Elevator communication system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12415705-B2
Application number	US-202217958527-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 3, 2022
Priority date	Apr 30, 2020
Publication date	Sep 16, 2025
Grant date	Sep 16, 2025

Abstract

An elevator communication system includes a first elevator controller, a second elevator controller communicatively connected to the first elevator controller, a first ethernet bus portion connected to the first elevator controller, a second ethernet bus portion connected to the second elevator controller, and at least one elevator system node communicatively connected to the first elevator controller via the first ethernet bus portion and to the second elevator controller via the second ethernet bus portion.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An elevator communication system comprising:
a first elevator controller;
a second elevator controller communicatively connected to the first elevator controller;
a first ethernet bus portion connected to the first elevator controller, the first ethernet bus portion comprising sequential bus segments interconnected by at least one switch, the first ethernet bus portion extending in a first elevator shaft;
a second ethernet bus portion connected to the second elevator controller, the second ethernet bus portion comprising sequential bus segments interconnected by at least one switch, the second ethernet bus portion extending in a second elevator shaft; and
at least one elevator system node communicatively connected to the first elevator controller via the first ethernet bus portion and to the second elevator controller via the second ethernet bus portion.

2. The elevator communication system of claim 1 ,
wherein the at least one elevator system node comprises a first pit inspection station associated with the first ethernet bus portion and a second pit inspection station associated with the second ethernet bus portion, and
wherein the first pit inspection station associated with the first ethernet bus portion is communicatively connected to the second pit inspection station associated with the second ethernet bus portion with a multi-drop ethernet bus segment.

3. The elevator communication system of claim 2 , wherein the communication system comprises a shared ethernet bus segment communicatively connected to the first ethernet bus portion and to the second ethernet bus portion, and wherein the at least one elevator system node is connected to the shared ethernet bus segment.

4. The elevator communication system of claim 2 , wherein the sequential bus segments of the first ethernet bus section comprise a point-to-point ethernet bus segment between a first switch and a second switch and a first multi-drop ethernet bus segment between the first switch and the second switch, and wherein the sequential bus segments of the second ethernet bus section comprise a point-to-point ethernet bus segment between a third switch and a fourth switch and a second multi-drop ethernet bus segment between the third switch and the fourth switch,
wherein the at least one elevator system node comprises a first node arranged in the first multi-drop ethernet bus segment and a second node arranged in the second multi-drop ethernet bus segment, and
wherein the elevator communication system further comprises a shared ethernet bus segment configured between the first node and the second node.

5. The elevator communication system of claim 2 , further comprising:
a first multi-drop segment connected to a switch of the first ethernet bus portion, the first multi-drop segment comprising a first node;
a second multi-drop segment connected to a switch of the second ethernet bus portion, the second multi-drop segment comprising a second node; and
a shared ethernet bus segment configured between the first node and to the second node.

6. The elevator communication system of claim 1 , wherein the communication system comprises a shared ethernet bus segment communicatively connected to the first ethernet bus portion and to the second ethernet bus portion, and wherein the at least one elevator system node is connected to the shared ethernet bus segment.

7. The elevator communication system of claim 6 , wherein the shared ethernet bus segment is connected to a switch of the first ethernet bus portion and to a switch of the second ethernet bus portion.

8. The elevator communication system of claim 7 , wherein the shared ethernet bus segment comprises a shared multi-drop ethernet bus segment.

9. The elevator communication system of claim 6 , wherein the shared ethernet bus segment comprises a shared multi-drop ethernet bus segment.

10. The elevator communication system of claim 1 , wherein the sequential bus segments of the first ethernet bus section comprise a point-to-point ethernet bus segment between a first switch and a second switch and a first multi-drop ethernet bus segment between the first switch and the second switch, and wherein the sequential bus segments of the second ethernet bus section comprise a point-to-point ethernet bus segment between a third switch and a fourth switch and a second multi-drop ethernet bus segment between the third switch and the fourth switch,
wherein the at least one elevator system node comprises a first node arranged in the first multi-drop ethernet bus segment and a second node arranged in the second multi-drop ethernet bus segment, and
wherein the elevator communication system further comprises a shared ethernet bus segment configured between the first node and the second node.

11. The elevator communication system of claim 10 , wherein the first node is configured to act as a coordinator and the second node is configured to act as a back-up coordinator,
wherein the first node is configured to periodically supervise the second node, to detect loosing of a supervision contact to the second node, and to instruct a most distant visible node in the shared ethernet bus segment to terminate the shared ethernet bus segment, and
wherein the second node is configured to detect loosing of the supervision contact to the first node, to set itself as a coordinator, to instruct the most distant visible node in the shared ethernet bus segment to terminate the shared ethernet bus segment, and to start switching traffic.

12. The elevator communication system of claim 11 , wherein the first node is configured to regain supervision contact to the second node, to instruct the most distant visible node in the shared ethernet bus segment to remove the termination, and
wherein the second node is configured to regain the supervision contact to the first node, to instruct the most distant visible node in the shared ethernet bus segment to remove the termination, and to stop switching traffic.

13. The elevator communication system of claim 12 , wherein the shared ethernet bus segment comprises a shared multi-drop ethernet bus segment.

14. The elevator communication system of claim 11 , wherein the shared ethernet bus segment comprises a shared multi-drop ethernet bus segment.

15. The elevator communication system of claim 10 , wherein the shared ethernet bus segment comprises a shared multi-drop ethernet bus segment.

16. The elevator communication system of claim 1 , further comprising:
a first multi-drop segment connected to a switch of the first ethernet bus portion, the first multi-drop segment comprising a first node;
a second multi-drop segment connected to a switch of the second ethernet bus portion, the second multi-drop segment comprising a second node; and
a shared ethernet bus segment configured between the first node and the second node.

17. The elevator communication system of claim 16 , wherein the first node is configured to act as a coordinator and the second node is configured to act as a back-up coordinator,
wherein the first node is configured to periodically supervise the second node, to detect loosing of a supervision contact to the second node, and to instruct a most distant visible node in the shared ethernet bus segment to terminate the shared ethernet bus segment, and
wherein the second node is configured to detect loosing of the supervision contact to the first node, to set itself as a coordinator, to instruct the most distant visible node in the shared ethernet bus segment to terminate the shared ethernet bus segment, and to st

Assignees

• Kone Corp

Inventors

• Kattainen Ari
• Staengler Ferenc
• Aitamurto Juha-Matti
• HUSZAK Gergely

Classifications

• B66B2201/30

  Details of the elevator system configuration · CPC title

• B66B1/3453

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

• B66B1/2466

  For elevator systems with multiple shafts and multiple cars per shaft · CPC title

• H04L12/40195

  by using a plurality of nodes · CPC title

• H04L12/40182 Primary

  by using a plurality of communication lines · CPC title