Patent Publication Number: US-2017349398-A1

Title: Elevator system and method for monitoring an elevator system

Description:
So called “smart” elevators provide a list of occurred failures in case of disturbances or blockage. In order to put the elevator back into proper operation, an expert has to go through the subsystems (including operation, drive and door) to identify the reason for the detected malfunction and perform the appropriate action. In order to ensure a quick reaction and remedy of malfunctions all over the world, a large number of experts need to be available 24 hours a day at 7 days of the week. 
     It therefore would be beneficial to provide a system and a method for monitoring elevators, which allows to remedy elevator malfunctions within a short period of time without a large number of experts being present or in standby all the time. 
     According to an exemplary embodiment of the invention, an elevator system comprises:
         A plurality of elevators, wherein each of the elevators includes:
           a diagnostic unit which is configured for running at least one diagnostic routine checking components of the elevator and providing elevator operation and diagnosis data;   a communication unit, which is configured
               for transmitting the elevator operation and diagnosis data provided by the diagnostic unit to a remote diagnostic system; and   for receiving control commands from said remote diagnostic system; and   
               a control unit, which is configured for executing the control commands received by the communication unit.   
               

     The elevator system further includes remote diagnostic system comprising:
         at least one data receiving unit, which is configured for receiving the elevator operation and diagnosis data transmitted from the communication unit;   at least one storage unit, which is configured for storing elevator operation and diagnosis data;   least one analyzing unit, which is configured for automatically analyzing the elevator operation and diagnosis data received by the at least one receiving unit by comparing the received data with previously stored data in order to detect a malfunction of an elevator; and   at least one instruction unit, which is configured for sending instructions to the communication unit of an elevator, for which a malfunction has been detected, instructing the control unit of said elevator to perform at least one specific action, which is based on the stored information in order to overcome a detected malfunction.       

     According to an embodiment of the invention, a method of monitoring an elevator system comprising a plurality of elevators includes the steps of:
         a) running at least one diagnostic routine on an individual elevator of the elevator system for checking components of the elevator and providing elevator operation and diagnosis data;   b) transmitting the elevator operation and diagnosis data provided by the diagnostic unit to a remote diagnostic system;       

     c) storing elevator operation and diagnosis data; 
     d) automatically analyzing the elevator operation and diagnosis data for detecting a malfunction of an elevator; 
     e) sending instructions to said individual elevator, for which a malfunction has been detected, instructing said elevator to perform a specific action, which preferably is based on the stored information, in order to overcome a detected malfunction and/or sending informing about a detected malfunction to a mechanic. 
    
    
     Exemplary embodiments of the invention provide an autonomous system using the experts&#39; knowledge and interacting directly with smart elevators. Such a diagnostic system in particular may be implemented as a cloud service in the internet, providing a “Cyber Physical System” (CPS) and an “Internet of Services” (IoS) distributed over a plurality of computers allowing fast access from all over the world and providing redundancy in the case of failure which ensures a high reliability of service. 
       FIG. 1  shows a schematic illustration of an elevator  1  which is part of an elevator system according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention. The elevator  1  comprises a hoistway  2  extending between a plurality of floors  4 . At least one hoistway door  6  is provided at each floor  4  allowing access to the hoistway  2  from the floor  4 . 
     An elevator car  8  is suspended by means of at least one tension member  10  within the hoistway  2 , the tension member  10  being connected to an elevator drive  12  provided at the top of the hoistway  2  allowing to move the elevator car  8  along the longitudinal extension of the hoistway  2  between the plurality of floors  4  by operating the elevator drive  12 . 
     The elevator drive  12  comprises a motor  18  for moving the elevator car  8  and a brake  20  for preventing any movement of the elevator car  8  when it is located at one of the floors  4 . The motor  18  and the brake  20  are provided with associated sensors  26 ,  28 , which are configured for monitoring the operation of the motor  18  and the brake  20 , respectively. 
     The elevator drive  12  may be located in any other portion of the hoistway, e.g. in a pit at the bottom of the hoistway or even mounted on the elevator car  8  itself. It also may be located in a separate machine room, which is not shown in  FIG. 1 . The elevator  1  may have or may not have a counterweight, which is not shown in  FIG. 1 . 
     The elevator car  8  comprises at least one elevator car door  16 , which is located opposite to a corresponding hoistway door  6  when the elevator car  8  is positioned at a specific floor  4 . The car door  16  and the corresponding hoistway door  6  open in coordination with each other in order to allow passengers to transfer between the elevator car  8  and the respective floor  4 . 
     The elevator drive  12  is functionally connected to an elevator control unit  14  controlling the movement of the elevator car  8  and the opening and closing of the doors  6 ,  16 . 
     A plurality of input units  5  are provided at each of the floors  4  and/or within the elevator car  8 . The input units  5  are connected by wires (not shown) or by a wireless connection to the elevator control unit  14  in order to allow passengers to input control commands causing the elevator drive  12  to move the elevator car  8  to a desired floor  4 . 
     In order to ensure a safe operation of the elevator  1 , it is desirable to closely monitor the movement of the doors  6 ,  16 , in particular to ensure that all doors  6 ,  16  are properly closed before the elevator car  8  is moved, in order to prevent passengers from falling into the hoistway and/or getting trapped between the floor  4  and the moving elevator car  8 . 
     Thus, at least one door sensor  22 , which is configured for monitoring the movement of the doors  6 ,  16 , is provided at each of the doors  6 ,  16 . 
     Additional positional sensors  24 , which are configured for detecting of the elevator car  8  is correctly positioned at a specific floor  4 , are provided in the hoistway  2 . 
     The data collected by these sensors  22 ,  24 ,  26 ,  28  may be transferred via wires (e.g. wires of a travelling cable extending basically in parallel to the tension member  10 ), which are not shown in  FIG. 1 , or by a wireless connection to a receiver  20  connected to the elevator control unit  14 . 
     The elevator control unit  14  comprises a diagnostic unit  17 , which is configured for monitoring the operation of the elevator  1  in order to detect any malfunction based on the data provided by the sensors  22 ,  24 ,  26 ,  28 . The details of said monitoring will be described in the following with reference to  FIGS. 3 and 4 . 
     The elevator control unit  14  is further connected to a communication unit  30 , which is configured to communicate via a data connection  36  with a remote diagnostic system  40 , which also will be described in more detail further below. 
       FIG. 2  shows an schematic view of an elevator system  34  according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention. 
     The elevator system  34  comprises a plurality of “smart” elevators  1 , as they have been described before with reference to  FIG. 1 , located at a plurality of sites  32 , such as buildings  32 . Each site  32  may have one or more elevators  1 . 
     Each of the elevators  1  is able to communicate by means of its respective communication unit  30  with a data receiving unit  42  of a diagnostic system  40 , which may be implemented in the form of a “data cloud”, via a data connection  36 , which may be implemented wired, wireless or as a combination of wired and wireless connections (e.g. via the internet). 
     The diagnostic system  40  comprises at least one storage unit (memory),  44  which is configured for storing elevator operation and diagnosis data and an analyzing unit  46 , which is configured for automatically analyzing the elevator operation and diagnosis data received by the at least one receiving unit  42 , in particular by comparing the received data with previously stored data, in order to detect any malfunction of one of the elevators  1 . 
     The diagnostic system  40  further comprises an instruction unit  48 , which is configured for sending instructions to be sent to the communication unit  30  of an elevator  1 , for which a malfunction has been detected, instructing the respective elevator&#39;s  1  control unit  14  to perform at least one specific action based on the store information in order to overcome the detected malfunction. 
     Said instructions may include a shutdown and following restart of the elevator system, the deletion of failure detection flags and/or reset of the elevator control&#39;s  14  memory. 
     Additionally or alternatively, parameters of the elevator control may be changed, which will be discussed in detail further below. 
     The diagnostic system  40  further comprises a notification unit  50 , which is configured for notifying a mechanic about a malfunction detected by the storing unit  46 , and an order unit  52 , which is configured for ordering spare parts which are necessary in order to overcome a detected malfunction. 
       FIG. 3  schematically illustrates the operation of a diagnostic system  40  according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention. 
     The operation basically comprises three kinds of steps, namely data collection and storage steps  100 , data classification and evaluation steps  200 , and action steps  300 . 
     Data collection and storage is started with a step  110  for registering the elevator  1  with the diagnostic system  40 , i.e. by transmitting data comprising the elevator&#39;s  1  individual unit number for unambiguously identifying the elevator  1  and an optional time stamp in order to keep record of the registering time. 
     In a second step  120  the elevator&#39;s status, as e.g. normal operation, inspection run, the elevator being blocked or disturbed, is evaluated and transmitted to the diagnostic system  40 , where it is stored within the storage unit  44 . 
     In order to reduce the amount of data to be transmitted, data may be sent only if the status changes, e.g. from normal operation blocked or disturbed. In addition, the amount of data may be reduced by sending only evaluated data, i.e. results instead of raw data. 
     In case failures or malfunctions have been identified by the elevator&#39;s  1  diagnostic unit  17 , failure messages including the respective failure diagnosis are transmitted to and stored within the storage unit  44  as well (step  130 ). The detected failures may include a brake of the safety chain, the elevator drive  12  being shut down, the occurrence of an emergency stop or an interruption of the communication with the passengers within the elevator car  8  or broken communication between subsystems (e.g. operation to drive or to door system). 
     In a further step  140  parameters including self-adjusted parameters, as e.g. time out periods and actual limits, are transferred to the diagnosis unit  40 , as well. 
     In the next step  150  the life time of components of the elevator  1 , which are subjected to wear, as e.g. mechanical contacts, relays, switches, buttons of the input units  5  and sensors  22 ,  24 ,  26 ,  28  are transferred to the diagnostic system  40  and stored in the storage unit  44 , too. 
     Thus, the data collection and storing steps  100  of the first group are characterized by data transmission from the respective elevator  1  to the diagnostic system  40 . 
     A second group of steps  200  is related to the classification and evaluation of the data received by the diagnostic system  40 . 
     First, the received data is classified according to the elevator&#39;s  1  sub-systems, as e.g. an operational control, a motion control and a door control of the elevator  1  (step  210 ). 
     In a second group of steps  220  failure messages which have been transmitted with respect to the respective sub-system are evaluated in order to identify the respective failure. These steps  220  may include checking the elevator&#39;s safety chain, the drive and/or communication lines extending between the elevator car  8  and a respective control center. 
     As a next step  230  spare parts, as e.g. brake switches or door locks, which may be needed for replacing corresponding defective parts of the elevator  1  in order to overcome the detected failure function, are identified. 
     In addition, spare parts for preventive maintenance, i.e. parts which do still work properly, but which are expected to reach the end of their expected lifetime shortly, are identified (step  240 ). The identified parts may be ordered in advance in order to be replaced at a mechanic&#39;s convenience before they actually result in a breakdown of the elevator  1 . 
     A third group of steps  300  is related to how to react on the detected elevator status. 
     First, it is decided whether the detected problem can be overcome by the smart elevator himself (continue with step  310 ) by performing some predefined actions (step  320 ) as e.g. deleting failure flags, resetting the (failure) memory or even rebooting the whole elevator control system. 
     These actions are triggered by sending a message to the respective elevator  1  (step  330 ). 
     Alternatively, if it has been determined that the detected problem cannot be solved by the elevator  1  on its own, a mechanic is instructed to visit the elevator side (step  350 ) in order to check (step  360 ) the components causing the malfunction, replacing defective parts by appropriate spare parts (step  370 ) in order to overcome a malfunction or for preventive maintenance. Finally, the elevator information stored in the diagnostic system  40  is updated (step  380 ). 
       FIG. 4  schematically shows an example of a procedure for overcoming a blockade or malfunction of an elevator  1  by the elevator  1  itself by adjusting parameters of elevator&#39;s  1  operation. Such a procedure may be executed by the elevator  1  before sending data to the cloud (step  120  in  FIG. 3 ), or as one of the predefined actions mentioned with respect to step  320  in  FIG. 3 . 
     In a first step  400 , it is determined whether a failure has been detected. 
     In case a failure has been detected the failure messages received are collected in step  410  and the sub-system corresponding to the received failure messages is selected (step  420 ). Sub-systems inter alia may include operational control, motion control and door control of the elevator  1 . 
     In a next step  430  a parameter of the selected sub-system is chosen, e.g. a timeout period, a current limit, a threshold etc. and the selected parameter is increased or decreased in step  440 . 
     Next, in step  400  it is checked again, whether the malfunction is still present even with the changed parameter. 
     In case the malfunction is still present the procedure comprising steps  410 ,  420 ,  430  and  440 , which have been described before, is repeated for adjusting the parameters of the elevator operation even further. 
     In case no malfunction is detected anymore, it is determined in step  450  whether at least one of the parameters has been changed in order to send in step  460  a notification about the changed parameters to the diagnostic system together with the information that the detected failure has been overcome by changing the respective parameter(s) accordingly. 
     This information may be used by the diagnostic system  40  in case a similar malfunction is detected by one of the other elevators  1  allowing to overcome the detected malfunction even faster by appropriately amending the corresponding parameter. 
     In case no failures are detected and no parameters have been changed, no further action is necessary (step  470 ) and the system will continue with normal operation (step  480 ). 
     A number of optional features are set out in the following. These features may be realized in particular embodiments, alone or in combination with any of the other features: 
     In an embodiment the diagnostic unit may be configured to periodically run the at least one diagnostic routine in order to detect malfunctions of the elevator fast and with high reliability. 
     In an embodiment the diagnostic system further may comprise a notification unit, which is configured for notifying a mechanic about a malfunction detected by the analyzing unit. This allows to send a mechanic to the elevator side without human intervention; in order to ensure that any problem of the elevator is fixed in short time without the need of humans being present at a service center in order to inform the mechanic that a problem has occurred. 
     In an embodiment the diagnostic system further may comprise an order unit, which is configured for ordering spare parts which are necessary in order to overcome a detected malfunction. This allows a fast ordering of parts which are needed for repairing the elevator; in particular, needed parts may be ordered even when no humans are available at the service center. 
     In an embodiment the analyzing unit further may be configured for detecting a need for preventive maintenance. This ensures an increased reliability of the elevators, as malfunctions may be avoided by replacing critical components before they break down causing a malfunction of the elevator. 
     In an embodiment each elevator may comprise a couple of subsystems and the diagnostic unit may be configured for monitoring each of said subsystems. This improves the quality of the monitoring and allows to detect malfunction of each of the subsystems fast and with high reliability. 
     In an embodiment each elevator may comprise a couple of subsystems and a couple of diagnostic units, wherein each of the diagnostic units is a specialized diagnostic unit which is configured for monitoring one of said subsystems. Specialized diagnostic unit are very effective in detecting malfunctions of their respectively associated subsystem. Providing a plurality of diagnostic units working independently of each other further enhances the reliability of the total system, as even in case of a breakdown or malfunction of one of the diagnostic units the other diagnostic units will continue to monitor the other subsystems. 
     In an embodiment the elevator system may comprise elevators which are located at different sites, e.g. in different buildings. This allows to effectively monitor a plurality of elevators, which are spread over a plurality of sites, which may be located in different cities, countries, or even on different continents as long as a reliable data connection can be provided. 
     In an embodiment the communication unit may be configured to transmit the data over a telephone network or a digital data network including wired networks and wireless networks. Using existing networks, as e.g. the telephone network or the internet, for data transmission allows an easy and cheap implementation of the system. As usually no big amounts of data need to be transferred, telephone lines may be used for the data transfer. This allows implementing and using the system even in areas in which no (fast) data connections are available. 
     In an embodiment automatically analyzing the elevator operation and diagnosis data may include comparing the received data with previously stored data, which allows analyzing the data fast and effectively. 
     In an embodiment the instructions sent to the elevator may include instructions for changing operational parameters of the elevator, to delete failure detection flags, to reset a memory and/or to switch off and restart the elevator. Changing operational parameters, as e.g. time out periods, time limits, velocities of the doors and/or the elevator car, may provide a very effective and easy way to overcome a malfunction. Resetting the memory and/or switching off and restarting the elevator may help in case a singular event has caused some disorder in memory resulting in improper operation of the elevator. 
     In an embodiment the method may include automatically ordering at least one spare part which is needed in order to overcome a detected malfunction. This allows a fast repair of the elevator, as the spare part will be delivered fast and without a need for human intervention. 
     In an embodiment the method may include monitoring the number of activations of elevator components in order to detect the need for preventive maintenance when the number of activations of an elevator component exceeds a predetermined limit. This ensures an increased reliability of the elevators, as malfunctions may be avoided by replacing critical components after a predetermined number of activations before they break down and cause a malfunction of the elevator. 
     REFERENCES 
       1  elevator 
       2  hoistway 
       4  floor 
       5  input unit 
       6  hoistway door 
       8  elevator car 
       10  tension member 
       12  elevator drive 
       14  elevator control unit 
       16  car door 
       17  diagnostic unit 
       18  motor 
       20  brake 
       22  door sensor 
       24  positional sensors 
       26  motor sensor 
       28  brake sensor 
       30  communication unit 
       32  site 
       34  elevator system 
       36  data connection 
       40  remote diagnostic system 
       42  data receiving unit 
       44  storage unit 
       46  analyzing unit 
       48  instruction unit 
       50  notification unit 
       52  order unit 
       100  storage steps 
       110  registration step 
       120  status evaluation and transmission step 
       130  failure message transmission and storage step 
       140  parameter adjusting step 
       150  lifetime transferring step 
       200  data classification and evaluation steps 
       210  received data classification step 
       220  failure message evaluation step 
       230  spare parts ordering step 
       240  spare parts identification and ordering step 
       300  action steps 
       310  solving the problem by the smart elevator 
       320  actions performed by the smart elevator 
       330  sending a message to the respective elevator 
       350  instructing a mechanic 
       360  checking components 
       370  replacing defective parts 
       380  updating the diagnostic system 
       400  determining whether a failure has been detected 
       410  collecting received failure messages 
       420  selecting a sub-system 
       430  choosing a parameter of the selected sub-system 
       440  changing the selected parameter 
       450  determining whether at least one parameter has been changed 
       460  sending a notification about changed parameters 
       470  no further action 
       480  normal operation