Elevator Control Assigning Cars to Alternate Shaft Positions
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Solution Overview
Problem
Elevator systems with multiple cars experience traffic jams and increased waiting times due to closely spaced shaft positions, particularly in buildings with varying floor heights, where two cars cannot occupy adjacent positions simultaneously, leading to inefficient transport during peak times.
Innovation Solution
The method involves assigning elevator cars to alternate shaft positions in a predetermined pattern, allowing them to stop at either the top or bottom of closely spaced pairs, ensuring only one car occupies the shorter distance positions, thereby avoiding collisions and reducing congestion by optimizing the approach to shaft positions based on transport demands.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If elevator cars are allowed to travel to all shaft positions independently, then transport flexibility is improved, but congestion occurs when multiple cars attempt to occupy closely spaced shaft positions simultaneously
Solution Approach 1:
The shaft positions are segmented into two distinct groups (first group and second group) along the travel path. Elevator cars are assigned to specific groups based on their direction of travel and destination, preventing simultaneous occupation of closely spaced positions. This segmentation divides the continuous shaft space into discrete operational zones that eliminate congestion while preserving transport flexibility.
2Length of stationary object
If shaft positions are spaced closely together to reduce building height, then space efficiency is improved, but waiting times increase when cars cannot simultaneously occupy adjacent positions
Solution Approach 1:
The control device preliminarily assigns shaft positions to elevator cars before they arrive, based on predicted destinations and current shaft position occupancy. By pre-coordinating which car occupies which shaft position group, the system eliminates waiting times caused by conflicts over closely spaced positions, while maintaining the space-efficient close spacing of shaft positions.
3Productivity
If multiple elevator cars operate in the same shaft, then transport capacity is improved, but traffic jams occur when cars cannot pass each other
Solution Approach 1:
The system introduces a new dimension of control by dividing shaft positions into two alternating groups along the vertical axis. Instead of managing car movements in a single continuous dimension, the control device operates in a two-group dimension, assigning cars to alternating positions. This dimensional approach allows multiple cars to operate simultaneously in the same shaft without conflicts, as they occupy non-adjacent positions from the same group.
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a method for operating a lift system (50) comprising a shaft system (10) and a plurality of individual lift cars (51) that can move between shaft positions (13, 13a, 13b). The shaft system (10) has at least two first shafts (11) in which the lift cars (51, 51a, 51b) are moved in a first direction of travel (21), and at least one second shaft (12) in which the lift cars (51, 51a, 51b) are moved in a second direction of travel (22), wherein the shaft positions (13, 13a, 13b) in the first shafts (11) and in the at least one second shaft (12) are identically positioned in the vertical direction. The lift cars (51, 51a, 51b) in a first shaft (11) only approach those shaft positions (13, 13a, 13b) at a minimum distance (Am) to one another, and the lift cars (51, 51a, 51b) in another first shaft (11) only approach the other shaft positions (13, 13a, 13b).