Top of car handrail virtual safety net
AssigneeOtis Elevator Company
InventorsRandy Roberts, Johanna Whitwell, Craig Drew Bogli
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An elevator system, having: a hoistway, a pit and an elevator car; a sensor assembly, wherein the sensors are distributed about the elevator car and configured to form a virtual safety net (VSN) around at least a portion of a first area that is exterior to the elevator car; and an elevator safety, wherein the sensor assembly is configured to: monitor for a breach of the VSN by an object that is potentially human; and upon detecting the breach of the VSN by the object, opening the elevator safety chain and stoping the elevator car.
Claims20
An elevator system, comprising:
- a hoistway, a pit and an elevator car;
- a sensor assembly, wherein the sensors are distributed about the elevator car and configured to form a virtual safety net (VSN) around at least a portion of a first area that is exterior to the elevator car;
- and
- an elevator safety chain,
- wherein the sensor assembly is configured to:
- monitor for a breach of the VSN by an object that is potentially human;
- and
- upon detecting the breach of the VSN by the object, opening the elevator safety chain and stopping the elevator car.
A method of controlling an elevator system that includes a hoistway, a pit and an elevator car, the method comprising:
- forming a virtual safety net (VSN) by a sensor assembly, wherein the sensors are distributed about the elevator car and form the VSN around at least a portion of a first area that is exterior to the elevator car;
- monitoring, by the sensor assembly for a breach of the VSN by an object that is potentially human;
- opening the elevator safety chain to stop the elevator car upon the sensor assembly detecting the object breaching the VSN.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.