Patents Examined by Anthony Salata
  • Patent number: 10040670
    Abstract: In an elevator, the status information of the receivers, and possibly also of the transmitters, of a light curtain of the elevator is transmitted from the control unit of the light curtain as a response to a query or as messages. The control system of the elevator car is configured to receive the responses or status information and to analyze i) the status information contained therein of at least one receiver the status information contained therein of at least one receiver and of at least one transmitter relating to it, for changing or adjusting the operating mode of the elevator or for giving a control command to the operating system of the elevator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 28, 2015
    Date of Patent: August 7, 2018
    Assignee: KONE CORPORATION
    Inventors: Ari Kattainen, Tapio Tyni, Jouko Kinnari
  • Patent number: 10035680
    Abstract: An elevator safety circuit includes a plurality of relays; safety logic for monitoring status of the plurality of relays, the safety logic generating an output signal in response to the status of the plurality of relays; and a processor controlling operation of an elevator drive in response to the output signal; wherein at least one of the relays is a forced guided relay and at least one of the relays is other than a forced guided relay.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 14, 2013
    Date of Patent: July 31, 2018
    Assignee: OTIS ELEVATOR COMPANY
    Inventors: Jochen Thomas Richter, Hebert Horbrügger, Richard F. Magda, Marvin Dehmlow
  • Patent number: 10035679
    Abstract: An elevator control system including an elevator management system obtaining meeting information from at least one of a calendar system and a user interface; the elevator management system generating a control command in response to the meeting information; and an elevator controller controlling destinations of one or more elevator cars in response to the control command.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 27, 2012
    Date of Patent: July 31, 2018
    Assignee: OTIS ELEVATOR COMPANY
    Inventors: Jason R. Armistead, Theresa M. Christy
  • Patent number: 10029888
    Abstract: A method is provided for manufacturing an electrical contact arrangement on an end of a hoisting rope of a hoisting apparatus, which hoisting rope includes a non-conductive coating, and a plurality of adjacent conductive load bearing members for bearing the load exerted on the rope in a longitudinal direction thereof embedded in the coating and extending parallel to each other and to the longitudinal direction of the hoisting rope unbroken throughout the length of the rope, the coating forming the surface of the hoisting rope and extending between adjacent load bearing members thereby isolating them from each other, in which method a conductive plate element is placed beside the end of the hoisting rope; and the conductive plate element is attached immovably beside the end of the hoisting rope with at least one threaded screw member made of conductive material by screwing the threaded screw member into the hoisting rope such that it extends centrally between load bearing members next to each other, and such t
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 18, 2015
    Date of Patent: July 24, 2018
    Assignee: KONE CORPORATION
    Inventors: Hannu Lehtinen, Pekka Hallikainen
  • Patent number: 10023427
    Abstract: A method for provisioning elevator service includes sensing, by a gesture interface including a sensor, a region in proximity to the gesture interface to obtain data; determining, by the gesture interface, that a first pattern in the data corresponds to a first gesture; and initiating a request for elevator service in response to determining that the first pattern corresponds to the first gesture.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 28, 2014
    Date of Patent: July 17, 2018
    Assignee: OTIS ELEVATOR COMPANY
    Inventors: Bradley Armand Scoville, Paul A. Simcik, Eric C. Peterson
  • Patent number: 10017355
    Abstract: The invention allows personalization of an elevator service in an elevator system with destination control. Sensor data provided by a three-dimensional motion sensor and related to a passenger tracked by the three-dimensional motion sensor is received at a service unit of the elevator system with destination control. A personalized elevator service functionality for the tracked passenger is determined with the service unit based at least on the received sensor data. The personalized elevator service functionality is triggered with the service unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 31, 2015
    Date of Patent: July 10, 2018
    Assignee: Kone Corporation
    Inventors: Henry Silvennoinen, Jukka Salmikuukka, Kim Bergman, Mika Belov, Mine Erciyas
  • Patent number: 10012696
    Abstract: A monitoring system for transport installations for persons, which installations are arranged as elevator, escalator or moving walkway, includes at least one interrogation device and at least one safety switch, which switch is connected with the interrogation device by an electrical safety circuit and which monitors a door lock of the transport installation for persons. An independent energy supply device supplies power to the interrogation device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 20, 2014
    Date of Patent: July 3, 2018
    Assignee: INVENTIO AG
    Inventor: Ivo Lustenberger
  • Patent number: 10011459
    Abstract: The safety circuit includes a safety switch or a series circuit of safety switches, which includes an input for an electrical safety circuit signal as well as an output, in which the electrical safety circuit signal being supplied to the input is present when all the safety switches are closed. The safety circuit also includes a cable including an optical fiber as well as a transmitter circuit for the optical signal, the output of which circuit is connected to the cable including an optical fiber. The input of the transmitter circuit is connected to the output of the aforementioned safety switch or of the series circuit of safety switches, and the transmitter circuit is configured to transmit in the optical fiber of the cable the safety circuit signal that is present in the output of the safety switch or of the series circuit of safety switches.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 23, 2015
    Date of Patent: July 3, 2018
    Assignee: KONE CORPORATION
    Inventor: Mikko Puranen
  • Patent number: 10011463
    Abstract: An elevator system includes a linkage, a control system and a friction belt drive. The linkage is adapted to attach to an elevator door. The friction belt drive is adapted to move the elevator door with the linkage between an open position and a closed position. The friction belt drive includes a v-belt with one or more markers arranged along a length of the v-belt. The control system is adapted to control the friction belt drive, and includes a sensor adapted to detect at least one of the markers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 8, 2013
    Date of Patent: July 3, 2018
    Assignee: Otis Elevator Company
    Inventors: YiSug Kwon, John Ferrisi
  • Patent number: 10000362
    Abstract: An elevator controller includes a microphone that receives voice of a passenger in a car, a memory that, for a destination floor specifying operation for the passenger to specify a destination floor by voice, stores a first keyword defined beforehand to signify an operation start and second keywords defined beforehand to signify a destination floor, a voice recognition unit that compares a voice inputted from the microphone with the stored first and second keywords, and a controller that, when the door of the car is fully open or fully close, the voice recognition unit recognizes the first keyword and thereafter recognizes a second keyword, registers a destination floor corresponding to the second keyword. The controller outputs a command to suspend an operation to open or close the door of the car until the destination floor specifying operation is ended after the voice recognition unit recognizes the first keyword.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 21, 2013
    Date of Patent: June 19, 2018
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
    Inventor: Ayako Nagata
  • Patent number: 9994422
    Abstract: A destination call-giving device for giving destination calls in an elevator system includes a device available to a user for selecting a destination floor from a plurality of floors that are in a certain sequence, and an output for communicating the selected destination floor to the control system of the elevator system. The device for selecting a destination floor includes a touch-sensitive display forming a user interface for presenting to the user information related to the selection of a destination floor and for receiving the input of the user. The destination floor is arranged to be selectable by the user from the aforementioned plurality of floors by moving a touch-sensitive point on a touch-sensitive display.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 11, 2015
    Date of Patent: June 12, 2018
    Assignee: KONE CORPORATION
    Inventors: Jussi Hiltunen, Tommi Salonen, Kim Bergman, Jarmo Parkkinen
  • Patent number: 9988238
    Abstract: A conveyance system includes a camera to generate an image of an area of interest; a dispatch system including a facial recognition unit and a profile unit, the facial recognition unit detecting facial features of a user in the image; the dispatch system determining if the facial features match a profile stored in the profile unit, the dispatch system scheduling car service in response to the facial features matching the profile stored in the profile unit; a system interface including a system interface camera, the system interface camera to generate a second image of the user at the system interface; the facial recognition unit detecting facial features of the user in the second image; the dispatch system determining if the facial features of the user in the second image match the profile stored in the profile unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 3, 2013
    Date of Patent: June 5, 2018
    Assignee: OTIS ELEVATOR COMPANY
    Inventors: Paul A. Simcik, Bradley Armand Scoville, Eric C. Peterson
  • Patent number: 9988239
    Abstract: A system for providing preventative maintenance of switchable components includes a load-moving system including one or more switchable components. The system also includes a microcontroller configured to operate the one or more switchable components of the load-moving system, to determine a number of switching events of the one or more switchable components and to perform a preventative maintenance action based on determining that the number of switching events is greater than a threshold number of switching events.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 22, 2013
    Date of Patent: June 5, 2018
    Assignee: OTIS ELEVATOR COMPANY
    Inventor: Mustapha Toutaoui
  • Patent number: 9981825
    Abstract: A method and an arrangement are provided for monitoring the safety of a counterweighted elevator. In the method, an elevator car is driven with a hoisting machine towards the top end of the elevator hoistway, contact between the counterweight and the end buffer of the elevator hoistway is determined, a reference point for the location of the elevator car is registered when detecting contact between the counterweight and the end buffer, the distance that the elevator car travels onwards from the aforementioned reference point for the location is measured, and if the distance traveled by the elevator car onwards from the aforementioned reference point exceeds a threshold value a signal indicating a risk of slackening of the traction rope is formed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 29, 2015
    Date of Patent: May 29, 2018
    Assignee: KONE CORPORATION
    Inventors: Antti Hovi, Ari Kattainen
  • Patent number: 9975734
    Abstract: An elevator installation includes a car and at least one support device supporting the car. The support device has a plurality of electrically conductive tensile carriers that are arranged parallel to one another and which are substantially enclosed by a casing. The elevator installation further includes a monitoring device that connects the tensile carriers or groups of the tensile carriers in an alternating configuration as electrical resistances in a measuring bridge so that electrical resistances of different tensile carriers can be compared with one another by sensing a bridge voltage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 6, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 22, 2018
    Assignee: INVENTIO AG
    Inventors: Florian Dold, Volker Zapf
  • Patent number: 9975733
    Abstract: One or more hydraulically-powered braking assemblies mounted on the cross-rail or safety plank of a traction-type or hydraulic-type elevator car, and designed to selectively brake on a guide rail of the elevator car upon detection of a safety condition.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 26, 2015
    Date of Patent: May 22, 2018
    Inventors: Kevin Cunningham, Timothy Toan
  • Patent number: 9979412
    Abstract: One or more embodiments are directed to an encoder configured to output a signal, and a computing device configured to receive the signal from the encoder and generate a reduced resolution version of the signal, the computing device is configured to transmit the reduced resolution version of the signal to a recipient.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 18, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 22, 2018
    Assignee: OTIS ELEVATOR COMPANY
    Inventors: Keunmo Kang, Slade Culp, Craig Drew Bogli, William A. Veronesi, Daryl J. Marvin
  • Patent number: 9975730
    Abstract: In a method for performing a balance check with an elevator, a power model of the elevator is established, including the motor power fed to the motor (PM) and power parameters of the motor and the moved components in the hoistway (PK, PP, PFr, PCu, PFe), a test run of the elevator is made, mid motor power values for the up and down direction are determined, i.e. the power fed to the motor at the instant when the car is moving through the middle of the travelling path of the elevator in up and down direction with constant velocity, the difference between the mid power value in up and down direction is determined, the balancing weight difference is obtained from said mid power value difference. This method allows an easy determination of the elevator balance preferably in course of modernizations of an elevator system with a new elevator motor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 29, 2015
    Date of Patent: May 22, 2018
    Assignee: KONE CORPORATION
    Inventors: Pekka Perälä, Riku Lampinen, Risto Jokinen, Tapio Tyni
  • Patent number: 9975738
    Abstract: A method and a system for modernizing an elevator installation including two or more elevators includes an unmodernized elevator, one or more call-giving devices, a new group controller, which is connected to the elevator installation for allocating an elevator call to be given with a call-giving device to be served by an elevator belonging to the elevator installation, and also a measuring device, which is configured to measure an operating parameter of an unmodernized elevator. The aforementioned measuring device is connected to the new group controller for communicating the aforementioned operating parameter to the new group controller.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 9, 2015
    Date of Patent: May 22, 2018
    Assignee: KONE CORPORATION
    Inventors: Narendran Ramakrishnan, Muralikrishnan Bangaru
  • Patent number: 9963322
    Abstract: Radio signals are communicated on spatially separate radio paths across a doorway of an elevator. Signal strengths of the radio signals are measured and used to determine traffic served by the elevator. In this way traffic boarding and leaving the elevator may be measured when more than one unit of traffic, for example people, pass through the doorway simultaneously.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 13, 2015
    Date of Patent: May 8, 2018
    Assignee: KONE CORPORATION
    Inventors: Henri Hakonen, Janne Sorsa, Juha-Matti Kuusinen, Marja-Liisa Siikonen