EP3412612B1

EP3412612B1 - Elevator system, user terminal and apparatus and method for managing the elevator system

Info

Publication number: EP3412612B1
Application number: EP18177095.9A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Donald F COMINELLI; Paul A Simcik
Original assignee: Otis Elevator Co
Current assignee: Otis Elevator Co
Priority date: 2017-06-09
Filing date: 2018-06-11
Publication date: 2022-08-17
Anticipated expiration: 2038-06-11
Also published as: CN109019197A; CN109019197B; EP3412612A1; ES2925530T3

Description

Technical Field

The present invention belongs to the field of elevator technologies, and relates to an elevator system for remotely implementing a call operation of a user for the elevator system, and an apparatus and a method for managing an elevator system.

Background Art

When riding an elevator, a passenger first needs to perform a call request operation. A control module of an elevator system performs scheduling control based on the call request, to assign for the passenger a corresponding elevator car to a landing floor where the passenger is located.
To input a call request to the elevator system, the passenger generally needs to operate a call button at the landing floor. The control module of the elevator system responds to the call request operation, and then starts to schedule the elevator car. Therefore, the passenger waits for the elevator for a long time.
The passenger can also complete the call request operation by using a user terminal such as a smart mobile terminal. However, the user terminal generally needs be located near the landing floor or located inside a building where the elevator system is located.
WO 2015/084396 A1 discloses a request, from a mobile device, for at least one service associated with an elevator system, validating the request based on a determined location of the mobile device and causing at least one resource associated with the at least one service to be scheduled based on the validation.
WO 2016/100293 A1 discloses a system and/or method that establishes a proximity environment with respect to an elevator and detecting a position of a user device within the proximity environment.
WO 2017/175021 discloses a system and method of implementing and using a preset elevator call using an elevator system and a mobile device.

Summary of the Invention

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a method for managing an elevator system is provided according to claim 1.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the method for managing an elevator system further includes steps of:

sending, by the user terminal, the pre-call request remotely to the elevator system; and
verifying, by the elevator system, whether the pre-call request is acceptable, and returning the verification result to the user terminal.

In the method for managing an elevator system, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the user terminal sends the pre-call request remotely to the elevator system, and the step of initiating a call request is performed in the elevator system.
In the method for managing an elevator system, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the elevator system verifies whether the call request is acceptable, and sends the verification result to the user terminal.
In the method for managing an elevator system, according to an embodiment of the present invention, after verifying that the call request is acceptable, the elevator system converts the call request into a call instruction and performs scheduling control based on the call instruction.
In the method for managing an elevator system, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the elevator system sends information related to the scheduling control result to the user terminal.
In the method for managing an elevator system, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the step of initiating a call request is performed in the user terminal, and the method further includes a step of: sending, by the user terminal, the call request to the elevator system.
In the method for managing an elevator system, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the predetermined condition is that the distance between the user terminal and the elevator system is less than or equal to a predetermined value.
In the method for managing an elevator system, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the predetermined condition is preset in the user terminal by the user.
In the method for managing an elevator system, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the pre-call request and the corresponding call request include starting floor information and destination floor information.
In the method for managing an elevator system, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the elevator system assigns an elevator car to a corresponding starting floor based on the starting floor information of the call request, and automatically registers a stop floor of the elevator car based on the destination floor information of the call request.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, an apparatus for managing an elevator system is provided according to claim 7.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the apparatus for managing an elevator system further includes: a sending unit configured to send, by using the user terminal, the pre-call request, the judgment result indicating that the distance between the user terminal and the elevator system meets the predetermined condition of the call request and/or the call request to the elevator system.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the apparatus for managing an elevator system further includes a predetermined condition setting unit configured to preset the predetermined condition by using the user terminal.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the apparatus for managing an elevator system further includes a display unit configured to display, by using the user terminal, information sent by the elevator system.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the apparatus for managing an elevator system further includes a canceling unit configured to cancel the call request or pre-call request by using the user terminal.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the apparatus for managing an elevator system further includes:

a first verification unit configured to verify, by using the elevator system, whether the pre-call request is acceptable; and/or
a second verification unit configured to verify, by using the elevator system, whether the call request is acceptable.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the apparatus for managing an elevator system further includes a sending unit configured to send at least a part of the verification result from the elevator system to the user terminal.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the apparatus for managing an elevator system further includes:

a control module of the elevator system; and
a communication system configured to implement a wireless communication connection between the user terminal and the control module of the elevator system,
wherein the control module of the elevator system includes:
a receiving unit configured to receive the pre-call request and the judgment result indicating that the distance between the user terminal and the elevator system meets the predetermined condition of the call request which are sent remotely from the user terminal.

According to a third unclaimed aspect of the present invention, a computer apparatus is provided, including a memory, a processor, and a computer program that is stored in the memory and can be run on the processor, wherein when executing the program, the processor implements the method for managing an elevator system described in any of the foregoing embodiments.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, a computer readable storage medium storing a computer program is provided, wherein the program is executable by a processor to implement the steps in the method for managing an elevator system described in any of the foregoing embodiments.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, an elevator system is provided, including:
the apparatus for managing an elevator system described in any of the foregoing embodiments.
The foregoing features and operations of the present invention will become more apparent from the following descriptions and accompanying drawings.

Brief Description of the Drawings

The above and other advantages of the present invention will be more complete and clearer through the following detailed descriptions with reference to the accompanying drawings, where identical or similar elements are denoted by using identical reference numerals.

FIG. 1 is a schematic system structural diagram of an apparatus for managing an elevator system according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a schematic structural block diagram of a user terminal when an apparatus for managing an elevator system according to an embodiment of the present invention is at least partially implemented in the user terminal;
FIG. 3 is a schematic structural block diagram of a control module of an elevator system when an apparatus for managing an elevator system according to an embodiment of the present invention is at least partially implemented in the control module;
FIG. 4 is a schematic structural block diagram of an apparatus for managing an elevator system according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a method for managing an elevator system according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 6 is a schematic structural block diagram of an apparatus for managing an elevator system according to another embodiment of the present invention; and
FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a method for managing an elevator system according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed description

The present invention will be described more comprehensively with reference to the accompanying drawings, and exemplary embodiments of the present invention are shown in the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention can be implemented in many different forms, and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments illustrated herein. In contrast, by providing these embodiments, the disclosure becomes thorough and complete, and the conception of the present invention can be fully transferred to those skilled in the art.
Some block diagrams in the accompanying drawings are functional entities, which do not need to correspond to physically or logically independent entities. These functional entities can be implemented by software, or implemented in one or more hardware modules or integrated circuits, or implemented in different processing apparatuses and/or micro-controller apparatuses.
In this specification, a "pre-call request" is different from a "call request". The "pre-call request" can reflect an elevator riding intention of a user or passenger but does not reflect an elevator riding requirement at or near the current time point. The "pre-call request" reflects an elevator riding requirement at a future time point after the "pre-call request" is made, and the future time point may not be fixed. In contrast, the "call request" can reflect an elevator riding intention of a user or passenger, and reflect an elevator riding requirement at or near the current time point.
In this specification, "remote" reflects a distance from the elevator system to the user or passenger. The distance is so far that the passenger cannot arrive at a building where the elevator system is located to ride the elevator at or near the current time point. Therefore, at this distance, the user or passenger does not have an elevator riding requirement at the current time point, but may have an elevator riding requirement at or near a future time point. For example, the distance corresponding to "remote" may be a distance between the elevator system and the user or passenger who is several hundreds of meters or farther away from the building where the elevator system is located.
FIG. 1 is a schematic system structural diagram of an apparatus for managing an elevator system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The apparatus 10 is configured to manage an elevator system 30 in a building, and mainly includes a control module in the elevator system 30, and a communication system 20. A user terminal 100 can be used to help implement the function of According to an embodiment of the present invention, the apparatus for managing an elevator system.
Specifically, the control module of the elevator system 30 includes a controller (e.g., a controller 1 and a controller 2) for correspondingly controlling traveling of each elevator car. The specific architecture of the control module of the elevator car may vary as the settings or types of elevator systems in buildings change, which is not limited here.
The user terminal 100 is used or carried by a user 90, and may specifically be a smart mobile terminal having a computing function, such as a smart phone and a personal digital assistant (IPAD). The user terminal 100 has a positioning function to acquire the current position of the user 90. For example, the user terminal 100 can use the Global Positioning System (GPS) technology to implement precise positioning of the user terminal 100. Moreover, the user terminal 100 can further acquire in advance position information of the elevator system 30 that the user may need to ride. Therefore, the user terminal 100 can acquire its position information with respect to the elevator system 30, for example, calculate a distance D between the user terminal 100 and the elevator system 30 in real time. The function of acquiring position information can be disabled when the user terminal 100 does not input a pre-call request, and can be enabled automatically when the user terminal 100 inputs a pre-call request.
The user 90 of the user terminal 100 is not limited,. For example, the user 90 can be a person working or living in the building where the elevator system 30 is located, who is at least granted with permission of riding the elevator system 30. Specifically, the permission can be granted to the user terminal by registering identity information of the user terminal 100 in the elevator system 30 or in a management system of the building where the elevator system 30 is located or by issuing the permission to some user terminals 100 through the elevator system 30 or a management system of the building where the elevator system 30 is located.
The communication system 20 is configured to implement a wireless communication connection between multiple user terminals 100 and the control module of the elevator system 30, and includes, for example, a cloud based Mobile Connectivity Server, a Mobile Multimedia Server (MMS), and a gateway device installed in the building. For example, a pre-call request or call request sent by the user terminal 100 can be routed to a corresponding gateway device through the mobile connectivity server and the MMS, to be distributed to each controller in the control module of the elevator system 30.
The apparatus 10 in the above embodiment is further illustrated with reference to FIG. 2, FIG. 3, FIG. 4 and FIG. 6. Moreover, the user terminal 100, the elevator system 30, and a control module 300 of the elevator system 30 according to an embodiment of the present invention are illustrated at the same time.
The user terminal 100 first includes an input unit 110, which is specifically embodied as an input interface. The input interface can be used to input a pre-call request for the elevator system 30, for example, input starting floor information and destination floor information. If the pre-call request has been recorded in the user terminal 100, the user 90 can input the pre-call request by retrieving it directly, thus simplifying the input process.
It should be noted that the pre-call request input by the input unit 110 is implemented remotely with respect to the elevator system 30, and does not reflect a current elevator riding requirement of the user 90 but can reflect an elevator riding requirement at or near a future time point.
In an embodiment, the pre-call request input by the input unit 110 can be sent remotely to the control module 300 of the elevator system 30 via the communication system 20. For example, the pre-call request is sent by a sending unit 150 in the user terminal 100, received by a receiving unit 310 disposed in the control module 300, and verified by a first verification unit 350 disposed in a control unit 310. The first verification unit 350 can verify whether the pre-call request input from the input unit 110 of the user terminal 100 is acceptable, and send the verification result to the user terminal 100 via a sending unit 320. The user terminal 100 displays or presents the verification result on a display unit 160. During the verification process, the first verification unit 350 can implement at least one of the following verifications: (1) verifying whether the user terminal 100 is authorized to make a pre-call request to the elevator system 30, where, for example, the pre-call request sent by the user terminal 100 is registered or accepted by the control module 300 if the user terminal 100 is authorized; otherwise, it indicates that the call request is invalid, and a "reject" message is returned directly; (2) verifying whether the pre-call request sent by the user terminal 100 is correct and valid, where, for example, if a destination floor in the pre-call request is invalid or a destination floor in the pre-call request is a floor that the user 90 is not permitted to enter, the pre-call request will not be accepted. After the verification result information is displayed on the display unit 160 of the user terminal 100, the user 90 can, for example, modify the pre-call request according to a prompt.
It should be noted that even if the pre-call request is accepted or registered by the control module 300 of the elevator system 30, the control module 300 will not respond to the pre-call request to enable scheduling of the elevator system 30. In other words, the pre-call request basically does not affect the current scheduling of the elevator system 30.
In another embodiment, the pre-call request input by the input unit 110 may not be sent to the control module 300 of the elevator system 30, but instead, is stored in the current user terminal 100. For example, if the pre-call request input by the user 90 has passed the verification operation performed by the first verification unit 350 in the control module 300 of the elevator system 30, next time the user 90 inputs the pre-call request, the verification operation on the pre-call request can be omitted. Or, for example, a verification operation on user permission can also be implemented in a call request verification process as described in the following.
Still referring to FIG. 2, the user terminal 100 further includes a position information acquisition unit 120 that can acquire position information of the user terminal 100 with respect to the elevator system 30. For example, the position information acquisition unit 120 is implemented by using a GPS module. The position information acquisition unit 120 has a real-time positioning function, so as to perform real-time positioning to acquire the position information of the user terminal 100 with respect to the elevator system 30 in real time. It should be noted that the position of the elevator system 30 or the building where the elevator system 30 is located may be pre-stored or pre-recorded in the user terminal 100. The position information of the user terminal 100 with respect to the elevator system 30 may specifically be a distance D from the user terminal 100 to the elevator system 30. The distance D may be calculated in the position information acquisition unit 120 according to the position of the user terminal 100 and the position of the elevator system 30 or the building where the elevator system 30 is located.
Still referring to FIG. 2, the user terminal 100 further includes a judgment unit 130. The judgment unit 130 can judge, based on the position information acquired by the position information acquisition unit 120, whether the distance D between the user terminal 100 and the elevator system 30 meets a predetermined condition. The predetermined condition indicates a condition for triggering an elevator riding requirement of the user 90. For example, the predetermined condition is that the distance D between the user terminal 100 and the elevator system 30 is less than or equal to a predetermined value S. For example, the predetermined value S may be set in a range from 10 meters to 100 meters. The distance S is completely different from the distance corresponding to "remote" as described above. At the distance S, it indicates that the user 90 is actually close to or near the elevator system 30, thus having an elevator riding requirement at or near the current time point.
Optionally, the user terminal 100 may include a predetermined condition setting unit 170, and the user 90 can preset the corresponding predetermined condition in the predetermined condition setting unit 170. Specifically, the predetermined condition may be set selectively according to factors such as a running feature of each elevator system 30 (for example, a smaller S value can be set for faster scheduling and running speeds), the identity of the user 90 (for example, a larger S value can be set for a VIP user), the time period (for example, a larger S value can be for a peak time period in running of the elevator system), and/or preferences of the user 90. For example, the user 90 may determine a reasonable predetermined value S of an elevator system 30 corresponding to the current time period according to historical experiences, thus setting the predetermined condition. In the case where the predetermined condition is set reasonably, when the user 90 arrives at a starting floor (e.g., a hall standing floor) of the elevator system 30 from a place with a distance S to the elevator system 30, a corresponding elevator car can arrive at the starting floor near the time point, thus shortening the waiting time of the user 90, and greatly improving user experience.
Still referring to FIG. 2, in an embodiment, the user terminal 100 further includes an initiation unit 140. The user terminal 100 can initiate a corresponding call request based on the pre-call request once the predetermined condition is met (which is judged by the judgment unit 130). The "call request" is similar to the call request mentioned in the Background section, which can reflect an elevator riding requirement of the user 90 at or near the current time point. The call request also includes starting floor information and destination floor information in the pre-call request, and even can further include user identity information in the pre-call request.
It should be noted that the process of initiating the call request can be implemented automatically according to the judgment result. Therefore, in the process of approaching the building where the elevator system is located and entering the building to ride the elevator, the user 90 does not need to manually complete the operation corresponding to the call request.
When the call request is initiated by the user terminal 100, the call request generated in the user terminal 100 can be automatically sent to the control module 300 of the elevator system 30 by the sending unit 150. Correspondingly, the receiving unit 310 in the control module 300 receives the call request. As shown in FIG. 3, optionally, the control module 300 may include a second verification unit 360. The second verification unit 360 can verify whether the call request is acceptable, and send the verification result to the user terminal 100 via the sending unit 320. For example, the user identity information corresponding to the call request is verified to judge whether the call request is acceptable, and a destination floor corresponding to the call request is verified to determine whether the user terminal 100 is authorized. The verification result (e.g., "accept" or "reject") of the second verification unit 360 is sent to the user terminal 100 in time. The user terminal 100 displays or presents the verification result on the display unit 160.
The initiation unit 140 in FIG. 2 is schematically shown by a dashed block, indicating that the initiation unit 140 is not limited to being implemented in the user terminal 100. For example, in another alternative embodiment, the initiation unit 140 may also be implemented in the control module 300 of the elevator system 30. As shown in FIG. 3, the control module 300 of the elevator system 30 includes an initiation unit 340 schematically shown by a dashed block. The initiation unit 340 has a function basically the same as that of the initiation unit 140, that is, initiating a corresponding call request based on the pre-call request once the predetermined condition is met. In the alternative embodiment, the initiation unit 340 further needs to acquire the judgment result of the judgment unit 130 sent from the user terminal 100. For example, when the predetermined condition is met, the sending unit 150 in the user terminal 100 automatically sends the judgment result indicating that the distance D between the user terminal 100 and the elevator system 10 meets the predetermined condition of initiating a call request. Correspondingly, the receiving unit 310 in the control module 300 of the elevator system 30 receives the judgment result, thus triggering the initiation unit 340 to initiate the call request. The call request initiated by the initiation unit 340 may also be subject to the aforementioned verification operation in the second verification unit 360, and the verification result is sent to the user terminal 100 by the sending unit 320.
Optionally, the user terminal 100 may further include a canceling unit (not shown) configured to cancel the call request or pre-call request. For example, when needing to modify the route or change the elevator riding requirement, the user 90 can use the canceling unit to cancel the call request or pre-call request. Specifically, the canceling unit may be specifically embodied as a cancel button, and the user 90 presses the cancel button to implement an operation of canceling the call request or pre-call request.
Still referring to FIG. 3, after verifying that the call request is acceptable, the control module 300 of the elevator system 30 can convert the call request into a call instruction, and perform scheduling control based on the call instruction, thus implementing management on the elevator system 30. The specific scheduling control strategy or method is not limited.
The apparatus 10 for managing an elevator system according to an embodiment of the present invention can be implemented by the user terminal 100 and/or the control module 300 in the elevator system 30 as shown in FIG. 2, for example, implemented by installing a corresponding program in the user mobile terminal 100 such as a mobile phone, or implemented by installing a corresponding program in the control module 300. Moreover, a communication connection between the user terminal 100 and the control module 300 can be implemented by the communication system 20, thus implementing remote interaction between the user terminal 100 and the control module 300. As shown in FIG. 4, in an embodiment, the apparatus 10 for managing an elevator system optionally sets the initiation unit 140 in the user terminal 100, thus implementing initiation of the call request in the user terminal 100. In another embodiment, the apparatus 10 for managing an elevator system optionally sets the initiation unit 340 in the control module 300 of the elevator system 30, thus implementing initiation of the call request in the elevator system 30.
Although only one user terminal 100 is shown in the apparatus 10 for managing an elevator system in the above embodiments, it should be understood that multiple user terminals 100 may be used in the apparatus 10, and each user terminal 100 can implement a basically identical function.
A method for managing an elevator system in an embodiment shown in FIG. 5 is performed correspondingly in the apparatus 10 of the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, and the method process is illustrated in the following with reference to FIG. 4 and FIG. 5.
First, in step S11, the user 90 remotely inputs a pre-call request, e.g., inputs starting floor information and destination floor information corresponding to the elevator system 30. For example, if a user 90 at home needs to enter an office building to work, the user 90 may input the pre-call request in the input unit 110 of the user terminal 100 when he/she is idle at home or on the way to the office building. The operation is simple and easy.
Optionally, the pre-call request may be sent to the control module 300 of the elevator system 30 for verification. As shown in FIG. 5, in step S31, the receiving unit 310 in the control module 300 can receive the pre-call request. Further, in step S32, it is verified whether the pre-call request is acceptable. The specific verification process is completed in the first verification unit 350.
No matter whether the verification result is "yes" or "no", the control module 300 can return the verification result immediately to the user terminal 100, so that step S12, i.e., displaying the verification result, is performed in the user terminal 100. When the verification result is "no", the user 90 can return to step S11 to input a pre-call request again. It should be noted that if a user terminal 100 inputs a pre-call request that has been verified as acceptable in a historical use process, it can be regarded that the pre-call request is acceptable, and steps S31 and S32 may be omitted.
When the verification result is "yes", the position information acquisition unit 120 in the user terminal 100 is triggered to work, that is, step S13 is performed to acquire the position information of the user terminal 100 with respect to the elevator system 30. As described in the foregoing, the distance D between the user terminal 100 and the elevator system 30 can be obtained in real time based on the acquired position information. The distance D may refer to a straight-line distance.
Further, in step S14, whether the distance between the user terminal 100 and the elevator system 30 meets a predetermined condition is judged based on the position information. When the judgment result is "no", the procedure returns to step S13 to continue acquiring the position information. When the judgment result is "yes", it indicates that a time point at which the user requires to ride the elevator arrives or will arrive soon. In this case, step S15 is performed to initiate a corresponding call request based on the pre-call request. In step S15, the pre-call request is converted into a call request indicating an elevator riding requirement of the user 90 at or near the current time point. This is equivalent to an operation of initiating a call request automatically from the user terminal 100.
Further, in step S16, the call request is sent to the elevator system 30, and correspondingly, in step S33, the control module 300 of the elevator system 30 receives the call request.
Optionally, in step S34, the control module 300 of the elevator system 30 verifies whether the call request is acceptable. The specific verification process is completed in the second verification unit 360. No matter whether the verification result is "yes" or "no", the control module 300 can return the verification result immediately to the user terminal 100. Therefore, a response is made in the user terminal 100 and step S17, i.e., displaying the verification result, is performed in the user terminal 100. It should be noted that the call request corresponding to the user terminal 100 is a call request that has been verified as acceptable in a historical use process, it can be regarded that the call request is acceptable, and step S34 may be omitted.
When the verification result is "yes", step S35 is performed to convert the call request to a call instruction, and scheduling control is performed based on the call instruction. In an embodiment, an elevator car can be assigned to a corresponding starting floor based on the starting floor information of the call request, and a stop floor of the elevator car can be registered automatically based on the destination floor information of the call request. As such, when the user 90 arrives at the starting floor of the elevator system 30, the assigned elevator car may have arrived, which greatly shortens the waiting time of the user 90. Moreover, the user 90 does not need to manually input the destination floor information in the elevator car. During application of the above method, for example, after inputting a pre-call request at home, the user can enter the office building and ride the elevator to directly arrive at the destination floor of the office building without any stop, and does not need to perform any call operation in the process of approaching the office building where the elevator system 30 is located and entering the office building to ride the elevator. It takes a short time to wait for the elevator, thus greatly improving user experience.
Optionally, result-related information of the scheduling control generated in step S35 is sent to the user terminal 100 and then displayed. For example, the result-related information, such as the position of the assigned elevator and how soon the elevator will arrive at the starting floor, is sent to the user terminal 100 and then displayed. Therefore, user experience can be further improved.
In the method of the above embodiment, steps S11, S12, S13, S14, S15, S16, and S17 can be performed or completed in the user terminal 100, and steps S31, S32, S33, S34, and S35 can be performed or completed in the control module 300 of the elevator system 30.
A method for managing an elevator system in an embodiment shown in FIG. 7 is performed correspondingly in the apparatus 10 in the embodiment shown in FIG. 6, and the method process is illustrated in the following with reference to FIG. 6 and FIG. 7.
By comparison, the method embodiment in FIG. 7 mainly differs from the method embodiment in FIG. 5 in that the initiation of the call request is performed or completed in the control module 300 of the elevator system 30. Therefore, after step S14, once it is judged that the predetermined condition is met, step S331 is performed, i.e., the judgment result indicating that the distance D between the user terminal 100 and the elevator system 30 meets the predetermined condition of initiating a call request is sent to the control module 300 of the elevator system 30, and the judgment result is received by the receiving unit 310. Further, step S332 is performed to initiate a corresponding call request based on the pre-call request. In step S15, the pre-call request is converted into a call request indicating an elevator riding requirement of the user 90 at or near the current time point, and it is equivalent to an operation of initiating a call request automatically from the control module 300 of the elevator system 30.
Then, steps S34, S17 and S35 are identical to steps S34, S17 and S35 shown in FIG. 5 respectively, and descriptions about steps S34, S17 and S35 will be omitted.
The method for managing an elevator system in the embodiment shown in FIG. 7 has a function basically identical to that of the method in the embodiment shown in FIG. 5. That is, the user may not perform any call operation in the process of approaching the building where elevator system 30 is located and entering the building to ride the elevator. Therefore, it takes a short time to wait for the elevator, and user experience is greatly improved.
It should be noted that in the methods in the embodiments shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 7, the user 90 can cancel the pre-call request by using the user terminal 100 anytime before the call request is initiated, or can cancel the call request anytime after the call request is initiated.
It should be noted that the user terminal 100 in the above embodiment of the present invention can be implemented by using computer program instructions, e.g., implemented by a specific APP. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, or other programmable data processing device to form the user terminal 100 in the embodiment of the present invention. Moreover, the processor of the computer or another programmable data processing device may execute these instructions to create units or components for implementing functions/operations designated in these flowcharts and/or blocks and/or one or more flowchart blocks.
Likewise, the control module 300 of the elevator system in the above embodiment of the present invention can be implemented by using computer program instructions, e.g., implemented by a specific program. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, or other programmable data processing device to form the control module 300 in the embodiment of the present invention. Moreover, the processor of the computer or another programmable data processing device may execute these instructions to create units or components for implementing functions/operations designated in these flowcharts and/or blocks and/or one or more flowchart blocks. The present invention also provides an elevator system 30 having the control module 300 in the above embodiment.
Moreover, these computer program instructions may be stored in a computer readable memory. These instructions can instruct the computer or another programmable processor to implement the functions in specific manners, such that these instructions stored in the computer readable memory construct a product including instruction components for implementing functions/operations specified in one or more blocks of the flowcharts and/or block diagrams.
It should be further noted that in some alternative implementations, the functions/operations shown in the blocks may not take place according to the sequence shown in the flowchart. For example, two blocks shown sequentially may be performed substantially at the same time, or these blocks sometimes may be performed in a reversed order, which specifically depends on the functions/operations involved.
It should be noted that elements (including the flowcharts and block diagrams in the accompanying drawings) disclosed and depicted in this specification refer to logic boundaries between elements. However, according to software or hardware engineering practices, the depicted elements and functions thereof can be executed on a machine by using a computer executable medium. The computer executable medium includes a processor that can execute a program instruction stored on the computer executable medium. The program instruction serves as a singlechip software structure, an independent software module, or a module using an external program, code, service or the like, or any combination thereof. Moreover, all these execution solutions can fall within the scope of the present disclosure.

Claims

A method for managing an elevator system (30), comprising:
inputting a pre-call request corresponding to the elevator system remotely from a user terminal (100) (S11), the pre-call request reflecting an elevator riding requirement at a future time point after the pre-call request is made;

acquiring position information of the user terminal with respect to the elevator system(S 13);

judging, based on the position information, whether a distance between the user terminal and the elevator system meets a predetermined condition (S14); and

initiating a corresponding call request based on the pre-call request when the distance between the user terminal and the elevator system meets the predetermined condition (S15);

characterised in that

the position information acquiring step and the distance judging step are performed in the user terminal, and the user terminal performs real-time positioning to acquire the position information of the user terminal with respect to the elevator system in real time.
The method for managing an elevator system (30) according to claim 1, further comprising steps of:
sending, by the user terminal (100), the pre-call request remotely to the elevator system; and

verifying, by the elevator system, whether the pre-call request is acceptable (S32), and returning the verification result to the user terminal.
The method for managing an elevator system (30) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the user terminal (100) sends the pre-call request remotely to the elevator system, and the step of initiating a call request is performed in the elevator system (S332), and
optionally wherein the elevator system verifies whether the call request is acceptable (S32), and sends the verification result to the user terminal, and

further optionally wherein after verifying that the call request is acceptable, the elevator system converts the call request into a call instruction and performs scheduling control based on the call instruction, and

further optionally wherein the elevator system sends information related to the scheduling control result to the user terminal.
The method for managing an elevator system (30) according to any preceding claim, wherein the step of initiating a call request is performed in the user terminal (100), and the method further comprises a step of: sending, by the user terminal, the call request to the elevator system.
The method for managing an elevator system (30) according to any preceding claim, wherein the predetermined condition is that the distance between the user terminal (100) and the elevator system is less than or equal to a predetermined value, and/or
wherein the predetermined condition is preset in the user terminal by the user (90).
The method for managing an elevator system (30) according to any preceding claim, wherein the pre-call request and the corresponding call request comprise starting floor information and destination floor information, and
optionally wherein the elevator system assigns an elevator car to a corresponding starting floor based on the starting floor information of the call request, and automatically registers a stop floor of the elevator car based on the destination floor information of the call request.
An apparatus for managing an elevator system (30), comprising:
an input unit (110) configured to input a pre-call request corresponding to the elevator system remotely from a user terminal (100), the pre-call request reflecting an elevator riding requirement at a future time point after the pre-call request is made; characterised by

a position information acquisition unit (120) in the user terminal configured to acquire real-time position information of the user terminal with respect to the elevator system in real time;

a judgment unit (130) in the user terminal configured to judge, based on the real-time position information, whether a distance between the user terminal and the elevator system meets a predetermined condition; and

an initiation unit (140; 340) configured to initiate a corresponding call request based on the pre-call request when the distance between the user terminal and the elevator system meets the predetermined condition.
The apparatus for managing an elevator system (30) according to claim 7, further comprising: a sending unit (150) configured to send, by using the user terminal (100), the pre-call request, the judgment result indicating that the distance between the user terminal and the elevator system meets the predetermined condition of the call request and/or the call request to the elevator system.
The apparatus for managing an elevator system (30) according to claim 7 or 8, further comprising a predetermined condition setting unit (170) configured to preset the predetermined condition by using the user terminal (100).
The apparatus for managing an elevator system (30) according to any of claims 7-9, further comprising a display unit (160) configured to display, by using the user terminal (100), information sent by the elevator system.
The apparatus for managing an elevator system (30) according to any of claims 7-10, further comprising a canceling unit configured to cancel the call request or pre-call request by using the user terminal (100).
The apparatus for managing an elevator system (30) according to any of claims 7-11, further comprising:
a first verification unit (350) configured to verify, by using the elevator system, whether the pre-call request is acceptable; and/or

a second verification unit (360) configured to verify, by using the elevator system, whether the call request is acceptable; and

optionally further comprising: a sending unit (150; 320) configured to send at least a part of the verification result from the elevator system to the user terminal (100).
The apparatus for managing an elevator system (30) according to any of claims 7-12, further comprising:
a control module (300) of the elevator system; and

a communication system (20) configured to implement a wireless communication connection between the user terminal (100) and the control module of the elevator system,

wherein the control module of the elevator system comprises:
a receiving unit (310) configured to receive the pre-call request and the judgment result indicating that the distance between the user terminal and the elevator system meets the predetermined condition of the call request which are sent remotely from the user terminal.
A computer readable storage medium, storing a computer program, wherein the program is executable by a processor to implement the steps in the method according to any of claims 1, 4 or 5.
An elevator system (30), comprising:
the apparatus for managing an elevator system according to any of claims 7 to 13.