Elevator device and communication quality measurement method therefor

Abstract

To provide an elevator device that can maintain communication quality between terminals and between a car control unit and each terminal, and a method for measuring the communication quality.SOLUTION: There is provided an elevator device having a car control unit that controls the elevation of a car that moves between floors, and hall terminals that are located on the respective floors and serve as a user I / F with users. The car control unit transmits data to the hall terminals while switching to a plurality of communication speeds by a communication speed switching unit, receives communication quality data from the hall terminals, and checks communication OK / NG for each hall terminal in a first communication quality measuring unit. The hall terminal determines whether data addressed to a self-terminal has been received from the car control unit, returns the data if the data addressed to the self-terminal is received, measures communication OK / NG in a second communication quality measuring unit, and sends the measurement result to the car control unit as communication quality data.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an elevator system, and more particularly to a communication quality measurement method therefor. [Background technology]

[0002] In recent years, buildings have become taller, and elevators are being required to have more advanced functionality to keep up with this.However, elevators are connected to terminals on every floor, from the bottom floor to the top, and as buildings become taller, they are being installed in an environment with long-distance wiring.Due to the effects of wiring length, stub length, noise, etc., it is becoming increasingly important to maintain communication quality between terminals and between the elevator control unit and each terminal.

[0003] To maintain communication quality, it is necessary to measure the current communication quality, and a related prior art document is Patent Document 1. Patent Document 1 discloses a UART communication speed automatic switching method that automatically switches to a communication speed requested by another device within a supported range, making both low-speed and high-speed communication possible. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2019-134419 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] Patent Document 1 relates to switching the communication speed, and although it is possible to switch the communication speed to enable reception, it does not consider what to do when communication fails. Therefore, when communication fails in an elevator system, it is unclear which of the terminals installed on each floor and which of the terminals between the elevator control unit and the elevator control unit are experiencing problems, and there is a problem that analyzing the situation takes a long time.

[0006] In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide an elevator system and a communication quality measurement method therefor that can maintain communication quality between terminals and between a car control unit and each terminal. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] One example of the present invention is an elevator system having a car control unit that controls the raising and lowering of a car that moves between a plurality of floors, and a plurality of hall terminals that are located on each floor and serve as user I / Fs with users, in which the car control unit transmits data to the plurality of hall terminals while switching to a plurality of communication speeds using a communication speed switching unit, receives communication quality data at each hall terminal, and checks whether communication with each hall terminal is OK / NG using a first communication quality measurement unit, and the hall terminal determines whether data addressed to itself has been received from the car control unit, and if so, replies with the data, and measures whether communication is OK / NG using a second communication quality measurement unit, and transmits the measurement result to the car control unit as communication quality data. The communication quality data for multiple hall terminals is the result of communication OK / NG between multiple hall terminals for multiple communication speeds. The composition is as follows. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an elevator system and a communication quality measurement method therefor that are capable of maintaining communication quality between terminals and between a car control unit and each terminal. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] 1 is a configuration diagram of an elevator system according to an embodiment. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a hall terminal in an embodiment. [Figure 3] 10 is a sequence diagram illustrating a communication quality measurement sequence of an overall management unit according to an embodiment. [Figure 4] 10 is a sequence diagram illustrating a communication quality measurement sequence of a vehicle control unit according to an embodiment. [Figure 5] 10 is an example of the results of a communication check between a machine and each hall terminal by a communication quality measurement unit of a machine control unit in an embodiment. [Figure 6]10 is an example of a communication check result between hall terminals in the embodiment. [Figure 7] 10 is a processing sequence in a communication quality analysis unit of a car control unit in the embodiment. [Figure 8] 10 is a sequence diagram illustrating a communication quality measurement sequence at a hall terminal in an embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0010] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. [Example]

[0011] Fig. 1 is a configuration diagram of an elevator system in this embodiment. In Fig. 1, the elevator system is shown to have two elevator devices, an elevator system A10 and an elevator system B20.

[0012] Elevator system A10, which is one elevator system, is installed in a machine room (not shown) with a car control unit A11 that controls the elevator system of one system and a motor 12 that drives a hoist. A main rope is wound around the hoist, with one end connected to a car 13 and the other end connected to a counterweight. The motor 12 is driven under the control of the car control unit A11, and the hoist drives the main rope, causing the car 13 to rise and fall and move between multiple floors. Meanwhile, a car control unit (not shown) is installed above the car 13, and control signals are transmitted between the car control unit A11 and the car control unit via communication.

[0013] In addition, hall terminals 14-1 to 14-N (hereinafter collectively referred to as hall terminals 14 or simply as terminals) are connected to each floor of the N-story building in which the elevator device is installed, i.e., the hall.

[0014] In addition, the car control unit A11 has a motor control unit 111, a car control unit 112, a hall terminal control unit 113, a communication quality measurement unit 114, a communication quality analysis unit 115, a communication speed switching unit 116, a lower communication unit 117, and an upper communication unit 118.

[0015] The lower communication unit 117 is, for example, a serial interface (I / F), and the elevator control unit A11 is connected to the motor 12, car 13, and hall terminal 14 in the elevator system A10 via the lower communication unit 117.

[0016] The upper communication unit 118 is a communication unit for connecting to a network 40 such as Ethernet, and the elevator control unit A11 is connected to the elevator system B20 and the overall management unit 30 via the upper communication unit 118 and the network 40.

[0017] Although not shown in the figure, elevator system B20 has the same configuration as elevator system A10. Furthermore, overall control unit 30 has a communication quality database 31 and an operation unit 32. Elevator system A10 and elevator system B20 are installed in the same building, but overall control unit 30 may be installed in the same building, outside the building, or on the cloud, and remotely manages and controls each elevator system.

[0018] Fig. 2 is a configuration diagram of a hall terminal in this embodiment. In Fig. 2, hall terminal 14 has terminal overall control unit 141 and peripheral unit 145. Terminal overall control unit 141 has terminal control unit 142, communication unit 143, and I / F unit 144. Peripheral unit 145 has I / F unit 146, communication quality measurement unit 147, input / output (IO) processing unit 148, and indicator processing unit 149, and functions as a user I / F with the user.

[0019] The I / F units 144 and 146 are, for example, serial I / Fs, which transmit control signals from the terminal control unit 142 to the peripheral unit 145 and transmit signals from the peripheral unit 145 to the terminal control unit 142. The communication unit 143 of the terminal overall control unit 141 is, for example, a serial I / F, which communicates with the lower communication unit 117 of the unit control unit A11, thereby being connected to the unit control unit A11.

[0020] The IO processing unit 148 is a processing unit that processes instructions from operation buttons 15 and the like that are installed in the hall of each floor and allow a user to specify a destination direction and call the car 13 to the corresponding floor. The indicator processing unit 149 is a processing unit that controls the indicator 16 that shows the moving direction of the car 13.

[0021] In addition, the above-mentioned overall management unit 30, unit control unit A11, and hall terminal 14 have, in terms of hardware image, a CPU, a storage unit, a database, and a communication unit, which are general information processing devices, and each function is realized by software processing in which the CPU interprets and executes operating programs and application programs that realize each function.

[0022] Fig. 3 shows the communication quality measurement sequence of the overall control unit in this embodiment. In Fig. 3, first, in step S11, the operation unit 32 of the overall control unit 30 determines whether there is a communication quality measurement command for a designated elevator car. That is, when communication quality measurement is to be performed, the process begins when the operator inputs a communication quality measurement command into the operation unit 32. Communication quality measurement is expected to be performed during installation or maintenance. If there is a communication quality measurement command, the process proceeds to step S12, where the communication quality measurement command is issued to the designated elevator car. Thereafter, in step S13, it is determined whether all communication quality data has been received from the designated elevator car, and if so, the process ends.

[0023] 4 shows the communication quality measurement sequence of the elevator control unit in this embodiment. In FIG. 4, first, in step S21, it is determined whether the upper communication unit 118 has received a communication quality measurement command from the overall management unit 30. If not, the process proceeds to step S22, where normal operations such as control of the elevator device are performed.

[0024] If a communication quality measurement command has been received, the process proceeds to step S23, where a communication quality measurement command is issued to each hall terminal. Then, in step S24, the communication speed switching unit 116 switches the communication speed to high-speed mode, and in step S25, communication is initiated to send test data along with the terminal ID to each hall terminal individually. Then, in step S26, the machine control unit receives communication quality data from each hall terminal (described later), and the communication quality measurement unit 114 checks whether communication with each hall terminal is OK or NG.

[0025] Fig. 5 shows an example of the check result of communication OK / NG between the machine and each hall terminal by the communication quality measurement unit 114 of the machine control unit. In Fig. 5, in step S26, the result of high-speed communication OK / NG between the machine control unit and a predetermined hall terminal is saved.

[0026] 6 shows an example of the check result of communication OK / NG between each hall terminal at the hall terminal described later. In FIG. 6, in step S26, the result of high-speed communication OK / NG between each hall terminal is saved.

[0027] Returning to FIG. 4, in step S27, the communication quality analysis unit 115 performs a communication margin analysis.

[0028] FIG. 7 shows a processing sequence in the communication quality analysis unit of the unit control unit in this embodiment. In FIG. 7, first, in step S41, it is determined whether the deviation of the received waveform received by communication from the reference waveform is ±1% or more. That is, it is determined whether the phase deviation of the received waveform due to distortion caused by communication is ±1% or more with respect to an ideal distortion-free reference waveform. If the deviation is not ±1% or more, it is determined in step S42 that there is a sufficient communication margin and the processing ends. If the deviation is ±1% or more, it proceeds to step S43, where it is determined whether the deviation of the received waveform from the reference waveform is ±10% or more. If the deviation is not ±10% or more, it is determined in step S44 that there is a certain communication margin and the processing ends. If the deviation is ±10% or more, it proceeds to step S45, where it is determined that there is no communication margin and the processing ends.

[0029] Returning to FIG. 4, in step S28, it is determined whether communication quality data has been received from all hall terminals, and if the answer is NO, the process returns to step S26, and the OK / NG check of high-speed communication between the car control unit and the hall terminal is repeated.

[0030] If communication quality data has been received from all hall terminals in step S28, the process proceeds to step S29, where the communication speed switching unit 116 switches the communication speed to medium speed mode, and in step S30 the machine control unit receives communication quality data from each hall terminal at medium speed, and the communication quality measurement unit 114 checks whether communication is OK / NG with each hall terminal. In Figure 5, in step S30, the result of whether communication is OK / NG at medium speed between the machine control unit and a specific hall terminal is saved. Also, in Figure 6, in step S30, the result of whether communication is OK / NG at medium speed between each hall terminal is saved.

[0031] Then, in step S31, the communication quality analysis unit 115 performs a communication margin analysis at medium speed. The communication margin analysis is performed using the processing sequence shown in Fig. 7. Then, in step S32, it is determined whether communication quality data has been received from all hall terminals, and if the answer is NO, the process returns to step S30, and the OK / NG check of medium speed communication between the car control unit and the hall terminal is repeated.

[0032] If communication quality data has been received from all hall terminals in step S32, the process proceeds to step S33, where the communication speed switching unit 116 switches the communication speed to low-speed mode, and in step S34 the machine control unit receives communication quality data from each hall terminal at low speed, and the communication quality measurement unit 114 checks whether communication is OK / NG with each hall terminal. In Figure 5, in step S34, the result of whether communication is OK / NG at low speed between the machine control unit and a specific hall terminal is saved. Also, in Figure 6, in step S34, the result of whether communication is OK / NG at low speed between each hall terminal is saved.

[0033] Then, in step S35, the communication quality analysis unit 115 performs a low-speed communication margin analysis. The communication margin analysis is performed using the processing sequence shown in Fig. 7. Then, in step S36, it is determined whether communication quality data has been received from all hall terminals, and if the answer is NO, the process returns to step S34, and the OK / NG check of low-speed communication between the car control unit and the hall terminal is repeated.

[0034] Then, in step S36, if communication quality data has been received from all hall terminals, the received communication quality data is sent to the overall management unit in step S37, and the process ends.

[0035] Fig. 8 shows the communication quality measurement sequence at the hall terminal in this embodiment. In Fig. 8, first, in step S51, it is determined whether the communication unit 143 has received a communication quality measurement command from the unit control unit. If not, the process proceeds to step S52, where normal operations such as controlling the operation buttons and indicators installed in the hall on each floor are performed.

[0036] If a communication quality measurement command has been received, the process proceeds to step S53 to determine whether data has been received. If data has been received, the process proceeds to step S54 to determine whether the received data is addressed to the terminal. The unit control unit sends test data together with the terminal ID individually to each hall terminal. In other words, if there are N hall terminals, the unit control unit sends test data N times as one cycle. Therefore, each hall terminal determines whether the received data is addressed to the terminal based on the terminal ID.

[0037] If it is determined in step S54 that the data is not addressed to the terminal itself, the process proceeds to step S56, and if it is addressed to the terminal itself, the process returns to the unit control unit in step S55. In step S56, it is determined whether one cycle's worth of data has been received. If one cycle's worth of data has not been received, the process returns to step S53 and data reception is repeated.

[0038] If one cycle's worth of data has been received, in step S57 the communication quality measurement unit 147 checks whether the communication is OK / NG. As mentioned above, Figure 6 shows an example of the results of checking whether the communication is OK / NG between each hall terminal at the hall terminal. Since the machine control unit and each hall terminal are connected to each other via the communication unit, the data returned in step S55 can also be received by other terminals. Therefore, each hall terminal can determine which terminal the data is from based on the terminal ID, so it is possible to check whether the communication is OK / NG between each hall terminal, as shown in Figure 6. Then, in step S58, the measured communication quality result is sent to the machine control unit.

[0039] In this embodiment, the communication speed is switched between three levels, high speed, medium speed, and low speed, but this is not limitative and multiple speeds may be used.

[0040] Furthermore, the overall management unit 30 acquires the communication quality measurement results from the hall terminals and elevator control units, stores them in the communication quality database 31, and presents them. This information can be used when introducing a new elevator system to select the optimal installation environment, i.e., wiring length, stub length, placement of elevator control units, model, etc.

[0041] As described above, according to this embodiment, data communication is performed at multiple communication speeds, and communication quality between the unit control unit and each hall terminal, and between hall terminals, can be measured by checking whether communication is OK / NG. Furthermore, communication margins can be measured from received waveforms. This makes it possible to maintain communication quality between the unit control unit and each hall terminal, and between hall terminals. Furthermore, if a communication failure occurs, it becomes possible to identify which terminals, and between the unit control unit and which terminal, are experiencing problems, eliminating the problem of time-consuming analysis. Furthermore, fundamental solutions such as noise countermeasures, location countermeasures, and device replacement become possible.

[0042] The present invention, which has been described above as an embodiment of the present invention, enables the maintenance of communication quality in elevator systems and eliminates the problem of the time required for analyzing communication failures. Therefore, the present invention contributes to achieving a high level of economic productivity through technological improvement and innovation, particularly in goal 8 of the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals), "Decent Work and Economic Growth."

[0043] Furthermore, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and includes various modifications. For example, the above-described embodiment has been described in detail to clearly explain the present invention, and the present invention is not necessarily limited to an embodiment having all of the described configurations. [Explanation of symbols]

[0044] 10: Elevator system A, 11: Unit control unit A, 12: Motor, 13: Cage, 14, 14-1, 14-N: Hall terminal, 20: Elevator system B, 30: Overall control unit, 31: Communication quality database, 32: Operation unit, 40: Network, 111: Motor control unit, 112: Cage control unit, 113: Hall terminal control unit, 114: Communication quality measurement unit, 115: Communication quality analysis unit, 116: Communication speed switching unit, 117: Lower communication unit, 118: Upper communication unit, 141: Terminal overall control unit, 142: Terminal control unit, 143: Communication unit, 145: Peripheral unit, 144, 146: I / F unit, 147: Communication quality measurement unit, 148: Input / output (IO) processing unit, 149: Indicator processing unit

Claims

1. An elevator system having a car control unit that controls the elevation of a car moving between a plurality of floors, and a plurality of hall terminals that are arranged on each floor and serve as user I / Fs with users, the unit control unit has a first communication quality measurement unit and a communication speed switching unit, the hall terminal has a second communication quality measurement unit, The machine control unit transmits data to the plurality of hall terminals while switching to a plurality of communication speeds using the communication speed switching unit, receives communication quality data from the plurality of hall terminals, and checks whether communication is OK / NG for each hall terminal using the first communication quality measurement unit; The hall terminal determines whether it has received data addressed to itself from the car control unit, and if it has received data addressed to itself, returns the data, and measures whether communication is OK / NG in the second communication quality measurement unit, and transmits the measurement result to the car control unit as the communication quality data. An elevator system, wherein the communication quality data at the plurality of hall terminals is a result of OK / NG of communication between the plurality of hall terminals for the plurality of communication speeds.

2. 2. The elevator system according to claim 1, The unit control unit has a communication quality analysis unit, The elevator apparatus is characterized in that the communication quality analysis unit analyzes a communication margin in accordance with an amount of deviation of a received waveform received by communication from a reference waveform.

3. 2. The elevator system according to claim 1, An elevator device characterized in that the communication OK / NG check result by the first communication quality measurement unit is a communication OK / NG result between the car control unit and the multiple hall terminals for the multiple communication speeds.

4. 2. The elevator system according to claim 1, the unit control unit receives a first communication quality measurement command from an external device and transmits a second communication quality measurement command to the hall terminals; The elevator apparatus is characterized in that the hall terminal receives the second communication quality measurement command and determines whether data addressed to the terminal has been received from the elevator control unit.

5. 2. The elevator system according to claim 1, The data transmission from the machine control unit to the plurality of hall terminals is performed by individually transmitting test data together with a terminal ID to each hall terminal, The elevator apparatus is characterized in that the hall terminal determines whether data addressed to the terminal has been received from the elevator control unit based on the terminal ID.

6. A communication quality measurement method for an elevator system having a car control unit that controls the elevation of a car moving between a plurality of floors, and a plurality of hall terminals that are arranged on each floor and serve as user I / Fs with users, comprising: The machine control unit transmits data to the plurality of hall terminals while switching between a plurality of communication speeds, receives communication quality data from the plurality of hall terminals, and checks whether communication is OK / NG for each hall terminal; The hall terminal determines whether data addressed to the terminal itself has been received from the car control unit, and if so, replies with the data, measures whether communication is OK or NG, and transmits the measurement result to the car control unit as the communication quality data. A communication quality measurement method characterized in that the communication quality data at the plurality of hall terminals is a result of communication OK / NG between the plurality of hall terminals for the plurality of communication speeds.

7. 7. The communication quality measurement method according to claim 6, The communication quality measuring method is characterized in that the unit control unit analyzes a communication margin according to the amount of deviation of a received waveform received by communication from a reference waveform.

8. 7. The communication quality measurement method according to claim 6, A communication quality measurement method characterized in that the communication OK / NG check result in the machine control unit is the communication OK / NG result between the machine control unit and the multiple hall terminals for the multiple communication speeds.

9. 7. The communication quality measurement method according to claim 6, the unit control unit receives a first communication quality measurement command from an external device and transmits a second communication quality measurement command to the hall terminals; A communication quality measurement method characterized in that the hall terminal receives the second communication quality measurement command and determines whether data addressed to the terminal has been received from the unit control unit.

10. 7. The communication quality measurement method according to claim 6, The data transmission from the machine control unit to the plurality of hall terminals is performed by individually transmitting test data together with a terminal ID to each hall terminal, A communication quality measurement method characterized in that the hall terminal determines whether data addressed to the terminal has been received from the car control unit based on the terminal ID.

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