Elevator system with speech synthesizer for repetition of messages

Claim 1

In an elevator system including an elevator car, control means for providing status signals indicative of the operation of the elevator car, and communication means for providing audible, informative messages in the elevator car in response to at least certain of its status signals, with the communication means including a central processor unit, memory means having a first location for storing a predetermined vocabulary common to all messages, and a second location for storing a series of instructions for each message, said communication means further including sound reproduction means and speech synthesizer means, with said speech synthesizer means having memory means for storing information from said first memory means, said central processor unit being responsive to the status signals from said elevator car and operating in response thereto to address the instructions in said second memory means, as required by a specific status signal, and using these instructions to extract vocabulary information from said first memory means and store it in the memory means of said speech synthesizer means, the improvement comprising: said communication means including means for varying a predetermined parameter of at least one of the messages before the repetition thereof, with the variation being apparent when the same information is repeated following such variation, to prevent a monotonous repetition of exactly the same message information audibly delivered in exactly the same manner when a predetermined status signal results in the repetition of the same information, and/or to change the emphasis or urgency of the message.