EP0459169B1 - Group control for elevators with double cabins with direct allocation of calls - Google Patents

Abstract

A group control for double car elevators permits the upper as well as the lower cars to be used at a main stopping floor for travel to both even-numbered and odd-numbered floors. The control has a call memory for each car in which the target calls entered at the main stopping floor and identifying the target floors are stored. A switching circuit has an input connected to the call memories in such a manner that the double car is scheduled in dependence on the allocated call as stopping at floor pairs numbered even-odd or odd-even. An output of the switching circuit is connected to a switching device which excludes either the double cars stopping at floor pairs numbered even-odd or at floor pairs numbered odd-even from the allocation process in the case of a subsequent call to be allocated in order to maximize the possiblilities for coincident stops without losing flexibility.

Description

The invention relates to a group control for elevators with double cabins with immediate assignment of destination calls, the double cabins being formed from two cabins arranged in a common car frame, into which a main stop can optionally be entered, with call registration devices arranged on the floors, which have a keyboard for the Have input of calls for desired target floors, with the call memories assigned to the elevators, which are connected to the call registration devices, with the input storey and a call identifying the destination floor being stored when a call is input, with load measuring devices provided in the upper and lower cabin of the double cabin , which are operatively connected to load stores, with the elevators assigned selectors, each denoting the floor of a possible stopping, and with a device by means of which the entered calls are allocated to the elevators , according to the preamble of claim 1.

CH-PS 529054 has disclosed a control system for an elevator group with double cabins, in which the double cabins are designed in such a way that two adjacent floors can be operated simultaneously. In this case, the filling of a building should be achieved in the shortest possible time with approximately even occupancy of the double cabins by the fact that on the ground floor the passengers board the even-numbered upper floors in the upper cabin and the odd-numbered ones in the lower cabin, whereby the cabin callers for those not the Storeys assigned to the cabin are locked. As soon as the cabin has to stop for a floor call after leaving the ground floor, the lock is released so that the boarding person can travel to any floor.

Such lifts can carry twice as many passengers on each trip as lifts with single cabins. Since less has to be kept, the same number of floors can be served in a shorter time, so that the conveying capacity is increased considerably. With this control, however, it can happen that passengers who do not pay attention to the division of the even and odd floors into the upper or lower cabin do not have to reach the desired floor and have to get off at another. It must also be considered a disadvantage that the compulsory use of boarding passengers at the main stop is to use the correct cabin, not only during the relatively short period of peak traffic, but also during the rest of the time.

In a control device for elevators with single or double cabins known from EP-A 0 301 178, call registration devices with keys for entering calls for desired destination floors are arranged on the floors, whereas no call buttons are provided in the elevator cars. At the main stopping point, call registration devices with buttons for even-numbered destination floors are arranged on the access for the upper cabins of the double cabins, while the entry for the lower cabins of the double-cabins has call registration devices with buttons for odd-numbered destination floors. In a further exemplary embodiment it is proposed to use call registration devices with 10-keyboards, the keys for the odd-numbered destination floors being disabled on the upper access and the keys for the even-numbered destination floors being disabled on the lower access. With this control device too, a passenger has to think carefully about which access to use in order to reach the desired destination. If the wrong access is used, the mistake can be noticed before entering the cabin, so that the correct destination can be reached by changing the access.

EP-A 0 356 731 discloses a group control described for individual cabins, which uses the shortest waiting time of all passengers as a criterion for the assignment of the cabins to the calls entered. With this control, the travel destinations can also be entered on the floors, for example by means of call registration and display devices proposed with EP-A 0 320 583. Immediately after the registration and transmission of a call into a call memory structured according to the input and destination floors, a computer in the form of a microprocessor determines an amount for each cabin, based on elevator-specific data, which corresponds to the waiting time, which corresponds to the waiting time for the passengers to service the call would arise. The operating costs are transferred to a cost register immediately after the calculation and then immediately compared with the operating costs of the other elevators by means of a comparison device. In this case, an allocation instruction that has the lowest operating costs is stored in an allocation memory of the elevator. Immediately after the car / call assignment has been made in this way, the elevator and its location in question are displayed in a display field of the activated call registration and display device, so that the passenger can go to the assigned landing door in good time.

The invention has for its object to improve the control devices initially mentioned in the prior art in such a way that both elevators and lower cabins of the double cabins can be used for trips to even and odd floors in elevators with double cabins in the main station.

This object is achieved by the invention characterized in claim 1. In this case, a call memory is assigned to the upper and lower cabin of a double cabin, in which the calls entered at the main station and identifying the destination floors are stored. A On the input side, the circuit is connected to the call memories in such a way that, depending on an assigned call, the double cabin in question is defined as holding on even-odd or odd-numbered floor pairs. On the output side, the circuit is connected to the comparison device via a switching device, so that depending on a further call that is yet to be allocated, either the double cabins on odd-numbered floors or those on odd-numbered floor pairs cannot participate in the comparison and allocation process. A call is assigned immediately after the entry, the elevator in question and its position being displayed on a display panel of the activated call registration device.

The advantages achieved with the invention can be seen in the fact that the passengers in a main bus stop no longer have to consider whether they have to get into the upper or lower cabin of a double cabin in order to reach the desired floor, since the control system is able to to provide a suitable cabin on both the upper and lower access. The initially mentioned advantage that double cabin lifts have to stop less for dropouts when traveling from the main stop than single cabin lifts remains fully intact. The preference for coincidental stops is also still possible, with the possibility of keeping odd or even odd in the same circulation improves the availability of the cabins and shortens waiting times.

Fig. 1

eine schematische Darstellung der erfindungsgemässen Gruppensteuerung für einen Aufzug einer Aufzugsgruppe mit Doppelkabinen,

Fig. 2

eine schematische Darstellung eines einem Aufzug zugeordneten Teiles der Gruppensteuerung gemäss Fig. 1,

Fig. 3

eine schematische Darstellung eines einem Aufzug zugeordneten Schaltkreises der Gruppensteuerung gemäss Fig. 1 und

Fig. 4

eine schematische Darstellung der Rufspeicher von drei Aufzügen einer Aufzugsgruppe mit Doppelkabinen.

The invention is explained in more detail below with reference to an embodiment shown in the drawing. Show it:

Fig. 1

1 shows a schematic representation of the group control according to the invention for an elevator of an elevator group with double cabins,

Fig. 2

2 shows a schematic illustration of a part of the group control according to FIG. 1 assigned to an elevator,

Fig. 3

a schematic representation of a circuit associated with an elevator of the group control according to FIGS. 1 and

Fig. 4

is a schematic representation of the call memory of three elevators of an elevator group with double cabins.

1, 1 denotes an elevator shaft of an elevator A of an elevator group consisting of several elevators. A conveyor machine 2 drives, via a conveyor cable 3, a double cabin 4, which is guided in the elevator shaft 1 and is formed from two cabins 5, 6 arranged in a common car frame, sixteen floors E1 to E16 being operated according to the elevator system chosen as an example. The distance between the two cabins is chosen so that it matches the distance between two adjacent floors. A main stop E0 provided, for example, on the ground floor has a lower entrance L1 to the lower cabin 5 and an upper entrance L2 to the upper cabin 6 of the double cabin 4, the upper entrance L2 being connected to the lower entrance L1 by an escalator 7. The carrier 2 is controlled by a drive control known from EP-B 0 026 406, the setpoint generation, the control function and the start of the stop being implemented by means of a microcomputer system 8 which is connected to measuring and actuating elements 9 of the drive control. The microcomputer system 8 also calculates, as is known, for example, from EP-A 0 356 731, from elevator-specific data a sum corresponding to the waiting time of all passengers, also called service costs, which is used as the basis for the call allocation process. The cabins 5, 6 have load measuring devices 10, which are also connected to the microcomputer system 8. Call registers known from EP-A 0 320 583, for example, are on the floors Display devices 11 are provided, which have 10-keyboards, by means of which calls can be entered for trips to desired target floors. In the method of serial data input assumed, for example, the call registration and display devices 11 are connected to the microcomputer systems 8 via serial interface modules (not shown) and a serial data conductor 12. The microcomputer systems 8 of the individual elevators in the group are connected to one another via a comparison device 13 known from EP-B 0 050 304 and a party line transmission system 14 known from EP-B 0 050 305.

The part of the microcomputer system 8, which is schematically shown in FIG. 2, for example, has a call memory 20, 21 for the lower as well as for the upper cabin 5, 6 of a double cabin 4, to which an allocation memory 22, 23 is assigned . The call memories 20, 21 and allocation memories 22, 23 have memory locations corresponding to the number of floors for each direction of travel, only the memories associated with the upward direction of travel being shown. The call memories 20, 21 each consist of a first memory 20.1, 21.1 and a second memory 20.2, 21.2, the calls characterizing the storey storeys in the first memories 20.1, 21.2 and the calls characterizing the destination floors being stored in the second memories 20.2 . 24 denotes an operating cost register intended for storing the operating costs. A first selector 25 assigned to the lower car 5 and a second selector 26 assigned to the upper car 6 in the form of further registers form addresses corresponding to the floor numbers, by means of which the memory locations of the memories 20, 21 can be addressed. The selectors 25, 26 each show the floor on which the double cabin 4 with the lower or upper cabin 5, 6 could still stop, for which purpose the second selector 26 for the first and the first selector 25 for the downward travel the second by one floor. The call memory 20, 21 and the allocation memories 22, 23 are read-write memories which, like also registers 24, 25, 26, are connected to the bus 27 of the microcomputer system 8. The calls stored in the call memories 20, 21 according to example FIG. 2 and the allocation instructions stored in the allocation memories 22, 23 are symbolically marked with "1", the allocation instructions expressing that the call pair L1 / E5 of the lower car 5 and the call pair L2 / E8 of the upper cabin 6 of the double cabin 4 of elevator A is allocated. 28 denotes a load memory, 29 a door time memory and 30 a travel time memory, which are also connected to the bus 27 of the microcomputer system 8. The memories 28, 29, 30 known from EP-A 0 356 731 cited above are read-write memories in which data for the calculation of the service costs are stored. Load values are stored in the load memory 28 per floor in the form of a number of people who are at a future stop or when passing a floor in the respective lower or upper cabin 5, 6, and which are calculated on the basis of the calls entered. In this case, load values formed from incorrect call inputs can be corrected by comparison with the values determined by the load measuring devices 10. The door opening and closing times of the elevator concerned are stored in the door time memory 29 for each floor, while the journey times of the relevant double cabin 4 between a particular floor and every other floor are stored in the travel time memory 30. The service cost register 24 is connected to the comparison device 13 via a switching device 31 in the form of tristate buffers, the activation connections of the tristate buffers being connected to the output of a circuit 32 described in more detail below.

The circuit 32 consists of an OR gate 33, which has six inputs, each of which is assigned to six successive floors. In a first execution according to 2, three of the inputs are each connected to outputs of the memory cells of the second memory 21.2 of the upper cabin 6 which are assigned to the odd-numbered floors, and the other three inputs are each connected to the outputs of the memory cells of the second memory 20.2 of the lower cabin 5 which are assigned to the even-numbered floors connected. In a second embodiment, however, as shown in FIG. 3, three of the inputs of the OR gate 33 are each connected to outputs of the memory cells of the second memory 21.2 of the upper cabin 6 assigned to the even floors, and the other three inputs are each connected to the Outputs of the memory cells assigned to the odd-numbered floors of the second memory 20.2 of the lower cabin 5 are connected. The output of the OR gate 33 is connected to the activation connections of the tristate buffers. The circuit 32 formed by the microcomputer system 8, for example on the basis of a program, is activated in each case when a call to be allocated is stored. Depending on the target floor in question and the memory in which the call was transmitted, either the connections according to the first or second embodiment are established in such a way that the target floor is assigned to the middle of three floor pairs defined by the circuit 32.

In FIG. 4, only the second stores 20.2, 21.2 of the lower and the upper cab 5, 6 of the respective double cab 4 are shown for three elevators A, B and C of an elevator group. The distribution of the destination calls entered on the lower or upper access L1, L2 (FIG. 1) and marked with "1" between the second memories 20.2, 21.2 is explained in more detail using an example in the following functional description. The double cabin 4 of elevator A on even-odd-numbered floor pairs and the double cabin 4 of elevator B on odd-numbered floor pairs are located in the area of three adjacent floor pairs holding fixed, while the double cabin 4 of the elevator C is not yet fixed.

The group control described above works as follows:

When a call is entered, the address of the call input storey and that of the destination storey are transmitted to the microcomputer systems 8 of all elevators via the serial data conductor 12, only one call registration and display device 11 being able to access the serial data conductor 12 at a time. If the call is entered on the lower or upper access L1, L2 of the main stop E0, the microprocessors of the microcomputer systems 8 interpret the address of the call input storey in such a way that the call pair in question is either only written into the call memory of the upper or only the lower cabins (example Fig. 2, L2 / E8). Now it is assumed, for example, that calls for the floors E8 and E7 are entered on the upper entrance L2 and calls for the floors E5 and E6 on the lower entrance L1. It is further assumed that when the output of circuit 32 is logic "0", switching device 31 is conductive. After the call for floor E8 has been entered on the upper access L2, the call is transferred to the call memories 21 of all the elevators assigned to the upper cabins 6, the circuit 32 being activated in accordance with the first embodiment in FIG. 2. Since the output of the memory cell assigned to the floor E8 is not connected to an input of the OR gate 33 and no call may yet be stored in the call memories 20, 21 of all elevators for the floors E5-E8, the switching device 31 remains in the conductive state so that all elevators can take part in the comparison. Now the operating costs for the new call pair are calculated for all elevators in accordance with EP-A 0 356 731 already mentioned. Immediately after the calculation, the service costs are transferred to the service cost register 24 and to one another using the comparison device 13 proposed, for example, in accordance with EP-B 0 050 304 compared. It may be assumed that elevator A has the lowest operating costs, so that an allocation instruction is written into its allocation memory 23 on floors L2 and E8 (FIG. 2). The new call pair is then deleted from the lifts without any assignment instructions. With the allocation of the call for floor E8, the double car 4 of the elevator A is fixed in the area of three adjacent even-odd-numbered floor pairs, each holding the upper car 6 on even-numbered floors.

When the call for floor E7 is entered on the upper access L2 and after the call has been transmitted to the call memories 21 of all elevators assigned to the upper cabins 6, the output of the OR gate 33 at the elevator A (FIG. 2) becomes logic "1" , so that the switching device 31 blocks and the elevator A cannot participate in the allocation process. In the other lifts, the circuit 32 is activated according to the second embodiment, FIG. 3, the switching device 31 not being blocked. In the allocation procedure that now follows, the call for floor E7 should be assigned to elevator B (FIG. 3), so that the double cabin 4 of this elevator is fixed in the region of three adjacent odd-numbered floor pairs, each with the upper cabin 6 holding on odd-numbered floors . If the call for floor E5 is now entered on the lower entrance L1, elevator B cannot take part in the allocation procedure, the call being allocated to elevator A, for example (FIG. 2). The call for floor E6 also entered on the lower entrance L1 has the effect that elevator A is excluded from the allocation. According to the example, this call may be assigned to elevator B (FIG. 3). Immediately after a call has been allocated, the passenger is shown the assigned call and its location in a display field of the activated call registration and display device. If a destination call is stored for a floor pair either only for the lower or only for the upper cabin of a double cabin, the first selector is used for initiating the stop in the first case 25 and in the second case the second selector 26 is effective (FIG. 4, elevator A, E5 / E6, E7 / E8).

In order to ensure that the lower and upper cabins 5, 6 are filled evenly when boarding at the main stop E0 during peak traffic, optical display devices can be provided which signal the more advantageous cabins to the newly arriving passengers depending on the destination calls already allocated. For example, information boards can be arranged on the entrances L1 and L2, on which it is displayed whether certain target floors can be reached more quickly by using lower or upper cabins 5, 6.

Claims (5)

1. Group control for lifts with double cages with immediate allocation of target calls, wherein the double cages (4) are formed of two cages (5, 6), which are arranged in a common cage frame and can be boarded selectably at a main stopping place (E0), with call registering equipments (11), which are arranged on the storeys and display a keyboard for the entry of calls for desired target storeys, with call stores (20, 21), which are associated with the lifts and connected with the call registering equipments (11), wherein a call identifying the input storey and a call identifying the target storey are stored on the entry of a call, with load-measuring equipments (10), which are provided in the lower cage (5) and the upper cage (6) of the double cage (4) and stand in operative connection with load stores (28), with selectors (25, 26) each time designating the storey of a possible stop and with an equipment, by means of which the entered calls are allocated to the lifts, wherein the equipment for each lift displays a computer, which computes operating costs corresponding to the waiting times of passengers from data specific to the lift, and an operating costs register (24) connected with the computer is provided and wherein the operating costs registers (24) of all lifts are connected to a comparison equipment (13), which compares the operating costs of the lifts one with the other, and the call concerned is allocated to that lift which displays the lowest operating costs, characterised thereby,

   - that a call store (20, 21), which consists of a first store (20.1, 21.1) and a second store (20.2, 21.1), is associated with the lower cage (5) as well as also the upper cage (6) of a double cage (4), wherein the calls identifying the respective call input storey are stored in the first store (20.1, 21.1) and the calls identifying the target storeys are stored in the second store (20.2, 21.2).

   - that a switching circuit (32), which at the input side stands in connection with the storage calls of the second store (20.2, 21.2) in such a manner that the double cage (4) concerned is scheduled in dependence on an allocated call as stopping at storey pairs numbered odd-even or even-odd, is provided,

   - that the switching circuit (32) is connected at the output side to a switching equipment (31) arranged in the connection between the operating costs register (24) and the comparison equipment (13) so that either the double cages (4) stopping at storey pairs numbered even-odd or the double cages (4) stopping at storey pairs numbered odd-even cannot participate in the comparison and allocation process for the allocation of a further call and

   - that the call registering equipments (11) has in itself known display indicating equipments and a call is allocated immediately after the entry, wherein the allocated lift and its position is indicated on an indicating field of the actuated call registering equipment (11).
2. Group control according to patent claim 1, characterised thereby, that a double cage (4) is scheduled by an allocated call only for three directly adjacent storey pairs as stopping at storey pairs numbered odd-even or even-odd, wherein the allocated call is associated with the middle storey pair.
3. Group control according to patent claim 2, characterised thereby,

   - that the switching circuit (32) displays an OR-gate (33) with six inputs which are each associated with a respective one of six successive storeys,

   - that in a first embodiment, three inputs are connected each time with the outputs of those storage cells of the second store (21.2) of the upper cage (6), which are associated with the odd-numbered storeys, and three inputs are connected each time with the outputs of those storage cells of the second store (20.2) of the lower cage (5), which are associated with the even-numbered storeys,

   - that in a second embodiment, three inputs of the OR-gate (33) are connected each time to the outputs of those storage cells of the second store (21.2) of the upper cage (6), which are associated with the even-numbered storeys, and three inputs are connected each time to the outputs of those storage cells of the second store (20.2) of the lower cage (5), which are associated with the odd-numbered storeys and

   - that the output of the OR-gate (33) is connected with the activating connections of the switching equipment (31) in the form of tristate buffers.
4. Group control according to patent claim 1, characterised thereby, that a first selector (25) is associated with the lower cage (5) and a second selector (26) is associated with the upper cage (6), wherein the first selector (25) scans the call store (20) of the lower cage (5) and the second selector (26) scans the call store (21) of the upper cage (6) and wherein the second selector leads the first by one storey during the upward travel and the first selector leads the second by one storey-during the downward travel.
5. Group control according to patent claim 1, characterised thereby, that optical indicating equipments, by means of which either the lower cages (5) or the upper cages (6) are or are not recommended for use to certain target storeys to the passengers in dependence on the already allocated target calls, are provided at the main stopping place (E0).

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