JP6835056B2 - elevator - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an elevator, and more particularly to an elevator provided with a rope runout detection device that detects runout of a main rope or a balanced rope caused by shaking of a building in which an elevator is installed due to an earthquake or the like.

In recent years, as the height of buildings has increased, the runout of main ropes and the like due to the shaking of buildings due to earthquakes and strong winds has become a problem in rope elevators.

Most of the rope-type elevators installed in high-rise buildings have a machine room above the top of the hoistway of the car, and a hoisting machine for driving the car is installed in the machine room. A main rope is hung on the sheaves that make up the hoisting machine, and a car is connected to one end side of the main rope and a balance weight is connected to the other end side, and each is hung by the main rope. ing. In addition, a balance rope with a balance wheel hung at the lower end is hung between the basket and the balance weight.

Then, by rotating or reversing the sheave by the prime mover, the car guided by the pair of car guide rails laid in the vertical direction is raised and lowered.

In an elevator having such a configuration, for example, when a building sways due to long-period ground motion, a main rope that hangs a car from the top of the building and a balancing rope that hangs from the car (hereinafter, this column and [Invention] In the [Problems to be solved] column, the main rope and the balancing rope are collectively referred to as “ropes”) and swing in the horizontal direction in almost the same direction as the shaking of the building (hereinafter, this horizontal direction). The runout of the rope is called "lateral runout").

Conventionally, the magnitude of the lateral vibration is estimated from the magnitude of the vibration of the building detected by the long-period vibration detector installed in the building, and the control operation of the elevator is performed according to the degree of the magnitude of the lateral vibration. Is being implemented, and elevator operations are temporarily suspended. However, since the magnitude of the roll that can be grasped from the magnitude of the shake of the building is only an estimate, in reality, it may be sufficient to have a roll that is not large enough to suspend the elevator. Conceivable. In this case, the operation of the elevator is unnecessarily stopped, which leads to a decrease in service to the user.

On the other hand, Patent Document 1 discloses a rope runout detection device that directly detects whether or not the magnitude of the lateral runout of the rope exceeds a certain threshold value.

The rope runout detection device of Patent Document 1 has a sensor in which a floodlight and a receiver are a set. This sensor is referred to as the first rope lateral vibration sensor 12, and in paragraphs [0028] and [0029] of Patent Document 1,
"FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a first example of the first rope lateral vibration sensor 12 of FIG. In this example, the first rope lateral vibration sensor 12 has a floodlight 21 that projects the detection light 20 and a receiver 22 that receives the detection light 20. The floodlight 21 and the receiver 22 are arranged on both sides of the car 7 in the width direction (Y-axis direction in the figure) when viewed from directly above. The detection light 20 is projected parallel and horizontally in the width direction of the car 7.
When the amplitude of the lateral vibration of the main rope 6 in the front-rear direction (X-axis direction in the figure) of the car 7 reaches a preset amplitude threshold value, the detection light 20 is blocked. That is, in this example, an intermittent ON / OFF signal is output according to the lateral vibration of the main rope 6. When setting two amplitude threshold values as described above, two sets of the floodlight 21 and the receiver 22 are arranged so that the distances from the main rope 6 to the detection light 20 are different. 』\
It is written.

According to the rope runout detection device of Patent Document 1, it is possible to detect the degree of lateral runout of the main rope 6 in the X-axis direction in two steps.

Further, Patent Document 1 discloses, as a second example, an example in which a floodlight 21 and a receiver 22 are installed on both sides of the car 7 in the front-rear direction (X-axis direction in the figure).

Therefore, from FIGS. 4 and 5 of Patent Document 1 and the description relating thereto, according to the rope runout detection device of Patent Document 1, the front-rear direction (X-axis direction of FIG. 4) and the width direction (FIG. 5) of the car 7 It is possible to detect the degree of lateral swing of the main rope 6 swinging in the Y-axis direction in two stages. As a result, the control operation of the elevator can be carried out step by step according to the degree of lateral vibration.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2014-156298 (Patent No. 5791645) Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2006-124102 (Patent No. 4773704)

By the way, if the sensor constituting the rope runout detection device described above fails, an unnecessary shift to control operation may occur, which may lead to a decrease in elevator operation efficiency and a decrease in service to the user. Not only that, even if it is necessary to shift the elevator from normal operation to control operation, there is a risk that the transition cannot be carried out properly.

Therefore, in order to avoid such a situation, it is necessary to inspect whether the sensor is out of order by periodic maintenance and inspection. However, since the above-mentioned sensor is installed in the hoistway, the worker who carries out the maintenance and inspection is forced to perform complicated work in the hoistway while the operation of the elevator is temporarily stopped.

In addition, it is desirable from the viewpoint of system reliability to grasp the failure of the sensor as soon as possible.

In view of the above problems, the present invention provides an elevator capable of easily checking whether or not a sensor is operating normally and grasping a sensor failure as soon as possible. The purpose.

In order to solve the above problems, the elevator according to the present invention is based on the information output from the sensor installed outside the elevating path of the elevating body including the car that elevates the hoistway in the opposite direction and the counterweight. An elevator equipped with a rope runout detection device for detecting the lateral runout of the main rope that suspends the car and the balance weight, and stores reference data regarding the behavior during normal operation that should be detected by the sensor of the elevating body. A storage unit, an acquisition unit that causes the sensor to detect the elevating body and acquires index data for indexing the actual behavior corresponding to the reference data of the elevating body, and a comparison of the acquired index data with the reference data. An inspection system that includes a determination unit that determines whether or not the sensor has performed the desired detection, and checks whether or not the sensor is operating normally based on the determination result of the determination unit. It is characterized by having.

Further, the reference data is characterized by including data regarding the timing at which the sensor should detect the elevating body when the car moves from the stop floor to the target floor.

Further, the inspection system uses the sensor to determine the behavior of the car side or the balanced weight side of the elevating body, or the behavior of both, depending on the combination of the stop floor and the target floor of the car. It is characterized in that it is a detection target.

In addition, the sensor is a range sensor that measures the direction and distance of an object in the hoistway existing in the horizontal plane including the installation position from the installation position and outputs the direction and distance as position information. It is characterized by.

According to the elevator of the present invention having the above configuration, it is possible to easily check whether or not the sensor is operating normally by software processing by using the information obtained from the existing rope runout detection device. It is not necessary for the staff to bother to carry out maintenance and inspection on the hoistway. Further, since the inspection can be performed during the normal operation of the elevator, even if the sensor has a failure, the failure can be grasped as soon as possible.

It is a figure which shows the schematic structure of the elevator which concerns on Embodiment 1. FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of how to hang (roping) various ropes in the said elevator. It is a conceptual diagram for demonstrating an example of the arrangement of a plurality of main ropes constituting a main rope group. It is a top view which shows the inside of the hoistway cut in the vicinity of the upper part of the range sensor which is a component of the rope runout detection device provided in the elevator. (A) is a functional block diagram of the control circuit unit, and (b) is a detailed functional block diagram of the rope runout amount detecting unit. (A) is a diagram in which the coordinates of the object detected in one scan of the range sensor are plotted, and (b) is the coordinates shown in (a) by the unnecessary coordinate exclusion unit of the control circuit unit. It is a figure which shows the result of removing unnecessary coordinates from. It is a figure which shows the result of having monitored the specific one coordinate among the plurality of coordinates shown in FIG. 6B for a predetermined time (multiple scannings during the predetermined time). It is a figure for demonstrating another embodiment of the assumed coordinate area in the said embodiment. (A) is a functional block diagram of the operation control unit, and (b) is a detailed functional block diagram of the rope runout detection unit and the inspection system. (A) is a diagram showing reference data, and (b) is a diagram plotting coordinate data included in the reference data. It is a flow chart of the failure inspection process of a range sensor. It is the figure which plotted the coordinates which show the state which the range sensor detected the equilibrium weight. FIG. 5 is a detailed functional block diagram of a rope runout detection unit and an inspection system included in the elevator according to the second embodiment. (A) is a diagram showing the reference data of the car in the second embodiment, and (b) is a diagram in which the coordinate data included in the reference data of the car is plotted. (A) is a diagram showing the reference data of the balanced weight in the second embodiment, and (b) is a diagram plotting the coordinate data included in the reference data of the balanced weight in the second embodiment. It is a flow chart of the failure inspection process of the range sensor in Embodiment 2.

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

<Embodiment 1>
The elevator 10 according to the first embodiment includes a rope runout detection device described later. FIG. 1 is a front view of the inside of the hoistway 12 in which the elevator 10 having the range sensor 52, which is a component of the rope runout detection device, is housed from the landing (not shown) side (FIG. 1 shows the range sensor). 52 does not appear.), And FIG. 2 is a right side view of the elevator 10.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the elevator 10 is a rope type elevator that employs a traction system as a drive system. A machine room 16 is provided in a building 14 portion above the uppermost part of the hoistway 12. In the machine room 16, a hoisting machine 18 and a deflecting wheel 20 are installed. A plurality of main ropes are wound around the sheave 22 and the deflecting wheel 20 constituting the hoisting machine 18. The plurality of main ropes will be referred to as "main rope group 24" (note that the main rope group 24 is not shown in an accurate number in FIG. 1).

A basket 26 is connected to one end of the main rope group 24, a counterweight 28 is connected to the other end, and the cage 26 and the counterweight 28 are suspended by the main rope group 24 in a hanging manner. It has been lowered.

Between the basket 26 and the balance weight 28, a plurality of balance ropes with a balance wheel 30 hung at the lowermost end are hung. The plurality of balanced ropes will be referred to as "balanced rope group 32". In this example, the number of main ropes constituting the main rope group 24 and the number of balancing ropes constituting the balanced rope group 32 are the same (8 in this example). The diameter of the main rope and the balancing rope is generally 10 mm to 20 mm. The number of main ropes constituting the main rope group 24 and the number of ropes constituting the balanced rope group 32 are not limited to the above numbers, and are arbitrarily selected according to the specifications of the elevator.

A traveling cable 34 hangs down from the lower end of the car 26, and the end of the traveling cable 34 opposite to the car 26 is a cable junction box installed on the middle side wall of the hoistway 12 in the vertical direction. It is connected to (not shown). That is, the traveling cable 34 is suspended in an elongated U shape between the lower end of the car 26 and the cable junction box. The traveling cable 34 is a cable that transmits electric power and signals between the car 26 and the control panel 44 described later, and is a cable that moves up and down according to the movement of the car 26. As the traveling cable 34, a flat cable is generally used, and for example, the thickness is 15 mm and the width is about 100 mm.

In the hoistway 12, a pair of car guide rails 36 and 38 and a pair of counterweight guide rails 40 and 42 are laid in the vertical direction (both not shown in FIGS. 1 and 2). See FIG. 4).

In the elevator 10 having the above configuration, when the sheave 22 is rotated forward or reversed by a hoisting motor (not shown), the main rope group 24 wound around the sheave 22 travels, and the main rope group 24 travels. The suspended cage 26 and the counterweight 28 move up and down in opposite directions. Along with this, the balancing rope group 32 hanging between the basket 26 and the balancing weight 28 travels back in the balancing vehicle 30. Further, as the car 26 moves up and down, the lower end of the traveling cable 34 suspended in a U shape also displaces in the vertical direction. The hoisting machine motor described above is provided with an absolute type rotary encoder (not shown). In the elevator 10, the position of the car 26 in the vertical direction of the hoistway 12 can be grasped from the output value (rotation angle) from the rotary encoder.

In the machine room 16, a power supply unit (not shown) that supplies electric power to various devices (not shown) installed in the hoisting machine 18 and the car 26, and a control circuit unit 46 (not shown) that controls these devices (FIG. 5). ) Is installed.

The control circuit unit 46 has a configuration in which a ROM and a RAM are connected to a CPU (both are not shown). By executing various control programs stored in the ROM, the CPU comprehensively controls the hoisting machine 18 and the like to realize normal operation by smooth lifting and lowering of the car, while an earthquake or the like occurs. If it does occur, control operation will be realized to ensure the safety of passengers.

Here, as shown in FIG. 2, in the main rope group 24, the portion that suspends the car 26 is referred to as the cage side main rope portion 24A, and the portion that suspends the balance weight 28 is referred to as the balance weight side main rope portion 24B. It will be referred to. Further, in the balancing rope group 32, the portion hanging from the cage 26 (the portion of the balancing rope group 32 between the cage 26 and the balancing vehicle 30) is referred to as the cage side balancing rope portion 32A, and the balancing weight 28 The portion hanging from the balance (the portion 32 of the balance rope group between the balance weight 28 and the balance wheel 30) is referred to as the balance weight side balance rope portion 32B. According to the above definition, the length (range) of the car-side main rope portion 24A and the balancing weight-side main rope portion 24B occupying the main rope group 24, and the car-side balancing rope portion occupying the balancing rope group 32. The length (range) of the balancing rope portion 32B on the balancing weight side with 32A expands and contracts (varies) depending on the elevating position of the cage 26 and the balancing weight 28.

The arrangement of the plurality of main ropes M1 to M8 constituting the main rope group 24 (8 in this example) will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram showing a main rope group 24 portion between the sheave 22 and the car 26, that is, a car side main rope portion 24A.

The upper view of FIG. 3 (a) is a front view of a part of the sheave 22 and the main rope portion 24A on the car side, and the lower view of FIG. 3 (a) is a view of the car 26 from above. is there. The lower figure of FIG. 3A is a diagram showing the correspondence between the connecting positions of the main ropes M1 to M8 constituting the main rope group 24 with respect to the car 26 in a plan view and the main ropes M1 to M8. FIG. 3B is a view of the sheave 22, the car-side main rope portion 24A, and a part of the car 26 as viewed from the left side.

As shown in the upper figure of FIG. 3A, the eight main ropes M1 to M8 are wound around the sheave 22 in this order in the horizontal direction (the axial direction of the sheave 22) at equal intervals. There is. As shown in the lower figure of FIG. 3A, the lower ends of the main ropes M1 to M8 are 2 in the odd-numbered main ropes M1, M3, M5, M7 and the even-numbered main ropes M2, M4, M6, M8. It is sorted into rows and connected to the basket 26.

In this way, the two rows are distributed to the sheave 22 due to the influence of the size (outer diameter) of the fastener (shackle rod) that connects the ends of the main ropes M1 to M8 to the car 26 when they are connected in one row. This is because the distance between the main ropes M1 to M8 is larger than that in the above, and there is a problem in effectively using the limited space above the car 26.

The distance between the main ropes M1, M3, M5, and M7 at the connection position to the car 26 and the distance between the main ropes M2, M4, M6, and M8 are equal, and the distance between the main ropes M1 to M8 in the horizontal direction is also equal. Is. Therefore, the main ropes M1, M3, M5, M7, the main ropes M2, M4, M6, M8, and the main ropes M1 to M8 of the main rope group 24 parts (car side main rope part 24A) from the rope wheel 22 to the car 26. The horizontal spacing of is equal at both the top and bottom positions.

The arrangement of the main ropes M1 to M8 in the balanced weight side main rope portion 24B is basically the same as that of the car side main rope portion 24A described above (FIG. 8). Further, with respect to the plurality of (8 in this example) balancing ropes C1 to C8 constituting the balancing rope group 32, the only difference is whether the folding position is the sheave 22 or the balancing rope 30. The arrangement of the plurality of ropes in the cage side balancing rope portion 32A and the balancing weight side balancing rope portion 32B (that is, only in the opposite directions) is as shown in FIGS. 8 and 4, respectively. Basically, it is the same as the car side main rope portion 24A and the balancing weight side main rope portion 24B, respectively.

When the building 14 in which the elevator 10 having the above configuration is installed is shaken by a long-period earthquake or a strong wind, the main rope group 24 and the balanced rope group 32 swing sideways in substantially the same direction as the building 14. In this case, in order to realize the control operation according to the degree of lateral vibration, a rope runout detection device for detecting the degree of amplitude of lateral vibration is provided.

As shown in FIG. 2, the range sensor 52, which is a component of the rope runout detection device, is installed on the central side wall of the hoistway 12 in the vertical direction. Here, as shown in FIG. 4, the hoistway 12 is a space surrounded by four side walls 54 in this example, and when it is necessary to distinguish the four side walls 54, the reference numeral “54” is used. The alphabets A, B, C and D will be added. The range sensor 52 is installed on the side wall 54A on the landing (not shown) side. Further, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the range sensor 52 is installed outside the elevating path of the car 26 and the balance weight 28.

The range sensor 52 measures the direction and distance of an object (usually a plurality) in the hoistway 12 existing in the horizontal plane including the installation position from the installation position, and outputs the direction and distance as two-dimensional position information. .. The two-dimensional position information is in polar coordinate format.

The range finder 52, for example, emits laser light at predetermined angular intervals (for example, 0.125 degrees), scans the horizontal plane in a fan shape, and measures the time required for each emitted laser light to reciprocate to an object. , A known two-dimensional range finder (Laser Range Scanner) that measures the distance from the installation position of the range finder 52 to an object by the optical flight time distance measurement method (Time of Flight) that converts it into a distance. The time per scan (scanning time) is, for example, 25 msec. As shown in FIG. 4, the scanning angle α of the range sensor 52 has a size close to 180 degrees, and the scanning range covers almost the entire hoistway 12 in the horizontal plane including the installation position of the range sensor 52.

A method for detecting the amplitude of the car-side main rope portion 24A and the car-side balancing rope portion 32A that are swinging due to a long-period earthquake or strong wind in the horizontal plane will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 to 7 as appropriate. To do.

The two-dimensional position information from the range sensor 52 is input to the rope runout detection unit 50 shown in FIG. 5A of the control circuit unit 46. The control circuit unit 46 includes an operation control unit 48 in addition to the rope runout detection unit 50. As described above, the operation control unit 48 controls various devices to realize the normal operation and the control operation.

The two-dimensional position information in the polar coordinate format is converted into Cartesian coordinates (xy orthogonal coordinates) by the coordinate conversion unit 502 shown in FIG. 5B of the rope runout detection unit 50.

The Cartesian coordinates are, for example, xy Cartesian coordinates as shown in FIG. 6A with the installation position of the range sensor 52 (not shown in FIG. 6A) as the origin.

In FIG. 6A, the main rope portion 24A on the car side and the balancing rope portion 32B on the balancing weight side are detected in one scan when they are within the scanning range of the range sensor 52 (the state shown in FIG. 4). The coordinates of the object are plotted.

In FIG. 6A, the symbols of the objects corresponding to the plotted coordinates are shown in parentheses (FIGS. 6 (b), 10 (b), 12, 14 (b), 15 (Fig. 6)). The same applies to b)).

As understood from the detection principle of the range sensor 52 described above, when the first object is detected, the second object (or the second object) hidden behind the first object as viewed from the range sensor 52. That part) is not detected. For example, a part of the side wall 54B is not detected because the part is hidden behind the guide rail 36 when viewed from the range sensor 52, and the balancing ropes C1 to C8 are not detected. This is because the balancing ropes C1 to C8 are hidden behind the main ropes M1 to M8.

Here, it goes without saying that the necessary coordinates among the coordinates shown in FIG. 6A are the coordinates of the main ropes M1 to M8 related to the car side main rope portion 24A, and the coordinates of other objects are It is an obstacle to identify the main ropes M1 to M8. When the car 26 is located above the range sensor 52, the balancing ropes C1 to C8 related to the car-side balancing rope portion 32A are required as detection targets.

Therefore, in consideration of the assumed range of lateral vibration that may occur in the car-side main rope portion 24A and the car-side balancing rope portion 32A, the car-side main rope portion 24A and the car are placed on the scanning surface (horizontal plane) of the range sensor 52. The assumed coordinate area R1 (the area surrounded by the alternate long and short dash line in FIG. 6) on which only the side balancing rope portion 32A is assumed to exist is set in advance. In this example, as shown in FIG. 6A, the assumed coordinate region R1 is the coordinates (X1, Y1), (X2, Y2), (X3, Y3), (X4, Y4) of the four points P1 to P4. Is defined by. The set of coordinates of P1 to P4 is stored in the assumed coordinate area storage unit 506 (FIG. 5B) of the rope runout amount detection unit 50 as "R1 demarcation information".

As described above, the two-dimensional position information output from the range sensor 52 is input to the coordinate conversion unit 502, and is converted from polar coordinates to Cartesian coordinates by the coordinate conversion unit 502. The converted coordinates (orthogonal coordinates) are output from the coordinate conversion unit 502 and input to the unnecessary coordinate exclusion unit 504.

The unnecessary coordinate exclusion unit 504 refers to the R1 demarcation information stored in the assumed coordinate area storage unit 506, and outputs only the coordinates belonging to the assumed coordinate area R1 among the coordinates of the object from the coordinate conversion unit 502. , The output coordinates are input to the amplitude indexing unit 508. In other words, the unnecessary coordinate exclusion unit 504 excludes the coordinates belonging to the outside of the assumed coordinate area R1 from the coordinates of the object from the coordinate conversion unit 502 and outputs the output, and the output coordinates are input to the amplitude indexing unit 508. Will be done.

FIG. 6B is a diagram in which the coordinates input to the amplitude indexing unit 508 are plotted on the Cartesian coordinates. As shown in FIG. 6B, the coordinates input to the amplitude indexing unit 508 are only those for the object existing in the assumed coordinate region R1, that is, for the main ropes M1 to M8.

Here, when the car-side main rope portion 24A swings laterally due to the shaking of the building 14 due to a long-period earthquake or strong wind, each of the main ropes M1 to M8 constituting the car-side main rope portion 24A becomes independent. However, when there are no obstacles, the rope basically behaves in the same way. That is, it swings sideways while maintaining the arrangement shown in FIG.

Therefore, the amplitude indexing unit 508 calculates the amplitude on the scanning surface (horizontal plane) of the entire car-side main rope portion 24A from the displacement of one of the main ropes M1 to M8.

Specifically, for example, the amplitude is calculated from the displacement of the main rope (M1) shown in FIG. 6 (b). Further, the displacement of the main rope M1 is specified by the leftmost coordinates (Xm1, Ym1) with respect to the paper surface of FIG. 6B among the coordinates corresponding to the main rope M1. The coordinates are specified as the coordinates having the smallest X coordinate value among the coordinates corresponding to the main ropes M1 to M8. Hereinafter, the coordinates (Xm1, Ym1) used for determining the amplitude of the entire car-side main rope portion 24A will be referred to as "specific coordinates".

The amplitude indexing unit 508 monitors specific coordinates (Xm1, Ym1) for a predetermined time (over a plurality of scans) from the coordinates input from the unnecessary coordinate exclusion unit 504 for each scan of the range sensor 52. The predetermined time is, for example, the maximum expected period of lateral vibration (for example, 10 seconds). This predetermined time is hereinafter referred to as "observation time".

The result of one monitoring is shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 7, a plurality of specific coordinates (Xm1, Ym1) in one monitoring form a linear row (hereinafter, this row is referred to as a "coordinate sequence"). The amplitude indexing unit 508 extracts the coordinates (Xe1, Ye1) and (Xe2, Ye2) located at both ends of the coordinate sequence, and calculates the distance SX between the two points. The SX is considered to be the maximum amplitude SX generated during the observation time of one monitoring.

The amplitude indexing unit 508 outputs the SX to the swing level determination unit 510. The runout level determination unit 510 determines the level of the magnitude of the lateral runout based on the SX input from the amplitude indexing unit 508.

The runout level determination unit 510 compares the amplitude SX with the predetermined amplitude reference values S1, S2, S3, S4 (S1 <S2 <S3 <S4) as follows, and the amplitude SX is the runout level L0 (control). It is determined which of L1 (extra-low level), L2 (low level), L3 (high level), and L4 (extremely high level) is applicable.

SX <S1 → L0
S1 ≤ SX <S2 → L1
S2 ≤ SX <S3 → L2
S3 ≤ SX <S4 → L3
S4 ≤ SX → L4

The runout level determination unit 510 outputs the runout level (any of L0, L1, L2, L3, and L4) of the determination result to the operation control unit 48.

The operation control unit 48 performs the control operation according to the runout level input from the runout level determination unit 510. The contents of control operation that differ for each level will be omitted.

In the elevator 10, the rope runout detection device 56 is composed of the range sensor 52 and the rope runout detection unit 50 of the control panel 44 (FIG. 5). As described above, according to the rope runout detection device 56. , The range sensor 52 outputs the direction and distance from the installation position of the object existing in the horizontal plane including the installation position as two-dimensional position information, and from the two-dimensional position information, the main rope portion on the car side for suspending the car 26. The position coordinates of any of the rope portions of the car-side balancing rope portion 32A hanging from the 24A and the car 26 in the horizontal plane are detected, and the rope portion is lateral from the position coordinates of the detected rope portion. The amplitude of the lateral runout in the horizontal plane at the time of runout is calculated.

Therefore, according to the rope runout detection device 56, the amplitude of the rope portion in any direction (the magnitude of the lateral runout of the rope in all directions) with one range sensor 52 (that is, without increasing the number of sensors). ) Can be detected.

Here, in the above description, since the car 26 is located below the range sensor 52 (FIGS. 2 and 4), the car side main rope portion 24A exists in the assumed coordinate region R1 on the scanning surface of the range sensor 52. Taking a scene as an example, when the car 26 is located above the range sensor 52, the traveling cable 34 exists in the assumed coordinate area R1 of the range sensor 52 in addition to the car side balancing rope portion 32A. (FIG. 8: The assumed coordinate region R1 is not entered in FIG. 8). That is, the assumed coordinate region R1 is only the car side main rope portion 24A, the car side balancing rope portion 32A, and the traveling cable 34 hanging from the car 16 on the scanning surface (horizontal plane) of the range sensor 52 in a plan view. This is because it is also a coordinate region where is assumed to exist.

Therefore, when the car 26 is located above the range sensor 52, it is necessary to exclude the coordinates corresponding to the traveling cable 34 from the coordinates output from the coordinate conversion unit 502. Therefore, in such a case, the range in which the traveling cable 34 can exist in the assumed coordinate area R1 (FIG. 4) is excluded from the assumed coordinate area R1, and the assumed coordinates shown in FIG. 8 are used as the second assumed coordinate area. The area R2 is set in advance. In this example, the assumed coordinate region R2 is the coordinates (X1, Y1), (X2, Y2), (X3, Y3), (X5, Y5) of the six points P1 to P3 and P5 to P7, as shown in FIG. ), (X6, Y6), (X7, Y7). That is, the square area surrounded by the line segment connecting P4, P5, P6, P7, and P4 in this order is the range in which the traveling cable 34 can exist in the assumed coordinate area R1 (FIG. 4) (the relevant). The square area will be referred to as the "traveling cable exclusion area").

A set of coordinates of P1 to P3 and P5 to P7 is stored as "R2 demarcation information" in the assumed coordinate area storage unit 506 (FIG. 5B) of the rope runout amount detection unit 50.

Information indicating the current position of the car 26 in the vertical direction of the hoistway 12 (hereinafter referred to as “elevation position information”) is output from the operation control unit 48 to the unnecessary coordinate elimination unit 504.

The unnecessary coordinate exclusion unit 504 refers to the elevating position information output from the operation control unit 48, and determines whether the car 26 is located above or below the installation position of the range sensor 52. The demarcation information to be referred to is switched between the information and the R2 demarcation information.

That is, when the car 26 is located below the installation position of the range sensor 52, the unnecessary coordinate exclusion unit 504 refers to the R1 demarcation information stored in the assumed coordinate area storage unit 506, and the coordinate conversion unit 502. Of the coordinates of the object from, only the coordinates belonging to the assumed coordinate area R1 are output to the amplitude indexing unit 508. On the other hand, when the car 26 is located above the installation position of the range sensor 52, the unnecessary coordinate exclusion unit 504 refers to the R2 demarcation information stored in the assumed coordinate area storage unit 506, and the coordinate conversion unit 502. Of the coordinates of the object from, only the coordinates belonging to the assumed coordinate area R2 are output to the amplitude indexing unit 508.

In this way, the unnecessary coordinate exclusion unit 504 and the assumed coordinate area storage unit 506 are either the car side main rope part 24A or the car side balancing rope part 32A from the two-dimensional position information output from the range sensor 52. It functions as a detection means for detecting the position coordinates of the rope portion in the horizontal plane including the installation position of the range sensor 52.

If the car 26 is located above the installation position of the range sensor 52 and the lateral vibration of the car side balancing rope portion 32A is large, it is specified to determine the amplitude of the entire car side balancing rope portion 32A. There is a possibility that one of the balanced ropes (for example, the balanced rope C1) may enter the traveling cable exclusion region. In this case, the coordinates of the balancing rope C1 during approach may be excluded by the unnecessary coordinate exclusion unit 504 and may not be input to the amplitude indexing unit 508. Then, the amplitude of the balancing rope C1 cannot be obtained by the same method as the above method.

Therefore, assuming such a case, the amplitude of the balancing rope C1 may be calculated as follows. That is, the amplitude is obtained by calculating the one-sided amplitude and doubling the one-sided amplitude.

To do so, first, the balancing rope C1 is detected in advance in a state where the car side balancing rope portion 32A does not swing, and the coordinate values of the specific coordinates are stored (the coordinate values are described below). Referred to as "median").

Then, when lateral vibration occurs and a monitoring result similar to that shown in FIG. 7 is obtained (however, the coordinates in the traveling cable exclusion region cannot be obtained), among the coordinates at both ends of the coordinate string, The one-sided amplitude is calculated from the coordinate value and the median of the coordinates far from the traveling cable exclusion area. Then, by doubling the indexed one-sided amplitude, the amplitude of the balancing rope C1 and, by extension, the cage-side balancing rope portion 32A is obtained.

In this way, the rope runout detection device 56 detects the degree of lateral runout that occurs in the main rope group 24 and the balanced rope group 32, and the range sensor 52 outputs the lateral runout detection. Two-dimensional position information is indispensable. If the range sensor 52 fails, the rope runout detection device 56 cannot perform the desired function. Therefore, in order to grasp the failure of the range sensor 52 as soon as possible, the elevator 10 is equipped with an inspection system 100 for checking whether or not the range sensor 52 is operating normally. It has been.

The inspection system 100 is configured to inspect whether or not the range sensor 52 is operating normally by using the two-dimensional position information output from the range sensor 52. Specifically, it is determined whether or not the range sensor 52 has detected the car 26 that moves up and down the hoistway 12 during the normal operation of the elevator 10. The inspection system 100 will be described with reference to FIGS. 9 to 11 as appropriate.

As shown in FIG. 9A, the inspection system 100 is incorporated in the operation control unit 48 constituting the control circuit unit 46. The inspection system 100 performs a failure inspection of the range sensor 52 by executing an inspection program described later described in which the CPU of the control circuit unit 46 is stored in the ROM. As shown in FIG. 9B, the inspection system 100 includes a reference data storage unit 102, an index data acquisition unit 104, and a determination unit 106.

The reference data storage unit 102 stores reference data relating to the behavior during normal operation to be detected by the range sensor 52 of the elevating body car 26. Specifically, the reference data is data relating to the timing at which the range sensor 52 should detect the car 26 when the car 26 moves from the stop floor to the next destination floor. In this example, as shown in FIG. 10A, the rotation angle E1 of the rotary encoder when the range sensor 52 detects the car 26 moving in the hoistway 12 is stored. Then, in association with the rotation angle E1, two-dimensional position information (coordinate data D1) indicating a state in which the range sensor 52 has detected the car 26 is stored as reference data.

FIG. 10B is a diagram in which the coordinate data D1 stored in the reference data storage unit 102 is plotted on the Cartesian coordinates. As shown in FIG. 10B, when the range sensor 52 detects the car 26, there are no coordinates for the main ropes M1 to M8 in the assumed coordinate area R1, and only the coordinates for the car 26. Will exist.

Returning to FIG. 9B, the index data acquisition unit 104 moves up and down in which the range sensor 52 is installed when the actual behavior of the car 26 corresponding to the reference data, that is, when the rotation angle E1 indicated by the rotary encoder is set. Index data indicating that the car 26 is passing near the center in the vertical direction of the road 12 is acquired. In this example, as the index data, coordinate data Da having the same coordinates as the coordinates input from the unnecessary coordinate exclusion unit 504 to the amplitude indexing unit 508 is input to the index data acquisition unit 104. The input coordinate data Da is stored in a RAM that functions as a work memory.

When the coordinate data Da is input to the index data acquisition unit 104, the determination unit 106 reads out the coordinate data D1 stored in the reference data storage unit 102, and whether or not the coordinate data Da matches the coordinate data D1. To compare. If they match, the determination unit 106 determines that the range sensor 52 has performed the desired detection. On the other hand, when the two do not match, the determination unit 106 determines that the range sensor 52 has not performed the desired detection.

In this way, in the inspection system 100, as a result of the determination unit 106 determining the match / mismatch of the two coordinate data D1 and Da, if they match, it is confirmed that the range sensor 52 is operating normally. If they do not match, it is possible to know that the range sensor 52 has failed.

Subsequently, an example of a program that executes the inspection process by the inspection system 100 will be described with reference to the flow chart shown in FIG. In this example, it is assumed that the coordinate data D1 is already stored in the reference data storage unit 102 after the preliminary preparation stage.

When the next destination floor of the car 26 stopped on a certain floor is determined in the operating elevator 10 (step S1), the CPU of the control circuit unit 46 moves to the destination floor, and the car 26 moves to the destination floor. It is determined whether or not to pass through the scanning range of (step S2). If the car 26 does not pass through the scanning range (step S2: No), it waits until the next destination floor is determined. On the other hand, when the car 26 passes through the scanning range (step S2: Yes), the index data acquisition unit 104 acquires the coordinate data Da (step S3).

When the coordinate data Da is acquired, the determination unit 106 compares the acquired coordinate data Da with the coordinate data D1 previously stored in the reference data storage unit 102 (step S4). Then, if the coordinate data D1 and the coordinate data Da match (step S5: No), the above process is continuously executed. On the other hand, when the coordinate data D1 and the coordinate data Da do not match (step S5: Yes), the determination unit 106 assumes that the range sensor 52 is not operating normally and indicates that the range sensor 52 has failed. Notifying (step S6) and ending the inspection process.

As described above, according to the elevator 10, it is possible to easily check whether or not the range sensor 52 is operating normally by software processing by using the information obtained from the existing rope runout detection device 56. It is not necessary for the worker to bother to carry out maintenance and inspection on the hoistway 12. Further, since the inspection can be performed during the normal operation of the elevator 10, even if a failure occurs in the range sensor 52, the failure can be grasped as soon as possible.

<Embodiment 2>
In the first embodiment, the car 26 is detected by the range sensor 52. On the other hand, in the second embodiment, not only the car 26 but also the balance weight 28 is detected by the range sensor 52. In the second embodiment, the configuration of the inspection system 200 and the program for executing the inspection process are changed as the types of the elevating body to be detected by the range sensor 52 increase, but other than that, basically. Is the same as in the first embodiment. Therefore, in the second embodiment, substantially the same components as those in the first embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals as those in the first embodiment, and the description thereof will be described only as necessary. explain.

As described above, when the first object is detected, the range sensor 52 detects the second object (or its part) hidden behind the first object as viewed from the range sensor 52. Not done. Therefore, when neither the car 26 nor the balance weight 28 is within the scanning range of the range sensor 52, the figure plotting the coordinates of the object detected by one scan of the range sensor 52 is the main car side. As shown in FIG. 6A, the rope portion 24A and the balancing weight side balancing rope portion 32B are in the scanning range of the range sensor 52 (the mode shown in FIG. 4).

On the other hand, when the counterweight 28 is present in the scanning range of the range sensor 52, the plot coordinates of the side wall 54C slightly appearing on the back side of the counterweight guide rail 42 in FIG. 6A are fishing. It will be hidden behind the weight 28. As a result, as shown in FIG. 12, the coordinates of the side wall 54C are not plotted, but the coordinates corresponding to a part of the balance weight 28 are plotted. In the second embodiment, the coordinates of the balance weight 28 are used as reference data and index data.

As is clear from the mode shown in FIG. 8, the coordinates of the balance weight 28 are outside the range of the assumed coordinate region R1 in the first embodiment, and therefore the coordinates input from the unnecessary coordinate exclusion unit 504 to the amplitude indexing unit 508. Is not included in. Therefore, in the inspection program 200, as shown in FIG. 12, the assumed coordinate region R3 (in FIG. 12 in FIG. 12), which is assumed to be able to detect the balanced weight 28 in consideration of the elevating path of the balanced weight 28 in the hoistway 12. The area surrounded by the alternate long and short dash line) is set. In this example, the assumed coordinate region R3 is defined by the coordinates (X8, Y8), (X9, Y9), (X10, Y10), (X11, Y11) of the four points P8 to P11. The set of coordinates of P8 to P11 is stored in the assumed coordinate area storage unit 210 (FIG. 13) of the inspection system 200 as "R3 demarcation information".

Here, the assumed coordinate area R3 of the range sensor 52 is an area in which the coordinates of both the car 26 and the balanced weight 28 can exist, but when the coordinates of the balanced weight 28 exist in the assumed coordinate area R3, the main The coordinates for the ropes M1 to M8 also coexist. Therefore, when detecting the balanced weight 28, the range in which the coordinates for the main ropes M1 to M8 can exist is excluded from the assumed coordinate area R3, and the assumed coordinate area R4 in which only the coordinates of the balanced weight 28 can exist is set. I will do it. In this example, as shown in FIG. 12, the assumed coordinate region R4 is based on the coordinates (X10, Y10), (X12, Y12), (X13, Y13), (X14, Y14) of the four points P10, P12 to P14. It is defined. That is, the square region surrounded by the line segments connecting P10, P12, P13, and P14 in this order is the assumed coordinate region R4. The set of coordinates of P10, P12, P13, and P14 is stored in the assumed coordinate area storage unit 210 (FIG. 13) of the inspection system 200 as "R4 demarcation information".

In the reference data storage unit 102 (FIG. 13), the reference data of the car 26 corresponding to the assumed coordinate area R3 and the reference data of the balance weight 28 corresponding to the assumed coordinate area R4 are stored, respectively.

As shown in FIG. 14A, the reference data of the car 26 is stored in the rotation angle E1 of the rotary encoder when the range sensor 52 detects the car 26 moving in the hoistway 12. Has been done. Then, coordinate data D1 (FIG. 14 (b)) indicating a state in which the range sensor 52 has detected the car 26 is stored as reference data in association with the rotation angle E1.

As for the reference data of the balance weight 28, as shown in FIG. 15 (a), as in the car 26, the rotary encoder when the range sensor 52 detects the balance weight 28 moving on the hoistway 12. The rotation angle E2 is stored. Then, coordinate data D2 (FIG. 15B) indicating a state in which the range sensor 52 detects the balance weight 28 is stored as reference data in association with the rotation angle E2.

Returning to FIG. 13, the inspection system 200 also includes an unnecessary coordinate exclusion unit 208. In the unnecessary coordinate exclusion unit 208, the same coordinates as the coordinates input from the coordinate conversion unit 502 of the rope runout detection unit 50 to the unnecessary coordinate exclusion unit 504, that is, the coordinates after conversion from polar coordinates to Cartesian coordinates are input. .. Then, the unnecessary coordinate exclusion unit 208 switches the demarcation information to be referred to among the R3 demarcation information and the R4 demarcation information depending on whether the range sensor 52 detects the car 26 or the balance weight 28.

That is, when the range sensor 52 detects the car 26, the unnecessary coordinate exclusion unit 208 refers to the R3 demarcation information stored in the assumed coordinate area storage unit 210, and refers to the coordinates of the object from the coordinate conversion unit 502. Of these, only the coordinates belonging to the assumed coordinate area R3 are output to the index data acquisition unit 104 as coordinate data Da. On the other hand, when the range sensor 52 detects the balance weight 28, the unnecessary coordinate exclusion unit 208 refers to the R4 demarcation information stored in the assumed coordinate area storage unit 210 and refers to the object from the coordinate conversion unit 502. Of the coordinates, only the coordinates that belong to the assumed coordinate area R4. It is output to the index data acquisition unit 104 as coordinate data Db.

Subsequently, an example of a program that executes the inspection process by the inspection system 200 will be described with reference to the flow chart shown in FIG. In this example, it is assumed that the coordinate data D1 and D2 are already stored in the reference data storage unit 102 after the preliminary preparation stage.

When the next destination floor of the car 26 stopped on a certain floor is determined in the operating elevator 10 (step S1), the CPU of the control circuit unit 46 moves to the destination floor, and the car 26 moves to the destination floor. It is determined whether or not to pass through the scanning range of (step S2). When the car 26 passes through the scanning range (step S2: Yes), the same processing as in the first embodiment (steps S3 to S6) is executed. On the other hand, when the car 26 does not pass through the scanning range (step S2: No), it is determined whether or not the balancing weight 28 moving in the direction opposite to that of the car 26 passes through the scanning range of the range sensor 52. (Step S7).

When the balance weight 28 does not pass through the scanning range (step S7: No), it waits until the next destination floor is determined. On the other hand, when the balance weight 28 passes through the scanning range (step S7: Yes), the index data acquisition unit 104 acquires the coordinate data Db (step S8).

When the coordinate data Db is acquired, the determination unit 106 compares the acquired coordinate data Db with the coordinate data D2 previously stored in the reference data storage unit 102 (step S9). Then, if the coordinate data D2 and the coordinate data Db match (step S10: No), the above process is continuously executed. On the other hand, when the coordinate data D1 and the coordinate data Da do not match (step S5: Yes), the determination unit 106 assumes that the range sensor 52 is not operating normally and indicates that the range sensor 52 has failed. Notifying (step S6) and ending the inspection process.

Depending on the combination of the current stop floor of the car 26 and the next destination floor, it is assumed that both the car 26 and the balancing weight 28 pass through the scanning range of the range sensor 52 at different timings. .. In such a case, the inspection process on the car 26 side (steps S2 to S5) and the inspection process on the balance weight 28 side (steps S7 to S10) are executed in the order of passing through the scanning range of the range sensor 52. It should be.

Although the elevator according to the present invention has been described above based on the embodiment, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and for example, the following embodiment may be used.

<Modification example>
(1) In the first embodiment, the cage 26 is detected, and in the second embodiment, both the cage 26 and the balancing weight 28 are detected by the range sensor 52, but only the balancing weight 28 is measured. The configuration may be such that the region sensor 52 detects it. Further, the elevating body to be detected by the range sensor 52 may be configured so that the range sensor 52 detects an elevating body other than the cage and the balancing weight, for example, an accessory part attached to the cage and the balancing weight. Good.

(2) The elevator according to the above embodiment has a configuration in which only one range sensor 52 is installed in the center of the hoistway 12 in the vertical direction, but different heights in the vertical direction of the hoistway 12. Of course, the above inspection system may be applied to an elevator having a configuration in which a plurality of range sensors are installed at the position of. In that case, the coordinate data (D1, D2) indicating the state in which the range sensor detects the elevating body to be detected corresponds to the rotation angle of the rotary encoder that detects the elevating body to be detected by each range sensor. The attached reference data may be prepared and the inspection process may be executed in the same manner as in the above embodiment.

(3) In the above embodiment, the position of the car 26 in the vertical direction of the hoistway 12 is grasped from the output value (rotation angle) from the rotary encoder, but this is the means for grasping the position of the car 26. Not limited to this, for example, it is also possible to adopt a method of laying a known magnetic scale on the hoistway and reading the scale value. In this case, instead of the rotation angle of the rotary encoder, the scale value of the magnetic scale may correspond to the coordinate data.

(4) In the above embodiment, the range sensor 52 measures the direction and distance of an object (usually, a plurality of objects) in the hoistway 12 existing in the horizontal plane including the installation position from the installation position, and measures the direction and distance from the installation position. Was output as two-dimensional position information, but the sensor to be inspected for failure is not limited to this, and sensors of other forms may be used.

For example, instead of the range sensor 52, which is a two-dimensional range sensor, a three-dimensional range sensor (three-dimensional scanner) may be the target of failure inspection. In this case, the coordinate data handled as the reference data and the index data becomes the three-dimensional position information, but if a method of converting the three-dimensional position information of the spherical coordinate system into xyz orthogonal coordinates and handling it is adopted, the same as the above embodiment. It is possible to carry out inspection processing.

Further, a photoelectric sensor in which a floodlight and a light receiver are paired may be subject to failure inspection, such as the sensor used in the rope runout detection device disclosed in Patent Document 1. In this case, if the ON / OFF signal output from the photoelectric sensor is treated as reference data and index data instead of the various coordinate data described above, the inspection process can be performed in the same manner as in the above embodiment. is there.

The present invention can also be carried out in a mode in which various improvements, modifications, or modifications are made based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the present invention. Further, within the range in which the same action or effect is produced, any of the invention-specific matters may be replaced with another technique.

10 Elevator 102 Reference data storage unit (storage unit)
104 Index data acquisition unit (acquisition unit)
106 Judgment unit 100 Inspection system

Claims (3)

Based on the information output from the sensors installed outside the elevating path of the elevator including the car and the balancing weight that move up and down the hoistway in the opposite direction, the lateral runout of the main rope that suspends the car and the balancing weight is determined. An elevator equipped with a rope runout detection device to detect
The sensor is a range sensor that measures the direction and distance of an object in the hoistway existing in the horizontal plane including the installation position from the installation position and outputs the direction and distance as position information.
A storage unit that stores reference data regarding behavior during normal operation to be detected by the range sensor of the elevating body, and a storage unit.
An acquisition unit that causes the range sensor to detect the elevating body and acquires index data that indexes the actual behavior corresponding to the reference data of the elevating body.
A determination unit that compares the acquired index data with the reference data and determines whether or not the range sensor has performed the desired detection.
Including
An elevator characterized by having an inspection system that inspects whether or not the range sensor is operating normally based on the determination result of the determination unit. The elevator according to claim 1, wherein the reference data includes data regarding the timing at which the range sensor should detect the elevating body when the car moves from the stop floor to the target floor. The inspection system uses the range sensor to determine the behavior of the car side or the balanced weight side of the elevator, or the behavior of both, depending on the combination of the stop floor and the target floor of the car. The elevator according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the elevator is to be detected.