JP5695997B2 - Energy saving operation system and energy saving operation method for passenger conveyor - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an energy saving operation system and an energy saving operation method for a passenger conveyor.

Currently, passenger conveyors such as escalators are used in various facilities. In addition, as exemplified in Patent Document 1, there is also an aspect in which one passenger conveyor is used for both the ascending operation and the descending operation so that a service can be efficiently provided according to usage needs. In this aspect, as disclosed in Patent Document 1, the inversion time of the driving direction is determined in advance, and the driving direction is switched, for example, from ascending to descending when the time arrives.
In addition, due to the recent needs to reduce energy consumption, it is also desired to suppress energy consumption in passenger conveyors.

JP 9-272684 A

  The present invention has been made in view of the above, and an object thereof is to provide an energy saving operation system for a passenger conveyor that can grasp an energy consumption mode and achieve both service efficiency and energy saving efficiency. To do.

In order to achieve the above-described object, the passenger conveyor energy saving operation system of the present invention includes an electric energy recording unit, a parameter storage unit, a switching point calculation unit, and an operation control unit, and the electric energy recording unit includes: Holds at least one of the power consumption data during the rising operation and the power consumption data during the downward operation unique to the passenger conveyor, and the parameter storage unit holds a target value of the power consumption unique to the passenger conveyor. The switching point calculation unit calculates a switching point between the ascending operation and the descending operation using the energy consumption data of the energy recording unit and the target value of the energy, and the operation control unit The driving direction between the ascending operation and the descending operation of the passenger conveyor is switched according to the calculation result of the switching point calculation unit.
Furthermore, the energy saving operation method of the passenger conveyor according to the present invention for achieving the same object is to drive the target passenger conveyor for a predetermined time with respect to a plurality of days of the week, and to increase the power consumption during ascending operation unique to the passenger conveyor. Prepare at least one of data and power consumption data during descending operation, and use the power consumption data related to the corresponding day of the week for the set target value of power specific to the passenger conveyor, and ascending operation and descending A switching point for driving is calculated, and the driving direction of the passenger conveyor is switched at a timing corresponding to the calculated switching point.

  According to the energy saving operation system and the energy saving operation method of the passenger conveyor of the present invention, it is possible to grasp the energy consumption mode and achieve both service efficiency and energy saving efficiency.

It is a figure which shows the escalator which applies the energy saving operation system etc. which concern on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the energy saving operation system which concerns on this Embodiment. It is a graph which shows the example of the power consumption data at the time of a driving | running | rising operation of a certain escalator and the power consumption data at the time of descent | fall operation regarding a escalator of a station on a weekday. It is a graph which shows the switching timing of ascending operation and descending operation. It is a flowchart regarding the energy-saving operation method of this Embodiment. It is a graph which shows an example of an energy saving operation plan.

  DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of a passenger conveyor energy saving operation system and the like according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, the same reference numerals indicate the same or corresponding parts.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an escalator to which the energy saving operation system and the like of the present embodiment are applied. In addition, although this Embodiment illustrates an escalator as a passenger conveyor, this invention is not limited to this, It can apply widely to the apparatus which conveys a person, a load, etc. to different height. Therefore, for example, the present invention can be applied to a belt-shaped transport device in which a step-like step does not appear.

  The escalator 1 has a well-known configuration, that is, has a truss along a longitudinal direction extending obliquely up and down, and the truss is provided with a plurality of steps connected endlessly as a transport unit. Yes. The steps are circulated and moved between the upper and lower entrances and exits by the driving force of a driving machine usually provided in the truss. The drive machine actually drives the handrail in addition to the steps.

  The escalator 1 is provided with a wattmeter 3, and this wattmeter 3 mainly measures the power consumption of the above-described driving machine. The wattmeter 3 is connected to the energy saving operation system 21 according to the present embodiment.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of the energy saving operation system according to the present embodiment. The energy saving operation system 21 includes an electric energy recording unit 23, a parameter storage unit 25, a switching point calculation unit 27, and an operation control unit 29.

  The power amount recording unit 23 holds the power consumption data during ascending operation and the power consumption data during descent operation specific to the escalator. This data is prepared in advance for a predetermined time for a plurality of days of the week as actual ascending operation and descent operation of the target escalator, and ascending operation power consumption data and descent operation power consumption data specific to the escalator. The As an example of an escalator at a station, on Monday, the escalator is actually in service time (for example, from the start of the first generator to the last train), and only the ascending operation is continuously performed to measure the actual power consumption. Then, it is stored as power consumption data during ascending operation on Monday. Further, this time, the escalator is actually lowered on a different Monday, and similarly, the power consumption data during descent on Monday is obtained. Of course, the ascending operation power consumption data and the descending operation power consumption data may be obtained for a plurality of times and many times for the same day of the week and analyzed to improve the universality and reliability of the data. Similarly, after Tuesday, ascending operation power consumption data and descending operation power consumption data are obtained for each day of the week. Or if it is an escalator of a station, you may make it prepare not by the division of each day of the week but by the division of weekday data and holiday data, and preparing for other divisions is not excluded. In any case, in the present invention, it is essential that the target passenger conveyor itself is actually operated by the user, thereby including the needs of the installation location, day of the week, time, etc. in the facility. Obtain specific power consumption data. Note that the power amount recording unit 23 is not necessarily limited to having both the power consumption data during the rising operation and the power consumption data during the descending operation, and has at least one as necessary. An aspect may be sufficient.

  The parameter storage unit 25 holds a target value of the electric energy specific to the passenger conveyor. For this target value, a maintenance terminal 31 such as a PC is normally connected to the energy saving operation system 21 and the target value of the amount of power used is input by inputting from the maintenance terminal 31.

  The switching point calculation unit 27 calculates a switching point between the ascending operation and the descending operation from the ascending operation energy consumption data, the descending operation energy consumption data, and the target value of the energy consumption. The outline of this will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 3: is a graph which shows the example of the power consumption data at the time of a driving | running | working of a certain escalator and the power consumption data at the time of descent | fall operation regarding a escalator of a station on a weekday. The vertical axis in FIG. 3 indicates the amount of power, and the horizontal axis indicates time. FIG. 4 is a graph showing the switching timing between the ascending operation and the descending operation.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the slopes indicating the ascending operation power consumption data and the descending operation power consumption data are not simple straight lines. For example, the slope indicating the power consumption data during ascending operation in the illustrated example has a plurality of patterns indicated by reference symbols U1, U2, and U3, and the time zone with the highest utilization rate of the escalator that performs ascending operation is Corresponding to the commuting time to go, it is a time zone from 7:00 am to 9:00 am of the solid line indicated by the symbol U3. The utilization rate slightly decreases in the time zone of the thick and dashed line indicated by the reference symbol U2 before and after that (from 6 am to 7 am and from 9 am to 10 am). Furthermore, in the time zone of the thick two-dot chain line indicated by the outer reference symbol U1 (before 6 am and after 10 am), the number of people who use the escalator that operates ascending is greatly reduced. And at the time of an ascending driving | operation, there exists a tendency for power consumption to become so large that there are many users.

  On the other hand, with respect to the slope indicating the descent driving power consumption data in the illustrated example, the time zone with the highest utilization rate of the escalator to be descent corresponding to the return commuting time is 17:00 of the thin solid line indicated by reference numeral D3 It is a time zone from 20:00. The utilization rate also decreases in the time zone of the one-dot chain line indicated by the reference sign D2 before and after that (from 16:00 to 17:00 and from 20:00 to 22:00). Furthermore, in the time zone of the two-dot chain line indicated by the outer reference sign D1 (before 16 o'clock and after 22 o'clock), the number of people who use the escalator that operates to descend is greatly reduced. During the descent operation, driving force assistance based on the weight of the user can be obtained, so that the more users there are, the lower the power consumption.

  FIG. 4 is an example of switching the escalator that was initially in the ascending operation to the descending operation, giving priority to facilitating the understanding of the explanation, and the power amount data of the ascending operation and the descending operation are denoted by U, A simplified straight line indicated by D is shown. As shown in FIG. 4, the switching point calculation unit 27 initially performs an ascending operation, and as it is indicated by a symbol U, the switching point calculation unit 27 switches from the ascending operation to the descending operation for a state where the target power amount is exceeded as it is, and thereafter As shown by the symbol R, a switching point P is calculated that can be expected not to exceed the target power amount even in the descending operation (the same inclination as the symbol D).

  The operation control unit 29 switches the operation direction between the ascending operation and the descending operation of the passenger conveyor according to the calculation result of the switching point calculation unit 27, that is, the switching point P.

  Next, an energy saving operation method by the energy saving operation system according to the present embodiment configured as described above will be described. FIG. 5 is a flowchart relating to the energy saving operation method of the present embodiment. First, as step S1, the target escalator 1 is actually service-operated for a predetermined time for a plurality of days of the week, and power consumption data specific to the escalator is prepared. The power consumption amount data is recorded and held in the power amount recording unit 23.

  Next, as step S2, a target power amount for a predetermined period is input / set from a maintenance terminal 31 such as a PC. Next, the operation of the escalator 1 is started, and the switching point between the ascending operation and the descending operation is calculated from the power consumption data relating to the corresponding day of the week for the set target value of the electric energy. In FIG. 5, the case where the escalator is lifted will be described as an example. As step S3, the ascending operation of the escalator 1 is started.

  Subsequently, in step S4, the switching point calculation unit 27 compares the remaining power amount that can be used until the target power amount is reached with the power amount that will be used during the subsequent descent operation. For the remaining power amount that can be used until the target power amount is reached, the power amount consumed so far is determined from the power consumption data during ascending operation held in the power amount recording unit 23, and the target power amount is determined. It may be obtained by subtracting from the amount of electric power, or may be obtained by subtracting from the target amount of electric power by actually measuring the amount of electric power consumed so far using the wattmeter 3. On the other hand, for the amount of power that will be used during the subsequent descent operation, it is preferable to strictly use the descent operation power consumption data. However, depending on the power amount data, it approximates a straight line and falls. It can also be obtained by a calculation formula of electric energy per operation time × remaining service operation time.

  In any case, aiming at the switching point that was calculated or monitored in step S4, that is, “remaining electric energy that can be used until the target electric energy reaches = the electric energy that will be used during the descent operation”. In step S5, preparation for switching the operation direction of the escalator 1 is performed. Specifically, measures are taken to prevent people from getting in by closing a shutter prepared on the boarding side while confirming that the inside of the escalator is unmanned by a photoelectric sensor or the like. Alternatively, as another example, it is possible to appropriately use a process of guiding a message to prevent people from getting in by voice or confirming that the escalator is unmanned by image processing. . In any case, processing is performed so that the escalator is in an unmanned state and the unmanned state is confirmed. In addition, as step S <b> 6, the operation control unit 29 switches the operation direction of the escalator at a timing corresponding to the switching point calculated by the switching point calculation unit 27. That is, first, the ascending operation of the escalator 1 is stopped, and then the descending operation is started.

  FIG. 6 shows an example of an energy saving operation plan in which the energy saving operation method according to the present embodiment described above is implemented. As shown in FIG. 6, this plan stops the escalator operation itself when the utilization rate of the ascending operation is small, and switches to the descending operation only when the utilization rate of the descending operation is large. During the descent operation from 16:00 to 22:00, the needs for descent operation are very large for the user, and the utilization rate is large. On the other hand, as described above, during the descending operation, driving force assistance based on the weight of the user can be obtained, so that the more users there are, the lower the power consumption. As described above, in this plan, it is possible to perform the operation while greatly reducing the power consumption while responding to the user's needs very appropriately.

  As described above, according to the energy saving operation system and the energy saving operation method of the passenger conveyor of this embodiment, it is possible to grasp the energy consumption mode and achieve both service efficiency and energy saving efficiency. In addition, the switching of the driving direction does not depend on the judgment of the staff of the passenger conveyor facility (for example, the staff of the station), so it is not necessary to operate the staff and is automatically performed without human intervention. Therefore, advantages such as labor saving and efficiency of work can be obtained.

  Although the contents of the present invention have been specifically described with reference to the preferred embodiments, various modifications can be made by those skilled in the art based on the basic technical idea and teachings of the present invention. It is self-explanatory.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Escalator (passenger conveyor), 3 Wattmeter, 21 Energy saving operation system, 23 Electric energy recording part, 25 Parameter storage part, 27 Switching point calculation part, 29 Operation control part.

Claims (2)

An electric energy recording unit, a parameter storage unit, a switching point calculation unit, and an operation control unit,
The power amount recording unit holds at least one of the rising operation power consumption data and the descent operation power consumption data specific to the passenger conveyor,
The parameter storage unit holds a target value for the amount of electric power unique to the passenger conveyor,
The switching point calculation unit calculates a switching point between the ascending operation and the descending operation using the power consumption amount data of the power amount recording unit and the target value of the energy amount,
The operation control unit is an energy saving operation system for a passenger conveyor that switches an operation direction between an ascending operation and a descending operation of the passenger conveyor according to a calculation result of the switching point calculation unit. Actually drive the target passenger conveyor for a predetermined time with respect to a plurality of days of the week, and prepare at least one of the power consumption data during ascending operation and data during descent operation specific to the passenger conveyor,
Using the power consumption data related to the corresponding day of the week for the set target value of power specific to the passenger conveyor, calculating a switching point between the ascending operation and the descending operation,
An energy saving operation method for a passenger conveyor that switches the operation direction of the passenger conveyor at a timing corresponding to the calculated switching point.

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