JP2009276065A - Sensor for automatic door - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent great reduction of reaction speed, even when the resolution of a sensor for an automatic door is increased. <P>SOLUTION: Projected light from a plurality of projectors 14a-14r projecting light circularly to a monitoring area near the door is dispersed to the monitoring area by a multi-split lens 24. The light projected to the monitoring area is received by photodetectors 22a-22d. Lenses 16a-16d are provided so that the light projected to the monitoring area is condensed at the photodetectors 22a-22d. A control part 30 determines existence of a human or an object in the monitoring area, based on a light projection state of the projectors 14a-14r and a light receiving state of the photodetectors 22a-22d. This sensor is constituted so that each output from the photodetectors 22a-22d can be switched by a light-reception switching part 32, and the output is inputted into an A/D converter 34 after stabilization of input, and is then converted into a signal to the control part 30. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a sensor for an automatic door, and more particularly, to a sensor using a projector / receiver.

  Some automatic door sensors using a projector / receiver monitor the inside of a monitoring area with a large number of spot lights. For example, in the sensor disclosed in Patent Document 1, a large number of light emitting elements are arranged in a matrix, and a large number of light receiving elements are arranged in a matrix so as to correspond to the light emitting elements on a one-to-one basis. When one column of light emitting elements emits light, one row of the light receiving elements including the light receiving elements corresponding to the desired light emitting elements in the column can be received, and the light reception signal of the light receiving elements is converted into an A / D converter. Is input and digitally converted, and the converted signal is input to the control unit to determine the presence or absence of a human body or the like.

JP 2007-271537 A

  According to the technique of Patent Document 1, the number of light projecting elements and the number of light receiving elements must be the same. Therefore, to increase the resolution, it is necessary to increase the number of light receiving elements as well as the light projecting elements. Since switching noise occurs when switching the signal of the light receiver input to the A / D converter, it is necessary to insert a weight (standby time) before digitally converting the light received signal by the A / D converter. As described above, when the number of light receiving elements is increased, the total time of the weight becomes considerably long, and the response of the sensor becomes dull (the detection time becomes long).

  It is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic door sensor that does not significantly reduce the reaction speed even when the resolution is increased.

  The automatic door sensor of one embodiment of the present invention includes a light projecting unit and a light receiving unit. The light projecting unit is provided with a plurality of light projectors that circulate light to the monitoring area near the door, and the light projecting optical element for distributing the light projection of these light projectors to the monitoring area is also provided in the light projecting unit. It has been. The light receiving unit includes a light receiver that receives light projected on the monitoring area. The number of these light receivers is smaller than the number of projectors. Further, a light receiving optical element is provided in the light receiving section so as to collect the light projected on the monitoring area on the light receiver. For the light receiving optical element, for example, a multi-segment lens can be used in order to cope with the light of each projector with a smaller number of light receivers than the projector. A control part judges the presence or absence of the person or object in the said monitoring area from the light projection condition of a light projector, and the light reception condition of a light receiver. The light receiving unit includes a light receiving switching unit to which an output from the light receiver is input and an A / D converter. The A / D converter is configured such that the outputs of a plurality of light receivers are sequentially switched and input by a light reception switching unit. Further, after the output of this light receiver is stabilized, it is converted by the A / D converter.

  In this automatic door sensor, light from a plurality of light projectors is projected to different locations in the monitoring area by a light projecting optical element. For example, reflected light from these places is received by the corresponding light receiver through the light receiving optical element. The control unit determines the presence or absence of a person or an object from the light reception state of the light receiver. Therefore, the output of the light receiver is converted into a signal to the control unit by the converter, but the total time of the weight is short because the number of light receivers is small. Even if the number of light projectors is increased in order to increase the resolution, the number of light receivers is smaller than the number of light projectors. Therefore, even if the resolution is increased, the response speed of the automatic door sensor does not decrease significantly.

  Furthermore, each said light projector can be provided in two dimensions. If the projectors are arranged two-dimensionally, the resolution of the automatic door sensor can be further increased.

  As described above, according to the automatic door sensor of the present invention, even if the resolution is increased, the reaction speed is not significantly reduced.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the automatic door sensor 2 according to the first embodiment of the present invention is attached to the eyeless 6 of the automatic door 4. The automatic door 4 shown in FIG. 1 opens and closes a door opening between fixed walls 8 and 8 arranged at intervals by door panels 10 and 10 for both draws. A detection range 12 is set so as to detect between the fixed walls 8 and 8 of the automatic door 4.

  In this automatic door sensor 2, as shown in FIGS. 2 (a) and 2 (b), a plurality of, for example, 18 projectors 14a to 14r that generate spot light are arranged two-dimensionally, for example, in a matrix. Yes. Specifically, three are arranged in the door opening width direction and six are arranged in a direction orthogonal to the door opening width direction. These projectors 14a to 14r emit light by emitting infrared rays in a pulse shape having a predetermined cycle, for example. In front of these projectors, a projecting optical element, for example, a multi-segment lens 24 is arranged. The multi-divided lens 24 is divided into four in the door opening width direction. As a result, as shown in FIG. 3, 3 × 6 light projecting areas 18a to 18r are formed by the light from the light projectors 14a to 14r. A total of four sets of combined light projecting areas 18 (not shown) are arranged along the door opening width direction, and formed on a reference surface, for example, a floor surface. These light projectors 14 a to 14 r and the multi-segment lens 24 constitute a light projecting unit.

  A plurality, for example, four light receivers 22a to 22d are provided on the side of the light projecting portion in the door opening width direction. The number of light receivers 22a to 22d is smaller than the total number of light projectors 14a to 14r. The light receivers 22a to 24d are formed in a planar shape, are arranged along a direction orthogonal to the door opening width direction, and are arranged in a line at a certain interval in the door opening width direction. A plurality of, for example, four lenses 16a to 16d are arranged as light receiving optical elements in front of the light receivers 22a to 22d. The lenses 16a to 16d are constituted by, for example, cylindrical lenses, and are arranged so that their optical axes form different angles with respect to the door opening width direction, and by adjusting their orientation and inclination, they are shown in FIG. As described above, the four light receiving regions 26a to 26d that cover the four combined light projecting regions 18 described above are formed.

  A toric lens can also be used as the light receiving optical element. In addition, an optical system is used as an optical element that is made of a surface, relief, and hologram pattern and has the same effect as a micro-concave lens array. Thus, the automatic door sensor 2 can be configured to be thin.

  These light receivers 22a to 22d and lenses 16a to 16d constitute a light receiving portion.

  As shown in FIG. 2B, the light receivers 22a and 22b, between 22b and 22c, between 22c and 22d, and on the both sides of the two light receivers 22a and 22d on the outside are provided with these light receivers. In order to prevent light leaking from the lenses 16a to 16d other than any one of the lenses 16a to 16d corresponding to 22a to 22d from entering and malfunctioning, a shielding plate 20 is provided.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the projectors 14 a to 14 r that receive the projection instruction signal from the projection switching unit 28 emit light. It is possible to repeat supplying the projection instruction signals to the projectors 14a to 14r in order, or to supply only the selected projector among the projectors 14a to 14r in order. It can be repeated. The light projection switching unit 28 generates this light projection instruction signal in accordance with an instruction from the control unit 30.

  Each of the light receivers 22a to 22d receives light from the corresponding light receiving areas 26a to 26d each time the light projectors 14a to 14r emit light one by one, and generates light reception information that is a light reception signal. The light reception information of the light receivers 22 a to 22 d selected by the light reception switching unit 32 is converted into digital light reception information by the A / D converter 34 and supplied to the control unit 30. The light reception switching unit 32 selects light reception information from one of the light receivers 22a to 22d in accordance with an instruction from the control unit 30.

  However, as will be described later, the control unit 30 selects one of the light receivers 22a to 22d from among the light projectors 14a to 14r after making light reception information input to the A / D converter 34. Make things shine.

  The control unit 30 compares the digital light reception information supplied from the A / D converter 34, which is determined to be adopted in advance, with a preset threshold value, and a human body or an object exists according to the comparison result. It is determined whether or not to do. The determination result is supplied to the door controller 42 via the output unit 36, the communication interface 38, and the bus 40 in the control unit 30. The door controller 42 opens or closes the door panels 10 and 10 according to the determination result. Note that the bus 40 is configured by, for example, a CAN (Controller Area Network).

  As described above, the control unit 30 gives instructions to the light reception switching unit 32 and the light projection switching unit 28. This instruction is performed based on the setting contents of the setting unit 44 in the control unit 30. Further, only the adopted digital light reception information is compared with the threshold value, but which digital light reception information is adopted is also set in the setting unit 44. In addition, the threshold value described above is also set in the setting unit 44. These are set in the setting unit 44 via the wireless communication interfaces 48 and 50, the bus 40, and the communication interface 38 from a portable operation unit operated by the user, for example, the PDA 46.

  The control by the control unit 30 in the automatic door sensor 2 is as shown in FIG. First, the control unit 30 confirms the setting of the setting unit 44 and switches the light reception switching unit 32 so that the light reception information of the light receiver 22a is input from the A / D converter 34 (step S2). Next, it waits for a time until the received light information is stabilized, that is, the influence of the switching noise is eliminated (step S4), and switches to the light projection switching unit 28 so that the light projector 14a emits light according to the setting of the setting unit 44. (Step S6). Then, the value obtained by A / D converting the light reception information of the light receiver 22a is stored in the control unit 30 as corresponding to the light projector 14a (step S8). In the same manner, light is projected to each of the projectors 14b to 14r, and the value obtained by A / D converting the received light information is stored in the control unit 30 as corresponding to each of the projectors 14b to 14r (steps S10 to S18).

  The setting of the setting unit 44 is confirmed, and the light reception switching unit 32 is switched so that the light reception information of the light receiver 22b is input from the A / D converter 34 (step S20). Next, it waits until the light reception information is stabilized, that is, the time when the influence of the switching noise is eliminated (step S22), and switches to the light projection switching unit 28 so that the light projector 14a emits light according to the setting of the setting unit 44. (Step S24).

  Then, a value obtained by A / D converting the light reception information of the light receiver 22b is stored in the control unit 30 as corresponding to the light projector 14a (step S26). In the same manner, light is projected to each of the projectors 14b to 14r, and a value obtained by A / D converting the received light information is stored in the control unit 30 as corresponding to each of the projectors 14b to 14r.

  Further, similar processing is performed for the light receiver 22c and the light receiver 22d (steps S28 to S30).

  Next, among the digital light reception information corresponding to each of the projectors 14a to 14r in each of the light receivers 22a to 22d stored in the control unit 30, the light reception information that is adopted by the setting information set in the setting unit 44 is set in advance. It is determined whether an object or the like exists by comparing with the threshold value (step S31). If the answer to this determination is yes, an opening signal is output to the door controller 42 (step S32). Thereby, the door panels 10 and 10 are opened, and the process is executed again from Step S2. Even if the answer to the determination in step S31 is no, the process is executed again from step S2.

  Since the projector is sequentially projected after the light receiving unit is in a standby state where light can be received first, the total number of times of switching of the light receiving switching unit 32 is reduced, and as a result, the standby time of the light receiving unit (to the extent that the influence of switching noise is eliminated). Total time) can be shortened.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the process performed when the control unit 30 receives data from the PDA 46, and determines whether or not a setting value that is data has been received (step S34). In this case, the setting value of the setting unit 44 is updated (step S36), and this process is terminated. This process is also ended when the answer to the determination in step S34 is no.

  An automatic door sensor 2a according to a second embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIGS. In this automatic door sensor 2a, the light projecting parts in the automatic door sensor 2 of the first embodiment are arranged on both sides of the light receiving part. Each of the light projecting units has a total of 81 light projectors 114a1 to 114a81 and 114b1 to 114b81, 9 in the door opening width direction and 9 in the direction orthogonal to the door opening width direction. These projectors 114a1 to 114a81 and 114b1 to 114b81 are arranged so as to be shifted in the vertical direction in the drawing so that the projection areas do not overlap. In front of these projectors 114a1 to 114a81 and 114b1 to 114b81, multi-divided lenses 24a and 24b similar to the multi-divided lens 24 of the first embodiment are arranged. As a result, as shown in FIG. 8, a total of 162 light projection areas 118a1 to 118a81 and four composite light projection areas 118a and 118b consisting of 118b1 to 118b81 are formed along the door opening width direction. . Note that the position and angle of the lens with respect to the projector may be shifted instead of shifting the projector.

  In the light receiving unit, twelve light receivers 122a to 122l are arranged along the door opening width direction, and each has a planar shape that is long in a direction orthogonal to the door opening width direction. Twelve lenses 116a to 116l are arranged as optical elements in front of the light receivers 122a to 122l, corresponding to these. As a result, as shown in FIG. 8, a total of twelve light receiving regions 126a to 126l are formed along the door opening width direction. These light receiving areas 126a to 126l include three light projecting areas in a matrix shape of 3 in the door opening width direction and 18 in the direction orthogonal to the door opening width direction, that is, 3 × 18. The directions and inclinations of the lenses 116a to 116l are determined.

  The circuit configuration of the automatic door sensor 2a is the same except for the difference in the number of light receivers and projectors in the block diagram shown in FIG. Since this automatic door sensor 2a operates in the same manner as the automatic door sensor 2 except that the number of light receivers and projectors is different, the description of the operation is omitted. In this automatic door sensor 2a, since there are a large number of light projecting elements and light receiving elements, it is possible to detect with high resolution whether the person is trying to pass through the door opening, for example, dust that is blown off by wind, etc. As with the automatic door sensor 2, the total waiting time (the time to eliminate the influence of switching noise) is short, so even if a large number of projectors are used, the time required to detect the presence or absence of a human body becomes longer. There is no.

  An automatic door sensor 2b according to a third embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIGS. In the automatic door sensor 2b, eight light projectors 614a to 614h are provided in the light projecting unit, and lenses 616a to 616h are disposed as optical elements in front of these light projectors. As a result, as shown in FIG. 10, eight light projecting regions 618a to 618h are formed along the door opening width direction. In the two light receiving units, the three light receivers 622a1 to 622a3 and 622b1 to 622b3 arranged in one row are arranged so as not to overlap each other. Multi-division lenses 624a and 624b in front of them are divided into eight according to the number of projectors 614a to 614h. In addition, the multi-segment lenses 624a and 624b are arranged so that the light receiving areas 626a1 to 626a3 and 626b1 to 626b3 formed by the light receivers 622a1 to 622a3 and 622b1 to 622b3 overlap with each of the light projecting areas 618a to 618h. Tilt is set. The circuit configuration of the automatic door sensor 2b is the same except for the difference in the number of light receivers and projectors in the block diagram shown in FIG. Since this automatic door sensor 2b operates in the same manner as the automatic door sensor 2 except that the number of light receivers and projectors is different, the description of the operation is omitted. Note that, by performing the same operation as the automatic door sensor 2, the total waiting time (the time to eliminate the influence of switching noise) is shortened, so that even if a large number of projectors are used, the time required for detection is long. Never become.

It is a figure which shows the use condition of the automatic door sensor of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is the front view and top view of the automatic door sensor of FIG. It is a figure which shows the detection range (monitoring area) formed by the automatic door sensor of FIG. It is a block diagram of the automatic door sensor of FIG. It is a flowchart relevant to the light projection and light reception of the automatic door sensor of FIG. It is a flowchart relevant to the setting in the automatic door sensor of FIG. It is the front view and top view of the automatic door sensor of the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the detection range (monitoring area) formed by the automatic door sensor of FIG. It is the front view and top view of the automatic door sensor of the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the detection range (monitoring area) formed by the automatic door sensor of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

14a to 14r Projectors 16a to 16d Lens (light receiving optical element)
22a to 22d Light receiver 24 Multi-segment lens (optical element for light projection)
30 Control unit

Claims (3)

A plurality of light projectors in which light is circulated to a monitoring area in the vicinity of the door, and a light projecting optical element that disperses the light emitted from the light projector to the monitoring area; and
A number of light receivers that receive the light projected on the monitoring area, and a light receiving optical element provided so as to collect the light projected on the monitoring area on the light receiver. And a light receiving section provided with
A control unit that determines the presence or absence of a person or an object in the monitoring area from the light projection status of the light projector and the light reception status of the light receiver;
An automatic door sensor comprising: the light receiving unit includes a conversion unit that receives an output from the light receiver and converts the input into a signal to the control unit;
The converter is an automatic door sensor configured to be capable of switching and inputting the output of the light receiver, and further configured to convert the input after the input is stabilized.   2. The automatic door sensor according to claim 1, wherein a shielding plate is provided between the light receivers.   The automatic door sensor according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of projectors are provided in a two-dimensional manner.

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