CN112449631A

CN112449631A - Multi-car elevator

Info

Publication number: CN112449631A
Application number: CN201880095791.7A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 前原知明; 山下幸一; 齐藤勇来; 松熊利治; 鸟谷部训; 羽鸟贵大; 棚林飒
Original assignee: Hitachi Ltd
Current assignee: Hitachi Ltd
Priority date: 2018-07-31
Filing date: 2018-07-31
Publication date: 2021-03-05
Anticipated expiration: 2038-07-31
Also published as: JP7022830B2; JPWO2020026337A1; WO2020026337A1; CN112449631B

Abstract

In the present invention, the control unit includes: a first special area setting unit that sets, as a first special area, an area corresponding to at least one floor related to one of the 2 hoistways, based on the content designated by the designation unit; a second special zone setting means for setting, as a second special zone, a zone corresponding to at least one floor related to another hoistway among the 2 hoistways, with respect to the second car in the loop unit related to the special travel, based on the set first special zone; and a determination unit that determines validity of the set first special area and second special area, and when it is determined that the first special area and second special area are inappropriate, the notification unit notifies that the first special area is to be newly designated.

Description

Multi-car elevator

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a multi-car elevator in which a plurality of cars circulate in a hoistway.

Background

As a technique related to a multi-car elevator in which a plurality of cars circulate in a hoistway, there is a technique disclosed in patent document 1 below. Patent document 1 describes a technique of selectively controlling a multi-car elevator to a group mode in which a plurality of cars are operated so as to be able to serve, and an out-of-group mode in which at least one car performs a predetermined task without performing an operation in the group mode.

Documents of the prior art

Patent document

Patent document 1: WO2016126688(A1) publication

Disclosure of Invention

Problems to be solved by the invention

In such a circulating multi-car elevator, when one car is subjected to special operations such as maintenance operation and exclusive operation, it is necessary to effectively set a region for the special operations in the hoistway in consideration of the conditions of the other cars.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a multi-car elevator capable of effectively setting a region related to a special operation in a hoistway.

Means for solving the problems

In order to solve the above problem, for example, the structure described in the required range is adopted.

The present application includes various technical means for solving the above-described problems, and is a multi-car elevator, for example, including: a plurality of loop units having a main hoist line and a plurality of cages, wherein the plurality of cages are connected with the main hoist line and can circularly move in a hoistway comprising 2 lifting passages; and a control unit for controlling the plurality of loop units, wherein the plurality of cars in each loop unit includes at least a first car and a second car, and the first car is connected to the main suspension cable so as to be arranged in one of the 2 elevator shafts when the second car is arranged in the other elevator shaft, and the multi-car elevator comprises: a designation means that designates the loop means relating to a special operation different from a normal operation, and designates an area corresponding to at least one floor relating to the special operation of the first car relating to the loop means as a first special area; and a notification unit configured to notify that the first special area is to be newly designated, wherein the control unit includes: first special area setting means for setting, as the first special area, an area corresponding to at least one floor related to one of the 2 hoistways, based on the content designated by the designation means; a second special zone setting means for setting a zone corresponding to at least one floor related to another hoistway among the 2 hoistways as a second special zone for a second car in the loop unit related to the special travel based on the set first special zone; and a determination means for determining the adequacy of the first special area and the second special area, and allowing a first car or a second car in the ring means different from the ring means related to the special operation to travel in the vertical direction outside a first special area related to one hoistway or outside a second special area related to the other hoistway, wherein the determination means causes the notification means to notify that the first special area is to be reassigned when the adequacy of the first special area and the second special area is determined to be inappropriate, and the determination means allows a user to move to a floor other than a floor corresponding to the first special area related to one hoistway, through the ring means different from the ring means related to the special operation, And a step of judging that the first special area and the second special area are appropriate when the first special area and the second special area are set, and judging that the first special area and the second special area are not appropriate when the second special area cannot be moved.

Effects of the invention

According to the multi-car elevator of the present invention, the area related to the special operation in the hoistway can be efficiently set.

Problems, structures, and effects other than those described above will be described by the following description of embodiments.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a multi-car elevator according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a car according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a landing device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 4 is a diagram for explaining a maintenance operation mode according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram of an overall controller according to one embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 6 is (a) a flowchart showing an operation example of a multi-car elevator according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 7 is a flowchart (second) showing an operation example of a multi-car elevator according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 8 (a) is a diagram showing a state of an operation panel according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 9 is a diagram (second embodiment) showing a state of the operation panel according to the embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 10 is a diagram (third) showing a state of the operation panel according to the embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 11 (a) is a diagram for explaining states of the maintenance operation area and the operation panel according to the embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 12 is a diagram (second) for explaining a maintenance operation area and a display on the operation panel according to the embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 13 is a diagram (third) for explaining a maintenance operation area and a display on the operation panel according to the embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 14 is a diagram for explaining the operational effect of the multi-car elevator according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

Hereinafter, embodiments to which the present invention is applied will be described in detail based on the drawings. In the embodiments, the same reference numerals are given to the same components, and redundant description of the same components is omitted.

< Structure of multi-car elevator apparatus >

First, a configuration example of the multi-car elevator 1 will be described with reference to fig. 1 to 3. Fig. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a multi-car elevator 1. Fig. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of the car a 1. Fig. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram showing the landing device 50.

The multi-car elevator 1 shown in these figures includes a plurality of pairs (here, for example, 3 pairs) of cars a1, a2, cars B1, B2, cars C1, and C2 provided to be movable in a circulation manner in a hoistway 10 including 2

elevator shafts

10A and 10B provided to pass through a building in the vertical direction.

The multi-car elevator 1 includes a landing device 50 (see fig. 2) provided at each of floors F1 to F10 (floors F5 to F9 are not shown in fig. 1) of the building on the outer side of the hoistway 10, and a control device 60 that controls the operation of the cars a1 to C2.

[ well 10]

As shown in fig. 1 and 3, the hoistway 10 communicates with floors F1 to F10 of the building via a pair of

landing doors

11 and 12. The

landing doors

11 and 12 are disposed adjacent to each other in the floors F1 to F10, for example, in the same direction. In the schematic configuration diagram of fig. 1, for convenience, a pair of

landing doors

11 and 12 are disposed on the left and right sides of the hoistway 10 so as to face each other in order to explain the installation state of the cars a1 to C2 in the hoistway 10. Generally, the

landing doors

11 and 12 are disposed at positions facing a car door 20 of a car described later. The car door 20 may be positioned on the left and right surfaces in the figure so as to face the

landing doors

11 and 12 in fig. 1, but may be disposed at a position not interfering with a structure such as a guide rail not shown. For the sake of simplicity of explanation, a pair of

landing doors

11 and 12 are disposed adjacent to each other in the same direction.

The landing doors 11 are used when a user (hereinafter, may be simply referred to as a user) of the multi-car elevator 1 gets on the cars a1 to C2 in the hoistway 10A or when the user gets off the cars a1 to C2 in the hoistway 10A.

The landing doors 12 are used when a user boards the cars a1 to C2 in the hoistway 10B or when a user disembarks from the cars a1 to C2 in the hoistway 10B.

[ Car A1-C2 ]

Each of the cars a1 to C2 has a car door 20. Each car door 20 is engaged with each

landing door

11, 12 at each of the floors F1 to F10, and the

landing doors

11, 12 are configured to be opened and closed in accordance with the opening and closing of the car door 20.

The installation states of the cars a1 to C2 in the hoistway 10 are described below with reference to a pair of cars a1 and a2 as an example. That is, the pair of cars a1 and a2 respectively grip the first endless main rope 41A stretched over the pair of drive pulleys 31A and the lower sheave 31b and the second endless main rope 42A stretched over the pair of drive pulleys 32A and the lower sheave 32 b. The pair of cars a1, a2 are disposed at symmetrical positions so as to function as counterweight with respect to each other while holding the first main rope 41A and the second main rope 42A. In the following description, a configuration including the first main rope 41A, the second main rope 42A, and the cars a1 and a2 will sometimes be referred to as a first loop unit A3.

Similarly, the pair of cars B1 and B2 grip the other first main rope 41B and second main rope 42B so as to function as a counterweight. In the following description, a configuration including the first main rope 41B, the second main rope 42B, and the cars B1 and B2 is sometimes referred to as a second loop unit B3.

The pair of cars C1 and C2 grip the other first main rope 41C and second main rope 42C so as to function as a counterweight. In the following description, a structure including the first main rope 41C, the second main rope 42C, and the cars C1 and C2 is sometimes referred to as a third ring unit C3.

The three first

main ropes

41A, 41B, 41C are respectively installed on 1 of the 3 drive pulleys 31A provided coaxially and 1 of the 3 lower pulleys 31B provided coaxially in a distributed manner. Similarly, the three second

main ropes

42A, 42B, and 42C are respectively installed separately on 1 of the 3 drive pulleys 32A provided coaxially and 1 of the 3 lower pulleys 32B provided coaxially.

The 3 pairs of cars installed as described above are configured to circulate and stop on the same track in the hoistway 10 at speeds within a limited range by driving the 3 drive sheaves 31a and the 3 drive sheaves 32a, respectively. Further, the circulation direction can be reversed by controlling the rotation direction of the driving

pulleys

31a and 32 a. In addition, when one car (for example, the cars a1, B1, and C1) of each ring unit A3, B3, and C3 is disposed in one hoistway (for example, the hoistway 10A), the other car (for example, the cars a2, B2, and C2) is disposed in the other hoistway (for example, the hoistway B).

Further, the structure of the cars a1 to C2 will be described with the car a1 as an example. Fig. 2 shows a condition when the direction of the car door 20 is viewed from the inside of the car a 1. On the left side of the car door 20, an operation panel 25 having a destination button 21, a door closing button 22, a door opening button 23, and a maintenance switch 24, and a monitor 26 and a speaker 27 are provided.

A plurality of destination buttons 21 (10 in the present embodiment) are provided so as to correspond to the floors F1 to F10. Each destination button 21 displays the floor number of the corresponding floor. Each destination button 21 includes a light source therein, and can blink and light up in accordance with an instruction from the control device 60. The destination button 21 is operated (pressed) when a user in the car a1 performs an operation (car call) to register a destination floor. When the destination button 21 is pressed, the control device 60 described later registers a car call with the content corresponding to the pressed destination button 21. Then, the control device 60 controls the movement of the car a1 in accordance with the registered car call.

The door closing button 22 is operated (pressed) by a user in the car a1 when the car doors 20 are closed.

The door opening button 23 is operated (pressed) by a user in the car a1 when opening the car doors 20.

The maintenance switch 24 is operated by the operator when the operation mode (mode) of the car a1 is switched from a normal operation mode in which automatic operation is normally performed to a maintenance operation mode in which various maintenance and inspection operations are performed. The maintenance operation mode will be described later.

The monitor 26 displays the number of floors on which the car a1 is traveling or stopped, and displays various messages to the user in the car a1, and is configured by a liquid crystal display panel, for example.

The speaker 27 outputs sounds and various sounds regarding the number of floors reached by the car a1 and various messages to the users in the car a 1.

[ landing device 50]

As shown in fig. 3, the landing device 50 includes

first display sections

51a and 51b,

second display sections

52a and 52b, first landing

call operation sections

53a and 53b, and a second landing call operation section 54 provided outside a pair of

landing doors

11 and 12 on floors F1 to F10. The landing device 50 also has a speaker 55 that outputs various sounds and sounds related to various messages to the user at the landing.

The

first display units

51a and 51b are configured to display information for notifying the landing doors to which the cars a1 to C2 are assigned, among the landing

doors

11 and 12, and are provided, for example, on the upper portions of the

landing doors

11 and 12. For example, the

first display portions

51a and 51b include an ascending display portion 501u and a descending display portion 501d, respectively. The ascending display portion 501u and the descending display portion 501d are lighting means for forming symbol marks, respectively. For example, the ascending display portion 501u is a triangular lighting member that shows the ascending of the cars a1 to C2, and the descending display portion 501d is an inverted triangular lighting member that shows the descending of the cars a1 to C2.

The ascending indication portion 501u of the first indication portion 51a provided on the landing door 11 side is configured to be lit when the landing button 503u is pressed and a car is assigned, and to blink at the timing when a car moving upward in the hoistway 10A among the cars a1 to C2 is assigned to the landing door 11. The descending indication portion 501d of the first indication portion 51a provided on the landing door 11 side is configured to be lit when the landing button 503d is pressed and a car is assigned, and to blink at a timing when the car moving downward in the hoistway 10A among the cars a1 to C2 is dispatched to the landing door 11.

Similarly, the rising display portion 501u of the first display portion 51B provided on the landing door 12 side is configured to light up when the landing button 503u is pressed and a car is assigned, and to blink at the timing of assigning a car moving upward in the hoistway 10B among the cars a1 to C2 to the landing door 12. Further, the descending indication portion 501d of the first indication portion 51B provided on the landing door 12 side lights up when the landing button 503d is pressed and a car is assigned, and blinks at the timing of assigning a car moving downward in the hoistway 10B among the cars a1 to C2 to the landing door 12.

The control device 60 described later controls the respective ascending display unit 501u and the descending display unit 501d to turn on, turn off, and turn on individually.

The

second display portions

52a and 52b are provided at a height position where the user can easily view, for example, on both sides of the

respective landing doors

11 and 12. The

second display portions

52a and 52b are flat panel displays, for example. The second display portion 52a displays, for example, a floor at which the car in the hoistway 10A can stop and a transfer floor described later. The second display portion 52B displays, for example, a floor at which the car in the hoistway 10B can stop and a transfer floor described later.

The display performed by the

second display units

52a and 52b is individually controlled by a control device 60 described later. The details of the display performed by the

second display units

52a and 52b will be described later in the configuration of the control device 60.

The first floor

call operation units

53a and 53b are provided at height positions where the user can easily operate, for example, on both sides of the

floor doors

11 and 12. The first hall

call operating sections

53a and 53b are operating buttons for calling one of the cars a1 to C2 to floors F1 to F10 on which the

hall doors

11 and 12 are installed, that is, for performing a hall call.

For example, the first landing

call operation units

53a and 53b have an ascending operation unit 503u and a descending operation unit 503d, respectively, and specify the moving direction of the cars a1 to C2 to be called. The up operation portion 503u and the down operation portion 503d are a touch-type operation portion or a button-type operation portion that also serves as a lighting display member forming a symbol mark.

For example, the ascending operation part 503u is a push-button type operation part also serving as a triangular lighting display member for showing ascending of the cars a1 to C2, and the descending operation part 503d is a push-button type operation part also serving as an inverted triangular lighting display member for showing descending of the cars a1 to C2. The ascending operation portion 503u and the descending operation portion 503d are configured to be lit up when they are operated, and to blink at the timing of assigning the car moving to the landing door.

The up operation unit 503u and the down operation unit 503d, which also serve as the lighting display means, are individually controlled to be turned on, and turned off by the control device 60 described later.

The second hall call operating portion 54 includes, for example, numeric keys 504a, a display portion 504b, and a speaker not shown. When the user uses the elevator, the user operates the numeric keypad 504a using the second hall call operating portion 54 to input the destination floor. When the destination floor is input, a control device 60 described later registers a hall call according to the input content and assigns a car to the user. The control device 60 may display information on a landing door of an assigned car for boarding the car on the display portion 504 a. For example, when the landing door to be used for boarding the assigned car is the landing door 11, the control device 60 may cause the display portion 504a to display a message "please wait in front of the left door".

Here, an operation portion including the numeric keypad 504a is shown as the second hall call operation portion 54, but another configuration may be adopted. For example, a destination floor may be input by a touch panel instead of numeric keys.

[ control device 60]

The control device 60 is for controlling the operation of the multi-car elevator 1, and is constituted by a computer, for example. A computer is hardware used as a so-called computer. The computer includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (read Only memory), and a RAM (random Access memory). Further, the computer is provided with a nonvolatile storage and a network interface. The flow of control executed by each unit included in the control device 60 is a program stored in the ROM or a program loaded from an external device into the RAM and stored therein.

The control device 60 includes 3

ring controllers

61, 62, 63 for controlling the movement of the cars a1 to C2 by driving the drive pulleys 31a, 32a, and an integrated controller 64 for performing various controls of the 3

ring controllers

61, 62, 63 and the multi-car elevator 1.

The loop controller 61 controls the driving of the 1 set of drive pulleys 31A, 32A on which the first main rope 41A and the second main rope 42A held by the pair of cars a1, a2 are installed in synchronization with each other. That is, the ring controller 61 controls the driving of the first ring unit a 3.

The loop controller 62 synchronously controls the driving of the 1 set of

drive pulleys

31a, 32a on which the first main rope 41B and the second main rope 42B are installed. That is, the ring controller 62 controls the driving of the second ring unit B3.

The loop controller 63 synchronously controls the driving of the 1 set of

drive pulleys

31a, 32a on which the first main rope 41C and the second main rope 42C are installed. That is, the ring controller 63 controls the driving of the third ring unit C3.

The integrated controller 64 is configured to control driving of the multi-car elevator 1 in a plurality of operation modes including a normal operation mode, a maintenance operation mode, and a maintenance preparation operation mode.

The normal operation mode is an operation mode in which all of the 3 pairs of cars are moved cyclically in one direction as shown in fig. 1. Here, as an example of the normal operation mode, it is assumed that all of the 3 pairs of cars are circulated in the clockwise circulation direction x. In this case, of the

landing doors

11 and 12 shown in fig. 3, the landing door 11 on the front left side is a door dedicated for ascending, and the landing door 12 on the front right side is a door dedicated for descending.

On the other hand, fig. 4 is a diagram for explaining a maintenance operation mode of the multi-car elevator 1 according to the present embodiment. The maintenance operation mode is one of operation modes related to special operation different from operation in the normal operation mode, i.e., normal operation. The maintenance operation mode is a mode selected when performing maintenance of the multi-car elevator 1, for example, maintenance of the cars a1 to C2 or the hoistway 10.

In the maintenance operation mode, the integrated controller 64 arranges a designated pair of cars (cars a1, a2 in fig. 4) in a designated maintenance operation area (indicated by a two-dot chain line rectangle in fig. 4) in the hoistway 10. The integrated controller 64 is provided to be able to reciprocate in the vertical direction in a region other than the maintenance operation region (hereinafter, may be referred to as an automatic operation region) with respect to the other car, and is configured to handle a car call and a hall call (perform automatic operation). The maintenance operation area refers to an area corresponding to at least one floor in the hoistway 10A or the hoistway 10B that is arbitrarily set by an operator for maintenance of the multi-car elevator 1. In fig. 4, the first

main ropes

41A, 41B, and 41C and the second

main ropes

42A, 42B, and 42C are shown in a simplified manner.

The maintenance preparation operation mode is an operation mode provided to cope with a hall call and a car call that have been registered when the operation mode is changed from the normal operation mode to the maintenance operation mode. In the maintenance operation mode, the overall controller 64 controls the

loop controllers

61, 62, and 63 to serve the hall calls and the car calls that have been registered, and after the completion of the service, places the designated car in the designated maintenance operation area. This enables the multi-car elevator 1 to start operating in the maintenance operation mode.

The details of the maintenance preparation operation mode and the maintenance operation mode will be described later.

Fig. 5 is a functional block diagram of the overall controller 64.

The integrated controller 64 includes a maintenance operation mode switching permission unit 102, a maintenance operation region setting unit 103, a maintenance operation region setting guide unit 105, a maintenance operation region inspection unit 107, and a maintenance operation region determination unit 108. The overall controller 64 includes an automatic operation area determination unit 109 and an automatic operation area setting guide unit 110.

The maintenance operation mode switching permission unit 102 determines whether or not the maintenance switch 24 has been switched from "normal" indicating the normal operation mode to "maintenance" indicating the maintenance operation mode, that is, turned on, based on a signal output from the maintenance switch 24. Then, when determining that the maintenance operation mode switching permission unit 102 is turned on, the maintenance operation mode switching permission unit allows various kinds of processing related to switching to the maintenance operation mode to be started. In the present embodiment, the maintenance switch 24 constitutes a maintenance operation mode switching means.

The maintenance operation area setting unit 103 sets the maintenance operation area in accordance with the operation of the maintenance operation area setting unit 104 by the operator. In the present embodiment, the destination button 21 constitutes the maintenance operation area setting means 104.

The maintenance operation area setting guide 105 controls the maintenance operation area setting guide 106, and presents (notifies) various information related to the setting of the maintenance operation area to the user or operator of the multi-car elevator 1. In the present embodiment, the

second display sections

52a and 52b of the landing device 50, the speaker 55, the operation panel 25 of the cars a1 to C2, the monitor 26, the speaker 27, the display section 504b of the second landing call operation section 54, and the speaker constitute the maintenance operation area setting guidance means 106.

The maintenance operation region inspection unit 107 inspects whether or not the maintenance operation region set by the maintenance operation region setting unit 103 meets a predetermined condition.

The maintenance operation region determining unit 108 sets (determines) the maintenance operation region after the inspection by the maintenance operation region inspecting unit 107 as the maintenance operation region finally in accordance with the predetermined operation.

The automatic operation region determining unit 109 determines the automatic operation region according to the maintenance operation region determined by the maintenance operation region determining unit 108.

The automatic operation area setting guide 110 controls the automatic operation area setting guide means 111 to present (notify) the user of the multi-car elevator 1 of the automatic operation area determined by the automatic operation area determination unit 109. In the present embodiment, the

second display sections

52a and 52b of the landing device 50, the speaker 55, the monitor 26 of the cars a1 to C2, the speaker 27, the display section 504b of the second landing call operation section 54, and the speaker constitute the automatic operating area setting guidance means 111.

Further, details of the above-described various configurations of the integrated controller 64 will be described later.

< example of operation of Multi-Car Elevator >

Next, an operation example of the multi-car elevator 1 will be described with reference to flow charts shown in fig. 6 and 7 and fig. 8 to 13 as appropriate. Fig. 6 and 7 are flowcharts showing an example of the operation of the multi-car elevator 1. Fig. 8 to 10 are diagrams for explaining states of the operation panel 25 in the corresponding steps. Fig. 11 to 13 are diagrams for explaining states of the maintenance operation area and the operation panel in the corresponding steps, and show a schematic configuration diagram of the multi-car elevator 1 on the right side of the diagram and a diagram for explaining states of the operation panel on the left side.

In the present embodiment, the overall controller 64 controls the operation of the multi-car elevator 1. In addition, the overall controller 64 periodically executes a series of processes shown in the flowcharts of fig. 6 and 7.

First, the maintenance operation mode switching permission unit determines whether or not the maintenance switch 24 is turned on (S1). Specifically, as shown in fig. 8, it is determined whether or not the maintenance switch 24 has switched from "normal" indicating the normal operation mode to "maintenance" indicating the maintenance operation mode. If it is determined that the maintenance switch 24 is not on (i.e., the maintenance switch 24 is not switched to "maintenance") (no in S1), the present process is terminated.

On the other hand, when it is determined that the maintenance switch 24 is turned on (that is, the maintenance switch 24 has been switched to "maintenance") (yes in S1), the maintenance operation region setting unit 103 starts the setting process. The maintenance operation area setting unit 103 displays the car or the monitor 26 of all cars on which the turned-on maintenance switch 24 is installed, on the "maintenance preparation" display via the maintenance operation area setting guide unit 105 (S2). Alternatively or additionally, the

second display portions

52a and 52b of the hall and the display portion 504b of the second hall call operating portion 54 may be caused to display "maintenance preparation". Further, a sound indicating a message "maintenance preparation" may be output from the speaker 27 of the car and the speaker 55 provided in the hall.

After step S2, the overall controller 64 starts control of the driving of the multi-car elevator 1 in the maintenance preparation operation mode.

Next, as shown in fig. 9, the maintenance operation area setting unit 103 blinks the destination button 21 permitted as the maintenance operation area, that is, the destination button 21 associated with the floor corresponding to the area where the maintenance operation area can be set, in the car (hereinafter, sometimes referred to as the own car) in which the turned-on maintenance switch 24 is installed, via the maintenance operation area setting guide unit 105 (S3). Fig. 9 shows a state in the case where the floors corresponding to the area in which the maintenance operation area can be set are floors F1 to F10. The operator designates the maintenance operation area for the car by pressing the blinking destination button 21.

Next, the maintenance operation area setting unit 103 determines whether or not the destination button 21 associated with the floor corresponding to the area set as the maintenance operation area has been pressed (S4). If it is determined in S4 that the destination button 21 has not been pressed (no in S4), the maintenance operation region setting unit 103 shifts the process to S8, which will be described later.

On the other hand, when it is determined in S4 that the destination button 21 has been pressed (yes in S4), the maintenance operation region setting unit 103 changes the pressed destination button 21 from blinking to lighting via the maintenance operation region setting guide unit 105 as shown in fig. 10 (S5). Fig. 10 shows a state in which the destination buttons 21 related to the floors F8 to F10 corresponding to the area set as the maintenance operation area have been pressed.

Next, the maintenance operation region setting unit 103 determines whether or not the door closing button 22 has been pressed (S6). When it is determined that the door-closing button 22 has been pressed (yes in S6), the maintenance operation area setting unit 103 temporarily sets the area corresponding to the floor associated with the destination button 21 that is being turned on among the destination buttons 21 in the car as the maintenance operation area (first special area) for the car (S7).

On the other hand, when it is determined in S6 that the door-closing button 22 has not been pressed (no in S6) and when it is determined in S4 that the destination button 21 has not been pressed (no in S4), the maintenance operation region setting unit 103 determines whether or not a predetermined time (for example, 1 minute) has elapsed (S8). When it is determined that the predetermined time has elapsed (yes in S8), the maintenance operation region setting unit 103 ends the present process.

On the other hand, when it is determined that the predetermined time has not elapsed (no in S8), the maintenance operation region setting unit 103 shifts the process to S4.

After S7, the maintenance operation area checking unit 107 determines whether there is no overlap with the maintenance operation area of another car (S9). Specifically, it is determined whether or not the previously set maintenance operation region overlaps with the maintenance operation region temporarily set in S7 for the other cars in the same hoistway.

For example, as shown in fig. 11, in the car B1 of the second ring unit B3, the areas corresponding to the floors F7 and F8 in the hoistway 10A are set as the maintenance travel area Z2. At this time, in S7, when the maintenance operation area setting unit 103 temporarily sets the area corresponding to floors F8 to F10 in the hoistway 10A as the maintenance operation area Z1 for the car a1 of the first ring unit A3, an overlapping portion (area corresponding to floor F8) is generated in the maintenance operation area Z1 and the maintenance operation area Z2. In this case, in S9, the maintenance operation region inspection unit 107 determines that there is overlap of the maintenance operation regions.

When it is determined in S9 that there is an overlap of the maintenance operation regions (no in S9), the maintenance operation region check unit 107 blinks the destination buttons 21 of the overlapping floors via the maintenance operation region setting guide unit 105 (S10). That is, as shown in fig. 11, the destination button 21 associated with the floor corresponding to the overlapped maintenance operation area (floor F8 in the above example) is caused to blink. This enables the operator to recognize the floor corresponding to the overlapped maintenance operation area. That is, the maintenance operation area inspection unit 107 can prompt the operator to re-designate and re-set the maintenance operation area by blinking the destination button 21 associated with the floor corresponding to the overlapped maintenance operation area.

Next, the maintenance operation area checking unit 107 determines whether the destination button 21 that blinks in the process of S10, that is, the destination button 21 associated with the floor corresponding to the overlapped maintenance operation area has been pressed (S11). If it is determined in S11 that the button has not been pressed (no in S11), the maintenance operation region check unit 107 proceeds with the process to S10.

On the other hand, if it is determined in S11 that the button has been pressed (yes in S11), the maintenance operation region check unit 107 excludes the region corresponding to the floor associated with the destination button 21 flashing in the process of S10 from the maintenance operation region temporarily set in S7 (S12). For example, in the example shown in fig. 11, when the destination button 21 associated with the floor F8 corresponding to the overlapped maintenance operation area is pressed, the maintenance operation area inspection unit 107 excludes the area corresponding to the floor F8 from the temporarily set maintenance operation area Z1 (the areas corresponding to the floors F8 to F10 in the hoistway 10A) with respect to the car a1 of the first ring unit A3. Then, the maintenance operation area checking unit 107 shifts the process to S9.

Returning to S9, if it is determined in S9 that there is no overlap of the maintenance operation areas (yes in S9), the maintenance operation area check unit 107 determines whether or not there are a predetermined number of transfer floors (S13).

Here, the transfer floor will be explained. In the multi-car elevator 1 of the present embodiment, when the maintenance operation area is set for one car (the own car) of the pair of cars, the maintenance operation area is also set for the other car (the opposite car) as described later. For example, as shown in fig. 4, when the areas corresponding to floors F8 to F10 in the hoistway 10A are set as maintenance operation areas for the car a1 of the ring unit A3, the areas corresponding to floors F1 to F3 in the hoistway 10B are set as maintenance operation areas for the car a 2.

In addition, each car cannot move over the other cars. Further, the car cannot move beyond the maintenance operation area. Therefore, when the user moves to an arbitrary floor, the user may need to take the car in the landing and then change the car to be taken.

In the above example shown in fig. 4, the user can move to floors 2F to F7 via the car B1, but cannot move to another floor. The user can move to the floors 1F to F6 via the car C1, but cannot move to other floors. The user can move to the floors 4F to F9 by the car B2, but cannot move to other floors. In addition, the user can move to floors F5 to F10 by using the car C2, but cannot move to other floors. Therefore, for example, when the user of the car B2 or C2 moving in the hoistway 10B moves to any one of the floors F1 to F3, the user needs to descend at least at any one of the floors F4 to F7 and transfer the car B1 or C1 moving in the hoistway 10A. In the present embodiment, a floor on which transfer is possible may be referred to as a transfer floor.

Returning the description to S13, in S13, the maintenance operation area check unit 107 determines whether or not a predetermined number of transfer floors are present (in the present embodiment, "2" is set as the predetermined number). Here, the predetermined number can be arbitrarily set. In the present embodiment, the predetermined number is set to the number of cars other than the car related to maintenance, among the cars moving in one elevator shaft. Thus, in one hoistway, a user of a car (e.g., car B1 or C1) other than the car (e.g., car a1) related to maintenance can also transfer to a car (e.g., car B2 or C2) moving in another hoistway.

For example, as shown in fig. 12, in the present embodiment, when the region corresponding to floors F5 to F9 in the hoistway 10A is set as the maintenance travel region Z3 for the car a1 of the ring unit A3, the region corresponding to floors F2 to F7 in the hoistway 10B is set as the maintenance travel region Z4 for the car a 2. In this case, there are no "2" transfer floors, which are the predetermined number, between the lowermost floor F5 of the floors corresponding to the maintenance operation zone Z3 and the uppermost floor F7 of the floors corresponding to the maintenance operation zone Z4.

That is, a user of the car B1 or C1 moving in the hoistway 10A cannot transfer the car B2 or C2 moving in the hoistway 10B. In addition, similarly, the user of the car B2 or C2 moving in the hoistway 10B cannot transfer the car B1 or C1 moving in the hoistway 10A.

Accordingly, in this case, in S13, the maintenance operation area checking unit 107 determines that the predetermined number of transfer floors are not present. When it is determined in S13 that the predetermined number of transfer floors are not present (no in S13), the maintenance operation area inspection unit 107 blinks the destination buttons 21 of floors that prevent the generation of the predetermined number of transfer floors via the maintenance operation area setting guide 105 (S14).

In the above example of fig. 12, when the areas corresponding to floors F7 to F9 in the hoistway 10A are set as the maintenance operation areas, the areas corresponding to floors F2 to F5 in the hoistway 10B are set as the maintenance operation areas for the car a 2. Therefore, "2" transfer floors can be generated as the predetermined number between the lowermost floor F7 of the floor corresponding to the maintenance operation area in the hoistway 10A and the uppermost floor F5 of the floor corresponding to the maintenance operation area in the hoistway 10B. That is, in this example, floors that prevent the generation of the predetermined number of transfer floors are floors F5 and F6. Accordingly, the maintenance operation area inspection unit 107 blinks the destination buttons 21 related to the floors F5 and F6 as shown in fig. 12.

Next, the maintenance operation region check unit 107 determines whether the destination button 21 that blinks at S14 has been pressed (S15). If it is determined in S15 that the button has not been pressed (no in S15), the maintenance operation region check unit 107 proceeds with the process to S14.

On the other hand, if it is determined in S15 that the button has been pressed (yes in S15), the maintenance operation region inspection unit 107 changes the destination button 21 that blinks in the process of S14 from blinking to being off via the maintenance operation region setting guide 105. Further, the maintenance operation area checking unit 107 excludes an area corresponding to the floor related to the pressed destination button 21 from the maintenance operation area (S16). For example, in the example shown in fig. 12, when the destination buttons 21 related to the floors F5 and F6 have been pressed, the maintenance operation area inspection unit 107 excludes the areas corresponding to the floors F5 and F6 from the temporarily set maintenance operation area Z3 (the areas corresponding to the floors F5 to F9 in the hoistway 10A) for the car a1 of the first ring unit A3. Then, the maintenance operation area checking unit 107 shifts the process to S13.

If it is determined in S13 that there are a predetermined number of transfer floors (yes in S13), the maintenance operation area determination unit 108 finally sets the area corresponding to the floor associated with the destination button 21 that is lit up, that is, determines the maintenance operation area of the car at that timing (S17).

For example, in the process of S17, as shown in fig. 13, when the destination buttons 21 related to floors F8 to F10 provided in the car a1 (the car) of the ring unit A3 are lit, the maintenance operation area determination unit 108 sets the area corresponding to the floors F8 to F10 in the hoistway 10A as the maintenance operation area Z5 with respect to the car a 1.

Next, the maintenance operation area determination unit 108 sets a maintenance operation area of the car of the opposite party (S18). Here, the car associated with the setting of the maintenance operation area in S17, that is, the car paired with the own car corresponds to the opposite car. For example, in the example shown in fig. 13, since the car related to the setting of the maintenance operation area in S17 is the car a1, the car a2 corresponds to the opposite car.

The size and position of the maintenance operation area of the opposite car can be appropriately set based on the maintenance operation area set for the car. In the present embodiment, the size and position of the maintenance operation area of the counterpart car are set to the same size as the size of the maintenance operation area set for the own car and vertically symmetrical positions in the ascending/descending passage (the ascending/descending passage 10B in fig. 13) different from the ascending/descending passage (the ascending/descending passage 10A in fig. 13) set for the maintenance operation area of the own car. For example, in the example shown in fig. 13, the maintenance operation area determination unit 108 sets the area corresponding to floors F1 to F3 in the hoistway 10B as the maintenance operation area Z6 of the car a2 as the opposite car.

Next, the automatic operation region determination unit 109 sets an automatic operation region (S19). As described above, the automatic operation area refers to an area other than the maintenance operation area in each of the lifting lanes. In the example shown in fig. 13, the areas corresponding to floors F1 to F7 in the hoistway 10A and the areas corresponding to floors F4 to F10 in the hoistway 10B are set as the automatic travel areas. In the automatic operation area, the car other than the car related to maintenance can move in the vertical direction.

Next, the automatic operation area setting guide 110 notifies the inside of the car and the landing of the automatic operation area (S20). Specifically, the automatic travel area setting guide 110 causes the monitor 26 of the cars a1 to C2 and the

second display sections

52a and 52b of the landing devices 50 to display the stop floor as information indicating the automatic travel area. In addition, the transfer floor is also displayed.

For example, in the example shown in fig. 13, the automatic travel area setting guide 110 causes the monitor 26 of the cars a1, B1, and C1 in the hoistway 10A, which is the car on the left side in the figure, and the second display unit 52a (see fig. 3) of the landing device 50 to display information indicating the automatic travel area in which the car B1 or C1 is movable. The information indicating the automatic travel area in which the car B1 or C1 is movable is "stop floor: 1. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 layers ". In addition, similarly, the automatic travel area setting guidance unit 110 causes the display of "transfer floor: 4.

floors

5, 6, and 7 "are information indicating floors on which cars B2 and C2 can be transferred to the hoistway 10B.

The automatic travel area setting guide 110 causes the monitor 26 of the car a2, B2, C2 on the right side in the figure, that is, the car a 3578, B2, C2 on the hoistway 10B, and the second display unit 52B (see fig. 3) of the landing device 50 to display information indicating the automatic travel area in which the car B2 or C2 is movable. The information indicating the automatic travel area in which the car B2 or C2 is movable is "stop floor: 4. 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 layers ". In addition, similarly, the automatic travel area setting guidance unit 110 causes the display of "transfer floor: 4.

floors

5, 6, and 7 "are information indicating floors on which cars B1 and C1 can be transferred to the hoistway 10A.

The guidance content in the automatic operation area of the automatic operation area setting guide 110 is continued until the maintenance operation mode is switched to the normal operation mode.

Next, the integrated controller 64 prohibits registration of the automatic car call to a new car outside the automatic operating area (S21). Here, the automatically-operated car refers to a car that can move in an automatically-operated area. For example, in the example shown in fig. 13, the integrated controller 64 prohibits new registration of floors other than the floors F1 to F7 corresponding to the automatic travel area as the destination floors for the cars B1 and C1 serving as the automatic travel cars. Therefore, the users in the cars B1 and C1 can no longer designate floors other than the floors F1 to F7 as destination floors. Similarly, the integrated controller 64 prohibits new registration of floors other than the floors F4 to F10 corresponding to the automatic travel area as the destination floors for the cars B2 and C2. Therefore, the users in the cars B2 and C2 can no longer designate floors other than the floors F4 to F10 as destination floors.

Next, the integrated controller 64 prohibits new hall call assignment of the own car and the opponent car scheduled for maintenance (S22). For example, in the example shown in fig. 13, the overall controller 64 prohibits the assignment of the car a1 corresponding to the own car scheduled for maintenance and the car a2 corresponding to the opposite car to the subsequent call from the landing.

Next, the integrated controller 64 determines whether or not a hall call has not been assigned to the own car and the opponent car scheduled for maintenance (S23). When it is determined that a hall call has already been allocated (no in S23), the overall controller 64 changes the allocation of the hall call to another automatically-operated car (S24). For example, in the example shown in fig. 13, when a call from a landing at floor F5 has already been assigned to car a1, car B1 or car C1, which are other automatically-operated cars, is assigned to the call.

If it is determined at S23 that no hall call has been assigned to the car scheduled for maintenance and the car opposite thereto (yes at S23), or after the process at S24, the overall controller 64 determines whether or not there is no call that cannot be serviced without moving the car scheduled for maintenance (the car itself and the car opposite thereto) (S25). For example, in the example shown in fig. 13, when a car call whose destination floor is floor F10 has already been registered with car B1, the car call cannot be handled (serviced) unless car a1 corresponding to the own car scheduled for maintenance is moved from the maintenance operation area. In such a case, the overall controller 64 determines that there is a call that cannot be serviced without moving the scheduled maintenance car.

When it is determined at S25 that there is a call for a service that cannot be performed without moving the scheduled maintenance car (no at S25), the maintenance operation area setting guide 105 notifies the inside of the car of a message that the scheduled maintenance car needs to be closed and moved (S26). In the above example of fig. 13, the maintenance operation region setting guide unit 105 notifies the operator in the car a1 of the need to close the door and move the car using the monitor 26 and the speaker 27 of the car a1 in which the maintenance switch 24 is turned on. The other car (car a2 in the above example) can be notified (notified) in the same manner.

Next, the maintenance operation area setting guide 105 blinks the door closing button 22 of the car (the car for which the maintenance switch 24 is turned on) among the scheduled maintenance cars (S27). In the above example of fig. 13, the integrated controller 64 blinks the door closing button 22 of the car a1 corresponding to the own car.

Next, the integrated controller 64 determines whether the door closing button 22 blinked in S27 has been pressed long to the completion of door closing (the car doors 20 are fully closed) (S28). If it is determined in S28 that the long press has not been completed to close the door (no in S28), the overall controller 64 shifts the process to S27.

On the other hand, if it is determined in S28 that the long press has been completed to close the door (yes in S28), the integrated controller 64 moves the scheduled maintenance car in accordance with the service status of the other car (other car) (S29). For example, as shown in the above example of fig. 13, in the process of S22, when a car call whose destination floor is floor F10 has already been registered for car B1, car a1 corresponding to the own car scheduled for maintenance is moved to the area of the hoistway 10B corresponding to floor F10. Thus, the car B1 can move to the area corresponding to the floor F10 in the hoistway 10A, and therefore the user of the car B1 can move to the floor F10. After that, the overall controller 64 shifts the process to S25.

Returning the description to S25, when it is determined in S25 that there is no call for which service cannot be performed without moving the scheduled maintenance car (yes in S25), the overall controller 64 determines whether there is no call for another car in the maintenance operation area (S30). If it is determined in S30 that a call from another car is present in the maintenance operation area (no in S30), the maintenance operation area setting guidance unit 105 notifies the inside of the car of a message that a service reservation for another car is present in the maintenance operation area (S31).

For example, in the example shown in fig. 13, the maintenance operation area setting guidance unit 105 notifies that a service reservation for another car exists in the maintenance operation area, using the monitor 26 and the speaker 27 corresponding to the car a1 of the own car. After that, the overall controller 64 shifts the process to S30. Accordingly, when there is a service reservation for another car in the maintenance operation area, the overall controller 64 repeatedly executes the processes of S30 and S31. That is, the processing from S32 and onward described later is not executed. Therefore, before the operation in the maintenance operation mode is started (S38 described later), the service can be performed without canceling the registered call relating to the maintenance operation area.

Returning the description to S30, if it is determined in S30 that no call is made to another car in the maintenance operation area (yes in S30), the overall controller 64 determines whether or not another car is not present in the set maintenance operation area (S32). If it is determined in S32 that another car is present (no in S32), it is determined whether or not the other car is not calling a standby car (S33). Here, the call-free standby car refers to a car that is not related to a currently registered car call and a hall call.

If it is determined in S33 that the car is not a non-calling standby car (no in S33), the overall controller 64 repeats the process of S33. That is, the integrated controller 64 repeats the process of S33 to suspend the start of the maintenance operation until the other car moves out of the maintenance operation area in response to the registered car call and hall call.

On the other hand, if it is determined in S33 that the car is a non-call waiting car (yes in S33), the overall controller 64 moves the other car to the automatic operation area (S34). For example, in the example shown in fig. 13, the integrated controller 64 moves the car B1 or the car C1 to an area corresponding to floors F1 to F7, which are automatic travel areas, in the hoistway 10A. The integrated controller 64 moves the car B2 or the car C2 to a region corresponding to floors F4 to F10, which are automatic operation regions, in the hoistway 10B.

Returning to S32, if it is determined in S32 that no other car is present (yes in S32), the integrated controller 64 opens the door of the own car (opens the car door 20) in the maintenance operation area related to the own car (S35). That is, when the process at S35 is started and the car is not located in the maintenance operation area related to the car, the car is moved into the maintenance operation area related to the car and then opened. On the other hand, when the process at S35 is started and the car is already located in the maintenance operation area related to the car, the door is opened only for the car.

Next, the maintenance operation area setting guide 105 blinks the door closing button 22 of the car (S36). Then, the integrated controller 64 determines whether the door closing button 22 of the own car has been pressed long until the door closing is completed (S37). If it is determined in S37 that the long press has not been completed to close the door (no in S37), the overall controller 64 shifts the process to S36.

On the other hand, in the case where it is determined in S37 that the long press has been completed to close the door (yes in S37), the overall controller 64 allows movement under maintenance operation (S38). That is, the integrated controller 64 switches the operation mode of the multi-car elevator 1 from the maintenance preparation operation mode to the maintenance operation mode. Thereafter, the integrated controller 64 controls the multi-car elevator 1 in the maintenance operation mode. In the example shown in fig. 13, in the maintenance operation mode, the integrated controller 64 arranges the designated pair of cars a1, a2 in the maintenance operation area in the hoistway 10. The overall controller 64 controls the other cars B1, B2, C1, and C2 to reciprocate in the vertical direction in an automatic operation area, which is an area other than the maintenance operation area, so as to respond to a call from a user.

< action Effect >

In the multi-car elevator 1 according to the embodiment described above, the validity of the maintenance operation area (first special area) of the own car and the maintenance operation area (second special area) of the opposite car, which are designated and temporarily set by the operator using the destination button 21 and the door closing button 22, is determined by the maintenance operation area inspection unit 107 based on whether or not a predetermined number of transfer floors exist between the 2 maintenance operation areas (S13 in fig. 6). When it is determined that the predetermined number of transfer floors are not present, the maintenance operation area inspection unit 107 blinks the destination button 21 of the floor that prevents the generation of the predetermined number of transfer floors (S14 in fig. 6), thereby prompting the reassignment of the maintenance operation area of the car.

Therefore, since a predetermined number of transfer floors are secured between 2 maintenance operation areas, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of a situation in which the user of the multi-car elevator 1 cannot travel to a required floor due to the operation in the maintenance operation mode. That is, the maintenance operation region can be set efficiently without impairing the convenience of the user.

Fig. 14 is a diagram for explaining the operation and effect of the multi-car elevator 1. For example, in the example shown in fig. 12, when the operator presses the destination button 21 related to the flashing floors F5 and F6, the maintenance operation region checking unit 107 excludes the regions corresponding to the floors F5 and F6 from the maintenance operation region related to the car (in this example, the car a 1). Accordingly, as shown in fig. 14, the maintenance operation zone Z7 related to the car is set as a zone corresponding to floors F7 to F9 in the hoistway 10A. The maintenance operation zone Z8 related to the opposite car (car a2 in this example) is set as a zone corresponding to floors F2 to F4 in the hoistway 10B. Thus, it is possible to prevent the user of the multi-car elevator 1 from being hindered from moving due to the maintenance operation by ensuring two floors F5 and F6 as transfer floors.

When the operation mode is changed from the normal operation mode to the maintenance operation mode, the integrated controller 64 controls the operation of the multi-car elevator 1 in the maintenance preparation operation mode for handling the registered hall call and car call (see S23 to S33 in fig. 7). Therefore, the service can be performed without canceling the registered hall call and car call, and the preparation for the operation in the maintenance operation mode can be completed.

The operator can perform operations related to setting of the maintenance operation area using the destination button 21 and the door closing button 22, which are generally provided in the car. Therefore, it is not necessary to separately provide a device for setting, and the cost for preparing the device can be reduced.

Further, the operator who views the blinking destination button 21 can easily recognize the floor corresponding to the area that needs to be excluded from the maintenance operation area of the car itself in order to generate the predetermined number of transfer floors between the 2 maintenance operation areas. Therefore, the maintenance operation region relating to the operation in the maintenance operation mode can be set efficiently.

< modification example >

In the present embodiment, the maintenance operation in the maintenance operation mode is described as an example of the special operation, but the technique of the present invention may be applied to a dedicated operation or a vip (very Important person) operation. That is, when a car which cannot handle a new car call or a new hall call is generated by the exclusive operation or the VIP operation and a transfer is necessary for the car, the user of the multi-car elevator 1 can be notified of the transfer floor by the display portion of the car and the display of the hall device as in the above-described embodiment.

For example, a VIP button used when VIP moves upward is provided on floor F8 shown in fig. 4, and when this VIP button is pressed, the integrated controller 64 sets the area corresponding to floors F8 to F10 in the hoistway 10A as the VIP area. The integrated controller 64 sets the areas corresponding to the floors F1 to F3 in the hoistway 10B as VIP areas. Then, the integrated controller 64 controls the cars a1 and a2 located closest to the set VIP area to be placed in the VIP area and stand by as cars related to VIP travel. At this time, the overall controller 64 moves the cars B1, B2, C1, and C2 other than the cars a1 and a2 related to the VIP operation in the vertical direction in the area other than the VIP area, and controls so that new car calls and landing calls can be handled, that is, the automatic operation can be performed. In this case, the integrated controller 64 may cause the monitor 26 of the cars a1 to C2 and the

second display sections

52a and 52b of the landing devices 50 to perform notification in the same manner as described in S20 of fig. 7.

In the present embodiment, a mode has been described in which the integrated controller 64 switches to the maintenance operation mode after performing service without canceling the registered car call by the maintenance preparation operation mode. However, in accordance with the degree of urgency of maintenance work or the like, when a registered car call cannot be dealt with, that is, when the car currently being taken by the user cannot reach the destination floor related to the registered car call, the monitor 26 of the car related to the registered car call may be used to notify the transfer floor and notify the user of the car of the transfer.

In the present embodiment, a description has been given of a mode in which the maintenance operation area cannot be set when the number of floors located between the maintenance operation area related to the ascending/descending aisle 10A and the maintenance operation area related to the ascending/descending aisle 10B is less than a predetermined number. However, the maintenance operation area may be set even if the number of floors located between the maintenance operation area related to the hoistway 10A and the maintenance operation area related to the hoistway 10B is less than a predetermined number. At this point, integral controller 64 may notify a message reminding of the use of the stairs of the building. For example, the integrated controller 64 may display a message "please use stairs when going to 10 floors" on the monitor 26 and the speaker 27 of the cars a1 to C2, and the

second display sections

52a and 52b and the speaker 55 of the landing device 50.

In addition, when the maintenance switch is turned on, a message for reminding the use of another elevator can be notified in the opposite car. For example, the monitor 26 and the speaker 27 of the opposite car may notify a message "maintenance operation is about to be performed, please use other elevator".

In the present embodiment, a mode in which the operator designates the maintenance operation area using the destination button 21, that is, a mode in which the destination button 21 is used as the maintenance operation area setting means 104, is described. However, other devices may be used as the maintenance operation area setting unit 104. For example, a maintenance-dedicated terminal device that can communicate with the overall controller 64 may be used as the maintenance operation area setting unit 104. In addition, the second hall call operating portion 54 (see fig. 3) may be used as the maintenance operation area setting means 104. In this case, for example, the operator inputs a password for shifting to the setting mode using the numeric keypad 504 a. In the setting mode, the integrated controller 64 displays a floor corresponding to an area in which the maintenance operation area can be set on the display portion 504 b. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 4, "1 to 10 layers" are shown. The operator inputs the uppermost layer and the lowermost layer corresponding to the region set as the maintenance operation region using the numeric keys 504 a. For example, when the operator designates an area corresponding to floors F8 to F10 in the hoistway a1 as the maintenance operation area, the operator inputs "10" as the uppermost floor and "8" as the lowermost floor using the numeric keys 504 a. The integrated controller 64 determines whether or not a transfer floor is secured based on the input content, and if not, causes the display 504b to display a message prompting the operator to perform a re-input. In the case of specifying a car related to maintenance, each car and a predetermined ID number (for example, car a1 is "11" and car B1 is "21") may be determined in advance, and the ID number may be input using numeric keys 504 a.

In addition, when the type of maintenance that can be input, for example, the type of maintenance is maintenance performed on the car (hereinafter, referred to as on-car maintenance), the area above the car related to the maintenance can be automatically set as the maintenance operation area. For example, as shown in fig. 4, when on-car maintenance is performed on the car a1 located in the area corresponding to the floor F9 of the hoistway 10A, and when an operator inputs on-car maintenance as a maintenance type related to the car a1 using the above-described maintenance-dedicated terminal device, for example, the integrated controller 64 may automatically set the areas corresponding to the floors F9 and F10 in the hoistway 10A as the maintenance operation area for the car a 1.

In addition, in the present embodiment, a description is given of an embodiment in which the technique of the present invention is applied to a multi-car elevator of a balance system. However, the technique of the present invention may be applied to elevators of other systems, such as twin-system elevators and self-propelled elevators.

In the processing of S6 shown in fig. 6, the manner in which the maintenance operation region setting unit 103 determines whether or not the door closing button 22 has been pressed has been described. However, the operation target of the operator related to the temporary setting of the maintenance operation area is not limited to this. For example, the door opening button 23 may be replaced. That is, in the process of S6, the maintenance operation region setting unit 103 may determine whether or not the door open button 23 has been pressed.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments and modifications, and various modifications are possible. For example, the above embodiments are described in detail to explain the present invention easily and understandably, and are not limited to having all the configurations described. Further, a part of the structure of one embodiment may be replaced with the structure of another embodiment, and the structure of another embodiment may be added to the structure of one embodiment. In addition, other configurations can be added, deleted, and replaced for a part of the configurations of the embodiments.

Description of the reference numerals

1 … multi-car elevator, 10 … hoistway, 10A, 10B … hoistway, 20 … hoistway, 21 … destination buttons (designating unit), 22 … door closing button, 23 … door opening button, 24 … maintenance switch, 25 … operation panel, 26 … monitor, 27 … speaker, 41A, 41B, 41C … first main rope (main sling), 42A, 42B, 42C … second main rope, 50 … landing device, 51A, 51B … first display section, 52A, 52B … second display section, 53a … first landing call operation section, 54 … second landing call operation section, 55 … speaker, 60 … control device, 61, 62, 63 … loop controller, 64 … integral controller (controlling section), 102 … maintenance operation mode switching permitting section, 103 … maintenance operation area setting section (first area 104 … maintenance operation area setting unit), 104 maintenance operation area setting unit, 105 … maintenance operation area setting guide (notification means), 106 … maintenance operation area setting guide means, 107 … maintenance operation area inspection means (determination means), 108 … maintenance operation area determination means (first special area setting means, second special area setting means), 109 … automatic operation area determination means, 110 … automatic operation area setting guide means, 111 … automatic operation area setting guide means, a1, a2, B1, B2, C1, C2 … car, A3 … first ring unit, B3 … second ring unit, C3 … third ring unit, F1, F2, F3, F4, F5, F6, F7, F8, F9, F10 …, Z1, Z2, Z3, Z4, Z5, Z6 maintenance operation area.

Claims

1. A multi-car elevator, comprising:

a plurality of loop units having a main hoist line and a plurality of cages, wherein the plurality of cages are connected with the main hoist line and can circularly move in a hoistway comprising 2 lifting passages; and

a control section that controls the plurality of ring units,

the plurality of cages in each ring unit at least includes a first cage and a second cage, which are connected to the main sling in a mode that the first cage is arranged in one of the 2 lifting passages when the second cage is arranged in the other lifting passage,

the multi-car elevator comprises:

a designation means that designates the loop means relating to a special operation different from a normal operation, and designates an area corresponding to at least one floor relating to the special operation of the first car relating to the loop means as a first special area; and

a notification unit that performs notification prompting reassignment of the first special area,

the control unit includes:

first special area setting means for setting, as the first special area, an area corresponding to at least one floor related to one of the 2 hoistways, based on the content designated by the designation means;

a second special zone setting means for setting a zone corresponding to at least one floor related to another hoistway among the 2 hoistways as a second special zone for a second car in the loop unit related to the special travel based on the set first special zone; and

a determination unit that determines the adequacy of the first and second special areas that are set,

enabling a first car or a second car in the ring unit different from the ring unit involved in the special operation to travel in the up-down direction outside a first special area involved in one hoistway or outside a second special area involved in the other hoistway,

the determination means causes the notification means to notify that the first special area is newly designated when the validity of the first and second special areas set is determined to be inappropriate,

the determination means determines that the first and second special areas are valid when the user can move to a floor other than the floor corresponding to the first special area related to one hoistway and a floor other than the floor corresponding to the second special area related to the other hoistway by the ring means different from the ring means related to the special operation, and determines that the user is not valid when the user cannot move to the first and second special areas.

2. The multi-car elevator of claim 1, wherein:

the determination means determines that the number of floors located between the first special area and the second special area is not appropriate when the number of floors is less than a predetermined number.

3. The multi-car elevator of claim 2, wherein:

the predetermined number is set to the number of cars that can move to floors other than the floor corresponding to the first special zone relating to one hoistway or the number of cars that can move to floors other than the floor corresponding to the second special zone relating to another hoistway.

4. A multi-car elevator, comprising:

a control section that controls the plurality of ring units,

the multi-car elevator comprises:

the control unit includes:

the designation means is a destination floor input device connected to the control unit, and is provided in a car or a floor.

5. The multi-car elevator of claim 4, wherein:

the designation means is a destination floor input device provided in the car,

the destination floor input device has a destination floor button capable of designating a destination floor and capable of flashing and lighting in response to an instruction from the control section,

the control unit blinks the destination floor button for a floor corresponding to a zone that can be specified as the first special zone,

the specifying means specifies, when the destination floor button that blinks is pressed, the area corresponding to the floor to which the pressed destination floor button relates as the first special area.

6. The multi-car elevator of claim 5, comprising:

a door opening button used when a door provided to the car is opened; and

a door closing button used when closing a door provided to the car,

the specifying means specifies, when the door open button or the door close button is pressed after the flashing destination floor button is pressed, the area corresponding to the floor related to the pressed destination floor button as the first special area.

7. The multi-car elevator of claim 6, wherein:

the determination means determines that the number of floors between the first special area and the second special area is not appropriate when the number of floors is less than a predetermined number,

the notification element is the destination floor button,

the control part is used for controlling the operation of the motor,

when the notification means prompts the reassignment of the first special zone, the destination floor buttons for floors corresponding to zones that need to be excluded from the first special zone are blinked among the destination floor buttons for floors corresponding to the first special zone specified by the specification means, in order to set the number of floors located between the first special zone and the second special zone to a predetermined number,

when the destination floor button that blinks is pressed, the area corresponding to the floor to which the pressed destination floor button relates is excluded from the first special area.