Elevator communication arrangement

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11453570-B2
Application number	US-201816172311-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 26, 2018
Priority date	May 20, 2016
Publication date	Sep 27, 2022
Grant date	Sep 27, 2022

Abstract

Conventionally, elevator communications have been implemented using travelling cables. This is particularly the case when safety related data transmitted from an elevator car has to fulfil real-time restrictions often set by regulators so that the receiving of the information may not be delayed. Typically, this cannot be guaranteed when wireless transmission technologies are used. The reliability can be increased by using a second to supplement the wireless transmission.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method for transmitting safety related information from an elevator car comprising the steps of:
receiving, at a communication module, safety related information from at least one device producing safety related information;
transmitting said received information as a first signal by a first wireless transmitter;
producing a second signal based on said received information; and
transmitting said second signal by a second wireless transmitter,
wherein the step of transmitting said second signal is performed using transmission over a wireless energy channel by the second wireless transmitter.

2. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising the step of transmitting said second signal using an optical transmitter.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the second wireless transmitter has a different configuration from the first wireless transmitter.

4. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising the step of:
determining an interruption of both the first signal and the second signal; and
as a response to the determined interruption, increasing a counter and preventing the operation of the elevator in case that the counter reaches a predetermined threshold value.

5. A computer program embodied on a non-transitory computer readable medium, wherein said computer program is configured to perform the steps of claim 1 , when executed in a computing device.

6. A method for transmitting safety related information from an elevator car comprising the steps of:
receiving at a communication module, safety related information from at least one device producing safety related information;
transmitting said received information as a first signal by a first wireless transmitter;
producing a second signal based on said received information; and
transmitting said second signal by a second wireless transmitter,
wherein the method further comprises the step of producing said second signal by reducing information from said first signal.

7. The method according to claim 6 , wherein transmitting said second signal using an optical transmitter.

8. A method for transmitting safety related information from an elevator car comprising the steps of:
receiving, at a communication module, safety related information from at least one device producing safety related information;
transmitting said received information as a first signal by a first wireless transmitter;
producing a second signal based on said received information; and
transmitting said second signal by a second wireless transmitter only after an interruption of the first signal has been detected.

9. An elevator comprising the apparatus according to claim 8 , wherein said apparatus is located in an elevator car.

10. The elevator according to claim 9 , wherein said elevator further comprises receivers configured to receive said first and second signals, wherein said receivers are located in an elevator shaft of the elevator.

11. An elevator according to claim 9 , wherein the elevator comprises a plurality of elevator cars in one elevator shaft.

12. An apparatus comprising:
at least one data communication interface configured to receive an incoming signal comprising safety related information;
at least one processor configured to execute computer programs;
at least one memory configured to store said computer programs and data;
a first wireless data transmitter configured to transmit a first signal, wherein said first signal is in accordance with said received incoming signal; and
a second wireless data transmitter configured to transmit a second signal, wherein said second signal is based on said received incoming signal,
wherein said second wireless data transmitter is a transmitter using a wireless energy charging channel.

13. The apparatus according to claim 12 , wherein said at least one data communication interface comprises a serial port according to RS485 specification.

14. The apparatus according to claim 12 , wherein the first wireless data transmitter is a wireless local area network transmitter.

15. The apparatus according to claim 12 , wherein said second wireless data transmitter is an optical transmitter.

16. The apparatus according to claim 14 , wherein said second wireless data transmitter is similar to said first wireless data transmitter, hut configured to use different transmission parameters.

Assignees

• Kone Corp

Inventors

• Kattainen Ari
• Hovi Antti

Classifications

• B66B1/3446 Primary

  Data transmission or communication within the control system · CPC title

• B66B1/3453 Primary

  Procedure or protocol for the data transmission or communication · CPC title

• B66B1/18

  with means for storing pulses controlling the movements of several cars or cages {(B66B1/2458 takes precedence)} · CPC title

• B66B13/22

  Operation of door or gate contacts · CPC title

• B66B5/0031

  for safety reasons · CPC title