WO2005121003A2

WO2005121003A2 - Elevator arrangement

Info

Publication number: WO2005121003A2
Application number: PCT/FI2005/000258
Authority: WO
Inventors: Markku Kakko; Tapio Tyni; Marjukka MÄKELÄ
Original assignee: Kone Corporation
Priority date: 2004-06-09
Filing date: 2005-06-06
Publication date: 2005-12-22
Also published as: WO2005121003B1; WO2005121003A3; FI20040796A0; FI115963B

Abstract

In the present invention, a call to a destination floor is given in an elevator system by means of a call input device. Components of the call input device are a call input wheel, a display screen for displaying a floor indication both in an absolute form and in a proportional form in relation to the building and a push button for transmitting a floor selection to the elevator control system. The call input wheel can be implemented e.g. as a control wheel or roller rotatable in a horizontal or vertical direction. In an embodiment of the present invention, the push button is integrated with the call input wheel. The rate of change of the floor indication on the display depends e.g. on the angular speed of the rotation of the call input wheel. A loudspeaker can be connected to the call input device to give a sound signal when the floor indication on the display changes. The loudspeaker can also be used to tell the selected destination floor to blind elevator users by means of a speech machine. The call input device can be placed in the elevator lobby outside the elevator car, but it can also be placed inside the elevator car.

Description

ELEVATOR ARRANGEMENT

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to call input in an elevator system.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The backbone of the operation of the elevators in an elevator system is call input and the related control of elevator movements. Traditionally, call input has been arranged by providing each floor with up-down call buttons, by means of which an arriving elevator customer indicates a desired traveling direction. In addition, the elevator car has to be provided with a control panel tailored to the place of installation of the elevator system and comprising a button for each floor, of which the elevator passenger presses the one corresponding to his/her destination floor. Moreover, the control panel in the elevator car also contains other keys, such as an alarm button, an emergency stop button and possibly buttons for immediate closing and opening of the elevator doors. Thus, in the traditional call input method, the elevator customer has to give two calls. First, an elevator has to be called by one press of a call button to the floor where the customer is located. In addition to this, a second press of a call button is needed in the elevator car.

As buildings have individual characteristics regarding the number of floors and floor indications or floor designations, it is necessary to have in each elevator car in the building a car control panel individually manufactured according to each building. Due to the plenty of different alternatives and, on the other hand, the physical complexity of the panel, i.e. the large number of buttons and wirings, such a call control panel is an expensive component.

A call input method whereby the elevator passenger selects his/her destination floor while still in the elevator lobby outside the elevator is called destination allocation. This method aggravates the above-mentioned problem of high costs because each floor of the building needs to be provided with a separate "car call panel" containing all the call buttons corresponding to the floors to be served in the building. The number of delivery-specific call panels in tall buildings is large and the costs may amount to very large sums.

An alternative to the call panels placed on each floor is a keypad resembling a telephone keypad with number keys from zero to nine. A drawback with this solution is that in this case no floors in the building can be designated by letters, such as B (basement) .

Specification US2003/0111299 discloses a call panel comprising number buttons from one to the button for the top floor. In addition, in the call panel according to this specification, the buttons from zero to nine are separated as a specific set of keys that can be used alternatively to input e.g. a two-digit floor call one digit at a time.

In addition publication JP 2002-128397 presents a car call device arranged for wheelchair patients. Another publication, JP 2002-234678, presents a combined screen and car call device for high-rise buildings that shows the location of elevator cars in the height direction in the building. Publication US 5,679,934 presents a car call device implemented with a touchscreen, with which information relating to the operation of an elevator is displayed, such as the direction of travel and the floor.

One alternative is to implement call input using two buttons, one of which scrolls a list of call numbers forwards one floor number at a time and the other correspondingly backwards. In addition, such a call input system requires an accept button for sending the desired call data to the control system. However, such a method is unpractical in tall buildings. For example, if an elevator customer wants a ride from the ground floor to floor 30, he/she will have to press the forward scroll button 30 times and then the accept button. On the other hand, this method can be improved in such a way that, when the elevator customer arrives to the call panel, the default destination floor displayed is a floor number whose average distance from the destination floor number of a random customer arriving at the moment of time in question can be minimized by considering statistical data for outward- bound traffic from the floor in question for that moment of time. However, in tall buildings many customers still have to press the call number scrolling buttons an unpractically large number of times.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention is to overcome or alleviate the above-mentioned drawbacks of prior-art technology in call input concerning an elevator system. A specific object is to disclose a solution that is simple to use and is therefore also suited for use by various special user categories. Examples of such special categories are blind elevator users or users moving on wheelchairs. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

As for the features of the present invention, reference is made to the claims.

The method, device and system of the invention are characterized by what is disclosed in the characterization parts of claims 1, 13 and 24. 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 call input device of the present invention comprises a display of a floor indication and a proportional display of the floor indication in the building and a rotatable call input wheel which can simultaneously function as an 'accept call' push button. A customer arriving to the elevator selects his/her destination floor while still in the elevator lobby outside the car before boarding the elevator. Call input is effected by rotating or rolling the call input wheel. The floor indication display changes at a rate increasing with the speed of rotation of the call input wheel. This allows the user of the call input device to move towards the desired end of the building by a fast rotation of the wheel and then adjust the floor selection by small movements of the wheel until exactly the desired floor number is reached. The floor visible on the display is selected by pressing the rotatable call input wheel, which thus also functions as a push button. Alternatively, a separate push button serving as an accept button can be provided beside the call input wheel.

As an additional function in the present invention, the user can be given immediate feedback every time the floor indication on the display changes. The feedback can be given e.g. in the form of a sound signal in response to rotation done by the user. Another additional function consists of setting a default destination floor on the display when the call input wheel has remained untouched for a given preset period of time. The default destination floor can be so selected that the average distance from it to the next floor presumably to be selected is shortest . Here it is possible to utilize traffic statistics giving the magnitudes of traffic components to different floors at the moment being considered. On the other hand, the floor selected as default destination floor may be e.g. the floor where the call input device is located.

For blind elevator users, the present invention can be provided with a speech machine. In this device, the floor visible on the display is indicated via a loudspeaker when the motion of the call input wheel stops or when the call input wheel has remained immobile for a given short time. In this way, a blind user gets feedback regarding the floor selected. Among the advantages of the present invention is the economical cost of the device as compared to a traditional complete call panel especially in tall buildings. In addition, the call input device increases traveling comfort because several call input devices can be placed in the elevator lobby, thus shortening the queues to call input devices. Moreover, the customer does not have to give a new call in the elevator car, because a single call given in the lobby is sufficient in the present invention. Where several call input devices are provided, elevator allocation can be performed taking into account the location of each call input device and giving preference in large elevator systems to that elevator which is closest to a frequently used call input device.

The present invention allows many types of floor indication and thus does not restrict the use exclusively to numeric indications. Due to its modifiability, the call input wheel is also more usable than e.g. a call input panel provided with number keys from zero to nine . When changes are made in the elevator system, e.g. when a new floor is added, updating is easy to carry out by only modifying the software while the call input device in itself remains the same. Identical call input devices can be placed in all buildings, and no different versions of the device need to be made for buildings of different heights. In addition, the user interface of the call input device is in itself familiar from other environments, such as e.g. from the solutions used in hi-fi equipment for the selection of music pieces and sound volume and e.g. from the computer wheel mouse. Moreover, the call input device is also suited for use by special categories of people, such as disabled persons . LIST OF FIGURES

Fig. 1 presents an embodiment of the call input wheel of the present invention, and

Fig. 2 presents an elevator system according to the present invention comprising a call input wheel as a part of it .

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION In the present invention, a new type of call input device is disclosed as an improvement to prior-art solutions. The invention concerns a call input device containing a call input wheel 10, a display 11 and an accept button 12. Fig. 1 presents an example embodiment of the call input device of the present invention.

The call input wheel 10 is a freely rotatable adjusting wheel, by means of which the elevator passenger can select the desired destination floor by rotating the wheel. The user interface may also consist of a small roller rotated by a finger or a larger roller rotated by the palm. The rollers may be rotatable either horizontally or vertically. The display 11 shows a floor indication 13, which is changed as the wheel is rotated. The floor indication 13 on the display may comprise both numbers and letters, so in principle the system allows all types of floor designations encountered in practice.

To visualize the selection of a destination floor, the display 11 of the call input device according to the present invention can be provided with a proportional display 14 of the desired floor in relation to the building. This can be implemented e.g. as a straight light column 14 wherein an illumined spot moves as the call input wheel 10 is rotated. The ends of the column represent the lowest and highest floors in the building that can be reached by the elevator. The proportional display 14 makes it easy for the elevator customer to perceive which part of the building the selection is currently pointing to and to relate this information to his/her own notion of where the destination floor is located in the building.

In the present invention, the 'accept selection' button 12 is integrated with the call input wheel 10 for simplicity and ease of use. Thus, no separate button is needed. After the customer has found the desired destination floor by turning the wheel, he/she will press the call input wheel 10, 12, whereupon the selection is passed to the elevator control system.

The sensitivity of the call input wheel 10 can be adjusted to make it adaptable. This means that the rate of change of the floor number 13 on the display is obtained as a value directly proportional to the intensity of rotation, in other words, more precisely speaking, to the magnitude of the angular velocity and angular acceleration of the wheel. The faster the wheel is rotated, the faster do the floor numbers change, rolling one at a time. By a fast rotation of the wheel, the floor number on the display can also be changed in larger steps, e.g. in five-floor jumps, if the elevator is situated in a tall skyscraper. By a short quick rotation of the wheel, the indication on the display can be moved from one extremity of the building to the other. Correspondingly, by slowly rotating the wheel, correct fine adjustment of the floor number can be accomplished because the numbers on the display now change at a slow speed one at a time. Thus, by fast movements the customer can move rapidly to the desired part of the building and then by small and slow turning movements he/she can select exactly the desired destination floor as the selection accuracy is now greater.

The call input wheel 10 can be provided with a mechanical structure designed to create a resistance braking the rotation such that rotating the wheel will feel like a "stepping" movement with a suitable degree of "stickiness" . The resistance simulates the experience produced by rotating a traditional rotary switch, but this is implemented in a much softer manner.

An example system according to the present invention is presented in Fig. 2. An elevator 21 is running in an elevator shaft 20 in a building. In this example, we shall consider one floor of the building and only one elevator. On the floor in question is an elevator door 22 with arrow-shaped light indicators 23 above it indicating the traveling direction of the elevator when it departs from the floor. Mounted on the wall near the elevator door opening in the elevator lobby on the floor in question is a call input device 24 according to the present invention for the input of calls. This call input device 24 is as presented in the embodiment example in Fig. 1. From the call input device, the call data is transferred to an elevator controller 25, which contains the actual intelligence for performing elevator allocation on the basis of call data and information regarding elevator positions and motional states . Placed in the immediate vicinity of the call input device 24 in this example is a loudspeaker 26, which is used both to give the user a sound signal (e.g. a click) every time the floor number changes with the rotation of the call input wheel and to tell a blind user the selected floor information from the display of the call input wheel by means of a speech machine. In Fig. 2, the sizes of the call input device 24 and the loudspeaker 26 e.g. as compared to the elevator door 22 are exaggerated for the sake of clarity.

As stated, with the present invention it is possible to use a small loudspeaker 26 to produce a sound signal every time the floor number changes on the display 13 of the device. The sound signal may be e.g. a faint snapping sound or a "click" type sound. The sound can also be produced mechanically without a loudspeaker. These are examples of ways of giving the user even audible feedback about the effect of rotating the call input wheel 10.

If the call input wheel 10 has not been touched for a given prescribed length of time, then a default destination floor is set on the display 11. This default destination floor can be selected on the basis of traffic statistics obtained from a so-called Traffic Forecaster according to the prevailing traffic situation, the floor number to be displayed being an average of the most probable destination floors, defined in a suitable way. The aim of this is to minimize the required amount of rotation when the next customer finally arrives to the elevator. With this arrangement, the floor suggested by the system is in the direction of the prevailing traffic component and thus probably within the same area that the passenger is traveling to. In an office building, during the prevailing outward peak traffic at the end of a working day it is logical to select the main lobby floor as the default destination floor. During the lunch hour again a sensible selection as a default destination floor is the floor where the staff restaurant of the building is situated, if that restaurant is much frequented. It is also possible to select as a default destination floor e.g. the floor where the call input device is located, in other words, the floor on which the customer is located when arriving to the elevator. This makes it possible to visualize the customer's departure floor in a concrete manner and, starting from this initial value, the selection of destination floor can in some cases be made in the most natural way.

The call input device of the present invention allows the floor indications in the building to be correctly represented without being restricted exclusively to numeric indications. For example, floors designated by letters, such as B for basement, can be advantageously presented correctly by the device of the invention. Further, when changes are made in the elevator system (e.g. when a new floor is added to the system), the call input equipment itself can be retained unchanged as the system can be updated in respect of the call input equipment by merely modifying the software.

For blind elevator users, the device of the present invention can be provided with a speech machine. Every time the motion of the call input wheel stops or is slow enough, the speech machine can tell the floor currently selected. In this way, a blind user is given feedback about his/her floor selection. This function has to be activated by a suitable method when a blind customer comes to the call input device. If the elevator system is situated in an office building where a ride on an elevator requires presentation of an access card, data indicating activation of the speech machine can be included in the information stored on the blind user's card.

The call input device of the present invention has the advantage that the device is economic in respect of costs. The call input device has the same structure regardless of the building where it is placed. This is a distinct difference as compared to the traditional car control panel, which has to be tailored separately for each building according to the height and floor designations of the building. Due to the relatively economic cost of the call input device, several devices can be placed in different parts of the elevator lobby without incurring unreasonable costs. This helps avoid the formation of queues, which naturally build up more readily if there is only one call panel for each floor. At the same time, passengers arriving from different directions are afforded a more convenient way of issuing calls. The placement of each call input device can additionally be taken into account in the allocation of calls. Thus, in large elevator systems, in serving a landing call it is possible to give preference to an elevator that is close to the call input device manipulated by the customer.

In principle, it is also possible to place the call input device inside the elevator car as a replacement of the traditional control panel. In the case of a large elevator car, several call input devices can be placed in the same elevator car if desirable, due to the economic cost of the call input device. It is to be noted that the display of the device is not necessarily able to show all car calls active. During movement of the elevator it is reasonable to display e.g. the next few floors where the elevator is going to stop.

For better usability, the behavior of the display of the call input device of the present invention can be developed to improve its visual quality. When the customer rotates and presses the call input wheel, it may remain unclear which floor was finally selected and passed to the elevator system control . This problem becomes more apparent when several calls are input in succession using the same call input wheel. The call selected by a depression of the call input wheel can be confirmed to the user e.g. by blinking the number of the selected floor on the display. One solution is to show the selected called floors in a smaller size at the edge of the display screen 11, e.g. listed one above the other. Each time a new call is input by pressing the button 12 at a floor number not yet listed, the floor number 13 is added to the list.

A problematic situation may arise when an elevator is already standing at the floor where the customer is going to get on board. In such a case the customer, following the accustomed principle of call input, may forget to give the desired destination floor outside the elevator but instead starts looking for a control panel after he/she has walked directly into the elevator car without giving a call . This problem is solved by placing a call input device inside the car as well. In this way, in principle the elevator customer is given a possibility to input a landing call either in the elevator lobby or in the elevator car according to which alternative the customer likes better.

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 the input of a call in an elevator system, characterized in that the method comprises the steps of: showing a floor indication on a display; changing the floor indication by means of a rotatable call input wheel; and selecting the floor corresponding to the floor indication as the desired destination floor.

2. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that the method further comprises the step of selecting the floor corresponding to the floor indication as the desired destination floor by pressing a select key.

3. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that the method further comprises the step of selecting the floor corresponding to the floor indication as the desired destination floor when the floor indication remains unchanged for a desired pe- riod of time.

4. A method according to any one of the preceding claims 1-3, characterized in that the method further comprises the step of: displaying the relative location of the selected floor in the building.

5. A method according to any one of the preceding claims 1-4, characterized in that the method further comprises the step of: selecting the destination floor from the landing floor outside the elevator car.

6. A method according to any one of the preceding claims 1-5, characterized in that the method further comprises the step of: selecting the destination floor from the elevator car.

7. A method according to any one of the preceding claims 1-6, characterized in that the select key is integrated with the call input wheel.

8. A method according to any one of the pre- ceding claims 1-7, characterized in that the select key is a button external to the call input wheel.

9. A method according to any one of the preceding claims 1-8, characterized in that the method further comprises the step of: generating a sound signal when the floor indication changes on the display.

10. A method according to any one of the preceding claims 1-9, characterized in that the method further comprises the steps of : changing the floor indication at a variable rate; and selecting the said rate to be proportional to the angular acceleration and angular velocity of the rotation of the call input wheel .

11. A method according to any one of the preceding .claims 1-10, characterized in that the method further comprises the steps of: setting the floor indication as a default destination floor when the call input wheel remains immo- bile for a given length of time; and setting the default destination floor on the basis of traffic statistics.

12. A method according to any one of the preceding claims 1-11, characterized in that the method further comprises the step of: expressing the floor indication with a sound signal when the motion of the call input wheel stops.

13. A call input device for the input of a call in an elevator system, characterized in that the call input device comprises: a display screen (11) for presenting a floor indication (13) and guidance to a target elevator; and a rotatable call input wheel (10) for changing the floor indication.

14. A call input device according to claim 13, characterized in that the call input device furt- her comprises: a select key (12) for selecting the floor corresponding to the floor indication as the desired destination floor.

15. A call input device according to any one of the preceding claimsl3-14, characterized in that the call input device further comprises: a relative floor indication (14) for representing the floor selection (13) in relation to the building.

16. A call input device according to any one of the preceding claims 13-15, characterized in that the call input device is located on the landing floor outside the elevator car (21) .

17. A call input device according to any one of the preceding claims 13-16, characterized in that the call input device is located in the elevator car (21) .

18. A call input device according to any one of the preceding claims 13-17, characterized in that: the select key (12) is integrated with the call input wheel (10) .

19. A call input device according to any one of the preceding claims 13-18, characterized in that: the select key (12) is a button external to the call input wheel (10) .

20. A call input device according to any one of the preceding claims 13-19, characterized in that the call input device further comprises: a connection to a loudspeaker (26) for generating a sound signal when the floor indication (13, 14) changes on the display.

21. A call input device according to any one of the preceding claims 13-20, characterized in that: the floor indication (13, 14) is arranged to change at a variable rate; and the said rate is arranged to be proportional to the angular acceleration and angular velocity of the rotation of the call input wheel (10) .

22. A call input device according to any one of the preceding claims 13-21, characterized in that, in the call input device, the floor indication (13, 14) is arranged to show a default destination floor when the call input wheel (10) remains immobile for a given length of time; and the said default destination floor is arranged to be decided by utilizing traffic statistics.

23. A call input device according to any one of the preceding claims 13-22, characterized in that the said loudspeaker (26) is arranged to give a sound signal expressing the floor indication (13, 14) selected by the call input wheel (10) when the motion of the call input wheel (10) stops.

24. A system for the input of a call in an elevator system, said system comprising: at least one elevator (21) ; a controller (25) of the elevator system for allocating and controlling the elevators on the basis of active calls; characterized in that the system further comprises a call input device (24), which comprises: a display screen (11) for displaying a floor indication (13) and guidance to a target elevator; and a rotatable call input wheel (10) for changing the floor indication.

25. A system according to claim 24, characterized in that the system further comprises: a select key (12) for selecting the floor corres- ponding to the floor indication as the desired destination floor.

26. A system according to any one of the preceding claims 24-25, characterized in that the system further comprises: a relative floor indication (14) for displaying the floor selection (13) in relation to the building.

27. A system according to any one of the preceding claims 24-26, characterized in that the system further comprises: the aforesaid call input device (24) located on the landing floor outside the elevator car (21) .

28. A system according to any one of the preceding claims 24-27, characterized in that the system further comprises: the aforesaid call input device (24) located in the elevator car (21) .

29. A system according to any one of the preceding claims 24-28, characterized in that: the select key (12) is integrated with the call input wheel (10) .

30. A system according to any one of the preceding claims 24-29, characterized in that: the select key (12) is a button external to the call input wheel (10) .

31. A system according to any one of the pre- ceding claims 24-30, characterized in that the system further comprises: a loudspeaker (26) for generating a sound signal when the floor indication (13, 14) changes on the display.

32. A system according to any one of the preceding claims 24-31, characterized in that the system further comprises: means (25) for adjusting the rate of change of the floor indication to change the floor indication at a variable rate; and the aforesaid adjusting means (25) for setting the rate so that it is proportional to the angular accele- ration and angular velocity of the rotation of the call input wheel.

33. A system according to any one of the preceding claims 24-32, characterized in that the system further comprises : default destination floor setting means (25) for setting a default destination floor as the floor indication when the call input wheel remains immobile for a given length of time; and the aforesaid setting means (25) for setting the default destination floor on the basis of traffic statistics .

34. A system according to any one of the preceding claims 24-33, characterized in that the system further comprises: the said loudspeaker (26) for giving a sound signal expressing the floor indication when the motion of the call input wheel stops.