US-12623884-B2 - Systems and methods for touchless elevator cab requests

US12623884B2US 12623884 B2US12623884 B2US 12623884B2US-12623884-B2

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to a system for a touchless request for an elevator cab. The system for a touchless request for an elevator cab includes an elevator controller, a processor communicatively coupled to the elevator controller, and a storage medium in communication with the processor comprising programming instructions cause the processor to: receive a unique identification from a user, determine a current floor that the unique identification was provided, access a data storage device to determine a destination floor access permission based on the unique identification, determine a landing to travel based on the destination floor access permission, send an elevator cab request command to the elevator controller to request the elevator cab to the current floor and to travel to the landing, and generate a notification for the elevator cab that is assigned to travel between the current floor and the landing.

Inventors

Chih-Hung A. King

Assignees

TK ELEVATOR INNOVATION AND OPERATIONS GMBH

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20220520

Claims (19)

1 . A system for a touchless request for an elevator cab, the system comprising: an elevator controller; an elevator cab request module having: a processor positioned to be remote from the elevator controller and communicatively coupled to the elevator controller; a display device communicatively coupled to the processor; and a non-transitory, processor-readable data storage device in communication with the processor, the non-transitory, processor-readable data storage device comprising one or more programming instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to: process a unique identification received from a user; determine a current floor for which the unique identification was provided; determine a destination floor access permission from a plurality of destination floors based on the unique identification; determine a landing to travel to based on the destination floor access permission of the plurality of destination floors; send an elevator cab request command to the elevator controller to request the elevator cab to the current floor and then to travel to the landing; and generate a notification for the elevator cab that is assigned to travel between the current floor and the landing by the elevator controller, wherein the notification is displayed on the display device.
2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the data storage device stores a plurality of unique identifications corresponding to each access permission of each of the plurality of destination floors.
3 . The system of claim 1 , wherein: the elevator controller assigns the elevator cab to move between the current floor and the landing, and the elevator controller transmits data to the non-transitory, processor-readable data storage device in communication with the processor indicative of the assigned elevator cab.
4 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the notification displayed on the display device is a map view to visually distinguish the assigned elevator cab from a plurality of elevator cabs.
5 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the notification for the assigned elevator cab is also an audible alert indicating the assigned elevator cab.
6 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the notification for the assigned elevator cab is also a tactile alert indicating the assigned elevator cab.
7 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the unique identification is selected from at least one of a radio frequency identification, a barcode, a quick response code, a facial recognition, a voice recognition, a password, a passcode, and a mobile communication application of a personal mobile electronic device.
8 . A method for a touchless request for an elevator cab, the method comprising: receiving, by an elevator cab request module having a processor and a notification device and is positioned to be remote from the elevator controller, a unique identification from a user; determining, by the elevator cab request module, a current floor of the user based on a floor on which the unique identification was provided; accessing, by the elevator cab request module, a data storage device to determine at least one destination floor access permission based on the unique identification; determining, by the elevator cab request module, a landing to travel to based on the at least one destination floor access permission; sending, by the elevator cab request module, an elevator cab request command to an elevator controller to request the elevator cab to the current floor and to travel to the landing of a destination floor; acknowledging, by the elevator controller, the elevator cab request command and assigning the elevator cab; sending, by the elevator controller, an assigned elevator cab data that corresponds to the assigned elevator cab to the elevator cab request module; and generating, by the notification device, a notification displayed for the assigned elevator cab that is assigned to travel between the current floor and the landing by the elevator controller.
9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the data storage device stores a plurality of unique identifications, each corresponding with the at least one destination floor access permission.
10 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the displaying of the notification of the assigned elevator cab is in a map view visually distinguishing the assigned elevator cab from a plurality of elevator cabs.
11 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the notification device additionally notifies the user of the assigned elevator cab via an audible alert indicating the assigned elevator cab or the notification device is a tactile device for notifying the user of the assigned elevator cab via a tactile output.
12 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the unique identification is selected from at least one of a radio frequency identification, a barcode, a quick response code, a facial recognition, a voice recognition, a password, a passcode, and a mobile communication application of a personal mobile electronic device.
13 . An elevator system for a touchless request for an elevator cab, the elevator system further including an elevator cab request module and an elevator controller, the elevator system comprising: the elevator cab request module including: a processor communicatively coupled to the elevator controller; a notification device communicatively coupled to the processor; a unique identifier device communicatively coupled to the processor; and a data storage device in communication with the processor and having one or more programming instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to: process a unique identification received from a user via the unique identifier device; determine a current floor of the user based on a floor on which the unique identification was provided; access the data storage device to determine a plurality of destination floor access permissions assigned to the unique identification; notify on the notification device a first destination floor choice of the plurality of destination floor access permissions assigned to the unique identification; determine whether the unique identification was received from the user via the unique identifier device a second time indicating the selection of the first destination floor choice; when determined that the unique identification was not received from the user via the unique identifier device the second time, notify on the notification device a second destination floor choice of the plurality of destination floor access permissions assigned to the unique identification; determine whether the unique identification was received from the user via the unique identifier device the second time indicating the selection of the second destination floor choice; when determined that the unique identification was not received from the user via the unique identifier device the second time, notify on the notification device an “N” destination floor choice of the plurality of destination floor access permissions assigned to the unique identification; determine whether the unique identification was received from the user via the unique identifier device the second time indicating the selection of the “N” destination floor choice; when determined that the unique identification was received from the user via the unique identifier device the second time indicating the selection of a destination floor selection from the plurality of destination floor access permissions, send a cab request command to the elevator controller to request the elevator cab to the current floor and to travel to the destination floor selection; and generate a notification for the elevator cab that is assigned by the elevator controller to travel between the current floor and the destination floor selection.
14 . The elevator system of claim 13 , wherein the data storage device stores a plurality of unique identifications that correspond to the plurality of destination floor access permissions.
15 . The elevator system of claim 14 , wherein the data storage device is positioned within the elevator cab request module.
16 . The elevator system of claim 14 , further comprising: an access control device communicatively coupled to the processor, the access control device further comprises the data storage device.
17 . The elevator system of claim 13 , wherein the elevator controller assigns the elevator cab to move between the current floor and the destination floor selection.
18 . The elevator system of claim 13 , wherein the elevator controller transmits data to the processor indicative of the assigned elevator cab.
19 . The elevator system of claim 13 , wherein the notification for the elevator cab is selected from one of a visual notification, an audible notification, and a tactile notification.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present disclosure generally relates to requesting elevator cabs and, more particularly, to systems and methods for touchless requests for elevator cabs. BACKGROUND Current elevator systems generally require a user to manually touch some kind of user input to request an elevator cab or to select a destination floor. Further, current elevator systems may restrict destination floors permissible to users. For example, hotels, commercial buildings, and government buildings may require users to first scan a unique identification (e.g., a room key, a badge, or and/or other identification) and then touch the user input that corresponds to the requested destination floor. Such scanners may be positioned within the elevator cab itself such that the user scans their identification and immediately chooses which destination floor by pressing or otherwise manually selecting the desired destination floor. Other times, scanners are positioned outside of the elevator cab such that the elevator cab cannot be requested until the user scans a valid identification. Further, in these systems, the user may generally enter any of the available elevator cabs that travel to the destination floor. Accordingly, a need exists for a touchless request for an elevator cab and a touchless request for a destination floor. SUMMARY In one embodiment, a system for a touchless request for an elevator cab is provided. The system for a touchless request for an elevator cab includes an elevator controller, a processor communicatively coupled to the elevator controller, and a non-transitory, processor-readable storage medium in communication with the processor. The non-transitory, processor-readable storage medium comprising one or more programming instructions cause the processor to: receive a unique identification from a user, determine a current floor (i.e. a call floor) for which the unique identification was provided, access a data storage device to determine a destination floor access permission based on the unique identification, determine a destination landing to which the cab should travel based on the destination floor access permission, send an elevator cab request command to the elevator controller to request that the elevator cab travel to the current floor (i.e. a call floor) and to the destination landing, and generate a notification for the elevator cab, which cab is assigned by the elevator controller to travel between the current floor (i.e. a call floor) and the destination landing. In another embodiment, a method for a touchless request for an elevator cab is provided. The method includes receiving, by an elevator cab request module, a unique identification from a user, determining, by the elevator cab request module, a current floor (i.e. call floor) for which the unique identification was provided, accessing, by the elevator cab request module, a data storage device to determine a floor access permission based on the unique identification, and determining, by the elevator cab request module, a destination landing to which the cab should travel based on the floor permission. The method continues by sending, by the elevator cab request module, an elevator cab request command to an elevator controller to request that the elevator cab first travel to the current floor (i.e. call floor) and then travel to the selected destination landing, acknowledging, by the elevator controller, the elevator cab request command and assigning the elevator cab to service the elevator call, sending, to the elevator cab request module by the elevator controller, an assigned elevator cab data that corresponds to the assigned elevator cab, and generating, by the elevator cab request module, a notification as to which elevator cab is assigned by the elevator controller to service the call and travel between the current floor (i.e. call floor) and the destination landing. In yet another embodiment, an elevator system for a touchless request for an elevator cab is provided, the elevator system further including an elevator cab request module, an elevator controller, and an access control device. The system including the elevator cab request module includes a processor communicatively coupled to both of the elevator controller and the access control device, a notification device communicatively coupled to the processor, a unique identifier device communicatively coupled to the processor, and a storage medium in communication with the processor. The storage medium has one or more programming instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to: receive a unique identification from a user via the unique identifier device, determine a current floor (i.e. a call floor) at which the user is located based on a floor from which the unique identification was provided, access a data storage device to determine a plurality of destination floor access permissions assigned to the unique identification, notify the identified user on the notific