US3554326A

US3554326A - Elevator door control

Info

Publication number: US3554326A
Application number: US805288A
Authority: US
Inventors: Alan M Hallene; Henry J Holuba; John J Drexler; Richard S Phillips
Original assignee: Montgomery Elevator Co
Current assignee: Montgomery Elevator Co
Priority date: 1969-03-07
Filing date: 1969-03-07
Publication date: 1971-01-12
Anticipated expiration: 1988-01-12

Abstract

An elevator control continuously moves a car door through an opening and closing operation, without pausing at a full open position, and moves the car door at substantially different speeds to control the total door open time. The breaking of a photobeam across the doorway modifies the speed and direction of movement of the door. When the door photobeam circuit becomes inoperative, the speed of operation of the car door is modified until the condition is remedied. Should a door lock fail to unlatch, opening direction power is discontinued and closing direction power is applied to the car door motor to reestablish electrical interlock contacts in the hoistway.

Description

United States Patent [72] inventors Alan M. Hallene;

Henry J. Holuba; John J. Drexler, Moline; Richard 8. Phillips, Northbrook, Ill.

[21] Appl. No.' 805,288

[54] ELEVATOR DOOR CONTROL 14 Claims, 15 Drawing Figs. [52'] US. Cl.; 187/52 [51] Int. Cl B66b 13/00 [50] Field of Search 187/48, 51,

[56] 7 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,953,219 9/1960 Drexler 187/48 INTERLOCK t It Primary Examiner-Harvey C. l-lornsby AnorneyHofgren, Wegner, Allen, Stellman and McCord ABSTRACT: An elevator control continuously moves a car door through an opening and closing operation, without pausing at a full open position, and moves the car door at substantially different speeds to control the total door open time. The breaking of a photobeam across the doorway modifies the speed and direction of movement of the door. When the door photobeam circuit becomes inoperative, the speed of operation of the car door is modified until the condition is remedied. Should a door lock fail to unlatch, opening direction power is discontinued and closing direction power is applied to the car door motor to reestablish electrical interlock contacts in the hoistway.

l u CAR DOOR ooNTAcrs 36 PATENTED JAN I 21971 SHEET 2 BF 9 40 Z r' 'T "T CONVENTIONAL ELEVATOR STARTING. RUNNING 8 LEVELING CONTROLS ELEVATOR DOOR CONTROL DISABLED PEC OVERRIDE MECHANICAL FAILURE OVERRIDE PIHOTOELECTRIC CIRCUIT (PEC) PATEN-TEUJANIZIHYi 3554325 SHEET i 0F 9 DELAYED TDCL CLOSE DROP-OUT v LIMIT RELAY W ocn.

. C DE-! CLOSE i SLOWDOVWN $1 EEX-2 04 SDR 5 OPEN V SLOWDOWN o5 -HH ll OPEN" Fm LIGHT SOURCE 6 3i as mymy LIGHT BEAM 1.; /ACROSS DOOR ESE-$22,255 3644M N N E WHEN gm PHOTOELECTRIC 'e l P oTg ELL{ AMPLIFIER v ouTPUT POWER EARLY- OPEN, SLOWDOWN OX o:f D113 U HEP PATENTED m 1 2 m1 SHEET 5 BF 9 FIGSA m wi w 5 I w 6 J NEWHFWHFHHHW@MKHH. H. .HH HHEM PATENIEI] JAN] 2 IIIII I SIIIIEI 7 BF 9 FIGBA M I I I IQHI MH I TDA ul Jc I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I i I I I I I I I l :I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I CONT CONT PATENTEU JAN 1 2 |97| SHEET 9 BF 9 m W w 1 m i? m LMT 5 H. :2. @FHMHPiMHH HHH I U%H| HHH 2 m.------ 2-5 i. mzi? 5 QT -Ji? m- 4 mn c ll.||||||$\ llllllllllllllllllll WW Q a iiiw i? 1 ELEVATOR noonconrnor.

RELATED APPLICATION This application is a division of ourcopending application photobeam, the door does not immediately reverse direction Ser. No. 661,655, filed Aug. 18, 1967, entitled Elevator Door Control. 1

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to an elevator control, and more particularly to a control for an automatic elevator car door.

Prior elevator door controls have met with limited success whenoperating under certain adverse conditions, such as heavy traffic demands in an .under elevatored installation, or

inoperative control circuits which cause door operation to be partially or totally disabled until repairscan be undertaken.

For example, typical automatic elevator controls shorten the door open time of a fully open door when. a photobeam is broken, to expedite car departure after load transfer. Such an installation does not take into account the basic problem involved in an under-elevatored installation, namely, an over supply of passengers transferring at too slow'a speed for the amount of traffic to be handled. Thecontrol-fails to solve the problem because it merely operates the cardoor in conformity with the traffic flow which has already occurred, rather than attempting to provide some measure of control over the traffic flow itself.

Another adverse condition which which at least partly disables an elevator control occurs. when a photoelectric door circuit becomes inoperative, asby a lightbulb becoming burned out. Prior elevator controls have continued to operate the door, as by cutting outall safety devices after the expiration of a long failure time period, but each door operation thereafter, until the circuit is repaired, is subject to the same disability,

and passengers mustwait for the expiration of the long failure a hoistway door, electricalfinterlock contacts (generally in the hoistway) may become disengaged, even though the mechanical interlock has failed to open. In prior installations, such an occurence renders the elevator system completely inoperative, since the elevator car is incapable of opening its door,

and is unable to travel through the hoistway to other floors.

SUMMARY'OF THE INVENTION The elevator door control disclosed herein overcomes disadvantages of previous controls by providing a measure of controlover the traffic. flow, both during normal operating conditions, and during abnormal conditions caused by mechanical, electrical or other failures; To expedite passenger movement, the door is continuously moved through an opening' and closing operation, without pausing at its fully open. position. lt has been found that such operation urges passen-.

gers to transfer more rapidly. The total door open time is controlled by operating the door at a very slow or creep speed :for a major portion of the time the elevator passageway isopento load transfer. Preferably, the creep speed operation occurs during the final opening movement of the door, since passengers are less hesitant to pass through the passageway while the door is opening away from them.

A load sensing device, as aphotoelectric circuit modifies the door operation upon load transfer. According to one embodiment, when the car is not stopping for a hall call, and a passenger breaks a photobeam, the door immediately reverses its direction of movement and closes at creep speed until a short time after the beam is restored, when full closing speed on a photobeam break, but rather continues to open at a fast speed, bypassing the door open creep. speed. In some circumstances, such as when the car stops for a hall call. a greater amount of time should be provided for load transfenln such a case, the door operates atcreep speed during the final opening movement, regardless of whether or not the beam is broken while the door opens. It has been found that the abovedescribed operation materially increases the speed rapidity with which passengers transfer between a landing and an elevator car. Many passengers tend to transfer rapidly while i an elevator door is moving, as contrasted with relatively slower passenger movement when an elevator door remains at I rest in a fully opened'position.

Should the photoelectric circuit become disabled, aswhen the lightbulb becomes burned out or dirt obstructs the photobeam, the door operation is modified to allow the doors to close within a reasonably short time interval. As the elevator car moves through the hoistway, a testing circuit determines whether the blocked photobeam at the previous landing was caused by normal passenger transfer, or by' anabnormal condition, such as a circuit failure. If the blocked photobeam was caused by a circuit failure, the door operation is modified by opening the door fully at the conventional, or fast speed, and thereafter immediately closing the door at an intermediate speed.

Should a mechanical door interlock fail to unlatch when an elevator car is to open its door, the door opening motor may produce a slight movement of the car door sufficient to open the electrical interlock contacts in the hoistway. The elevator system operation is maintained by discontinuing opening direction power and applying closing direction power to the door, causing the electrical interlock contacts to close. The elevator car will now continue service in a normal manner.

One object of this invention is the provision of an improved control for an elevator door.

Another object of this invention is the provision of an eleva tor door control which modifies the opening and closing operation of the door to overcomeadverse operating conditions.

One feature of this invention is the provision of an elevator door control which continuously moves a door through an opening and closing operation. The speed of movement,

preferably while thedoor is opening, controls the door open time.

Another feature of this invention is the provision of an elevator door control' which modifies the door operation is a passenger enters or leaves during opening movement of adoor by'eitherstopping the door and immediately starting to close the door, or by causing the door to open fully at fast speed; bypassing the slower speed operation during thefinal opening movement of the door.

Yet another feature of this invention is 'the provision-of elevator door control which tests the operation ofa load: transfer detection circuit. If a failure has occurredthecontrol:

modifies the door operation to provide service without the functioningof a load detection circuit.

other floors.

Further features and advantages'of the iIWeDfiOHLWiH-bC QPr" parent'from thefollowing description andfrom the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRlPTlON OF THE DRAWINGS FR]. 1 is a perspective view of an elevator car suitable for use with the door'control of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary plan view, taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram olthe electrical control circuit for the elevator car door;

FIG. 4 is a series of diagrams of elevator door speed versus elapsed time. for opening movement of the door (solid lines) and for closing movement of the door (dashed lines), under different operating conditions, in which:

FIG. 4A shows doc operation when the photobeam is not broken.

FIG. 4B shows door operation when the photobeam is broken during the fast speed opening of the door;

FIG. 4C shows door operation when the photobeam is broken during slow speed opening of the door;

FIG. 4D shows door operation when the photobeam is broken during fast speed closing of the door;

FIG. 4E shows door operation when no photobeam is present (inoperative photoelectric circuit);

FIGS. 5-7 are continuous across-the-line circuit diagrams for an elevator door control circuit embodying the invention; and

FIGS. 5A-7A are key diagrams of the components in FIGS. 57, respectively.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT General Operation In FIGS. 1 and 2, an elevator system is illustrated which is suitable for use with applicants invention. An elevator car is guided by hoistway rails 21 extending vertically along the sides of a hoistway for a single one or a bank of elevator cars. Car 20 is supported by a cable 22 connected to drive equipment (not illustrated).

The elevator car is positioned at a floor or landing 25, where load transfer occurs through a passageway or door way between the landing and the elevator car. A car door 26 is moved through an opening and closing operation to expose and block the passageway to load transfer. While only a single door is illustrated, the invention is equally applicable to cars having double doors, each door being formed from one or more sections.

The passageway is also blocked to load transfer by a hoistway door 28 located at each landing 25. Car door 26 carries interconnecting apparatus 30 which latches with the hoistway door adjacent thereto to open the hoistway door as the car door is driven open. A hook 31, mounted on each hoistway door, mechanically engages a corresponding latch 32 located in the hoistway, to prevent the hoistway doors from opening unless the elevator car is adjacent that landing. When the elevator car door is to open, a conventional unlatch mechanism (not illustrated) becomes actuated to disconnect hook 31 from latch 32. Each latch 32 includes electrical interlock contacts which close when hook 31 connects with the latch. The contacts are connected in an elevator control circuit to prevent the car from running through the hoistway unless all the hoistway doors are closed.

A sensing device, mounted on car 20, determines when a passenger or other load is present in the passageway. Such a sensing device may comprise a light source 35 which projects a photobeam 36 across the passageway to a photoelectric cell 37. Photobeam 36 is positioned to be broken when a load is moved into the doorway.

The circuit illustrated in block form in FIG. 3 controls the operation of the elevator system of FIGS. 1 and 2. A suitable elevator control 40 initiates the starting, running and leveling operations of the elevator car. Control 40 includes a circuit 42 which registers hall calls from stations 43, FIG. 1. and car calls from station 44, FIG. 2. A starting circuit 26 is responsive to one or more registered calls to cause the car to move through the hoistway in the proper direction. As the elevator car approaches a landing for which a call in the proper direction is registered. a decelerating circuit 48 slows the movement of the car, while a leveling circuit 50 levels the car to the landing.

The door is now opened and closed by elevator door control 60. A variable speed door motor 61 is initially under control of a door open time and speed control circuit 63. A photoelectric circuit (PEC) 64. which includes light source 35 and photoelectric cell 37 of FIG. 2, is responsive to the breaking of photobeam 36 to modify the movement of the door. Should PEC 64 become inoperative, as by light source 35 becoming burned out, or by smoke obscuring the photobeam. PEC override circuit 66 effectively disconnects PEC 64 and controls the operation of door motor 61 in a modified manner. When normal PEC operation is restored, override circuit 66 is automatically disconnected from further control over the operation of the door.

Door control 60 also actuates the previously described mechanical hoistway door unlatch mechanism (not illustrated) when the car door is to open. Should the hook 31 fall to unlatch, a mechanical failure override circuit 68 overrides the operation of door open time and speed control circuit 63 and modifies the normal opening operation of the door.

In the discussion of the circuit, the following letter designations will be used:

Close Speed. Hall Call Leveling Zone Indication.

Door Motor Opening Power. Door 0 en Slow.

Motion ndication.

Starting Signal.

StopSwltch Indication.

Door Motor Slowdown.

Latch Timing Interval.

Door Timing Expires.

Door Release Timing.

Delayed Door Close Limit Signal. Car and Hall Call Pick-up Signal.

Switch SW10 and SW10. Mode Transfer (ganged switches).

Relay contacts are identified by the letter designation of the relay followed by the number designation of the contact, as shown in the key, FIGS. 5A-7A.

Door Open Time and Speed Control The operation of door open time and speed control circuit 63, FIG. 3, will be described with reference to the diagrams of FIGS. 4AD. When the elevator ear answers either a car or hall call, and the photobeam is not broken, FIG. 4A, the door initially opens, as shown in solid lines, at a fast speed sulficient to expose the passageway to load transfer. As the door reaches a predetermined position located a short distance before the fully open position, as 6 inches, its speed is reduced to a very slow or creep open speed.

The creep speed continues for a major portion of the total time necessary for the car door to open fully. Upon reaching full open, the door is quickly braked, and thereafter instantly starts to close at a fast closing speed, as shown in dashed lines, which is slightly less than the fast opening speed. It should be noted that the car door does not stop at its fully open position. Thus, the total door open time, that is, the total time that the door is away from its fully closed position, does not include a period in which the door stands fully open, but rather is determined by the speed of movement of the door. The creep speed, it should be further noted, is not the speed necessary for, any moving body to slowdown to reverse direction, due to the inertia of. the body. As can be seen from the drawing, the

creep speed is in addition to, and is substantially larger than .the .brake speed in which the door decelerates from its opening velocity in the immediate vicinity of the fully open positionto zero velocity, and thereafter accelerates in the op: positedirection to its closing speed.

When the photobeam is broken, the cycle of movement for the door, as illustrated in FIGS. 4B.D, depends upon whether a car call or a hall call is being answered. In addition, when answering a car call, one of two different methods of door operation, determined by'thesetting of-a mode switch SW1, FIGS. 6-7, effectively shortens. the door open time upon a photobeam break. Briefly, whenthe mode switch is in mode switch, the door always initially opensat its fast speed,

and after passing the predetermined position previously defined, operates at creep speed until fully open. Thus, independent of the mode, the relatively-short total door open time effective when answering a car call is lengthened when answering a hall call.

The choice between the A or B mode of operation will de-. pend upon the amount of traffic to be handles and the particular installation at which the control is used. The A mode, in-

which the door immediately closes upon .a .beamcbreak is suited for urging passengers to transfer more quickly, while discouraging later arriving passengers'from attempting toenter the car. The B mode, inwhichthe car doorcontinueseto.

open after the first beam break, may be desired. where lighter traffic flow is encounteredsince passengers waiting in the hallway are less reluctant ;to enter a car while the door is openi ing, and hence will transfer at a later'time in the elevator-door cycle.

The operation of the door will now be described in more detail, with reference to FIGS. 4BD.' In FIG. 4B, the

photobeam is initially brokenat a point'Y, while the, door is moving at a fast opening speed. If the elevator car is operating in the A mode while responding to a car-call, the door immediately reverses direction upon the photobeam being at creep. speed fora; short timeperiod. (as 2 seconds) after the photobeam is restored, and thereafter transfers to a fast closing speed. The delay in initiating fastclosirtg permits several passengers to move throughthe doorway'in close succession.

If, however, the elevator circuit, is operatingin theiB mode while responding to a car call, the door opens fully at fast speed, bypassingthe creepspeed-operation, and immediately reverses direction upon reaching the fully openposition. 'Assuming the photobeam hasbeen restored prior-.to .thedoor.

reaching its fully open position, the door will close. in thesame manner as though there was no beam break.-

Whenthe car hasstopped. at av landing in response-to the registration of a hall call, either alone or withqa car call also.-

being registered, the control (regardless of whetherin the A or B mode). operates to lengthen the door open.. time...Even

seenin FIG. 46. If the car has stopped in responseto a car call, and is operating in the A mode, the-door immediately reverses direction and closes at a creep speed until a short time period after the beam is restored, and then, closes the remaining distance at fullspeed. If the car is operating in the B mode and has stopped for a car call, the creep speedoperation is bypassed, and the door immediately resumes full opening speed upon beam break. If the car has stopped for a hall call, the door continues to operate'at creep speed during its final opening movement, regardless of a .beam break. Whether operating inthe B'mode or in response to a hall call, if'the beam is still brokenwhen the door reaches its fully open position Z,- the doorwill immediately reverse direction'and close at creep speed, continuing at creep-speed for a short time period after the beam isrestored. Upon the lapse of the short time period, the doorwill close at its full closing speed.

In F IG'. 4D, the operation of the door-is illustrated when the beam is first broken during the closing operation. For both car andhall calls,the door slows to creep closing speed'upon the occurrence of a beambreak, and .eontinues closing at creep speed until the expiration of a short time period after the beam is restored when fast closing speed resumes. Should the beam again be broken prior to the doors reaching their fully closed position X, the door would again slow to creep speed Safety controls of a conventional nature compliment the door operation outlined above. If at any time while the doors are closing, either at creep or fast closing speed, the door open button or the car call button corresponding to the floor at which the elevator is standing isv pressed, or contact is made p with the door safety edge, the door instantly reverses its directionand opens. Upon reaching the fullopen position, the

, door immediatelystarts to reclose, as previously described, if

broken, andcloses at creep speed. The doorcontinues to close though the photobeam may be broken during opening move ment, as in FIG. 4B, the door continues to operate-as though no beam break had occurred. That is, the door continues. to open at fast speeduntil reaching the predetermined-position,

and then opens at creep speed until fully open. Uponreaching the fully open .position Z, the doorimmediately reverses. direction and closes at fast closing speed.

The operation of the door will now beexplained for a beam break first occuring during door opening at creep speed, as

none ofthe door reopening devices is then being operated.

Similarly, pressing a hall call button corresponding to the set direction of travel of the car standing at a landing, while the door is closing, causes the door to reverse its direction of travel and open. Immediately upon reaching its open position, the door recloses in the manner previously described. The doorwill remain open-only. if the open button, the safety door edge contact, or the stopswitch is actuated.

It should be noted that the door control does not provide anyfixed amount of dooropen time, but rather operates -in response to passenger action-to expedite elevator movement.

For example, in FIG. '4B','the door open'time, i.e., the total amount of timethe door is away from its'fully closed position, is considerably less than the door open time in FIG". 4A, when ,the photobeam is not broken. Conversely, in FIG. 4D, the

door open time is considerably greater than either of the above doors open times.

The operation ofdoor open :time and speed control circuit 63 may be briefly summarized as follows. As thedoor opensat a landing, actuates a cam operated EARLY OBENiSLQW-r ment towards the full open position. As a result,-lre picks up, closing contact OX-l and inserting resistor k s door-openingspeed to a very slow'or creep speed. Asthe deenergizing relay DOLL Contact DOIQ-I, FIG..6, whiehis series with thedoor open relay D0, returns to its normally openposition, causing relay :DOto immediately drop-om; as. the doors reach the fully open position,thereby initiatinga closing operation. Thus, the door moves continuously through an opening and closing operation, without a pause.

Detailed Description Referring to FIGS. 4--7, a, source of DC voltagetnot'illus:

trated)-is connected across power lines andxt- The, supply for the elevator apparatus other than'the-DCidoor' motor ol could, however, be supplied from an AC voltagesource, if desired.

The door. operating mechanism utilizes a shunt wound DC motor 61, FIG. 5, the field of which is directly connected across the and power lines. The armature of motor 61 receives bidirectional power for opening and closing the mechanically interconnected hoistway and car doors, at different speeds, through :arious O and C relay contacts, and resistors R-l, R-2, R-3, R-4 and R-S. The door operating mechanism shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 provides for the cam operation of limit switches CLOSE LIMIT, OPEN LIMIT, CLOSE SLOWDOWN, OPEN SLOWDOWN and EARLY OPEN SLOWDOWN in accordance with the position of the door.

The circuits in control 40 operate to close momentarily the CAR AND HALL CALL PICKUP contact, FIG. 6, to energize relay UDC whenever the car is conditioned to stop at a floor for a car or hall call. These same circuits operate to close momentarily the CAR AND HALL CALL PICKUP contact to energize relay UDC wherever an appropriate car or hall call button is pressed to cause the closing doors to reopen. Call registering circuit 42 operates to energize hall call relay HC when a hall call at the floor to which the elevator car is stopping has been registered, whether or not a car call has also been registered.

Starting circuit 46 operates to energize relay S, FIG. 7, when the car is conditioned to close its doors in anticipation of providing further service. Relay S remains picked up thereafter (unless the doors are caused to reopen) until the elevator initiates its slowdown after running to the next floor to be served, or, in the event that the car is to remain at rest at a floor, until the doors have fully closed and no direction preference remains assigned to the elevator.

The sequence of operation is as follows for a car call. As the car is running through the hoistway, the CAR AND HALL PICKUP contact, FIG. 6, momentarily closes shortly before the car begins to slowdown for the car call. HALL CALL relay HC is deenergized at this time. When the CAR AND HALL CALL PICKUP contact closes, UDC momentarily picks up. UDC-1 closes to pick up DO through TDA-l and DOL-I. DO seals in through TDA-I, DOL-l and DO-2.

A contact on the elevator brake closes to energize relay RA when the brake is released (car in motion), and opens when the brake is set (car stopped). Leveling unit switches on the car close to energize relay LRA when the elevator is within the door opening zone of a floor where it is stopping or stopped.

As the car levels with the floor at which it has been conditioned to stop, it enters a door operating zone in which the car leveling unit switches, FIG. 6, close to pick up LRA, LRA-2 closes to pick up DE through DO-3. DE-2 closes to pick up 0, FIG. 5, through OPEN LIMIT switch, which opens only when the door is fully open. O-l and -2 close, O-3 opens, and opening direction power is applied to the door motor through R-l, O-2, SDR-Z, ARMATURE, and O-l. The mechanically latched hoistway and car doors begin to open at normal speed.

As soon as the doors have moved away from the fully closed position, CLOSE LIMIT switch, which opens only when the door is fully closed, closes to pick up DCL and TDCL. As the doors reach a position 6 inches from full open, the EARLY OPEN SLOWDOWN switch, which closes only while the doors are within 6 inches of their fully open position, closes to pick up OX through DT-3 and O-7. OX-l closes to connect the series combination of R-4 and R-S across the armature, causing the doors to slowdown.

As the doors approach the full open position, the OPEN SLOWDOWN switch, which closes as the opening doors 'near the fully open position, and remains actuated until the door subsequently closes beyond this slowdown point, closes to pick up SDR through O-S. SDR-l closes to parallel resistor R- 2 across the armature, and SDR-Z opens to insert resistor R-3 in series with the armature to reduce the applied armature voltage so that the doors further slowdown. When the doors reach the fully open position, OPEN LIMIT opens to dropout O and DOL. O-l and O-2 open to remove opening power from the armature. O-3 closes to place a dynamic braking short circuit across the armature through C-4, and the doors stop at their fully open position.

As the doors reach the full open position, DOL-I opens to dropout D0, in turn opening DO-3 to dropout DE. DE-I closes to pick up C through CLOSE LIMIT. C-1 and C-2 close, 04 opens, and closing direction power is applied to the door motor through R-l, C-l, armature, SDR-Z and C-2. C-3 closes to parallel resistor R-2 across the armature. The doors start to close at normal closing speed. As soon as the doors have moved away from the fully open position, OPEN LIMIT closes to pick up DOL. When the doors have moved 6 inches away from the fully open position, the EARLY OPEN SLOW- DOWN switch opens without effect. As the doors approach the full closed position, the CLOSE SLOWDOWN switch, which closes as the closing door nears the fully closed position, and remains closed until subsequently opened beyond this slowdown point, closes to pick up SDR through CLOSE LIMIT and O-4. SDR-Z opens to insert resistor R-3 in series with the armature, reducing the applied armature voltage so that the doors slowdown.

When the doors reach the full closed position, CLOSE LIMIT opens to dropout C and DCL and to remove power from TDCL (which is delayed in dropping-out). C-l and C-2 open to remove closing power from the armature, C-3 opens to disconnect resistor R-2 from across the armature, and C-4 closes to place the dynamic braking short circuit across the armature through O-3. The doors stop at their fully closed position and the hoistway interlock contact 32, FIG. 2, is established as the hoistway door becomes mechanically locked by hook 31. Shortly thereafter TDC L drops-out.

The photoelectric light source 35, located on one side of the doorway, FIG. is powered across the and power lines. The light beam 36 emitted therefrom is directed across the doorway and impinges on photocell 37, mounted on the side of the doorway opposite the light source, so that a load entering or leaving the elevator car causes the light beam to be broken. The photocell 37 is connected to a photoelectric amplifier which derives its operating power from the and power lines. The photoelectric amplifier contains an output relay EE which becomes energized only when the photocell is dark.

The circuit is connected to operate in either the A or B mode according to the corresponding A or B position of a two section mode switch SW1. The mode switch consists of a first section SWIa, FIG. 6, ganged to a second section SWlb, FIG. 7, to cause both sections to be simultaneously positioned at either the A or B position labeled in the drawings.

If the doors open to within 6 inches of being fully open without the beam being broken and the circuit is operating in the A mode, the doors will begin to close at normal speed instantly upon the pressing of any car call button 44. Pressing a car call button picks up relay DS through the third contact" on the button, FIG. 6. DS-l opens to dropout DT. DT-2 closes to pick up TDA and energize TDAT, FIG. 7, through the A position of switch SWlb, DCL-5, and HC-Z. TDA seals in, and power is sustained on TDAT, through TDA-3 and TDAT-l. TDAT is energized but is delayed in picking up. TDA-I opens to dropout DO. DO-S opens to remove power from the latch timer TD. TD opens its normally-open contact TD-I. DO-3 opens to dropout DE and signal the door operator to close the doors according to the previously described sequence of operation. If the circuit was operating in the 8 mode, TDAT would not have been energized, due to an open circuit at SWlb.

If the doors open fully in the A mode without the beam being broken, or open fully due to operation in the B mode, or due to a hall call, the doors will instantly begin to close at normal speed upon reaching the fully open position. Upon the earliest interruption of the light beam, the doors will begin and continue to close at slow speed as long as the beam remains broken.

The interruption of the light beam after the doors have fully opened will cause relay EE, FIG. 5, to pick up and remain picked up as long as the beam is interrupted. OPEN LIMIT willhave opened to dropout DOL, opening DOL-1 to dropout DO. DO-lopens to dropout 'DT. DO-3'opens to dropout DE which signals the door operator to close the doors according 'to the following seque ce of operation.

C-1 and C-Z-close anti C-4-opens. C-3 closes to connect resistor. R-Z; across the armature. EEX-l closes to connect resistorR-l across the armature through -3, 0-6, andEEZ-l. EEX-Z closes to pick up SDR through CLOSE LIMIT and O- 4 SDR-Z opens to insert resistor R-3 in series with the armature. Closing direction power-is applied to the door motor throughR- l, C-l, armature, R-J-and C- 2. Resistors .R-2 and RAare now connected across the armature andresistor R-3 is connected in series with the armature. so that a greater voltage drop appears across R-l, with a correspondinglower-voltage across the armature than whenthe doors were to close at normal speed. The doors begin to close at slow speed. If the beam is not reestablished during ,the door closing sequence, the doors will continue to their-fully closed position; at the slow speed. 1

If the beam is reestablished while the doors are closing at slow speed, the doors will continue to close at slow speed for a short. time interval, about 2 seconds, after the beam, is reestablished, after which'time they will resume normal closing speed.

Reestablishment of the beam while the doors are closing at slow speed will cause relay E to dropout EE-Zopens to remove power from delayed dropout relay EEX, FIG. 6. AFter a short time interval, EEX drops-out. EEX-2 opens to dropout SDR FlG. 5 (provided the CLOSESLOWDOWN position has not already been reached). SDR-l opens without producing any effect, because closed G3 is in parallel with it. SDR-Z closes to short circuit resistor R-3,previously connected inserieswiththe armature, EEX-l opens to disconnectresistor R- 4 from across the armature. A higher voltageis now developed across thearmature and the doors resume their normal closingspeed. Operation thereafter is the same as was previously described for a normal door. closing cycle;

Should the beam be broken agaimbefore the doors have fully closed, the doors will instantly reduce their closing speed. to the slow speed upon the interruptionofi the beam. :The'subsequent'interruption causes EE to pick up, closing EE-2 to pick up EEX. EEX-Z closes to pick up SDR. EEX-lcloses to connect R4 in parallel withthe armature throughEEZ-l, O- 3, and 0-6. SDR-Z opensto insert R-3 in series with .the arma-. ture. The applied armature voltage isreduced, and the doors attain slow closing speed as previously described.

. Thev leading door edge is provided withaSAFETY EDGE s contact with closes when the leading door edge strikes anobstruction. An OPEN button is providedin the car station for the purpose of reopeningandholding'open the doors.

Upon reaching the fully open position, the doors immediately start to close if no device is being operated'which is responsible to'keep the doors open. The OPEN LIMIT switch opens to dropout O and DOL, THE DOOR OPEN CIRCUIT. The doors stop opening whenO drops-out. DOL-2 opens to dropout DOX, FIG. 6. DOX-I and DOL- 1 open to dropout DO. DO-3 opens to dropout DE. DE-l closes to pick up C, the door close circuit, which causes the doors to immediately start closing, as previously described.

The doors will remain fully open indefinitely aslong as the OPEN button is pressed, the SAFETY EDGE contact is'actuated or the STOP switch is operatcdto its STOP position. Continuous pressure on the OPEN button or SAFETY EDGE contact causes relay DOX to pick up and remain picked up through RA-4 and DOL-3. DOX-l closes to pick up DO through RA! and/or LRA-I. DO-3 closes to pick up DE through LRA-2. Operation of theSTOP switch to its STOP position dropout SAF. SAF-Z closes to pick up DE through RA-Z, DCL-l. andIorLRA-S. As long as relay DE remains picked up, the door remains fully open.

the doors to start immediately closing as soon as the beam is client for delayed dropoutrelay TDCL to dropout after deenergization) with the car at rest at a landing will not cause the doors to open to their fully open position if the beam is broken before the doors fully open, for although DT is picked up by delayed TDCL-I, the breading of the beam-opens EE-l which drops-out DT, causing DT-Z to close which picks up TDA which opens TDA-1 todropout D0 which opensDO-S' toletDE dropout.

The sequence of operation when the. car is answering a hall call will now be given; I-Iall-callrelay-HC. FIG. 7, isenergized" at this time, closing contact I-IC-l in theOX relay energizing circuit in FIG: 5, and opening contact PIC-2 in the TDA and TDAT energizing circuit in FIG. 7.

The doors are reopened fully while closing at any-speedif any one or more of the'following devices isoperated while'the doorsare closing: (1) the-OPENbutton is pressed, (2) the CAR CALL button corresponding-to zthefloor at whichthe elevator has stopped is pressed, (3) the I-IALL CALL button.

correspondingto the set direction oftravel for the car, is

pressed at the floor where the elevatorhas stopped, or (4) the.

SAFETY EDGE contactis actuated Pressing an appropriate CAR or' I-IALL CALL button causes the CARAND HALL CALL PICKUP contact to close:

momentarily, in turn causing relay. UDC to close momentarily. The momentary closure of UDC-Z picks uprelay DOX, FIG.

7, through DOL-2,,RA-4 and DOL-3. The momentary closure of the SAFETY EDGE contact, or the OPEN button, picks up relay DOX through M4. and DCL-3. DOX seals .in through DCL-3, RA-4, DOX-2 and DOL- 2. DOX-1 closes to pick up DO through RA- l and/or LRA- l. DO-3 closes to pick up DE- through LRA-Z. Since the picking-up of relay DE signals the. door operator to open the doors, the doors open fully because With contact-I'IC-Z now'open, relay'TDAcan be energizetl' only through theclosing'ofthe normallyopen latch'tim'er'con tact-TD, which is functional only in the event of a mechanical interlock failure. Since relayTDA cannot now-'pick' up' 'when the .photobeam is broken during 'thedoor opening'cycle,.con

tact TDA- 1-, FIG. 6, cannot open to dropout'relayDOkReIay DO-remains picked up until .theidoorsbecome fullyfoperriand contactDOL-l opens. Thus, the doors must alwaysfullysfopenr With contact HC-l now' closed, relay OX always-becomes energized during thedoor 'opening movement while the doors are positioned between the EARLY OPEN SLOWOWNand The control operation'is modified whenan'abnormal rorrdi j tion, such as a burned-out lamp, 'smoke,-.or dirt, iprevems th'ephotocell 37 fromreceiving the light beam. It will be assumed that the elevator is stopped at alanding. First, rel'ayliE'fElfi.- 5, drops-out, the same as when an obstruction is in thepaxhof the beam. Contact EE-2 closes to pick up relay :EEX, FIG; '6.-

Contact EE-3 closes with no immediate effect; -The doors close at the slow closing speed and, if further demands forise r vice are registered by either a hall "or'car calLthe-e'Ievatorcar" will travel to another'floor. As the elevator brakeis energiied' and-the car starts'movingthrough the hoistway,'the brake con tact closes to pick up relay RA. RA-3 closes to pick up EEY through EEs3 and DCL-2. EEY seals in through EEY-l and DOL-Z. EEY-2 closes to pick up DOX through IDA-2 and DOL-Z. EEY-3 closes to pick up EEZ. As the elevator initiates its slowdown for the next stopping floor. relay drops-out S-l closes to seal in EEZ through EEZ-2 and EE-4v As the car levels into the next stopping floor, the doors open at normal opening spc d as the car enters the door operating zone, slowing down du'ing the last 6 inches if the car is answering a hall call as previously described. While the doors are opening. the car is completing its leveling operation and the brake contact has not yet opened to cause relay RA to dropout Relay LRA. however. is picked up because the car leveling units, set for the door operating zone, have closed their contacts.

The doors now open to their fully open position as follows. Relay Do, FIG. 6, is sealed in through TDA-l DOL-l and DO- 2, while also being energized through LRA-l and DOX-l. DE picks up through LRA-2 and DO-3 to signal the door operator to open the doors. As the doors leave their fully closed position, CLOSE LIMIT closes to pick up DCL and TDCL. TDCL-l opens to dropout DT. If the car is not stopping for a hall call and if switch SWlb is thrown to its A position, DCL-5 closes to pick up TDA and energize TDAT, both through DT- 2, HC-2 and SWlb. TDA seals in and power is sustained on TDAT through TDA-3 and TDAT-l. TDA-2 opens but has no effect since DCL-3 is now closed. DOX remains picked up through DCL-3, EEY-2 and DOL-Z. DO remains picked up through LRA-l and DOX-l. DE remains picked up through LRA-Z and DO-3. Until either the OPEN LIMIT opens or contact DE-2 opens, relay 0 remains picked up and applies opening direction power to the door motor 61. Since DE-2 remains closed, the doors must open to their fully open position.

Upon becoming fully open, OPEN LIMIT opens to dropout O and DOL. The doors stop under dynamic braking at their fully open position and immediately thereafter reclose at the medium closing speed, with no pause at the fully open position.

More particularly, when DOL drops-out FIG. 5, DOL-Z opens to cause EEY and DOX to dropout EEX is still picked up through EE-2 because the photocell 37 is dark. EEZ is sealed in through EEZ-2, EE-4 and RA-S. DOX-l opens to dropout DO. DO-3 opens to dropout DE. DE-l closes to pick up C through CLOSE LIMIT. EEX-2 closes to pick up SDR. EEX-l closes, but since EEZ-l is open, resistor R-4 is disconnected from across the armature. SDR-2 opens to insert R-3 in series with the armature. SDR-l and C-3 close to connect R-2 in parallel with the armature. C4 opens to remove the dynamic braking short circuit through 0-3 from across the armature. C-1 and C-2 close to apply closing direction power to the door motor through R-l, C-l, armature, R-3 and C-2.

Because resistor R4. FIG. 5, is not now connected across the armature, a smaller current is drawn through R-l than when the doors closed at slow speed. The corresponding voltage drop across R-l is less and the voltage across the armature is more than that available for the slow door closing speed. The voltage across the armature is not as great as for normal closing speed because resistor R-3 is now connected in series with the armature, whereas at normal closing speed R-3 is shorted by contact SDR-Z. Therefore, the doors close at a medium closing speed between slow closing speed and normal closing speed.

When the failure which darkened the photocell is corrected, relay EE drops-out, opening EE-4 to dropout EEZ, FIG. 7. If the car has stopped at a floor, relay EEY will have dropped out when the doors became fully open, due to the opening of contact DOL-Z. Since EEZ cannot pick up again, until EEY-3 closes, which cannot occur until relay EEY again picks up when the car is travelling through the hoistway with the doors fully closed and with the beam broken, contact EEZ-1 remains closed to connect resistor R-4 across the armature any time thereafter the beam is interrupted. Therefore, normal operation is automatically restored whenever the failure is corrected while the car is stopped at a landing.

Llu

Should the PEC failure be corrected while the car is travelling through the hoistway. as could happen ilsmoke was responsible for the failure. the restored beam will cause relay EE to dropout. EEY. FIG. 7. will have been picked up through RA-3. EE-3. and DCL-2. and sealed in through EEY-l and DOL-Z. before the fault was corrected. EEY-3 will be closed to keep EEZ picked up. Although contacts EE-J and EE-4 open when the beam is restored, EEY and EEZ remain picked up. When the car next stops at a floor, normal operation is restored at the instant when the doors become fully open. because the OPEN LIMIT opens to dropout DOL, which causes DOL-Z to open which causes EEY to dropout, which opens contact EEY-3 to cause relay EEZ to dropout. When relay EEZ drops-out, contact EEZ-1 closes to connect resistor R-4 across the armature through 0-6, EEX-l and 0-3 whenever the beam is subsequently interrupted, thus restoring normal operation.

The control operation is also modified when a door interlock mechanical failure prevents the hoistway door from being unlatched. As previously described. relay DO, FIG. 6, is picked up through UDC-l and sealed in through TDA-1. DOL-l and DO-Z, when the elevator is conditioned to stop at the next floor for which a call is registered. As the car levels into the door operating zone, the CAR LEVELING UNIT switches, FIG. 6, close to pick up LRA. LRA-Z closes to pick up DE through DO-3. DE-Z closes to pick up 0 and cause opening power to be applied to the door motor.

Should the mechanical door interlock fail to unlatch the hoistway door, opening direction power will be applied to the doors, but they will not be able to overcome the mechanically locked condition. Under such a circumstance, override circuit 68 removes the opening power and applies closing power so that the door may fully reclose to reestablish the electrical interlock contacts 32, allowing the elevator car to continue to service other floors.

More particularly, as the car stops, the BRAKE contact pens to dropout RA, FIG. 6. RA-6 closes to apply initiating power to latch timer TD through DCL-4 and DO-S. Upon the expiration of the latch timer interval, timer contact TD-l, FIG. 7, closes to pick up TDA and energize slow pick up relay TDAT. TDA seals in and TDAT remains energized through TDA-3 TDAT-l.

Assuming that other conditions are normal (the beam is operative and devices are not operated which could effect the picking up of relay DOX), contact TDA-l opens to dropout DO, FIG. 6. DO-3 opens to dropout DE. DE-Z opens to dropout O and remove opening direction power from the door motor. DE-l closes to pick up C, applying closing direction power to the door motor until the CLOSE LIMIT opens, which drops-out C to remove closing power. This operation allows the door interlock contacts 32 to be reestablished, and the elevator may now proceed to travel to its next call.

Under conditions where relay DOX, FIG. 7, also would have been picked up when the doors could not open due to a mechanical failure to unlatch the hoistway doors, the same effect is produced by the following sequence of operations. Contact TDA-l opens, but relay DO remains-picked up through the parallel combination of RA-l and LRA-l in series with DOX-1. TDA-2 opens to dropout DOX because DCL-3 is open. DOX-1 opens to dropout DO. At this point, the sequence of operations is exactly the same as previously described above.

It will be apparent that the control is usable with a bank drop elevator cars or with a single car. Similarly, changes can be made in other portions of the elevator control without affecting the functioning of the door control.

While an illustrative embodiment of the invention is shown in the drawings and will be described in detail herein, the invention is susceptible of embodiment in many different forms and it should be understood that the present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the invention to the embodiment illustrated.

, ing across said doorway.

tial opening movemen. of said door, and a closing circuit for,

controlling the closing movement of said door; means for establishing when said door has opened to a predetermined position across said doorway and control means responsive to said door position establishing means for transferring immediately from said opening circuit to said closing circuit when said door has initially opened to said predetermined position, thereby continuously moving said door through an opening and closing operation without pausing at a rest position.

2. The door control apparatus of claim 1 wherein said motive means moves said door across said doorway at a first speed or at a second speed slower than said first speed, and a control circuit for selecting said second slower speed for a large portion of the total time said door is moving across said doorway, whereby said second slower speed substantially increases the door open time during which said door exposes said doorway to passenger transfer.

3. The door control apparatus of claim 2 including means for sensing the presence of a passenger in the doorway, and said contro means is responsive to said sensing means for transferring immediately from said opening circuit to said closing circuit upon the sensing of a passenger in the doorway.

4. The door control apparatus of claim 3 wherein said opening circuit initially opens .said door at said first speed and thereafter opens said door to its fully open position at said second slower speed, and said control means is responsive to said sensing means for immediately transferring to said closing circuit when a passenger is sensed and the door is opening at said second slower speed.

SJThe door control apparatus of claim 2 including means for sensing the presence of a passenger in the doorway, and said control means is responsive to said sensing means for eliminating the remaining portion of the second slower speed moving operation upon the sensing of a passenger in the doorway, whereby the door open time during which the door exposes said doorway to passenger transfer is shortened.

' 6. The door control apparatus of claim 5 wherein said opening circuit initially opens said door at said first speed and thereafter opens said door to its fully open position at said second slower speed, and said control means is responsive to said sensing means for eliminating said second slower speed and substituting therefor an opening movement at said first speed. 0cm 7. The door control apparatus of claim 2 including means for sensing the presence of a passenger in the doorway, said motive means moving said door across said doorway at a third speed intermediate said first speed and said second speed, testing means connected to said sensing means for producing a signal when said sensing means is inoperative, and said control means includes modifying means responsive to the signal from said testing means for selecting said third speed for at least a portion of the total time said door is mov- 8. In an elevator system having an elevator car with a doorway and a door for opening and closing said doorway, door control apparatus comprising motive means for opening said door during a first time period and for closing said door during a second time period. including first control means actuated during a minor portion of said first time period for initially opening said door at a fast speed a sufficient distance to expose the doorway to load transfer, second control means actuated during a major portion of said first time period for thereafter opening said door at a speed materially slower than said fast speed, and third control means actuated during said second time period for closing said door.

9. The door control apparatus of claim 8 wherein said control means continuously moves said door through an opening and closing operation without pausing at a rest position along said doorway.

10. The door control apparatus of claim 9 wherein said second control means opens said door to its fully open position, and said third control means is operative when said door reaches its fully open position to initiate immediately a closing motion in said door. 7

l 1. The door control apparatus of claim 8 wherein said motive means includes a switch located adjacent the path of travel of said door and actuated after said door has opened to a position sufficient to expose the doorway to passenger transfer, and circuit means connecting said switch to said motive means for actuating said second control means upon the actuation of said switch.

12. The door control apparatus of claim 11 for an elevator system having means for sensing the presence of a passenger in the doorway, wherein said second control means is responsive to the sensing of a passenger by said sensing means for actuating said third control means to initiate immediately a door closing movement. p

13. The door control apparatus of claim 11 for an elevator system having means for sensing the presence of a passenger in the doorway, wherein said second control means is responsive to the sensing of a passenger by said sensing means for bypassing the remaining portion of said slower opening speed and substituting therefor an opening speed on the order of said fast speed.

14. The door control apparatus of claim 11 for an elevator system having means for sensing the presence of a passenger in the doorway, car call means for registering a call for service from within said elevator car, and hall call means for registering a call for service originating outside of said elevator car, wherein said second control means is responsive to the sensing of a passenger by said sensing means and the selection of said car call means for modifying the operation of at least said second control means while maintaining the unmodified operation of said second control means when a passenger has been sensed by said sensing means and said hall call means has been actuated v n 14. The door control apparatus of claim 11 for an elevator system having means for sensing the presence of a passenger in the doorway, car call means for registering a call for service from within said elevator car, and hall call means for registering a call for service originating outside of said elevator car, wherein said second control means is responsive to the sensing of a passenger by said sensing means and the selection of said car call means for modifying the operation of at least said second control means while maintaining the unmodified operation of said second control means when a passenger has been sensed by said sensing means and said hall call means has been actuated.

Claims

1. In an elevator system having an elevator car with a doorway and a door movable across the doorway between open and closed positions to service a landing, and stopping means for stopping said elevator car at said landing, door control apparatus, comprising: motive means including an opening circuit responsive to said stopping means for controlling the initial opening movement of said door, and a closing circuit for controlling the closing movement of said door; means for establishing when said door has opened to a predetermined position across said doorway and control means responsive to said door position establishing means for transferring immediately from said opening circuit to said closing circuit when said door has initially opened to said predetermined position, thereby continuously moving said door through an opening and closing operation without pausing at a rest position.

3. The door control apparatus of claim 2 including means for sensing the presence of a passenger in the doorway, and said control means is responsive to said sensing means for transferring immediately from said opening circuit to said closing circuit upon the sensing of a passenger in the doorway.

4. The door control apparatus of claim 3 wherein said opening circuit initially opens said door at said first speed and thereafter opens said door to its fully open position at said second slower speed, and said control means is responsive to said sensing means for immediately transferring to said closing circuit when a passenger is sensed and the door is opening at said second slower speed.

5. The door control apparatus of claim 2 including means for sensing the presence of a passenger in the doorway, and said control means is responsive to said sensing means for Eliminating the remaining portion of the second slower speed moving operation upon the sensing of a passenger in the doorway, whereby the door open time during which the door exposes said doorway to passenger transfer is shortened.

6. The door control apparatus of claim 5 wherein said opening circuit initially opens said door at said first speed and thereafter opens said door to its fully open position at said second slower speed, and said control means is responsive to said sensing means for eliminating said second slower speed and substituting therefor an opening movement at said first speed. cm

7. The door control apparatus of claim 2 including means for sensing the presence of a passenger in the doorway, said motive means moving said door across said doorway at a third speed intermediate said first speed and said second speed, testing means connected to said sensing means for producing a signal when said sensing means is inoperative, and said control means includes modifying means responsive to the signal from said testing means for selecting said third speed for at least a portion of the total time said door is moving across said doorway.

8. In an elevator system having an elevator car with a doorway and a door for opening and closing said doorway, door control apparatus comprising motive means for opening said door during a first time period and for closing said door during a second time period, including first control means actuated during a minor portion of said first time period for initially opening said door at a fast speed a sufficient distance to expose the doorway to load transfer, second control means actuated during a major portion of said first time period for thereafter opening said door at a speed materially slower than said fast speed, and third control means actuated during said second time period for closing said door.

10. The door control apparatus of claim 9 wherein said second control means opens said door to its fully open position, and said third control means is operative when said door reaches its fully open position to initiate immediately a closing motion in said door.

11. The door control apparatus of claim 8 wherein said motive means includes a switch located adjacent the path of travel of said door and actuated after said door has opened to a position sufficient to expose the doorway to passenger transfer, and circuit means connecting said switch to said motive means for actuating said second control means upon the actuation of said switch.

12. The door control apparatus of claim 11 for an elevator system having means for sensing the presence of a passenger in the doorway, wherein said second control means is responsive to the sensing of a passenger by said sensing means for actuating said third control means to initiate immediately a door closing movement.

14. The door control apparatus of claim 11 for an elevator system having means for sensing the presence of a passenger in the doorway, car call means for registering a call for service from within said elevator car, and hall call means for registering a call for service originating outside of said elevator car, wherein said second control means is responsive to the sensing of a passenger by said sensing means and the selection of said car call means for modifying the operation of at least said second control means while maintaining the unmodified operation of said second control means when a passenger has been sensed by said sensing means and said hall call means has been actuated.