US1608094A - Automatic schedule regulator for dispatching systems - Google Patents

Description

Nov. 23 1926.

ML .1- FINNEGAN AUTOMATIC SCHEDULE REGULATOR FOR DISPATCHING SYSTEMS Filed Jan. 8, 1926 uh R INVENTOR ATTORN EY reams noses, 926.

cairn srars MARTIN 3. L INNEGAN, GE NEW YORK, Ell. iii, ASEIGI NGER T ELEVA'EQR SUPELIES 530311- lPMlY, ENG, 0F HOBOKEN, HEWY JERSEY, A GOBPQRATION GE HEW JERSEY.

AUTOMATIU fiCHEDULE- REGULATWEL 150E DESPATGEIHG application filed ii'annary 18, 1953 3. serial .rt'o. 31,998.

This invention relates to dispatching systerns and. particularly to dispatching sys tems for elevators for use inbui-ldings hav- 7 in a large number of elevators and consic erable tratlic. It is. the object. of this invention to provide as an additional feature of a system in whichqcarsor other moving bodies are dispatched automatically in acordance with a predetermined schedule, means for adjusting and regulating the interval between the starting of the various cars and further :to do this automatically,

thereby eliminating 'thenecessity of having one or more attendants for this purpose. f'

in this connection means are provided whereby when the trathc is light the cars will be dispatched on a comparatively-slow schedule, and when the trafiic is heavy the cars will be dispatched on a comparatively last schedule; intermediate schedule speeds.

. being provided, if desired, for intermediate degrees or trafiic.

Specifically stated, when my novel apparatus is applied to the dispatching oi elevators, it will produce this efiect'rWhen there are passengers waiting to be carried in either direction at an arbitrary number of doors, for example three or less, the cars will be dispatched with a certain predetermined interval tsay, for example, 120 seconds) between the starting of successive cars; when there are passengers waiting to be carried in either direction at a number of floors ranging between 3 and 6, the cars will be dispatched with a smaller interval, say 100 seconds; when there are passengers waiting at a number of floors ranging from 6 to '9,

thestarting interval will be reduced to, say,

seconds; and so on, until a minimum starting interval (that re, a maximum schedule speed) is reached.

Thus it will be seen that the effect isto provide a flexible'dispatching system which will automatically accommodate itself to the many changes in traffic conditions which commonly occur during the course of a day in the modern elevator-equipped buildings of anyconsiderable height.

My invention consists in providing electrical apparatus for performing the work of the attendant'so as to obtain an almost imperceptible flexibility and at the same time remove the human factor heretofore relied upon for adjusting the schedule.

My invention is capable of application to any of the well-known types oi elevator signal systems (such as shown in patents to Smalley &- lteiners, Numbers 634,220 and 826,752, and patents to Collett Numbers,

with means for causing a signal to be displayed in response to the pushing of such button or other signal means.

Dther objects, features and adaptations will he made apparent as the description progresses, reference being had to the accompanymg drawings, which show diagrammatlcally t e parts comprising my novel apparatus.

In the drawings Figure 1 shows schematically my novel apparatus in connection with such parts of an ordinary signal system as are operated therewith. Figure 2 shows a'portion of a common type of signaling mechanism to which my invention is readily applied. Fig. 3 shows a common type of car dispatching device.

in the drawing, reference character 1 designates an electric motor adapted to rotate at a predetermined constant speed, thereby operating thru contacts (shown in Fig. 3) starting and timing signals for the various cars in a predetermined sequence. The op eration of timing signals thru a motor and contacts of this type is well known in the art, the more common types being shown in patents to Perine #9,998,034, Meyers #1,156,610 and Boardman #1211556.

in thearmature circuit of motor 1 is the ordinary resistance unit 2 havingv a movable contact 3'. The purpose of this resistance, of course, is to provide means for varying the speed of motor 1. At certain intervals along the resistance unit 2 are placed terminals 4, 5 and 6 to which conductors 7, 8 and 9 are connected -for a purpose which will appear hereinafter.

Numerals 20 to 31 indicate contact devices, shown here as mercury pots, which, as will be seen by an inspection of Figure 2', are controlled by means of series of armatures, the armature for mercury. pot 20 being shown at 14 in Figure 2. Armature 14 is asv sociated with a magnet 15 which, when energiz ed, attracts the same to withdraw contact- 16 from the niercuryf Magnet 17 has associated therewith an armature 18 which isattracted by the energizing of magnet 17 but which normally is urged to the position shown in Figure 2 by .spring 19. In this position it is obvious that armature 14 is locked out of contact making position by armature 18. The circuit to magnet 17 is controlled by means ofa push button, thev contacts for which are indicated at 32in Figure 2. This mechanism is well known, -1n the art of signaling and is shown and de- A past which. the elevators are adapted" to travel, it being understood that similar buttons and similar'mechanism are provided for each of the mercury pots shown in Fig. 1, there being one complete mechanism for each floor; When a passenger. wishes to signal the elevators he presses the up or down push button, making one or the other of the contacts 32 and 33, according to the direction in which he desires to go. Closing of contacts 32 causes the energizing of magnet 17 which thereby attracts its armature, allowing armature 14 to descend by gravity, completing a circuit thru the contact of finger 16 with the mercury. Th s circuit causes (either immediately or at a certain point in the routine running of some car) a signal to be disla'yed, usually a flashlight such as the one 1nd1cated at 40 in Fig. 1, this being the sig-- nal that a passenger is waiting at the corresponding floor. Similarly such a signal is provided for each floor as indicated. So

. are displayed a circuit much of the mechanism is, as I have indicated, quite common in the art, consequently further description will be dispensed with. My invention will now be'described:

Connected in parallel with signals 40 to 51' are resistance units to 71 respectively, so that whenever any of the signals 40 to 51 will also be made thru the corresponding resistance unit, as for example, a circuit from conductor 72, thru mercury pot 20, conductor 73, resistance unit 60,-conductor 74, winding of relay" winding of relay 75, conductor 76, windi of relay 77, conductor 78, winding of relay 9, thence thru conductor back to the other side of the line. Relays 75, 77 and 79 have associated therewith armatures 85, 87 and 89 normally held in the position shown in Figure. 1 by springs 95, 97 and 99 respectively. is adapted to attract its armature when a certain value of current is passed thru the 75, conductor .7 6,

75 to attract ture is in the manner 'termin'ed Each of these relays winding thereof. However the current necessary to enable'relay 79 to'attract' its armature 89 is less than that necessary for relay 77 to attract its armature. Furthermore, the current necessary for'relay 77 to attract its armature is less than that necessary for relay ing brought about, of course, by the manner of winding the various relays.

Let us suppose for example that thecurrent necessary to cause relay 79 to attract its armature 89 against the tension of spring 99 is the sum of the currents passing thru resistances 60, 61- and 62v (or any other three resistance units), it being intendedthat all of these units are of equal value. Let us -further supposethat the currentnecessary for relay 77 toattract its armature is-that passed thru six of these resistances connected as shown andthat the current necesjcause relay 7 b to attract its armae the current passed thrugnin'e of these resistance units when Ibircuits are made therethrough n the manner indisary to cated. With this supposition inmind the operation will be'seen to be aslfollows:

Suppose passengers. on the floors corresponding to mercury pots .20, 22-and 24 have pressed buttonssignifying their in tention to be picked -.up.f- Circu ts will accordingly be made thru lamps 40,42 and 44 heretofore described and also thru resistance units 60, 62 and 64. The result will'be that the magnetic attraction set up in relay 79 will be sufiicient to attract its armature 89 thereby causing its armature, this condition be-- the circuit to the motor 1 to passas-fol-- lows 1' p p "Thru conductors 101- and 102, contacts 'made by armature 89, conductor 7, that por- 'tlon of resistance unit '2 lying between contact 4 and contact arm 3, theme thru the armature winding and back to the other side of the line leading to a'high voltage source of current. Before such attraction ofarmature 89 took place, of course, .the

that portion of the resistance lying between contact 4 and contact 10 will be'cut out of the armaturecircuit and'the speed. of motor l will be increased by a certain predeamount,: thereby causing the dispatching signals ,110" and 111 operated by said motor to;be"*fspeeded up, the pur ose being to cause inore'rapid-movement o the cars than that which existed when there were fewer waiting-passenger signals. Similarly let us suppose that all of the signals from 40 to 45 inclusive are now to be operated.- This will cause current to be passed thru each'of the resistances 60 to 65 Inclusive, which will bring the value of current thru armature passed. thruxthe en the current passing thru winding of relay 77 to a value sufficient to cause the attraction of armature 87. This will cause the circuit to motor 1 to pass as follows 'Thru conductors 101, 103 and 104, contacts operated by armature 87,conductor 8,

that portion of resistance'2 lying betweencontact 5 and contactarm 3, armature of motor 1, thence back to the other side of the line. The effect will be to again reduce the amount of resistance in thearmature circuit and again cause a speeding up of motor 1.

Now-let us furthersuppose that nine or more of the signals are placed in operating condition at one time. The result will be that not only armatures 87 to 89 will be attracted, jbut armature 85 will also be attracted, causing the circuit to motor 1 to pass as 'follows: a l

Thru conductors 101 and 103, contacts operated by armature 85, conductor 89, that portion of resistance unit included between contacts 6 and contact arm 3, thence thru armature 1 back to the other side of the line. In this'manner a speed greaterthan any so far produced will be added, thereby necessitating a maximum speed on the part of the elevators in orderto cope with the increased traflic as indicated by the large number of waiting passenger signals. It will thus be seen that a dispatching system is produced which automatically accommodates itself to allconditions of traffic;- it

being obvious that as the traflic decreases (as indicated by the canceling of the waiting passenger signals 40 to 51 due to the withdrawal of the associated mercury pot'contacts) the reverse operations to those just take place, and in the reverse order.

It is to be understood that when more than one of the contacts operated by armatures 85, 87 and 89 are mad efthe circuit to motor 1 will pass thru the. contact associated with the higher'c'urrent relay, (just as described above) since the circuit traceable therethrough constitutes the path of least resistance. 1

In Fig. 3 I have shown asimple means of causing the operation of starting signals for the cars at predetermined intervals thru the instrumentality' of a pair o'f contact makers 109 and 1'12 fixed to aidisc which is made to revolve slowly through suitable gearing to the motor- 1. Thesecontacts'opcrate the starting. bells 110""and111. This particular embodiment is"the" invention of George H. Rowe,and is claimed him, in Letters Patent No; -1',,230,434,i'zr'anted June 10, 1917-, and serves very well to illustrate my invention isjre'a'dily applied;

It 1 is to be understood that various changes may be made in'the relative ar- 1 conventional form of dispatcher, to which rangement, construction, and mechanical operation of the parts without departmg from the spirit of my invention. Furtheu more, while my automatic schedule regulating means will probably find its most apparent utility in connection with the dis patching of elevators, I do not limit myselt' to such a plication, as other uses and adaptations might readily occur to those skilled in the art of dispatching moving bodies.

' Accordingly, I limit myself only by the scope of my invention as disclosed herein and as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In an elevator signalling system, a plurality of elevators, calling signals for each elevator, means controlled from the various floors for placing sa d signals in indicating conditlrn, startmg signals for sand elevators,

'means for operating said starting signals said magnetic devices selectively each in dependence upon a different number of calling signals placed in indicating condition.

3. In an elevator signalling system, a plurality of elevators, c'allingslgnals for each elevator, means controlled from the various floors for placing said calling signals in indicating condition, starting signals for said elevators, means for operatin vsaid starting signals in succession at 'pre etermined intervals comprisingv an electric motor, means for-varying the speed of said electric motrTr comprising a plurality of excitation circuits for said electric motor, each including.

means to operate said motor at a different speed, and means for closing said excitation circuits selectively and in dependence upon the number'of calling signals placed in indicating condition.

4.-In an elevator signalling system, a

plurality 0i elevators, calling signals there-.

for, meanscontrolled from the variousfloors for placing said signals in indicating condition, starting signals -for said elevators,-

means for operating said starting signals in succession at predetermined intervals, means for varying the -speed of said operating means, and means for controlling said lastn'amed means in accordance with the variation in the number-of unanswered calling signals previously placed in indicating condition bythe means herein set forth, said controlling means comprising means operated selectively each in dependence upon a diflerent number'of 'saidfloor controlled means placed in operating condition, said means remaining in operation as long as said calllng signals remain unanswered.

5. In an elevator signaling system, a.

means foroperating said starting signals in. succession at predetermined intervals, means for varying the speed of said operating means, and means for controlling said lastnamed means 111 accordance with the variatlon 1n the number of unanswered calling signals previously placed in indicating condition by the means herein set forth, said controlling means comprising resistance units operable by the means for placing the calling signals in indicating condition, an electro-magnetic' device in circuit with saidresistance units,and means operable to actuate'said speed varying means-so as to efiect a change in the speed of said signal operating means, 1

-6. an -.ellevator signaling system, a plurality of elevators, calling signals therefor, means controlled from the various floors for placing said signals in indicating condition, starting signals for said elevators," means ior operati'ng said starting signals insuccession at predetermined intervals, means for varying the speed a plurality of.

by said electro-magnetic device means, and means for controlling said lastnamed means in accordance with the variation in the number of unanswered calling signals previously placed in indicating condition by the means therein set forth, said controlling means comprising a plurality of electric circuits, a resistance unit in-each circuit, another circuit connecting said lastnam'ed circuits, relay means operable upon the passage of a predetermined amount of current thru said connecting 'circuit to operate said speed varying means in response to the operation ofa predetermined numberjofsaid resistance units.

7. Apparatus as in claim 6, wherein the meansfor varying the speed of said signal operating means comprises aplurality of excitation circuits, means in each of said excitation circuits for causing said signal operatingmeans to operate. at a speed different from the speed produced by the oper ation of any other'of said excitation circuits, and wherein said relay means comprises a plurality of'means each operable upon passage of a different predetermined amount of current through said, connecting circuit to close one of said excitation circuits,

Signed at Hoboken, N. J. this 15th day of January, 1926v MARTIN J. INNEGAN,

of said ope'rating

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