U.S. patent number 3,831,715 [Application Number 05/328,677] was granted by the patent office on 1974-08-27 for elevator control process and system.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Hitachi Ltd.. Invention is credited to Isao Inuzuka, Hideto Matsuzawa, Kikuo Watanabe.
United States Patent |
3,831,715 |
Matsuzawa , et al. |
August 27, 1974 |
ELEVATOR CONTROL PROCESS AND SYSTEM
Abstract
A process and system for controlling a plurality of elevator
cars servicing a plurality of service floor landings in which at
least three specific floors are selected beside the basic floor
where the number of passengers is largest so that some of these
elevator cars can stand by at the basic floor and one of the
elevator cars can stand by at each of the specific floors. The up
and down hall call responding zones of each elevator car are
determined so that it can respond to up and down hall calls
originating from the floor at which the elevator car is situated
and from the floors lying between this elevator car and the nearest
upper and lower elevator cars.
Inventors: |
Matsuzawa; Hideto (Katsuta,
JA), Watanabe; Kikuo (Katsuta, JA),
Inuzuka; Isao (Katsuta, JA) |
Assignee: |
Hitachi Ltd. (Tokyo,
JA)
|
Family
ID: |
27279397 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/328,677 |
Filed: |
February 1, 1973 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
|
|
|
|
|
Feb 2, 1972 [JA] |
|
|
47-11392 |
Feb 21, 1972 [JA] |
|
|
47-17243 |
Mar 8, 1972 [JA] |
|
|
47-23209 |
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
187/383 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B66B
1/18 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
B66B
1/18 (20060101); B66b 001/18 () |
Field of
Search: |
;187/29 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Schaefer; Robert K.
Assistant Examiner: Duncanson, Jr.; W. E.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Craig & Antonelli
Claims
What we claim is:
1. A process for controlling a plurality of elevator cars servicing
a plurality of service floor landings comprising selecting at least
three specific floors among all the floors and suitably dispersing
said elevator cars to stand by at said specific floors so that each
of said dispersed elevator cars can respond to up hall calls
originating from an up hall call responding zone consisting of the
floors ranging from the floor one floor position below the floor
position of the nearest upper elevator car to the floor at which
said specific elevator car is situated and to down hall calls
originating from a down hall call responding zone consisting of the
floors ranging from the floor one floor position above the floor
position of the nearest lower elevator car to the floor at which
said specific elevator car is situated.
2. An elevator control process as claimed in claim 1, wherein when
the direction of movement of an elevator car is determined, one of
said hall call responding zones of said elevator car from which
zone, hall calls in the direction opposite to said direction of
movement of said car originate is cancelled, and one of hall call
responding zones of another elevator car nearest to the
first-mentioned elevator car in said direction of movement of the
first-mentioned elevator car is extended to cover said cancelled
hall call responding zone, hall calls originating from said one of
hall call responding zones of said other elevator car being in the
direction opposite to the direction of movement of the
first-mentioned elevator car.
3. An elevator control process as claimed in claim 2, wherein when
an elevator car is moving from its original floor position to
another floor position in said direction of movement, at least a
part of the other hall call responding zone of said elevator car
from which zone, hall calls in said direction of movement originate
is further cancelled, and one of hall call responding zones of
another elevator car nearest to the first-mentioned elevator car in
the direction opposite to said direction of movement of the
first-mentioned elevator car is extended to cover said cancelled
part of said other hall call responding zone, hall calls
originating from said one of hall call responding zones of said
other elevator car being in the direction of movement of the
first-mentioned elevator car.
4. An elevator control process as claimed in claim 1, wherein when
an elevator car is loaded with more than a predetermined load, the
up hall call responding zone and the down hall call responding zone
of said elevator car are cancelled, and the hall call responding
zones of the nearest upper and lower elevator cars relative to said
elevator car are extended to cover said cancelled hall call
responding zones.
5. A process for controlling a plurality of elevator cars servicing
a plurality of service floor landings comprising suitably
dispersing said elevator cars so that each of said elevator cars
can respond to up hall calls originating from an up hall call
responding zone consisting of the floors ranging from the floor one
floor position below the floor position of the nearest upper
elevator car to the floor at which said specific elevator car is
situated and to down hall calls originating from a down hall call
responding zone consisting of the floors ranging from the floor one
floor position above the floor position of the nearest lower
elevator car to the floor at which said specific elevator car is
situated, irrespective of any variations in the relative positions
of the individual elevator cars.
6. An elevator control process as claimed in claim 1, wherein said
at least three specific floors include the basic floor at which
elevator cars should always stand by.
7. An elevator control process as claimed in claim 1, wherein the
floor at which the number of passengers is largest is selected to
be one of said at least three specific floors.
8. An elevator control process as claimed in claim 1, wherein the
floor at which the number of passengers is the largest is selected
to be one of said at least three specific floors, and said selected
floor is the basic floor at which elevator cars should always stand
by.
9. An elevator control process as claimed in claim 6, wherein when
the number of operatable elevator cars is decreased to such an
extent that it is no more possible to secure all the elevator cars
previously scheduled to stand by at said specific floors and at
said basic floor, the number of said specific floors is decreased
to the same extent.
10. An elevator control process as claimed in claim 9, wherein at
least one of said selected specific floors nearer to said basic
floor than the other specific floors is returned to be a usual
floor at which no elevator car stands by.
11. An elevator control system for controlling a plurality of
elevator cars servicing a plurality of service floor landings
comprising means for selecting at least three specific floors among
all the floors for dispersing said elevator cars to said specific
floors, means establishing a plurality of stand-by zones each
consisting of predetermined successive floors including one of said
specific floors, means for detecting the position and moving
direction of the individual elevator cars, means for selecting
elevator cars as dispersed stand-by cars at said specific floors in
response to the outputs of said stand-by zone establishing means
and said position and moving direction detecting means, means for
instructing the selected cars to stand by at said specific floors,
and means for causing said dispersed stand-by cars to stop at said
individual specific floors instructed by said stand-by instruction
means.
12. An elevator control system as claimed in claim 11, wherein said
stand-by instruction means includes means for cancelling the
stand-by instructions for an elevator car standing by at its
originally associated specific floor when said elevator car moves
out of said standby zone.
13. An elevator control system as claimed in claim 11, wherein said
stand-by instruction means includes means for applying the stand-by
instructions to an elevator car which is present in a stand-by zone
including one of said specific floors to which said elevator car
was not originally dispersed and tends to move toward said specific
floor.
14. An elevator control system as claimed in claim 11, wherein said
stand-by instruction means includes means for applying the stand-by
instructions to one of a plurality of said elevator cars standing
by at the basic floor at which such elevator cars should always
stand by among said specific floors, when any elevator car tending
to move toward one of said specific floors except said basic floor
is not present in the zone including said specific floor.
15. An elevator control system as claimed in claim 12, wherein said
at least three specific floors include the basic floor at which
elevator cars should always stand by, and means is provided for
cutting off the output of said stand-by instruction cancelling
means when none of said elevator cars standing by at said basic
floor have their motors energized.
16. An elevator control system as claimed in claim 11, wherein said
at least three specific floors include the basic floor at which
elevator cars should always stand by, and means is provided for
applying the basic floor returning instructions to an elevator car
standing by at its specific floor with the motor thereof energized,
when a predetermined number of elevator cars are not standing by at
said basic floor.
Description
This invention relates to improvements in the process and system
for controlling the operation of an elevator car group consisting
of a plurality of elevator cars disposed for parallel operation in
a building.
In a building in which a plurality of elevator cars are arranged
for parallel operation under control of group control means,
various operation modes are commonly prepared to deal with the
traffic. For example, when the traffic is busy, the individual
elevator cars are operated in a substantially uniformly dispersed
condition within the overall service range, while when the traffic
is idle, all the elevator cars are controlled so that they stand by
at a basic floor and start to move only when calls are originated.
Various other operation modes are presently employed. Suppose, for
example, that a hall call is originated from one of upper floors of
a multi-floor building in a condition in which the traffic is idle.
Since one of the elevator cars standing by at the basic floor
responds substantially to the hall call in such a case, the
passenger standing at the service floor landing of the upper floor
must wait anxiously for the elevator car departing the basic floor
and moving upward toward the floor through many intermediate
floors.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a process and
system for controlling the operation of a plurality of elevator
cars servicing a plurality of service floor landings in such a
manner that these elevator cars can be suitably dispersed to stand
by at different floors thereby reducing the waiting time for
passengers and realizing an efficient parallel operation of the
elevator car group.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a process and
system for controlling a plurality of elevator cars in such a
manner that, even when the number of operatable elevator cars is
decreased, the remaining operatable elevator cars can be suitably
dispersed to stand by at different floors.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a process
and system for controlling a plurality of elevator cars in which
means are provided so that, even when the preset dispersed stand-by
mode is lost due to the operation of one or some of the elevator
cars, the dispersed stand-by instructions for the unsuitable
elevator cars can be cancelled and other suitable elevator cars can
be selected to stand by at the predetermined floors.
One of the features of the present invention resides in the fact
that a plurality of elevator cars are suitably dispersed to stand
by at at least three specific floors including a basic floor and
each elevator car responds to up hall calls originating from the
floors ranging from the floor one floor position below the floor
position of the nearest upper elevator car to the floor at which
the specific elevator car is situated and to down hall calls
originating from the floors ranging from the floor one floor
position above the floor position of the nearest lower elevator car
to the floor at which the specific elevator car is situated.
Another feature of the present invention resides in the fact that,
in the system having the above feature, one or more elevator cars
dispersed to stand by at their specific floors except the basic
floor are returned to the basic floor when the number of operatable
elevator cars is decreased to such an extent that it is no more
possible to secure all the elevator cars previously scheduled to
stand by at the specific floors and at the basic floor.
A further feature of the present invention resides in the fact that
a plurality of stand-by zones each consisting of a plurality of
continuous floors including one of the specific floors are preset
and the dispersed stand-by instructions for one of the specific
elevator cars are cancelled and transferred to another suitable
elevator car when the specific elevator car moves out of its own
stand-by zone.
Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention
will be apparent from the following detailed description taken in
conjunction with the accompany drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 shows the manner of operation of elevator cars in response
to hall calls in a known system in which such elevator cars are
dispersed to stand by at a plurality of floors;
FIG. 2 shows the basic stand-by mode and hall call responding zones
of individual elevator cars dispersed to stand by at different
floors according to the present invention;
FIG. 3 shows one form of the change in the hall call responding
zones of the individual elevator cars from the basic stand-by mode
shown in FIG. 2 in response to a hall call;
FIG. 4 shows another form of the change in the hall call responding
zones of the individual elevator cars according to the present
invention;
FIG. 5 shows a further form of the change in the hall call
responding zones of the individual elevator cars according to the
present invention;
FIG. 6 shows one form of cancellation and transfer of the dispersed
stand-by instructions according to the present invention;
FIG. 7 shows another form of cancellation and transfer of the
dispersed stand-by instructions according to the present
invention;
FIG. 8 shows the stand-by mode and service zones of the dispersed
elevator cars when the number of opertable elevator cars is
five;
FIG. 9 shows the stand-by mode and hall call responding zones of
the dispersed elevator cars when the number of operatable elevator
cars is four;
FIG. 10 shows the stand-by mode and hall call responding zones of
the dispersed elevator cars when the number of operatable elevator
cars is three;
FIG. 11 shows the structure of a circuit for detecting the number
of operatable elevator cars in the system according to the present
invention;
FIG. 12 shows the structure of a position detecting circuit
provided for each elevator car in the system according to the
present invention;
FIG. 13 shows the structure of a dispersed stand-by instruction
circuit in the system according to the present invention;
FIG. 14 shows the structure of an auxiliary dispersed stand-by
instruction circuit in the system according to the present
invention;
FIG. 15 shows the structure of a service zone instruction circuit
provided for each elevator car in the system according to the
present invention; and
FIG. 16 shows the structure of a position detecting circuit for
detecting the position of all the elevator cars in the system
according to the present invention.
An elevator control method as described below has been proposed in
an effort to obviate the drawbacks described previously. According
to the proposed control method, the entire service range of a
plurality of elevator cars arranged for parallel operation in a
building is divided into a plurality of zones and these elevator
cars are dispersed to stand by in the respective zones. The number
of floors included in each zone is generally selected to be four to
six although it varies depending on the structure of the building
and operating conditions of the elevator cars. The elevator car
standing by in each zone responds to hall calls originating from
the floors belonging to that zone.
FIG. 1 shows by way of example the manner of dispersion of elevator
cars according to the known process. Referring to FIG. 1, six
elevator cars A to F are provided for servicing seven service floor
landings in a building having seven floors and the seven floors are
divided into three zones Z1, Z2 and Z3, the first zone Z1 including
the first and second floors, second zone Z2 including the third,
fourth and fifth floors, and third zone Z3 including the sixth and
seventh floors. Suppose that the traffic is idle and the elevator
cars A, B, C and F are standing by at the basic floor or first
floor in the zone Z1, while the elevator cars D and E are standing
by in the respective zones Z2 and Z3 as shown. The elevator cars D
and E standing by in the second and third zones Z2 and Z3 may be at
rest at one of floors in the zones depending on the previous
operating conditions. Suppose, for example, that the elevator cars
D and E stand by at the third and sixth floors respectively. Thus,
when a down call is originated from the fifth floor, the elevator D
responds to such call because it is standing by in the zone Z2.
However, due to the fact that the elevator car D is situated at the
third floor which is the lowest floor of the zone Z2, the elevator
car D must move upward to the fifth floor, and after taking a
passenger therein, reverses its moving direction as shown by the
arrow a to move downward to the destination floor registered in the
cage by the passenger.
Such manner of operation will be compared with the case in which
the elevator car E standing by in the zone Z3 responds to the down
call originating from the fifth floor and moves downward in a
direction as shown by the arrow b. In the illustrated situation,
the latter manner of operation is remarkably advantageous over the
former manner of operation although we cannot simply conclude so in
view of the problem of later zoning. Further, an up call may then
be originated from the fourth or fifth floor. In such a case, the
former manner of operation is inefficient in that the elevator car
D which has moved downward in response to the down call from the
fifth floor in the direction shown by the arrow a must move upward
again to respond to the up call originating from the fourth or
fifth floor. In contrast, the latter manner of operation is
remarkably efficient in that the elevator car D can move upward to
respond to the up call originating from the fourth or fifth floor
even after the elevator car E responding to the down call
originating from the fifth floor has move downward in the direction
shown by the arrow b. However, the latter manner of operation is
merely imaginary and cannot be put into practical use due to the
fact that it ignores the significance of zoning.
In the present invention, at least three specific floors are
selected as floors at which elevator cars are dispersed to stand
by. More precisely, the first floor which may be the basic floor,
third floor, fifth floor and seventh floor are selected as specific
floors as shown in FIG. 2. In this arrangement, the number of
specific floors is four and the elevator cars A, B and C stand by
at the seventh, fifth and third floors respectively, while the
elevator car D stands by at the first floor as a first dispatching
car.
In the present invention, further, each elevator car is arranged to
respond to up calls originating from the floors ranging from the
floor one floor position below the floor position of the nearest
upper elevator car to the floor at which the specific elevator car
is situated and to down calls originating from the floors ranging
from the floor one floor position above the floor position of the
nearest lower elevator car to the floor at which the specific
elevator car is situated. In the case of, for example, the elevator
car C standing by at the third floor as shown in FIG. 2, the up and
down hall call responding zones of this elevator car are determined
so that it responds to up calls originating from the up hall call
responding zone, i.e., from the floors ranging from the fourth
floor one floor position below the fifth floor at which the nearest
upper elevator car B stands by to the third floor at which it is
situated and to down calls originating from the down hall call
responding zone, i.e., from the floors ranging from the second
floor one floor position above the first floor at which the nearest
lower elevator car D stands by to the third floor at which it is
situated. The call responding zones of the individual elevator cars
are shown by the arrows in FIG. 2 and are tabulated below.
______________________________________ Up hall call Down hall call
______________________________________ 6th floor 7th floor Car B
Car A 5th floor 6th floor 4th floor 5th floor Car C Car B 3rd floor
4th floor 2nd floor 3rd floor Car D Car C 1st floor 2nd floor
______________________________________
The arrangement of the elevator cars and determination of the call
responding zones in this manner eliminates inefficient operation as
previously described and ensures quite efficient operation of the
elevator cars for calls originating from all the floors.
In the present invention, when the moving direction of any one of
the elevator cars is determined, one of its up and down call
responding zones from which calls in the direction opposite to the
moving direction of the elevator car may originate is cancelled and
one of the down and up call responding zones of the nearest upper
or lower elevator car situated forward of this specific elevator
car to be moved is extended to cover the cancelled call responding
zone portion.
The call responding zone so extended of the nearest elevator car is
clearly such as originating calls in the direction opposite to the
moving direction of the first-mentioned specific car.
This change in the call responding zones will be described with
reference to FIG. 3. Suppose, for example, that a down call shown
by the symbol .gradient. is originated from the fifth floor and the
elevator car B responding to such call starts to move downward. In
such a case, the up call responding zone from which backward calls
for the elevator car B, that is, in this case, up calls from the
fifth and sixth floors may originate are cancelled, and the up call
responding zone of the nearest lower elevator car C situated
forward of or below the elevator car B is extended as shown. In
FIG. 3, the elevator car B cannot respond to up calls from the
fifth and sixth floors which have been included in the call
responding zone of the elevator car B, due to the fact that the
direction of movement of the elevator car B is decided to be the
down-going direction. Therefore, the up call responding zone of the
elevator car C is extended in the upward direction so as to cover
such up hall calls. By virtue of the change in the call responding
zones in this manner, the elevator car C can service the fifth or
sixth floor landing without any increase in the waiting time for
passengers even when an up call is originated from the fifth or
sixth floor after a down call has been originated from the fifth
floor.
In the present invention, furthermore, when any one of the elevator
cars, after its moving direction has been determined and the one
responding zone of the "forwardly situated" nearest elevator car
has been extended to cover the cancelled zone of the moving
elevator car, as described above in connection with FIG. 2, begins
to move to another floor, one of the down and up call responding
zones from which calls in the direction opposite to the moving
direction of the elevator car may originate and at least a part of
the other zone are cancelled and the down or up call responding
zone of the nearest lower or upper elevator car situated backward
of this moving specific elevator car is extended to cover the
cancelled part of the "other" zone. The call responding zone so
extended of the nearest elevator car is clearly such as originating
calls in the moving direction.
This change in the call responding zones will be described with
reference to FIG. 4. Referring to FIG. 4, the elevator car B
responding to the down call from the fifth floor has started its
downward movement. In such a case, the backward call for the
elevator car B, that is, in this case down call from the fifth
floor is cancelled and the down call responding zone of the nearest
upper elevator car A situated backward of or above the elevator car
B is extended as shown. In FIG. 4, the door of the elevator car B
has been closed at the fifth floor landing and the elevator car B
has started its downward movement. Since this elevator car B cannot
respond to a down call originating later from the fifth floor, the
down call responding zone of the elevator car A is extended to
cover such a hall call. In the illustrated example, the elevator
cars are dispersed to stand by at the four specific floors
including the basic floor in the seven-storied building, and thus,
the distance between these specific floors is short or corresponds
to the spacing between two floor levels. However, in an actual
elevator system, the number of floors is large and there is a
greater spacing between these specific floors. Therefore, the
elevator car B moving downward from one of the specific floors
toward the nearest lower specific floor must pass a plurality of
intermediate floors and the call responding zOne is changed as this
elevator car passes through these intermediate floors.
It will thus be understood that, whenever one of the elevator cars
is rendered incapable of responding to hall calls originating from
its call responding zones due to movement in either direction, the
call responding zones of another most convenient elevator car are
extended. Therefore, whenever one of the elevator cars is rendered
incapable of responding to hall calls for any other reasons than
the positional reason, the call responding zones of other most
convenient elevator cars should be similarly extended. When, for
example, the elevator car C in FIG. 2 is loaded to its full
capacity, the up call responding zone of the elevator car D is
extended to cover up calls from the first to fourth floor, and the
down call responding zone of the elevator car B is extended to
cover down calls from the second and third floors, while the
elevator car C is operated depending on the cage call registered by
the passenger in the cage.
FIG. 5 shows the state in which the elevator car B having moved
downward from the fifth floor as shown in FIG. 4 is at rest at the
fourth floor and the elevator car D has moved upward to the fifth
floor. It is needless to say that the elevator cars should be
controlled to have the up and down call responding zones most
suitable for their positions in spite of whatever changes in the
relative positions of the elevator cars. To this end, arrangement
is made so that each elevator car can respond to up calls
originating from an up hall call responding zone consisting of the
floors ranging from the floor one floor position below the floor
position of the nearest upper elevator car to the floor at which
the specific elevator car is situated and to down calls originating
from a down hall call responding zone consisting of the floors
ranging from the floor one floor position above the floor position
of the nearest lower elevator car to the floor at which the
specific elevator car is situated, irrespective of whatever changes
in the relative positions of the elevator cars. Thus, according to
the present invention, the call responding zones of the elevator
cars are changed in a manner as shown by the thin solid lines in
FIG. 5 and these new call responding zones are tabulated as
follows:
Up hall call Down hall call ______________________________________
6th floor 7th floor Car D Car A 5th floor 6th floor 4th floor 5th
floor Car D Car B 3rd floor 4th floor Car B 2nd floor 3rd floor Car
C Car C 1st floor 2nd floor
______________________________________
These call responding zones change successively with the operation
of the elevator cars so that they can be continuously maintained
most suitable for the situation. A problem arises as to whether the
first dispatching instructions should be applied to the elevator
car E or F standing by at the basic floor when a situation as shown
in FIG. 5 occurs. However, any description as to such a case is not
given herein as it has not any direct concern with the present
invention.
In the foregoing description, the term "floor at which an elevator
car is situated" is used to indicate such specific floor that an
elevator car is situated at a position at which is can respond to a
hall call originating from the specific floor. For example, even
when the position of an elevator car is very close to the third
floor, this elevator car is considered to be situated at the fourth
floor when this elevator car has already passed through the third
floor during its upward movement or when this elevator car is
moving at a high speed and cannot stop at the third floor although
its position is between the second and third floors.
Further, the terms "nearest upper elevator car" and "nearest lower
elevator car" are used to denote such elevator cars which are
situated at the nearest upper and lower positions respectively
relative to a specific elevator car (an elevator car under
consideration). In the case of the elevator car C in FIG. 5, no
elevator cars are present below it due to the fact that the
elevator cars E and F are cut off from the power supply and are not
ready to operate. In such a case, the searching direction is
reversed and the elevator car B at rest at the fourth floor is the
nearest lower elevator car relative to the elevator car C. The
nearest upper elevator should be similarly understood.
The number of specific floors in the present invention is at least
three as described already and it is desirable that these specific
floors include the basic floor. The term "basic floor" denotes
generally the first floor at which the number of passengers is
largest and a plurality of elevator cars can stand by thereat. In
the present invention, however, the basic floor which is one of the
specific floors is not necessarily the floor at which the number of
passengers is largest, and any other suitable floor near such floor
may be selected.
The foregoing description has referred to an improved stand-by
system and determination of the call responding zones. However,
this stand-by mode is not fixed at all and is flexible. Thus, when
one of the elevator cars has moved to an unsuitable position, the
dispersed stand-by instructions for this elevator car are cancelled
and transferred to another suitable elevator car.
The elevator car, for example, the elevator car B in FIG. 4 is not
situated at the fifth floor and it is considered to be situated at
the fourth floor as described hereinabove. In this situation, no
elevator car stands by at the intermediate specific floor or fifth
floor although the elevator cars A and C stand by at the upper
specific floor or seventh floor and lower specific floor or third
floor respectively. In such a case, it is not preferable to readily
apply the dispersed stand-by instructions to another elevator car.
The elevator car B leaving the fifth floor may stop at the fourth
floor, and after getting off of the passenger, its operation may be
ended. In this case, the operation efficiency is higher when the
elevator car B is moved upward to the fifth floor again than when
another elevator car is instructed to move to the fifth floor. The
same applies to any other elevator cars standing by at the specific
floors.
As described previously, it is one of the objects of the present
invention to provide, in a system in which a plurality of elevator
cars are dispersed to stand by at at least three specific floors,
means for cancelling the dispersed stand-by instructions for one of
the elevator cars and transferring such instructions to another
suitable elevator car. The cancellation of the dispersed stand-by
instructions for one of the elevator cars and transfer of such
instructions to another suitable elevator car, which is one of the
features of the present invention, will be described with reference
to FIG. 6.
Referring to FIG. 6, a stand-by zone Z3 is established and consists
of a plurality of continuous floors, that is, the floors ranging
from the second to the fourth floor including the lower specific
floor or third floor. The dispersed stand-by instructions for the
elevator car C standing by at the lower specific floor are not
cancelled unless the elevator car C moves out of the stand-by zone
Z3 consisting of the second, third and fourth floors. Therefore,
upon completion of the service for any call originating from the
floor in the stand-by zone Z3, the elevator car C is returned to
the third floor again to stand by at this floor. On the other hand,
when the elevator car C moves out of the stand-by zone Z3 in
response to a call, the dispersed stand-by instructions for the
elevator car C are cancelled. In this latter case, the operation
efficiency will be improved when the instructions are applied to
another suitable elevator car. After the elevator car C has moved
out of the stand-by zone Z3, the instructions must be applied to
another most suitable elevator car so that it is moved to and stand
by at the lower specific floor. To this end, searching operation is
carried out to find any elevator car which exists within this
stand-by zone Z3 and is ready to move toward the third floor. If
such elevator car is found in the zone Z3, it is desirable to apply
the instructions thereto. If such elevator car is not found in this
stand-by zone Z3, the instructions may be applied to the elevator
car E standing by at the basic floor so as to move same to the
third floor. This manner of zoning can easily realize the desired
cancellation and transfer of the dispersed stand-by instructions.
However, the above manner of operation will eventually result in a
situation in which no elevator cars stand by at the basic floor if
the remaining elevator car F may move upward for carrying
passengers to the upper floors or in response to the application of
the dispersed stand-by instructions.
Generally, the demand for elevator cars in a building is such that
the demand for transfer from the basic floor toward the other
floors can be considered to be substantially equal to the demand
for transfer between the intermediate floors except the basic
floor. Therefore, at least one elevator car should always stand by
at the basic floor. It is therefore desirable to bring back at
least one of the dispersed elevator cars to the basic floor when
the number of elevator cars standing by at the basic floor is
reduced to a predetermined number which may be zero or one.
Further, in an "idle" traffic condition, the power supply for the
M-G set or motor of the elevator cars standing by at the basic
floor or any other specific floors is commonly stopped in a
predetermined period of time after they are brought to the position
to stand by at such position. The return of the inactive elevator
car standing by at one of the specific floors requires energization
of the M-G set thereof. Therefore, the elevator car in which the
M-G set is in the energized state should only be brought to the
basic floor. Further, in the case in which the elevator car or cars
standing by at the basic floor are inactive due to the
deenergization their M-G set, the dispersed stand-by instructions
should not be cancelled even when the elevator cars dispersed in
the respective stand-by zones may move out of such zones.
In the dispersed stand-by mode of the character above described,
incapability of operation of one or some of the elevator cars due
to, for example, maintenance and inspection, trouble, or emergency
would lead to insufficient service of the entire elevator system,
and some measures must be taken to deal with such a situation.
Therefore, when the number of operatable elevator cars is decreased
for some reasons, the dispersed stand-by mode must be suitably
modified so as not to deteriorate the service for passengers.
This will be described with reference to FIG. 2 by way of example.
When any one of the elevator cars is rendered inoperative, the
elevator system is controlled so as to establish an operation mode
in which as it were the elevator car E or F is eliminated in FIG.
2. By this manner of control, the desired satisfactory service can
be realized except the case in which the number of passengers
waiting at the basic floor landing is unusually large. FIG. 8 shows
the state in which the elevator car E or F is eliminated from the
arrangement shown in FIG. 2.
When two of the elevator cars are rendered inoperative, the
elevator car standing by at the lower specifc floor (elevator car C
in FIG. 2) is eliminated in addition to the elevator car E or F and
the call responding zones of the remaining elevator cars are
changed as seen in FIG. 9. When three of the elevator cars are
rendered inoperative, the elevator car standing by at the
intermediate specific floor (elevator car B in FIG. 2) is similarly
additionally eliminated. The result is shown in FIG. 10.
Generally, the demand for elevator cars in a building is such that
the demand for transfer from the basic floor (lobby floor) toward
the other floors can be considered to be substantially equal to the
demand for transfer between the intermediate floors excep the basic
floor. It is therefore desirable to have a plurality of elevator
cars standing by at the basic floor at whatever conditions. On the
other hand, the purpose of the dispersed stand-by system is to
shorten the waiting time for whatever hall calls. Thus, an
excessively large lower limit of the number of elevator cars which
should stand by at the basic floor is undesirable in that the
service for hall calls originating from the intermediate floors
will be deteriorated when the number of operatable elevator cars is
decreased. In view of the above problem, the lower limit of the
number of elevator cars standing by at the basic floor should be
carefully selected to give the best result. In an application of
the present invention to a group control system for controlling a
group of elevator cars less than ten, a good result could be
obtained when the lower limit of the number of elevator cars
standing by at the basic floor was set at two.
In a group control system for controlling a group of six elevator
cars as shown in FIG. 2, the setting of the lower limit of the
number of elevator cars standing by at the basic floor becomes
effective when two out of the six elevator cars are rendered
inoperative, and the elevator car standing by at the lower specific
floor nearest to the basic floor is eliminated. This results in the
service mode shown in FIG. 9 and the two contradictory demands
above described can thereby be satisfied in the most appropriate
form. A situation in which more than two elevator cars are rendered
inoperative simultaneously would not occur as a matter of fact. If
such a situation would occur, the dispersed stand-by mode may be
modified in a manner as shown in FIG. 10.
An embodiment of the system according to the present invention will
now be described with reference to FIGS. 11 to 16. For simplicity
of description, it is assumed that an elevator car bank consisting
of six elevator cars A, B, C, D, E and F is provided in a
seven-storied building for servicing the service floor landings of
the first floor (bottom terminal) to the seventh floor. Although
the basement and rooftop are not taken into consideration, they may
be included in the service range of the elevator cars. Further,
although no description is given herein as to an elevator system
having express zones, the present invention is also applicable to
such elevator system. FUrthermore, the present invention can be
applied to any other elevator systems of different arrangement.
There are two traffic modes, that is, an idle traffic mode in which
the traffic is not heavy or is idle in the day and a "busy" traffic
mode in which the traffic is relatively heavy or busy during the
remaining period of time of the day. The number of specific floors
at which the elevator cars are initially dispersed to stand by is
suitably determined depending on the number of elevator cars,
number of service floor landings, presence or absence of express
zones, and peculiarity of the floors (for example, heavy traffic
due to presence of offices of the top management of a firm).
However, description will be given herein as to the case in which
the three elevator cars are dispersed so that each stands by at the
upper specific floor or seventh floor, intermediate specific floor
or fifth floor and lower specific floor or third floor, and the
remaining three elevator cars stand by at the bottom terminal.
Before giving detailed description of the system, the name and
function of various relays will be described. Those relays and
contacts bearing the suffixes A, B, C, D, E and F in FIGS. 11 to 16
are provided for the respective elevator cars A, B, C, D, E and F,
while those relays and contacts not bearing the suffixes A, B, C,
D, E and F are common to all the elevator cars A, B, C, D, E and F.
For simplicity of description, the relays and contacts associated
with the elevator car A will solely be described. Further, for
simplicity of illustration, the circuits associated with the
elevator cars A and F and with the first and seventh floors are
solely illustrated, and those associated with the elevator cars B
to E and with the intermediate floors are shown by dotted lines or
omitted, but it is apparent that similar circuits are provided for
the latter.
10A . . . Operatable condition relay
This relay is energized when the elevator car A is capable of
controlled operation. This relay is deenergized when the elevator
car A is not capable of controlled operation due to, for example,
trouble, maintenance and inspection, emergency or shut-down.
41A - 47A . . . Position detection relays
The less significant digit of the numeral designates the floor
number, and the elevator car position is detected by the leading
contactor on the elevator car. When the elevator car A is at rest
at one of the floors, the position detection relay corresponding to
such floor is energized, while when the elevator car A is moving,
the position detection relay corresponding to the nearest floor at
which the moving elevator car A can be stopped is energized.
Therefore, this position varies depending on the actual physical
position of the car and the moving speed of the car. For example,
the position detection relay 44A is energized when the elevator car
A is at rest at the fourth floor. However, when the elevator car A
is moving upward past the fourth floor, the position detection
relays 45A, 46A and 47A are energized when the speed of the
elevator car A is low, intermediate and high respectively. Further,
the energization and deenergization of these position detection
relays takes place necessarily with a suitable overlap. For
example, the position detection relay 44A is deenergized after
energization of the position detection realy 45A when the elevator
car A is moving upward toward the fifth floor from the fourth
floor.
53A . . . Lower specific floor relay
This relay is energized when anyone of the position detection
relays 42A, 43A and 44A is energized.
55A . . . Intermediate specific floor relay
This relay is energized when any one of the position detection
relays 44A, 45A and 46A is elergized.
57A . . . Upper specific floor relay
This relay is energized when any one of the position detection
relays 46A and 47A is energized.
53TA . . . Lower specific floor timing relay
This relay is energized in delayed relation in response to the
energization of the lower specific floor relay 53A and is
deenergized in delayed relation in response to the deenergization
of the lower specific floor relay 53A.
55ta . . . intermediate specific floor timing relay
This relay is energized in delayed relation in response to the
energization of the intermediate specific floor relay 55A and is
denergized in delayed relation in response to the denergization of
the intermediate specific floor relay 55A.
57ta . . . upper specific floor timing relay
This relay is energized in delayed relation in response to the
energization of the upper specific floor relay 57A and is
deenergized in delayed relation in response to the deenergization
of the upper specific floor relay 57A.
11a . . . upward movement relay
This relay is energized during upward movement of the elevator car
A.
12a . . . downward movement relay
This relay is energized during downward movement of the elevator
car A
13a . . . deceleration position relay
This relay is energized when the elevator car A in motion reaches
the decelerating position for each floor, and this decelerating
position is determined by the moving speed of the elevator car
A.
14a . . . full load detection relay
This relay is energized when the elevator car A is loaded to its
full capacity.
15A . . . Stop relay
The elevator car A is decelerated to stop when this relay is
energized.
16A . . . M-G relay
This relay is energized during operation of the M-G set of the
elevator car A.
21a . . . upward movement selection relay
Upward movement is instructed when this relay is energized.
22A . . . Downward movement selection relay
Downward movement is instructed when this relay is energized.
23A . . . Stopping floor up call detection relay
This relay is energized when an up hall call is originated from the
floor toward which the elevator car A is moving under deceleration
or at which the car A is at rest.
24A . . . Stopping floor down call detection relay
This relay is energized when a down call is originated from the
floor toward which the elevator car A is moving under decleration
or at which the car A is at rest.
31A . . . Upward movement instruction relay
This relay is energized when the elevator car A is previously
instructed for upward movement.
32A . . . Downward movement instruction relay
This relay is energized when the elevator car A is previously
instructed for downward movement.
1CA - 7CA . . . Cage call relays
These relays are energized when cage calls are registered. The
numeral represents the floor number.
70A . . . First dispatch relay
This relay is energized when the elevator car A stands by at the
basic floor and is designated as a first dispatching car.
63A . . . Lower specific floor stand-by relay
When this relay is energized, the elevator car A stands by at the
lower specific floor to operate in the call responding zone
including the third floor.
65A . . . Intermediate specific floor stand-by relay
When this relay is energized, the elevator car A stands by at the
intermediate specific floor to operate in the call responding zone
including the fifth floor.
67A . . . Upper specific floor stand-by relay
When this relay is energized, the elevator car A stands by at the
upper specific floor to operate in the call responding zone
including the seventh floor.
69A . . . Stand-by relay
This relay is energized when the elevator car A is instructed to
stand by at anyone of the upper, intermediate and lower specific
floors and is deenergized with predetermined delay time when the
instructions are cancelled.
10H . . . Three car operation relay
This relay is energized when three out of the six elevator cars are
capable of controlled operation.
10M . . . Four car operation relay
This relay is energized when four out of the six elevator cars are
capable of controlled operation.
10L . . . Five car operation relay
This relay is energized when five out of the six elevator cars are
capable of controlled operation.
41UP - 46UP . . . Common position relays (up)
These relays are common to all the elevator cars and the less
significant digit of the numeral represents the floor number. These
relays are energized by the position relay of the elevator cars
which are not instructed for downward movement.
42DN - 47DN . . . Common position relays (down)
These relays are common to all the elevator cars and the less
significant digit of the numeral represents the floor number. These
relays are energized by the position relay of the elevator cars
which are not instructed for upward movement.
1UP-6UP . . . Up hall call relays
These relays are energized when up hall calls are registered. The
numeral represents the floor number.
2DN-7DN . . . Down hall call relays
These relays are energized when down hall calls are registered. The
numeral represents the floor number.
41P . . . Lobby stand-by relay
This relay is energized when anyone of the elevator cars stands by
at the basic floor.
65P . . . Intermediate specific floor stand-by determination
relay
This relay is energized when anyone of the elevator cars is
instructed to stand by at the intermediate specific floor and is
deenergized with predetermined delay time when the instructions are
cancelled.
67P . . . Upper specific floor stand-by determination relay
This relay is energized when any one of the elevator cars is
instructed to stand by at the upper specific floor and is
deenergized with predetermined delay time when the instructions are
cancelled.
79P . . . Common M - G relay
This relay is energized when all the M-G sets of the elevator cars
standing by at the basic floor are deenergized.
It . . . idle traffic relay
This relay is energized when the traffic is idle.
Bt . . . busy traffic relay
This relay is energized when the traffic is relatively busy.
R1 - r11 . . . delay resistors
These resistors are provided for deenergizing the associated relay
with predetermined timing.
C1 - c11 . . . delay capacitors
These capacitors are provided for deenergizating the associated
relays with predetermined timing.
D1 - d7 . . . rectifiers
(+), (-) . . . Power supply buses
Remarks:
1. The relay coils of some of the relays are not shown.
2. The relay contacts in the drawings are shown in the deenergized
state of the relays.
Now, itemized description of the practical operation of the system
will be given with reference to FIGS. 11 to 16.
1. Selection of elevator cars to be dispatched from basic floor to
stand by at upper, intermediate and lower specific floors.
For convenience of description, suppose that the idle operation
mode is instructed in the state in which all the elevator cars are
capable of controlled operation and stand by at the basic floor.
(Actually, however, the busy operation mode is changed over to the
idle operation mode, and the dispersed stand-by arrangement is
employed in the busy operation mode too. Therefore, the situation
in which all the elevator cars stand by at the basic floor does not
generally exist.) In the above condition, the position detection
relays 41A to 41F and operatable condition relays 10A to 10F for
all the elevator cars are in the energized state. When the idle
operation mode is instructed, the elevator car A is instructed to
be the first dispatching car in the manner well known in the art
and the first dispatch relay 70A is energized. Consequently, the
three car operation relay 10H, four car operation relay 10M and
five car operation relay 10L are energized by the circuits .sym.
.fwdarw. 10D-4 .fwdarw. 10E-4 .fwdarw. 10F-4 .fwdarw. coil of 10H
.fwdarw. IT-2 .fwdarw. .crclbar., .sym. .fwdarw. 10C-3 .fwdarw.
10D-3 .fwdarw. 10E-3 .fwdarw. 10F-3 .fwdarw. coil of 10M .fwdarw.
IT-2 .fwdarw. .crclbar., and .sym. .fwdarw. 10A-1 .fwdarw. 10B-1
.fwdarw. 10C-1 .fwdarw. 10D-1 .fwdarw. 10E-1 .fwdarw. coil of 10L
.fwdarw. IT-1 .fwdarw. .crclbar. respectively in FIG. 11. The upper
specific floor stand-by relay 67A is energized by the circuit .sym.
.fwdarw. 10A-6 .fwdarw. 70A-1 .fwdarw. 67P-1 .fwdarw. 63A-1
.fwdarw. 65A-2 .fwdarw. coil of 67A .fwdarw. 67B-4 .fwdarw. 67C-4
.fwdarw. 67D-6 .fwdarw. 67E-6 .fwdarw. 67F-6 .fwdarw. 10H-1
.fwdarw. .crclbar. in FIG. 13 and holds itself through the contact
67A-3 until the upper specific floor timing relay 57TA is
energized. At the same time, the relay contacts 67A-1 and 67A-2 act
to interlock the intermediate and lower specific floor stand-by
relays 65A and 63A so that the elevator car A may not be instructed
to stand by at the intermediate and lower specific floors, and
further, the relay contacts 67A-4, 67A-5 and 67A-6 act to interlock
the relays 67B, 67C, 67D, 67E and 67F so that the other elevator
cars B to F may not be instructed to stand by at the upper specific
floor.
After the elevator car A is instructed to stand by at the upper
specific floor, the upward movement selection relay 21A is
energized by the circuit .sym. .fwdarw. 12A-1 .fwdarw. 22A-1
.fwdarw. 32A-1 .fwdarw. coil of 21A .fwdarw. 47A-3 .fwdarw. 69A-9
.fwdarw. .crclbar. in FIG. 15. Upon establishment of known
conditions for dispatching, the door is closed and locked and the
upward movement relay 11A is energized for causing upward movement
of the elevator car A toward the upper specific floor or seventh
floor. When the leading contactor on the elevator car A reaches the
level of the sixth floor, the sixth floor position detection relay
46A is energized and the upper specific floor relay 57A is
energized in FIG. 12. Then, the upper specific floor timing relay
57TA is energized with predetermined delay time in FIG. 12. After
the circuit .sym. .fwdarw. 41P-1 .fwdarw. 57A-2 .fwdarw. 63A-1
.fwdarw. 65A-2 .fwdarw. coil of 67A .fwdarw. .crclbar. is completed
in FIG. 13, the self-holding circuit for the relay 67A through the
contact 67A-3 thereof is released by the contact 57TA-1. Then, when
the leading contactor on the elevator car A reaches the level of
the seventh floor, the seventh floor position detection relay 47A
is energized and the upward movement selection relay 21A is
deenergized from its energized state due to the opening of the
contact 47A-3 in FIG. 15. When the elevator car A reaches the
seventh floor deceleration position determined by the moving speed
thereof, the contact 13A-1 of the deceleration position relay 13A
is closed and the stop relay 15A is energized by the circuits .sym.
.fwdarw. 11A-2 .fwdarw. coil of 15A .fwdarw. 13A-1 .fwdarw. 21A-2
.fwdarw. 22A-2 .fwdarw. .crclbar. and .sym. .fwdarw. 11A-2 .fwdarw.
coil of 15A .fwdarw. 13A-1 .fwdarw. D1 .fwdarw. 47A-2 .fwdarw.
67A-9 .fwdarw. .crclbar.. The relay 15A holds itself through the
contact 15A-1 thereof and the elevator car A is decelerated to stop
at the seventh floor. Of course, the elevator car A moving upward
toward the seventh floor responds to a hall call originating from
any one of the intermediate floors if such call appears during its
upward movement, and after stopping at such floor, it moves again
toward the seventh floor. Suppose, for example, that an up call is
registered at the fourth floor landing before the leading contactor
on the elevator car A reaches the level of the fourth floor. In
this case, the up hall call relay 4UP is energized, and as soon as
the leading contactor on the elevator car A reaches the level of
the fourth floor, the fourth floor position detection relay 44A is
energized to energize the common position relay (up) 44UP by the
circuit .sym. .fwdarw. 10A-5 .fwdarw. 14A-3 .fwdarw. 32A-3 .fwdarw.
44A-7 .fwdarw. coil of 44UP .fwdarw. .crclbar. in FIG. 16. When the
elevator car A reaches the fourth floor deceleration position
determined by the moving speed thereof, the contact 13A-1 of the
deceleration position relay 13A is closed and the stopping floor up
call detection relay 23A is energized by the circuits .sym.
.fwdarw. 11A-2 .fwdarw. coil of 15A .fwdarw. 13A-1 .fwdarw. 14A-1
.fwdarw. 22A-3 .fwdarw. D3 .fwdarw. 44A-3 .fwdarw. 4UP .fwdarw.
44UP-1 .fwdarw. 44A-6 .fwdarw. 14A-2 .fwdarw. .crclbar. and .sym.
.fwdarw. 22A-4 .fwdarw. 32A-2 .fwdarw. 24A-1 .fwdarw. coil of 23A
.fwdarw. 44A-3 .fwdarw. 4UP .fwdarw. 44UP-1 .fwdarw. 44A-6 .fwdarw.
14A-2 .fwdarw. .crclbar. in FIG. 15. Since the elevator car A must
move further upward after stopping at the fourth floor, a known
display is given by means such as a hall lantern or chime to the
passenger waiting at the fourth floor landing. Then, the stop relay
15A is energized and the elevator car A is decelerated to stop at
the fourth floor. Upon lapse of the period of time required for
getting on and off of the passengers, the door is closed and locked
again and the elevator car A moves upward toward the seventh floor
due to the fact that the upward movement selection relay 21A is
kept energized.
The manner of selection of the next elevator car to stand by at the
intermediate specific floor will next be described.
Upon departure of the elevator car A toward the seventh floor, the
first dispatching instructions for the elevator car A are cancelled
in the manner well known in the art and the elevator car B is now
instructed to be a first dispatching car. Further, due to the fact
that the elevator car A has already been instructed to stand by at
the upper specific floor, the upper specific floor stand-by
determination relay 67P is energized by the circuit .sym. .fwdarw.
67A-8 .fwdarw. coil of 67P .fwdarw. .crclbar. in FIG. 14.
Thus, the intermediate specific floor stand-by relay 65B is
energized by the circuit .sym. .fwdarw. 10B-6 .fwdarw. 70B-1
.fwdarw. 67P-2 .fwdarw. 65P-2 .fwdarw. 67B-1 .fwdarw. 63B-2
.fwdarw. coil of 65B .fwdarw. 65A-4 .fwdarw. 65C-4 .fwdarw. 65D-6
.fwdarw. 65E-6 .fwdarw. 65F-6 .fwdarw. 10M-1 .fwdarw. .crclbar. in
FIG. 13 and holds itself through the contact 65B-3 thereof until
the intermediate specific floor timing relay 55TB is energized.
(Although the circuit for the elevator car B is not shown, it is
similar to that for the elevator car A.) At the same time, the
relay contacts 65B-1 and 65B-2 act to interlock the upper and lower
specific floor stand-by relays 67B and 63B so that the elevator car
B may not be instructed to stand by at the upper and lower specific
floors, and the relay contacts 65B-4, 65B-5 and 65B-6 act to
interlock the relays 65A, 65C, 65D, 65E and 65F so that the other
elevator cars A, C, D, E and F may not be instructed to stand by at
the intermediate specific floor.
After the elevator car B is instructed to stand by at the
intermediate specific floor, the upward movement selection relay
21B is energized by the circuit .sym. .fwdarw. 12B-1 .fwdarw. 22B-1
.fwdarw. 32B-1 .fwdarw. coil of 21B .fwdarw. 47B-3 .fwdarw. 47B-2
.fwdarw. 47B-1 .fwdarw. 46B-4 .fwdarw. 46B-3 .fwdarw. 46B-2
.fwdarw. 46B-1 .fwdarw. 45B-4 .fwdarw. 45B-3 .fwdarw. 45B-5
.fwdarw. 65B-9 .fwdarw. .crclbar. in FIG. 15 as in the case of the
elevator car A. Upon establishment of known conditions for
dispatching, the door is closed and locked and the upward movement
relay 11B is energized for causing upward movement of the elevator
car B toward the intermediate specific floor or fifth floor.
When the leading contactor on the elevator car B reaches the level
of the fourth floor, the fourth floor position detection relay 44B
is energized and the intermediate specific floor relay 55B is
energized in FIG. 12. Then, the intermediate specific floor timing
relay 55TB is energized with predetermined delay time in FIG. 12.
After the circuit .sym. .fwdarw. 41P-2 .fwdarw. 55B-2 .fwdarw.
67B-1 .fwdarw. 63B-2 .fwdarw. coil of 65B . . . .crclbar. is
completed in FIG. 13, the self-holding circuit for the relay 65B
through the contact 65B-3 thereof is released by the contact
55TB-1. Then, when the leading contactor on the elevator car B
reaches the level of the fifth floor the position detection relay
45B is energized and the upward movement selection relay 21B is
deenergized from its energized state due to the opening of the
contacts 45B-3, 45B-4 and 45B-5. When the elevator car B reaches
the fifth floor deceleration position determined by the moving
speed thereof, the contact 13B-1 of the deceleration position relay
13B is closed and the stop relay 15B is energized by the circuit
.sym. .fwdarw. 11B-2 .fwdarw. coil of 15B .fwdarw. 13B-1 .fwdarw.
21B-2 .fwdarw. 22B-2 .fwdarw. .crclbar.. The relay 15B holds itself
through the contact 15B-1 thereof and the elevator car B is
decelerated to stop at the fifth floor. The elevator car B moving
upward toward the fifth floor responds to a hall call originating
from any one of the intermediate floors if such call appears during
its upward movement, and after stopping at such floor, it moves
again toward the fifth floor as described previously with regard to
the elevator car A. Further, when a call requesting service for the
floor above the fifth floor is registered before the elevator car B
arrives at the fifth floor deceleration position, the elevator car
B moves directly to such floor without stopping at the fifth floor.
Suppose, for example, that an up hall call is registered at the
fourth floor landing by a passenger who wants to be transferred
from the fourth to the sixth floor. In such a case, the elevator
car B responds to the up hall call originating from the fourth
floor to stop at the fourth floor, and after registration of a cage
call requesting transfer to the sixth floor, moves upward toward
the sixth floor. When the leading contactor on the elevator car B
reaches the fifth floor level, the upward movement selection relay
21B is not deenergized even when the fifth floor position detection
relay 45B is energized, due to the fact that the circuit .sym. . .
. .fwdarw. coil of 21B .fwdarw. 47B-3 .fwdarw. 47B-2 .fwdarw. 47B-1
.fwdarw. 46B-4 .fwdarw. 46B-3 .fwdarw. 6CB .fwdarw. .crclbar. has
been established. Therefore, the stop relay 15B is not energized
and the elevator car B does not stop at the fifth floor even though
the elevator car B reaches the fifth floor deceleration position
and the deceleration position relay 13B is energized. Finally, the
elevator car B is decelerated to stop at the sixth floor in the
manner described previously when the leading contactor on the
elevator car B reaches the sixth floor level. Upon stopping of the
elevator car B at the sixth floor, the downward movement selection
relay 22B is energized by the circuit .sym. .fwdarw. 11B-1 .fwdarw.
21B-1 .fwdarw. 31B-1 .fwdarw. coil of 22B .fwdarw. 41B-2 .fwdarw.
41B-3 .fwdarw. 41B-4 .fwdarw. 42B-1 .fwdarw. 42B-2 .fwdarw. 42B-3
.fwdarw. 42B-4 .fwdarw. 43B-1 .fwdarw. 43B-2 .fwdarw. 43B-3
.fwdarw. 43B-4 .fwdarw. 44B-1 .fwdarw. 44B-2 .fwdarw. 44B-3
.fwdarw. 44B-4 .fwdarw. 45B-1 .fwdarw. 45B-2 .fwdarw. 45B-5
.fwdarw. 65B-9 .fwdarw. .crclbar.. Upon lapse of the period of time
required for getting on and off of the passengers, the door is
closed and locked and the elevator car B moves downward toward the
fifth floor. When the leading contactor on the elevator car B
reaches the fifth floor level, the fifth floor position detection
relay 45B is energized and the downward movement selection relay
22B is deenergized from the energized state due to the opening of
the contacts 45B-1, 45B-2 and 45B-3. When the elevator car B
reaches the fifth floor deceleration position determined by the
moving speed thereof, the contact 13B-1 of the deceleration
position relay 13B is closed and the elevator car B is decelerated
to stop at the fifth floor in the manner described previously.
The manner of selection of the next elevator car to stand by at the
lower specific floor will next be described.
Upon departure of the elevator car B toward the fifth floor, the
first dispatching instructions for the elevator car B are cancelled
in the manner well known in the art and the elevator car C is now
instructed to be a first dispatching car. Further, due to the fact
that the elevator cars A and B have been already instructed to
stand by at the upper and intermediate specific floors
respectively, the upper specific floor stand-by determination relay
67P and intermediate specific floor stand-by determination relay
65P are energized by the respective circuits .sym. .fwdarw. 67A-8
.fwdarw. coil of 67P .fwdarw. .crclbar. and .sym. .fwdarw. 65B-8
.fwdarw. coil of 65P .fwdarw. .crclbar. in FIG. 14.
Thus, the lower specific floor stand-by relay 63C is energised by
the circuit .sym. .fwdarw. 10C-6 .fwdarw. 70C-1 .fwdarw. 67P-3
.fwdarw. 65P-3 .fwdarw. 65C-1 .fwdarw. 67C-2 .fwdarw. coil of 63C
.fwdarw. 63A-5 .fwdarw. 63B-5 .fwdarw. 63D-6 .fwdarw. 63E-6
.fwdarw. 63F-6 .fwdarw. 10L-1 .fwdarw. .crclbar. in FIG. 13 holds
itself through the contact 63C-3 thereof until the lower specific
floor timing relay 53TC is energized. At the same time, the relay
contacts 63C-1 and 63C-2 act to interlock the upper and
intermediate specific floor stand-by relays 67C and 65C so that the
elevator car C may not be instructed to stand by at the upper and
intermediate specific floors, and the relay contacts 63C-4, 63C-5
and 63C-6 act to interlock the relays 63A, 63B, 63D, 63E and 63F so
that the other elevator cars A, B, D, E and F may not be instructed
to stand by at the lower specific floor.
After the elevator car C is instructed to stand by at the lower
specific floor, the upward movement selection relay 21C is
energized by the circuit .sym. .fwdarw. 12C-1 .fwdarw. 22C-1
.fwdarw. 32C-1 .fwdarw. coil of 21C .fwdarw. 47C-3 .fwdarw. 47C-2
.fwdarw. 47C-1 .fwdarw. 46C-4 .fwdarw. 46C-3 .fwdarw. 46C-2
.fwdarw. 46C-1 .fwdarw. 45C-4 .fwdarw. 45C-3 .fwdarw. 45C-2
.fwdarw. 45C-1 .fwdarw. 44C-4 .fwdarw. 44C-3 .fwdarw. 44C-2
.fwdarw. 44C-1 .fwdarw. 43C-4 .fwdarw. 43C-3 .fwdarw. 43C-5
.fwdarw. 63C-9 .fwdarw. .crclbar. in FIG. 15 as in the case of the
elevator car B. Upon establishment of known conditions for
dispatching, the door is closed and locked and the upward movement
relay 11C is energized for causing upward movement of the elevator
car C toward the lower specific floor or third floor.
When the leading contactor on the elevator car C reaches the level
of the second floor, the second floor position detection relay 42C
is energized and the lower specific floor relay 53C is energized in
FIG. 12. Then, the lower specific floor timing relay 53TC is
energized with predetermined delay time in FIG. 12. After the
circuit .sym. .fwdarw. 41P-3 .fwdarw. 53C-2 .fwdarw. 65C-1 .fwdarw.
67C-2 .fwdarw. coil of 63C . . . .crclbar. is completed in FIG. 13,
the selfholding circuit for the relay 63C through the contact 63C-3
thereof is released by the contact 53TC-1. Then, when the leading
contactor on the elevator car C reaches the third floor level, the
third floor position detection relay 43C is energized and the
upward movement selection relay 21C is deenergized from the
energized state due to the opening of the contacts 43C-3, 43C-4 and
43C-5. When the elevator car C reaches the third floor deceleration
position determined by the moving speed thereof, the contact 13C-1
of the deceleration position relay 13C is closed and the stop relay
15C is energized by the circuit .sym. .fwdarw. 11C-2 .fwdarw. coil
of 15C .fwdarw. 13C-1 .fwdarw. 21C-2 .fwdarw. 22C-2 .fwdarw.
.crclbar.. The relay 15C holds itself through the contact 15C-1
thereof and the elevator car C is decelerated to stop at the third
floor. The elevator car C moving upward toward the third floor
responds to a hall call originating from the intermediate floor if
such call appears during its upward movement, and after stopping at
such floor, it moves again toward the third floor as described
previously with regard to the elevator car A. Further, when a call
requesting service for the floor above the third floor is
registered before the elevator car C arrives at the third floor
deceleration position, the elevator car C moves directly to such
floor without stopping at the third floor as in the case of the
elevator car B.
It will be understood from the above description that the elevator
cars A, B and C are dispersed to stand by at the upper specific
floor or seventh floor, intermediate specific floor or fifth floor
and lower specific floor or third floor respectively and the
remaining elevator cars D, E and F stand by at the basic floor.
This state is shown in FIG. 2 and the elevator car D among those
standing by at the basic floor is instructed to be a first
dispatching car.
2. Service zone
The service zones of the elevator cars standing by at the upper,
intermediate and lower specific floors and at the basic floor will
be described hereunder. The elevator car A has been instructed to
stand by at the upper specific floor and stands by now at the
seventh floor. Therefore, the M-G relay 16A, position detection
relay 47A, upper specific floor relay 57A, upper specific floor
timing relay 57TA, upper specific floor stand-by relay 67A,
stand-by relay 69A and common position relay 47DN are in the
energized state. The elevator car B has been instructed to stand by
at the intermediate specific floor and stands by now at the fifth
floor in the state in which it is movable in either direction.
Therefore, the M-G relay 16B, position detection relay 45B,
intermediate specific floor relay 55B, intermediate specific floor
timing relay 55TB, intermediate specific floor standby relay 65B,
stand-by relay 69B and common position relays 45UP and 45DN are in
the energized state. The elevator car C has been instructed to
stand by at the lower specific floor and stands by now at the third
floor in the state in which it is movable in either direction.
Therefore, the M-G relay 16C, position detection relay 43C, lower
specific floor relay 53C, lower specific floor timing relay 53TC,
lower specific floor stand-by relay 63C, stand-by relay 69C and
common position relays 43UP and 43DN are in the energized state.
Further, the elevator car D has been instructed to be the first
dispatching car and stands by at the basic floor. Therefore, the
M-G relay 16D, position detection relays 41D, 41E and 41F, first
dispatch relay 70D and common position relay 41UP are in the
energized state and the stand-by relays 69D, 69E and 69F are in the
deenergized state. Further, the lobby stand-by relay 41P,
intermediate specific floor stand-by determination relay 65P and
upper specific floor stand-by determination relay 67P are in the
energized state and the common M-G relay 79P is in the deenergized
state.
In the elevator car arrangement above described, the hall call
responding zone of the elevator car A is determined by the circuits
.crclbar. .fwdarw. 14A-2 .fwdarw. 47A-6 .fwdarw. 47DN-1 .fwdarw.
7DN and .crclbar. .fwdarw. 14A-2 .fwdarw. 47A-6 .fwdarw. 47DN-1
.fwdarw. 46DN-1 .fwdarw. 6DN in FIG. 15 so that the elevator car A
can respond to down hall calls from the sixth and seventh floors as
shown by the arrow in FIG. 2. Similarly, the hall call responding
zones of the elevator car B are determined by the circuits
.crclbar. .fwdarw. 14B-2 .fwdarw. 45B-6 .fwdarw. 45UP-2 .fwdarw.
5UP, .crclbar. .fwdarw. 14B-2 .fwdarw. 45B-6 .fwdarw. 45UP-2
.fwdarw. 46UP-2 .fwdarw. 6UP, .crclbar. .fwdarw. 14B-2 .fwdarw.
45B-6 .fwdarw. 45DN-2 .fwdarw. 5DN, and .crclbar. .fwdarw. 14B-2
.fwdarw. 45B-6 .fwdarw. 45DN-2 .fwdarw. 44DN-2 .fwdarw. 4DN in FIG.
15 so that the elevator car B can respond to up hall calls from the
fifth and sixth floors and down hall calls from the fifth and
fourth floors as shown by the arrows in FIG. 2. The hall call
responding zones of the elevator car C are determined by the
circuits .crclbar. .fwdarw. 14C-2 .fwdarw. 43C-6 .fwdarw. 43UP-3
.fwdarw. 3UP, .crclbar. .fwdarw. 14C-2 .fwdarw. 43C-6 .fwdarw.
43UP-3 .fwdarw. 44UP-3 .fwdarw. 4UP, .crclbar. .fwdarw. 14C-2
.fwdarw. 43C-6 .fwdarw. 43DN-3 .fwdarw. 3DN, and .crclbar. .fwdarw.
14C-2 .fwdarw. 43C-6 .fwdarw. 43DN-3 .fwdarw. 42DN-3 .fwdarw. 2DN
in FIG. 15 so that the elevator car C can respond to up hall calls
from the third and fourth floors and down hall calls from the third
and second floors as shown by the arrows in FIG. 2. The all call
responding zone of the elevator car D is determined by the circuits
.crclbar. .fwdarw. 14D-2 .fwdarw. 70D-2 .fwdarw. 41UP-4 .fwdarw.
1UP and .crclbar. .fwdarw. 14D-2 .fwdarw. 70D-2 .fwdarw. 41UP-4
.fwdarw. 42UP-4 .fwdarw. 2UP in FIG. 15 so that the elevator car D
can respond to up hall calls from the first and second floors as
shown by the arrow in FIG. 2. In this manner, the hall call
responding zones of the elevator cars dispersed most suitable for
responding to all the hall calls can be determined without any
overlap therebetween. Of course, all the elevator cars are movable
for servicing all the service floor landings in response to cage
calls. It will thus be understood that the up and down hall call
responding zones of any one of the dispersed elevator cars are so
determined that the specific elevator car can respond to up calls
originating from the up hall call responding zone consisting of the
floors ranging from the floor one floor position below the floor
position of the nearest upper elevator car to the floor at which
the specific elevator car stands by and to down calls originating
from the down hall call responding zone consisting of the floors
ranging from the floor one floor position above the floor position
of the nearest lower elevator car to the floor at which the
specific elevator car stands by.
The hall call responding zones of the dispersed elevator cars are
changed in a manner as described below when one of the elevator
cars moves in response to a hall call or cage call originating from
the floors in one of its hall call responding zones.
Suppose, for example, that a down hall call (shown by the symbol
.gradient. in FIG. 3) is registered by a passenger who wants to be
transferred to the fourth floor from the fifth floor. Since the
elevator car B stands by at the fifth floor and the down hall call
originating from the fifth floor is included in the down hall call
responding zone of the elevator car B, the stopping floor down call
detection relay 24B for the elevator car B is energized by the
circuit .sym. .fwdarw. 21B-4 .fwdarw. 31B-2 .fwdarw. 23B-1 .fwdarw.
coil of 24B .fwdarw. 45B-1 .fwdarw. 5D .fwdarw. 45DN-2 .fwdarw.
45B-6 .fwdarw. 14B-2 .fwdarw. .crclbar.. The downward movement
instruction relay 32B is energized to energize the down hall call
lantern to tell the passenger that the elevator car B is ready to
move downward, and at the same time, the door is opened. In
response to the energization of the downward movement instruction
relay 32B for the elevator car B, the common position relay 45UP is
deenergized and the make contact 45UP-2 is opened in the elevator
car B, with the result that the up hall calls from the fifth and
sixth floors are no longer responded by the elevator car B. In this
case, the break contact 45UP-3 is closed in the elevator car C, and
the up hall call responding zone of the elevator car C is now
determined by the circuits .crclbar..fwdarw.14C-2
.fwdarw.43C-6.fwdarw.43UP-3 .fwdarw.3UP, .crclbar..fwdarw.14C-2
.fwdarw.43C-6 .fwdarw.43UP-3 .fwdarw.44UP-3 .fwdarw.4UP,
.crclbar..fwdarw.14C-2 .fwdarw.43C-6 .fwdarw.43UP-3 .fwdarw.44UP-3
.fwdarw.45UP-3 .fwdarw.5UP, and .crclbar..fwdarw.14C-2
.fwdarw.43C-6 .fwdarw.43UP-3 .fwdarw.44UP-3 .fwdarw.45UP-3
.fwdarw.46UP-3 .fwdarw.6UP. Thus, the up hall calls from the fifth
and sixth floors are now included in the up hall call responding
zone of the nearest lower elevator car C so that these calls are
responded by the car C. This state is shown by the thin solid line
in FIG. 3.
When the leading contactor on the elevator car B reaches the fourth
floor level after it departs the fifth floor for carrying the
passenger to the fourth floor, the position detection relays 44B
and 45B are energized and deenergized respectively and the common
position relays 44DN and 45DN are also energized and deenergized
respectively. As a result, the contact 44DN-2 is opened and the
contact 45DN-2 is closed in the elevator car B so that the down
hall call from the fifth floor is no longer responded by the
elevator car B. In this case, the circuit .crclbar..fwdarw.14A-2
.fwdarw.47A-6 .fwdarw.47DN-1 .fwdarw.46DN-1 .fwdarw.45DN-1
.fwdarw.5DN is established in addition to the circuits
.crclbar..fwdarw.14A-2 47A-6 .fwdarw.47DN-1 .fwdarw.7DN and
.crclbar..fwdarw.14A-2 .fwdarw.47A-6 .fwdarw.47DN-1 .fwdarw.46DN-1
.fwdarw.6DN in the elevator car A. Thus, the down hall call from
the fifth floor is now included in the down hall call responding
zone of the nearest upper elevator car A so that the down call is
responded by the car A. This state is shown in FIG. 4.
Further, when, for example, the elevator car A standing by at the
seventh floor is loaded to its full capacity with passengers who
want to be transferred downward, the full load relay 14A for the
elevator car A is energized and the break contact 14A-2 thereof is
opened in FIG. 15. In this case, the elevator car A does not
respond to any hall calls and has no hall call responding zone.
Further, due to the fact that the break contact 14A-3 of the relay
14A is opened in FIG. 16, none of the common position relays are
energized by the position detection relays for the elevator car A.
Therefore, the common position relay 47DN having been energized is
now deenergized and the circuits .crclbar..fwdarw.14B-2
.fwdarw.45B-6 45UP-2 .fwdarw.46UP-2 .fwdarw.47DN-2 .fwdarw.7DN and
.crclbar..fwdarw.14B-2 45B-6 .fwdarw.45UP-2 .fwdarw.46UP-2
.fwdarw.47DN-2 .fwdarw.45DN-2 .fwdarw.6DN are established in FIG.
15 in addition to the circuits previously established in the
nearest lower elevator car B. Thus, the down hall calls from the
seventh and sixth floors are now included in the down hall call
responding zone of the elevator car B.
It will thus be understood that the up and down hall call
responding zones of the elevator cars standing by at the specific
floors are changed or re-established depending on the determination
of the moving direction of one of the cars, on the charge in the
position of such car relative to the other cars and on whether any
one of the cars is full loaded. Of course, such a change in the
hall call responding zones occurs when two or more elevator cars
are simultaneously placed in operation and when one of the elevator
cars standing by at the basic floor is placed in operation. In
other words, the hall call responding zones are continuously
changed so that satisfactory service can be always offered
depending on the moving direction, position and load of the
elevator cars irrespective of the initial dispersed positions and
number of elevators cars. This will be readily seen from the
previous description given with reference to FIG. 5 and any
detailed description is unnecessary.
As will be apparent from the foregoing detailed description, the
novel and improved process for dispersing the elevator cars and
determining the call responding zones thereof according to one of
the features of the present invention is advantageous in
eliminating wasteful operation, ensuring an efficient elevator car
group control and reducing the waiting time for passengers waiting
at the service floor landings.
3. Exchange of dispersed elevator cars
When a down hall call is originated from the floor in one of the
call responding zones of the elevator car A standing by at the
upper specific floor, the elevator car A departs the seventh floor
in response to the registered call as described previously. As far
as the leading contactor on the elevator car A lies associated with
the upper, specific floor, that is, when the upper specific floor
relay 57A is kept in the energized state, the elevator car A is
kept instructed to stand by at the upper specific floor. However,
when the leading contactor on the elevator car A is made not
associated the upper specific floor, that is, when the upper
specific floor relay 57A is deenergized, the instructions for the
elevator car A are cancelled and another suitable elevator car is
instructed to stand by at the upper specific floor in place of the
elevator car A. According to the first condition, another elevator
car is instructed to stand by at the upper specific floor when such
elevator car is moving through the upper stand-by zone and the
upper specific floor relay associated therewith is energized.
According to the second condition, the first dispatching car
standing by at the basic floor is instructed to stand by at the
upper specific floor when any one of the elevator cars does not
exist in the upper stand-by zone and any one of the upper specific
floor relays is not energized. The elevator car A for which the
stand-by instructions have been cancelled returns to the basic
floor after offering the required service.
Suppose, for example, that a hall call is registered at the seventh
floor landing by a passenger who wants to be transferred to the
third floor from the seventh floor. Due to the fact that the
elevator car A stands by at the seventh floor and a down hall call
requesting transfer to another floor from the seventh floor is
included in the call responding zone of the elevator car A, the
stopping floor down call detection relay 24A for the elevator car A
is energized by the circuit .sym..fwdarw.21A-4 .fwdarw.31A-2
.fwdarw.23A-1 .fwdarw. coil of 24A.fwdarw.47A-1
.fwdarw.7DN.fwdarw.47DN-1 .fwdarw.47A-6 .fwdarw.14A-2
.fwdarw..crclbar. in FIG. 15. The downward movement instruction
relay 32A is energized to energize the down hall call lantern to
tell the passenger that the elevator car A is ready to move
downward, and at the same time, the door is opened. Then, when the
passenger gets on the elevator car A and registers a cage call
(3CA) requesting transfer to the third floor, the downward movement
selection relay 22A is energized by the circuit .sym..fwdarw.11A-1
.fwdarw.21A-1 .fwdarw.31A-1 .fwdarw. coil of 22A .fwdarw.41A-2
.fwdarw.41A-3 .fwdarw.41A-4 .fwdarw.42A-1 .fwdarw.42A-2
.fwdarw.42A-3 .fwdarw.42A-4 .fwdarw.43A-1 .fwdarw.43A-2 .fwdarw.3CA
.fwdarw..crclbar.. Upon lapse of the period of time required for
getting on of the passenger, the door is closed and locked and the
downward movement relay 12A is energized for causing downward
movement of the elevator car A toward the third floor. When the
leading contactor on the elevator car A reaches the fifth floor
level from the sixth floor level as shown in FIG. 6, the position
detection relay 45A is energized and the position detection relay
46A is deenergized. As a result, the upper specific floor relay 57A
is deenergized and the upper specific floor timing relay 57TA is
deenergized with predetermined delay time. The upper specific floor
standby relay 67A in FIG. 13 is deenergized from its energized
state due to the opening of the make contact 57A-1 of the upper
specific floor relay 57A, and the break contacts 67A-5 and 67A-6 of
the upper specific floor stand-by relay 67A are closed so that
another suitable elevator car can now be selected for stand-by at
the upper specific floor. Suppose, for example, that the elevator
car F is in operation in the upper stand-by zone at this time as
shown in FIG. 6. Then, the upper specific floor relay 57F for the
elevator car F is in the energized state and the upper specific
floor stand-by relay 67F for the elevator car F is energized by the
circuit .sym..fwdarw.10F-6 .fwdarw.41P-6 .fwdarw.57F-2
.fwdarw.63F-1 .fwdarw.65F-2 .fwdarw.coil of 67F .fwdarw.67D-5
.fwdarw. 67E-5 .fwdarw.67A-6 .fwdarw.67B-6 .fwdarw.67C-6
.fwdarw.10H-1 .fwdarw..crclbar., and the elevator car F is
instructed to stand by at the upper specific floor.
When any one of the elevator cars does not exist in the upper
stand-by zone, the upper specific floor standby determination relay
67P is deenergized with predetermined delay time after the
deenergization of the upper specific floor stand-by relay 67A for
the elevator car A. Due to the deenergization of the upper specific
floor stand-by determination relay 67P, the upper specific floor
relay 67D for the first dispatching elevator car D standing by at
the basic floor is energized by the circuit .sym..fwdarw.10D-6
.fwdarw.70D-1 .fwdarw.67F-4 .fwdarw.63D-1 .fwdarw.65D-2 .fwdarw.
coil of 67D .fwdarw.67E-4 .fwdarw.67F-4 .fwdarw.67A-6 .fwdarw.67B-6
.fwdarw.67C-6 .fwdarw.10H-1 .fwdarw..crclbar., and the elevator car
D is instructed to stand by at the upper specific floor and departs
the basic floor toward the seventh floor.
The stand-by relay 69A is deenergized in the case of the elevator
car A for which the stand-by instructions have been cancelled. The
elevator car A stops at the third floor in response to the cage
call, and after getting off of the passenger, the downward movement
selection relay 22A is energized by the circuit .sym..fwdarw.11A-1
.fwdarw.21A-1 .fwdarw.31A-1 .fwdarw. coil of 22A .fwdarw.41A-2
.fwdarw.69A-3 .fwdarw..crclbar. for causing downward movement of
the elevator car A toward the basic floor. Consequently, the
elevator cars A and F stand by at the basic floor and seventh floor
respectively as seen in FIG. 6.
The elevator car B stands by at the intermediate specific floor or
fifth floor. When this elevator car B moves out of the intermediate
stand-by zone including the fourth, fifth and sixth floors in
response to a call originating from such floors, another suitable
elevator car is instructed to stand by at the intermediate specific
floor in a manner as described above. The same applies to the
elevator car C standing by at the lower specific floor or third
floor and to any other elevator cars.
It will thus be understood that the stand-by instructions for any
one of the elevator cars standing by at the upper, intermediate and
lower specific floors are not cancelled when it services the
service floor landings in its own stand-by zone in response to a
call originating from such zone and the elevator car returns to the
specific floor again to stand by at such floor after servicing.
When, however, the specific elevator car moves out of its own
stand-by zone in response to a call requesting service to the floor
outside of its own stand-by zone, another suitable elevator car is
instructed to stand by at the specific floor and the specific
elevator car returns to the basic floor to stand by thereat after
servicing.
Further, when no elevator cars stand by at the basic floor or when
the number of elevator cars standing by at the basic floor is
decreased to less than a predetermined lower limit due to the fact
that the elevator cars standing by at the basic floor depart
successively the basic floor for carrying many passengers, the
stand-by instructions for the elevator car or cars standing by at
the upper, intermediate and lower specific floors are cancelled so
that these elevator cars can be returned to the basic floor, and
the remaining elevator car or cars are instructed to stand by at
the specific floors.
Suppose, for example, that the elevator cars D, E and F standing by
at the basic floor depart the basic floor successively in the state
shown in FIG. 2. Then, the position detection relays 41D, 41E and
41F for the respective elevator cars D, E and F are deenergized and
the lobby stand-by relay 41P is deenergized in FIG. 14. Due to the
opening of the contacts 41P-1, 41P-2 and 41P-3 of the relay 41P,
the specific floor stand-by relays 67A, 65B and 63C for the
elevator cars A, B and C standing by at the upper, intermediate and
lower specific floors respectively are deenergized in FIG. 13, and
the stand-by relays 69A, 69B and 69C for the respective elevator
cars A, B and C are deenergized so that these elevator cars move
toward the basic floor. At the same time, the contacts 69D-1, 69E-1
and 69F-1 are closed due to the energization of the stand-by relays
69D, 69E and 69F for the elevator cars D, E and F which have
departed the basic floor, and these elevator cars are now
instructed to stand by at the specific floors.
When the traffic is reduced and calls cease to be originated from
the stand-by zones of the elevator cars for some period of time,
the M-G set of each elevator car is deenergized after a
predetermined period of time and the elevator cars stand by in such
a state. When any one of the elevator cars standing by at the
upper, intermediate and lower specific floors moves out of its
stand-by zone in response to a call originating from such zone in
the state in which all the elevator cars standing by at the basic
floor have their M-G set deenergized, the stand-by instructions for
the specific elevator car are not cancelled and the specific
elevator car returns to the previously instructed specific floor
again after servicing. Further, even when all the elevator cars
standing by at the basic floor depart the basic floor to deal with
an increase in passengers in the state in which all the elevator
cars standing by at the upper, intermediate and lower specific
floors have their M-G set deenergized, the dispatched elevator cars
are not instructed to stand by at the specific floors and return to
the basic floor again after servicing.
Suppose, for example, that all of the elevator cars D, E and F
standing by at the basic floor have their M-G set deenergized in
the state shown in FIG. 2. Then, the M-G relays 16D, 16E and 16F
for these elevator cars D, E and F are deenergized and the common
M-G relay 79P is energized by the circuit .sym..fwdarw.69A-2
.fwdarw.69B-2 .fwdarw.69C-2 .fwdarw.16D-2 .fwdarw.16E-2
.fwdarw.16F-2 .fwdarw. coil of 79P .fwdarw..crclbar. in FIG. 14.
The specific floor stand-by relays 67A, 67B and 67C for the
elevator cars A, B and C hold themselves through the contacts
79P-1, 79P-2 and 79P-3 respectively in FIG. 13 and the self-holding
state is maintained even though the elevator cars move out of their
own stand-by zones.
Further, the deenergization of the M-G set of the elevator cars A,
B and C standing by at the upper, intermediate and lower specific
floors results in the opening of the contacts 16A-1, 16B-1 and
16C-1 of the respective M-G relays 16A, 16B and 16C. Thus, the
specific floor stand-by relays 67A, 65B and 63C for these elevator
cars are not deenergized and the stand-by instructions are kept
applied to these elevator cars even when all of the elevator cars
standing by at the basic floor depart the basic floor and the lobby
stand-by relay 41P is deenergized.
As will be apparent from the foregoing detailed description, one of
the features of the present invention resides in the fact that, in
an elevator control system for controlling a plurality of elevator
cars dispersed to stand by at a plurality of specific (but not
fixed and variable) floors, a plurality of stand-by zones each
consisting of a plurality of continuous floors including one of the
specific floors are preset and the stand-by instructions for one of
the specific elevator cars are cancelled and transferred to another
suitable elevator car when the specific elevator car moves out of
its own stand-by zone. This arrangement is advantageous in that
wasteful operation can be minimized and the elevator cars can be
efficiently dispersed.
4. Alteration of dispersed cars depending on the number of
operatable cars
The dispersed stand-by mode according to the present invention is
suitably altered in a manner as described below when one or some of
the elevator cars are rendered inoperative.
The operatable condition relays 10A, 10B, 10C, 10D, 10E and 10F are
deenergized when the respective elevator cars A, B, C, D, E and F
are rendered inoperative due to, for example, maintenance and
inspection, trouble or emergency. The three car operation relay 10H
shown in FIG. 11 is energized when three out of the six elevator
cars are capable of operation. Similarly, the four and five car
operation relays 10M and 10L are energized when four and five
respectively out of the six elevator cars are capable of operation.
Therefore, all of these relays 10H, 10M and 10L are energized even
when one of the six operatable condition relays is deenergized. The
relays 10M and 10H are energized and the relay 10L is deenergized
when two of the six operatable condition relays are deenergized.
The relay 10L is solely energized when three of the six operatable
condition relays are deenergized. Further, all of these relays 10L,
10M and 10H are deenergized when four of the six operatable
condition relays are deenergized.
Referring to FIG. 13, the contact 10L-1 of the five car operation
relay 10L is closed in response to the energization of this relay
10L and the lower specific floor stand-by instruction circuit
becomes active when at least five among the six elevator cars are
capable of operation. The contact 10M-1 of the relay 10M is closed
in response to the energization of this relay 10M and the
intermediate specific floor stand-by instruction circuit becomes
active when at least four among the six elevator cars are capable
of operation. Similarly, the contact 10H-1 of the relay 10H is
closed in response to the energization of this relay 10H and the
upper specific floor stand-by instruction circuit becomes active
when at least three among the six elevator cars are capable of
operation.
When, for example, four among the six elevator cars are capable of
operation, the upper and intermediate specific floor stand-by
instruction circuits are active so that one of the elevator cars is
selectively instructed to stand by at the upper specific floor,
another elevator car is selectively instructed to stand by at the
intermediate specific floor, and the remaining two elevator cars
are instructed to stand by at the basic floor. In other words, when
at least two elevator cars stand by at the basic floor in spite of
shutdown of any one of the remaining elevator cars, no alteration
is applied to the dispersed stand-by arrangement, while when this
condition is not satisfied, the stand-by instructions for the
elevator cars standing by at the intermediate floors are
successively cancelled starting from the elevator car nearest to
the basic floor so as to preferentially secure the elevator cars
which should stand by at the basic floor.
Further, in response to the deenergization of the operatable
condition relay for any one of the elevator cars A, B, C, D, E and
F, the contact 10A-5, 10B-5, 10C-5, 10D-5, 10E-5 or 10F-5 is opened
in FIG. 16 so that the common position relays, which are energized
depending on the stopping position of the elevator car, cannot be
energized. Thus, this elevator car cannot possess any stand-by
zone. Further, when the number of operatable elevator cars is
decreased and the stand-by instructions are cancelled
correspondingly, for example, when the stand-by instructions for
the elevator car standing by at the lower specific floor are
cancelled at first in FIG. 15, the elevator car standing by at the
third floor returns to the basic floor to stand by now at the basic
floor. In this situation, up hall calls from the third and fourth
floors are included in the up hall call responding zone of the
first dispatching elevator car standing by at the basic floor and
down hall calls from the third and second floors are included in
the down hall call responding zone of the elevator car standing by
at the intermediate specific floor or fifth floor as seen in FIG.
9. In an idle traffic condition, at least one elevator car stands
by always at the lobby floor or basic floor and at least two
elevator cars stand by at the specific floors as seen in FIG. 9.
Thus, passengers can get on the elevator cars without any
substantial waiting time and economical and satisfactory service
can be offered.
The above description has referred to the alteration of the
dispersed stand-by mode depending on the number of operatable
elevator cars. However, when one of these elevator cars is rendered
inactive in the above operation mode, such elevator car is
eliminated from the stand-by position in the same manner as
described above and the dispersed stand-by mode is further altered
depending on the number of operatable elevator cars.
In a busy traffic condition, the number of passengers who want to
be transferred upward is substantially equal to the number of
passengers who want to be transferred downward. The operation mode
in such a traffic condition will next be described.
When the traffic mode is changed over from idle to busy according
to one of various known methods with the increase in the number of
passengers, the idle traffic relay IT is deenergized and the busy
traffic relay BT is energized. The five car operation relay 10L is
deenergized due to the opening of the contact IT-1 of the relay IT
in FIG. 11, while the three car operation relay 10H and four car
operation relay 10M are kept energized through the contact BT-2 of
the relay BT. As a result, the contact 10L-1 of the relay 10L is
opened in FIG. 13 and the lower specific floor stand-by instruction
circuit becomes inactive. Although the lower specific floor
stand-by instruction circuit has been rendered inactive by way of
example, the upper or intermediate specific floor standby
instruction circuit may be rendered inactive and the specific
stand-by floors may be easily altered. More precisely, the elevator
car standing by at the fifth floor in FIG. 9 may be brought to the
fourth floor to stand by at such floor, or the elevator car
standing by at the seventh floor in FIG. 10 may be brought to the
fifth or sixth floor to stand by at such floor. At least one
elevator car stands by always at the basic floor as in the case of
the idle traffic condition, so that this elevator car can cooperate
with another elevator car instructed to stand by always at the
upper specific floor and another elevator car instructed to stand
by always at the intermediate specific floor for responding to hall
calls originating from their call responding zones and to cage
calls.
Therefore, each of the elevator cars responds to forward hall calls
originating from the zone ranging from the moving position thereof
to the position of another preceding elevator car moving in the
same direction when such preceding elevator car exists. On the
other hand, when no preceding elevator car exists in the advancing
direction of such elevator car, this latter elevator car responds
to forward hall calls originating from the floors forward thereof
and to backward hall calls for another elevator car moving in the
opposite direction past the floor nearest to that elevator car. For
example, when one of the elevator cars is moving upward to the
second floor and the preceding elevator car is moving upward to the
sixth floor past the fifth floor, the former elevator car responds
to up calls originating from the second, third, fourth and fifth
floors. On the other hand, when one of the elevator cars is moving
upward to the sixth floor past the fifth floor, no preceding
elevator car exists in the same direction and another elevator car
whose position is nearest thereto in the opposite direction is
moving downward past the fifth floor, the former elevator car
responds to up calls originating from the floors above and
including the sixth floor and to down calls originating from the
floors above and including the sixth floor. Therefore, the elevator
car changes the direction of movement and returns to the basic
floor when no forward hall calls are originated from its own call
responding zones in spite of origination of other forward hall
calls (in other words, when such calls are included in the call
responding zones of the preceding elevator car and are responded
thereby), when no cage calls are registered, and when the specific
elevator car is not instructed to stand by at any one of the
specific floors. In this manner, the individual elevator cars are
operated in suitably dispersed relation to offer service of good
quality such that passengers standing at different floor landings
wait substantially the same period of time.
In a transient state in which the traffic mode is nearly changed
over from busy to idle due to the decrease in the number of
passengers, the upper and intermediate specific floor stand-by
instruction circuits are active. Therefore, the elevator cars are
suitably dispersed without standing by at the basic floor in the
number more than is required and the elevator cars standing by at
the specific floors respond quickly to calls originated by
passengers waiting at the upper and intermediate floors. Thus, the
passengers can get on the elevator cars without waiting for any
substantial period of time.
It will thus be understood that, according to one of the features
of the present invention, the dispersed stand-by mode is suitably
altered to deal with not only the idle traffic mode but also the
busy traffic mode so as to improve the service in the busy traffic
mode.
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