WO1992010421A1

WO1992010421A1 - Elevator control and position indicating switch

Info

Publication number: WO1992010421A1
Application number: PCT/AU1991/000562
Authority: WO
Inventors: William James Stevens
Original assignee: William James Stevens
Priority date: 1990-12-05
Filing date: 1991-12-04
Publication date: 1992-06-25

Abstract

An elevator system includes an elevator car adapted to travel between a plurality of elevator landings and a call device at each landing in electrical communication with an elevator control system. The call device has an actuator surface and display means visible on or through the actuator surface for displaying an indication of the location, speed and/or direction of motion of the elevator car relative to the landing upon which the call device is located. In preferred embodiments, the display means provide additional information for the guidance and greater understanding of the elevator user, with particular regard to the elevator's activity or projected activity.

Description

Title: "ELEVATOR CONTROL AND POSITION INDICATING SWITCH"

Technical Field

This invention relates to elevator systems and more particularly to means for displaying information about the status of an elevator system. Background Art

Most elevator systems are provided with a "call button" by means of which the elevator car may be summoned to a landing. The button may be a contact switch or touch sensitive switch which, when actuated, issues an electric signal to the elevator control system indicating that service is required to that landing.

The call button may be provided with visual indication that a call has been registered (e.g. the button may become illuminated) . In that case arrival of the elevator at the landing cancels the call registration.

The elevator car is sometimes provided with a panel which indicates the current location of the car to those travelling in it by illuminating successive numerals as successive landings are passed.

Some elevator systems have additionally been provided with an indicator above the elevator doorway at each landing which indicates the present location of the elevator car in the shaft. This may take the form of a dial, a digital display, or a panel of numerals each representing a landing, one numeral being illuminated to indicate the current location of the elevator car.

Other elevator systems, including many in modern high-rise buildings, merely provide an illuminated light or a bell tone to indicate which of a bank of elevators will be the next to arrive and the direction in which it will proceed. This may require a dash to that elevator which is particularly disconcerting for people with disabilities.

However, many elevator systems are not provided with any indication at the floor landings of the current elevator car location. That is especially the case with older elevator systems or those in smaller buildings.

The elevator user, having pressed the call button and having been reassured the call has been registered is usually left wondering what, if indeed anything at all is happening behind the closed door of the lift well until the car actually arrives and the door opens.

Desirably, reassurance should not cease at the call registered stage. For the increased status of the elevator installer, the architectural prestige of the building and the convenience of users, the elevator system should go as far as economically viable to provide the caller with as much relevant data as possible.

In some systems the elevator will not operate if the door is not properly closed and it is increasingly common that users of the system do not ensure that the door is properly closed so that the car may be used by others. When no indication of lift location is given, and notwithstanding that a call has been registered, an intending user may be left at another landing uncertain as to whether the lift is in use, is out of service, or is stationary, and if so, at which level.

In the case of such systems the retroactive provision of indication of lift location is fraught with many obstacles including the need for extensive rewiring and installation. Disclosure of the Invention

It is an object of the present invention to provide simple indicator means whereby an elevator system may provide information at each elevator landing, for example as to the current location of the car in the shaft.

It is an object of preferred embodiments of the invention that the indicator means be suitable to be retrofitted in an existing elevator system with comparative simplicity. 92/10421

- 4 - According to a first aspect the invention consists in an elevator system comprising: an elevator car adapted to travel between a plurality of elevator landings, a call device at each landing in electrical communication with an elevator control system, said call device having an actuator surface, and display means visible on or through the actuator surface of said call device for displaying a signal indicative of the location of the elevator car.

According to a second aspect the invention consists in an elevator system comprising: an elevator car adapted to travel between a plurality of elevator landings, a call device at each landing in electrical communication with an elevator control system via a first cable, and display means at each landing for displaying a signal indicative of the location of the elevator car, said signal being transmitted to the display via the first cable.

The first cable may be a single wire or a plurality of wires, for example a multicore or ribbon cable.

The display means are preferably an analogue, digital or alphanumeric display which gives an indication of the location of the elevator relative to the landing on which the display is situated and of the"speeds and/or direction of approach or other information for the lift user's guidance and greater understanding of the elevator's activity or projected activity especially with regard to their own specific requirements. The information in one embodiment, comprises messages in text which are either displayed on, or scrolled across the display means.

Preferably also, display means are not activated until an elevator is summoned by actuating the call button. Brief Description of the Drawings

The invention will now be more particularly described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a first embodiment of display means for use in the invention.

Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of a second embodiment display means for use in the invention.

Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of a third embodiment of display means for use in the invention.

Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of a fourth embodiment of display means for use in the invention.

Figure 5 illustrates a fifth embodiment of a display means for use in the invention.

Figure 6 illustrates a sixth embodiment of a display means for use in the invention.

Figure 7 is a schematic block diagram -of a circuit according to the invention. Best Mode For Carrying Out The Invention

With reference to Figure 1, there is shown a combined elevator call device or "call button" and display assembly comprising a call actuator part 1 and a display part 2.

Actuator part 1 may for example be a push button adapted to make an electrical contact whereby to transmit an electrical "call" signal to the lift controller.

Display part 2 may for example be a liquid crystal display concentrically disposed about actuator part 1.

In Figure 1, the display is suitable for a building of say 2 to 4 levels and the display takes the form of a plurality of concentric circular shapes indicated as A, B, C etc. surrounding the call button.

The display can be arranged to operate in various modes.

In a first mode, each circular shape A, B, C is provided with an indicia representative of successive landings e.g. ground, 1st, 2nd, etc. Circular shape A is illuminated when the car is at the lowest landing, shape B is illuminated when the car is at the second landing, shape C when the car is at the third landing and so on. Thus, the position of the car is indicated at each call button in the same way.

In the second and preferred mode for the display of Figure 1, the display shows the location of the car relative to the landing at which the call button is located .

Thus, when the elevator car is one floor above or below the landing on which the display is situated, first circular shape A is illuminated. When it is two floors away, second circle B is illuminated. When the car is three floors distant, third circle C is illuminated and so on. If desired, the appearance of annular areas A, B, C may be arranged to signify whether the elevator is travelling upwards or downwards the landing. For example, the circle may be red if the car is descending and green if ascending, or the display may be divided into upper and lower semi-circles for the same purpose. A person activating the call button is thus given a clear indication of where the elevator is, relative to his location and preferably the direction of travel. The display at the fifth level for example might indicate that a car is one floor away and travelling down while the display at the fourth level might indicate that the car is two floors away and travelling down.

In a second embodiment of the invention shown in Figure 2, the call button is of square plan and is a touch activated switch. The surrounding liquid crystal display includes a strip extending about the perimeter of the call button. For an eight-storey building, the strip is divided into eight segments: A, B, C, D, E, F, G and H. Optionally each segment is provided with indicia representing successive floors. Again, the display may be operated in various modes. A segment may be illuminated to indicate the current location of the car. However, in a preferred embodiment, segment A is illuminated when the car is at the lowest level, (A+B) are illuminated when the car is at the next level, (A+B+C) are illuminated when the car is at a third level and so on.

As in the case of the first embodiment, the display may be adapted to show the location of the car relative to the landing at which the display is situated i.e. whether the car is one, two, three, etc. landings distant from the indicator.

If the elevator services more than eight landings there may be a second display (not illustrated) spaced outwardly from the first display which shows the location of the elevator when more than eight floors distant and which may for example in a sixty four-level elevator move one segment for every eight levels traversed by the elevator.

In a third embodiment of the display (Fig. 3), the indicator may take the form of a circular disk divided into arcuate segments, the segments being illuminated in a clockwise or anti-clockwise direction in a clock-like manner depending upon the direction of travel, and preferably adapted to indicate the expected time of arrival of the elevator at the level on which the indicator is situated. In a fourth embodiment of the display (Fig. 4), the indicator may take the form of a circle 2 with a "bubble" 3 moving in the circumferential direction to indicate the location of the elevator car.

With reference to Figure 5, there is shown a fifth embodiment combined elevator call button and display assembly wherein the call button includes an actuator surface 1 upon which is located a display 2. The call button is a push button switch adapted to make an electrical contact when the actuator surface is pressed so as to transmit an electrical "call" signal to the lift controller.

The display is a liquid crystal display adapted to present numeric information and is suitable for a building of many levels. The display shown in Figure 5, for example, is suitable for up to 99 floors. In addition, alphabetic symbols (such as "G" and "B" for Ground or Basement) or other alphanumeric symbols are readily displayed, however it will be appreciated that a custom liquid crystal display may be adapted to provide any suitable form of symbols.

The display of Figure 5 also shows two triangular portions 14 for indicating whether the elevator is moving in an up or down direction.

In use, when the call button is pressed the liquid crystal display is activated to indicate, firstly, that the call has been registered and, secondly, that the elevator is located on a particular floor or at a distance relative to a particular floor. In some embodiments it may be preferable to provide symbols in the display which indicate that the elevator is either above or below the landing upon which the call button was pressed.

It will also be appreciated that the characters or symbols displayed are desirably large for legibility by persons in the elevator foyer. Although this embodiment has been described with reference to a liquid crystal display, other forms of display may be used subject to the considerations imposed by the switch. For example a mechanical switch may include a display transmitted by optical fibres or light pipes from a remote optical device or devices. A liquid crystal display is appropriate where a transparent touch sensitive switch is provided on the face of the display.

Figure 6 shows a sixth alternative embodiment of the invention in which the call button display shows the position of the elevator in analog form. Here the display comprises a number of rectangular segments 2 which may be activated in a bar graph format or individually to indicate the floor upon which the elevator is located. In use, the display is augmented by two triangular portions 14 which indicate the segment of the display which corresponds to the landing upon which the call button is located. Once more when the call button is pressed the display is activated and the operator can 'readily see the relative location of the elevator.

In a small building the segments of the display may correspond to individual floors, however in a larger building each segment may represent a group of floors. A most desirable effect is achieved by using a logarithmic scale in which segments close to the centre of the display, that is the present floor, represent small groups while segments closer to the ends of the display represent large groups of floors. Thus an elevator many floors away from the call button will appear to move slowly but will increase in speed as it approaches the landing.

In various embodiments consideration must be given to the requirement that the display clearly indicate that a call has been registered. In addition therefore to merely activating the display an illuminated signal may be desirable. Further techniques which may be employed include flashing of display segments to indicate when the elevator is stopped and "out of service" indicators.

Where a single call button services several elevators, a larger plaque display surrounding the call button or a larger touch sensitive LCD display may be used to represent graphically all elevators simultaneously.

An important advantage of some embodiments the invention thus far described is that messages may thereby be displayed.

The messages may comprise text displayed on the display means or scrolling across the display means. In the latter case although only a few alphanumeric symbols may well be visible at a time, a lengthy message may be displayed.

For example the message may read "Lift stopped for inspection", "No. 6 is next car down", "No. 5 is next car up", "Fifth Ave level is No. 3", "In case of fire do not use lift", etc.

The messages need not be related to lift operation and may include advertising, company logos or the like.

In the latter case the lift caller is a captive viewer of the advertising displayed while the lift caller is also provided with relevant lift operation information. The changing display serves to minimise the irritation caused by any slight delay.

With reference to Figure 7 there is shown schematically an electronic elevator control system 4 including means 5 for storing the current location of the elevator.

SPST call button switches 6 situated at each landing are provided for registration of calls with the control means 4 via cables 7, 8, 9 and 10. The system is to be retrofitted with a lift location display system.

In the present example according to the invention, information from lift location storage means 5 is fed to an encoder 11 which generates a high frequency pulse train signal 14 indicative of elevator location. That signal may be applied simultaneously to all of cables 7, 8, 9, 10. The signal is decoded adjacent each call button 6 and applied via a decoder display-driver 12 to drive display units 1? (for example as discussed with reference to figures 1 to 4) associated with respective call buttons.

An important advantage of the second aspect of the invention is that the display can be driven by information which is transmitted along the existing cable route by means of which the call button communicates with the lift control system. That simplifies construction in new lifts and enables the display to be installed without requiring rewiring of the building for existing systems.

If the use of existing wiring be deemed impractical for any reason, new wiring may be inserted from the call button to the lift operating system through the apertures already existing in the lift well structure for the existing call buttons. This procedure does away with the need for any structural alterations and makes the upgrading of existing services to those envisaged in the new combination switch an economical operation.

Electrical signals indicative of the location of the elevator car will normally be available at the lift control circuit either via microswitches tripped as the car ascends or descends or as a result of counters or the like associated with the lift cable drive mechanism or by other means.

That information may be conveyed from the control system to the display mechanism at each landing for example by conversion to a digital signal which may be transmitted down the call button wire for example as a high frequency pulse modulated signal. If the call buttons use a trunk wire to register a call, each call button may be separately addressed by the transmitter and decoders at the call button may be provided to identify a signal addressed to that particular call button display. In each case at the call button the signal is fed to a display driver which enables the signal to be displayed on an LCD display such as described in figures 1 to 6. If preferred the signal might be amplitude or frequency modulated or may be a suitable analogue signal or pulsed D.C. digital signal. In such a system the elevator control system may communicate with the call buttons and display by means of a radio link rather than hard wiring.

Switches or call buttons similar to those described herein, and more specifically similar to those illustrated in Figs. 1 to 6, may also be installed within the elevator and carry out the functions of the existing floor selecting button which also normally has a background light to indicate that it has been activated. Such switches would operate in a similar manner to those installed on the floor landings, and the display component of the cell button would indicate the current position of the elevator, and switch off when the selected floor was reached. Additionally a call button installed within the elevator may contain text of an appropriate nature such as, by way of example, a list of tenants of the floor selected.

It will be understood that the existing call button wiring may employ simple SPST switches that open or close to indicate a call or may transmit logic levels or may transmit coded signals along a bus or trunk cable. The present invention may be adapted to suit the requirements of each case to transmit the display signal to an indicator at the call button location.

The invention may be put into effect by means which will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having regard to the teaching hereof and all such variations will be deemed to be within the scope of the invention.

Claims

CLAIMS:- 1. An elevator system comprising: an elevator car adapted to travel between a plurality of elevator landings; a call device at each landing in electrical communication with an elevator control system, said call device having an actuator surface; and display means visible on or through the actuator surface of said call device for displaying a signal indicative of the location of the elevator car.

2. An elevator system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the display means provides an indication of the location of the elevator relative to the landing on which the display is situated.

3. An elevator system as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the display means further provides an indication of the speed of the elevator car.

4. An elevator system as claimed in any one of claim 1 to claim 3, wherein the display means provides an indication of the direction of approach of an elevator car to the landing on which the display is situated.

5. An elevator system as claimed in any one of claim 1 to claim 4, wherein the display means provides information concerning the status of the elevator car.

6. An elevator system as claimed in claim 5, wherein the information comprises messages in text or graphics which are either displayed on or scrolled across the display means.

7. An elevator system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the display means are not activated until an elevator is summoned by actuating the call button.

8. An elevator system comprising: an elevator car adapted to travel between a plurality of elevator landings; a call device at each landing in electrically communication with an elevator control system via a first cable; and, display means at each landing for displaying a signal indicative of the location of the elevator car, said signal being transmitted to the display via the first cable.

9. An elevator system as claimed in claim 8, wherein the first cable is a single wire.

10. An elevator system as claimed in claim 8, wherein the first cable is a plurality of wires.

11. An elevator system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the display means provides an indication of the location of the elevator car relative to the landing on which the display is situated.

12. An elevator system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the display means provides an indication of the speed of the elevator car.

13. An elevator system as claimed in any one of the precedings claims, wherein the display means provides an indication of the direction of approach of the elevator car to the landing on which the display is situated.

14. An elevator system including an elevator car adapted to travel between a plurality of landings; a call device at each landing in communication with an elevator control system; display means situated at each landing of the plurality for displaying information indicative of the distance of the elevator car relative to the landing at which the display means is situated, whereby the information displayed at one landing differs from that displayed at another landing.

15. An elevator system according to any one of the preceding claims and including a display device substantially as herein described with reference to any one of figures 1 to 4 or 5 and 6 inclusive.