METHOD, PROGRAM AND MOBILE DEVICE FOR CONTROLLING AN ELEVATOR SYSTEM

• US 20170297862A1
• Filed: 04/13/2017
• Published: 10/19/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 04/15/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Otis Gesellschaft MBH (Otis Worldwide Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Otis Elevator Company (Otis Worldwide Corp.)
• Inventors: Ifland, Maren, Cominelli, Donald F.
• Granted Patent: US 10,577,219 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: B66B 1/2408 where the allocation of a call to an elevator car is of importance, i.e. by means of a supervisory or group controller
• CPC Class Codes: B66B 1/3461 between the elevator control system and remote or mobile stations
• CPC Class Codes: B66B 1/46 Adaptations of switches or switchgear switches or switchgear in general, applications of switches or switchgear for floor-levelling purpose H01H; panels for boards or switching arrangements H02B1/015
• CPC Class Codes: B66B 1/468 Call registering systems
• CPC Class Codes: B66B 2201/4653 wherein the call is registered using portable devices

Abstract

A method of controlling an elevator system (2) comprising at least one elevator car (6), which is configured for travelling between a plurality of landings (8), comprises the steps of: displaying a hold button (26) on a mobile device (20) if the at least one elevator car (6) has stopped at a landing (8) and holding the elevator car (6) at the current landing (8) if the hold button (26) is operated.

Claims

1. Method of controlling an elevator system comprising at least one elevator car which is configured for travelling between a plurality of landings, wherein the method comprises:

displaying a hold button on a mobile device if the at least one elevator car has stopped at a landing; and

holding the elevator car at the landing if the hold button is operated.

2. Method of controlling an elevator system according to claim 1, wherein the elevator car is held at the landing for a predetermined amount of holding time after the hold button has been operated.

3. Method of controlling an elevator system according to claim 1, further including the steps of checking whether there exists a demand for the elevator car and allowing the landing doors and the car doors to close and the elevator car to leave the landing if there exists a demand for the elevator car.

4. Method of controlling an elevator system according to claim 3, further including checking rights assigned to the mobile device and holding the elevator car at the current landing if the rights assigned to the mobile device allows to hold the elevator car even if there exists a demand for the elevator car.

5. Method of controlling an elevator system according to claim 1 allowing to hold the elevator car for a maximum holding time.

6. Method of controlling an elevator system according to claim 5, wherein an individual maximum holding time to is assigned to the mobile device.

7. Method of controlling an elevator system according to claim 1 including making the hold button to disappear after it has been operated.

8. Method of controlling an elevator system according to claim 7 including of displaying the hold button again after a predetermined amount of no-show time.

9. Method of controlling an elevator system according to claim 8, wherein the no-show time is shorter than the holding time.

10. Method of controlling an elevator system according to claim 1, further comprising displaying on the mobile device an indication for identifying the elevator car held on the landing and/or an indication of the landing at which the elevator car is held.

11. Computer program for controlling an elevator system, the computer program being configured for executing a method according to claim 1 when run on a computer.

12. Mobile device, in particular a smartphone, which is configured for running a computer program according to claim 11.

13. Elevator system comprising at least one elevator car which is configured for travelling between a plurality of landings, wherein the elevator system is configured for communicating with at least one mobile device according to claim 12 in order to carry out a method of controlling the elevator system according to claim 1.

14. Elevator system according to claim 13, which is configured for wirelessly communicating with the at least one mobile device, in particular via Bluetooth, WLAN and/or mobile radio communication in particular including cellar data communication.

15. Elevator system according to claim 13, which is configured for communicating the hold button only to mobile devices which are located on the same floor as the landing at which at least one elevator car has stopped, or to mobile devices which are located within a predetermined region around the at which the elevator car has stopped, or to a mobile device from which a service call has been received.