Monitoring of a door of an elevator
The present invention relates to an apparatus for detecting a state of an elevator door, the apparatus configured to: determine, on a basis of a pressure data, at least one indicator value indicative of a change in the pressure; compare the at least one indicator value to a respective reference value; and set, in accordance with a comparison between the at least one indicator value and the respective reference value, a detection result to express one of the following: (i) the elevator door is open, (ii) the elevator door is closed. Furthermore, the invention relates to a method, a computer program product and an elevator system.
1 . A system, comprising:
a pressure sensor configured to generate pressure data that indicates an air pressure associated with at least a portion of an elevator system based on measuring the air pressure in at least one of an elevator shaft of the elevator system or a location in an elevator car of the elevator system; and
an apparatus configured to detect a state of an elevator door of the elevator system based on the pressure data generated by the pressure sensor, the apparatus comprising:
a memory storing a computer program code; and
a processor configured to execute the computer program code to cause the apparatus to
determine, based on processing the pressure data, an indicator value that indicates a variation in the air pressure associated with at least the portion of the elevator system over a period of time; and
determine whether the elevator door is open or closed based on comparing the indicator value to a respective reference value.
2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the processor of the apparatus is configured to execute the computer program code to cause the apparatus to determine the indicator value that indicates the variation in the air pressure associated with at least the portion of the elevator system based on applying a statistical analysis to the pressure data that is generated by the pressure sensor over a predefined time window.
3 . The system of claim 2 , wherein the applying the statistical analysis includes determining a variance of pressure data values of the pressure data that is generated by the pressure sensor over the predefined time window to determine the indicator value that indicates the variation in the air pressure associated with at least the portion of the elevator system.
4 . The system of claim 3 , wherein the variance of the pressure data values includes at least one of:
a first order variance of the pressure data values, or
a second order variance of the pressure data values.
5 . The system of claim 1 , the processor of the apparatus is further configured to execute the computer program code to cause the apparatus to:
generate, in response to a determination that the elevator door is open, a control signal to a separate device to cause the separate device to perform a calibration of an operation of the separate device based on the determination that the elevator door is open.
6 . The system of claim 5 , wherein the separate device is at least one of:
a positioning system of the elevator car of the elevator system in the elevator shaft of the elevator system; or
an accelerometer associated with the elevator car.
7 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the apparatus is at least one of:
a measurement device coupled to the elevator car of the elevator system;
an elevator controller; or
a server device located in a communication network.
8 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the pressure sensor is configured to be located at one of:
a location on a roof of the elevator car;
a location on a wall of the elevator shaft; or
a location in an air vent that is configured to transfer air between the elevator car and the elevator shaft.
9 . An elevator system, comprising:
at least one elevator car; and
the system according to claim 1 .
10 . A method for detecting a state of an elevator door of an elevator system, the method performed by a system, the system including a pressure sensor and an apparatus, the method comprising:
generating, at the pressure sensor, pressure data that indicates an air pressure associated with at least a portion of the elevator system based on measuring the air pressure in at least one of an elevator shaft of the elevator system or a location in an elevator car of the elevator system; and
causing a processor of the apparatus to execute computer program code stored at a memory of the apparatus to cause the apparatus to
determine, based on processing the pressure data, an indicator value that indicates a variation in the air pressure associated with at least the portion of the elevator system over a period of time; and
determine whether the elevator door is open or closed based on comparing the indicator value to a respective reference value.
11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the indicator value that indicates the variation in the air pressure associated with at least the portion of the elevator system is determined based on applying a statistical analysis to the pressure data that is generated by the pressure sensor over a predefined time window.
12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the applying the statistical analysis includes determining a variance of pressure data values of the pressure data that is generated by the pressure sensor over the predefined time window to determine the indicator value that indicates the variation in the air pressure associated with at least the portion of the elevator system.
13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the variance of the pressure data values includes at least one of:
a first order variance of the pressure data values, or
a second order variance of the pressure data values.
14 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising the processor of the apparatus executing the computer program code stored at the memory of the apparatus to cause the apparatus to:
generate, in response to a determination that the elevator door is open, a control signal to a separate device to cause the separate device to perform a calibration of an operation of the separate device based on the determination that the elevator door is open.
15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the separate device is at least one of:
a positioning system of the elevator car of the elevator system in the elevator shaft of the elevator system; or
an accelerometer associated with the elevator car.
16 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the pressure sensor is located at one of
a location on a roof of the elevator car;
a location on a wall of the elevator shaft; or
a location in an air vent that is configured to transfer air between the elevator car and the elevator shaft.
17 . A non-transitory computer readable medium storing a computer program that is executable by a processor of an apparatus to cause the apparatus to:
determine, based on processing pressure data that is generated by a pressure sensor and that indicates an air pressure associated with at least a portion of an elevator system, an indicator value that indicates a variation in the air pressure associated with at least the portion of the elevator system over a period of time, the pressure data generated based on the pressure sensor measuring the air pressure in at least one of an elevator shaft of the elevator system or a location in an elevator car of the elevator system; and
determine whether an elevator door of the elevator system is open or closed based on comparing the indicator value to a respective reference value.