US2779438A - Car call cancellation means - Google Patents

Description

Jan. 29, 1957 E. B. THURSTON CAR CALL CANCELLATION MEANS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 1. 1955 N TQQ mt Q & mm #5 t l QM W Q\ m \I m fiHu L M Q qk I Q% L m l u C 3w H m w A 0 km W mm MN m h 9w hm. w m H. .rl; H L Em m q Q \N N mm mmtmk m Iuhkm Nb m G IHIKJAK IN V EN TOR.

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Jan. 29, 1957 E. B. THURSTON CAR CALL. CANCELLATION MEANS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed NOV. 1. 1.955

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\M N\\ W. WHIP m& k QM 3 m, Q R vb INVENTOR. ERNEST B. THURSTO/V WMM ATTORNEYS United States Patent CAR CALL CANCELLATION MEANS Ernest B. Thurston, Toledo, Ohio, assignor to Haughton Elevator Company, Toledo, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application November 1, 1955, Serial No. 544,161

9 Claims. (Cl. 187-29) This invention relates to control mechanism for automatic passenger elevators and in particular to means for discouraging improper use of the elevators during rush period's.

One common misuse of passenger operated elevators in commercial buildings is the practice, during periods of heavy down traific when the cars become loaded at upper floors, of waiting passengers at lower and intermediate iloors to register up calls and ride up so as to be aboard on the next down trip. When this practice is discouraged by causing most of the cars to bypass up calls some passengers resort to pushing car buttons, as they leave the car at the lobby, so that the car will stop on its upward trip at the floors where friends of the passengers were left waiting. While this may give those particular waiting passengers quicker service it interferes with the overall efiiciency of the system because not only must the car stop on the up trip but also some car on its down trip will answer those intermediate down calls whether the passengers are still waiting or not.

The principal object of this invention is to discourage this practice by delaying during down peak operation the re-energizing of the car button holding means for a suflicient time when the elevator reverses at the lower terminal floor to allow the passengers to leave.

Another object of the invention is to provide means for delaying the re-energizing of the car button holding means after a reversal at the lower terminal floor during periods of down peak trafiic until the car doors close at the start of the upward trip.

A still further object of the invention is to provide circuit means for delaying the re-energization of the car button holding means for a predetermined time after reversal at the lower terminal in the event the car during its downward travel was conditioned to by-pass hall calls.

More specific objects and advantages are apparent from the following description of several embodiments of the invention.

According to the invention the normally closed circuit that energizes electromagnetic means for holding actuated car button signal means in their actuated position is deenergized for an extended period of time after the car reverses at the lower terminal. The de-energization is accomplished by including in the circuit either timer contacts that are open for the predetermined time interval after reversal or contacts of a gate relay that are open as long as the gate of the car is open at the terminal floor. In the latter case other contacts operated by a traffic program responsive device and terminal floor car selection relays are included in parallel with the gate controlled contacts to limit the breaking of the circuit to the time that the car is standing at the lower terminal. In one embodiment of the invention the timer is energized whenever the car approaches the terminal floor with its bypass switch operated, while in another embodiment the timer is started each time the elevator arrives at the bottom terminal While the down peak traffic program is in efiect.

2,779,438 Patented Jan. 29, 1957 Preferred embodiments of the invention are illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

Figure I is a schematic diagram illustrating circuits arranged to prevent the registration of up car calls for a time that the elevator car is standing at the lower terminal floor.

Figure ii is a schematic diagram of a variation of the circuit shown in Figure I and arranged to hold the car button signal means de-energized for a predetermined interval of time after the car arrives at the terminal fioor.

Figure III is another modification of the circuit of Figure I that is arranged to hold the car button signal means de-energized for a limited time on the first arrival of the car at a terminal floor after its by-pass switch had been operated.

These specific figures and the accompanying description are intended merely to illustrate the invention and not impose limitations on the claim.

It is common practice in signal controlled elevators to provide each of the elevator cars with a push button panel containing one push button for each floor to be served by the car. Car calls, commonly called destination calls, are registered by passengers Within the car by pushing the buttons corresponding to the desired floor. The car buttons are arranged to set up circuits in cooperation with a floor selector machine to stop the car at the floors corresponding to the operated car buttons. In order that the calls may be held registered the car buttons are each provided with a holding coil at the car button or a relay holding circuit that is continuously energized during each trip of the elevator and momentarily de-energized upon reversal of the car. These holding coils are only sufficiently strong to hold a depressed button in depressed condition. The improper registration of up car calls during down peak operation may be prevented by providing further relay means or relay contacts arranged to break the circuit to the car button holding coils or car button relays while the car is standing at the lower terminal during its unloading time and either for a definite time thereafter or until the car starts its next upward trip.

In the drawings only a few of the large number of relays that are used in the operating circuit of an elevator are shown. These relays are:

BPD-By-pass delay relay G-Gate controlled relay RBCar button release relay RL-Directional control latch relay T-Timer for delayed re-energization of car button magnets.

A number of relay contacts are also shown in the drawings; these contacts being operated by relay coils that are not shown. These contacts include:

To further facilitate the identification of the parts in the drawings each line of the diagrams is numbered and at the right of each line showing a relay coil is a list ofthe lines in which contacts operated by that coil appear.-

An, underscored listing indicates that the contacts are closed when the coil is de-energi'zed'. Thus referring to Figure I the gate controlled relay G appears in line 1 and in the codeat the right thelocations of its contacts are indicated as being lines Bi and 11. The gate relay- G is energized as long as all of the safety switches are in operatingorder and the gate switchisclosed thus indicating the. doors of the car are closed; Under these conditions the relay G- is energized so as to open its contacts in line 3 and close its contacts in line 11. The car button magnets 20 are illustrated as being connected in two series in lines 11 and13 each connected to a return, lead L2. Thetwo series of magnets are connected together through alead-2 1 located in line 12', through normally closed contacts RB of a car button release relay RB line 7 and then through any one of three sets of contacts G, CUL, or H3 and then through a resistr'22 connected to a power line L1. These magnets are thus energized as longas the release relay RB isde-energized and at least one of the sets of contacts G, CUL, or H3 in lines 11, 12 or. 13 are closed.

These contacts are contacts G of the gate relay in line 11' that are closed as long as the gate is closed and the car is in condition for operation, contacts CUL which are open when the car is loading at the main terminal and awaiting. dispatch and which are closed as long as the car is away from the terminal, and contacts H3 of the down peakprogram relay which are open as long as the elevator is conditioned for down peak trafiic and which are closed at all, other times. Thus current can flow through the car button magnets 2% as long as the car is in operationwith the. gate closed, is away from the first floor or lower terininal or is not loading, or anytime that it is not conditio'n'ed for down peak trafiic; Thus if a car in normal operating condition and not on down peak program is standing at the lower floor the car button magnets are energized since the contacts H3 in line 13 are closed.

Referring to Figure. I lines 6 to inclusive a latch type directional controlrelay RL having'its latch coil RLL shown in line 6 and its release coil RLR shown. in 8 is arranged to control, through contacts not shown, the direction of travel of the elevator. If the elevator is conditioned for manual operation, that. is with an operator, thenthrow over contacts T0 in line 7 are closed sothat n p-or down push button switches 23 or 24 may be used by the operator to select the" direction of travel in addition. to automatic reverse at the terminals. Thus, if a car is standing at a floor so that contacts BK in line 6'are closed, the operator may select up travel by closing the up push button switch 23 so that current may flow from the lead L1 through the car button release r'elayope'r-ating' coil RB in line 7, thence through the latch coil RLL in line 6, and then through the throw'over contacts T0 in line 7 and through the brake relay contacts BK of line 6. This throws the relay RL to its latched position and its contacts thereupon set up other circuits to condition the elevator for upward travel. Downward travel may be selected by operation of the down push button 24 so as to draw current through the release relay coil RB in line 7 and latch release coil RLR in line 8, and thencethrough the"dowrrpush button switch 24, the throw over contacts TO and the brake relay contacts in line6. The direction of travel may also be altered or changedwithoutwaiting' for the car to come to a completestop by the operation of the push button switches 23 or 24 during the leveling approach time when contacts LA in line 8' are closed.

The elevator is also automatically set for downward travel when it reaches the upward terminal by a-means of a circuit that includes the car button release magnet coil RB; the latch releas'e coil RLR' a lead- 25 connectedto' a selector machine terminal 26 that, when the car reaches the upper terminal, iscontacted-i by a brushv 27- which is connected through leveling; speed: relay contacts; LA, gate relawcontactsa G and: door opening contact OPkin-rlineS. Thus whe'nthe'elevator-approaches the upperterniinal the brush 27 first contacts the contact 26 of the selector ma chine then, as the elevator slows down, the leveling relay contacts close and the door starts to open in response to operation of a door opening relay. As the door opens the gate relay G is de-energized to close its controls G line 3 to complete the circuit. This circuit is held closed until the door reaches nearly fully open position when the door opening relay OP releases to open the circuit in line 3 leaving the latch relay RL in released or tripped condition.

The. direction latch. relay RL is latched into up direction (rendition when the car reaches the lower terminal by a circuit completed through the release magnet RE, the latch coil RLL, a lead 23 in line 6, a selector machine contact 29 corresponding to the lower terminal floor, and then through the. brush 27 and connected circuit leading to return lead L2 when the elevator reaches such floor. Again the circuit is not completed until the doors start to open when the gate contacts and the door opening relay contacts are both closed. The directional latch relay RL may also be set automatically for downward travel' at intermediate floors when the elevator is operating on high call reverse. This automatic releasing of the latch relay to set it for down travel is controlled by circuits shown in lines 9' and 10 of Figure 1. When the elevator system is set for high call reverse and the elevator car reaches'its highest call, contacts I-IC line 9 close. At the same time the stopping relay SD closes its contacts in the event the call is registered at the fioor which the elevator is then approaching. Latch relay contacts RL, shown in line 9, are closed as long as the car is set for upward travel. These contacts are included to open the circuit through the latch release coil as soon as the latch relay has been released and thereby minimize the heating of the latch relay coils.

It is sometimes desirable to cause the car to reverse whether or not there is a call at the floor at which the car is approaching when itreceives its high call signal. In this event the H1 contacts shown in line 10 are connected in parallel with. the SD contacts in line 9. Since the H1 contacts are closed during up peak program operation it follows that the car will reverse at the next floor as soon as it receives 'a high call signal. Other circuits are included in the control system of the elevator so that it' cannot reverse between floors but rather travels to the next floor and then reverses even though the high call relay ma operate while the car is between floors.

Each time the elevator car directional control relay'RL is reversed current flows through the car button magnet release relay R3 to open its contacts in' line 12 thus deen'ergizing the car button magnets and canceling all car' button calls that may have been registered.

As shown in Figure I the car button magnets cannot be energized when the car is standing at the lower terminal awaiting dispatch. During this time, when the system is conditioned for down peak operation, contacts H3 in line 13 are open, gate contacts G in line 11 are open' and the CUL contacts inline 12 are open. Therefore it isimpossible for passengers to register car calls as long as the car is standing at the lower terminal during down peak program-operation.

Figure II illustrates asecond embodiment of the inven tionwherein, during down peak operation, the car button magnets are held de-energi'zed for a particular length of time after thecar arri'vesat the bottom terminal. Asthe car, du'ring 'thi's down peak operation, arrives at the bottom terminal a circuit is completed while the car buttonmagnet release relay RB is energized through contacts H3 line I14 of the down peak program relay, contacts RL of the latch relay, which close as soon as the latch relay is reset for up direction, thence through contacts RB arms; car' button r'ele'ase relay and then through a timer T strewn in line-1 14 of Figure II. The timer? T ir niile'dia t'ely' upon beingenergizedclosesits contac ts in line 1-15 to complete a sealing circuit around thewRB and- RL contacts 'as well as the H3 contacts; When the timer is energized it opens its contacts T in line- 1 12 thereby breaking the circuit from lead L3 through a resistor 30 (corresponding to the resistor 22) and thence through the timer contacts T, the car button release relay contacts RB to the car button magnets 31 that are connected to the return lead L4. When the timer times out, that is at the expiration of its preset time interval, it opens its contacts in line 115 and closes its contacts in line 112. Since this breaks the circuit to the timer it then resets to its initial condition with the contacts T in line 112 closed and the contacts in line 115 open. This i e-establishes current flow to the car button magnets so that car calls may be registered after the expiration of the time interval.

The directional latch relay contacts RL in line 114 are included in this circuit to control the timer T so that the timer can operate only when the directional latch relay R1. is set for upward travel. By this provision the timer cannot operate at the upper terminal or after the car reverses for downward travel.

In this arrangement, during down peak operation, the car button magnets are held de-energized for a predetermined length of time after the car reverses for upward travel. This time is preferably equal to the normal unloading time so that the circuit will be ready to accept destination calls of passengers who enter as soon as the car is unloaded.

The two foregoing arrangements provide for de-energizing the car button magnets in a period of time either while the car is at the terminal and until it departs or for a given length of time after it arrives at the lower terminal regardless of whether or not operating conditions indicate that passengers have been left at upper terminals. Since the improved circuit arrangement is designed to counteract the tendency of some passengers to register up calls as they leave a car as a favor for a friend left at an upper fioor there is no necessity to de-energize the car buttons for this time interval in the event no passengers were left. The circuit in Figure III is slightly more complicated than the others but it provides for de-energizing the car buttons only in the event that the car bypassed signals on its trip downwardly to the lobby floor. The circuit in Figure III is similar to that in Figure II except for the additional by-pass delay relay BPD shown in line 216 and the substitution of contacts BPD of the by-pass delay relay for the down peak relay contacts H3 in line 214, corresponding to line 114 of Figure II. In the circuit of Figure III the by-pass relay contacts BP in line 216 are open as long as the car is operating normally in answering hall calls. When the by-pass switch in the car is actuated to by-pass calls the by-pass relay is de-energized and contacts BP in line 216 closed so as to energize the relay BPD from lines L5 and L6. This relay immediately seals itself in by way of its contacts BPD in line 217 which are connected in series with normally closed timer contacts so as to complete a sealing circuit around the by-pass relay contacts. The relay BPD is therefore energized until the timer is energized thereby opening its contact T in line 216. Timer T shown in line 214 is energized as soon as latch relays are reset for upward travel and car button magnet release relay RB is energized. This circuit as shown in line 214 carries current from lead L5 through contacts RL of the directional latch relay that are closed when the relay is conditioned for upward travel, thence through contacts BPD of the by-pass delay relay that are closed as soon as the car has by-passed a call on its previous trip, thence through the contacts RB of the car button release relay. The timer as soon as it is energized closes its contacts T in line 215 thereby completing a sealing circuit for the timer. The timer also opens its contacts in line 212 so as to deenergize the car button magnets. As soon as the timer times out it opens its contacts in line 215 to de-energize itself and thereby re-establish the current flow through the now closed car button release relay contact RB in line 212 so that the car buttons are again in condition to register car calls.

In this arrangement, anytime the car on its downward travel by-passes registered hall calls, circuits are established so that for a predetermined time interval after the car reverses at the bottom terminal the car but-ton magnets are de-energized so that car calls cannot be registered. This circuit thus provides the feature that the de-energization of the car button magnets for the predetermined time interval occurs only when that feature'is necessary to correct any threatened misuse of the elevator system.

Various modifications in the circuits may be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

Having described the invention, I claim:

1. In a control circuit for an elevator, in combination,

a car button assembly in the elevator car for registering desination calls, electromagnetic means for holding registered desination calls, means for momentarily de-energizing the electromagnetic means when the elevator reverses at a terminal floor, and means effective during periods of heavy down traffic for holding the electromagnetic means tie-energized during the unloading time interval at the bottom terminal.

2. In a control circuit for an elevator, in combination, a car button assembly in the elevator car for registering destination calls, electromagnetic means in the assembly for holding depressed buttons in depressed position, means for momentarily de-energizing the electromagnetic means when the elevator reverses at a terminal floor, and means effective during periods of heavy down tralfic for holding the electromagnetic mean de-energized during the unloading time interval at the bottom terminal.

3. In a control circuit for an elevator, in combination, a car button assembly in the elevator car for registering destination calls, electromagnetic means for holding registered destination calls, means for momentarily de-energizing the electromagnetic means when the elevator reverses, and time delay means for delaying the re-energization of the electromagnetic means when the car reverses at the lower terminal during periods of heavy down trafiic.

4. In a control circuit for an elevator, in combination, a car button assembly in the elevator car for registering destination calls, electromagnetic means for holding depressed buttons in depressed position, means for momentarily de-energizing the electromagnetic means when the elevator reverses, and time delay means for delaying the re-energization of the electromagnetic means when the car reverses at the lower terminal during periods of heavy down trafiic.

5. In a control circuit for an elevator, in combination, a car button assembly in the elevator car for registering destination calls, electromagnetic means for holding registered destination calls, means for energizing the electromagnetic means while the elevator is in use, a trafiic program selector having contacts, means for momentarily de-energizing the electromagnetic means when the elevator reverses at a terminal floor, and means controlled at least in part by the program selector for increasing the time duration of the de-energization of the electromagnetic means when the elevator reverses at the lower terminal.

6. In a control circuit for an elevator, in combination, a car button assembly in the elevator car, electromagnetic means for holding depressed buttons in depressed position. means for energizing the electromagnetic means while the elevator is in use, a trafiic program selector having contacts, means for momentarily de-energizing the electromagnetic means when the elevator reverses at a terminal floor, and means controlled at least in part by the program selector for increasing the time duration of the deenergization of the electromagnetic means when the elevator reverses at the lower terminal.

7. In a control circuit for an elevator, in combination, a car button assembly in the elevator car for registering destination calls, electromagnetic means for holding registered destination calls, trafiic program responsive means that are conditioned according to expected passenger deman'ds; means for momentarilyde-energizingthe electromagnets when the elevatorcar reverses, means responsive a car button assemblyin the elevator car for registering destination calls, electromagnetic means for holding actuated buttons indepressed position, rne'an's for momentarily de-energizing the electromagnetic means" when the elevator'r'everses, program responsive means that are conditioned' according to expectedpassengendemands, a-timer' andv means controlled by the program'-respon'sivemeans and the timer for delaying the re-energization of the electromagneticimeans following areversalat the lower terminal. during periods of heavy down traffic.

9. In a control circuit for an-elevator; in combination, a car button assembly in the elevator for registering destination calls, electromagnetic means for holding actuated buttons in depressed position, mean for momentarily de-energizing the electromagnetic means when the elevator reverses, control means actuated when the elevator is conditioned to bypass hall calls, and means responsive to an operation of the by-pass controlled means prior to arrival of the elevator at the lower terminal for delaying. the re-energization' of the electromagnet for a prede termined period of time.

No references cited.

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