Patent Description:
Elevator cars in an elevator system typically respond to an elevator call when a passenger presses the physical call button in an elevator lobby. In some buildings, elevator cars can be partitioned into different elevator groups that serve the same floors in the building. Each of these elevator groups can have a call button on the same floor allowing for passengers to press more than one call button to call elevator cars from more than one elevator group. A passenger, while calling multiple elevator cars from more than one elevator group, will only board one elevator car causing the other elevator cars dispatched to the floor to waste power and increase other passenger wait times.

<CIT> discloses a method of operating a passenger conveyance in which passengers who input a destination request are tracked until they reach their destination, using sensors including those placed around the waiting area for elevators.

<CIT> discloses an elevator system with the features of the preamble of claim <NUM>, comprising group-controlled elevators and an independently operated elevator in which a user detection means (camera) is used to detect the presence of users in a landing when multiple calls in the same direction are detected on the same floor.

<CIT> discloses an elevator system where capacitive, planar sensors are used to detect the number of passengers waiting for each elevator.

According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided an elevator system according to claim <NUM>.

The first controller may be further configured to cancel the first elevator destination call based at least in part on a determination the passenger has exited the first passenger area for greater than a first threshold amount of time.

The second controller may be further configured to cancel the second elevator destination call based at least in part on a determination the passenger has exited the second passenger area for greater than a second threshold amount of time.

The first sensor and second sensor may comprise at least one of a camera or Doppler effect sensor.

The first controller may be further configured to: responsive to cancelling the first elevator destination call, operate the first elevator car to proceed to a next elevator destination call.

According to another aspect, the invention provides a method for floor bypass in an elevator system according to claim <NUM>.

The method may further comprise cancelling the first elevator destination call based at least in part on a determination the passenger has exited the first passenger area for greater than a first threshold amount of time.

The method may further comprise cancelling the second elevator destination call based at least in part on a determination the passenger has exited the second passenger area for greater than a second threshold amount of time.

The method may further comprise responsive to cancelling the first elevator destination call, operating the first elevator car to proceed to a next elevator destination call.

According to certain embodiments, the elevator system includes a first elevator group comprising one or more elevator cars, a first sensor operable to collect first sensor data associated with a first passenger area for the first elevator group, and a first controller coupled to a first memory, the first controller configured to operate the first elevator group and further configured to receive a first elevator destination call to a first floor, wherein the first elevator destination call causes the first controller to dispatch a first elevator car from the first elevator group to the first floor. A presence of a passenger in the first passenger area is determined based at least in part on the first sensor data and the first elevator car is operated based on the presence of the passenger in the first passenger area.

Further embodiments of the elevator system may include that the controller is further configured to cancel the first elevator destination call based at least in part on a determination the passenger has exited the first passenger area for greater than a first threshold amount of time.

Further embodiments of the elevator system may include a second elevator group comprising one or more elevator cars, a second sensor operable to collect second sensor data associated with a second passenger area for the second elevator group, and a second controller coupled to a second memory, the controller configured to operate the second elevator group and further configured to receive a second elevator destination call to the first floor, wherein the second elevator destination call causes a second elevator car from the second elevator group to dispatch to the first floor. The second controller further configured to determine a presence of the passenger in the second passenger area based at least in part on the second sensor data and operate the second elevator car based on the presence of the passenger in the second passenger area.

Further embodiments of the elevator system may include that the second controller is further configured to cancel the second elevator destination call based at least in part on a determination the passenger has exited the second passenger area for greater than a second threshold amount of time.

Further embodiments of the elevator system may include that the first sensor and second sensor comprise at least one of a camera or Doppler effect sensor.

Further embodiments of the elevator system may include that the first passenger area comprises one or more locations proximate to the one or more elevator cars in the first elevator group.

Further embodiments of the elevator system may include that the second passenger area comprises one or more locations proximate to the one or more elevator cars in the second elevator group.

All embodiments of the elevator system include that the first passenger area overlaps with the second passenger area.

Further embodiments of the elevator system may include that the first controller is further configured to responsive to cancelling the first elevator destination call, operate the first elevator car to proceed to a next elevator destination call.

According to certain embodiments, the method includes receiving, by the first controller, a first elevator destination call to a first floor, wherein the first destination call causes a first elevator car from the first elevator group to dispatch to the first floor. First sensor data associated with a first passenger area associated with the first elevator group is collected, from the first sensor. A presence of a passenger in the first passenger area is detected based at least in part on the first sensor data. And the first elevator car is operated based on the presence of the passenger in the first passenger area.

Further embodiments of the method may include cancelling the first elevator destination call based at least in part on a determination the passenger has exited the first passenger area for greater than a first threshold amount of time. The method includes that the elevator system further comprises a second elevator group having one or more elevator cars, a second sensor, and a second controller and receiving, by the second controller, a second elevator destination call to the first floor, wherein the second destination call causes a second elevator car from the second elevator group to dispatch to the first floor. Collecting second sensor data, from the second sensor, associated with a second passenger area associated with the second elevator group, determine a presence of a passenger in the second passenger area based at least in part on the second sensor data, and operating the second elevator car based on the presence of the passenger in the second passenger area.

Further embodiments of the method may include cancelling the second elevator destination call based at least in part on a determination the passenger has exited the second passenger area for greater than a second threshold amount of time.

Further embodiments of the method may include that the first sensor and second sensor comprise at least one of a camera or Doppler effect sensor.

Further embodiments of the method may include that the first passenger area comprises one or more locations proximate to the one or more elevator cars in the first elevator group.

Further embodiments of the method may include that the second passenger area comprises one or more locations proximate to the one or more elevator cars in the second elevator group.

All embodiments of the method include that the first passenger area overlaps with the second passenger area.

Further embodiments of the method may include responsive to cancelling the first elevator destination call, operating the first elevator car to proceed to a next elevator destination call.

As shown and described herein, various features of the disclosure will be presented. Various embodiments may have the same or similar features and thus the same or similar features may be labeled with the same reference numeral, but preceded by a different first number indicating the figure to which the feature is shown. Thus, for example, element "a" that is shown in FIG. X may be labeled "Xa" and a similar feature in FIG. Z may be labeled "Za. " Although similar reference numbers may be used in a generic sense, various embodiments will be described and various features may include changes, alterations, modifications, etc. as will be appreciated by those of skill in the art, whether explicitly described or otherwise would be appreciated by those of skill in the art.

<FIG> is a perspective view of an elevator system <NUM> including an elevator car <NUM>, a counterweight <NUM>, a roping <NUM>, a guide rail <NUM>, a machine <NUM>, a position encoder <NUM>, and a controller <NUM>. The elevator car <NUM> and counterweight <NUM> are connected to each other by the roping <NUM>. The roping <NUM> may include or be configured as, for example, ropes, steel cables, and/or coated-steel belts.

The roping <NUM> engages the machine <NUM>, which is part of an overhead structure of the elevator system <NUM>. The position encoder <NUM> may be mounted on an upper sheave of a speed-governor system <NUM> and may be configured to provide position signals related to a position of the elevator car <NUM> within the elevator shaft <NUM>. In other embodiments, the position encoder <NUM> may be directly mounted to a moving component of the machine <NUM>, or may be located in other positions and/or configurations as known in the art.

The controller <NUM> may also be configured to receive position signals from the position encoder <NUM>.

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, such as hydraulic and/or ropeless elevators, may employ embodiments of the present disclosure.

Referring to <FIG>, there is shown an embodiment of a processing system <NUM> for implementing the teachings herein. In this embodiment, the system <NUM> has one or more central processing units (processors) 21a, 21b, 21c, etc. (collectively or generically referred to as processor(s) <NUM>). In one or more embodiments, each processor <NUM> may include a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) microprocessor. Processors <NUM> are coupled to system memory <NUM> (RAM) and various other components via a system bus <NUM>. Read only memory (ROM) <NUM> is coupled to the system bus <NUM> and may include a basic input/output system (BIOS), which controls certain basic functions of system <NUM>.

<FIG> further depicts an input/output (I/O) adapter <NUM> and a network adapter <NUM> coupled to the system bus <NUM>. I/O adapter <NUM> may be a small computer system interface (SCSI) adapter that communicates with a hard disk <NUM> and/or tape storage drive <NUM> or any other similar component. I/O adapter <NUM>, hard disk <NUM>, and tape storage device <NUM> are collectively referred to herein as mass storage <NUM>. Operating system <NUM> for execution on the processing system <NUM> may be stored in mass storage <NUM>. A network communications adapter <NUM> interconnects bus <NUM> with an outside network <NUM> enabling data processing system <NUM> to communicate with other such systems. A screen (e.g., a display monitor) <NUM> is connected to system bus <NUM> by display adaptor <NUM>, which may include a graphics adapter to improve the performance of graphics intensive applications and a video controller. In one embodiment, adapters <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM> may be connected to one or more I/O busses that are connected to system bus <NUM> via an intermediate bus bridge (not shown). Suitable I/O buses for connecting peripheral devices such as hard disk controllers, network adapters, and graphics adapters typically include common protocols, such as the Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI). Additional input/output devices are shown as connected to system bus <NUM> via user interface adapter <NUM> and display adapter <NUM>. A keyboard <NUM>, mouse <NUM>, and speaker <NUM> all interconnected to bus <NUM> via user interface adapter <NUM>, which may include, for example, a Super I/O chip integrating multiple device adapters into a single integrated circuit.

In exemplary embodiments, the processing system <NUM> includes a graphics processing unit <NUM>. Graphics processing unit <NUM> is a specialized electronic circuit designed to manipulate and alter memory to accelerate the creation of images in a frame buffer intended for output to a display. In general, graphics processing unit <NUM> is very efficient at manipulating computer graphics and image processing and has a highly parallel structure that makes it more effective than general-purpose CPUs for algorithms where processing of large blocks of data is done in parallel. The processing system <NUM> described herein is merely exemplary and not intended to limit the application, uses, and/or technical scope of the present disclosure, which can be embodied in various forms known in the art.

Thus, as configured in <FIG>, the system <NUM> includes processing capability in the form of processors <NUM>, storage capability including system memory <NUM> and mass storage <NUM>, input means such as keyboard <NUM> and mouse <NUM>, and output capability including speaker <NUM> and display <NUM>. In one embodiment, a portion of system memory <NUM> and mass storage <NUM> collectively store an operating system coordinate the functions of the various components shown in <FIG> is merely a non-limiting example presented for illustrative and explanatory purposes.

Turning now to an overview of technologies that are more specifically relevant to aspects of the disclosure, elevator systems typically run the risk of deploying an elevator car to a specific floor of a building to where no passengers end up boarding the elevator car. Deploying, stopping, re-deploying elevator cars in an elevator system can cause increases in power consumption especially when the elevator cars are not being utilized by passengers. In addition to the increase in power consumption by the elevator system, these un-utilized hall calls can lead to increase travel time and passenger wait times for actual passengers in a building. This scenario often occurs in buildings with two or more elevator groups for each floor. A passenger can call both elevator groups and simply enter the elevator car in the elevator group that gets to the floor first leaving the other elevator group with an empty elevator car.

Turning now to an overview of the aspects of the disclosure, one or more embodiments address the above-described shortcomings of the prior art by providing an automatic floor bypass for an elevator system. The elevator system can detect the presence of passengers on a specific floor of a building before dispatching an elevator car or before stopping the elevator car at the floor if the elevator car has already been dispatched.

Turning now to a more detailed description of aspects of the present disclosure, <FIG> depicts a system <NUM> for floor bypass in an elevator system according to one or more embodiments. The system <NUM> includes a controller <NUM>, a first elevator car <NUM>, a second elevator car <NUM>, a passenger detection engine <NUM> in electronic communication with a first sensor <NUM> and a second sensor <NUM>. The passenger detection engine <NUM> is in electronic communication with the controller <NUM> either directly or, as shown in the illustrated example, through a network <NUM>.

In one or more embodiments, the controller <NUM>, sensors <NUM>, <NUM>, and passenger detection engine can be implemented on the processing system <NUM> found in <FIG>. Additionally, a cloud computing system can be in wired or wireless electronic communication with one or all of the elements of the system <NUM>. Cloud computing can supplement, support or replace some or all of the functionality of the elements of the system <NUM>. Additionally, some or all of the functionality of the elements of system <NUM> can be implemented as a node of a cloud computing system. A cloud computing node is only one example of a suitable cloud computing node and is not intended to suggest any limitation as to the scope of use or functionality of embodiments described herein.

In one or more embodiments, the system <NUM> can be utilized in an elevator system that includes two or more elevator groups each having multiple elevator cars that can be dispatched to the same floor in a building. For example, parking garages attached to a building might have an elevator group that services the parking garage floors as well as a basement or service area floor. In the same elevator bank, a second elevator group might service the floors of the building and be limited as to the number of floors in the parking garage. In this scenario, the two elevator groups described overlap and when destination calls are made at a floor, more than one elevator car can be dispatched to the same floor. The destination call inputs might be near each other causing a passenger to select both in an effort to gain access to the faster or closer elevator car. When the passenger enters the elevator car that arrives first, the other elevator car is still being dispatched to the same floor. Since the passenger enters the first arriving elevator car, the other elevator car wastes resources by stopping at that floor. The system <NUM> described herein addresses this potential issue by determining a presence of a passenger before arriving at a floor for a destination call. The passenger detection engine <NUM> utilizes the first sensor <NUM> and second sensor <NUM> to monitor a first passenger area and a second passenger area to determine and confirm the presence of a passenger in these areas before the dispatched elevator cars stop at the requested floor.

In one or more embodiments, the first elevator car <NUM> is part of a first elevator group that services floors of a building and the second elevator car <NUM> is part of a second elevator group that services floors of the building. The controller <NUM> comprises multiple controllers that can each operate only one of the elevator groups. The controller <NUM> can communicate with the passenger detection engine either directly or through the network <NUM>. In one or more embodiments, the controller <NUM> prior to stopping at a floor for a destination call can access or request presence information from the passenger detection engine <NUM> for the elevator cars <NUM>, <NUM>. The passenger detection engine <NUM> can operate the first sensor <NUM> and second sensor <NUM> to collect sensor data for a first passenger area and a second passenger area. The first passenger area includes one or more locations at or near the first elevator car <NUM> landing area. The second passenger area includes one or more locations at or near the second elevator car <NUM> landing area. The first passenger area and the second passenger area overlap. For example, the first elevator car <NUM> and second elevator car <NUM> can share the same elevator lobby on a floor and the dimensions of the lobby area can be used for the first and second passenger areas where the first sensor <NUM> and second sensor <NUM> collect the sensor data to determine passenger presence. While only two elevator cars and two sensors are shown in the illustrative example, in one or more embodiments, any number of elevator cars, sensors, controllers and/or passenger detection engines can be utilized in this system <NUM>.

In one or more embodiments, the system <NUM> allows for an elevator car to bypass a floor where no passenger is detected in the passenger areas and proceed to the next elevator destination call. For example, a passenger on a floor being serviced by a first elevator group having a first elevator car <NUM> and also being serviced by a second elevator group having a second elevator car <NUM> can place two elevator destination calls requesting either elevator car (<NUM> or <NUM>) from the first and second elevator group. In this example, the second elevator car <NUM> will arrive to the floor before the first elevator car <NUM>. Prior to the arrival of the second elevator car <NUM>, the controller <NUM> can send a request to the passenger detection engine <NUM> to confirm the presence of the passenger in the second passenger area, through the sensor data collected by the second sensor <NUM>, before stopping the second elevator car <NUM> at the floor. When the passenger enters the second elevator car <NUM>, the passenger leaves the passenger area. In one or more embodiments, the passenger detection engine <NUM> can continuously monitor the passenger area to determine the presence of a passenger and when the passenger leaves the passenger area for an amount of time that exceeds a threshold time, the passenger detection engine <NUM> can alert the controller <NUM>. In this scenario, once the controller <NUM> is alerted by the passenger detection engine <NUM> that no passengers are present on the floor, the controller <NUM> can cancel any pending destination calls to that specific floor. In this case, the pending destination call would be the destination call for the first elevator car <NUM> since the passenger has already entered the second elevator car <NUM> thus leaving the passenger area. In another embodiment, prior to the elevator car <NUM> arriving at the destination floor, the controller <NUM> can send a request to the passenger detection engine <NUM> to determine a presence of a passenger in the first passenger area. Based on a passenger being present, the controller <NUM> will operate the first elevator car <NUM> to stop at the destination floor. Alternatively, based on a passenger not being present in the first passenger area, the controller <NUM> will operate the first elevator car <NUM> to bypass the destination floor and proceed to the next, if any, destination call.

In one or more embodiments, the first sensor <NUM> and the second sensor <NUM> can be any combination of sensors including, but not limited to, image sensing hardware (e.g., panoramic cameras) or Doppler effect sensors. Also, in the illustrated example, only one sensor is present on the elevator car, but any number of sensors can be arranged on or near the elevator cars to monitor the passenger areas for passenger presence.

<FIG> depicts a flow diagram of a method for floor bypass for an elevator system according to one or more embodiments. The method <NUM> includes receiving, by the first controller, a first elevator destination call to a first floor, wherein the first destination call causes a first elevator car from the first elevator group to dispatch to the first floor, as shown in block <NUM>. At block <NUM>, the method <NUM> includes collecting first sensor data, from the first sensor, associated with a first passenger area associated with the first elevator group. The method <NUM>, at block <NUM>, includes determining a presence of a passenger in the first passenger area based at least in part on the first sensor data. And at block <NUM>, the method <NUM> includes operating the first elevator car based on the presence of the passenger in the first passenger area.

Additional processes may also be included. It should be understood that the processes depicted in <FIG> represent illustrations and that other processes are added and existing processes may be removed, modified, or rearranged without departing from the scope of the claims.

Claim 1:
An elevator system (<NUM>) comprising:
a first elevator car (<NUM>) and a second elevator car (<NUM>);
a first sensor (<NUM>) operable to collect first sensor data associated with a first passenger area for the first elevator car (<NUM>), wherein the first passenger area comprises one or more locations proximate to the first elevator car (<NUM>), and a second sensor (<NUM>) operable to collect second sensor data associated with a second passenger area for the second elevator car (<NUM>), wherein the second passenger area comprises one or more locations proximate to the second elevator car (<NUM>);
a first controller (<NUM>) coupled to a first memory (<NUM>), the first controller (<NUM>) configured to operate the first elevator car (<NUM>) and further configured to:
receive a first elevator destination call to a first floor, wherein the first elevator destination call causes the first controller (<NUM>) to dispatch the first elevator car (<NUM>) to the first floor;
determine a presence of a passenger in the first passenger area based at least in part on the first sensor data; and
operate the first elevator car (<NUM>) based on the presence of the passenger in the first passenger area;
wherein the elevator system (<NUM>) further comprises a second controller (<NUM>) coupled to a second memory (<NUM>), the second controller (<NUM>) configured to operate the second elevator car (<NUM>) and further configured to:
receive a second elevator destination call to the first floor, wherein the second elevator destination call causes the second elevator car (<NUM>) to dispatch to the first floor;
determine a presence of the passenger in the second passenger area based at least in part on the second sensor data; and
operate the second elevator car (<NUM>) based on the presence of the passenger in the second passenger area;
and wherein the elevator system (<NUM>) is characterised in that the first passenger area overlaps with the second passenger area.