Elevator Door Impact Detection via Safety Circuit Transient Analysis
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods lack a reliable way to detect impacts on elevator door panels, which can lead to safety hazards and undetected malfunctions, as they often require permanent disruption of the safety circuit to halt elevator movement, missing impacts that do not cause permanent disruption.
Innovation Solution
The method detects transient breaks in the elevator safety circuit caused by impacts on door panels, comparing their characteristics to set parameters to determine if an action is needed, such as initiating a safety mode or reducing elevator speed, allowing for prompt recognition and adjustment of potential door damage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the elevator safety circuit is designed to halt movement only upon permanent disruption, then the safety circuit remains stable and simple to operate, but impacts that do not cause permanent disruption remain undetected, creating safety hazards
Solution Approach 1:
The safety circuit transitions from a static permanent-disruption-only detection system to a dynamic system that can detect transient breaks. The controller monitors the safety circuit status over time, identifying temporary disruptions caused by impacts. This dynamic monitoring capability allows the system to distinguish between transient impact events and permanent failures, improving impact detection reliability without requiring complete system redesign.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback monitoring of the safety circuit status by the controller. When a transient break is detected, the controller receives feedback about the circuit status change, analyzes its characteristics (duration, magnitude), and determines whether it represents an impact event. This feedback mechanism enables the system to detect impacts while maintaining operational simplicity, as the controller already exists to manage elevator operations.
2Reliability
If the elevator continues to operate normally without impact detection, then productivity is maintained, but undetected door damage can lead to severe safety incidents and further component damage
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of halting elevator operation for every detected transient break, the system applies partial action by selectively responding only to breaks that meet impact criteria. The controller evaluates the characteristics of each transient break and initiates safety modes or alerts only when the break pattern indicates a genuine impact event. This approach maintains productivity by avoiding unnecessary shutdowns while ensuring reliability through appropriate safety responses to actual impact events.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the operational parameters of the elevator based on impact detection results. When transient breaks indicating impacts are detected, the controller can modify parameters such as door operation speed, door force limits, or elevator speed to prevent further damage. This parameter adjustment capability allows the system to maintain operation continuity while adapting to detected door conditions, balancing productivity with damage prevention.
3Measurement precision
If transient breaks in the safety circuit are monitored and analyzed, then impact detection capability is improved, but the system complexity and processing requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The existing controller, which already manages elevator operations, is extended to perform impact detection functions. The same controller hardware and software platform that handles door operation, movement control, and safety monitoring is utilized to analyze transient breaks and detect impacts. This multi-functionality approach improves measurement precision without adding dedicated impact detection hardware, thereby limiting the increase in overall system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The safety circuit monitoring system serves itself by using the existing controller infrastructure to detect and analyze transient breaks. The controller that already monitors safety circuit status for operational purposes now also performs impact detection by analyzing the same safety circuit signals. This self-service approach allows the system to gain enhanced impact detection precision without requiring separate dedicated monitoring equipment, thus avoiding excessive complexity increases.
Data Source
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AI summary
The disclosure relates to a method for detecting an impact on an elevator door. The method is characterized in that it comprises detecting a break in an elevator door safety circuit; comparing characteristics of the break to a set of parameters; and performing an action when the characteristics of the break fulfil the conditions determined by the set of parameters. The disclosure further relates to an apparatus, to an elevator safety system and to an elevator.