EP3728095A1

EP3728095A1 - Method and elevator controller for controlling an elevator group having a plurality of elevators on the basis of destination calls

Info

Publication number: EP3728095A1
Application number: EP18804655.1A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Stefano Caroni
Original assignee: Inventio AG
Current assignee: Inventio AG
Priority date: 2017-12-21
Filing date: 2018-11-27
Publication date: 2020-10-28
Anticipated expiration: 2038-11-27
Also published as: US20210188592A1; EP3728095B1; WO2019120899A1; CN111417589A; MX2020006485A; CA3078862A1; AU2018386879A1; SG11202003506PA; ES2916457T3; AU2018386879B2; CN111417589B

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for controlling an elevator group (1) having a plurality of elevators (3) on the basis of destination calls, which are to be sent by users (11) to the elevator group (1). The method comprises: receiving a destination call, which contains at least information regarding a waiting floor (19), on which a user (11) who sends the destination call is waiting, and regarding the destination floor (21), to which the user (11) should be transported; waiting for a delay time period; assigning a service elevator (3') from the plurality of elevators (3) after the delay time period has passed and controlling the service elevator (3') to pick up the user (11) on the waiting floor (19) and to transport the user to the destination floor (21). The service elevator (3') is assigned using information contained in destination calls that are received during the delay time period. Because the service elevator (3') is not calculated and assigned immediately after the receipt of the destination call, but rather only with delay after the delay time period has expired, and because further destination calls received in the meantime during the delay time period are also taken into consideration, the assignment of service elevators can be made more efficient and more appropriate to the situation and waiting times for users can be reduced on average.

Description

A method and elevator control for controlling an elevator group having a plurality of elevators based on destination calls

description

The present invention relates to a method for controlling an elevator group comprising a plurality of elevators. Furthermore, the invention relates to a configured for performing the proposed method elevator control, equipped with such a lift control elevator group, a computer program product and a computer-readable medium with such a computer program product.

Elevators serve to transport users or passengers within buildings or buildings between different heights or between different floors. Especially in very large buildings, elevator groups are mostly used, in which a large number of elevators are used to be able to transport large quantities of users within the building. The elevators of such an elevator group are usually coordinated by a controller associated with the entire elevator group, the controller attempting to control and move the various elevators in such a way that a conveying capacity of the entire elevator group is maximized and / or wait times for the users are minimized.

Elevator groups have been developed in which a user arriving at a floor does not merely carry an elevator by telling the elevator group, for example by pressing a button, his waiting floor. Instead, the elevator group user also tells which destination floor is more likely to be transported to. Taking into account such additional information about the destination floor, the control of the elevator group can then purposefully determine which of the elevators of the elevator group is to take over the transport of the user, for example taking into account whether other users have previously indicated an identical or nearby destination floor so that users with the same or similar destination floor may be assigned to a common elevator, hereinafter referred to as service elevator. Such as For example, "target call control" method for controlling elevator groups is described in EP 356 731, EP 0 891 291 B1 and EP 1 276 691 B1.

However, it has been observed that, especially in very large and tall buildings, an assignment of lifts of an elevator group to waiting users performed using conventional destination call control does not appear to be optimal in all cases.

Among other things, there may be a need for a method for controlling an elevator group, in which utilization of all elevators of the elevator group can be further optimized and thus a conveying capacity or conveying efficiency of the elevator group can be increased and / or wait times for the users of the elevator group can be reduced , This can improve user satisfaction

Energy consumption is reduced and / or wear on the elevator group can be reduced. Furthermore, there may be a need for a correspondingly configured elevator control and a lift group equipped therewith, as well as a computer program product configured to carry out the method and a computer program product configured therewith

consist of computer readable medium.

Such a need can be met by the subject matter of any of the independent claims. Advantageous embodiments are the dependent ones

Claims and the following description defined.

According to one aspect of the invention, a method for controlling an elevator group having a plurality of elevators based on destination calls to be transmitted by users to the elevator group is proposed. The method comprises at least the following steps, preferably in the order given: (i) receiving a destination call which includes at least information concerning a waiting floor to which a user transmitting the destination call and a destination floor to which the user is transported should, includes; (ii) Waiting for a

Delay period; and (iii) associating a service elevator upon elapse of the delay period from the plurality of elevators and driving the service

Service elevator to pick up the user on the waiting floor and to transport to the destination floor. The service lift is taking into account Information contained in destination calls, which during the

Delay period are received, assigned.

A second aspect of the invention relates to an elevator control for controlling an elevator group having a plurality of elevators, which is configured to provide a method according to an embodiment of the first aspect of the invention

perform or control.

A third aspect of the invention relates to an elevator group which has a

Elevator control according to an embodiment of the second aspect of the invention.

A fourth aspect of the invention relates to a computer program product containing computer readable instructions which, when executed on a computer

programmable device to instruct them to carry out a method according to an embodiment of the first aspect of the invention.

A fifth aspect of the invention relates to a computer-readable medium on which a computer program product according to an embodiment of the fourth aspect of the invention is stored.

Possible features and advantages of embodiments of the invention can be considered, inter alia, and without limiting the invention, as being based on the ideas and findings described below.

As indicated in the introduction, conventional methods in which the assignment of a service elevator from a plurality of elevators to a user is subject

At least in some cases, that the available lifts are not optimally assigned to the users to be transported. As a result, a conveying efficiency of the elevator group, a conveying capacity of the elevator group and / or waiting or

Promotion duration for the users are negatively influenced. As a possible measure for reducing such negative influences, it is now proposed that assigning a service elevator to a waiting user no longer be carried out immediately after the destination call of this user has been received. Instead, it is proposed to first wait for a certain delay period before then making the necessary assignment of the service elevator to the waiting user.

Among other things, this proposal is based on the recognition that conventional destination call controls do not take into account in the assignment of a service lift whether, after the reception of a destination call by a user, further users transmit a similar destination call in a timely manner. This may for example lead to situations in which several users promptly have a similar promotion desire, but the assignment of service lifts this does not take into account.

For example, a situation may arise in which multiple users arrive on a same floor or in nearby floors within a short period of time and wish to be transported to a similar destination floor. However, in a conventional destination call control, this does not necessarily use a single common service elevator. This is due, for example, to the fact that the first user is already assigned a service lift before it is recognized that other users have a similar promotion wish. However, the service elevator assigned to the first user can then not have enough free space to accommodate the additional users, so that the additional users must be assigned to other elevators. As a result, possibly worsens the entire

Conveying efficiency of the elevator group. In addition, waiting times for users can be extended on average for all users.

By carrying out the assignment of a service lift not directly after receiving the destination call transmitted by the user but only after a delay period has elapsed, destination calls which are transmitted by other users can also be received during the waiting of the delay period and then during the allocation be considered the service elevator. This makes the assignment of service lifts to waiting users overall more efficient. Waiting for the delay period does not necessarily mean that the user transmitting the destination call needs to wait longer for his elevator, since in most cases always a certain waiting time is needed to move one of the elevators of the elevator group towards the waiting floor and the delay period may be shorter than such a travel time. Accordingly, the delay period may be included in the duration of the wait by the travel time, so that the delayed assignment of the service elevator need not result in an extension of the waiting time for the user.

In particular, according to an embodiment of the invention, when allocating the service elevator, it can be considered how an assignment of service lifts to destination users can be selected, taking into account further destination calls received during the delay period, such that a load of the elevator group and / or an average

Waiting time for users of the elevator group to be optimized.

In other words, after the destination call of a first user has been received and while the delay period initiated thereupon is waited for, further destination calls can be received from further users, for example by an elevator control. Information derived from these further destination calls can then be analyzed and evaluated in such a way that, based on the destination call of the first user as well as on the further destination calls of the further users, an improved assignment of the service elevator is made by selecting from the available multiple elevators of the elevator group can.

In this case, the analysis and evaluation can be carried out to the effect that overall a utilization or conveying efficiency of the elevator group is optimized. For example, service elevators can be assigned such that users with the same or similar waiting floor and / or the same or similar destination floor are preferably assigned to a same service elevator if their destination calls are received, for example, during the delay period initiated by the first destination call. As a result, necessary travels of elevators of the elevator group can be reduced and thus a conveying efficiency of the elevator group be improved, and possibly reduced energy consumption and / or wear of the elevator group.

Additionally or alternatively, the analysis and evaluation can be made to the effect that it is attempted to assign service lifts to the waiting users in such a way that on average the waiting times of the users are reduced. In particular, in the case of a very high passenger volume, it may be advantageous, for example, not to associate each service user receiving a destination call with a service elevator that appears optimal at this time, since this may result in bottlenecks in the appropriate assignment of service lifts in response to destination calls arriving shortly thereafter. Instead, it may on average be more favorable to assign a service lift which is not optimal in terms of its waiting time to a user forwarding a first destination call based on the knowledge of further calls arriving from other users shortly thereafter. For the sum of all users this can be achieved an average shortened waiting time.

According to an embodiment, a time period of the delay period is longer than a calculation time period required for calculating the service elevator assignment.

In other words, the delay period should preferably be considerably longer than the calculation time duration which, for example, requires elevator control because of its technical design in order to be able to allocate a service lift based on information present at the time of receiving a destination call. The

Assignment of the service elevator, ie the choice of which of the several available elevators of the elevator group to pick up a waiting user and bring it to his destination floor is usually decided by an elevator control, the different information is provided. The decision about the assignment of the service elevator is carried out by a calculation, ie by a data processing of the information provided, and is carried out as far as possible in the context of the technical design of the elevator control as a rule as soon as possible. The technical design of the elevator control includes in particular their technical data processing options. The information to be processed to allocate a service elevator includes, among other things Information transmitted with the destination call of a user, and

Information about an instantaneous utilization of the elevator group, in particular with regard to currently transported passengers and already planned travel paths due to previously received destination calls. Typically, a calculation period is several milliseconds to a few hundred milliseconds.

According to one embodiment of the invention, a period of time of

Delay period longer than 2s, preferably longer than 5s, more preferably longer than 1 os or longer than 20s.

Thus, on the one hand, the delay period can be long enough to wait for incoming destination calls to arrive shortly after a destination call has been received, and thus to be able to bundle the assignment of service lifts based on the information from a plurality of destination calls, for example. For this appear

Delay periods of at least 2 seconds or at least 5 seconds or, especially in large elevators in tall buildings, at least 10 seconds or 20 seconds, advantageous. On the other hand, the delay period should not be too long, for example, preferably not more than 10 seconds or 20 seconds for small elevator systems, and preferably no longer than 30 seconds or 50 seconds for large elevator systems, in order not to prolong waiting times for users or at least not excessively ,

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the proposed method further comprises calculating a minimum arrival time that at least one of the elevators closest to the waiting floor specified in the received destination call at the time of receiving the destination call is needed to

To ride the waiting floor. Alternatively, the method may further include calculating a minimum arrival time that at least one of the elevators, which must least modify its previously scheduled travel compared to other elevators to travel to the waiting floor, to reach the waiting floor comprises. A period of the delay period is then selected depending on the minimum arrival time. In other words, the delay period does not necessarily have to be a fixed predetermined period of time, but the delay period may possibly vary depending on the operation of the elevator group

Conditions are set. Such varying conditions may, in particular, be an at least required starting time required for letting an elevator, which is likely to be most suitable in the specific case, as a service lift to the waiting floor of the user who has transmitted a destination call.

Which elevator is best suited as a service elevator in this specific case can be decided based on various criteria. For example, that elevator may be preferred as a service elevator, which is currently closest to the waiting floor and thus would have the shortest access route.

However, more complex criteria can be applied. For example, a calculation of so-called "costs" may be performed which indicate how much a schedule of a lift, previously determined based on then prevailing requirements, would have to be changed to pick up the waiting user on the waiting floor and drive to his destination floor. It can also be considered, for example, whether or how many other passengers would be influenced by such a timetable modification. By calculating and comparing the potential costs for each of the elevators of the elevator group in the event that this elevator would have to serve as a service elevator, that elevator can be determined which at least at the time of receiving the destination call its previously planned

In contrast to other elevators, it would be the least to change the course of the journey and would therefore be a promising candidate to be selected as a service elevator after the expiration of the delay period.

Depending on how long in a specific situation the minimum arrival time calculated on receiving the destination call is, the delay period to be waited can be suitably selected. In general, the longer the calculated minimum starting time for starting a most suitable elevator to the waiting floor, the longer the delay period can be chosen. Preferably, the selected delay period should be significantly shorter than the calculated minimum arrival time. In particular, according to one embodiment of the invention, the time period of the delay period may be selected such that a minimum amount of time remaining after the delay period has elapsed from the minimum arrival time to allow the user to reach an elevator door of the selected service elevator.

In other words, the time period of the delay period may be chosen to be sufficiently short so that, after the delay period has passed and the service lift has been assigned, sufficient time remains to inform the user about the associated service elevator and to the elevator door of the selected service elevator

Service lift to let go. Of course, the remaining time remaining after the delay period has elapsed until the assigned service lift actually arrives at the waiting floor may vary depending on the situation. For example, when determining this remaining time duration, it should be taken into account how far a distance is that the waiting user reaches the elevator door of the elevator

Has to cover the service lift. Depending on local conditions in the elevator group, the remaining time to be observed can therefore amount to several seconds, for example 3 seconds, 5 seconds, 10 seconds or 20 seconds. According to an embodiment of the invention, the proposed method may further include communicating the identity of the associated service elevator to the user transmitting the destination call after the expiration of the delay period.

In other words, once the latency period has elapsed, the user conveying the destination call can be informed of the identity of the service elevator so that he can make his way to an elevator door of that service elevator in good time.

It may be advantageous according to an embodiment of the invention, the identity of the associated service elevator to a personal mobile computing device of the

User, wherein the data processing device should be configured to tell the user the identity of the associated service lift. In this case, a personal mobile data processing device can be understood as a device which is typically in the possession of the user, ie which is carried by the user and which is able to exchange data with other devices and to process them. Typical examples of such

Data processing equipment includes mobile phones, smartphones, portable computers, wearables, etc.

For example, a computer program in the form of an app can be installed on the data processing device, which instructs the data processing device to communicate with the elevator control. The app is an abbreviation for

Application program. For mobile devices, e.g. Smartphones, apps can be obtained from an App Store integrated into a mobile device operating system and installed directly on the mobile device. Using cloud technology, apps can be downloaded to the computing device through a web browser over the Internet or a network from a storage device (such as a server) prior to use, or accessed directly. For example, that can

Data processing device communicate its contact data to the elevator control as soon as the user transmits a destination call. For this purpose, the data processing device can communicate with the elevator control, for example via near-field communication (NFC) or other wireless communication methods. The use of near-field communication can thereby bring about the advantage that it can be ensured that only the data processing device of the transmitting user is close enough to a communication interface of the elevator control during transmission of the destination call to transmit its contact data so that it can be unambiguously assigned, to which data processing device is to be transmitted later after expiration of the delay period, the identity of the associated service lift.

The user who after the transmission of his destination call to the assignment of a

Waiting for service, can in this way the identity of his assigned

Dienstaufzugs be communicated in a simple and individual way about his personal mobile computing device. The message can be done visually, for example by displaying on a display, auditory, for example by issuing a voice prompt, or in another suitable manner. In principle, however, other options for communicating the identity of the associated service elevator to the user are also possible. For example, in response to the transmission of the destination call, the user may obtain an identification number or the like, with respect to which the information regarding the identity of the associated service elevator is transmitted after the delay period has elapsed. For example, the identification number and the identity of the associated service elevator can be displayed on a display. The previously proposed use of the user's personal computing device to communicate the identity of the associated service elevator, however, may help save the elevator group's need for corresponding displays or the like.

Furthermore, according to an embodiment of the invention, a personal mobile data processing device of the user can be set up and used to generate the destination call to be transmitted by the user.

In other words, for example, the smartphone as a data processing device of a user can be set up with the aid of an app installed thereon to generate the destination call. For this purpose, the user can enter on his smartphone, for example, according to the situation, in which queue he is currently located and to which

Destination floor he wants to be promoted. Alternatively, the smartphone can automatically determine the current position of the user. For example, the smartphone may communicate with the elevator controller for this purpose, preferably via near field communication to detect which floor it is currently located in. Alternatively, position data such as data from a global or local GPS system can be used for this purpose. The destination floor can also be determined automatically if necessary. For example, the destination floor may be determined based on user habits.

According to further embodiments of the invention, a personal mobile data processing device of the user can also be set up to carry out other actions in cooperation with the elevator group or with its elevator control. Such actions can be varied and, for example, (i) a

Confirming the reception of the destination call by issuing a signal via the

A data processing apparatus; (ii) informing the user of a remaining one Waiting time until the arrival of the service elevator on the waiting floor by issuing a signal via the data processing device; and / or (iii) informing the user of an assigned waiting area for waiting for the arrival of the service elevator on the waiting floor by issuing a signal via the data processing device.

In the first case, the user can receive his destination call either directly, i. for example, by operating a button or keyboard which is part of the elevator group, or indirectly, i. for example, by a manual input of the destination call on his personal mobile computing device or by means of one of the

Data processing device automatically carried out destination call generation, to an elevator control of the elevator group. The elevator controller can then acknowledge the correct receipt of the destination call by a signal is transmitted to the personal data processing device of the user and then the

Data processing device informs the user about the correct receipt of his destination call in a suitable manner. This allows the user already directly after transmission of his destination call, i. is still waiting for the delay period and it is thus still no information about the assignment of a service lift is transmitted, at least be informed that his destination call was received correctly.

In the second case, preferably after the service lift has been allocated after the expiration of the delay period, the user can be informed as to how long he still has to wait for the arrival of the service elevator in his waiting floor. For this purpose, the elevator control can control the current position of the service elevator and, if applicable, an already calculated timetable until the arrival on

Waiting stock, i. including any stopovers, analyze and calculate the journey to the waiting floor. Such information can be transmitted to the user's personal data processing device and output visually or audibly from it, for example. This allows the user to possibly use the remaining waiting time appropriately.

In the third case, the elevator controller can indicate where, ie in which waiting area, a user prefers, after transmission of his destination call, to the arrival of the Service lift should wait. The waiting area can be selected depending on the local conditions in the building adjacent to the elevator group. The waiting area may possibly be selected individually for each user.

For example, the waiting area may be selected such that a user already waits for his arrival in the vicinity of the service elevator assigned to him. In this case, the waiting area can be selected so that no other passengers are disturbed or disabled if they want to go to their assigned service elevators.

Optionally, in the waiting area also adapted to the user

Entertainment or promotional offers.

An elevator controller according to an embodiment of the second aspect of the invention is configured to appropriately control a plurality of elevators of an elevator group so that the delay period is first awaited by the user after receiving a destination call using the method described herein, and only then to the user an appropriate service lift is assigned. The elevator control is in this case configured to be able to receive further destination calls from other users during the delay period and to take these into account when calculating the assignment of the service elevator to the first-mentioned user.

The elevator control can in principle be constructed purely by means of hardware. Alternatively, it is considered advantageous to design the elevator control as programmable via software. For this purpose, the elevator control may have a central data processing unit (CPU), i. for example, a processor, as well

Storage media for example, electronic or magnetic storage of data include. Further, the elevator controller may have wired or wireless interfaces that allow data to be exchanged with other devices such as the above-mentioned personal mobile computing device of a user. The interfaces may enable data communication according to different transmission protocols and technologies, for example WLAN, Bluetooth, NFC, etc. Also man-machine interface parts may be provided.

A programmable elevator controller can be suitably programmed using software in the form of a computer program product, so that it can Executes or controls embodiments of the method described herein. The computer program product can be formulated in any computer-readable computer language.

The computer program product may be stored on a computer-readable medium such as a flash memory, a CD, a DVD, a ROM, a PROM, an EPROM, or the like. Alternatively, the computer program product can also be stored on one or more servers, from which it can be accessed and executed over a network, in particular the Internet, or

can be downloaded. The servers can form a cloud of data (cloud). In this case, e.g. use of the "Internet of Things" (IoT) in the smart building sector. This enables an economical connection of physical systems via the internet and cloud technology. With remote monitoring, plant data can be analyzed in real time and interact with the plant in real time.

It should be noted that some of the possible features and advantages of the invention are described herein with reference to different embodiments, in particular with reference to the control method according to the invention or with reference to an elevator control according to the invention. One skilled in the art will recognize that the features may be suitably combined, transmitted, adapted or replaced to provide further embodiments of the invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein neither the drawings nor the description are to be construed as limiting the invention.

Fig. 1 shows an elevator group, in which an imple mentation form of

inventive method can be implemented

Fig. 2 shows a schematic representation of a method for controlling a lift from an elevator group.

The figures are only schematic and not to scale. Fig. 1 shows an elevator group 1, which has five elevators 3. Each of the elevators 3 comprises an elevator shaft 17, within each of which an elevator car 15 can move vertically. Each of the elevator cars 15 is thereby moved by a drive (not shown). The drives of the various elevators 3 are controlled by a common elevator control 5. The elevator control 5 also coordinates timetables of the multiple elevators 3 in order to be able to convey users 11 as efficiently as possible by means of the elevator group 1 and to minimize waiting times. It is envisaged that the users 11, when they wait while waiting on a waiting floor 19, one of the lifts 3 of the elevator group 1, also indicate to which destination floor 21 they want to be transported. Based on this information in a destination call, the elevator controller 5 can efficiently schedule the schedules of the elevators 3 of the elevator group 1.

In a conventional destination call system, attempts have hitherto been made to carry out the calculation of a service elevator 3 'assigned to a user 11, that is to say the selection of an elevator 3' from the plurality of elevators 3 for transporting the user 11 leaving the destination call as quickly as possible to the user 11 as soon as possible to inform about the identity of the associated service elevator 3 '. Since the calculation is to be carried out quickly, future events such as, for example, future elevator calls by other users 11 can not be taken into account, which only take place after the present destination call has been entered.

It is therefore proposed to modify the operation of the elevator control 5 in such a way that in the destination call procedure carried out by it an assignment of a service elevator 3 'is not carried out immediately after receiving the destination call. Instead, wait first for a delay period, which may take a few seconds, for example. Only then is a suitable service elevator 3 'calculated and allocated for the waiting user 11 based on the previously transmitted destination call. In this case, information is also taken into account which was transmitted to the elevator control 5 only after receipt of the destination call of the first user 11, but still during the subsequent delay period, by other users 11. As a result, service elevators can be allocated to the individual users 11 in a situation-appropriate manner. Hereinafter, an embodiment of the method proposed herein for controlling the elevator group 1 will be described by way of example.

The elevator control 5 monitors continuously or at short intervals whether it is transmitted by a user 11 a destination call. To transmit such a destination call, a user 11 may, e.g. approach a destination call terminal 7. At least one destination call terminal 7 is located at each of the floors of a building supplied by the elevator group 1. At the destination call terminal, the user 11 can input his destination call, for example, into his personal mobile data processing device 7 in the form of a smartphone. A special app is installed on the smartphone, which is configured, on the one hand, to accept the information about the destination call desired by the user 11 and, on the other hand, to forward this information to the elevator control 5. For this purpose, the app can query the information about the current waiting floor 19 as well as about the desired destination floor 21 from the user 11. Alternatively, one or both of these pieces of information may be generated automatically, for example by providing additional information from the app

Elevator control 5 queries and / or habits on the elevator usage behavior of the user 11 analyzed. The destination call information is then preferably transmitted wirelessly to the elevator controller 5. For this purpose, for example, a near field communication (NFC) can be established between the smartphone and the destination call terminal 7, via which both the information about the current waiting floor 19 and the information about the desired destination floor 21 can be transmitted to the elevator control 5. By using a near field communication in which data and signals can only be transmitted over short distances, that is, for example, less than 1 m, it can be ensured that destination calls can only be transmitted by users 11 who are actually located near the elevator group 1.

The elevator controller 5 then registers the received destination call. Optionally, the elevator controller 5 sends a signal to the smartphone of the user 11 to confirm receipt of the destination call. Following this, the smartphone can display or output a corresponding hint to the user 11.

By receiving the destination call, a delay period is started. A period of the delay period can either be fixed, ie, for example Be 20s, or are calculated situation specific, ie, for example, be chosen longer or shorter, depending on how far away from the

Waiting floor is the next elevator 3, which could serve as a service elevator 3 '.

Although the elevator control 5 may already perform initial calculations during the delay period, potential candidates for the one to be assigned can be calculated

Service lift 3 'to select, but a final assignment of the service elevator is not yet made during the delay period.

Instead, the elevator control 5 may initially transmit a signal to the smartphone of the user 11, on the basis of which the smartphone gives the user a

Prompt displays or outputs to go to a waiting area 23 and there to wait for more information.

During the delay period, the elevator controller 5 can then analyze possibilities for selecting a lift 3 suitable as a service elevator 3 'and then, at the end of the delay period, actually select one of the elevators 3 as a service elevator 3' and assign it to the waiting user 11. In this case, not only the destination call of this user 11 but also destination calls that were transmitted by other users 11 at a later time within the delay period are taken into account. The assignment of the service elevator 3 'is completed after the expiration of the delay period. In this case, the delay period can either be a fixed period of time or be adapted to the situation. For example, the elevator controller 5 may stop calculating an optimized association of the service elevator 3 'as soon as it assumes that an optimal compromise between the elevator allocation and user 11 waiting times has been found.

The user 11 can then be informed about the service elevator 3 'assigned to him. For example, the elevator controller 5 can send corresponding information to the personal mobile data processing device 9 of the user 11, whereupon the user 11 displays or outputs the corresponding information.

In addition, the elevator control 5 can calculate a waiting time which remains until the service elevator 3 'has expected to reach the waiting floor 19. It can both the current position of the elevator car 15 of the service elevator 3 'and any planned intermediate stops are taken into account. Optionally, the elevator control 5 may request the user 11 in time by transmitting suitable signals to go to an entry area near the elevator door 13 of the service elevator 3 '.

The corresponding information can be transmitted by the elevator control 5 via a wireless data transmission to, for example, the smartphone of the user 11. In this case, preferably data transmission technologies, the WLAN (Wifi) can be used, which allow data transmission over greater distances, for example, more than 10m or even more than 20m or 50m, so that users 11 can move while waiting in a sufficiently large radius.

Once the elevator car 15 of the service elevator 3 'has reached the waiting floor 19 and the elevator door 13 has been opened, the user 11 can get in and the

Elevator cabin 15 are then driven to the desired destination floor 21.

In a specific embodiment, the elevator controller 5 can register whether the user 11 has actually boarded the service elevator 3 'assigned to him. If this is not the case, an unnecessary procedure of the elevator car 15 can be avoided.

In a further specific embodiment, the calculation process for assigning the service elevator 3 'can be configured in two stages. In a first stage can

For example, a group of elevators 3 may be identified that appear to be potential service lifts at the beginning of the delay period. In a second stage, the service lift 3 'to be allocated actually can then be selected from this group after expiry of the delay period, taking into account the further information obtained from the later received destination calls during the delay period.

FIG. 2 schematically shows an exemplary system for carrying out the method according to the invention for controlling an elevator group 1. In this case, a lift shown in detail 3 of the schematically indicated elevator group 1 is controlled by an elevator control 5, wherein a car 15 of the elevator 3 in a Elevator shaft 17 can move up and down to transport passengers to different destination floors. The elevator control 5 can communicate with the outside world via a gateway 24. For example, with a mobile device 9 of a passenger, which can also be considered as a destination call terminal and which is directly connected via a wireless connection (eg Bluetooth or WLAN) or indirectly via the Internet and / or a cloud T technology with the gateway. Or the gateway may be connected via Internet and in particular via a cloud technology 25 to other storage units or control devices (eg a server) 26.

The various data communications are shown in dashed lines in FIG. Such data communications may be wired or wireless communication.

In order to make a destination call, a passenger may use a destination call terminal 7, such as e.g. a COP (Car Operation panel) within the elevator car 15 or a LOP (Lobby Operation panel) on a floor, or of a mobile device 9, such as e.g. a smartphone. An application (app) is typically installed on the mobile device 9 for this purpose, wherein the app is downloaded to the mobile device 9 via a web browser before use or is called directly from a storage unit or server 26 via a cloud technology.

According to the invention, a transacted destination call does not immediately need from the

Elevator control 5 to be performed, but can wait to optimize the entire process a certain delay period. In general, the delay period is given a calculated minimum arrival time of an elevator car 15 to a waiting floor as a constant value. In addition, the delay period may be reduced using a cloud technology (eg.

Calculation of the delay period on a remote computer system / server) can be adjusted or updated at any time to optimize the total waiting time for passengers. For this purpose, the elevator group 1 is remotely monitored and dynamically controlled according to current situations of passenger traffic or a state of elevator operation. In the process according to the invention, a delay period should be significantly shorter than the calculated one

Minimum arrival time of an elevator car. Apart from that, it should be possible that the delay period can be determined with regard to a usage priority of passengers. For a passenger who has a higher priority to take the elevator 3, no or a shorter delay period is determined once it has been identified by the elevator controller 5. The so-called usage priority can depend, for example, on a

Work function, position, task or calendar of passengers etc.

Finally, it should be noted that terms such as "comprising,""comprising," etc., do not exclude other elements or steps, and terms such as "a" or "an" do not exclude a variety. It should also be appreciated that features or steps described with reference to any 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 limiting.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

I lift group

3 elevator

3 'service lift

5 elevator control

7 destination call terminal

9 personal mobile computing device

I I users

13 elevator door

15 elevator car

17 elevator chats

19 waiting floor

21 destination floor

23 waiting area

24 gateway

25 network / cloud

26 storage unit / server

27 data communication

Claims

Patent claims

A method of controlling an elevator group (1) having a plurality of

Elevators (3) based on destination calls to be transmitted by users (11) to the elevator group (1),

the method comprising:

Receiving a destination call, which at least information concerning a

A waiting floor (19) where a user (11) transmitting the destination call is waiting, and a destination floor (21) to which the user (11) is to be transported;

Waiting for a delay period;

Associating a service elevator (3 ') after the lapse of the delay period from the plurality of elevators (3) and driving the service elevator (3') to receive the user (11) at the waiting floor (19) and to transport them to the destination floor (21) ; the service elevator (3 ') taking into account information stored in

Destination calls received during the delay period.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein in associating the service elevator (3 ') is taken into account how an assignment of service lifts (3') to destination calls transmitting user (11) taking into account further destination calls that are received during the delay period, are selected to that effect can be that a utilization of the elevator group (1) and / or an average waiting time for users of the elevator group are optimized.

A method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein a time period of the delay period is longer than a computation time period required for calculating the association of the service elevator (3 ').

4. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein a period of the

Delay period is longer than 2s.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising:

Calculating a minimum arrival time, that of the lifts (3), the in the received waiting call (19) at the time of receiving the destination call is closest or must least modify its previously scheduled trip compared to other of the lifts (3) least to go to the waiting floor (19), at least required to to reach the waiting floor (19);

wherein a time period of the delay period is selected depending on the minimum arrival time.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the time period of the delay period is selected such that from the minimum arrival time after expiration of the

A sufficient remaining period of time remains to allow the user (11) to reach an elevator door (13) of the associated service elevator (3 ').

A method according to any one of the preceding claims, further comprising communicating the identity of the associated service elevator (3 ') to the user (11) transmitting the destination call upon expiration of the delay period.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the identity of the associated service elevator (3 ') to a personal mobile computing device (9) of the user (11) is transmitted and the data processing device (9) is adapted to the user (11) the identity of the associated service elevator (3 ') to communicate.

9. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein a personal mobile data processing device (9) of the user (11) is adapted to generate the by the user (11) to be transmitted destination call.

A method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein a personal mobile computing device (9) of the user (11) is adapted to perform at least one action selected from the group of actions comprising:

Confirming the reception of the destination call by issuing a signal via the

Data processing device (9);

Informing the user of a remaining waiting time until the arrival of the service elevator (3 ') on the waiting floor (19) by outputting a signal via the data processing device (9); and

- Informing the user (11) of an assigned waiting area (23) for waiting until the arrival of the service elevator (3 ') on the waiting floor (19) by outputting a signal via the data processing device (9).

An elevator controller (5) for controlling an elevator group (1) having a plurality of elevators (3), which is configured to execute a method according to any one of

Claims 1 to 10 perform or control.

12. Elevator group (1), comprising an elevator control (5) according to claim 11.

A computer program product containing computer readable instructions which when executed on a programmable device (9) instructs it to execute a method according to any one of claims 1 to 10.

14. Computer program product according to claim 13, wherein

the computer program product is stored in a storage device (26) and via a

Network (25) from the programmable device (9) is called.

15. Computer-readable medium on which a computer program product according to claim 13 is stored.