FR2744435A1 - Remote calling installation for lift - Google Patents

Abstract

Winding gear (3,4,5) brings the lift car (C) to any access point (7), summoned by the call-button (8) there, via the controller (6). Buttons placed elsewhere (10d..10i) have their circuits (14d..14i) diverted through a pre-treatment unit (11), optionally serving all controllers (6') in a group of lifts. Additional call-points (10a,b,c) optionally operate from hand-held, e.g. infra-red emitters (12). Call-points are fitted, e.g. in entrances, lobbies, garages, and associated with coded key-pads, entry-phones, building or garage entry controls, etc. Preprogramming (13) imposes security constraints and reserves access or allocates priority to designated individuals on particular floors or at specified times, through coded call signals. The unit, informed of pedestrian transit times from each remote call-point, and updated car positions, moves the car to meet the user on arrival.

Description

 The present invention relates to an installation for calling an elevator.

To date, the person who wishes to use an elevator must go to the landing door of the elevator shaft to call the cabin using a call button. After this call, the waiting time is variable in particular according to the number of floors, the position of the cabin, the characteristics of the installation (speed of movement of the cabin, duration of opening of the landing doors at stops , etc.)
In large installations (such as office buildings or high-rise apartment buildings), this waiting time also depends on the number of elevators grouped together and the intelligent system that manages the idle configuration and priorities.

 This waiting time is tedious and annoying. In the professional world, it also ends up being very expensive.

 To overcome this drawback, a certain number of devices have already been designed but they appear to be used little or not at all because of their constraints of use and their costs.

It’s basically
- call forwarding which consists of providing, in the building, a large number of remote call buttons (JP-A-02 221 082 KENTARO SHIODA), and
- the remote control call by portable box (US-A-4 673 911 MITSHUBISHI DENKI KK).

 These devices have, in practice, little success because they involve high costs (cables for the first, specific portable boxes for the second) and they can only be used by knowledgeable people knowing the device and the location of the buttons. deported call or with remote control.

The object of the present invention is to remedy this situation by proposing an installation
1) which reduces the waiting time, by making it possible to trigger the lift call in advance, in a transparent manner for the user, thereby taking advantage of the time which elapses, in the majority of cases, between the moment when the user enters a lane leading to an elevator and the moment when he arrives in front of the desired landing door (passage of corridors, crossing of reception halls, car parks, interior courtyards, etc.) .

 2) which re-uses, enhances and integrates as much as possible all the deported devices pre-existing in the building and used for access controls, door openings, identification of people and security, ... such as alphanumeric electronic keyboards, (or equivalent keyboards comprising instead of letters and numbers, or in addition to these, other signs and / or R symbols) notably known under the brand Digicode indoor circuit telephones, especially known under the InterphoneR or DigiphoneR brand, keys, presence detection systems, automatic door opening systems, remote controls for opening garage doors, etc.

 3) which consequently offers regular or occasional users the simplest and most transparent mode of use.

More specifically, the present invention relates to an installation for calling at least one elevator car, the movements between floor landings and stops vis-à-vis the landing doors, are managed in a way known per se, by a controller which controls a motor ensuring said movements and stops, according to call signals, called "landing door", received from the call devices equipping said doors, said car belonging to an elevator or group of elevators equipping a building provided with control and / or access control devices, which installation is characterized in that it comprises
- remote call devices, called "pre-existing", constituted by or using said control and / or access control devices,
- specific remote call devices, and
- a pre-treatment unit
receiving, from said remote call devices, remote call signals and, from the controller, or each controller if there are several, signals reflecting the status of the cabin (s) in terms of status dynamic (stop, climb, descent) and position,
managing the possible transfer of said remote call signals to said controller, or to the appropriate controller if there are several, depending on said situation of the cabin (s) and specific parameters, and
if necessary, transferring said remote call signals to said controller, or to said appropriate controller, which then treats them as landing door call signals.

 By "building provided with control and / or access control devices" is meant both a building provided with such devices before the installation of the installation according to the invention and a building in which simultaneously places such devices and the installation according to the invention.

 Thus, the installation includes connections and interfaces with pre-existing remote devices (access controls, opening systems, security, ...) and it makes these pre-existing devices play the role of devices deportees of call.

 Thanks to this installation, it becomes possible for the user to trigger the lift call in advance, before having completed all or part of the landing door approach course.

The remote call devices constituted by, or using, access and security devices pre-existing in the building will be privileged
- alphanumeric keyboards, keys, magnetic cards which allow pedestrian access to buildings and which will trigger the elevator call at the corresponding access level,
- the door opening systems by telephone on an internal circuit which will trigger the elevator call to the corresponding access level (to do this, according to the invention, it will be possible to take advantage of the available auxiliary commands, the if applicable, on these systems),
- the keys or remote controls for opening the garage doors which will trigger the elevator call to the appropriate level in the basement after an adequate delay,
- the systems for detecting the presence of people, which allow either the automatic opening of the doors or the security checks, and which will trigger the call to the elevator at the corresponding level.

 In the most rudimentary embodiment, the connection between the pre-processing unit and the pre-existing remote calling devices will be ensured by simple connection to the housing or to the cable of the pre-existing device.

 In a more elaborate form, if the pre-existing remote call devices are already managed by one or more intelligent units, the connection with the pre-processing unit will be made directly between the said intelligent unit or units and the communication unit. pre-treatment.

 The specific remote call devices complementary to the preexisting remote call devices, are installed along the access routes to the landing doors and can be made in different ways.

 In the most rudimentary embodiment, these will simply be call buttons, with the possible indication of the up / down direction, connected to said pre-treatment unit by wire connection. Preferably, they will be placed at a height such that they are inaccessible to young children, in order to avoid untimely use.

 In another embodiment, the remote call devices may be sensors connected to said pre-processing unit and on which individual remote controls are capable of acting. These sensors will preferably be arranged in height and the remote controls will have the same characteristics (dimensions, weight, signal, etc.) as, for example, remote controls for opening vehicle doors or garage doors.

 In another embodiment, the remote call devices will be readers of magnetic cards, or smart cards, or even of cards carrying a bar code, connected to said pre-processing unit and capable of reading the individual cards of the aforementioned type.

 In yet another embodiment, the remote call devices may be electronic keypads with alphanumeric control connected to said pre-processing unit and capable of being controlled by the composition of one or more codes which are will choose simple.

 Preferably, the remote call signals, transmitted by all the remote call devices to said pre-processing unit, include a component which expresses the priority quality (safety, services, management personnel) of the user of said devices or who identifies said user (for example, to take into account the slow movement of this particular user, if he is disabled). When the remote call device is a sensor, information as to priority quality or identification will be contained in the radiation emitted by the remote control; in the case of a magnetic card reader, or a chip reader, or a barcode reader, this same information will be recorded in the magnetic strip, in the chip or in the barcode; in the case of an electronic keyboard, this same information may result from the call code used.

 The connections between the pre-existing or specific remote call devices and the pre-processing unit may be carried out by any suitable means, in particular wired connection, transmission by infrared radiation, transmission by ultrasound, transmission by waves. radio, fiber optic transmission, etc.

 If it comes to the pre-processing unit, it may be a microcomputer on a motherboard placed outside or inside said controller, which may be common to several cabins.

 If said controller is itself a microcomputer, the preprocessing unit may consist of program processing, said set "controller / resulting preprocessing unit being provided with an interface for connection with said remote devices d pre-existing or specific call.

 Whatever the embodiment of the pre-processing unit, it is furthermore provided with an interface (bus or modem) for connection with a configuration unit, of microcomputer type, suitable for entering the specific parameters to which we referred above.

These specific parameters include
- the access time between each remote call device and the corresponding landing door,
- the possible order of priority of the deported calls,
- user identification,
- the number of the car park floor and the elevator shaft associated with the garage door remote controls,
- the elevator shaft corresponding to the identification of the user,
- the daily time slots,
- the level of the call level corresponding to the remote call device,
- the up / down direction corresponding to the identification of the user,
- time delay formulas for remote calls according to the other parameters. These formulas will be of polynomial and / or logarithmic type.

 "Access time" means the average time it takes for a user to get from the zone where the remote call device he has activated and the corresponding landing door is located, a parameter that cannot be summarize at the only distance between these points it is necessary to take into account other criteria, such as the presence of intermediate doors, stair treads, etc.

 The corresponding landing door is not necessarily the closest access door: we can indeed provide means, such as specific codes, to launch, from the same remote call device, a call addressed to a specific elevator (for example an elevator serving a specific building or a specific stairwell) or to launch, from one of a series of grouped but differentiated calling devices, a call addressed to such an elevator determined.

 The configuration is made in the memory, of non-volatile read and write type, of the electronic card of the pre-processing unit.

The software implemented by the pre-processing unit includes several functional modules
a - Annual calendar management module
Various time slots are provided for section 1: day, working hours, normal period section 2: day, working hours, peak period (arrival) section 3: day, working hours, peak period (departure) section 4: public holiday section 5 : night section 6: neutralization period for all or some of the deported call devices, etc.

b - Module for remote call and timeout questions
For a given time slot, and each remote call device, there is a call delay time. This period can be variable depending on the position of the elevator, whether it is occupied or free, etc. It can also be variable depending on the priority quality or the identification of the user.

c - Installation parameterization module
This module allows you to initialize the time slots and delay times and all the specific parameters. It is used during the initial installation, during any modifications and to optimize the settings.

d - Monitoring and statistical calculation module
This module makes it possible to establish the usage statistics with calculation of the actual performance of the installation according to the invention over a given period and to suggest, if necessary, more effective adjustments which can be carried out with the configuration module of the installation.

e - Simulation and forecasting module
For complex installations, this module calculates a priori the forecast gains brought by the installation according to the invention, gains which are a function of user traffic, of the characteristics of said installation and of its layout diagram.

 In a preferred embodiment, each landing door is provided with an indicator which is activated by the controller when it receives from the pre-processing unit a remote call signal coming from one of the remote devices of call corresponding to said door, and which is deactivated by said controller when the latter, after having ordered the engine to route the car and to stop it opposite said landing door, has, once these commands executed, either commanded to said engine, in response to another call, to route the cabin to another destination, or noted that a predetermined waiting time had elapsed.

Thanks to this arrangement, the user who makes a remote call knows, when he reaches the landing door and that the cabin is not waiting there, if
activated indicator: this is due to the fact that the cabin has not yet arrived but its remote call has been taken into account, or if
disabled indicator: this is because
or the cabin has already left, which can happen if the user's access time was significantly greater than the expected average access time,
or the remote call has been ignored, which can happen, for example, in the circumstances described in Example 2.

 Another possible situation is that the indicator has been deactivated because the user access time has exceeded the predetermined waiting time, but in this case, if no other call has occurred, the cabin is remained opposite the landing door.

 If the indicator is deactivated and the car is no longer opposite the landing door, the user must re-call the car using the landing door call device.

 The indicator can be a simple indicator light, separate from or merging with the landing door call device. In a more sophisticated variant, it may be, for example, a liquid crystal display which may even possibly signal to other users the priority nature of the deported call pending, by inviting them to call another booth or to wait for the priority user to appear before sharing the cabin with him.

The invention will be better understood on reading the following description made with reference to the accompanying drawings in which
FIG. 1 illustrates the general principle of the invention, and
- Figure 2 more specifically illustrates the use of pre-existing remote call devices.

 FIG. 1 schematically represents an elevator equipped with the installation according to the invention.

 We can see the elevator shaft or shaft 1, a car C, one of the guides 2 which, inside the shaft, hold the car C, a drive cable 3 capable of wrapping around a winch 4, or to take place from this winch, under the control of a motor 5 adapted to turn in one direction and in the other under the control of an electronic or electro-mechanical controller 6. The controller 6 makes it possible to know where is the elevator (where are the elevators if it is a battery), to record the call, to start the engine to start - according to the desired direction of rotation - and to stop the engine. The controller 6 is unique for the elevators of a battery.

 We also see a landing door 7 and a landing door call button 8, connected by a wire 9 to the controller 6.

 Everything that has just been described is classic.

 According to the invention, remote call devices are provided, connected, via wired links 14a-14i and an appropriate interface, to an electronic preprocessing unit 11 interposed between said remote call devices and the controller 6.

More specifically, these remote call devices belong to two general categories
pre-existing devices, such as 10d-i, shown diagrammatically by small squares in FIG. 1 and explained further in FIG. 2, and
- specific devices, such as 10a-c which are, for example, sensors capable of receiving the radiation of an individual remote control 12, or even which are simple buttons with the possible indication of the up / down direction.

If we refer to Figure 2, we see that the pre-existing remote call devices can be constituted
- a camera 10d sending the image of an airlock 16 to an intelligent unit 17
- a sensor 10e actuated by a remote control 12 'for opening the door,
- a badge reader 10f intended to open a garage door 18,
- a ground presence detector 10g triggering the automatic opening of a door 19,
- an InterphoneR 10h connected via a box or a smart unit 20 to the reception / opening control device provided in each apartment 21a, 21b of the building,
- a door opening DigicodeR 10i, etc.

 Returning to FIG. 1, it can be seen that the preprocessing unit 11 has another interface for connection with a configuration unit 13.

 An indicator light 15 is provided in the vicinity of the call button 8 on the landing door 7. The indicator 15 is electrically connected to the controller 6. Although the indicator 15 separate from the call button 8 has been shown, it could to be confused with him.

 The following operating examples are given without limitation.

EXAMPLE 1
In time slot 1 (day, working hours, normal period), a non-priority user presents himself, coming from the outside, and actuates, using his remote control 12, one of the remote call devices, for example 10a. Given the identification of this user, the approach time, for this user, from this device 10a has been set equal to Tapp, the elevator being on another floor. The floor transfer time is equal to Tatt, i.e. the waiting time that the user would normally have once he arrives in front of the landing door 7 and activates the usual call button 8. As soon as the user has actuated the remote call device 10a, a call signal is transmitted by said device 10a and received by the pre-processing unit 11.

Unit 11 transmits the call to controller 6, with a time delay dt equal to
if Tapp'Tatt, dt = a (Tapp), with has always understood
between 0 and 1 and, most often, equal to 0 or very
neighbor of 0
if Tapp> Tatt, dt = k (Tapp-Tatt) where k is fixed, during installation, most often between 0 and 1 and can be specific to each remote call device and also depending on the identification of the user. The parameters Tapp, a and k allow optimizing the elevator calls in "just in time" taking into account the characteristics of the installation and also the mobility of the elderly, couriers, disabled users, etc.

 Other more elaborate formulas taking into account other parameters will be available in the system.

 As soon as the controller 6 receives the call from the pre-processing unit 11, on the one hand, it controls, via the motor 5, the routing of the cabin C to the floor of the landing door 7 and stopping the cabin C opposite said door and, on the other hand, lighting the indicator light 15.

When the user comes to the landing door 7, the indicator 15 is on, if cabin C is not already waiting for it, it is about to arrive. From cabin C, the user controls his destination floor and, as soon as the controller executes the order received, he extinguishes the indicator light 15.

 If, however, the user was delayed in his approach to the landing door 7 and that, while cabin C was on standby opposite said landing door, the controller received another call concerning this same cabin, the controller executes this other call, with the usual time delays for the profession, and extinguishes the warning light 15. The warning light 15 would also be extinguished if the approach time of the user were to exceed a predetermined waiting time.

EXAMPLE 2
In section 3 [day, working hours, peak period (exit)], a non-priority user presents himself, coming from outside, and activates one of the remote call devices 10a, 10b or 10c. The signal arrives at the preprocessing unit 11, which - taking into account the fact that the user has no priority, that we are in the peak time slot "out" and that the call is made on a remote call device located on an entry path -, completely deactivates the remote call signal. On arriving at the desired landing door, the user finds the warning light 15 off, which indicates to him that he must call the elevator using the call button 8 of the landing door.

EXAMPLE 3
The user who arrives at the same entry point as in examples 1 and 2 has a priority individual remote control. The signal received by the remote call device is transmitted to the pre-processing unit 11 which recognizes the priority nature of the remote call and retransmits the signal to the controller 6 without delay time (dt = 0) and whatever either the time slot.

EXAMPLE 4 (Interphonet
An outside guest shows up at a door with a
InterphoneR and calls its host.

 When this triggers the opening of the door, this simultaneously triggers the call of the elevator to the entrance landing of the corresponding cage and, without additional maneuver.

 This remote call can be managed with the same timers as those indicated in example 1.

EXAMPLE 5 (Digicodet
If the Digicode is in service, the user completes the opening code with an additional code (2 characters for example) to trigger the remote call to the elevator with the same timing rules as in example 1.

 The additional code is used to specify the elevator shaft if there are several served by the same entrance. If the Digicode is not in service, the user only dials the additional code.

EXAMPLE 6 (garage door remote control)
The garage door opening remote control sends a code that identifies the parking level and the elevator shaft, if the parking lot has several floors and serves several stairwells.

 This remote call is managed with ad hoc timers taking into account the time slots and adjustable according to usage statistics.

 The few examples above show all the advantages and new possibilities offered by the installation according to the invention.

 The installation according to the invention can equally well equip constructions having existing elevators as new constructions. The components of the installation can be calibrated, arranged and configured according to the characteristics of the elevator or elevators and its equipment, access routes, type of users and conditions of use, which gives great flexibility of adaptation and optimization.

Claims (11)

 1 - Installation for calling at least one elevator cabin (C) whose movements between floor landings and stops opposite the landing doors (7) are managed, in a known manner per se, by a controller (6) which controls a motor (5) ensuring said movements and stops, as a function of call signals, called "landing door", received from call devices (8) equipping said doors, said cabin belonging to an elevator or group of elevators equipping a building provided with control and / or access control devices, and said installation being characterized in that it comprises  - deported call devices (lOd-h), called "pre-existing", constituted by or using said control and / or access control devices,  - specific remote call devices (10a-c), and  - a pre-treatment unit (11)  receiving, from said remote call devices (10a-h), remote call signals and, from said controller (6), or each controller if there are several, signals reflecting the situation of the or cabins (C) in terms of dynamic status (stop, ascent, descent) and position,  managing the possible transfer of said remote call signals to said controller (6), or to said appropriate controller if there are several, depending on said situation of the cabin (s) (C) and specific parameters , and  if necessary, transferring said remote call signals to said controller (6), or to said appropriate controller, which then treats them as landing door call signals.  2 - Installation according to claim 1, characterized in that said remote call devices are sensors (lOa-c) connected to said pre-treatment unit (11) and on which are capable of acting individual remote controls (12) , in particular remote controls adapted to act on said control and / or access control devices.  3 - Installation according to claim 1, characterized in that said remote call devices (10g) are magnetic card readers, chip cards or bar code cards, connected to said preprocessing unit (11), and in particular card readers belonging to said command and / or access control devices.  4 - Installation according to claim 1, characterized in that said remote call devices (10d) are electronic keyboards with alphanumeric control connected to said pre-processing unit (11) and which are capable of being controlled by the composition one or more codes, and in particular keyboards belonging to said command and / or access control devices.  5 - Installation according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the connection between said remote call devices (10a-c) and said pre-treatment unit (11) is carried out by wire connection (14) , transmission by infrared radiation, transmission by ultrasound, transmission by radio waves or transmission by optical fibers.  6 - Installation according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the remote call signals, transmitted by the remote call devices (lOa-i) to said pre-processing unit (11), comprise a component which expresses the priority quality of the user of said devices or identifies said user.  7 - Installation according to any one of claims 1 to 6 which comprises a single controller, possibly common to several cabins, characterized in that said pre-treatment unit (11) is a microcomputer on motherboard placed at outside or inside said controller (6).  8 - Installation according to any one of claims 1 to 7 which comprises a single controller possibly common to several cabins and in which said controller is a microcomputer, characterized in that said pre-processing unit consists of program processing, said resulting "microcomputer / pretreatment unit" being provided with an interface for connection with said remote call devices (10a-i).  9 - Installation according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the processing unit (11) is provided with an interface for connection with a configuration unit (13) adapted to enter said specific parameters .  10 - Installation according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that said specific parameters include  - the access time between each remote call device (10a-h) and the corresponding landing door (7), configurable according to the identification of the user,  - the possible order of priority of the deported calls,  - user identification,  - the number of the car park floor and the elevator shaft associated with the garage door remote controls,  - the elevator shaft corresponding to the identification of the user,  - the daily time slots,  - the level of the call level corresponding to the remote call device,  - the up / down direction corresponding to the identification of the user,  - time delay formulas for remote calls according to the other parameters.  11 - Installation according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that each landing door (7) is provided with an indicator (15) which is activated by said controller (6), or by one of said controllers s' there are several, when it receives from the preprocessing unit (11) a remote call signal coming from one of the remote call devices (10a-h) corresponding to said door (7), and which is deactivated by this same controller (6) when the latter, after having ordered said motor (5) to route the cabin (C) and to stop it opposite said landing door (7), has , once these commands have been executed, either commanded to said motor (5), in response to another call, to route the cabin (C) to another destination, or it is noted that a predetermined waiting time had elapsed.