JP7426348B2 - Elevator control method and elevator control system - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an elevator control system.

Currently, multiple elevators are installed in buildings, buildings, facilities, etc., and users use elevators that arrive at the boarding point. In such elevators, it is necessary to call the elevator to the floor to board. A technique for using a mobile terminal for this call is described in Patent Document 1. Patent Document 1 describes an elevator control device that controls the operation of a car, and an elevator control device installed at a landing that transmits a wireless signal at a landing on any floor and starts application software for call registration installed in advance on a mobile terminal. The elevator controller is equipped with a wireless signal device that transmits the user's preset destination floor to the elevator control device by activating the application software on the mobile terminal. An elevator system has been disclosed in which an elevator control device registers a user's destination floor as a hall call, and causes a car to respond to the registered floor of the hall call.

Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No. 2018-90400

Here, in Patent Document 1, when a call is registered by a mobile terminal for multiple elevators, the group management control device of the elevator selects a car that can respond to the call, and responds to the call from the mobile terminal. respond.

However, in Patent Document 1, it is necessary for the elevator group management control device to select a car to which a call registration is to be assigned. In Patent Document 1, if a plurality of elevators are installed in a building, all the cars will be called. Therefore, if an elevator without a group management function is installed, it is necessary to newly install a group management control device. Furthermore, even if the car has a group management function, it is necessary to add a car selection function for selecting a car to the group management control device.

In view of this situation, the present invention aims to call a car using a mobile terminal, regardless of the presence or absence of a group management function and a car selection function.

A typical configuration of the present invention for solving the above problems is an elevator control method for controlling an elevator from a monitoring center device, in which the monitoring center device includes a data receiving section, an elevator control section, and a call registration storage section, The reception unit receives a car call request including at least a building, a landing floor, and a destination floor from a mobile terminal of an elevator user, and the elevator control unit issues a car call command to the control devices of the plurality of elevators and calls the car call command. The data receiving unit receives a response from the elevator control device to the car call command, and the elevator control unit receives a response that satisfies predetermined conditions from among the control devices to which the car call command was issued. the earliest response, the response for an elevator that satisfies the load capacity commensurate with the number of people in the car call order, the response for a freight elevator, the response for an emergency elevator, and the response for an elevator that can provide service. This is an elevator control method in which a car call cancellation command is issued to the control devices of elevators other than the corresponding elevator .

According to the present invention, it is possible to improve elevator operation efficiency.

1 is an example of a block diagram showing the system configuration of an elevator system in an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of a monitoring center device in an embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure showing an example of elevator master information used in one example of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a car call command used in an embodiment of the present invention. It is a flow chart which shows an example of car call processing in one example of the present invention. It is a flowchart which shows the aggregation command creation process of the car call in one Example of this invention. It is a figure explaining the aggregation command creation process of the car call in one Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of screen transition of the mobile terminal in one Example of this invention.

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, it is assumed that the user is trying to use any of the elevators A 16 to C 18 installed in the building 1. Further, the building 1 is remotely controlled by a monitoring center device 3 provided in a monitoring center 2. Although FIG. 1 shows all the elevators in one building as targets for remote control, the monitoring center device 3 may manage multiple elevators divided by bank or the like. Furthermore, the number of elevators is not limited to three as shown in FIG. 1, but may be one or more.

First, FIG. 1 shows a functional block diagram showing the functional configuration of an elevator system in this embodiment. In this elevator system, mobile terminals 19 and 20 such as smartphones, various devices installed in the building 1, facilities, and a monitoring center device 3 installed in the monitoring center 2 are connected to each other via a public line network 90. .

Here, the mobile terminals 19 and 20 are owned by each user, and have a remote call request application for calling an elevator installed therein. The mobile terminals 19 and 20 can be realized by information processing devices such as mobile terminals such as smartphones, tablets, mobile phones, and notebook PCs. Furthermore, the mobile terminals 19 and 20 may be implemented as smart devices that can be connected to a smartphone or the like. Although two mobile terminals 19 and 20 are shown in FIG. 1, the number is not limited to this number. Furthermore, the mobile terminals 19 and 20, which will be described later, may be used outside the building 1 by each user.

Further, the monitoring center device 3 is installed in the monitoring center 2, and includes a data transmitting/receiving section 5, an elevator control section 6, a call registration storage section 7, and an elevator master DB8. The data transmitting/receiving unit 5 receives a car call request (hereinafter referred to as a car call command) 28 transmitted from the mobile terminals 19 and 20 via the public line network. The elevator control unit 6 calls the elevator using the car call command 28 received by the data transmitting/receiving unit 5, that is, creates a car call command for controlling the operation (operation) of the elevator. The call registration storage unit 7 temporarily stores the created car call instruction 28. For this reason, it is desirable that the call registration storage unit 7 is realized by a so-called memory 23. The details of this car call command 28 will be described later.

The elevator master DB8 stores elevator master information 30, which will be described later. For this reason, it is desirable that the elevator master DB8 is realized by a storage device called a so-called storage. Further, the elevator master DB8 may be configured in a separate housing from the monitoring center device 3. In this case, the elevator master DB8 is realized by a file system connected via a network. Building 1 also includes a communication device 9, a plurality of elevators 16-18, and a monitoring device (monitoring device A 10) that manages these. , monitoring device B 11 and monitoring device C 12) are installed. Communication device 9 receives car call command 28 from data transmitting/receiving section 5, and transmits it to monitoring device 10-12. At this time, the car call command 28 may be configured to be directly transmitted to the control device 16-15.

The monitoring device 10-12 is a device that monitors the operation status and failure of elevators (Elevator A 16, Elevator B 17, and Elevator C 18), and each elevator is remotely controlled by instructions from the monitoring center device. It may also have a function to do so. The control device is also called a control panel and is installed in the hoistway, machine room, etc.
The monitoring terminal 4 is connected to the monitoring center device 3 via a public line network 90. The monitoring terminal 4 can be realized by a computer device, and can send instructions to the monitoring center device 3 and output processing contents of the monitoring center device 3. Additionally, the monitoring terminal 4 can output the operating status of elevators A-16 to C-18. Note that the monitoring terminal 4 may be configured to be connected to the monitoring center device 3 via an internal network of the monitoring center 2 such as an intranet instead of the public line network 90. Furthermore, the monitoring terminal 4 may be installed within the monitoring center 2, or may be made available for use outside.

Next, the hardware configuration of the monitoring center device 3 in this embodiment will be explained using FIG. 2. The monitoring center device 3 is realized by a computer device or the like. In the monitoring center device 3, a network I/F 2100 (network interface) 21, a processing unit 22, a memory 23, a storage device 24, and the like are connected to each other via a communication path such as a bus. The network I/F 21 constitutes the data transmitting/receiving section 5, and uses an NFC (Network Interface Card) or the like that connects and communicates with an external device such as a public line network 90.

The processing unit 22 is a processing device such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit), and executes a software module stored in a memory 23 with reference to data stored in a storage device 24.

The memory 23 stores an elevator control section 6, a car call command generation section 26, and a car call command aggregation section 27.

The car call command generation unit 26 generates a car call command 28 based on a car call request from a user by referring to the elevator master information 30 stored in the storage device 24. At this time, the car call instruction aggregation unit 27 aggregates the car call requests that can be aggregated into one car call instruction into one car call instruction among the car call requests received from a plurality of users within a certain period of time. .

Elevator control unit 6 stores the car call command created by car call command generation unit 26 in call registration storage unit 7 when issuing it to control device 13-15 via monitoring device 10-12.

The storage device 24 corresponds to the elevator master DB8 and stores elevator master information 30 that stores which elevators are installed in which buildings. The call history storage unit 70 stores call histories from users. The history does not store all the history, but records a predetermined period or number of records. Using this history, it is possible to preset the user's call floor and destination floor.

The storage device 24 can be realized by an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), an SSD (Solid State Drive), or the like.

Next, information used in this embodiment will be explained using FIGS. 3, 4, and 8. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of elevator master information 30 used in this embodiment. The elevator master information 30 is information that associates a building ID that identifies the building 1 with an elevator ID that is elevator identification information that identifies the elevator installed in the building 1.

In FIG. 3, the elevator master information 30 is configured with one elevator ID as one record, but the configuration is not limited to this. For example, one building ID may be one record, and a plurality of elevator IDs may be included in one record. Furthermore, the building ID is an example of identifying a management unit, as described above. Therefore, unit identification information for identifying such management units may be used.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the car call command 28 used in this embodiment. The car call command 28 is a command created based on a car call request from a user, and is information in which a control request ID 41, a call floor 42, a destination floor 43, a building ID 44, and an elevator ID 45 are associated with each other. Control request ID41 identifies a car call request from a user. The designated floor 42 indicates the floor at which the user wishes to board the elevator. The destination floor 43 indicates the floor where the user gets off the vehicle. Note that the names of the call floor and destination floor are not limited to expressions such as landing floor or destination floor.

The building ID 44 and elevator ID 45 are determined by referring to the elevator master information 30.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of car call processing in an embodiment of the present invention. Users who use elevators 16-18 installed in building 1 set the elevator to be used using an application (app) installed on mobile terminals 19-20. Specifically, the setting is performed by reading an identifier such as a two-dimensional barcode installed at the boarding area with the mobile terminal 19-20. At this time, a specific elevator may be set, or a plurality of elevators installed in the building may be set at once.

This app can also be implemented as a social networking service application that can send and receive messages, including Short Message Service (SMS).

First, in step S1, one of the mobile terminals 19-20 (hereinafter referred to as a mobile terminal) creates a car call request and transmits it to the monitoring center device 3. At this time, the set building ID, elevator ID, inputted call floor, destination floor, etc. are also sent.

In step S2, the monitoring center device 3 receives the car call request. In step S3, the car call command generation unit 26 determines whether or not there is a call for the same building, floor, and direction of movement among the car call requests received during a predetermined period.

If there are a plurality of calls within a predetermined period, the car call command aggregation unit 27 determines whether or not aggregation is possible, and aggregates the car call commands in step S5. If there are no multiple calls, a normal car call command is created in step S4.

The details of the aggregation process in step S5 will be explained with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. 6, which shows the car call aggregation command creation process in one embodiment of the present invention. The car call command aggregation unit 27 stores the plurality of car call commands received in step S20 in the memory 23. In step S21, it is determined whether the building ID, call floor, and movement direction of the car call command match.

When it is determined that they match, the plurality of car call commands received in step S23 are converted into a single car call command. If it is determined that they do not match, the multiple instructions received in S22 remain as they are. The number of multiple commands received is not limited to two, and three or more car call commands may be converted into one car call command, but since the number of people who can ride in an elevator car is determined, it is possible to board the car. The number of call commands to be converted may be limited to a number of people within a range of less than the number of people.

Returning to FIG. 5, in step S6 it is determined whether there are multiple elevators that can be called on the floor of the building for which the call request was made. Whether or not a call is possible may be determined based on whether there are multiple elevators that are compatible with remote calls, or may be determined based on whether there are multiple elevators that are out of service and are not providing service.

If there are a plurality of elevators that can be called, car call commands for the plurality of elevators are created and issued in step S7, and the issued call commands are registered in the car call registration storage section 7 in step S8. Thereafter, in step S9, it is determined whether the elevator that responded to the call satisfies the conditions. The condition may be an elevator that responds the quickest, or an elevator that satisfies the loading capacity commensurate with the number of people calling. Furthermore, responses from freight and emergency elevators may be excluded. Furthermore, when setting the number and number of elevators that provide service depending on the time slot, it may be determined whether the response is from an elevator that can provide service during the time slot.

If there is a response from the elevator that satisfies the conditions in step S9, then in step S10, among the elevators for which the car call command was issued, elevators that do not satisfy the conditions or do not respond are retrieved from the car call registration storage unit 7, and the car call command is issued. A cancellation command is sent to the control device.

If there is no response from the elevator control device that satisfies the conditions in step S9, an error message is sent to the mobile terminal.

If it is determined in step S6 that there is only one elevator that can be called, a car call command is issued to the control device of the elevator and registered in the car call registration storage section 7. Even in the case of operation using only one mobile terminal, it is possible to set time periods in which calls from mobile terminals are not answered. Outside of such service hours, it is determined in step S13 that the condition is not satisfied, and an error message is output in step S14.

Finally, in step S15, the call history corresponding to the car call command stored in the car call registration storage unit 7 is recorded in the call history storage unit 70, and the car call command stored in the car call registration storage unit 7 is deleted.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating the process of creating a car call aggregation command in an embodiment of the present invention. Car call command 1 (a) and car call command 2 (b) are received by the monitoring center device 3 during the same time period. The case of a car call command will be explained. Determine whether the building ID, call floor, and movement direction of car call command 1 and car call command 2 match. Aggregation is possible because the building ID is the same "1000", the nominal floor is the same "01", and the movement direction is "up".

For this reason, the car call command 1 and the car call command 2 are combined, and as per the car call command (c), the building ID, call floor, and movement direction are the same, and the destination floor is the car call "03" of car call command 1. Create a car call command with both "02" of command 2 as the destination floor. Three commands are created in order to issue the created call command to elevators A-C that can be called to the called floor based on the information written in the elevator master DB8.

In this example, two instructions are aggregated, but three or more car call instructions may be aggregated. However, since there is a limit to the car's loading capacity, it is necessary to aggregate car call commands that take into account the number of people who will board the car using normal car calls that do not use mobile terminals.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of screen transitions of a mobile terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

(a) Display the home screen as a pre-registration process for calling the elevator in Building 1 on the mobile terminal operated by the user. Users use their mobile devices to register which elevator to call by reading two-dimensional codes, RFID tags, IC cards, and other media placed at the boarding hall. These media include building ID and elevator ID.

This registration process registers a building as a "friend" in the same way that a mobile terminal registers a "friend" with another person. In this example, "Thank you for registering as a friend. This is Building XX." is displayed, and the building is the target of registration, but it may also be possible to set an elevator or multiple elevators installed on a floor as a unit of registration.

Next, when the user calls an elevator for the first time, (b) inputs the call floor 54 and destination floor 55 from the floor number input screen, and presses the button "Call elevator 56". Through this operation, a call request is sent to the monitoring center device 3, and a call command is transmitted from the monitoring center device 3 to the control panels of each elevator in the building.

When calling an elevator for the second time or later, the user displays (c) the floor number input screen on the mobile terminal. At this time, history buttons 57 and 58 are displayed that pair call floors and destination floors based on past car call history, and the call floor and destination floor can be selected from these buttons. Of course, it is also possible to press the selection button 59 for another floor, transition to the (b) floor number input screen, and specify a new call floor and destination floor.

(b) If you press the elevator call button 56 on the floor number input screen, (c) press either of the history buttons 57 or 58 on the floor number input screen, (d) the call start screen will be displayed, and if you specify with the button, the car call will start, A user message corresponding to the called floor and destination floor, "Please go to the first floor three times, please." is displayed. In response to this user's request, the elevator displays the message "Yes! Understood" as shown in (e) confirmation completion notification screen, indicating that the request has been accepted. If there is no elevator that responds to the call after this, or if the service is not available during service hours, a message like ``We are sorry, we did not meet your expectations.'' will be displayed as shown in (f) Result Error Screen. .

1...Building, 4...Monitoring terminal, 19,20...Mobile terminal, 10...Monitoring device A, 16...Elevator A, 13...Control device A, 11...Monitoring device B, 17...Elevator B, 14...Control device B, 12...Monitoring device C, 18...Elevator C, 15...Control device C, 9...Communication device, 2...Monitoring center, 3...Monitoring center device, 5...Data transmission/reception unit, 6...Elevator control unit, 7... Call registration storage section, 8... Elevator master DB, 70... Call history storage section, 26... Car call instruction generation section, 27 Car call instruction aggregation section, 28... Car call instruction

Claims (5)

In an elevator control method for controlling an elevator from a monitoring center device,
The monitoring center device includes a data receiving section, an elevator control section, and a call registration storage section,
the data receiving unit receives a car call request including at least a building, a landing floor, and a destination floor from a mobile terminal of the elevator user;
The elevator control unit issues a car call command to a plurality of elevator control devices,
storing the car call command in a call registration storage unit;
the data receiving unit receives a response from the elevator control device to the car call command;
The elevator control unit responds to a response that satisfies predetermined conditions among the control devices to which the car call command was issued, is the earliest response, and is a response for an elevator that satisfies a loading capacity commensurate with the number of people in the car call command. , an elevator control that issues a car call cancellation command to the control devices of other elevators other than elevators that respond to any of the following: , a response regarding a freight elevator, a response regarding an emergency elevator, and a response regarding an elevator capable of providing service. Method. When the data receiving unit receives multiple car call requests including the same building, the same landing floor, and the same travel direction information within a predetermined period, multiple car call requests are sent to the received multiple car call requests. 2. The elevator control method according to claim 1, wherein a car call command in which the car call commands are aggregated is issued to each control device of a plurality of elevators. The monitoring center device includes an elevator master DB in which information on multiple elevators is registered,
When the elevator control unit receives the car call request, it identifies the elevator corresponding to the car call request from the plurality of elevator information registered in the elevator master DB, and issues a car call to the control device of the identified elevator. The elevator control method according to claim 2, further comprising issuing a command. 4. The elevator control method according to claim 3, wherein the elevator control unit selects an elevator to issue a car call command from the elevator master DB based on the predetermined conditions. In the elevator control system to control the elevator from the monitoring center device,
a data receiving unit that receives a car call request including at least a building, a landing floor, and a destination floor from a mobile terminal used by an elevator user;
an elevator control unit that issues a car call command to a plurality of elevator control devices corresponding to the car call request;
and a call registration storage unit that stores the car call command,
the data receiving unit receives a response from the elevator control device to the car call command;
The elevator control unit responds to a response that satisfies predetermined conditions among the control devices to which the car call command was issued, the earliest response, and a response for an elevator that satisfies a loading capacity commensurate with the number of people in the car call command. , an elevator control that issues a car call cancellation command to the control devices of other elevators other than elevators that respond to any of the following: , a response regarding a freight elevator, a response regarding an emergency elevator, and a response regarding an elevator capable of providing service. system.

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