Patent Publication Number: US-2019169000-A1

Title: Elevator car separator for divided use

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     The subject matter disclosed herein generally relates to elevator systems and, more particularly, to elevator car separators for divided use of the elevator car. 
     Elevator cars can provide access to multiple floors or landings within a building. In some buildings, limited or authorized (e.g., restricted) access may be required for one or more of the landings/floors. In some buildings, different elevators can be used to provide public and private access, but in other buildings, such as ones with a single elevator car, restricting access can be problematic. One solution is to use keycard or similar authentication devices/methods, but such methods can still be worked around. Accordingly, improved systems for restricting access to certain floors/landings of a building may be desirable. 
     SUMMARY 
     According to some embodiments, elevator systems are provided. The elevator systems include an elevator car located within an elevator shaft, the elevator car moveable between a plurality of floors of a building, a passenger space divider located within the elevator car dividing the elevator car into a first passenger compartment and a second passenger compartment, a first car operating panel located within the first passenger compartment of the elevator car and having a plurality of buttons operable for selection of a destination floor of the plurality of floors, and a second car operating panel located within the second passenger compartment of the elevator car and having a plurality of buttons operable for selection of a destination floor of the plurality of floors. 
     In addition to one or more of the features described herein, or as an alternative, further embodiments of the elevator systems may include that the plurality of floors includes at least one first landing, wherein the at least one first landing is only accessible from the first passenger compartment and not from the second passenger compartment. 
     In addition to one or more of the features described herein, or as an alternative, further embodiments of the elevator systems may include that the first car operating panel includes a button for selection of the at least one first landing as a destination floor, and the second car operating panel does not include a button for selection of the at least one first landing as a destination floor. 
     In addition to one or more of the features described herein, or as an alternative, further embodiments of the elevator systems may include that the plurality of floors includes at least one second landing, wherein the at least one second landing is only accessible from the second passenger compartment and not from the first passenger compartment. 
     In addition to one or more of the features described herein, or as an alternative, further embodiments of the elevator systems may include that the second car operating panel includes a button for selection of the at least one second landing as a destination floor, and the first car operating panel does not include a button for selection of the at least one second landing as a destination floor. 
     In addition to one or more of the features described herein, or as an alternative, further embodiments of the elevator systems may include that the first passenger compartment is accessible through a first elevator car door and the second passenger compartment is accessible through a second elevator car door. 
     In addition to one or more of the features described herein, or as an alternative, further embodiments of the elevator systems may include that a selection of destination floors within the first passenger compartment is different from a selection of destination floors within the second passenger compartment. 
     In addition to one or more of the features described herein, or as an alternative, further embodiments of the elevator systems may include that the plurality of floors of the building comprise one or more first landings and one or more second landings. 
     In addition to one or more of the features described herein, or as an alternative, further embodiments of the elevator systems may include that the passenger space divider comprises a frame support, a first compartment panel mounted to the frame support and located within the first passenger compartment, and a second compartment panel mounted to the frame support and located within the second passenger compartment. 
     The foregoing features and elements may be combined in various combinations without exclusivity, unless expressly indicated otherwise. These features and elements as well as the operation thereof will become more apparent in light of the following description and the accompanying drawings. It should be understood, however, that the following description and drawings are intended to be illustrative and explanatory in nature and non-limiting. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The subject matter is particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed at the conclusion of the specification. The foregoing and other features, and advantages of the present disclosure are apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic illustration of an elevator system that may employ various embodiments of the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic illustration of a landing floor of an elevator system with a hall call panel that may employ various embodiments of the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic illustration of a car wall panel of an elevator system with a car operating panel that may employ various embodiments of the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 4  is a plan view illustration of an elevator system illustrating first and second side landings and entrances; 
         FIG. 5  is a schematic illustration of an elevator system in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 6  is a schematic illustration of an elevator car in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure; and 
         FIG. 7  is a schematic illustration of an elevator car in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an elevator system  101  including an elevator car  103 , a counterweight  105 , a roping  107 , a guide rail  109 , a machine  111 , a position encoder  113 , and an elevator controller  115 . The elevator car  103  and counterweight  105  are connected to each other by the roping  107 . The roping  107  may include or be configured as, for example, ropes, steel cables, and/or coated-steel belts. The counterweight  105  is configured to balance a load of the elevator car  103  and is configured to facilitate movement of the elevator car  103  concurrently and in an opposite direction with respect to the counterweight  105  within an elevator shaft  117  and along the guide rail  109 . 
     The roping  107  engages the machine  111 , which is part of an overhead structure of the elevator system  101 . The machine  111  is configured to control movement between the elevator car  103  and the counterweight  105 . The position encoder  113  may be mounted on an upper sheave of a speed-governor system  119  and may be configured to provide position signals related to a position of the elevator car  103  within the elevator shaft  117 . In other embodiments, the position encoder  113  may be directly mounted to a moving component of the machine  111 , or may be located in other positions and/or configurations as known in the art. 
     The elevator controller  115  is located, as shown, in a controller room  121  of the elevator shaft  117  and is configured to control the operation of the elevator system  101 , and particularly the elevator car  103 . For example, the elevator controller  115  may provide drive signals to the machine  111  to control the acceleration, deceleration, leveling, stopping, etc. of the elevator car  103 . The elevator controller  115  may also be configured to receive position signals from the position encoder  113 . When moving up or down within the elevator shaft  117  along guide rail  109 , the elevator car  103  may stop at one or more landings  125  as controlled by the elevator controller  115 . Although shown in a controller room  121 , those of skill in the art will appreciate that the elevator controller  115  can be located and/or configured in other locations or positions within the elevator system  101 . 
     The machine  111  may include a motor or similar driving mechanism. In accordance with embodiments of the disclosure, the machine  111  is configured to include an electrically driven motor. The power supply for the motor may be any power source, including a power grid, which, in combination with other components, is supplied to the motor. Although shown and described with a roping system, elevator systems that employ other methods and mechanisms of moving an elevator car within an elevator shaft may employ embodiments of the present disclosure.  FIG. 1  is merely a non-limiting example presented for illustrative and explanatory purposes. It should be understood that the common platform user interface touch system may be used in any type of system where interaction or input is desired from a user. 
       FIG. 2  is a schematic illustration of an elevator system  201  that may incorporate embodiments disclosed herein. As shown in  FIG. 2 , an elevator car  203  is located at a landing  225 . The elevator car  203  may be called to the landing  225  by a passenger  227  that desires to travel to another floor within a building. The passenger  227  can call the elevator car  203  by pressing a call button on a hall call panel  229 . The hall call panel  229  is in operable communication with an elevator controller (e.g., elevator controller  115  of  FIG. 1 ) and can make a request such that an elevator car will stop at the landing  225 . The hall call panel  229  can be used to request travel in a desired direction (e.g., up or down), as known in the art. When the elevator car  203  reaches the landing  225 , one or more elevator doors, including elevator car doors and landing doors, may open, allowing the passenger  227  to enter or exit the elevator car  203 . 
       FIG. 3  is a schematic illustration of an elevator car wall  331  that includes a car operating panel  333 . The car operating panel  333 , in traditional elevator system configurations, is a fixed, usually flat, and static operating panel that enables passengers to select floors to travel within a building and/or provide other operation (e.g., maintenance operations, emergency operations, etc.). That is, the car operating panel  333  may include one or more physical or mechanical buttons that are preset and fit with a particular physical layout. Typically, the car operating panel  333  is a standard component that can be installed in any number of locations (e.g., various different buildings) without much modification. 
       FIG. 4  illustrates a top down view of an elevator system  401  having an elevator car  403  located at a landing  425 . As shown, the landing  425  has a first side  425   a  and a second side  425   b.  The different sides  425   a,    425   b  of the landing  425  may be landings of the same or different sections of a building. For example, in some arrangements, the first side  425   a  may be a public access portion of a building, having shops, businesses, etc. and the second side  425   b  may be a private access portion of the building, having residences. When the elevator car  403  is located at the landing  425 , a first elevator car door  433   a  is positioned adjacent a first landing door  435   a  at the first side  425   a  of the landing  425 , and when opened form a first entrance  431   a.  Similarly, a second elevator car door  433   b  is positioned adjacent a second landing door  435   b  at the second side  425   b  of the landing  425 , and when opened form a second entrance  431   b . It may be advantageous to separate the access to the first and second sides  425   a,    425   b  of the landing  425 . That is, it may be useful to enable only authorized persons to access the second (private) side  425   b  of the landing  425 . In such arrangements, separate access can be controlled by keycard or other authorization device. However, such mechanisms may still allow unauthorized access to the various floors where access should be denied. 
     In some building arrangements, certain landings/floors may be entirely designated as public or private, which provides additional separation of public and private access floors. In such buildings, access can again be controlled by keycard or similar device. However, controlled access cannot be ensured. 
     Accordingly, referring to  FIG. 5 , a schematic illustration of an elevator system  501  having a divided elevator car  500  of an embodiment of the present disclosure within an elevator shaft  517  is shown. The divided elevator car  500  is arranged to provide separate access to one or more first landings  502  and one or more second landings  504 , using the single elevator car  500 . The first landings  502  can be private access floors of a building, such as residential floors and associated private-access parking, whereas the second landings  504  can be public access floors of the building, such as business floors, a public lobby, and associated parking. 
     The elevator car  500  has two elevator car doors, on opposing sides of the elevator car  500 . For example, as shown, the elevator car  500  has first elevator car door  506  and second elevator car door  508 . The first elevator car door  506  is configured to only be opened at the first landings  502  and the second elevator car door  508  is configured to only be opened at the second landings  504 . In this embodiment, the first landings  502  are completely separate from the second landings  504  such that when the elevator car  500  is located at a landing of a first landing  502  no access to a second landing is possible. That is, the landings  502 ,  504  are provided for specific floors. 
     To provide completely separate access to the first and second landings  502 ,  504 , the elevator car  500  is divided by a passenger space divider  510 . The passenger space divider  510  is a physical structure, such as a wall or panel, within the elevator car  500  that physically separates a first passenger compartment  512  from a second passenger compartment  514 . Passengers within the first passenger compartment  512  can operate the elevator car  500  to travel to the first landings  502  (without access to the second landings  504 ) and passengers within the second passenger compartment  514  can operate the elevator car  500  to travel to the second landings  504  (without access to the first landings  502 ). 
     Although shown in  FIG. 5  with a specific arrangement, those of skill in the art will appreciate that embodiments provided herein are not so limited. For example, in some embodiments, one or more floors can be accessible from both the first and second passenger compartments  512 ,  514  (e.g., a public lobby with keycard access to the first elevator car door  506  required at the public landing). 
     Turning now to  FIG. 6 , a schematic illustration of an elevator car  600  in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. The elevator car  600  is a divided elevator car with a first passenger compartment  612  separated from a second passenger compartment  614  by a passenger space divider  610 , similar to that described with respect to  FIG. 5 . The first passenger compartment  612  has a dedicated first elevator car door  606  providing ingress/egress into and out of the first passenger compartment  612 . Similarly, the second passenger compartment  614  has a dedicated second elevator car door  608  providing ingress/egress into and out of the first passenger compartment  614 . 
     To provide control of the elevator car  600 , the elevator car  600  includes two separate and distinct car operating panels. For example, as shown in  FIG. 6 , the elevator car  600  includes a first car operating panel  616  located in the first passenger compartment  612  and a second car operating panel  618  located in the second passenger compartment  614 . The car operating panels  616 ,  618  are electrically connected to an elevator controller to enable elevator destination floor requests and other typical features provided by elevator car operating panels. The first car operating panel  616  includes first car operating buttons  620  and the second car operating panel  618  includes second car operating buttons  622 . In some embodiments, the first car operating buttons  620  and the second car operating buttons  622  are configured to provide different functionality to the elevator car  600 . For example, in some embodiments, the first car operating buttons  620  may be buttons to provide access to a first subset of landings/floors of a building that are accessible from the first passenger compartment  612 . Similarly, the second car operating buttons  622  may be buttons to provide access to a second subset of landings/floors of the building that are accessible from the second passenger compartment  614 . 
     The passenger space divider  610 , in some embodiments, may be a fixed wall or structure that physically defines and separates the first passenger compartment  612  and the second passenger compartment  614 . In some embodiments, the passenger space divider  610  can be a frame with one or more elevator interior wall panels, thus providing a desired aesthetic to the interior of the elevator car  600 . 
     Turning to  FIG. 7 , a plan view illustration of an elevator car  700  in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. The elevator car  700  is a divided elevator car similar to that shown and described above, having a first passenger compartment  712  and a second passenger compartment  714 . The first passenger compartment  712  includes a first car operating panel  716  and the second passenger compartment  714  includes a second car operating panel  718 . In this embodiment, a passenger space divider  710  is shown as comprising a frame support  724 , a first compartment panel  726 , and a second compartment panel  728 . The first and second compartment panels  726 ,  728  are mounted to the frame support  724  and can be interchangeable and/or customizable to provide an aesthetic to the elevator car  700 . 
     Advantageously, embodiments provided herein are directed to elevator systems that provide a mechanical or physical barrier to prevent unauthorized access to specific floors/landings of a building. 
     The use of the terms “a”, “an”, “the”, and similar references in the context of description (especially in the context of the following claims) are to be construed to cover both the singular and the plural, unless otherwise indicated herein or specifically contradicted by context. The modifier “about” used in connection with a quantity is inclusive of the stated value and has the meaning dictated by the context (e.g., it includes the degree of error associated with measurement of the particular quantity). All ranges disclosed herein are inclusive of the endpoints, and the endpoints are independently combinable with each other. 
     While the present disclosure has been described in detail in connection with only a limited number of embodiments, it should be readily understood that the present disclosure is not limited to such disclosed embodiments. Rather, the present disclosure can be modified to incorporate any number of variations, alterations, substitutions, combinations, sub-combinations, or equivalent arrangements not heretofore described, but which are commensurate with the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. Additionally, while various embodiments of the present disclosure have been described, it is to be understood that aspects of the present disclosure may include only some of the described embodiments. 
     Accordingly, the present disclosure is not to be seen as limited by the foregoing description, but is only limited by the scope of the appended claims.