JP7538093B2 - Test method and device for elevator standby brake - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a test method and test device for verifying the operation of an elevator standby brake.

The Unoperated Car-Mounted Door Protection Device (UCMP) prevents the elevator car from traveling when the car doors or landing doors are open. UCMP uses a standby brake that is independent of the permanently operating brakes provided on the hoist, such as a rope brake.

Conventional techniques related to standby brake testing methods are described in Patent Documents 1 and 2.

In the technology described in Patent Document 1, when testing to confirm the operation of a rope brake, an insert separate from the rope is placed between the movable plate lining and the fixed plate lining that hold the rope in the rope brake. This makes it possible to confirm the operation of the rope brake without wearing out the lining.

In the technology described in Patent Document 2, when checking the operation of the rope brake, the car is moved to a position lower than the floor level of the lowest floor, so that the rope position that does not put load on the sheave during normal operation is moved to the position of the rope brake. The rope brake is then operated to check for any sticking or operating resistance in the rope brake. This reduces damage to the rope that occurs during the inspection.

JP 2017-65831 A JP 2017-149525 A

The above conventional technology does not measure the braking force of the rope brake, making it difficult to accurately evaluate the braking force of the rope brake.

Therefore, the present invention provides a test device and a test method that can accurately evaluate the braking force of a standby brake.

In order to solve the above problems, the method for testing a standby brake for an elevator according to the present invention allows a stopped car to free run, activates the standby brake to brake the free-running car, detects the speed and amount of movement of the car from when the car starts to free run until the car stops after the standby brake is activated, and calculates the deceleration of the car based on the detected data of the speed and amount of movement of the car.

To solve the above problems, the test device for elevator standby brakes according to the present invention includes a first control device that controls the operation of the car and a second control device that performs door-open running protection. When the car is allowed to free run, the second control device activates the standby brake, and the first control device detects the speed and amount of movement of the car from when the car starts to free run until the car stops after the standby brake is activated.

According to the present invention, it is possible to calculate the deceleration of the car when the standby brake is activated, and therefore it is possible to accurately evaluate the braking force of the standby brake.

Problems, configurations and advantages other than those mentioned above will become clear from the description of the embodiments below.

1 is an overall configuration diagram of an elevator system according to an embodiment; FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the mechanical configuration of the rope brake 200. 6 is a graph showing an example of time-series data of the speed and movement amount of a car calculated by the elevator control device 108. 4 is a flowchart showing a method for testing a rope brake in an embodiment.

The following describes an embodiment of the present invention with reference to the drawings. In each drawing, the same reference numbers indicate the same components or components with similar functions.

Figure 1 is an overall configuration diagram of an elevator system according to one embodiment of the present invention. As described below, this elevator system is equipped with a door-open running protection device, and a test is performed to confirm the operation of the door-open running protection device. In the operation confirmation test of the door-open running protection device, the braking force of the standby brake (rope brake 200 in Figure 1) is evaluated.

This elevator system also has a machine room in which the hoist and control device are installed.

As shown in FIG. 1, a car 100 that travels between multiple floors in a hoistway formed in a building is connected to a counterweight 111 via a main rope 101. The main rope 101 is wound around a sheave 103 and a deflector 104 that are mechanically connected to the rotating shaft of an electric motor 105 for the hoisting machine. As a result, the car 100 and the counterweight 111 are suspended by the main rope 101 in the hoistway.

When the sheave 103 is rotated by the electric motor 105 to drive the main rope 101, the car 100 and the counterweight 111 move in opposite directions up and down in the elevator shaft. The electric motor 105 (e.g., a permanent magnet synchronous motor) is driven by power supplied by a power converter 107 (e.g., an inverter device), and is braked by the brake device 102 for the hoist when the car 100 is stopped.

In addition, a rotation detector 106 attached to the electric motor 105 generates a rotor position detection signal in response to the rotation of the electric motor. The elevator control device 108 calculates the speed of the car 100, the position of the car 100 in the elevator shaft movement direction, the movement distance, etc. based on this rotor position detection signal. Then, the elevator control device 108 controls the operation of the car 100 by controlling the electric motor 105 by the power converter 107 based on the calculation results.

The rotation detector 106 may be, for example, an encoder or a resolver.

The car 100 is provided with a car door 110 that engages with the hall door 109, which is the hall door, and opens and closes together with the hall door 109.

The UCMP control device 1 is a control device with a door-open running protection function, and controls the rope brake 200 and the braking of the car 100 by cutting off the power supply, independently of the elevator control device 108. The UCMP control device 1 has a CPU (Central Processing Unit) that executes processing as its main component, and is provided with a door-open running protection function by the CPU executing a specified program. Note that the elevator control device 108 also has a CPU, but the CPU of the UCMP control device 1 and the CPU of the elevator control device 108 are independent of each other.

In this embodiment, the rope brake 200 is installed in the machine room. The configuration of the rope brake 200 will be described later (Figure 2).

The UCMP control device 1 inputs signals from the position sensor 2, the car door switch 4 that detects whether the car door 110 is open or closed, and the landing door switch 5 that detects whether the landing door 109 is open or closed. Based on these signals, when it determines that the car 100 is located in the elevator shaft at a position that is a specific distance or more away from the landing and that either the car door 110 or any of the multiple landing doors 109 is in an open state, i.e., when it determines that the car 100 is in a door-open running state, it outputs an operation command for the rope brake 200 and a power cut-off command for the power converter 107.

Here, the specific distance is the vertical distance from the landing floor surface (reference landing position) at which the car 100 is permitted to move when the door is open.

This specific distance is set so that when the car door 110 and the hall door 109 start moving in an open state, the height of the opening of the car room as seen from the hall is high enough to prevent pinching, and so that the height of the gap under the car floor is high enough to prevent falling into the elevator.

The position sensor 2 is provided on the car 100 and detects that the car 100 is located within a specific distance by detecting a detection target 3 fixedly installed in the elevator shaft. The specific distance is set within a range of positions in the elevator shaft where the door can be opened (hereinafter referred to as the "door zone"). In the door zone, the car door 110 and the landing door 109 are engaged with each other by an engagement device, and when the car door 110 is driven by a door drive device (not shown) provided on the car 100 and controlled by the elevator control device 108, both the car door 110 and the landing door 109 are opened and closed.

The door zone is also taken into consideration in normal operation control. In normal operation control, when the position sensor 2 detects that the traveling car 100 has entered the door zone of a stopping floor, the elevator control device 108 controls the electric motor 105 by the power converter 107 so that the car 100 lands and stops at the stopping floor.

The position sensor 2 can be a non-contact detection sensor such as a photoelectric type, a magnetic type (magnet type, high frequency magnetic field type, etc.), or a capacitance type. In this embodiment, if the specific distance range and the door zone match, the position sensor 2 can be used for both door-open running determination and normal operation control. This allows the number of parts to be reduced. Even if the specific distance range and the door zone match, the position sensor 2 can be dedicated to door-open running determination, and a separate position sensor can be provided for operation control. In this case, the reliability of the safety system is improved.

When the door-opening permitted zone and the specific distance are different, a specific distance sensor is provided in the car in addition to the position sensor used for normal operation control. As the specific distance sensor, for example, a non-contact detection sensor similar to the position sensor 2 can be used. In this case, in this embodiment, the specific distance sensor is connected to the UCMP control device 1 instead of the position sensor 2. The position sensor may be provided with a specific distance sensing function in addition to the door-opening permitted zone sensing function.

The brake activation command output by the UCMP control device 1 is a command signal for activating the rope brake 200, and cuts off the power supply supplied to the rope brake 200 to cause the rope brake 200 to generate a braking force, thereby braking the car 100. In addition, the power cut-off command output by the UCMP control device 1 is a command signal for cutting off the power supply to the power converter 107 and the brake device 102, and stops the power supply to the power converter 107 and the brake device 102 to stop the electric motor 105. As a result, the car 100 is braked to a stop, and the stopped state is maintained.

During normal operation, the elevator control device 108 controls the power converter 107 and the brake device 102 to control the operation of the car 100, but when running with the door open is detected, the UCMP control device 1 controls the operation of the brake device 102 and the rope brake 200 and cuts off the power supply to brake and stop the car 100.

When a test is performed to confirm the operation of the door-open running protection device including the UCMP control device 1, car door switch 4, multiple landing door switches 5, position sensor 2, detection target 3, and rope brake 200 as described above, the maintenance device 50 is electrically connected to the UCMP control device 1 and elevator control device 108 so as to be able to communicate with each other. The maintenance device 50 is composed of a portable computer or terminal device, and acquires operation data of the elevator equipment to determine the state of the elevator equipment, and controls the operation of the car during maintenance inspection. In this embodiment, the maintenance device 50 is brought into the installation location of the elevator to be subjected to the maintenance test, and is used by a maintenance engineer in a series of maintenance test operations.

When testing the door-open running protection device, first, the maintenance device 50 is electrically connected to the UCMP control device 1 and the elevator control device 108 so as to be able to communicate with each other, and switches the operation mode from normal operation to maintenance operation by operating a specific switch in the maintenance switch group 60 (SW) electrically connected to the elevator control device 108. This allows the maintenance device 50 to operate the car at low speed and stop, and to operate the opening and closing drive of the car door 110.

By operating the maintenance device 50, the car 100 that has stopped at the floor is moved to a position where floor re-adjustment operation is effective. Here, in the floor re-adjustment operation, the elevator control device 108 detects the step between the floor surface of the car 100 and the floor surface of the landing 115 when the car 100 stops at the floor, and if there is a step of a predetermined value or more, operates the car 100 to eliminate the step, and stops it at the floor again.

Note that floor re-matching operation is performed during normal operation, but is disabled in the elevator control device 108 during maintenance operation. When testing the door-open running protection device, floor re-matching operation is enabled by the UCMP control device 1. Therefore, automatic floor re-matching operation is performed by switching the operation mode switched by the maintenance device 50 from maintenance operation to normal operation.

After the car has moved to a position where the re-floor matching operation is effective, when a door open/close command signal is output from the maintenance device 50 to the elevator control device 108 by the maintenance technician, the car door 110 and the landing door 109 of the stopping floor are closed. At this point, the car 100 enters a state of waiting for a test operation, including automatic re-floor matching operation for testing the door-open running protection device.

When the car 100 is in a test operation waiting state, the maintenance technician switches the operation mode of the UCMP control device 1 from the normal mode to the test mode using an operation mode changeover switch (not shown) provided in the UCMP control device 1 or the maintenance device 50. In the test mode, the UCMP control device 1 sets the door open detection state regardless of the door open/close state detection signals of the car door switch 4 and the landing door switch 5. In this embodiment, the UCMP control device 1 blocks the door closed state detection signals of the car door switch 4 and the landing door switch 5. As a result, the UCMP control device 1 determines that the car door 110 and the landing door 109 are open even if they are closed. At the same time, the UCMP control device 1 outputs a power cut-off command to cut off the power supply to the power converter 107. At this time, the UCMP control device 1 validates the operation command to the brake device 102 and invalidates the operation command to the rope brake 200.

When the operation mode of the UCMP control device 1 is in the test mode, a re-floor matching operation command is given by switching the maintenance operation mode set by the maintenance device 50 to the normal operation mode, and a test of the door-open running protection device is performed with the doors closed. In this test, first, the automatic re-floor matching operation is performed by the elevator control device 108.

At this time, the UCMP control device 1 outputs a power cutoff command but does not output a brake activation command, so the brake device 102 is in an open state, and the electric motor 105 does not generate torque, so the sheave 103 rotates due to the unbalanced torque caused by the weight difference between the car 100 and the counterweight 111. As a result, the car 100 enters a free-running state and moves in the upward (downward) direction from the landing position. Then, since the door-open detection state is set, the UCMP control device 1 determines that the door is open, and when it determines based on the position detection signal from the position sensor 2 that the position of the car 100 is a specific distance or more away from the landing, that is, when it determines that the car 100 is in a door-open running state, it outputs an activation command to the rope brake 200. As a result, the car 100 is braked and stopped by the rope brake 200.

The brake device 102 may be manually released by a maintenance technician after the automatic re-floor adjustment operation.

From the time when the car 100 starts moving in the upward (downward) direction from the landing position until it is braked and stopped by the rope brake 200, the elevator control device 108 calculates the speed and movement amount of the car 100 at a predetermined time interval corresponding to the control period or calculation period based on the rotor position detection signal from the rotation detector 106. The elevator control device 108 sequentially stores the calculated speed and movement amount. In other words, the elevator control device 108 stores time series data of the speed and movement amount of the car 100.

When the car 100 stops, the maintenance device 50, through the operation of a maintenance technician, reads out the time series data of the speed and amount of movement of the car 100 stored in the elevator control device 108, and evaluates the braking force of the rope brake 200 based on the read out time series data. At this time, the maintenance device 50 calculates the deceleration of the car 100, which is a direct mechanical indicator of the braking force of the rope brake 200, based on the time series data of the speed and amount of movement of the car 100.

As described above, this embodiment makes it possible to measure the braking force of the rope brake 200, which is a standby brake.

Figure 2 is a diagram showing the mechanical configuration of the rope brake 200 in this embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 2, the rope brake 200 includes a pair of linings, namely a movable lining 208 and a fixed lining 209, and a movable lever 210 that drives the movable lining 208. The main rope 101 passes through the space between the movable lining 208 and the fixed lining 209.

The rope brake 200 is a standby type brake, and when the elevator is operating normally, the movable side lining 208 and the fixed side lining 209 move away from each other and do not restrain the main rope 101. When an abnormality occurs in the elevator's operating state, in this embodiment when the door-open running state occurs, the movable lever 210 pulls the movable side lining 208 toward the fixed side lining 209. As a result, the main rope 101 is clamped between the movable side lining 208 and the fixed side lining 209. This restrains the main rope 101 and stops the movement of the car 1.

The rope brake 200 is equipped with a drive mechanism (not shown) that includes a biasing means such as a spring that applies a biasing force to the movable lever 210 and a drive source such as a solenoid that generates an electromagnetic force in order to drive the movable lever 210. The biasing means applies a biasing force to the movable lever 210 so that the movable lever 210 moves to pull the movable side lining 208 toward the fixed side lining 209.

Under normal circumstances, the movement of the movable lever 210 caused by the biasing force is restricted by the electromagnetic force generated by the drive source. As a result, the movable side lining 208 is not drawn toward the fixed side lining 209, and the movable side lining 208 and the fixed side lining 209 are maintained apart from each other. In the event of an abnormality, the power supply to the drive source is cut off and the electromagnetic force disappears, releasing the restriction on the movable lever 210. As a result, the movable lever 210 is driven by the biasing force, and the movable side lining 208 is drawn toward the fixed side lining 209.

In this embodiment, when the door-open traveling state is detected, the UCMP control device 1 outputs an operation command to the rope brake 200, and the power supply to the drive source equipped in the rope brake 200 is cut off.

Figure 3 is a graph showing an example of time series data of the speed and movement amount of the car 100 calculated by the elevator control device 108 in a test of the door-open running protection device in this embodiment. Each plot in the graph indicates the calculated speed and movement amount, and the time interval between two adjacent plots corresponds to the control calculation period of the elevator control device 108.

At time 0, the brake device 102 is released, and the car 100 starts moving from the landing position due to the unbalanced torque. After starting to move, the car 100 is accelerated at a substantially constant acceleration due to the unbalanced torque.

At time t', the movement amount d from the landing position reaches a predetermined amount, which in this embodiment is a specific distance S. At this time, the UCMP control device 1 determines that the car is in a door-open running state, and activates the rope brake 200. When the rope brake 200 is activated, the car 100 is decelerated at a substantially constant deceleration rate according to the braking force of the rope brake 200.

At time t _n+3 , the speed of the car 100 reaches zero and the car 100 comes to a stop.

In this embodiment, the maintenance device 50 calculates the deceleration based on the time series data as shown in FIG. 3 as follows:

Time _tn+1 is set as the deceleration start time, and the speed v=V at _tn+1 is set as the deceleration start speed. Here, in the time series data, the calculated speed value at _tn, which is one point before tn _+1, is maximum, but the speed V at _tn+1, which is the point in time after _tn , is set as the deceleration start speed. This ensures that the calculated speed value immediately after the rope brake 200 is activated is set as the deceleration start speed.

The time T from t _n+1 to t _n+3 when the velocity v reaches zero is defined as the braking time.

The difference L between the amount of car movement up to t _n+1 and the maximum value of the amount of car movement d is defined as the braking distance.

The maintenance device 50 calculates the deceleration β based on any two of the deceleration start speed V, braking time T, and braking distance L indicated by the time-series data. The maintenance device 50 calculates the acceleration β using the formula "β=V/T" based on the deceleration start speed V and the braking time T. Alternatively, the maintenance device 50 calculates the acceleration β using the formula "β=V ² /(2L)" based on the deceleration start speed V and the braking distance L. Alternatively, the maintenance device 50 calculates the acceleration β using the formula "β=2L/T ² " based on the braking time T and the braking distance L.

The elevator control device 108 may also calculate the deceleration β and output the calculated β to the maintenance device 50.

Figure 4 is a flowchart showing a method for testing the rope brake 200 in this embodiment.

When the test is started, first in step S1, the operation mode of the elevator control device 108 is set to the maintenance operation mode, and the operation mode of the UCMP control device 1 is set to the test mode.

Next, in step S2, the brake device 102 for the hoist is released without energizing the electric motor 105. This causes the stopped car 100 to enter a free-running state and start moving from the stopped position (floor landing position). The elevator control device 108 also starts detecting the speed and amount of movement of the car 100.

Next, in step S3, the UCMP control device 1 activates the rope brake 200. This causes the rope brake 200 to enter a braking state and brake the car 100.

Next, in step S4, when the car 100 stops, the elevator control device 108 ends detection of the speed and movement amount of the car 100.

Next, in step S5, the elevator control device 108 calculates the deceleration of the car 100 after the rope brake 200 is activated based on the data on the speed and amount of movement of the car 100 detected from when the car 100 starts to move until it stops.

According to the above-described embodiment, it is possible to measure the deceleration of the car 100 when the rope brake 200, which is a standby brake, is activated. Therefore, according to this embodiment, it is possible to accurately evaluate the braking force of the rope brake 200.

In addition, according to the above-described embodiment, the rope brake 200 is activated by the UCMP control device 1, so that the rope brake is activated in a situation similar to when an abnormality (door-open running) occurs. This improves the reliability of the evaluation of the braking force of the rope brake.

The testing method according to the above embodiment can also be applied to other standby brakes (e.g. rail brakes, etc.).

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, but includes various modified examples. For example, the above-described embodiment has been described in detail to clearly explain the present invention, and is not necessarily limited to having all of the configurations described. In addition, it is possible to add, delete, or replace part of the configuration of the embodiment with other configurations.

For example, the elevator may be a so-called machine room-less elevator, in which the hoist and control device are installed inside the hoistway.

1... UCMP control device, 2... position sensor, 3... object to be detected, 4... car door switch, 5... landing door switch, 50... maintenance device, 60... maintenance switch group, 100... car, 101... main rope, 102... brake device, 103... sheave, 104... deflector, 105... electric motor, 106... rotation detector, 107... power converter, 108... elevator control device, 109... landing door, 110... car door, 111... counterweight, 115... landing

Claims (8)

In the test method for elevator standby brakes,
Allow the stopped car to free run,
A standby brake is operated to brake the free-running car,
Detecting a speed and a movement amount of the car from when the car starts to free run until the car stops after the standby brake is activated;
A method for testing a standby brake for an elevator, comprising the steps of: calculating a deceleration of the car based on detection data of the speed and the amount of movement of the car; 2. The method for testing an elevator standby brake according to claim 1,
A method for testing an elevator standby brake, comprising the steps of: activating the standby brake by a door-open running protection control device. 2. The method for testing an elevator standby brake according to claim 1,
A method for testing a standby brake for an elevator, comprising the steps of detecting the speed and the amount of movement of the car by an elevator control device. 2. The method for testing an elevator standby brake according to claim 1,
A method for testing a standby brake for an elevator, comprising the steps of: measuring two quantities of the deceleration start speed, braking distance, and braking time of the car based on the detection data; and calculating the deceleration using the two measured quantities. 2. The method for testing an elevator standby brake according to claim 1,
2. A method for testing an elevator standby brake, wherein the standby brake is a rope brake. In the test equipment for elevator standby brakes,
A first control device that controls the operation of the elevator car;
A second control device that executes door-open running protection;
Equipped with
When the car is caused to free run, the second control device activates a standby brake,
A test device for an elevator standby brake, characterized in that the first control device detects the speed and amount of movement of the car from when the car starts to free run until the car stops after the standby brake is activated. 7. The elevator standby brake testing device according to claim 6,
The first control device stores detection data of the speed and the movement amount of the elevator car,
13. A testing device for an elevator standby brake, comprising: a detecting unit for detecting a deceleration of an elevator car; 7. The elevator standby brake testing device according to claim 6,
13. A testing device for an elevator standby brake, wherein the standby brake is a rope brake.

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