Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B66—HOISTING; LIFTING; HAULING
  • B66B—ELEVATORS; ESCALATORS OR MOVING WALKWAYS
  • B66B1/00—Control systems of elevators in general
  • B66B1/34—Details, e.g. call counting devices, data transmission from car to control system, devices giving information to the control system
  • B66B1/46—Adaptations of switches or switchgear
  • B66B1/461—Adaptations of switches or switchgear characterised by their shape or profile
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B66—HOISTING; LIFTING; HAULING
  • B66B—ELEVATORS; ESCALATORS OR MOVING WALKWAYS
  • B66B1/00—Control systems of elevators in general
  • B66B1/24—Control systems with regulation, i.e. with retroactive action, for influencing travelling speed, acceleration, or deceleration
  • B66B1/28—Control systems with regulation, i.e. with retroactive action, for influencing travelling speed, acceleration, or deceleration electrical
  • B66B1/30—Control systems with regulation, i.e. with retroactive action, for influencing travelling speed, acceleration, or deceleration electrical effective on driving gear, e.g. acting on power electronics, on inverter or rectifier controlled motor
  • B66B1/302—Control systems with regulation, i.e. with retroactive action, for influencing travelling speed, acceleration, or deceleration electrical effective on driving gear, e.g. acting on power electronics, on inverter or rectifier controlled motor for energy saving
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B66—HOISTING; LIFTING; HAULING
  • B66B—ELEVATORS; ESCALATORS OR MOVING WALKWAYS
  • B66B1/00—Control systems of elevators in general
  • B66B1/34—Details, e.g. call counting devices, data transmission from car to control system, devices giving information to the control system
  • B66B1/36—Means for stopping the cars, cages, or skips at predetermined levels
  • B66B1/40—Means for stopping the cars, cages, or skips at predetermined levels and for correct levelling at landings
  • B66B1/405—Means for stopping the cars, cages, or skips at predetermined levels and for correct levelling at landings for hydraulically actuated elevators

Definitions

• Autonomous human-machine interface in the form of a floor control panel or a floor information panel for an elevator system
• the present invention relates to a man-machine interface in the form of a floor control panel or a floor information panel for an elevator installation.
• the invention also relates to an elevator installation with such a man-machine interface.
• At least one elevator car can typically be relocated in an elevator shaft between height levels of different floors.
• a drive machine displacing the elevator car is controlled by an elevator control. If necessary, the elevator control can also control further functionalities of the elevator installation.
• human-machine interface parts are typically provided in the form of floor control panels (FOP - landing operation panel) and / or floor information panels (FIP - landing information panel).
• a passenger can enter information in the form of an input signal to the elevator system. For example, by pressing a button on the floor control panel, the passenger can input a call signal to signal that he wishes the elevator car to be moved to the floor on which he is waiting. The input signal should then be passed on to the elevator control so that it can cause the elevator car to be moved to the desired floor.
• a floor information panel can serve to output information, which is to be reproduced by output signals, to passengers in a manner that is perceptible to them. For example, information about where the elevator car is currently located or how long a waiting time is likely can be provided via a suitable display or via an acoustic announcement.
• the to be issued Information ie for example where the elevator car is currently located, can be provided by the elevator control and transmitted to the floor information panel.
• each of the large number of floor control panels and floor information panels to be provided on the various floors is typically connected to a central power supply and / or to the elevator controller via cables.
• the expense of laying a large number of cables required for this when installing an elevator system, as well as the cost of materials required in this context, can be considerable.
• an elevator system in which the assembly effort and / or the cost of materials is reduced.
• a man-machine interface which can be used as a floor control panel or floor information panel in an elevator system and which enables the effort involved in its assembly to be reduced.
• a man-machine interface in the form of a floor control panel or a floor information panel for an elevator system has at least one interaction unit, a communication unit and a supply unit.
• the interaction unit is configured to generate input signals in response to an actuation by a passenger and / or to output output signals in a manner that is perceptible to the passenger.
• the communication unit is configured to transmit the input signals to an elevator controller and / or to receive the output signals from the elevator controller.
• the supply unit is configured to supply the interaction unit and the communication unit with electrical energy.
• the supply unit here comprises at least one energy conversion unit and one electricity storage unit.
• the energy conversion unit is configured to convert non-electrical energy available in the immediate vicinity of the human-machine interface parts, such as mechanical energy, into electrical energy.
• the electricity storage unit is configured to store the electric energy converted by the energy conversion unit.
• an elevator system which has an elevator shaft, an elevator car, a drive machine for moving the elevator car in the elevator shaft between height levels of different floors, an elevator controller for controlling functionalities of the elevator system in response to input signals and for outputting output signals as information about a current state in the elevator installation as well as a man-machine interface according to an embodiment of the first aspect of the invention.
• the human-machine interface proposed herein can be designed in terms of its functionalities and / or structurally in a largely similar manner to conventional human-machine interfaces for elevator systems.
• the interaction unit can be configured to interact with passengers and to receive information to be transmitted by the passengers as input signals in order to then be able to forward them to the elevator controller or to receive information to be transmitted to the passengers from the elevator controller and then to them to issue the passengers.
• the man-machine interface can have one or more buttons that can be actuated by passengers to signal to the elevator system that the elevator car should be moved to the floor of the passengers and / or in which direction a passenger would like to be moved with the elevator car.
• buttons other sensors or interfaces can also be used, via which passengers can enter their call signal.
• capacitive sensors can be provided by Passengers can be activated by lightly touching them. It is also possible to use sensor circuits which passengers can activate or actuate in a targeted manner, for example with a key, an RFID chip, a smartphone or some other technical device.
• the man-machine interface can, for example, have a display such as an LED display, a screen or the like, with the aid of which information relating to the elevator system can be displayed to a passenger.
• a display such as an LED display, a screen or the like
• information can also be output in other ways, for example acoustically via a loudspeaker.
• the elevator system can thus inform passengers about the current location of the elevator car, for example.
• the human has -Machine cut parts via a communication unit.
• the communication unit can exchange the input signals or the output signals between the communication partners and, if necessary, suitably preprocessed beforehand.
• At least one of the man-machine interface parts proposed herein can be arranged on each of the different floors.
• At least one floor control panel and / or a floor information panel is preferably provided on each of the floors supplied by the elevator system. Information relating to the elevator system can thus be made available to the passengers arriving there on each floor and information to be transmitted by the passengers, in particular call requests, can be recorded.
• a central principle which is based on the proposed man-machine interface parts, can be seen in the fact that they are provided with a special supply to equip unit, which supplies other components of the human-machine interface with electrical energy.
• the supply unit can be designed, on the one hand, to be able to generate electrical energy by converting other types of energy available in the immediate vicinity of the human-machine interface and, on the other hand, to be able to temporarily store this electrical energy.
• the supply unit has the energy conversion unit, which is able to convert non-electrical forms of energy such as kinetic energies, thermal energies, electromagnetic energies such as light, or other forms of energy into electrical energy. Furthermore, the supply unit has the electricity storage unit, with the aid of which converted electrical energy can be stored and released again at a later point in time.
• the human-machine interface can be configured to operate exclusively on the basis of the electrical energy provided by the supply unit.
• the human-machine interface can be designed in such a way that all of the electrical energy required by it for its operation can be provided by the supply unit in sufficient quantity and with sufficient reliability.
• the supply unit can be designed with sufficient power to provide sufficient electrical energy.
• the other components of the human-machine interface in particular their interaction unit and their communication unit, can be designed to be particularly energy-saving. In this way it can be achieved that the entire human-machine interface with its electrically operating components can be operated solely by the supply unit.
• the proposed human-machine interface does not need to have any cable connections via which electrical energy coming from a central power supply would be distributed to various human-machine interfaces within the elevator system.
• the proposed human-machine Interface are operated self-sufficient in energy, that is, independently of an external power grid, generate the electrical energy it requires by local conversion of energy, which is available in the form of other forms of energy in their immediate vicinity.
• the elevator installation according to the second aspect of the invention can thereby be free of power lines for supplying electrical energy to each of the man-machine interfaces. Instead, electrical energy is not provided externally to the human-machine interface, but is generated internally in it. An otherwise necessary effort to lay many possibly long cables within the elevator system in order to be able to supply its many human-machine interface parts with electrical energy for their operation from a central supply source can be avoided in this way. As a result, assembly and / or maintenance of the elevator system can be considerably simplified. The cost of materials for supply cables and the associated costs can also be avoided.
• the man-machine interface can be arranged in the elevator installation, for example, on a frame of a landing door that separates the elevator shaft from a landing.
• Floor doors are provided on elevator systems at a transition between a floor corridor and the elevator shaft and can be opened or closed as required.
• elevator systems they serve, among other things, to prevent passengers coming from a floor from falling into the elevator shaft if there is no elevator car waiting on the floor concerned.
• a storey door typically has a frame that is fixedly connected to the building and door leaves that are movable relative to the frame.
• One or more floor control panels and floor information panels can be attached to the frame or arranged integrated in the frame.
• the man-machine interface can be easily installed in the elevator system, for example together with the landing door, and on the other hand the man-machine interface with its energy conversion unit can be installed both in the vicinity of an internal volume of the elevator shaft and in the vicinity of a volume that on an opposite side of a landing adjoining the landing door, be arranged.
• the energy conversion unit can use available energy in both volumes and convert it into electrical energy.
• the energy conversion unit of the supply unit can be designed in different ways and use different energy sources in order to generate the required electrical energy from them.
• the energy conversion unit with the help of photovoltaic elements, i.e. solar cells.
• the photovoltaic elements could, for example, convert natural or artificial light available in the vicinity of the elevator system into electrical energy.
• the energy conversion unit could be designed to convert thermal energy into electrical energy.
• it could have thermocouples which, for example, could use temperature differences in the elevator system or in areas adjacent to the elevator system in order to generate electrical energy from them.
• the energy conversion unit could convert mechanical energy into electrical energy.
• piezo elements could be provided, for example, which convert the pressure exerted on them into electrical energy.
• the pressure could be generated by passengers, for example, when they press a button on a floor control panel or when they weigh on the floor in front of the elevator system while waiting for the elevator car.
• the energy conversion unit has a wind turbine to be set in rotation by a draft of air and a generator coupled to a shaft of the wind turbine.
• the energy conversion unit can have a small wind turbine.
• a wind turbine can also be referred to as a wind turbine with a corresponding structural design.
• the wind turbine is designed to be operated by a impinging draft of air, ie a stream of moving air, to be set into rotation.
• the wind turbine can have turbine blades or turbine blades against which the air flow flows, whereby a torque is exerted on the entire wind turbine. Because of this torque, the wind turbine rotates around an axis of rotation.
• the shaft of the wind turbine runs along this axis of rotation or coaxially to this axis of rotation.
• the kinetic energy inherent in the rotating wind turbine can thus be transmitted via the shaft to the generator coupled to the shaft.
• This generator is designed to at least partially convert the kinetic energy into electrical energy.
• magnetic fields rotating with the shaft in the generator can be used to induce electrical currents in coils.
• the electrical energy associated with these electrical currents can then be supplied within the human-machine interface to other components, in particular to the electricity storage unit and / or to the interaction unit and the communication unit.
• the wind turbine can be accommodated in a channel element to be arranged between an elevator shaft and a landing.
• the wind turbine of the energy conversion unit can be arranged in a channel element, which can be arranged in an elevator system in such a way that it connects the elevator shaft with an adjacent building floor in such a way that air can flow through this channel element from the elevator shaft into the building floor or vice versa Direction can circulate.
• the channel element can be designed, for example, as a tube, within which the wind turbine can be accommodated.
• a longitudinal direction of the channel element can be coaxial with an axis of rotation of the wind turbine.
• Turbine blades or turbine blades of the wind turbine can run transversely to the direction of longitudinal extent of the channel element, so that a draft of air that moves through the channel element, meets these turbine blades or turbine blades in a channeled manner and thus efficiently sets the wind turbine in rotation.
• the wind turbine can be arranged in a passage channel between the elevator shaft and a landing adjacent to the man-machine interface.
• the passage channel can connect an internal volume within the elevator shaft to an external volume, for example within a floor adjoining the elevator shaft, in such a way that air can circulate between the two volumes.
• the circulating air can then drive the wind turbine arranged in the through duct.
• the wind turbine can for example be accommodated in the aforementioned channel element and this channel element in turn can be arranged in the through channel.
• the passage channel can be, for example, a passage opening in a frame of a storey door.
• the total air flow is frequently observed which flows into the elevator shaft on the floors below and flows out of the elevator shaft again on the floors above.
• the total air flow can be influenced by the temperature conditions and / or air pressure conditions otherwise prevailing in the building and, if necessary, can flow in the opposite direction through the building.
• the total air flow can preferably be guided or channeled through the passage channel provided there between the floor corridor and the elevator shaft and there drive the wind turbine provided therein.
• the air pressure differences prevailing in the building and the air currents resulting therefrom can be used to convert the kinetic energies contained therein locally into electrical energy with the help of the wind turbine in the energy conversion unit.
• the electrical energy provided by the energy conversion unit can then be made available as consumers to other components of the human-machine interface as required.
• the human-machine interface also has the electricity storage unit.
• the electrical energy provided can be temporarily stored in this electricity storage unit.
• the electricity storage unit can have an accumulator.
• Such an accumulator is sometimes also referred to as a rechargeable battery.
• An accumulator can reversibly convert electrical energy into chemical energy. This chemical energy can be stored and converted back into electrical energy when required.
• Accumulators can store sufficiently large amounts of energy to be able to supply the human-machine interface parts with electricity independently. Accumulators can be made available relatively inexpensively and work reliably over long periods of operation.
• the electricity storage unit can have a super capacitor.
• Supercapacitors are sometimes also referred to as supercaps or ultracapacitors.
• Supercapacitors are electrochemical capacitors. Compared with batteries of the same weight, supercapacitors typically have a significantly lower energy density, but their power density is about 10 times to 100 times as big. Supercapacitors can therefore be charged and discharged much faster. They also survive many more switching cycles than is typically the case with accumulators.
• the communication unit is configured to wirelessly exchange the input signals and / or the output signals with the elevator controller.
• the elevator control and the human-machine interface can be configured to wirelessly exchange the input signals and the output signals with one another.
• the proposed human-machine interface can not only do without drawing its electrical energy via cables that have to be laid over a long distance, but data communication or signal communication can also be implemented wirelessly.
• both the communication unit of the human-machine interface and the elevator control can have transmit and receive modules, with the aid of which, in particular, the input signals and output signals can be exchanged between the two communication partners.
• the wireless exchange of data or signals can take place in the form of electromagnetic waves, i.e. for example via radio.
• Different wireless communication technologies and / or communication protocols can be used depending on the distances to be overcome between the communication partners and / or the amounts of data and signals to be transmitted.
• the use of wireless communication means that there is no need for complex wiring between each of the man-machine interfaces on the one hand and the central elevator control on the other.
• the human-machine interface parts and the units used therein can also be designed to be optimized so that as little electrical energy as possible is consumed during their operation.
• the communication unit can be configured to become active exclusively in response to an input of an input signal.
• the consumption of electrical energy in the human-machine interface can be reduced in that, in particular, the communication unit thereof is only activated when required and is otherwise in a sleep mode, for example.
• the human-machine interface can in particular use its interaction unit to detect such an input signal.
• This interaction unit can have a sensor system that can be used to detect when a passenger wants to transmit an input signal.
• a button on a floor control panel can be actuated by the passenger and this can be recognized as an input signal, whereupon the communication unit can be activated in order to ultimately transmit the input signal to the elevator control, for example.
• the sensor system can also be implemented in a different way or at a different location.
• a floor information panel can also have a sensor system, with the aid of which, for example, the presence of a passenger waiting in front of the elevator system can be recognized. The detection of the passenger can be interpreted as an input signal and in turn trigger the activation of the communication unit.
• the human-machine interface further measures can be taken to minimize their electrical energy consumption.
• technologies with low power consumption can be used in the communication unit.
• sensors or displays with particularly low power consumption can also be used in the interaction unit.
• the use of the energy self-sufficient human-machine interface parts proposed herein can achieve various advantages for the elevator system equipped with them. For example, the installation work involved in the construction of the elevator system or the maintenance work to be carried out during its operation can be significantly lower than with conventional elevator systems, since no long power cables need to be laid or maintained within the elevator system to a central power supply.
• the otherwise necessary signal transmission cables can be dispensed with.
• FIG. 1 shows a sectional view through an elevator installation according to an embodiment of the present invention.
• FIG. 2 shows a front view of a storey door with man-machine interface parts according to an embodiment of the present invention.
• FIG. 3 shows a schematic illustration of a human-machine interface according to an embodiment of the present invention.
• FIG. 4 shows a sectional view through a door frame of a storey door with a human-machine sectional part arranged therein according to an embodiment of the present invention.
• the elevator installation 51 comprises an elevator shaft 53 in which an elevator car 55 and a counterweight 69 can be displaced in the vertical direction between different floors 61.
• the elevator car 55 and the counterweight 69 are held by rope-like suspension means 67.
• the rope-like suspension means 67 can be moved with the aid of a traction sheave 71 of a drive machine 57 and in this way the elevator car 55 and the counterweight 69 can be displaced in opposite directions.
• the drive machine 57 is controlled by an elevator control 59.
• a landing door 73 is provided on each of the floors 61 and separates an interior volume in the elevator shaft 53 from an exterior volume in a landing 93 of each floor 61.
• Man-machine interface parts 1 in the form of a floor information panel 63 and a floor control panel 65 are provided for each of the floor doors 73.
• a passenger 95 can, for example, be shown the floor on which the elevator car 55 is currently located.
• the floor information panel 63 can, for example, output output signals that it receives from the elevator control 59 in a manner that is perceptible to the passenger 95.
• the floor control panel 65 can be operated by the passenger 95 in order to call the elevator car 55 to his floor 61, for example. When actuated, the floor control panel 65 can generate a corresponding input signal and pass it on to the elevator control 59.
• the storey door 73 has a door frame 75 and two door leaves 77 which can be displaced relative to this door frame 75 and thus opened and closed.
• a man-machine interface 1 in the form of a floor information panel 63 is arranged in the door frame 75 above the door leaves 77.
• the floor information panel 63 has an output unit 13 in the form of a display 15, which can be designed, for example, with the aid of an FED matrix 79.
• the output unit 13 can, for example, display information about the floor 61 on which the elevator car 55 is currently located.
• a ventilation slot 81 can also be seen on the floor information panel 63, which opens into a passage 85 which extends through the door frame 75.
• the through channel 85 thus connects the external volume within the floor 93 with the internal volume within the elevator shaft 53.
• FIG. 65 schematically shows an exemplary structure of a human-machine interface 1.
• the human-machine interface 1 has an interaction unit 3, a communication unit 5 and a supply unit 7.
• the interaction unit 3 can have different components.
• an input unit 9 can be provided in the interaction unit 3, via which the passenger 95 can generate input signals in order to transmit information to the elevator installation 51.
• the input unit 9 can for example comprise a sensor 11 which can detect an actuation or a touch by the passenger 95.
• an output unit 13 can be provided in the interaction unit 3, via which information can be output to the passenger 95.
• the output unit 13 can include, for example, a display 15 in order to be able to output the information as an output signal in a manner that is perceptible to the passenger 95.
• the output unit 13 can also present the information in a different way, for example in the form of an acoustic output, and for this purpose have a loudspeaker, for example.
• the man-machine interface 1 also includes a logic unit 17, with the aid of which, for example, the input signals and / or output signals can be processed.
• the logic unit 17 can have, for example, a data processing unit with a processor (CPU) and possibly a data storage unit.
• the communication unit 5 is used to exchange the input signals and / or output signals with the elevator control 59, for example.
• the communication unit 5 has a preferably wireless transceiver unit 19.
• This transceiver unit 19 can transmit the various signals, for example as radio signals, to or from a further transceiver unit 91 on the elevator system 59 (see also FIG. 1) receive.
• the supply unit 7 of the human-machine interface parts 1 has an energy conversion unit 23 and an electricity storage unit 25 as well as a power management unit 21.
• the energy conversion unit 23 is designed to convert energy, which is available in a non-electrical form in the immediate vicinity of the human-machine interface parts 1, into electrical energy.
• the electrical energy can then be passed on to the power management unit 21.
• the power management unit 21 can partially or completely forward this electrical energy directly to energy-consuming components of the human-machine interface 1 such as the communication unit 5, the interaction units 3 and / or the logic unit 17.
• the power management unit 21 can forward the electrical energy partially or completely to the electricity storage unit 25, in which the electrical energy can be temporarily stored and, if necessary, can be retrieved again at a later point in time by the power management unit 21 and the other components of the man-machine Cutting parts 1 can be made available.
• the energy conversion unit 23 is designed to convert kinetic energy in the form of a draft 89 into electrical energy.
• the energy conversion unit 23 has a small wind turbine 27 which is set in rotation by the draft 89.
• a shaft 28 of the wind turbine 27 rotating about an axis of rotation is connected to a generator 29.
• the generator 29 generates an electric current due to the rotation.
• the electrical current can optionally be rectified in the power management unit 21 or with the aid of a rectifier which is to be additionally provided.
• the electricity storage unit 25 is equipped with an accumulator 31 and / or a supercapacitor 33 in order to be able to store the electrical energy made available by the energy conversion unit 23.
• FIG. 4 illustrates how the man-machine cut parts 1 can be arranged in the frame 75 of the landing door 73.
• a through channel 85 can be provided in the frame 75.
• a channel element 87 in the form of a tube, for example, can be integrated in the through-channel 85.
• the wind turbine 27 and the generator 29 of the energy conversion unit 23 are then in turn received in the channel element 87.
• the wind turbine 27 is arranged in such a way that a draft 89 flowing through the duct element 87 causes it to rotate.
• the draft 89 can be caused by pressure differences that can prevail within a building between the external volumes of the floor corridors 93 and the internal volume of the elevator shaft 53.
• a draft 89 flows from a floor 93 there into the elevator shaft 53 on the lower floors 61 and then flows again as a draft 89 from the elevator shaft 53 into the floor 93 on the upper floors 61.
• the draft 89 can be caused, for example, by the difference in height within the elevator shaft 53 and / or by different temperatures within the building. Movements of the elevator car 55 within the elevator shaft 53 can also ensure a draft 89.
• Each of the human-machine interface parts 1 can thus work in an energy self-sufficient manner. It is therefore not necessary to lay supply cables, for example from a central energy supply, to each of the human-machine interface parts 1.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Automation & Control Theory (AREA)
• Computer Networks & Wireless Communication (AREA)
• Elevator Control (AREA)
• Indicating And Signalling Devices For Elevators (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=70110033

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (5)

Family Cites Families (12)

• 2021
  • 2021-03-04 EP EP21708257.7A patent/EP4126729A1/de active Pending
  • 2021-03-04 CN CN202180026295.8A patent/CN115427336A/zh active Pending
  • 2021-03-04 WO PCT/EP2021/055408 patent/WO2021197749A1/de unknown
  • 2021-03-04 BR BR112022019544A patent/BR112022019544A2/pt unknown
  • 2021-03-04 US US17/907,281 patent/US20230111024A1/en active Pending

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