GB2277611A - Elevator bank control system - Google Patents

Abstract

An elevator control system having a plurality of operating banks, each bank having a plurality of elevator cars, wherein the elevator supervisory control unit 3 for one bank of elevator cars determines the control method for that bank of cars in dependence upon the control method and traffic conditions of the other elevator banks. Where a bank of cars is not fitted with the necessary communication means eg following partial renewal of the elevator system, the operation of the cars in that group is predicted by a simulation so that the determination of the control method for the other elevator bank(s) still takes account of the operation of the first bank of cars (figure 4b). The individual supervisory control units 3a, 3b, 3c can be integrated into one group supervisory control unit. <IMAGE>

Description

ELEVATOR OPERATION CONTROL METHOD AND CONTROL EQUIPMENT THEREFOR The present invention relates to elevator operation control equipment, and in particular it relates to an operational control method determination method suitable for use in determining optimal control methods for a group of operational control equipment responsible for controlling operation of a plurality of elevator banks or a unit of the operational control equipment which executes a plurality of control methods simultaneously.

As a related prior art there is such one as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.53 7054/1978 wherein an elevator system including a plurality of elevator banks installed in juxtaposition comprises change-over switches for changing the number of elevators constituting respective banks and respective combinations therebetween so as to adapt to dynamic modes of changes in the utilization mode of building, transient transportation demands of short duration, and so on thereby to provide an optimal bank configuration adaptable to such changes.Further, there is such one as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No.1-98579/1989 wherein of a plurality of elevator banks which mutually operate in opposite directions with respect to the traffic connection lobby where passengers change their elevator cars, at least several elevator cars thereof are controlled by the concentrative control algorithm so as to minimize the time required for changing elevator cars.

Still further, there is such one as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.50-69746/1975 wherein the shuttle elevators and the local elevators can choose their mutual operational patterns in dependency on the traffic information exchanged therebetween adapting to various traffic conditions so as to improve operational efficiencies of respective elevator cars. In addition, regarding traffic connection by shuttle elevators or the like, there is such one as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.48-72837/1973 wherein whether a particular hall call may be responded or not is determined by correlating the operations of the shuttle elevators and the local elevators in order to facilitate a smooth traffic connection therebetween at the time of changing cars.

According to the foregoing related arts, since a hall call for a local elevator is produced on the basis of the number of passengers on the shuttle elevator and the like, convenience and services of traffic connection for a changeover of elevator cars will improve. However, since no direct modification is applicable to the control method of respective control equipment, it is not clear whether an overall improvement of performance over all the elevator banks has been achieved or not, and, in particular, it becomes necessary for the other passengers on the other floors other than those transferring the car at the connection floor to wait for a prolonged period of time since elevator cars are served collectively to the connection floor.According to the Japanese Patent Application No.1-98579 cited above, a plurality of elevator banks are controlled by the concentrative control algorithm. This allows respective elevator cars operating in the upper and the down floors of the connection floor to be called up thereto taking into account the directions of their traffic flows and respective predicted times for them to arrive there so that a time required for changeover of the cars at the connection floor may be minimized. Therefore, it is mainly intended for the elevator banks which are controlled by the concentrative algorithm to facilitate the convenience of those passengers who change their elevator cars at the connection floor, and not the convenience of other passengers on other floors who are served by a reduced number of remaining elevator cars with substantially reduced service performance.

If it is included in the concentrative algorithm another factor of people flow on the other floors in addition to the passengers changing their elevator cars at the connection floor, the conveniences for those people on the other floors as well as the passengers changing the cars can be enhanced. However, in order to improve the overall system efficiency as above by utilizing single control equipment, there will be needed a complicated algorithm which must take into account every traffic demands, every elevators' performances and layouts thereof within the building. The layouts and allocations of elevator banks will differ depending on every building structure, and their specifications may change greatly with time.Therefore, it is very difficult or even impossible to obtain in advance a set of any appropriate algorithms adaptable to such timedependent changes and to realize always an utmost overall efficiency of operation. Further, if every elevator banks are adapted to be controlled by a single algorithm, there will be no freedom even to modify a control target separately within each elevator bank so that a particular bank may be addressed to adapt to a control method with a particular emphasis placed on the wait time while another bank may be addressed to adapt to a control method with a particular emphasis placed on congestion and its mitigation.

According to the Japanese Patent Application Laid Open No.50-69746 referred to above, since the shuttle elevators and the local elevators are allowed to choose their operational patterns respectively in accordance with the mutual traffic information exchanged therebetween, an improved operation more suitable to an individual bank becomes possible. However, since such operational patterns are selected individually for respective banks, an overall efficiency improvement over every elevator banks is not insured to be obtained.

The above-mentioned related arts have arrangements such that the control equipment responsible for controlling individual elevator banks is provided with traffic information of other related banks in order to minimize the time required for changeover of elevator cars in individual banks, and thus improve the efficiency therein. With respect to the concentrative control algorithm method, since it is addressed for reducing the waiting time required in the changeover of elevator cars at the connection floor, there has not been taken into consideration the convenience of people waiting on the other floors other than the passengers changing the cars, nor there has been treated an overall efficiency improvement of operation over a plurality elevator banks.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an operational system which can improve an overall efficiency of operation of a plurality of elevator banks within the building, and which is adaptable to a versatility of buildings, and can follow rapidly changing use conditions of the building.

In order to accomplish the aforementioned object, it is arranged according to the present invention such that a control method for an individual elevator bank is determined by taking into consideration each traffic information of each other bank as well as a control method of control equipment of other associated elevator banks. Further, a best selection is made for each elevator bank from a set of combinations of contending control methods by carrying out computer simulation by simulating operation of elevator banks so as to predict a probable outcome when a particular combination thereof is applied thereto, thusly an optimal combination can be selected from the above contending combinations of control methods.

Each unit of a plurality of elevator control units receives associated control methods of the other control unit through control equipment communication means, then determines its own control method by taking into consideration these associated control methods of the other elevator control unit thus received.

Based on respective control methods of a plurality of elevator control units and traffic demands to be covered by the plurality of the elevator control units, an integrated master control unit determines an optimal control method for any other elevator control unit which is then transmitted to each control unit through a group supervisory group communication means.

The integrated master control equipment receives traffic demands for each time zone from each elevator control unit via the group communication means, and computes an optimal control method for each elevator control unit for each time zone by a control method calculation means on the basis of such traffic demands received.

The control method calculation means is provided with simulation means for simulating each elevator control unit, elevator banks to be controlled by each elevator control unit, and traffic demands to be served by the foregoing elevator control unit, which by modifying various probable combinations of control methods for each elevator control unit, also by simulating by means of the foregoing simulation means the operations of each elevator control unit and respective elevator banks under a particular traffic demand received via the group communication means, calculates evaluation indexes such as waiting time and so on for every elevator control unit and elevator banks. Overall evaluation of the foregoing evaluation indexes is carried out by evaluation means.A particular combination of various possible control methods which produces a best result in this overall evaluation is sent to each control unit as an optimal control method under an anticipated traffic flow to result from the current traffic demands via the group communication means so that each elevator control unit may executes an optimum control operation for the associated elevator bank in concert therewith.

The present invention will be described further in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig.l is a schematic block diagram of the invention; Fig.2 is a system configuration of the invention; Fig.3 is a flow chart illustrative of the invention; Fig.4 is an example of a control method determination means embodying the invention; Fig.5 is an example of the invention in which a leaning function is not employed; Fig.6 is a schematic block diagram of a system configuration embodying the invention in which an integrated master control is used; Fig.7 is a flow chart using the integrated master control of the invention; Fig.8 is an example of the invention for implementing the effect thereof with a single bank or group; Fig.9 is a flow chart for implementing the invention with a single bank;; Fig.10 is an example of a control method table of the invention; Fig.11 is an example of an other group supervisory information table; Fig.l2 is a schematic block diagram of a system configuration of the invention for use in combination with the other supervisory system; Fig.l3 is an example of a control method estimation unit of the invention; Fig.14 illustrates how the inhouse displays or annunciators in the building are controlled; Fig.15 is an example of elevator operation according to the invention; Fig.16 illustrates examples of transfer of elevator cars on the transfer lobby between a high floor section and a low floor section; Fig.17 is an example of transfer of elevator cars on the same service floor;; Fig.18 illustrates an example of the invention where a single group supervisory control unit is adapted to use a plurality of control methods; Fig.l9 illustrates examples of shuttle elevator operations; and Fig.20 is a flow chart of a control method determination which adopts a genetic algorithm of the invention.

One preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in the following with reference to the accompanying drawings. Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of one embodiment of the invention. Hall call information entered from hall call buttons 101-lOn is sent to a group supervisory control 3 via an information transmission path 2. Cage or car call information from a cage call button 41-44 is sent together with other cage information via a cage information transmission path 5154 to an individual elevator car control or elevator car control unit 61-64 which further transmits thusly sent car call information together with other information on the other elevator car controls via a group supervisory transmission path 7 to the group supervisory control 3.

The elevator supervisory control determines or assigns a particular elevator car to serve in response to a particular hall call, then transmits an assignment signal thus determined to its associated elevator car control unit of a corresponding service elevator car. Individual elevator car control units 61-64 respectively control motors 81-84 to operate hoists 91-94 so as to cause cages 111-114 to serve the hall calls. Numerals 121-124 denote counterweights, 131-134 denote hall annunciators, and 14 is an inter-group supervisory communication path. Hall call information is gathered in a hall call information gathering means 31 provided in the group supervisory control 3, which information is sent to an assignment control means 33 together with cage information from a cage information gathering means 32. The assignment control means 33 determines a specific elevator car to be ;assigned to the hall call on the basis of a current traffic flow determined by a traffic flow determination means 34, a control method designated by a control method table 35, and supervisory information of the other group(s) or bank from an other group supervisory information table 36. The hall call information and cage information are sent to a learning means 37 to generate an individual floor learning table 38. A control method determination means 39 determines a control method for each time zone and traffic flows on the basis of learned information from the individual floor learning table 38, and other elevator car information from the other group supervisory information table 36, then writes in a thusly determined control method into the control method table 35.A group control communication means 310 receives a control method from the control method table 35, assignment information from the assignment control means 33, learned information from the individual floor learning table 38, and the like, determines on the basis of the control method sent from the control method table an appropriate operation method for each elevator car, then an associated operation signal is sent to respective elevator car controls 61-64 to respond to respective hall calls according to this operation method.On the basis of information from the other group supervisory information table which includes control methods and traffic flows of the other elevator cars in the other banks which were received through the group control communication means 310, the control method determination unit 39 determines an optimum control method which is then stored in the control method table 35. The group control communication means 310 transmits the control method information from the control method table 35, learned information from the individual floor learning table 38, the assignment information from the assignment control means 33 to another group supervisory control 3b via the inter-group supervisory communication path 14.

The another group supervisory control 3b likewise records thusly transmitted information in its another group supervisory information table, and determines its control method likewise so as to control its elevator bank appropriately in concert therebetween.

Figure 2 is an example of a system configuration of one embodiment of the invention. Each group supervisory control 3a-3c receives traffic flows and control methods of the other group supervisory controls via the inter group supervisory communication path 14, then controls effectively and efficiently respective individual elevator car controls 61a-63a through 61c-63c. Since each group supervisory control 3a-3c is equivalent in the control level in this system configuration, if a particular group supervisory control changes its control method, the other supervisory controls may have to modify their control methods to respond to the changes in its counterparts, which in turn may cause the preceding particular group supervisory control to further modify ;its control method, likely leading to a divergence in the control methods.Thereby, there may occur such that any definite control method cannot be determined. In such a case, after analyzing causal relations among respective traffic flows relative to time zones, and, in particular, directions of the traffic flows, it may be arranged such that respective control methods are determined sequentially in a direction starting from a particular group supervisory control having a causal traffic flow to another particular group supervisory control having a resultant traffic flow, whereby a specific combination of control methods thereof suitable for use in an actual operating condition may be determined. Also, it may be arranged such that a sequence of steps for determining control methods be preset in the order of amounts in traffic flows, weighted importance attached to each group or the like.

Figure 3 is a schematic diagram illustrative of a flow chart according to the invention. Fig.3(a) is a flow chart illustrative of a control method determination method of the invention. Also with reference to Fig. 1, the control method determination means 39 receives information on the control methods of the other group control units and traffic data from the other group supervisory information table 36 in step 301a. Then, in step 302a the control method determination means 39 reads in from the individual floor learning table 38 a traffic flow data of its own group corresponding to a specific ;time at which the other group's corresponding information is received.An appropriate control method is determined in step 303a for each time zone and each traffic flow on the basis of the entered traffic flow data of its own group and other related information of the other groups.

Further, thusly determined control method is written in the control method table in step 304a. Of these control methods, elevator car control information such as a door open time and the like is sent to its associated car control responsive to a current traffic flow and time zone or the like in step 305a. Finally in step 306a, the determined control method and traffic flow data are transmitted to the other group supervisory controls. In the same manner appropriate control methods are determined in the other group supervisory controls.

Fig.3(b) is a flow chart for determining a particular service elevator car to respond to a hall call. The assignment control means 33 reads in a current traffic flow from the traffic flow determination means 34 in step 301b, then reads in control methods, traffic flows and the like currently under execution in the other group supervisory controls from the other group supervisory information table 36 in step 302b. Then, a particular control method currently to be employed is selected from the control method table 35 based on the foregoing relevant information (step 303b).Further, current hall information is read from the hall call information gathering means 31 in step 305b, and cage information is read from the cage information gathering means 32 in step 306b, then from the foregoing hall information and car information and by using the control method determined previously a particular service elevator car is determined to respond to a particular hall call, then an assignment signal is transmitted to a corresponding elevator car control 61a-63a through 6lc-63c in step 308b.

Figure 4 is an example of the control method determination means 39 embodying the invention. Fig.4(a) illustrates an example how an appropriate control method is determined through inference. An inference mechanism 391 derives a suitable control method as a determined control method 396 in dependency on a traffic flow data 392 on its own group sent from the individual floor learning table 38, and an other group traffic flow data 393 and an other group control method 394 received from the other group supervisory information table 36 with reference to a control method determination knowledge 395. The determined control method 396 is then sent to the control method determination table 35. Fig.4(b) is an example of determining of an appropriate control method through simulation. A parameter modification/judgment mechanism 397 modifies a control method and its parameters, which are sent to a simulation means 398 which simulates operations of elevators. The simulation means 398 executes simulations simulating the operations of elevators within its own bank and in the other related banks utilizing its own group traffic flow data 392, the other group traffic flow data 393, and the other group control method 394. The results of the simulations are sent back to the parameter modification/judgment mechanism 397 which derives a result of its judgment as the determined control method 396.

Figure 5 is another embodiment of a simplified arrangement of the invention devoid of the learning means. A control method table 35 is provided with a set of appropriate control methods predetermined for each combination of respective control methods and traffic flows in other groups and traffic flows in its own group.

An assignment control means 33 selects an appropriate control method and its parameters currently to be applied from the control method table 35 in dependency on the other group information from the other group supervisory information table 36 and the traffic flow of its own group obtained from the traffic flow determination means 34 thereby to determine a particular elevator(s) to be assigned for service.

According to this another embodiment of the invention, it becomes possible for such traffic flows that can be predicted to some extent beforehand to apply an adapting operational control without involving any complicated calculation necessitated for such as the learning means. This is most advantageous when applied, in particular, to a plurality of elevator banks some of which include low cost elevator cars. Further, if some of the plurality of elevator banks employ a supervisory control provided with a learning function, since a fine adjustment can be done by such supervisory control with learning function by modifying its own control method of its own bank, it will be effective, even on a partial scale, to apply this another embodiment of the invention to the plurality of elevator banks.

Figure 6 is a schematic block diagram of one embodiment of the invention which utilizes an integrating master control equipment. Fig.6(a) illustrates an overall schematic block diagram of such a typical example. In addition to group supervisory controls 3a 3b, there is provided an integrating master control unit 15 which can determine an optimum combination of control methods over the entire groups or banks. The integrating master control unit 15 includes a control method selection determination means 151, and receives via a group control communication means 310 information on each group from each group supervisory control 3a-3b, which information being read into an individual group information table 152 therein.The aforesaid control method selection determination means 151 obtains probable combinations of control methods and their parameters for each group on the basis of information on the individual group information from the aforesaid individual group information table 152, control method selection knowledge 153 which designates sequences in selecting and ;determining control methods, and each group control target 154, such combinations are then sent to an overall simulation means 155.The overall simulation means 155 reads in from the building/elevator specifications table relevant information such as the number of elevator cars in each group, their specifications, layouts of each group or bank and the like, then carries out simulations of the overall elevator operations throughout the building, and results of such simulations are sent to the control method selection determination means 151. The control method selection determination means 151 determines depending on the results of the simulation whether or not its specific combination of control methods is optimal.If it is an optimal combination, that specific combination of control methods are written into the individual group information table 152, then the group control communication means 310 transmits that specific combination of control methods to each of the group supervisory controls 3a-3b which then executes operational control of each group in accordance with thus transmitted control method. By way of example, the group supervisory control 3 may have such an arrangement as shown in Fig.6(b) in which the control method determination means 39 is removed.

According to the present invention, since the integrating master control unit can determine once for all and univocally an optimal combination of control methods which respective individual group supervisory 5controls must execute concurrently, it becomes possible to determine a more delicate high-precision control method for each group. Further, it becomes possible to simplify the arrangement of the individual group supervisory control 3a-3b because it can be built without the use of the inference mechanism 391, simulation means 398 and the like which require complicated operations.

Figure 7 shows a schematic flow chart where the integrating master control unit is utilized. Fig.7(a) shows in brief steps of operations of the integration master control. At first, control targets of the individual group supervisory controls 3a-3b, and a total control target for the entire building are read in from the individual control target table in step 701. Then, the group control communication means 310 receives respective control methods that the individual group supervisory controls execute and their traffic flow data, which are written into the individual group information table 152 in step 702. Then, using such control targets and individual group information, an appropriate control method is determined for each group for each time zone and traffic flow in step 703, then thusly determined control method is written into the individual group information table 152.The group control communication means 310 transmits the thusly determined control method to the individual group supervisory controls 3a-3b in step 705. Fig.7(b) is a flow chart indicating in detail the control method determination step 703. The control method selection means 151 reads in specifications of the individual group supervisory controls from the building/elevator specification table 156 in step 703-1, then reads in control targets of each group from the individual group control target table 154 in step 703-2, further reads in traffic flows under control of respective groups or banks for each corresponding time zone from the individual group information table 152 in step 703-3.Then, an appropriate combination of control methods for individual groups are determined as a possible candidate in step 703-4, which then is simulated in an overall simulation means 155 to see if it is suitable in regard of the overall elevator operations throughout the building in step 703-5. A total and respective control target values for the entire building and respective groups are calculated on the basis of the results of such simulation in step 703-6, and it is checked whether or not their target values are attained in step 703-7. If not attained, its particular combination of control methods is modified in step 703-8 to derive another candidate combination which then is returned to the total simulation step 703-5. If the target is attained, the flow exits the subroutine and returns to step 704 of the main routine.

As a determination method for determining an appropriate set of combination of control methods in step 703-4, there are such methods as the inference method, table reference method, and the genetic algorithm which ;simulates the steps of biological evolution. Further, even if a specific target value preset is not reached, in step 703-7 it may be arranged such that at a particular point at which an overall evaluation value including respective target values such as waiting time or ride time becomes minimum, the corresponding control method which marked the above overall evaluation value may be determined to be an optimum control method under a certain circumstance thus permitting it to exit the routine of (b).

Figure 8 is an example of the present invention when it is applied to one elevator bank and one group supervisory control 3. Fig.8(a) shows typical traffic flows to be served. The left-hand side traffic flow in Fig.8(a) can be divided into a regular traffic flow going down from the 6th and 5th floors to the first floor as indicated in the center portion of the drawing and approximately even but irregular traffic flows which arise at the other floors as indicated in the right-hand side of the drawing.It is ascertained by simulation that it is efficient for the regular traffic flow which arises regularly but is concentrated on particular floors as shown in the center of the drawing to be served by express elevators or shuttle operation between the boarding floor and the destination floor, and that it is effective for the traffic flows which arise irregularly at each floor as indicated on the right-hand side of the drawing to determine their service elevator cars by an assignment system.In this case, a plurality of control methods will be executed simultaneously within a single group or bank, therefore, it becomes necessary to coordinate between respective control methods and determine, for example, how many number of elevator cars should be allocated to which control method, or which floor should be designated as the boarding floor for the shuttle operation and the like. Therefore, a control method determination means 39 is provided in the group supervisory control as shown in Fig.8(b) to coordinate between a control method a33-1 and a control method b33-2 within an assignment control means 33, whereby it becomes possible to carry out coordination between respective control methods when a plurality of control methods are necessitated to be executed within a single group or bank.

With reference to Figure 9 there is shown a flow chart for one embodiment of the invention when it is applied to a single group. Fig.9(a) is a flow chart for determining control methods and a combination of their parameters and the like. First of all, the control method determination means 39 reads in relevant traffic flow data from the individual floor learning table 38 in step 901a, then determines an appropriate control method and a set of its parameter combinations through the aforesaid procedures in step 902a. Then, a control performance of each combination of the control methods is calculated by simulation in step 903a, to determine 'whether or not its control performance attains a particular control target, or whether it is optimum or not in step 904a.When it does not attain its control target, the combination of control methods and its parameters are modified in step 905a, then its subroutine returns to step 903a to repeat simulation. When it attains its control target, corresponding control methods are written into the control method table 35 in step 906a.

Fig.9(b) is a flow chart indicative of a subroutine operation followed in determining a specific service elevator car(s). Firstly, the assignment control means 33 reads in a current traffic flow from the traffic flow determination means 34 in step 901b, then, selects an appropriate combination of control methods suitable for the current traffic flow from the control method table 35 in step 902b, then reads in hall call information from the hall call gathering means 31 in step 903b, further in step 904b reads in cage information from the cage information gathering means 32, then determines a service elevator car(s) to serve a particular traffic flow in accordance with the aforesaid optimal combination of the control methods, the hall information and the cage information in step 905b.Finally, an assignment signal is transmitted to each corresponding individual elevator control unit in step 906b.

According to the embodiments of the present invention, since a plurality of control methods can be executed within a single group or bank, and coordination between service elevators cars can be implemented, a substantial improvement in the efficiency of operation of elevator cars can be facilitated.

Figure 10 shows an example of the control method table, of which (a) indicates an example where there are a plurality of elevator banks, and (b) indicates another example where there is a single elevator bank.

Figure 11 shows an example of an other group supervisory information table of the invention.

Figure 12 is a schematic block diagram indicative of an example of the present invention when it is applied in combination with a different elevator control system.

There may arise no peculiar problems when all the group supervisory controls within the building employ the same control system of the invention. However, it often occurs in a large scaled building where a plurality of different elevator banks are installed that a various of elevator cars of different manufacturers are adapted to operate simultaneously. Further, there may arise such that a different elevator bank is newly added or refitted to the present elevator banks under control of conventional type supervisory controls. These conventional supervisory controls are usually not provided with any communication means to communicate its control method therebetween nor with a function to modify its control method within its bank in dependency on a particular control method of the other group or bank.

' Thereby, a control method estimation unit 16 as shown in Figure 13 which estimates an appropriate control method using information such as the hall call information, cage information and the like is utilized to estimate a probable control method by which another group supervisory control is likely to be operated which is not provided with the communication means for communicating its control methods. Thereby, even in such a case where the embodiment of the invention is to be installed in juxtaposition with previously installed old group supervisory controls or other manufacturers' group supervisory controls, it can be applied effectively since an appropriate control method for its own group can be determined and modified by utilizing the estimated control method of the counterparts as above.Further, when a traffic flow detection unit 17 is utilized to measure the traffic flows served by traffic means other than the elevators, and such traffic flows measured are entered into the control method estimation unit 16, an integrated group supervisory control also in consideration of the traffic means other than the elevators can be implemented. By way of example, the traffic flow detection unit referred to above includes an image processor, weighing machine, counter and the like whereby the number of people who utilize respective traffic means can be measured on the basis of unit time both at entrance and exit thereof. Thereby, the control method estimation unit can estimate a most probable transportation algorithm for its traffic means from the number of people thusly measured.

Figure 13 is an example of a control method determination unit of the invention. Fig.13(a) is an example for estimating an operational algorithm by a method such as the regression analysis or the like. The control method estimation unit 16 receives traffic flows or the like from the other systems via an other system communication means, and sends the received traffic flows to an operational information table 162, a traffic flow information table 163 and a group control communication means 310. The operational information table 162 and the traffic flow information table 163 gather such information on the basis of each time zone and traffic flow.An algorithm estimation means 164 estimates an operational algorithm for each time zone and traffic flow using such information and an analysis method of an analysis knowledge table 165, the estimated operational algorithm being stored in an operational algorithm table 167. The group control communication means 310 transmits the contents of the operational algorithm table 167 as it control method, and transmits the information from the other system communication means as the current data on the present operational state and traffic flows.

Fig.l3(b) is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of estimating operations by use of a neural networking. It is identical with Fig.l3(a) in that the other system communication means 161 receives the traffic 'flows and the like from the other transportation systems, and sends them to the operational information table 162, traffic flow information table 163 and group communication control means 310, and in that the group control communication means 310 transmits thusly sent information as the current data. The operational information and the traffic flow information gathered by the other system communication means are entered respectively into a neural network 167 as teaching signals to generate neural networks for simulating input/output relations or the other transportation systems for each time zone and traffic flow.Then, weighing factors of each cell in the neural networks are transmitted via the group supervisory communication means to respective group supervisory controls so that the same neural network may be constructed in the respective group supervisory controls. Thereby, each group supervisory control can estimate the operation of the other transportation systems by entering the current data available into this neural network constructed therein.

Figure 14 is an example of the invention addressed to improving an overall efficiency of elevator operations by controlling in-house annunciators available in the building such that a change in the traffic flows by the other traffic system which cannot be controlled directly from its own group may be caused to occur. Fig.14(a) is an example in which an escalator system is used as the other transportation system. By displaying on the displays of its own group advising to take the escalator, the traffic flows may change to enable more efficient operations.In this case, the present invention may be implemented more advantageously by not only displaying such information alone, but also by changing the control method of its own group and the contents of the display to be displayed at respective floors fully in consideration of to what extent the overall efficiency may improve when they are modified in accordance with the results of measurement of utilization conditions of escalators or the like and of analysis of the utilization algorithms for the users. Fig.l4(b) is an example in which either one of them does not employ the present invention. Even in such a case, the overall efficiency can be improved by not only changing the control method of its own group embodying the invention but also by displaying pertinent information to urge a change in the traffic flows in respective groups.

Figure 15 compares the operation of one example of the invention with that of the conventional method.

Assume that there are two elevator banks serving the higher floor section of building and the lower floor section thereof, having their traffic connection floor therebetween set on the lowest floor of the higher floor section and on the highest floor of the lower floor section, and that the group supervisory control of the higher floor section is of a down-peak mainly serving a large traffic flow going downstairs, wherein A represents a control method which places emphasis on the waiting time, while B represents another control method which places emphasis on the traffic congestion.In the case where the waiting time is weighted more an average arrival time of the elevator cars in the higher floor section as well as the number of people landing vary widely, while in the case of B where the traffic congestion is weighted more both of the above are averaged likely to show small deviations. However, according to the conventional method (A) in which only the traffic flow is taken into consideration, in order to facilitate an efficient traffic connection, it is required for the lower floor section group supervisory control to keep an elevator car waiting at the connection floor where the passengers change their cages.This implies that the number of elevator cars available for service is reduced temporarily in the lower floor section, and in particular, in the case when the waiting time is addressed with priority thereby its arrival time is likely to be deviated, a substantial decrease in the efficiency of operation is anticipated. In contrast to the above, according to the present invention in which the control of its own elevator bank is determined in consideration of not only the other traffic flow but also its pertinent control methods, in the case of A where the waiting time is weighted more, it is only when a particular elevator car(s) of the lower floor section to be kept waiting that an arrival time of a high floor section elevator car is determined.Thereby, it is possible to prevent lowering of efficiencies of the elevator operations in the lower floor section as well as of transfer of elevator cars on the connection hall since the control method of the high floor section may also be modified in turn. Further, in the case of B where the traffic congestion is addressed with priority, since the control method of the higher floor section is known thereby an arrival time and cycle for their elevator cars can be predicted, a further improvement in the traffic connection efficiency can be attained by modifying the arrival time of a service elevator car in the lower floor section to arrive at the connection floor in coincidence with a predicted arrival cycle in the higher floor section.

Next, various cases of service performance improvements attainable according to the present invention will be described below by way of a various of examples. With reference to Figure 16, assume that there are installed the aforesaid elevator banks which can be divided, for example, into one which serves the higher floor section of the building and the other which serves the lower floor section thereof, more particularly, A, B, C denote elevator cars available for service in the higher floor section while D, E, F denote elevator cars available for service in the lower floor section.

According to the conventional control methods, in order to facilitate the conveniences of the users of elevator cars in the higher floor section at the time of arrival of their high floor elevator cars on the connection lobby, an automatic registration of a hall call is rendered on the connection lobby, or a lower floor section elevator car is kept waiting at the connection lobby, or the like. Thereby, although the waiting time at the connection floor for the users of the high floor section elevator cars can be shortened, the lower floor section elevator service becomes substantially lowered since one of the elevator car in the lower floor section is substantially reduced by being kept waiting at the connection floor thereby causing the lower floor section bank to serve the current traffic flow without one elevator car.Further, simply by the automatic registration of the hall call being made at the connection floor, it will not produce any improvement in services since an elevator car of the lower floor section arriving at the traffic connection floor in response to the registered hall call may often depart from the floor before the arrival of the high floor section elevator car without waiting the arrival thereof. In the case of (a) in Figure 16, an elevator car D is kept waiting at the traffic connection floor until an elevator car A arrives there, thereby elevator services in the lower floor section are reduced substantially by being served only by two elevator cars E and F during its stand-by.

Therefore, according to the present invention, it is arranged such that information on the operational conditions and traffic flows of the high floor section as well as the control method by which its elevator bank is controlled is transmitted to the lower floor section elevators so as to enable a precise prediction to be made of an occurrence of waiting passengers at the connection floor.According to this example of the invention shown in Figure 16, the elevator car A will have one more stop before reaching the traffic connection floor, thereby the group supervisory control responsible for the lower floor section calculates a predicted call time anticipated to occur at the connection hall upon arrival of the elevator car A, further calculates waiting times the users of the elevator car A will have to wait in comparison when the elevator car D is kept waiting in advance and when another elevator car E is served which is to arrive at the connection hall subsequent to the D which is permitted to depart from the hall in advance.Then, waiting times also for passengers in the lower floor section for respective cases of the foregoing are calculated so as to choose a most efficient method suitable for both of the high floor and the low floor sections, whereby an overall operational efficiency improvement including conveniences of other users other than at the connection floors can be attained Further, even when it is yet to be determined for the elevator car A whether or not it will make another stop on the way of its trip to the connecting hall since it has still a long way to go, the group supervisory control responsible for the lower floor section being aware of the control method of the higher floor section can predict a probable arrival time of the elevator car A.Still further, since the group supervisory control of the high floor elevator section can predict an arrival time of a low floor section elevator car utilizing the control method for the low floor elevators, it can further improve the overall efficiency by negating any additional hall call assignment to the elevator car A to accord with the predicted arrival time.

It differs depending on respective control methods each elevator bank adopts with respect to the travel time required for each elevator car making one round trip up and down, and the number of passengers boarding at the starting floor or the connection hall. For example, when a waiting time minimizing control is employed, a round trip time may be prolonged as shown by an elevator car A in Fig. 16(b) which will have to make successive stops to serve successive hall calls. It deviates widely both in the one round trip time and the number of passengers since some elevator cars may arrive at the connection or transfer hall with a large number of passengers while some other elevator cars may arrive there upon request without boarding any passengers.When a control method placing emphasis on alleviating congestion in the elevator car is employed, the number of stops for respective elevator cars is averaged therebetween as shown in Fig.16(c), also with their round trip times and the number of passengers in their cars arriving at the starting floors or the connection hall being averaged.

Therefore, according to the conventional control method as indicated in Fig.16(d) where the waiting time minimization method is adopted in the high floor section, and while a low floor elevator car D is at the connection hall which is also responsible for responding to a hall call at another floor, if a high floor elevator car having a large number of passengers arrives, the low floor elevator car D is likely to be filled to its full capacity by these arriving passengers and those waiting at the connection hall, thereby the hall call reservation that the elevator car D registered will have to be changed, thereby lowering the overall service performance.In such a case as above when any elevator car packed with passengers is arriving, it is preferred for an elevator car for use as a changeover or transfer car to be free from any additional assignment to any hall calls at the other floors. In this case, by assigning the hall call to an elevator car E instead thereof thus eliminating subsequent reassignment of the reservation, it can still manage to improve the services in the low floor section.In case there arrives an elevator car of the high floor section having a small number of passengers and a small frequency of stop, if its transfer elevator car of the low floor section is adapted to accept other hall calls at the other floors thereof, it becomes possible to prevent lowering of efficiency in the low floor section due to changing of the reservation due to the full capacity at the connection floor, and also to average the services to the transfer passengers as well, and thereby to provide an improved quality of services throughout the building, whereby it can be avoided for the same passengers who were subject to frequent stops, for example, at successive halls in the high floor section to put up with further inconveniences of frequent stops also in the low floor section.In the case as shown in Fig.16(e) where a control method in the high floor section addresses with priority to the congestion in the elevator cars, since both of the one round trip time and the number of passengers become approximately constant on average, it becomes possible upon knowing a related control method in use and a current traffic flow, to precisely predict the occurrence of a hall call at the starting floor and an expected number of passengers, thereby the group supervisory control responsible for the low floor section can assign respective elevator cars to arrive in coincidence with such predictions so as to insure an improved service of elevator operations. As has been described hereinabove, in the case of the traffic connection or transfer of elevator cars between the high floor section and the low floor section in the building, since a precise prediction of traffic demands becomes possible likely to occur at the transfer hall upon knowing mutual control methods therefor, a substantial improvement in the elevator services can be implemented. In the above embodiment of the invention, it has been described by way of example of the traffic flows in the direction up from the high floor section down to the low floor section, however, it is not limited thereto, but many modifications thereof including the traffic flow in the direction from down the low floor section to up the high floor section or mutual combination thereof can be contemplated within the scope and spirit of the invention.

With reference to Figure 17, an example of the invention where approximately similar elevator banks are installed in juxtaposition on the same service halls will be described. As illustrated in Fig. 17(a), the similar elevator banks installed opposite each other across the elevator hall may be controlled by different group supervisory controls This usually happens, for example, when an old supervisory control which controls one elevator bank thereof consisting of three elevator cars is replaced by new one, or when the elevator halls have a wider distance. In such cases, even though they are installed on the same elevator hall, since a mutual relationship between their banks or groups is not taken into consideration during their operation, it likely occurs that plural elevator cars are assigned to the same floor at the same time, thus impeding an efficient elevator operation.Thereby, there may be conceived such that the elevator cars, for example, of the first bank are adapted to serve the odd-numbered elevator halls and those of the second bank are adapted to serve the evennumbered elevator halls. However, such a predetermined control method with less flexibility cannot insure a sufficient service performance in demand today and future. According to the present invention it is intended to improve the total efficiency of elevator operations by modifying the control method of one of these elevator banks in dependency on the control method of the other one of these elevator banks.For example, with reference to Fig.17(b), in case elevator cars of the first bank are adapted to collectively serve the hall calls on the sixth floor, since the sixth floor will be served fully by a plurality of elevator cars from the first bank, there would be no need for the elevator cars of the second bank to serve the sixth floor any more at this moment.If, however, any elevator car(s) of the second bank is also adapted to serve the sixth floor in succession, the users on the sixth floor will have to be watchful for which elevator car is arriving first, and only a small number of people who noticed first and in the vicinity thereof are likely to use its car, with the remainder unserved thus waiting for another car rushing there next, and sometimes it occurs that the other cars arriving later depart from the lobby without passengers, in consequence impeding an efficient elevator operation.

Thereby, the group supervisory control which controls the elevator cars of the second bank, upon reception of information that the control method of the elevator cars of the first bank is adapted to render a collective service to a particular floor, i.e., the sixth floor, can eliminate the sixth floor from its hall assignment targets so as to improve the overall elevator efficiency.

Further, in the case of a waiting time minimizing control method operation, since its elevator car accepts hall calls one after another, it often occurs that hall call reservations at the lunch time requested from the lower floor halls near the starting floor may have to be changed, or that some people may hesitate to step into the car which is occupied by a number of passengers even though not packed to its full capacity.Hence, upon reception of information from the first bank that it is executing the waiting time minimizing control and information on its traffic flows, further by predicting that some people may not be rendered transportation services and will be left behind on the lower floor halls near the starting floor, without being responded to their hall calls which had to be served by an elevator car A of the first bank, an elevator car D of the second bank is caused to arrive to serve those who are left behind thereby to expedite the overall services.

With reference to Figure 18, there is illustrated another embodiment of the invention where a single group supervisory control is adapted to execute a plurality of control methods. Assume that in order to expedite responding to high density traffic demands going down from the 8th and/or 9th floors, two elevator cars A and B among 6 elevator cars available are assigned to a nonstop shuttle operation between the 8th/9th floors and the second floor. In such occasions, it becomes problematic to determine which elevator car is to serve which floor, in particular, it is difficult to determine which elevator car of the remainder should be assigned to serve those passengers who want to go down from either the 8th or 9th floor to any other floors other than the second floor.This will have to be determined actually in dependency on a distribution of load each elevator car is serving and will serve. In this case, upon receiving information that the control method of the elevator cars A and B is set to provide the shuttle operation between the 8th/9th floor and the second floor, it is determined for the remainder elevator cars to be free from assignment to these floors, and a message is displayed prior to its operation on the displays of the elevator cars A and B annunciating that a non-stop shuttle operation between 9th/8th floor and the second floor is being offered.Further, when any call button adjacent to those but other than of the elevator cars A and B is pressed, it is judged that there exists a demand for transportation to somewhere other than the second floor, then in consideration of respective load assignments, if elevator cars C and D are loaded sparsely, one of which is directed to serve the transportation request, so as to ensure an efficient operation to be maintained.

Further, with reference to Figs. 16 and 17, such examples of the invention described therein illustrating the elevator system consisting of the high floor section and the low floor section as shown in Figure 16, and the other one consisting of combined elevator banks of different manufacturers installed in juxtaposition as shown in Figure 17, may also be controlled by a single group supervisory control by employing, for example, a divisional shuttle operation split from the remainder, or by a divisional bank control.

Figure 19 is one embodiment of the invention applied to an elevator system having a shuttle elevator bank and a local elevator bank to be operated in concert therebetween. Since the shuttle elevators have no stopover floors to serve on the way of their trip, which actually reduces the options of the control methods the present invention can offer. However, it sometimes have a significant impact on the overall efficiency to decide whether or not any specific shuttle elevator car(s) should be kept waiting ready for service at the starting/changeover floor, or whether the doors of two elevator cars or more should be kept open at the same time during stand-by or on arrival of the other cars.

Fig. 19(a) is an example illustrative of two shuttle elevators standing by ready for service with their doors opened during the rush hours in the morning. In such occasions, it is likely to occur that these two shuttle elevators arrive at the transfer floor almost at the same time, thereby, it becomes necessary for two or more high floor elevators to be adapted to arrive at once and in time at the transfer lobby. Therefore, in this case it would be advantageous for the high floor elevator cars to be controlled by the waiting time minimizing control method.In the case where a congestion minimization control is applied in the high floor section, the elevator cars of the high floor section are expected to arrive at the transfer lobby at almost constant cycles and intervals, thereby in order to facilitate a smoother traffic transfer service between the high floor section and the low floor section it may be effective if arranged such that another standing-by shuttle elevator car other than one which arrived first is kept standing by with its door closed thereby controlling its departure time so as to maintain a constant departure time interval therebetween.As described above, even for the shuttle elevator bank which has limited options to choose from and can control only the departure interval of their elevator cars or their door open time, it becomes possible to determine an optimum control method suitable for its own bank upon knowing the control method of the other elevator bank and carry out an effective elevator operation in concert therewith.

All of the foregoing embodiments of the invention described heretofore are examples having express advantages and effects, however, there are a various of layouts and arrangements for elevator banks and traffic flows, which will include various combinations of those referred to hereinabove in an actual building. Therefore, it is difficult to determine beforehand all the probable combinations of optimal control methods for respective elevator banks installed. Therefore, a so-called genetic algorithm method as shown in Figure 20 is applied as a means for obtaining an optimum combination of control methods. The genetic algorithm is one of the multiple point simultaneous search methods for obtaining an optimum combination from a set of a variety of probable combinations.More particularly, it seeks to obtain a solution through simulation by simulating a biological evolution including the steps of evolution and screening.

Figure 20 is a flow chart for applying this simulation method to an example of the invention. Firstly in step 911, respective control methods of respective banks and their combinations are put into a model consisting of a chain of symbols. Then, a certain number of various combinations of the respective control methods are randomly generated in step 912. Further, the various combinations thereof are simulated and evaluated in step 913. Then, in step 914 it is checked whether or not an overall evaluation of the various combinations has sufficiently improved. If it improved sufficiently, a specific combination of the control methods having a best value is registered as a solution in step 919.If it is not improved sufficiently, those having better results in the evaluation by the simulation are selected leaving out those having worse results thus a screening of the various of the combinations is conducted in step 915.

Then, in step 916 the combinations after the screening are proliferated until they grow to have a certain number of offspring. Then, a crossover operation is carried out between promising combinations by exchanging parts of their chains of symbols, i.e., parts of their control methods in step 917. Further, in step 918 a mutation operation is carried out by randomly exchanging part of symbols in the chain in part of the combinations, thereafter the process flow returns to step 913 to repeat the evaluation of each combination by simulation.

According to the foregoing method of the invention, since it is no more necessary to obtain beforehand all the probable combinations of suitable control methods effective for carrying out efficient operations of elevators, it becomes possible to flexibly and efficiently determine an optimum combination of control methods for each elevator bank in dependency on the layouts and arrangements of various types of elevator banks, and also dynamic and transient changes in the traffic flows and the like.

As described hereinabove, it has become possible according to the invention to control rapidly and optimally a plurality of elevator banks, irrespective of whether they may be of the same specifications or not, or controlled by the different control methods, in such manner that a best overall efficiency may be ensured to prevail throughout their operations.

Claims (12)

1. An elevator operation control method for controlling at least two elevator banks each having a plurality of elevator cars, each elevator bank being controlled by a different control method, wherein the elevator operation control method is characterized by comprising the step of determining an individual control method for one of said at least two elevator banks in dependency on a control method for the other of said at least two elevator banks.

2. An elevator operation control method according to claim 1 wherein a determination of the individual control method for one of said at least two elevator banks is characterized by comprising the steps of predicting a future condition of the other of said at least two elevator banks by use of the control method for the other of said at least two elevator banks, and determining its individual control method in dependency on a result of the prediction.

3. An elevator operation control method according to claim 2 wherein the prediction of said future condition comprises a simulation utilizing the control method of the other of said at least two elevator banks.

4. An elevator operation control method according to claim 3 wherein said simulation comprises a genetic algorithm determination method.

5. An elevator operation control apparatus for controlling at least two elevator banks each having a plurality of elevator cars, each bank being controlled by a different control method, wherein the elevator operation control apparatus comprises determining an individual control method for one of said at least two elevator banks in dependency on a control method for the other of said at least two elevator banks.

6. An elevator operation apparatus including either a plurality of operation control units for controlling a plurality of elevator banks or an operation control unit which executes different control methods simultaneously for controlling different elevator banks, wherein an individual control method to be executed simultaneously with others at the same time zone comprises being determined or modified in dependency on a control method of the other of said control methods or a result of the control thereof.

7. An elevator operation apparatus including a plurality of operation control units for controlling a plurality of elevator banks wherein each elevator bank determines its individual control method by predicting a future condition of the other elevator banks, and in dependency on the predicted future condition thereof.

8. An elevator operation apparatus including a plurality of operation control units for controlling a plurality of elevator banks wherein the plurality of operation control units comprise transmitting their control methods and traffic flows therebetween.

9. An elevator operation apparatus including a plurality of control units for controlling a plurality of elevator banks wherein the elevator operation apparatus comprises providing an optimum combination of control methods with respect to each traffic flow.

10. An elevator operation apparatus according to claim 9 wherein said optimum combination of control methods is characterized by being formulated through simulation.

11. An elevator operation apparatus according to claim 10 wherein said control methods to be simulated is characterized by being determined by a genetic algorithm.

12. An elevator operation control apparatus substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

12. An elevator operation apparatus according to claim 9 wherein the elevator operation apparatus comprises storing a set of combinations of suitable control methods as knowledge therein and determining an appropriate combination thereof by inference.

13. An elevator operation apparatus according to claim 9 wherein an optimum control method for an entire building is determined through simulation for each time zone.

14. An elevator operation control apparatus including a plurality of operation control units for controlling a plurality of elevator banks wherein an individual control method of one elevator bank is characterized by being modified in dependency on a transportation demand or a control method of the other bank.

15. An elevator operation control apparatus including a plurality of operation control units for controlling a plurality of elevator banks wherein one of said plurality of elevator banks is characterized by executing its determined operation responsive to upon a predetermined operation of the other of said plurality of elevator banks.

16. An elevator operation control method substantially as any one herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

17. An elevator operation control apparatus substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

Amendments to the claims have been filed as follows

1. An elevator operation control method for controlling at least two elevator banks each having a plurality of elevator cars, each elevator bank being controlled by a different control method, wherein the elevator operation control method is characterized by comprising the step of determining an individual control method for one of said at least two elevator banks in dependency on a control method for the other of said at least two elevator banks.

2. An elevator operation control method according to claim 1 wherein a determination of the individual control method for one of said at least two elevator banks is characterized by comprising the steps of predicting a future condition of the other of said at least two elevator banks by use of the control method for the other of said at least two elevator banks, and determining its individual control method in dependency on a result of 'the prediction.

3. An elevator operation control method according to claim 2 wherein the prediction of said future condition comprises a simulation utilizing the control method of the other of said at least two elevator banks.

4. An elevator operation control method according to claim 3 wherein said simulation comprises a genetic algorithm determination method.

5. An elevator operation control apparatus for controlling at least two elevator banks each having a plurality of elevator cares, each bank being controlled by a different control method, wherein the elevator operation control apparatus has means for determining an individual control method for one of said at least two elevator banks in dependency on a control method for the other of said at least two elevator banks.

6. An elevator operation apparatus according to claim 5, having a plurality of operation control units for controlling the at least two elevator banks or an operation control unit which executes different control methods simultaneously for controlling the at least two elevator banks.

7. An elevator operation apparatus according to claim 5 or claim 6, wherein the individual control method is determined through simulation.

8. An elevator operation apparatus according to claim 10, wherein said simulation is by a generic algorithm.

9. An elevator operation apparatus according to claim 5 or claim 6, wherein the elevator operation apparatus has means for storing a set of combinations of suitable control methods as knowledge there in and the means for determining the individual control method is arranged to determine combination of said suitable control methods by inference.

10. An elevator operation apparatus including a plurality of operation control units for controlling a plurality of elevator banks wherein the plurality of operation control units are arranged to transmit their control methods and traffic flows therebetween.

11. An elevator operation control method substantially as any one herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.