KONE Modernization Overlay promises high usability and traffic capacity as well as eco-efficiency and minimized disturbances.
When it comes to capacity, elevator modernizations can be tricky. The worst case scenario is decreased flow capacity and out of service elevators. There is a solution, however.
KONE Modernization Overlay is a temporary high-level group control tool for use during modernization. Its basic function is to allocate landing calls between the new, modernized elevators and the old elevator system. The overlay gives priority to the new elevators, maximizing the use of elevators with the highest People Flow™ capacity and lowest energy consumption.
Passengers use common landing stations - or destination operating panels (DOP) in the cases for destination control systems - for calling both old and new elevators. The overlay may even increase the People Flow during renovation. Tony Loftus, Service Business Modernization Solution Manager, explains the advantage:
“The reduction in energy consumption has two main ingredients. First of all, if the elevator group is modernized without overlay, then during the upgrade period the old and the modernized elevators act as two independent groups or systems. Human behavior is such that in most cases, a passenger will press the buttons on both sets of call buttons and take the first elevator that reaches his floor. So, in practice, the second elevator travels unnecessarily with the overall system using twice the energy to respond to one elevator call. The modernization overlay eliminates this occurrence.”
Another energy saving factor is, of course, inherent in the new and more efficient elevator itself.
Easy does it
“The precedent for the new overlay system dates from the late 1980s and early 1990s. That’s when KONE had a system based on relay logic. This was helpful during modernizations up to about the mid-90s, but after the introduction of the microprocessor and micro chips, things changed,” Loftus explains.
“With the new modernization overlay, we can modernize almost all elevator systems regardless of who the manufacturer is,” he continues.
The installation time is short, thanks to the overlay’s modular component structure: KONE group controller, UPS (uninterruptible power supply) and communication networks. The system can be installed even during one weekend. This ensures minimized out-of-service times, which are often measured in mere hours.
Each elevator in a group is modernized in turn, adding to the number of new elevators. The KONE Modernization Overlay increases the People Flow as more elevators are completed. Before modernization of the last elevator, the overlay is removed and the final KONE group controller takes full responsibility for call allocation.