JP2005231881A - Group management controller for elevator - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To shorten user's wait time, improve service property, and increase transportation capacity of a group management elevator by utilizing the information having no occurrence of hall call. <P>SOLUTION: Use estimate time Te(W) required until a person at W floor presses hall call at W floor is estimated by detection of the person's position to perform allotment control for hall call which occurs at X floor based on the estimate that hall call will not occur at W floor during this time. For example, if difference between use estimate time Te(W) at W floor and arrival estimate time Ta(k, X→W) at W floor after X floor hall call service is smaller than a predetermined value, No. k elevator is allotted to X floor hall call by determining that wait time of a user who will press hall call at W floor in the near future will not be long. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an elevator group management control device, and more particularly to performance improvement in a building in which the location of a resident in the building can be grasped.

  In order to operate a plurality of elevators in a large-scale building with high efficiency, elevator group management control devices are widely used.

  In the elevator group management control device, various devices have been devised in order to shorten the waiting time or increase the transportation capacity. As an example, in Patent Document 1, a rule base is applied to an allocation process for determining an elevator machine to be serviced for a user who has arrived at an elevator landing, and the future arrangement of a plurality of elevators in preparation for the occurrence of a future landing call. Discloses a method for performing allocation in consideration of

  Further, in Patent Document 2, a method for determining whether to provide a user detection means near a specific elevator landing and determine whether to assign a user before the user operates the hall call button or to continue waiting for the number machine Is disclosed. That is, pre-allocation is performed based on the arrival time of the user or the standby of the standby machine is determined to be continued.

Japanese Patent No. 2608970 (Overall, page 2, left column 46 line to right column 19 line)

JP2003-221169A (Overall, for example, summary)

  Elevator group management control is characterized by the fact that the current location of elevators and the presence of users at each floor platform can be known, but it is not known when the user will arrive at which platform in the future. Even if the optimum operation is performed, the optimum operation may not be achieved depending on the future arrival situation of the user.

  For this reason, Patent Document 1 is intended to prepare for future user arrivals indirectly from the assumed future arrangement of the elevator, but does not take into account measures for specific future users. It was difficult to improve services for users in the near future.

  Further, Patent Document 2 is intended to improve by using information that the user “arrives”, but “other users are important information for improving the service to the user. Utilization of information that “does not arrive” was not made, and sufficient improvement in service could not be expected.

  An object of the present invention is to provide an elevator group management control device that uses this “user does not arrive” information and has improved efficiency and serviceability.

  In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, an estimated use time (Te (W)) required until a hall call is generated on a predetermined floor (W) is calculated, and the predetermined floor (W) is calculated before the estimated use time expires. Is provided with means for calculating the estimated arrival time (Ta (k, j)) of the elevator (k) to an arbitrary floor (j) on the assumption that no hall call is generated.

  In a more specific embodiment, when there is no elevator user on the predetermined floor (W) in the building, the allocation evaluation index of the unit that does not have a hand-in-call for users arriving on floors other than the predetermined floor And means for calculating based on the estimated use time of the predetermined floor and the estimated arrival time to arrive at the predetermined floor after serving the user.

  Further, in a preferred embodiment of the present invention, when there is no elevator user on a predetermined floor in a building, the amount of improvement when a unit that does not have a call in hand changes the service call of another unit to serve And means for determining the operation of the unit having no incoming call by processing based on the estimated use time of the predetermined floor and the estimated arrival time of arrival at the predetermined floor after the change service.

  According to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, it is not necessary to secure elevator resources in preparation for users who do not arrive, the waiting time can be shortened, the serviceability can be improved, and the transportation capacity of the elevator group can be increased.

  Other objects and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of embodiments.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining the basic concept of the present invention. In this figure, it is assumed that two elevators A and B are installed in a building on the 13th floor above ground and the first basement floor.

  In the current state of FIG. 1 (A), Unit A is on standby with no incoming call on the first floor. Unit B is traveling in the upward direction on the fifth floor (j) with two passengers heading to the ninth floor (X) and the tenth floor (Z).

  In this situation, the operation service when the user who goes to the 11th floor (W) landing in the downward direction arrives is examined. For simplification, if the traveling time of the first floor is set to 2 seconds and the stopping time of one time is fixed to 10 seconds, the waiting time for the machine A to serve the users on the 11th floor (W) is 20 Second, Unit B has a waiting time of 32 seconds including two stop times.

  For this reason, FIG. 1 (B) shows the state after 20 seconds when the machine A with a short waiting time is selected as the service machine, and the two machines A and B are unevenly distributed upward. At this time, if the user arrives at the landing on the lower floor, it is easily estimated that the waiting time for the user becomes long.

  On the other hand, in order to avoid the uneven distribution of the elevator, FIG. 1 (C) shows a state after 20 seconds when the B machine is selected as the service car. In this case, the uneven distribution of the elevator is avoided, but the user on the 11th floor cannot be serviced yet, and the waiting time becomes longer than when the A-unit is assigned. If the user does not arrive below for a while, the unit A is not assigned, so the useless waiting is continued and the service for the user is deteriorated.

  In such a case, if the future assumptions such as “If the user arrives at the lower floor” and “If the user does not arrive for a while still” are correct, the exact same situation However, the optimal operation will be different. However, if it turns out that "the user will not arrive at the lower floor for a while", it is not necessary to preserve the capacity of the elevator in preparation for useless future assumptions, and to make the most effective use of elevator resources. Is possible.

  Therefore, the basic idea of the present invention is to make maximum use of this information that “a hall call will not occur on this floor from now on ○○ seconds” to reduce waiting time and increase transportation capacity. is there.

  FIG. 2 is a system configuration diagram according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  The group management control device 1 is connected to the cars 31 to 3N via number control devices 21 to 2N of N elevators, and is connected to hall call buttons 41 to 4M on the M floor. On the other hand, in order to grasp the position of the building occupants, L position detection means 51 to 5L are installed in the building, and these position detection means 51 to 5L are connected to the movement estimation means 6, During XX seconds, the user does not arrive at this floor and no hall call is generated. This movement estimation means 6 is also connected to the group management control device 1.

  Here, the position detecting means 5 group may grasp the position of the resident by mutual communication with the signal transmitter owned by the resident, and the communication device / cell phone owned by the resident It is also possible to grasp the position by analyzing the communication signal with the camera or analyzing the camera image. Furthermore, the information of the entrance / exit management system with which the door of each living room is equipped may be sufficient.

  The movement estimation means 6 estimates the movement contents of the occupants using the information on the positions of the occupants grasped by the group of position detection means 5 and the change information thereof. In this movement estimation, the estimated movement time to the elevator landing is hereinafter referred to as “estimated use time Te” as the estimated use time of the elevator.

  FIG. 3 is a processing flowchart of the calculation of the estimated usage time of the occupant executed by the movement estimation means 6. Steps 301 and 303 are loop processes relating to L position detecting means 51 to 5L installed in the building. In step 302 in the loop, the position of the resident in the detection target range of the i-th sensor is detected. Steps 304 and 307 are loop processes related to floors 1 to j to M in the building. In step 305 in the loop, the time required for each person to arrive at the elevator platform is estimated and calculated from the position of the target person on the jth floor. In step 306, the minimum value of the estimated usage time for the jth floor is recorded as the estimated usage time Te (j) as the representative value for that floor.

  After completing this process, in step 308, the estimated use time Te (j) of each floor is transmitted to the group management control device 1, and the group management control device 1 uses it for calculation of the allocation index.

  FIG. 4 is a processing flow diagram of predicted arrival time calculation executed by the elevator group management control device 1. Steps 401 and 411 are loop processing related to elevators 1 to k to No. N, and steps 402 and 410 are loop processing related to floors 1 to j to M in the building. The floor loop covers one lap from the current floor of Unit k.

  In step 403 in the loop, the arrival prediction time Ta (k, j) of the j-th floor of the k-th car is calculated. Specifically, the travel time for the first floor is added to the predicted arrival time Ta (k, j−1) of the immediately preceding floor that has been calculated. In step 404, it is confirmed whether the j-th floor is a terminal floor, and if it is a terminal floor, in step 405, the direction inversion time is added to the estimated arrival time Ta (k, j). On the other hand, if it is not the end floor, in step 406, it is confirmed whether the k-th machine has a call on the j-th floor. If there is an incoming call, the stop time is added once at step 407. If there is no incoming call, step 408 compares the estimated arrival time Ta (k, j) with the estimated use time Te (j). That is, if the estimated arrival time Ta (k, j) is longer than the estimated use time Te (j), it can be estimated that the k-th machine will arrive at the j-th floor after the user operates the hall call button at the j-th floor platform. Conversely, if the estimated arrival time Ta (k, j) is smaller than the estimated use time Te (j), it can be estimated that there is no waiting customer on the jth floor when the k-th car passes the jth floor.

  Therefore, if the estimated arrival time Ta (k, j) is larger than the estimated use time Te (j) at step 408, any one of the units must serve the j-th floor user. Therefore, in step 409, whether the predicted arrival time Ta (k, j) of the j-th floor of the k-th car is minimum with respect to the predicted arrival time Ta (not (k), j) of the j-th floor of the other car. In the case of the minimum, it is determined that the service is the service number, and the process proceeds to step 407 to add the stop time once.

  Here, since this predicted arrival time calculation process 400 is a periodic process that is periodically activated, the predicted arrival times of other units can be calculated using the calculated values of the previous period of the predicted arrival time calculation process 400 as necessary. There is no problem.

  If the predicted arrival time Ta (k, j) is smaller than the estimated use time Te (j) in step 408, or if the predicted arrival time of another unit is shorter in step 409, the kth unit is j There is no need to stop on the floor. Therefore, it is not necessary to add the stop time at the j-th floor to the predicted arrival time Ta (k, j) at the j-th floor of the k-th unit. , J) is not added. This process directly uses the prediction that the user will not arrive at the jth floor before Te (j) seconds (no hall call will be generated), and the calculation accuracy of the estimated arrival time Ta (k, j) is increased. There is an effect to improve.

  Summarizing the calculation processing of the estimated arrival time in this embodiment, first, elevator group management control that manages and manages a plurality of elevators (k = 1 to N) that service a plurality of floors (j = 1 to M). The apparatus 1 is assumed. Here, there is provided means for calculating an estimated use time Te (j) required until the occurrence of the hall call (4j) in an arbitrary floor (j). In this arbitrary floor (j), it is assumed that the hall call (4j) does not occur before the calculated estimated use time Te (j) expires, and the elevator (k) to the arbitrary floor (j) Means for calculating the estimated arrival time Ta (k, j) are provided. The arbitrary floor (j) to be estimated includes the specific floor (W), but the use estimation time Te (W) may be obtained only for the specific floor (W) having high necessity.

  FIG. 5 is a process flow diagram of an allocation evaluation index calculation according to an embodiment of the present invention. This allocation evaluation process 500 is activated by registration of a new hall call at the landing. In step 501, a user arrives at the landing floor X and creates a new hall call. Steps 502 and 511 are loop processes related to elevators 1 to k to N.

  In step 503, the estimated arrival time Ta (k, X) of the k-th car on the X floor, which is the floor where the new hall call is generated, is obtained. In step 504, the predicted arrival time Ta (k, Y) of the Y floor that is most affected among the K floors that are affected when the X floor is serviced by the K machine. If there is no floor that is affected by the service on the X floor, the value of Ta (k, Y) may be zero.

  As a result, the evaluation of Unit k regarding the new hall call generation floor X floor and the affected Y floor is considered by the value of the larger arrival prediction time for the two floors as shown in equation (1). be able to.

max (Ta (k, X), Ta (k, Y)) ......... (1)
Next, in step 505, the floor in the building where priority should be given to the waiting time is assumed to be the “priority waiting floor” and is expressed as the W floor, and the estimated use time Te (W) of the user to the W floor is obtained. The W floor may be set in advance as a predetermined floor, or the same process may be repeatedly executed by setting all the floors as priority standby floors.

  In step 506, the destination floor of the X-floor user who created the new hall call is presumed to be the Z-floor, and after Unit K transports the user from the current position to the Z-floor on the X floor, the priority waiting floor The estimated arrival time Ta (k, Z → W) arriving at the W floor is obtained. When other calls are handled, it is desirable to set the destination floor on the Z floor in consideration of other received calls.

  Here, it can be seen that the user does not come to the W floor until the estimated use time Te (W) of the W floor. Therefore, as a selectable strategy for group management control, which is the main point of the present invention, the user should be placed on the W floor in preparation for use on the W floor, or the user on the X floor before the user on the W floor arrives. It is possible to determine whether the service should be performed. That is, in step 507, the magnitude relationship between the estimated use time Te (W) of the W floor and the time Ta (k, Z → W) required for completing the service of the X floor is compared. If Ta (k, Z → W) is smaller than Te (W) within a certain set value α difference, Unit K will allow users on the X floor to wait for a waiting time Ta (k, X) even after service. It is possible to wait before the user arrives on the W floor (when α = 0). Alternatively, since it can be reached within a waiting time within a certain set time α, the X-th floor waiting time Ta (k, X) and the W-th floor waiting time 0 seconds or within α seconds can be achieved simultaneously in the k-th machine.

  Therefore, in step 508, as the allocation evaluation index φ (k) for the k-th unit, the above-mentioned formula (1) that is an evaluation index related to the X floor and the two averages of the waiting time 0 seconds (when α = 0) related to the W floor The value is set by the following equation (2).

φ (k) = (max (Ta (k, X), Ta (k, Y)) + 0) / 2 (2)
In step 507, if Te (W) becomes smaller than a certain set value α, in step 509, the predicted waiting time Tp (not) when a unit other than the k-th unit services the W-th floor. (K), W) are obtained. For example, the minimum value of the estimated arrival time Ta (not (k), W) (> Te (W)) at which a unit having a call other than unit k arrives at the W floor after the estimated use time Te (W), The smaller of both of the times during which a machine with no incoming call can reach the W floor is assumed to be the predicted waiting time Tp (not (k), W).

  The k-unit allocation evaluation index φ (k) in this case is obtained as an average of the expression (1) of the evaluation index related to the X floor and the waiting time of the W floor in step 510. The waiting time for the W floor may be the smaller of the waiting time related to the k-th car (Ta (k, Z → W) -Te (W)) and the waiting time Tp (not (k), W) other than the k-th car. The following equation (3) is obtained.

φ (k) = {max (Ta (k, X), Ta (k, Y)) + min (Ta (k, Z → W)
−Te (W), Tp (not (k), W))} / 2 ……………… (3)
If the k-unit can service the W-floor before the X-th floor due to the positional relationship between the W-th floor and the X-th floor, the waiting time for the W-th floor of the k-th floor is set to Ta (k, W). If the waiting time of the X floor is Ta (k, W → X), the following equation (4) may be used instead of equation (3).

φ (k) = {Ta (k, W → X)
+ Min (Ta (k, W), Tp (not (k), W)) / 2 (4)
In step 511, after the loop processing related to the number machine is completed, the number k which minimizes the evaluation index φ (k) for each number calculated in step 512 is assigned and determined as the service number for the hall call on the X floor.

  The calculation processing of the allocation evaluation index according to this embodiment is summarized as follows. In addition to the processing up to FIG. 4 described above, first, an estimated arrival time (Ta (k, Z) required to arrive at a predetermined floor (W) after servicing a hall call newly generated on another floor (j ≠ W). → A means for calculating W)) is provided. Also, based on the estimated use time (Te (W)) and the estimated arrival time (Ta (k, Z → W)) of the predetermined floor (W), the assigned number for the newly generated hall call (4X) is determined. Means to do. Furthermore, an elevator (k) that can arrive at the predetermined floor (W) within the scheduled time from the estimated use time (Te (W)) after the service to the hall call generated on the other floor (j ≠ W) Means for preferentially allocating the hall call generated at (j ≠ W) is provided.

  According to this embodiment, elevator resources can be effectively used for other hall calls within the time predicted that no hall calls will occur, reducing waiting time and improving serviceability. The transport capacity can be increased.

  The previous explanation regarding FIG. 5 used information that “the user will not arrive for XX seconds in the future” when assigning a new hall call, but this is useful only when a hall call occurs. Information is not used. Therefore, when a standby unit that has completed the service and has no incoming calls can be detected, this information can be used to change the incoming calls of other units as described below.

  FIG. 6 is a process flow diagram for explaining the allocation change by utilizing the standby unit. The standby unit utilization processing 600 is started when a standby unit that has completed the service for incoming calls is generated. In step 601, it is assumed that the incoming call for the k-th unit is completed. In step 602, the estimated use time Te (W) of the user to the priority standby floor W is obtained. Steps 603 and 610 are loop processes relating to 1 to j to M floors in the building. The floor loop only covers the floor with the hall call.

  In step 604, the estimated arrival time Ta (k, j) of the k-th car to the j-th floor is obtained. In step 605, an estimated arrival time Ta (A, j) of the current assigned machine A for the call on the jth floor is obtained. If the predicted arrival time Ta (k, j) of the k-th unit to the j-th floor is shorter than the predicted arrival time Ta (A, j) of the A-th unit, it is worth changing the call assignment of the j-th floor. Now, Ta (k, j) and Ta (A, j) are compared. If the predicted arrival time Ta (k, j) of the k-th car is shorter, the difference between the service completion of the jth floor in step 608 and a set value α of the estimated use time Te (W) of the priority standby floor Wth floor Compare within. If this determination is also Yes, in step 609, the improvement amount Ai (j) of the allocation change of the j-th floor is obtained by equation (5).

Ai (j) = Ta (A, j) -Ta (k, j) (5)
After the loop processing related to the floor is completed in step 610, the j-th floor call that maximizes the improvement amount Ai (j) of the allocation change is changed to the k-th unit in step 611.

  In step 608, evaluation is made based on whether or not the service on the j floor is completed before the estimated use time Te (W) on the W floor expires, but the waiting time (Ta (k, Z → W ) -Te (W)) may be determined to be changed if it is equal to or less than a predetermined value.

  The concept of the allocation change process using the standby unit in this embodiment is summarized as follows. First, the amount of improvement Ai (j) = Ta (notk, j) − when the elevator (k) having no incoming call changes the hall call assigned to another elevator (not (k)) and services it. Means for calculating Ta (k, j) are provided. Next, there is provided means for calculating an estimated arrival time Ta (k, W) required to arrive at a predetermined floor (W) after service is changed. Further, the improvement amount Ai (j), the estimated use time Te (W) of the predetermined floor (W), and the estimated arrival time Ta (k, Z → W) required to arrive at the predetermined floor (W) after the change service are obtained. In consideration, a means for determining operation of an arbitrary elevator (k) is provided.

  According to the present embodiment, when a new hall call is generated or when a standby car with no incoming call is generated, elevator resources can be used more effectively according to the estimated arrival time of the future user.

The figure explaining the basic concept of the elevator group management control apparatus of this invention. The elevator group management control system block diagram in one Embodiment of this invention. The processing flow figure of the estimation utilization time calculation by one Embodiment of this invention. The processing flow figure of arrival prediction time calculation by one Embodiment of this invention. The processing flowchart of the allocation evaluation index calculation by one Embodiment of this invention. The processing flow figure of standby unit utilization allocation change by one Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Group management control apparatus, 21-2N ... Unit control apparatus, 31-3N ... Car, 41-4M ... Hall call button, 51-5L ... Position detection means, 6 ... Movement estimation means.

Claims (10)

  In an elevator group management control device that collectively manages a plurality of elevators that service a plurality of floors, means for calculating an estimated use time required until the occurrence of a hall call on a predetermined floor, and the use estimation on the predetermined floor An elevator group management control apparatus comprising means for calculating an estimated arrival time of an elevator to an arbitrary floor on the assumption that a hall call does not occur before the time expires.   In the elevator group management control device that manages and manages multiple elevators that serve multiple floors, means for detecting the position of the building occupants and the usage required for each occupant to use the elevator Means for calculating the estimated time and means for calculating the estimated arrival time at each floor of each unit on the assumption that no hall call is generated on the floor before expiration of the estimated usage time for each floor Elevator group management control device.   In the elevator group management control device that manages multiple elevators that serve multiple floors, a means to calculate the estimated usage time required to generate a hall call on a given floor, and a new occurrence on another floor Means for calculating an estimated arrival time required to arrive at the predetermined floor after servicing the hall call, and means for determining an assigned machine for the newly generated hall call based on the estimated use time and the estimated arrival time An elevator group management control device comprising:   In the elevator group management control device that manages and manages multiple elevators that serve multiple floors, it is necessary to detect the position of the building occupants and for the occupants on the predetermined floor to use the elevator. The means for calculating the estimated usage time and the elevator allocation evaluation index for the hall call generated on the other floor, the estimated usage time on the predetermined floor, and the generated hall call on the other floor are serviced to the predetermined floor. An elevator group management control device comprising means for calculating based on an estimated arrival time required for arrival.   In an elevator group management control device that manages multiple elevators that serve multiple floors, means for predicting the estimated time required to generate hall calls on a given floor and hall calls generated on other floors And an elevator group management control device, comprising: means for preferentially allocating an elevator that can reach the predetermined floor within a scheduled time from the estimated use time after service to a hall call generated on the other floor. .   In the elevator group management control device that manages and manages multiple elevators that serve multiple floors, means for calculating the estimated use time required to generate a hall call on a given floor, and any elevator to another elevator Means for calculating an improvement amount when allocating and changing the assigned hall call, service means for calculating a predicted arrival time after change required to arrive at a predetermined floor after the change service, said improvement amount, predetermined amount An elevator group management control device comprising means for determining operation of the arbitrary elevator based on the estimated use time of the floor and the estimated arrival time after the change.   The elevator group management control device according to claim 6, wherein the arbitrary elevator is an elevator having no incoming call.   In the elevator group management control device that manages and manages multiple elevators that serve multiple floors, it is necessary to detect the position of the building occupants and for the occupants on the predetermined floor to use the elevator. A means for calculating an estimated use time, and an amount of improvement in a case where a standby elevator having no hall call on the predetermined floor does not have a handling call and assigns a hall call assigned to another elevator for service. Means, a means for calculating a predicted arrival time after the change required to arrive at the predetermined floor after the change service, and the improvement amount, the estimated use time of the predetermined floor, and the predicted arrival time after the change. An elevator group management control device comprising means for determining elevator operation.   9. The elevator group management control device according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined floor is a plurality of floors other than the hall call generation floor. The elevator group management control device according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined floor is a reference floor and / or a distributed standby floor.

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