JP6021973B2 - Elevator group management control device - Google Patents

Description

  Embodiments described herein relate generally to an elevator group management control device that controls the operation of a plurality of passenger cars.

  In high-rise buildings, etc., multiple elevators (cars) are installed to realize a large number of transportation systems. On the other hand, from the viewpoint of energy saving, operation is carried out by reducing the number of operating cars in quiet hours when there are few users. For example, in a normal time zone, driving is performed using 8 cars, and in a quiet time zone, 2 cars are put in a suspended state and 6 cars are operated. In addition, when there are a plurality of cars, each car is called a “unit”. A car to which a hall call (hall call) is assigned is called an “assigned car”.

  Here, some elevator group management control devices have a distributed standby function in which each unit is distributed on each floor and is made to wait, and when a hall call is made on any floor, it can respond immediately. is there.

JP 2012-56654 A

  However, if each unit is moved to the standby floor frequently only after a little operation, wasteful power is consumed and energy is not saved. On the other hand, if the distributed standby is stopped, the call of each floor cannot be answered immediately, and the operation efficiency deteriorates.

  The problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide an elevator group management control device that can efficiently perform standby standby of each unit to increase the energy saving effect and the operation efficiency.

An elevator group management control device according to an embodiment is an elevator group management control device that controls the operation of a plurality of units, a dispersion zone setting means for setting a plurality of dispersion zones, and an operation in each of the above units Distributed standby determination means for determining whether or not to allow distributed standby based on the number of possible units and the number of directional units, and each of the above units when distributed standby is permitted by the distributed standby determination means Distributed standby control means for moving the distributed standby target machine in any one of the respective dispersion zones set by the distributed zone setting means , wherein the distributed standby determination means is based on the number of the directional units. If the number of units that can be operated is at least 2 or more, (the number of units that can be operated-the number of directional units above-1) Allow machine.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an elevator group management control apparatus according to the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a traffic demand learning table in the embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the distributed zone table in the embodiment. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the distributed standby process of the group management control apparatus according to the embodiment. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a specific example for explaining the operation during distributed standby in the embodiment. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the distributed standby processing of the group management control device according to the second embodiment. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the distributed zone changing process of the group management control device according to the third embodiment. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example when the distribution zone is reset in the embodiment.

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

(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an elevator group management control apparatus according to the first embodiment, in which a configuration in which a plurality of elevators are group-managed is shown. The “elevator” referred to here basically means a “car”, and when there are a plurality of vehicles, it is also referred to as “unit”. In the example of FIG. 1, only four units A to D are shown, but a configuration in which more units are managed in groups may be used.

  In the drawing, 1a to 1d are elevator control devices (also referred to as “unit control devices” or “car control devices”), and 2a to 2d are passenger cars. The elevator control device 1a controls the operation of the car 2a of No. A. Specifically, the elevator control device 1a performs control of a motor (winding machine) (not shown) for moving the car 2a up and down, door opening / closing control, and the like. The same applies to the elevator control device 1b for the B car, the elevator control device 1c for the C car, and the elevator control device 1d for the D car. These elevator control devices 1a to 1d are configured by a computer.

  The cars 2a to 2d move up and down in the hoistway by driving a motor (winding machine). An operation panel 3a having various operation buttons including a destination floor button, a door open button, a door close button and the like is installed in the passenger car 2a. The signals of these buttons are transmitted to the group management control device 10 via the elevator control device 1a of Unit A.

  Similarly, an operation panel 3b having various operation buttons including a destination floor button, a door open button, a door close button and the like is installed in the passenger car 2b. The signals of these buttons are transmitted to the group management control device 10 via the elevator control device 1b of Unit B. An operation panel 3c having various operation buttons including a destination floor button, a door open button, a door close button, and the like is installed in the passenger car 2c. The signals of these buttons are transmitted to the group management control device 10 via the elevator control device 1c of Unit C. An operation panel 3d having various operation buttons including a destination floor button, a door opening button, a door closing button, and the like is installed in the passenger car 2d. The signals of these buttons are transmitted to the group management control device 10 via the elevator control device 1d of the No. D machine.

  In addition, hall buttons 4a, 4b, 4c,... For registering hall calls are installed at halls (elevator halls) on each floor. These hall buttons 4a, 4b, 4c,... Are composed of an upward button and a downward button, and are configured to press the upward button or the downward button in accordance with the destination direction of the user. It should be noted that the lowermost floor is composed only of an upward button and the uppermost floor is composed of only a downward button.

  The “hall call” is a call signal registered by operating a hall button installed at a hall on each floor, and includes information on a registered floor and a destination direction. The “car call” is a call signal registered by operating a destination floor button provided in the car room, and includes information on the destination floor and the car number.

  The group management control device 10 is a device for performing group management control of the operation of each unit, and is configured by a computer similarly to the elevator control devices 1a to 1d. In the present embodiment, the group management control device 10 includes a state monitoring unit 11, a call storage unit 12, a distributed standby control unit 13, an operable number setting unit 14, a directional number detection unit 15, a distributed standby determination unit 16, A dispersion zone setting unit 17 is provided. Note that these processing units are actually realized by software or a combination of software and hardware.

  The state monitoring unit 11 monitors the operation state (car position, operation direction, door open / close state, etc.) of each unit, the car call occurrence state, and the like. The call storage unit 12 stores hall calls registered by operating the hall buttons 4a, 4b, 4c.

  When the distributed standby determination unit 16 permits the distributed standby, the distributed standby control unit 13 moves the distributed standby target unit in each unit to one of the respective distributed zones.

  The operable number setting unit 14 sets the number of units that can be operated. For example, when there are 8 units, it is used when the operation is reduced from 8 to 6 for power saving, or vice versa. As a setting method, for example, an administrator of a building may arbitrarily set by operation of a switch, a terminal, etc., or an optimal number is appropriately set for each preset time zone with reference to past traffic demand. That's fine. Alternatively, an optimum number may be set in real time according to the current traffic demand.

  An example of the traffic demand learning table 18 is shown in FIG. The learning table 18 stores an average non-response time for each predetermined time zone (in this example, every hour). The “average unanswered time” is an average time from when the hall call is registered until the assigned machine responds to the registered floor of the hall call.

  The operable number setting unit 14 refers to the learning table 18 to determine that the traffic demand is low when the average non-response time is short, and reduces the operable number at that time from the current state. On the other hand, when the average non-response time is long, the operable number setting unit 14 determines that the traffic demand is large, and increases the operable number at that time from the current state.

  The directional number detection unit 15 detects the number of directional units currently in operation based on the operation state information of each unit obtained from the state monitoring unit 11.

  A “directional unit” is a unit that has an operation direction (up / down) and is in operation. That is, a car that is currently traveling upward or downward, or that is landing on the floor, but is scheduled to travel to another floor by having a hall call or car call. That is. On the other hand, the “non-directional unit” is a unit that has stopped without having a driving direction (up / down direction), that is, a unit that has been suspended.

  The distributed standby determination unit 16 determines whether to allow distributed standby based on the number of operable units set by the operable number setting unit 14 and the number of directional units detected by the directional unit detection unit 15. Determine whether.

  Specifically, the distributed standby determination unit 16 permits distributed standby when the number of units that can be operated is at least two more than the number of directional units. In that case, (the number of the above-mentioned units that can be operated-the number of the above-mentioned directional units-1) is set as the upper limit of the distributed standby number.

  The distribution zone setting unit 17 sets floors and priorities of a plurality of distribution zones. The information on the floor and priority of each distribution zone set by the distribution zone setting unit 17 is stored in a distribution zone table 19 as shown in FIG. 3, for example. The distributed standby control unit 13 refers to the distributed zone table 19 and sets the non-directional units stopped outside the distributed zones as the distributed standby target units. Then, the distributed standby control unit 13 moves the distributed standby target unit to the distributed zone having the highest priority among the distributed zones in which the non-directional units are not stopped.

  The group management control device 10 has an allocation control function as a basic function. This is a function that, when a new hall call is registered, selects a unit to which the hall call is assigned using a predetermined allocation evaluation method, and makes that unit respond to the hall call registration floor as the assigned unit. . Examples of the allocation evaluation method include a fuzzy method and an RTS (Real Time Scheduling) method. However, since they are not directly related to the present invention, the description thereof is omitted here.

  Next, the operation of the first embodiment will be described.

  For example, the number of units that can be operated according to the traffic demand for each time zone is set by the operable unit setting unit 14, and the operation of each unit is controlled by the set number. At this time, the number of directional cars operating in the directional direction, that is, the number of directional cars, is detected by the directional number detection unit 15 and provided to the distributed standby determination unit 16.

  Here, it is assumed that the upper limit of the number of units that can be directional at the same time is determined by the energy saving function. When the number of directional units is less than the number of units that can be operated, hall calls can be assigned to all units. That is, if the number of operable units (hereinafter referred to as the operable number K) is greater than the number of directional units (hereinafter referred to as the directional number L) (when K> L), no direction All units including units are assigned, and hall calls are assigned to units that can respond quickly. Thereby, even when the operable number K is set, hall calls can be efficiently allocated to all the units.

  However, if there is no non-directional unit due to distributed standby and the number of operable K and the directional unit L is the same (when K = L), when the hall call occurs, Must be assigned from. Therefore, the number of selected assigned machines is reduced and the group management performance is lowered.

  Therefore, it is assumed that distributed standby is performed so as to leave a non-directional unit. Specifically, distributed standby is permitted on condition that (K−L ≧ 2). As a result, even if the unit to be distributed is moved, at least one non-directional unit remains during that time, so that all units can be allocated when a hall call occurs.

Hereinafter, the distributed standby processing operation will be described in detail.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the distributed standby process of the group management control device 10 in the first embodiment. The processing shown in this flowchart is executed when the group management control device 10 which is a computer reads a predetermined program.

  The distributed standby control unit 13 confirms the current position of each unit through the state monitoring unit 11 and determines whether there is a non-directional unit that has not yet completed distributed standby (step S11). “A non-directional unit that has not yet completed dispersion standby” refers to a unit that has stopped in a non-directional direction and has not moved to the distribution zone. If the floor when stopping in a non-directional direction is within the distribution zone, it is considered that the distribution standby has been completed. The non-directional unit that has not yet completed the dispersion standby is the “distribution standby target unit”.

  When there is a non-directional unit that has not yet been distributed standby (Yes in step S11), the distributed standby control unit 13 sets the non-directional unit as a distributed standby target unit, and at that time, the distributed standby determination unit 16 permits the distributed standby. It is judged whether it is (step S12).

  Here, the distributed standby determination unit 16 determines whether or not to allow distributed standby based on the operable number K and the directional number L in each unit. In the case of (K−L ≧ 2), that is, when the operable number K is at least two more than the directional number L (Yes in step S12), the distributed standby determination unit 16 determines (K−L -1) Dispersion standby is permitted with the upper limit set (steps S13-S14).

  When the distributed standby is permitted, the distributed standby control unit 13 confirms the distributed zone where the non-directional unit is not stopped (step S15). If there is a corresponding distributed zone (Yes in step S15), the distributed standby control unit 13 moves the non-directional unit that has not been distributed standby detected in step S11, that is, the distributed standby target unit, to the distributed zone. At this time, if there are a plurality of corresponding distributed zones, the distributed standby control unit 13 refers to the distributed zone table 19 and moves the distributed standby target unit to the distributed zone with the highest priority among these (step S16). ).

  In addition, when a plurality of floors are included in the distribution zone, the distributed standby target unit may be moved to an arbitrary floor in the distribution zone, or may be moved to the nearest floor from the unit. It is preferable in terms of power saving to move to the nearest floor from the unit.

  Further, returning to the above step S11, if there is another non-directional numbering machine that is not yet waiting for dispersion, the same processing is repeated under the condition of (K−L ≧ 2). In addition, when there are a plurality of non-directional units that are not yet ready for dispersion, it is preferable to move them to the nearest dispersion zone for power saving.

  On the other hand, when the condition of (K−L ≧ 2) is not satisfied, that is, when the difference between the operable number K and the directional number L is 1 or 0 (No in step S12), The distributed standby determination unit 16 prohibits distributed standby.

  In addition, even if the condition of (K−L ≧ 2) is satisfied, if the number of distributed standby exceeds (K−L−1) (No in step S13), the distributed standby determination unit 16 performs the distributed standby. It is forbidden.

A specific example is shown in FIG.
Now, a group management system having six units (cars) A to F is assumed. As shown in FIG. 5, it is assumed that six dispersion zones Z1 to Z6 are set in buildings on the first floor to the 20th floor. The floor information and priority of each distributed zone are as shown in FIG.

  For example, if the operable number K is 5 and the directional number L is 3 (Unit B, Unit C, Unit D), the condition of (K−L ≧ 2) is satisfied, so (K−L -1) The distributed standby is executed with the upper limit of the number of units.

  In the example of FIG. 5, A machine, E machine, and F machine are non-directional machines. Among them, Unit F has already stopped in the dispersion zone Z6, so Unit A and Unit E become non-directional units that have not yet been distributed standby, that is, distributed standby target units. However, since (K-L-1) = (5-3-1) = 1, it is the Unit A or Unit E that can be moved for distributed standby.

  Here, the dispersion zones in which the non-directional unit is not stopped are Z1, Z2, Z3, and Z5, and the dispersion zone having the highest priority among them is Z1. Since the machine closest to the dispersion zone Z1 is machine A, the machine A is moved to the first floor in the dispersion zone Z1, as shown by the dotted line in FIG.

  When Unit A is moved for distributed standby, the number of directional units increases by one, so the number of directional units L = 4. However, since the operable number K = 5, even if a hall call is generated, it is possible to maintain a state of K> L, that is, a state where all units can be allocated.

  Further, for example, it is assumed that the operable number K is 6 and the directional number L is 3 (No. B, No. C, No. D). In this case, (K−L−1) = (6-3-1) = 2 can be moved for distributed standby. That is, in the example of FIG. 5, the E machine can be moved in addition to the A machine. The dispersion zone having the next highest priority after the dispersion zone Z1 is the dispersion zone Z4. Therefore, Unit E is moved to the 12th or 13th floor in the dispersion zone Z4. In this case, since the floor close to the stop position of Unit E is the 13th floor, it is preferable in terms of power saving that the Unit E is moved to the 13th floor.

  When the Unit A and the Unit E are moved for distributed standby, the number of directional units increases by two, so the number of directional units L = 5. Since the operable number K = 6, even if a hall call occurs, it is possible to maintain a state of K> L, that is, a state where all units can be allocated.

  As described above, according to the first embodiment, when the unit to be distributed standby is moved, the hall call is generated by maintaining the situation where the operable number K is larger than the directional number L. In such a case, allocation control can be performed for all units including non-directional units. Therefore, power can be saved by efficiently performing distributed standby without degrading the group management performance.

(Second Embodiment)
Next, a second embodiment will be described.

  For example, when a number of hall calls are generated while moving the number of cars to be distributed standby, there is a possibility that the number of non-directional cars will disappear and the operable number K and the directional number L may be the same. As described above, if the operable number K is greater than the directional number L (when K> L), all units including non-directional units can be assigned, but if there are no non-directional units, all units Units cannot be assigned.

  Therefore, in the second embodiment, when a situation where there is no non-directional car is detected during the movement of the car due to the dispersion waiting, the dispersion waiting is stopped and the moving car is immediately stopped.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the distributed standby processing of the group management control device 10 in the second embodiment. In addition, since the process from step S11 to S16 is the same as that of FIG. 4, below, the process after step S16 is demonstrated.

  That is, when the distributed standby target unit (non-directional unit that has not been distributed standby) is moved to the distributed zone, the distributed standby determination unit 16 determines the operable number K set by the operable number setting unit 14 and the directional direction. The directional number L detected by the number detection unit 15 is compared (step S17). If the operable number K is greater than the directional number L (Yes in step S17), the distributed standby is continued as it is.

  On the other hand, when the operable number K and the directional number L become the same during movement by distributed standby, that is, when there is no non-directional unit (No in step S17), the distributed standby determination unit 16 Outputs a distributed standby stop instruction to the distributed standby control unit 13. When receiving the stop instruction, the distributed standby control unit 13 stops the distributed standby and immediately stops the distributed standby target unit that is currently moving and returns it to the non-directional unit (step S18).

  As described above, according to the second embodiment, when the directional number L becomes the same as the operable number K during the movement by the distributed standby, the situation without the non-directional unit is stopped by stopping the distributed standby. It is possible to keep the situation where all units can be allocated by avoiding the above.

(Third embodiment)
Next, a third embodiment will be described.

  In the third embodiment, in addition to the configuration of the first embodiment, a distribution zone changing function is provided.

  The basic device configuration is the same as in FIG. However, in the third embodiment, the operable number K set by the operable number setting unit 14 is input to the distributed zone setting unit 17. The distributed zone setting unit 17 has a function that can change the distributed zone according to the operable number K after the change when the operable number K is changed.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the distributed zone changing process of the group management control device 10 in the third embodiment. The process shown in this flowchart is executed when the operable number K is changed separately from the process shown in the flowcharts of FIGS. 4 and 6.

  Now, let us assume that the operable number K = 6 and that six dispersion zones Z1 to Z6 are set as in the example of FIG. The floor information and priority of each distributed zone are as shown in FIG. Each of the machines A to F waits in one of the dispersion zones Z1 to Z6 by the method described in the first or second embodiment.

  Here, for example, it is assumed that the operable number K is changed to the number different from the previous one through the operable number setting unit 14 according to the traffic demand for each time zone. When the operable number K is changed (Yes in step S21). The dispersion zone setting unit 17 resets the dispersion zone based on the changed operable number K (step S22). Specifically, when the operable number K is changed, the distributed zone setting unit 17 changes the number of distributed zones in accordance with the changed operable number K.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example when the distribution zone is reset.

  For example, if the operable number K decreases from six to three, the number of distributed zones is changed from six to three. In this case, the dispersion zone with a high priority is left, and the dispersion zone with a low priority is deleted to match the current operable number K. In the example of FIG. 8, three zones Z1, Z4, and Z6 are left in order of priority. The reason why the number of zones is reduced when the operable number K is reduced is that the number of non-directional units is also reduced, so that a large number of zones that are to be dispersed and waited are not required.

  On the other hand, when the operable number K increases, the dispersed zones may be revived in descending order of priority. For example, if the operable number K increases from three to four, Z4 is added to the current dispersion zones Z1, Z4, and Z6. The reason why the number of zones is increased when the operable number K is increased is that the number of non-directional units increases, and thus a large number of zones that are to be dispersed and waited are required.

  The floor range may be changed as the number of zones changes. In other words, when the number of zones is reduced, the floor range is expanded (increase the number of floors in the zone), and when the number of zones is increased, the floor range is narrowed (the number of floors in the zone is reduced). cut back).

  When the distributed zone is reset according to the operable number K in this way, the distributed zone table 19 is updated with the reset content. Thereafter, using the updated distribution zone table 19, the operation during distribution standby for each unit is controlled.

  As described above, according to the third embodiment, by changing the dispersion zone according to the current operable number K, when each unit becomes a non-directional unit, it is quickly distributed without useless movement. Can wait.

  According to at least one embodiment described above, it is possible to provide an elevator group management control device capable of efficiently performing standby standby of each unit to increase the energy saving effect and the operation efficiency.

  In addition, although some embodiment of this invention was described, these embodiment is shown as an example and is not intending limiting the range of invention. These novel embodiments can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, replacements, and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. These embodiments and modifications thereof are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are included in the invention described in the claims and the equivalents thereof.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1a-1d ... Elevator control apparatus, 2a-2d ... Car, 3a-3d ... Operation panel, 4a, 4b, 4c ... Hall button, 10 ... Group management control apparatus, 11 ... State monitoring part, 12 ... Call memory part, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 13 ... Distributed standby control part, 14 ... Operable number setting part, 15 ... Directional number detection part, 16 ... Distributed standby determination part, 17 ... Distributed zone setting part, 18 ... Learning table, 19 ... Distributed zone table.

Claims (5)

In the elevator group management control device that controls the operation of multiple units,
A distribution zone setting means for setting a plurality of distribution zones;
Distributed standby determination means for determining whether to allow distributed standby based on the number of units that can be operated and the number of directional units in each of the above units,
A distributed standby control unit that moves a distributed standby target unit in each of the units to any of the distributed zones set by the distributed zone setting unit when the distributed standby determination unit permits the distributed standby; equipped with,
The distributed standby determination means includes
When the number of operable units is at least two more than the number of directional units, the upper limit of the number of standby units is (number of operational units-number of directional units-1) A group management control device for an elevator characterized by permitting distributed standby . The distributed standby control means includes:
2. The elevator group management control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a non-directional vehicle that is stopped outside the respective dispersion zones is the dispersion standby target vehicle. The distributed standby control means includes:
The distributed standby is stopped when the number of operable units and the number of directional units are in the same situation while moving the distributed standby unit. Elevator group management control device. The dispersion zone setting means includes
Including setting priorities for each of the above distributed zones,
The distributed standby control means includes:
2. The elevator group management according to claim 1, wherein, among the dispersion zones in which the non-directional cars are not stopped, the dispersion standby target car is moved to a dispersion zone having the highest priority. Control device. The dispersion zone setting means includes
2. The elevator group management control device according to claim 1, wherein when the number of units that can be operated is changed, the dispersion zone is reset according to the changed number.

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