MOBILE CONTROL UNIT AND METHOD FOR REMOTELY CONTROLLING AN ELEVATOR INSTALLATION

Abstract

A mobile control unit and a method remotely control an elevator installation in an inspection mode, wherein the elevator installation includes an elevator car, an elevator controller and a safety circuit. The elevator controller automatically controls the elevator car for movement in a normal mode of the elevator installation when the safety circuit is electrically closed. In order to control the elevator installation, the mobile control unit is connected to the elevator installation such that the mobile control unit can switch the elevator installation between the normal mode and the inspection mode, and the elevator car can be manually controlled for movement via the mobile control unit in the inspection mode of the elevator installation.

Claims

1-13. (canceled)

14. A mobile control unit for remotely controlling an elevator installation in an inspection mode, the elevator installation including an elevator car, an elevator controller and a safety circuit, the safety circuit being an electrical series connection including at least one safety element of the elevator installation that blocks the elevator car from moving when the series connection is electrically interrupted, the elevator controller automatically controlling the elevator car movement in a normal mode of the elevator installation when the safety circuit is closed, the mobile control unit comprising: the mobile control unit adapted to connect to the elevator installation wherein the mobile control unit switches the elevator installation between the normal mode and the inspection mode, wherein the mobile control unit when connected to the elevator installation enables manual control of movement of the elevator car in the inspection mode of the elevator installation; and the mobile control unit when connected to the elevator installation is assigned as a further safety element to the series connection, wherein the control of movement by the mobile control unit is interrupted when the safety circuit is interrupted.

15. The mobile control unit according to claim 14 wherein the safety circuit is formed by a wired or wireless bus system and the mobile control unit is connected to the safety circuit as a bus node.

16. The mobile control unit according to claim 15 wherein the bus system is a CAN (Controller Area Network) bus system.

17. The mobile control unit according to claim 14 wherein a position of the mobile control unit is determined by the elevator controller.

18. The mobile control unit according to claim 14 wherein the mobile control unit communicates with a wireless or mobile communication network for connection to the elevator controller.

19. The mobile control unit according to claim 14 wherein the mobile control unit has a display for displaying information related to the elevator installation.

20. The mobile control unit according to claim 14 wherein the mobile control unit includes a changeover switch for switching the elevator installation between the normal mode and inspection mode, the changeover switch being at least one of an electromechanical switch, an application software and a user interface menu item.

21. The mobile control unit according to claim 14 including an emergency shut-off switch for interrupting operation of the elevator installation.

22. An elevator installation comprising: an elevator controller; a safety circuit; an elevator car wherein the elevator controller automatically controls the elevator car for movement in a normal mode of the elevator installation when the safety circuit is electrically closed; and a mobile control unit according to claim 14 for controlling the elevator installation in an inspection mode of the elevator installation.

23. A method for remotely controlling an elevator installation having an elevator controller, an elevator car and a safety circuit, wherein the elevator car is automatically controlled by the elevator controller for movement in a normal mode of the elevator installation when the safety circuit is electrically closed, the method comprising the steps of: connecting a mobile control unit to the elevator installation; operating the mobile control unit to switch the elevator installation between the normal mode and an inspection mode and manually controlling movement of the elevator car by the mobile control unit in the inspection mode; and wherein the safety circuit is an electrical series connection of at least one safety element of the elevator installation, the safety circuit blocking the elevator car from moving when the series connection is electrically interrupted, and assigning the mobile control unit as an additional safety element to the series connection such that the connection between the mobile control unit and the elevator installation is interrupted when the safety circuit is interrupted.

24. The method according to claim 23 wherein the safety circuit is a wired or wireless bus system.

25. The method according to claim 24 wherein the safety circuit is a CAN (Controller Area Network) bus system.

26. The method according to claim 23 including determining a position of the mobile control unit by the elevator controller.

27. The method according to claim 23 including wherein the mobile control unit communicates with a wireless or mobile communication network.

28. The method according to claim 23 wherein the mobile control unit includes an emergency shut-off switch actuatable for interrupting operation of the elevator installation.

Description

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0020] FIG. 1 shows an elevator installation with two conventional inspection panels;

[0021] FIG. 2 shows an elevator installation with a mobile control unit according to the invention; and

[0022] FIG. 3 is a front view of a mobile control unit according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0023] FIG. 1 shows an elevator installation 1 installed in a building with multiple floors. The elevator installation 1 has a safety circuit 5 which is shown in detail on the right-hand side of the schematically shown elevator installation 1. An electric motor 8 drives an elevator car 3 to move in an elevator shaft 9 under the control of an elevator controller 4 such as a main controller of the elevator installation 1. A shaft door 12 is provided on each floor and a car door (not shown) is provided on the elevator car 3. The shaft door 12 can be opened or closed alone or together with the car door. A door switch 13 is provided on each of the shaft doors 12 and on the car door (not shown), by means of which door switches 13 it can be monitored whether the relevant shaft door or car door 12 is currently correctly closed or open.

[0024] An inspection control panel 10 is available to a technician (not shown) in the shaft 9 for inspection/maintenance work, allowing the technician to switch the elevator installation 1 into an inspection mode and then to manually control the elevator car 3 via the electric motor 8 for movement. In this case, a switching position “1” is assigned for the inspection mode and a switching position “0” is assigned for the normal mode, for example. Depending on what elevator standard (e.g. EN 81-20) has to be met, two inspection control panels 10 can also be provided; one on the roof of the elevator car 3 and one in the shaft pit 9a. For this purpose, at least one emergency shut-off switch 11 is provided in the shaft 9 and is located e.g. on an inner wall of the shaft 9—often close to a shaft door 12 on the ground floor—or on the roof of the elevator car 3 in order to immediately interrupt the operation of the elevator installation and consequently block the elevator car 3 from moving.

[0025] Typically, the door switches 13 of the shaft door and the car door 12 and the emergency shut-off switch 11 are connected in series as safety elements 5a, as a result of which a formed safety circuit 5 is closed as a safety chain as a whole only if all door switches 13 are closed and the emergency shut-off switch 11 is not released. Since all the safety elements 5a are coupled to the safety chain 5, when one of the safety elements 5a is opened the elevator car 3 is blocked from moving. If a door switch 13 is opened, the movement of the elevator car 3 is considered unsafe and the controller 4 shuts it down.

[0026] In FIG. 2, a mobile control unit 2 according to the invention for controlling or remotely controlling an elevator installation 1—as shown in FIG. 1—is shown in an inspection mode. The mobile control unit 2 is e.g. a mobile telephone or a smartphone, a laptop, a tablet computer or any portable communication device. Instead of the two inspection control panels 10 in the shaft pit 9a and on the roof of the elevator car 3, the elevator installation 1 can be put into an inspection mode and then switched back to a normal mode by the mobile control unit 2 both outside and inside the shaft 9. It is then no longer necessary to still provide an inspection control unit 10 in the shaft 9. Thus, it is no longer necessary for the technician to make an effort to first reach the inspection control unit 10 in the shaft in order to put the elevator installation 1 into the inspection mode. However, only one emergency shut-off switch 11 could be left on the roof of the elevator car 3 and/or in the shaft pit 9a so that the technician can interrupt the safety circuit 5 in an emergency despite a faulty control of the mobile control unit 2. If an elevator installation 1 still has an inspection control unit 10, for safety reasons the function of the existing inspection control unit 10 should be taken over by the mobile control unit 2 if this elevator installation 1 is actually to be serviced or inspected by the mobile control unit 2. An emergency shut-off switch or an emergency switch function of the inspection control unit 10 can continue to function independently of the mobile control unit 2. The takeover of the function of the inspection control unit 10 can be manually manipulated and operated by the mobile control unit 2, for example, after a communication link has been established between the mobile control unit 2 and the elevator controller 4 and the elevator controller 4 authorizes this takeover.

[0027] In this embodiment, the safety circuit 5 and the elevator controller 4 are connected via a bus system 15 such as a CAN bus system, with the mobile control unit 2 being connected to the bus system 15 as a bus node. The elevator installation 1 can be switched into the normal or inspection mode by sending a message from the mobile control unit 2 to the elevator controller 4. In addition, the bus system 15 monitors the safety circuit 5. If any safety element 5a of the safety circuit 5 is opened, the elevator car 3 is immediately blocked from moving. The mobile control unit 2 cannot control the elevator car 3 until the safety circuit 5 is closed again. And the elevator controller 4 can determine the position of the mobile control unit 2 or the technician e.g. by means of NFC communication, for example RFID. If the elevator installation 1 is switched into the normal mode, the mobile control unit 2 is disconnected from the bus system 15 or the elevator installation 1. The elevator controller 4 then takes over the control of the elevator installation 1 again from the mobile control unit 2.

[0028] In addition, the mobile control unit 2 is connected to a public communication network 7, thereby establishing communication between the mobile control unit 2 and a remote control center or server 17. The technician can then download information from the server 17 or communicate with the remote control center 17 on-site at an elevator installation 1.

[0029] FIG. 3 shows a mobile control unit 2 according to the invention. In this case, the mobile control unit 2 has a display 6 which can display e.g. the downloaded information or the information determined by the elevator controller 4 or the safety circuit 5. The mobile control unit 2 also comprises a changeover switch 18. In order for a technician to be able to manually control the elevator car 3 for movement, the operating mode of the elevator installation 1 must first be switched over from “normal mode” to “inspection mode” using the changeover switch 18. In this case, for example, a switching position “0” is provided for the normal mode and a switching position “1” is provided for the inspection mode. By actuating two direction buttons 16a, 16b, one for the upward and one for the downward direction, the mobile control unit 2 can be used to control the elevator car 3 in a corresponding direction for movement. There is also an emergency shut-off switch 11 in the mobile control unit 2 in order to be able to immediately interrupt an operation of the elevator installation 1. The various switches of the mobile control unit 2, such as the switches 11, 16a, 16b and 18, can be designed either as electromechanical switches (e.g. buttons or knobs) or application software (app) or a graphical menu item on a user interface for the mobile control unit 2.

[0030] In summary, embodiments of the mobile control unit 2 presented here and a method allow for switching and remote control of an elevator installation 1 into an inspection mode, while safely providing increased mobility for a technician in the shaft.

[0031] It should be noted that possible features and advantages of embodiments of the invention are described herein partly with reference to a method according to the invention and partly with reference to a device according to the invention. A person skilled in the art will recognize that the individual features can be combined, modified, or exchanged in a suitable manner and that features described in particular for the method can be transferred analogously to the device and vice versa in order to arrive at further embodiments of the invention.

[0032] In accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes, the present invention has been described in what is considered to represent its preferred embodiment. However, it should be noted that the invention can be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated and described without departing from its spirit or scope.