Otis Elevator Company

Otis Gmbh & Co. Ohg

Uwe Schoenauer

Shan Li

Donald F Cominelli

Andreas O Belkner

Lutz Hentschel

HengFeng Xie

Andreas Belkner

Marvin Dehlmlow

Jens Kruse

Disclosed is an elevator control system configured to control movement of an elevator car () along an elevator hoistway () between a starting position and a destination position (L), the control system comprising a car holding position monitoring unit configured to monitor whether the elevator car () has moved upwards or downwards in the hoistway () during a holding period () where the car () was intended to remain stationary at the destination position (L). The car holding position monitoring unit is configured to: Receive a first trigger signal () from a first car position reference system (); upon receipt of the first trigger signal, receive signals from a further car position reference system to detect a first indicator () indicative of a travel distance (X) between the position of the elevator car () in the hoistway () when receiving the first trigger signal () and the position of the elevator car () in the hoistway () when stopping at the destination position (L); upon receipt of a further service call for the elevator car (), receive further signals from the further car position reference system and receive a second trigger signal (A) from the first car position reference system () to detect a second indicator (A) indicative of a travel distance between the position of the elevator car () in the hoistway () at the end of the holding period () and the position of the elevator car () in the hoistway () when the elevator car () receives the second trigger signal (A) from the first car position reference system (); and detect whether the elevator car () has moved during the holding period () based on a comparison of the first indicator () and the second indicator (A).

Elevator control system and method of operating an elevator system

An elevator system () includes an elevator hoistway () having a plurality of landings (), an elevator car () configured to move within the elevator hoistway (), and a position determining system () having a plurality of landing position indicators () and a plurality of dummy position indicators (). At least one of the landing position indicators () is mounted proximate to each of the plurality of landings (). Each dummy position indicator () is mounted within the elevator hoistway () at a predetermined vertical position between various of the plurality of landing position indicators (). The position determining system () additionally includes a sensor () configured to determine when the elevator car is adjacent one of the plurality of landing position indicators () or one of the plurality of dummy position indicators (). The plurality of landing position indicators () and the plurality of dummy position indicators () are positioned to form a sequence of unique patterns. The position determining system is more cost effective and timesaving than the absolute position reference systems.

Position recovery via dummy landing patterns

When main power to an elevator systemis lost, an automatic rescue operation is performed using power from a backup power source. A rescue run for an elevator stopped between floors is initiated by lifting a brakeand allowing the elevator carto move by gravity. If the carmoves as a result of a weight imbalance between the carand a counterweight, operation of the hoist motoris synchronized with sensed movement of the carto generate electricity. If weight is balanced so that the cardoes not move, backup power is supplied to the hoist motorto apply a motor torque to drive the carin a selected direction during the rescue run.

Gravity driven start phase in power limited elevator rescue operation

Growing community of inventors

Berlin, Germany

Uwe Schoenauer