JP2022014626A - Elevator group management system - Google Patents

Abstract

To cause an elevator car to respond to a call in consideration of both a user before switching and a user after switching when a call registration method is switched.SOLUTION: An elevator group management system according to an embodiment comprises: first demand determination means for determining the demand within a certain period of time in the past when a first registration method and a second registration method are switched; second demand determination means for selecting, from cars, candidates for an allocation target car for allocating a call after switching, and for determining the demand when operating with the number of cars excluding the candidates of the allocation target car from the number of cars before switching; and allocation target decision means for finally deciding the allocation target car based on a result of the first demand determination means and a result of the second demand determination means.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Embodiments of the present invention relate to a group management system for elevators.

In recent years, an elevator system equipped with a landing destination floor registration device (HDC: Hall Destination Controller) that can directly specify a destination floor at a landing has been put into practical use. Such an elevator system is called a "destination control system (DCS)". The DCS selects the most suitable car from a plurality of cars based on the call having the destination floor registered by the user at the landing (hereinafter referred to as "destination call") and causes the user to respond to the landing. .. In this case, the transportation efficiency is improved by having users on the same destination floor board the same car.

Here, there is a "hybrid DCS" on the same floor, which is provided with a vertical call registration device for registering a general vertical call, in addition to the landing destination floor registration device. In this hybrid DCS, the user can arbitrarily switch the call registration method by operating a switch or the like. If you switch to the destination call registration method, you can move to the destination floor without registering the car call in the car. In addition, when switching to the vertical call registration method, it is necessary to register the destination floor of the user as a car call in the car.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 8-3457 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2016-141558

In the above-mentioned hybrid DCS, when the call registration method is switched, a method of creating one free car by changing the assignment and assigning the changed call to the free car is considered. A "free car" is a car that does not have a call. "Change assignment" is to change a call already assigned to a car to another car.

According to this method, when the call registration method is switched, the car can be answered quickly without making the user wait. However, since the user after the switch is given priority, the user who has been called and registered before the switch may be kept waiting, which may feel unfair.

The problem to be solved by the present invention is the group management of elevators that can respond to the car in consideration of both the user before the switch and the user after the switch when the call registration method is switched. To provide a system.

The elevator group management system according to one embodiment is provided with a plurality of cars, and can switch between a first registration method for registering up and down calls at a landing on the same floor and a second registration method for registering destination calls. Has a configuration. The elevator group management system is a first demand determination means for determining demand within a certain period of time in the past when the first registration method and the second registration method are switched, and each of the above car cars. Select the candidate of the allocation target car for allocating the call after switching from the above, and judge the demand when operating with the number of the above-mentioned cars before switching and the number of the above-mentioned allocation target car candidates excluded. 2. The demand determination means and the allocation target determination means for finally determining the allocation target car based on the result of the first demand determination means and the result of the second demand determination means are provided.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an elevator group management system according to the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a vertical call registration device in the same embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a landing destination floor registration device in the same embodiment. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the registration switching device in the same embodiment. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a landing destination floor display device in the same embodiment. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the processing operation of the group management control device in the present embodiment. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of selecting a car to be allocated when there is a large demand before switching in the present embodiment. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of selecting a car to be allocated when the demand before switching in the present embodiment is small.

Hereinafter, embodiments will be described with reference to the drawings.
It should be noted that the disclosure is merely an example, and the invention is not limited by the contents described in the following embodiments. Modifications that can be easily conceived by those skilled in the art are naturally included in the scope of disclosure. In order to clarify the explanation, in the drawings, the size, shape, etc. of each part may be changed with respect to the actual embodiment and represented schematically. In a plurality of drawings, the corresponding elements may be given the same reference numerals and detailed description may be omitted.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an elevator group management system according to a first embodiment, and shows a configuration in which a plurality of cars are group-managed. The number of cars is arbitrary, and at least two cars may be used. In the figure, 11a, 11b, 11c ... Are elevator control devices, and 12a, 12b, 12c ... are elevators.

The elevator control devices 11a, 11b, 11c ... Are provided corresponding to the car cars 12a, 12b, 12c ... Of each unit. The elevator control device 11a controls the operation of the car 12a of Unit A. Specifically, the elevator control device 11a controls a motor (winding machine) (not shown) for raising and lowering the car 12a, controls opening and closing of doors, and the like. The same applies to the elevator control device 11b of Unit B and the elevator control device 11c of Unit C. These elevator control devices 11a, 11b, 11c ... Are configured by a computer equipped with a CPU, ROM, RAM, and the like. The car 12a, 12b, 12c ... Move up and down in the hoistway by driving a motor (winding machine).

The car 12a, 12b, 12c ... Are provided with car call registration devices 13a, 13b, 13c ... For registering the car call, respectively. The "car call" is a call registered by operating the floor button provided on the car operation panel (not shown), and includes information on the user's destination floor and the car.

Here, this embodiment assumes a hybrid DCS type elevator group management system. The hybrid DCS includes a vertical call registration device 21 and a landing destination floor registration device (HDC) 22. The vertical call registration device 21 and the landing destination floor registration device 22 are installed side by side at the landing on the same floor, and can be switched by the user operating the registration switching device 23. The vertical call registration device 21 and the landing destination floor registration device 22 are installed side by side on a specific floor such as a reference floor, and the vertical call registration device 21 or the landing destination floor registration device 22 is installed on another floor. The vertical call registration device 21 and the landing destination floor registration device 22 may be installed on all floors.

As shown in FIG. 2, the vertical call registration device 21 includes an upward button 21a and a downward button 21b, and is a first registration device for registering a vertical call by operating these buttons. The vertical call includes information on the departure floor (call registration floor) and the destination direction (up direction / down direction) of the user. The landing destination floor registration device 22 is a second registration device for registering a destination call at the landing. The destination call includes information on the departure floor (call registration floor) and the destination floor of the user.

As shown in FIG. 3, the landing destination floor registration device 22 uses an operation unit 22a for inputting the destination floor of the user and a car (allocation car) toward the destination floor input by the operation unit 22a. It has a display unit 22b for notifying the user. An "allocated car" is a car in which a call is registered. As the input method of the destination floor, the method by operating the numeric keypad is generally used, but for example, a method using an IC card or the like may be used. Further, the landing destination floor registration device 22 may be installed at a place away from the landing. In the example of FIG. 3, it is displayed that the destination floor entered by the user is the 13th floor, and the car 12a of Unit A is assigned to the destination floor. The user will stand by at the platform of Unit A according to this display.

The registration switching device 23 is a device for the user to switch the call registration method, and is connected to the vertical call registration device 21 and the landing destination floor registration device 22. As shown in FIG. 4, the registration switching device 23 includes a switch 23a for a switching operation and a display unit 23b for displaying a message regarding switching of a registration method. Using a touch panel type registration device that integrates the vertical call registration device 21, the landing destination floor registration device 22, and the registration switching device 23, the vertical call registration method and the destination call registration method can be performed by touch operation on the screen. It may be configured to switch between.

As shown in FIG. 5, a landing destination floor display device (HDI) 24 is installed in the vicinity of the landing door 26 in the landing 25. The landing destination floor display device 24 is a device for displaying the destination floor of the car for a predetermined time. The above-mentioned "predetermined time" is until the response to the destination floor of the car is completed on the installation floor of the landing destination floor display device 24. In the example of FIG. 5, the 7th floor, the 11th floor, and the 13th floor are displayed as the destination floors of Unit A. With such a display, the user can board after confirming the destination floor of the car. In the example of FIG. 5, only the landing destination floor display device 24 of Unit A is shown, but in reality, the landing destination floor display device 24 is installed for each unit, and the car corresponding to each is installed. Destination floor is displayed.

The group management control device 30 is a device that comprehensively controls the operation of the cars 12a, 12b, 12c ... The group management control device 30 is composed of a computer including a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and the like, similarly to the elevator control devices 11a, 11b, 11c. In the present embodiment, the group management control device 30 includes a call management unit 31, an operation information acquisition unit 32, a first demand judgment unit 33, a second demand judgment unit 34, an allocation target determination unit 35, and an allocation output unit. 36 is provided. These may be realized by software, may be realized by hardware such as an IC (Integrated Circuit), or may be realized by using software and hardware in combination.

The call management unit 31 accepts up / down calls, destination calls, and car calls registered in the car at the landing, and manages these calls together with the information of the car to which these calls are assigned. The operation information acquisition unit 32 acquires operation information (current position, operation direction, door open / closed state, load, etc.) of the car units 12a, 12b, 12c ... Of each unit through the elevator control devices 11a, 11b, 11c ....

The first demand determination unit 33 determines the demand before the change when the call registration method is switched by the registration switching device 23. "Demand before switching" is the traffic demand of the elevator before the call registration method is switched, and as will be described later, the unanswered time Ta calculated based on the answered calls within a certain period of time in the past. It is judged by (actual measurement value). "Unanswered time" is the time from when a call is registered at a landing on any floor until the car arrives at the registered floor (departure floor) of that call, and is also called "response time". ..

The second demand judgment unit 34 selects a candidate car to be allocated for allocating the call after switching from each car, and operates with the number of cars excluding the candidate car to be allocated to the current car. Judge the demand after switching. "Demand after switching" is the traffic demand of the elevator after the call registration method is switched, and as will be described later, the unanswered time Tb (predicted value) calculated based on the unanswered call. ).

The allocation target determination unit 35 finally determines the allocation target car based on the result of the first demand determination unit 33 and the result of the second demand determination unit 34. Specifically, the allocation target determination means is when the second unresponse time Tb obtained from the second demand determination unit 34 does not exceed the first unresponse time Ta obtained from the first demand determination unit 33. , Determine the candidate of the car to be allocated as the car to be allocated.

When there are a plurality of cars determined as the cars to be allocated by the allocation target determination unit 35, the allocation output unit 36 selects the most suitable car among them. The allocation output unit 36 outputs an allocation signal to the elevator control device corresponding to the car in the elevator control devices 11a, 11b, 11c ..., And causes the call to respond to the registered floor (departure floor). If there is only one car determined as the car to be allocated, that one car will answer the call.

Here, in the case of a destination call, the allocation output unit 36 sends information on the car (allocated car) to which the destination call is assigned to the landing destination floor registration device 22 and the landing destination floor display device 24. As a result, information on the car on which the user should ride is displayed on the display unit 22b of the landing destination floor registration device 22 (see FIG. 3), and the destination floor of the car is displayed on the landing destination floor display device 24. (See FIG. 5).

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the processing operation of the group management control device 30 in the present embodiment. The process shown in this flowchart can be applied regardless of whether the call registration method is switched from the destination call registration method to the up / down call registration method or from the up / down call registration method to the destination call registration method. ..

In general, the destination call registration method (landing destination floor registration device 22) is effective during times when there are many users, but some users do not know how to operate the landing destination floor registration device 22 and call up and down. The registration method (upper and lower call registration device 21) may be preferred. When the user operates the registration switching device 23, an instruction to switch the call registration method is input to the group management control device 30 (Yes in step S11). As a result, the group management control device 30 executes the following processing by using the first demand determination unit 33, the second demand determination unit 34, and the allocation target determination unit 35.

That is, the group management control device 30 first calculates the first unanswered time Ta for the answered call within the past fixed time (for example, 5 minutes) from the present (step S12). For example, it is assumed that the call registered before the switching is a destination call, and the car 12a of Unit A responds to the destination call. In this case, the time from when the destination call is registered until the car 12a arrives at the registration floor of the destination call is calculated as the first unanswered time Ta.

If there are a plurality of answered calls within a certain period of time in the past, the average value of the unanswered times of each car for these calls is calculated as the first unanswered time Ta. This first unresponse time Ta is an actual value and is used as an index value for determining the demand before switching.

Next, the group management control device 30 creates an OD (Origin-Destination) table based on the unanswered calls stored in the call management unit 31. The "OD table" is a table in which the departure floor and the destination floor of the user are associated with each call registered on each floor. In the case of up and down calls, since the destination floor of the user is not known, the destination floor is estimated in consideration of past traffic demand and the like. Using this OD table, the group management control device 30 responded to the unanswered call remaining at the time of switching with the number of cars excluding the candidates of the cars to be allocated from the current number of cars (number before switching). The operation of the case is predicted, and the second unresponse time Tb is obtained from the prediction result (step S13).

For example, suppose that the number of cars before switching was five. Initially, one of these five cars will be selected as a candidate for the car to be allocated. Therefore, the operation when the four cars respond to the unanswered call is simulated, and the average value of the unanswered times of each car is obtained as the second unanswered time Tb. This second unresponse time Tb is a predicted value and is used as an index value for determining the demand after switching.

Here, when selecting a candidate for a car to be allocated, the car that has already been assigned and has few calls shall be preferentially selected. This is because when the car is determined to be allocated, the already assigned call is reassigned to another car to make it a free car. The car to which the allocation is changed is determined in consideration of the driving direction, the destination floor, the number of passengers, and the like.

When the second unresponsive time Tb is obtained, the group management control device 30 compares the second unresponsive time Tb with the first unresponsive time Ta (step S14), and as a result, the second unresponsive time Tb. If the response time Tb does not exceed the first unresponse time Ta, the group management control device 30 finally determines the car selected as the candidate car to be allocated as the car to be allocated, and finally determines the car to be allocated. The call assigned to is changed to another car (step S15).

Similarly, the group management control device 30 increases the number of car candidates to be allocated from each car to two, three, and so on, and excludes the number of car candidates to be allocated from the current number of cars. The second unresponse time Tb when responding to the response call is calculated and compared with the first unresponse time Ta. Then, the group management control device 30 finally determines the maximum number of cars that satisfy Tb ≦ Ta as the cars to be allocated, and assigns and changes the calls assigned to these cars to other cars. (Steps S13 to S16).

When selecting multiple candidates for the cars to be allocated, the cars that have already been assigned are selected in order from the one with the fewest calls. If the number of calls already assigned is the same, priority is given to the car closest to the registered floor of the call after switching. Further, in step S14, when Tb> Ta, the user before switching has a long wait, so the number of cars to be allocated is determined within the range of Tb ≦ Ta.

When the number of cars to be allocated is determined in this way, the group management control device 30 switches the call registration method and causes the allocation target car to respond to the call newly registered by the user (step). S17). In this case, if a plurality of cars are selected as the cars to be allocated, the group management control device 30 responds to the car close to the registration floor of the new call among the above cars. If one car is selected as the car to be assigned, the group management control device 30 causes the one car to respond to the registration floor of the new call.

FIGS. 7 and 8 show an example of selecting a car to be allocated. FIG. 7 shows an example of selecting a car to be allocated when the demand before switching is large, and FIG. 8 shows an example of selecting a car to be allocated when the demand before switching is small. 12a to 12e in the figure indicate the car of Units A to E.

Now, it is assumed that the call registration method is switched to the vertical call registration method by the user Pb while the five car cars 12a to 12e are in operation. As described above, the first unanswered time Ta is calculated based on the registered calls within the past fixed time before switching. Further, the second unanswered time Tb is calculated when the unanswered call is dealt with by the number of cars before switching (here, 5 cars) excluding the candidate of the car to be allocated. Then, by comparing the first unresponsive time Ta and the second unresponsive time Tb, the car to be allocated is selected within the range of Tb ≦ Ta.

As shown in FIG. 7, when there is a large demand before switching, many unanswered calls remain at the time of switching, so it is necessary to respond to these unanswered calls with a large number of cars. Therefore, the number of cars to be allocated is reduced. In the example of FIG. 7, only the car 12e of Unit E is selected as the car to be allocated. In this case, if there is a call already registered in the car 12e, the call is reassigned to any of the cars 12a to 12d of Units A to D. As a result, the car 12e can be made to respond without making the user Pb wait. Further, even if the number of user Pas registered before switching is large, the four car cars 12a to 12d respond, so that the user Pa does not have to wait.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 8, when the demand before switching is small, the number of unanswered calls remaining after switching is small, so that the number of cars to be allocated increases. In the example of FIG. 8, the car cars 12c to 12e of Units C to E are selected as the cars to be allocated, and respond to the call of the user Pb registered after the switching. As a result, even if the demand after switching increases, the user Pa before switching does not have to wait.

For example, it is also possible to learn the change in daily traffic demand and adjust the number of cars to be allocated based on the traffic demand in the time zone when the call registration method is switched. .. For example, if the traffic demand tends to increase in the future, the number of cars to be allocated will be larger than the number of cars to be allocated in the range of Tb ≦ Ta. It is also possible to acquire user generation data for each time zone from the building management system and adjust the number of cars to be allocated using the generation data. Furthermore, even after selecting the number of cars to be allocated, it is preferable to monitor future demand and make adjustments such as increasing the number of cars to be allocated if the demand is higher than at the time of selection.

In this way, it is possible to select the allocation target car in consideration of both the user before switching and the user after switching, and it is possible to efficiently carry the car to both users before and after switching without waiting for a long time. be able to.

According to at least one embodiment described above, when the call registration method is switched, the elevator can respond to the car in consideration of both the user before the switch and the user after the switch. A group management system can be provided.

Although some embodiments of the present invention have been described, these embodiments are presented as examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments can be implemented in various other embodiments, and various omissions, replacements, and changes can be made without departing from the gist of the invention. These embodiments and variations thereof are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are also included in the scope of the invention described in the claims and the equivalent scope thereof.

11a, 11b, 11c ... Elevator control device, 12a, 12b, 12c ... Car, 13a, 13b, 13c ... Car call registration device, 21 ... Vertical call registration device, 22 ... Landing destination floor registration device, 23 ... Registration switching device , 24 ... landing destination floor display device, 30 ... group management control device, 31 ... call management unit, 32 ... operation information acquisition unit, 33 ... first demand judgment unit, 34 ... second demand judgment unit, 35 ... allocation Target determination unit, 36 ... Allocation output unit.

Claims (5)

In an elevator group management system that has multiple cars and can switch between the first registration method for registering up and down calls at the landing on the same floor and the second registration method for registering destination calls.
When the first registration method and the second registration method are switched, the first demand determination means for determining the demand within a certain period of time in the past and the first demand determination means.
Demand when a candidate car to be allocated for assigning a call after switching is selected from each of the above cars, and the number of cars before switching is excluded from the number of cars to be allocated. The second demand judgment means to judge
A group of elevators provided with an allocation target determination means for finally determining an allocation target car based on the result of the first demand determination means and the result of the second demand determination means. Management system. The second demand judgment means described above is
The first aspect of claim 1, wherein a car with a small number of calls already assigned among the above-mentioned cars is preferentially selected as a candidate for the above-mentioned allotted car based on the operating state of each of the above-mentioned cars. Elevator group management system. The first demand judgment means described above is
The first unanswered time for the answered call within the past fixed time is calculated as the index value of the demand before switching.
The second demand judgment means described above is
After switching the second unanswered time based on the prediction result, the operation is predicted when the number of cars before switching of each car is the number of cars excluding the candidate of the car to be allocated and the unanswered call is answered. The group management system for elevators according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the elevator group management system is calculated as an index value of the demand of the above. The means for determining the allocation target is
The group management system for elevators according to claim 3, wherein the candidate of the allocation target car is determined as the allocation target car when the second unresponse time does not exceed the first unresponse time. .. The second demand judgment means described above is
The second unresponse time is calculated while increasing the number of candidates for the allocation target car one by one.
The means for determining the allocation target is
The group management system for elevators according to claim 3, wherein the maximum number of cars whose second unresponsive time does not exceed the first unresponsive time is determined as the allocation target car.

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