Abstract: A microprocessor cab controller for an elevator car processes signals to control car calls by means of routines which prevent car calls from being registered behind the advancing direction of the car unless the car is headed for the lobby without further demand or the car has no advance direction, which respond to directives from a car controller mounted in the building to reset all car calls, reset selected car calls, reset the car call at a floor landing where the car is stopping, or force selected car calls; to inhibit car calls in a selected one of two zones of continuous floors for implementing dual up peak operation, and for selectively inhibiting registration of car calls at floors which are designated as cut off from service by the car. The invention allows the group controller to block or restore response of selected elevators to car calls for specific floors or to restore response of selected elevators to car calls for all floors.

Abstract: A microprocessor cab controller for an elevator car processes signals to control car calls by means of routines which prevent car calls from being registered behind the advancing direction of the car unless the car is headed for the lobby without further demand or the car has no advance direction, which responds to directives from a car controller mounted in the building to reset all car calls, reset selected car calls, reset the car call at a floor landing where the car is stopping, or force selected car calls; to inhibit car calls in a selected one of two zones of continuous floors for implementing dual up peak operation, and for selectively inhibiting registration of car calls at floors which are designated as cut off from service by the car. The invention allows use of the car call function for commanding special service and for inhibiting calls inconsistent therewith.

Abstract: A group controller (17, FIG. 1) for an elevator system servicing a plurality of cars (3, 4) provides next higher demand signals (21, 23, FIG. 4) in addition to higher and lower demand signals (13, 18, FIG. 4), and provides next hall stop commands (8, 11, FIG. 3) in addition to down hall stop and up hall stop commands (11, 17, FIG. 2). The car controller (15, 16, FIG. 1) of each car will determine when its actual committable floor is equal to a floor ahead of the last committable floor it communicated to the group controller (2, FIG. 5) so as to utilize the next demand and next hall stop commands (3-6, FIG. 5) when it actually has advanced beyond the last committable floor for which the group controller has processed command signals for the car, whereby delays in communicating and processing signals between car controllers and a related group controller cannot result in loss of proper group demand and stop commands to the car controller.

Abstract: A plurality of elevators operating under the control of a group controller may provide a start request to the group controller in response to service demand when their MG sets have not been commanded to run, and in the absence of a responsive MG start command from the group controller, can start their own MG sets if there has been a communication failure with the group, instantaneously if commanded to start on emergency power or after a time interval if not commanded to start on emergency power, the time interval for each elevator differing from that of the other elevators so as to avoid simultaneous start-up. The group controller can shut off all MG sets when there has been no service demand in any of the elevators for some period of time, but each elevator can also shut off its own MG set when it has had no service demand for a period of time which is longer than the period of time for which the group shutdown must wait.

Abstract: An elevator control system employs a microprocessor-based group controller which communicates with the cars of the elevator system to determine the condition of the cars, and responds to hall calls registered at a plurality of landings in the building serviced by the cars under control of the group controller, on a cyclic basis which recurs several times per second, to assign every unanswered hall call to a car deemed best suited for response to that call, in each cycle, based upon the information provided by the car to the group controller within that cycle of operation. In any cycle in which a call is assigned to a car other than a car to which the call had previously been assigned, the assignment of the call to the previous car is nullified. At the end of each cycle, any car which indicates that its committable position coincides with the floor of a hall call which has been assigned to it will receive a stop command.

Abstract: A plural elevator system having a group controller for controlling the joint response of a plurality of elevator cars to the needs of a building, employs a microprocessor-based group controller for providing up peak, down peak and other zone-controlled elevator functions. The group controller provides a variable interval between dispatching of elevator cars from the lobby during up peak, the dispatching interval being controlled by the approximate round trip time of an elevator being dispatched from the lobby in serving the car calls registered within it and returning to the lobby, or the average of the approximate round trip time for two or three most recently dispatched elevator cars. The dispatching interval is determined by the approximate round trip time divided by the number of elevator cars serving the up peak traffic.

Abstract: An elevator system includes a microprocessor-based cab controller mounted directly on an elevator car. The activity of passenger-actuatable switches within the elevator car, such as car call, open door, emergency stop switches, and the like, is monitored as an indication of the presence of passengers within the elevator car. Without such activity, the car is determined, preliminarily, to be empty. If the conditions exist for a period of time, the car is determined to be really empty, in a second level determination of the empty status of the car. The utilization of passenger load weight, along with passenger actuatable switch activity, is also disclosed as a determination of the empty status of the car. An exemplary elevator system, an exemplary microprocessor-based controller, and a logic flowchart illustrative of the details of the invention are disclosed herein.

Abstract: An elevator control system having a car processor, its associated car processor memory and car logic circuitry individually associated with each car to apply a first set of car control signals to the car associated control equipment to cause it to operate the car in a particular manner and having a group processor, its associated group memory and group logic circuitry common to each of the cars receiving hall call signals and selected first car control signals and in response thereto applying group control signals to selected car processor circuitry which operates in response thereto to apply second car control signals to its associated car control equipment to cause it to operate its associated car as a member of a supervised group.