Device and method for monitoring an elevator system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12280987-B2
Application number	US-201916702047-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 3, 2019
Priority date	Dec 3, 2018
Publication date	Apr 22, 2025
Grant date	Apr 22, 2025

Abstract

A method of calibrating a monitoring device ( 20 ) for monitoring movement of a movable component ( 2, 12, 19 ) of an elevator system ( 2 ) comprises detecting ( 120 ) a travel time (Δt k ) between a starting time (t k ) and a stopping time (t′ k ) as well as acceleration (a(t)) of at least one movement of the movable component ( 2, 12, 19 ); determining ( 130, 140 ) a travel distance of the movable component ( 2, 12, 19 ) by integrating the detected acceleration (a(t)) twice with respect to the detected travel time (Δt k ); correlating ( 150 ) the determined travel distance (s k ) with the detected travel time (Δt k ) to form a pair of travel time and travel distance; and storing ( 160 ) the pair of travel time and travel distance (Δt k ,s k ) as part of a travel profile ( 34 ).

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of calibrating a monitoring device ( 20 ) for monitoring movement of an elevator car ( 10 ) of an elevator system ( 2 ) configured for traveling between a plurality of floors ( 8 a , 8 b , 8 c ), wherein the method comprises:
detecting a travel time (Δt k ) between a starting time (t k ) and a stopping time (t′ k ) as well as acceleration (a(t)) of elevator car ( 10 );
determining a velocity (v (t)) of the elevator car ( 10 ) by integrating the detected acceleration (a(t)) with respect to the detected travel time (Δt k );
determining a travel distance of the elevator car ( 10 ) by integrating the determined velocity (v(t)) with respect to the detected travel time (Δt k );
correlating the determined travel distance (s k ) with the detected travel time (Δt k ) to form a pair of travel time and travel distance;
storing the pair of travel time and travel distance (Δt k ,s k ) as part of a travel profile ( 34 ); and
determining a position of at least one door ( 12 ) of the elevator car ( 10 ) and setting the velocity (v(t)) of the elevator car ( 10 ) to zero any time the at least one door ( 12 ) is determined as not being completely closed.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the method further includes correlating the determined travel time (Δt k ) with a pair of floors ( 8 a , 8 b , 8 c ) including a starting floor ( 8 a , 8 b , 8 c ) and a stopping floor ( 8 a , 8 b , 8 c ) of the elevator car ( 10 ).

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the method further includes
determining a position (z k , z′ k ) of the elevator car ( 10 ) at the starting time (t k ) and/or at the stopping time (t′ k ), and
storing the determined position (z k , z′ k ) together with the pair of travel time and travel distance (Δt k , s k ).

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the method includes moving the elevator car ( 10 ) between all pairs of floors ( 8 a , 8 b , 8 c ) of the elevator system ( 2 ) and determining and storing the travel times (Δt k ) and travel distances (s k ) for every pair of floors ( 8 a , 8 b , 8 c ).

5. A method of determining a travel distance of an elevator car ( 10 ) of an elevator system ( 2 ), the method comprising:
determining that the elevator car ( 10 ) is moving;
determining a travel time (Δt k ) of the elevator car ( 10 ); and
determining the travel distance (s k ) of the elevator car ( 10 ) and/or the number of floors ( 8 a , 8 b , 8 c ) the elevator car ( 10 ) has passed based on the travel time (Δt k ) in combination with a travel profile ( 34 ) generated by the method according to claim 1 .

6. The method according to claim 5 , wherein the method includes summing up the absolute values of the determined travel distances (s k ) of the elevator car ( 10 ) and/or the number of floors ( 8 a , 8 b , 8 c ) the elevator car ( 10 ) has passed over a plurality of movements of the elevator car ( 10 ) thereby generating a total travel distance (s total ) of the elevator car ( 10 ).

7. A method of determining a position of an elevator car ( 10 ) of an elevator system ( 2 ), wherein the method comprises:
determining a starting position (z k ) of the elevator car ( 10 );
determining a direction of movement of the elevator car ( 10 );
determining a travel distance (s k ) of the elevator car ( 10 ) and/or the number of floors ( 8 a , 8 b , 8 c ) the elevator car ( 10 ) has passed employing the method according to claim 4 ;
determining a current position (z k+1 ) of the elevator car ( 10 ) by adding or subtracting the determined travel distance (s k ) and/or the number of floors ( 8 a , 8 b , 8 c ) the elevator car ( 10 ) has passed to/from the starting position (z k );
wherein the method includes setting the current position (z k+1 ) of the elevator car ( 10 ) as a new starting position, after the movement of the elevator car ( 10 ) has been stopped.

8. A monitoring device ( 20 ) for monitoring movement of an elevator car ( 10 ) of an elevator system ( 2 ) configured for traveling between a plurality of floors ( 8 a , 8 b , 8 c ), wherein the monitoring device ( 20 ) comprises:
a travel sensor ( 24 ) including an acceleration sensor ( 22 ) configured for detecting acceleration (a(t)) of the elevator car ( 10 ) and providing a corresponding acceleration signal;
a memory ( 28 ); and
a controller ( 26 ) configured for
determining a travel time (Δt k ) of the elevator car ( 10 ) and generating a corresponding travel time signal;
determining a velocity (v(t) of the elevator car ( 10 ) by integrating the detected acceleration (a(t) with respect to the detected travel time (Δt k );
determining a travel distance (s k ) of the elevator car ( 10 ) by integrating the determined velocity (v(t)) with respect to the detected travel time (Δt k );
correlating the determined travel distance (s k ) with the detected travel time (Δt k ) forming a pair of travel time and travel distance (Δt k , s k );
storing the pair of travel time and travel distance (Δt k , s k ) as part of a travel profile ( 34 ) in the memory ( 28 );
determining the position of at least one door ( 12 ) of the elevator car ( 10 ) and setting the velocity (v (t)) of the elevator car ( 10 ) to zero any time the at least one door ( 12 ) is determined as not being completely closed.

9. The monitoring device ( 20 ) according to claim 8 , wherein the controller ( 26 ) is further configured for correlating the determined travel time (Δt k ) with a pair of floors ( 8 a , 8 b , 8 c ) including a starting floor ( 8 a , 8 b , 8 c ) and a stopping floor ( 8 a , 8 b , 8 c ) of the elevator car ( 10 ).

10. The monitoring device ( 20 ) according to claim 8 ,
wherein the controller ( 26 ) is further configured for:
receiving a travel time signal from the travel sensor ( 24 ); and
determining the travel distance (s k ) of the elevator car ( 10 ) and/or the number of floors ( 8 a , 8 b , 8 c ) the elevator car ( 10 ) has passed based on the travel time signal (Δt k ) in combination with the travel profile ( 34 ) stored in the memory ( 28 ).

11. The monitoring device ( 20 ) according to any claim 8 , wherein the monitoring device ( 20 ) further configured for:
determining a starting position (z k ) of the elevator car ( 10 ), and
storing the pair of travel time and travel distance (Δt k ,s k ) together with the starting position (z k ).

12. A monitoring device ( 20 ) for monitoring movement of an elevator car ( 10 ) of an elevator system ( 2 ) configured for traveling between a plurality of floors ( 8 a , 8 b , 8 c ), wherein the monitoring device ( 20 ) comprises:
a travel sensor ( 24 ) configured for detecting a travel time of the elevator car ( 10 ) and providing a corresponding travel time signal;
a memory ( 28 ) storing a travel profile ( 34 ) generated by a method according to claim 1 , wherein the travel profile ( 34 ) comprises a plurality of pairs of travel time and travel distance (Δt k , s k ) respectively correlating a travel time (Δt k ) with a travel distance (s k ) of the elevator car ( 10 ) and/or with the number of floors ( 8 a , 8 b , 8 c ) the elevator car ( 10 ) has passed; and
a controller ( 26 ) configured for:
receiving the travel time signal;
determining the travel distance (s k ) of the elevator car ( 10 ) and/or the number of floors ( 8 a , 8 b , 8 c ) the elevator car ( 10 ) has passed based on the travel time signal in combination with the travel profile ( 34 ) stored in the memory ( 28 ).

13. The monitoring device ( 20 ) according to claim 8 , wherein
the tr

Assignees

• Otis Elevator Co

Inventors

• Pahlke Derk Oscar
• Witczak Tadeusz Pawel
• Bogli Craig Drew
• Michaelidis Yrinee

Classifications

• B66B13/02

  Door or gate operation (of general application E05F) · CPC title

• B66B1/3492

  Position or motion detectors or driving means for the detector (B66B1/40, B66B1/50 take precedence; length measuring G01B; speed measuring G01P) · CPC title

• B66B5/0037

  Performance analysers · CPC title

• B66B13/14

  Control systems or devices · CPC title

• B66B5/0025

  for maintenance or repair · CPC title