Resetting governor sub-systems

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11040854-B2
Application number	US-201815911077-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 3, 2018
Priority date	Mar 3, 2018
Publication date	Jun 22, 2021
Grant date	Jun 22, 2021

Abstract

A method of operating an elevator or escalator system is provided. The method includes alerting a mechanic of a shutdown of a vehicle of the elevator or escalator system and providing data indicative of an occupancy condition of the vehicle to the mechanic so that the mechanic can execute, in any order, a verification of a no-occupancy condition, a switch of a mode of operation of the elevator or escalator system to a recovery mode and an inspection for faults. The method further includes initiating an overspeed (OS) switch reset routine in an event the mechanic confirms that an actuation of the OS switch is an exclusive cause of the shutdown and remotely triggers the OS switch reset routine accordingly.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of operating an elevator or escalator system, the method comprising:
alerting a mechanic of a shutdown of a vehicle of the elevator or escalator system;
providing data indicative of an occupancy condition of the vehicle to the mechanic so that the mechanic executes, in any order:
a verification of a no-occupancy condition,
a switch of a mode of operation of the elevator or escalator system to a recovery mode, and
an inspection for faults; and
initiating an overspeed (OS) switch reset routine responsive to the mechanic confirming that an actuation of the OS switch is an exclusive cause of the shutdown and remotely triggers the OS switch reset routine accordingly.

2. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising providing data indicative of fault clearing to the mechanic following OS switch reset routine completion.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein:
the mechanic is located remotely from the elevator or escalator system, and
the data indicative of the occupancy condition is provided via a remote connection.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein:
the inspection for faults comprises reviewing readings of sensors of the vehicle, and
the data indicative of the occupancy condition is generated from readings of detectors of the vehicle.

5. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising managing a site visit responsive to the mechanic confirming that a fault condition is in effect which is different from the actuation of the OS switch.

6. The method according to claim 2 , further comprising:
determining that the vehicle runs normally following the providing of the data indicative of the fault clearing; and
managing a site visit responsive to it being determined that the vehicle does not run normally following the providing of the data indicative of the fault clearing.

7. An elevator or escalator system, comprising:
an overspeed (OS) switch which is designed to activate when a vehicle of the elevator or escalator system meets or exceeds a predetermined velocity or acceleration condition;
a sensor for detecting a condition of the vehicle;
a detector for detecting occupancy of the vehicle; and
a communication gateway by which:
a remote mechanic is alerted of a shutdown event of the vehicle,
activation of the OS switch is being the exclusive cause of the shutdown event and the vehicle being unoccupied are remotely determined, and
the OS switch is remotely reset responsive to activation of the OS switch being determined to be the exclusive cause of the shutdown event and responsive to the vehicle being determined to be unoccupied.

8. The elevator or escalator system according to claim 7 , wherein, responsive to the vehicle being an elevator car, the elevator or escalator system further comprises:
a structure defining a hoistway in which the elevator car is movably disposed; and
a governor element to control hoistway movements of the elevator car.

9. The elevator or escalator system according to claim 8 , further comprising a controller which is receptive of data from the governor element and the sensor and which is configured to determine a shutdown event cause.

10. The elevator or escalator system according to claim 8 , wherein the elevator car and the governor element are operable in a normal and a recovery mode.

11. The elevator or escalator system according to claim 10 , wherein a remote reset of the OS switch requires current operation in the recovery mode.

12. The elevator or escalator system according to claim 7 , wherein:
the sensor comprises one or more vibration sensors, and
the detector comprises one or more cameras.

13. An elevator or escalator system, comprising:
a structure defining a movement pathway;
a vehicle movably disposed in the movement pathway;
a governor element to sense movements of the vehicle in the movement pathway; and
a communication gateway,
wherein:
the governor element comprises an overspeed (OS) switch which is activated when the vehicle meets or exceeds a predetermined velocity or acceleration condition,
the vehicle comprises a sensor for detecting a vehicle condition and a detector for detecting vehicle occupancy, and
the communication gateway permits a remote mechanic to:
be alerted to a shutdown event,
remotely determine from sensor and detector output whether activation of the OS switch is the exclusive cause of the shutdown event and whether the vehicle is unoccupied, and
remotely reset the OS switch responsive to activation of the OS switch being determined to be the exclusive cause of the shutdown event and responsive to the vehicle being determined to be unoccupied.

14. The elevator or escalator system according to claim 13 , wherein the movement pathway, the vehicle and the governor element are plural in number and are independently operable.

15. The elevator or escalator system according to claim 13 , wherein the governor element is a machine room-less (MRL) governor element.

16. The elevator or escalator system according to claim 13 , wherein the vehicle and the governor element are operable in a normal and a recovery mode.

17. The elevator or escalator system according to claim 16 , wherein a remote reset of the OS switch requires current operation in the recovery mode.

18. The elevator or escalator system according to claim 13 , wherein:
the sensor comprises one or more vibration sensors, and
the detector comprises one or more cameras.

19. The elevator or escalator system according to claim 18 , further comprising a controller which is receptive of data from the governor element, the sensor and the detector.

20. The elevator or escalator system according to claim 19 , wherein the controller is configured to determine a shutdown event cause.

Assignees

• Otis Elevator Co

Inventors

• Sudi Sandeep
• Desai Aayush

Classifications

• B66B5/18

  and applying frictional retarding forces · CPC title

• B66B5/0006

  Monitoring devices or performance analysers (B66B5/02 takes precedence) · CPC title

• B66B5/0087 Primary

  Devices facilitating maintenance, repair or inspection tasks (devices incorporated in the buffer B66B5/288; railings on top of the car B66B11/0226) · CPC title

• B66B25/006

  Monitoring for maintenance or repair (for security reasons B66B29/005) · CPC title

• B66B5/0025

  for maintenance or repair · CPC title