Method for an elevator

Abstract

The method serves for putting an elevator (1) into operation. A car (2) of the elevator (1) moves between a plurality of floors (3). A front shaft door (20, 21, 22, 23) and a rear shaft door (30, 31, 32) are arranged on one of the plurality of floors. A first sensor (51) monitors a first passage (53). A second sensor (52) monitors a second passage (54). The method comprises the steps of: - stopping the car (2) on one of the floors (3) having one of the front shaft doors (20, 21, 22, 23) and one of the rear shaft doors (30, 31, 32) - opening the front shaft door (20, 21, 22, 23) or the rear shaft door (30, 31, 32) on this floor (3) - opening the first car door (11) or the second car door (12). - evaluating the sensor (51, 52) assigned to the open car door in order to determine whether the passage through the open car door is open. - assigning one of the two shaft doors of the front shaft door (20, 21, 22, 23) or of the rear shaft door (30, 31, 32) to one of the first or the second car doors (11, 12).

Description

[0001] Procedure for an elevator

[0002] The present invention relates to a method for commissioning an elevator.

[0003] In an elevator system, a car is typically moved vertically along a travel path between different floors or levels within a building. An elevator car may have more than one car door.

[0004] Modern elevators have landing doors with their own drive. International application WO 2022 228 959 A1 shows such an elevator. The shaft doors and car doors all have their own drive. To ensure that the shaft doors only open when the car is present on the floor, the shaft doors are equipped with presence detectors that detect the presence of the car in front of the shaft doors.

[0005] If the car has only one car door and is located on one floor, the floor door opposite the car door will recognize the car. If the car has two car doors and the car has stopped on a floor where there are two shaft doors for this elevator, two of the many shaft doors will recognize a car. These are the two shaft doors on this floor. However, it is not immediately clear which of the two shaft doors forms a passage with which of the two car doors. The elevator control system must first learn which of the shaft doors on which floor belongs to the first car door and which shaft doors belong to the second car door. To do this, the installation technician must manually train this via a control interface. This is very time-consuming and error-prone, and therefore expensive.

[0006] One goal can therefore be to make the process of commissioning such an elevator more comfortable and error-free.

[0007] According to a first aspect of the invention, a method for commissioning an elevator solves the problem. A car of the elevator can be moved between several floors. The car has a first car door and a second car door. A front shaft door and a rear shaft door are arranged on at least one of the several floors. Either the front shaft door or the rear shaft door is designed to open a first passage into the car with the first car door. The other of the front shaft door or the rear shaft door is designed to open a second passage into the car with the second car door. Each of the doors has an independent door drive. A first sensor monitors the first passage. A second sensor monitors the second passage.

[0008] The procedure includes the following steps:

[0009] Stopping the car on one of the floors with one of the front shaft doors and one of the rear shaft doors,

[0010] Opening the front shaft door or the rear shaft door on this floor,

[0011] Opening the first car door or the second car door, evaluating the sensor assigned to the opened car door to determine whether the passage through the opened car door is open, and assigning one of the two shaft doors of the front shaft door or the rear shaft door to one of the first or second car doors.

[0012] Possible features and advantages of embodiments of the invention may be considered, among other things and without limiting the invention, to be based on ideas and findings described below.

[0013] After the elevator is installed, commissioning is typically performed. During commissioning, the elevator's control system is supplied with information required for the safe and productive operation of the system. The control system can, for example, control and monitor the elevator drive, door locking, door movement via a door drive, and elevator safety features. The control system can be located in a single control unit or distributed across multiple control units.

[0014] An elevator can be commissioned immediately after its installation or later. For example, the elevator may be recommissioned after a software update. The steps in this process can be described as a learning curve.

[0015] The elevator typically comprises a car, which is used to transport people or goods from one floor to another. The car has a first car door, which, together with a shaft door, can open a passage from the car to a floor. The car also has a second car door. The second car door, together with other floor doors, can also open a passage to a floor.

[0016] The first cabin door is typically located opposite the second cabin door. Cabins are also known in which the first and second cabin doors are located on two adjacent walls of the cabin. They can be arranged at a 90° angle to each other.

[0017] The elevator has front shaft doors and rear shaft doors. Both are referred to as shaft doors. The front shaft doors are assigned to either the first or the second car door. This means they are arranged in the shaft so that the shaft door, together with the assigned car door, can form a passageway if the car is on the correct floor. The rear shaft door is then assigned to the other of the two car doors, the first or second car door. If the first and second car doors are located on two adjacent walls of the car, then in this case too, one of the two shaft doors is one of the front shaft doors and the other of the two shaft doors is a rear shaft door. Basically, the control system does not know, at least not until commissioning is complete, whether the first car door interacts with the front shaft doors or whether the second car door interacts with the front shaft doors.To determine this, the procedure presented is carried out.

[0018] A presence detector is installed on each shaft door, which detects a presence indicator installed on the car door. As soon as the car arrives at a floor, the presence indicator on that floor can detect the presence indicator. For floors with only a front shaft door or a rear shaft door, the control system can easily decide whether the front shaft door or the rear shaft door is present on that floor. Only the existing shaft door can detect one of the two car doors. Preferably, the presence indicators on the car door are also designed as detectors, and the presence detectors are also designed as presence indicators. This means that not only can one of the shaft doors detect one of the car doors, but the existing shaft doors can also detect one of the car doors.

[0019] For floors that have both a front shaft door and a rear shaft door, analyzing the signals from the presence detectors is not sufficient to determine which car door is assigned to which of the shaft doors. If there were only a first car door, the only shaft door that detects a car door would obviously open a passageway with that car door. If there are two shaft doors that both detect a car door, their assignment is initially unknown. The control system only detects that there is both a front shaft door and a rear shaft door, but it cannot assign this to either car door. This means that both passageways could be reliably opened together. However, if only one of the two car doors is to be opened, it is unclear before the procedure is carried out which of the two shaft doors should be opened together with this car door.The procedure allows this assignment to be made.

[0020] In this document, doors refer to car doors or shaft doors, each of which can close off a passage to the car, in the case of the car door, or to the landing, in the case of the shaft door. The door can have one, two, three, four or more door leaves. In an arrangement with two or more door leaves, these can be arranged slightly offset from one another to form a telescopic door. The door leaves of a door are typically driven by a single common door drive, but each individual door leaf can also have its own door drive. At a minimum, each door, i.e. car door or shaft door, has its own door drive.

[0021] In this process, one of the two car doors and one of the two shaft doors are opened. This selection can, for example, be made purely randomly. The order of opening is irrelevant. Thus, the shaft door can be opened before the car door, the car door before the shaft door, or both simultaneously. Either one of the two passages is opened if two assigned doors happen to open together. Or the passages remain essentially closed, meaning one of the two doors remains closed for both passages.

[0022] The first sensor detects whether the first passage has been opened, and the second sensor detects whether the second passage has been opened. If the opening of one of the two car doors and one of the two shaft doors has opened a passage, this is detected by the first or the second sensor. In this case, one of the two car doors and one of the two shaft doors belong to the passage that has opened. The passage that has opened therefore includes one of the two car doors and the one of the two shaft doors that has opened. The other passage then includes the other of the two car doors and the other of the two shaft doors, neither of which has opened. If the opening of one of the two car doors and one of the two shaft doors has not opened a passage, then neither of the two sensors detects an open passage.In this case, the first passage by definition includes the first car door and, if the rear landing door was opened with the first car door, the front landing door, or alternatively, if the front landing door was opened with the first car door, the rear landing door. The evaluation can cover all possible conclusions shown here, or it can include only some of the conclusions, and if the conditions are not met, open another of the two car doors and / or another of the two landing doors to reach an open passage.

[0023] By assigning one of the two shaft doors, the front shaft door or the rear shaft door, to one of the first or second car doors, the elevator, and in particular the elevator control system, is able to specifically open one passage into the car while keeping the other passage closed. This assignment stores in the control system which of the shaft doors (rear or front shaft door) must be opened together with which car door (first or second) to open a desired passage.

[0024] According to a preferred embodiment, the method comprises the step of: Assigning the front shaft door to the open car door if the passage is open, or

[0025] Assign the open shaft door to the closed car door if the passage is closed.

[0026] In principle, many analyses are conceivable for determining the assignment based on the opening of the doors and the evaluation of the first and second sensors. If the car door and the shaft door were coincidentally selected in such a way that a passage was opened, this shaft door can be assigned to the opened car door. The same analysis also shows that the unopened shaft door can be assigned to the unopened car door.

[0027] Alternatively, if the car door and the shaft door were randomly selected in such a way that no passage was opened, the selection made does not correspond to a possible assignment. This shaft door can therefore be assigned to the unopened car door. The same analysis also shows that the unopened shaft door can be assigned to the open car door.

[0028] According to a preferred embodiment, the method comprises as a further step: repeating the method, with opening the first car door or the second car door and opening the assigned shaft door.

[0029] This allows you to verify whether the assignment is correct. For example, opening the first car door with the assigned shaft door should open the first passage, which can be detected by the first sensor. Opening the second car door with the shaft door assigned to the second car door should open the second passage, which can be detected by the second sensor.

[0030] According to a preferred embodiment, the method comprises the further step of repeating the method for each floor. This allows for each floor to determine which of the shaft doors on the respective floor is to be assigned to which of the two car doors.

[0031] According to a preferred embodiment, the elevator travel path runs vertically. A vertical travel path offers the advantage that parts of the car pass a floor at a constant distance. Furthermore, vertical travel paths are very easy to implement in most buildings. In an elevator with a vertical travel path, the front shaft doors are preferably arranged vertically one above the other. The rear shaft doors in an elevator with a vertical travel path are also preferably arranged vertically one above the other.

[0032] In a typical design, all front shaft doors are arranged one above the other and can all open a passage with the same car door, while all rear shaft doors can each open a passage with the other car door. In an alternative design, the front shaft doors and the rear shaft doors may be interchanged on one or more floors. As a result, not all front shaft doors are arranged on the same side of the elevator car, or not all front shaft doors can open a passage with the same car door. However, it is still true that on each floor where the elevator has two shaft doors, one of them is the front shaft door and the other is the rear shaft door.

[0033] According to a preferred embodiment, the first sensor and / or the second sensor detects a reflection in the passage. An obstacle in the passage, such as one of the car doors or one of the shaft doors, can act as a reflector to cause the reflection. Preferably, acoustic waves, such as ultrasound, or optical waves, such as light, are used to be reflected by the obstacle and detected by the first or second sensor.

[0034] According to a preferred embodiment, the first sensor and / or the second sensor is configured as a camera system. The camera system detects whether an obstacle is present in the passage. For this purpose, the camera system can utilize systems such as image analysis or AI evaluation to determine whether an obstacle is present in the passage. In addition, the camera system can also categorize the obstacles. Such categories could be, for example, people, doors, suitcases, or pets. The camera system preferably detects light, particularly visible or infrared light. Alternatively, camera systems that evaluate sound signals can also be used.

[0035] According to a preferred embodiment, the markings are designed as a three-dimensional body.

[0036] The shape of the body itself can encode a property. For example, bodies such as cuboids, cylinders, or pyramids could encode different properties. Preferably, the body serves as confirmation that a property arranged on the body, such as a QR code, is indeed part of a marker. Because the marker is arranged on a body, the marker stands out from its surroundings in the three-dimensional image of a TOF camera, including depth information.

[0037] According to a preferred embodiment, the camera system is designed to recognize a marking and to assign a property encoded in the marking to this passage. The marking can be designed, for example, as a card with an optical imprint such as a symbol or text. However, a body such as a cube can also serve as the marker. The coded property can, for example, be that the passage provided with the marking is to be treated as the front of the elevator. Alternatively or additionally, a marking can also encode the property that this shaft door is to be used as a lobby, as a parking position overnight, or as a safe stop for fire control. The camera system recognizes the marking and forwards the property to be stored for this passage to the control system of the elevator system.

[0038] According to another embodiment, the marking is located on the floor of the cabin, in front of one of the cabin doors. This makes it possible, for example, to determine which of the first or second cabin doors is to be considered the primary cabin door. The primary cabin door can be assigned special properties, for example. For example, the primary cabin door in the lobby could always be open, waiting for passengers.

[0039] According to a preferred embodiment, the marking is located on the floor of the floor, in front of one of the shaft doors. Before conducting the learning run, the technician can place the applicable markings in front of the respective shaft doors on all floors. Multiple markings can also be placed for multiple assigned properties.

[0040] According to a preferred embodiment, the marking comprises a QR code. QR codes can be recognized very reliably and accurately by camera systems. Furthermore, QR codes also allow for the easy encoding of many different properties. Cards or even bodies can be used as markings. These can contain a QR code. In addition to the QR code, the markings can also contain letters or symbols that easily indicate to the installation technician which property the respective marking encodes, allowing the installation technician to easily select the marking to be applied for a passage.

[0041] According to a preferred embodiment, the first sensor and / or the second sensor is configured as a time-of-flight camera. A time-of-flight camera is also abbreviated to a TOF camera. A TOF camera allows distance information for the respective pixels to be read out simultaneously with the camera image. This allows the TOF camera to create a three-dimensional image of the captured image section. In this three-dimensional image, the objects that are used as markers, for example, can then be very easily identified. The three-dimensional image can also be very easily evaluated to determine whether a door is closed, which is shown at a short distance from the TOF camera, or whether the door is open, which leads to a large distance in the image at the same location.

[0042] Further advantages, features and details of the invention will become apparent from the following description of embodiments and from the drawings, in which identical or functionally identical elements are provided with identical reference numerals.

[0043] Showing:

[0044] Fig. 1 an elevator

[0045] Fig. 2 a cabin in the shaft in a view from above with closed doors, Fig. 3 the cabin of Fig. 2 after opening the first cabin door and a landing door

[0046] Fig. 4 the cabin of Fig. 2 with one open and one closed passage,

[0047] Fig. 5 the cabin in a side view, cut according to section AA shown in Fig. 2.

[0048] Fig. 6 the cabin in a side view, cut according to the section AA shown in Fig. 2, with an open and a closed passage Fig. 7 the cabin in a side view, cut according to the section in Fig. 2, with a marking.

[0049] Fig. 8 Schematic representation of the process,

[0050] Fig. 1 shows a schematic side view of an elevator 1. A car 2 travels along a travel path 4 between the individual floors 3. The travel path 4 can be located in an elevator shaft. The car 2 has a first car door 11 and a second car door 12. Arranged along the travel path 4 is a row of front shaft doors 20, all of which are suitable, together with the first car door 11, to form a first passage 53. The car 2 is shown on the floor with the front shaft door 21. Further front shaft doors 22 and 23 are shown further up along the travel path 4. Further along the travel path 4 is a row of rear shaft doors 30, all of which are suitable, together with the second car door 12, to form a second passage 54. Cabin 2 is shown on the floor with rear landing door 31.Another rear shaft door 32 is shown further up along the travel path 4.

[0051] Fig. 2 shows a horizontal section from above through the elevator of Fig. 1. The first car door 11, the second car door 12, the front shaft door 21, and the rear shaft door 31 are designed with two door panels. For all four of these doors, the two door panels are each connected to a separate door drive 80. This has the advantage that there is no mechanical connection between the car doors 11 or 12 and the shaft doors 21 or 31. The shaft doors close the openings in the shaft walls 42.

[0052] Presence detection ensures that one of the shaft doors, for example the front shaft door 21, can only be opened if the corresponding car door, in this case the first car door 11, is correctly aligned in front of the shaft door. The presence detection is designed in two parts. A car-side presence indicator 61 is attached to the car, and a shaft-side presence detector 62 is attached to the shaft door. If the two are aligned within a specified tolerance, the presence detector 62 detects the presence indicator 61. Only in this way does the shaft door receive permission to open. This ensures that the shaft door can be opened safely because the car 2 is located in front of the shaft door. Typically, the presence indicator 61 comprises a magnet that is detected by a Hall sensor of the presence detector 62.Alternatively, for example, a QR code or other symbolic images can be recognized as a presence indicator 61 by a camera as a presence detector 62.

[0053] Because there are now two shaft doors on the landing, namely the rear shaft door 31 and the front shaft door 21, both shaft doors 21 and 31 are authorized to open due to the presence of car 2. Before the remote travel, the control system cannot assign the two shaft doors to either the first car door 11 or the second car door 12.

[0054] A first sensor 51 monitors a first passage 53 and a second sensor 52 monitors a second passage 54. The sensor can determine whether an object is present in the passage or whether the passage is clear, for example for a passenger to pass through.

[0055] Fig. 3 essentially shows the horizontal section known from Fig. 2, but now in a situation that can occur during the long-distance travel process. The car has traveled to a specific floor 3. The front shaft door 21 and the rear shaft door 31 can both be opened. As part of the process, the control system opened the front shaft door 21 and the second car door 12. The second car door 12 was selected from the set containing the elements first car door 11 and second car door 12. Likewise, the front shaft door 21 was randomly selected from the set containing the elements front shaft door 21 and rear shaft door 22.

[0056] In this situation, both the first passage 53 and the second passage 54 are not open. By evaluating the second sensor 52, which is assigned to the second car door 12 and thus also to the second passage 54, the controller can determine that the second passage 54 is not open. The controller can now determine that opening the front shaft door 21 together with the second car door 12 did not open the second passage. Thus, the controller can assign the rear shaft door 31 to the second car door 12. Furthermore, the front shaft door 21 must also be assigned to the first car door 11.

[0057] Fig. 4 essentially shows the horizontal section familiar from Fig. 2, but now in a situation that can occur during the long-distance travel process. The car has again traveled to a specific one of the floors 3. During the process, the control system has essentially randomly opened the rear shaft door 31 and the second car door 12.

[0058] In this situation, the second passage 53 is open, i.e., passable. By evaluating the second sensor 52 assigned to the second car door 12 and thus also to the second passage 54, the controller can determine that the second passage 54 is open. The controller can therefore determine that opening the rear shaft door 31 together with the second car door 12 has opened the second passage 54. The controller can thus assign the rear shaft door 31 to the second car door 12. Furthermore, the front shaft door 21 must also be assigned to the first car door 11.

[0059] The situation in Fig. 4 shows a situation during the execution of the method, which can occur alternatively to the situation shown in Fig. 3. The correct assignment of the shaft doors 21 or 31 to the respective car doors 11 or 12 can be achieved via a situation as in Fig. 3, as in Fig. 4 or via the two other possible permutations, such as one of the shaft doors 21 or 31 and one of the car doors 11 or 12 can be opened.

[0060] Fig. 5 and Fig. 6 show an elevator which essentially has the same components as the elevator in Fig. 2 in a sectional view analogous to the section shown in Fig. 2. However, here the first car door 11 opens a passage together with the rear shaft door 31. The car 2 comprises a car floor 2b and a car ceiling 2a. The first sensor 51 is arranged in the car 2. It is aligned so that the first sensor 51 monitors the first passage 53. The arrow and the propagation waves in Figs. 5 and 6 symbolize this monitoring of the passage 53. If the first car door or the first rear shaft door 31 is still in the first passage 53 after opening, the first sensor 51 detects that the passage is still closed. In the first passage 53 there is also a marker 100. This serves to define this side of the elevator car as the front door.The front side of the door is defined on the side on which the respective sensor from the first sensor 51 or second sensor 52 detects the marking 100 when the door is open.

[0061] Fig. 6 shows the same image as Fig. 5, but this time with the first car door 11 and the first rear door 31 open. The sensor can now detect the marker 100, which is designed as a three-dimensional body. Here, the three-dimensional body is a cube. The installation technician placed the marker 100 there to designate this door as the rear shaft door 31. The control system recognizes from the presence of the marker 100 that the rear door 31 is the rear door and assigns it the corresponding properties.

[0062] In an alternative embodiment, the marker 100 could serve to identify the front door. To do so, the installation technician would then place the marker 100 on the front door, and the method is adapted so that the presence of the marker 100 indicates the front door.

[0063] Fig. 7 shows a schematic flow of the process.

[0064] The "Stop" block describes the stopping of car 2 on one of the floors 3 using one of the front shaft doors 20, 21, 22 or 23 and one of the rear shaft doors 30, 31 or 32.

[0065] The "Opening" block describes the opening of the front shaft door 20, 21, 22, or 23 or the rear shaft door 30, 31, or 32 on this floor 3 and the opening of the first car door 11 or the second car door 12. It is irrelevant whether the shaft door is opened before, after, or at the same time as the car door.

[0066] The "Evaluate" block describes the evaluation of the sensor 51 or 52 assigned to the open cabin door in order to determine whether the passage through the open cabin door is open.

[0067] The "Assign" block describes the assignment of one of the two shaft doors 20, 21, 22, 23, 30, 31 or 32 of the front shaft door 20, 21, 22 or 23 or the rear shaft door 30, 31 or 32 to one of the first car doors 11 or the second car door 12.

[0068] The blocks "Test 1" and "Test 2" describe the repetition of the procedure, opening the first car door 11 or the second car door 12 and opening the assigned shaft door. They differ in that in Test 1, the first car door 11 is opened, and in Test 2, the second car door 12 is opened. Both tests are optional.

[0069] The loop describes the repetition of the procedure for each floor 3.

[0070] Finally, it should be noted that terms such as "having," "comprising," etc., do not exclude other elements or steps, and terms such as "a" or "an" do not exclude a plurality. Furthermore, it should be noted that features or steps described with reference to one of the above embodiments may also be used in combination with other features or steps of other embodiments described above. Reference signs in the claims are not to be considered as limitations.

Claims

Patent claims 1. A method for commissioning an elevator (1), wherein a car (2) of the elevator (1) is movable between several floors (3), the car (2) has a first car door (11) and a second car door (12), on at least one of the several floors a front shaft door (20, 21, 22, 23) and a rear shaft door (30, 31, 32) are arranged, either the front shaft door (20, 21, 22, 23) or the rear shaft door (30, 31, 32) is designed to open a first passage (53) into the car with the first car door (11), the other of the front shaft doors (20, 21, 22, 23) or the rear shaft doors (30, 31, 32) is designed to open a second passage (54) into the car with the second car door (12), each of the doors (11, 12, 21, 22, 23, 31, 23) has an independent door drive (80), and a first sensor (51) monitors the first passage (53), a second sensor (52) monitors the second passage (54), and the method comprises the steps: Stopping the car (2) on a floor (3) with one of the front shaft doors (20, 21, 22, 23) and one of the rear shaft doors (30, 31, 32), opening the front shaft door (20, 21, 22, 23) or the rear shaft door (30, 31, 32) on this floor (3), Opening the first car door (11) or the second car door (12), evaluating the sensor (51, 52) assigned to the opened car door to determine whether the passage through the opened car door is open, and assigning one of the two shaft doors, the front shaft door (20, 21, 22, 23) or the rear shaft door (30, 31, 32), to one of the first or the second car door (11, 12).

2. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the method comprises the step: Assigning the front shaft door (20, 21, 22, 23) to the open car door if the passage is open, or Assigning the open shaft door to the closed car door if the Passage is closed.

3. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the method further comprises the step: Repeat the procedure by opening the first car door (11) or the second car door (12) and opening the assigned shaft door.

4. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the method further comprises the step: Repeat the procedure for each floor (3).

5. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a travel path (4) of the elevator (1) runs vertically.

6. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the first sensor (51) and / or the second sensor (52) detects a reflection in the passage (53, 54).

7. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the first sensor (51) and / or the second sensor (52) is designed as a camera system.

8. Method according to claim 7, characterized in that the camera system is designed to recognize a marking (100) and to assign a property of the car door (11, 12) or the shaft door (20, 21, 22, 23, 30, 31, 32) coded in the marking (100) to this passage (53, 54).

9. Method according to claim 8, characterized in that the marking is arranged on the floor of the cabin (2) in front of one of the cabin doors (11, 12).

10. The method according to claim 8 or 9, characterized in that the marking is arranged on the floor of the floor (3) in front of one of the shaft doors (20, 21, 22, 23, 30, 31, 32).

11. The method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the marking (100) comprises a QR code.

12. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the first sensor (51) and / or the second sensor (52) is designed as a time-of-flight camera.

13. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the markings (100) are designed as a three-dimensional body.

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