EP0776853A2 - Distributed elevator shuttle dispatching - Google Patents

Distributed elevator shuttle dispatching Download PDF

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Publication number
EP0776853A2
EP0776853A2 EP96308655A EP96308655A EP0776853A2 EP 0776853 A2 EP0776853 A2 EP 0776853A2 EP 96308655 A EP96308655 A EP 96308655A EP 96308655 A EP96308655 A EP 96308655A EP 0776853 A2 EP0776853 A2 EP 0776853A2
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
shuttles
run
shuttle
dispatching
group
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Withdrawn
Application number
EP96308655A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
French (fr)
Other versions
EP0776853A3 (zh
Inventor
Frederick H. Barker
Joseph Bittar
Paul Bennett
Anthony Cooney
Richard Charles Mccarthy
Bruce A. Powell
Samuel C. Wan
Gilbert Wayne Wierschke
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Otis Elevator Co
Original Assignee
Otis Elevator Co
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Otis Elevator Co filed Critical Otis Elevator Co
Publication of EP0776853A2 publication Critical patent/EP0776853A2/en
Publication of EP0776853A3 publication Critical patent/EP0776853A3/xx
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

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    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B66—HOISTING; LIFTING; HAULING
    • B66B—ELEVATORS; ESCALATORS OR MOVING WALKWAYS
    • B66B1/00—Control systems of elevators in general
    • B66B1/02—Control systems without regulation, i.e. without retroactive action
    • B66B1/06—Control systems without regulation, i.e. without retroactive action electric
    • B66B1/14—Control systems without regulation, i.e. without retroactive action electric with devices, e.g. push-buttons, for indirect control of movements
    • B66B1/18—Control systems without regulation, i.e. without retroactive action electric with devices, e.g. push-buttons, for indirect control of movements with means for storing pulses controlling the movements of several cars or cages
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B66—HOISTING; LIFTING; HAULING
    • B66B—ELEVATORS; ESCALATORS OR MOVING WALKWAYS
    • B66B9/00—Kinds or types of lifts in, or associated with, buildings or other structures

Definitions

  • This invention relates to dispatching elevator shuttles, such as in extremely tall buildings, in a dispersed manner so that elevators leave lower and upper lobbies served by the shuttles at regular intervals.
  • an elevator cab may be moved in a first car frame in a first hoistway, from the ground floor up to a transfer floor, moved horizontally into a second elevator car frame to a second hoistway, and moved therein upwardly in the building, and so forth. Since the loading and unloading of passengers takes considerable time, in contrast with high speed express runs of elevators, another way to increase hoistway utilization, thereby decreasing core requirements, includes moving the elevator cab out of the hoistway for unloading and loading, as is described in our European patent applications claiming priority of U.S. patent applications Serial Nos. 08/564,534 and 08/565,606 and filed contemporaneously herewith.
  • elevator shuttles of any of the foregoing types consume significant time in making a round trip run, such as from an entry lobby back to the entry lobby.
  • timers typically determine when elevator car doors begin to close, thereby beginning the process of commencing a run.
  • passengers interrupt by means of pressing a "door open" switch on the car operating panel, or by activating the door safety switch.
  • commencement of runs from one car to the next is often quite irregular.
  • Objects of the present invention include controlling the dispatching of elevator shuttles, such as in very large buildings, in a manner to distribute the departure times in a regular fashion, evenly, so that a shuttle will leave a lobby on a regular recurring basis.
  • each elevator car of a bank of shuttle elevators is allowed to run (that is, to undertake response to a motion controller) only when the car is ready to run and a distributed dispatching controller (dispatcher) signifies that the time for departure, under a scheme of distributed departures, has arrived.
  • a distributed dispatching controller signifies that the time for departure, under a scheme of distributed departures, has arrived.
  • the car if the car is ready to run before the dispatcher indicates that the car should commence a run, the car will wait until the dispatcher signifies the run can commence. If the dispatcher signifies that the run can commence prior to the car being ready, the car will commence its run as soon thereafter as it is ready.
  • distributed dispatching of a plurality of shuttle elevators is accomplished by means of elapsed time intervals, the beginning of which is established each time that a car commences a run; any delay in commencement of the run of any elevator car causes a corresponding subsequent delay in the running of all cars, but not in the frequency of dispatching.
  • the invention results in a small phase delay in the departure of all cars subsequent to a delay in the departure of one car, rather than disrupting the distributed departure of all of the cars.
  • the bunching up of departures, interleaved with sparse departures cannot occur.
  • the invention greatly improves the effective handling of traffic of a bank of shuttle elevators, particularly in very tall buildings.
  • Fig. 1 is a simplified, stylized block diagram of a bank of elevators with which the present invention may be used.
  • Fig. 2 is a logic flow diagram of a portion of a car control routine, of a conventional elevator system known to the art, adapted for use with the present invention.
  • Fig. 3 is a logic flow diagram of a portion of a car control routine for an elevator shuttle having off-hoistway loading and unloading, adapted for use with the present invention.
  • Fig. 4 is a logic flow diagram of a low lobby dispatch routine according to the present invention.
  • Fig. 5 is a timing diagram illustrating the invention.
  • a bank of elevator shuttles may comprise elevators numbered 1-10, arranged in two tiers facing each other, so that each time an elevator of a given number if dispatched, the next elevator to leave will be an adjacent elevator (either in the same tier or across the lobby).
  • the elevators depicted in Fig. 1 may be conventional elevators known to the prior art; conventional double deck elevators known to the prior art; elevators in which a cab is transferred from a lower shaft to an adjacent upper shaft so that passengers can travel more than the aforementioned rope-limited distance without having to leave the elevator cab, or elevators having cabs that are removed to landings for off-hoistway loading and unloading thereof, as in the aforementioned co-pending patent applications.
  • the elevators depicted in the bank of elevators in Fig. 1 might be other sorts of elevators, such being irrelevant to the present invention. Therefore, as used herein, the term “elevator car” may mean a conventional elevator car with a cab fixed thereon, or an elevator car frame carrying a horizontally moveable cab. The term includes the motion control, hoisting motor, ropes, brake, and so forth.
  • a conventional car establishes its running condition, and submits itself to control by a motion controller
  • Various functions such as responding to car calls or to a hall call dispatcher, or the like might normally be performed.
  • a typical routine will simply sense the expiration of a suitable time for loading the elevator, close the doors, recognize that the elevator must go up or down to reach the opposite lobby floor, and set direction.
  • Each shuttle has one or more car controllers as in Figs. 2 and 3; an exemplary shuttle is shuttle S.
  • a test 23 determines if direction has been set for the car or not. If not, a negative result of test 23 causes other programming to be reached through a return point 24. In subsequent passes through the routine of Fig. 2, eventually direction will have been established for the car of shuttle S, so an affirmative result of test 23 will reach a step 25 to issue a door close command to close the doors of the car. Then a test 26 determines if the doors are fully closed or not. Initially, they will not be, so a negative result of test 26 reaches other programming through the return point 24. In a subsequent pass through the routine of Fig.
  • test 23 will be affirmative and eventually the doors will be fully closed so that test 26 will be affirmative. This reaches a step 27 to set a "run ready for shuttle S" flag, which indicates to the dispatcher that shuttle S is ready to run. Then a test 32 determines if the dispatcher has sent back a "enable run for shuttle S" flag, or not. Initially, it will not unless the shuttle has been delayed for some reason, such as passengers holding the doors open for a prolonged period of time. If shuttle S is not yet enabled, a negative result of test 32 reaches other programming through the return point 24.
  • test 32 will be affirmative reaching a step 33 which sets run for this car (which is the car of shuttle S), a step 34 which resets the "run ready for shuttle S” flag, and a step 35 which resets the "enable run shuttle S” flag.
  • dispatching is dependent upon the length of time it takes for the shuttles to make a round trip, and the number of shuttles in the group to which the traffic may be distributed.
  • each shuttle determines its own run time by initiating a run timer whenever the run command is set in step 33, and then recording the elapsed time therein the next time that the run command is set.
  • the run command is set when a car leaves the lower lobby as well as when a car leaves an upper lobby, and therefore a test 33 determines when the direction is up so as to have a step 34 record the setting of the run timer and a step 35 reinitiate the run timer only when the car is leaving the lobby to make a shuttle run, indicated by direction being up. Then, other programming is reverted to through the return point 24.
  • the ability to start a run is based upon a cab being on a car frame ready to go, rather than upon the closure of the doors which occurs earlier in the process.
  • the beginning of a run is conditioned upon a horizontally moveable cab having been moved into the car frame of a car and locked during a period of time when that car could be designated to start a run by the dispatcher of the invention.
  • routines for a single elevator shuttle may include door control routines 38, 39 for each of the cabs in a shuttle.
  • a transfer routine 40 may be performed to exchange a recently arrived cab on the car frame with one which has been loaded on a landing.
  • the transfer routine 40 will be causing the transfer of three or four cabs at a time.
  • the transfer routine 40 will be controlling the horizontal movement of two cabs at a time in a single deck embodiment, and four cabs at a time in a double deck embodiment, between a single car frame and the landings.
  • a car control routine for shuttle S 42 is then reached through an entry point 43.
  • the final steps of that routine, before allowing the car or cars of the shuttle to begin a run, include the portion of the routine which is reached only after a test 44 determines that there is a cab (or cabs) locked in the car (or cars) of shuttle S. Before all cabs are firmly locked to respective cars, a negative result of test 44, in sequential passes through the routine of Fig. 3, will reach other programming through a return point 45.
  • a test 50 determines if the dispatcher has sent back an "enable run shuttle S" flag or not. In a typical case, it will not so other programming is reached through the return point 45. Eventually, an affirmative result of test 50 reaches a step 51 to set the run command for shuttle S, a step 52 to reset the "run ready shuttle S flag” and a step 53 to rest the "enable run shuttle S flag".
  • a test 54 determines if the direction set for the low car is up. If it is, this is taken as the beginning of a run so a step 55 registers the run time as whatever is set in the run timer and a step 56 reinitiates the run timer to time the run which is about to begin. If a shuttle that moves cars onto landings for off-hoistway loading and unloading has only a single car in it, test 54 would relate to that car alone. In a case where there is an upper elevator and a lower elevator dispatched synchronously with each other, test 54 need only sense the direction of one of the cars. Then other programming is reverted to through the return point 45.
  • the upper half of a low lobby dispatch routine simply determines how many cars are in the group and divides a recent average round trip time for the shuttles by the number of shuttles, to determine how often the shuttles should be dispatched to have shuttles dispatched on a regular basis.
  • the first part of the routine of Fig. 4 simply determines how many shuttles, T, are currently in the dispatching group, and a new dispatching interval is determined. Then, the dispatcher waits until both (a) the shuttle is ready to run and (b) the dispatching interval has expired, after which the dispatching interval is reinitiated for the next shuttle in turn.
  • a first step 81 resets the total number of cars in the group, T, to zero, and a step 82 sets a shuttle pointer, n, to point to the first shuttle in the group.
  • the total number of shuttles, N which may be operating in the group is ten.
  • a total run time accumulator, TOTL is reset to zero in a step 83.
  • a test 85 determines if the shuttle currently being pointed to by the n pointer is in the dispatching group or not. If it is, the T counter is incremented in a step 86 and the total run time is incremented in step 87 by the run time of shuttle n (from steps 34 and 35).
  • steps 86 and 87 are bypassed. Then, the n pointer is advanced in a step 87 and a test 88 determines if the n pointer is pointing to one more than the total number of cars, N, that could be in the group, indicating that all cars have been tested. If not, a negative result of test 88 reverts the routine to test 85 to see if the next car in turn is in the group and increment T and the total run time if it is. When all of the possible cars have been tested, an affirmative result of test 88 reaches a step 91 to generate an average run time by taking the total count of step 87 and dividing it by the number of shuttles, T, that contributed thereto.
  • a test 92 is reached to see if a shuttle currently being pointed to by an S pointer, which identifies the shuttles in sequence for dispatching as described hereinbefore, is pointing to a shuttle which is in the group or not, as described more fully below. If the shuttle being pointed to by the S pointer is not in the group, a negative result of test 92 reaches a step 93 to advance the S pointer to the next shuttle in turn. Thus, if a shuttle, such as shuttle 8 in Fig. 1 is not within the group at this time, after dispatching shuttle 7, the S pointer would point to shuttle 8.
  • a step 102 initializes the interval timer with the interval determined in step 91, and the S pointer is advanced in a step 103, after which other programming is reverted to through the return point 98.
  • tests and steps 96-103 of Fig. 4 may be used with the low lobby dispatch routine as in Fig. 2 or Fig. 3 as appropriate, to dispatch shuttles from the upper lobby, in an obvious fashion.
  • the low lobby routine of Fig. 5 need be used, since the upper elevator in the shuttle is always dispatched simultaneously with the lower elevator.
  • shuttles can be added to and removed from the dispatching group, at will without disrupting the dispatching process.
  • a shuttle being added to the dispatching group can have its run time initiated as a non-zero run time of any other shuttle in the system, or it may retain the run time last determined for it in either of steps 34 or 35, retained from the last time it operated in the dispatching group.
  • the invention is basically self-leveling: if the door times allotted for the cars to permit passengers to unload and load are too short, the run times will be increased until adequate time is provided. Although not treated herein, the time allocated for doors to remain open is readily adjustable, as is known in the art.
  • Fig. 5 is a simplified timing diagram illustrating distributed dispatching in accordance with the invention.
  • a plurality of time periods 1-31 represent just more than a complete round trip for any one shuttle.
  • shuttle 1 is shown being dispatched from an upper landing at the beginning of the first time period, reaching the lower landing at the beginning of the 11th time period, and being dispatched to return to the upper landing at the beginning of the 12th time period.
  • Shuttle 2 is simply two time periods behind shuttle 1.
  • the time periods 12 and 13 represent a dispatching interval, shown by arrow 110.
  • shuttle 3 has difficulty closing its doors and preparing to run at the beginning of the 16th period.
  • shuttle 3 does not in fact run until nearly half-way through the 16th period. Since that is when the dispatching interval is initiated in step 102 of Fig. 4, the dispatching interval illustrated by the arrow 112 is the same as that illustrated by the arrows 110 and 111.
  • Shuttle 4 has no difficulty, so it will be-dispatched as soon as the dispatching interval expires. Notice that shuttle 4 will have a car at a lower landing for a longer period of time, since it was dispatched toward the lower landing prior to any delay in the system, at the start of time period 7.
  • Fig. 5 The illustration of Fig. 5 is for a system having a separate low lobby dispatcher and high lobby dispatcher.
  • the delay of the 16th period caused by car 3 would immediately have affected, say, shuttle 10 since the shuttle cars in such case are dispatched together.
  • a departure from an upper lobby being interleaved with a departure from a lower lobby as in Fig. 5 cannot, of course, occur.

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Automation & Control Theory (AREA)
  • Structural Engineering (AREA)
  • Elevator Control (AREA)
  • Indicating And Signalling Devices For Elevators (AREA)
EP96308655A 1995-11-29 1996-11-29 Distributed elevator shuttle dispatching Withdrawn EP0776853A2 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US56560995A 1995-11-29 1995-11-29
US565609 1995-11-29

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0776853A2 true EP0776853A2 (en) 1997-06-04
EP0776853A3 EP0776853A3 (zh) 1997-07-02

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ID=24259388

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP96308655A Withdrawn EP0776853A2 (en) 1995-11-29 1996-11-29 Distributed elevator shuttle dispatching

Country Status (8)

Country Link
EP (1) EP0776853A2 (zh)
JP (1) JPH09165147A (zh)
KR (1) KR970026879A (zh)
CN (1) CN1160012A (zh)
AU (1) AU7191496A (zh)
CA (1) CA2189920A1 (zh)
TW (1) TW355179B (zh)
ZA (1) ZA969385B (zh)

Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP3875416A1 (en) * 2019-12-20 2021-09-08 Otis Elevator Company Control for shuttle elevator groups

Families Citing this family (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US6481535B1 (en) * 2000-05-16 2002-11-19 Otis Elevator Company Dispatching algorithm for piston-type passenger conveying system
US6520295B1 (en) * 2000-05-16 2003-02-18 Otis Elevator Company Piston-type passenger conveying system
US7510054B2 (en) * 2004-01-29 2009-03-31 Otis Elevator Company Energy saving elevator dispatching
JP4657314B2 (ja) * 2008-03-18 2011-03-23 東芝エレベータ株式会社 エレベータ
JP5358255B2 (ja) * 2009-04-08 2013-12-04 株式会社日立製作所 エレベータシステム
JP2022178086A (ja) * 2021-05-19 2022-12-02 株式会社日立製作所 エレベーター制御システムおよびエレベーター制御方法

Citations (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
AT359235B (de) * 1978-12-18 1980-10-27 Inventio Ag Umschalteinrichtung fuer eine aufzugsgruppe
EP0030163A2 (en) * 1979-12-03 1981-06-10 Otis Elevator Company Variable elevator up peak dispatching interval
US4901822A (en) * 1987-08-06 1990-02-20 Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha Group supervisory apparatus for elevator

Patent Citations (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
AT359235B (de) * 1978-12-18 1980-10-27 Inventio Ag Umschalteinrichtung fuer eine aufzugsgruppe
EP0030163A2 (en) * 1979-12-03 1981-06-10 Otis Elevator Company Variable elevator up peak dispatching interval
US4901822A (en) * 1987-08-06 1990-02-20 Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha Group supervisory apparatus for elevator

Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP3875416A1 (en) * 2019-12-20 2021-09-08 Otis Elevator Company Control for shuttle elevator groups

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
KR970026879A (ko) 1997-06-24
CN1160012A (zh) 1997-09-24
EP0776853A3 (zh) 1997-07-02
TW355179B (en) 1999-04-01
CA2189920A1 (en) 1997-05-30
JPH09165147A (ja) 1997-06-24
AU7191496A (en) 1997-06-05
ZA969385B (en) 1997-06-02

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