CN112209188A - Group management system for elevator - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention provides a group management system of an elevator. Even when the balance between the user traveling to the high floor and the user traveling to the low floor changes, the operation service is continued without a large deviation between the low-floor car and the high-floor car due to congestion. The group management system for the elevator is provided with an allocation evaluation part (35) which calculates the evaluation value of each car based on the predicted value of the waiting time and the predicted value of the riding time obtained as the operation prediction result of each car when a new destination call is registered, and determines the car for allocating the new destination call according to the evaluation value. The assignment evaluation unit (35) evaluates each car using an evaluation expression that suppresses assignment of a car having a long predicted value for the riding time, and excludes a lower car from assignment candidates among the cars when a departure floor or a destination floor of the new destination call is included in the upper floor area.

Description

Group management system for elevator

The application is based on Japanese patent application 2019-128053 (application date: 7/10/2019), and enjoys priority according to the application. This application incorporates by reference the entirety of this application.

Technical Field

Embodiments of the present invention relate to a group management system for elevators.

Background

In a time zone (working time zone or the like) in which many users of the elevator are present and most of the users take their seats from a departure reference floor, a "zone-divided operation" is applied in which the floors capable of operation are restricted for each car. In the zone dividing operation, the average time required for the car to travel 1 turn in the hoistway can be shortened, and the number of persons that can be conveyed per hour can be increased.

In general, in the zone-dividing operation, a low-rise car is operated between a low-rise and a starting reference floor, and a high-rise car is operated between a high-rise and the starting reference floor. That is, the floors served by the operation of the lower car and the upper car are separated. However, in such a method, if the ratio of users using a low floor to users using a high floor changes, a large variation occurs in the congestion rate of the low-floor car/high-floor car, and it is not possible to sufficiently use all the cars.

Such a situation is similar not only to a general group management system in which calls in the up-down direction are registered at an elevator Hall, but also to an elevator system in which an elevator Hall Destination register (HDC) capable of directly specifying a Destination floor is provided at an elevator Hall. Such an elevator System is called a "Destination Control System (DCS)".

Disclosure of Invention

In the DCS described above, as a method of correcting the unevenness of congestion between cars due to zone division, a method of dynamically changing a zone according to traffic needs is generally used. However, this method is a method of appropriately changing the area based on the result of use (actual situation) of each floor, and therefore a delay (delay) is involved in the operation control. Therefore, it is not effective in such a case that the target layer of the user varies irregularly.

The subject to be solved by the present invention is to provide: provided is an elevator group management system capable of continuously performing operation service between a low-rise car and a high-rise car without large deviation of congestion even when the balance between a user going to a high-rise floor and a user going to a low-rise floor changes.

In an elevator group management system according to one embodiment, a plurality of floors are divided into at least a low-rise area and a high-rise area, and a plurality of cars are operated while being divided into at least a low-rise car and a high-rise car. The group management system for the elevator comprises: a registration device that registers a destination call having a destination floor of a user at a boarding place; an operation prediction unit that predicts operation of each car including an already assigned call even when a new destination call is registered by the registration device; and an assignment evaluation unit that calculates an evaluation value of each car based on a predicted value of the waiting time and a predicted value of the riding time obtained as a result of the prediction by the operation prediction unit, and determines a car to which the new destination call is assigned based on the evaluation values.

The assignment evaluating portion evaluates each car using an evaluation expression that suppresses assignment of a car having a long predicted value for the riding time, and excludes the lower car from assignment candidates among the cars when a departure floor or a destination floor of the new destination call is included in the upper floor area.

According to the group management system for elevators configured as described above, even when the balance between the users traveling to the high floors and the users traveling to the low floors changes, the operation service can be continued without a large variation in congestion between the low-floor car and the high-floor car.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an elevator group management system according to embodiment 1.

Fig. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the destination registration device at the boarding area in the present embodiment.

Fig. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the destination display device at the boarding location in the embodiment.

Fig. 4 is a diagram for explaining a general region division operation.

Fig. 5 is a diagram for explaining the region dividing operation in the present embodiment.

Fig. 6 is a diagram for explaining temporary allocation in this embodiment.

Fig. 7 is a diagram in which evaluation values calculated by the evaluation expressions in the embodiment are graphed.

Fig. 8 is a diagram showing a time schedule of call registration for explaining the evaluation formula in the embodiment.

Fig. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of evaluation values for an upper car in the embodiment.

Fig. 10 is a diagram showing the predicted waiting time, the predicted riding time, and the evaluation value obtained in the operation schedule without temporary allocation in the example of fig. 9.

Fig. 11 is a diagram showing the predicted waiting time, the predicted riding time, and the evaluation value obtained in the operation schedule with the temporary allocation in the example of fig. 9.

Fig. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of evaluation values for a low-floor car in the embodiment.

Fig. 13 is a diagram showing the predicted waiting time, the predicted riding time, and the evaluation value obtained in the operation schedule without temporary allocation in the example of fig. 12.

Fig. 14 is a diagram showing the predicted waiting time, the predicted riding time, and the evaluation value obtained in the operation schedule with the temporary allocation in the example of fig. 12.

Fig. 15 is a diagram illustrating an example of evaluation values for a lower car in the case of congestion in the embodiment.

Fig. 16 is a diagram showing the predicted waiting time, the predicted riding time, and the evaluation value obtained in the operation schedule without temporary allocation in the example of fig. 15.

Fig. 17 is a diagram showing the predicted waiting time, the predicted riding time, and the evaluation value obtained in the operation schedule with the temporary allocation in the example of fig. 15.

Fig. 18 is a flowchart showing an operation of the elevator group management system according to this embodiment.

Fig. 19 is a flowchart showing the assigned car selection process executed in step S15 of fig. 18.

Fig. 20 is a flowchart showing the operation prediction evaluation process executed in steps S23 and S25 in fig. 19.

Fig. 21 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the group management system for elevators according to embodiment 2.

Fig. 22 is a diagram showing a configuration in which each machine is divided into 4 regions and operated as a modification.

Detailed Description

Hereinafter, embodiments will be described with reference to the drawings. The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described below, and the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described below. Variations that can be readily envisioned by one skilled in the art are, of course, within the scope of this disclosure. In order to make the description more clear, the drawings also schematically show the size, shape, and the like of each part modified from those of the actual embodiment. In the drawings, corresponding elements are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof may be omitted.

Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an elevator group management system according to embodiment 1, and shows a configuration in which a plurality of cars are group-managed. The number of cars is arbitrary, and at least 2 cars may be used. In the figure, 21a and 21b … are elevator control devices (also referred to as car control devices or car control devices), and 22a and 22b … are car cars.

The elevator control devices 21a and 21b … are provided corresponding to the cars 22a and 22b … of the respective machines. The elevator control device 21a controls the operation of the car 22a of the machine a. Specifically, the elevator control device 21a controls a motor (hoisting machine), not shown, for raising and lowering the car 22a, and controls opening and closing of doors. The same applies to the elevator control device 21B of machine B. These elevator control devices 21a and 21b … are constituted by a computer having a CPU, ROM, RAM, and the like. The cars 22a and 22b … are driven by a motor (hoisting machine) to move up and down in the hoistway.

Here, the present embodiment assumes that all DCS of the destination floor registration device (HDC)11 is provided at the elevator riding position of each floor. The "full DCS" refers to a group control elevator system of a system in which an elevator boarding destination floor registration device 11 is provided at an elevator boarding location of all floors where an elevator (car) performs operation service. The boarding destination floor registration device 11 is a registration device for registering a destination call including a destination floor of a user at a boarding place. The destination call includes information on a departure floor (call registration floor) and a destination floor of a user.

As shown in fig. 2, the boarding destination floor registration device 11 includes: an operation part 11a for inputting a destination floor of a user, and a display part 11b for notifying the user of a car (assigned car) going to the destination floor input by the operation part 11 a. The "assigned car" refers to a car to which a call is assigned, and is also referred to as an "assigned car". The "assigned call" refers to a call for reserving a car for operation service. In addition, as a method of inputting the destination layer, an operation using a numeric keypad is generally used, but a method using an IC card or the like may be used. The destination floor registration device 11 may be installed at a place away from the boarding location.

In the example of fig. 2, the following is shown: the destination floor inputted by the user is 13 floors, and the car 22a of the a-size machine is assigned to the destination floor. The user waits for the elevator at the boarding place of the machine A according to the display.

In order to allow a user to smoothly ride in the assigned car, as shown in fig. 3, a landing destination display device (HDI)12 is provided in a landing place 13 in the vicinity of a landing place door 14. The destination floor display device 12 is a device for displaying the destination floor of the car at a predetermined time. The "predetermined time" refers to a period from the floor where the destination floor display device 12 is installed at the elevator car to the completion of the response of the elevator car to the destination floor. In the example of fig. 3, 7 layers, 11 layers, and 13 layers are shown as the destination layers of the a-machine. By such display, the user can take the car while confirming the destination floor of the car.

In the example of fig. 3, only the destination floor display device 12 at the boarding location of the a-size machine is shown, but actually, the destination floor display device 12 at the boarding location is provided for each of the a-size machines, and the destination floor of the corresponding car is displayed.

The group management control device 31 is a device that collectively controls the operation of the cars 22a and 22b …. The group management control device 31 is configured by a computer similarly to the elevator control devices 21a and 21b …. In the present embodiment, the group management control device 31 includes, as components related to DCS, a car state acquisition unit 32, an operation prediction unit 33, an assignment restriction data storage unit 34, an assignment evaluation unit 35, an assignment management unit 36, and an assignment output unit 37.

The car state obtaining unit 32 obtains current operation state information (current position, operation direction, stop, and the like) of the cars 22a and 22b … by the elevator control devices 21a and 21b ….

When a new destination call is registered, the operation prediction unit 33 predicts the operation of the car 22a or 22b … using the destination call and the call/assignment stored in the assignment management unit 36, and calculates the waiting time and the riding time based on the prediction result. The "new destination call" is a destination call to be specified for an assigned car.

The waiting time is a time from when a destination call is registered at the elevator boarding location to when the car responds to the departure floor (call registration floor) of the destination call. The riding time is the time from the response of the car to the departure floor until the arrival at the destination floor of the user. Wait time + ride time-service time. In DCS, the destination floor is known in advance, and therefore, allocation evaluation is performed in consideration of the riding time in addition to the waiting time.

The assignment restriction data storage unit 34 stores floor information on a high floor area and a low floor area, which will be described later, and/or information on an operation range of the car as assignment restriction data.

The assignment evaluation unit 35 calculates an evaluation value in the case where the destination call to be evaluated is assigned to each of the cars 22a and 22b …, based on the waiting time and the riding time obtained as a result of the prediction by the operation prediction unit 33. More specifically, the assignment evaluation unit 35 calculates the evaluation value according to an evaluation expression shown in the following expression (1).

{ (1.0-r) × predicted value of waiting time + r × predicted value of riding time }²……(1)

"r" is a weighting coefficient that determines the ratio of the waiting time to the weight of the ride time. Here, the weighting coefficient r is set to a value of 0 to 1 with respect to the riding time. The weighting factor for the latency is represented by (1.0-r). As described later, the above evaluation formula is characterized in that: with a squared term for ride time. The square is not limited, and any exponentiation of 2 or more may be used.

The assignment evaluation unit 35 assigns the call to the car having the highest evaluation among the cars 22a and 22b …, based on the evaluation value obtained by the above expression (1). Further, a smaller evaluation value means a higher evaluation. Therefore, the car with the smallest evaluation value is selected as the assigned car. The assignment evaluation unit 35 has the following functions (assignment exclusion function): in the area division operation described later, when the departure floor or destination floor of a new destination call (assignment request call) is included in the upper floor area, the car operating in the lower floor area is excluded from the assignment candidates.

Each time a new destination call is registered, the assignment management portion 36 associates the destination call with a car (assigned car) to which the destination call is assigned, and holds the assigned car for a period until the assigned car reaches the destination floor.

The assignment output unit 37 outputs an assignment signal to the elevator control device corresponding to the assigned car among the elevator control devices 21a and 21b …, and causes the assigned car to respond to the departure floor of the destination call, and further causes the assigned car to respond to the destination floor of the destination call after the departure floor responds. The assignment output unit 37 transmits information on the assigned car to the destination floor display device 12 at the elevator boarding location, and causes the display unit 12b of the destination floor registration device 12 at the elevator boarding location to display the information.

[ operation of dividing region ]

Next, the region dividing operation in the present embodiment will be described in comparison with a general region dividing operation for easy understanding.

Fig. 4 is a diagram for explaining a general region division operation. The triangle marks in the figure indicate: is a car that can take charge (take charge) when the departure floor of a destination call departs in the direction indicated by the arrow. The circle marks indicate: is a car that can act as a destination floor for destination calls. The car to which the destination call is assigned is limited to a car in which the destination call satisfies both the triangular mark and the circle mark, and these cars become assignment candidates.

For example, in a time zone (working time zone or the like) in which there are many users traveling from a departure reference floor to another floor, a "zone-divided operation" is performed in which a plurality of passenger cars are divided into a lower floor zone and a higher floor zone and operated. The car operating in the lower floor area is referred to as a "lower car", and the car operating in the upper floor area is referred to as a "upper car". Each floor in the low-floor area is referred to as a "low floor", and each floor in the high-floor area is referred to as a "high floor".

Generally, as shown in fig. 4, a low-rise car runs between a low-rise floor and a departure reference floor, and a "high-rise car" runs between a high-rise floor and the departure reference floor. That is, the lower car and the upper car are common only to the departure reference floor, and the other cars are shared between the lower floor and the upper floor to perform operations. In this method, if the ratio of users who use the low floors to users who use the high floors changes, a large variation occurs in the congestion rate of the low-floor car/high-floor car, and all the cars cannot be fully utilized.

For example, in a 7-story building, a group management system is considered in which 1 story is a departure reference story, 2-4 stories are low stories, and 5-7 stories are high stories, and 20 persons each having 2 cars are seated in the group management system. If the time required for each car to travel in the hoistway for 1 turn is set to about 2 minutes, 20 persons can move from the 1 st floor to the lower floors and 20 persons can move from the 1 st floor to the upper floors of the departure reference floors on average every 1 minute.

Here, if the departure from the departure reference floor is 15 persons per minute to the low floor and the departure from the departure reference floor is 15 persons per minute to the high floor, the average congestion rates of the low-floor car and the high-floor car at the departure from the departure reference floor are about 75%. Therefore, it can be said that the balance of the users of the lower layer/the upper layer is achieved.

However, when the generation density of all users is 30 people per minute, for example, 20 people go to the lower floor and 10 people go to the upper floor, the congestion rate to the lower floor becomes 100%, the congestion rate to the upper floor becomes 50%, and variation occurs in the congestion degree. If the deviation becomes more significant, the system as a whole cannot exhibit sufficient conveyance capability, for example, the system frequently stays at a low floor, although there is a margin in conveyance force when going to a high floor.

Fig. 5 is a diagram for explaining the region dividing operation in the present embodiment. Like fig. 4, the circle marks in the figure indicate: the car can serve as a destination floor of a destination call. The triangle marks indicate: is a car capable of serving as a destination call for a departure floor starting in a triangular direction. The car to which the destination call is assigned is a car that satisfies both the conditions of the circle mark and the triangle mark.

In the region division operation of the present embodiment, as shown in fig. 5, the following are provided: the lower car is only operated between the lower floor and the departure reference floor, and cannot be used for elevator taking/getting off at the high floor. On the other hand, the high-rise car performs operation service not only on the high-rise floors but also on all floors including the low floors and the departure reference floors. In this case, a destination call in which a high floor is a departure floor or a destination floor is always assigned to a high-rise car. On the other hand, there is a possibility that: destination calls in which the low floor and the departure reference floor are set as the departure floor or the destination floor are assigned to both the low-floor car and the high-floor car.

Here, in the present embodiment, focusing on the tendency that the riding time of the high-floor user is longer than that of the low-floor user, an evaluation function that makes it difficult to additionally assign only the low floor is used for the car having the assignment of the long riding time. This function is an evaluation formula having a square term as shown in the above formula (1). With this evaluation formula, it is difficult to additionally assign a destination call only to a low floor to a car to which a destination call having a high floor as a departure floor or a destination floor has been assigned, and as a result, a destination call of a user on the low floor is preferentially assigned to the low floor car.

However, if destination calls of low-floor users are concentrated only on the low-floor cars, the number of stops of the low-floor cars increases, and the riding time of each user may become extremely long. Therefore, even when the degree of congestion of the lower car increases rapidly, the destination call of the lower user is assigned to the higher car. This makes it possible to avoid an extreme difference in congestion between the upper car and the lower car, and to continue the operation service.

[ distribution evaluation ]

Next, assignment evaluation in the present embodiment will be described.

The evaluation value of the car is determined from "an evaluation value with temporary assignment" - "an evaluation value without temporary assignment". Therefore, it is necessary to predict the operation in a case where temporary allocation is present and in a case where temporary allocation is absent, and to obtain an evaluation value in each case.

Fig. 6 shows the situation.

For example, machine number A, B, C is set as an allocation candidate. When assigning a new call, the cases considered as future assumptions are 3 cases of temporary assignment to the a-number machine, temporary assignment to the B-number machine, and temporary assignment to the C-number machine. In each case, the operation schedule is changed only temporarily by the number assigned. The change in group management performance accompanying the change in operating schedule can be considered as: the difference between the service performance considered in the case where the temporary allocation is not performed and the service performance considered in the case where the temporary allocation is performed. Therefore, each car may be set as a target, and "an evaluation value based on an operation prediction only in accordance with an existing call and assignment without performing a temporary assignment" and "an evaluation value based on an operation prediction performed with a temporary assignment" may be obtained, and a difference between these evaluation values may be set as an evaluation value of each car.

Here, if the evaluation value for an arbitrary car (c) is f (c), the evaluation formula of the above formula (1) is expressed as follows.

(c) an "evaluation value with temporary assignment" - "evaluation value without temporary assignment"

Predicted value of { (1.0-r) × latency { (1.0-r) ×₁+ r × predicted value of riding time₁}²-prediction value of { (1.0-r) × latency { (1.0-r) ×₂+ r × predicted value of riding time₂}²…(2)

Prediction of latency₁Predicted value of riding time₁And a predicted value of the waiting time and a predicted value of the riding time of the car (c) when a new destination call is temporarily assigned. Prediction of latency₂Predicted value of riding time₂A predicted value of the waiting time and a predicted value of the riding time of the car (c) when a new destination call is not temporarily assigned are shown.

The call to be evaluated is a call from the registration of a new destination call to the arrival of the car at the destination floor. That is, the call to be evaluated as "the evaluation value without temporary assignment" is a call before the destination floor response among the calls whose output to the assigned car is completed. The call to be evaluated as "the evaluation value with temporary assignment" is a call obtained by adding a newly registered call to be an object for specifying an assigned car in addition to a call to be evaluated as "the evaluation value without temporary assignment".

Structure of evaluation formula

When a destination call of a user on a lower floor is newly registered, if it is a normal necessity, it is easy to assign the destination call to a lower-floor car than to a higher-floor car, and the above-described case will be described.

Fig. 7 is a diagram in which evaluation values calculated by the evaluation expressions in the present embodiment are graphed. Since the evaluation formula shown in the above formula (1) has a square term, the change in the evaluation value is expressed by an exponential function. In the figure, Δ e1 represents the change in the evaluation value of the lower car, and Δ e2 represents the change in the evaluation value of the upper car.

That is, as shown in fig. 7, it is assumed that: for example, by additional assignment of a new destination call, the riding time of the lower car is 20 seconds → 30 seconds, and the riding time of the upper car is 40 seconds → 50 seconds. Although the time change was the same for 10 seconds, Δ e2 was larger than Δ e1 in view of the change in the evaluation value. That is, the evaluation value of the upper car is inferior (since the smaller the evaluation value is, the better the evaluation is). Therefore, when a new destination call is registered, the possibility of assignment to a lower car increases.

The structure of the evaluation formula will be described in more detail with reference to specific examples.

Now, a case will be described in which, in the time schedule shown in fig. 8, No.1 calls and No.2 calls are assumed to be registered at the boarding location. If the time when the No.2 call is registered is now set as the current time, the No.1 call is a destination call already registered, and the No.2 call becomes an additionally assigned destination call.

Fig. 9 to 11 show a method of calculating an evaluation value for a high car.

As shown in fig. 9, the prediction is: after 10 seconds from the registration of the call of No.1, for example, an arbitrary upper car responds to the departure floor (floor 1) of the call and reaches the destination floor (floor 7) of the call after 50 seconds. In addition, the prediction is: after 10 seconds of the call of No.1, the call of No.2 is newly registered, and reaches the destination floor (floor 3) 28 seconds later than the call of No.2, and reaches the destination floor (floor 7) 66 seconds later than the already assigned call of No. 1.

When the call of No.2 is registered, the predicted waiting time, the predicted riding time, and the evaluation value in the operation schedule in the case where the provisional assignment is not performed to the upper car are as shown in fig. 10. Where r is 0.4. In the operation schedule with the temporary allocation, the predicted waiting time, the predicted riding time, and the evaluation value are as shown in fig. 11. Thus, the evaluation value when the call of No.2 is assigned to the upper car is 1357-.

Fig. 12 to 14 show a method of calculating the evaluation value for the lower car. In the lower-floor cars, only the lower floor is set as the destination call assigned.

As shown in fig. 12, the prediction is: after 10 seconds from the registration of the call of No.1, for example, an arbitrary lower car responds to the departure floor (floor 1) of the call and reaches the destination floor (floor 5) of the call after 30 seconds. In addition, the prediction is: after 10 seconds of the call of No.1, the call of No.2 is newly registered, and reaches the destination floor (3 floors) 28 seconds later than the call of No.2, and reaches the destination floor (5 floors) 46 seconds later than the already assigned call of No. 1.

When the call of No.2 is registered, the predicted waiting time and the predicted riding time and the evaluation value in the operation schedule in the case where the provisional assignment is not performed to the lower car are as shown in fig. 13. Where r is 0.4. In the operation schedule to which the temporary allocation is made, the predicted waiting time, the predicted riding time, and the evaluation value are as shown in fig. 14. Thus, the evaluation value in the case where the call of No.2 is assigned to the lower car becomes 871-.

Here, it is assumed that: the number of destination calls assigned to a low floor from a departure reference floor is 1 for a low-floor car, and 1 for a high-floor car. In each of the assigned situations, a floor lower than the destination floor of the assigned destination call from the departure reference floor to the lower floor is set as the destination floor. Under such conditions, if the assignment process is performed when a new destination call is registered with the departure reference floor set as the departure floor, the evaluation value (471) of the lower car becomes smaller than the evaluation value (573) of the higher car. Thus, the destination call that becomes new is assigned to be output to the lower car.

In case of crowding of the lower zone

When congestion in a low floor area is significant, a new destination call may be assigned and output to a high-rise car, although the situation is the same. Fig. 15 to 17 show the state.

For example, as shown in fig. 15, 10 destination calls (nos. 1 to 10) of 1F → 5F are assigned to the lower cars. Set as predicted: after 10 seconds from the registration of these calls, an arbitrary lower car responds to the departure floor (floor 1) of the call and reaches the destination floor (floor 5) of the call after 30 seconds. Here, the prediction is: the newly registered call of No.11 arrives at the destination floor (3 floors) 28 seconds later than the call of No.11, and arrives at the destination floor (5 floors) 46 seconds later than the already assigned calls of nos. 1 to 10. The same situation as that shown in fig. 9 to 11 is applied to the high-rise car.

In the operation schedule without temporary allocation, the predicted waiting time, the predicted riding time, and the evaluation value are as shown in fig. 16. Where r is 0.4. In the operation schedule to which the temporary allocation is made, the predicted waiting time, the predicted riding time, and the evaluation value are as shown in fig. 17. The evaluation value in this case is 7144-. The evaluation value (573) of the upper car is calculated from the situations shown in fig. 9 to 11. Therefore, a new destination call is assigned to the upper car and output.

In addition, when the operation is performed in a situation where no upper floor is required, all the cars are handled equally and distributed and output regardless of the difference between the upper and lower floors. That is, there is no call that matches the "restriction of excluding a lower car from the assignment candidates for the users who take an elevator or get off the elevator at a high floor", so all cars are assignment candidates for all calls. Thus, all the cars are treated equally and distributed to be output.

Countermeasure against congestion in high-rise area

If the number of high-rise users is larger than that of low-rise users, the operation is biased toward the high-rise car. In order to reduce such a situation, it is preferable to determine the boundary between the upper layer region and the lower layer region in advance so that the load (load) becomes slightly smaller on the upper layer side than on the lower layer side. In this case, the number of floors of the high floor is smaller than the number of floors of the low floor, so that the load on the high floor can be reduced.

Reconsideration of regions

In addition, when the traffic demand of the building greatly differs depending on the floor, the traffic demand can be determined as follows.

The boundary between the high floor area and the low floor area is determined so that the frequency of occurrence of high floor users ÷ (number of high floor cars × number of high floor cars ÷ average travel time of high floor cars) ÷ average travel time of high floor cars (average round trip time) is about 1 less than the frequency of occurrence of low floor users ÷ (number of low floor cars × number of low floor cars ÷ average travel time of low floor cars).

The above values are obtained by simply obtaining the congestion rates of the cars at the upper floor and the lower floor, and the group management system can measure the congestion rates while operating the cars. Further, by reconsidering the layer that defines the boundary between the upper layer region and the lower layer region, it is possible to adjust the normal upper layer/lower layer sharing.

Such reconsideration can also be done automatically.

For example, in the case where the congestion rate of the upper car is higher than 1.2 times that of the lower car, the floor that defines the boundary between the upper zone and the lower zone may be raised by 1 floor, and in the case where the congestion rate of the lower car is higher than 1.2 times that of the higher car, the floor that defines the boundary between the upper zone and the lower zone may be lowered by 1 floor.

Such dynamic switching of floors requires a certain period of time, for example, 1 day, to collect information such as a congestion rate, and thus contributes to achieving a long-term balance between the needs of a low-rise car and a high-rise car. On the other hand, by describing the processing (fig. 9 to 17) of determining which of the high-rise and low-rise elevator cars is assigned a call each time the assignment processing is performed, it is possible to quickly cope with a change in the fragmentary demand in one day, and it is possible to contribute to securing the demand balance between the low-rise elevator car and the high-rise elevator car in a short period of time.

[ description of operation ]

Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be explained.

Fig. 18 is a flowchart showing the operation of the elevator group management system according to the present embodiment. The processes shown in these flowcharts, including the flowcharts shown in fig. 19 and 20 described later, are executed by the group management control device 31, which is a computer, reading a pre-stored assignment control program.

Assume a case where a new destination call is registered by operation of the boarding destination floor registration device 11 provided at the boarding location of an arbitrary floor. As shown in fig. 18, when a new destination call is registered (yes at step S11), the group management control device 31 executes the following processing.

That is, the assignment evaluating unit 35 included in the group management control device 31 first determines whether or not the departure floor or the destination floor of the new destination call is included in the upper floor area (step S12). The floor information of the high floor area and the low floor area divided based on the current area is stored in the assignment restriction data storage unit 34. Information on the car (upper car) operating in the upper floor area and the car (lower car) operating in the lower floor area is also stored in the assignment restriction data storage unit 34.

Here, when one of the departure floor and the destination floor of the new destination call is included in the upper floor area (yes at step S12), the assignment evaluation unit 35 determines whether the destination call can be assigned to the upper floor car (step S13). For example, when all the high-rise cars cannot be targeted for group management due to reasons such as inspection, it is determined that allocation is not possible.

If the assigned car can be assigned to the upper car (yes in step S13), the assignment evaluation unit 35 excludes the lower car from the assignment candidates (step S14), and selects the assigned car only from the candidates of the upper car (step S15). This is because, as shown in fig. 5, the operation service in the high-floor area is performed only in the high-floor car. In addition, when the assignment evaluation unit 35 excludes the lower car from the assignment candidates, the operation prediction unit 33 does not need to perform operation prediction for the car excluded from the assignment candidates.

On the other hand, when neither the departure floor nor the destination floor of the new destination call is included in the upper floor area (no in step S12), the assignment evaluation unit 35 selects an assigned car with both the lower-floor car and the upper-floor car as assignment candidates (step S15). At this time, since the tendency of allocating cars as described in fig. 9 to 14 is generated by using the evaluation formula of squaring the riding time, the lower car is preferentially allocated and output. In step S13, the high car determined to be unallocated continues to be unavailable as an allocation candidate in step S15.

Next, the assigned car selection process executed in step S15 will be described.

Fig. 19 is a flowchart showing an assigned car selection process. Now, of the cars 22a and 22b …, the car to be evaluated is referred to as "car c" (step S21).

The assignment evaluating unit 35 first determines whether or not the car c is included in the assignment candidate (step S22). When the car c is included in the assignment candidate (yes in step S22), the assignment evaluation unit 35 obtains an evaluation value in the case where the operation prediction is performed without temporarily assigning a new destination call (call requested for assignment) to the car c and an evaluation value in the case where the operation prediction is performed with temporarily assigning the destination call to the car c, and stores these values (steps S23 to S26). Further, the operation prediction evaluation processing executed in steps S23 and S25 will be described later with reference to fig. 20.

The processing of steps S22 to S26 is repeated in accordance with the number of cars c to be evaluated, and the evaluation value in the case where no destination call is temporarily assigned and the evaluation value in the case where a destination call is temporarily assigned are obtained. When the cycle of the car c is completed (step S27), the assignment evaluation unit 35 specifies, as an assigned car, a car whose value f (c) is the smallest "evaluation value with temporary assignment" - "evaluation value without temporary assignment" (step S28) according to the above expression (2).

Next, the operation prediction evaluation processing executed in the above steps S23 and S25 will be explained.

Fig. 20 is a flowchart showing the operation prediction evaluation process. In this operation prediction evaluation process, the evaluation formula shown in the above formula (1) is used.

First, the total value M of the evaluation values is initialized to 0 in advance (step S31). The operation prediction unit 33 predicts the time of response to each call based on the operation state information (current position, operation direction, stop, etc.) of the car c (step S32). Each of the calls described above includes a call already assigned in addition to a call to be assigned. Here, the following loop processing is started for each of the calls (step S33).

That is, when 1 of the calls is set as the evaluation target call, the operation prediction unit 33 calculates the predicted value of the waiting time and the predicted value of the riding time from the operation prediction in the case where the evaluation target call is assigned to the car c (step S34). The assignment evaluation unit 35 substitutes the predicted value of the waiting time and the predicted value of the riding time obtained here into the evaluation formula shown in the above formula (1) to calculate the evaluation value of the evaluation target call (step S35). The assignment evaluation unit 35 adds the evaluation value obtained here to the total value M (step S36).

The processing of steps S34-S36 is repeated for all calls, and the evaluation values are added to the total value M. When the call cycle is completed (step S37), the assignment evaluation unit 35 sets the total value M obtained finally as the evaluation value of the entire current prediction (step S38). Thus, in step S23, the evaluation value in the case where the operation prediction is performed without temporarily assigning a new destination call (call requested for assignment) to the car c can be obtained, and in step S25, the evaluation value in the case where the operation prediction is performed with temporarily assigning the destination call to the car c can be obtained.

As described above, according to embodiment 1, each car is evaluated using an evaluation expression that suppresses assignment of a car (high-rise car) having a long predicted value of riding time, and when a destination call of a high floor is registered, the low-rise car is excluded from assignment candidates. This can suppress the assignment of output of a destination call of a low floor to a high-rise car, and naturally create an environment in which a destination call of a low-rise user is preferentially assigned to a low-rise car. Here, the "destination call of a high floor" is a destination call in which one of the departure floor and the destination floor is a high floor, and the "destination call of a low floor" is a destination call in which both the departure floor and the destination floor are low floors (including a departure reference floor).

In addition, when users are concentrated in the low floor area (that is, when there are few users in the high floor area), destination calls of the low floor users are also assigned and output to the high floor car, so that all the cars can be effectively used without wasting the high floor car to continue the operation service.

Therefore, even if the partition is not dynamically changed when the traffic demand of the building changes after delivery of the elevator, the operation service can be continuously performed between the lower car and the upper car without a large deviation of congestion, and the time required for one cycle (one round trip) of the operation of the car can be shortened to improve the transportation capacity.

(embodiment 2)

Next, embodiment 2 will be explained.

In embodiment 2, in preparation for a case where the users are temporarily concentrated on the upper car, the group management control device 31 is provided with the following functions in advance.

(1) The operation control for excluding the lower car from the allocation candidates and not making the lower car move to the higher zone is performed only in a specific time period such as an on-duty time period.

(2) In a situation where the upper floor area is unilaterally crowded with respect to the lower floor area, all the cars are evaluated as allocation candidates without performing a process of excluding the lower floor cars from the allocation candidates.

Fig. 21 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the group management system for elevators according to embodiment 2. Note that the same reference numerals are given to the same components as those in fig. 1 of embodiment 1, and detailed description thereof is omitted. In embodiment 2, in addition to the configuration of fig. 1, the group management control device 31 includes a high-floor situation detection unit 38.

The high-rise condition detection unit 38 is set with a specific time zone in which high-rise congestion is expected in advance, such as an office time zone. In addition, the reason why the high peak time (the time zone in which the number of users who go from the departure reference floor to the upper floor is large) is divided into the low floor/high floor is that: not only the high floors are crowded, but also the elevator system is crowded as a whole.

Here, the high-floor situation detection unit 38 has a function of notifying the assignment evaluation unit 35 when the above-described specific time zone is reached. Thus, in the above-described specific time zone, when the starting floor or the destination floor of a new destination call (i.e., a destination call to be a target for specifying an assigned car) is included in the above-described high floor area, the assignment evaluation unit 35 performs the process of excluding a low-floor car from the assignment candidates shown in the above-described step S14. As a result, the carriage can be made to travel one cycle (one round trip) more quickly, and the conveying force can be increased. On the other hand, in a normal state outside the specific time zone, the assignment evaluation unit 35 evaluates all the cars as assignment candidates. As a result, a reduction in the waiting time can be expected.

The high-floor condition detecting unit 38 detects a condition in which the high-floor area is congested with the low-floor area based on the operating state information of the cars 22a and 22b … obtained from the car state obtaining unit 32.

Specifically, the high-floor situation detection unit 38 detects the load of the high-floor car and the load of the low-floor car. As a method of detecting the load, a load sensor, not shown, provided in the car may be used, or the load may be estimated from the number of times the destination call of the user is assigned to the car. Here, the high-rise-floor-condition detecting unit 38 determines that the high-rise area (high floor) is congested when the maximum load value per one-cycle operation of the high-rise car is equal to or greater than a preset congestion level and the maximum load value per one-cycle operation of the low-rise car is lower than the congestion level.

As another method, the high-floor situation detection unit 38 may operate for a cycle time longer than the operation of the higher-floor car and the lower-floor car. That is, when the operation-cycle time of the high-rise car is longer than or equal to the preset high-rise standard time and the operation-cycle time of the low-rise car is shorter than the low-rise standard time, the high-rise condition detection unit 38 determines that only the high-rise area (high-rise floor) is congested.

In a situation where the high-rise area (high floor) is congested, if the starting floor or the destination floor of a new destination call (i.e., a destination call to be specified as an object to which an assigned car is to be assigned) is included in the high-rise area, the assignment evaluation unit 35 does not perform the process of excluding a low-rise car from the assignment candidates as shown in step S14, and evaluates all cars as assignment candidates.

As described above, according to embodiment 2, even when the users are temporarily concentrated on the upper car, the operation service can be continued without a large variation in congestion between the lower car and the upper car.

(modification example)

In addition, in embodiment 1 described above, a case has been described in which a plurality of floors are divided into a low-floor area and a high-floor area, and a plurality of cars are divided into a low-floor car and a high-floor car to perform divided operation, but, for example, as shown in fig. 22, each car may be configured to operate by being divided into 4 areas. In the example of fig. 22, machines a to D are operated in different areas. Each zone includes a starting reference floor, and the number of floors that can be operated in each zone is different in a stepwise manner.

In such a region division operation, when a new destination call is registered, if the departure floor or the destination floor of the destination call is included in the upper floor region, the machine a operated in the lower floor region is excluded from the allocation candidates, and any of the machines B to D is allocated and output using the functional expression shown in the above expression (1), whereby the same effects as those of the above embodiment 1 can be obtained.

That is, in the example of fig. 22, when the departure base floor is 1 floor and the service range of the machine a is 1 to 4F, B, and the machines No.1 to 5F, C, and the machines No.1 to 6F, D are 1 to 7F, for example, the following allocation is made.

Destination calls from 1F to 4F can be assigned to all of the A-D machines

Destination calls from 1F to 5F can only be assigned to B-D machines

Destination calls from 1F to 6F can only be assigned to machines C-D

A destination call from 1F to 7F can only be assigned to machine D.

According to at least 1 embodiment described above, there can be provided: provided is an elevator group management system capable of continuing operation service without causing a large deviation of congestion between a low-rise car and a high-rise car even when the balance between a user traveling to a high-rise floor and a user traveling to a low-rise floor changes.

While several embodiments of the present invention have been described, these embodiments are presented as examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These new embodiments can be implemented in various other ways, and various omissions, substitutions, and changes can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. These embodiments and modifications thereof are included in the scope and spirit of the invention, and are included in the invention described in the claims and the equivalent scope thereof.

Claims (7)

1. A group management system for an elevator, which is an elevator group management system for dividing a plurality of floors into at least a low floor area and a high floor area and operating a plurality of cars into at least a low floor car and a high floor car,

the disclosed device is provided with:

a registration device that registers a destination call having a destination floor of a user at a boarding place;

an operation prediction unit that predicts operation of each car including an already assigned call even when a new destination call is registered by the registration device; and

an assignment evaluation unit that calculates an evaluation value of each car based on a predicted value of the waiting time and a predicted value of the riding time obtained as a result of the prediction by the operation prediction unit, and determines a car to which the new destination call is assigned based on the evaluation values,

the above-mentioned distribution evaluation unit is provided with,

and evaluating each of the cars using an evaluation formula that suppresses assignment of a car having a long predicted value of the riding time, and excluding the lower car from assignment candidates among the cars when a departure floor or a destination floor of the new destination call is included in the upper floor area.

2. Group management system of elevators according to claim 1,

the evaluation formula has a term that is evaluated by exponentiation of the predicted value of the riding time.

3. Group management system of elevators according to claim 1,

the number of floors in the high-rise area is set to be smaller than the number of floors in the low-rise area.

4. Group management system of elevators according to claim 1,

the above-mentioned distribution evaluation unit is provided with,

and executing a process of excluding the lower car from the assignment candidates when the departure floor or the destination floor of the new destination call is included in the upper floor area for a predetermined time period.

5. Group management system of elevators according to claim 1,

further comprising a high-rise-level-condition detection unit for detecting a congestion condition of the high-rise area relative to the low-rise area,

the above-mentioned distribution evaluation unit is provided with,

when the high-rise area is detected to be congested by the high-rise-state detecting section, if the starting floor or the destination floor of the new destination call is included in the high-rise area, the low-rise car is evaluated with all of the cars being allocation candidates without performing a process of excluding the low-rise car from the allocation candidates.

6. Group management system of elevators according to claim 5,

the high-rise condition detecting section includes a high-rise condition detecting section,

and determining that the high-rise area is congested when the maximum load value per one run cycle of the high-rise car is greater than or equal to a preset congestion level and the maximum load value per one run cycle of the low-rise car is lower than the congestion level.

7. Group management system of elevators according to claim 5,

the high-rise condition detecting section includes a high-rise condition detecting section,

and determining that only the upper floor area is congested when the operation-cycle time of the upper floor car is greater than or equal to a preset upper floor standard time and the operation-cycle time of the passenger car operating in the lower floor area is less than the lower floor standard time.

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