David C Means

US Patent:

41147308, Sep 19, 1978

Filed:

Sep 7, 1976

Appl. No.:

5/721062

Inventors:

David K. Means - Palo Alto CA
Clyde A. Boenke - Ann Arbor MI

Assignee:

Reliance Electric Company - Cleveland OH

International Classification:

B66B 118

US Classification:

187 29R

Abstract:

A transportation system, illustrated as an elevator system, including a programmable processor for controlling the operation of the elevator car. The processor generates all the control signals to an elevator control means in response to the reception of service condition signals representing data on the status of the elevator system components. Where two or more elevator cars are grouped together for servicing a plurality of common stations, each car has an associated processor and one processor is designated as the master processor. The master processor is programmed to assign the hall calls at the stations to its associated elevator car or to a selected one of the various other elevator cars through their processors designated as slave processors. Each processor reads the service condition signals for its associated car such as calls from passengers within the car, vehicle position signals, the status of its prime mover, the assignment of a car to receive passengers queued up at a given station, and whether or not the car doors are closed and generates the control signals in response thereto in accordance with a predetermined program.