Elevator

Abstract

This elevator comprises a car control unit (15) that extracts, from received prediction information (21), the height of a tsunami predicted to reach the location of the building where the elevator is installed, and, in accordance with the predicted height of the tsunami, causes a car (10) to retreat to a position within a hoistway (1) that is higher than the height of the tsunami.

Description

elevator

[0001] The present disclosure relates to elevators.

[0002] When an earthquake occurs and an emergency earthquake alert is received, elevators are controlled to operate in an earthquake by predicting the time of arrival of the main shock and the magnitude of the shaking (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

[0003] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2009-1368

[0004] In Patent Document 1, there was a problem that if a tsunami generated by an earthquake reaches the building, it is not possible to prevent damage to the elevator car and weight due to water entering the car and weight.

[0005] The present disclosure has been made to solve such problems, and aims to provide an elevator that can suppress damage to equipment even in the event of a tsunami occurring as a result of an earthquake.

[0006] The elevator disclosed herein includes a receiving device that receives prediction information based on earthquake occurrence information from an information prediction device, and a car control unit that extracts the height of the tsunami that is predicted to reach the location of the building where the elevator is installed from the received prediction information, and evacuates the car to a position in the elevator shaft higher than the height of the tsunami according to the predicted height of the tsunami.

[0007] In the present disclosure, by evacuating the elevator car in advance to a position where it can avoid being flooded by the tsunami based on the predicted tsunami height received in advance, damage to the elevator caused by the tsunami can be reduced and the elevator can be restored quickly after the tsunami has subsided.

[0008] Schematic diagram showing an elevator according to the first embodiment. Schematic diagram showing the configuration of the elevator hoist 3 according to the first embodiment. Configuration diagram of a system including the control device 5 according to the first embodiment. Diagram showing one example of hardware resources of the control device 5 according to the first embodiment. Diagram showing another example of hardware resources of the control device 5 according to the first embodiment. Flowchart showing the operation of the control device 5 according to the first embodiment. Configuration diagram of a system including the control device 5 according to the second embodiment. Flowchart showing the operation of the control device 5 according to the second embodiment.

[0009] The following detailed description will be given with reference to the drawings. Duplicate descriptions will be simplified or omitted as appropriate. In each drawing, the same reference numerals indicate the same or corresponding parts.

[0010] Embodiment 1. Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an elevator according to embodiment 1, and Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram showing, in particular, the configuration of a hoisting machine 3. In Figs. 1 and 2, a machine room 2 is provided above a hoistway 1. In the machine room 2, the hoisting machine 3, a deflector sheave 4, and a control device 5 are installed.

[0011] The hoist 3 also has a hoist motor 6, a hoist brake 7, and a drive sheave 8. The hoist motor 6 generates a driving force that rotates the drive sheave 8 in response to a command from the control device 5. The hoist brake 7 keeps the drive sheave 8 stationary. The hoist brake 7 also brakes the rotation of the drive sheave 8. The hoist brake 7 operates in response to a command from the control device 5.

[0012] A rope 9 is wound around the drive sheave 8 and the deflector sheave 4.

[0013] A car 10 and a counterweight 11 are provided in the hoistway 1 so as to be movable up and down. The car 10 is connected to a first end of a rope 9. The counterweight 11 is connected to a second end of the rope 9. The car 10 and the counterweight 11 move up and down in the hoistway 1 by rotating the drive sheave 8.

[0014] Each of the multiple floors in the building is provided with a landing 12. Each landing 12 is opened and closed by a pair of landing doors.

[0015] FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of a system including a control device 5 according to the first embodiment. The information prediction device 13 is installed, for example, at a center of a prediction provider located outside a building where an elevator is installed. The information prediction device 13 includes a tsunami information prediction unit 17. When an earthquake occurs, earthquake occurrence information 20, including information such as the time of occurrence, epicenter, seismic intensity, and magnitude, is transmitted from the Japan Meteorological Agency or other organizations via communication means such as the Internet or a dedicated line. The information prediction device 13 receives the earthquake occurrence information 20. The tsunami information prediction unit 17 uses the earthquake occurrence information 20 to calculate a tsunami arrival forecast, including the time and height of the tsunami, for a pre-stored location. The information prediction device 13 transmits prediction information 21 including the tsunami arrival forecast calculated by the tsunami information prediction unit 17. In this case, the stored location is the location of the building where the elevator is installed. Note that depending on the content of the earthquake occurrence information 20, it may be predicted that a tsunami will not occur, in which case a tsunami arrival forecast is not generated.

[0016] The control device 5 includes a receiving device 14, a car control unit 15, and a calculation unit 16. The receiving device 14 receives prediction information 21 transmitted from the information prediction device 13 and sends the information to the car control unit 15. The car control unit 15 determines a control operation action based on the prediction information 21. That is, if the prediction information 21 includes a prediction of a tsunami arrival, the car control unit 15 performs a control operation to evacuate the car 10 to an evacuation position in order to limit tsunami damage, since it means that a tsunami is predicted to reach that location.

[0017] The evacuation location is calculated by the calculation unit 16 based on information about the building in which the elevator is installed, elevator information, and the predicted arrival of the tsunami, as a location that can minimize elevator damage caused by the tsunami that is predicted to arrive.

[0018] The concept of the evacuation position will be explained below. The car 10 and the counterweight 11 move in opposite directions up and down via the ropes 9. As a result, one of the car 10 and the counterweight 11 may become higher or lower than the other, and the lower one is more likely to be flooded by a tsunami. Therefore, in order to avoid flooding of both the car 10 and the counterweight 11 due to a tsunami, the center of the hoistway 1 is the most suitable position. In this center, the car 10 and the counterweight 11 are nearly side-by-side. However, if the tsunami that arrives is higher than the height of the center of the hoistway 1, both the car 10 and the counterweight 11 will be flooded in the center. Therefore, if a tsunami higher than the height of the center is predicted, priority is given to avoiding flooding of the car 10, and the car 10 is evacuated to a position where it will not be flooded by a tsunami.

[0019] However, the tsunami may not actually reach the predicted location, or even if it does reach the location, the water level may drop in a short time. Therefore, it is advisable to set the evacuation position as the position where the counterweight 11 is at its highest among the positions where the car 10 will not be submerged by the tsunami.

[0020] The calculation unit 16 stores the altitude above sea level of the location where the building in which the elevator is installed stands as building information in which the elevator is installed, and the height position of the elevator shaft 1 within the building and the dimensions of the car 10 and counterweight 11 as elevator information.

[0021] From this information, calculation unit 16 determines the altitude above sea level at the respective lower ends of car 10 and counterweight 11 when car 10 is located in the center of hoistway 1, and compares this with the predicted tsunami height extracted from the tsunami arrival prediction. If the predicted tsunami height is lower than the altitude above sea level at the respective lower ends of car 10 and counterweight 11, the center of hoistway 1 is designated as the evacuation position. On the other hand, if the predicted tsunami height is higher than the altitude above sea level at the lower end of car 10 or counterweight 11, the evacuation position is designated as a height position within hoistway 1 where the altitude above sea level at the lower end of car 10 is higher than the predicted tsunami height.

[0022] 4 is a diagram showing an example of hardware resources of the control device 5. The control device 5 includes a processor 101 and a memory 102 as hardware resources in addition to a receiving device 14 such as a communication adapter. Note that there may be multiple processors 101 and multiple memories 102.

[0023] In the first embodiment, the car control unit 15 and the calculation unit 16 store information in advance and perform determination processing and calculation processing. This information is stored in the memory 102. The determination processing and calculation processing are executed by the processor 101 by software, firmware, or a combination of software and firmware written as a program stored in the memory 102.

[0024] The processor 101 is also called a CPU (Central Processing Unit), central processing unit, arithmetic unit, microprocessor, microcomputer, or DSP. The memory 102 may be a semiconductor memory, a magnetic disk, a flexible disk, an optical disk, a compact disk, a minidisk, or a DVD. Usable semiconductor memories include RAM, ROM, flash memory, EPROM, and EEPROM.

[0025] Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 5, a processing circuit 103 may be provided as a hardware resource of the control device 5, and the functions of the car control unit 15 and the calculation unit 16 may be realized.

[0026] 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of the control device 5 according to the embodiment 1. During normal operation, the car control unit 15 determines whether or not it has received the forecast information 21 via the receiving device 14 (step S1). If it has not received the forecast information 21, it continues normal operation.

[0027] On the other hand, when the receiving device 14 receives the prediction information 21, the car control unit 15 determines whether the prediction information 21, which is sent from the receiving device 14, includes a tsunami arrival prediction (step S2). If it is determined in step S2 that the prediction information 21 does not include a tsunami arrival prediction (if "NO"), that is, if a tsunami arrival is not predicted, normal operation is continued. On the other hand, if it is determined that a tsunami arrival prediction is included (if "YES"), after the car 10 stops, the hoist motor 6 is driven to move the car 10 to the evacuation position calculated by the calculation unit 16 to avoid the tsunami (step S3). Then, after the car 10 has completely moved to the evacuation position, operation of the car 10 is suspended at the evacuation position until the tsunami subsides.

[0028] Thus, according to the first embodiment, when a tsunami is predicted to reach the building, both the car 10 and the counterweight 11, or the car 10 itself, can be evacuated to a position where it will not be flooded by the tsunami based on the predicted tsunami information. This makes it possible to suppress damage caused by the tsunami and enable the elevator to be restored quickly after the tsunami has subsided.

[0029] In the first embodiment, an example has been described in which the system switches to controlled operation when a tsunami arrival prediction is received, but it is also possible that the height of the tsunami predicted from the position information of the elevator shaft 1 within the building is lower than the bottom of the elevator shaft 1. In that case, normal operation may be continued.

[0030] Furthermore, the calculation of the evacuation position was performed using the predicted tsunami height and the altitude above sea level at the bottom end of the car 10 or counterweight 11, but it may also be performed using the height obtained by adding a margin to the predicted tsunami height and the altitude above sea level at the bottom end of the car 10 or counterweight 11. This margin may be a fixed value or may be a value that varies depending on the predicted tsunami height.

[0031] Furthermore, for example, a matrix table relating predicted tsunami heights to evacuation positions may be created in advance and stored in the car control unit 15, and evacuation positions may be determined from the matrix table based on the predicted tsunami height. In this case, the calculation unit 16 is not required.

[0032] Furthermore, the tsunami information prediction unit 17 may generate a tsunami arrival prediction with a height of zero even when no tsunami is expected, even if it receives earthquake occurrence information 20. In this case, the car control unit 15 checks the content of the tsunami arrival prediction and determines whether or not controlled operation is required.

[0033] Embodiment 2. Fig. 7 is a configuration diagram showing the configuration of a system including a control device 5 according to embodiment 2. Note that parts that are the same as or equivalent to those in embodiment 1 are given the same reference numerals, and duplicated explanations will be omitted.

[0034] The information prediction device 13 includes a tsunami information prediction unit 17, an earthquake motion information prediction unit 18, and a long-period earthquake motion information prediction unit 19. The earthquake motion information prediction unit 18 uses the transmitted earthquake occurrence information 20 to obtain earthquake motion prediction information for a pre-stored location. This earthquake motion prediction information includes the calculated times when the initial tremors and main tremor waves of the earthquake are predicted to arrive at the location. It also includes the calculated magnitude of the predicted shaking of the earthquake motion that will arrive at the location, i.e., the magnitude of the predicted earthquake motion.

[0035] The long-period earthquake motion information prediction unit 19 calculates long-period earthquake motion prediction information for the location using the transmitted earthquake occurrence information 20. This long-period earthquake motion prediction information includes the calculated time when the long-period earthquake motion waves are predicted to arrive at the location. It also includes the calculated predicted magnitude of the long-period earthquake motion that will arrive at the location, i.e., the magnitude of the long-period earthquake motion prediction.

[0036] The information prediction device 13 then transmits prediction information 21 including the tsunami arrival prediction, earthquake motion prediction information, and long-period earthquake motion prediction information calculated by the tsunami information prediction unit 17, earthquake motion information prediction unit 18, and long-period earthquake motion information prediction unit 19. The receiving device 14 of the control device 5 receives this prediction information 21.

[0037] The car control unit 15 performs controlled operation to evacuate the car 10 if the prediction information 21 sent from the receiving device 14 meets at least one of the following requirements. Requirement 1: When the magnitude of the earthquake motion prediction extracted from the prediction information 21 is equal to or greater than a pre-stored earthquake motion threshold. Requirement 2: When the magnitude of the long-period earthquake motion prediction extracted from the prediction information 21 is equal to or greater than a pre-stored long-period earthquake motion threshold. Requirement 3: When the prediction information 21 includes a predicted arrival of a tsunami. In controlled operation, the evacuation position is calculated by the calculation unit 16. Note that, in this case, it is assumed that passengers inside the car 10 are to be allowed to exit the car 10, and therefore the evacuation position is the floor where the landing 12 is located, i.e., the evacuation floor.

[0038] The calculation of the evacuation floor in the calculation unit 16 is performed as follows. First, in the case of requirement 1, the nearest floor is set as the evacuation floor in order to quickly expel passengers in the car 10 from the car. The nearest floor is the floor closest to the current position in the direction in which the car 10 is currently traveling. Note that, with regard to moving the car 10 to the nearest floor, since the car control unit 15 has current position information of the car 10, it is also possible to achieve this without performing calculations in the calculation unit 16.

[0039] In the case of requirement 2, the evacuation floor is a non-resonant floor where the natural period of the elevator's long objects, including rope 9, does not resonate with the natural period of the building. The natural period of the elevator's long objects changes when the position of car 10 is changed. Therefore, by changing the position of car 10 and avoiding resonance with the building's natural period, it is possible to prevent the amplitude of the long objects from increasing due to resonance with building vibrations caused by long-period seismic motion, and to avoid damage such as the long objects getting caught.

[0040] In the case of requirement 3, the altitude above sea level at the bottom of the car 10 and counterweight 11 when the car 10 is located at the landing 12 on the floor where the center of the hoistway 1 is located is compared with the predicted height of the tsunami. If the predicted height of the tsunami is lower than the altitude above sea level at the bottom ends of the car 10 and counterweight 11, the floor where the center of the hoistway 1 is located is designated as the evacuation floor. On the other hand, if the predicted height of the tsunami is higher than the altitude above sea level at the bottom end of the car 10 or counterweight 11, the floor in the hoistway 1 where the altitude above sea level at the bottom end of the car 10 is higher than the predicted height of the tsunami is designated as the evacuation floor.

[0041] Furthermore, there are cases where more than one of these requirements is met. When requirement 2 and requirement 3 are met, that is, when long-period ground motion equal to or greater than the long-period ground motion threshold and the arrival of a tsunami are predicted simultaneously, a non-resonant floor is selected as the evacuation floor among the floors in the hoistway 1 where the height above sea level of the lower end of the car 10 is higher than the predicted height of the tsunami. If a floor where the center of the hoistway 1 is located is included among these floors, the floor where the center of the hoistway 1 is located is selected as the evacuation floor, and if a floor where the center of the hoistway 1 is located is not included, the floor closest to the floor where the center of the hoistway 1 is located is selected as the evacuation floor.

[0042] Furthermore, when requirements 2 and 3 are met, that is, when the magnitude of the earthquake motion equal to or greater than the earthquake motion threshold and the arrival of a tsunami are predicted simultaneously, the nearest floor is set as the evacuation floor in order to prioritize the evacuation of passengers inside car 10. After that, after the passengers inside car 10 have left car 10, a floor that will avoid flooding due to the tsunami will be set as the evacuation floor.

[0043] 8 is a flowchart showing the operation of the control device 5 according to embodiment 2. During normal operation, first, the car control unit 15 determines whether the receiving device 14 has received the forecast information 21 and whether the forecast information 21 has been sent from the receiving device 14 (step S11). If the forecast information 21 has not been received, normal operation is continued.

[0044] On the other hand, when prediction information 21 is sent, car control unit 15 determines whether the magnitude of the earthquake motion prediction extracted from prediction information 21 is equal to or greater than the earthquake motion threshold stored in advance (step S12). If the magnitude of the earthquake motion prediction is not equal to or greater than the earthquake motion threshold (if "NO") in step S12, car control unit 15 determines whether the magnitude of the long-period earthquake motion prediction extracted from prediction information 21 is equal to or greater than the long-period earthquake motion threshold stored in advance (step S13). If the magnitude of the long-period earthquake motion prediction is not equal to or greater than the long-period earthquake motion threshold (if "NO") in step S13, car control unit 15 determines whether the prediction information 21 includes a tsunami arrival prediction, i.e., whether a tsunami arrival prediction has been received (step S14). If the tsunami arrival prediction is not included in step S14 (if "NO"), normal operation continues. On the other hand, if the predicted arrival of a tsunami is included in step S14 (if "YES"), after the car 10 has stopped, the hoist motor 6 is driven to move the car 10 to the evacuation floor calculated by the calculation unit 16 (step S15). Then, after the movement of the car 10 to the evacuation floor is completed, the operation of the car 10 is stopped at the evacuation floor. In this case, the hall door may be opened and an announcement may be made inside the car 10 urging passengers to exit the car 10, thereby forcing passengers out of the car 10 and towards the hall.

[0045] In step S12, if the magnitude of the predicted earthquake motion is equal to or greater than the earthquake motion threshold (if "YES"), the calculation unit 16 calculates the nearest floor as the evacuation floor. Therefore, the hoist motor 6 is controlled to move the car 10 to the nearest floor and stop it. Thereafter, the hall door is opened, and an announcement is made inside the car 10 urging passengers to exit, thereby ejecting the passengers (step S16). In step S16, after the passengers have been ejected, it is determined, as in step S13, whether the magnitude of the predicted long-period earthquake motion is equal to or greater than the long-period earthquake motion threshold (step S17). In step S17, if the magnitude of the predicted long-period earthquake motion is equal to or greater than the long-period earthquake motion threshold (if "YES"), it is determined, as in step S14, whether the forecast information 21 includes a tsunami arrival forecast (step S18).

[0046] In addition, if the magnitude of the long-period ground motion prediction is equal to or greater than the long-period ground motion threshold value in step S13 (if "YES"), the process also proceeds to step S18. If the prediction information 21 includes a tsunami arrival prediction in step S18, the hoist motor 6 is driven to move the car 10 to a non-resonance floor that avoids flooding of the car 10 due to a tsunami and that avoids resonance of long objects, as calculated by the calculation unit 16 (step S19). Then, after the movement of the car 10 to the non-resonance floor is completed, the operation of the car 10 is stopped.

[0047] On the other hand, if the prediction information 21 does not include a tsunami arrival prediction (if "NO" in step S18), the hoist motor 6 is driven to move the car 10 to a non-resonance floor that avoids resonance of the long object, as calculated by the calculation unit 16 (step S20). Then, after the movement of the car 10 to the non-resonance floor is completed, the operation of the car 10 is stopped.

[0048] If the magnitude of the long-period ground motion prediction is not equal to or greater than the long-period ground motion threshold in step S17 (if "NO"), it is determined whether the prediction information 21 includes a tsunami arrival prediction (step S21), similar to step S14. If a tsunami arrival prediction is not included in step S21 (if "NO"), operation of the car 10 is suspended. On the other hand, if a tsunami arrival prediction is included in step S21 (if "YES"), the process is the same as step S15. After the car 10 has stopped, the hoist motor 6 is driven, and the car 10 is moved to the evacuation floor that will avoid the tsunami, as calculated by the calculation unit 16 (step S22). Then, after the car 10 has moved to the evacuation floor, operation of the car 10 is suspended.

[0049] Thus, according to the second embodiment, when seismic motion, long-period seismic motion, and the arrival of a tsunami in the building due to an earthquake are predicted, the car 10 can be evacuated according to the predicted state. This makes it possible to suppress damage to the elevator and to quickly restore the elevator.

[0050] In this disclosure, an elevator having a machine room 2 has been described, but the present disclosure may also be applied to a so-called machine room-less elevator in which there is no machine room and the hoisting machine is located at the top of the elevator shaft.

[0051] The elevator according to the present disclosure can be applied to suppressing damage in the event of a tsunami.

[0052] DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Hoistway, 2 Machine room, 3 Hoisting machine, 4 Deflector wheel, 5 Control device, 6 Hoisting machine motor, 7 Hoisting machine brake, 8 Drive sheave, 9 Rope, 10 Cage, 11 Counterweight, 12 Landing, 13 Information prediction device, 14 Receiving device, 15 Cage control unit, 16 Calculation unit, 17 Tsunami information prediction unit, 18 Earthquake motion information prediction unit, 19 Long-period earthquake motion information prediction unit, 20 Earthquake occurrence information, 21 Prediction information, 101 Processor, 102 Memory, 103 Processing circuit

Claims

1. An elevator characterized by comprising: a receiving device that receives prediction information based on earthquake occurrence information from an information prediction device; and a car control unit that extracts from the received prediction information the height of a tsunami that is predicted to reach the location of the building in which the elevator is installed, and, depending on the predicted height of the tsunami, evacuates the car to a position within the elevator shaft that is higher than the height of the tsunami.

2. An elevator as described in claim 1, further comprising a calculation unit that calculates an evacuation position to which the car should be evacuated based on the predicted tsunami height and information on the positions of the building and the elevator, and the car control unit evacuates the car to the evacuation position.

3. The elevator described in claim 2, characterized in that the calculation unit stores the information including the building's altitude above sea level and the height at which the elevator shaft is installed within the building, and if the predicted tsunami height is lower than the altitude above sea level of the lower end of the car and counterweight when the car is located at the center height of the shaft, the center of the shaft is set as the evacuation position, and if not, the evacuation position is set to a position where the altitude above sea level of the lower end of the car is higher than the predicted tsunami height.

4. The elevator described in claim 2, characterized in that the calculation unit stores the information including the building's altitude above sea level and the height at which the elevator shaft is installed within the building, and if the predicted tsunami height is lower by a margin than the altitude above sea level of the lower end of the car and counterweight when the car is located at the height of the center of the shaft, the center of the shaft is the evacuation position, and if not lower, the evacuation position is a position where the altitude above sea level of the lower end of the car is higher by a margin than the predicted tsunami height.

5. The elevator described in claim 2, characterized in that when the long-period vibration predicted at the location of the building extracted from the received prediction information is greater than a threshold value, the calculation unit sets the evacuation position to a floor that does not resonate with the building within a range of car positions higher than the predicted tsunami height.

6. An elevator as described in any one of claims 2 to 5, characterized in that if the seismic motion predicted at the location of the building extracted from the received prediction information is greater than a threshold value, the car control unit temporarily stops the car at the nearest floor and then evacuates the car to the evacuation position.

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