WO2005082762A2

WO2005082762A2 - Elevator arrangement

Info

Publication number: WO2005082762A2
Application number: PCT/FI2005/000128
Authority: WO
Inventors: Rauno Hatakka; Jan TÜLL; Giuseppe Bilardello; Kari Pahkala
Original assignee: Kone Corporation
Priority date: 2004-03-01
Filing date: 2005-02-28
Publication date: 2005-09-09
Also published as: WO2005082762A3; FI20040328A0

Abstract

The present invention concerns a method and a system for transmitting call data in an elevator system. In an embodiment of the present invention, the call buttons located in the elevator car are connected serially via a bus i.e. cable to each other. Another possible embodiment is one in which the landing call buttons located in the elevator lobbies on different floors are connected serially along the same bus. In both embodiments, the bus is further connected at one end to a microprocessor, which takes care of the control of the elevators. The processor identifies the signals of different buttons on the basis of address data. In both example embodiments, it is also possible to connect to the bus special buttons, such as an alarm button, which are included in the control panel in the elevator car. In addition, it is also possible to connect to the bus the floor nuuber displays and direction arrow displays in the elevator car and in the elevator lobby. In the most extensive embodiment example of the present invention, the buttons, displays and special devices of all the elevators in the elevator system can be connected to the same bus.

Description

ELEVATOR ARRANGEMENT

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the transmission of call signals in an elevator system.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In the control of the travel of elevators in an elevator system, many kinds of signals and call buttons are needed. In addition, to indicate the movements of elevators to elevator customers, signal lights and floor number displays are needed. There are basically two different types of call buttons. A user coming to an elevator calls an elevator to the floor in question by pressing a landing call button placed beside the elevator door. In newer elevator systems, two such landing call buttons are provided, one of which is provided with an arrow pointing upwards and the other with an arrow pointing downwards. By pressing these buttons, the elevator customer indicates the direction in which he/she wishes to travel from the starting floor. Placed somewhere near the landing call buttons outside the elevator car is generally a signal light, which may have e.g. the shape of a direction arrow. The signal light which is lit in the direction arrow indicates the direction of travel of the elevator coming to the floor. Moreover, a digital number display may be placed beside or above the elevator door for continuos display of the floor at which the elevator in question is currently located.

Inside the elevator car is a control panel with buttons that the user can press to select a desired target floor. In addition to these car call buttons, the elevator car usually has an alarm button for emergencies, such as situations in which the elevator is stuck between floors. The control panel inside the elevator car may also contain certain special buttons, such as a button for opening the elevator door, a button for closing the elevator door and a button for extending the car door open time. As outside the elevator car, inside the car there may also be a digital display connected to the elevator control system for continuos display of the floor at which the elevator is currently located.

In prior art, the transmission of car calls and signals from the emergency button and special buttons given in the car from the call buttons to the elevator control system is arranged according to the example in Fig. 1. From each call button 10 a separate cable 11 is connected to an electronics card 12. The card 12 has a connecting point 13 for each cable 11 coming from a call button 10. In a typical case, one electronics card can receive the cables from preferably eight call buttons, and therefore in a building having a tall elevator shaft a larger number of such electronics cards are required than in a low building. In the example presented in fl, the elevator has a total of 16 call buttons, so in addition to electronics card 12 a second electronics card 15 is also needed, to which are correspondingly connected eight call buttons in the same manner as to card 12. The electronics cards 12, 15 are further connected by a cable 14 to an elevator controller 16, which in practice is e.g. a microprocessor. It is to be noted that in this example the call buttons include two special buttons, which are a button 17 for forced stopping of the elevator and an alarm button 18.

Due to the aforesaid cabling, the number of cables required may be considerable. In addition, a large amount of electronics in the form of electronics cards is needed. If the elevator system is installed in a high-rise building, in which case it covers a large number of floors and therefore also has a large number of car call buttons, the problem is a lack of space on the control panel due to the large number of cables. The large number of cables also involves high costs. From the cabling it may also follow that difficulties are encountered in placing the call buttons because the placement of the cables imposes limitations on the placement of the buttons. Moreover, if an electronics card breaks down, the cables of all the cards have to be disconnected, which is a laborious task. It is necessary to disconnect all the cables because otherwise it is not possible to determine which one of the cards has broken down.

By pressing landing call buttons on the floors of the building - not in the elevator car - the elevator customer indicates the desired traveling direction. In prior art, these landing call buttons are connected to the control of the elevator system in the manner illustrated in Fig. 2. This example comprises three landing call buttons 20, 21, 22, so we are considering three floors in the building containing the elevator system. For the sake of simplicity, only one landing call button is indicated for each floor, although in practice each floor is provided with one up call button and one down call button. Each landing call button is connected by a cable to an electronics card, i.e. e.g. up call button 20 is connected by cable 23 to electronics card 24. Each electronics card is again connected to a bus 25. The bus 25 is further connected to a processor 26, which processes the signals received from the bus and sends control signals to the motors of the elevators. In this example of prior-art technology, a large number of electronics cards are needed, which is a drawback in respect of costs.

Specification EP 0367388 describes a system designed for monitoring an elevator system. In this system each elevator car has its own controller. This controller collects measurement data of various types about the elevator car it controls. This measurement data is conveyed to the processor via a bus solution in which all the controllers of elevator cars are connected serially to different points along a single bus, to the other end of which the processor processing the data is connected.

In specification US 4512442, certain measuring functions of the elevator system are connected to a single bus, which is further connected to a microprocessor. Such measuring functions are e.g. a detector sensing whether the elevator doors are open, a detector sensing whether the current supply is on and detectors measuring the speed of the elevator car and the operation of the brakes. Further, in specification US 4512442 a measuring block monitoring the controller of landing calls and the controller of the elevator car as well as a microprocessor are connected to a separate bus. Each landing call button is connected to the controller of landing calls by a separate cable.

In specification US 3973648, the measurement data obtained about the elevator system are transmitted to a microprocessor controlling the system over a telephone network. In this mode of transmission it is therefore necessary to use modems both at the microprocessor end for the means monitoring the communication link and at the end of the measuring means monitoring the elevator system. Such a solution is complicated as a data transfer mode because it requires the use of a telephone network and is therefore not applicable as a simpler solution to the present problem, the transmission of call button data to the processor. OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention is to overcome some of the problems mentioned in connection with the description of prior art. By using a bus as disclosed in the present invention, the problem of lack of space is eliminated and in addition more freedom in the placement of buttons is achieved. The present invention also allows easier changes of the significance of buttons, i.e. for example changing a floor from an open state to a blocked state or vice versa, because no changes need to be made in the cabling.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION As for the features characteristic of the present invention, reference is made to the claims. In the present invention are disclosed a method and a system for the transmission of elevator call data by utilizing a bus solution. In one embodiment of the present invention, the call buttons in the elevator car are connected serially along a single bus, i.e. in this case a cable. In a second embodiment, the landing call buttons outside the elevator car are connected serially along a single bus. Of these embodiments, it is possible to use either one or both together. Depending on the embodiment, address data is assigned to each button connected to the bus . One end of the bus is connected to a microprocessor, which distinguishes the signals coming from the buttons on the basis of the address data.

The method and system of the invention are characterized by what is disclosed in the characterization parts of claims 1 and 9. Other embodiments of the invention are characterized by what is disclosed in the other claims. Inventive embodiments are also presented in the description part and drawings of the present application. The inventive content disclosed in the application can also be defined in other ways than is done in the claims below. The inventive content may also consist of several separate inventions, especially if the invention is considered in the light of explicit or implicit sub- tasks or in respect of advantages or sets of advantages achieved. In this case, some of the attributes contained in the claims below may be superfluous from the point of view of separate inventive concepts. Within the framework of the basic concept of the invention, features of different embodiments of the invention can be applied in conjunction with other embodiments .

The floor number displays placed in the elevator lobby on different floors and the direction arrow displays indicating the traveling direction of the elevator can be connected to the same serial bus together with the landing call buttons. Likewise, the car call buttons within the elevator car, excluding the other buttons such as the alarm button, the button for stopping the car, the button for opening the door, the button for closing the door and the button for extending the door open time, can be connected to a bus for serial connection of car call buttons . The elevator car may also be provided with a floor number display, which, too, can be connected to the bus solution in the car. Similarly, a fan possibly provided in the elevator car can be connected to the processor controlling the elevator, by connecting it to the aforesaid bus placed in the car. The fan can be turned on and off according to control by the processor by utilizing the above- mentioned address data.

An example embodiment of the present invention is a bus that connects the call buttons, displays and devices (such as fans) in the cars of all the elevators in an elevator system as well as the landing call buttons for all the elevators and the floor number and direction arrow displays in the elevator lobbies to a single bus. Another example is a bus that runs from the above-mentioned nodal points via the buttons and displays associated with only one elevator. In this case, for each elevator in the elevator system a separate bus is provided, which is controlled by means of a processor.

The present invention has the advantage of reducing the costs especially in tall buildings. As only one cable is needed and the cable runs from button to button, this is a considerable alleviation to the problem of lack of space. The placement of buttons both in the control panel in the elevator car and in the landing call button panel in the elevator lobby becomes easier. The order in which the buttons are located along the bus has no importance, so this also contributes to the freedom of design regarding cable layout and placement of buttons. The bus solution of the invention significantly facilitates the installation of cables in the elevator system because the number of cables to be installed is reduced and the cables can be installed in a free order. Correspondingly, the assembly of the control panel also becomes easier and faster.

The bus solution of the present invention also provides the possibility of changing the status of one or more floors in the building after elevator installation in respect of elevator traffic from an active (open) status to a passive (blocked) status or vice versa. Thus, for example in office buildings it is possible to block off a given floor from elevator service via software from the processor without a need to make changes in the cabling. LIST OF FIGURES

Fig. 1 illustrates prior-art cabling of car call buttons,

Fig. 2 illustrates prior-art cabling of landing call buttons,

Fig. 3 presents a cabling of car call buttons according to the present invention,

Fig. 4 presents a cabling of landing call buttons according to the present invention, and

Fig. 5 presents an example of a system in which the bus solution of the present invention is used.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In the present invention, the call buttons are placed along a single signal path, i.e. bus. This bus is e.g. a cable, which is connected from one call button to another. One end of this chained cable connected in series via the call buttons is connected to a processor, which functions as a reader of the data in the bus and as a controller of the elevators.

In the bus of the invention, each call button has been assigned a separate address, which, on the one hand, is stored in memory for the processor and, on the other hand, functions as identification data for signals transmitted through the bus. In addition, the processor monitors the operational state of the call buttons on the bus by utilizing the address data, so that a call button that for some reason has been disconnected from the bus or generally a disconnection of the bus is immediately noticed in the control system. An embodiment of the present invention, wherein the buttons in the car are connected to a bus, is presented in Fig. 3. In this example, the system has a total of six car call buttons 30. Each button comprises, in addition to a button contact, connection means (connection electronics) for connecting the button to the bus 31. The button contact and the connection electronics of the button have been integrated to form a button 30 without cabling between the button contact and the connection electronics as used in prior art, in other words, the buttons according to the present invention do not require prior-art cable connections like those indicated in Fig. 1 by reference number 1 and in Fig. 2 by reference number 23. The buttons typically indicate a desired target floor, but they may also be special buttons as mentioned above, which also include e.g. an alarm button or a button accelerating the closing motion of the doors or a button for stopping the elevator in an emergency. In this example, one of the buttons 30 is a special button of this type, in this case an alarm button. The call buttons 30 are connected serially to each other via a bus 31, which runs from button 30 to button in the order considered to be most advantageous in respect of costs of cabling and ease of installation. At its one end the bus is connected to an interface, which in practice is in the form of an electronics card 32. The elevator system is controlled by means of a circuit board 33 which, in addition to the electronics card 32, carries a processor 34 and a database 35 connected to it. The processor 34 processes the signal coming from the buttons 30 and, on the basis of both car calls and landing calls, sends control commands to the motors controlling the elevators. It is also possible to connect to the bus a floor number display placed in the car and a possible fan. These are controlled by the processor via the bus so that the control signals intended for the display and the fan is sent to them by utilizing the address data.

Another embodiment of the present invention is presented in Fig. 4. In this embodiment, the landing call buttons 40 located on different floors of the building are placed along a single bus 41. As in Fig. 2, for the sake of simplicity in Fig. 4, too, only one landing call button is shown 40 for each floor. In this embodiment, too, the landing call button 40 if each floor has its own address, which identifies each button. In this embodiment it is also possible to connect to the bus a floor number display 42 and a direction arrow display 43, which typically are located in the immediate vicinity of the elevator door on each floor. All the floor number displays and direction arrow displays on all floors can be connected to the same bus, although Fig. 4 only shows the displays located on one floor. The bus 41 is connected to an interface 45, which in practice is an electronics card, on a circuit board 44. As in Fig. 3, the circuit board carries a processor 46 and a database 47 connected to it. The nodes 40,42,43 connected to the bus 41 as in Fig. 3 comprise connection means (connection electronics) for connecting the nodes to the bus 41 without cabling as used in prior art (Fig. 1 reference 11, Fig. 2 reference 23), because the connection electronics is integrated as part of each node.

An alternative embodiment of the present invention is to combine the bus solutions in Fig. 3 and 4 together in the same elevator system. In this case, the car call buttons are connected along one of the buses while landing call buttons are connected along the other bus . Each bus is separately connected to the processor, which takes care of identification of the signals received from the bus and control of the elevators. This embodiment example is probably the most advantageous solution for application of present invention.

Fig. 5 presents an example of a system in which the bus solution of the present invention is used. The example concerns a four-floor building. The system comprises two elevators 50a and 50b serving the users of the building. The elevator system is controlled by a microprocessor 51, which is installed in a place in the building from where it can be easily connected to the elevators. Elevator 50a is provided with a control panel 52a, which contains car call buttons, an alarm button and possibly a button for stopping the car (stop button) and buttons for opening a closing the elevator door. The other elevator 50b correspondingly has its control panel 52b. Landing call buttons 53a, 53b are provided in each elevator lobby on each floor. Placed beside the elevator door are typically two buttons, one for calls in the upward direction (up calls) and another for calls in the downward direction (down calls) . On the top and bottom floors of the building, naturally only one of these landing call buttons is provided. The landing call buttons 53a for elevator 50a on each floor are connected according to the present invention in serial mode to a bus 54a, which is connected to the microprocessor 51. Similarly, the landing call buttons 53b for the other elevator 50b are connected to a separate bus 54b, which is also further connected to the microprocessor 51. From the car call buttons 52a, 52b separate buses 55a, 55b are correspondingly connected to the microprocessor 51. Based on call data, actual control signals are transmitted from the processor 51 to the motors controlling the travel of the elevators. The operational state of each button, display and fan, i.e. every component connected to the bus, is monitored by the processor 51. For example, if a call button breaks down, information regarding the failure is passed to the processor 51 and this signal can be further transmitted as failure data e.g. to the elevator manufacturer's control room.

An example embodiment of the present invention is a bus that connects the call buttons, displays and devices (such as a fan) in the cars of all the elevators in an elevator system and all the landing call buttons for all the elevators as well as the floor number and direction arrow displays in the elevator lobbies to a single bus . Each one of the aforesaid buttons, displays and devices can be called a nodal point or node, and each node has its own address as described above. Another embodiment example is a bus that runs from the aforesaid nodal points via the buttons and displays associated with only one elevator. In this case, a separate bus controlled by a processor is provided for each elevator in the elevator system. The present invention makes it possible to connect desired nodes with one or more bus solutions in the most reasonable manner considering aspects of cost and ease of installation.

The invention provides an advantage over prior-art technology especially when the building has a large number of floors . The number of cables and the space required by them are reduced very significantly as only one cable running from button to button is needed. The invention provides a freedom of placement of the push buttons as it eliminates the lack of space caused by prior-art cabling. If the significance of buttons in the elevator car is to be changed for some reason at a later stage, this can be done without having to touch the cable connections. Furthermore, a floor can be easily switched from an operative state to an inoperative state or vice versa, i.e. from an open state to a blocked state or vice versa, by feeding this information to the processor, without a need to change the cable connections. Calls to a blocked floor are not accepted, but signals are transmitted in the normal manner via the call button corresponding to the blocked floor because both open and blocked floor buttons are connected to the same bus . In the cabling of the control panel in the car there is also the advantage that the order of the buttons along the bus has no importance. In other words, the buttons can be connected with the cable in the order considered by the manufacturer to be the most advantageous in regard of technical and cost aspects. Thanks to the invention, the installation of cables in an elevator system is facilitated and accelerated because the nor cables to be installed is reduced and because the order of installation of the cables can be chosen in an advantageous manner in respect of installation. Correspondingly, the task of assembling the control panel for the car becomes easier and faster because the number of cables to be installed during assembly is reduced and because the order of installation can be chosen in an advantageous manner in respect of assembly. The invention allows quick detection of faults that may appear in the buttons and cabling of the elevator system, because the processor controlling the bus connecting the buttons monitors the state of the nodes of the bus by using the address data so that defective buttons on the bus are detected immediately.

It is obvious to the person skilled in the art that the invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, in which the invention has been described by way of example, but that different embodiments of the invention are possible within the scope of the inventive concept defined in the claims presented below.

Claims

CLAIMS 1. A method for transmitting signals needed in an elevator system, characterized in that the method comprises the steps of: defining the call and control signal input means and display means as well as devices used in the elevator system as nodes; assigning address data to each node; connecting the nodes in serial mode to each other by a cable; and transmitting input or display data provided with address data between the elevator control system and the nodes via the aforesaid cable. 2. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that the method comprises the step of : defining the buttons comprised in the elevator system as the aforesaid input means . 3. A method according to any one of the preceding claims 1-2, characterized in that the method comprises the step of : defining the aforesaid buttons as car call buttons inside the elevator car, landing call buttons outside the elevator car, alarm buttons, buttons for stopping the elevator car, buttons for opening the elevator door, buttons for closing the elevator door and buttons for extending the open time of the elevator door. . A method according to any one of the preceding claims 1-3, characterized in that the method comprises the step of : defining the floor number displays and direction arrow displays comprised in the elevator system as aforesaid display means. 5. A method according to any one of the preceding claims 1-4, characterized in that the method comprises the step of : defining a fan placed in the elevator car as an aforesaid device . 6. A method according to any one of the preceding claims 1-5, characterized in that the method comprises the step of : connecting the nodes in the elevator car to each other via the aforesaid cable. 7. A method according to any one of the preceding claims 1-6, characterized in that the method comprises the step of: connecting the nodes located outside the elevator car to each other via the aforesaid cable. 8. A method according to any one of the preceding claims 1-7, characterized in that the method comprises the step of: monitoring the operational state of the aforesaid nodes by utilizing the address data over the aforesaid cable . 9. A system for the transmission of signals needed in an elevator system, characterized in that the system comprises: at least one elevator (50a, 50b) ; a number of nodes, which are means for the input and display of call and control signals in the elevator system and devices comprised in the elevator system; at least one bus (54a, 54b, 55a, 55b) , which has been arranged to connect the aforesaid nodes via serial cabling to each other; addressing of the aforesaid nodes; and a microprocessor (51) , which controls the operation of the bus or buses by using the aforesaid addressing. 10. A system according to characterized in that the system further comprises: the buttons comprised in the elevator system, which are aforesaid input means.

11. A system according to any one of the preceding claims 9-10, characterized in that the system further comprises : car call buttons (52a, 52b) inside the elevator car as aforesaid buttons; and/or landing call buttons (53a, 53b) outside the elevator car as aforesaid buttons; and/or alarm buttons (18, 36) as aforesaid buttons; and/or buttons (17) for stopping the elevator car as aforesaid buttons; and/or buttons for opening the elevator door as aforesaid buttons; and/or buttons for closing the elevator door as aforesaid buttons; and/or buttons for extending the open time of the elevator door as aforesaid buttons. 12. A system according to any one of the preceding claims 9-11, characterized in that the system further comprises: at least one floor number display (42) as an aforesaid display means; and at least one direction arrow display (43) as an aforesaid display means indicating the direction of travel of the elevator. 13. A system according to any one of the preceding claims 9-12, characterized in that the system further comprises : a fan inside the elevator car as an aforesaid device. 14. A system according to any one of the preceding claims 9-13, characterized in that the system further comprises : the aforesaid bus (54a, 54b, 55a, 55b) has been arranged to connect the nodes located in the elevator car via the aforesaid serial cabling.

15. A system according to any one of the preceding claims 9-14, characterized in that the system further comprises: the aforesaid bus (54a, 54b, 55a, 55b) has been arranged to connect the nodes located outside the elevator car via the aforesaid serial cabling. 16. A system according to any one of the preceding claims 9-15, characterized in that the system further comprises : means (51) for monitoring the address state according to the aforesaid addressing between nodes, which means have been arranged to monitor the operational state of each node.