CN113023505B

CN113023505B - Group management control device for elevator

Info

Publication number: CN113023505B
Application number: CN202011416369.2A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 中川雅有
Original assignee: Toshiba Elevator Co Ltd
Current assignee: Toshiba Elevator and Building Systems Corp
Priority date: 2019-12-09
Filing date: 2020-12-07
Publication date: 2023-02-24
Anticipated expiration: 2040-12-07
Also published as: CN113023505A; JP6839259B1; JP2021091516A

Abstract

The present invention relates to a group management control device for elevators, which reduces variation in load of hall-side equipment in a building in which a plurality of elevators are installed. A group management control device for an elevator according to an embodiment includes a determination unit, an assignment unit, and a command unit. The determining unit determines, every time a predetermined time has elapsed, the rank for each combination of a zone, which is a group of a plurality of consecutive floors, and the elevator based on the total number of doors opened and closed for each of the plurality of elevators in each zone. The allocation unit allocates 1 or more elevators to 1 zone based on the rank determined by the determination unit. The command unit transmits a command to a single control device that controls the elevator, the command being a standby floor of the elevator from among a plurality of floors included in a zone allocated to the elevator by the allocation unit.

Description

Group management control device for elevator

Technical Field

Embodiments of the present invention relate to a group management control device for elevators.

Background

Conventionally, the following techniques are known: when a plurality of elevators such as elevators are installed in 1 building, each elevator is allocated to a different floor and stands by dispersedly, and the response time to hall calls, i.e., the waiting time of users, is reduced for the entire building.

In such a technique, since an elevator near a floor called by a user at a hall responds, the number of door openings and closings of a car assigned to a floor near a waiting floor tends to increase compared to the number of door openings and closings of other elevators. Therefore, the frequency of replacement and maintenance work of the equipment of the specific elevator becomes high.

As a technique for reducing such variations in the frequency of replacement and maintenance work of each elevator in an elevator group, there is a technique of monitoring load data of a car-side device of each elevator and suppressing a load by an operation to equalize replacement timing or maintenance cycle of the elevator device. The load data of the car-side device of the elevator is, for example, data related to a load of a motor of a hoisting machine or peripheral devices thereof, and more specifically, a value of a running torque of the elevator or the like.

Documents of the prior art

Patent document

Patent document 1: japanese patent laid-open publication No. 2019-31382

Disclosure of Invention

Problems to be solved by the invention

However, in the conventional technology, the load is not monitored for the hall-side equipment of the elevator, and in a building in which a plurality of elevators are installed, it is sometimes difficult to reduce the variation in the load of the hall-side equipment.

Means for solving the problems

A group management control device for an elevator according to an embodiment includes a determination unit, an assignment unit, and a command unit. The determining unit determines, for each combination of a zone, which is a group of a plurality of floors connected in series, and the elevator, based on the total number of doors opened and closed for each of the plurality of elevators for each zone, every time a predetermined time has elapsed. The allocation unit allocates 1 or more elevators to 1 zone based on the rank determined by the determination unit. The command unit transmits a command to a single-body control device for controlling the elevator, the command being for setting a floor among a plurality of floors included in an area allocated to the elevator by the allocation unit as a standby floor of the elevator.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a diagram showing an example of an overall configuration of an elevator system according to embodiment 1.

Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of a functional configuration of the group management control device according to embodiment 1.

Fig. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the area information according to embodiment 1.

Fig. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the door opening/closing count information according to embodiment 1.

Fig. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the rank of each combination of the zone and the elevator according to embodiment 1.

Fig. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of the standby floor assignment process according to embodiment 1.

Fig. 7 is a block diagram showing an example of a functional configuration of the group management control apparatus according to embodiment 2.

Fig. 8 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of the standby floor assignment process according to embodiment 2.

Fig. 9 is a block diagram showing an example of a functional configuration of the group management control device according to embodiment 3.

Fig. 10 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of the standby floor allocation processing according to embodiment 3.

Fig. 11 is a block diagram showing an example of a functional configuration of the group management controller according to embodiment 4.

Fig. 12 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of the standby floor allocation processing according to embodiment 4.

Fig. 13 is a block diagram showing an example of a functional configuration of the group management control device according to embodiment 5.

Fig. 14 is a 1 st flowchart showing an example of the flow of the standby floor assignment process according to embodiment 5.

Fig. 15 is a 2 nd flowchart showing an example of the flow of the standby floor allocation process according to embodiment 5.

Detailed Description

(embodiment 1)

Fig. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of an elevator system S according to embodiment 1. As shown in fig. 1, the elevator system S of the present embodiment includes 3 elevators 4a to 4c. The number of elevators included in the elevator system S is not limited to this. In the present embodiment, an example of the elevator will be described as an example of the elevator, but the elevator is not limited to the elevator.

In the present embodiment, the elevator 4a is referred to as a machine a, the elevator 4B is referred to as a machine B, and the elevator 4C is referred to as a machine C. In addition, the elevators 4a to 4c are simply referred to as the elevators 4 without being particularly distinguished. When the elevators 4a to 4c are collectively referred to, they are referred to as an elevator group 3.

Each elevator 4 includes a car 5, a counterweight 6, a main rope 7, and a hoisting machine 8. Each elevator 4 is a so-called bucket elevator in which a car 5 that can ascend and descend in a hoistway installed in a building having a plurality of floors and a counterweight 6 that is a counterweight are connected by a main rope 7.

The main ropes 7 are suspended from, for example, a main sheave 8a and a guide sheave (not shown) of a hoisting machine 8 provided in an upper portion of the hoistway, and the car 5 is connected to one end and the counterweight 6 is connected to the other end. The hoisting machine 8 includes, for example, an electric motor (motor) 8b that generates power, and is driven by the electric motor 8b to rotationally drive a main pulley 8a coupled to the electric motor 8b, thereby electrically winding the main rope 7 by a frictional force generated between the main pulley 8a and the main rope 7.

A car call input device, not shown, that allows a user to input a destination hall is provided inside the car 5 of each elevator 4.

The individual control devices 9a to 9c control the corresponding elevators 4a to 4c under the control of the group management control device 100. Hereinafter, the individual control devices 9a to 9c are simply referred to as the individual control devices 9 without being particularly distinguished from each other.

The individual control device 9 performs various controls such as control of raising and lowering the car 5 of the elevator 4 and control of opening and closing the elevator doors. The individual control devices 9 are electrically connected to the group management control device 100. The individual control device 9 controls each part of the car 5 in accordance with the schedule of operation of each car 5 and various setting information received from the group management control device 100. The individual control device 9 also transmits the destination hall of the car call input in the car 5 to the group management control device 100.

The cell controller 9 includes, for example, a microcomputer having a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), and the like, which are connected to each other by a common bidirectional common bus, and a drive circuit. The ROM stores a predetermined control program and the like in advance. The RAM temporarily stores the operation result of the CPU.

The individual control device 9 controls driving of each part of the elevator 4, and the car 5 moves up and down in the hoistway, so that a user can move to an arbitrary destination floor. After a predetermined time has elapsed after the completion of the response to the landing call or the car call, the individual controller 9 moves the elevator 4 to the standby floor determined by the group management controller 100 described later. The length of the certain time is not particularly limited.

The group management control device 100 manages an elevator group 3 including 3 elevators 4 from a to C as one group. For example, a hall call device that allows a user to input a hall call for calling the elevator 4 is provided on each floor of a building, not shown, on which the elevator system S is installed, and the group management control device 100 assigns a hall call to each machine while monitoring the operating state of each elevator 4, the destination hall of a car call, and the like. The group management control device 100 is an example of an elevator group management control device in the present embodiment.

The group management control device 100 is a computer including a control device such as a CPU, a storage device such as a ROM or a RAM, and an external storage device such as a Hard Disk Drive (HDD) or a CD Drive.

Fig. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a functional configuration of the group management control device 100 according to embodiment 1. As shown in fig. 2, the group management control device 100 includes a counting unit 101, a timing unit 102, a determination unit 103, an assignment unit 104, a command unit 105, and a storage unit 120.

The storage unit 120 stores area information 121 and door opening/closing number information 122. The storage unit 120 is implemented by, for example, an HDD.

In the area information 121, the areas of the floors of the building where the elevator system S is installed correspond to the elevators 4.

The area is an area in which a plurality of floors connected in series are 1 group. In the present embodiment, the area division of each floor is set in advance. Each elevator 4 waits for a hall call from a user at one of floors included in the allocated area. Therefore, the region is also referred to as a standby region. In the present embodiment, as an example, the lowermost floor of the zone allocated to each elevator 4 is the standby floor of each elevator 4.

Fig. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the area information 121 according to embodiment 1. As shown in fig. 3, in the present embodiment, the building in which the elevator system S is installed has 6 floors of 1 to 6 floors, and 1 to 2 floors of the building are classified into

zones

1,3 to 4 floors and 2,5 to 6 floors and zone 3. The floor area division is not limited to this, and may be classified into, for example, a low-floor area, a middle-floor area, and a high-floor area, or may be classified into two floor areas, i.e., a low-floor area and a high-floor area.

In addition, the number of floors included in each area may be different. For example, the area division may be different depending on the number of users on each floor. Specifically, the area including more floors than other floors of the user, such as the reference floor of the building, may be set to include fewer floors than other areas.

Each elevator 4 is assigned to a certain zone. For example, in the example shown in fig. 3, elevator 4a (machine a) is assigned to zone 1, elevator 4B (machine B) is assigned to zone 2, and elevator 4C (machine C) is assigned to zone 3. In this case, the standby floor of the elevator 4a (machine a) is floor 1, the standby floor of the elevator 4B (machine B) is floor 3, and the standby floor of the elevator 4C (machine C) is floor 5.

As shown in fig. 3, the case where the elevators 4a to 4c are waiting at different floors is referred to as distributed waiting. In the present embodiment, the doors are not opened or closed until a call is made while the elevators 4a to 4c are waiting at the respective waiting floors.

In the present embodiment, before the operation of the elevator system S is started, the zone division of each floor and the association between each elevator 4 and the zone are preliminarily set by an administrator or the like. The association between each elevator 4 and each zone is updated by an assignment unit 104 described later.

The door opening/closing number information 122 is a total value of the number of doors opened and closed for each of the plurality of floors of the elevator 4.

Fig. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the door opening/closing number information 122 according to embodiment 1. As shown in fig. 4, the door opening/closing number information 122 of the present embodiment is information indicating the total number of door openings/closings at each floor for each elevator 4. The total number of door openings and closings is an accumulated value of the number of door openings and closings from the start of the operation of the elevator 4.

Returning to fig. 2, the counting unit 101 counts the number of door openings and closings at each floor for each elevator 4. The counter 101 registers the counted number of door openings and closings in the door opening and closing number information 122 of the storage 120.

The timer unit 102 counts the time elapsed since the standby floor of each elevator 4 was set. In the elevator system S of the present embodiment, the waiting floors of the elevators 4 are determined as initial settings in advance, and the timer unit 102 starts the timer from the operation start time of the elevator system S. The timer unit 102 determines whether or not a predetermined time has elapsed since the standby floor of each elevator 4 was set.

When the timer unit 102 determines that the predetermined time has elapsed since the previous setting of the standby floor, the timer unit notifies the determination unit 103 of the elapse of the predetermined time. The length of the predetermined time is not particularly limited.

The determination unit 103 calculates the total number of door openings/closings for each zone of each elevator 4 based on the door opening/closing number information 122 stored in the storage unit 120 at predetermined time intervals, and determines the number of times in the order of the total number of door openings/closings from small to large for each combination of a zone and an elevator 4.

Fig. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the rank of each combination of the zone and the elevator 4 according to embodiment 1. As shown in the upper floor of fig. 5, the combination of zone 3 and elevator 4a (machine a) and the combination of zone 3 and elevator 4C (machine C), each having a total door opening/closing number of "500", are both in the first order. Next, the combination of the area 2 and the elevator 4C (machine No. C) is the third order. The determination unit 103 determines the rank based on the total number of door openings and closings for the combination of the other zones and the elevator 4.

The determination unit 103 determines whether or not there is a combination of the elevator 4 and a zone having the same number of digits based on the total number of door openings and closings. When two or more combinations determine that the number of steps based on the total number of door openings and closings is the same, the determination unit 103 changes the step number so that the combination including the elevator 4 closer to the head elevator becomes the upper step.

The head elevator is, for example, the elevator 4 closest to the entrance of the building, but the determination method of the head elevator is not limited to this.

In the present embodiment, the elevator 4a (machine a) is a machine at the head. In addition, the elevator 4B (machine B) and the elevator 4C (machine C) are disposed in this order as an elevator closer to the elevator 4a (machine a). In the present embodiment, the elevator 4a (machine a) as the head machine is the elevator 4 closest to the head machine, and then, the elevator 4B (machine B) and the elevator 4C (machine C) are set in this order as the elevator 4 closer to the head machine.

For example, as in the example shown in the lower stage of fig. 5, the determination unit 103 sets the level of the combination of the zone 3 and the elevator 4a (machine a) including the elevator 4a (machine a) closer to the front machine, out of the combination of the zone 3 and the elevator 4C (machine C), which are both the first order, to be higher than the level of the combination of the zone 3 and the elevator 4C (machine C).

In addition, regarding other combinations of the zone having the same rank and the elevator 4, as in the example shown in the lower stage of fig. 5, the determination unit 103 changes the rank so that the rank of the combination of the elevator 4 and the zone including the elevator 4 closer to the head elevator becomes higher.

The determination unit 103 sends the number of times of each combination of the zone and the elevator 4 to the assignment unit 104.

The assignment unit 104 assigns an elevator 4 to each zone based on the rank of each combination of the zone and the elevator 4 determined by the determination unit 103.

More specifically, the assignment unit 104 assigns the elevators 4 closer to the head car in order from the area included in the combination of the area with the highest rank and the elevator 4.

For example, in the example shown in the lower stage of fig. 5, the level of the combination of zone 3 and elevator 4a (machine a) is the first order. Therefore, the assigning unit 104 initially assigns the elevator 4a (machine a) as the head machine to the area 3. In this case, the 5 floors, which are the lowest floors among the floors included in the zone 3, are the standby floors of the elevator 4a (a-machine). The assignment unit 104 also sequentially assigns elevators 4 to zones in a combination of a zone below the second order and an elevator 4 second closest to the head car.

When the number of elevators 4 that can be allocated to a zone reaches the upper limit of the number of elevators 4, the allocation unit 104 stops the allocation of the elevators 4 to the zone. That is, the assignment unit 104 removes the zone up to the upper limit number of the assignable elevators 4 from the zone to be assigned.

The upper limit number of elevators 4 that can be allocated to each zone is an example of the threshold value in the present embodiment.

For example, in the present embodiment, the upper limit number of elevators 4 that can be allocated to each zone is set to 1.

In the example shown in the lower stage of fig. 5, when the elevator 4a (machine a) is allocated to the zone 3, the upper limit number of the elevators 4 allocated to the zone 3 is reached, and therefore the allocation unit 104 does not allocate another elevator 4 to the zone 3. Therefore, the combination of zone 3 and elevator 4C (machine C) has the second order, but the assignment unit 104 does not assign elevator 4C (machine C) to zone 3. In this case, the assignment unit 104 assigns the elevator 4C (machine C) to the zone 2 based on a combination of the zone 2 of the third rank as the next rank and the elevator 4C (machine C).

The upper limit number of elevators 4 that can be allocated to each zone is not limited to 1. The upper limit number of elevators 4 that can be allocated to each zone may be different for each zone. For example, if 1 building has 3 zones and the elevator group 3 installed in the building includes 4 elevators 4, the upper limit number of elevators 4 allocated to each zone may be 1 for

zone

1, 1 for zone 2 and two for zone 3.

The distribution unit 104 updates the area information 121 based on the distribution result.

The command unit 105 transmits 1 floor of floors included in the zone of the allocation destination of each of the elevators 4a to 4c to the individual control devices 9a to 9c that control the elevators 4a to 4c as a standby floor command for each of the elevators 4a to 4c, based on the zone information 121 updated by the allocation unit 104. In the present embodiment, the command unit 105 transmits a command to the individual control devices 9a to 9c that control the elevators 4a to 4c, based on the zone information 121, the command being for setting the floor of the lowermost floor of the zone to which the elevators 4a to 4c are assigned as the standby floor of the elevators 4a to 4c.

Next, the details of the flow of the standby floor assignment process executed by the group management control device 100 of the present embodiment configured as described above will be described.

Fig. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of the standby floor assignment process according to embodiment 1. As a premise of this flowchart, the counting unit 101 counts the number of door openings and closings at each floor for each elevator 4, and stores the count result in the storage unit 120.

First, the timer unit 102 determines whether or not a predetermined time has elapsed since the previous setting of the standby area. When the timer unit 102 determines that the predetermined time has not elapsed since the previous setting of the standby area (no in S1), the process ends.

When the timer unit 102 determines that the predetermined time has elapsed since the previous setting of the standby area (yes in S1), the determination unit 103 is notified of the elapse of the predetermined time. In this case, the determination unit 103 calculates the total number of door openings/closings for each zone of each elevator 4 based on the door opening/closings information 122 stored in the storage unit 120 (S2).

Next, the determination unit 103 determines the rank in the order of the total number of door openings and closings for each combination of the zone and the elevator 4 (S3).

Then, the determination unit 103 determines whether or not there is a combination of the elevator 4 and the zone having the same rank determined (S4). For example, as shown in the upper floor of fig. 5, when there are a plurality of combinations of the zone having the first rank and the elevator 4, the determination unit 103 determines that there is a combination of the elevator 4 and the zone having the same rank.

If it is determined that there is a combination of the elevator 4 and the zone having the same rank (yes in S4), the determination unit 103 changes the rank so that the combination of the elevator 4 and the zone including the elevator 4 closer to the head number is the highest (S5). For example, in the example shown in the upper floor and the lower floor of fig. 5, the determination unit 103 sets the combination of zone 3 and elevator 4a (machine a) and the combination of zone 3 and elevator 4C (machine C) to the first order and sets the combination of zone 3 and elevator 4a (machine a) to the second order.

When there are a plurality of combinations of the elevator 4 and the zone having the same set rank, the determination unit 103 changes the rank so that the combination including the elevator 4 closer to the head number is ranked higher among all the combinations having the same rank.

When it is determined that there is no combination of the elevator 4 and the zone having the same rank (no in S4), the determination unit 103 sends the rank of each combination of the elevator 4 and the zone determined to have the same rank to the assignment unit 104.

In this case, the assignment unit 104 assigns the elevator 4 closest to the head elevator among the candidates to the area included in the combination of the uppermost rank area and the elevator 4 (S6). In the 1 st assignment process, the head number of the elevator group 3 is assigned. For example, in the example shown in the lower stage of fig. 5, an elevator 4a (machine a) is assigned to the area 3. In addition, after the processing of S5, the processing of S6 is also executed.

Then, the assignment unit 104 determines whether or not the number of elevators 4 assigned to the zone reaches the upper limit of the number of elevators 4 that can be assigned to the zone (S7). In this determination process, the assignment unit 104 may determine whether or not the upper limit number of the assignable elevators 4 is reached for all the zones, or may determine whether or not the upper limit number of the assignable elevators 4 is reached only for the zone to which the elevator 4 has been assigned in the immediately preceding assignment process.

When it is determined that the number of elevators 4 allocated to the zone reaches the upper limit of the number of elevators 4 that can be allocated to the zone (yes in S7), the allocation unit 104 removes the zone reaching the upper limit of the number of allocated elevators from the zone to be allocated (S8). For example, when the elevator 4a (machine a) is allocated to the zone 3 so that the number of elevators 4 allocated to the zone 3 reaches the upper limit number, "1", the allocation unit 104 removes the zone 3 from the zone to be allocated.

When it is determined that the number of elevators 4 allocated to the zone does not reach the upper limit of the number of elevators 4 that can be allocated to the zone (no in S7), the allocation unit 104 removes the elevators 4 allocated to the zone from the allocation candidates (S9). Here, the elevator 4 allocated to the zone is the elevator 4 allocated to the zone in the process of S6. For example, in the case where the elevator 4a (machine a) is allocated to the zone 3, the elevator 4a (machine a) is removed from the allocation candidates to the

other zones

1 and 2. In addition, after the process of S8, the process of S9 is also executed.

Next, the assignment unit 104 determines whether or not the number of elevator candidates is "0" (S10). For example, when the elevator 4a (machine a) of the elevators 4a to 4c is allocated to the zone 3, the number of remaining elevators to be allocated candidates is two. In this case, the assignment unit 104 determines that the number of elevators as assignment candidates is not "0" (no in S10).

When the assignment unit 104 determines that the number of elevators as assignment candidates is not "0", the processing returns to S6, and the elevator 4 closest to the top elevator among the remaining elevators 4 as assignment candidates is assigned to the area included in the combination of the highest-ranked area and the elevator 4 among the combinations of the remaining elevators 4 and the area to be assigned.

The processing of S6 to S10 is repeated until the assignment unit 104 determines that the number of elevators to be assigned candidates is "0". Then, if the assignment unit 104 determines that the number of elevators as assignment candidates is "0" (yes in S10), the assignment unit 104 registers the assignment result of the elevator 4 to each zone in the zone information 121.

Then, based on the zone information 121 updated by the assignment unit 104, the command unit 105 transmits a command to the individual control devices 9a to 9c that control the elevators 4a to 4c, the command being for setting the floor of the lowermost zone of the zone to which the elevators 4a to 4c are assigned as the standby floor of the elevators 4a to 4c (S11). Here, the processing of the flowchart ends.

As described above, the group management control device 100 according to the present embodiment sets the rank for each combination of a zone and an elevator 4 based on the total number of opened and closed doors of each of the elevators 4 in each zone every time a predetermined time elapses, assigns 1 or more elevators 4 to 1 zone based on the rank, and transmits a command to the individual control device 9 to set any one of the floors included in the assigned zone as a standby floor of the elevator 4. Therefore, according to the group management control device 100 of the present embodiment, the waiting floors of the elevators 4 are switched at predetermined time intervals, and thus variations in the load of the hall-side equipment of each elevator 4 can be reduced. Thus, according to the group management control device 100 of the present embodiment, the deepening of deterioration of the hall-side equipment of each elevator 4, for example, elevator door equipment, can be averaged, and the maintenance time of the entire elevator system S can be extended.

In the group management control device 100 according to the present embodiment, when the number of elevators 4 allocated to a zone reaches the upper limit number of allocation, the zone is removed from the allocation target of the elevators 4. Therefore, according to the group management control device 100 of the present embodiment, the assigned destinations of the elevators 4 are distributed, and the elevators 4 are arranged on the specific floors with less variation.

In the group management control device 100 of the present embodiment, when there are a plurality of combinations of elevators 4 and zones having the same rank, the rank is changed so that the rank of the combination including the elevator 4 closer to the head car is higher. Therefore, according to the group management control device 100 of the present embodiment, even when there are a plurality of combinations having the same rank, the rank can be uniquely determined, and the assignment process can be smoothly executed.

In the group management control device 100 according to the present embodiment, the total number of door openings and closings of each of the plurality of elevators 4 in each zone is calculated based on the door opening and closing number information 122 indicating the integrated value of the number of door openings and closings of each of the plurality of elevators 4 in each floor, and the rank is determined for each combination based on the calculated total number of door openings and closings. Therefore, according to the group management control device 100 of the present embodiment, the number of steps is determined based on the total number of door openings and closings counted in units of areas, and the amount of calculation can be reduced compared to the case where the number of steps is set in units of each floor.

In the present embodiment, the determination unit 103 calculates the total number of door openings/closings for each zone of each elevator 4 at predetermined time intervals, but the counting unit 101 may calculate the total number of door openings/closings for each zone of each elevator 4. In this case, in the door opening/closing number information 122, the total value of the number of door openings/closings at each floor of each elevator 4 may be associated with the total number of door openings/closings for each zone of each elevator 4.

In the present embodiment, the allocation of the zones in which the elevators 4 are in scattered standby has been described as an example, but the configuration of the group management control apparatus 100 of the present embodiment may be applied in combination with the function of changing the scheduled operation of the waiting floors for the commute to correspond to the traffic that changes according to the time period, such as the commute time and the off-commute time. For example, the assignment unit 104 may determine the zone to be assigned to the elevator 4 not only based on the number of digits of the door opening/closing count but also based on the time zone. The group management control device 100 may predict increase or decrease of the user based on not only the time zone previously determined by the administrator or the like but also the learning result regarding the operation of the elevator 4, and may change the allocation of the area allocated to the elevator 4.

In the present embodiment, the zone allocated to each elevator 4 is a standby zone in which each elevator 4 stands by, but the allocation unit 104 may limit the destination hall of each elevator 4. For example, the allocation unit 104 may allocate, to each elevator 4, an area in which each elevator 4 is standing by and an area of a destination hall in which each elevator 4 can operate, based on the rank determined by the determination unit 103. The allocation unit 104 may allocate a stop floor at which each elevator 4 can stop according to the commute schedule.

The allocation unit 104 may determine the zone to be allocated to the elevator 4 not only based on the number of door opening/closing steps but also based on the number of users on each floor. For example, the assignment unit 104 may change the upper limit number of elevators 4 that can be assigned to a zone including floors where the number of users is large to be larger than the upper limit number of other zones. Alternatively, the assignment unit 104 may change the area division according to the number of users. For example, the assignment unit 104 may divide an area in which the number of users is large into a plurality of areas and then assign the elevator 4 to each area.

In the present embodiment, the assignment unit 104 of the group management control device 100 is assigned to the higher rank area in order from the elevator 4 of the head elevator, but may be assigned to the higher rank area in order from the elevator 4 farthest from the head elevator. The assignment unit 104 may periodically change the order of "closer to the head size" and "farther from the head size" to assign the head size. The assignment unit 104 may assign the elevator 4 with the total number of opened and closed doors being larger as the rank of the zone is higher.

The assignment unit 104 of the group management control device 100 may assign the elevator 4 to each zone so that the elevator 4 assigned to the zone of the higher order, that is, the zone of the higher total number of door-closed times and the elevator 4 assigned to the zone of the lower order, that is, the zone of the lower total number of door-closed times are interchanged. For example, the assignment unit 104 may exchange the elevator 4 assigned to the zone of the first order with the elevator 4 assigned to the lowest order, and then exchange the elevator 4 assigned to the zone of the second order with the elevator 4 assigned to the zone of the second order from the last.

In the present embodiment, when there are a plurality of combinations of elevators 4 and zones having the same rank, the determination unit 103 of the group management control device 100 determines the rank of the combination including the elevator 4 closer to the head number as the upper rank, but may determine the rank of the combination including the elevator 4 further from the head number as the upper rank.

(embodiment 2)

In embodiment 1 described above, the allocation of the elevator 4 to each zone is determined based on the number of past doors opened and closed by the elevator 4. In embodiment 2, the assignment of the elevator 4 to each zone is determined based on the result of predicting the number of open/close doors of the elevator 4 in the future.

Fig. 7 is a block diagram showing an example of a functional configuration of the group management control apparatus 100 according to embodiment 2. As shown in fig. 7, the group management control device 100 of the present embodiment includes a counting unit 101, a time counting unit 102, a determination unit 103, an assignment unit 104, a command unit 1105, a prediction unit 106, a calculation unit 107, a change unit 108, and a storage unit 120.

The counting unit 101, the time counting unit 102, the determination unit 103, and the assignment unit 104 have the same functions as those of embodiment 1.

The storage unit 120 of the present embodiment stores area information 121, door opening/closing number information 122, and previous door opening/closing number information 123.

The previous door opening/closing count information 123 is the door opening/closing count information 122 at the time point when the standby floor allocation process was executed the previous time. The previous door opening/closing count information 123 is stored when the determination unit 103 starts the process of assigning the waiting floors, for example.

The prediction unit 106 predicts the increase in the total number of door openings and closings from the present time to the time point when the predetermined time has elapsed, based on the increase in the total number of door openings and closings in the past predetermined time. The present case refers to the case where the allocation process of the standby floor is performed. The predetermined time is a time interval from the execution of the allocation process of the waiting floors to the execution of the next process, as in embodiment 1. That is, the "time point when the predetermined time has elapsed from the present time" refers to the time point when the allocation process of the standby floor is executed next.

More specifically, the prediction unit 106 calculates the increment of the total number of door openings/closings per floor of each elevator 4 from the execution time point of the assignment process of the previous waiting floor to the present time at predetermined time intervals, based on the difference between the previous door opening/closings information 123 and the door opening/closings information 122 stored in the storage unit 120. In the present embodiment, the increase means the number of times the total number of door openings and closings is increased.

For example, in the example of the door opening/closing number information 122 shown in fig. 4, the total door opening/closing number of the floor "6" of the elevator 4a (machine a) is "200 times". If the total number of door openings and closings of floor "6" of elevator 4a (elevator a) in the previous door opening and closing number information 123 is "150 times", the increment of the total number of door openings and closings per floor of each elevator 4 from the execution of the previous assignment process of the waiting floor to the present is "50 times".

The prediction unit 106 predicts the increase in the total number of door openings and closings from the current time point to the time point when the predetermined time has elapsed, based on the calculated increase in the total number of door openings and closings in the past predetermined time. For example, the prediction unit 106 may simply add the same increment as the increment of the total number of door openings and closings in the past predetermined time to the current total number of door openings and closings. The prediction unit 106 may predict an increase in the total number of door openings and closings from the current time point to the time point when a predetermined time has elapsed for each allocation pattern of the zone and the elevator 4. The prediction unit 106 sends the result of the prediction of the increase amount to the calculation unit 107.

The calculation unit 107 calculates the difference between the total number of door openings and closings of the elevator having the smallest total number of door openings and the elevator having the largest total number of door openings and closings of the plurality of elevators 4 for each allocation pattern of the zone and the elevator 4 based on the increment predicted by the prediction unit 106.

More specifically, the calculation unit 107 adds the increment of each floor of the elevator 4 predicted by the prediction unit 106 to the total number of door openings and closings of each floor of the elevator 4 registered at the current time point of the door opening and closing number information 122, thereby calculating the total number of door openings and closings of each floor of the elevator 4 at a time point when a predetermined time has elapsed from the current time point. Then, the calculation unit 107 calculates the total number of opened and closed doors at the time point when the predetermined time has elapsed for each combination of the zone and the elevator 4 by summing up the total number of opened and closed doors at each floor of the elevator 4 at the time point when the predetermined time has elapsed from the current time point for each zone of the zone to which each floor belongs.

Further, the calculation unit 107 calculates the difference between the total number of door openings and closings of the elevator 4 having the smallest total number of door openings and the elevator 4 having the largest total number of door openings and closings in the elevator group 3, based on the total number of door openings and closings at the time point when the predetermined time has elapsed for each combination of the zone and the elevator 4, for each assignment pattern of the zone and the elevator 4.

For example, as shown in fig. 3, a mode in which an elevator 4a (machine a) is allocated to zone 1, an elevator 4B (machine B) is allocated to zone 2, and an elevator 4C (machine C) is allocated to zone 3 will be described as an example. In this case, the calculation unit 107 calculates the total value of the total number of opened and closed doors for each elevator 4 of the elevators 4. Assuming that the elevator 4 with the smallest total number of opened and closed doors at the time point when the predetermined time has elapsed from the present time is the elevator 4a (machine a), and the elevator 4 with the largest total number of opened and closed doors is the elevator 4C (machine C), the calculation unit 107 subtracts the total number of opened and closed doors of the elevator 4a (machine a) from the total number of opened and closed doors of the elevator 4C (machine C), and calculates the difference. The calculation unit 107 calculates the difference between the total number of door openings and closings of the elevator 4 having the smallest total number of door openings and the elevator 4 having the largest total number of door openings and closings in the elevator group 3 similarly for each allocation pattern of the zones and the elevator 4.

In the present embodiment, the calculation unit 107 calculates the difference in the total number of opened and closed doors in each elevator 4 for each assignment pattern of the zone and the elevator 4, but the calculation unit 107 may calculate the difference in the total number of opened and closed doors on each floor of the elevator 4 or the difference in the total number of opened and closed doors in each zone of the elevator 4.

The calculation unit 107 sends the value of the difference calculated for each assignment pattern of the zone and the elevator 4 to the change unit 108.

When there is an assignment pattern having a difference smaller than the assignment result by the assignment unit 104, the changing unit 108 changes the assignment to the assignment pattern in which the difference between the maximum value and the minimum value of the total number of door openings and closings in the assignment pattern is the smallest.

For example, the changing unit 108 assigns elevator 4B (machine B) to zone 1, elevator 4C (machine C) to zone 2, and elevator 4a (machine a) to zone 3. In this allocation mode, the difference between the total number of opened and closed doors of the elevator 4 whose total number of opened and closed doors is the smallest and the elevator 4 whose total number of opened and closed doors is the largest at the time point when the predetermined time has elapsed since the present time is "100". In contrast, in other allocation modes, for example, in the mode in which the elevator 4a (machine a) is allocated to the zone 1, the elevator 4B (machine B) is allocated to the zone 2, and the elevator 4C (machine C) is allocated to the zone 3, the difference between the elevator 4 in which the total number of opened and closed doors at the time point when the predetermined time has elapsed from the present time is the smallest and the elevator 4 in which the total number of opened and closed doors is the largest is "50". If "50" is the minimum difference among the differences in all the assignment patterns, the changing unit 108 changes the assignment pattern to assign the elevator 4a (machine a) to the zone 1, the elevator 4B (machine B) to the zone 2, and the elevator 4C (machine C) to the zone 3, without using the assignment result by the assigning unit 104.

When the changing unit 108 changes the allocation pattern based on the allocation result of the allocating unit 104, the area information 121 is updated based on the changed allocation pattern. In this case, the changing unit 108 sends the changed assignment pattern to the command unit 1105.

When the assignment pattern is changed by the changing unit 108 based on the assignment result of the assigning unit 104, the command unit 1105 transmits a command for the standby floor of each elevator 4 to the individual control device 9 based on the zone information 121 changed by the changing unit 108. Further, when the assignment pattern is not changed by the changing unit 108, the command unit 1105 transmits a command of a waiting floor to the individual control devices 9a to 9c based on the area information 121 updated by the assignment unit 104, as in embodiment 1.

Next, the details of the flow of the standby floor allocation process executed by the group management control device 100 of the present embodiment configured as described above will be described.

The processing from the determination of whether the predetermined time has elapsed in S1 to the determination of whether the number of elevators that are candidates for allocation in S10 is "0" is the same as in embodiment 1 described with reference to fig. 6.

Next, the prediction unit 106 predicts an increase in the total number of door openings and closings after a predetermined period of time has elapsed (S21). The prediction unit 106 sends the result of the prediction of the increase amount to the calculation unit 107.

Then, the calculation unit 107 calculates the total number of door openings and closings at the time point when the predetermined time has elapsed, based on the prediction result obtained by the prediction unit 106 (S22).

Then, the calculation unit 107 calculates a difference between the maximum value and the minimum value of the total number of door openings and closings at the time point when a predetermined time has elapsed for each allocation pattern of the zone and the elevator 4 (S23). The calculation unit 107 sends the calculated difference value to the change unit 108.

Next, the changing unit 108 determines whether or not there is an allocation pattern having a smaller difference than the allocation result determined by the allocating unit 104 in the processing from S6 to S10, out of the differences between the maximum value and the minimum value of the total number of door openings and closings for each allocation pattern of the elevator 4 and the zone calculated by the calculating unit 107 (S24).

When it is determined that there is an assignment pattern having a difference smaller than the assignment result determined by the assignment unit 104 (yes in S24), the changing unit 108 changes the assignment to the assignment pattern having the smallest difference in the assignment pattern, based on the assignment result determined by the assignment unit 104 (S25).

Then, the instruction unit 1105 transmits an instruction of the waiting floor to the individual control devices 9 based on the area information 121 updated by the allocation unit 104 or the area information 121 changed by the change unit 108 (S11). Here, the processing of the flowchart ends.

As described above, the group management control device 100 according to the present embodiment calculates the difference between the total number of door openings and closings of the elevator 4 in which the total number of door openings and closings is the smallest and the elevator 4 in which the total number of door openings and closings is the largest in the elevator group 3 for each allocation pattern of the zone and the elevator 4 based on the result of prediction of the increase in the total number of door openings and closings from the present time to the time point when the predetermined time has elapsed. When there is an assignment pattern having a difference smaller than the assignment result by the assignment unit 104, the group management control device 100 according to the present embodiment changes the assignment to an assignment pattern in which the difference in the assignment pattern is the smallest. Therefore, according to the group management control device 100 of the present embodiment, in addition to the effects of embodiment 1, since the elevators 4 are allocated to the respective zones in consideration of the increase in the total number of opened and closed doors in the future, it is possible to more effectively reduce the variation in the load per floor of the hall-side equipment of each elevator 4.

In the present embodiment, the storage unit 120 stores the previous door opening/closing count information 123, but the storage unit 120 may store not only the door opening/closing count information at the time point when the allocation process for the standby floor was executed the previous time, but also the door opening/closing count information at each execution time point of the allocation process for the past standby floor as a history. In the case of this configuration, the prediction unit 106 predicts the increase in the total number of door openings and closings from the current time point to the time point when the predetermined time has elapsed, based on the information on the number of door openings and closings at a plurality of past time points.

In the present embodiment, the prediction unit 106 predicts the increase in the total number of door openings and closings from the present time to the time when the predetermined time has elapsed, but the future time to be predicted is not limited to this. For example, the prediction unit 106 may predict the increase in the total number of opened and closed doors after a time longer than the time interval from the execution of the allocation process of the waiting floors to the execution of the next process.

(embodiment 3)

In the above-described

embodiments

1 and 2, the group management control device 100 automatically determines the assignment of the elevator 4 to each zone based on the total number of doors opened and closed of the elevator 4. In embodiment 3, the operator can further manually perform the order changing operation.

Fig. 9 is a block diagram showing an example of a functional configuration of the group management control apparatus 100 according to embodiment 3. As shown in fig. 9, the group management control device 100 of the present embodiment includes a counting unit 101, a time counting unit 102, a determination unit 1103, an assignment unit 104, a command unit 1105, a prediction unit 106, a calculation unit 107, a change unit 108, a reception unit 109, and a storage unit 120.

The counting unit 101, the time counting unit 102, the distribution unit 104, the prediction unit 106, and the calculation unit 107 have the same functions as those of embodiment 1. The command unit 1105 and the changing unit 108 have the same functions as those of embodiment 2. The storage unit 120 stores area information 121, door opening/closing number information 122, and previous door opening/closing number information 123, as in embodiment 2.

The receiving unit 109 receives an input of the rank for each combination of the zone and the elevator 4 by the operator. The operator is e.g. a maintainer, supervisor or the like of the elevator system S.

The operator may input the order for all the combinations of the zones and the elevators 4, or may input the order for only some of the combinations.

For example, when the determination unit 1103 described later sets the order of the combination of the zone and the elevator 4 as shown in the upper floor of fig. 5, the operator may input an operation to change the order of the combination of the zone 2 and the elevator 4C (machine C) set to the "third order" by the determination unit 1103 to the "first order".

The reception unit 109 sends the received input result to the determination unit 1103.

Returning to fig. 9, the determination unit 1103 of the present embodiment determines the rank based on the input rank when the input of the rank by the operator is received by the reception unit 109, in addition to the functions of

embodiments

1 and 2. The determination unit 1103 gives priority to the inputted bit number over the bit number determined based on the total number of doors opened and closed.

More specifically, when the operator inputs the order for the combination of the elevator 4 and all the zones, the determination unit 1103 follows the input order. When the operator inputs the rank for the combination of a part of the zones and the elevator 4, the determination unit 1103 inserts the rank input by the operator into the rank determined based on the total number of doors opened and closed, and adjusts down the rank equal to or lower than the rank input by the operator.

For example, when the order is set for the combination of the zone and the elevator 4 as shown in the upper level of fig. 5, the operator inputs an operation to change the order of the combination of the zone 2 and the elevator 4C (car C) to the "first order". In this case, the determination unit 1103 changes the order of the combination of the zone 2 and the elevator 4C (machine No. C) to the "first order", and adjusts the order of the combination of the zone 3 and the elevator 4a (machine No. a), which was the "first order" and the combination of the zone 3 and the elevator 4C (machine No. C) to the third order.

Fig. 10 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of the standby floor assignment processing according to embodiment 3.

The process from the determination of whether or not the predetermined time has elapsed in S1 to the process of determining the rank in the order of the total number of door openings and closings of the elevator 4 for each combination of the zone and the elevator 4 in S3 is the same as in embodiment 1.

Next, the receiving unit 109 determines whether or not the input of the rank from the operator is received (S31).

When the reception unit 109 determines that the input of the next rank from the operator is received (yes in S3), the received input result is sent to the determination unit 1103. In this case, the determination unit 1103 changes the overall order based on the input order (S5).

When the receiving unit 109 determines that the input of the rank from the operator has not been received (no in S31), the determining unit 1103 executes the processing of whether or not there is a combination of the elevator and the zone with the same rank in S4. After executing the process of S32, the determination unit 1103 also executes the process of S4.

In the present embodiment, the determination unit 1103 receives the input of the rank from the operator before the processing of S4 to S5 for eliminating the repetition of the rank of the combination of the area and the elevator 4, but the reception unit 109 may receive the input of the rank from the operator after the repetition of the rank of the combination of the area and the elevator 4.

The processing from the combination of the elevator and the zone with the same number of times of presence or absence in S4 to the processing of transmitting the standby floor command to the individual control device 9 in S11 is the same as in embodiment 2.

As described above, when the group management control device 100 according to the present embodiment receives the input of the rank by the operator, the rank of each combination of the zone and the elevator 4 is determined based on the input rank. Therefore, according to the group management control apparatus 100 of the present embodiment, in addition to the effects of

embodiments

1 and 2, it is possible to reflect the determination of a maintenance worker or the like on the site to the rank.

In the present embodiment, the determining unit 1103 and the receiving unit 109 are applied to the configuration of embodiment 2, but these configurations may be applied to embodiment 1.

(embodiment 4)

In embodiment 4, the group management control device 100 further determines the rank in consideration of the environment around the elevator 4.

Fig. 11 is a block diagram showing an example of a functional configuration of the group management control device 100 according to embodiment 4. As shown in fig. 11, the group management control device 100 of the present embodiment includes a counting unit 101, a time counting unit 102, a determining unit 2103, an assigning unit 104, a command unit 1105, a predicting unit 106, a calculating unit 107, a changing unit 108, a receiving unit 109, a measuring unit 110, an estimating unit 111, and a storage unit 120.

The counting unit 101, the time counting unit 102, the assigning unit 104, the instruction unit 1105, the prediction unit 106, the calculation unit 107, the change unit 108, and the reception unit 109 have the same functions as those of embodiment 3. The storage unit 120 stores area information 121, door opening/closing number information 122, and previous door opening/closing number information 123, as in embodiment 3.

The measurement unit 110 measures environmental information related to the environment around the plurality of elevators 4.

The environmental information is, for example, the temperature or humidity around the elevator 4, but is not limited to these. The environmental information may be the temperature, humidity, or the like around the hall-side device of the elevator 4 at the floor.

For example, the measurement unit 110 obtains the temperature and the humidity from a plurality of thermometers or hygrometers provided near the elevators 4a to 4c included in the elevator group 3.

In the present embodiment, the function realized by the CPU of the group management control device 100 executing the program is referred to as a "measurement unit", but a thermometer or a hygrometer that transmits measured values of temperature and humidity to the group management control device 100 may be referred to as a "measurement unit". In this case, the "measurement unit" may be provided outside the group management control device 100.

The measurement unit 110 sends the environment information to the estimation unit 111.

The estimating unit 111 estimates the depth of degradation of each of the plurality of elevators 4 based on the environmental information measured by the measuring unit 110. For example, the estimating unit 111 estimates that the degradation depth is twice as large as the reference value based on Arrhenius' rule when the measured temperature is higher than the reference normal temperature by 10 ℃. The estimation method and the estimation result are not limited to these.

More specifically, the measurement unit 110 calculates a degradation coefficient that converts the estimated depth of degradation into degradation associated with opening and closing of doors of the plurality of elevators 4. For example, when it is estimated that the depth of addition of the degradation is twice the reference value, the measurement unit 110 sets the degradation coefficient to "2". The deterioration coefficient "2" indicates that the deterioration of the elevator 4 is deepened to the same extent as the case where the total number of doors opened and closed is twice.

The measurement unit 110 may estimate the depth of degradation for each elevator 4, or may estimate the depth of degradation for each floor of the elevator 4.

The measurement unit 110 transmits a degradation coefficient based on the estimation result of the depth of degradation to the determination unit 2103.

The determining unit 2103 of the present embodiment has the same functions as those of the embodiments 1 to 3, and adjusts the rank of each combination of the zone and the elevator 4 based on the degree of depth of degradation estimated by the estimating unit 111.

More specifically, the determination unit 2103 multiplies the degradation coefficient calculated by the estimation unit 111 by the increase in the total number of door openings and closings calculated by the prediction unit 106 from the present time to the time when the predetermined time has elapsed. The determination unit 2103 adds the multiplication result to the total number of door openings and closings of each of the plurality of elevators 4 currently registered in the door opening and closing number information 122, and determines the order of bits based on the multiplication result.

For example, as shown in the upper level of fig. 5, the total number of door openings and closings of the combination of zone 3 and elevator 4a (machine a) is "500 times", and the total number of door openings and closings of the combination of zone 2 and elevator 4C (machine C) is "550 times". The increment of the total number of door openings and closings calculated by the prediction unit 106 from the present time to the time point when the predetermined time has elapsed is "50 times" in the case of the combination of the zone 3 and the elevator 4a (machine a) and "40 times" in the case of the combination of the zone 2 and the elevator 4C (machine C). The deterioration coefficient of the elevator 4a (machine a) estimated by the estimation unit 111 is "2", and the deterioration coefficient of the elevator 4C (machine C) is "1".

In this case, the total number of door openings and closings considering deterioration in a predetermined time of the combination of zone 3 and elevator 4a (machine No. a) is "500+50 × 2", that is, "600 times". On the other hand, the total number of door opening/closing operations considering the deterioration in the combination of zone 2 and elevator 4C (machine No. C) over a predetermined time is "550+40 × 1", that is, "590 times". In this case, the determination unit 2103 increases the rank of the combination of the zone 2 and the elevator 4C (machine No. C) to the rank of the combination of the zone 3 and the elevator 4a (machine No. a).

The process of determining whether or not the predetermined time has elapsed in S1 is the same as in embodiment 1.

Next, the measurement unit 110 measures environmental information on the environment around the plurality of elevators 4 (S41). The measurement unit 110 sends the environment information to the estimation unit 111.

Then, the estimating unit 111 estimates the depth of the deterioration of each of the plurality of elevators 4 based on the environmental information measured by the measuring unit 110, and calculates a deterioration coefficient based on the estimated depth of the deterioration (S42).

Then, the process of S43 of predicting the increase in the total number of open/close doors after the predetermined period of time has elapsed is the same as the process of S21 in embodiment 2.

Then, the determination unit 2103 calculates the total number of door closes in consideration of the deterioration, based on the predicted increase amount, the deterioration coefficient, and the current total number of door opens and closes (S45).

Next, the determination unit 2103 determines the rank of each combination of the zone and the elevator 4 in the order of the total number of door openings and closings based on the total number of door openings and closings in consideration of deterioration (S3).

The processing from the determination as to whether or not the operator has received the input of the rank in S31 to the processing of transmitting the command of the standby floor to the individual control device 9 in S11 is the same as in embodiment 3. In the present embodiment, since the process of predicting the increment of the total number of open/close doors after the predetermined period of time has elapsed is executed in S43, the increment calculated in S43 is used in the process of calculating the total number of open/close doors at the point in time when the predetermined period of time has elapsed in S22. In addition, the process of S21 may be executed separately from S43.

As described above, the group management control device 100 according to the present embodiment estimates the degree of deepening of degradation of each of the plurality of elevators 4 based on the environmental information about the environment around the plurality of elevators 4, and adjusts the rank of the combination of the zone and the elevator 4 based on the estimated degree of deepening of degradation. Therefore, according to the group management control device 100 of the present embodiment, since the elevators 4 are allocated to the zones in consideration of the degree of deepening of the deterioration, it is possible to average the variations in the loads of the elevators 4 and the hall-side devices of the elevators 4 with higher accuracy, in addition to the effects of the embodiments 1 to 3.

In the present embodiment, the determination unit 2103, the measurement unit 110, and the estimation unit 111 are applied to the configuration of embodiment 3, but these configurations may be applied to embodiment 1 or embodiment 2.

In the present embodiment, the determination unit 2103 calculates the degree of future deterioration by multiplying the deterioration coefficient by the increase in the total number of door openings and closings from the present time to the time when the predetermined time has elapsed, but may calculate the degree of past deterioration by multiplying the deterioration coefficient by the number-of-door-openings information 122 at the present time.

(embodiment 5)

In embodiment 5, the group management control device 100 further changes the setting of the floor area of the building when the stopped elevator 4 is present.

Fig. 13 is a block diagram showing an example of a functional configuration of the group management control device 100 according to embodiment 5. As shown in fig. 13, the group management control device 100 according to the present embodiment includes a counting unit 101, a timing unit 102, a determination unit 3103, a distribution unit 104, a command unit 1105, a prediction unit 106, a calculation unit 107, a change unit 108, a reception unit 109, a measurement unit 110, an estimation unit 111, a stop machine determination unit 112, a division unit 113, and a storage unit 120.

The counting unit 101, the timer unit 102, the distribution unit 104, the instruction unit 1105, the prediction unit 106, the calculation unit 107, the change unit 108, the reception unit 109, the measurement unit 110, and the estimation unit 111 have the same functions as those of embodiment 4. The storage unit 120 stores area information 121, door opening/closing number information 122, and previous door opening/closing number information 123, as in embodiment 4.

The stop number determination unit 112 determines whether or not there is an elevator 4 in a stop process among the plurality of elevators 4. For example, the operation information indicating whether each elevator 4 is in a stopped state or in an operating state may be stored in the storage unit 120. In this case, the stop number determination unit 112 determines whether or not the elevator 4 is in the process of stopping based on the operation information. Alternatively, the No. stop determination unit 112 may acquire information indicating the operation state of the elevator 4 from the individual control device 9.

The stop car determination unit 112 sends the determination result of the presence or absence of a stop of the elevator 4 to the dividing unit 113. When it is determined that the elevator 4 is in the process of being suspended, the suspended elevator determination unit 112 sends identification information that can identify the elevator 4 to the dividing unit 113.

When the stop number determination unit 112 determines that the elevator 4 in the stop process is present, the division unit 113 divides the floors into the zones according to the number of the elevators 4 from which the elevator 4 in the stop process is removed.

For example, in the case of an elevator 4 during a stop, the zones are reset so that the load can be distributed among the elevators 4 during operation other than the elevator 4, thereby reducing the variation in the load of the elevator 4 during operation. In addition, since the number of elevators 4 waiting for the user is reduced in the zone allocated to the elevator 4 in the suspension state, the waiting time of the user in the zone may be longer than that in other zones in the zone setting maintained as it is.

As an example, in the example shown in fig. 3, a building having 6 stories is divided into 3 areas every two stories. This setting is set as an initial setting. If the elevator 4a (machine a) is in the idle state, if it is the initial setting, the state of the elevator 4 in operation is not set to correspond to the zone 1 assigned to the elevator 4a (machine a). In this case, there is no elevator 4 waiting at the floor 1 of the building, and therefore there is a possibility that the waiting time of the user will be long.

In this case, the dividing unit 113 equally divides the floors of the building into two areas of 1 to 3 floors and 4 to 6 floors according to the number of two elevators in operation. In this case, since

floors

1 and 4 are the waiting floors, the deviation of the waiting floors of the elevator 4 is reduced. In the present embodiment, as an example, a value obtained by dividing the number of floors of a building by the number of two elevators during operation is defined as the number of floors included in each 1 zone, but the relationship between the number of elevators 4 during operation and the number of zones is not limited to this.

The dividing unit 113 stores the division result of the area in the area information 121. When saving the settings of the newly divided areas, the dividing unit 113 saves the settings without deleting the initial settings of the division of the areas.

In addition, the dividing unit 113 divides the zone when the elevator 4 is in a suspended state even at a time point when a predetermined period of time has not elapsed since the previous allocation process of the waiting floor. When the division unit 113 has divided the region, the determination unit 3103 and the measurement unit 110 are notified of a change in the region setting.

The determination unit 3103 of the present embodiment has the same function as the embodiments 1 to 3, and when the setting of the zone has been changed by the division unit 113, calculates the total number of door openings and closings for each zone of each elevator 4 based on the setting of the zone after the change, and determines the rank in the order of the total number of door openings and closings for each combination of the zone and the elevator 4.

Fig. 14 is a 1 st flowchart showing an example of the flow of the standby floor allocation process according to embodiment 5. Fig. 15 is a 2 nd flowchart showing an example of the flow of the standby floor assignment process according to embodiment 5.

First, the stop car determination unit 112 determines whether or not there is a stopped elevator 4 among the plurality of elevators 4 (S51).

When the stop car determination unit 112 determines that the elevator 4 is stopped (yes in S51), identification information that can identify the elevator 4 is transmitted to the dividing unit 113.

Then, the dividing unit 113 determines whether or not the setting of the zone has been changed in accordance with the number of elevators in operation (S52).

When it is determined that the setting of the zone is not changed in accordance with the number of elevators in operation (no in S52), the dividing unit 113 divides the plurality of floors into a plurality of zones on the basis of the number of elevators 4 from which the elevator in a suspension state is removed (S53). In this case, the dividing unit 113 notifies the determination unit 3103 and the measurement unit 110 of the fact that the setting of the region has been changed.

Then, the measurement unit 110 performs the process of measuring the environmental information at S41 in fig. 15. The processing from S41 to S11 for transmitting the command for the standby floor to the individual controller 9 is the same as in embodiment 4.

If the dividing unit 113 determines that the setting of the area has been changed in accordance with the number of elevators in operation (yes at S52), the processing of the flowchart ends.

When the stop number determination unit 112 determines that there is no stopped elevator 4 (no in S51), the division unit 113 is notified of the absence of the stopped elevator 4.

In this case, the dividing unit 113 determines whether or not the setting of the region is changed from the initial setting (S54). For example, when the setting of the zone is still the state in which the parked elevator 4 is removed after the operation of the parked elevator is resumed, the divider 113 determines that the setting of the zone has been changed from the initial setting (yes in S54). In this case, the dividing unit 113 returns the setting of the region to the initial setting (S55). After the processing in S55, as shown in fig. 15, the timer unit 102 executes a process of determining whether or not a predetermined time has elapsed, as usual. The processing from S1 onward is the same as in embodiment 4.

When the dividing unit 113 determines that the setting of the region has not been changed from the initial setting (no in S54), the processing in S1 is also executed.

As described above, when there is an elevator 4 in a suspended state, the group management control apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment divides a plurality of floors into a plurality of zones according to the number of elevators 4 excluding the elevator 4 in the suspended state. Therefore, according to the group management control device 100 of the present embodiment, even when there is an elevator 4 in a suspended state, it is possible to reduce the variation in the waiting floors of the elevator 4.

In the present embodiment, the stop number machine determination unit 112 and the dividing unit 113 are applied to the configuration of embodiment 4, but these configurations may be applied to embodiments 1 to 3.

As described above, according to embodiments 1 to 5, in a building in which a plurality of elevators are installed, it is possible to reduce variation in load of hall-side equipment.

The allocation program of the standby floors executed by the group management control apparatus 100 according to each of the above embodiments is provided as an installable or executable file recorded on a computer-readable recording medium such as a CD-ROM, a Flexible Disk (FD), a CD-R, or a DVD (Digital Versatile Disk).

The allocation program of the waiting floors executed by the group management control device 100 according to each of the above embodiments may be stored in a computer connected to a network such as the internet and downloaded via the network. Further, the allocation program of the standby floors to be executed by the group management control device 100 according to each of the above embodiments may be provided or distributed via a network such as the internet. In addition, the allocation program of the standby floors executed by the group management control device 100 according to each of the above embodiments may be provided by being incorporated in advance in a ROM or the like.

The distribution program of the standby floors executed by the group management control device 100 according to each of the above embodiments is configured by a module including the above-described respective sections (the counting section, the time counting section, the determining section, the distributing section, the instructing section, the predicting section, the calculating section, the changing section, the receiving section, the measuring section, the estimating section, the stop number machine determining section, and the dividing section), and a CPU (processor) reads out the program from the storage medium as actual hardware and executes the program, so that the respective sections are loaded onto the main storage device, and the counting section, the time counting section, the determining section, the distributing section, the instructing section, the predicting section, the calculating section, the changing section, the receiving section, the measuring section, the estimating section, the stop number machine determining section, and the dividing section are generated in the main storage device.

The counting unit, the timing unit, the determining unit, the assigning unit, the instructing unit, the predicting unit, the calculating unit, the changing unit, the receiving unit, the measuring unit, the estimating unit, the stop number determining unit, and the dividing unit may be implemented by hardware circuits.

Several embodiments of the present invention have been described, but these embodiments are presented as examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These new embodiments can be implemented in other various ways, and various omissions, substitutions, and changes can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. These embodiments and modifications thereof are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are included in the invention described in the patent claims and the scope equivalent thereto.

Description of the symbols

3 elevator group, 4a to 4c elevator, 9a to 9c single control device, 100 group management control device, 101 counting part, 102 timing part, 103, 1103, 2103, 3103 determining part, 104 distributing part, 105, 1105 command part, 106 predicting part, 107 calculating part, 108 changing part, 109 accepting part, 110 measuring part, 111 estimating part, 112 stop number determining part, 113 dividing part, 120 storing part, 121 area information, 122 door opening and closing number information, 123 previous door opening and closing number information, S elevator system.

Claims

1. A group management control device for an elevator, comprising:

a determination unit that determines, for each combination of the area, which is a group of a plurality of consecutive floors, and the elevator, the number of total door openings and closings in order of a small number to a large number, based on the total number of door openings and closings of the elevators for each area, every time a predetermined time has elapsed;

an allocation unit that allocates 1 or a plurality of the elevators to 1 of the areas based on the rank determined by the determination unit, the allocation unit sequentially allocating an elevator closer to the head elevator from an area included in a combination of an area with an elevator having a higher rank; and

and a command unit that transmits, to a single-unit control device that controls the elevator, a command that designates, as a standby floor of the elevator, one of a plurality of floors included in the area allocated to the elevator by the allocating unit.

2. The group management control apparatus of an elevator according to claim 1,

the allocation section removes the area from the allocation target of the lifter when the number of the lifters allocated to the area reaches a threshold value.

3. The group management control device for elevators according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising:

a prediction unit that predicts an increase in the total number of door openings and closings from the present time to a point in time when the predetermined time has elapsed, based on an increase in the total number of door openings and closings in the predetermined time in the past;

a calculation unit that calculates, for each allocation pattern of the elevator and the zone, a difference between the total number of doors opened and closed of the elevator having the smallest total number of doors opened and closed among the plurality of elevators and the total number of doors opened and closed of the elevator having the largest total number of doors opened and closed, based on the increase amount predicted by the prediction unit; and

and a changing unit that changes the allocation to an allocation pattern in which the difference is the smallest among the allocation patterns when the allocation pattern having the difference smaller than the allocation result by the allocating unit exists.

4. Group management control apparatus of elevators according to claim 1 or 2,

the group management control device for an elevator further comprises a receiving unit for receiving the input of the order by an operator,

when the accepting unit accepts the input of the bit number, the determining unit determines the bit number based on the input bit number.

5. Group management control apparatus of elevators according to claim 1 or 2,

the group management control device for elevators further includes an estimation unit configured to estimate a depth of deterioration of each of the plurality of elevators based on environmental information on an environment around the plurality of elevators,

the determination unit adjusts the rank based on the degree of increase of the degradation estimated by the estimation unit.

6. The group management control device for elevators according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising:

a stop number determination unit that determines whether or not there is a lifting machine in a stop process among the plurality of lifting machines; and

and a dividing unit that divides the plurality of floors into a plurality of zones according to the number of the plurality of elevators from which the currently-suspended elevator is removed, when the determination unit determines that the currently-suspended elevator is present.