FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to controlling group calls in elevator systems.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The most traditional method for calling an elevator is to press a button indicating the direction the passenger is wishing to travel. This is, however, insufficient with the modern elevator systems of today when elevator groups may have a large number of eleva ^¬ tors with different properties. For example, in the group there may be express elevators with preselected possible destinations. Such systems typically exist in large buildings with a need for a high capacity eleva ^¬ tor system.

The efficiency of the elevator system may be improved by using so called destination control system with possibility to indicate a number of the persons travelling with the person who made an elevator call. An elevator call for a plurality of people is known as a group call. The similar functionality may be done, for example, by requesting each traveler to indicate the destination by themselves. When a plurality of people belonging to the same group presses the button, or a person calling the journey for the complete group indicates the number of travelers, the group control ^¬ ler may allocate the journey efficiently. For example, when there is a group of 16 people and the capacity of the elevator is 16 people, the elevator knows that in order to fit the group to one elevator it must bring an empty elevator. Furthermore, the group controller knows that then the elevator is full and it should not do intermediate stops before the group has reached the desired destination. The functionality discussed above may be im ^¬ plemented with prioritization algorithms. For example, an elevator call for ten people may be prioritized over an elevator call just for one or longer journeys may be prioritized over short ones.

The problem with the prioritization mentioned above is that persons tend to order journeys for larg ^¬ er groups, for example, because of the prioritization or just for the sake of the convenience of travelling alone or in smaller groups. The same applies to jour ^¬ ney lengths, wherein a person may make two elevator calls. The first call is the call for the real journey and the second call is imaginary call, for example, for more people and farther from the calling floor.

Even if the prioritization is not used in all elevator systems they share the same problem as people tend to use same behavior when they do not know for sure if there is prioritization or not. Thus, persons tend to make calls for larger groups or imaginary calls in order to support their own calls. This reduc ^¬ es the capacity of the elevator system as the eleva ^¬ tors travel with non-optimal load.

In order to reduce false calls a system with a light port has been used. If an elevator has been called from a floor and nobody steps in the call can be cancelled. The problem with this system is that it only notices the difference between zero and at least one passenger. Thus, it cannot be used for larger groups or imaginary calls. Furthermore, the mechanism does not work if there are more people travelling from the same floor and one person places an imaginary call as others will enter the elevator anyway. Thus, the light port will indicate that at least one person has entered the elevator.

Thus, there is a need for an elevator system facilitating the removal of falsified and imaginary calls. Correspondingly, there is a need for facilitat- ing the removal of accidentally placed incorrect calls .

SUMMARY

In elevator journey prioritization often calls for larger groups are prioritized. This is often misused by placing elevator calls for larger groups that are actually travelling. This problem can be re ^¬ duced by identifying the calling person when placing the call and again in the elevator. The number of peo ^¬ ple in the elevator can be estimated by using machine vision or weight-based approximation methods. When the number of passengers is not known the possible misuse can be suspected if a person places considerably more group calls as than average.

The present invention discloses an arrange ^¬ ment for controlling group calls efficiently. In an embodiment of the invention a method for controlling groups calls in an elevator system is disclosed. In the method an identification of a person calling an elevator from an elevator calling panel is first received. Then, a call for an elevator for a group of people, wherein the number of passengers is included in the call information is received. These two steps can be done also in different order, where the call is first placed and then confirmed with the identifica ^¬ tion. Next an identification identifying the same person from called elevator car is received. The received information is then stored to a memory of an apparatus connected to said elevator system and processed by us ^¬ ing a processor of the apparatus.

In a further embodiment the method further comprises receiving an image comprising passengers in the called elevator car. If the received image is used as the identification received from the called eleva ^¬ tor car, the calling person is recognized from the image. In a further embodiment further comprises count- ing the number of passengers from said received image. In an alternative embodiment the the weight of the el ^¬ evator car is received from a weighing device coupled to the elevator car and the number of people in the elevator car is estimated based on the known elevator car weight and predetermined average weight of a per ^¬ son. In a further embodiment the counted or estimated number of passengers is compared to the number of pas ^¬ sengers according to placed elevator calls. In a fur- ther embodiment a predetermined action is performed when the result of the comparison shows difference in the compared numbers. The further action can be re ^¬ questing an identification of the calling person when the identification from the called elevator car is not received. In another embodiment the call is cancelled if the identification is not received.

In an embodiment of the invention the method disclosed above is implemented as a computer program comprising computer program code causing a computing device to perform the method when the computer program is executed.

In an embodiment of the invention an appa ^¬ ratus comprising at least one memory and at least one processor, wherein the apparatus is configured to com- municate with an elevator calling panel and an eleva ^¬ tor control panel, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code mentioned above are working together, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to perform a method disclosed above.

In an embodiment of the invention the appa ^¬ ratus is included in an elevator system comprising an elevator car coupled to a hoisting machine by a hoist ^¬ ing rope, an elevator calling panel and an elevator control panel. In an embodiment of the invention the elevator system further comprises a camera configured to take images from said elevator car or a weighing device configured to weigh the elevator car. The benefits of the embodiments mentioned above include the possibility to reduce the misuse of group calling function by monitoring persons using group calls. In more advanced embodiments, as dis- closed above, the monitoring may be automatic and done in real time. In these cases the algorithm controlling movements of elevators in an elevator group may make changes to already placed calls when it notices that the occupancy in the elevator does not match with the scheduled occupancy.

The actions discussed above are effective al ^¬ so in the cases when the incorrect information is not given on purpose. For example, a group call may have been placed and the group accidentally enters to an elevator that was not assigned to that group or for some reason the group decides not to enter to the ele ^¬ vator at all.

In both cases mentioned above, the purposive misuse and unintentional incorrect group calls, the present invention improves the efficiency of the ele ^¬ vator group by allocating the passengers more effec ^¬ tively to elevator cars. For the owner of the elevator system this provides a plurality of benefits. For ex ^¬ ample, time is not wasted as rides are faster. Fur- thermore, electricity is saved when the elevator cars can be filled effectively and unnecessary rides with inefficiently filled elevator cars can be avoided. Furthermore, when the efficiency of the elevator sys ^¬ tem is improved with better allocation smaller and fewer elevator cars are needed for the same quality of the service. Thus, the owner may choose from saving money and maintaining the quality of service or having better service with the same cost. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and constitute a part of this specification, illus ^¬ trate embodiments of the invention and together with the description help to explain the principles of the invention. In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a block diagram of an example embodiment of the present invention, and

Fig. 2 is a flow chart of an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

In figure 1 an embodiment of the present in- vention is disclosed. In the embodiment an elevator car 10 is called by using calling panel 12. The call ^¬ ing panel 12 is typically a panel operating together with a destination control system. The panel is connected to the controller 16, which in this embodiment controls all the movements of the elevator car 10, however, it is possible that the destination control system is separate device to the controller control ^¬ ling movements of the elevator car 10. In figure 1 on ^¬ ly one elevator car 10 is illustrated, however, modern elevator systems typically include a plurality of ele ^¬ vators that are controlled by the same destination control system. Thus, it may allocate efficiently journeys called by passengers.

In the embodiment of figure 1 the person calling an elevator uses a keycard 13 for providing personal identification to the system. After identification the person uses the calling panel 12 for calling an elevator to a group of persons. This is per ^¬ formed by entering the destination floor and the num- ber of passengers.

When the elevator car 10 arrives at the call ^¬ ing floor the group enters to the elevator car 10. Af- ter entering the calling person is identified again, for example, by introducing the keycard 13 to the con ^¬ trol panel 11 of the elevator car 10. After identifi ^¬ cation the journey typically begins. The processing associated with the second identification is explained in more detail together with referral to figure 2.

In another embodiment instead of keycard 13 a mobile phone is used as an identification device. In such case it is possible to use any suitable local communication means for identification. Examples of such communication means are near field communication, Bluetooth, and wireless local area network. Thus, it is not necessary to introduce the device to the re ^¬ ceivers located together with panels 11 and 13 but the device can be recognized from the pocket of the call ^¬ er. When more than one mobile device is in the vicini ^¬ ty a confirmation or other method for securing the identity of a person may be used.

In embodiment of figure 1 a camera 14 is used to take images from the elevator. From the images the number of passengers can be counted. In a further em ^¬ bodiment a machine vision based identification method may be used. For example, person identified at the calling panel has a profile in the system. The profile includes at least one image of the profile holder. Based on these images the person can be recognized in the elevator.

The elevator car 11 is connected to the hoisting machine with rope 15. In another embodiment the number of passengers is estimated from the weight of the elevator car 10. The weight is measured with the weighing device of the hoisting arrangement and it can be implemented in various ways and is a common component in most of the elevator systems even if it is not always necessary.

In figure 2 a flow chart is disclosed. In the embodiment a group of people is in need of elevator journey. The journey begins by identifying one person at the calling panel, step 20. The identification may be done by using suitable communication means, such as an RFID-based keycard, near field communication imple- mented in a mobile device such as mobile phone, per ^¬ sonal identification code, or similar. The call panel is typically coupled to a destination control system. After the identification the identified person makes the call, step 21. The call information includes the destination floor and number of passenger. Based on this information the destination control system allocates a journey and instructs the caller and the group to the allocated elevator. As the call information in ^¬ cludes the identification of the calling person plu- rality of calls made by the same person can be pre ^¬ vented. For example, if the same person wishes to make second call the calling panel may request if the per ^¬ son wishes to cancel the previous call and place a new or to maintain the previous call.

The journey begins when the elevator arrives at the calling floor and the group enters to the ele ^¬ vator. As the number of persons is known the system needs to count or estimate the number of persons en ^¬ tered to the elevator and compare the counted or esti- mated number of persons to the call information, step 22. This can be done by several ways. For example, each elevator typically comprises a weighing device. The number of persons can be estimated by dividing the measured weight by average person weight, which is of- ten 80kg but may be adjusted, for example, according to the geographical area. Instead of weighing device a machine vision detection system may be used. In such system an image is taken when the beginning of the journey, for example, when the doors are closed but the elevator does not move yet. Then, from the image the number of persons may be count. Based on the call information the elevator system always knows how many people should be in the elevator. This number can be verified and corrected when the machine vision count ^¬ ing gives different result than the accumulated call information .

The procedure described above may include the detection of calling person. This may be done, for example, by introducing the same means as when calling the elevator. In a further embodiment the person is detected from the machine vision image described above. For machine vision matching the system needs an image of the person who called the elevator. The image may be taken by digital camera arranged to the calling panel or it may be stored in to the profile of the person. The profile may include other relevant infor- mation for placing call, such as access rights.

When the number of people who have entered and the identities of persons having made the calls are known the gathered information may be compared with the call information, step 23. If the information matches the elevator ride starts normally, step 24. When starting normally the information may be stored statistics system. When the information does not match the result is processed, step 25.

The processing may include various actions. For example, if the person who made the call cannot be identified in the elevator car the elevator system may show on a screen a message asking the identification. If the identification is not made within a time limit the call is cancelled. The purpose of this is to re- duce unauthorized access to possibly locked floors. When the number of persons in the elevator does not match with the call information may be used to detect people misusing the system. For example, if the eleva ^¬ tor car is staring from a floor and only one person has been identified with a call to ten people and only one person enters to the elevator the system immedi ^¬ ately detects possible misuse of the system. The sys- tern may be configured such that after certain number of possible misuses the possibility to place group calls is reduced or the person placing possible misus ^¬ es is investigated or interviewed. When two or more people have identified themselves but the number of persons in the elevator is considerably less than it should be all identified persons may be added to the statistics but not counted as possible misuse as de ^¬ scribed above as it is very difficult to detect who placed the possible misuse call. Instead these persons may be placed into separate second statistics. If a person continuously misuses call system by placing group calls the misuse may be detected even if the person is in the second statistics only as the person who is misusing will be placed to the second statis ^¬ tics on every journey and others are random travelers and typically will be stored considerably less fre ^¬ quently in the statistics.

Furthermore, these two statistics may be com- bined by using different methods. For example, a hit in the first statistics may give ten points and in the second statistics only 1 point. Then the system may be configured to perform an action, such as reducing the possibility to place group calls after 50 points.

In a simpler embodiment the statistics in ^¬ clude only the number of group calls a person has placed without using the number of passengers. In this embodiment the misuse may be suspected from the fact a person places considerably more group calls than aver- age person.

After processing the information the elevator system acts in accordance with the processing result, which typically means the start of the journey. Even if the misuse has been detected the normal operation is often desired as it is not intention to disturb other people who are not misusing the system by caus ^¬ ing unnecessary delays, step 27. However, even if in the embodiment of figure 2 the journey is started af ^¬ ter processing the information it is not the only option but, for example, the journey may also prevented.

In an embodiment the controller 16 of figure 1 comprises at least one processor and at least one memory, wherein the memory includes computer program code for one or more programs, the at least one memory and the computer program code are working together, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to perform a method disclosed above with referral to figure 2.

The above mentioned method may be implemented as computer software which is executed in a computing device able to communicate with a mobile device. When the software is executed in a computing device it is configured to perform the above described inventive method. The software is embodied on a computer reada ^¬ ble medium so that it can be provided to the computing device .

As stated above, the components of the exem ^¬ plary embodiments can include computer readable medium or memories for holding instructions programmed ac ^¬ cording to the teachings of the present inventions and for holding data structures, tables, records, and/or other data described herein. Computer readable medium can include any suitable medium that participates in providing instructions to a processor for execution. Common forms of computer-readable media can include, for example, a floppy disk, a flexible disk, hard disk, magnetic tape, any other suitable magnetic medi ^¬ um, a CD-ROM, CD±R, CD±RW, DVD, DVD-RAM, DVD1RW, DVD±R, HD DVD, HD DVD-R, HD DVD-RW, HD DVD-RAM, Blu- ray Disc, any other suitable optical medium, a RAM, a PROM, an EPROM, a FLASH-EPROM, any other suitable memory chip or cartridge, a carrier wave or any other suitable medium from which a computer can read. It is obvious to a person skilled in the art that with the advancement of technology, the basic idea of the invention may be implemented in various ways. The invention and its embodiments are thus not limited to the examples described above; instead they may vary within the scope of the claims.