WO2006041467A1

WO2006041467A1 - Elevator destination entry system including a customizable passenger interface

Info

Publication number: WO2006041467A1
Application number: PCT/US2004/032787
Authority: WO
Inventors: Vlad Zaharia; Richard Pulling; Richard J. Mangini; Wade Montague; Paul Stranieri
Original assignee: Otis Elevator Company
Priority date: 2004-10-05
Filing date: 2004-10-05
Publication date: 2006-04-20

Abstract

A passenger interface (22) for an elevator system (20) has a selectively configurable display (40). At least one visual destination representation (52-56) is provided on the display to allow a passenger to select a destination without knowing the building level at which the destination is located. The passenger interface (22) in one example includes a memory portion (44) that contains a relationship between a displayed destination representation (52-56) and a corresponding building level. The passenger interface (22) obtains the building level information and provides an indication of the selected building level to an elevator group control unit (24). One or more passenger interface displays and memories can be changed using a central controller (60).

Description

ELEVATOR DESTINATION ENTRY SYSTEM INCLUDING A CUSTOMIZABLE PASSENGER INTERFACE

1. Field of the Invention

This invention generally relates to elevator systems. More particularly, this invention relates to using a customizable passenger interface for travel destination entry.

2» Description of the Related Art

Elevator systems typically include a car that moves within a hoistway to carry passengers to different levels within a building, for example. The conventional arrangement has included hall call buttons positioned near the bank of elevators where passengers can place a call for an elevator car. Typical hall call button arrangements include an up button and a down button so that the passenger can indicate their desired direction of travel. Such arrangements have proven useful for many years in many situations.

More recently, traffic management, especially in buildings where there is a large amount of up peak or down peak travel, has included techniques such as sectoring or destination entry systems. Such techniques allow for more efficient management of elevator car travel and improved passenger service.

Destination entry systems typically include a passenger interface located at least somewhat remotely from the bank of elevator doors where a passenger enters their intended destination. A system controller assigns a car to travel to that destination and known techniques direct the passenger to the appropriate car.

One example arrangement is shown in United States Patent No. 6,315,083. In that document, a human-machine interface includes a touch screen that includes designations that can be chosen by a passenger indicating an intended destination. Such an arrangement does not require the passenger to know the particular level within a building, but only their intended destination such as a library or a cafeteria, for example.

One disadvantage to the arrangement shown in that document is that a controller communicates with the touch screen devices and receives the intended travel destinations. The controller then must access a separate look up table to make a determination what building level corresponds to the designated destination. A more efficient system architecture would be useful.

This invention provides a passenger interface that streamlines communications between the interface and an elevator controller and allows for improved abilities for customizing the interface for various circumstances.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An example disclosed elevator control arrangement includes a passenger interface that has a display that provides at least one visual representation of a travel destination. A memory portion of the interface correlates the destination representation on the display with a building level at which that destination is located. The passenger interface provides a signal indicating the corresponding building level to an elevator control responsive to a passenger selecting a displayed destination. In one example, the display comprises a touch screen that includes visual representations of the travel destination.

In one example, a display control portion selectively causes the display to provide the visual representation on a particular portion of the display. The control portion can reconfigure the presentation of the visual representation on the display. In another example, the control portion can reconfigure the correlation between a displayed representation and a corresponding building level. In one example, the display control portion receives commands from a centrally located unit such that a plurality of passenger interfaces can be updated in a unique manner on an as-needed basis. The various features and advantages of this invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of the currently preferred embodiments. The drawings that accompany the detailed description can be briefly described as follows. BRIEF DESCRIPTION QF THE DRAWINGS

Figure 1 schematically illustrates selected portions of an elevator system incorporating a passenger interface designed according to an embodiment of this invention. Figure 2 schematically illustrates one example passenger interface useful with the embodiment of Figure 1.

Figure 3 schematically illustrates an example display presentation of an example embodiment of a passenger interface.

Figure 4 schematically illustrates a modified display and the contents of a corresponding passenger interface memory portion.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Figure 1 schematically shows an elevator system 20 that includes a passenger interface 22. In this example, the passenger interface 22 allows for the elevator system to use destination entry passenger flow techniques. A group controller 24 receives communication signals from the passenger interface 22 and uses known destination entry techniques for assigning the passenger to a car. In the example of Figure 1, one car controller 26 is shown that responds to the group controller 24 to operate a drive machine 28 to cause appropriate movement of a car 30 to carry at least one passenger to their intended destination.

Figure 2 schematically illustrates one example passenger interface 22. A display portion 40 in one example comprises a touch screen. The display portion 40 provides at least one visual representation of a travel destination. For example, the visible representation may emulate a floor button like that on known car operating panels or may be a visual indicator of a particular company or facility within a building. A variety of configurations for the information on the display 40 are within the scope of this invention. Those skilled in the art who have the benefit of this description will realize how to configure a display to provide an indication of appropriate information. The example passenger interface 22 includes a control portion 42 that determines which portions of the display 40 have been accessed or activated by a passenger intending to place a call to be taken to a selected destination. The control portion 42 accesses a passenger interface memory 44 to determine the building level corresponding to the selected or entered destination. The example passenger interface 22 includes a communication port 48, such as a known transceiver, that provides a signal to the group controller 24. The signal from the passenger interface 22 indicates the floor to which the passenger desires to be carried.

One advantage to the arrangement shown in the example of Figure 2 is that the passenger interface 22 communicates with the group controller 24 by providing floor level indications or signals so that the group controller 24 can use a selected traffic control technique that will result in the passenger arriving at their intended destination. This is an improvement over previous arrangements where the signals from a passenger interface required further processing by the group controller, such as accessing a separate look up table before the destination floor was known to the group controller. By providing floor level indications to the group controller regardless of the type of passenger interaction with the passenger interface 22, the example arrangement provides a streamlined architecture and enhanced communications between the passenger interface 22 and the group controller 24.

The communications between the passenger interface 22 and the group controller 24 may be over hardwired connections or using wireless communications, depending on the needs of a particular situation. Figure 3 shows one example display screen presentation on the example display 22. The display portion 40 includes a number of keypad representations 50 that allows an individual to enter the numbers of a floor level in a building to which they desire to travel. In this example, the 3x3 keypad style is used. In another example, floor buttons emulating the buttons found in car operating panels are provided with specific building levels.

The display portion 40 also includes areas of the display that have travel destination designations to guide a passenger to a particular facility or location within a building without requiring the passenger to know the corresponding floor level. In this example, a cafeteria designation 52, a book store designation 54, and a gym designation 56 can be accessed by an individual touching the corresponding portion of a display screen. The passenger interface control portion 42 determines which portion of the screen has been accessed by an individual and utilizes the memory portion 44 as necessary to determine the floor level to which the passenger intends to travel. That information is then communicated to the group controller 24. Once an appropriate car has been assigned, the display 40 may provide an indication at 58 to tell the passenger which car has been assigned and to direct them in the appropriate direction to find their assigned car.

One feature of an example embodiment includes being able to reconfigure the display portion 40 of the passenger interface 22 on an as-needed basis. For example, one of the facilities indicated by the travel designations 52, 54 or 56 may be available only during limited hours or may no longer exist within a building. The display 40 can be reconfigured by the control portion 42 to selectively provide the designations on appropriate locations of the screen.

Figure 4 schematically shows an arrangement where the gym designation 56 is not shown. Figure 4 also schematically shows an example matrix of information stored in the memory portion 44 that maps the travel designations on the display screen 40 to a corresponding building floor. As can be appreciated from Figure 4, the touch screen area at which the gym location 56 is shown in Figure 3 is not shown in Figure 4 and corresponding information is contained in the memory portion 44. Accordingly, if an individual were to touch the portion of the screen at which the gym designation 56 was previously located, the control portion 42 would determine based on the information in the memory portion 44 that no signal should be provided to the group controller 24 because it does not constitute a valid travel designation selection.

Another feature of the embodiment of Figure 1 is that it includes a central control portion 60 that allows an authorized individual to selectively reconfigure one or more, of the passenger interfaces 22 from a central location, such as a machine room. Using the central controller 60 allows an authorized individual to change every passenger interface within a building by providing an appropriate communication signal to the individual control portions 42 within each passenger interface, which results in updating the memory portion 44 according to a desired change. The ability to selectively reconfigure one or an entire plurality of passenger interfaces provides advanced control techniques compared to previous systems.

The preceding description is exemplary rather than limiting in nature. Variations and modifications to the disclosed examples may become apparent to those skilled in the art that do not necessarily depart from the essence of this invention. The scope of legal protection given to this invention can only be determined by studying the following claims.

Claims

CLAIMSWe claim:

1. An elevator control device comprising: a passenger interface having a display that provides at least one visual destination representation for allowing a passenger to select the destination without knowing a building level corresponding to the destination; and a memory portion that correlates the destination representation to the building level, the passenger interface providing a building level indication to an elevator controller responsive to a passenger selecting the destination representation.

2. The elevator control device of claim 1, wherein the display comprises a touch screen.

3. The elevator control device of claim 1, wherein the memory portion includes a relationship between at least one display location on the display and the corresponding building level.

4. The elevator control device of claim 3, including a display control portion that selectively causes the display to provide the visual destination representation on a selected location of the display, the control portion selectively reconfiguring at least one of a presentation of the visual destination representation or a portion of the relationship responsive to a reconfiguration command received at the passenger interface.

5. The elevator control device of claim 4, including a central control that provides the reconfiguration command.

6. The elevator control device of claim 5, including a plurality of the passenger interfaces and wherein the central control provides reconfiguration commands selectively to the plurality of interfaces.

7. The elevator control device of claim 1, wherein the elevator controller comprises an elevator group control unit that receives the floor indication from the passenger interface.

8. A method of facilitating elevator passenger travel, comprising: providing a passenger interface; providing an elevator group control unit; displaying at least one visual destination representation on the passenger interface for allowing a passenger to select a destination without knowing a building level corresponding to the destination; determining a corresponding building level responsive to a passenger selection of a destination representation, using the passenger interface; and communicating the corresponding building level from the passenger interface to the elevator group control unit.