Patents Assigned to Otis Elevator Company
  • Patent number: 11649139
    Abstract: An electronic safety actuator assembly for an elevator system includes a safety case vertically moveable relative to an elevator car. Also included is a safety brake disposed within the safety case. Further included is an electromagnet operatively coupleable to the elevator car. Yet further included is a link member operatively coupleable to the elevator car and to the safety brake. Also included is a magnet disposed between the electromagnet and the safety case, the magnet vertically moveable relative to the elevator car, the electromagnet switchable between an energized condition and an un-energized condition, one of the energized condition and the un-energized condition magnetically attracting the magnet to the electromagnet, the other of the energized condition and the un-energized condition magnetically repulsing the magnet away from the electromagnet, repulsion of the magnet moving the safety brake from a non-braking position to a braking position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 5, 2019
    Date of Patent: May 16, 2023
    Assignee: OTIS ELEVATOR COMPANY
    Inventor: Juan Antonio Illan
  • Patent number: 11649137
    Abstract: Elevator systems including an elevator car moveable within an elevator shaft, the elevator car having a first elevator car component, the first elevator car component having a first side facing an interior of the elevator car and a second side opposite from the first side and a structural sound-generation system. The structural sound-generation system having at least one audio actuator coupled to the second side of the first elevator car component and an audio system controller in communication with the at least one audio actuator. The structural sound-generation system is configured to generate vibrations within the first elevator car component such that sound waves are produced therefrom and projected into the interior of the elevator car.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 28, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 16, 2023
    Assignee: OTIS ELEVATOR COMPANY
    Inventors: Daryl J. Marvin, Laurent Coldre
  • Patent number: 11649136
    Abstract: A method of monitoring a conveyance apparatus within a conveyance system is provided. The method including: obtaining a starting location position probability distribution of the conveyance apparatus within the conveyance system; detecting motion of the conveyance apparatus away from the probable starting location for a period of time; determining a distance traveled by the conveyance apparatus during the period of time; determining a direction of motion of the conveyance apparatus during the period of time; and determining a probability of the conveyance apparatus being at each of a plurality of possible destination locations at a conclusion of the period of time in response to the starting location position probability distribution and at least one of the distance traveled, the direction of motion, and the period of time.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 4, 2019
    Date of Patent: May 16, 2023
    Assignee: OTIS ELEVATOR COMPANY
    Inventors: Tadeusz Pawel Witczak, Nikola Trcka, Lindsay Wos, Oleh Shvets, Andrzej Bohonos, Lukasz Majchrzak, Pawel Drzycimski
  • Patent number: 11649138
    Abstract: An illustrative example embodiment of an elevator system monitoring assembly includes a wind detector configured to detect wind in a hoistway and to provide a wind detector output regarding the detected wind. A processor is configured to receive the wind detector output, determine whether at least one characteristic of the detected wind satisfies at least one predetermined criterion corresponding to an effect on the elevator system, and provide an indication of at least one of the satisfied criterion and the effect on the elevator system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 1, 2020
    Date of Patent: May 16, 2023
    Assignee: OTIS ELEVATOR COMPANY
    Inventors: Yisug Kwon, Daniel Pahng
  • Patent number: 11643301
    Abstract: This disclosure relates to a system and method for monitoring a sheave bearing condition, and in particular relates to passenger conveyer systems, such as elevator systems, employing the system and method. An example passenger conveyer system includes a suspension member, and a sheave configured to rotate on a bearing. The suspension member is wrapped around at least a portion of the sheave. Further, the system includes a sensor mounted adjacent an end of the suspension member, and a controller configured to determine a condition of the bearing based on an output of the sensor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 28, 2019
    Date of Patent: May 9, 2023
    Assignee: OTIS ELEVATOR COMPANY
    Inventors: Yan Chen, David R. Polak, Paul R. Braunwart, Zaffir A. Chaudhry, Charles C. Coffin
  • Patent number: 11643302
    Abstract: A detection system is provided. The detection system includes a sensing device and a controller. The sensing device is within an elevator and in communication with the controller. The sensing device continuously monitors sound waves within the elevator and communicates the sound waves as electrical signals to the controller. The controller operates the elevator and analyses the sound waves received as the electrical signals from the sensing device to detect an emergency condition within the elevator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 19, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 9, 2023
    Assignee: OTIS ELEVATOR COMPANY
    Inventor: Ravikiran Singaraju
  • Patent number: 11643299
    Abstract: Provided is a communication system and a communication method for use in an elevator system, which belong to the field of elevator intelligent control technologies. The communication system of the present invention comprises: a first bluetooth module mounted in an elevator landing area of the elevator system and a second bluetooth module mounted in an elevator car of the elevator system. The communication system and the communication method of the present invention can realize that a passenger completes an elevator calling operation in a completely hand-free mode, which is easy to realize and is low in cost.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 20, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 9, 2023
    Assignee: OTIS ELEVATOR COMPANY
    Inventors: Wenbo Huang, Xiaofei Guo
  • Patent number: 11634301
    Abstract: A system and method for detection of a malfunction in an elevator. The system includes an elevator cab, a server, at least one sensor, and a controller. The controller receives a signal captured by the at least sensor and transmit to the server. The server processes the transmitted signal and prognostically detects the malfunction in the elevator cab.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 4, 2018
    Date of Patent: April 25, 2023
    Assignee: OTIS ELEVATOR COMPANY
    Inventors: Aditya Swami, Guru Charan Kottur, Daisuke Meguro, Hiromitsu Miyajima
  • Patent number: 11623841
    Abstract: An elevator safety system comprises a plurality of door safety units, each door safety unit; a communication bus connecting the plurality of door safety units; a control unit connected to the communication bus for allowing communication between the plurality of door safety units and the control unit; and at least one position sensor configured for providing information about the current position of an elevator car within a hoistway. Each door safety unit is assigned to an elevator hoistway door and configured for monitoring a condition of the assigned elevator hoistway door. The control unit is configured for polling door safety units included in a subset S1, S2) of the door safety units which are located within a predetermined distance (D1, D2) from the current position of the elevator car.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 14, 2018
    Date of Patent: April 11, 2023
    Assignee: OTIS ELEVATOR COMPANY
    Inventors: Andreas Tutat, Helge Krambeck
  • Patent number: 11618651
    Abstract: An illustrative example elevator assembly includes a header beam and a first elevator cab supported by the header beam. A plurality of vertically oriented rods extend beneath the first elevator cab. A horizontally oriented mid-beam is coupled to a first one of the rods near a first end of the mid-beam and coupled to a second one of the rods near a second end of the mid-beam. A second elevator cab is situated beneath the first elevator cab and beneath the mid-beam. At least one linear actuator is supported at least partially on the mid-beam. The linear actuator selectively causes vertical movement of the second elevator cab relative to the rods.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 17, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 4, 2023
    Assignee: OTIS ELEVATOR COMPANY
    Inventors: Zaffir A. Chaudhry, Enrico Manes, Walter Thomas Schmidt
  • Patent number: 11618652
    Abstract: A monitoring system for an escalator including: a local gateway device; an analytic engine in communication with the local gateway device through a cloud computing network; a weather data source in communication with the analytic engine through the cloud computing network, the weather data source being configured to obtain weather data at a location of the escalator; a sensing apparatus in wireless communication with the local gateway device through a short-range wireless protocol, the sensing apparatus comprising: an inertial measurement unit sensor configured to detect acceleration data of the escalator, and wherein the CBM health score is adjusted in response to at least the weather data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 15, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 4, 2023
    Assignee: OTIS ELEVATOR COMPANY
    Inventors: Derk Oscar Pahlke, Robert Takacs, Philipp Schedl
  • Patent number: 11617053
    Abstract: A system and method of managing visitor access to an elevator using a mobile device of the visitor is provided. The method includes generating a visitor invitation based on a tenant input using an electronic device, receiving the visitor invitation at the mobile device of the visitor, and gaining limited access to designated floor based on limitation values contained in the visitor invitation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 6, 2016
    Date of Patent: March 28, 2023
    Assignee: OTIS ELEVATOR COMPANY
    Inventors: Lucien Wedzikowski, Bradley Armand Scoville
  • Patent number: 11613444
    Abstract: A power management system comprises an AC-power-source controller configured to control power supply between the AC power source and a common DC bus, the AC-power-source controller further configured to limit AC power supplied from the AC power source to the common DC bus to a first AC-power-source power limit; a power inverter configured to invert the DC power on the common DC bus into AC output power for driving the electric motor; a DC power source configured to supply DC power to the common DC bus; and a DC-power-source controller configured to control power supply between the DC power source and the common DC bus, the DC-power-source controller further configured to start supplying DC power from the DC power source to the common DC bus in response to a detection of a voltage drop on the common DC bus from a AC-power-source reference voltage to a DC-power-source reference voltage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 16, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 28, 2023
    Assignee: OTIS ELEVATOR COMPANY
    Inventors: Virgilio Valdivia Guerrero, Ismail Agirman, Daniel Diaz-Lopez, Mario Sanz Abia, Herbert Horbrugger, Stephan Glessner
  • Patent number: 11613445
    Abstract: According to an aspect, a method includes monitoring a plurality of vibration data by a vibration monitoring beacon and determining that the vibration monitoring beacon has been installed at a service location based on detecting an installation characteristic signature in the vibration data. The vibration monitoring beacon can transition into a learning mode based on determining that the vibration monitoring beacon has been installed at the service location. The method can also include monitoring for a learning mode termination event and transitioning the vibration monitoring beacon from the learning mode to a normal operation mode based on detecting the learning mode termination event.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 5, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 28, 2023
    Assignee: OTIS ELEVATOR COMPANY
    Inventors: Tadeusz Pawel Witczak, Craig Drew Bogli, Derk Oscar Pahlke, Yrinee Michaelidis
  • Patent number: 11608246
    Abstract: A conveyance system includes a transmitter configured to generate a signal; a receiver configured to receive the signal; the transmitter and receiver located so that the signal passes through a passenger area of the conveyance system; a controller configured to receive a signal strength of the signal received at the receiver; the controller configured to determine a loading factor in the passenger area in response to the signal received at the receiver.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 13, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 21, 2023
    Assignee: OTIS ELEVATOR COMPANY
    Inventor: Enrico Manes
  • Patent number: 11603290
    Abstract: An illustrative example elevator door interlock includes a base, a plurality of interlock bumpers supported on the base, and a latch supported on the base for movement relative to the base between a door locking position and a released position. The plurality of interlock bumpers are supported on the base with a gap between the plurality of interlock bumpers. Each of the interlock bumpers includes a contact surface configured to contact at least one vane supported on an elevator car door. Each of the interlock bumpers remains rotationally fixed relative to the base. The latch includes a latch bumper that is situated relative to the gap such that the at least one vane contacts the latch bumper and urges the latch into the released position when the at least one vane is at least partially in the gap.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 21, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 14, 2023
    Assignee: OTIS ELEVATOR COMPANY
    Inventors: Yunyi Wang, Suresh Dharmaraj
  • Patent number: 11603288
    Abstract: Magnet assemblies for electromechanical assemblies of elevator systems are described. The magnet assemblies include a magnet and first and second block assemblies arranged on opposite sides of the magnet. In some configurations, the block assemblies each include a respective friction engagement surface and are formed of layers of sheet metal, with a portion of the layers having blade teeth that form a friction engagement surface for engagement with a guide rail. In some configurations, each of the block assemblies are formed from powder metal sintering and include a monolithic tooth configuration configured to form a friction engagement surface for engagement with a guide rail. In some configurations each of the block assemblies includes an abrasive coating configured to form a friction engagement surface for engagement with a guide rail.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 14, 2023
    Assignee: OTIS ELEVATOR COMPANY
    Inventors: Justin Billard, Antonio Martins
  • Patent number: 11597631
    Abstract: Magnet assemblies of electromechanical assemblies for elevator systems are described. The magnet assemblies include a magnet, at least one rail engagement block, and an encapsulating body encapsulating the magnet and the at least one rail engagement block, wherein the encapsulating body is formed from a non-magnetic material. A target extension is formed from the material of the encapsulating body and extends away from the magnet and the at least one rail engagement block. A proximity switch target is held within the target extension for detection by a proximity switch.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 18, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2023
    Assignee: OTIS ELEVATOR COMPANY
    Inventors: Justin Billard, Yu Pu, Antonio Martins, Manuel Garcia Canales, Luis Martí Sánchez
  • Patent number: 11597628
    Abstract: Methods and systems for controlling elevator systems are provided. The methods include receiving inputs from at least one interactive input device, wherein the inputs include elevator call requests, tracking one or more people located within a monitored area using at least one sensor, assigning elevator assignments to the one or more people based on at least one of the inputs from the at least one interactive input device and a grouping algorithm based on the tracking of the one or more people, and scheduling operation of at least one elevator car based on the elevator assignments.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 6, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2023
    Assignee: OTIS ELEVATOR COMPANY
    Inventors: Zhen Jia, Hui Fang, Arthur Hsu, Alan Matthew Finn, Luca F. Bertuccelli
  • Patent number: 11597632
    Abstract: An elevator system includes an elevator car within an elevator hoistway; a camera; a network; and an image analysis system in communication with the camera over the network; the camera providing a reference image to the image analysis system; the camera providing a current image to the image analysis system; the image analysis system comparing the current image to the reference image to detect a difference between the current image to the reference image; the image analysis system initiating a maintenance notification to a user device in response to the comparing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 1, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2023
    Assignee: OTIS ELEVATOR COMPANY
    Inventor: Aurelien Fauconnet