JP7346683B1 - Elevator group management system - Google Patents

Abstract

[Problem] To secure transportation capacity for a specific floor, suppress excessive transportation capacity, and improve group management performance for the entire building including other floors. An elevator group management system according to an embodiment causes at least two cars to respond to a hall call registered on a specific floor as assigned cars. The group management system of the elevator is scheduled to respond to the specific floor by car call, and if there is a car other than the first assigned car that departs from the specific floor in the same direction as the hall call, An allocation control means is provided for determining the necessity of a second allocated car based on the time interval between the expected arrival time of the first allocated car and the expected arrival time of the car scheduled to respond to the specific floor. [Selection diagram] Figure 1

Description

Embodiments of the present invention relate to an elevator group management system that controls the operation of a plurality of cars.

For example, in an office building or the like, in the latter half of the lunch period, many users head from the lunch floor to each floor. In this way, on a specific floor (such as a cafeteria floor) where a large number of users are concentrated during a specific time period, control is used to allocate multiple (for example, two) cars to a single hall call. There is. This is called the "multiple device allocation method."

Note that the "hall call" is a call that is registered by pressing a hall call button installed in a hall, and includes information on the user's destination direction (upward/downward). On the other hand, a "car call" is a call that is registered by pressing a destination floor button installed in the car, and includes information on the user's destination floor.

The purpose of the multiple car allocation system is to increase the response frequency of elevators (cars) to floors where many users board (hereinafter referred to as specific floors) depending on the time of day, thereby reducing the waiting time for users. The aim is to shorten the time and prevent passengers from being left behind due to full capacity. This multiple-car allocation system has the advantage of shortening waiting time on a specific floor and easing crowding inside the car.

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2010-64874 International Publication 2009/123014

However, in the multiple car allocation method, since the number of car responses to a specific floor increases, group management performance tends to deteriorate, such as longer waiting times on other floors. For example, if there are many cars that respond to a car call to a specific floor, the cars will arrive at the specific floor, so that sufficient transportation capacity can be provided. In such a case, if multiple cars (for example, two cars) are always responding to a single hall call, the transportation capacity for a particular floor will be excessive, and the waiting time for other floors will worsen. As a result, the group management performance of the entire building deteriorates.

The problem to be solved by the present invention is elevator group management that can secure transportation capacity for a specific floor, suppress excessive transportation capacity, and improve group management performance for the entire building including other floors. The goal is to provide a system.

An elevator group management system according to an embodiment causes at least two cars to respond to a hall call registered at a specific floor as assigned cars. The group management system of the elevator is scheduled to respond to the specific floor by car call, and if there is a car other than the first assigned car that departs from the specific floor in the same direction as the hall call, An allocation control means is provided for determining the necessity of a second allocated car based on the time interval between the expected arrival time of the first allocated car and the expected arrival time of the car scheduled to respond to the specific floor.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an elevator group management system according to the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the multiple car allocation method and the necessity of a second allocated car in the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the relationship between specific floors and driving directions in the first embodiment. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the group management system in the first embodiment. FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an elevator group management system according to the second embodiment. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the relationship between car congestion rate and allocation processing in the second embodiment. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the congestion situation detection process of the group management system in the second embodiment. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the mode setting process of the group management system in the second embodiment. FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the allocation processing of the group management system in the second embodiment. FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the first simultaneous response priority processing executed in steps S56 and S58 of FIG. 9 above. FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the second device simultaneous response priority processing executed in steps S59 and S62 of FIG. 9 above. FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the simultaneous response non-priority processing executed in steps S67 and S68 of FIG. 9 above.

Hereinafter, embodiments will be described with reference to the drawings.
Note that the disclosure is merely an example, and the invention is not limited to the content described in the embodiments below. Modifications that can be easily conceived by those skilled in the art are naturally included within the scope of the disclosure. In order to make the explanation more clear, in the drawings, the size, shape, etc. of each part may be changed from the actual embodiment and shown schematically. In some drawings, corresponding elements are designated by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof may be omitted.

(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an elevator group management system according to the first embodiment. Note that the elevator referred to here basically refers to a "car". The number of cars is arbitrary, and it is sufficient if there are at least two or more cars. In the example of FIG. 1, a configuration is shown in which four cars, indicated by car numbers A to D, are group-managed. In the figure, 11a, 11b, 11c, and 11d are single control devices, and 12a, 12b, 12c, and 12d are cars.

The single control devices 11a, 11b, 11c, and 11d are also called elevator control devices or car control devices, and are provided corresponding to the cars 12a, 12b, 12c, and 12d of each car. The single control device 11a controls the operation of the car 12a of car A. Specifically, the single control device 11a controls an unillustrated motor (hoisting machine) for raising and lowering the car 12a, and controls opening and closing of doors. The same applies to the single control device 11b of the B car, the single control device 11c of the C car, and the single control device 11d of the D car. These single control devices 11a, 11b, 11c, and 11d are configured by computers equipped with a CPU, ROM, RAM, and the like. The cars 12a, 12b, 12c, and 12d move up and down in the hoistway by driving a motor (winding machine).

The cars 12a, 12b, 12c, and 12d are provided with car call registration devices 13a, 13b, 13c, and 13d for registering car calls, respectively. A "car call" is a call that is registered by operating a floor button provided on the car call registration devices 13a, 13b, 13c, and 13d, and includes information on the user's destination floor and car. Furthermore, load detectors 14a, 14b, 14c, and 14d are installed at the bottoms of the cars 12a, 12b, 12c, and 12d, respectively, to detect the loaded loads. Information on car calls and loaded loads is sent to the group management control device 10 via individual control devices 11a, 11b, 11c, and 11d corresponding to the cars 12a, 12b, 12c, and 12d.

On the other hand, hall call registration devices 15a, 15b, . . . for registering hall calls are installed at the landings on each floor. "Hall call" is a call that is registered by operating an upward or downward button installed in the hall call registration device 15a, 15b... Contains floor information. Hall call information is sent to the group management control device 10 via a transmission cable (not shown).

The group management control device 10 exists as a higher-level control device of this system, and performs group management control on the operation of the cars 12a, 12b, 12c, and 12d of each car. The group management control device 10, like the individual control devices 11a, 11b, 11c, and 11d, is constituted by a computer equipped with a CPU, ROM, RAM, and the like. The group management control device 10 is equipped with a driving information acquisition section 21, a call storage section 22, a predicted arrival time calculation section 23, an assignment control section 24, and an assignment output section 25 as functions for realizing this system. .

The driving information acquisition unit 21 acquires driving information (current position, driving direction, car call information, etc.) of the cars 12a, 12b, 12c, and 12d through the single control devices 11a, 11b, 11c, and 11d. The call storage unit 22 stores information on a hall call registered at an arbitrary floor, and also stores information on a car to which the hall call is assigned. When a hall call is registered at an arbitrary floor, the predicted arrival time calculation unit 23 calculates the predicted arrival time for each of the cars 12a, 12b, 12c, and 12d to arrive at the registered floor of the hall call from the current position. calculate.

The allocation control unit 24 selects the car to which the hall call is to be assigned from among the cars 12a, 12b, 12c, and 12d as the allocated car based on the evaluation index including the predicted arrival time calculated by the predicted arrival time calculation unit 23. do. The term "assigned car" refers to a car to which a hall call has been assigned. The allocation output unit 25 outputs an allocation signal to the single control device corresponding to the allocated car among the single control devices 11a, 11b, 11c, and 11d, and directs the allocated car to the floor where the hall call is registered.

The allocation control unit 24 also includes a "multiple car allocation method" that allocates at least two cars to one hall call that occurs on a specific floor during a predetermined time period. The multiple device allocation method will be explained below.

(Multiple unit allocation method)
Hall calls are frequently registered during times when many users board the car from a particular floor (such as the cafeteria floor), for example, in the latter half of the lunch period. Therefore, a "multiple car allocation method" is used in which at least two cars are allocated to one hall call registered on such a specific floor.

This multiple-car allocation system has the advantage of shortening waiting time and easing congestion within the cars on specific floors. On the other hand, as the number of times a car responds to a particular floor increases, group management performance tends to deteriorate, such as longer waiting times on other floors. For example, if a large number of cars arrive at a specific floor due to car calls, sufficient transportation capacity can be provided by this alone. In that case, if two cars are assigned to one hall call, the transportation capacity for a particular floor becomes excessive, and waiting time increases on other floors.

Therefore, in this embodiment, when a hall call is registered on a specific floor, the first assigned car is selected by normal assignment processing. "Normal allocation processing" means that the allocation process is based on evaluation metrics including predicted arrival times for newly registered hall calls and registered but unanswered hall calls, so that many hall calls can be answered quickly. This is the process of selecting a basket. The necessity of the second allocated car is determined based on the time interval between the expected arrival time of the first allocated car and the expected arrival time of the car scheduled to respond to a specific floor.

For example, let T1 be the time (predicted arrival time) until the first assigned car arrives at the registered floor of the hall call. Next, for cars other than the first assigned car, cars that are scheduled to respond to a specific floor by a "car call" and depart from the specific floor in the same direction as the hall call are detected. At this time, the detection may be limited to cars to which a hall call on each floor is not assigned. If a corresponding car exists, a predicted arrival time T2 until the car arrives at the registered floor of the hall call is calculated. If there are multiple applicable cars, select the car with the shortest T2.

Here, if the following conditions are satisfied, it is determined that it is sufficient to select one allocated car for a hall call on a specific floor (it is determined that a second allocated car is unnecessary).
- When the shortest predicted arrival time T2 by car call is less than or equal to the sum of the predicted arrival time T1 of the first assigned car and a preset threshold Th1 (T2≦T1+Th1)
That is, if a car called for a car arrives after a short wait (within Th1) after the arrival of the first allocated car, it is determined that there is no need to allocate the second car. In this case, the hall call may be assigned to the car scheduled to be answered at T2. This is because the car scheduled to respond at T2 above is originally a car headed for a specific floor by car call, and even if a hall call is assigned to this car, the number of cars for the specific floor itself does not change. This is because the waiting times on other floors are not affected.

On the other hand, if there is no car scheduled to respond to a specific floor due to a "car call," or if the above conditions are not met even if a car is scheduled to respond to a specific floor due to a "car call," the second car determine that it is necessary to allocate it. In this case, regardless of whether a car call is registered for a specific floor, the second car to be allocated is determined by normal allocation processing that takes into account predicted arrival time and the like.

A specific example is shown in FIG.
Assume that in a building where the first floor, which is the lowest floor, is set as a specific floor (for example, a dining room floor), two cars are assigned to an upward hall call that occurs on that specific floor. The triangle mark in the figure indicates the hall call, and the circle mark indicates the car call.

Assume that a hall call is assigned to car 12a of car A, which is the first car. Assume that the time it takes for this car 12a to arrive at the first floor (predicted arrival time) is 28 seconds. At this time, the car 12c of car C and the car 12d of car D are scheduled to respond to a specific floor on the first floor due to the car call, and after arriving at the specific floor, the cars depart in the same upward direction as the hall call. Suppose that Note that the car 12b of car No. B does not have a car call for the first floor, and if a hall call for the first floor is assigned, there will be a delay in responding to hall calls for other floors that have already been registered. Therefore, the car 12b is not selected as the first allocated car.

Here, it is assumed that the predicted arrival times of the car 12c of car No. C and the car 12d of car No. D are as follows.
Unit C: 44 seconds
Unit D: 49 seconds
Since the car 12c of the car No. C arrives at the 1F earlier than the car 12d of the car No. D, the car 12c of the car No. C is selected. Comparing the predicted arrival times of the car 12a of car A and the car 12c of car C, there is a difference of 44-28=16 seconds. If the threshold value Th1=20 seconds, the car 12c of car C will arrive at the specific floor on the 1st floor within the time of the threshold value Th1, so it is determined that the second allocated car is unnecessary.

In this way, the allocation process for the first car is carried out as usual, but the allocation process for the second car is determined based on the operating status of the car that is scheduled to respond to a specific floor in response to a car call. This makes it possible to suppress excessive services to specific floors and maintain a well-balanced group management performance for the entire building.

(Relationship between specific floor and driving direction)
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the relationship between specific floors and driving directions. The triangle marks in the diagram indicate hall calls.
As shown in FIG. 3(a), when the lowest floor is a specific floor, hall calls going upward from the specific floor are subject to the multiple machine allocation method. As shown in FIG. 4B, when the top floor is a specific floor, hall calls going downward from the specific floor are subject to the multiple-machine allocation method. As shown in FIG. 4(c), when the intermediate floor is a specific floor, both hall calls going upward and hall calls going downward from the specific floor are subject to the multiple machine allocation method. However, depending on the situation of the building, only the upper or lower direction of a specific floor may be subject to the multiple unit allocation method. This is realized by setting in advance in the group management control device 10 the direction in which the multiple-device allocation method is applied on the intermediate floor.

(Omission of allocation process for the first device)
The registration information for a hall call is cleared when at least one car to which the hall call is assigned responds (arrives). Once the hall call registration information is cleared, the next hall call can be registered. Therefore, during the time period when the multiple-car allocation method is implemented, after the first allocated car has responded, a new hall call may be registered while the second allocated car remains unanswered. be. In such a case, for a new hall call, the process of allocating the first car is not performed, and only the necessity of the second allocated car is determined. Thereby, it is possible to suppress adding more assigned cars than necessary.

(When demand for a specific floor is low)
When the demand for a specific floor is low, when determining the first car to be assigned, the hall call of the specific floor may be assigned to the car scheduled to respond to the specific floor by car call. However, among the cars scheduled to respond to a specific floor by car call, the car with the shortest predicted arrival time to a specific floor is targeted, and the condition is that the predicted arrival time is shorter than a preset threshold. do.

Next, the operation of this system will be explained in detail.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of this system. The processing shown in this flowchart is mainly executed by the group management control device 10.

When a hall call is registered on a specific floor (Yes in step S11), the assignment control unit 24 provided in the group management control device 10 refers to the information about the hall call and assigned car stored in the call storage unit 22. Then, it is determined whether there is a car (first allocated car) to which the hall call has been allocated (step S12). If there is no corresponding car (Yes in step S12), the allocation control unit 24 selects the first allocated car from among the cars 12a, 12b, 12c, and 12d by normal allocation processing (step S13). .

Here, if it is not the time period in which the multiple car allocation method is implemented (No in step S14), only the first allocated car responds to the hall call, and the process here ends. On the other hand, if the time period is such as the latter half of the lunch time period, when the multiple device allocation method is implemented (Yes in step S14), the following process is executed.

That is, first, based on the operation information of each car obtained by the operation information acquisition section 21, the allocation control section 24 assigns a car other than the first allocated car that is scheduled to respond to a specific floor in response to a car call. Detected (step S15). Hereinafter, a car that is scheduled to respond to a specific floor due to a car call will be referred to as a "car that responds simultaneously to car calls."

If there is a car that responds to car calls simultaneously (Yes in step S15), the allocation control unit 24 calculates the predicted arrival time of the car through the predicted arrival time calculation unit 23 (step S16). If there are a plurality of cars that respond simultaneously to car calls, the allocation control unit 24 calculates the predicted arrival time for each car, and sets the shortest predicted arrival time among them as T2 (step S17). In the example of FIG. 2, the car 12c of car No. C and the car 12d of car No. D correspond to "cars that respond simultaneously to car calls." Since the predicted arrival time of car 12c of car No. C (44 seconds) is shorter than the predicted arrival time of car 12d of car No. D (49 seconds), car 12c of car No. C is selected and calculated as T2 = 44 seconds. be done.

Further, the allocation control unit 24 calculates the predicted arrival time T1 of the first allocated car through the predicted arrival time calculation unit 23 (step S18). In the example of FIG. 2, the car 12a of car A is the "first allocated car" and is calculated as T1=28 seconds. The allocation control unit 24 compares the predicted arrival time T1 of the first assigned car with the predicted arrival time T2 of the car that responds to car calls simultaneously, and determines whether the condition T2≦T1+Th1 is satisfied ( Step S19).

If the above conditions are met, that is, if the time interval between the first allocated car and the car for simultaneous car call response is within the threshold Th1 (Yes in step S19), the allocation control unit 24 controls the second allocated car. It is determined that the allocated car is unnecessary, and the car that responds to car calls simultaneously is assigned as the second car (step S20). That is, in the example of FIG. 2, the second car assignment process is not performed, and the car 12c of car C, which was originally scheduled to respond to the first floor, is used as the second car to be assigned.

On the other hand, if there is no car that responds to car calls simultaneously (No in step S15), the allocation control unit 24 selects the second allocated car and causes it to respond to a specific floor by normal allocation processing ( Step S21). Alternatively, even if there is a car that responds to car calls simultaneously, the above condition is not satisfied, that is, if the time interval between the first assigned car and the car that responds to car calls simultaneously is longer than the threshold Th1. (No in step S19), the allocation control unit 24 selects the second allocated car and makes it respond to the specific floor by normal allocation processing (step S21). In this case, three cars, the "first assigned car," the "second assigned car," and the "simultaneous car call response car" will respond to the specific floor.

According to the first embodiment, if a car is frequently responding to a specific floor due to car calls, the number of cars allocated to one hall call that occurs on a specific floor is limited. As a result, it is possible to avoid a situation in which cars are excessively responded to a specific floor, and it is possible to improve the group management performance of the entire building, including the operation services for other floors.

(Second embodiment)
Next, a second embodiment will be described.
In the first embodiment, the necessity of the second allocated car is determined based on the time interval between the first allocated car and the car that simultaneously responds to car calls. As described above, if there is a car that responds to car calls simultaneously and the above-mentioned time interval is short (that is, if the above-mentioned condition is satisfied), it is determined that the second allocated car is unnecessary. However, when the landing on a particular floor is crowded, it is preferable to have the second assigned car respond in order to alleviate congestion, regardless of whether there are any cars that respond simultaneously to car calls.

The congestion situation on a particular floor can be determined from the load of the cars departing from the particular floor. For example, if the carrying load of the car at the time of departure is 50 to 70% of the rated load, it can be determined that there is a possibility that a large number of passengers may be left unloaded at the landing on a particular floor. In this case, regardless of the presence or absence of a car that responds to car calls simultaneously, the second allocated car is selected and made to respond to the specific floor through normal allocation processing.

In addition, if a specific floor is extremely crowded, that is, if the car's carrying load at the time of departure is 70% or more of the rated load, the following will be done in order to make the car actively respond to the specific floor. You can also do it like this.

When selecting the first assigned car and the second assigned car, a car that is not scheduled to respond to a specific floor by car call is selected. In other words, a car other than the car that was scheduled to respond to a specific floor (car that simultaneously responds to car calls) is made to respond to the specific floor. As a result, a large number of cars respond to a specific floor, and congestion at a landing on a specific floor can be alleviated. Alternatively, the allocation process may be changed so that the number of responding cars is increased in stages according to the congestion situation on a particular floor.

Below, as a second embodiment, a method of changing the allocation process for a specific floor depending on the congestion situation of the car will be described.
FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an elevator group management system according to the second embodiment. Note that the same parts as in the configuration of FIG. 1 in the first embodiment are given the same reference numerals, and detailed explanation thereof will be omitted.

In the second embodiment, the group management control device 10 includes a congestion situation detection section 26 and a mode setting section 27. The congestion situation detection unit 26 detects the congestion situation on a specific floor based on the load of the car departing from the specific floor. The mode setting section 27 sets a mode regarding the allocation process according to the congestion situation on the specific floor detected by the congestion situation detection section 26 (see FIG. 6).

The allocation control unit 24 performs allocation processing corresponding to the mode set by the mode setting unit 27. In other words, "performing the allocation process corresponding to the mode" means changing the allocation process for the specific floor depending on the congestion situation on the specific floor. As will be described later, the congestion situation on a particular floor can be estimated from the congestion rate of the cars.

For example, the degree of congestion on a specific floor when the car congestion rate is 50% is the first reference value, and the second reference value is the congestion degree on the specific floor when the car congestion rate is 70%. If the congestion situation on the specific floor is equal to or higher than the first reference value, the normal allocation process is performed and two cars are made to respond to the specific floor, regardless of whether there is a car scheduled to respond to the specific floor. (See mode 4 in Figure 6). In addition, if the congestion situation on a specific floor is equal to or higher than the second reference value, an allocation process is performed to exclude cars scheduled to respond to the specific floor from being candidates for allocation, and cars other than those scheduled to respond to the specific floor are The two assigned cars are made to respond to a specific floor (see mode 5 in FIG. 6).

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the relationship between car congestion rate and allocation processing.
The congestion situation on a particular floor can be estimated from the congestion rate of the cars. The congestion rate of the car is determined from the allocation of the current carrying load (load inside the car) to the predetermined rated load of the car. For example, assume that the rated load of the car is 650 kg. If the loaded load of this car when it departs from a specific floor is 455 kg, it is determined as congestion rate = 455/650 x 100 = 70%. It can be inferred that the higher the congestion rate of the car, the more users are waiting at the landing on a particular floor, and the more crowded the landing is. In this embodiment, one of the following modes 1 to 5 is set depending on the congestion rate of the car to switch the allocation process.

・When the congestion rate is "less than 10%": Mode 1
・When the congestion rate is "10% or more and less than 30%": Mode 2
・When the congestion rate is "30% or more and less than 50%": Mode 3
・When the congestion rate is "50% or more and less than 70%": Mode 4
- When the congestion rate is "70% or more": Mode 5.

As shown in FIG. 6, the allocation process for the first device and the allocation process for the second device are changed depending on modes 1 to 5. "Not implemented" in the figure means that the allocation process is not performed. "Normal implementation" indicates that an assigned car is selected through normal assignment processing. "Simultaneous car call response priority" indicates that a car scheduled to respond to a specific floor by car call is preferentially selected as an assigned car. "Simultaneous car call response non-priority" indicates that cars other than the car scheduled to respond to a specific floor are selected preferentially as allocated cars.

In mode 1, only the assignment process for the first car is performed, and a hall call is assigned to a car that is scheduled to respond to a specific floor.
In mode 2, "simultaneous car call response priority" is applied to each of the assignment processing for the first car and the assignment processing for the second car.
Mode 3 corresponds to the first embodiment described above. In mode 3, the allocation process for the first car is "normal execution", but the allocation process for the second car is "priority for simultaneous car call response".
In mode 4, the allocation processing for the first device and the allocation processing for the second device are both “normal execution”.
In mode 5, "simultaneous car call response non-priority" is applied to the allocation process for the first car and the allocation process for the second car. The number of cars that respond to a specific floor is the smallest in mode 1, which is one car that was scheduled to respond to a car call. Mode 5 is the most common, and when two cars are scheduled to respond to a car call, the number is four.

Next, the operation of this system will be explained separately into (a) congestion detection processing, (b) mode setting processing, and (c) allocation processing. Note that the processing shown in the flowchart below is mainly executed by the group management control device 10.

(a) Crowd situation detection process FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the congestion situation detection process of this system.
The congestion situation detection unit 26 of the group management control device 10 detects the carrying load of the car (in the car) at the timing when the car that responded to the hall call on the specific floor closes its door and departs (Yes in step S31). load) is detected (step S32). For example, assume that car 12a of car A responds to a hall call on a specific floor. When the car 12a closes its door and departs from a specific floor, the congestion detection unit 26 detects the load (load inside the car) through the load detector 14a installed in the car 12a. Note that if the specific floor is an intermediate floor as shown in FIG. A live load is detected only if the vehicle departs in the set direction.

The congestion situation detection unit 26 determines the congestion situation on the specific floor based on this load (step S33). Specifically, the congestion detection unit 26 calculates the allocation of the live load to a predetermined load rating as the congestion rate of the car, and uses the congestion rate as a value indicating the congestion status of the specific floor.

Note that it is also possible to record the loads of cars departing from a specific floor during the past three minutes, and to calculate the congestion rate from the average value of these loads. For example, assume that the car 12a of car A, the car 12b of car B, and the car 12b of car C responded to a specific floor during the past three minutes. In this case, the congestion rate is determined from the average value of the loaded loads when each of the cars 12a, 12b, and 12c departs from a specific floor, and the congestion rate is used as a value indicating the congestion status of the specific floor.

(b) Mode setting process FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the mode setting process of this system.
The mode setting unit 27 of the group management control device 10 obtains the congestion rate of the car detected by the congestion situation detection unit 26 (step S41). As described above, the car congestion rate may be determined from the average value of the loads of cars departing from a specific floor during the past three minutes, for example. The congestion rate at this time becomes an index representing the congestion situation on a specific floor.

Here, if the congestion rate of the car is less than 10% or there is no record of departure load (Yes in step S42), the mode setting unit 27 determines that the congestion situation on the specific floor is at the first level, and sets the mode. 1 is set (step S46). "When there is no record of departure load" is a case where no car departed from a particular floor during a particular time period. The "first level" indicates a situation where the specific floor is not crowded.

If the congestion rate of the car is 10% or more and less than 30% (Yes in step S43), the mode setting unit 27 determines that the congestion situation on the specific floor is at the second level, which is higher than the first level, and sets mode 2. (Step S47).
If the congestion rate of the car is 30% or more and less than 50% (Yes in step S44), the mode setting unit 27 determines that the congestion situation on the specific floor is at the third level, which is higher than the second level, and sets mode 3. (Step S48).
If the congestion rate of the car is 50% or more and less than 70% (Yes in step S45), the mode setting unit 27 determines that the congestion situation on the specific floor is at the fourth level, which is higher than the third level, and sets mode 4. (Step S49).
If the congestion rate of the car is 70% or more (No in step S45), the mode setting unit 27 determines that the congestion situation on the specific floor is at the fifth level, which is higher than the fourth level, and sets mode 5. (Step S50). The "fifth level" indicates the situation where the specific floor is the most crowded.

Note that the congestion situation detection process shown in FIG. 6 and the mode setting process shown in FIG. (see). For example, if a plurality of specific floors are set, the congestion situation detection process shown in FIG. 6 and the mode setting process shown in FIG. 7 are executed for each specific floor.

(c) Allocation Processing FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the allocation processing of this system.
When a hall call is registered on a specific floor (Yes in step S51), the allocation control unit 24 of the group management control device 10 determines whether it is a time period in which a multiple-machine allocation method is to be implemented (step S52). ). If it is not the time period in which the multiple device allocation method is implemented (No in step S52), the allocation control unit 24 performs normal allocation processing (step S53). In this case, an assigned car is selected from the cars 12a, 12b, 12c, and 12d based on the evaluation index including the predicted arrival time, and responds to a specific floor.

On the other hand, if it is the time period in which the multiple device allocation method is implemented (Yes in step S52), the allocation control unit 24 branches the process according to the mode set by the mode setting unit 27 (step S54).

In each mode, the allocation control unit 24 first determines whether a hall call on a specific floor has already been allocated to an arbitrary car (steps S55, S57, S60, S63, S66). As explained in the first embodiment above, if a new hall call is registered while a car to which a hall call on a specific floor has been assigned remains unanswered, By omitting the process, it is possible to suppress adding more assigned cars than necessary.

・Mode 1
If the hall call on the specific floor has not been assigned (No in step S55), the assignment control unit 24 assigns the hall call to the car selected in the first simultaneous response priority process (step S56). Allocation processing for the second device is not performed. The "first car simultaneous response priority process" is a process in which a car scheduled to respond to a specific floor in response to a car call is preferentially selected as the first car to be assigned.

・Mode 2
If the hall call on the specific floor has not been assigned (No in step S57), the assignment control unit 24 assigns the hall call to the car selected in the first simultaneous response priority process (step S58). In addition, the allocation control unit 24 allocates a hall call to the car selected in the second car simultaneous response priority process, separately from the first allocated car (step S59). ``Second car simultaneous response priority processing'' is a process of preferentially selecting a car scheduled to respond to a specific floor as the second car to be assigned to a car call.

・Mode 3
If the hall call of the specific floor has not been assigned (No in step S60), the assignment control unit 24 assigns the hall call to the car selected by normal assignment processing (step S61). The "normal allocation process" is a process of selecting an allocated car based on evaluation indicators including predicted arrival times. In addition, the allocation control unit 24 allocates a hall call to the car selected by giving priority to the second car simultaneous response, apart from the first allocated car (step S62).

・Mode 4
If the hall call for the specific floor has not been assigned (No in step S63), the assignment control unit 24 selects two cars by normal assignment processing and assigns the hall call to these cars ( Steps S64-S65).

・Mode 5
If a hall call on a specific floor has not been assigned (No in step S66), the assignment control unit 24 selects two cars by simultaneous response non-priority processing and allocates the hall call to these cars. (Steps S67-S68). The "simultaneous response non-priority process" is a process in which a car that is scheduled to respond to a specific floor in response to a car call is removed from candidates for allocation, and a car other than that car is preferentially selected as an allocated car.

(First unit simultaneous response priority processing)
FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the first simultaneous response priority processing executed in steps S56 and S58 of FIG. 9 above.

The allocation control unit 24 detects a car that is scheduled to respond to a specific floor by car call (a car that responds simultaneously to car calls) based on the operation information of each car obtained by the operation information acquisition unit 21 (step S71). .

If there is a car that responds to car calls simultaneously (Yes in step S71), the allocation control unit 24 calculates the predicted arrival time of the car through the predicted arrival time calculation unit 23 (step S72). If there are a plurality of cars that respond simultaneously to car calls, the allocation control unit 24 calculates the predicted arrival time for each car, and sets the shortest predicted arrival time among them as T3 (step S73).

Here, if the predicted arrival time T3 is within the preset threshold Th2 (Yes in step S74), the allocation control unit 24 assigns the car scheduled to respond at the predicted arrival time T3 as the first allocated car. The selected floor is selected and the specific floor is made to respond (step S75).

On the other hand, if there is no car that responds to car calls simultaneously (No in step S71), the allocation control unit 24 selects the first allocated car and causes it to respond to a specific floor by normal allocation processing ( Step S76). Alternatively, even if there are cars that respond simultaneously to car calls, if the predicted arrival time T3 is longer than the threshold Th2 (No in step S74), the allocation control unit 24 assigns one car to the car by normal allocation processing. The selected car is selected and made to respond to a specific floor (step S76).

(2nd unit simultaneous response priority processing)
FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the second device simultaneous response priority processing executed in steps S59 and S62 of FIG. 9 above.

Based on the hall call information stored in the call storage unit 22 and the operation information of each machine obtained by the operation information acquisition unit 21, the allocation control unit 24 determines whether the hall call on the specific floor is unassigned and , detects a car that is scheduled to respond to a specific floor by car call (a car that responds simultaneously to car calls) (step S81).

If there is a car that responds simultaneously to car calls (Yes in step S81), the allocation control unit 24 calculates the predicted arrival time of the car through the predicted arrival time calculation unit 23 (step S82). If there are a plurality of cars that respond simultaneously to car calls, the allocation control unit 24 calculates the predicted arrival time for each car, and sets the shortest predicted arrival time among them as T5 (step S83).

Further, the allocation control unit 24 calculates the predicted arrival time T4 of the first allocated car through the predicted arrival time calculation unit 23 (step S84). The allocation control unit 24 compares the predicted arrival time T4 of the first assigned car with the predicted arrival time T5 of the car that responds to car calls simultaneously, and determines whether the condition T5≦T4+Th3 is satisfied ( Step S85).

If the above conditions are met, that is, if the time interval between the first allocated car and the car for simultaneous car call response is within the threshold Th3 (Yes in step S85), the allocation control unit 24 responds at T5 above. The scheduled car is selected as the second assigned car, and the specific floor is made to respond (step S86).

On the other hand, if there is no car that responds to car calls simultaneously (No in step S81), the allocation control unit 24 selects the second allocated car and causes it to respond to a specific floor by normal allocation processing ( Step S87). Alternatively, even if there is a car that responds to car calls simultaneously, if the above conditions are not met, that is, if the time interval between the first allocated car and the car that responds to car calls simultaneously is longer than the threshold Th3. (No in step S85), the allocation control unit 24 selects the second allocated car and makes it respond to the specific floor by normal allocation processing (step S87).

(Simultaneous response non-priority processing)
FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the simultaneous response non-priority processing executed in steps S67 and S68 of FIG. 9 above.

The allocation control unit 24 detects a car that is scheduled to respond to a specific floor by car call (a car that responds simultaneously to car calls) based on the operation information of each car obtained by the operation information acquisition unit 21 (step S91). .

If there is a car that responds simultaneously to car calls (Yes in step S92), the allocation control unit 24 determines whether or not there will be no more candidates if the car is removed from the candidates for allocation (step S92). If there is a candidate (No in step S92), the allocation control unit 24 selects an allocated car from among the candidates other than cars that respond simultaneously to car calls through normal allocation processing, and causes the specific floor to respond (step S93). ).

On the other hand, if there is no car that responds to car calls simultaneously (No in step S91), the allocation control unit 24 selects an allocated car and causes it to respond to a specific floor by normal allocation processing (step S94). Alternatively, even if there is a car that responds to car calls simultaneously, if the car is removed from the candidates for allocation and there are no more candidates (Yes in step S92), the allocation control unit 24 performs normal allocation processing. The assigned car is selected and made to respond to a specific floor (step S94).

As described above, according to the second embodiment, by changing the allocation process for a specific floor depending on the congestion status of the specific floor, the car can be assigned to a car depending on whether the specific floor is crowded or not. The number of responding vehicles can be adjusted efficiently. This improves the group management performance of the entire building.

According to at least one embodiment described above, the elevator is capable of securing transportation capacity for a specific floor, suppressing excessive transportation capacity, and improving group management performance for the entire building including other floors. A group management system can be provided.

Note that, as explained in FIG. 3, the direction of the hall call in which the multiple-machine control method is implemented differs depending on the location on the specific floor. The present invention is applicable to cases in which a multi-machine control system is implemented only for hall calls in the upward direction of a specific floor, when a multi-machine control system is implemented only in hall calls in the downward direction of a specific floor, and This applies to all cases where the multiple-machine control method is implemented for hall calls.

In short, although several embodiments of the invention have been described, these embodiments are presented by way of example and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, substitutions, and changes can be made without departing from the gist of the invention. These embodiments and their modifications are included within the scope and gist of the invention, as well as within the scope of the invention described in the claims and its equivalents.

10... Group management control device, 11a-11d... Single control device, 12a-12d... Car, 13a-13d... Car call registration device, 14a-14d... Load detector, 15a, 15b... Hall call registration device, 21... Driving information acquisition section, 22... Call storage section, 23... Predicted arrival time calculation section, 24... Allocation control section, 25... Allocation output section, 26... Congestion situation detection section, 27... Mode setting section.

Claims (8)

In an elevator group management system that allows at least two cars to respond as assigned cars to a hall call registered on a specific floor,
If a car call is scheduled to be answered at the specific floor above, and there is a car other than the first assigned car that departs from the specific floor in the same direction as the hall call, the prediction of the first assigned car is A group of elevators characterized by comprising an allocation control means for determining the necessity of a second allocated car based on the time interval between the arrival time and the expected arrival time of the car scheduled to respond to the specific floor. management system. The above allocation control means is
If the time interval between the expected arrival time of the first assigned car and the expected arrival time of the car scheduled to respond to the specific floor is less than or equal to the first threshold, the second assigned car is The elevator group management system according to claim 1, wherein the elevator group management system is determined to be unnecessary. The above allocation control means is
If the time interval between the expected arrival time of the first assigned car and the expected arrival time of the car scheduled to respond to the specific floor is longer than the first threshold, the second assigned car is required. 3. The elevator group management system according to claim 2, wherein the elevator group management system determines that. comprising a congestion situation detection means for detecting the congestion situation on the specific floor,
The above allocation control means is
2. The elevator group management system according to claim 1, wherein the allocation process for said specific floor is changed in accordance with the detected congestion situation of said specific floor calculated by said congestion situation detection means. The above allocation control means is
If the congestion situation on the above-mentioned specific floor is equal to or higher than the first reference value, the normal allocation process is carried out regardless of whether there is a car scheduled to respond to the above-mentioned specific floor, and the above-mentioned car selected by the above-mentioned normal allocation process is 5. The elevator group management system according to claim 4, wherein the first assigned car and the second assigned car are made to respond to the specific floor. 6. The elevator group management system according to claim 5, wherein the normal allocation process includes a process of selecting an allocated car based on an evaluation index including a predicted arrival time for the specific floor. The above allocation control means is
If the congestion situation on the specific floor is equal to or higher than the second reference value set higher than the first reference value, the above-mentioned 1. 6. The elevator group management system according to claim 5, wherein the second assigned car is selected from the second assigned car. The congestion situation detection means described above is
5. The elevator group management system according to claim 4, wherein the congestion situation on the specific floor is detected based on the load when the car departs from the specific floor.

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