EP2497738A1

EP2497738A1 - Notification device of elevator

Info

Publication number: EP2497738A1
Application number: EP09850869A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Tomonori Joo
Original assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corp
Current assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corp
Priority date: 2009-11-02
Filing date: 2009-11-02
Publication date: 2012-09-12
Anticipated expiration: 2029-11-02
Also published as: JP5558484B2; CN102574661A; KR20120060853A; EP2497738A4; KR101305568B1; WO2011052090A1; CN102574661B; EP2497738B1; JPWO2011052090A1

Abstract

In a notification device for an elevator, when a notification mode is set to an inspection-information notification mode, a notification control section transmits a notification command to landing-equipment control means to control a car-position indicator to display an abbreviation of a content of inspection information to be displayed and display data alternately at predetermined intervals.

Description

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a notification device for an elevator, which has a function for notifying (performing display and audio-output to) a supervisor of a building, an elevator maintenance operator, or the like of a state of a car of the elevator.

Background Art

In a conventional elevator, when an abnormality such as stop of a car between floors occurs due to a disaster or detection of a failure, a supervisor or an elevator maintenance operator can check maintenance information or error information by using a monitoring panel or a maintenance tool.
As the related art relating to the present invention, there exists, for example, a system for checking an in-car condition of an elevator, as described in Patent Literature 1. With the conventional system for checking the in-car condition of an elevator, an operator communicates with an information center from a cellular phone through a public network. As a result, the operator can check the conditions in the car which is stopped due to an abnormality.

Citation List

Patent Literature

[PTL 1] JP 2009-51641 A

Summary of Invention

Technical Problem

In the conventional elevator described above, dedicated equipment such as the monitoring panel and the maintenance tool is required to check a state of the car. Therefore, it takes time for the operator to move to a location at which a control board is installed (for example, a control room or a machine room of a building) or to set the dedicated equipment. For the above-mentioned reason, recovery work cannot sometimes be started early when the conventional elevator as described above is stopped due to an abnormality.
The present invention has been made to solve the problem described above, and has an object to provide a notification device for an elevator, which allows an operator or the like to check a state of a car at a landing without using dedicated equipment such as a maintenance tool.
A display control device for an elevator according to the present invention includes a notification control section for controlling a content to be notified by landing notification means provided to a landing with a plurality of notification modes including a normal notification mode for notifying a user of information relating to an operation of a car, in which the notification control section switches the notification mode from the normal notification mode to an inspection-information notification mode for notifying an inspection operator of inspection information corresponding to information for inspecting the elevator in response to a predetermined mode switching operation performed on a hall call button of a hall operation panel provided to the landing so that the landing notification means is controlled to perform notification of the inspection information.

Brief Description of Drawings

[FIG. 1] A front view illustrating a landing for an elevator according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.
[FIG. 2] A block diagram illustrating a control system for the elevator according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.
[FIG. 3] An explanatory diagram illustrating an example of inspection information in an inspection-information notification mode.
[FIG. 4] A front view illustrating an example of a display state of a floor indicator.
[FIG. 5] A flowchart illustrating an operation of a notification control section illustrated in FIG. 1.
[FIG. 6] Another flowchart illustrating the operation of the notification control section illustrated in FIG. 1.
[FIG. 7] A further flowchart illustrating the operation of the notification control section illustrated in FIG. 1.
[FIG. 8] A block diagram illustrating a control system for the elevator according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention.
[FIG. 9] A flowchart illustrating an operation of a notification control section illustrated in FIG. 8.
[FIG. 10] A flowchart illustrating an operation of a notification control section according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention.

Description of Embodiments

Hereinafter, embodiment modes for carrying out the present invention are described referring to the drawings.

Embodiment 1

FIG. 1 is a front view illustrating a landing for an elevator according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a control system for the elevator according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.
In FIGS. 1 and 2, a plurality of elevators (not shown) are provided in a building. Each of the plurality of elevators has a car 10. In FIG. 1, a landing 1 corresponding to one of the plurality of elevators is illustrated.
At the landing 1 on each floor of the building, landing doors 2 for opening and closing a landing doorway and a hall operation panel 3 are provided. The hall operation panel 3 includes a car-position indicator (floor indicator) 4, hall call buttons 5, an announcement device (speaker) 6 corresponding to audio-output means, landing-equipment control means 7, and hall-button detection means 8.
The car-position indicator 4 is, for example, a two-digit segment indicator or a dot-matrix indicator, and is capable of displaying at least two-digit alphanumeric characters. The hall call buttons 5 include an UP hall call button 5A operated by a user for making a landing call for an upper floor from the landing floor and a DOWN hall call button 5B operated by the user for making a landing call for a lower floor from the landing floor.
The landing-equipment control means 7 is connected to the car-position indicator 4 and the announcement device 6. The hall-button detection means 8 is connected to the UP hall call button 5A and the DOWN hall call button 5B. The landing-equipment control means 7 and the hall-button detection means 9 of the landing 1 on each floor are connected to an elevator control device 12.
The landing-equipment control means 7 controls the car-position indicator 4 to display a character(s) indicating the nearest floor for the car 10 based on a notification command from the elevator control device 12. Moreover, the landing-equipment control means 7 controls the announcement device 6 to output the contents based on the notification command from the elevator control device 12 as an audio announcement. Examples of the audio announcement include the arrival of the car 10 at the landing floor. The hall-button detection means 8 can detect the conditions of operation of the hall call buttons 5. The hall-button detection means 8 notifies the elevator control device 12 of the detected conditions of operation of the hall call buttons 5.
The elevator control device 12 includes an operation control section 13 and a notification control section 14. The operation control section 13 collectively controls the operations of the cars 10 of the plurality of elevators (that is, performs group supervisory control) with a plurality of operation modes. The operation modes include a normal operation mode, a fire emergency operation mode, an earthquake emergency operation mode, and a private power generation emergency operation mode. The operation control section 13 registers a landing call in response to an operation of the hall call buttons 5 while the operations of the cars 10 are controlled in the normal operation mode.
Further, the operation control section 13 can detect the actuation of various safety devices (for example, a governor, a seismic sensor, and the like: not shown) for the elevator based on signals from the various safety devices. Moreover, the operation control section 13 can determine whether or not the elevator can be restarted based on the signals from the various safety devices.
Further, the operation control section 13 can determine whether or not the car 10 is present within a door zone of a hoistway based on a signal from a car-position detector provided to the car 10 or an encoder mounted to a hoisting machine (either not shown). Further, the operation control section 13 can detect a load in the car 10 through an intermediation of car-load detection means 11 mounted to the car 10. Further, when detecting the load in the car 10, the operation control section 13 determines that a user(s) is(are) present in the car 10.
The notification control section 14 receives information of operating conditions of the car 10 from the operation control section 13. Further, the notification control section 14 controls the contents to be notified (displayed or audio-output) by the car-position indicator 4 and the announcement device 6 based on the operating conditions of the cars 10. Specifically, the notification control section 14 determines the contents to be notified by the car-position indicator 4 and the announcement device 6 to transmit a notification command to the landing-equipment control means 7.
The landing-equipment control means 7 controls the contents to be notified by the car-position indicator 4 and the announcement device 6 with a plurality of notification modes. The notification modes include a normal notification mode and an inspection-information notification mode. The normal notification mode is a notification mode for notifying the user present at the landing of the operating conditions of the car 10, that is, the current car position and landing-call registration conditions. The inspection-information notification mode is a notification mode for notifying an inspection operator of the elevator or the like of information for inspecting the elevator, that is, inspection information. An example of the inspection information is illustrated in FIG. 3.
Further, the notification control section 14 switches the notification mode from the normal notification mode to the inspection-information notification mode in response to a predetermined mode-switching operation performed on the UP hall call button 5A or the DOWN hall call button 5B after the operation control section 13 detects an abnormality or a disaster (after an abnormality-detection flag is set). The mode-switching operation is, for example, an operation of holding down the UP hall call button 5A or the DOWN hall call button 5B for a predetermined period of time (for example, three seconds or longer).
Further, when the notification mode is set to the inspection-information notification mode, the notification control section 14 transmits the notification command to the landing-equipment control means 7 to control the car-position indicator 4 to display an abbreviation (two alphabetical characters) of the content of the inspection information to be displayed and display data (two-digit number) alternately at predetermined intervals, as illustrated in FIG. 4.
Further, when the notification mode is set to the inspection-information notification mode, the notification control section 14 performs the inspection-information switching processing in response to a predetermined information switching operation performed on the UP hall call button 5A or the DOWN hall call button 5B. The information switching operation is, for example, an operation of holding down the UP hall call button 5A or the DOWN hall call button 5B for a predetermined period of time (for example, three seconds or longer). The inspection-information switching processing is processing for switching the content of the inspection information to be displayed by the car-position indicator 4 from any one of the plurality of pieces of information to another one.
Further, when the notification mode is set to the inspection-information notification mode, the notification control section 14 performs elevator switching processing in response to a predetermined specified-elevator switching operation performed on the UP hall call button 5A or the DOWN hall call button 5B. The specified-elevator switching operation is, for example, an operation of holding down the UP hall call button 5A or the DOWN hall call button 5B for a relatively short period of time (for example, less than three seconds). The elevator switching processing is processing for switching the elevator (elevator corresponding to a target of notification) corresponding to the inspection information to be displayed by the car-position indicator 4 from any one of the plurality of elevators to another one.
The elevator control device can be configured by a computer (not shown) including a computation processing unit (CPU), a storage unit (such as a ROM, a RAM, and a hard disk), and a signal input/output unit. In the storage unit of the computer of the elevator control section 12, programs for realizing the functions of the operation control section 13 and the notification control section 14 are stored. Further, the landing-equipment control means 7 and the hall-button detection means 8 can be configured by microcomputers or the like.
Next, an operation of the notification control section 14 is described. FIGS. 5 to 7 are flowcharts illustrating the operation of the notification control section 14 illustrated in FIG. 2. Steps S202 to S208 of FIG. 6 correspond to the elevator switching processing performed in Step S200 of FIG. 5, and Steps S212 to S218 of FIG. 6 correspond to the inspection-information switching processing performed in Step S200 of FIG. 5. FIG. 7 illustrates inspection-information selecting processing performed in Step S300 of FIG. 5. In FIGS. 5 to 7, the notification control section 14 first checks whether or not a disaster or a failure has been detected by the operation control section 13 (Step S101). When the notification control section 14 verifies that the disaster or the failure has not been detected by the operation control section 13, the operation in the normal notification mode is continued.
Next, when verifying that the disaster or the failure has been detected by the operation control section 13, the notification control section 14 then checks whether or not the hall call buttons 5 have been held down for a predetermined period of time (Step S102). When the notification control section 14 verifies that the hall call buttons 5 have not been held down for the predetermined period of time, the operation in the normal notification mode is continued.
On the other hand, when the notification control section 14 verifies that the hall call buttons 5 have been held down for the predetermined period of time, the operation in the normal notification mode is switched to the operation in the inspection-information notification mode (Step S103). Then, the notification control section 14 sets an inspection-information parameter to "0" and sets an elevator number to "1" (Step S104).
After that, the notification control section 14 checks whether or not the hall call buttons 5 have been pressed again (Step S105). When verifying that the hall call buttons 5 have been pressed again, the elevator switching processing or the inspection-information switching processing as illustrated in FIG. 6 is performed (Step S200). In FIG. 6, the notification control section 14 checks whether or not the hall call buttons 5 have been held down for the predetermined period of time (in Step S105) (Step S201).
When verifying that the hall call buttons 5 have been held down for the predetermined period of time (in Step S105), the notification control section 14 performs the elevator switching processing. Then, the notification control section 14 checks the type of the pressed hall call buttons 5 (in Step S105) (Step S202). When verifying that the pressed hall call button 5 is the UP hall call button 5A, the notification control section 14 adds "1" to the elevator number (Step S203). On the other hand, when verifying that the pressed hall call button 5 is the DOWN hall call button 5B, the notification control section 14 subtracts "1" from the elevator number (Step S204).
Then, after the addition to or the subtraction from the elevator number, the notification control section 14 checks whether or not the elevator number exceeds a value of the number of all the elevators (Step S205). When verifying that the elevator number exceeds the value of the number of all the elevators, the notification control section 14 sets the value of the elevator number to "1" (Step S206) and then terminates the elevator switching processing.
On the other hand, when verifying that the elevator number does not exceed the value of the number of all the elevators, the notification control section 14 then checks whether or not the elevator number is "0" (Step S207). When verifying that the elevator number is "0", the notification control section 14 sets the value of the number of all the elevators as the elevator number (Step S208), and terminates the elevator switching processing. On the other hand, when verifying that the elevator number is not "0", the notification control section 14 directly terminates the elevator switching processing.
Next, when verifying that the hall call buttons 5 have been held down for a relatively short period of time (in Step S105), the notification control section 14 performs the inspection-information switching processing (NO in Step S202). Then, the notification control section 14 checks the type of the pressed hall call buttons 5 (in Step S105) (Step S212). When verifying that the pressed hall call button 5 is the UP hall call button 5A, the notification control section 14 adds "1" to an inspection-information parameter (Step S213). On the other hand, when verifying that the pressed hall call button 5 is the DOWN hall call button 5B, the notification control section 14 subtracts "1" from the inspection-information parameter (Step S214).
Then, after the addition to or subtraction from the inspection-information parameter, the notification control section 14 checks whether or not the inspection-information parameter exceeds "3" (Step S215). When verifying that the inspection-information parameter exceeds "3", the notification control section 14 sets the inspection-information parameter to "0" (Step S216), and then terminates the inspection-information switching processing.
On the other hand, when verifying that the inspection-information parameter does not exceed "3", the notification control section 14 then checks whether or not the inspection-information parameter is less than "0" (Step S217). When verifying that the inspection-information parameter is less than "0", the notification control section 14 sets "1" as the inspection-information parameter (Step S218), and then terminates the inspection-information switching processing. On the other hand, when verifying that the inspection-information parameter is not less than "0", the notification control section 14 terminates the inspection-information switching processing.
Next, in FIG. 5, when verifying that the hall call buttons 5 have not been pressed again (in Step S105), when the elevator switching processing is terminated, or when the inspection-information switching processing is terminated, the notification control section 14 performs the inspection-information selecting processing (Step S300). In the inspection-information selecting processing illustrated in FIG. 7, the notification control section 14 checks which of "0" to "3" corresponds to the inspection-information parameter (Steps S301 to S303).
Then, when verifying that the inspection-information parameter is "0" (YES in Step S301), the notification control section 14 controls the car-position indicator 4 to alternately display "DR" and an operation-mode code (Step S304). Then, the notification control section 14 terminates the inspection-information selecting processing.
Further, when verifying that the inspection-information parameter is "1" (YES in Step S302), the notification control section 14 controls the car-position indicator 4 to alternately display "FL" and the nearest floor for the car 10 (Step S304). Then, the notification control section 14 terminates the inspection-information selecting processing.
Further, when verifying that the inspection-information parameter is "2" (YES in Step S303), the notification control section 14 then checks whether or not the car 10 is in a stopped state within a door zone based on control information from the operation control section 13 (Step S306). When verifying that the car 10 is in a stopped state within the door zone, the notification control section 14 controls the car-position indicator 4 to alternately display "DZ" and "OK" (Step S307).
On the other hand, when verifying that the car 10 is not in a stopped state within the door zone, the notification control section 14 controls the car-position indicator 4 to alternately display "DZ" and "NG" (Step S308). After that (after Step S307 or S308), the notification control section 14 controls the car-position indicator 4 to terminate the inspection-information selecting processing.
Further, when verifying that the inspection-information parameter is "3" (NO in Step S303), the notification control section 14 then checks whether or not a user(s) is(are) present in the car 10 based on control information from the operation control section 13 (Step S309). When verifying that the user(s) is(are) present in the car 10, the notification control section 14 controls the car-position indicator 4 to alternately display "HU" and "NG" (Step S310).
On the other hand, when verifying that no user is present in the car 10, the notification control section 14 controls the car-position indicator 4 to alternately display "HU" and "OK" (Step S311). After that (after Step S310 or S311), the notification control section 14 controls the car-position indicator 4 to terminate the inspection-information selecting processing.
Then, after the termination of the inspection-information selecting processing, the notification control section 14 checks whether or not a non-operated state of the hall call buttons 5 has continued for a predetermined period of time (for example, one minute) and whether or not the hall call buttons 5 have been pressed again (Step S106). When verifying that the hall call buttons 5 have been pressed again, the notification control section 14 performs the elevator switching processing or the inspection-information switching processing to repeat the same operation. On the other hand, when verifying that the non-operated state of the hall call buttons 5 has continued, the notification control section 14 switches the notification mode to the normal notification mode (S107) and repeats the same operation.
According to the notification device for the elevator of Embodiment 1 as described above, the notification control section 14 switches the notification mode from the normal notification mode to the inspection-information notification mode in response to the mode switching operation performed on the hall operation panel 3 so as to control the car-position indicator 4 to perform the notification of the inspection information. With the above-mentioned configuration, an operator or the like can check the state of the car 10 at the landing 1 without using dedicated equipment such as a maintenance tool.
Moreover, the notification control section 14 switches the content to be notified by the car-position indicator 4 from any one of the plurality of pieces of information contained in the inspection information to another one in response to the predetermined information switching operation performed on the hall operation panel 3 when the notification mode is the inspection-information notification mode. With the above-mentioned configuration, the information of the content notified by the car-position indicator 4 can be switched only by the operation of the UP hall call button 5A or the DOWN hall call button 5B performed by the operator. As a result, the operator or the like can check various information at the landing 1.
Further, the notification control section 14 switches the elevator corresponding to the target of notification by the car-position indicator 4 from any one of the plurality of elevators to another one in response to the predetermined specified-elevator switching operation performed on the hall operation panel 3 when the notification mode is the inspection-information notification mode. With the above-mentioned configuration, the operator can verify the inspection information for each elevator without moving from the location of operation.
When verifying that the hall operation panel 3 is not operated within a predetermined period of time after the switching from the normal notification mode to the inspection-information notification mode, the notification control section 12 switches the notification mode from the inspection-information notification mode to the normal notification mode. With the above-mentioned configuration, the inspection-information notification mode can be automatically cancelled. Therefore, the operator can start recovery work while omitting the cancelling operation.
In Embodiment 1, for example, the announcement device 6 may be controlled to announce the display of the information on an elevator No. 1 on the car-position indicator 4. Alternatively, the announcement device 6 may be controlled to announce the content of the inspection information illustrated in FIG. 3, whereas the car-position indicator 4 may be controlled to display an elevator number of the corresponding car. That is, the operator or the like may be notified of the inspection information by the audio output.
In Embodiment 1, the notification content switching processing and the elevator-number switching processing are distinguished from each other depending on the time for which the UP hall call button 5A or the DOWN hall call button 5B is continuously held down (whether or not the time of holding down the button is long). However, the distinction between those sets of processing is not limited to the above-mentioned example. When the hall operation panel has an UP hall call button and a DOWN hall call button for physically unimpaired persons and an UP hall call button and a DOWN hall call button for wheelchair users, the value of the elevator number may be increased or decreased, for example, in accordance with the operation of the UP/DOWN hall call button for physically unimpaired persons. In this case, the value of the inspection-information may be increased or decreased in accordance with the operation of the UP/DOWN hall call button for wheelchair users.

Embodiment 2

In Embodiment 1, the notification control section 14 controls the car-position indicator 4 to display any one of the plurality of pieces of information contained in the inspection information. On the other hand, in Embodiment 2, the notification control section 14 displays the plurality of pieces of information contained in the inspection information by arranging the pieces of information side by side on a screen of a display device 9.
FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating a control system for the elevator according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. In FIG. 8, the hall operation panel 3 of Embodiment 2 further includes the display device 9 in addition to the configuration of Embodiment 1. The display device 9 is, for example, a liquid crystal monitor. The display device 9 is for, for example, displaying an image photographed by a security camera (not shown) provided inside the car 10, and an advertisement for a tenant in a building when the car 10 is operated in the normal operation mode. The remaining configuration is the same as that of Embodiment 1.
Next, an operation of the notification control section 14 according to Embodiment 2 is described. FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the notification control section 14 illustrated in FIG. 8. In FIG. 9, the schema of the operation of the notification control section 14 of Embodiment 2 is the same as that of the notification control section 14 of Embodiment 1. Moreover, in the case of the notification control section 14 of Embodiment 2, an operation corresponding to the inspection-information switching processing (part of Step S200 illustrated in FIG. 5) by the notification control section 14 of Embodiment 1 is omitted (Step S400 of FIG. 9).
Further, in the case of the notification control section 14 of Embodiment 2, an operation corresponding to the inspection-information selecting processing (Step S300 illustrated in FIG. 5) by the notification control section 14 of Embodiment 1 is different. More specifically, after switching the notification mode to the inspection-information notification mode, the notification control section 14 displays the operation mode of the specified elevator, the nearest floor for the car 10 of the specified elevator, the result of determination of the presence of the car 10 of the specified elevator within the door zone, and the result of detection of the user present in the car 10 of the specified elevator by arranging those pieces of information side by side on the screen of the display device 9 (Step S401). The subsequent operation is the same as that of Embodiment 1.
According to the notification device for the elevator of Embodiment 2 described above, when switching the notification mode to the inspection-information notification mode, the notification control section 14 displays the plurality of pieces of information contained in the inspection information by arranging those pieces of information side by side on the screen of the display device 9. With the above-mentioned configuration, the amount of information for the notification to the operator at a time is increased. Therefore, the operator can check the state of the car 10 at a time.
In Embodiment 2, the notification control section 14 displays all the information (four types of information) contained in the inspection information for the specified elevator by arranging all the information side by side on the screen of the display device 9. However, the display of the information is not limited to the above-mentioned example. The notification control section 14 may alternatively display two or more types of information of the plurality of pieces of information contained in the inspection information for the specified elevator by arranging the two or more types of information side by side on the screen of the display device 9.
Alternatively, in Embodiment 2, the notification control section 14 may display arbitrary information contained in the inspection information for the plurality of elevators by arranging the arbitrary information side by side on the screen of the display device 9.

Embodiment 3

In Embodiment 3, when verifying the presence of a user(s) in the car 10 of the specified elevator while the notification mode is set to the inspection-information notification mode, the notification control section 14 controls the announcement device 6 to output an announcement of the presence of the user(s). The configuration of Embodiment 3 is the same as that of Embodiment 2.
Next, an operation of the notification control section 14 according to Embodiment 3 is described. FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the notification control section 14 according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention. In FIG. 10, the schema of the operation of the notification control section 14 of Embodiment 3 is the same as that of the notification control section 14 of Embodiment 2. The operation of the notification control section 14 of Embodiment 3 differs from the operation of the notification control section 14 of Embodiment 2 in the operation after the display of the inspection information on the display device 9.
Specifically, after switching the notification mode to the inspection-information notification mode so that the inspection information is displayed on the screen of the display device 9 (after Step S400), the notification control section 14 checks whether or not the user(s) is(are) present in the car 10 of the specified elevator (Step S500). When verifying that the user(s) is(are) present in the car 10, the notification control section 14 controls the announcement device 6 to output an announcement of the presence of the user(s) in the car 10 of the specified elevator (Step S501). On the other hand, when verifying that no user is present in the car 10, the notification control section 14 does not output the announcement. The subsequent operation is the same as that of Embodiment 2.
According to the notification device for the elevator of Embodiment 3 described above, when verifying the presence of the user(s) in the car 10 of the specified elevator while the notification mode is set to the inspection-information notification mode, the notification control section 14 controls the announcement device 6 to output the announcement of the presence of the user(s). With the above-mentioned configuration, the operator can be notified of whether or not the user(s) is(are) trapped by using sounds. Therefore, the operator can be preferentially alerted of the presence of the user(s) in the car 10.
In Embodiment 3, the operation achieved by adding Steps S500 and S501 illustrated in FIG. 10 to the operation of Embodiment 2 has been described. However, Steps S500 and S501 illustrated in FIG. 10 may be added to the operation of Embodiment 1.
Further, in Embodiment 3, when verifying the presence of the user(s) in the car even for the elevator(s) other than the specified elevator, the notification control section 14 may allow the output of the announcement of the presence of the user(s) in the car together with the elevator number.
Further, in Embodiments 1 to 3, the configuration in which the elevator control device 12 controls the operations of the cars 10 of the plurality of elevators has been described. However, a configuration in which the elevator control device 12 controls an operation of a car of a single elevator may be used. In this case, the elevator selecting processing by the notification control section 14 can be omitted.
In Embodiments 1 to 3, the mode switching operation corresponds to the operation of holding down the UP hall call button 5A or the DOWN hall call button 5B for the predetermined period of time. However, the mode switching operation is not limited to the above-mentioned example. For example, an operation of repeatedly pressing an UP call button for a plurality of times and repeatedly pressing a DOWN call button for a plurality of times within a predetermined period of time (about five seconds) may be the mode switching operation.
Further, in Embodiments 1 to 3, the car-position indicator 4 or the display device 9 is used as landing notification means. However, the landing notification means is not limited to the above-mentioned example. For example, light-emission means used for a hall lantern or a call button may perform flashing/lighting display. In this case, the operator can be notified of the state of the elevator by, for example, the type of flashing/lighting pattern (flashing/lighting period). Moreover, by flashing/lighting both the UP hall call button and the DOWN hall call button, the operator can be notified of the state of the elevator based on the combination of the flashing/lighting patterns of the UP hall call button and the DOWN hall call button. Further, by the combination of the flashing/lighting patterns of both an upper-floor side part and a lower-floor side part of the hall lantern, the operator can be notified of the state of the elevator.

Claims

A notification device for an elevator, comprising a notification control section for controlling a content to be notified by landing notification means provided to a landing with a plurality of notification modes including a normal notification mode for notifying a user of information relating to an operation of a car,
wherein the notification control section switches the notification mode from the normal notification mode to an inspection-information notification mode for notifying an inspection operator of inspection information corresponding to information for inspecting the elevator in response to a predetermined mode switching operation performed on a hall call button of a hall operation panel provided to the landing so that the landing notification means is controlled to perform notification of the inspection information.
A notification device for an elevator according to claim 1, wherein:
the inspection information contains a plurality of pieces of information; and

the notification control section switches the content to be notified by the landing notification means from any one of the plurality of pieces of information to another one of the plurality of pieces of information in response to a predetermined information switching operation performed on the hall operation panel when the notification mode is the inspection-information notification mode.
A notification device for an elevator according to claim 1, wherein:
the elevator comprises a plurality of elevators; and

the notification control section switches an elevator corresponding to a target of notification by the landing notification means from any one of the plurality of elevators to another one of the plurality of elevators in response to a predetermined specified-elevator switching operation performed on the hall operation panel when the notification mode is the inspection-information notification mode.
A notification device for an elevator according to claim 1, wherein:
the landing notification means comprises a display device;

the inspection information contains a plurality of pieces of information; and

the notification control section displays the plurality of pieces of information by arranging the plurality of pieces of information side by side on a screen of the display device when the notification mode is the inspection-information notification mode.
A notification device for an elevator according to claim 1, wherein:
the landing notification means includes character display means capable of displaying characters and audio-output means; and

when the notification mode is the inspection-information notification mode, the notification control section is configured to:
control the character display means to display the inspection information; and

control the audio-output means to output an audio announcement of detection of a user present in the car in a case where the user present in the car is detected.
A notification device for an elevator according to claim 1, wherein the notification control section switches the notification mode from the inspection-information notification mode to the normal notification mode when verifying that the hall operation panel is not operated within a predetermined period of time after the notification mode is switched from the normal notification mode to the inspection-information notification mode.