System and method for maintenance of Shabbat elevators

Abstract

A method for maintenance of an elevator in Shabbat mode, the method including providing a Shabbat elevator maintenance system, where the system is in communication with the elevator, detecting a malfunction in the elevator by the maintenance system, notifying a technician about the malfunction by the maintenance system, following repair of the elevator by a repairing technician, verifying by the maintenance system that the elevator has been repaired and that Shabbat mode has been reactivated, and activating remuneration for the repairing technician by the maintenance system.

Claims

1. A method for maintenance of an elevator in Shabbat mode comprising: a. providing a Shabbat elevator maintenance system, wherein said system is in communication with said elevator; b. detecting a malfunction in said elevator by said maintenance system; c. notifying a technician about said malfunction by said maintenance system; d. following repair of said elevator by a repairing technician, verifying by said maintenance system that said elevator has been repaired and that Shabbat mode has been reactivated; and e. activating remuneration for the repairing technician by said maintenance system.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein said elevator comprises a control panel and said maintenance system is adapted to communicate with said control panel via a controller.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein said maintenance system further comprises a server and an app in communication with said server for said notifying of a technician.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein said app provides for remote maintenance of said elevator.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein said maintenance system further comprises sensors for detecting said malfunction in said elevator and wherein said sensors are selected from the group consisting of: a. audio sensors; b. vibration sensors; c. cameras; d. temperature sensors; and e. a combination of the above.

6. A system for maintenance of an elevator in Shabbat mode comprising: a. a controller module; and b. a server, wherein said controller module is in communication with said elevator and said server, wherein said controller is adapted to detect a malfunction in said elevator; wherein said server is adapted to notify a technician about said detected malfunction and deactivate Shabbat mode in said elevator; wherein following repair of said elevator by a technician: said server is adapted to verify that said elevator has been repaired, that Shabbat mode has been reactivated and to activate remuneration for the repairing technician.

7. The system of claim 6 wherein said elevator comprises a control panel and said controller is adapted to communicate with said control panel.

8. The system of claim 6 further comprising an app in communication with said server for said notifying of a technician.

9. The system of claim 8 wherein said app provides for remote maintenance of said elevator.

10. The system of claim 9 further comprising sensors for detecting said malfunction in said elevator and wherein said sensors are selected from the group consisting of: a. audio sensors; b. vibration sensors; c. cameras; d. temperature sensors; and e. a combination of the above.

11. The system of claim 7 further comprising an app in communication with said server for said notifying of a technician.

12. A method for operation of an elevator in Shabbat mode, comprising: a. providing a Shabbat elevator maintenance system comprising a controller module in communication with said elevator; b. determining the time when Shabbat starts; c. monitoring said elevator to determine when Shabbat mode is manually activated; d. when Shabbat mode is manually activated after the start of Shabbat, deactivating Shabbat mode for said elevator; and e. when Shabbat mode is manually activated before Shabbat starts, continuing to monitor said elevator for changes to Shabbat mode.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The invention is herein described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings. With specific reference now to the drawings in detail, it is stressed that the particulars shown are by way of example and for purposes of illustrative discussion of the embodiments of the invention only, and are presented in order to provide what is believed to be the most useful and readily understood description of the principles and conceptual aspects of the invention. In this regard, no attempt is made to show structural details of the invention in more detail than is necessary for a fundamental understanding of the invention, the description taken with the drawings making apparent to those skilled in the art how the several forms of the invention may be embodied in practice.

(2) FIG. 1A is a schematic diagram of a prior art elevator system;

(3) FIG. 1B is a schematic diagram of a maintenance system for a Shabbat elevator according to at least some embodiments of the invention;

(4) FIG. 2 is a flow diagram showing operation of a Shabbat elevator using a Shabbat maintenance system according to at least some embodiments of the invention; and

(5) FIG. 3 is a flow diagram showing operation of a Shabbat elevator using a Shabbat maintenance system according to at least some embodiments of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(6) The invention in at least some embodiments is a system and method for monitoring and repair of a Shabbat elevator such that the elevator remains useable by observant Jews. Reference is now made to FIG. 1B is a schematic diagram of a maintenance system 100 for a Shabbat elevator according to at least some embodiments of the invention. As shown in FIG. 1B one or more elevators 110 are installed at one or more remote sites 105. The elevators 110 at each site 105 are controlled by control panel 114. Shabbat mode is usually activated at panel 114 for one or more of elevators 110.

(7) Elevators 110 are equipped with sensors 112 for detecting faults. Sensors 112 are provided in addition to existing sensors in the elevator 110 or alternatively are provided as part of elevator 110. Non-limiting examples of sensors 112 include audio, vibration, cameras, temperature and so forth. Sensors 112 feed captured sensor data to controller module 116. Controller module 116 is a computing device as defined above. Controller module 116 analyzes the data received from sensors 112 to determine whether elevator 110 is malfunctioning.

(8) Alternatively, controller module 116 can determine whether elevator 110 is about to malfunction or has the potential to malfunction and is exhibiting behavior that is indicative of future failure. Optionally such a determination is based on comparison to a database of expected behavior or values for the specific elevator or elevator component or sensor data. Alternatively or additionally, such a determination is based on analysis of historical behavior of the elevator or elevator component. Non-limiting examples include vibrations or temperature that exceed recommended or expected values. Analyzing historical data comprises storing data received from sensors 112 and comparing current data to the stored historical data to detect changes or anomalies. Preferably current data is data collected in the immediately preceding time period which may be any relevant period including 1 second, 1 minute, 1 hour, 1 day, or 1 month. Historical data may refer to any collected data over any period from the immediately preceding 1 minute to 1 year to multiple years. Optionally the historical data is used to build a model of expected behavior or data for a specific elevator type or for general elevator operation. Optionally this built model is compared to current elevator data from sensors 112 to determine fault, developing fault or potential fault conditions. Optionally sensor data is provided to control panel 114 which analyzes the data received from sensors 112 to determine whether elevator 110 is malfunctioning.

(9) Controller module 116 is also connected to control panel 114 for detecting the current status of elevators 110. Status may include current position, load, and whether Shabbat mode is activated or not. Controller module 116 is adapted to interface to multiple different control panel types as manufactured for different lift vendors and types of elevators. In one embodiment, controller module 116 is installed into an existing elevator installation and adds functionality as described herein to existing panel 114. In a further embodiment panel 114 is integrated into controller module 116 as a single computing device, such as the non-limiting example where both are installed concurrently.

(10) Controller module 116 preferably can control and make changes to control panel 114. As a non-limiting example, controller 116 can activate or deactivate Shabbat mode, or can perform any activities that are provided via panel 114. Controller module 116 is preferably programmed with the coordinate location of site 105 where it is installed. These coordinates enable controller 116 to calculate the start and end times for Shabbat based on calculated sunset times. These times can then be used to determine whether Shabbat mode needs to be activated or not.

(11) As shown, multiple remote sites 105 can have similar configurations each comprising a controller module 116 configured to interact with the local control panel 114 and monitor data from local sensors 122. Although FIG. 2B shows two remote sites 105 and limited number of elevators 110, it should be appreciated that maintenance system 100 can accommodate any number of sites 105, and elevators 110.

(12) Controller modules 116 are connected to a communications (comms) network 140. Network 140 is preferably any comms network as known in the art including but not limited to a wired communication network, an optical communication network, a fiber-optic communication network, the Internet, a LAN, a WAN and the like or RF network, and/or any combination of the aforesaid networks, which may optionally be private or public networks; and a wireless data network including but not limited to a cellular network, or use any wireless technology or protocol not limited to WiMAX, EVDO, RTT, HSPA, EDGE, GPRS, Wi-Fi, UMTS, LTE, 3G, 4G or 5G, and/or any combination of the aforesaid networks. Combinations of wired and wireless networks may also optionally be employed.

(13) Controller module 116 communicates with elevator monitoring and control server 120 which runs on a server or other computing device. Server 120 collects data concerning elevators 100 at all of sites 105. When an elevator 110 is discovered to be in a fault condition, either based on sensor 112 data sent to controller module 116 or from elevator status data extracted from control panel 114 by controller module 116, this fault condition is reported to server 120. Server 120 can then communicate with elevator technician application (app) 150 to indicate the determined fault status of one of elevators 110. App 150 is preferably a mobile app running on a mobile device but may also run on any computing device. App 150 notifies an elevator technician that an elevator 110 is malfunctioning and the technician can then attempt to remotely diagnose the issue using app 150 as described further below. Interaction with app 150 is via the display and interaction hardware of the device.

(14) Alternatively, controller 116 comprises the functionality of server 120 on the same computing device and determines that a fault condition has occurred and communicates directly with a technician via app 150 such that no separate server 120 is provided. Alternatively, server 120 is collocated with controller 116. Alternatively, server 120 comprises the functionality of app 150 and reports a fault status via, for example, a connected display device such that the technician interacts with controller 116 and the elevator 110 directly via server 120 wherein said interaction takes place through any of a touchscreen, keyboard, mouse, or similar.

(15) Reference is now made to FIG. 2 which is a flow diagram showing operation of a Shabbat elevator using a Shabbat maintenance system according to at least some embodiments of the invention. In stage 1, controller module 116 polls control panel 114 for the status of elevators 110, such as the non-limiting status of operational or not. In stage 2, based on the time of day and the day of the week, and having determined that Shabbat is about to start, controller 116 checks whether Shabbat mode is activated for one or more of elevators 110. If Shabbat mode is activated, then controller 116 continues to monitor elevators 110 using sensors 112 and control panel 114 to determine whether elevators 110 have malfunctioned.

(16) In stage 3 it is determined that a malfunction has occurred in one of elevators 110 and this information is communicated to server 120 over comms network 140. In stage 4, server 120 notifies a suitable technician who is preferably non-Jewish as described above. The alert to the technician is preferably via app 150. In stage 5, the technician uses app 150 to remotely connect via comms 140 to the controller module 116 at the site 105 with the malfunctioning elevator 110.

(17) In stage 6, the technician first attempts to diagnose the cause of the malfunction using app 150 based on the data available from controller module 116.

(18) Next, the technician attempts to resolve the malfunction remotely. In a non-limiting example, the technician sends a command to reset the malfunctioning elevator 110 using app 150 which instructs controller module 116 which in turn instructs control panel 114. Optionally it may be necessary to disable Shabbat mode in order to perform the remote repair.

(19) In stage 6A, controller module 116 polls control panel 114 and sensors 112 to determine whether the remote repair attempt has succeeded or not. If the repair has succeeded, then the technician continues as described in in stage 9 below. If the remote repair is determined to be unsuccessful, then, in stage 7, the technician is preferably provided by app 150 with directions to travel to site 105 to repair the elevator on site.

(20) In stage 8 the technician arrives on site and works to diagnose and resolve the malfunction locally. In most cases it will be necessary to disable Shabbat mode on the elevator being repaired. Once the elevator 110 has been repaired, in stage 9, the technician re-enables Shabbat mode and uses app 150 to report that the malfunction has been resolved. Only once stage 9 has been completed and app 150 has notified server 120 of the completion of the repair and server 120 has verified, via communication with controller 116, the re-enabling of Shabbat mode and the repair of elevator 110, will stage 10 be allowed to proceed. In stage 10 remuneration of the technician is activated and the technician will receive remuneration or an indication that remuneration will be now be processed. Server 120 thus provides remuneration to the technician or is in communication with a personnel management server or device and provides an indication to the remuneration server that remuneration may be processed. Remuneration may include but is not limited to any monetary compensation or any other gift or suitable incentive. Thus, the technician is incentivized to complete stage 9 correctly and is thus performing the repair and the re-enabling of Shabbat mode for his own benefit—therefor rendering the repair to be acceptable such that Orthodox Jews may continue to use the repaired elevator.

(21) Reference is now made to FIG. 3 which is a flow diagram showing operation of a Shabbat elevator using a Shabbat maintenance system according to at least some embodiments of the invention. In stage 1, controller module 116 polls control panel 114 for the status of elevators 110. In stage 2, based on the time of day and the day of the week and having determined that Shabbat is about to start, controller 116 checks whether Shabbat mode is activated. Preferably, the check happens between from 1 minute to 1 hour before Shabbat. If it is determined in stage 3 that Shabbat has started and that Shabbat mode has been activated after the start of Shabbat, then in stage 4A Shabbat mode is cancelled. In this way, users of elevator 110 do not inadvertently transgress Shabbat by using an elevator where Shabbat mode was activated after the start of Shabbat. Alternatively, at stage 2B, Shabbat mode is activated by the Shabbat maintenance system before the start of Shabbat.

(22) If Shabbat mode was activated at the right time before the start of Shabbat, then in stage 4B controller 116 and server 120 continue to monitor the elevator/s 110 to ensure that no changes are made to the working of the elevator during Shabbat. If Shabbat mode is disabled during Shabbat, then system 100 prevents Shabbat mode from being re-enabled. The embodiment of FIG. 3 may take place even if comms 140 is not available. In such a case controller 116 acts autonomously without the need for server 120 and enables or disables Shabbat mode as necessary.

(23) It is appreciated that certain features of the invention, which are, for clarity, described in the context of separate embodiments, may also be provided in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features of the invention, which are, for brevity, described in the context of a single embodiment, may also be provided separately or in any suitable sub-combination.

(24) Although the invention has been described in conjunction with specific embodiments thereof, it is evident that many alternatives, modifications and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, it is intended to embrace all such alternatives, modifications and variations that fall within the spirit and broad scope of the appended claims. All publications, patents and patent applications mentioned in this specification are herein incorporated in their entirety by reference into the specification, to the same extent as if each individual publication, patent or patent application was specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated herein by reference. In addition, citation or identification of any reference in this application shall not be construed as an admission that such reference is available as prior art to the invention.