US3022864A - Elevator controls - Google Patents

Description

R. A. BURGY ETAL ELEVATOR CONTROLS Feb. 27, 1962 Filed July 13, 1960 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 r I I ,J HA) INC) INVENTORS RAYMOND AMBURGY PAUL F. DELAMATER ATTORNEYS Feb.

Filed July 13, 1960 R. A. BURGY ETAI.

ELEVATOR CONTROLS 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEYS United States Patent Toledo, Ohio, assignors to Toledo Scale Corporation, Toledo, 01110, a corporation of Ohio Filed July 13, 1960, Ser. No. 42,635 It) Ciairns. (Cl. 187-29) This invention relates to the controls for a group of elevators operating under a common control system and more particularly to those aspects of the controls involving the dispatching of elevator cars from dispatching termlnals in a given direction and the disposition of cars arrlving at those dispatching terminals from landings displaced therefrom in a direction opposite said given direcion.

The following description will deal primarily with the disposition of cars which have served a basement landing below a lower dispatching landing from which cars are dispatched upward. However, it is to be understood that the control functions and equipment for performing those functions disclosed herein are applicable toother than basement landings as where the dispatching fioor is near the upper limit of travel of the elevator cars and there are landings above that upper dispatching terminal from which cars will arrive. Similarly, while only a single floor beyond the dispatching terminal is discussed below it is to be understood that the features embodied herein might be applied where a plurality of such floors exist as where there are a multiplicity of landings below a lower dispatching floor.

It is common practice in elevator systems wherein a plurality of cars operate in an interrelated manner under the influence of a master control to stop the cars automatically at an intermediate landing, and under ordinary circumstances reverse those cars at this stop and dispatch them therefrom in the opposite direction from which they arrived. At a lower dispatching terminal descending cars are ordinarily stopped in the absence of calls either in the cars or at the landings for the landings below the lower dispatching terminal. Upon stopping they are reversed for upward travel and are thereafter dispatched upward in some organized manneras on a time interval basis, a space interval basis, a call requirement basis or a combination of these bases.

When calls are registered for service to landings beyond the dispatching landing in the direction opposite normal dispatching, cars are enabled to serve those landings and when assigned to such service are effectively removed from the group operation thereby diminishing the service alforded by the group to a substantial degree. When a car has traveled to a landing beyond the dispatching landing and is conditioned to return toward the dispatching landing, it can be treated in a number of ways. in the past such cars have been caused to stop at the dispatching landing and then to travel beyond the dispatching landing Without being introduced into the dispatching sequence and group operation. They have also been caused to pass the dispatching landing only if a call is registered in the car requiring its service beyond that landing in the dispatching direction. In the patent application of Raymond A. Burgy, Serial No. 832,772 filed August 10, 1959, for Elevator Controls, a system is shown wherein a car traveling from a basement landing to a lower dispatching landing stops at that lower dispatching landing and enters the dispatching sequence if a vacancy occurs in the load status for cars at the dispatching terminal during the stopping interval of that car, that car entering the load status and being the next to be dispatched from the dispatching floor. Each of these techniques has been aimed toward a compromise wherein service requirements imposed by loads received at landings beyond the dispatching floor are met expe- 3,022,864 Patented Feb. 27, 1362 ice ditiously yet the car serving those loads is returned to group service as rapidly as possible with as little disruption of the group operation as possible.

The present invention involves an improvement in the distribution of elevator cars serving dispatching terminals and landings beyond those dispatching terminals such as to minimize the detrimental effects of service to landings beyond on the regular operation of the system. Its objects are to improve elevator service, to expedite service for loads imposed upon elevator cars at landings beyond dispatching floors, to minimize the interval cars serving landings beyond dispatching floors are unavailable for normal group dispatching and to avoid unnecessary travel of cars without diminishing the service aitorded.

in accordance with these objects, one feature of this invention resides in expediting the dispatch of a car standing at a dispatching terminal conditioned for loading upon the arrival at that terminal of a car traveling from a landing beyond the dispatching terminal. A subsidiary feature involves substituting the arriving car in the load status so that it is the next car at the dispatching terminal to be conditioned for loading and to be dispatched by the normal dispatching operation.

Another feature of this invention comprises substituting a car arriving from a landing beyond the dispatching terminal into the load status for a car standing at the dispatching terminal upon which no demand for service has been imposed. This feature is particularly applicable to systems wherein the cars are permitted to become inactive and accumulate at the dispatching terminals when service requirements diminish, as during the night hours. At such times a car will be assigned a load status and maintain that status in accordance with certain operating schemes even though it is not dispatched from the terminal. A car arriving from a floor beyond will release the load car from its status and substitute itself so that an active car, upon which it is more likely service demand will be imposed, enters the load status and, if such demand is imposed, in due course is dispatched from the dispatching terminal.

The above and additional objects and features of this invention will be more fully appreciated from the following detailcd description when read with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. I is a schematic portrayal of a three-car elevator system having a lower dispatching landing, a plurality of landings above the lower dispatching landing and a basement below the lower dispatching landing and being controlled by a master supervisory control;

FIG. H is an across the line diagram of a portion of the control circuits actuated by the positioning of individual cars along their paths of travel utilized in this invention;

FIG. III is an across the line diagram of circuits common to the several cars of the group which function according to this invention; and

FIG. IV is an across the line diagram of a dispatching control circuit for the group.

Only those portions of an elevator system directly involved in the controls of this invention are disclosed herein, it being understood that this invention is applicable to many types of systems wherein difierent types of individual car controls and system controls are employed. It is advantageous to arrange the cars so that they can be operated either with or without attendants and will run when operating without attendants in response to the registration of calls at landings or in the cars. The system should be provided with a main dispatching terminal near the lower limits of car travel at which cars are required to stop when they descend to that terminal and have no demand imposed upon them requiring them to travel below that terminal. If a demand for travel beassess a low the main terminal is registered the cars can either be arranged to stop at the terminal and then proceed to respond to that demand or can proceed directly to respond to that demand without stopping unless a call is registered which requires a stop at the main terminal. One system of car control including a supervisory control for a group of elevators is disclosed in R. A. Burgy patent application, Serial No. 808,290 which was filed March 30, 1959, for Elevator Controls. Reference is made to that disclosure for a control as illustrative of one practical system which can incorporate the circuits depicted herein.

FIG. I represents a bank of three cars, A, B, and C. Throughout the specification and drawings those elements individual to the cars have been identified therewith by the sufiix letter designating the car enclosed in parentheses. Thus, CUPHA) is the lower terminal selection relay for car A and contacts similarly designated are the contacts of that relay for that car.

The illustrated system can be considered to constitute a bottom floor designated a basement B, a first floor above the basement which will be considered the main terminal or lower dispatching terminal 1, a top floor T which can be an upper dispatching terminal and a plurality of floors intermediate the main terminal and the upper dispatching terminal. It will be understood that the invention is applicable to a bank of elevators containing any number of cars and serving any number of floors and that the system of three cars has been chosen for illustrative purposes only.

The elements individually associated with car A include a car 11 suspended by hoisting cables 12 trained over a traction sheave TS; driven by a lifting motor 14 which may be of any convenient type but ordinarily is arranged for variable voltage control as in the well-known Ward-Leonard type system. Coupled to the opposite end of the lifting cable 12 is a counterweight 15. A floor selector 16 is associated with the car to establish appropriate circuits for the car position at any instant. This 'fioor selector can be of the commutating type including a two coordinate system of contact segments on a panel where contacts for given functions are oriented in vertical lanes and the several contacts of the circuits performing difierent functions for each floor are generally aligned in rows transverse of those lanes. A crosshead (not shown) sustaining a number of commutating brushes is mounted to be carried along the contacts parallel to the lanes either in synchronism with the car or suitably in advance of the running car and in synchronisrn with the stopped car, depending on the nature of the selecting machine and controls. While. the contacts of the floor selector illustrated in the circuits to be described are mechanically commutated by a crosshead which is advanced with respect to the car while it is running, it is to be appreciated that controls employing other forms of mechanical commutators well known to the art can be adapted to this invention and that other forms of selector devices such as relay selectors also lend themselves to utilization of the features of this invention.

Each of the cars A to C have individual controls including the floor selectors 16 (A) through 16(C) and supplemental equipment apart from those floor selectors. All of these car controls are integrated into a system insuring interrelated operation of the cars by means of a group supervisory control, schematically represented by the rectangle l7, interlinked to the door selectors by the cable 18. The group supervisory control 17 can include means for establishing various programs of operation in accordance with manual selecting devices, call control devices, or means sensing conditions in the elevator system. it can also include dispatch timers or devices which dispatch on other than a time basis for certain aspects of the invention and means for generally controlling the operating pattern of individual cars and the group even to the extent of removing cars from service or introducing cars into service.

The invention will be considered as applied to an auto matic elevator system wherein no attendants are required on the cars and the passengers direct the car operation by indicating their demands for service from hall call registering means i? located at each of the several floors and including down hall call means at the top through the first fioor and up hall call registering means at the basement through the door adjacent the top floor. These call registering means can be common to all cars in the bank and are schematically represented as interconnected to the several cars through the group supervisory control rectangle 17 by means of cable 29. Passengers within the cars indicate their desired destination by the registra tion of calls upon call registering means therein (not shown) which can be individual to the several hours served by the cars.

A system of this nature can readily be transferred to operator control wherein prospective passengers employ the landing buttons to register their calls to stop the car automatically and the operator employs the car buttons to set up the stops for the car, the primary function of the operator being to direct the passengers and to actuate the closing operation of the elevator doors inasmuch as the doors will open automatically upon stopping as in a sy tem operating without attendants.

in order to facilitate an understanding of the circuits illustrated in FIGS. II through IV an alphabetical listing of the symbols for the relays and contacts utilized is presented below together with a short description of those relays and the location, if shown, of their actuating coils. These relays and all other circuit elements are shown in across the line diagrams. The relay contacts, therefore, are often located remote from their actuating coils. In order to correlate the location of the actuating coils and contacts, a marginal key has been employed with each of the circuit diagrams. With this key each diagram has been divided into horizontal bands which are identified with line numbers in the right hand margin. Relay symbols are located in the margin to the right of the line numbers and in horizontal alignment with the coil. positions. The location of each contact actuated by a relay coil is set forth to the right of the relay symbol by the numeral of the line upon which it appears. The numerals designating the location of back contacts, those which are normally closed when the relay is deenergized and are opened when it is energized, are underlined in the key to distinguish them from front contacts, those which are closed upon the energization of the coil with which they are associated. Thus,- the up load relay for car A, CUL(A), appearing on line 55 has front contacts at lines 34, 55, 56 and 66 and back contacts at lines 25, 31, 42, and 51, as signified by the numerals in the margin of FIG. 1V at line 55. The relay and switch symbols illus trated in the diagrams are as follows:

Designation Above main floor relay Bnsarncntrun relay... Up 1r run relay C112 call above reldyfciws A to C l)oor cl "inc. rcla Up dispatch relay, cars A to 0. Up load relay, cars A to 6.-

Load ear reset. relay Lower terminal selection relay, cars A to CUD(A) to (0) OUL(A) to (C) OULR CUNLK) to (0)."

Up illispatoh timer hold relay.

d .patoh tit. r in. crval Up scheduling relay 1 Bottom dispatchinc floor rel Auxiliary bottom dispatching n00. relay Master door reclusint! relay Uo rotary disaatch selector siritch I-lall call indication relay. Up call indication. relay Up encrator field re Load car :eq'iencc rela Description of FIG. 11

FIG. II illustrates certain of the circuits operated by the floor selector of a typical car. All circuits are supplied from a suitable source of alternating current connected across the power leads GN and EN. These circuits are actuated by the elfective travel of the car which causes the crosshead carried brush 91 to be engaged with the floor selector contact segment 92, 93 or 94 when the car effectively reaches positions in its travel corresponding to the position of those contacts in the floor selector lane. The term effective car position is employed herein to designate the position at which the car can respond to signals as determined by the crosshead position, for example. Thus a car might be a floor or more away from a landing when its crosshead reaches a position on the selector corresponding to the landing in a system using an advanced crosshead. When a car runs upward from the lower dispatching floor so that its up generator field relay is energized to close contact UF at 21 and brush )1 engages contact 94 at 21, relay BUR is energized momentarily to actuate certain controls including the reset of the dispatch timer as will be described below. The arrowhead lead 95 extends to the contacts of other floor selectors (not shown) corresponding to contact 94 through up generator field relay contacts (not shown) of those other cars such that departure of any car from the lower dispatching terminal upward will actuate relay BUR.

When a car is stopped at the lower terminal, its MG relay at 22 is energized through the engagement of brush 91 with floor selector contact 93. This relay is of primary significance in the dispatch control operations as will be discussed. Auxiliary lower dispatch terminal relay MGX at 23 is energized with relay MG until the car standing at a lower terminal is issued a dispatch signal and its CUD relay is energized to open contact CUD at 23. Relay MGX functions in the dispatch circuits principally in resetting certain of the relays.

Basement run relay BR at 24 is energized as the car effectively reaches the basement landing. Thus when the crosshead, moving in advance of the car, moves brush 91 into contact with contact segment 92, relay BR is pulled in. This relay seals itself in through the circuit at 25 including contact BR, up load relay back contact CUL and above main floor relay back contact AMF. Therefore, relay BR remains energized until the car either travels above the lower dispatching landing to open contact AMF of a relay which is energized while the car is effectively above the lower dispatching landing or until the car enters the up load status and opens its back contact CUL.

Description of FIG. III

Load car reset relay CULR at 32 responds to the arrival from the basement of a car and upon responding removes the then current up load car from its up load status creating a vacancy in that status which can be filled by the car arriving from the basement. If a car is in load status, relay XT is energized to close its contact at 32 and enable CULR to be energized. For example, the arrival of car A from the basement would energize CULR through the circuit at 31 inasmuch as car As basement run relay would close contact BR(A), its presence at the main dispatching terminal would close its contact MGX(A), and until it enters the up load status contact CUL(A) would be closed. The present system contemplates sustaining a car in up load status even when it is not at the main dispatch terminal when the system is providing a reduced level of service, as at night. Thus, when operated in that manner a load status car can run to the basement. Such a car should not operate the load car reset relay CULR, accordingly, its CUL contacts are opened at 25 to bar energization of ER under these circumstances and prevent such operation. In this manner a load car returning from the basement retains its load status on the right program. Energization of CULR closes its contact at 39 to issue an up dispatch signal to a load car as will be described. Other CULR contacts at 55, 56, 6t and 64 are opened to release the car conditioned for loading, one in up load status, from that status. These circuits are efiective where the doors of the load car are closed and no call is registered requiring the dispatch of the released car or where the system is conditioned to retain up load status on a car away from the main terminal.

Up dispatch reset relay DFUL at 35 is energized when any car in the bank is in the up load status to close contact CUL at 34 through 36 for that car. DFUL enters into the reset sequence for up scheduling relay KU as will be described with respect to the circuit at line 41 and completes a portion of the energizing circuit for relay KU in conjunction with load car reset relay CULR at line 39.

Load car sequence relay XT is of the rapid pull-in slow dropout type and is energized with relay DFUL through the up load relay contacts at 34 through 36 of any car in up load status. It controls contacts in the up load relay circuits at 54 through 65 to afford a preference in introducing basement run cars into up load status over cars which were selected and standing at the lower dispatching floors with their lower terminal selection relay CUN energized. XT also controls up dispatch reset relay DFUT at 37 to control the reset of the dispatching equipment and particularly of scheduling relay KU to be described. By opening its XT contact at 32 when no car is in the load status relay CULR is prevented from operating and proper sequencing of operation is assured. No reset of a load car can occur in the absence of a load car; hence load car reset relay need not operate at this time. The car arriving from the basement encountering a vacancy in load status enters that status immediately as will be described.

Up scheduling relay KU at 39 when energized closes a contact at 66 to energize the up dispatching relay of a car in the up load status whereby that car is started away from the main terminal. A number of energizing circuits and resetting circuits are provided for up scheduling relay KU. Timed dispatching is efiected through the closure of contact J3 at 38 upon energization of the third up dispatch timer interval relay (not shown) provided a load car is available and a call is in registration to which that load car can respond so that up dispatch timer holding relay DFU is decnergized and its back contact at 38 is closed. KU can also be energized in accordance with this invention by the arrival from the basement of a car which energizes load car reset relay CULR as described and closes contact CULR at 39, provided another car is in load status and has energized the up dispatch reset relay DEUL to close its contact at 39 and provided a call for travel above is in registration to deenergize relay UC, in a manner to be described, and close its back contact at line 39.

As disclosed in detail in the aforenoted Burgy application, Serial No. 808,290, up scheduling relay KU resets the dispatch timer controlling the operation of dispatch interval relays J2 and I3 in addition to issuing a dispatch signal to the car currently in up load status. Upon departure of a car from the main terminal relay BUR at 21 is energized to close contact BUR at 49, and again reset relay KU and the dispatch timer. Relay KU is of the magnetic latch type wherein a pull-in coil is energized through the circuit including the leads extending from the symbol horizontally and a reset coil is connected across the vertical lead and the right hand horizontal lead. Energization of the pull-in coil generates sufiicient flux to hold the relay energized even after that circuit is opened and until the reset coil is energized to generate an opposing or dropout flux. The closure of contact BUR energizes this reset circuit. Relay KU is also reset shortly after the dispatch signal is issued to a load car through the circuit at 41. Upon issuance of a dispatch 7 signal, relay MGX is deenergized by the opening of back contact CUD at 23. This opens contact MGX for the up load car at lines 51 through 53 to drop out the cars up load relay CUL, thereby opening the energizing circuits for DFUL and X? at lines 34 through 36. DFUL drops out immediately closing its contact at line 42. However, relay X1 has a delayed dropout and therefore maintains its contact at 3'7 closed to hold DFUT ener gized and therefore contact DFUT at 41 closed. This maintains continuity of a reset circuit at line 411 for the relay KU. Shortly after the dropout of iii], relay times out opening its contact at 37 and dropping relay DFUT to open that contact at it after another dropout interval. Thus, the reset circuit for relay KU is opened and KU is enabled for the dispatching of additional cars.

Dispatch timer holding relays DFUA at 42. and DFU at prevent the dispatch of a car in the absence of a call which it is capable of serving and detent the dispatcher when it is only partially timed out. These relays are enabled when the second up dispatch timer interval relay I2 is energized to close its contact at 42. If no up load car is available at this time, the series of normally closed CUL contacts at 42 are closed to complete a circuit energizing relay DFUA. This relay stops the timing operation or" the timer while holding it partially timed out with relay J2 energized. It closes a contact at 43 to energize relay DFU. Upon a car entering the up load status and opening both its CUL and MGX contacts, relay DFUA is deenergized and the dispatch timer is permittcd to continue timing its dispatching interval. DFU is deenergized provided the energizing circuit through contact UC at 44 is open indicating that a call is registered above the lower dispatching door which can be served by the current load car.

Relay UC appears at line 45. When it is energized it indicates an absence of a call which the load car is capable of serving. Upon registration of any call which the loadrcar can serve, relay UC is deenergized. A landing call when registered deenergizes relay SS to drop out its contact at 45. A car call above the load car drops relay UC by opening its contact CB such that the parallel circuit provided by back contacts CB at 46 and parallel back contact CUL at are both open for that car.

Description of FIG. IV

The circuits for dispatching cars from the main terminal are disclosed in FIG. IV. They include lower terminal selection relays CUN for the individual cars, only one of which is energized at any given time to indicate that that car is conditioned as the next to be conditioned for departure from the lower dispatching terminal. While all of the details of the lower terminal car selection circuits are not shown in the diagrams, the purpose of these relays is to efi'ect a selection determining which car will depart either by assignment to an up load status energizing its CUL relay or by assignment for travel to a landing below the lower dispatching terminal where such travel is required.

The up load relays CUL for the individual cars are energized individually to introduce a car into the up load status and maintain it in that status. Whenso conditioned, a car receives passengers and is enabled to receive a dispatching signal when the system senses conditions warranting the dispatch of the car. This dispatching signal is issued through the energization of up dispatching relay CUD for that car.

The presence of a car at the lower dispatching floor energizes its relay MGX to close its contact at lines 57., 52 or 53. If the car has not arrived from the basement, its BR hack contact at lines 53, 52 or 53- is also closed and if it is not upload status, its CUL contact at one of those lines is closed. Thus its lower terminal selection relay circuit is enabled and can be completed by the operation of up rotary dispatch selection switch contact .21 contact, energizing relay CUIMA) at 51. CUNQ-l) closes its contact at line 55 to enable the energization of the up load relay for car A provided there is a vacancy in the up load status.

Assuming that car B is currently in the up load status and has its CULGB) relay at 59 energized, and relay DFUT is energized as described to open its contact at 63, the closing of contact CUN(A) at 55 has no effect due to the open DFUT contact at 63. When car B is dispatched and its CUL(B) relay is deencrgizcd to ultimately drop out DFUT and relay XT, a circuit is completed for relay CUL(A) as follows: Contact MGX(A) at 51, lead 95, coil CUL(A), contact CUN(A) at 55, lead 96, contact DFUT at 63, contact XT at 62 to lead BN. CUL(A) then pulls in to first close its contact CUL(A) at 56 and establish a sealing circuit from MGX(A), lead 95, contact CUL(A), back contacts CULR at 556 and CLHA) at 57, leads 9'! and 98 to lead BN. It also enables an energizing circuit for up dispatch relay CUD(A) by closing a contact at 66. In addition, it actuates a number of auxiliary relays shown in FIG. Ill, opening CUL(A) contact at 31, with no efi'ect at this time, closing contact CUL(A) at 34 to energize DFUL and X1", opening contact CUL at line 25 with no eilect at this time inasmuch as it was assumed that the car did not arrive from the basement and relay ER is deenergized, opening contact CUL(A) at 42 to prevent the energization of relay DFUA when contact 12 is closed, opening contact CUL(A) at to open one portion of the energizing circuit for up call relay UC whereby that relay will be dropped upon the energization of a car call in car A to open contact CB(A) at 46, opening contact CUL(A) at 51 to deenergize relay CUN(A) enabling another car to be selected by operation of the rotary dispatch selector RSU and closing a contact CUL(A) at 55 with no eifect at this time. Since the cars MG relay is energized to closed contact MG(A) at 66, upon the operation of relay KU closing its contact at 66, car A is dispatched by operation of relay CUD(A) through the circuit MG(A), CUD(A), CUL(A) and KU, all at 66.

At night when the trafiic is light and the lifting motors of the elevator cars are shut down, it is desirable to confine service to one car if this can be done without detracting from the service provided. In order to do this, a load car is enabled to maintain its load status even though it is away from the fioor inasmuch as it is the only car with its motor operating. The circuit at 55 and 56 maintains this load status by holding the cars CUL relay energized. Thus as described, ordinarily the issuance of a dispatch signal by energization of relay CUD drops out relay MGX at 23 to open its contact at 51 and drop the up load relay CUL. However, the circuit at 55 and 56 establishes a seal around this open MGX contact on the night or low intensity service. On night service, the doors of the elevator cars are reclosed when they arrive at the main terminal and master door reclosin" relay RCL, not shown, is energized to close. its contact at 55. A car which is required to travel from the main terminal maintains its load status in the absence of a hall call through closed contact 55 at 55', closed contact RCL, closed contact CULR and closed contact CUL at 5'5, or 63 depending on which car is in the load status. if a hall call is in registration and relay ES deenergized to open its contact 55, the load status will be maintained on the car while it is away from the terminal only until the detent point is reached by the dispatch timer to close contact J2 at 42 to energize relay DFUA. Relay DFUA is energized at this time even though a car is in the up load status since the load cars MGX contact at 43 is closed while it is away from the terminal to bypass its open CUL contact at 42.

Operation The above described equipment responds to the arrival of a car from the basement by removing the car then in the up load status from that status, placing the newly arrived car in that status in preference to any others which might be available for such conditioning, and enabling that car to be dispatched if warranted. When a car is removed from theup load status, it is dispatched upward if a call is registered to which it can respond. However, if no calls are registered for that car under certain operating conditions, it is merely removed from load status without dispatching.

In considering the operation, first assume that all cars are reasonably active as in a normal working day, a car arrives from the basement and there is no car at the lower terminal in the up load status. Under these circumstances, no CUL relay is energized and relays DFUT and XI are deenergized. The car arriving from the basement has its BR relay energized so that contacts BR at 51, 52 or 53 are open for that car and BR contacts at 54, 58 or 62 are closed. As relay MGX for the car is energized, its relay CUL is pulled in inasmuch as a circuit is completed through contacts MGX, BR and XT between leads GN and EN. When the car enters the load status, it can be dispatched in the normal manner as soon as the dispatching interval expires provided a call is registered to which it can respond. In this regard it should be recognized that while the present system is arranged to operate on call, that is, to release cars from the dispatching terminal only when a call is in registration, the invention might be applied to a system Where cars are dispatched on regular time intervals without departing from its spirit.

If all cars are in operation under normal daytime service and a car is available at the dispatching terminal in load status with its CUL relay energized at the time another car arrives from the basement with its BR relay energized, relay CULR at 32 is pulled in to open its contact at line 56, 59 or 64 with no efiect provided the car doors are not reclosed and contact CLl at 57, 61 or 65 is closed. However, if the call is in registration the load car is dispatched through the circuit energizing up scheduling relay KU at 39 including contacts DFUL which are closed since the car is in load status, CULR closed by the arrival of the car from the basement, and back contact U-C indicating that a call is in registration above the main terminal. The load car then advances into dispatched status with its dispatch relay CUD energized and its up load relay CUL deenergized. Basement run car fills this vacancy in the up load status. KU also resets the dispatch timer so that it initiates a new timing interval for the arriving car newly admitted to the up load status. Upon the expiration of that dispatching interval, relay KU is energized by the dispatch timing means through contact J3 and that basement car which was admitted to load status is dispatched by having its CUD relay energized.

In both of the above examples, it should be noted that the presence of a car at the lower terminal with its CUN relay energized has no effect in introducing that car into the up load status while a basement run car is available for such introduction because of the time sequencing of the relays XT and DFT. Thus XT drops out a suitable-dropout interval following the release of the up load car and initiates the dropout of relay DFUT. However, DFUT remains held in for the dropout interval suilieient for the load relay of the car arriving from the basement to pull in under the influence of closed contact BR in the up load relay circuit to lead 99 and holds contact DFUT at line 63 open preventing the CUN contact of the other car at the terminal connected to lead 96, from being etfective in actuating its up load relay.

If a car arrives from the basement when a load car is at the lower terminal but no call is registered which can be served by the load car is registered during the time the basement run car is stopped at the terminal, the basement run car proceeds upward without entering the load status and the load car continues to await a call for service. Under these circumstances the basement run car stops for an interval determined as for any other stop. -t is blocked from entering load status since relay KU is prevented from operating by the energized call relay UC which opens contact UC at 39 and cause contact DFU at 38 to be open. The current load car is not dispatched and therefore no vacancy occurs in the load status which can be filled by the basement run car.

As noted above, on night operation the cars tend to shut down, and in shutting down close their doors. Incidental to the closure of the individual car doors, the door reclosing relays CLl (not shown) individual to the cars are energized to open the contacts for those cars at 57, 61 and 65. These contacts cooperate with the load car release relay to release a car in load status with its doors closed at the main terminal from load status in response to the arrival of a car from the basement. That car is released without being dispatched it no call is registered to which it can respond and relay KU does not operate. Assume car A is the load car at the lower dispatching floor with its doors closed, thus relay CUL(A) is energized through contacts MGX(A) at 51, contact CUL(A) and CULR at 56, and leads 97 and 98. Since the doors are reclosed, contact CL1(A) at 57 is open. If car B were to arrive from the basement, its BR relay would be energized opening contact BR(B) at line 52 to prevent the energization of CUN(B). Contact BR(B) at 58 would close to enable with contact MGX(B) at 52 an energizing circuit for up load relay CUL(B) as soon as car A is released from the up load status. Car B energizes relay CULR through the circuit at line 32 including contacts BR(B), MGX(B), CUL(B) and XT. Relay CULR opens its contact at line 56 to drop out relay CUL(A) in view of the open CL1(A) contact at 57. This drops out relay DFUL, and deenergizes relay XT which drops out after a time to close its contact at 62. When the XT contact at 62 closes CUL(B) is energized and car B enters the up load status and is dispatched if a call is registered at the end of the dispatch interval.

Under the conditions assumed car A is not dispatched unless a call is registered to which it can respond. If a call is in registration to which the load car can respond, relay UC is deenergized. Under these circumstances, KU is energized when CULR pulls in at 39 through contact DPUL, CULR and UC to send car A away from the lower dispatching terminal as a dispatched car. If, on the other hand, no hall call is registered and no car call was registered incidental to an entry of a passenger prior to the closing of the doors for car A, car A remains at the lower dispatching floor because relay KU is not energized. It is thus seen that a car arriving from the basement at the main dispatching floor when the system is on reduced service will remove the load car from load dispatching and dispatch that car only if its travel is required.

As noted the night service operation contemplated for this system includes maintenance of up load status on a car while it is located at other than a main dispatching floor through the holding circuit at line 55 bypassing the MGX contacts at 151 through 153. If a car arrives at the main dispatching terminal from the basement while the load car is away from the floor, the load car relinquishes its status to this newly arriving car. While the load car is away from the floor, door reclosing contacts CLl at 57, 61 or 65 are closed to seal a circuit around contact CULR at -5, 69 or 64. However, the load cars seal circuit around its MGX contact is opened at line 55 by the energization of CULR to open its contact at 55. This breaks the seal circuit for the current load car and creates the vacancy which is occupied by the car arriving from the basement through the sequencing which closes contact XT to render contact BR at 54, 53 or as effective in pulling in the up load relay CUL of that arriving car prior to contacts CUN at 54, 53 or 62 for any other car. As in previous instances that car assumes load status with the same effect as any other and is dispatched in due course by the dispatch timer provided a call is registered to which it can respond.

8n night service the load car may be sent to the basement. In this instance it is unnecessary for the load car reset relay CULR to operate when the load car returns from the basement to the main displatching terminal in asmuch as it would merely remove and reintroduce that car into the load status. Accordingly, if the load car is serving the basement, back contact CUL at 25 is open to maintain the cars BR contact at 31, 32 or 33 open and CULR is disabled so that the resetting operation does not occur.

In each instance when. a car ariving from the basement enters the load status, it drops its basement run relay BR by opening contact CUL at line 25. This drops the up load reset relay CULR by opening contact BR at line 31 through 33. Thus the arriving cars CUL relay can be pulled in and sealed in to maintain it in the load status until it is dispatched.

It will be appreciated from the above that the arrival of a car from a floor beyond the dispatching terminal causes a car at that terminal in the load status, that is conditioned to be loaded and then dispatched, to be dis patched expeditiously, if a call is registered to which it can respond, creating a vacancy in that load status which is filled by the arriving'car in preference to all others. One exception to this mode of operation occurs on re duccd service Where there is no need to dispatch the load car in which instance it'is merely removed from the load status and replaced by the arriving car. Thus, the floor beyond service disrupts the dispatching system and the scheduling of cars a minimum amount. The system is returned to its normal mode of operation with full capacity as rapidly as possible. Passengers'entering a car at the basement may be delayed by a somewhat extended stopping interval at the main landing when they seek to travel to landings above the terminal. However, this delay is limited to a maximum of one dispatch in'erval and imposes a minimum of inconvenience on those passengers. Further, the system is arranged to effectively utilize cars and cause them to run only when it is necessary in the interest of serving existing calls.

It is to be appreciated that the above disclosure lends itself to modification and incorporation systems other than those considered here. Accordingly, this disclosure is to be read as illustrative and not in a limiting sense and many modifications are recognized to be available without departing from its spirit or scope.

Having ascribed the invention, we claim:

1; An elevator system comprising a plurality of cars serving dispatching landing, a plurality of landings displaced in given direction from said dispatching landing and at least one landing beyond said dispatching landing in a second direction opposite said given direction, means to condition cars for loading at said dispatching landing and means responsive to the travel of a car toward said dispatching landing only from said second direction for eleasing a conditioned car from said conditioned state.

2. An elevator system comprising a plurality of cars serving a dispatching landing, a plurality of landings displaced in a given direction from said dispatching landing at least one-landing eyond said dispatching land 12 ing in a' second direction opposite said given direction, means to condition cars for loading at said dispatching landing and means responsive to the travel of a car toward said dispatching landing only from said second direction for expediting the dispatch of said conditioned car.

3. An elevator system comprising a plurality of cars serving a dispatching landing, a plurality of landings displaced in a given direction from said dispatching landing and at least one landing beyond said dispatching landing a second direction opposite said given direction, means to condition cars for loading at said dispatching landing, means sensing the travel of a car to said landing beyond, means responsive to the effective arrival of a car at said dispatching landing only from said landing beyond and means actuated by the response of said last named means for releasing said conditioned car from said conditioned state.

4. An elevator system comprising a plurality of cars serving a dispatching landing, a plurality of landings displaced in a given direction from said dispatching landing and at least one landing beyond said dispatching landing in a second direction opposite said given direction, means to condition cars for loading at said dispatching landing, means responsive to the travel of a car to said dispatching landing only from said landing beyond said dispatching landin for dispatching said conditioned car, and means for conditioning said car from said landing beyond for loading at said dispatching landing.

5. An elevator system comprising a plurality of cars serving a dispatching landing, a plurality of landings displaced in a given direction from said dispatching landing and at least one landing beyond said dispatching landing in a second direction opposite said given direction, means to condition cars for dispatching from said dispatching landing, means responsive to the travel of a car to said dispatching landing only from said landing beyond said dispatching landing for dispatching said conditioned car, and means for conditioning said car from said landing beyond for loading at said dispatching landing in preference to any other car at said dispatching landing.

6. An elevator system comprising a plurality of cars serving a dispatching landing, a plurality of landings displaced in a given direction from said dispatching landing and at least one landing beyond said dispatching landing in a second direction opposite said given direction, means to condition cars for loading at said dispatching landing, means responsive to travel of a car to said dispatching landing only from said landing beyond said dispatching landing for releasing said conditioned car from said conditioned state and means for conditioning said car from said landing beyond for loading at said dispatching landing in preference to any other car at said dispatching landing.

7. An elevator system comprising a plurality of cars serving a dispatching landing, a plurality of landings displaced in a given direction from said dispatching landing and at least one landing beyond said dispatching landing in a second direction opposite said given direction, means to condition cars for loading at said dispatching landing, means to register calls for service by said cars, means responsive to a registered call which said conditioned car is capable of serving and means enabled when said last named means is responsive and responsive to the travel of a car toward said dispatching landing from said second direction only for expediting the dispatch of a conditioned car.

8. An elevator system comprising a plurality of cars serving a dispatching landing, a plurality of landings spaced in a first direction from said dispatching landing and at least one landing spaced from said dispatching landing in a second direction opposite said first direction, comprising means to condition a car at said dispatching landing as a load car which is next to be dispatched, means to maintain the status of a car conditioned as a load car while it is spaced from said dispatching landing, and means responsive to the arrival of a car at said dispatching landing only from said second direction for releasing the conditioned car from said load status.

9. An elevator system comprising a plurality of cars serving a dispatching landing, a plurality of landings spaced in a first direction from said dispatching landing and at least one landing spaced from said dispatching landing in a second direction opposite said first direction,

comprising means to condition a car at said dispatching landing as a load car which is next to be dispatched, means to maintain the status of a car conditioned as a load car while it is spaced from said dispatching landing, and means responsive to the arrival of a car other than said conditioned car at said dispatching landing only from said second direction for releasing the conditioned car from said load status.

10. An elevator system comprising a plurality of cars serving a dispatching landing, a plurality of landings spaced in a first direction from said dispatching landing and at least one landing spaced from said dispatching landing in a second direction opposite said first direction, comprising means to condition a car at said dispatching landing as a load car which is next to be dispatched, means to maintain the status of a car conditioned as a load car While it is spaced from said dispatching landing, means responsive to the arrival of a car other than said conditioned car at said dispatching landing only from said second direction for releasing the conditioned car from said load status and means for conditioning as a load car, said car which arrived at said dispatching landing from a point spaced therefrom in said second direction in preference to any other car at said dispatching landing.

No references cited.

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