EP3433197B1 - Lift system with 3d-camera-based safety monitoring system - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an elevator installation according to claim 1, in which dangerous situations, in particular within an elevator shaft, are to be detected with the aid of a safety monitoring system and then operation of the elevator installation is to be modified if necessary.

Elevator systems are generally used to be able to use an elevator car to transport people or objects within a building in a generally vertical direction. For this purpose, the elevator car can usually be moved within an elevator shaft. In the elevator shaft there are usually other movable components of the elevator system, such as a movable counterweight, and / or stationary components of the elevator system, such as e.g. a drive unit, guide rails, etc. The elevator system is regularly constructed in such a way that the elevator car or other movable components do not collide with other components during their movement within the elevator shaft.

However, situations can arise in which people or additional objects are inside the elevator shaft but outside the elevator car. For example, it is regularly provided that assembly or maintenance personnel can enter a roof of the elevator car in order to be able to carry out work within the elevator shaft from there. If necessary, such personnel can also be in other areas of the elevator shaft, for example in an elevator pit located on the floor of the elevator shaft. Furthermore, in particular in emergency situations, it may be necessary for passengers in the elevator car to enter the roof of the elevator car in order to be able to be evacuated from there, for example.

In particular in the cases mentioned, it may be necessary for safety reasons to modify an operation of the elevator system if it is recognized that, for example, persons in the elevator shaft have created a risk that they may be damaged, for example, by elevator components moving in the elevator shaft.

DE 101 08 772 A1 describes an elevator safety device in which a dangerous situation can be detected with the aid of a shaft space monitoring device. WO 2009/073001 A1 describes possibilities for passive detection of people in an elevator shaft.

The JP2015034076 A describes an elevator safety device in which a dangerous situation is detected with the aid of a surveillance camera. A distance between a person in the elevator shaft and an obstacle is determined, for example in the form of a counterweight. As soon as the specified distance falls below a minimum distance, an alarm signal is generated. The surveillance camera is not designed as a 3D camera, but as a 2D camera. In order to be able to determine the distance, the surveillance camera is arranged in such a way that it captures the person and the obstacle and thus the distance exactly from the side, that is at a 90 ° angle. The distance can also be determined in a 2D image.

There may be a need for an elevator installation in which operation of the elevator installation, in particular in the situations mentioned above, can be made even safer with the aid of a suitably designed safety monitoring system, and operation of the elevator installation can preferably be modified to suit a recognized dangerous situation.

Such a need can be met with an elevator system according to the independent claim. Advantageous refinements and embodiments are specified in the dependent claims and the description below.

According to one aspect of the invention, an elevator system is described which has a safety monitoring system which is designed to recognize a dangerous situation and then to modify an operation of the elevator system. The security monitoring system has a 3D camera system which is designed to generate 3-dimensional image data. The security monitoring system is designed, based on the image data generated by the 3D camera system, as a dangerous situation within the To recognize a person located in the elevator shaft or an object located within the elevator shaft as well as an obstacle moving relative to the person or the object. The object and the person do not have to be completely in the elevator shaft, rather it is sufficient if they are only partially in the elevator shaft.

Possible features and advantages of embodiments of the invention can, inter alia and without restricting the invention, be viewed as based on the ideas and knowledge described below.

In elevator systems, operation of the elevator system, that is to say in particular its possibility of relocating the elevator car within the elevator shaft, temporarily stopping or at least severely restricting it as soon as, for example, a person is inside the elevator shaft, is usually provided in order to ensure the safety of this person to be able to. It is usually provided that the person himself activates appropriate safety mechanisms in the elevator system. For example, it can be provided that the person actuates a switch coupled to a safety monitoring system in order to indicate that the safety monitoring system should temporarily shut down the operation of the elevator system.

Alternatively, it can be provided that the presence of a person inside the elevator shaft can be monitored using an automated safety monitoring device. For this purpose, the safety monitoring device can, for example, have sensors which are arranged inside the elevator shaft and by means of which the presence of the person can be recognized without the person himself having to be active in this case.

In conventional elevator systems of this type, however, it can generally only be recognized whether a person is in principle within a room of the elevator system which is regarded as a danger zone, that is to say for example within the elevator shaft. As a rule, however, it cannot be recognized where this person is exactly within the danger zone. In particular, it cannot be recognized whether this person is in danger, for example a risk of collision with objects within this danger zone.

It is therefore proposed to equip the safety monitoring system of an elevator installation with a 3D camera system. This 3D camera system is designed to generate 3-dimensional image data, that is, to be able to deliver spatially resolved image data to the security monitoring system, in particular from a danger area within the elevator installation. As explained below with reference to some embodiments of the invention, the security monitoring system can use situation-based 3-dimensional image data of this type to assess in what manner the operation of the elevator system should be modified when a dangerous situation is detected. In particular, on the basis of such 3-dimensional image data, the safety monitoring system can decide, depending on the situation, which measures are to be taken in order to be able to guarantee the safety of the operation of the elevator system and, in particular, safe operation of the elevator system for persons in the danger zone, but also the operation of the elevator system not unnecessarily restrict or even shut it down.

According to one embodiment, the security monitoring system is designed to recognize, based on the image data generated by the 3D camera system, a person inside the elevator shaft or an object inside the elevator shaft and an obstacle moving relative to the person or the object.

To detect a person inside the elevator shaft or an object inside the elevator shaft as well as an obstacle moving relative to the person or the object, the security monitoring system should be able to suitably evaluate the 3-dimensional image data generated by the 3D camera system in order to to be able to recognize objects moving relative to each other. In particular, the safety monitoring system should be able to use the 3-dimensional image data to recognize whether a person is inside the elevator shaft. For example, this person could be on the roof of the elevator car or in the pit of the elevator shaft.

If it is recognized that there is actually a person inside the elevator shaft, but outside the elevator car, the security monitoring system can further analyze the 3-dimensional image data in order to be able to recognize whether this person is moving relative to an obstacle. The person can be moved within the elevator shaft, for example if he is standing on the roof of a moving elevator car, and the obstacle can be stationary, for example in the form of a carrier protruding into the elevator shaft. If necessary, the obstacle itself can also move within the elevator shaft, for example in the form of a movable counterweight of the elevator system. Alternatively, the person can be stationary inside the elevator shaft, that is to say, for example, be in the pit of the elevator shaft, and the obstacle can move within the elevator shaft, for example in the form of the moving elevator car or the moving counterweight. The term "obstacle" should therefore be interpreted broadly and could also be referred to as a "potential collision counterpart".

Instead of or in addition to recognizing a person, the safety monitoring system can also be designed to recognize objects located within the elevator shaft and to determine whether they are moving relative to an obstacle. Such objects could, for example, be objects that were not installed or tidied up properly, such as ladders or tools or spare parts used by maintenance personnel.

Due to the ability of the safety monitoring system to be able to recognize objects moving relative to one another within the elevator shaft by analyzing the 3-dimensional image data, the safety monitoring system can be better able to modify the operation of the elevator system in a manner adapted to a specific dangerous situation.

In particular, in one embodiment of the elevator installation, the safety monitoring system can be designed to recognize whether the person located within the elevator shaft or the object located within the elevator shaft is on a collision course with the obstacle moving relative to the person or the object.

In this context, a collision course is to be understood to mean that the two objects moving relative to one another are at positions relative to one another at a given point in time and move in directions relative to one another such that it is foreseeable that the two objects will collide with one another in the near future , unless their relative movement is changed appropriately.

For example, the safety monitoring system can be designed to detect when a person is on the roof of a moving elevator car and the elevator car is approaching a ceiling of the elevator shaft, so that the person is on a collision course with the ceiling of the elevator shaft, which acts as an obstacle. The safety monitoring system can also detect when the person on the roof of the elevator car is leaning, for example, over an edge of the elevator car and thereby threatens, for example, a collision with stationary mounted carriers within the elevator shaft or with a counterweight moving in the opposite direction to the elevator car. Alternatively or additionally, the safety monitoring system can also be designed to detect when a person is, for example, in the pit of the elevator shaft and a moving elevator car, which in this case acts as an obstacle, or a counterweight is moving towards the person in a collision course.

In particular in the exemplary dangerous situations, the safety monitoring system can then modify the operation of the elevator system according to the situation, that is, for example, restrict a travel path of the elevator car or the counterweight in such a way that the feared collision does not occur and / or warn the endangered person, for example by means of acoustic signals .

In order to be able to recognize, in particular, whether or how objects are moving relative to one another within the elevator shaft and whether the objects are on a collision course, the security monitoring system can, according to one embodiment, be designed to one based on the image data generated by the 3D camera system recognized person around or around a recognized object as well as around the obstacle moving relative to the person or the object to calculate a virtual security room and then recognizing the dangerous situation based on the fact that the security rooms of these two objects overlap.

A virtual security room can be understood to mean a volume within which the object in question, ie the person, the object or the obstacle, is located, the virtual security room having a significantly larger volume than the surrounding object. In other words, an outer surface of the virtual security room should be spaced from an outer surface of the surrounding object.

A measure of such a spacing, that is to say a dimensioning of the virtual security room, can be suitably selected depending on the surrounding object. Other parameters such as, for example, a relative speed between two objects moving toward one another can also be taken into account when dimensioning the virtual security room.

With modern image processing methods, objects that move relative to each other can be easily recognized and virtual security rooms can then be calculated.

The knowledge that security spaces of two objects moving relative to one another are beginning to overlap can be used by the security monitoring system as an indication that the two objects are at risk of colliding with one another.

In particular, the calculation of a virtual security room can take into account, for example, the fact that a person moving toward an obstacle within the elevator shaft, for example, can also actively move himself. Even in the event that the person is currently not yet on an exact collision course with the obstacle, the calculation of the virtual security room can take into account that the person could move in the next moment in such a way that they then collide with the obstacle threatens. Accordingly, the calculation of the virtual security room can make it possible to recognize potentially dangerous situations and initiate appropriate countermeasures, i.e., for example, to warn the person in a suitable manner and / or to slow down or completely prevent a movement of moving components of the elevator system in good time.

According to one embodiment, the security monitoring system can in particular be designed to calculate the virtual security room around a person larger than the virtual security room around an object. This can take into account in particular that the person can actively move himself and thus can change his relative movement with respect to an obstacle himself, whereas an object is generally not able to do this. It can also be taken into account that the integrity of people must generally be guaranteed with greater certainty than is the case for objects, which can be achieved by calculating a larger virtual security room for people, but also leads to the fact that dangerous situations may be unnecessarily assumed early and the operation of the elevator system is restricted very early on.

According to one embodiment, the security monitoring system can be designed to dimension the virtual security room around a person depending on a direction of movement of the person, wherein the direction of movement of the person can be recognized based on the image data generated by the 3D camera system.

In other words, the safety monitoring system can be designed, on the one hand, to detect a direction of movement caused, in particular, by a person's own movements. The security monitoring system can advantageously detect not only a change in position of the entire person, but also of parts such as extremities of the person.

For example, the safety monitoring system can detect when a person standing on the roof of an elevator car extends an arm or his head beyond a lateral border of the elevator car. Based on this knowledge, the security monitoring system can then suitably calculate a virtual security room around the moving person and dimension it appropriately, taking into account the detected direction of movement.

For example, the virtual security room can be calculated such that it extends further beyond the person or their extremities in the direction of the current movement of the person than in an opposite direction. It can thus be taken into account that the current movement of the person will continue in the same direction and / or the same speed at least for a limited period of time and therefore the person or their extremities will have a different position in the near future in which they may be more at risk of collision than at the current time.

As already briefly noted above, the safety monitoring system can react in different ways when a dangerous situation is detected and can modify the operation of the elevator system. For example, warning signals can be triggered to a person staying inside the elevator shaft.

In particular, the safety monitoring system can be designed to restrict a movement of the elevator car within the elevator shaft when the dangerous situation is recognized. The limitation of the method of the elevator car can relate to a limitation of an approved travel path of the elevator car within the elevator shaft. Additionally or alternatively, a travel speed of the elevator car can be limited. Together with such an influencing of the method of the elevator car, the method of a counterweight coupled in opposite directions with the elevator car is also influenced accordingly.

If, on the basis of the 3-dimensional image data, it is recognized, for example, that a person on the roof of an elevator car is on a collision course with an elevator shaft ceiling, a process of the elevator car can still be continued, for example, until the person with the elevator car is almost there was dangerously close to the elevator shaft ceiling. Only then does the movement of the elevator car need to be stopped or at least slowed down and / or the person warned of the collision. In this exemplary case, it may be sufficient to shorten the total permissible travel path of the elevator car within the elevator shaft only slightly, for example by a few meters.

A similar situation can arise if a person stands in the pit of the elevator shaft. In principle, collisions with the moving elevator car are also possible here. However, a movement of the elevator car or a counterweight coupled with it in opposite directions only needs to be restricted when the elevator car or the counterweight have come dangerously close to the person.

Another situation can arise if the person standing on the roof of the elevator car threatens to collide, for example, with the oncoming counterweight or, for example, a spar or the like protruding into the elevator shaft. In such a case, it may not be sufficient to generally shorten the total travel path of the elevator car in the elevator shaft. Instead, a current movement of the elevator car must be slowed down or even stopped in accordance with the situation in order to avoid the impending collision.

In general, therefore, according to one embodiment, it can be advantageous to design the safety monitoring system to select a travel path of the elevator car as a function of a location of a recognized dangerous situation. The travel path, that is to say a path within the elevator shaft, within which the elevator car may be moved admissibly and in accordance with the situation, can be selected as long as no danger situation is recognized. As soon as a dangerous situation is recognized, it can be assessed. If the location of the dangerous situation is at the ends of the elevator shaft, for example, because there is a risk of a collision of a person with the elevator shaft ceiling or a collision of a person standing in the elevator shaft pit with the elevator car, the travel distance of the elevator car can be shortened accordingly.

According to one embodiment, the 3D camera system has a stereo camera. Such a stereo camera is generally designed to generate 3-dimensional image data in the form of stereoscopic image recordings. For this purpose, a stereo camera generally has two lenses attached next to one another, so that the stereoscopic fields required for 3D image data can be recorded simultaneously. In conventional mechanically designed cameras, for example, exposure control and focus adjustment of both can Lenses can be made coupled. With electronic cameras, such exposure control and focus adjustment are usually electronically synchronized with one another. Since the two fields recorded by the stereo camera are recorded by means of lenses spaced apart from one another, they can be used to generate not only 2-dimensional image information, but also corresponding depth information and thus the desired 3-dimensional image data. The 3D camera system can also be designed as 3D semiconductor sensors, as described, for example, in the articles " Fast Range Imaging by CMOS Sensor Array Through Multiple Double Short Time Integration (MDSI) ", P. Mengel et al., Siemens AG, Corporate Technology Department, Munich, Germany and " A CMOS Photosensor Array for 3D Imaging Using Pulsed Laser ", R. Jeremias et al., 2001 IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference, page 252 , to be discribed.

Additionally or alternatively, the 3-dimensional camera system can have two separate cameras according to one embodiment. Corresponding 3-dimensional image data can also be generated with the aid of such separate cameras. As a rule, it may be necessary to coordinate the two cameras with one another, that is to say, for example, to position them at a known distance from one another and in a known viewing direction relative to one another, and preferably to synchronize their operation.

According to a further possible embodiment, the 3D camera system has a camera that records 2D image data and a distance measuring sensor. In other words, the 3D camera system can contain a largely conventional camera that only takes 2-dimensional images. In addition, however, a distance measuring sensor can be provided, by means of which in particular a distance between the camera and an image area recorded by the camera can be measured. On the basis of distance data supplied by such a distance measuring sensor, the 3-dimensional image data desired for the 3D camera system can thus be calculated from the 2-dimensional image data provided by the camera.

The distance measuring sensor can be implemented in different ways. For example, the distance measuring sensor can only be designed to measure a single distance between the camera and a point within the image area of the Determine camera. However, this can lead to inadequate 3-dimensional image data, in particular in the event that there are several objects spaced apart from one another in the image area, the distance from which is different from the camera. The distance measuring sensor should therefore preferably be designed in such a way that it can determine the distances of the camera in relation to several parts of an image area to be recorded by the camera, in order to then be able to use it to calculate spatially more precisely resolved 3-dimensional image data.

In particular, according to one embodiment, the security monitoring system can have an infrared sensor, an ultrasound sensor, a radar sensor, a laser distance sensor or a plurality and / or combinations of such sensors. These sensors can, for example, form the above-mentioned distance sensor of the 3D camera system or alternatively can be provided in addition to the 3D camera system.

An infrared sensor can be used in particular to detect heat radiation within a danger zone. Such heat radiation can, for example, come from a person, so that, for example, the infrared sensor can be used to detect the presence of a person inside the elevator shaft or to recognize or check a person within the elevator shaft based on an analysis of the 3-dimensional image data of the 3D camera system.

An ultrasonic sensor can make it possible, in particular by emitting high-frequency sound waves and detecting them after they have been reflected on objects, to determine a distance between the sensor and the reflecting objects. Ultrasonic sensors are therefore particularly suitable as distance measuring sensors.

The same applies to radar sensors, in which case no sound waves, that is pressure waves, are emitted, reflected and detected, but rather electromagnetic waves. Radar sensors are therefore particularly suitable for measuring larger distances. In this case, however, measurement accuracy can depend heavily on how well emitted radar waves are reflected on objects. While metallic Objects mostly have a highly reflective effect, for example surfaces of a person can hardly reflect such radar waves.

Laser distance sensors can often measure large distances by suitable emission of light and subsequent detection of reflected light components. Different measuring principles can be used here, such as a triangulation principle or a time-of-flight principle.

The 3D camera system can be mounted at different positions or components of the elevator system.

For example, according to one embodiment, the 3D camera system can be mounted on the elevator car and / or a counterweight of the elevator system.

For example, the 3D camera system can be mounted on the roof of the elevator car, preferably with a viewing direction upwards, so that image data from a room above the elevator car can be recorded using the 3D camera system. In particular, while the elevator car is being moved upwards, it can thus be recognized whether, for example, a person standing on the elevator car or objects located there move relative to other objects located in the elevator shaft and possibly threaten to collide with them.

Alternatively or in addition, the 3D camera system can also be mounted on an underside of the elevator car. In this case, a room located below the elevator car can be monitored. For example, the 3-dimensional image data can be used to identify when the car is dangerously approaching a person in the pit of the elevator shaft.

The same applies to mounting the 3D camera system on the counterweight.

As an alternative or in addition, according to one embodiment, the 3D camera system can be mounted fixed in the elevator shaft, for example in a pit or a shaft head of the elevator shaft. From there, the camera system can recognize, for example, a person who is staying there, but also on the other hand detect when, for example, the elevator car or the counterweight approaches the pit and a dangerous situation arises for this reason.

It is noted that some of the possible features and advantages of the invention are described herein with respect to different embodiments. A person skilled in the art recognizes that the features can be combined, adapted or exchanged in a suitable manner in order to arrive at further embodiments of the invention.

Embodiments of the invention are described below with reference to the accompanying drawing, wherein neither the drawing nor the description are to be interpreted as limiting the invention.

Fig. 1 shows an elevator installation according to the invention with a security monitoring system having a 3D camera system.

The figure is only schematic and not to scale.

Fig. 1 shows an embodiment of an elevator system 1 according to the invention. The elevator system 1 has an elevator car 3 and a counterweight 5. Both the elevator car 3 and the counterweight 5 are held on a rope-like or belt-like suspension element 15. This suspension element 15 can be displaced via a drive machine 13 and its rotatably driven pulley 17. The elevator car 3 and the counterweight 5 coupled to it via the suspension means 15 can thus be moved in the opposite direction within an elevator shaft 7.

In particular in maintenance situations, but also in emergency situations, people 31, 33 can be inside the elevator shaft 7, but outside the elevator car 3. For example, a person 31 can carry out maintenance work standing on a roof 19 of the elevator car 3 or can be evacuated from there from the elevator shaft 7. Alternatively, a person 33 can carry out maintenance work standing in a shaft pit 9, for example by being able to get into the shaft pit 9 via a ladder 35.

In order to ensure that persons 31, 33 located in the elevator shaft 7 do not collide with components of the elevator installation 1, a safety monitoring system 37 is provided in the elevator installation 1. The security monitoring system 37 has at least one 3D camera system, but in the example shown it is shown equipped with three 3D camera systems 23, 25, 27. Furthermore, the safety monitoring system 37 has an evaluation unit 39, which can be part of an elevator control 29, for example. The elevator control 29 is designed to control functions during operation of the elevator installation 1, such as the drive machine 13.

The evaluation unit 39 can receive image data from the 3D camera systems 23, 25 provided on the elevator car 3, for example via a cable connection 41. A similar further cable connection can be provided for a data transmission between the 3D camera system 27 arranged in the elevator pit 9 and the evaluation unit 39 (not shown). If necessary, data can also be transmitted wirelessly.

Each of the 3D camera systems 23, 25, 27 is designed to record 3-dimensional image data within a field of view 43, 45, 47. A field of view 43, 45, 47 can enclose, for example, a conically expanding volume starting from a lens of a camera system 23, 25, 27. The 3D camera systems 23, 25, 27 can be arranged and aligned in such a way that their fields of view 43, 45, 47 cover possible danger areas within the elevator installation 1, within which people 31, 33 can typically stay and within which these people 31, 33 could be endangered in particular by components of the elevator installation 1.

A camera system 23 can, for example, be arranged on the roof 19 of the elevator car 3 and be oriented such that its field of vision 43 covers as large a part of a volume as possible, within which the person 31 can move on the roof 19. In particular, the field of view 43 should cover areas above the roof 19 in which the person 31 is at risk of collisions with the counterweight 5 moving opposite to the cabin 3 or with the drive machine 13. Possibly several camera systems 23 can jointly monitor the area above the roof 19 of the elevator car 3 or one camera system 23 can have several separate cameras, which are attached at different locations and / or attached in different orientations.

A 3D camera system 25 can also be attached below the floor 21 of the elevator car 3. Its field of view 45 can monitor a volume below the elevator car 3, for example, to be able to recognize when the elevator car 3 is approaching dangerously close to the person 33 in the elevator pit 9. The camera system 27 arranged in the shaft pit 9 can perform a similar or additional function.

The security monitoring system 39 is designed to evaluate 3-dimensional image data supplied by the 3D camera systems 23, 25, 27 and to be able to recognize a dangerous situation based on them. For this purpose, the image data can be transmitted to the evaluation unit 39. With the aid of suitable image processing software, such as is also used, for example, for pedestrian detection in camera systems for motor vehicles, people 31, 33 in particular can be recognized within fields of view 43, 45, 47. If necessary, objects can also be recognized, such as the ladder 35. Furthermore, components such as in particular the elevator car 3 and the counterweight 5, but also other components such as the drive machine 13 or struts, spars etc. (not shown) can be located inside the elevator shaft 7 within of the fields of view 43, 45, 47 can be recognized with the aid of the 3D camera systems 23, 25, 27.

The security monitoring system 37 and in particular its image processing evaluation unit 39 can preferably be designed to recognize, based on the 3-dimensional image data supplied by the camera systems 23, 25, 27, whether there are objects such as the people 31, 33 or in the elevator shaft 7 Move objects such as ladder 35 relative to other objects such as counterweight 5. If a person 31 is on the roof of the elevator car 3, it can also be recognized whether he is moving relative to the drive machine 13 or the ceiling 11 of the elevator shaft 7. In particular, the 3-dimensional image data generated can be used to determine whether these objects are moving relative to one another on a collision course. Depending on whether a person 31, 33 or an object rests or is in motion, ie moving with the elevator car 3, for example, moving objects such as the elevator car 3 or the counterweight 5 or even stationary objects such as walls of the elevator shaft 7 or a drive machine 13 fixed therein can act as obstacles that could collision.

Recognition of people 31, 33 and objects can be supported or plausibility-checked by sensors 57 which may be additionally provided. Such sensors 57 can supply additional measurement data which, in support of the 3D image data supplied by the camera systems 23, 25, 27, enable the evaluation unit 39 to recognize objects and their movements. Such sensors 57 can, for example, detect body heat of a person 31, 33 as infrared sensors or measure distances to or between objects as an ultrasonic sensor, radar sensor or laser distance sensor.

The security monitoring system 37 may, for example, use its evaluation unit 39 to calculate a suitable security room around each object. Examples are a security room 49 around the person 31 standing on the roof 19 of the elevator car 3, a security room 51 around the person 33 in the elevator pit 9, a security room 53 around the conductor 35 not tidied up in the elevator pit 9 and a security room 55 around the counterweight 5 moving relative to the person 33 is shown in dash-dot lines. In this case, security rooms 49, 51, which surround people 31, 33, preferably larger, that is, surrounding people 31, 33 with a greater distance, are calculated than security rooms 53, 55 around objects such as ladder 35 or counterweight 5, since these people 31, 33 can move independently and not necessarily predictably. As soon as two security rooms 49, 51, 53, 55 overlap one another by objects or people moving relative to one another, this can be evaluated by the security monitoring system 37 as an indication that a dangerous situation exists or at least threatens to be present soon.

In particular, the security rooms 49, 51 around people 31, 33 can also be calculated taking into account a current own movement of people 31, 33. If a person 31 moves, for example, in a direction towards an edge of the roof 19 of the elevator car 3, the associated safety room 49 can be calculated larger in the direction of this movement. That way For example, it can be anticipated that the person 31 will increasingly come closer to a counterweight 5 passing near the elevator car 3, for example. If such a larger-sized security room 49 then overlaps with a security room 55 around the counterweight 5 at an early stage, countermeasures can optionally be taken in good time, for example to prevent a collision of the person 31 with the counterweight 5. For example, warning signals can be output to the person 31 or a movement of the counterweight 5 relative to the elevator car 3 can be initiated by suitably actuating the drive machine 13 via the elevator control 29.

Overall, in the elevator system 1 described here, security for persons 31, 33 located in the elevator shaft 7 can be increased and, if necessary, a risk of collision with objects such as the ladder 35 can also be reduced. The security monitoring system 37 can work automatically, so that, in particular, no targeted actuation by the people 31, 33 is required. Instead, the safety monitoring system 37 can independently monitor critical areas within the elevator shaft 7 and recognize dangerous situations and then modify the operation of the elevator system 1 in a suitably situation-specific manner.

In conclusion, it should be pointed out that terms such as "having", "comprehensive", etc. do not exclude other elements and terms such as "a" or "an" do not exclude a large number. It should also be pointed out that features that have been described with reference to one of the above exemplary embodiments can also be used in combination with other features or steps of other exemplary embodiments described above. Reference signs in the claims are not to be viewed as a restriction.

Reference list

1

Elevator system

3rd

Elevator cabin

5

Counterweight

7

Elevator shaft

9

Elevator pit

11

Ceiling of the elevator shaft

13

Prime mover

15

Suspension means

17th

Traction sheave

19th

Roof of the elevator car

21

Floor of the elevator car

23

3D camera system

25th

3D camera system

27

3D camera system

29

Elevator control

31

person

33

person

35

ladder

37

Security monitoring system

39

Evaluation unit

41

Cable connection

43

Field of view

45

Field of view

47

Field of view

49

Security room

51

Security room

53

Security room

55

Security room

57

sensor

Claims (13)

1. Elevator system (1), having:

   a safety monitoring system (37) which is designed to recognize a dangerous situation and then to modify operation of the elevator system (1);

   characterized in that the safety monitoring system (37) has a 3D camera system (23, 25, 27) which is designed to generate 3-dimensional image data, and in that the safety monitoring system (37) is designed to recognize, on the basis of the image data generated by the 3D camera system (23, 25, 27), a person (31, 33) being located inside an elevator shaft (7) or an object (35) being located inside the elevator shaft and an obstacle (5, 3, 13) moving relative to the person (31, 33) or to the object (35) as a dangerous situation.
2. Elevator system according to claim 1, wherein the safety monitoring system (37) is designed to recognize, on the basis of the image data generated by the 3D camera system (23, 25, 27), whether the person (31, 33) inside the elevator shaft (7) or the object (35) inside the elevator shaft (7) is on a collision course with the obstacle (5, 3, 13) moving relative to the person (31, 33) or to the object (35).
3. Elevator system according to either claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the safety monitoring system (37) is designed to calculate, on the basis of the image data generated by the 3D camera system (23, 25, 27), a virtual safety space (49, 51, 53, 55) around a detected person (31, 33) or around a detected object (35) and around the obstacle (5, 3, 13) moving relative to the person (31, 33) or to the object (35) and to recognize the dangerous situation on the basis of the fact that the safety spaces (49, 51, 53, 55) overlap.
4. Elevator system according to claim 3, wherein the safety monitoring system (37) is designed to calculate the virtual safety space (49, 51) around a person (31, 33) so as to be larger than the virtual safety space (53, 55) around an object (35, 5).
5. Elevator system according to either claim 3 or claim 4, wherein the safety monitoring system (37) is designed to dimension the virtual safety space (49, 51) around a person (31, 33) depending on a direction of movement of the person (31, 33) detected on the basis of the image data generated by the 3D camera system (23, 25, 27).
6. Elevator system according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the safety monitoring system (37) is designed to limit travel of the elevator car (3) within the elevator shaft (7) when a dangerous situation is recognized.
7. Elevator system according to claim 6, wherein the safety monitoring system is designed to select a travel path for the elevator car (3) depending on a location of a recognized dangerous situation.
8. Elevator system according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the 3D camera system (23, 25, 27) has a stereo camera.
9. Elevator system according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the 3D camera system (23, 25, 27) has two separate cameras.
10. Elevator system according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the 3D camera system (23, 25, 27) has a camera that captures 2D image data and a distance measuring sensor.
11. Elevator system according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the safety monitoring system (37) has at least one sensor (57) selected from the group comprising infrared sensors, ultrasonic sensors, radar sensors and laser distance sensors.
12. Elevator system according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the 3D camera system (23, 25) is mounted on the elevator car (3) and/or a counterweight (5).
13. Elevator system according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the 3D camera system (27) is fixedly mounted in the elevator shaft (7), in particular in a pit (9) of the elevator shaft (7).

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