Patent ID: 6978863

Claim:
An apparatus for group control of a set or a plurality of sets of elevators, each set including an upper car and a lower car disposed in a vertical relation within one elevator shaft communicating with each floor of a building, and ascending and descending independently, the apparatus comprising: floor classifying means for classifying floors so that a floor communicating with an entrance of the building is classified as a main floor for the lower car, a floor communicating with an entrance of the building at a level higher than the main floor for the lower car is classified as a main floor for the upper car, floors from floors immediately below the main floor for the lower car to a lowest floor are classified as a lower-car priority zone, an upper half of a zone obtained by dividing into two floors from immediately above the main floor for the upper car to a highest floor is classified as an upper-car priority zone and a lower half is classified as a common-use zone; retreat floor setting means for setting, as retreat floors, floors not impeding the operation of a counterpart car in the same elevator shaft; assignment determining means for assigning a hall call registered on the main floor for the lower car and in the lower-car priority zone to the lower car, a hall call registered on the main floor for the upper car and in the upper-car priority zone to the upper car, and a hall call registered in the common-use zone to either of the upper car and the lower cars, according to an operating condition; entry propriety judging means for judging entry propriety according to potential interference with a counterpart car in the same elevator shaft when the upper car enters the common-use zone or the lower-car priority zone, or when the lower car enters the common-use zone or the upper-car priority zone; and retreat instruction means for giving instructions to retreat to the upper car or the lower car, the upper car or the lower car having made entry according to a judgment result of said entry propriety judging means, wherein, in accordance with judgment results of said entry propriety judging means, the upper car or the lower car having been assigned hall calls by said assignment determining means, the upper car or the lower car is brought into retreat in accordance with an instruction of said retreat instruction means.