Lift System Preemptive Acceleration for Passenger Stability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Elevator systems with horizontal movement pose a risk of injury due to passengers underestimating the necessary physical countermovement for stability, especially during unexpected accelerations or decelerations, leading to reduced attention and increased risk of injury.
Innovation Solution
An elevator system with a control unit that initiates a preemptive acceleration impulse greater than the subsequent change in speed, ensuring the passenger's stability by maintaining the body's center of gravity within a safe area, using a combination of a drive unit and braking unit to manage the change in speed, and optionally employing a movable floor or recoil element for enhanced acceleration.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If horizontal movement of the elevator car is implemented, then the elevator system can provide sideways travel functionality, but passengers become accustomed to traveling at a certain speed and underestimate the physical countermovement necessary to maintain stability, increasing the risk of injury
Solution Approach 1:
The control unit initiates a second acceleration B2 on the person in the car before the brake unit or drive unit transmits the speed change to the car with acceleration B1. This preliminary acceleration impulse prepares the passenger physically for the upcoming speed change, making them more alert and ready to maintain stability during the horizontal movement.
2Speed
If the elevator car accelerates or decelerates unexpectedly, then the speed change can be transmitted to the car, but passengers will be thrown off balance due to reduced attention during horizontal travel
Solution Approach 1:
The control unit first initiates acceleration B2 on the person before transmitting the speed change to the car with acceleration B1. This preliminary action alerts the passenger to the upcoming speed change, enabling them to maintain their center of gravity and avoid being thrown off balance.
Solution Approach 2:
The acceleration B2 acts as a counter-measure that compensates for the potential instability caused by the subsequent acceleration B1. By preparing the passenger in advance with a stronger acceleration impulse in the same direction, the system prevents the passenger from being thrown off balance during the actual speed change.
3Reliability
If a preemptive acceleration impulse is applied to prepare the passenger, then the passenger's attention and reaction are enhanced, but the system complexity increases due to the need for coordinated control of drive unit and brake unit
Solution Approach 1:
The control unit coordinates and merges the control of the drive unit and brake unit to achieve the two-stage acceleration sequence. By combining these control functions into a single coordinated system, the patent manages the complexity of implementing preemptive acceleration while ensuring passenger safety.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The system effectively prepares passengers for changes in speed without causing instability, enhancing their attention and reaction to subsequent accelerations, thereby reducing the risk of injury and maintaining stability during horizontal movements.
Implementation Method 1
the control unit is designed, in the event of an impending speed change of the elevator car, to first initiate a (second) acceleration B2 on a person in the car and then to control the brake unit or the drive unit in such a way that it transmits the speed change to the car with a (first) acceleration B1
Implementation Method 2
The braking force depends on the speed profile of the car
Data Source
Figure 1a~1b
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
The invention relates to a lift system having a lift car, which is arranged movably along a rail in a shaft in a horizontal direction. A drive unit, for example a linear drive (also linear motor drive), is designed to move the lift car along the rail. A brake unit is designed to slow down the lift car. Furthermore, the lift system has a control unit, which is designed, when a change of speed of the lift car is imminent, first of all to apply an acceleration B2 to a person located in the lift car and to then actuate the brake unit or the drive unit in such a way that the brake unit or the drive unit transmits the change of speed with an acceleration B1 to the lift car, acceleration B2 being greater in terms of amount than acceleration B1. Acceleration B2, which acts on the person in the lift car, is advantageously an impulse, that is to say a change of speed of short duration but high intensity.