GB2570185A

GB2570185A - Monitoring system and monitoring method

Info

Publication number: GB2570185A
Application number: GB1818090.1A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Naoi Hironori; Konishi Kenta; Agatsuma Koji; Yamashita Daisuke; Sakamoto Kanta; Matsukawa Tomoki
Original assignee: Hitachi Rail Europe Ltd; Hitachi Ltd; Hitachi Kokusai Electric Inc
Current assignee: Hitachi Rail Ltd; Hitachi Ltd; Hitachi Kokusai Electric Inc
Priority date: 2017-11-17
Filing date: 2018-11-06
Publication date: 2019-07-17
Anticipated expiration: 2038-11-06
Also published as: JP7166753B2; GB2570185B; JP2019092136A; GB201818090D0

Abstract

A train door obstruction monitoring system comprising a plurality of door cameras 141-144 installed on a train for taking images of the doors 121-124, a monitor 146 for displaying the camera images of the doors that are taken by the cameras, and a display control unit 145 for respectively allocating a plurality of door camera images that have been taken for the opening or closing doors on one side of the train to a plurality of areas that are divided from the display region of the monitor 146 in order for the images to be displayed. The display control unit 145 controls the system in response to the detection of an abnormality in the closing of any door in such a manner that an enlarged camera image of the door concerning the abnormality is displayed. The application also includes a method of monitoring the train using the monitoring systems as stated.

Description

Monitoring System and Monitoring Method [Technical Field] [0001] The present invention relates to a monitoring system for supporting a driver and a trainman so that they can efficiently confirm the movements of passengers who are close to the doors of the train.

[Background Art] [0002] In a train system, a driver or a trainman (hereinafter, both of them are simply referred to as trainman) checks by means of images the passengers who are moving along the platform so as to confirm the safety of the passengers before operating the doors that are to be opened and closed. The images of the passengers are taken by cameras that have been installed on the main bodies of the cars or along the platform. In Japan, for example, a system where cameras installed along a platform are used to show images on monitors along the platform or in the cabin of a train is typical. Meanwhile, in England, for example, a system where cameras installed on the side of the main bodies of cars are used to show images on a monitor in the cabin is typical. Such a difference depends on whether the same business entity manages the operation of the trains and the infrastructure, or different business entities manage these.

In the following, an on-board camera type monitoring system where cameras are installed on the main bodies of cars is referred to. For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses a monitoring system where a camera is provided so as to be adjacent to each door of the cars.

[Citation List] [Patent Literature] [0003] Patent Literature 1: International Publication No.

2015/145736 [Summary of Invention] [Technical Problem] [0004] In the invention in Patent Literature 1, the display region of a monitor is divided into a plurality of areas, and a plurality of camera images taken by a plurality of cameras are displayed on the respective areas . In the case where a door is prevented from closing by an obstacle when the doors of a train are closing, the trainman needs to confirm the safety of the passengers by checking the camera images that show the door. In the display that are divided as described above, however, a large number of camera images is displayed on one monitor, which does not make it easy for the trainman to specify the door that cannot be closed by checking the monitor so as to carry out the operation for confirming the safety of the passengers in a short period of time .

[0005] In recent years, the number of cameras to be monitored has tended to increase, and therefore, the burden on the trainman who has to check the monitor has been increasing .

As the number of cameras increases, the time that is required for the trainman to check the safety of the passengers increases.

Furthermore, as the number of cameras increases, the region on a monitor that is allocated for each camera decreases, and therefore, it becomes difficult to confirm the image of an obstacle in the case where the obstacle is caught between the doors, for example. It would be good if the size of the monitors could be increased; however, the space in the cabin is limited, and therefore, it is difficult to actually increase the size of the monitors.

[0006] The present invention is provided in view of the abovedescribed conventional situation, and an object of the invention is to provide a scheme where the burden of the operation of confirming the state of a door from which an abnormality has been detected in the closing of the door by checking an image of the door can be reduced.

[Solution to Problem] [0007] In order to achieve the above-described object, the monitoring system and the monitoring method according to the present invention are provided as follows.

(1) A monitoring system is provided with: a plurality of cameras installed on a train for taking images of a plurality of doors of the train; and a monitor for displaying the camera images of the doors that are taken by the above-described cameras, and is characterized by being further provided with a display control unit for allocating a plurality of camera images of the doors that have been taken for the doors on one side of the train that either open or close respectively to a plurality of areas that are divided from the display region of the above-described monitor, so that each camera image is displayed on each area, wherein the above-described display control unit allows an enlarged camera image of any door concerning an abnormality in the closing of the door to be displayed in response to the detection of the abnormality.

[0008] (2) The monitoring system according to the above (1) is characterized in that the above-described display control unit allows the entirety of the above-described display region to be used to display the enlarged image.

[0009] (3) The monitoring system according to the above (1) is characterized in that the above-described display control unit allows two or more areas from among the plurality of areas that are divided from the display region, excluding the area that is used to display a camera image of the door concerning the abnormality, to be used to display the enlarged image.

[0010] (4) The monitoring system according to the above (1) is characterized by being further provided with a plurality of incar cameras for taking respective images of the plurality of doors from the inside of the cars, wherein the above-described display control unit allows an enlarged camera image of the door concerning the abnormality to be displayed, and at the same time allows an in-car camera image of the door concerning the abnormality to be displayed.

[0011] (5) The monitoring system according to the above (4) is characterized in that the above-described display control unit allows the enlarged camera image of the door concerning the abnormality and the in-car camera image of the door concerning the abnormality to be displayed using different monitors.

[0012] (6) The monitoring system according to the above (4) is characterized in that the above-described display control unit allows the enlarged camera image of the door concerning the abnormality and the in-car camera image of the door concerning the abnormality to be displayed using the same monitor.

[0013] (7) The monitoring system according to the above (6) is characterized in that the above-described display control unit allows two or more areas from among the plurality of areas that are divided from the display region, excluding the area that is used to display the camera image of the door concerning the abnormality, to be used to display the enlarged image, and at the same time, allows two or more other areas to be used to display the in-car camera image.

[0014] (8) The monitoring system according to any of the above (1) through (7) is characterized in that each door in the abovedescribed train is provided with a door control unit for controlling the opening and closing of the door, the abovedescribed door control unit outputs a signal for indicating the failure of the closing of the door in response to the failure of the closing of the door, and at the same time tries to close the door again in such a manner that the signal is transmitted continuously in the case where the number of times of the failure of closing the door becomes a predetermined value or greater, and the above-described display control unit determines that an abnormality arises in the closing of the door that corresponds to the door control unit from which the signal is transmitted in the case where the continuous reception of the signal has continued for a predetermined period of time.

[0015] (9) A monitoring method using a monitoring system provided with: a plurality of cameras installed on a train for taking images of a plurality of doors of the train; and a monitor for displaying the camera images of the doors that are taken by the above-described cameras, is characterized in that a plurality of camera images of the doors that have been taken for the doors on one side of the train that either open or close are allocated respectively to a plurality of areas that are divided from the display region of the above-described monitor, so that each camera image is displayed on each area, wherein the abovedescribed display control unit allows an enlarged camera image of any door concerning an abnormality in the closing of the door to be displayed in response to the detection of the abnormality. [Advantageous Effects of Invention] [0016] The present invention makes it possible to reduce the burden of the operation of confirming the state of a door from which an abnormality has been detected in the closing of the door by checking an image of the door.

[Brief Description of Drawings] [0017] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the monitoring system according to the first example of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the arrangement of the cameras in the monitoring system in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the divided displays in the monitoring system in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the display of a TMS monitor in the monitoring system in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a graph showing an example of the sequence when an abnormality has arisen in the closing of a door in the monitoring system in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a is a flowchart showing an example of a process flow when an abnormality has arisen in the closing of a door in the monitoring system in FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example where an enlarged image is displayed in the monitoring system in FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing another example where an enlarged image is displayed in the monitoring system in FIG. 1;

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of how the display region on a CCTV monitor is divided in the monitoring system in FIG. 1;

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the monitoring system according to the second example of the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of the arrangement of the cameras in the monitoring system in FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example where enlarged images and in-car images are displayed in the monitoring system in FIG. 10; and

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing another example where enlarged images and in-car images are displayed in the monitoring system in FIG. 10.

[Description of Embodiments] [0018] The monitoring system according to one embodiment of the present invention is described in reference to the drawings.

The present invention provides a monitoring system with a plurality of cameras (141 through 144) mounted on a train for taking images of a plurality of doors (121 through 124) of the train, and monitors (146) for displaying the camera images of the door taken by the cameras, wherein a display control unit (145) for allocating a plurality of camera images of the doors that have been taken for the doors on one side of the train that either opens or closes respectively to a plurality of areas that are divided from the display region of the above-described monitor so that each camera image is displayed on each area, and the display control unit controls the system in response to the detection of an abnormality in the closing of any door in such a manner that an enlarged camera image of the door concerning the abnormality is displayed.

In the following, examples are referred to in the concrete description of the monitoring system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0019] (First Example)

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the monitoring system according to the first example. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the arrangement of the cameras in the monitoring system in FIG. 1.

The monitoring system according to the first example is applied to a train formed of six cars 101 through 106. The train in this example has a configuration where the first through third cars have the same structure as the fourth through sixth cars, and the fourth through sixth cars are inverse between the front and the rear before being linked to the first through third cars. Each car has two doors 121 and 122 on one side, and at the same time has two doors 123 and 124 on the other side. In addition, each car has door control units (door C.U. in the figure) 131 through 134 for controlling a door, which respectively correspond to the doors 121 through 124, and door cameras 141 through 144 for taking images of the doors and their surroundings from the outside of the car installed on the car. Here, for the ease of description, FIG. 1 only shows the doors 121 and 122 (or 123 and 124) on one side of the car, the door control units 131 and 132 (or 133 and 134), and the door cameras 141 and 142 (or 143 and 144) .

[0020] The monitoring system of the present example has a configuration where a CCTV (closed-circuit television) system is connected to a TMS (train monitoring system). The CCTV system has door cameras 141 through 144 that are provided for the respective doors of the respective cars, CCTV monitors 146 for displaying the camera images of the doors that have been taken by the door cameras 141 through 144, CCTV control units (CCTV C.U. in the figure) 145 for controlling the display of the CCTV monitors 146, and switching hubs (HUB in the figure) 161 mounted in the respective cars for transmitting the camera images of the doors. The train monitoring system has door control units (door C.U. in the figure) 131 through 134 provided for the respective doors of the respective cars, TMS monitors 136 for displaying the operation states of the train including the states of the doors, and TMS control units (TMS C.U. in the figure) 135 for controlling the display of the TMS monitors 136. The TMS monitors 136 and the CCTV monitors 14 6 are installed in the cabins in the first and rear cars. In addition, the TMS control units 135 and the CCTV control units

145 are also installed in the first and rear cars.

[0021] The door cameras 141 through 144 for the respective cars are arranged so that the images of the doors, the platform and the gaps between the train and the platform can be taken. In this example, as shown in FIG. 2, two door cameras are arranged so as to be directed in different directions between the two doors front and rear that are on either side of each car. In addition, each door camera is arranged so as to be directed towards the center side of the car between a door and the center of the car. That is to say, the door camera on the front side that is attached to the body of the car so as to be directed towards the rear door side is used to monitor the area that is behind the camera. In addition, the door camera on the rear side that is attached to the body of the car so as to be directed towards the front door side is used to monitor the area that is in front of the camera.

[0022] The camera images of the doors that have been taken by the door cameras 141 through 144 are displayed on a CCTV monitor 14 6 in divided regions under the control by a CCTV control unit 145. FIG. 3 shows an example of the display on a CCTV monitor

146 in divided regions. The display region of the CCTV monitor 146 is divided into a plurality of areas so that a plurality of camera images that have been taken by the door cameras provided on one side of the train can be displayed simultaneously. In this example, the display region is divided into two in the upward and downward directions and divided into six in the left and right directions so as to provide 12 areas in total [0023] A CCTV control unit 145 arranges a plurality of camera images of the doors that have been taken by the door cameras provided on one side of the train in the respective areas of a display region in such an order that the trainman can easily recognize the areas to be monitored that correspond to the respective camera images of the doors.

For example, camera images of the doors are arranged in the respective areas of the display region in accordance with such a logic that the camera images of the respective doors in the order from the front towards the rear in the direction in which the train moves are allocated in the order starting from the upper left of a monitor towards the lower right. In addition, a CCTV control unit 145 allows a display of door position information that indicates the door in a camera image of a position of the door that is shown

in each	area to overlap the	image. In FIG. 3,	a display of	door
position	information that	includes figures	(1	through	6)
that indicate the car numbers and letters (	A	or B)	that
indicate	whether the positi	on of the door is	the	front or	rear
portion	of a car overlaps	each camera image	of	a door.	For
example,	3-B indicates a	camera image of a	door showing	the

door that is on the rear side of the third car .

units

A TMS control unit 135

131 through 134 so as communicates to receive with the a signal door control showing the state a door obstacle detection signal that indicates the failure of the closing of a door due to an transmit a command that instructs the opening or closing of a example, a door closing command that instructs the closing of door control units

131 through 134 transmit a door obstacle detection signal that includes door identification information to a TMS control unit

135 in the case where a door cannot be closed when a door is to be closed in response to a door closing command.

As shown in

FIG. 4, the TMS control unit 135 displays information on a TMS monitor 136 that makes it possible for a door from which an abnormality has been detected in the closing of the door to be perceived on the basis of a door obstacle detection signal. In addition, a door obstacle detection signal that is transmitted from any of the door control units 131 through 134 is also provided to a CCTV control unit 145 through a TMS control unit 135. The CCTV control unit 145 automatically expands the camera image of the door from which an abnormality has been detected in the closing of the door on the basis of the door obstacle detection signal when the camera image of the door is displayed on a CCTV monitor.

[0025] In the example of a display of a TMS monitor 136 shown in FIG. 4, the arrangement of the doors of each car of a train is displayed, and at the same time, each door is displayed in such a manner that the open state and the closed state are distinguished. In FIG. 4, the door on the front side in the fifth car is in an open state. When a trainman sees the display on the TMS monitor 136, a door that has failed to close can be specified. In a conventional practice, a trainman has to see the display on a TMS monitor 136 so as to specify a door from which an abnormality has been detected in the closing of the door, and must confirm the door by finding the image of the door on the CCTV monitor 146, and therefore, it takes a long time and is troublesome when the number of doors is large. In the monitoring system according to one embodiment of the present invention, however, as described above, a CCTV control unit 145 operates in conjunction with a TMS control unit 135 so as to automatically expand the camera image of the door from which an abnormality has been detected in the closing of the door when the camera image of the door is displayed, and therefore, the time for confirming the abnormality can be shortened while making the operation of the trainman less troublesome.

[0026] FIG. 5 shows an example of the sequence when an abnormality has arisen in the closing of a door. In addition, FIG. 6 shows an example of a process flow when an abnormality has arisen in the closing of a door.

When a door closing command is inputted by a trainman, a TMS control unit 135 transmits the door closing command to the door control units 131 through 134 in each car so that all the doors are closed (steps Sil and S12) . The door control units 131 through 134 monitor the state of a door and determine whether or not the closing of the door was successful (step S13) Any of the door control units 131 through 134 that has detected the failure of the closing of a door outputs a door obstacle detection signal that includes the door identification information to a TMS control unit 135 and tries closing the door again, and then repeats the determination of whether the closing of the door was successful or not (steps S14 through S17) . In the case where the closing of all the doors is successful, the door closing operation is complete (step S18).

[0027] In the case where the closing of a door has failed three continuous times, the door control units 131 through 134 cancel the door closing operation and open the doors, and continues the transmission of a door obstacle detection signal to a TMS control unit 135 (steps S19 and S20) . In the case where the reception of a door obstacle detection signal from a TMS control unit 135 continues over a predetermined period of time (one second, for example), a CCTV control unit 145 determines that an abnormality has arisen in the closing of the door that is identified from the door identification information included in the door obstacle detection signal, and allows a CCTV monitor

146 to display an enlarged camera image of the corresponding door (step S21) . In this example, the length of time of one door obstacle detection signal is 200 ms, and thus, one second, which corresponds to five continuous door obstacle detection signals, is set to be a predetermined period of time as described above.

Here, the CCTV control unit 145 needs to be able to detect two or more continuous door obstacle detection signals, and therefore, 0.4 seconds, for example, may be set as the above-described predetermined period of time, which may be any length of time as long as no problem arises in practice.

[0028] Here, the display of an enlarged camera image of a door can be completed or restarted through the operation by a trainman. When the trainman monitors the enlarged camera image of the door from which an abnormality has been detected in the closing of the door and confirms that the obstacle that has hindered the closing of the door has disappeared, the trainman reinputs a door closing command. As a result, the door is closed, and the above-described display of an enlarged camera image is automatically completed.

Though the CCTV control unit 145 in the above-described example receives a door obstacle detection signal from each of the door control units 131 through 134 via a TMS control unit 135, the configuration may allow for a direct reception without going through the TMS control unit 135. Alternatively, the TMS control unit 135 may determine the abnormality in the closing of a door on the basis of a door obstacle detection signal from any of the door control units 131 through 134 so that the configuration allows the results of determination to be provided to the CCTV control unit 145.

[0029] FIG. 7 shows an example of a display of an enlarged image when an abnormality has arisen in the closing of a door. In this figure, the entirety monitor is used to display of the display region on a CCTV an enlarged camera image of the door concerning the abnormality.

Here, the example of the screen on the left side displays the state directly before the detection of an abnormality in the closing of the door, and the example of the screen on the right side displays the state directly after the detection of an abnormality in the closing of the door.

In the example that displays the state directly before the detection, the door with the abnormality is displayed with

Thus, the entirety of the display region on the

CCTV monitor is used for a display of an enlarged image so that the trainman can easily confirm the reason why the door could not be closed.

Here, a plurality of CCTV monitors may be prepared so that one of them can be used for a display of an enlarged image.

[0030] FIG. 8 shows another example of a image when an abnormality has arisen in

In this figure, six areas from among the display of an enlarged the closing of a door.

plurality of areas into which the display region on a CCTV monitor is divided, excluding the area that is used for a display of a camera image of the door from which an abnormality has been detected in the closing of the door, are used to display an enlarged camera image of the door concerning the abnormality, emphasis that makes it possible abnormality in the closing of a image of the door concerning the emphasis that indicates that th closing of a door may be lette frames or a combination of thes example, a frame that is more frames of other camera images o:

In addition, a display for to perceive that there is an door is added to the camera abnormality. The display for :re is an abnormality in the :s, symbols, figures, colors, 5. As shown in FIG. 8, for visually emphasized than the : a door (red lines or thick lines, for example) may be added so that visual confirmation becomes easier.

Thus, an enlarged image is displayed in a layout for a divided display so that a trainman can easily grasp which door has failed to close, and at the same time can easily confirm the reason why the door could not close. Though in the example in FIG. 8 six areas are used for displaying an enlarged image, two or more areas can be used to display an enlarged image.

[0031] The display mode shown in FIG. 8 can be easily implemented by presetting areas to be used for displaying an enlarged camera image of a door that is displayed in each area that is divided from a display region of a CCTV monitor. As shown in FIG. 9, for example, there is a case where the display region of a CCTV monitor is divided into twelve small areas Al through A12. In this case, six small areas Al through A3 and A7 through A9 on the left side form a middle area Bl, and six small areas A4 through A6 and A10 through A12 form a middle area B2 . For this division, a table is prepared where the correspondence between the small areas and the middle areas that are to be used for displaying an enlarged camera image of a door that is displayed in each of the small areas has been preset. Thus, a CCTV control unit 145 displays an enlarged image in the middle area B2 when an abnormality has arisen in the closing of a door that corresponds to any of the small areas Al through A3 and A7 through A9 on the basis of the above-described table, and displays an enlarged image in the middle area Bl when an abnormality has arisen in the closing of a door that corresponds to any of the small areas A4 through A6 and A10 through A12.

[0032] As described above, the monitoring system according to the first example is provided with door cameras 141 through 144 for taking respective images of the doors 121 through 124 of each car of a train from the outside of the car, a CCTV monitor 146 for displaying the camera images of the doors that have been taken by the door cameras 141 through 144, and a CCTV control unit 145 for controlling the system so that the system carries out a divided display where a plurality of camera images of a door that have been taken for each door to be opened or closed on one side of the train is respectively allocated for display to a plurality of areas that are divided from the display region of the CCTV monitor 146. In addition, the CCTV control unit 145 controls the system in response to the detection of an abnormality in the closing of any door in such a manner that an enlarged camera image of the door concerning the abnormality is displayed.

Unlike the prior art, this configuration makes it unnecessary for the trainman to specify a door that has failed to close by seeing the display on a TMS monitor, and to confirm the door by finding the image of the door from the display on a CCTV monitor. Accordingly, the burden of the operation of confirming the state of the door from which an abnormality has been detected in the closing of the door by checking the image can be reduced.

[0033] (Second Example)

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the monitoring system according to the second example of the invention. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of the arrangement of cameras in the monitoring system in FIG. 10. In the following, the structures that are different from the monitoring system according to the first example of the invention are mainly described, and the descriptions about the same structures as in the monitoring system according to the first example are omitted.

[0034] The monitoring system according to the second example is applied to a train formed of twelve cars 101 through 112.

In the train in this example, the first through sixth cars and the seventh through twelfth cars have the same structure, and the train is formed by connecting the seventh through twelfth cars to the first through sixth cars in such a manner that the seventh through twelfth cars are inverted between the front and the rear. Each car has two doors 121 and 122 on one side, and at the same time has two doors 123 and 124 on the other side .

In addition, door control units 131 through

134 for controlling the doors, door cameras 141 through

144 for taking images of a door and its surroundings from the outside of the car, and incar cameras 151 through 154 for taking images of a door and its surroundings from the inside of the car are installed in each car so as to respectively correspond to the doors 121 through

124. Furthermore, the monitoring system according to the second example has two CCTV monitors (14 6 and 147) so as to cover the twelve cars that form the train.

For the ease of description,

FIG.

only shows the doors 121 and one side of a car, the door control units 131 and the door car cameras 151 in-car cameras 151 through 154 arranged so that an image of surroundings can be taken from

132

133 and the inside of the state of

144	) , and	the	in-
in	each	car	are
a	door	and	its
the	car .	In	this

is arranged in a example, as shown in FIG. 11, each camera portion above the door on the opposite side to the door of which the image is to be taken so that the configuration allows the camera to take an image of the door in the direction facing the front of the door. The camera images taken inside the car by the in-car cameras 151 through 154 are transmitted to the CCTV control unit 145 through a switching hub 161 so as to be used for the displays on the CCTV monitors 146 and 147.

[0036] In the first example that is described in the above, an enlarged camera image of a door from which an abnormality has been detected in the closing of the door that has been taken from the outside of the car is automatically displayed in response to the detection of the abnormality. In contrast, in the second example, the CCTV monitors also display a camera image of a door from which an abnormality has been detected in the closing of the door that has been taken from the inside of the car.

[0037] FIG. 12 shows an example where enlarged images and in-car images are displayed when an abnormality has arisen in the closing of a door. The CCTV control unit 135 uses the entirety of the display region on one of the two CCTV monitors so as to display an enlarged camera image of the door concerning the abnormality, and at the same time uses the entirety of the display region on the other CCTV monitor so as to display an enlarged camera image of the door concerning the abnormality that has been taken from the inside of the car. Here, an example of the image on the left side displays the state directly before an abnormality has been detected in the closing of a door, and an example of an image on the right side displays the state directly after an abnormality has been detected in the closing of a door.

Thus, different CCTV monitors are used to display an enlarged camera image of a door and display an enlarged camera image taken from the inside of the car, and thus, a trainman can more precisely confirm the reason why the door could not be closed.

[0038] FIG. 13 shows another example where enlarged images and in-car images are displayed when an abnormality has arisen in the closing of a door. As for the displays in this figure, four

areas from among	a plurality of areas	that are divided	from	the
display regions	on a	CCTV monitor	excluding the areas	that	are
used to display	a	camera image	of	the door from	which	an
abnormality has	been	detected in	the	closing of the	door	are

used to display an enlarged camera image of the door concerning the abnormality. In addition, another four areas are used to display an enlarged camera image of the door concerning the abnormality that has been taken from the inside of the car. Furthermore, a display for emphasis that makes it possible to perceive that there is an abnormality in the closing of a door is added to the camera image of the door concerning the abnormality. The display for emphasis that indicates that there is an abnormality in the closing of a door may be letters, symbols, figures, colors, frames or a combination of these. As shown in FIG. 13, for example, a frame that is more visually emphasized than the frames of the other camera images of a door (red lines or thick lines, for example) may be added so that visual confirmation becomes easier.

As described above, enlarged camera images of a door that have been taken from the outside and inside of the car are displayed in a layout for a divided display so that a trainman can easily grasp which door cannot close, and at the same time can confirm more precisely the cause as to why the door could not be closed. Though in the example in FIG. 8 four areas are respectively used to display an enlarged image, two or more areas may be used to display an enlarged image.

[0039] The display mode shown in FIG. 13 can be easily implemented by presetting the areas to be used for displaying an enlarged camera image of a door that is displayed on each area that is divided from the display region of a CCTV monitor, and the corresponding enlarged camera image that has been taken from the inside of the car. In a case shown in FIG. 9, for example, the display region on a CCTV monitor is divided into twelve small areas Al through A12 . In this case, four small areas Al, A2, A7 and A8 on the left form a middle area Cl, four small areas A3, A4, A9 and A10 in the center form a middle area C2, and four small areas A5, A6, All and A12 on the right form a middle area C3. In the case of this divided mode, a table is prepared where the correspondence between the small areas, the middle areas that are used to of a door that is displayed on middle areas that are used to display an enlarged camera image each of the small areas, and the display an enlarged camera image taken from the inside of the car that corresponds to the camera image of a door displayed on each of the small areas is preset.

[0040] As described above, the monitoring system according to the second example is provided with door cameras 141 through 144 for respectively taking images of the doors 121 through 124 of each car of a train from the outside of the car, a CCTV monitor 146 for displaying the camera images of a door that have been taken by the door cameras 141 through 144, and a CCTV control unit 145 for controlling the system so that the system carries out a divided display where a plurality of camera images of each door that has been taken for the opening and closing doors on one side of the train is respectively allocated to a plurality of areas that is divided from the display regions on the CCTV monitor 146 in order to be displayed. Furthermore, in-car cameras 151 through 154 for taking respective images of the doors 121 through 124 from the inside of the car are provided so that the CCTV control unit 145 controls the system in response to the detection of an abnormality in the closing of any door in such a manner that an enlarged camera image of the door concerning the abnormality is displayed, and at the same time, a camera image of the door concerning the abnormality that has been taken from the inside of the car is displayed together.

Such a configuration allows a trainman to confirm not only the state of the door that has failed to close as viewed from the outside of the car, but also the state of the door as viewed from the inside of the car, and therefore, it becomes possible for the trainman to more precisely determine the reason as to why the door could not be closed.

[0041] Here, the configurations of the system and the devices according to the present invention is not necessarily limited to those described in the above, and various configurations may be used. For example, the number of doors respectively provided on either side of each car may be one or three or more. Though in the above-described examples a case where one door camera takes an image of one door is described, one door camera may take images of a plurality of doors and their surroundings so that the configuration can cut out each image so as to be displayed as in FIG. 3. Furthermore, though in the above-described examples a CCTV control unit is equipped in a device that is different from the CCTV monitor, the configuration may allow the CCTV control unit to be incorporated in the CCTV monitor. IN addition, the door cameras and the in-car cameras may be arranged in any locations from which images of doors can be taken .

[0042] It is also possible for the present invention to provide a method or a formula for carrying out the process according to the present invention, a program for implementing such a method or formula, and a storage medium for storing such a program.

For example, the display control unit for controlling the display of a CCTV monitor may be implemented by running a predetermined program on a computer. That is to say, a computer having a hardware resource such as a memory and a processor may read out onto a memory a program that has been stored in a data storage unit such as a hardware or a flash memory so that the program is run by a processor, and thus, the display control unit may be implemented.

[Industrial Applicability] [0043] The present invention can be applied to a monitoring system that is provided with a plurality of cameras for taking images of a plurality of doors of a train, and a monitor for displaying the camera images of a door that have been taken by these cameras .

[Reference Signs List] [0044] 101 through 112: car

121	through 124:	door
131	through 134:	door control unit
135 :	: TMS control	unit
136:	: TMS monitor
141	through 14 4:	door camera
145 :	: CCTV control	unit
146	and 147: CCTV monitor
151	through 154:	in-car camera
161:	: switching hub

Claims

[1] A monitoring system, comprising: a plurality of cameras installed on a train for taking images of a plurality of doors of the train; and a monitor for displaying the camera images of the doors that are taken by said cameras, characterized by further comprising a display control unit for allocating a plurality of camera images of the doors that have been taken for the doors on one side of the train that either open or close respectively to a plurality of areas that are divided from a display region of said monitor, so that each camera image is displayed on each area, wherein said display control unit allows an enlarged camera image of any door concerning an abnormality in the closing of the door to be displayed in response to the detection of the abnormality.
[2] The monitoring system according to claim 1, characterized in that said display control unit allows the entirety of said display region to be used to display the enlarged image.
[3] The monitoring system according to claim 1, characterized in that said display control unit allows two or more areas from among said plurality of areas that are divided from the display region, excluding the area that is used to display a camera image of the door concerning the abnormality, to be used to display the enlarged image.
[4] The monitoring system according to claim 1, characterized by further comprising a plurality of in-car cameras for taking respective images of the plurality of doors from the inside of the cars, wherein said display control unit allows an enlarged camera image of the door concerning the abnormality to be displayed, and at the same time allows an in-car camera image of the door concerning the abnormality to be displayed.
[5] The monitoring system according to claim 4, characterized in that said display control unit allows the enlarged camera image of the door concerning the abnormality and the in-car camera image of the door concerning the abnormality to be displayed using different monitors.
[6] The monitoring system according to claim 4, characterized in that said display control unit allows the enlarged camera image of the door concerning the abnormality and the in-car camera image of the door concerning the abnormality to be displayed using the same monitor.
[7] The monitoring system according to claim 6, characterized in that said display control unit allows two or more areas from among said plurality of areas that are divided from the display region, excluding the area that is used to display the camera image of the door concerning the abnormality, to be used to display the enlarged image, and at the same time, allows two or more other areas to be used to display the in-car camera image.
[8] The monitoring system according to any of claims 1 through 7, characterized in that each door in said train is provided with a door control unit for controlling the opening and closing of the door, said door control unit outputs a signal for indicating the failure of the closing of the door in response to the failure of the closing of the door, and at the same time tries to close the door again in such a manner that the signal is transmitted continuously in the case where the number of times of the failure of closing the door becomes a predetermined value or greater, and said display control unit determines that an abnormality arises in the closing of the door that corresponds to the door control unit from which the signal is transmitted in the case where the continuous reception of the signal has continued for a predetermined period of time.
[9] A monitoring method using a monitoring system, comprising: a plurality of cameras installed on a train for taking images of a plurality of doors of the train; and a monitor for displaying the camera images of the doors that are taken by said cameras, characterized in that a plurality of camera images of the doors that have been taken for the doors on one side of the train that either open or close are allocated respectively to a plurality of areas that are divided from a display region of said monitor, so that each camera image is displayed on each area, and an enlarged camera image of any door concerning an abnormality in the closing of the door is displayed in response to the detection of the abnormality.