Granted Patent B2

US 12,428,264 · App. 16/883,361 · Granted Sep 30, 2025

Inventors: Tadeusz Pawel Witczak (Farmington, CT); Craig Bogli (Avon, CT); Nikola Trcka (West Hartford, CT)

Assignee: OTIS ELEVATOR COMPANY

B66B5/0031B66B1/3453B66B1/3461B66B5/0025B66B5/02

Abstract

Claims (50)

1. An elevator system, comprising

a gateway configured to:

receive, from an elevator car controller of an elevator car that is operationally positioned in a hoistway of a building, car controller data for the elevator car that includes a car positional log of the elevator car in the hoistway;

receive, from a beacon mounted to the elevator car, car operational data for the elevator car that includes car and door data representing car and door events; and

transmit, to one of an elevator management center and a cloud service, a combination of the car controller data and the car operational data to identify an alert condition and a position of the elevator car in the hoistway during the alert condition,

wherein the gateway is configured to stitch together the car controller data and the car operational data to identify the alert condition and position of the elevator car during the alert condition, wherein:

the car controller data and the car operational data are both timestamped so that stitching together the car controller data and the car operational data identifies the alert condition and position of the elevator car during the alert condition;

wherein sensors are mounted to the elevator car, each of the sensors communicate by wired or wireless connections with the beacon, wherein the car and door data includes sensor detected data and beacon detected data;

wherein the sensors are configured to sense one or more of elevator car speed, current draw, door loading, leveling, position, acceleration, and vibration; and

wherein the beacon is mounted on or near an elevator car door of the elevator car to detect a number of door openings of elevator doors per hoistway landing, and elevator car starts and stops.

2. The elevator system of claim 1 , wherein:

the beacon communicates wirelessly with the gateway; and

the gateway communicates wirelessly with the one of the elevator management center and the cloud service.

3. The elevator system of claim 2 , wherein:

the elevator car controller communicates wirelessly with the beacon via a service tool.

4. The elevator system of claim 3 , wherein:

the service tool communicates with the controller via a wireless dongle.

5. The elevator system of claim 4 , wherein:

the service tool is a mobile phone or tablet.

6. The elevator system of claim 1 , wherein, to identify the alert condition:

the sensor data is processed, in whole or part, by one or more of:

one of more of the sensors; the beacon; the gateway; the elevator management center; and the cloud service; and

the beacon detected data is processed, in whole or part, by one or more of:

the beacon; the gateway; the elevator management center; and the cloud service.

7. The elevator system of claim 6 , wherein:

the sensors are configured to sense one or more of elevator car speed, current draw, door loading, leveling, position, acceleration, and vibration; and/or

the beacon is mounted on or near an elevator car door of the elevator car to detect a number of door openings of elevator doors per hoistway landing, and elevator car starts and stops.

8. A method of monitoring an elevator system, comprising

receiving by a gateway, from an elevator car controller of an elevator car that is operationally positioned in a hoistway of a building, car controller data for the elevator car that includes a car positional log of the elevator car in the hoistway;

receiving by the gateway, from a beacon mounted to the elevator car, car operational data for the elevator car that includes car and door data representing car and door events;

transmitting, by the gateway to one of an elevator management center and a cloud service, a combination of the car controller data and the car operational data to identify an alert condition and a position of the elevator car in the hoistway during the alert condition; and

the gateway stitching together the car controller data and the car operational data to identify the alert condition and position of the elevator car during the alert condition; and

timestamping the car controller data and the car operational data so that stitching together the car controller data and the car operational data identifies the alert condition and position of the elevator car during the alert condition;

wherein sensors, mounted to the elevator car, communicate by wired or wireless connections with the beacon, wherein the car and door data includes sensor detected data and beacon detected data;

wherein the sensors sense one or more of elevator car speed, current draw, door loading, leveling, position, acceleration, and vibration; and

the beacon, mounted on or near an elevator car door of the elevator car, detects a number of door openings of elevator doors per hoistway landing, and elevator car starts and stops.

9. The method of claim 8 , comprising:

the beacon communicating wirelessly with the gateway; and

the gateway communicating wirelessly with the one of the elevator management center and the cloud service.

10. The method of claim 9 , comprising:

the elevator car controller communicating wirelessly with the beacon via a service tool.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein:

the service tool communicates wirelessly with the controller via a wireless dongle.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein:

the service tool is a mobile phone or tablet.

13. The method of claim 8 , comprising identifying the alert condition by:

processing the sensor data, in whole or part, by one or more of:

one of more of the sensors; the beacon; the gateway; the elevator management center; and the cloud service; and

processing the beacon detected data, in whole or part, by one or more of:

the beacon; the gateway; the elevator management center; and the cloud service.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (1)

References Cited (48)