JP-7856173-B1 - Elevator control device and control method

Abstract

[Challenge] To maintain a high level of elevator convenience for users even when robots are allowed to ride elevators alongside them. [Solution] When assigning a landing call for a target user, all or some of the elevator cars are designated as target cars, and for each target car, a counting process is performed to count the number of times the robot boards or alights at any floor from the target user's departure floor to the floor immediately preceding the target user's destination floor. Then, the landing call for the target user is assigned to the elevator car with the fewest number of such boarding and alightings. [Selection Diagram] Figure 1

Inventors

• 須藤 豪
• 小村 章

Assignees

• フジテック株式会社

Dates

Publication Date

20260511

Application Date

20250117

Claims (5)

1. This is a control device that assigns landing calls to elevator cars. An elevator control device that, when assigning a landing call for a target user, selects all or some of the multiple elevator cars equipped with the elevator as target cars, and for each target car, performs a counting process to count the number of times the robot boards or alights at any floor from the target user's departure floor to the floor immediately preceding the target user's destination floor, and then assigns the landing call for the target user to the elevator car with the minimum number of such boarding and alighting counts.
2. The elevator control device according to claim 1, wherein the counting process extracts the departure and destination floors of the robot assigned to the landing call for that target car as the boarding and alighting floors for each target car, and for each boarding and alighting floor, it determines whether it matches any floor from the target user's departure floor to the floor immediately preceding the target user's destination floor, and if it determines that they match, it counts the number of boarding and alighting.
3. The elevator control device according to claim 2, wherein when extracting the departure and destination floors of the robot for each of the target elevator cars, floors that are the same are grouped together and extracted as a single boarding/alighting floor.
4. The elevator control device according to claim 2, wherein when extracting the departure and destination floors of the robot for each of the target elevator cars, floors that are the same are not grouped together, but rather all of those floors are extracted individually as boarding and alighting floors.
5. This is a control method for assigning landing calls to elevator cars. An elevator control method for assigning a landing call for a target user, wherein all or some of the multiple elevator cars provided by the elevator are designated as target cars, and for each target car, a counting process is performed to count the number of times the robot boards or alights at any floor from the target user's departure floor to the floor immediately preceding the target user's destination floor, and then the landing call for the target user is assigned to the elevator car with the minimum number of such boarding and alighting counts.

Description

This invention relates to elevator control technology used by both users and robots. Some elevators are equipped with destination floor registration devices on each floor (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In such elevators, each time a user registers their destination floor using the destination floor registration device on any floor, a landing call is assigned to the elevator car for that user. Japanese Patent Publication No. 2016-055976Patent No. 7380793 This is a conceptual diagram showing the overall configuration of the elevator according to the embodiment.This is a conceptual diagram illustrating (A) robot management data and (B) assignment request management data used in the embodiment.This is a conceptual diagram illustrating (A) device management data and (B) allocation management data used in the embodiment.This is a flowchart illustrating the allocation request process performed in the embodiment.This is a flowchart illustrating the allocation process performed in the embodiment.This is a flowchart showing the first counting process performed in the embodiment.This is a flowchart showing a part of the second counting process performed in the embodiment.This flowchart shows the continuation of Figure 7 regarding the second counting process.This flowchart shows the continuation of Figure 8 regarding the second counting process.This flowchart shows a portion of the second counting process performed in the second variation.This flowchart shows the continuation of Figure 10 regarding the second counting process. [1] Embodiment [1-1] Overall configuration of the elevator Figure 1 is a conceptual diagram showing the overall configuration of the elevator according to the embodiment. In this embodiment, a destination floor registration device 1 is installed on each floor of the elevator, and when a user uses the elevator, they need to register their destination floor Fd in advance using the destination floor registration device 1 installed on the boarding floor. Furthermore, this elevator is used not only by users but also by robots H that perform various tasks (cleaning, monitoring, transport, etc.) in the building where the elevator is installed. In other words, robots H can also move between floors using the elevator. In this embodiment, robot H is centrally managed by robot management device 2. The elevator has multiple elevator cars G, and these cars G are centrally managed by group control device 3. Furthermore, in this embodiment, robot H is permitted to ride in the elevator cars G with users. Even when robot H is permitted to ride with users, the group control device 3 executes control processing to ensure that the convenience of the elevator for users is maintained at a high level. The configuration of each part will be described in detail below. <Destination Floor Registration Device> The destination floor registration device 1 is equipped with a device that combines the functions of both an input unit and a display unit, such as a touch panel, and through this device, users can register their destination floor Fd and receive various information. The destination floor registration device 1 may also have separate input and display units. For example, a mechanical button (such as a numeric keypad) may be provided as the input unit, and a dedicated display monitor may be provided as the display unit. Then, when a user operates the destination floor registration device 1 on any floor and registers their destination floor Fd, that destination floor Fd is transmitted to the group control device 3. This triggers a request to the group control device 3 for the allocation of a landing call X (hereinafter referred to as "landing call Xg") for that user. At this time, in order to allow the group control device 3 to recognize which registration device the operated destination floor registration device 1 is, device information Pd, which identifies that destination floor registration device 1 from other registration devices, is also transmitted to the group control device 3. <Robot Management Device> The robot management device 2 is a device that centrally manages robot H (see Figure 1). Note that the robot management device 2 is not limited to being installed in the same building as the elevator; it may also be a server or program that manages robot H on the cloud. In this embodiment, the robot management device 2 keeps track of the floor Fx where each robot H is deployed. When a robot H needs to move between floors, it transmits the destination floor Fy to the robot management device 2. At this time, the robot H also transmits its own robot information Ph to the robot management device 2 to enable identification from other robots, allowing the robot management device 2 to recognize which robot H transmitted the destination floor Fy. When the robot management device 2 receives the destination floor Fy and robot information Ph from any robot H, it transmits the deployment floor Fx and destination floor F