, and an assignment change prediction unit 326.

[0032] The elevator information acquisition unit 321 acquires elevator information output from each of the control devices 13A, 13B, and 13C.

[0033] The assigned car determination unit 322 determines a car to be assigned to a newly generated hall call (allocated car) in order to transport passengers most efficiently overall for both the newly generated hall call and the registered calls. The assigned car determination unit 322 executes the process of determining the assigned car in consideration of the evaluation value for each assigned car generated by the preliminary calculation processing unit 325 and information predicted by the allocation change prediction unit 326, as will be described later.

[0034] The allocation information output unit 323 outputs an allocation command to the control device 13 of the corresponding elevator based on the information of the assigned car determined by the assigned car determination unit 322, and notifies the elevator car number information corresponding to the determined assigned car to the hall destination floor registration device 20 where the hall call registration operation was performed.

[0035] When another car of the same vehicle as the assigned car for the hall call determined by the assigned car determination unit 322 arrives first at the floor where the hall call occurred in the same direction as the direction indicated by the hall call and opens its door, the assignment change unit 324 changes the assigned car for the hall call to the first-arrived car of the same vehicle and causes it to respond immediately. However, when the destination floor of the hall call is the top floor or the bottom floor among the service floors of elevators 10A, 10B, and 10C, the assignment change unit 324 does not change the assigned car for the hall call.

[0036] The preliminary selection processing unit 325 performs preliminary selection processing for the assigned car as a preliminary step of the assigned car determination processing executed by the assigned car determination unit 322. In the preliminary selection processing, the preliminary selection processing unit 325 generates an evaluation value indicating the priority of allocation to a new hall call for each of the assigned candidate cars. Specifically, when new hall call information is registered in the hall call registration unit 31, the preliminary selection processing unit 325 generates an evaluation value for each of the cars in the elevators 10A, 10B, and 10C from information predicted by an allocation change prediction unit 326 (described later) and the operation status.

[0037] When generating an evaluation value for each car, the preliminary processing unit 325 uses, as operation information, at least one of the following: the load inside each car, information on planned passenger disembarkation, information on planned reversal of running direction, door open duration, and information on preset non-stop floors.

[0038] The allocation change prediction unit 326 predicts the likelihood that an allocation change will occur by the allocation change unit 324 when each of the cars in the elevators 10A, 10B, and 10C is assigned to a new hall call.

[0039] <Operation of the double-deck group management control system according to one embodiment> The operation of the double-deck group management control system 1 according to this embodiment will be described. In the following description, the term "allocation candidate car" refers to a car that is about to be allocated to an issued hall call in the current allocation process. However, this is a stage before the allocation to that car has been determined. Furthermore, the term "forward direction" refers to a relationship between a car and a hall call in which the car can respond to the hall call without changing direction, and is established when the current running direction of the car and the direction of the hall call are the same and the car has not yet passed the departure floor of the hall call, or when the car is stopped and has no direction, i.e., when the next running direction has not been determined.

[0040] FIG. 2A is a flowchart showing the process in which the group management control device 30 updates the evaluation value indicating the priority of allocation of each car to the hall destination call X in accordance with the operation status of the elevators 10A, 10B, and 10C.

[0041] When a user inputs destination floor information into the platform destination floor registration device 20 at a platform on any floor within the building and performs a platform call registration operation, the platform destination call X information is registered in the platform call registration unit 31 of the group management control device 30 ("YES" in S1).

[0042] When the information of the hall destination call X is registered, the preliminary processing unit 325 starts a loop 1 process for executing preliminary processing for each of the candidate cars to be assigned. Here, the upper car 11A and the lower car 12A of elevator A 10A, the upper car 11B and the lower car 12B of elevator B 10B, and the upper car 11C and the lower car 12C of elevator C 10C are set as candidate cars to be assigned.

[0043] The preliminary processing unit 325 first processes the upper car 11A of elevator A 10A and provisionally assigns it to the hall destination call X (S2). Based on the information acquired by the elevator information acquisition unit 321, the preliminary processing unit 325 calculates and stores an evaluation value (point) for the upper car 11A indicating the priority of assignment to the hall destination call X from the current position, running direction, etc. This evaluation value indicates that the smaller the point, the more suitable it is for assignment to the hall destination call X and the higher the priority.

[0044] Here, the preliminary processing unit 325 determines whether the load inside the upper car 11A is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold and whether there are plans for passengers in the car to disembark or for the car to reverse its running direction between the current position and the floor where the hall call is generated (S3).If the upper car 11A is in a situation that satisfies the determination condition of step S3 ("YES" in S2), the preliminary processing unit 325 adds 2 points to the evaluation value for the upper car 11A that has been retained (S4).

[0045] Next, the preliminary processing unit 325 determines whether the upper car 11A is stopped at the hall call generating floor with its running direction being the forward direction toward the destination floor of the hall destination call X, and whether a predetermined time, for example, 15 seconds or more, has passed since the doors started to open (S5). If the upper car 11A is in a situation that satisfies the determination condition of step S5 ("YES" in S5), the preliminary processing unit 325 adds 4 points to the evaluation value for the upper car 11A that has been held (S6).

[0046] Next, the preliminary processing unit 325 determines whether the departure floor or destination floor of the hall destination call X is a non-stop floor for the upper car 11A (S7). If the departure floor or destination floor of the hall destination call X is a non-stop floor for the upper car 11A ("YES" in S7), the preliminary processing unit 325 adds 8 points to the evaluation value for the upper car 11A that has been retained (S8).

[0047] As described above, by adding points, the evaluation value for the upper car 11A is updated so that the lower the appropriateness of the allocation of the upper car 11A to the hall destination call X, the lower the priority of allocation (the higher the points).

[0048] Next, the preliminary processing unit 325 causes the allocation change prediction unit 326 to execute processing to predict the likelihood of an allocation change occurring when the upper car 11A is assigned to the venue destination call X, that is, the likelihood of an occurrence.

[0049] FIG. 2B is a flowchart showing the process executed by the allocation change prediction unit 326 to predict whether or not there is a possibility of an allocation change to a first-arriving car occurring.

[0050] The allocation change prediction unit 326 determines whether or not the door of the lower car 12A, which is a car of the same model as the upper car 11A, is open at the departure floor of the hall destination call X, with the travel direction being the forward direction toward the destination floor of the hall destination call X (S9). If the door of the lower car 12A is open at the departure floor with the travel direction being the forward direction ("YES" in S9), the allocation change prediction unit 326 predicts that the likelihood of an allocation change when the upper car 11A is assigned to the hall destination call X is "certain," indicating that an allocation change will definitely occur (S10).

[0051] Also, in step S9, if the lower car 12A is traveling in the forward direction and the door is not open ("NO" in S9), the allocation change prediction unit 326 determines whether the hall destination call X is a forward call (forward call) with respect to the traveling directions of both the upper car 11A and the lower car 12A, the upper car 11A is the rear car that arrives at the departure floor of the hall destination call X after the lower car 12A, and the lower car 12A, which is the front car that arrives first, is scheduled to stop at the departure floor of the hall destination call X with its traveling direction in the forward direction (S11).

[0052] If the situation does not meet the judgment conditions of step S11 ("NO" in S11), the allocation change prediction unit 326 predicts that there is "no" likelihood of an allocation change occurring when the upper car 11A is assigned to the hall destination call X (S12).

[0053] Furthermore, if the situation satisfies the judgment condition of step S11 ("YES" in S11), the allocation change prediction unit 326 predicts that the likelihood of an allocation change occurring when the upper car 11A is assigned to the hall destination call X is not "certain", but is "likely" to occur (S13).

[0054] Thereafter, the preliminary processing unit 325 loops steps S2 to S13 for the lower car 12A, the upper car 11B, the lower car 12B, the upper car 11C, and the lower car 12C. When the processing has been completed for all the allocation candidate cars, loop 1 ends.

[0055] Next, the preliminary processing unit 325 starts the loop 2 process for calculating the final evaluation value for the hall destination call X for each of the candidate cars to be assigned. Here too, the upper car 11A and the lower car 12A of elevator A 10A, the upper car 11B and the lower car 12B of elevator B 10B, and the upper car 11C and the lower car 12C of elevator C 10C are set as candidate cars to be assigned.

[0056] 2C is a flowchart showing the process in which the preliminary processing unit 325 calculates the final evaluation value of each car and determines the car to be assigned to the hall destination call X based on the calculated evaluation value. The preliminary processing unit 325 first starts processing for the upper car 11A of elevator A 10A.

[0057] If the likelihood of an allocation change predicted in loop 1 for the upper car 11A is "certain" ("YES" in S14), the preliminary processing unit 325 recognizes the evaluation value of the lower car 12A, which is a car of the same car number as the upper car 11A, as the final evaluation value of the upper car 11A (S15).

[0058] Furthermore, when there is "no" likelihood of an allocation change occurring with respect to the upper car 11A ("YES" in S16), the preliminary round processing unit 325 recognizes the evaluation value of the upper car 11A as the final evaluation value of the upper car 11A (S17).

[0059] Furthermore, when there is a "yes" probability of an allocation change occurring with respect to the upper car 11A ("NO" in S16), the preliminary round processing unit 325 calculates a final evaluation value for the provisionally assigned upper car 11A based on the evaluation value of the lower car 12A, which is a car of the same car number as the upper car 11A, and the evaluation value of the upper car 11A (S18). For example, the preliminary round processing unit 325 calculates the average value of the evaluation value of the lower car 12A and the evaluation value of the upper car 11A, or the higher value (the value with the lower priority), as the final evaluation value for the upper car 11A. This completes the preliminary round processing for the upper car 11A.

[0060] Thereafter, the preliminary processing unit 325 loops steps S14 to S18 for the lower car 12A, the upper car 11B, the lower car 12B, the upper car 11C, and the lower car 12C. When loop 2 is completed after processing for all allocation candidate cars, the preliminary processing ends.

[0061] When the preliminary process is completed for all the allocation candidate cars, the process proceeds to step S19, and the allocation car determination unit 322 leaves the car with the best final evaluation value, that is, the smallest value, as the allocation candidate car for the hall destination call X (S19). Here, the allocation car determination unit 322 may leave not only the car with the smallest final evaluation value, but also cars having evaluation values ​​between the minimum value and a value that is a predetermined percentage (for example, 20%) higher, as allocation candidate cars.

[0062] The car assignment determination unit 322 further uses existing technology to determine from among the remaining car candidates for assignment, for example, by estimating the waiting time and boarding time of users for each registered call from the operation schedule, and determines the car to be assigned to the boarding point destination call X so that each call can be served in the shortest possible time (S20).

[0063] The allocation information output unit 323 outputs an allocation command to the control device 13 of the corresponding elevator based on the information of the assigned car determined by the assigned car determination unit 322, and notifies the elevator car number information corresponding to the determined assigned car to the hall destination floor registration device 20 where the hall call registration operation was performed (S21).

[0064] The control device 13, which has received the allocation command, moves the assigned car toward the departure floor of the hall destination call X. In addition, the hall destination floor registration device 20, which has received the allocation command, displays information about the assigned car as information about the car to board, to the user who has performed the hall call registration operation.

[0065] After the allocation process is performed as described above, when elevators 10A, 10B, and 10C are operating, if the allocation change unit 324 detects that another car of the same vehicle as the car assigned to the hall call determined by the assigned car determination unit 322 has arrived at the floor where the hall call occurred first and opened its doors in the same direction as the direction indicated by the hall call, the allocation change unit 324 changes the car assigned to the hall call to the first-arriving car of the same vehicle and causes it to respond immediately. However, if the destination floor of the hall call is the top floor or the bottom floor of the service floors of elevators 10A, 10B, and 10C, the allocation change unit 324 does not change the car assigned to the hall call.

[0066] Specific examples (1) and (2) of the above-described embodiment will be described below.

[0067] [Example (1)] 3 is an explanatory diagram of a specific example (1) of this embodiment. In this example, when elevator A 10A travels in the UP direction and the upper car 11A arrives at the 4th floor in a full state and the doors open, a hall destination call X1 for the departure floor 4th floor (marked with a triangle) and the destination floor 7th floor (marked with a circle) is registered in the hall destination floor registration device (4th floor) 20-4 on the 4th floor.

[0068] In this case, if the upper car 11A is provisionally assigned to the boarding destination call X1 in the preliminary processing, the load inside the car is above the threshold value and the car has already arrived at the departure floor of the boarding destination call X1, so 2 points are added to the evaluation value and the priority of assignment to the boarding destination call X1 is lowered.

[0069] Furthermore, when the lower car 12A is provisionally assigned to the hall destination call X1, the load inside the car is not above the threshold value, but the upper car 11A, which is a different car from the same car, has its door open with the forward direction as its travel direction at the departure floor of the hall destination call X1, so the likelihood of an assignment change occurring is determined to be "certain."

[0070] As a result, the evaluation value of the upper car 11A becomes the final evaluation value of the lower car 12A, but since the upper car 11A has a low priority for allocation to the hall destination call X1 as described above, the priority of the lower car 12A also becomes low. As a result, an elevator car other than elevator A 10A is assigned to the hall destination call X1.

[0071] [Example (2)] 4 is an explanatory diagram of a specific example (2) of this embodiment. In this example, a hall destination call X2 for a departure floor of 6th floor and a destination floor of 8th floor is registered in the hall destination floor registration device (6th floor) 20-6 on the 6th floor, an upper car 11A is assigned to this hall destination call X2, and elevator A 10A is traveling in the UP direction.

[0072] Here, if a platform destination call X3 for the departure floor 6 and the destination floor 7 is further registered and the upper car 11A is provisionally assigned to the platform destination call X3 in the preliminary processing, the load inside the car is equal to or greater than the threshold value and there are no plans for passengers to disembark or for the car to reverse its traveling direction between the current position and the departure floor 6, so 2 points are added to the evaluation value and the priority of the assignment of the upper car 11A to the platform destination call X1 is lowered.

[0073] Furthermore, when the lower car 12A is provisionally assigned to the hall destination call X3, the load inside the car is not greater than the threshold value, but the hall destination call X3 is a forward call for both the lower car 12A and the upper car 11A, the lower car 12A is the rear car, and the front car is scheduled to stop at the departure floor 6 of the hall destination call X3 with the forward direction as its direction of travel, so the average value of the evaluation value of the upper car 11A, which is a car of the same car number as the lower car 12A, and the evaluation value of the lower car 12A is calculated as the final evaluation value of the lower car 12A.

[0074] At this time, since the priority of allocation of the upper car 11A to the hall destination call X1 is low, the final evaluation value of the lower car 12A also decreases in conjunction with this, and it becomes more likely that a car of an elevator other than elevator A 10A will be allocated to the hall destination call X3.

[0075] In the above-described embodiment, the preliminary processing unit 325 has been described as generating evaluation values ​​for three cases where it predicts that the allocation change unit 324 will likely change the assigned car for a car provisionally assigned to a new hall call: "certain," "not likely," or "likely," but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the level of possibility that the allocation change unit 324 will likely change the assigned car may be divided into two or four or more cases, and the final evaluation value may be calculated for each case using the evaluation value of another car of the same car and the evaluation value of the provisionally assigned car in a predetermined ratio.

[0076] [Effects of the embodiment] According to the above-described embodiment, the double-deck elevator group management control device is a double-deck elevator group management control device that groups a plurality of double-deck elevators each consisting of an upper car and a lower car, and includes a hall call registration unit, an allocation change unit, an allocation change prediction unit, a preliminary processing unit, and an assigned car determination unit. The hall call registration unit registers hall call information with a specified destination floor. The allocation change unit changes the assigned car for the registered hall call to another car of the same car when the assigned car assigned to the hall call registered in the hall call registration unit and another car of the same car arrive at the floor where the registered hall call occurs first in the same direction as the hall call and open their doors. When new hall call information is registered in the hall call registration unit, the allocation change prediction unit predicts the likelihood that the assigned car will be changed by the allocation change unit when each of the cars in the plurality of double-deck elevators is provisionally assigned to the new hall call. The preliminary processing unit generates evaluation value information indicating the priority of allocation to a new hall call for each of the cars in the multiple double-deck elevators based on the information predicted by the allocation change prediction unit and the operation status. The assigned car determination unit determines an assigned car to be assigned to a new hall call based on the evaluation value information.

[0077] According to this, in the group management control of double-deck elevators, in response to an incoming hall call, the elevator car allocation process is performed with high accuracy according to the likelihood that a car of the same car number as the one to be allocated will arrive first and the operating status, thereby reducing the possibility that a car that cannot accommodate a user will respond to a hall call.

[0078] Furthermore, with regard to a car provisionally assigned to a new hall call, if the preliminary processing unit predicts that there is a "certain" possibility that the allocation change unit will change the assigned car, it may recognize the evaluation value of another car of the same car as the final evaluation value of the provisionally assigned car; if the preliminary processing unit predicts that there is "not" possibility that the allocation change unit will change the assigned car, it may recognize the evaluation value of the provisionally assigned car as the final evaluation value of the provisionally assigned car; and if the preliminary processing unit predicts that there is "likely" possibility that the allocation change unit will change the assigned car but not "certain", it may calculate the final evaluation value of the provisionally assigned car based on the evaluation value of another car of the same car and the evaluation value of the provisionally assigned car.

[0079] This allows the evaluation value to be calculated more accurately depending on the possibility of a change in the assigned car, and the car assignment process in the group management control of double-deck elevators to be performed appropriately.

[0080] Furthermore, when the preliminary processing unit predicts that there is a "possibility" that the allocation change unit will change the assigned car for a car provisionally assigned to a new hall call, the preliminary processing unit may calculate the average value of the evaluation value of another car of the same car and the evaluation value of the provisionally assigned car, or the value with the lower priority, as the final evaluation value of the provisionally assigned car.

[0081] This makes it possible to calculate the evaluation value easily and appropriately by taking into account the evaluation values ​​of cars of the same car number when it is predicted that there is a "possibility" of a change in the assigned car for a car that has been provisionally assigned to a new hall call.

[0082] The preliminary processing unit may generate evaluation value information by further using at least one of the load amount in the provisionally assigned car, information on passengers' planned disembarking times, information on planned reversals of the running direction, door-open duration, and information on preset non-stop floors, thereby enabling more accurate car allocation processing.

[0083] Although several embodiments of the present invention have been described, these embodiments are presented as examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments can be embodied in various other forms, and various omissions, substitutions, and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. These embodiments and their modifications are included within the scope and spirit of the invention, and are also included in the scope of the invention and its equivalents as defined in the claims. [Explanation of symbols]

[0084] 1... double-deck group management control system, 10A, 10B, 10C... elevator, 13, 13A, 13B, 13C... control device, 20, 20-1 to 20-m... landing destination floor registration device, 30... group management control device, 31... landing call registration unit, 321... elevator information acquisition unit, 322... assigned car determination unit, 323... assignment information output unit, 324... assignment change unit, 325... preliminary processing unit, 326... assignment change prediction unit

Claims

1. A double-deck elevator group management control device that manages a plurality of double-deck elevators each consisting of an upper car and a lower car in a group, a hall call registration unit that registers information on hall calls with designated destination floors; an allocation change unit that, when an assigned car assigned to a hall call registered in the hall call registration unit and another car of the same vehicle arrive at the occurrence floor of the registered hall call in the same direction as the direction indicated by the hall call first and open their doors, changes the assigned car for the registered hall call to another car of the same vehicle; an assignment change prediction unit that, when new hall call information is registered in the hall call registration unit, predicts a likelihood that a change in assigned car will occur by the assignment change unit when each of cars in the plurality of double-deck elevators is provisionally assigned to the new hall call; a preliminary processing unit that generates, for each of the cars in the plurality of double-deck elevators, an evaluation value indicating a priority of allocation to the new hall call based on the information predicted by the allocation change prediction unit; and an assigned car determination unit that determines an assigned car to be assigned to the new hall call based on information including the evaluation value.

2. The preliminary processing unit, with respect to the car provisionally assigned to the new hall call, When the possibility that the allocation change unit will change the assigned car is predicted to be "certain," the evaluation value of another car of the same car is recognized as the final evaluation value of the provisionally assigned car, When it is predicted that there is "no" possibility that a change in the assigned car will occur by the assignment change unit, the evaluation value of the provisionally assigned car is recognized as the final evaluation value of the provisionally assigned car, When it is predicted that there is a "possibility" of a change in the assigned car by the assignment change unit, but not "certainty," a final evaluation value of the provisionally assigned car is calculated based on the evaluation value of another car of the same car and the evaluation value of the provisionally assigned car. The double-deck elevator group management control device according to claim 1.

3. The preliminary processing unit, with respect to the car provisionally assigned to the new hall call, When it is predicted that there is a "possibility" of a change in the assigned car by the allocation change unit, the average value of the evaluation value of another car of the same car and the evaluation value of the provisionally assigned car, or the value with the lower priority, is calculated as the final evaluation value of the provisionally assigned car. The double-deck elevator group management control device according to claim 2.

4. the preliminary processing unit generates the evaluation value by further using at least one of the load amount in the car of the provisionally assigned car, information on planned passenger alighting, information on planned reversal of running direction, door open duration, and information on preset non-stop floors. The double-deck elevator group management control device according to claim 1.

5. Group management of multiple double-deck elevators consisting of upper and lower cars. a hall call registration unit that registers information on hall calls with designated destination floors; an allocation change unit that changes an assigned car to a registered hall call to another car of the same elevator when an assigned car assigned to a hall call registered in the hall call registration unit and another car of the same elevator arrive at a floor where the registered hall call occurs first in the same direction as the direction indicated by the hall call and open their doors, When new hall call information is registered in the hall call registration unit, a prediction is made for each of the cars in the plurality of double-deck elevators, with respect to a likelihood that a change in assigned car will occur by the assignment change unit when the cars are provisionally assigned to the new hall call; generating an evaluation value indicating a priority of allocation to the new hall call for each of the cars in the plurality of double-deck elevators based on the predicted information and the operation status; A double-deck elevator group management control method for determining an assigned car to be assigned to the new hall call based on information including the evaluation value.

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