Otis Elevator Company

United Technologies Corporation

Carrier Corporation

Bruce E Zepke

William A Veronesi

Joseph Zacchio

Alberto Vecchiotti

Paul A Stucky

Christian Maria Netter

Adriana Bacellar

Luiz Bacellar

Deborah C Haas

Richard A Meinzer

David Crenella

Dennis Bellamy

Harold Terry

Eric K Jamieson

Christopher L Winslow

Robert G Morgan

Mary Ann T Valk

Michael W Hawman

Michael P Gozzo

William C Boyce

John A Roncallo

Wei-Quan Ng

Robert T Bonitz

Taeyoung Park

Earl D Hasselmark

Merrill R Lucia

Fixtures () at a doorway () of a landing () are formed integrally with a door frame (). The fixtures include electronic modules () and energy storage devices (). Power may be supplied by a generator () rotated by a pinion () in response to a rack () on a hoistway door (), or by electrical contacts () disposed on the hoistway side of the door frame which touch contacts () on an elevator car door () when the door is open, thereby receiving power over a line () from the elevator car; or power may be provided by an inductive coupler (). The fixtures () may be within the profile of the door frame (), or extend outwardly from the profile of the door frame ().

Wireless elevator hall fixtures integral with hall door frame

Fixtures () at a doorway of a landing are formed integrally with a frame (). Power is provided by an inductive coupler () having a core () and primary (). The core is thin ferrite and extend significantly beyond the coils in the plane the coils are wound, to provide en extremely low resistance path for the efficient transfer of AC power.

Inductively coupled power, useful for wireless elevator hall fixtures

An elevator system has on each floor hall call buttons that are inter-connected with piconet modules (), such as modules conforming to BLUETOOTH&#x2122; specifications; similar piconet modules () may be associated with hall fixtures such as lanterns and gongs; similar piconet modules () may be associated with hoistway doors, on each floor, so as to form a wireless communication system with a similar piconet module () at the controller (); and a piconet module () may be associated with the car operating panel. A module () may be interconnected with the car door lock switch; a module () may be interconnected with a safety switch; modules () and () may be interconnected with lower and upper limit switches; and a module () may be interconnected with an overspeed detector, so as to form a safety chain. A prospective passenger () may carry a portable device with a piconet module () to request elevator service and receive acknowledgment, and maintenance personnel () may use a personal ditigal assistant having a piconet module () therein to acquire current and historical information about the elevator and to issue executable commands to the elevator system.

Elevator wireless communication infrastructure using piconet modules

An elevator safety chain includes a plurality of passive radio frequency identification devices (RFIDs) (--and), which are associated, respectively, with hoistway door locks, upper hoistway limits, lower hoistway limits, overspeed detection, car door lock, emergency stop switch, and inspection switch. RFlDs may be associated with car the call buttons () and/or hall call buttons (). The RFIDs may have a switch () in the frequency-determining circuitry () which defeats the RFID's ability to respond, or a switch () which alters the responding frequency. The RFIDs may sense safe or unsafe conditions, or call requests, by either the presence of absence, or vice versa, of adjacent magnetic reluctance ().

Elevator employing radio frequency identification devices (RFIDs)

Fixture for an Elevator System A fixture using an electrophoretic display system is disclosed. Various construction details are developed which enable simplification of the wiring system for the elevator system. In one detailed embodiment, a touchscreen device is used with the electrophoretic device to transmit data to the elevator dispatch controller of the elevator system

Fixture for an elevator system

Remote control devices borne by potential passengers are alerted to initiate a request for elevator service by beacons in the building. The beacon alert message includes a tag identifying the floor on which the beacon is located and a position on the floor at which the beacon is located. The floor description tags prevent transmissions of the remote device from being recognized on floors other than the floor on which the device was alerted by a beacon, whereby transmission power of the remote devices may be quite high to assure reception anywhere on the floor, while being ignored on adjacent floors. Tags descriptive of the location on the floor (such as east, west, or lobby area) allow early assignment of a call to an elevator, without causing a car to stop for that particular passenger unless the call is verified by the passenger being sensed in the immediate vicinity of the elevator, and a car call is not entered for the destination floor unless the passenger is sensed as being within the elevator cab, due to a remote device message including a cab descriptor tag.

Remote elevator call requests with descriptor tags

Communication between the various elements of HVAC systems is effected by means of low-cost, low-power, narrow-band AM SAW-stabilized transmitters 21, 27, 39, 86 and receivers 18, 28, 47, 89. A residential embodiment (FIG. 1) transmits temperature information from each room of the house to a master control 24, which is used to control the HVAC demand and to control the damper in the corresponding room. In a first commercial building embodiment (FIGS. 2 and 3), thermostat/transceiver 61-66 assemblies transmit not only demand and control information from the corresponding thermostat 78 (with switches), but relay information transmitted from other thermostat/transceiver assemblies, whereby messages are retransmitted from one floor to the next to overcome the high attenuation of commercial building construction in reaching rooftop HVAC systems 71-76. In a second commercial building embodiment (FIG. 4), messages are transmitted from a thermostat/transceiver assembly 92 in each floor to a relaying transceiver assembly 96 in a stairwell, the transmissions to rooftop units 93, 97 being made with little attenuation through the stairwell and the roof. Message protocols with or without acknowledgement may be used. Relative humidity and CO.sub.2 level may be controlled as well as temperature.

Low-cost wireless HVAC systems

A bearing assembly monitoring system provides continuous, real time monitoring of the operating condition of a powertrain support bearing assembly and real time alarm signals indicative of degradation and/or impending catastrophic failure thereof. One embodiment of the monitoring system includes a vibration sensing device, first and second primary temperature sensing devices, an ambient temperature sensing device, vibration and temperature signal processing subcircuits, and an alarm subsystem. The vibration sensing device monitors complex vibration signals emanating from the bearing assembly and provides signals corresponding thereto. The vibration signal processing circuit filters such complex vibration signals to provide a predetermined bandwidth thereof that are converted to stabilized DC voltage signals which are compared to reference voltages corresponding to higher than normal and excessive vibration levels. Exceedance of such reference voltages generates a corresponding vibration alarm signal. The temperature sensing devices monitor the operating and ambient temperatures of the bearing assembly and provide signals corresponding thereto. The temperature signal processing circuit converts such temperature signals to differential temperature signals which are compared to a reference voltage corresponding to a temperature differential indicative of impending catastrophic failure. Exceedance of the reference voltage generates a temperature alarm signal. The alarm subsystem is operative in response to the vibration and/or temperature alarm signals to provide a real time early warning of degradation and/or impending catastrophic failure of the bearing assembly.

Bearing assembly monitoring system

A laser diode distance measurement device includes a laser diode 10 which emits light 20 to a lens 22 which provides focussed light 24 incident on a target 26. The light 24 is reflected from the target 26 back to the laser diode 10 which causes the laser diode 10 to emit a light 28 which exhibits intensity pulses (due to coherent interference) related to the distance L to the target 26. A photodetector 30 provides a feedback signal indicative of the intensity of the light 28 to a distance measurement circuit 18. The laser diode 10 is driven by an up-ramp signal that reduces electronic processing and at a frequency that reduces speckle noise. The distance measurement circuit 18 blanks-out a portion of the feedback signal during discontinuities of the laser diode drive signal to minimize associated noise from distorting the distance measurement.

Laser diode distance measurement

A laser diode distance measurement device includes a laser diode assembly 10, comprising a laser diode and photodiode, which emits light 17 to a lens 19 which provides collimated light 20 incident on a float 22 which is covered with reflective tape on its top surface 24. The light 20 is reflected from the float 22 back to the laser diode assembly 10 which causes the assembly 10 to provide a signal having magnitude pulses (due to coherent interference) on a line 15 to a liquid level measurement circuit 14 related to the distance L to the float 22. Use of the collimated beam 20 and reflective tape on the float 22 minimizes speckle while providing adequate optical intensity feedback. The laser assembly 10 is driven by a sawtooth waveform signal that reduces electronic processing. The distance measurement circuit 14 blanks-out the feedback signal during discontinuities of the laser diode drive signal to minimize associated noise from distorting the distance measurement. Alternatively, the float may be omitted and the tube 11 made small enough to provide a meniscus effect curvature at a liquid surface 250 which provides a curved reflective surface to reflect the incident light 20, in a consistent fashion, back to the laser assembly 10.

Laser diode liquid-level/distance measurement

An arrangement for detecting the passage of living beings through a surveillance region into and out of a controlled-access space includes at least one pyroelectric detector device that includes two detector elements which have active areas that are directly exposed to thermal radiation from the surveillance region and convert the thermal radiation energy received thereby into electrical signals with opposite polaritites. The detector elements are situated in succession in the direction of passage into the controlled-access space. The surveillance region is optically subdivided into two surveillance zones arranged in succession as considered in the passage direction, for instance by a mask that masks an intervening zone situated between the surveillance zones to prevent thermal radiation from the intervening zone from reaching either one of the detector elements. Thus, the thermal radiation energy from a living being passing through the surveillance region reaches initially only one and subsequently only the other of the detector elements when such living being is entering, and initially only the other and subsequently only the one detector element when such living being is leaving, the controlled-access space. The opposite polarity electrical signals are then evaluated on the basis of their then existing lead/lag relationship.

Growing community of inventors

Glastonbury, CT, United States of America

Bruce E Zepke