Patent Description:
Shuttle elevator groups may consist of one or more elevator systems that are used to shuttle people between a lobby (e.g., ground floor) and a sky lobby (e.g., observation deck).

<CIT> discloses dispatching elevator shuttles in a dispersed manner so that elevators leave lower and upper lobbies served by the shuttles at regular intervals.

<CIT> discloses transferring elevator cabs between non-contiguous hoistways.

<CIT> discloses a method for coordinating elevator group traffic.

<CIT> discloses elevator monitoring in shuttle mode.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a method of operating a shuttle elevator group is provided according to claim <NUM>.

Further embodiments may include: detecting a number of passengers within the elevator car, wherein the fullness percentage of the elevator car is determined in response to the number of passengers within the elevator car.

Further embodiments may include: commanding the elevator car to depart the landing when the fullness percentage of the elevator car is greater than a selected fullness percentage.

Further embodiments may include: commanding the elevator car to depart the landing when the time since the previous elevator car departed the landing is greater than a selected period of time.

Further embodiments may include: commanding the elevator car to depart the landing when the estimated time until the next elevator car arrives at the landing is less than a selected period of time.

Further embodiments may include: commanding the elevator car to depart the landing when the fullness percentage of the elevator car is greater than a selected fullness percentage; commanding the elevator car to depart the landing when the time since the previous elevator car departed the landing is greater than a selected period of time; and commanding the elevator car to depart the landing when the estimated time until the next elevator car arrives at the landing is less than a selected period of time.

Further embodiments may include: obtaining a layout of a physical location of two or more elevator systems within an elevator lobby at the landing, each of the two or more elevator systems including an elevator car; and coordinating arrival of the elevator car of each of the two or more elevator systems at the landing in response to the physical location of the two or more elevator systems within the elevator lobby, wherein the two or more elevator systems are organized in an arrangement within the elevator lobby.

Technical effects of embodiments of the present invention include operating a shuttle elevator group to alleviate bunching by monitoring both a fullness percentage of elevator cars and a time spend at a landing.

In accordance with embodiments of the invention, the machine <NUM> is configured to include an electrically driven motor.

Although shown and described with a roping system including tension member <NUM>, elevator systems that employ other methods and mechanisms of moving an elevator car within an elevator shaft may employ embodiments of the present invention.

Referring now to <FIG> with continued reference to <FIG>, which both illustrate a time <NUM> versus landing <NUM> operation chart 200a, 200b of a shuttle elevator group <NUM> that comprises a plurality of elevator cars 103a-<NUM>. Each of the plurality of elevator cars 103a-<NUM> shuttle people (i.e., passengers) between a primary landing 125a and a secondary landing 125b. The primary landing 125a may be a ground floor or sky lobby where passengers may board one of the plurality of elevator cars 103a-<NUM> to be transported to the secondary landing 125b. The secondary landing 125b may be an sky lobby where passengers transfer to another elevator car <NUM> or the secondary landing <NUM> may be an observation deck. The plurality of elevator cars 103a-<NUM> comprises a first elevator car 103a, a second elevator car 103b, a third elevator car 103c, a fourth elevator car 103d, a fifth elevator car 103e, a sixth elevator car 103f, and a seventh elevator car <NUM>. It is understood while the plurality of elevator cars 103a-<NUM> disclosed in <FIG> comprise seven elevator cars <NUM>, the embodiments disclosed herein may be applicable to any shuttle elevator group comprising two or more elevator cars <NUM>.

Currently, the same dispatching algorithm is typically used in all types of shuttle elevator groups, whether the shuttle elevator group is a standard "local service" elevator group (e.g., serving many landings <NUM>) or a shuttle elevator group <NUM> serving two landings <NUM>, as illustrated in <FIG> illustrates a problem unique to the shuttle elevator group <NUM>, which is referred to as bunching. Bunching occurs when elevator cars <NUM> "bunch up" and begin travelling close together in time in bunches <NUM>. There may be a multitude of reasons for bunching, one reason may include that one elevator car is waiting too long at a landing <NUM> to fill up with passengers, which may then back up the next elevators cars. Once bunches <NUM> begin to form they tend to propagate forward in time. The bunch <NUM> illustrated in <FIG> is composed of the fifth elevator car 103e, the fourth elevator car 103d, the second elevator car 103b, the seventh elevator car <NUM>, and the sixth elevator car 103f.

Bunching may lead to several elevator cars <NUM> arriving very close together or nearly at the same time to landings <NUM>, which may result in long wait times for passengers who arrive to board an elevator car just after the bunch <NUM> departs. Advantageously, there is a significant opportunity to improve performance of a shuttle elevator group <NUM> and prevent bunching by exploiting the predictable pattern of landings <NUM> served and applying an optimal control method, such as, for example, an optimal stopping rule, as described herein. The embodiments disclosed herein seek to reduce the average wait time for an elevator car <NUM> in a shuttle elevator group <NUM> by dynamically controlling the "spacing" between the arrival of consecutive elevator cars <NUM> at the primary landing 125a (or secondary landing 125b) to generate uniform time spacing between the arrival of consecutive elevator cars <NUM>, as illustrated in <FIG>. This may reduce average wait time by well over <NUM>% by reducing and/or eliminating "bunching". Additionally, this may also reduce the time to departure and time to destination.

Referring now to <FIG> with continued reference to <FIG>. The seventh elevator car <NUM> has been removed to simplify the illustration in <FIG>. As seen in <FIG>, a building elevator system <NUM> within a building <NUM> may include multiple different individual elevator systems 101a-101f organized in a shuttle elevator group <NUM> (e.g., elevator banks). The elevator systems 101a-101f include a first elevator system 101a having an elevator car 103a, a second elevator system 101b having an elevator car 103b, a third elevator system 101c having an elevator car 103c, a fourth elevator system 101d having an elevator car 103d, a fifth elevator system 101e having an elevator car 103e, and a sixth elevator system 101f having an elevator car 103f. It is understood that while six elevator systems 101a-101f are utilized for exemplary illustration, embodiments disclosed herein may be applied to building elevator systems <NUM> having two or more elevator systems <NUM>. It is also understood that while nine landings <NUM> are utilized for exemplary illustration, embodiments disclosed herein may be applied to building elevator systems <NUM> having any number of landings <NUM>. <FIG> illustrates the primary landing 125a, the secondary landing 125b and all of the intermediate landings 125c between the primary landing 125a and the secondary landing 125b. Elevator cars 103a-103f of the shuttle elevator group <NUM> typically do not stop at the intermediate landings 125c but rather ferry passenger between the primary landing 125a and the secondary landing 125b. It is understood that while the primary landing 125a and the secondary landing 125b are utilized, the embodiments disclosed herein may also be applicable to elevator system <NUM> stopping at landings 125c between the primary landing 125a and the secondary landing 125b.

Further, the elevator systems 101a-101f illustrated in <FIG> are organized into a single shuttle elevator group <NUM> for ease of explanation but it is understood that the elevator systems 101a-101f may be organized into one or more shuttle elevator groups. The shuttle elevator group <NUM> may contain one or more elevator systems <NUM>.

The primary landing 125a and the secondary landing 125b in the building <NUM> of <FIG> may have an elevator call device 89a, 89b. The elevator call device 89a, 89b sends an elevator call <NUM> to the dispatcher <NUM> including the source of the elevator call <NUM>. The elevator call device 89a, 89b may include a destination entry option that includes the destination of the elevator call <NUM>. The elevator call device 89a, 89b may be a push button and/or a touch screen and may be activated manually or automatically. For example, the elevator call <NUM> may be sent by an individual entering the elevator call <NUM> via the elevator call device 89a, 89b. The elevator call device 89a, 89b may also be activated to send an elevator call <NUM> by voice recognition or a passenger detection mechanism in the hallway, such as, for example a weight sensing device, a visual recognition device, depth sensing device, radar device, a laser detection device, and/or any other desired device capable of sensing the presence of a passenger. The elevator call device 89a, 89b may be activated to send an elevator call <NUM> through an automatic elevator call system that automatically initiates an elevator call <NUM> when an individual is determined to be moving towards the elevator system in order to call an elevator or when an individual is scheduled to activate the elevator call device 89a, 89b. The elevator call device 89a, 89b may also be a mobile device configured to transmit an elevator call <NUM>. The mobile device may be a smart phone, smart watch, laptop, or any other mobile device known to one of skill in the art. It is understood that embodiments disclosed herein may be applicable to elevator systems 101a-101f that do not utilize an elevator call device 89a, 89b, and therefore the dispatcher <NUM> may dispatch an elevator car 103a-103f based upon a schedule rather than an elevator call <NUM> or the presence of people <NUM> in an elevator lobby <NUM>, as detected by a landing people counter device 92a, 92b.

The controllers 115a-115f can be combined, local, remote, cloud, etc. The dispatcher <NUM> may be local, remote, cloud, etc. The dispatcher <NUM> is in communication with the controller 115a-115f of each elevator system 101a-101f. Alternatively, there may be a controller <NUM> that is common to all of the elevator systems 101a-101f and controls all of the elevator system 101a-101f. The dispatcher <NUM> may be a 'group' software that is configured to select the best elevator car <NUM> assigned to the elevator call <NUM>. The dispatcher <NUM> manages the elevator call devices 89a, 89b related to the shuttle elevator group <NUM>.

The dispatcher <NUM> is configured to control and coordinate operation of multiple elevator systems 101a-101f. The dispatcher <NUM> may be an electronic controller including a processor and an associated memory comprising computer-executable instructions. The processor may be, but is not limited to, a single-processor or multi-processor system of any of a wide array of possible architectures, including field programmable gate array (FPGA), central processing unit (CPU), application specific integrated circuits (ASIC), digital signal processor (DSP) or graphics processing unit (GPU) hardware arranged homogenously or heterogeneously. The memory may be but is not limited to a random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), or other electronic, optical, magnetic or any other computer readable medium.

The dispatcher <NUM> is in communication with each of the elevator call devices 89a, 89b of the building elevator system <NUM>. The dispatcher <NUM> is configured to receive each elevator call <NUM> transmitted from the elevator call devices 89a, 89b. The dispatcher <NUM> is configured to manage the elevators calls <NUM> coming in from each elevator call device 89a, 89b and command one or more elevator systems 101a-101f to respond to elevator calls <NUM>. Alternatively, in the event no elevator call devices 89a, 89b are present, the dispatcher <NUM> is configured to dispatch elevator cars 103a-103f based upon a schedule, how long the elevator car 103a-103f has been at a landing, and/or detection of people <NUM> within the elevator lobby <NUM> rather than an elevator call <NUM>.

Each elevator system 101a-101f may include an elevator car people counter <NUM> configured to detect a number passengers (i.e., people) within the elevator car 103a-103f. The elevator car people counter <NUM> is in communication with the dispatcher <NUM> and/or the controller 115a-115f. The number of passengers allows the dispatcher <NUM> to determine how much space is left in the elevator car 103a-103f. The elevator car people counters <NUM> may use a variety of sensing mechanisms, such as, for example, a visual detection device, a weight detection device, a laser detection device, a door reversal monitoring device, a thermal image detection device, and a depth detection device. The visual detection device may be a camera that utilizes visual recognition to identify individual passengers and objects in the elevator car 103a-103f. The weight detection device may be a scale to sense the amount of weight in an elevator car 103a-103f and then determine the number of passengers. The laser detection device may detect how many passengers walk through a laser beam to determine the number of passengers in the elevator car 103a-103f. Similarly, a door reversal monitoring device also detects passengers entering the car so as not to close the elevator door on a passenger and thus may be used to determine the number of passengers. The thermal detection device may be an infrared or other heat sensing camera that utilizes detected temperature to identify individual passengers and objects in the elevator car 103a-103f and then determine the number of passengers. The depth detection device may be a <NUM>-D, <NUM>-D or other depth/distance detecting camera that utilizes detected distance to an object and/or passenger to determine the number of passengers. As may be appreciated by one of skill in the art, in addition to the stated methods, additional methods may exist to sense the number of passengers and one or any combination of these methods may be used to determine the number of passengers in the elevator car 103a-103f. The elevator car people counters <NUM> may also be able to detect luggage or other objects that may take up space in the elevator car 103a-103f and differentiate such objects from people.

Advantageously, in order to avoid the bunching <NUM> illustrated in <FIG>, the dispatcher <NUM> is configured to dispatch elevator cars 103a-103f based upon at least one of a fullness percentage of an elevator car 103a-103f based on the number of passenger detected, how much time since a departure of a previous elevator car <NUM> departure from the landing <NUM>, and how much time until the next elevator car <NUM> arrives at the landing <NUM>.

The landing people counter system <NUM> is configured to detect or determine a people count <NUM>. The people count <NUM> may be a number of people <NUM> located on a landing 125a, 125b or more specifically a number of people <NUM> located in an elevator lobby <NUM> on a landing 125a, 125b. The people count <NUM> may be an exact number of people <NUM> or an approximate number of people <NUM>. The primary landing 125a and the secondary landing 125b in the building <NUM> of <FIG> may include a landing people counter device 92a, 92b. The landing people counter device 92a, 92b may be located proximate the elevator group <NUM> on the primary landing 125a and the secondary landing 125b. The landing people counter device 92a, 92b may include a camera. The landing people counter device 92a, 92b is may be used to determine the people count <NUM> proximate the elevator systems <NUM> and/or within an elevator lobby <NUM> proximate the elevator systems <NUM>. The elevator lobby <NUM> may be located on the primary landing 125a or the secondary landing 125b. The people count <NUM> may include number of people <NUM> located in the elevator lobby <NUM>. People <NUM> being located proximate the elevator system <NUM> and/or within the elevator lobby <NUM> is indicative that the people <NUM> would like to board an elevator car <NUM> of the elevator system <NUM> to evacuate the building <NUM>.

The landing people counter device 92a, 92b may include one or more detection mechanisms in the elevator lobby <NUM>, such as, for example a weight sensing device, a visual recognition device, depth sensing device, radar device, a laser detection device, mobile device (e.g., cell phone) tracking, and/or any other desired device capable of sensing the presence of people <NUM>. The visual recognition device may be a camera that utilizes visual recognition to identify individual people <NUM> and objects in elevator lobby <NUM>. The weight detection device may be a scale to sense the amount of weight in an elevator lobby <NUM> and then determine the number of people <NUM>. The laser detection device may detect how many passengers walk through a laser beam to determine the number of people <NUM> in the elevator lobby <NUM>. The thermal detection device may be an infrared or other heat sensing camera that utilizes detected temperature to identify individual people <NUM> and objects in the elevator lobby <NUM> and then determine the number of people <NUM>. The depth detection device may be a <NUM>-D, <NUM>-D or other depth/distance detecting camera that utilizes detected distance to an object and/or people <NUM> to determine the number of passengers. The mobile device tracking may determine a number of people on a landing <NUM> or an in elevator lobby <NUM> by tracking mobile device wireless signals and/or detecting how many mobile devices are utilizing a specific application on the mobile device within the building <NUM> on the landing <NUM> or in the elevator lobby <NUM>. As may be appreciated by one of skill in the art, in addition to the stated methods, additional methods may exist to sense the number of people <NUM> and one or any combination of these methods may be used to determine the number of people <NUM> in the elevator lobby <NUM> or on the landing <NUM>.

In one embodiment, the landing people counter device 92a, 92b is able to detect the people count <NUM> through image pixel counting. The people count <NUM> may compare a current image of the elevator lobby <NUM> to a stock image of the elevator lobby <NUM>. For example, the landing people counter device 92a, 92b may utilize pixel counting by capturing a current image of the elevator lobby <NUM> and comparing the current image of the elevator lobby <NUM> to a stock image of the elevator lobby <NUM> that illustrates the elevator lobby <NUM> with zero people <NUM> present or a known number of people <NUM> present. The number of pixels that are different between the stock image of the elevator lobby <NUM> and the current image of the elevator lobby <NUM> may correlate with the people count <NUM> within the elevator lobby <NUM>. It is understood that the embodiments disclosed herein are not limited to pixel counting to determine a people count <NUM> and thus a people count <NUM> may be determined utilizing other method including but not limited to video analytics software. Video analytics may identify people <NUM> from stationary objections and count each person separately to determine a total number of people <NUM>.

The people count <NUM> may be determined using a machine learning, deep learning, and/or artificial intelligence module. The artificial intelligence module can be located in the landing people counter device 92a, 92b or in a separate module in the elevator lobby <NUM> or on the landing <NUM>. The separate module may be able to communicate with the landing people counter device 92a, 92b. The people count <NUM> may alternatively be expressed as a percentage from zero-to-one-hundred percent indicating what percentage of pixels are different between the stock image of the elevator lobby <NUM> and the current image of the elevator lobby <NUM>. The people count <NUM> of the elevator lobby <NUM> may be expressed as a scale of one-to-ten (e.g., one being empty and ten being full) indicating what percentage of pixels are different between the stock image of the elevator lobby <NUM> and the current image of the elevator lobby <NUM>. The people count <NUM> may be expressed as an actual or estimated number of people <NUM>, which may be determined in response to the number of pixels that are different between the stock image of the elevator lobby <NUM> and the current image of the elevator lobby <NUM>.

Advantageously, the landing people counter system <NUM> may be used to replace the elevator call devices 89a, 89b. Thus, an elevator call <NUM> may be transmitted to the dispatcher when the people count <NUM> is equal to or greater than a selected people count.

Additionally, a display device 50a-50f may be located on the primary landing 125a and the secondary landing 125b proximate each elevator system 101a-101f. As illustrated in <FIG>, each elevator system 101a-101f may have its own display device 50a-50f on each of the primary landing 125a and the secondary landing 125b. Alternatively there may be a single displace device <NUM> for the primary landing 125a and a single display device for the secondary landing 125b (see <FIG>). The display device 50a-50f visually displays if an elevator car <NUM> will be arriving for the elevator system 101a-101f associated with the display device 50a-50f. Advantageously, this will allow people <NUM> to know which elevator system 101a-101f has an elevator car 103a-103f arriving next at the landing 125a, 125b. Advantageously, the display devices <NUM> will allow people <NUM> waiting in the elevator lobby <NUM> to know which elevator cars 103a-103f will arrive soon and thus the people <NUM> can crowd around the correct elevator system 101a-101f, thus reducing elevator boarding times.

Referring now to <FIG> and <FIG>, while referencing components of <FIG>. <FIG> shows a flow chart of method <NUM> of operating a shuttle elevator group <NUM>, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. In an embodiment, the method <NUM> may be performed by the dispatcher <NUM> of <FIG>. At block <NUM>, an arrival of an elevator car <NUM> at a landing <NUM> is detected. At block <NUM>, a time since a previous elevator car <NUM> departed the landing <NUM> is determined. At block <NUM>, a fullness percentage <NUM> of the elevator car <NUM> is determined. The fullness percentage <NUM> determination may be based on a detected number of passengers (i.e., people <NUM>) within the elevator car <NUM> or upon any other analog thereof, such as, for example, detecting occupied space in the car, weight in the car, or any other similar method known to one of skill in the art. At block <NUM>, an estimated time until a next elevator car <NUM> arrives at the landing <NUM> is determined. At block <NUM>, it is determined when the elevator car <NUM> departs the landing <NUM> based upon at least one of the fullness percentage <NUM> of the elevator car <NUM>, the time since the previous elevator car <NUM> departed the landing <NUM>, and the estimated time until the next elevator car <NUM> arrives at the landing <NUM>.

<FIG> illustrates different scenarios <NUM>, <NUM> that may prompt the release of an elevator car <NUM> from the landing <NUM>. As illustrated in <FIG> at scenario <NUM>, the elevator car <NUM> may be commanded to depart the landing <NUM> when a number of passengers <NUM> enter the elevator car <NUM> and the fullness percentage <NUM> of the elevator car <NUM> is greater than a selected fullness percentage <NUM>. Therefore, the method <NUM> may also comprise: commanding the elevator car <NUM> to depart the landing <NUM> when the fullness percentage <NUM> of the elevator car <NUM> is greater than a selected fullness percentage <NUM>. For example, the selected fullness percentage <NUM> may be <NUM>%, as shown in <FIG>. It is understood that the selected fullness percentage <NUM> may be greater than or less than <NUM>% as well. As illustrated in <FIG> at scenario <NUM>, the elevator car <NUM> may be commanded to depart the landing <NUM> when the time since the previous elevator car <NUM> departed the landing <NUM> is greater than a selected period of time <NUM>. For example, the selected period of time <NUM> may be <NUM> seconds. It is understood that the selected period of time <NUM> may be greater than or less than <NUM> seconds. The method <NUM> may further comprise: commanding the elevator car <NUM> to depart the landing <NUM> when the time since the previous elevator car <NUM> departed the landing <NUM> is greater than a selected period of time <NUM>. Additionally, the method <NUM> may yet further comprise: commanding the elevator car <NUM> to depart the landing <NUM> when the estimated time until the next elevator car <NUM> arrives at the landing <NUM> is less than a selected period of time. For example, this selected period of time may be equal to one minute. It is understood that the selected period of time <NUM> may be greater than or less than one minute.

Referring now to <FIG>, <FIG>, <FIG>, and <FIG>, while referencing components of <FIG>. <FIG> shows a flow chart of method <NUM> of operating a shuttle elevator group <NUM>, that is not in accordance the claimed invention. The method <NUM> may be performed by the dispatcher <NUM> of <FIG>. At block <NUM>, a layout of a physical location of two or more elevator systems <NUM> within an elevator lobby <NUM> at a landing <NUM> is obtained. Each of the two or more elevator systems <NUM> include an elevator car <NUM>. At block <NUM>, the arrival of the elevator car <NUM> of each of the two or more elevator systems <NUM> at the landing <NUM> is coordinated in response to the physical location of the two or more elevator systems within the elevator lobby <NUM>. The two or more elevator systems <NUM> are organized in an arrangement within the elevator lobby <NUM>. In an embodiment, the two or more elevator systems <NUM> may be organized in a square arrangement, rectangular arrangement, triangular arrangement, circular arrangement, or any other arrangement within the elevator lobby <NUM>. The arrangements illustrated in <FIG> are rectangular.

<FIG> illustrates an uncoordinated system where the arrival from the elevator car <NUM> of each of the two or more elevator systems <NUM> at the landing <NUM> is uncoordinated, which leaves a passenger guessing as to which elevator car <NUM> will arrive next. The arrows <NUM> in <FIG> indicate the order of arrivals of the elevator cars <NUM> of each elevator system <NUM>. In the example illustrated in <FIG>, the order of arrival of the elevator cars <NUM> from each elevator system <NUM> may be as follows: the first elevator system 101a, then the second elevator system 101b, then the third elevator system 101c, then the fourth elevator system 101d, then the fifth elevator system 101e, and then the sixth elevator system 101f. <FIG> illustrates a coordinated system where the arrival from the elevator car <NUM> of each of the two or more elevator systems <NUM> at the landing <NUM> is coordinated, which leaves a passenger confident knowing which elevator car <NUM> will arrive next. The arrows <NUM> in <FIG> indicate the order of arrivals of the elevator cars <NUM> of each elevator system <NUM>.

In an embodiment, the arrival of the elevator car <NUM> of each of the two or more elevator systems <NUM> may be coordinated such that elevator car <NUM> arrives from each of the two or more elevator systems <NUM> in a clockwise order around the arrangement, as illustrated in <FIG>. The elevator lobby <NUM> may include one or more display devices <NUM> that display the direction that the elevator cars of the elevator systems <NUM> are coordinated to arrive. For example, as shown in <FIG>, the arrival of the elevator car <NUM> of each of the two or more elevator systems <NUM> are coordinated such that elevator car <NUM> arrives from each of the two or more elevator systems <NUM> in a clockwise order, thus the display device <NUM> shows the clockwise direction of the elevator car <NUM> arrival. In another embodiment, the arrival of the elevator car <NUM> of each of the two or more elevator systems <NUM> may be coordinated such that elevator car <NUM> arrives from each of the two or more elevator systems <NUM> in a counter clockwise order around the arrangement.

In an embodiment, the two or more elevator systems <NUM> may be organized into a first group <NUM> and a second group <NUM> within the elevator lobby <NUM>. The first group <NUM> may reside along a first wall <NUM> and the second group <NUM> may reside along a second wall <NUM> of the elevator lobby <NUM>. The first group <NUM> or the second group <NUM> may be deactivated to simplify boarding for passengers, so they only have to look at one group. For example, the first group <NUM> may be deactivated, such that the two or more elevator system organized in the first group <NUM> are no longer called to the landing <NUM>. For example, the first elevator group <NUM> may be deactivated during a low activity period.

Alternatively, the first group 610a and the second group 620a may be separated across the elevator lobby <NUM>, as shown in <FIG> (i.e., the dividing line running through the lobby <NUM> from the first wall <NUM> to the second wall <NUM>. The first group 610a or the second group 620a may be deactivated to simplify boarding for passengers. For example, the first group 610a may be deactivated, such that the two or more elevator system organized in the first group are no longer called to the landing.

As described above, embodiments can be in the form of processor-implemented processes and devices for practicing those processes, such as processor. Embodiments can also be in the form of computer program code (e.g., computer program product) containing instructions embodied in tangible media, such as network cloud storage, SD cards, flash drives, floppy diskettes, CD ROMs, hard drives, or any other computer-readable storage medium, wherein, when the computer program code is loaded into and executed by a computer, the computer becomes a device for practicing the embodiments. Embodiments can also be in the form of computer program code, for example, whether stored in a storage medium, loaded into and/or executed by a computer, or transmitted over some transmission medium, loaded into and/or executed by a computer, or transmitted over some transmission medium, such as over electrical wiring or cabling, through fiber optics, or via electromagnetic radiation, wherein, when the computer program code is loaded into an executed by a computer, the computer becomes a device for practicing the embodiments.

Claim 1:
A method (<NUM>) of operating a shuttle elevator group (<NUM>), the method comprising:
detecting (<NUM>) an arrival of an elevator car (<NUM>) at a landing (<NUM>);
determining (<NUM>) a time since a previous elevator car (<NUM>) departed the landing (<NUM>);
determining (<NUM>) a fullness percentage of the elevator car (<NUM>);
determining (<NUM>) an estimated time until a next elevator car (<NUM>) arrives at the landing (<NUM>); and
determining (<NUM>) when the elevator car (<NUM>) departs the landing (<NUM>) based upon at least one of the fullness percentage of the elevator car (<NUM>), the time since the previous elevator car (<NUM>) departed the landing (<NUM>), and the estimated time until the next elevator car (<NUM>) arrives at the landing (<NUM>).