HK1144803B - Power control device of elevator car - Google Patents

Description

Power control device for elevator car

The application is a divisional application of an invention patent application with an application date of 2008-11/4, an application number of 200810087072.9 and an invention name of "power control equipment of an elevator car".

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a power control apparatus for an elevator car (エレベ - タ passenger りかご), and more particularly to a power control apparatus for an elevator car that controls the amount of electricity used and the charge/discharge power of an electric apparatus such as an air conditioner, a lighting apparatus, and an elevator car door driving apparatus, a battery, and the like installed in the elevator car.

Background

The power supply Cable connected between the elevator car and the control panel is generally called a tail Cable (tail Cable), a Traveling Cable (Traveling Cable), or the like.

The tail cable has a length of several hundreds meters or more in an elevator of a high-rise building, and the increase in weight thereof is a problem. Furthermore, in a strong earthquake or the like with a very large earthquake magnitude, the trailing cable may come into contact with equipment in the hoistway due to the sway.

For this reason, there have been disclosed a number of patent technologies relating to elevators not using a tail cable, in which a storage battery is mounted on the elevator car side, and electric power is supplied to electric equipment such as an air conditioner and lighting mounted on the elevator car through the storage battery so that the tail cable can be eliminated.

The above-described patent technology aims at reducing the capacity of a secondary battery that is added without a tail cable or preventing the occurrence of a situation in which the charge of the secondary battery is completely exhausted. For example, patent document 1 discloses a technique related to a tailless cable elevator in which a generator for converting kinetic energy of the elevator into electric energy by a drive roller pressed against a guide rail, a non-contact type power feeder for supplying power to an elevator car in a non-contact state at a stopping floor of the elevator, and a storage battery are mounted on the elevator car, and power is supplied to the elevator car by the generator when the elevator is traveling, and power is supplied to the elevator car by the non-contact type power feeder when the elevator is stopped. According to this technique, the capacity of the battery can be reduced (see, for example, patent document 1).

For example, patent document 2 discloses a technique related to a tailless cable elevator in which a storage battery is attached to an elevator car and a counterweight, a non-contact power feeder is provided for supplying power to the storage battery in a non-contact manner when the elevator car stops at a specific floor, and the elevator car is moved to the specific floor where the non-contact power feeder is provided when the remaining capacity of the storage battery is equal to or less than a predetermined value. According to this technique, the possibility of the battery being completely discharged can be reduced. (see, for example, patent document 2).

In addition, many patent techniques have been disclosed for reducing power consumption, and an object of the techniques is to suppress power consumption of electric equipment mounted on an elevator car, such as an air conditioner and lighting, and particularly to suppress power consumption of an air conditioner having large power consumption.

For example, patent document 3 discloses a technique related to control of an elevator air conditioner, which includes a storage battery mounted on an elevator car to supply power to the air conditioner, a device for supplying power to the air conditioner of the elevator car through a building power supply at each floor, and a switching device for switching the power supply device for supplying power to the air conditioner to either the storage battery or the building power supply, wherein when the elevator car moves between floors, power is supplied to the air conditioner through the storage battery and the power consumption of the air conditioner is controlled to a minimum value, and when the elevator car stops at each floor, power is supplied to the air conditioner through the building power supply and the power consumption of the air conditioner is controlled to a maximum value. According to this technique, the maximum power consumption of the entire elevator can be suppressed, including the power consumption of the drive system that drives the elevator car (see patent document 3, for example).

Further, for example, patent document 4 discloses a technique related to operation control of an air conditioner for an elevator car, which includes a device for detecting the number of elevator users in the elevator car and in each floor elevator lobby, a device for analyzing and learning a floor with a large number of elevator users and a relevant time zone, and a device for calculating comfort level of the time zone, and controls the operation of the air conditioner for an elevator car in advance according to the comfort level calculated in units of time zones based on the analysis and learning results. According to this technique, the air conditioner can be controlled at an appropriate operation efficiency without causing discomfort to passengers (see, for example, patent document 4).

Patent document 5, for example, discloses a technique related to adjusting the amount of air blown into the elevator car by an air conditioner, which adjusts the amount of air blown into the elevator car from the air conditioner by detecting a passenger who wants to enter the elevator. Specifically, when no passenger is present, the operation of the air conditioner of the elevator car is stopped to save energy, and when it is detected that a passenger has taken the elevator car, the air conditioner is started from the stop mode to the strong wind mode, and the passenger can be cooled by this control (for example, see patent document 5).

JP-A-5-294568 (patent document 1)

Patent document 2 International publication No. 2002/057171

Japanese patent application laid-open No. 2002-211845

JP-A-9-151042 (patent document 4)

Japanese patent application laid-open No. 2001-328771.

Disclosure of Invention

However, according to the technique disclosed in patent document 1, in order to obtain the power generation amount capable of reducing the battery capacity, it is necessary to increase the drive rollers of the power generator and to provide a plurality of power generators. If the rated power of the air conditioner of the elevator car is large, for example, several kW, the capacity of the battery will also reach the level of kWh, resulting in an increase in the size of the battery.

To reduce this capacity, the amount of power generated by the generator needs to be increased, and to increase the generated power, a large generator needs to be used and the number of generators needs to be increased. In addition, in order to reduce the slipping of the drive roller, it is necessary to increase the force with which the drive roller is pressed against the guide rail, and this increases the friction of the drive roller, which results in a reduction in the speed of the elevator car. In order to avoid this, it is necessary to increase the rated power of a winding machine and an inverter of a motor or the like for driving the elevator car to increase the output power. As a result, the size of the hoist and the inverter is increased, which leads to a problem that the size of the entire elevator system is increased. Further, since a plurality of high-power generators need to be provided, there are also problems that the manufacturing cost increases, the weight of the elevator car increases, and the like. In addition, noise is generated due to friction between the driving roller and the guide rail. Therefore, it is difficult to significantly reduce the capacity of the battery.

Further, according to the technique disclosed in patent document 2, when the remaining amount of the battery decreases or when it is predicted that the remaining amount of the battery will decrease, it is necessary to cause the elevator car to travel to a floor where the charging device is installed to wait. For example, if the contactless power feeder is installed on a lobby floor such as floor 1, when an elevator hall call to the lobby floor occurs on each floor of a high-rise building during a time period when people go out to lunch or during a time period when people are going to work, it takes a considerable time for the elevator to travel to the lobby floor since the elevator car is on standby at the lobby floor. For this reason, the waiting time of the passenger becomes long.

Especially in elevators in high-rise areas, e.g. with elevator landing settings on 1 st and 30 th to 40 th, the problem is all the more serious because of the long distance between the lobby floor and the other floors. In addition, if a plurality of contactless power supplies are provided on a plurality of floors, for example, in order to avoid such a situation, the cost of the apparatus increases, and the cost of rebuilding a building increases. In order to avoid the above 2 cases, the capacity of the battery must be increased as a result.

Further, according to the technique disclosed in patent document 3, in order to reduce the capacity of the battery mounted on the elevator car, it is necessary to provide a considerable number of power supply devices on the building side. According to the description of patent document 3, if a power supply device is installed on each floor, for example, a power supply device for an elevator car is installed on each floor of a 10-story building, the cost (the device cost and the building reconstruction cost) thereof becomes large. Further, since the maintenance of the power supply device is required on each floor, the labor is also required. On the other hand, if the number of power supply devices is reduced, the opportunity for charging is reduced, and therefore, the capacity of a battery mounted on the elevator car needs to be increased, which results in an increase in the weight of the elevator car and an increase in the scale of the entire elevator system.

In addition to the above-described problems with the battery, since the output of the air conditioner is set to the maximum value every time the vehicle stops at a predetermined floor, there is a possibility that the air conditioner is still operated in the strong air blowing mode in a case where strong air blowing is not required, and thus, a passenger riding in the elevator may rather feel uncomfortable due to the strong air conditioning output.

Further, according to the technique disclosed in patent document 4, in a busy period in which the number of users is large, since it is necessary to maintain comfort, it is necessary to increase the output of the air conditioner for a long time, and therefore, there is a high possibility that the power consumption increases. In addition, since the learning data is statistically estimated, it is not always consistent with the actual use of the elevator at that time. For example, even during a busy period of time, there are not always many passengers in the elevator car, and there are often many passengers in the upward direction, but zero passengers in the downward direction. In this case, if the setting is made such that the air conditioner is constantly maintained at a high output as long as it is in a busy time zone, there is a possibility of waste.

As a result, when power is supplied from the battery to the air conditioner, the amount of stored power in the battery may become insufficient in the middle. In addition, in the case of an exceptional situation, for example, when an event such as a large conference is held, the elevator is used very busy at the start and end of the event, but it cannot be predicted from the learning data, and therefore, there is a possibility that the output of the air conditioner cannot be appropriately controlled.

Further, according to the technique disclosed in patent document 5, in a busy time period, since passengers are always getting on and off the elevator, there is a possibility that the air conditioner is always operated in a strong wind mode. In addition, although the number of people using the elevator is small at ordinary times, since passengers moving up and down exist between floors, there is a possibility that the passengers get on and off the elevator at each floor, and thus the air conditioner may always operate in a strong wind mode. As a result, the output of the air conditioner increases, and the amount of electricity stored in the battery may become insufficient during the supply of electricity from the battery to the air conditioner.

As described above, according to the techniques disclosed in the above patent documents 1 to 5, when the trailing cable of the elevator is eliminated, although the capacity of the battery mounted on the elevator can be reduced, there is a new problem that the device structure of the entire elevator system is increased, or the waiting time of the elevator passengers at the elevator lobby is increased. Therefore, when the above method is employed, it has a great adverse effect on other aspects, and it is difficult to substantially reduce the capacity of the battery.

In addition, in order to suppress the power consumption of the air conditioner of the elevator car, it is difficult to simultaneously achieve both the object of appropriately controlling the air conditioner according to the situation and the request of the passengers of the elevator car and the object of suppressing the power consumption by eliminating the unnecessary output operation of the air conditioner. As a result, if the above-described technique is employed for air conditioner control of an elevator without a tail cable, it is difficult to reduce the capacity of a battery mounted on the elevator car. Therefore, in all of the above-described techniques, it is difficult to substantially reduce the capacity of the battery, and therefore, it is impossible to avoid an increase in the weight of the battery, and the effect of weight reduction due to the formation of a pigtail cable is offset.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a power control apparatus for an elevator car which can reduce the capacity of a battery mounted on the elevator car, save unnecessary parts of power consumption of electrical equipment such as an air conditioner and a lighting device, and suppress power consumption, as an important design matter in the case of achieving not only the zero tail cable or the reduction in weight of the tail cable but also the zero tail cable and the reduction in weight of the tail cable of the elevator.

In order to achieve the above object, an elevator car power control device according to claim 1 of the present invention is configured to adjust an operation output of an air conditioner according to an occupancy floor of a passenger when a remaining charge amount of a battery is equal to or less than a predetermined remaining amount in an elevator including the battery provided in an elevator car and the air conditioner receiving power from the battery. Therefore, the output of the air conditioner can be changed according to the floor where the passenger takes in, by utilizing the characteristic that the output of the air conditioner required for each floor is different.

In addition, the power control apparatus for an elevator car according to claim 2 of the present invention is configured such that, in an elevator having a power supply device provided at a predetermined floor on the building side, a storage battery provided in the elevator car and capable of receiving power supply from the power supply device when the elevator car stops at the predetermined floor, and an air conditioner provided in the elevator car and capable of receiving power supply from the power supply device when the elevator car stops at the predetermined floor, the operation output of the air conditioner of the elevator car is increased and the discharge current of the storage battery is set to zero by controlling so that the operation output of the air conditioner of the elevator car is increased when the elevator car stops at the predetermined floor.

By performing the above control, since power can be supplied from the building power supply at a predetermined floor where the power supply device is installed, the output of the air conditioner is increased so that the temperature in the elevator car can be adjusted in a short time by the building power supply to the maximum extent, and on the other hand, the output of the battery can be suppressed by making the discharge current of the battery at that time zero.

In the elevator having the storage battery provided in the elevator car and the lighting device provided in the elevator car and receiving power supplied from the storage battery, the power control device for the elevator car according to the 3 rd aspect of the present invention is configured to adjust the output of the lighting device of the elevator car in accordance with the remaining storage amount of the storage battery when the number of people in the elevator car is zero. Since the illumination in the elevator car does not need to be illuminated with high brightness when no person is present in the elevator car, the output of the illumination in the elevator car can be adjusted according to the remaining charge amount of the battery by performing the above control.

In addition, the power control device for an elevator car according to claim 4 of the present invention is configured such that, in an elevator having a battery provided in the elevator car, and an air conditioner, a car position display device, an illumination device, an elevator car door driving device, and an internal telephone device provided in the elevator car and receiving power from the battery, when the remaining charge amount of the battery is equal to or less than a predetermined value, the power control device for the elevator car controls the power control device to issue a command to stop power supply to each device in order of the air conditioner, the car position display device, the illumination device, the elevator car door driving device, and the internal telephone device, based on whether or not power is supplied to each device, based on the remaining charge amount of the battery.

Thus, when the power supply to each device in the elevator car has to be stopped due to the insufficient remaining capacity of the battery, the power supply to each electrical appliance in the elevator car can be stopped in the above-described order more favorable for the passengers in the elevator car based on the remaining capacity.

The power control device for an elevator car according to the 5 th aspect of the present invention is an elevator comprising a power supply device installed at a predetermined floor on the building side, a1 st storage battery installed in the elevator car and receiving power from the power supply device when the elevator car stops at the predetermined floor, a2 nd storage battery installed in the elevator car and receiving power from the power supply device when the elevator car stops at the predetermined floor, and an air conditioner and a lighting device installed in the elevator car and supplied with power from the 1 st storage battery and the 2 nd storage battery, and also directly receiving power from the power supply device when the elevator car stops at the predetermined floor, wherein the power control device is configured to control the discharge current of the 1 st storage battery to be kept at or below a predetermined current when the remaining storage amount of the 1 st storage battery is at or below a predetermined remaining amount, and to suppress the discharge current of the 1 st storage battery to be at or below a predetermined current when the elevator, the 1 st storage battery and the 2 nd storage battery supply power to the air conditioner and the lighting device, and when the elevator car stops at a predetermined floor, the 2 nd storage battery is charged by the power supply device.

By performing the control as described above, the 1 st storage battery can be used as a main power supply for supplying power to each device in the elevator car, and the 2 nd storage battery can be used as an auxiliary power supply when the remaining storage capacity of the 1 st storage battery is insufficient. Since the 2 nd storage battery is selected as a battery that can be charged and discharged quickly although the capacity is small, the 2 nd storage battery is charged quickly from the power feeding device when the elevator car stops at a predetermined floor, and is discharged at another time, so that the shortage of the 1 st storage battery can be compensated by the 2 nd storage battery.

Further, the power control device for an elevator car according to claim 6 of the present invention is configured such that, in an elevator including a storage battery provided in the elevator car and receiving power supply from a power source on the building side via an electric power line, and electrical equipment such as an air conditioner and a lighting device installed in the elevator car and capable of receiving power supply from the power source on the building side via the electric power line as well as receiving power supply from the power source on the building side via the electric power line, the control is performed such that the storage battery is charged from the power source on the building side via the electric power line in a charging period of the storage battery, and the electrical equipment is supplied from both the storage battery and the power source on the building side via the electric power line in a period other than the charging period of the storage battery.

By performing the control as described above, the storage battery can be charged from the building power supply through the power line in the charging time zone such as late hours, the storage battery can discharge to the electrical equipment in the elevator car in the time zone in which the electrical equipment is operated such as daytime, and the electrical equipment can be supplied with power from the building power supply through the power line.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a power control device for an elevator car which can reduce the capacity of a battery mounted on the elevator car, save unnecessary parts in power consumption of electrical equipment such as an air conditioner and a lighting device, and suppress power consumption, as an important design matter in the case of achieving not only the tail cable-free or the weight reduction of the tail cable but also the tail cable-free or the weight reduction of the tail cable.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of an elevator system, which is referred to for convenience of explanation of a power control device of an elevator car according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of the car power control device shown in fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a flowchart referred to for convenience of explanation of the operation of the power control device for an elevator car according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 4 is an exemplary diagram of input/output characteristics of an air conditioner adjustment mode, which is introduced for convenience of describing the operation of the power control device for an elevator car according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 5 is another example of the input/output characteristics of the air conditioner adjustment mode, which is referred to for convenience of describing the operation of the power control device for an elevator car according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 6 is a flowchart referred to for convenience of explanation of the operation of the power control device for an elevator car according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 7 is an overall configuration diagram of a tailless elevator system, which is referred to for convenience of explanation of a power control device of an elevator car according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 8 is a flowchart referred to for convenience of explanation of the operation of the power control device for an elevator car according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 9 is an exemplary diagram of the air conditioner adjustment coefficient in the building power mode, which is referred to for convenience of describing the operation of the power control device for an elevator car according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 10 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of an elevator car power control device (car power control device) according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 11 is a flowchart referred to for convenience of explanation of the operation of the power control device for an elevator car according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 12 is a flowchart referred to for convenience of explanation of the operation of the power control device for an elevator car according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 13 is a flowchart referred to for convenience of explanation of the operation of the power control device for an elevator car according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 14 is an overall configuration diagram of an elevator system using a2 nd storage battery, which is referred to for convenience of explanation of a power control device of an elevator car according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 15 is a flowchart referred to for convenience of explanation of the operation of the power control device for an elevator car according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 16 is a flowchart referred to for convenience of explanation of the operation of the power control device for an elevator car according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 17 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of an elevator system including a lightweight tail cable, which is referred to for convenience of describing a power control device of an elevator car according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 18 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a power control related part of an elevator car according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 19 is a flowchart referred to for convenience of explanation of the operation of the power control device for an elevator car according to the sixth embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 20 is a state graph referred to for convenience of explanation of the power control apparatus of the elevator car according to the sixth embodiment of the present invention.

Description of the symbols

1 Elevator cage

2 Power control device for car

3 car power supply unit

11 air conditioner

12 Lighting device

13 cage position display device

14 electric guiding device

15 elevator door device

16 internal telephone

17 temperature sensor in car

18-car interior illumination sensor

20 building side power supply

34 accumulator

34S 2 nd accumulator

35 storage battery control device

35S 2 nd storage battery control device

70 light weight tail cable

201 car air conditioner instruction setting part

202 air conditioning command adjusting part

203 air conditioner control instruction converting part

204 control mode judging section

205 air-conditioner instruction adjustment quantity operation part (air-conditioner adjustment mode)

206 air-conditioner instruction regulating quantity operation part (building power mode)

207 accumulator control instruction setting part

Detailed Description

First, the overall structure of the elevator system and the relationship between the embodiments will be briefly described.

An elevator car is equipped with electric devices such as an air conditioner, a lighting device, a motor for driving an elevator car door, an inverter, a car position indicator, and an interior telephone for communicating between the elevator car and the outside, and these electric devices require a power supply device to supply power thereto. In a conventional elevator, the electric devices are directly supplied with power from a control panel (belonging to a building power supply) through a power supply and communication cable called a tail cable connected to an elevator car and a control panel in a machine room or the like installed at the highest floor of a building. Since the wire portion of the tail cable is made of steel, the longer the cable is, the greater the weight of the cable in the elevator as a whole. For example, in a building having a travel of about 400 to 500 m, the weight of the tail cable may be equivalent to that of the elevator car. Further, when the tail cable is shaken by an earthquake or the like, there is a possibility that the tail cable collides with the equipment in the hoistway. Therefore, in particular, in an elevator with a long stroke, it is necessary to make a tail cable free or to reduce the weight of the tail cable.

In the case of the above-described no-tail-cable formation, for example, a method may be employed in which a battery is attached to an elevator car and power is supplied from the battery. However, in this usage form, since the battery cannot be charged all the time, but is charged only for a certain period of time and then discharged for a long time, it is necessary to increase the charge capacity (amount of stored electricity), which may lead to an increase in weight. If this is done, even if the tailless cable is implemented, the weight of the battery as a substitute may exceed that of the tailcable, and therefore, the beneficial effect cannot be obtained from the viewpoint of the entire system, and therefore, it is necessary to reduce the capacity of the battery as much as possible. Further, since the cost per capacity of the storage battery is high and the storage battery may need to be replaced due to a problem of a service life, it is preferable to reduce the capacity of the storage battery as much as possible.

In order to reduce the capacity of the storage battery as much as possible, a power control device for an elevator car is provided which is capable of appropriately managing and controlling the power of the electrical devices and the storage battery in the elevator car.

First, it was found through examination that the ratio of the rated power of various electrical devices mounted on the elevator car was approximately 75% for the air conditioner, 15% for illumination, 5% for the elevator door drive device, and 5% for the others, with the highest ratio for the air conditioner.

Therefore, the power control apparatus for an elevator car according to the first embodiment of the present invention is configured to reduce the capacity of the battery by controlling the output power of the air conditioner to be within an appropriate range. Fig. 1 to 6 show details thereof. The power control device for an elevator car according to the first embodiment can be applied to an existing elevator system having a tail cable, and the power control device according to the first embodiment can be used to obtain an energy saving effect.

In addition, when not only the electric devices in the elevator car can be supplied with power using the storage battery but also the electric devices in the elevator car can be supplied with power using the power supply on the building side, the power consumption of the storage battery can be reduced by preferentially using the power supply on the building side. This is an invention relating to the power control apparatus of the elevator car in the second embodiment of the present invention. A concrete method is that if a device for charging the storage battery is provided in a certain floor (e.g. a lobby floor), the electrical equipment in the elevator car is directly supplied with power from the building power supply through the charging device by control when the elevator car stops at the floor. The power control device for an elevator car according to the second embodiment is described with reference to fig. 1 to 3 and 7 to 9.

Similarly, for example, in an electric apparatus other than an air conditioner in an elevator car, such as a lighting apparatus and an electric guide apparatus (herein, a device having a similar action to a wheel for smoothly moving the elevator car up and down, a guide apparatus receiving power supply such as a magnetic guide shoe and a driving guide roller are collectively referred to as an electric guide apparatus), the operation output of the apparatus can be adjusted according to the actual condition of the apparatus, and therefore, the capacity of a battery can be reduced. This is an invention relating to the power control apparatus of an elevator car in the third embodiment of the present invention. This is illustrated in detail in fig. 10 to 11.

On the other hand, when the capacity of the battery is reduced, it is necessary to establish a processing method when the remaining battery capacity is insufficient in preparation for the worst case. In this case, it is conceivable to employ a method of sequentially stopping various electrical devices in order to cope with the remaining amount of stored electricity, and the invention relating to the power control device for an elevator car according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention is an invention of stopping various electrical devices in an appropriate order as described above. This is illustrated in detail in fig. 12 and 13.

The present invention relates to a power control apparatus for an elevator car according to a fifth embodiment, in which a storage battery is provided separately from a main storage battery and an auxiliary storage battery, the main storage battery supplies power to electrical equipment in the elevator car at a low level, and the auxiliary storage battery serving as a rescue device supplies power to the main storage battery in case of insufficient charging of the main storage battery, thereby avoiding the occurrence of insufficient power supply. Here, the use of a storage battery capable of rapid charge and discharge as the auxiliary storage battery enables rapid charge when the vehicle stops at a floor where charging is possible, and in other cases, discharge is repeated to assist the main storage battery, so that the shortage of the main storage battery can be compensated for in a certain period of time. This is explained in detail in fig. 14 to 16.

In addition to the pigtail-less cable, it is also conceivable to limit the current to a small range, thereby reducing the diameter of the power line portion in the pigtail cable and achieving a light weight of the pigtail cable.

The specific method is that a storage battery installed on the elevator car is charged by a small current from a building power supply through a tail cable at night, and the car power equipment is powered by the storage battery and the tail cable in the daytime. In this case, the weight of the tail cable can be reduced, and power can be supplied by the tail cable even in daytime, so that the capacity of the battery mounted on the elevator car can be reduced. Related to this invention is a power control apparatus of an elevator car of a sixth embodiment of the present invention. This is explained in detail in fig. 17 to 20.

Hereinafter, the first embodiment, the second embodiment, the third embodiment, the fourth embodiment, the fifth embodiment, and the sixth embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail.

First embodiment

Fig. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of an elevator system according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

In fig. 1, Y2 denotes a building, Y1 denotes a hoistway space of an elevator, and the elevator car 1 moves vertically in the hoistway space Y1. The elevator car 1 includes electric devices such as an air conditioner 11, an illumination device 12, a car position display 13, an electric guide device 14 (a device having a function similar to that of a wheel for smoothly moving the elevator car 1 up and down along a guide rail, which is operated with power supplied thereto, also referred to as a guide shoe and a guide roller), an elevator door device 15 (a motor and an inverter for driving an elevator car door), and an internal telephone 16.

In the conventional elevator, the electric devices 11 to 16 are directly supplied with power from the building power supply through the power line in the tail cable, and are supplied with power from the battery 34. The battery 34 is a chargeable/dischargeable 2-time battery, and may be composed of, for example, a double layer capacitor, a capacitor, or the like.

Specifically, the DC power of the battery is boosted by a DC/DC converter 33 (a device for converting the DC power into the DC power, which has a function of boosting the DC voltage of the battery), and then converted into ac power by an inverter 36, and the ac power is supplied to the various electric devices 11 to 16. Here, the DC/DC converter 33 is controlled by the battery control device 35. The battery control device 35 can discharge or charge the battery 34 by controlling the voltage and current of the DC/DC converter 33.

The battery 34 is charged by the building-side power supply 20 as a power supply, and the battery 34 is charged by the converter 21 (for converting ac power into DC power), the inverter 22 (for converting DC power into high-frequency ac power and converting into high-frequency power for improving the efficiency of the transformer) and the power supply transformer 23(Tr) provided in the hoistway Y1, and by the power supply transformer 31, the converter 32, and the DC/DC converter 33 provided on the elevator car side.

The power supply to the elevator car is performed by a converter 32, an inverter 36, a DC/DC converter 33, a battery 34, and a battery control device 35, including charging by the building-side power supply 20, discharging to various electrical devices 11 to 16, charging and discharging by the battery 34, and the like, and these devices are collectively referred to as a car power supply device 3.

The transformer 23 on the hoistway Y1 side and the transformer 31 on the elevator car side are configured to be contactlessly powered by magnetic coupling, and when the elevator car 1 stops at a floor where a charging device (hereinafter, the transformer 23, the inverter 22, and the converter 21 are collectively referred to as a charging device in the hoistway) in the hoistway Y1, the transformer 31 and the transformer 23 approach each other with a gap therebetween of, for example, several cm, thereby supplying power to the elevator car from the building side in a contactless state. The floor on which the charging device is provided is preferably a floor on which the elevator is frequently stopped, for example, a lobby floor is preferred. The above description has been made of various electrical devices 11 to 16 in the elevator car, a method of supplying power to the various electrical devices 11 to 16 using the battery 34, and a method of charging the battery 34.

The power control device 2 for the car as "power control means for the car" of the present invention controls the power supply and power reception relationship between the electric devices 11 to 16 and the battery 34.

The car power control device 2 can transmit control commands to various electrical devices 11 to 16 of the elevator car including the air conditioner 11 and the lighting device 12, a battery control device 35, and the like, to control adjustment and stop of operation output of the various electrical devices 11 to 16, charging and discharging operations of the battery 34, and the like.

Specifically, the car power control device 2 performs control such that the battery 34 performs appropriate charging and discharging operations and the various electrical devices 11 to 16 perform appropriate operation operations by controlling, based on the state of the remaining amount of electricity in the battery 34, the state of use of the elevator, the outside air temperature of the building, the temperature condition of the building, the temperature of the elevator car detected by the car inside temperature sensor 17, the brightness of the inside of the elevator car detected by the car inside illuminance sensor 18, the elevator position, and other input information.

The information input to the car power control device 2 includes information from an elevator control device 44A described later

(information such as the number of passengers, the position, and whether the car is in a stop state or a travel state is input), the remote management server 52 (weather information is input), the group management control device 51 (information such as the flow rate of passengers is input), and information obtained by the temperature sensors 601 to 605 of the respective floors. The reference numerals 44A, 52, 51, 601 to 605 are shown in the overall system configuration diagram shown in fig. 7 described later.

Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of the car power control device 2 shown in fig. 1. The car power control device 2 shown in fig. 2 has a function of determining whether (1) a control mode for adjusting an output of an air conditioner or (2) a control mode for supplying power from a building power supply should be executed (neither of the two control modes may be selected to be executed), calculating an appropriate control amount for the control mode determined to be executed, and issuing a control command to the air conditioner 11 or the battery 34.

As shown in fig. 2, the car power control device 2 is composed of a car air conditioning command setting portion 201, an air conditioning command adjusting portion 202, an air conditioning control command converting portion 203, a control mode judging portion 204, an air conditioning command adjustment amount calculating portion (air conditioning adjustment mode) 205, an air conditioning command adjustment amount calculating portion (building power mode) 206, and a battery control command setting portion (building power mode) 207. The functions of the respective structural modules will be described later.

When controlling the air conditioner 11, the car air conditioning command setting unit 201, the air conditioning command adjusting unit 202, and the air conditioning control command converting unit 203 sequentially process the commands to determine an air conditioner control command, and transmit the air conditioner control command to the air conditioner 11. In car air conditioning command setting section 201, a control command determined by the existing air conditioning control is set as an initial value. Examples of the command include a target temperature (a target value of the car internal temperature) and a target output (a target value of the output of the air conditioner 11). In air conditioning command adjusting section 202, the magnitude of the air conditioning command is adjusted to an appropriate value in accordance with the adjustment amount obtained in air conditioning command adjustment amount calculating section 205, based on the command determined in car air conditioning command setting section 201.

In the air conditioning control instruction converting section 203, the unit or form of the signal is converted, and the adjusted air conditioning instruction is converted into the signal form of the control instruction transmitted to the air conditioner 11. The method of conversion is changed according to the method of reception of the control command of the air conditioner 11.

For example, when the target temperature is received by the air conditioner 11, the air-conditioning control instruction converting portion 203 performs conversion by a coefficient of 1 and sends the adjusted target temperature directly as a control instruction to the air conditioner. When the air conditioner 11 receives the output power command, if the adjusted air conditioner command is the target temperature, the air conditioner control command conversion section 203 converts the target temperature into the output power command according to the deviation between the target temperature and the current temperature in the elevator car. When the air conditioner 11 receives the on/off command, the on/off time pattern is set so as to coincide with the air conditioning command (output of the air conditioning command adjusting section 202) in which the average value of the predetermined time is adjusted, and is converted into an output on/off command according to the time pattern.

When the adjustment operation of the air conditioning command adjustment section 202 is performed, the control mode determination section 204 first determines which of (1) the normal operation, (2) the air conditioning adjustment mode, and (3) the building power mode is to be executed, thereby switching the adjustment amount calculation sections 205 to 206 corresponding to the respective control modes. Specifically, switching is performed by the switch 208.

Here, the normal operation means an operation in which neither an air conditioner adjustment mode nor a building power supply mode, which will be described later, is performed, that is, the air conditioning command is not adjusted in the air conditioning command adjusting section 202. Information on the remaining battery capacity of the battery, the predicted remaining battery capacity, the outside air temperature, and the position and state (whether the elevator car is in a stopped state or in a traveling state) of the elevator car is input to the control mode determination section 204, and an appropriate state is selected in accordance with the state. For example, when the remaining charge amount of the battery 34 is small and the outside air temperature is higher than a predetermined value, the air-conditioning mode is selected in order to avoid the occurrence of the shortage of the remaining charge amount.

In air conditioning command adjustment amount calculation section 205, the adjustment amount of the air conditioning command is calculated based on information such as the floor on which the passenger gets into the car, the number of passengers, the outside air temperature, the number of passengers in the car, and the rated number of passengers in the car. The relationship between the respective input amounts and the adjustment amounts has, for example, the input-output characteristics shown in fig. 4 and 5. This will be explained later with reference to fig. 4 and 5.

If the building power mode is selected in the control mode judgment, the air conditioning command adjustment amount is calculated by the air conditioning command adjustment amount calculating section 206 of the building power mode. The input information at this time is the temperature in the car and the number of passengers in the car. While the air conditioning command is adjusted in accordance with the air conditioning command adjustment amount calculated here, a battery control command is set in a battery control command setting section 207 and transmitted to the battery control device (35 of fig. 1). As will be described later, since the building power supply mode can directly supply power to the electric devices 11 to 16 in the car through the building-side power supply 20 without using the battery 34 when the elevator car 1 stops at a chargeable floor, the output of the air conditioner 11 is increased as much as possible (for this reason, the adjustment amount tends to be larger than the original command), thereby rapidly approaching the target temperature and also reducing the discharge power of the battery 34 to zero, thereby maintaining the remaining charge amount of the battery 34.

Fig. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation of the control mode determining section 204 of the car power control device 2 shown in fig. 2. The determination operation of the control mode determination section 204 will be described in detail below with reference to the flowchart of fig. 3.

First, it is determined in the control mode determining section 204 whether or not the remaining charge amount of the battery 34 is smaller than the threshold value 1 (step ST 10). When determined to be greater than the threshold value 1 (no in step ST10), it is further determined whether the predicted value of the remaining battery amount is smaller than the threshold value 2 (step ST 11). If it is still determined to be greater than the threshold value 2 ("no" in step ST11), it can be considered that there is still a sufficient remaining battery amount, and therefore air conditioning command adjustment is not performed (step ST 12). If the remaining battery capacity is smaller than the threshold value 1 ("yes" in step ST10) or if the predicted remaining battery capacity is smaller than the threshold value 2 ("yes" in step ST11), the remaining battery capacity may become insufficient, and the following determination process is performed.

That is, first, if the elevator car 1 is in a stopped state and the position of the elevator car 1 coincides with the floor where the power feeding device capable of feeding power to the elevator car 1 (the floor where the power feeding transformer 23, inverter 22, and converter 21 devices in fig. 1 are provided) (yes in step ST13), the control mode determining section 204 makes a determination that power can be supplied from the building side power source (20 in fig. 1) to the electrical devices 11 to 16 of the elevator car 1 through the power feeding devices 21, 22, 23 on the hoistway 23 side and the power feeding device 3 of the elevator car, and performs the building power mode (step ST 14).

If the elevator car 1 is not in a stopped state or if the position of the elevator car 1 does not coincide with the floor on which the power supply apparatus capable of supplying power to the elevator car 1 is installed (no in step ST13), the control mode determination section 204 determines whether or not the outside air temperature is lower than the threshold value 3 (step ST 15). Here, if the outside air temperature is determined to be smaller than the threshold value (yes in step ST15), a determination is made that the output of the air conditioner 11 is adjusted without causing much discomfort to the passenger, and therefore a determination is made to enter the air conditioner adjustment mode (step ST 16). Further, if the outside air temperature is determined to be greater than the threshold value (no at step ST15), a determination is made that the passenger desires to perform temperature adjustment, and a determination is made that normal operation is performed (step ST 17).

In the example of determining the control mode shown in fig. 3, the control mode determining section 204 is provided to use the position of the elevator car 1, the outside air temperature, and the like as the conditions for determination when determining whether or not to implement the air-conditioning mode, but may be provided not to determine based on the conditions, and to directly determine to enter the air-conditioning mode when, for example, the remaining storage amount of the battery 34 or the predicted value thereof is lower than the threshold value. In this case, the control can be performed in a direction to maintain the remaining charge amount of the battery 34.

Fig. 4(a) and (b) are graphs showing input/output characteristics of control in the air conditioner adjustment mode. Specifically, the graph (characteristic) is used when the air conditioning command adjustment amount is decided by the air conditioning command adjustment amount operation section 205.

Fig. 4(a) shows a control characteristic when the air conditioner 11 is not adjusted according to the outside air temperature. In the graph of fig. 4(a), the horizontal axis represents the ratio of the number of persons who get in the elevator car from a certain floor to the rated passengers in the car, and the vertical axis represents the output of the air conditioner after adjustment (after adjustment by the air conditioning command adjusting section 202 of fig. 2). A1 in fig. 4(a) shows the characteristic when the boarding floor is a lobby floor, and a2 shows the characteristic when the boarding floor is a floor other than the lobby floor.

In general, since an air conditioner in a building is always operating properly, it is considered that the requirement for air conditioning in an elevator car is not so high when a person who has been staying in the building is riding an elevator. In contrast, when a person who has entered a building from the outside takes an elevator, the person is in an outside air temperature environment until then, and therefore, the person strongly feels that air conditioning is highly required in the elevator car.

Therefore, if the output of the air conditioner 11 is adjusted according to the different requirements, the output of the entire air conditioner can be suppressed. Since a person who enters a building from the outside generally enters the building from a lobby floor and gets on an elevator at the lobby floor, whether air conditioning is necessary or not can be determined according to whether the boarding floor is a lobby floor or not.

The 2 characteristic curves a1 and a2 in fig. 4(a) show the above-described case, and the output of the air conditioner 11 is reduced in the characteristic curve when the boarding floor is a floor other than a lobby floor, compared to the characteristic curve (a1) when the boarding floor is a lobby floor. In addition, not only the floor of riding is an important factor in determining the output of the air conditioner 11, but also the number of people riding on the floor is important in determining the output of the air conditioner 11. For example, if the number of persons who get on the elevator from a hall floor is small, it is not necessary to greatly increase the output of the air conditioner 11. To reflect this, in the characteristic curves a1 and a2 in fig. 4(a), the adjusted air conditioning output increases as the number of passengers increases.

According to the characteristics shown in fig. 4(a), by adjusting the output of the air conditioner 11, the air-conditioning output can be assigned to a passenger who is getting into the elevator from a lobby floor and needs air conditioning in a large amount, and the air-conditioning output can be suppressed for a passenger who is getting into the elevator from a floor other than the lobby floor and needs air conditioning in a small amount.

As a result, the output power of the entire air conditioner 11 can be reduced without making elevator passengers feel unpleasant. Further, by performing the above adjustment in accordance with the number of passengers who enter the elevator from the lobby floor and the number of passengers who enter the elevator from a floor other than the lobby floor, it is possible to perform appropriate adjustment in accordance with the number of passengers, and it is possible to further suppress the output power of the air conditioner 11. Therefore, when the remaining battery amount of the battery 34 is not large, the above adjustment can suppress the power consumption of the air conditioner 11, and the degree of reduction in the remaining battery amount can be reduced. That is, the necessary capacity of the storage battery can be reduced while realizing a tailless elevator.

In addition, when the number of passengers is calculated, the estimated value can be obtained by dividing the temporal change in the load data value detected by a load sensor, not shown, provided under the floor of the elevator car by the average weight of each person. It should be noted that although it may be feared that a certain time elapses from the time when the output of the air conditioner 11 is changed until the temperature in the elevator car is actually changed, in reality, when cold air (air with cold air, not general ventilation) blown out from the air conditioner 11 is blown onto a person, a feeling of cooling is given to the person, so that the above-described control is actually sufficient, and the required output of the air conditioner is smaller than the reduction in the temperature in the entire car, so that the required amount of electric power can be suppressed.

Fig. 4(b) shows a control characteristic when the air conditioner is adjusted according to the outside air temperature. The characteristic that the adjustment amount increases with the difference in the characteristic of whether or not it is a hall floor and the number of passengers increases is the same as in fig. 4 (b).

The control characteristic of the air conditioner adjustment mode of fig. 4(b) differs from that of fig. 4(a) in that, when the boarding floor is a lobby floor, the control characteristic changes with the change in the outside air temperature at that time. In the example of fig. 4(b), as the outside air temperature rises to 25 degrees, 28 degrees, 30 degrees, and 32 degrees, the output amount of the air conditioner also increases as indicated by characteristic curves a11, a12, a13, and a 14. This is intended to suppress the output of the entire air conditioner by finely adjusting the air conditioner output in accordance with the outside air temperature at that time for a passenger who gets into the elevator from a hall floor. For example, in fig. 4(a), the air-conditioning output is determined based on whether or not the passengers are getting into the elevator from the hall floor and the number of passengers, without considering the factor of the outside air temperature, and the same characteristic, whereas in fig. 4(b), the output of the air-conditioning apparatus 11 is suppressed when the outside air temperature is not high, so that the output of the entire air-conditioning apparatus 11 can be suppressed.

Fig. 5 shows control characteristics of an air conditioner adjustment mode different from the control characteristic examples shown in fig. 4(a) and (b). Further, fig. 5 also corresponds to the input-output characteristics of the adjustment control used in the air conditioning instruction adjustment amount operation portion 206 for the building power mode shown in fig. 2.

In fig. 5, the horizontal axis represents the ratio of the number of passengers in the car to the rated number of passengers in the car, and the vertical axis represents the output of the air conditioner after adjustment (after adjustment by the air conditioning command adjusting section 202 in fig. 2). As shown in fig. 5, the more guests are in the car, the more the adjusted output of the air conditioner increases (curve B1). Further, the characteristic (curve B1) has a characteristic similar to a 2-degree function, and when the number of people in the car increases, the output of the air conditioner is increased sharply accordingly. This is because, in general, when the number of passengers in the car is small, a large output of the air conditioner is not required, but the output of the air conditioner needs to be increased because the passengers are psychologically oppressed and uncomfortable as the number of passengers increases. Further, as the number of people increases, the temperature of the people also increases due to the body temperature of the people, and therefore, the output of the air conditioner needs to be increased.

Since the output of the air conditioner is controlled according to the characteristics of fig. 5, and the concentrated air-conditioning output is performed when the car is crowded and the air conditioner is certainly needed, the output of the air conditioner can be suppressed in other cases, and the output of the air conditioner can be suppressed as a whole.

In addition, since the position of the elevator car is limited to the floor where the power feeding device for feeding power to the elevator car is installed in the building power mode, the method of fig. 4(a) and (b) for adjusting the output according to the floor of riding in is applicable to a narrow range, and the control characteristic shown in fig. 5 is more suitable than this. Therefore, the air conditioning command adjustment amount calculation (206) of the building power mode of fig. 2 is performed according to the characteristic of fig. 5.

The number of passengers in the car may be an approximate value obtained by dividing a load data value measured by a load sensor provided under the floor of the elevator car 1 by the average weight of each person.

Fig. 6 is a flowchart showing a process of an air conditioner adjustment mode by air conditioner command adjustment amount calculation section 205. The operation of the air conditioning command adjustment amount calculation section 205 will be described in detail below with reference to a flowchart shown in fig. 6.

First, it is judged by air conditioning command adjustment amount operating section 205 whether or not the floor on which the passenger rides is a lobby floor (step ST 20). Here, the lobby floor means not only one floor but also a floor (a plurality of floors) having an entrance communicating with the outside of the building and allowing a large number of people to enter and exit from the entrance. When the boarding floor is a lobby floor, the air-conditioning command adjustment coefficient K is calculated according to the following operational formula (1) (step ST 21).

K＝FA(P、T) …(1)

In the equation, FA represents a function for determining the value of the air conditioning command adjustment coefficient K when the passenger's boarding floor is a lobby floor, and the input/output characteristics thereof correspond to a11 to a14 in fig. 4 (b). P represents the ratio of the number of passengers on the floor to the rated number of passengers on the car, and T represents the outside air temperature.

Based on the air conditioning command adjustment coefficient K value set here, the air conditioning command adjustment amount calculation section 205 adjusts the air conditioning control command so that it becomes an air conditioning command matching the characteristics of a11 to a14 in fig. 4 (b). The adjustment of the air conditioner command is continued from the time of the change until the passengers in the elevator car become zero (all the passengers are getting into the elevator), or until the elevator car changes the traveling direction (step ST 22). When the boarding floor is a floor other than the lobby floor, the air-conditioning command adjustment coefficient K is calculated according to the following operational formula (2) (step ST 23).

K＝FB(P) …(2)

In the equation, FB represents a function for determining the K value when the passenger's boarding floor is a floor other than the lobby floor, and the input-output characteristic thereof corresponds to a2 in fig. 4 (b). P represents the ratio of the number of passengers on the floor to the rated number of passengers on the car. Here, the air conditioner control command is adjusted based on the set air conditioner command adjustment coefficient K so that the air conditioner command matches the characteristic a2 in fig. 4 (b). The set value of K is updated for each floor, and the air conditioning command adjustment amount calculation section 205 performs air conditioning command adjustment according to the set K until the passengers of the elevator car become zero or the elevator car changes the traveling direction (step ST 24).

In this way, since the air conditioning command adjustment coefficient K is set according to the floor on which the passenger is riding, the number of people riding on the floor, and the outside air temperature, the output of the air conditioner can be set as needed, and as a result, unnecessary air conditioning output can be suppressed, and therefore, the output power of the entire air conditioner can be suppressed. Therefore, when the elevator is converted into a non-tail cable, the necessary capacity of the battery 34 mounted in the elevator car can be reduced.

Second embodiment

An elevator car power control apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention in which power is directly supplied from a building-side power supply 20 to electrical devices 11 to 16 (shown as 11A to 16A and 11B to 16B in the drawings) in an elevator car 1 by a power supply device will be described below with reference to fig. 7 to 9.

Fig. 7 is a diagram showing the overall structure of a tailless elevator system. As shown in the figure, 2 elevators (50A, 50B) are managed by a group management method (a method of performing integrated management of 2 elevators as a group). In the symbols representing the respective members, the member ending with a represents the elevator No. 1, and the member ending with B represents the elevator No. 2. Here, only the components of the elevator No. 1 will be described, and the description of the components of the elevator No. 2 will be omitted. In the components of elevator No. 1, the components already described in fig. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description thereof is omitted. The overall structure of the elevator system shown in fig. 7 will be described below mainly with respect to the elevator No. 1.

In an elevator system (elevator system of elevator No. 1), an elevator car 1A and a counterweight 48A are connected by a main rope (rope)47A, and the main rope 47A is driven by a sheave (shear) 46A and a pulley (pulley)48A, thereby moving the elevator car and the counterweight up and down.

The sheave 46A is driven to rotate by the motor 45A, and the motor 45A is driven at a variable speed by an inverter in the elevator control device 44A. The elevator control device 44A, the motor 45A, and the like are installed in a machine room located at the uppermost floor of the building.

As described above with reference to fig. 1, various electrical devices of the elevator car 1A are supplied with power from the car power supply device 3A (including the battery 34, the power converters 32, 33, and 36, and the battery control device 35). The electrical equipment such as the air conditioner 11A and the car power supply device 3A operate appropriately under the control of the car power control device 2A as "car power control means".

When the battery 34 in the car power supply device 3A is charged, the transformer 31A on the elevator car side and the transformer 23A on the hoistway side are electromagnetically coupled to transmit electric energy. The power converter 24A on the hoistway side is configured by the converter 21 and the inverter 22 in fig. 1, and converts the power supply on the building side into high-frequency ac power. Control information transmitted from the elevator control device 44A to the elevator car is transmitted via the wireless communication devices 43A (control device side) and 42A (elevator car side). Since the stroke of the hoistway can be as long as 400m or more, a wireless communication device capable of transmitting between such distances is used.

The wireless communication may be a multi-hop (multi-hop) wireless communication system, for example. The multi-hop wireless communication system is a wireless network including a base station represented by ieee802.15.4, a plurality of relay stations, or a plurality of terminal stations connected to sensors or the like, and the plurality of wireless communication stations are provided on a wall surface or the like of the elevator shaft Y1, whereby wireless communication and data transmission can be independently performed. Further, depending on the length of the travel of the hoistway Y1, a multi-hop wireless communication system may be replaced with a wireless communication system in which sensors provided in the hoistway Y1 and the elevator lobbies on each floor perform short-range wireless communication.

In addition, temperature sensors 601, 602, …, 605 are provided in the elevator lobbies of the respective floors to measure the temperatures of the respective floors. The temperature data of each floor is transmitted to the elevator control device 44A via a wired communication Network such as a Local Area Network (Local Area Network) not shown in the drawings, which connects elevator lobbies of each floor, and is also transmitted to the car power control device 2A by radio.

In addition, an elevator hall waiting passenger detection sensor, not shown in fig. 7, which can calculate the number of waiting passengers in the elevator hall by image recognition may be provided in the elevator hall of each floor. The above part is the description of the structure of the elevator No. 1, and the structure of the elevator No. 2 is the same as that of the elevator No. 1.

The elevator 1 and the elevator 2 are collectively managed as 1 elevator group by the elevator group management device 51. In the elevator group management device 51, the number of persons who are on and off and the up and down time of each floor of each elevator can be counted, and the predicted value of the number of persons who are used at a future time point can be obtained from the number of persons who are used at each time point, past data, and the like. The information can be transmitted to the control devices 44A and 44B of the elevators through the communication lines.

The remote management server 52 is installed in, for example, an equipment management room of a building or an elevator maintenance company, and the remote management server 52 can transmit various kinds of information such as weather prediction information to the control devices 44A and 44B of the elevators via communication lines. The above is a schematic configuration of a tailless cable elevator system including the power control device of an elevator car according to the present invention.

When the remaining charge amount of the battery is insufficient (steps ST10, ST11 in fig. 3), the building power mode is executed when the car is in a stopped state and the elevator car is at a floor where a power feeding device for feeding power to the elevator car is installed (step ST13 in fig. 2), and power can be directly fed from the power feeding device on the hoistway Y1 side to the power feeding device on the elevator car side.

Specifically, as shown in fig. 1, power is directly supplied from the building power supply 20 to the electric devices such as the air conditioner 11 and the lighting device 12 through the converter 21, the inverter 22, the transformer 23, the transformer 31, the converter 32, and the inverter 36 on the hoistway side. At this time, the discharge power of the battery 34 is zero. In this way, by supplying power from the building-side power source to the floor having the car power supply device 3A, it is possible to supply power to various electrical devices 11 to 16 in the elevator car without reducing the remaining battery capacity. The above is a rough case of the building power supply mode, in which the number of floors at which the elevator car can be supplied with power by the power supply on the building side is limited, and the time during which power can be supplied (the stop time at the floor) is also limited. Therefore, the problem is how to effectively operate electrical equipment in an elevator car in practical applications within a limited power supply opportunity and power supply time.

Here, the characteristic of the air conditioner 11, specifically, the characteristic that the temperature in the elevator car 1 air-conditioned by the air conditioner is kept constant for a certain period of time (the air holds the temperature as heat energy) is utilized, and the required output of the air conditioner or the temperature in the car is predicted based on information such as the temperature in the car, the number of passengers in the car, the number of elevator users in the period of time, and the number of waiting persons in the elevator lobby of each floor, and the output of the air conditioner is controlled so that the necessary condition can be satisfied during the power mode of the building.

Fig. 8 is a flowchart showing a control state determination process of the air conditioner in the building power mode.

The control state determination process of the air conditioner 11 in the building power mode by the air conditioning command adjustment amount calculation section 206 (fig. 2) will be described below with reference to the flowchart of fig. 8.

First, the air conditioning command adjustment amount calculation section 206 calculates an adjustment coefficient K1 based on the temperature in the elevator car according to the following operation formula (3) based on the temperature TC (degree) in the elevator car detected by the temperature sensor (17A in fig. 7) in the elevator car 1 (step ST 30). Here, the adjustment coefficient is an adjustment gain required for performing output adjustment of the air conditioner (corresponding to the air conditioning command adjusting section 202 in fig. 2).

K1＝F1(TC) …(3)

In the equation, F1 represents a function used for determining the adjustment coefficient K1 according to the car interior temperature. The adjustment coefficient K1 represents an adjustment quantity obtained by predicting how much air conditioner adjustment needs to be made during the power mode based on the current temperature in the elevator car. Then, the air conditioning command adjustment amount calculation section 206 calculates an adjustment coefficient K2 based on the number of passengers in the car PC (people) calculated from the load detection value of the load sensor provided under the floor of the elevator car according to the following operation formula (4) (step ST31) based on the number of passengers in the car PC (people).

K2＝F2(PC) …(4)

In the formula, F2 represents a function used for determining the adjustment coefficient K2 according to the number of passengers in the car. The adjustment coefficient K2 represents an adjustment amount obtained by predicting how much air conditioner adjustment needs to be made during the power mode based on the current number of passengers in the car. Further, the air conditioning command adjustment amount calculation section 206 obtains the number of people used NR (people) and the predicted number of people used NRP (people) of the elevator in the current time zone from the group management device 51, and calculates an adjustment coefficient K3 based on the number of people used and the predicted number of people used according to the following operation formula (5) based on the data (step ST 32).

K3＝F3(NR、NRP) …(5)

In the formula, F3 represents a function used when the adjustment coefficient K3 is determined based on the number of elevator users in the current time zone and the predicted number of elevator users. The adjustment coefficient K3 represents an adjustment amount obtained by predicting how much air conditioner adjustment needs to be performed during the power mode based on the number of people using the elevator at the current time period and the predicted number of people using the elevator. If an elevator hall waiting passenger detection sensor is installed in an elevator hall of each floor (or a specific floor) (step ST33), an adjustment coefficient K4 based on the total value PH (people) of the number of waiting people in each elevator hall is calculated according to the following operation formula (6) (step ST 35).

K4＝F4(PH) (6)

In the equation, F4 represents a function used for determining the adjustment coefficient K4 from the total waiting persons in each elevator hall. The adjustment coefficient K4 represents an adjustment amount obtained by predicting how much air conditioner adjustment needs to be performed during the power mode based on the current total waiting population of each elevator lobby. When the elevator hall waiting passenger detection sensor is not installed, K4 is zero (step ST 34).

Through the above processing, the storage battery control command setting section 207 shown in fig. 2 obtains air conditioner adjustment coefficients relating to the main factors such as the car interior temperature, the number of passengers in the car, the number of used passengers, the predicted number of used passengers, the total number of waiting passengers in each elevator lobby, and the like, and then obtains an air conditioner command adjustment coefficient from the total value of the adjustment coefficients (step ST 36). At the same time, the battery discharge current command is set to zero, and the control of the battery is switched to the constant current control (normally, the battery is controlled by the constant voltage control) (step ST 36). As a result, the output value of the air conditioner is controlled to an appropriate value according to the state (temperature, number of passengers, number of people used, and number of waiting people) at that time, and the remaining charge amount is maintained because the battery is not discharged. Further, since the output of the air conditioner is determined based on the adjustment coefficient including the prediction of the future situation, the discharge output of the battery can be controlled within an appropriate range even after the elevator car departs from the floor where the power feeding device is installed.

The process of determining the output adjustment amount of the air conditioner shown in fig. 8 (steps ST30 to ST35) is executed by the air conditioning command adjustment amount calculation section 206 for the building power mode shown in fig. 2, and the process of determining the control condition of the battery (step ST36) is executed by the battery control command setting section 207 for the building power mode shown in fig. 2.

Fig. 9 shows a specific example of the adjustment coefficient of the air conditioner for the building power mode. In fig. 9, the horizontal axis (C1) represents the car interior temperature, and the vertical axis (C2) represents the number of people using the elevator.

The grid where the horizontal axis and the vertical axis intersect represents the adjustment coefficient of the output of the air conditioner corresponding to the combination of the temperature in the car and the number of people using the car. For example, when the temperature in the car is 28 degrees and the number of people using the elevator is x3 people, the adjustment coefficient is P11. The adjustment coefficient represents the current output adjustment amount of the air conditioner required in the following period of time, which is deduced according to the current temperature in the elevator car and the number of people using the elevator. In the method of calculating the adjustment coefficient shown in fig. 8, the adjustment coefficients of the respective factors are obtained as independent functions by dividing the car interior temperature and the number of people using the car interior temperature, but the respective factors may be combined as shown in fig. 9.

Third embodiment

Fig. 10 and 11 are explanatory views showing a method of adjusting the output of the in-car electric devices (the lighting device and the electric guidance device) other than the air conditioner by the power control device of the elevator car according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

The adjustment control of both the lighting device 12 and the electric guide device 14 is performed in the car power control device 2 as "car power control means" of the present invention. The output adjustment method of the lighting device and the electric guidance device will be described below with reference to fig. 10 and 11 (see fig. 1 and the like as appropriate).

Fig. 10 shows a configuration of the car power control device 2 for adjusting the outputs of the lighting device and the electric guide device. The basic structure thereof is the same as the output adjustment of the air conditioner 11 shown in the first embodiment of fig. 2. That is, the output command for the car illumination is set by the car illumination output command setting portion 220, and the output command is adjusted by the illumination output command adjusting portion 221. Here, the output command is adjusted in accordance with the adjustment amount calculated by the illumination output command adjustment amount calculation section 224. The illumination control instruction converting section 222 converts the adjusted illumination output instruction into an illumination control instruction. The lighting control command is transmitted to a control section of the lighting device in the elevator car, and the output of the lighting device is controlled in accordance with the control command (output command from the adjustment).

Here, the illumination device 12 is assumed to be basically illuminated using an LED (light emitting diode). The LED illumination can conveniently adjust the illumination through power adjustment and conveniently switch and the like. Although the inverter type fluorescent lamp has a problem in terms of service life, it can adjust illuminance to some extent by power adjustment.

The illumination output command adjustment mode determination section 223 determines whether or not adjustment of the illumination output command is necessary based on the remaining power storage amount of the battery, the predicted value of the remaining power storage amount, the number of passengers in the car, and the amount of outside light in the car (detected by the car interior illuminance sensor 18 in fig. 1). The details of the determination processing by the illumination output instruction adjustment mode determination section 223 will be described later with reference to the flowchart of fig. 11. The judgment result of the illumination output instruction adjustment mode judgment section 223 is sent to the illumination output instruction adjustment amount operation section 224. When the output adjustment is performed by the illumination output command adjustment amount calculation section 224, the adjustment coefficient or the adjustment amount is calculated based on the remaining battery amount and the predicted value thereof, as in the case of the air conditioner, and the result is sent to the illumination output command adjustment section 221. When the output adjustment is not performed, the adjustment coefficient or the adjustment amount is set to zero, and the result thereof is sent to the illumination output instruction adjusting section 221.

The electric guide device 14 is a device for guiding (guiding) the elevator car 1 on guide rails, and is mounted on a car frame of the elevator car 1 (schematically shown by a reference numeral 14A in the overall system configuration diagram of fig. 7). The electric guide device 14 has 2 types of a guide shoe type electric guide device (a device sliding between guide rails) and a guide roller type electric guide device (a roller is provided between guide rails), and as an electric guide device for supplying power, the former is a magnetic levitation type guide device, and the latter is an electric structure using an actuator to adjust a pressing force between the guide rails and the roller. Both types have an effect of being able to reduce vibration and noise.

The structure of the output adjustment of the electric guide 14 is identical to the structure of the adjustment of the lighting. The flow of the control structure will be briefly described below.

First, the output command of the electric guide device 14 is set by the output command setting portion 225, and when adjustment is necessary, the output command adjustment portion 226 adjusts the output command. The control command converting section 227 converts the adjusted output command into a control command, and sends the control command to the electric guidance device 14. The output command adjustment mode determination portion 228 determines whether or not to perform output adjustment of the electric guide device 14, and when performing adjustment, the adjustment coefficient or the adjustment amount is calculated by the output command adjustment amount calculation portion 229. The calculated adjustment coefficient or adjustment amount is sent to the output command adjusting portion 226, and the output command adjusting portion 226 adjusts the output command in accordance with the value. The input information of the output command adjustment mode determination section 228 of the electric guidance device 14 is the remaining battery capacity of the battery, its predicted value, the number of passengers in the car, and car travel state information. The input information of the output command adjustment amount calculation portion 229 is the remaining charge amount of the battery and its predicted value.

Fig. 11 is a flowchart showing a determination process when the illumination output command adjustment mode determination portion 223 and the electric guidance device output command adjustment mode determination portion 228 shown in fig. 10 determine whether or not to perform output adjustment of the illumination device 12 and the electric guidance device 14. The processing flow of the illumination output instruction adjustment mode determination section 223 and the electric guidance device output adjustment mode determination section 228 shown in fig. 10 will be described below with reference to the flowchart of fig. 11.

In the flowchart of fig. 11, the illumination output instruction adjustment mode determination portion 223 (the electrical guiding apparatus output instruction adjustment mode determination portion 228) first determines whether or not the remaining battery amount of the battery is less than the threshold value 3 (step ST 40). When it is determined that the estimated remaining battery amount is greater than the threshold value, it is further determined whether or not the estimated remaining battery amount is less than the threshold value 4 (step ST 41). If the predicted value is also determined to be greater than the threshold value (no in step ST41), it is determined that the output adjustment of the lighting device 12, the electric guidance device 14, and the like is not to be performed (step ST 42).

On the other hand, if the remaining battery capacity of the storage battery is less than the threshold value 3 ("yes" in step ST40), or if the predicted value is judged to be less than the threshold value 4 ("yes" in step ST41), the lighting output command adjustment mode judgment section 223 judges whether the number of passengers in the elevator car 1 is zero based on the detection value of the load sensor (step ST 43). When the number of passengers in the car is zero (YES in step ST43), the output of the lighting in the car is reduced according to the remaining battery capacity of the battery 34 or its predicted value (step ST 44).

On the other hand, the electric guidance device output command adjustment mode determination section 228 further determines whether or not the elevator car 1 is in a traveling state (step ST45), and if it is in the traveling state (yes at step ST45), the output of the electric guidance device 14 is reduced in accordance with the remaining charge amount of the battery or its predicted value (step ST 46). If in the stopped state, the output adjustment of the electric motor guidance device 14 is not performed (step ST 47).

Further, when the remaining capacity of the battery 34 is insufficient, it is preferable to appropriately control the output in accordance with the remaining capacity because the illumination of the inside of the elevator car causes unnecessary waste of electric energy even when the passenger in the elevator car 1 is zero. Similarly, when there is no passenger in the elevator car, it is preferable to appropriately control the output according to the remaining charge amount because unnecessary waste of electric energy is also caused by operating the electric guide device 14 to excessively suppress the vibration of the car.

By detecting the number of people in the elevator car and controlling the illumination and the output of the electric guidance device according to the remaining capacity when the number of people is zero, the consumption of the remaining capacity can be reduced without adversely affecting elevator passengers. Therefore, the battery is less likely to have a shortage of the stored electric power. By performing the above control, the capacity of the battery mounted in the elevator car can be further reduced.

When the number of passengers in the car is not zero (no in step ST43), it is determined whether or not the amount of outside light in the car detected by the in-car illuminance sensor 18 in fig. 1 is larger than the threshold value 10 (step ST 48). When the outside light amount is larger than the threshold value 10 ("yes" in step ST48), the output of the in-car illumination can be reduced, and therefore, the output is reduced in accordance with the remaining battery amount of the battery or the predicted value thereof (step ST 49). When the amount of external light is less than the threshold 10 (no in step ST48), output adjustment of the apparatus is not performed (step ST 50).

In this case, the illumination in the elevator car can be controlled according to the magnitude of the external light, so that the consumption of the remaining charge amount of the battery can be reduced. Further, there are cases where external light enters the elevator car, for example, cases where the walls of the elevator car are made of glass and the hoistway is located outside the building (outside the building). Examples thereof include a sightseeing elevator.

Fourth embodiment

Fig. 12 and 13 are flowcharts showing a control flow when the power control device of the elevator car according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention stops supplying power from the battery 34, and respectively show a control flow (fig. 12) when the power supply from the battery 34 to the various electric devices 11 to 16 (see fig. 1 and the like) is stopped when the remaining storage amount of the battery 34 is insufficient, and a control flow (fig. 13) when the power supply from the battery is stopped at the time of an emergency stop.

Fig. 12 and 13 show sequence control performed by the car power control device 2 when the electric devices 11 to 16 have to be stopped, and the electric devices are stopped in the most appropriate sequence for the passengers (in this case, the most appropriate sequence is the most appropriate sequence in terms of safety), when the problems cannot be solved by only the output regulation of the car electric devices and the use of the building power supply.

In the flowchart of fig. 12, the car power control device 2 first determines whether or not the remaining battery amount of the battery 34 is smaller than the threshold a (step STA 01). At this time, if it is judged to be larger than the threshold (no at step STA01), by the time of the next judgment processing (step STA02), the process returns to step STA01 again to perform threshold comparison.

Here, the threshold a is set to a value smaller than the threshold at the time of output adjustment of the electrical appliance. The stop processing routine is executed when a very serious shortage of the remaining charge amount occurs. When the remaining battery capacity is less than the threshold value a (yes at step STA01), that is, when a very serious shortage of the remaining battery capacity occurs, first, the supply of power from the battery 34 to the air conditioner 11 in the elevator car 1 is stopped or the operation of the air conditioner 11 is stopped (step STA 03).

Thereafter, the car power control device 2 determines whether or not the remaining battery capacity of the battery 34 is less than a threshold B (step STA 04). When the result of the determination is greater than the threshold B (no at step STA04), by the time of the next determination processing (step STA05), the process returns to step STA04 again to perform the threshold comparison. If the result of the determination is less than the threshold B (yes at step STA04), the supply of power from the battery to the car position indicator 13(indicator) in the elevator car is stopped or the operation of the car position indicator 13 is stopped (step STA 06).

Thereafter, it is determined whether or not the remaining battery amount of the battery 34 is less than the threshold value C (step STA 07). When the result of the determination is greater than the threshold (no at step STA07), by the time of the next determination processing (step STA08), the process returns to step STA07 again to perform threshold comparison. If the determination result is less than the threshold C (yes at step STA07), the power supply from the battery 34 to the lighting device 12 in the elevator car 1 is stopped, or the operation of the lighting device 12 is stopped (step STA 09).

Thereafter, it is determined whether or not the remaining battery amount of the battery 34 is less than the threshold value D (step STA 10). When the result of the determination is greater than the threshold D (no at step STA10), by the time of the next determination processing (step STA11), the process returns to step STA10 again to perform the threshold comparison. If the result of the determination is less than the threshold value D (yes at step STA10), the supply of power from the battery 34 to the elevator car door driving device is stopped or the operation of the elevator car door driving device is stopped (step STA 12).

The power supply to the various electric devices 11 to 16 is stopped in stages or the operation of the electric devices is stopped according to the above procedure, but the power supply to the internal telephone 16 is maintained until the remaining charge amount becomes zero. This is because the air conditioner 11 and the car position indicator in the elevator car 1 are not absolutely necessary, and although they affect the comfort, they still affect the electrical equipment to an acceptable degree compared to other equipment, and therefore the electrical equipment is stopped in the above-described order. Since the lighting device 12 is necessary to ensure safety in the elevator car (from the viewpoint of crime prevention), the power supply to the lighting device 12 is maintained until the remaining charge amount is not maintained. Further, the drive device of the elevator car door is more important than the lighting device 12, and if the elevator door cannot be opened or closed, the passenger may be closed in the elevator car, and therefore, the power failure sequence of the drive device of the elevator car door is arranged to be the second from last.

The last one to stop the power supply is the in-car internal telephone 16 for making communication between the outside and the inside of the elevator car 1, and since it is necessary to know the situation inside the elevator car in any situation for safety confirmation, it is necessary to maintain the power supply to the in-car internal telephone 16 to the last.

As described above, by stopping the operation of the various electrical devices 11 to 16 in the stop order shown in fig. 12, it is possible to ensure the safety of the passengers even in the worst case where the remaining charge amount is significantly insufficient.

Fig. 13 shows a stop sequence of the electric devices when the remaining charge amount is significantly insufficient, similarly to fig. 12, and unlike fig. 12, fig. 12 shows a stop sequence in a normal state (when the elevator is in an operating state), and fig. 13 shows a stop sequence in an emergency state in which the elevator is brought to an emergency stop due to, for example, an earthquake or the like. The following description is made with reference to the flowchart of fig. 13.

In the flowchart of fig. 13, the car power control device 2 first determines whether or not the elevator car 1 is in an emergency stop state (step STB 01). When it is determined that the vehicle is not in the emergency stop state (no in step STB01), the process is performed according to the flowchart shown in fig. 12. When it is determined that the vehicle is in the emergency stop state (yes in step STB01), it is determined whether or not the remaining battery capacity of the battery 34 is smaller than a threshold F (step STC01), and when the determination result is larger than the threshold F (no in step STC01), the vehicle enters a wait-for-processing state (step STC02) before the next determination is made, and thereafter, the vehicle returns to the processing of step STC01 to perform threshold comparison. If the result of the determination is less than the threshold F (yes at step STC01), the supply of power from the battery 34 to the car position indicator 13(indicator) in the elevator car 1 is stopped, or the operation of the car position indicator 13 is stopped (step STC 03).

Thereafter, it is judged whether or not the remaining battery capacity of the battery 34 is smaller than the threshold G (step STC04), and if the result of the judgment is larger than the threshold G (no in step STC04), the process is put into a state of waiting for processing (step STC05) before the next judgment is made, and thereafter, the process returns to step STC04 to perform threshold comparison. If the result of the determination is less than the threshold value G (yes at step STC04), the supply of power from the battery 34 to the elevator car door driving device is stopped, or the operation of the elevator car door driving device is stopped (step STC 06).

Thereafter, it is judged whether or not the remaining battery capacity of the battery 34 is less than the threshold H (step STC07), and if the result of the judgment is greater than the threshold H (no in step STC07), the process is put into a wait state (step STC08) until the next judgment is made, and thereafter, the process returns to step STC07 to perform the threshold comparison. If the judgment result is less than the threshold value H (YES in step STC07), the power supply from the battery 34 to the air conditioner 11 in the elevator car 1 is stopped or the operation of the air conditioner 11 is stopped (step STC 09).

Thereafter, it is judged whether or not the remaining battery capacity of the battery 34 is less than the threshold I (step STC10), and if the result of the judgment is greater than the threshold I (no in step STC10), the process is put into a wait state (step STC11) until the next judgment is made, and thereafter, the process returns to step STC10 to perform the threshold comparison. If the result of the determination is less than the threshold value I (yes at step STC10), the power supply from the battery 34 to the lighting device 12 in the elevator car 1 is stopped, or the operation of the lighting device 12 in the elevator car 1 is stopped (step STC 12).

In the flowchart of fig. 13, as in the case of fig. 12, the power supply from the battery 34 to the car-interior phone 16 is continued until the remaining storage amount of the battery 34 becomes zero. That is to say, the internal telephone 16 in the elevator car 1 will continue to operate until the end. In an emergency stop of the elevator (in an emergency stop on an elevator floor), there is a possibility that passengers are temporarily closed in the elevator car 1, and it is preferable to move the stop sequence of the air conditioner 11 backward in order to maintain the temperature in the elevator car 1 at an appropriate temperature. In addition, since the doors of the elevator car 1 are not operated temporarily, the supply of power to the elevator doors can be stopped at an early stage. Further, since the doors of the elevator car 1 consume power even in a closed state, the effect of reducing the consumption of the remaining amount of electricity can be achieved by stopping the supply of power. In this way, since the emergency stop is different from the normal stop, the apparatus can be stopped in a more appropriate stop procedure for the passenger by performing the processing in a stop procedure different from the normal stop procedure.

Fifth embodiment

Fig. 14 to 16 are explanatory views of an elevator car power control system according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention. In the fifth embodiment, the battery 34 is composed of two batteries, i.e., the 1 st battery and the 2 nd battery, which are main batteries, and when the remaining charge amount of the 1 st battery, which is the main battery, becomes insufficient, power is supplied from the 2 nd battery, which is an auxiliary battery. Fig. 14 is a block diagram showing the power supply control structure of the elevator car.

In fig. 14, the same reference numerals as those in the first embodiment shown in fig. 1 are used to designate the same parts and the same functions as those in fig. 1. The present embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that a2 nd battery 34S, a control device 35S for the 2 nd battery 34S, and a DC/DC converter 33S for the 2 nd battery 34S are further added.

Similarly to the main battery 34, the 2 nd battery 34S supplies power to the electrical devices in the elevator car such as the air conditioner 11 through the DC/DC converter 33S. Since the output of the main battery 34 and the output of the 2 nd battery 34S are both connected to the DC bus between the DC/DC converter 33S and the inverter 36, the 2 nd battery 34S can be charged from the building power supply through the DC/DC converter 32 from the transformer 31 on the elevator car side in the same manner.

The car power control device 2 is connected to the main battery control device 35 of the main battery 34 and the 2 nd battery control device 35S of the 2 nd battery 34S via communication lines, and can transmit a control command to each device or monitor a control state.

The function of the 2 nd battery 34S is to serve as an auxiliary battery when the remaining charge capacity of the main battery 34 becomes insufficient. In order to control the scale of the second battery 34S to be increased, it is preferable to use a battery having a smaller capacity than the main battery 34 as much as possible. On the other hand, as the 2 nd battery 34S, a battery having a rapid charge/discharge performance is selected and used. The 2 nd storage battery 34S is rapidly charged to rapidly increase the amount of charge when the elevator stops at a floor where charging is possible, and is discharged while traveling and when stopping at another floor.

The 2 nd battery 34S is set to be charged quickly and discharged for as long a time as possible, so that it can play a role of reducing consumption of the remaining charge amount of the main battery 34. As the 2 nd storage battery 34S that needs to be charged and discharged quickly, a double-layer capacitor, a lithium ion battery, and the like are suitably used. On the other hand, the main battery 34 is charged for a predetermined long time and then discharged for a predetermined long time (also referred to as a cycle), and therefore, it is necessary to have characteristics different from those of the 2 nd battery 34S. In general, if the above-described recycling-type storage battery is charged for a short time during discharge, particularly, if the charging operation is performed with a large current, the service life of the storage battery is reduced or the storage battery may be damaged.

As described above, by providing the 2 nd battery 34S used as the auxiliary battery, the capacity of the main battery 34 having a margin in capacity setting can be further reduced. Since the 2 nd storage battery 34S can be rapidly charged and discharged in the middle, its capacity can be set to a capacity smaller than the reduced capacity of the main storage battery 34, so that the overall size and weight of the storage battery can be reduced.

Fig. 15 is a flowchart showing a control procedure of the 2 nd storage battery 34S. The operation mode when the 2 nd storage battery is used will be described below with reference to a flowchart shown in fig. 15.

First, the car power control device 2 determines whether or not the remaining battery amount of the main battery 34 is smaller than a threshold 5 (step ST61), and then determines whether or not the predicted value of the remaining battery amount of the main battery 34 is smaller than a threshold 6 (step ST 62). When both of them are larger than their respective threshold values (no in step ST61, no in ST62), it is determined that the remaining charge amount of the main battery 34 is sufficient and the 2 nd battery 34S is not operated (step ST 63). When either one of the two is judged to satisfy the above condition (yes at step ST61 or yes at step ST62), the operation mode of the 2 nd battery 34S is switched to the 2 nd battery operation mode (the region enclosed by the broken line shown at step ST 64).

Here, first, a waiting floor (a floor on standby after the completion of service of the elevator car) is set as a floor where a power feeding device for feeding power to the elevator car is installed (step ST 65). Therefore, the car in the standby state after the completion of the service is always on standby at a certain floor where the power feeding device is installed, and the 2 nd battery 34S can be charged during standby. Thereafter, it is determined whether or not the car is in a stopped state, and it is determined whether or not the car position coincides with the floor on which the power feeding device is installed (step ST 66). When it is determined that the condition is satisfied (yes in step ST66), the 2 nd battery 34S can be charged, and the 2 nd battery 34S can be quickly charged by the building-side power supply 20 (step ST 67).

When it is determined that the condition is not satisfied (no in step ST66), the mode is entered for discharging the 2 nd battery 34S. First, the power consumption of the air conditioner 11 and the lighting device 12 is controlled (steps ST68 and ST 69). Then, the 2 nd storage battery 34S is discharged under the constant voltage control (step ST 70). The upper limit value of the discharge current is set for the main battery 34 to limit the discharge current thereof (step ST 71).

As a result, the difference between the discharge power of the main battery 34 and the power consumption of the car power equipments 11 to 16 is partially supplied from the 2 nd battery 34S. Specifically, when the power consumption of the car power equipments 11 to 16 is larger than the discharge power of the main battery 34, the voltage of the DC bus (the DC bus between the DC/DC converter 33S and the inverter 36) is decreased due to the power shortage. Since the 2 nd battery 34S is controlled by the constant voltage control, the 2 nd battery 34S performs a discharging operation to compensate for the insufficient power, thereby balancing the supply and demand of electricity.

When the discharge output of the 2 nd storage battery 34S is insufficient (in principle, the 2 nd storage battery 34S is selected as a storage battery whose capacity and output power are not so large), since the voltage of the dc bus is always in a low state (step ST72), when this is detected, the power consumption of the air conditioner 11 and the lighting device 12 is further controlled (the operation output of the equipment is further controlled by the output adjustment coefficient; the adjustment of the air conditioner is performed by the air conditioner command adjusting section 202 of fig. 2) in order to balance the electric power (step ST 74). When the dc bus voltage is not decreased, the current state is maintained (step ST 73).

As described above, when the remaining battery amount of the main battery 34 is insufficient, the 2 nd battery 34S is controlled to be frequently charged and discharged, and the power consumption of the electrical devices such as the air conditioner 11 and the lighting device 12 is controlled, so that the consumption of the remaining battery amount of the main battery 34 can be reduced. As a result, the capacity and weight of the entire battery can be reduced.

Fig. 16 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure when the capacity of the 2 nd battery 34S is insufficient during operation in a state where the 2 nd battery 34S is operated.

In fig. 16, the same processes as those in fig. 15 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description thereof will be omitted. Only the processing different from the flowchart of fig. 15 will be described below.

In a state where the 2 nd battery 34S is discharged by the constant voltage control and the main battery 34 is discharged with the discharge current upper limit value set (steps ST70 and ST71), if the remaining charge amount of the 2 nd battery 34S is insufficient in the middle (step ST82), the car power control device 2 releases the discharge current upper limit value of the main battery 34 and controls the same by the constant voltage control (step ST 84). As a result, the main battery 34 supplies power to the electric devices such as the air conditioner 11 and the lighting device 12. Thereafter, since the elevator car 1 enters the standby state and moves to the floor where the power feeding device for feeding power to the elevator car 1 is installed to be in standby, the 2 nd storage battery 34S can be quickly charged, and the 2 nd storage battery 34S can be discharged again to rescue the main storage battery 34.

Sixth embodiment

Fig. 17 to 20 are explanatory views of a power control device of an elevator car according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention, which is for reducing the diameter or number of power lines by reducing the current supplied by a tail cable, not for realizing a tailless cable elevator.

The structural operation of an elevator system using a lightweight tail cable will be described below with reference to fig. 17 to 20.

The elevator system has an advantage that power can be continuously supplied from a building power source through the light-weight tail cable (however, the power supply amount is limited because the capacity of the power line is reduced), and the capacity of the storage battery can be reduced compared with the case without the tail cable.

Further, the sixth embodiment described below is interposed between a conventional elevator having a tail cable and the tailless cable elevator of the present invention, and although the tailless cable cannot be realized, the weight of the tail cable can be reduced and the capacity of the battery 34 mounted on the elevator car 1 can be reduced, so that the entire system can be reduced in weight.

Fig. 17 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of an elevator system using a light weight tail cable. Since fig. 17 has substantially the same basic configuration as the second embodiment shown in fig. 7, the same portions are denoted by the same reference numerals and have the same names and functions.

The difference between the two embodiments is that the sixth embodiment eliminates a power feeding device (23A, 24A in fig. 7) for feeding power to the elevator car provided on the side of the hoistway, in addition to the light-weight pigtails 70A, 70B.

In the elevator system using the lightweight tail cable shown in fig. 17, since the power supply from the building side can be constantly received by the tail cable, it is not necessary to provide a power supply device for supplying power to the elevator car on the hoistway side.

As shown in fig. 17, power is supplied from the building power source 20 to the elevator control device 44A, and the elevator control device 44A is connected to the car power supply device 3A via the light weight tail cable 70A, so that power can be supplied from the building power source 20 to the elevator car via the elevator control device 44A, the light weight tail cable 70A, and the car power supply device 3A.

Fig. 18 is a block diagram showing a power control portion of an elevator car of an elevator system using a lightweight tail cable. Since the configuration is substantially the same as that of the first embodiment shown in fig. 1, the same portions are denoted by the same reference numerals and have the same names and functions.

The difference between the two embodiments is that the sixth embodiment eliminates the power feeding device (23, 22, 21 in fig. 1) for feeding power to the elevator car provided on the hoistway side, in addition to the light-weight tail cable 70. Charging of the battery 34 from the building power supply via the light weight tail cable 70 is performed by the car power control device 2.

Fig. 19 is a flowchart showing a power control flow of the battery 34 of the elevator system using the light weight tail cable. The operation of the car power control device 2 shown in fig. 18 will be described below with reference to the flowchart of fig. 19.

Here, it is first determined whether or not the current time point is a charging time zone of the storage battery 34 (step ST 90). The charging time period of the storage battery 34 is set in principle at night and at a time period when the frequency of use of the elevator is low, for example, at a time period from 23 o 'clock to 7 o' clock. If the current time point is the charging time period of the storage battery 34, a charging mode for charging the storage battery 34 through the tail cable is entered. When the car power control device 2 determines that the charging mode is set (step ST91), the battery is charged with a current equal to or less than a predetermined value through the tail cable (step ST 92). Since the diameter of the power line is reduced or the number of power lines is reduced in order to reduce the weight of the tail cable, it is necessary to charge the battery with a small current. The predetermined value for limiting the current is determined according to the current capacity of the power line. The charging of the battery 34 is continued until it reaches the fully charged state (step ST93), and after reaching the fully charged state, the charging is terminated and the elevator car enters the standby state (step ST 94).

When the current time point is outside the charging period of the battery, the battery 34 enters the discharging mode. When the car power control device 2 determines that the discharge mode is set (step ST95), the battery 34 is controlled by the constant voltage control method (step ST 96). At this time, the electric power is mainly supplied from the battery 34 to the car electric devices 11 to 16, and the building power supplied through the tail cable is an auxiliary power. The reason for providing the building power supply as the auxiliary power supply is that the current capacity is limited after the power line in the tail cable is reduced.

When the power consumption of the electric devices 11 to 16 in the elevator car 1 is large, the storage battery 34 is used as the main power feeding device because the power feeding amount of the building-side power supply 20 has an upper limit, but if the power consumption is small, it is preferable to use the building-side power supply as the main power feeding device in order to store the remaining power amount of the storage battery 34. Therefore, it is preferable that the building-side power supply 20 always supplies a certain amount of power (always supplies power corresponding to the upper limit value), and the remaining insufficient amount is supplied from the battery 34. When the response of the building-side power supply to the power supply is fast (in a general case, the response of the building-side power supply is fast), the above-described setting method can be realized by performing the constant voltage control on the battery 34.

In order to reduce the capacity of the battery 34, the output regulation method for the electrical equipment of the tailless elevator system described above may be employed. Therefore, the output regulation method for the electrical equipment of the tailless rope elevator system is implemented according to the remaining charge amount of the battery 34 (fig. 3 to 6 and 10 to 13).

Fig. 20 shows a case where the charging and discharging of the battery are performed according to the control flowchart of the battery of the elevator system using the light-weight tail cable shown in fig. 19.

Fig. 20(a) shows a change in current flowing through the power line in the tail cable over one day. In the graph of fig. 20(a), the horizontal axis represents time, and the time length thereof is 1 day. The vertical axis represents the value of the current flowing through the power line in the tail cable (the total value of the currents if a plurality of power lines are used). When the current value is positive, it indicates that current is flowing from the control panel to the elevator car.

The solid line in fig. 20(a) represents the characteristic of the current actually flowing. Which is approximately a fixed value. The fixed value corresponds to an upper limit value determined according to the current capacity of the power line in the pigtail cable. That is, the current corresponding to the upper limit value is supplied from the building power supply regardless of whether the battery is in a charged state or a discharged state, whereby the discharge power of the battery can be reduced.

The broken line in fig. 20(a) indicates the rated current value of the air conditioner. In the case of a normal tail cable, the current flowing in the tail cable is determined by the current consumed by the electrical equipment of the elevator car, and therefore the current flowing may exceed the current shown by the broken line, and therefore, it is necessary to use a power line having a large diameter or a plurality of power lines, but according to the sixth embodiment of the present invention, since a battery is used together, the actual current value can be reduced as shown in fig. 20(a), and the power line in the tail cable can be reduced. Therefore, the weight of the tail cable can be reduced.

Fig. 20(b) shows a change in current of a battery mounted on an elevator car over a day. In the figure, the horizontal axis represents time, the time length thereof is 1 day, and the vertical axis represents the current of the battery. A positive value of the current indicates that discharge is being performed and a negative value indicates that charge is being performed. The battery is charged from 23 pm to 7 am and discharged from 7 am to 23 pm.

Fig. 20(c) shows a change in the current consumption of the electrical equipment in the elevator car over one day. In the evening, the power consumption of the electrical devices in the elevator car is small (for easy understanding, the power consumption is zero in the figure, even in the actual case, the average value of the power consumption is predicted to be very small), but in the daytime, the power consumption of the air conditioner and the like rises with the increase of the elevator passengers and the rise of the air temperature, and particularly in the period from noon to afternoon, the current consumption further increases. In the conventional elevator system, since the current consumed by the car electrical equipment shown in fig. 20(c) flows directly through the tail cable, a relatively thick power line (or a plurality of power lines) is required, and the weight of the tail cable is excessively heavy. As compared with fig. 20(a), it is understood that the current flowing through the tail cable is reduced, and the weight of the tail cable can be reduced.

The same applies to the discharge current of the battery 34, and in the tailless cable system, the battery 34 must supply a current equal to the current consumed by the electrical devices 11 to 16 in the elevator car 1 of fig. 20(c), and if the sixth embodiment is adopted, the power can be supplied from the tailcable, so the discharge current of the battery 34 can be reduced as shown in fig. 20 (b). Therefore, the necessary capacity of the battery can be reduced.

As described above, according to the power control device for an elevator car of the present invention, it is possible to reduce the capacity of the battery mounted on the elevator car, save unnecessary parts in power consumption of electrical equipment such as an air conditioner and a lighting device, and suppress power consumption, as important design items in the case of achieving not only the tailless cable of the elevator or the reduction in weight of the tailless cable, but also the tailless cable and the reduction in weight of the tailless cable.

The functions of the respective constituent modules included in the car power control device 2 may be all implemented by software, or at least a part of the functions may be implemented by hardware. For example, the data processing in the car air-conditioning command setting portion 201, the air-conditioning command adjusting portion 202, the air-conditioning control command converting portion 203, the control mode judging portion 204, the air-conditioning command adjustment amount calculating portion (air-conditioner function adjusting mode) 205, the air-conditioning command adjustment amount calculating portion (building power mode) 206, and the battery control command setting portion (building power mode) 207 constituting the power control apparatus 2 may be provided to be implemented on a computer by one or more programs, or may be provided such that at least a part thereof is implemented by hardware.

Claims (3)

1. A power control apparatus of an elevator car, wherein the elevator has: an electricity storage device provided on the elevator car; and electrical equipment including an air conditioning device, the electrical equipment being provided on the elevator car and receiving power supply from the power storage device, the power control equipment of the elevator car being used to control power supply to various electrical equipment of the elevator,

the elevator system is provided with a car power control means for stopping power supply to the various electrical devices so as to stop power supply to the air conditioner first, based on the stored electric power amount when the stored electric power amount of the electric storage device is equal to or less than a predetermined value during operation of the elevator car.

2. Power control device of an elevator car according to claim 1,

the car power control means controls the car power control means so that power supply to the internal telephone device for communication between the elevator car and the outside among the various electrical devices is maintained even after power supply to the various electrical devices is stopped.

3. Power control device of an elevator car according to claim 1 or 2,

the car power control means performs control so that power supply to the various electrical devices is stopped in different order when the elevator car is stopped in an emergency and when the amount of electricity stored in the electricity storage device is equal to or less than a predetermined value when the elevator car is in operation.