CN115504344A - Elevator maintenance support system and elevator maintenance support method - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention provides an elevator maintenance support system and an elevator maintenance support method. In the inspection and maintenance work of the elevator, after the inspection is finished, the tool software is prevented from flowing out. Comprising a central unit and an elevator. The center device includes: an operation schedule planning unit for planning the contents of maintenance operation of the elevator; a tool software selection/use limit determination unit which selects tool software and use limit thereof required by the operator to perform the inspection work, in accordance with the work content planned by the work schedule planning unit; and a tool software/service life transmitting part for transmitting the tool software and the service life information to the elevator. The elevator is provided with a tool software control part which expands the tool software distributed from the central device in a form that can be used in the operation of the maintenance terminal, compares the service life of the received tool software with the current date and time, and deletes the tool software except the predetermined tool software in the received tool software when the service life of the tool software is over.

Description

Elevator maintenance support system and elevator maintenance support method

Technical Field

The present invention relates to an elevator maintenance support system and an elevator maintenance support method.

Background

In inspection and maintenance work of an elevator, a method of deleting maintenance tool software installed on a control printed board of the elevator is known in order to prevent loss of a maintenance terminal of the elevator and outflow of tool software due to theft of the control printed board of the elevator.

For example, patent document 1 describes a maintenance support system including a base unit having maintenance software installed therein and a portable slave unit which is not provided with the maintenance software and which can use the maintenance software of the base unit only when connected to the base unit. In this maintenance support system, when the power supply to the control printed board of the elevator is interrupted, the tool software installed on the elevator side is deleted.

However, in the maintenance support system described in patent document 1, distribution or writing to a control printed circuit board of tool software is necessary for recovery at the time of a large-scale power outage or the like, and there is a possibility that the recovery operation of the elevator is hindered.

In addition, the manufacturer of the elevator creates a maintenance manual of the elevator to a maintenance company that performs inspection work of the elevator, and at this time, the manufacturer of the elevator has an obligation to provide the maintenance company with tool software for executing an inspection function loaded in the maintenance manual.

However, when the manufacturer of the elevator provides the service company with the tool software, the problem that the tool software is deleted and the obligation cannot be realized may occur, and a sufficient solution to the problem has not been considered in the prior art.

Patent document 1: japanese patent laid-open No. 2010-146148

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an elevator maintenance support system and an elevator maintenance support method that prevent tool software from flowing out to the outside after inspection is completed in inspection and maintenance work of an elevator.

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

The present invention includes a plurality of solutions to the above-described problem, and in one example, the present invention provides an elevator maintenance support system in which a center device, an elevator, and a maintenance terminal carried by an operator are connected via a network to support the operator who performs inspection and maintenance work on the elevator.

The center device includes: an operation schedule planning unit for planning the contents of maintenance operation of the elevator; a tool software selection/use limit determination unit which selects tool software and use limit thereof required by the operator to perform the inspection work, in accordance with the work content planned by the work schedule planning unit; and a tool software/service life transmission unit that transmits the tool software and the service life information to the elevator.

The elevator further includes a tool software control unit that compares the lifetime received from the center device with the current date and time, and deletes, when the tool software arrives at the end of the lifetime, the tool software other than the predetermined tool software from among the received tool software.

According to the present invention, in the inspection and maintenance work of the elevator, the inspection worker can use the tool software necessary for the work on the inspection day, and after the inspection is completed, the other tool software is deleted in addition to the predetermined tool software, so that the outflow of the tool software can be prevented.

Problems, structures, and effects other than those described above will become apparent from the following description of the embodiments.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an elevator maintenance support system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a diagram showing a hardware configuration of a center device, an elevator, and a maintenance terminal constituting an elevator maintenance support system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 3 is a diagram showing an example of selection conditions when the center device in the elevator maintenance support system according to the embodiment of the present invention determines the tool software to be distributed based on the work schedule.

Fig. 4 is a sequence diagram showing the first half of the procedure when distributing tool software from the center device to the elevator in the elevator maintenance support system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 5 is a sequence diagram showing a second half of a procedure when distributing tool software from a center device to an elevator in the elevator maintenance support system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 6 is a sequence diagram showing steps when distributing tool software from the center device to the elevator when unexpected work occurs in the elevator maintenance support system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Description of the reference numerals

1 \8230, an elevator maintenance support system 10 \8230, a central device 11 \8230, a transceiver 12 \8230, an operation schedule planning section 13 \8230, a tool software selection/use period determination section 14 \8230, a tool software/use period transmission section 15 \8230, an elevator state receiving and processing section 16 \8230, a tool software use permission instruction receiving/approval section 17 \8230, a display section 18 \8230, a storage section 20 \8230, an elevator 21 \8230, a transceiver section 22 \8230, an elevator control program 23 \8230, a tool software control section 24 \8230, an elevator state transmission section 25 \8230, a storage section 30 \8230, a terminal for maintenance, a storage section 31 \8230, a transceiver section 32 \8230, an operation display section 33 \8230, a software input section 823034, and a tool information input section 823034.

Detailed Description

< Structure and function of Elevator maintenance support System >

The structure and function of an elevator maintenance support system according to an embodiment of the present invention (hereinafter referred to as "this example") will be described below with reference to fig. 1 to 6.

Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration and functions of an elevator maintenance support system 1 of this example.

As shown in fig. 1, an elevator maintenance support system 1 of the present example includes a center device 10, an elevator 20, a maintenance terminal 30, and a wide area network 40.

That is, the center device 10, the elevator 20, and the maintenance terminal 30 are connected via the wide area network 40, and data communication can be performed by the transmission and reception units of each other.

[ Structure and function of center device 10 ]

First, the structure and the function of the center device 10 will be explained.

The center device 10 is a management device that collectively manages elevators existing at a plurality of locations, and is implemented by a server and a database, for example.

The center device 10 is installed in a place that is substantially away from a place where a worker performs a maintenance operation, for example, a building of a maintenance company to which the worker belongs.

As shown in fig. 1, the center device 10 includes a transmitter/receiver unit 11, a work schedule planning unit 12, a tool software selection/lifetime determination unit 13, a tool software/lifetime transmission unit 14, an elevator status reception processing unit 15, a tool software use permission instruction reception/approval unit 16, a display unit 17, and a storage unit 18.

The transmission/reception unit 11 is a communication interface, and transmits and receives data to and from the elevator 20 and the maintenance terminal 30 via the wide area network 40.

The work schedule planning unit 12 plans a work instruction indicating at which site the worker makes a round at, what kind of inspection work is performed on the elevator to be inspected, and the like, during the inspection work by the worker. The schedule of the work schedule performed by the work schedule planning unit 12 is generated by an administrator who manages the worker.

When the manager generates the job schedule, the manager refers to the maintenance service contract information 181 stored in the storage unit 18. The maintenance service contract is a contract between the manufacturer of the elevator and an enterprise dedicated to maintenance service, and the content of the maintenance inspection work planned by the work schedule planning unit 12 differs depending on the content of the contract.

The tool software selection/use period determination unit 13 selects tool software necessary for the inspection work based on the contents planned by the work schedule planning unit 12. Then, the utility software selection/lifetime determination unit 13 determines the date and time when the inspection is started (lifetime start lifetime) and the date and time when the inspection is completed (lifetime end lifetime). The selection of the software tool in the software tool selection/lifetime determination unit 13 is performed under the conditions shown in fig. 3 described later.

When the inspection date and time is specified as the lifetime determined by the utility selection/lifetime determination unit 13, the scheduled time from the start of the inspection to the end of the inspection is defined as the lifetime, and when only the inspection day is specified as the lifetime, the inspection day is defined as the lifetime. However, such setting of the lifetime is merely an example.

The lifetime determined by the tool software selection/lifetime determination unit 13 can be arbitrarily changed by the operation of the display unit 17 of the center device 10 by the administrator of the management operator.

The tool software/lifetime transmitting unit 14 transmits the tool software selected by the tool software selection/lifetime determining unit 13 and the lifetime thereof to the elevator 20 via the wide area network 40.

The elevator state reception processing unit 15 receives failure information indicating an abnormal state of the elevator from the elevator 20. Then, tool software/lifetime transmitting unit 14 distributes tool software necessary for failure recovery of elevator 20 and its lifetime to elevator 20. That is, the elevator state reception processing unit 15 has a trigger function of prompting the tool software/lifetime transmission unit 14 to transmit.

When it is necessary to perform an operation other than the scheduled operation on the operation schedule on the inspection day of the elevator, a use permission command requesting distribution of tool software necessary for the inspection may be transmitted from the maintenance terminal 30 of the operator to the center device 10.

The tool software use permission command receiving/approving unit 16 of the center device 10 approves the use permission command transmitted from the maintenance terminal 30 to the center device 10, and transmits the requested tool software to the maintenance terminal 30.

The administrator who manages the center device 10 of the operator operates the display unit 17 of the center device 10 to perform an approval operation for a use permission instruction from the operator, thereby executing transmission of the tool software. The out-of-schedule work by the operator as referred to herein is a work which is not present in the work schedule on the current day during the inspection work by the operator, and is a behavior for performing a recovery work for a failure such as an open/close abnormality of the landing door when the operator finds the failure.

The display unit 17 is, for example, a liquid crystal display, and has a keyboard function (input function) capable of inputting numeric or character information, such as a tablet computer or a smartphone, in addition to a display function.

The storage unit 18 is a memory for recording software and data. The storage unit 18 stores maintenance contract information 181, tool software selection conditions 182, a work schedule 183, and various tool software (tool software a184, tool software B185, and tool software C186 \8230;) used by a worker.

Here, the maintenance service contract information 181 is information indicating the contract contents made between the maintenance service provider and the elevator manufacturer, and is contract information made between the business person in charge of the manufacturer and the maintenance service provider.

The tool software selection condition 182 is a condition for selecting the tool software to be transmitted to the maintenance terminal 30 by the tool software selection/lifetime determination unit 13. As described above, the work schedule 183 is a specific work schedule planned by the manager through the work schedule planning unit 12 and provided to the maintenance terminal 30 carried by the worker.

[ Structure and function of Elevator 20 ]

Next, the structure and function of the elevator 20 will be described. The structure of the elevator 20 shown here is a structure as a control device that controls the operation of the elevator 20 as a hoist, and therefore, a description of the mechanism structure of the elevator 20 is omitted.

The elevator 20 is configured to include a transmitter/receiver 21, an elevator control program 22, a tool software control unit 23, an elevator status transmitter 24, and a storage unit 25.

The transmission/reception unit 21 is a communication interface, and transmits and receives data to and from the center apparatus 10 and the maintenance terminal 30 via the wide area network 40.

The elevator control program 22 is a control program for controlling a motor (not shown) of the elevator 20 to raise and lower the car. For example, the elevator control program 22 is a program for reading control data related to the operation of raising and lowering the elevator 20 and data for investigation at the time of occurrence of a failure, in accordance with a command from the tool software control unit 23.

The elevator control program 22 can also read data related to electrical measurement and diagnosis of the elevator 20, including measurement results of the operating dimensions around the door, for example.

The tool software control unit 23 develops the tool software (×) 251 stored in the storage unit 25 into a format usable for operating the maintenance terminal 30 carried by the operator. That is, the tool software control unit 23 has a function for operating the tool software (×) 251. In response to a request from the maintenance terminal 30, the utility software control unit 23 transmits utility software for displaying information on the operation display unit 32 of the maintenance terminal 30 to the maintenance terminal 30. Here, the symbol "denotes any one of the tool software a, B, C \8230;" of the center device 10.

The tool software control unit 23 supplies the command stored in the tool software 251 to the elevator control program 22, and supplies the response data returned from the elevator control program 22 to the tool software 251.

The elevator state transmitting unit 24 monitors the elevator control program 22, and when an abnormal state such as a failure of the elevator 20 occurs, transmits failure information indicating the abnormal state to the center device 10.

The storage unit 25 is a memory for recording software and data. Specifically, the tool software (star) 251 and the lifetime 252 of the storage unit 25 store, for example, the tool software a184 and B185 \8230thatare distributed from the center device 10, and the lifetime thereof.

[ Structure and function of maintenance terminal 30 ]

Next, the structure and function of the maintenance terminal 30 will be described. The maintenance terminal 30 is a terminal carried by an operator who performs inspection and maintenance work on the elevator during work.

The maintenance terminal 30 includes a transmission/reception unit 31, an operation display unit 32, a tool software information input/output unit 33, and a tool software use permission instruction unit 34.

The transceiver 31 is a communication interface, and performs data transmission and reception with the center device 10 and the elevator 20 via the wide area network 40.

The operation display unit 32 is, for example, a liquid crystal display, and has a keyboard function (input function) capable of inputting numeric or character information, such as a tablet computer or a smartphone, in addition to a display function.

The tool software information input/output unit 33 inputs and outputs information related to the screen operation of the tool software between the elevator 20 and the tool software control unit 23. This enables screen output and operation of the tool software from the tool software control unit 23 of the elevator 20 to the operation display unit 32 of the maintenance terminal 30.

When the worker needs to perform an operation other than the predetermined operation on the operation schedule on the inspection day, the tool software use permission instructing unit 34 generates a use permission instruction requesting distribution of the tool software necessary for the inspection. Then, the tool software use permission instructing unit 34 transmits a use permission instruction requesting the newly required tool software to the center device 10.

The above is a description of the structure and function of the elevator maintenance support system 1 of the present embodiment.

< hardware configuration of Elevator maintenance support System >

Fig. 2 is a diagram showing a hardware configuration common to each of the center device 10, the elevator 20, and the maintenance terminal 30 constituting the elevator maintenance support system 1 of the present example.

The center apparatus 10, the elevator 20, and the maintenance terminal 30 described in fig. 1 are each configured by a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 51, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 52, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 53, and a nonvolatile Memory device 54 connected to a bus 50.

The CPU51 reads program codes of software for realizing the functions of the center device 10, the elevator 20, and the maintenance terminal 30 from the ROM52 and executes arithmetic processing. Variables and the like generated during the arithmetic processing performed by the CPU51 are temporarily written in the RAM 53. The CPU51 executes the program codes recorded in the ROM52 to realize the functions of the center device 10, the elevator 20, and the maintenance terminal 30.

The nonvolatile storage device 54 is configured by a nonvolatile memory such as an SSD (Solid State Drive). The nonvolatile storage device 54 stores programs, data, and the like necessary for the CPU51 to operate. The nonvolatile storage device 54 corresponds to a storage unit not shown in the drawings of the maintenance terminal 30 in addition to the storage unit 18 of the center device 10 and the storage unit 25 of the elevator 20.

The center device 10, the elevator 20, and the maintenance terminal 30 include an input unit 55 and an output unit 56. The administrator inputs a job schedule and the like from the input unit 55 of the center device 10. The output unit 56 of the center device 10 corresponds to, for example, the display unit 17 in fig. 1.

In the maintenance terminal 30, the input unit 55 and the output unit 56 correspond to the operation display unit 32 and the tool software information input/output unit 33 in fig. 1.

In the elevator 20 shown in fig. 1, the input unit 55 and the output unit 56 are not necessarily required to be hardware.

The center device 10, the elevator 20, and the maintenance terminal 30 include a communication interface (communication unit IF) 57. As the communication Interface 57, for example, an NIC (Network Interface Card) or the like is used. The communication interface 57 corresponds to the transmission/reception unit 11 of the center device 10, the transmission/reception unit 21 of the elevator 20, and the transmission/reception unit 31 of the maintenance terminal 30.

< tool software selection Condition >

Fig. 3 shows a data structure of the tool software selection condition 182 when the center device 10 of the elevator maintenance support system 1 determines the tool software to be distributed based on the schedule 183.

Hereinafter, referring to fig. 3, the selection conditions of the tool software distributed by the center device 10 will be described.

As shown in fig. 3, the tool software selection condition 182 has a number (No.) field L1, a condition 1 field L2, a condition 2 field L3, a condition 3 field L4, an operator's inspection summary field L5, and a tool software field L6.

The number (No.) field L1 is a column of a serial number indicating the tool software selection condition 182. Here, the conditions are divided into 8 conditions of numbers 1 to 8 according to the relationship with the fields L2 to L4 of the conditions 1 to 3.

The status of the maintenance service contract is stored in the condition 1 field L2. Here, selected conditions of the maintenance company of the manufacturer system for the elevator are defined. A maintenance facilitator who is not a manufacturer system is not signed up in the condition 1 field L2. If the contract is not made, only the tool software having the minimum necessary functions specified in advance is provided as indicated by the operator's inspection summary field L5.

For the maintenance company of the manufacturer system contracted in the condition 1 field L2, the selected tool software represented in "good" in the tool software field L6 is provided based on the condition 2 field L3, the condition 3 field L4, and the inspection summary field L5 of the operator.

That is, as shown in fig. 3, when there is no contract for a maintenance service contract between the manufacturer and the maintenance company, the maintenance company cannot use any other tool software (e.g., tool software B to F) than the tool software a related to the operation control of the elevator.

On the other hand, when a maintenance service contract is made between a manufacturer and a maintenance company, the tool software that can be used can be determined based on the contract contents related to the maintenance inspection.

The condition 2 field L3 defines information on the state of the elevator 20, that is, the state of the elevator 20 captured by the elevator state transmitting unit 24. For example, in the condition 2 field L3, various inspections such as "operation inspection", "door periphery inspection", "monitor activation", and "brake diagnosis" which are inspection operations of the elevator 20 are defined in addition to "failure occurrence" which indicates an abnormality of the elevator 20.

In the condition 3 field L4, a state in which the fault state is subdivided is defined as a more detailed condition in association with the occurrence of the fault in the condition 2 field L3. Here, as examples, a speed abnormality of a motor (not shown) of the elevator 20, a door opening/closing abnormality of the car, and a shutdown of a microcomputer of the elevator control program 22 are listed.

In the inspection summary field L5 of the operator, inspection contents of the operator are defined and stored in correspondence with the states of the elevator 20 defined by the condition 1 field L2 to the condition 3 field L4.

The tool software a to F in the tool software field L6 indicate the tool software necessary for the inspection in a star shape for the state of the elevator 20 defined by the condition 1 to 3 fields L2 to L4. "o" indicates needed, blank columns indicate not needed, and tool software with "o" is distributed from the central unit 10 to the elevators 20.

Here, the tool software a is tool software having a software function for basic operation of the elevator 20, and is provided to all maintenance service companies regardless of whether or not a maintenance service contract is made.

In contrast, the tool software B to F are tool software provided to a maintenance service company which has made a contract for maintenance service with the manufacturer, and the tool software B is, for example, tool software necessary for analyzing a failure of the elevator 20 such as a speed abnormality, a door opening/closing abnormality, or a microcomputer shutdown.

The tool software C is a tool software for adjusting various elevators 20, and is provided when a failure according to condition 3 occurs, or when inspection or brake diagnosis of the periphery of the door according to condition 2 is required.

The tool software D is required for diagnosis of the elevator 20, and is used, for example, when diagnosing the braking state of a brake attached to a motor and adjusting the braking state.

The tool software E is a tool software for controlling a monitoring device, not shown, for detecting a sign of a failure, and is provided to a maintenance company when the door opening/closing is abnormal under condition 3, when the inspection around the door under condition 2 is required, and when the monitoring device under condition 2 is required to be activated.

Specifically, for example, when the condition 2 field L3 is "door periphery inspection", the operator's inspection summary field L5 stores "confirmation of the door periphery operation size and adjustment if necessary". Therefore, in order to confirm the operation size around the door, the information of the monitoring device is read by the tool software E. In addition, if necessary, the adjustment of the elevator is performed by the tool software C while the elevator 20 is operated by the tool software a. Therefore, in this case, the tool software a, the tool software C, and the tool software E are required for maintenance inspection.

The tool software F is used to rewrite the control program when the elevator control program 22 of the elevator 20 is abnormal, when the control printed board on which the control program is installed needs to be replaced due to burning of the ROM, or the like. For example, when the microcomputer of condition 3 is shut down, the tool software F is provided when a substrate failure occurs that requires a replacement operation of a new substrate as described in the inspection field L5 of the operator.

As described above, the tool software selection condition 182 shown in fig. 3 defines tool software to be distributed to the worker based on the failure state of the elevator 20 and various conditions of the elevator 20 found when the worker performs the inspection work.

< distribution and lifespan of tool software >

Fig. 4 and 5 are timing charts in which the procedure of distributing the tool software from the center device 10 to the elevator 20 and the maintenance terminal 30 in the elevator maintenance support system 1 is divided into the first half and the second half, and the description is given.

In fig. 4 and 5, the flow of tool software distribution is graphed by dividing the flow into a manager who manages an operator, a center device, an elevator, a maintenance terminal, and an operator.

In fig. 4 and 5, the sequence of actions performed by the manager, the center device, the elevator, the maintenance terminal, and the operator is represented by M, C, E, T, and W (steps). "" is expressed as a number representing a step.

Hereinafter, with reference to fig. 4 and 5, the flow of distribution of the utility software is described in association with the functional block diagram of fig. 1.

As shown in fig. 4, first, the manager plans the work schedule by the work schedule planning unit 12 of the center device 10 (M1). The work schedule plan of step M1 is performed on the day before the inspection work day.

The tool software selection/lifetime determination unit 13 of the center device 10 always determines whether or not the target elevator 20 has arrived one day before the inspection day (C1). In step C1, when the day before the day is checked (yes in C1), the tool software to be distributed is selected (C2) by referring to the job schedule 183 and the tool software selection condition 182, and then the use period is determined (C3).

In addition, in step C1, it is determined whether or not the examination day is due, but the examination day may not necessarily be the previous day. For example, 2 days or 3 days before the examination day, or the day of the examination day may be used as long as it is before the examination.

In step C1, even when the elevator 20 has failed and the elevator status reception processing unit 15 of the center device 10 receives failure information indicating the occurrence of the failure from the elevator status transmitting unit 24, the tool software selection (C2) and the determination of the lifetime (C3) are performed in the same manner. In the maintenance work by the operator, the case where unexpected work occurs is described in detail with reference to fig. 6.

If the day before the day is not checked and no failure has occurred in step C1 (no in C1), the system stands by until the event occurs.

Next, the tool software/lifetime transmitting unit 14 of the center device 10 extracts the tool software selected in the determination in step C3 from the tool software stored in the storage unit 18 and transmits the extracted tool software to the elevator 20 (C4), and also transmits lifetime information of the tool software to the elevator 20 (C5).

The tool software control unit 23 of the elevator 20 that has received the information stores the received tool software and the service life in the storage unit 25 as the tool software × 251 and the service life 252 (E3).

The state before the tool software received by the elevator 20 and its lifetime are stored in the storage unit 25 is set to the unusable state (E1) except for the predetermined minimum necessary tool software a used for the operation control of the elevator.

On the other hand, the operator operates the operation display unit 32 of the maintenance terminal 30 to determine whether or not to use the tool software (W1). In step W1, the operator enters the standby state when the operator does not use the tool software (no in W1), but starts the tool software by operating the screen of the maintenance terminal 30 when the operator uses the tool software (yes in W1) (W2).

When the tool software is started, the maintenance terminal 30 transmits a command for acquiring the tool software information to the elevator 20 (T1).

At this stage, since the elevator 20 does not have the tool software available, the elevator 20 returns information indicating that the tool software is not available to the maintenance terminal 30 (E2). The maintenance terminal 30 displays a message indicating that it is not available on the operation display unit 32 (T2). The worker sees the message displayed on the display screen of the maintenance terminal 30 and knows that the tool software cannot be used.

Next, the tool software control unit 23 of the elevator 20 receives the tool software and its use period from the center device 10 in steps C4 and C5, and then compares the received tool software and the current date and time to determine whether or not the received tool software has reached the use start period (E4). When the use start deadline is reached in step E4 (yes in E4), the tool software control unit 23 allows the use of the tool software (E5), as shown in fig. 5. On the other hand, the utility software received in step E4 does not reach the use start period (no in E4), and stands by until the use start period is reached.

Next, the procedure of distributing the tool software from the center device 10 to the elevator 20 and the maintenance terminal 30 will be described with reference to fig. 5.

The worker tries to use the tool software again (W3). In step W3, when the worker uses the tool software (yes in W3), the worker operates the screen of the maintenance terminal 30 to start the tool software (W4). When the tool software is started, the maintenance terminal 30 transmits a command for acquiring information on the tool software to the elevator 20 (T3). In step W3, if the operator does not use the tool software (no in W3), the operator stands by until the tool software is used.

Since the tool software is usable in step E5, the elevator state transmitting unit 24 of the elevator 20 returns information indicating that the tool software is usable to the maintenance terminal 30 (E6). Then, the operator sees the display screen of the maintenance terminal 30 and knows that the tool software is usable (T4).

Thereafter, the tool software control unit 23 of the elevator 20 determines whether or not the tool software has reached the use end limit (E7). Then, the tool software control unit 23 makes the tool software usable until the use end period is reached (no in E7), but makes the tool software unusable when the tool software reaches the use end period (yes in E7) (E8).

Then, the utility software control unit 23 deletes the utility software that has become unusable in step E8 (E9).

In step E9, after the tool software is deleted, even if the operator operates the operation display unit 32 of the maintenance terminal 30 and tries to use the tool software (yes in W5), the operator cannot start the tool software.

That is, even if the operator performs a screen operation of the maintenance terminal 30 to start the tool software (W6) and transmits a tool software acquisition command to the elevator 20 (T5), the tool software control unit 23 of the elevator 20 returns to the maintenance terminal 30 that it is unusable (E10). As a result, the tool software information input/output unit 33 of the maintenance terminal 30 receives the response indicating that the tool software is not usable, displays a message indicating that the tool software is not usable on the operation display unit 32, and transmits the message to the operator (T6). The above is a standard procedure for distributing tool software from the center device 10 to the elevator 20 and the maintenance terminal 30.

< distribution of tool software at the time of out-of-order work >

Next, with reference to fig. 6, a description will be given of a procedure when tool software is distributed from the center device to the elevator when unexpected work occurs.

There are cases where the operator needs to perform an operation outside the schedule not scheduled on the inspection day. The out-of-schedule work as referred to herein is a work for repairing a trouble, for example, when a trouble such as an abnormal opening/closing of a landing door is found in a maintenance inspection work performed by an operator, and the like, which is not present in the work schedule on the day.

First, the operator determines whether or not an operation other than the predetermined operation has occurred during the maintenance inspection operation (W7). If there is no work other than the predetermined work (no in W7), the operator stands by directly, but if there is a work other than the predetermined work (yes in W7), the operator selects necessary tool software (W8).

Then, a screen operation of the maintenance terminal 30 is performed to generate a tool software use permission request (W9). That is, the operator requests the distribution of the tool software necessary for the inspection by operating the operation display unit 32 of the maintenance terminal 30. Then, the maintenance terminal 30 transmits a tool software use permission command to the center device 10 from the tool software use permission command unit 34.

When the tool software information acquisition command is received from the maintenance terminal 30, the tool software use permission command reception/approval unit 16 of the center device 10 gives an alarm indicating that the scheduled external work has occurred to the manager who manages the worker by mail or the like (C6).

Then, the administrator who has noticed this operation operates the display unit 17 of the center device 10 to perform an approval operation for an unexpected task to the operator (M2). If the administrator confirms the approval in step M2 (yes in M2), the administrator performs a screen operation to give the central apparatus 10 a use permission of the tool software. Then, the tool software selection/lifetime determination unit 13 of the center device 10 determines the lifetime of the requested tool software (C7). Here, the lifetime is set to be limited to the current day.

Then, the tool software lifetime transmitting unit 14 of the center device 10 transmits the tool software requested from the maintenance terminal 30 and the lifetime thereof to the elevator 20 (C8, C9).

Further, the tool software lifetime transmitter 14 of the center device 10 transmits a tool software use permission notification to the maintenance terminal 30 (C10).

The elevator 20 stores the tool software transmitted from the center device 10 and the lifetime thereof in the tool software 251 and the lifetime 252 of the storage unit 25 (E12). Then, the stored utility software is made available (E13).

At this stage, the operator determines whether or not the tool software requested from the center device 10 by the maintenance terminal 30 is used (W10). Then, the operation display unit 32 of the maintenance terminal 30 performs a screen operation to start the tool software (W11).

The tool software use permission instruction unit 34 of the maintenance terminal 30 transmits a tool software information acquisition instruction to the elevator 20 (T8). Then, the tool software control unit 23 of the elevator 20 returns information that the requested tool software is usable to the maintenance terminal 30 (E14). The maintenance terminal 30 displays the tool software available on the operation display unit 32 and notifies the operator of the tool software available (T9).

The above is a procedure when tool software is distributed from the center device 10 to the elevator 20 and the maintenance terminal 30 when unexpected work occurs during the inspection work by the operator.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and includes various modifications. The above-described embodiments are described for easy understanding of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to the case where all the configurations described are necessarily provided, and can be appropriately applied to other configurations.

The above-described structures, functions, processing units, and the like may be partially or entirely realized by hardware, for example, by being designed as an integrated circuit. The respective structures, functions, and the like described above may be realized by software by the processor interpreting and executing a program for realizing the respective functions. Information such as programs, tables, and files for realizing the respective functions can be stored in a recording device such as a memory, a hard disk, and an SSD (Solid State Drive), or a recording medium such as an IC card, an SD card, and a DVD.

Claims (6)

1. An elevator maintenance support system for supporting an operator who performs inspection and maintenance work on an elevator by connecting a center device, the elevator, and a maintenance terminal carried by the operator via a network,

the center device includes:

an operation schedule planning unit for planning the contents of the maintenance operation of the elevator;

a tool software selection/lifetime determination unit that selects tool software and its lifetime necessary for the worker to perform the inspection work, in accordance with the work content planned by the work schedule planning unit; and

a tool software/lifetime transmitting section that transmits the tool software and lifetime information to the elevator,

the elevator is provided with a tool software control part which compares the service life received from the center device with the current date and time, and deletes the tool software except the predetermined tool software in the received tool software when the service life of the tool software is met.

2. The elevator maintenance assistance system of claim 1,

the tool software selection/lifetime determination unit refers to the maintenance service contract information of the elevator and determines the tool software permitted to be used in the maintenance service contract and the lifetime thereof.

3. Elevator maintenance assistance system according to claim 1 or 2,

the tool software selection/lifetime determination unit selects tool software before the inspection date of the operator or when the elevator has a failure, and determines the lifetime, according to the work schedule and the tool software selection condition generated by the manager.

4. The elevator maintenance assistance system according to claim 1,

the center device further includes a tool software use permission instruction receiving/approving unit that receives a tool software use permission instruction from the maintenance terminal connected via a network and approves the use permission,

when the tool software use permission command receiving/approving unit has approved the tool software, the tool software/use period transmitting unit distributes the tool software to the maintenance terminal.

5. The elevator maintenance assistance system according to claim 1,

the elevator stores the tool software and the service life thereof transmitted from the center device in a storage unit of the elevator, reads the tool software from the storage unit when the tool software reaches the service start time, and transmits information indicating that the tool software is usable to the maintenance terminal.

6. An elevator maintenance assisting method for assisting an operator who performs inspection and maintenance work of an elevator by connecting a center device, the elevator, and a maintenance terminal carried by the operator through a network,

the method comprises the following steps:

planning the content of maintenance work of the elevator by a work schedule planning unit;

selecting tool software and a use period thereof required for the worker to perform the inspection work by a tool software selection/use period determination unit according to the work content planned by the work schedule planning unit,

transmitting the tool software and the service life information from a tool software/service life transmission unit to the elevator; and

and comparing the use period transmitted from the tool software/use period transmitting unit with the current date and time, and deleting, by the tool software control unit, tool software other than predetermined tool software from among the received tool software when the received tool software comes to the end of the use period.

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