US3592296A - Elevator floor selector correction control - Google Patents

Abstract

Coincidence of true elevator car position with floor selector indicated car position is monitored at each stop of the car. A lack of coincidence disables the control by the floor selector and causes it to institute hunting until it establishes coincidence with true elevator car position. Upon achieving coincidence hunting is stopped and its control reestablished.

Description

United States Patent Inventor Robert E. Senn Toledo, Ohio App]. No. 23,795

Filed Mar. 30, 1970 Patented July 13, 1971 Assignee Reliance Electric Company Cleveland, Ohio ELEVATOR FLOOR SELECTOR CORRECTION CONTROL l0 Chime, 6 Drawing Figs.

U.S Cl 187/29 R Int. Cl. B66b [/52 Field ofSeareh [87/29; 340/21 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,657,765 I [/1953 Savage 187/29 2,969,128 l/l96l Jones et al. 187/29 Primary Examiner-Cris L. Rader Assistant Examiner-W. E. Duncanson, Jr. Attorney-Wilson & Fraser ABSTRACT: Coincidence of true elevator car position with floor selector indicated car position is monitored at each stop of the car. A lack of coincidence disables the control by the floor selector and causes it to institute hunting until it establishes coincidence with true elevator car position. Upon achieving coincidence hunting is stopped and its control reestablished.

PATENTEI] JUL 1 3 Ian SHEEI 1 BF 4 INVENTOR. ROBE RT E. SENN FIG.

ATTORNEYS ELEVATOR FLOOR SELECTOR CORRECTION CONTROL BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to elevator controls and more particularly to devices for commutating control circuits for an elevator according to the movement of the car.

Heretofore, a number of types of commutating devices have been employed wherein the control circuits for an elevator car are activated and deactivated according to the carposition. One general approach is 'to intermittently advance the commutating device with car operation as by means ofa signal im'- pulse issued as the car passes precisely located positions along its path of travel. Such devices have been known to lose their spatial relationship to true car position due to malfunctions as a lost signal impulse or a spurious impulse and in certain operations such as an emergency stop. I

' It has long been recognized that notching or stepping selectors, as the above described devices are termed, require some means for correctingselector indicated position where it is out of step with actual car position. These corrections, in the past, have been made only at predetermined floors and usually at one or both terminal floors or at a single intermediate floor.

For example, in Ellis, U.S. Pat. No. 1,979,679 for Elevator" which issued Nov. 6, 1934, a motor driven notching type floor selector advanced in response to an inductor switch on the car which was actuated as the car passed vanes in the hatchway adjacent each floor. The floor selector drive included afriction clutch enabling shippage between the motor and movable crosshead when the crosshead was ahead of the car and at the limits of travel. If the crosshead was behind the car when the car was at the terminals, its drive was maintained to cause it to notch to the terminal limits and put it in step. Similar corrections are made for forcing a selector into synchronism in other types of controls including those employing stepping switches as Lewis, U.S. Pat. No. 1,981,60l, of Nov. 20, 1934 for Elevator Control System and static logic elementselectors of the step-by-step type as shown in Hall et al. U.S. Pat. No. 2,806,554 of Sept. 17, 1957 for Elevator Control System, and British Pat. No. 1,141,122 published Jan. 29, 1969 for Lift Selector".

Even when the out of step relation is detected at other than a terminal, the prior art has relied upon travel of the selector movable element and the car to a correcting station. In Carney U.S. Pat. No. 2,182,657 of Dec. 5, 1939 for "Elevator", a system where the car can travel to a basement below a main landing senses that the selector is out of step with thecar at the main landing and causes the car and selector to be moved to its basement terminal for correction to the in step relationship.

While fixed location selector correction is acceptable in systems where the car is arranged to travel to that location with regularity, systems in which a car is restricted in its travel to a zone of floors which may be spaced fromthe terminals and main floor will permit a car and selector to remain out of step for substantial periods of time.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is an improvement over the prior art correcting controls for bringing a car and a floor selector into step. It corrects at any or all floors by sensing the absence of the in-step relationship and causing the floor selector to hunt until it establishes the in-step relationship. If such hunting is required, the commutating functions of the floor selector, other than those involved in the correction control, are disabled. Thus, travel of the car to effect correctionis avoided, correction is accomplished frequently, correction is rapidly completed, the passengers are unaware of correcting operation, and the elevator car is maintained in service without any delay. 1

An object of this invention is to'improve elevator controls. Another object is to correct notching or step-by-step selector to car position relationships.

Another object is to avoid unnecessary travel of elevators.

A further object is to increase the frequency ofchecking for correction of the out-of-step relationship of a car and a floor selector;

A fifth object is to increase the speed of correction of a selector which is out-of-step with a car.

In accordance with the above objects, one feature of this invention is a means for sensing coincidence between actual car position and car position indicated by the selector. Advantageously, the car-sensing means can be one or more inductor switches or photoelectric sensors set up for a code combination characteristic of the car position. Decoding mechanism can be arranged to indicate that the car position corresponds to the selector or if the two are out of step to institute correction.

Another feature is the means for correcting an out-of-step relationship by causing the selector to scan until it attains coincidence with car position. During such scanning, the commutating functions of the selector are rendered ineffective.

A further feature is to confine the correction to a brief interval following the stop of the car as by timing from the setting of the car brake and disabling the selector correction functions at the termination of the timed interval.

A fourth feature involves means to ascertain the sign of the difference between the actual car position and selector in- 'dicated car position. This sign enables the selector to be advanced in the direction to eliminate the difference with minimum time and distance by means of a directional control for the hunting mechanism responsive to the ascertained sign.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a plan view stepping switch assembly with parts removed and broken away to illustrate the operating elements of concern here;

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic plan of a magnetic reed switch unit as is mounted on an elevator car of FIG. 3 to cooperate in indexing car position;

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic representation of an elevator car in a hatchway showing several floors with the means of FIG. 2 for indexing car position along the hatchway with respect to those floors;

FIG. 4 is an acrossthe-line diagram of a typical notching type floor selector employing the car position indexing of FIGS. 2 and 3 and the stepping switch of FIG. 1 for controlling leveling of the car, advancing the st epping switch, indexing car position and sensing stepping switch position;

FIG. 5 is an across-the-line diagram of floor position relays for commutating car controls and a coincidence sensing circuit to sense coincidence of actual car position with stepper position; and

FIG. 6 is a logic diagram, presented in true logic and utilizing block symbols for certain commercially available integrated circuits, showing a counter with a decoder as a notching selector and a magnitude comparator to ascertain if the selector indicated car position is above or belowthe actual car position and to set the direction of correction for the selec- I01.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT .by wiper contacts 104 for each deck carried by wiper arms I03 positioned according tothe'floor selector-indication of car position. Advance of the wiper arms 103 is by means of reciprocating pawls I05 and 106 respectively actuated by armatures .107 and 108 arranged to be rocked around knifeedge fulcrums 109 and 110 in response to energization of stepper notch down coil SND or stepper notch up coil SNU. Each energization of a notch coil moves a respective armature in opposition to the force of a retractor spring 111 or 112 to move the pawl into driving engagement with ratchet wheel 1'13 and advance the pawl and the wiper assembly secured thereto one position on contact array 102. Upon deenergization of the notch coil, its armature is rocked by its retractor spring to retract its pawl from ratchet wheel 113.

Electrical connections are made to the wiper arms 103 by means of a brush 114 which engages a collector ring 115 supported for rotation on the shaft 116 carrying the ratchet wheel 113 and arms 103. A terminal 117 is provided for each brush 114. Each contact in contact array 102 has a terminal 118 for connection to external circuits.

Each ofarmatures 107 and 108 releases a striker 119 or 120 when moved by its energized notch coil to displace an interrupter spring 121 or 122 and thereby open respective back contacts SND or SNU as will be discussed.

Control of the stepper by the circuits of FIGS. 4 and Sis actuated by magnetic reed switches of the type comprising a pair of ferromagnetic reeds (not shown) encased in an envelope which is nonmagnetic'and is enclosed in a housing 123 of generally U cross section so that the axis of the reeds extends normal to the cross section at the end of one leg 124 of the U. A permanent magnet (not shown) is mounted parallel to the reed envelope in the housing 123 in the end of the opposite leg 125 so that its magnetic flux tends to maintain the reeds in contact against their resilience which tends to separate them. Accordingly, a circuit is normally maintained through the magnetically closed contacts of each switch unit 126. This circuit is opened by interrupting the flux from the magnet through the reeds so that their resilience enables them to be separated.

In the present utilization, reed switch units are mounted in an assembly 127 comprising a panel 128 upon which the units are secured with the slots 129 between their legs 124 and 125 parallel and in some instances in aligned lanes. As employed in the circuitry of FIGS. 4.and 5, the switches indicate car position along the hatchway for leveling in the right-hand lane comprising switch units A, BA, C, BB, and D, for notching the selector downward by switch unit F and upward by switch unit E, and for landing identification by the lane of units 1, 2,4 and 8.

Switch asse mbly 127 is mounted on the elevator car as illustrated in FIG. 3 and lanes of ferromagnetic vanes are mounted in the hatchway to register with the switch unit slots 129 as the car attains precise spatial relationships relative to the associated landing. Each vane has been assigned a reference character including a letter designation with a landing number suffix. In the diagrams, the conditions are illustrated for a car at the second landing. Leveling vanes VL are of a length to span the space immediately beyond the range of influence of switch units A and D when the car is level with the landing. Thus, valve VL2 extends within BA, C and BB, but not A and D in FIG. 2 when the car is level at the second landing. The various combinations of operations of the leveling switch units as the car approaches the landing and in some systems as it departs the landing are employed to control the hoist motor and the brake for the car. Each landing other than the lowest also has an up notching vane VU for cooperation with switch unit E for notching the selector upward when the car is set for up travel, and a down notching vane VD for all but the highest landing for cooperating with the switch unit F for notching the selector downward when the car is set for down travel as the car moves between floors. The VU and VD vanes can also be employed to define the limits of car position during its travel within which a call for the landing being approached can be accepted for initiation of the slowdown of the car to stop at that landing. Coded position vanes VC are oriented to cooperate with landing identification switch units and thereby identify the car location when it is stopped level with the landing. The vane \"Cl is thus arranged to open only switch unit 1.

VC2 open s only switch unit 2 and the remaining vanes are arranged to operate the switch units in a binary code to identify landings as VC3 operates switches l and 2.

Control circuits responsive to the magnetic reed switch operations and the stepping switch operations have been set forth in FIGS. 4 and 5 in across-the-line form wherein the actuated contacts are not shown physically associated with their actuating means. Rather, the controlling contacts for the actuating means are presented generally in horizontal alignment with the actuating means and the circuit is indexed at the right into numbered horizontal bands. The actuating means are assigned reference characters which are set forth in the marginal index in alignment with the means. Contacts actuated by the means are listed by their line location in the drawings to the right of the reference character. A contact of the normally closed or back contact type is distinguished in the index from normally open or front contact varity by a line beneath its location number. Contacts are shown in the condition they assume when their actuating coils are decnergized. The magnetic reed contacts are shown in the condition for the car located at the second landing and level therewith. Stepper switch wipers are shown for two decks of contacts, decks H and .1, with wipers 1041i and 104.] at the contacts for the second landings.

In order to further facilitate an appreciation of the invention, it should be noted that the circuits of FIGS. 4 and 5 are arranged for a system of 14 landings, although individual control elements are shown only for typical landings as in the case of the stepper switch 101 where contacts of deck H and deck .I are shown for the top, thirteenth, third, second and first landings at 20 to 24 and 32 to 36 of FIG. 4. The operating coils shown have the following locations and functional designatrons.

Symbol Name Location BKI Brake timeL. 30 CF 60 L1) 11 LU 15 NL 1G OE 51 R1 28 R2 27 R4 26 R8 25 SDZ Slowdown zone 19 SN Stopper notching 29 SND Stepper notch down. 22 SN U Stopper notch up 24 1F to T1? First floor to top floor bridging 47-37 lFX to 'IFX First to top floor position 36-32 Contacts for which no operating coils are shown have the following functional designations:

Symbol: Name BK Brake. DF Down generator field. RB Reset bottom. RT Reset top. TL Leveling time. UF Up generator field Buses O and W are respectively connected to positive and negative terminals of a suitable supply of direct current (e.g. volts DC) With the car stopped level with a landing, reed switches A and D are closed since vane VL2 is between and out of the range of influence of the switch. Leveling switches BA, C and BB are open as shown at 12 to 14 since vane VL2 extends between the legs 124 and of those units. Leveling time relay TL is deenergized until a starting signal is given so back contact TL at 11 is closed. Relays LD and LU stand in indicating the car is level. If the car rises LD is dropped by the opening of A and the car is releveled downward. Conversely, if it sags LU drops when D opens and it relevels upward. Arrow headed leads 131 and 132 are coupled to speed points on the hoist motor control (not shown) to establish speed settings as the car approaches the floor. Back contact TL at 11 is opened when a car start signal is issued and is maintained open until the car reaches the slowdown zone of a landing at which it is to be stopped as by a hall or car call or an approach to a terminal. The slowdown zone is indicated by the inverval vane VU or VD is in slot 129 of reed unit F or E to drop notching relay NL at 16, to close back contacts NL at 19, and to energize slowdown zone relay SDZ at 19. Leveling switch contacts LD and LU are effective in the selector correcting circuit at 26 as will be described.

-.Notching relay NL at 16 normally stands in through a circuit from bus 0, lead 133 and back contacts of reed switches F and E at 18 and 17 to coil NL and bus W. When the car is running, one of its generator field direction relays UF or DF is energized. lf running downward, DF is energized to close contact DF at 16 and shunt switch F so that only switch E if effective to drop relay NL while it passes vanes VU. For a run upward DF is energized to close contact VF at 16 and shunt switch E so that only switch F is effective to drop relay NL while it passes vane VD. Notching relay back contact NL at 20 closes to energize a notching coil of stepping switch 101 and advance the switch one step in an ascending order of floors through SNU at 24 when up generator field relay contacts UF at 24 are closed and in a descending order of floors through SND at 22 when down generator field relay contacts DF at 22 are closed. The energizing circuit is through resistor 134 and lead 135 to lead 136, and thence through check floor relay contact CF and contact UF at 24 for up.

Correction of the out-of-step relationship of the car and stepping switch is in two modes. At terminal floors, correction is as the car approaches the floor and after it has initiated slowdown. At intermediate floors it is after the car has set its brake. In the latter instance stepping switch protection can be provided by placing a time limit on the interval the correcting circuit is effective. The correction circuit functions through the H deck of the stepper by means of the circuits at lines'19 through 24. Correction advance is by the self-interrupting functions of back contacts SNU and SND controlling relay SN at 29 and its contact at 23. The stepper operatesat a speed permitting a scan of its entire contact array in about 2 seconds. When the car is in its slowdown zone for a terminal and the stepper is behind the car, it is advanced tothe terminal during car slowdown. At intermediate floors correction is by advance in a descending sequence only in FIGS. 4 and 5.

Consider as a first correction that the stepper wiper 104H is ahead of the car and is advanced to the bottom landing contact 1H at 24 while the car is operating above the first floor down notching vane VDl. Any additional notching impulses due to the opening of reed switch E causes back contact NL at 19 to close and advance the stepper wiper 104H beyond 1H. However, 104H has a paired wiper 104H' displaced at I80 around shaft 116 as shown in FIG. 1 and this wiper engages the highest order contact of the deck XH, line 9, at the time 104H steps off of 1H. Thus, the stepper is effectively behind the car and corrects either at the next intermediate floor stop or during slowdown at the bottom terminal whichever occurs first.

Correcting advance of the stepper downward when the car is in the slowdown zone for the lower terminal, and thus after its last advance by closing and reopening back contact NL at 20, is through the back contacts UF and RB at 22 and contact SN at 23 to wiper 104H or its paired wiper 104H' (not shown in Fig. 4).

Up generator field relay UF is deenergized since the car is set for down travel with down generator field relay DF energized to close its contacts at 22. If wiper 104H is above the contact the for the top floor when the limit switch (not shown) responsive to car movement through the lower terminal slowdown distance deenergizes reset bottom relay RB and close back contact RB at 22. a circuit is provided to pull in stepper notch down coil SND from bus through contacts UF and RB at 22, SN at 23, wiper 104H, one of contacts XH through that immediately above TH to lead 137 to SND and thence to bus W. Rectifier 138 in lead 139 prevents the maintenance of a circuit to lead through resistor 134. When SND pulls in, it advances wiper l04H one step downward and opens its contact at 129 to drop SN thereby opening the circuit to SND at contact SN at 23. Upon the drop of the armature of SND, contact SND at 29 again closes to reclose, contact SN at 23 and again advance the stepper. When wiper 104H reaches contact TH and thus has traversed the excess contacts of the'stepper 101, closed contact DF at 22 connects its lead 141 to lead 136 and the second DF contact at 22 connects lead 136 to coil SND to maintain to circuit driving the wiper arm downward. When wiper 104H is below contact TH and above contact 1H, the cyclically self-operated circuit shifts to lead 135 directly connected to lead 136 and utilizes only the second DF contact at 22 between lead 136 and coil SND. When wiper 104H reaches 1H and thus is in step with the car slowing to a stop at the lower terminal, a circuit is no longer available to coil SND since no circuit connects contact 1H with lead 136 while contact UF at 23 is open and the car is not level with the floor to enable check floor relay CF to be deenergized to close its open back contact CF at 24. g 1

Correction at the upper terminal is I accomplished in a manner corresponding to that for the lower terminal. If the stepper wiper 104H advanced ahead of actual car position through the circuit of resistor 134 to leads 135 and 136 and closed contacts CFand UF at 24 for the upward running car, the stepper notch up coil SNU advances wiper 104H'to a contact above TH at 20. Thereafter, as the car is passing through its slowdown distance for the upper terminal, reset top relay RT is deenergized to close back contact RT at 21 and provide a resetting circuit which reverses the drive of brush 104H by actuating stepper notch down coil SND. This circuit is from bus 0 through back contacts DF and RT at 21 lead 139 contact SN at 23 wiper 104H contact XH or the like to. lead 137 and coil SND, thence to bus W. Coil SND drops relay SN each time it is energized to recock the stepper and then advance it another step. When wiper 104H reaches contact TH a circuit is no longer available to SND since both contact DF at 22 and back contact CF at 21 are open. The wiper is thus maintained in step with the terminal position of the car.

If the wiper 104H is behind the car as it approaches the top terminal, the circuit if back contacts DF and RT at 21 also provides the correcting function by causing stepper notch up coil SNU to advance the switch until 104H is engaged with contact TH. In this case the circuit is from bus 0 through back contacts UF and RT at 22 to lead 139, contact SN at 23 to wiper 104H, one of stepper contacts 1H through 13H, leads 135 and 136, contacts CF and UF at 24 and coil SNU to bus W.

The commutation of the control circuits of the elevator through the stepper 101 is controlled by floor position relays which are energized through the J deck of stepper contacts and wipers 1041 and 1041'. In normal running of the car relay CF stands in to maintain contact CF at 35 closed. When the stepper is not being notched by the registry ofa vane VD with E or VU with F, notching relay NL stands in to maintain contact'NL at 35 closed. During registry of the appropriate vane with its reed switch unit relay NL drops to open contact NL at 35, advance the stepper 101 and energize slowdown zone relay SDZ at 19. Thus, the circuit from bus 0 to wiper 104] is interrupted for arelay operating interval while the stepper is advanced from one floor contact to the next in deck .I. At other time, the floor position relay designated by the location ofwiper 1041 is energized.

Certain of the commutated circuits for control of the elevator require continuity. Accordingly, the floor position relays of the FX series are augmented by bridging relays 1F through TF for each floor. The bridging relays overlap in their operation whereby advance from one floor position to another, as indicated by the FX relay operations, releases the bridging relay for the floor just left only after the next floors bridging relay is pulled in. For example, the advance of the stepper wiper 104] from J1 with 1FX energized at 36 to J2 to energize 2FX at 35 results in a brief interval when no FX relay is energized. Bridging relay 1F at 47 was energized whencontact lFX at 47 was closed, assuming that the contact CF at 37 remained closed to lead 142. A seal for 1F is provided through its 1F contact at 48 and floor position bridge relay back contact OE at 48 between lead 142 and odd floor bridge seal lead 143. Contact 1F at 52 is also closed to partially complete an energizing circuit for relay OE by connecting lead 144 to lead 145. When relay lFX is dropped by the advance of the stepper, the seal for 1F is maintained. As relay 2FX is picked, it closes its contact at 45 to pick relay 2F. Relay 2F closes its contact 2F at 52 connecting lead 144 to bus and energizing relay OE at 51. OE opens the seal circuits for the bridging relays by opening back contact OE at 48 to lead 143 and OE at 46 to even floor bridge seal lead 146. When relay 1F drops, it opens its contacts at 48 and 52 and dropsOE so that a seal is established for 2F through back contact OE and contact 2F at 46. Each successive advance of thefloor position relays results in the simultaneous energizationof bridging relays for the floors between which the advance occurs.

Check floor relay CF at 60 enables correction of the outofstep selector stepping switch at floor intermediate the terminals by comparing the floor position relay energized by the selector with the location of the car in the hatchway as indicated by the reed switches l, 2, 4 and 8 and binary code relays R1, R2, R4 and R8 at 28 through 25.

Binary code relays R1, R2, R4 and R8 are dropped except while the car is level with a landing and stopped so that contacts LU and LD are closed at 23. With the binary relays dropped, relay CF remains energized through their back contacts at 57, 54 and 53 to lead 147. When the car and selector are in step, relay CF remains energized while the binary code relays are effective since the contact matrix for those relays at lines 54 through 65 provides an alternate path which is established within the drop out interval ofCF, of the order of a second as established by the resistance 148 and capacitance 149 across the coil. While correction can be provided at each floor, it is to be appreciated that certain floors can be omitted merely by omitting coding vanes for those floors. In such instances, all binary relays will operate while the car isin its dead zone with LU and LD at 23 closed and front contacts R8 at 62, R4 at 65 and R1 at 66 complete a circuit to lead 147 and CF to hold the relay in.

Consider the position of the car at the second floor so that vane VC2 registers with magnetic reed switch 2 to open that switch and drop relay R2. If relay 2FX is energized at this time by the floor selector indication for the second floor, an ener' gizing path for relay CF is provided from bus 0 through closed from contacts R8 at 62, R4 at 65, and R1 at 65 and closed back contact R2 at 65, in coincidence with closed contact 2FX at 65. At any other floor intermediate the terminal floors, a similar coincidence in coded binary relay contact closures and floor position relay, contact closures is effected if the car and selector are in step. Thus, at floor nine, a binary nine is set up by shaping vane VC9 to register with switches 8 and to drop R8 and R1. If the selector is indicating nine, a circuit coincidence holds CF through back contacts R8 at 57 and R1 at 58, and front contacts R4 at 57 and R2 at 58 are closed, cooperating with contact 9FX at 58.

If no coincidence is established, relay CF is dropped and an intermediate floor correction is made. For example, if the selector were at three to energize 3FX and close contact 3FX at 64, while the car was at the second floor, no energizing path would be available for relay CF. Open back contact R4 at 62 would interrupt all paths between lines 63 and 60. Open R2 from contact at 66 would open the path in that line. Open R1 hack contact at 64 would interrupt the circuit to closed contact 3FX while the closed contact R1 at 65 would be ineffective because ofopen contact 2FX at 65.

When relay CF is dropped by a lack of coincidence in the coded actual car position and the floor position relay energized by the selector position, the selector is enabled to reset itself by hunting. In the example, hunting is always downward with a recycling if the selector is initially below the true car position. Correction occurs only following the leveling of the car, contacts LU and LD at 23 are closed, and setting of the brake, to drop the brake relay and close its back contact at 23. Further, it is restricted to the drop out interval of brake timer BKT at 30 which is initiated when brake relay contact BK at 30 opens, and is determined by the relay coil characteristics .and the magnitude of the resistance 151 and capacitance 152.

In the example, a drop out interval of about 5 seconds has been employed, however, it is only necessary that sufficient time be allowed to permit the stepper to make a complete scan of allof its contacts. This time limit prevents burn out or mechanical destruction of the stepper where a malfunction prevents an indication of the coincidence which energizes CF.

While the stepper 101 is correcting under the control of check floor relay CF, the commutating functions of the stepper in the elevator control and signal circuits is suspended by opening contacts CF at 35 and 37 in the floor position and bridging relay circuits.

The intermediate floor resetting circuit is through contacts LU, LD, BK, BKT and CF to lead 139 and employs the self-interrupting function of stepper notching relay SN, and its contact at 23 to wiper 104H. With relay CF dropped, only stepper notch down coil SND at 22 can be energized since open font contact CF at 21 and 20 connect lead 136 to lead 137 through brake timer contact BKT, and brake relay back contact BK at 20. Thus if the stepper is at an intermediate floor, i.e. between the thirteenth and second floors, coil SND is energized to advance the wiper arms in a descending order of floors and to self-interrupt the energizing circuit by SN. At each advance, a coincidence of actual floor position and indicated floor may be established, and when it is, relay CF is picked up to open back contacts at 23, 20 and 21 in the basic correcting circuits. Closure of front contact CF at 24 enables the stepper to be driven upward if that is the direction of car travel, and closure of contacts CF at 35 and 37 reconnects the commutated elevator control and signal circuits.

Resetting for an intermediate floor could also involve advancing the stepper downward when the'car is above the floor position indicated by the stepper, the stepper is advanced through a major portion of a scan by the down notching sequence. Under these circumstances, the intermediate floor correction circuit outlines above is utilized until wiper 104H advances to contact 1H. The separate connection of 1H to lead 136 is overcome which CF is dropped by closed back contact CF at 24 and the stepper, therefore, continues its advance by stepping wiper 104H off of 1H and wiper 104H on the contact XH. This places the switch wiper above the actual car position. XH and contacts between XH and TH are directly connected to lead 137 and coil SND, hence the wiper is automatically advanced through that range of travel by cooperation of SND and SN. At the top floor contact TH back contact CF at 20 provides a circuit to 137 to maintain the notching circuit and below contact TH the intermediate floor notching circuit is again effective until coincidence of stepper and car is achieved and check floor relay CF is energized.

A second embodiment of the notching selector corrector is shown in FIG. 6, utilizing logic elements and commercially available integrated circuits. In this embodiment, correction at any floor is accomplished by advancing the selector indicated position toward the actual car position, thus correction is bidirectional. The notching selector in this instance is a binary up-down counter such as a Sylvania SN-l80 unit SN74l9l and a binary to decimal decoder 156 such as a Texas Instruments Inc. unit SN7442 which can control suitable drivers (not shown) for floor position relays such as 1FX through IOFX corresponding to those of FIG. 4. The need for correction is indicated by comparing the actual car position indicated in binary code as from reed switch units 126 discussed with respect to FIGS. 2 and 3 into input contact buffers B and then leads 157, 158, 159 and 160 for binary counts 1, 2, 4 and 8 respectively, and arbitrarily designated B into correspond to the UF, DF generator field relay puts" in the comparison accomplished in the logic of comparator I61. Comparator 161 can be a Texas Instruments Inc. 4-bit magnitude comparator unit SN 74H85. In the comparator logic, the counter designated floor positions are A inputs," and thus the comparator offers a positive trueoutput signal or l on lead 162 when A is less than B, i.e. when the counter identifies a floor below the true car position, a positive true output signal or I on lead 163 when A is greater than B, i.e. when the car is below the counter indicated position, and no positive true signal or on both of leads 162 or 163 when the counter and car are in step.

Input signals to the logic diagram of FIG. 6 appear at the bottom and on the left and the output floor position signals appear on the right. In addition to the coded actual car position inputs, there is also a repetitive clocking signal as from a freerunning multivibrator on lead 164. The remaining inputs have input contact buffers B. Notching signals corresponding to the operation of relays SND and SNU of FIG. 4 respectively are positive true on lead 165 when the selector should notch downward, and on lead 166 when it should notch upward. The direction the car is set to run is indicated as a down signal, D positive true or l signal on lead 167 or an "up signal, U positive true or l signal on lead 168. Negative or 0" signals appear on lead 167 and 168 when the car is not set for running contact operations of FIGS. 4 and 5. Presence ofthe car in the leveling door open zone is indicated by a positive true on lead 169 while the presence of the car in the dead zone at the landing is indicated by positive true signals on up leveling input LU at 170 and down leveling input LD at 171.

Notching occurs in counter 155 each time there is a transition from I to a 0 signal at count input lead 175. The direction of advance is upward if a l" is on lead 176 and downward if a O is imposed. Three inputs are available to count advancing OR 177, one from clocking AND 178 to lead 179 when correction is indicated by a l on lead 180, one by a l on lead 181 when the car is traveling up and passes an up notching position to gate AND l8-2, or one by a l" on lead 183 when the car is traveling down and passes a down notching position to gate AND 184.

AND 182 or 184 notches the counter 155 as the car advances from floor to floor. The direction of notching advance is determined by the condition of AND 184. For an ascending car, coincidence of a 1" on lead 168 and an up notching signal I" on lead 165 gates AND 182 to apply a l to OR 177 and count input 175. At this time AND 184 is not gated, hence OR 185 is not gated from 183. OR 185 is not gated from AND 187 while the car is running. Therefore OR 185 has no gating signal and inverter 186 applies a l" to lead 176, setting the counter for up" advance.

For a descending car AND 184 is gated by each notching signal I" on lead 165 while the down enabling signal I is present on lead 167, The l on lead 183 gates OR 177 to count lead 175 and gates OR 185 to inverter 186 which issues a 0" down direction signal to lead 176 and counter 155.

When the car is leveled with a landing and its doors are open corrective notching is accomplished by gating AND 178 and direction for corrective notching is established by the state of AND 187. The enabling signals for these functions are the coincidence of l signals on the landing door open zone, LDo, lead 169, the leveling up, LU, lead 170 and the leveling down LD, lead 171, and confirmation that the car has no running direction set as a U or D signal on lead 168 and 167 respectively. Absence of running signals cause inverters 188 and 189 to each apply l signals to inputs for AND 178. If there is a disparity between A, the counter position, and B, the car position, comparator 161 issues either an A is greater than B signal as a 1" on lead 162 for a counter position below actual car position. In either instance a fourth enabling signal is gated as a l by OR 19.0 to lead 180 and AND 178. This enable is maintained while clock pulses on lead 164 advance counter 155 by the passage of I signals on lead 179 to OR 177 and thence to count lead 175. When coincidence ofA vance. At all other times the counter is set and B is established, OR 190 ceases to be gated and the clock pulses 164 are blocked by inhibited AND 178.

Direction of correction is downward iffA is greater than B" to pulse a l on lead 163 andis upward if no A is greater than B" signal is present and therefore a 0 is on lead 163. Thus ifthe count is above true car position the l on 163 gates enabled AND 187 to pass a I on lead 191 to OR 185. At this time clock pulses advance the counter and the "I" from OR to inverter 186 imposes a 0" signal on direction signal on direction lead 176 to set the counter for down adfor up advance since the 0" to inverter 186 causes a l on lead 176 to set the counter for up. However, unless their is the disparity between A and B and the other corrective enabling signals are applied to AND 178 no clocking pulses are admitted to the counter, and accordingly, when the disparity exists and only during that time will the up clocked advance occur.

Useful output from the decoder is indicated for l0 landings as lFX through 10FX. It is to be appreciated that up to 15 landings can be accommodated in a four-stage binary system and that the number of landings can be increased if stages are added to the several elements.

From the above descriptions, it is evident that the present invention applies to various types of notching floor selectors, various types of actual car position-sensing means, various types of means for comparing actual car position with floor selector indicated car position, and various corrective notching means are available for the practice of this invention. Accordingly, it is to be understood that combinations other than those disclosed are within the inventive concept and that the above disclosure is for illustrative purposes only and is not to be read in a limiting sense.

I claim:

1. A control for an elevator car operating along a hatchway and serving terminal floors and a plurality of floors intermediate said terminal t'loors comprising a notching type floor selector; means to notch said floor selector in response to travel of said car along said hatchway to given positions; means responsive to said floor selector to indicate an effective car position along said hatchway; means to indicate the actual car position along said hatchway; means responsive subsequent to operation of said notch means for a given car position spaced from said terminal floors along said hatchway for sensing an out-of-step relationship between said actual car position and said indicated car position; and means to notch said selector in response to said out-of-step relationship whereby said selector indicated car position is brought into step with said actual car position.

2. A control according to claim 1 wherein said means to indicate actual car position comprises a plurality of circuit elements having a first circuit controlling condition and a second circuit controlling condition; means to mount said circuit elements on said car; means to transfer said circuit elements from said first to said second condition when in a given spatial relationship to said elements; and mounting means for said transfer means 'for mounting said transfer means in said hatchway in actuating relationship to certain unique combinations of said circuit elements for each indicated car position;

3. A control according to claim 1 including means to stop said car level with landings for a plurality of said intermediate floors; and means to actuate said sensing means whilesaid car is stopped level with said intermediate floors.

4. A control according to claim 3 wherein said means to notch said selector in response to an out-of-step relationship sensed by said sensing means is effective for a limited time interval.

5. A control according to claim 4 wherein a timer is initiated by a given condition while said car is topped and defines a given interval within-which said notching means responsive to an out-of-step relationship is effective.

6. A control according to claim 1 including a circuit commutated by'said floor selector; and means to disable-said commutated circuit-while said selector is notched .in response to said out-of-steprelationship sensed by said sensing means.

7. A control according to claim 1 including a circuit commutated by said floor selector and means to disable said cornmutated circuit while said sensing means senses said out-of step relationship.

8. A control according to claim 1 wherein said means for sensing the out-of-step relationship between the actual car 10. A control for an elevator car operating along a hatchway and serving a plurality of floors comprising a notching type floor selector; means to notch said floor selector in response to travel of said car along said hatchway to given positions; means responsive to said floor selector to indicate an effective car position; means to indicate an actual car position along said hatchway; means responsive subsequent to operation of said notch means for a given car position for sensing an out-of-step relationship between said actual car position and said indicated car position; a circuit commutated by said floor selector; and means responsive to said sensing means for disabling said circuit while said out-of-step relationship between said car and said floor selector persists.

Claims (10)

1. A control for an elevator car operating along a hatchway and serving terminal floors and a plurality of floors intermediate said terminal floors comprising a notching type floor selector; means to notch said floor selector in response to travel of said car along said hatchway to given positions; means responsive to said floor selector to indicate an effective car position along said hatchway; means to indicate the actual car position along said hatchway; means responsive subsequent to operation of said notch means for a given car position spaced from said terminal floors along said hatchway for sensing an out-of-step relationship between said actual car position and said indicated car position; and means to notch said selector in response to said out-of-step relationship whereby said selector indicated car position is brought into step with said actual car position.

2. A control according to claim 1 wherein said means to indicate actual car position comprises a plurality of circuit elements having a first circuit controlling condition and a second circuit controlling condition; means to mount said circuit elements on said car; means to transfer said circuit elements from said first to said second condition when in a given spatial relationship to said elements; and mounting means for said transfer means for mounting said transfer means in said hatchway in actuating relationship to certain unique combinations of said circuit elements for each indicated car position;

3. A control according to claim 1 including means to stop said car level with landings for a plurality of said intermediate floors; and means to actuate said sensing means while said car is stopped level with said intermediate floors.

4. A control according to claim 3 wherein said means to notch said selector in response to an out-of-step relationship sensed by said sensing means is effective for a limited time interval.

5. A control according to claim 4 wherein a timer is initiated by a given condition while said car is topped and defines a given interval within which said notching means responsive to an out-of-step relationship is effective.

6. A control according to claim 1 including a circuit commutated by said floor selector; and means to disable said commutated circuit while said selector is notched in response to said out-of-step relationship sensed by said sensing means.

7. A control according to claim 1 including a circuit commutated by said floor selector and means to disable said commutated circuit while said sensing means senses said out-of-step relationship.

8. A control according to claim 1 wherein said means for sensing the out-of-step relationship between the actual car position and the floor selector indicated car position senses the relative magnitudes of said positions and issues a signal characteristic of said relationship.

9. A control according to claim 8 wherein said means to notch said selector in response to the out-of-step relationship includes directional control means responsive to said relative magnitude Signal whereby said notching is in a direction initially tending to reduce said magnitude.

10. A control for an elevator car operating along a hatchway and serving a plurality of floors comprising a notching type floor selector; means to notch said floor selector in response to travel of said car along said hatchway to given positions; means responsive to said floor selector to indicate an effective car position; means to indicate an actual car position along said hatchway; means responsive subsequent to operation of said notch means for a given car position for sensing an out-of-step relationship between said actual car position and said indicated car position; a circuit commutated by said floor selector; and means responsive to said sensing means for disabling said circuit while said out-of-step relationship between said car and said floor selector persists.

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