JP2009280362A - Safety device and safety control method for elevator door - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a safety device for an elevator door of high reliability prevented from determining the closing door as foreign matter by accurately acquiring the movement of the door to perform image processing, when acquiring a doorway image by using an imaging device such as a camera. <P>SOLUTION: The safety device for the elevator door includes the camera 1 installed at the upper part of a doorway frame 9 to image the vicinity of a doorway that includes doors 8, 12 and a sill; an image processing device 2 processing the image obtained by the camera to determine the presence of foreign matter; and a door opening/closing control device 3 controlling the opening/closing operation of the doors using a foreign matter detection signal of the image processing device. Mark parts 6, 10 can recognize a moving position during opening/closing are arranged at the front edges of the doors 8, 12, and the inside of these mark parts 6, 10 moved corresponding to the opening/closing of the doors is set as a foreign matter detection area 22 to provide the safety device for the elevator door of high reliability with no risk of erroneously detecting the door itself as the foreign matter. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a safety device and a safety control method for detecting a foreign object caught in an entrance door of an elevator and preventing an accident in advance.

  Examples of safety devices used to detect foreign objects near the entrance of an elevator and prevent collision or pinching include, for example, a light beam provided vertically at a predetermined interval on one side of the door, and a photodetector on the side facing the door There is a configuration provided. When the light beam is interrupted, the door is kept in the open state, or if it is in the closing operation, it is stopped and the door is opened again.

  This safety device can respond sufficiently when the user tries to get on while the door is closed, or when it takes a long time to get on by using a cart, but it detects small objects that do not block the light. Can not. For example, when a user takes a dog and uses an elevator, there is a possibility that the door closes in a state where only the dog connected with the chain gets into the car first, and the car goes up and down as it is. This is because the chain has a small diameter and does not block the light beam of the safety device described above.

  As a conventional elevator door safety device that can cope with this, there is one that applies a surveillance camera as disclosed in Patent Document 1. In order to detect a foreign object sandwiched between doors, a camera is installed above the door to image the opening / closing path space of the door and detect the presence or absence of the foreign object. Specifically, the degree of opening and closing of the door is detected based on the rotation of the door motor, and there is a foreign object if there is a difference compared to the basic image when there is no foreign object for each degree of opening and closing of the door divided into a large number. The door is kept open, or the door being closed is stopped and opened again.

JP-B-1-47388

  In the prior art disclosed in Patent Document 1, for example, the degree of opening / closing of a subdivided door that is closed is compared with a corresponding reference image. The movement of the door is detected by a pulse generator connected to a door motor that opens and closes the door and a pulse counter that counts the pulse signal. For this reason, the door does not perform a predetermined operation due to the clogging of foreign matter between the door and the sill, and even if the door motor rotates, slippage occurs in the mechanism that transmits the driving force to the door. There are times when it does not do. As a result, the images cannot be compared correctly, and there is a possibility that the determination of the presence or absence of foreign matter is erroneous.

  An object of the present invention is to improve the reliability of a safety device for an elevator door that has undergone image processing to determine the presence or absence of foreign matter.

  In one aspect of the present invention, the door is installed at the upper part of the entrance of an elevator, and image information is processed by a camera that images the vicinity of the entrance to determine the presence or absence of foreign matter, and the door is used by using the foreign matter detection output signal. In the safety control of the elevator door that performs door safety control that controls the opening / closing operation of the door, a mark portion is arranged in the imaging region of the camera and at or near the front edge of the door, and image information from the camera is Among them, the image processing area by the foreign object detection is determined with the mark portion as a reference.

  In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the mark portion is provided on the front edge of the door, and is different in color and reflectance from the front edge of the door.

  In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the image processing area in which the door is closed is recognized at a predetermined time interval, and the image processing area is narrowed using the recognized position.

  In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the mark portion reference position storage device that stores in advance the reference position of the mark portion in the fully open state is compared with the position of the mark portion in the fully open state that is recognized by the image recognition device. If there is, a mark portion position abnormality determining device that outputs an abnormality signal is provided.

  Furthermore, in a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the image recognition device includes a drive mechanism for changing the imaging direction, and when the position of the mark portion in the fully opened state recognized by the image recognition device is abnormal, The direction of the image recognition apparatus is corrected by the drive mechanism.

  According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, by accurately grasping the movement of the door of the elevator doorway and performing image processing, the detection accuracy of the presence or absence of foreign matter is improved, and a highly reliable elevator door safety device is provided. can do.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating an elevator door safety device according to an embodiment of the present invention, including a view of a door entrance viewed from a car side. The car doors 8 and 12 have a double-open structure, and each door opens and closes in the left-right direction. The following devices are provided as elevator door safety devices. First, an imaging apparatus (hereinafter simply referred to as a camera) 1 such as a CCD camera that is installed at the upper center of the entrance / exit frames 7, 9, 11 of the car doors 8, 12 and captures the vicinity of the entrance / exit is obtained with this camera 1. The image processing apparatus 2 for determining the presence or absence of foreign matter from the obtained image information is provided. Moreover, the door opening / closing control apparatus 3 which controls the opening / closing operation | movement of the doors 8 and 12 by the presence or absence of a foreign material, and the door drive device 4 for opening and closing the doors 8 and 12 are provided.

  Here, there are provided mark portions 6 and 10 which are arranged near the front edge (preferably the front edge) of the car doors 8 and 12 and can be clearly distinguished from other portions by the camera 1. With the door fully open, the camera 1 is set to have an imaging region that allows the mark portions 6 and 10 to enter the field of view.

  Note that an alarm device 5 is provided to notify the presence or absence of an installation abnormality of the camera 1, and when an abnormality occurs in the camera 1, an abnormality signal is transmitted to a monitoring center (not shown).

  FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a foreign object detection region of the elevator door safety device according to the embodiment of the present invention, and is a schematic view of the region imaged by the camera 1 as viewed from above the car. The camera 1 is mounted in a downward direction in order to detect the foreign matter 30 at the entrance / exit. As described above, the range that the camera 1 should enter into the field of view is set as the imaging region 34 including the mark portions 6 and 10 when the door is fully opened. Of the imaging region 34, a region where foreign matter should be detected is referred to as a foreign matter detection region 22. The imaging area 34 only needs to include the foreign object detection area 22 and may have a wider field of view than shown.

  The horizontal direction (door opening / closing direction) of the foreign object detection area 22 is such that the car doors 8 and 12 and the landing doors 25 and 35 are fully opened, and the full width of the doorway including the sills 21 and 31 and the car doors 8 and 12 and the landing door 25. , 35 includes a part of the leading edges 20, 24, 26, 33. For example, it is assumed that the range from the floor surface to the height of 1/2 or more of the door is included. The vertical direction (entrance / exit direction) of the foreign object detection area 22 is set to a range including a part of the landing floor portion 23 and the car floor portion 29.

  In this embodiment, since the mark portions 6 and 10 provided on the front edges of the car doors 8 and 12 are provided outside the foreign object detection region 22, these mark portions are obtained from the image information obtained this time. By recognizing 6, 10, the foreign object detection area 22 is set inside.

  In order to be surely recognized by the camera 1 and the image processing apparatus 2, the mark portions 6 and 10 are made of a member having a different color from the front edges 26 and 33 of the door, for example, and are attached with an adhesive or the like. Or it is good also as the member etc. which changed the front edges 26 and 33 of a door, and the reflectance of light.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the image processing apparatus 2 according to the embodiment of the present invention. The image processing device 2 includes a door position processing unit 201 that recognizes a door position and grasps an installation state of the image recognition device, and a foreign material processing unit 202 that determines whether or not a foreign material exists in a predetermined area.

  The door position processing unit 201 is configured as follows from the image information receiving unit 46 that receives the image information sent from the camera 1. First, the door position recognition unit 47 recognizes the door position from the received image information. Next, a door reference position storage unit 48 in which the door reference position is stored is provided. The door position comparison unit 49 compares the door reference position with the current door position, and the comparison result processing unit 50 sends a predetermined control signal to the alarm device 5 based on the comparison result.

  On the other hand, the foreign substance processing unit 202 is configured as follows, including an image processing region correction unit 42 that calculates an image processing region from the door position. First, a basic image storage unit 40 that stores a basic image acquired without foreign matter, an input image storage unit 41 that stores an input image sent at a predetermined interval, and compares the basic image with the input image to extract differences. The image difference calculating unit 43 is provided. Next, a foreign matter discriminating unit 45 that discriminates whether or not it is a foreign matter using the result of the image difference calculation unit 43, and a predetermined control signal is sent to the door opening / closing control device 3 based on the discrimination result of the foreign matter discriminating unit 45 The determination result processing unit 44 is configured for this purpose.

  Next, the foreign object detection operation will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a flow of control operation of the image processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. First, in step 401, when the elevator is used, a basic image free from foreign matters when the door is fully opened is captured and stored in the basic image storage unit 40. With the car landing on the destination floor and the door fully open, the latest input image is taken into the image processing device 2 from the camera 1 and stored in the input image storage unit 41 via the image processing area correction unit 42. . (Step 402).

  In step 403, the coordinates of the mark portions 6 and 10 in the input image that has been taken in are confirmed. In step 404, a new foreign object detection area 22 is set / updated inside the coordinates of these mark portions 6 and 10.

  In step 405, the basic image stored in advance in the basic image storage unit 40 is compared with the latest input image stored in the input image storage unit 41. In step 406, the image difference calculation unit 43 Calculate whether there is a difference between images. Specifically, for example, individual pixels corresponding to both images are compared, and pixels having different pixel values of a predetermined value or more are extracted. Then, as a result of determining the continuity between the extracted pixels, a pixel group having a predetermined size or larger is extracted as a foreign object when it is continuously present in a predetermined area.

  The predetermined area refers to an area extending from the landing floor to the car floor. That is, it is not preferable for safety when the door is closed and the car is moved up and down while the foreign matter is present across the region. For example, when a user uses an elevator with a dog connected by a chain, if the pet gets on the car first, the door closes and the car moves up and down, the pet or the user may be injured.

  If it is determined that there is a foreign object in the predetermined area, the process proceeds to step 407, and the determination result processing unit 44 sends a signal for opening and holding the door to the door opening / closing control device 3. And it returns to step 402 which acquires the next input image at predetermined intervals. On the other hand, when the foreign matter determination unit 45 determines that there is no continuous foreign matter in the predetermined area, the process proceeds to step 408, and the determination result processing unit 44 sends a signal to the door opening / closing control device 3 to close the door. And it returns to step 402 which acquires the next input image at predetermined intervals, performing door closing operation | movement. The above operation is repeated until it is confirmed in step 409 that the door has been closed.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining a foreign matter detection area updating method according to an embodiment of the present invention. As described above, the foreign object detection operation at the entrance / exit is repeated from the fully open state until the door is completely closed. Therefore, it is necessary not to determine that the door that closes is a foreign object.

  FIG. 5A shows a foreign object detection area when the door is fully open. The coordinates from the reference position of the mark portions 6 and 10 recognized by the image processing apparatus are P1 (x0, y0) and P2 (x1), respectively. , Y1). From these coordinates, the foreign object detection area 51 may be located inside the mark portions 6 and 10 by a predetermined amount. Therefore, the lower left coordinates P3 and the upper right coordinates P4 of the foreign object detection area 51 forming a quadrangle are (x0 + Δx0, y0−Δy0), (x1−Δx1, y1 + Δy1).

  FIG. 5B shows the foreign object detection area 52 when the door is closing. When the coordinates P7 and P8 of the mark portions 6 and 10 are recognized as (x2, y2) and (x3, y3), they are set in the same manner as the relationship between the mark portions 6 and 10 and the foreign matter detection area 51 in the fully opened state. The lower left coordinate P7 and the upper right coordinate P8 of the foreign object detection area 52 are determined as (x2 + Δx0, y2−Δy0) and (x3−Δx1, y3 + Δy1).

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a foreign object detection area updating method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  First, in step 601, an image of the door fully opened is acquired by the image processing apparatus. Next, in step 602, the coordinates of the mark portion are calculated from the color difference and the luminance difference from the door front edge, and in step 603, they are compared with the door initial coordinates stored in advance. Here, if it is determined that there is a difference of a predetermined amount or more, it is determined that the mounting direction of the camera is shifted due to mischief or an earthquake, or the door is not fully opened for some reason. Moving to 606, the monitoring center is alerted. Possible causes of not being in the fully open state include a malfunction of the drive transmission mechanism and a malfunction of the opening operation due to foreign matter mixed between the threshold and the door.

  If it is determined in step 603 that the door initial position is normal, the latest input image is acquired and stored in step 604. In step 605, the coordinates of the mark portion are read from the input image. In step 607, the foreign object detection area is updated by the process described with reference to FIG.

  Next, the flow proceeds to the foreign object detection processing flow, and in step 608, the presence / absence of a foreign object is determined according to the flow described with reference to FIG. In step 609, the above operation is repeated until the door closing operation ends.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the foreign object detection area is narrowed with the door closing operation. As a result, the closing door is not determined as a foreign object. Further, since the movement of the door is directly read by the image recognition device without using a signal from the driving device, the movement of the door can be reliably grasped.

  In addition, by setting the door initial position coordinates in advance, it is possible to determine an abnormality in the installation direction of the camera and to easily perform maintenance and inspection.

  Furthermore, by providing the camera with a drive mechanism, the orientation can be corrected when the installation state is deviated, and the maintenance staff is less troubled.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating the installation position of the mark unit according to the embodiment of the present invention. Since this figure shows a fully open state, the doors 8 and 12 and the mark portions 6 and 10 are not visible, and are indicated by broken lines.

  If foreign matter at the entrance / exit part, especially string-like foreign matter is to be detected, a pet chain, a power cord for a vacuum cleaner, a rope for jumping rope, and the like are considered. Assuming these, the entrance / exit height H3 of the foreign object detection region 53 may be secured to about 1 m. The entrance height H1 of a normal elevator is about 2 m to 2.5 m. Therefore, it can be set to about half of the entrance / exit height H1.

  Here, the installation height H2 of the mark portions 6 and 10 is set to a position higher than the entrance / exit height H3 of the foreign substance detection region, that is, a height of 1 m or more from the floor surface. This is for reliably recognizing the mark portions 6 and 10. When set at a high position, it is close to the camera and easy to see. In addition, the effects of external light can be reduced, damage and peeling off due to contact with a carriage, etc., and damage due to mischief can be prevented.

  The normal elevator entrance / exit width W is about 1 m, and the wide type is 2.5 m or less. In order to recognize the foreign substance detection area 53 and the area 54 including the mark portion, the viewing angle TH1 of the camera 1 is normally about 55 degrees, and the entrance / exit is a wide type with a width of 135 degrees or more. It may be installed in the vicinity. Further, if a resolution of 640 × 480 dpi specification is used, a string-like foreign material having a diameter of about 3 mm can be recognized.

  The safety device for an elevator door according to the present invention can be applied to a single door type without any problem.

  FIG. 8 is a view of the entrance / exit of the elevator door as viewed from the car side when the elevator door safety device of the present invention is applied to the single door.

  The entrance / exit part is surrounded by entrance / exit frames 60, 62, and 65. The door 66 is a system that opens to the right. A mark portion 64 is provided on the front edge of the door 66. The imaging device 63 is installed above the entrance / exit frame 60 on one side that abuts when the door 66 is closed, and is set in such a direction as to be able to read the entire entrance / exit area 61 including the mark portion 64.

  The operation of the door safety device may be performed in the same manner as in the case of a double door. However, since the mark portion is installed only on one side, the image processing area during the door closing operation is updated by narrowing only the door moving side.

The schematic structure figure showing the door safety device of the elevator by one embodiment of the present invention. Explanatory drawing of the foreign material detection area | region of the door safety device of the elevator by one Embodiment of this invention. 1 is a block diagram of an image processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The image processing control flowchart according to one embodiment of the present invention. The figure explaining the update method of the foreign material detection area by one Embodiment of this invention. FIG. 6 is a flowchart for updating a foreign object detection area according to an embodiment of the present invention. The figure which shows the installation position of the mark part by one Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the installation position of the camera in other embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Camera (imaging device), 2 ... Image processing device, 201 ... Door position processing part, 202 ... Foreign substance processing part, 3 ... Door opening / closing control device, 4 ... Door drive device, 5 ... Alarm device, 6, 10 ... Mark Part, 22, 50, 51, 52 ... foreign object detection area, 34 ... imaging area.

Claims (11)

  A camera installed in the upper part of the entrance / exit of the elevator, which captures the vicinity of the entrance / exit, a foreign object detection unit that performs image processing on image information from the camera and determines the presence / absence of a foreign object, and a door using an output signal of the foreign object detection unit In an elevator door safety device comprising a door safety control means for controlling the opening / closing operation of the door, a mark portion disposed in or near the front edge of the door in the imaging region of the camera, and an image from the camera A safety device for an elevator door, comprising: a foreign object detection region determination unit that determines a foreign object detection region by the foreign material detection unit with reference to the mark portion in the information.   In Claim 1, The said mark part is arrange | positioned at the front edge of the said door, and the front edge of the said door differs in a color or a reflectance, The safety apparatus of the elevator door characterized by the above-mentioned.   2. The elevator door safety device according to claim 1, wherein the foreign object detection area determining means includes means for determining an area inside the mark portion as a foreign object detection area.   The elevator door safety device according to claim 1, wherein the mark portion is disposed at a height of 1 m or more from the floor surface.   2. The reference position storage device that stores in advance the reference position of the mark portion when the door is in a fully open state, and the position of the mark portion in the image information from the camera obtained in the current fully open state. A safety device for an elevator door, comprising: comparing means for comparing with a reference position; and imaging area abnormality determining means for determining abnormality of the imaging area of the camera in accordance with a predetermined difference in the comparison result .   6. The driving mechanism for changing the orientation of the camera, control means for controlling the driving mechanism, and when the imaging area abnormality determining means determines an abnormality in the imaging area of the camera according to claim 5, A safety device for an elevator door, comprising a camera orientation correcting means for correcting the orientation of the camera by a mechanism.   2. The reference image information storage means for storing reference image information without foreign matter when the door is fully open, and means for recognizing the position of the mark portion at predetermined intervals from the image information of the camera during the closing operation. And comparison means for narrowing down the image information from the camera obtained in the interval according to the position information of the mark part obtained in the interval and comparing with the reference image information in the same narrowed area The foreign object detection means for determining that there is a foreign object in response to a predetermined difference in the result, and the door safety control means for stopping the door closing operation using an output signal of the foreign object detection means. Elevator door safety device.   2. The door according to claim 1, wherein the door is a single door, and the camera is imaged so as to image an entrance / exit that extends from the closed end of the single door to a front edge of the single door. A safety device for an elevator door, which is arranged above the closed end of the hinged door.   A foreign object detection step, which is installed at the upper part of the entrance of the elevator and image-processes image information from a camera that captures the vicinity of the entrance, and judges the presence or absence of a foreign object, and the door opening / closing operation is performed using the output signal of this foreign object detection step. A safety control method for an elevator door including a door safety control step for controlling, a step of arranging a mark portion at or near a front edge of the door in an imaging region of the camera, and image information from the camera A safety control method for an elevator door, comprising: a foreign object detection area determining step for determining a foreign object detection area in the foreign object detection step using the mark portion as a reference.   10. The safety control method for an elevator door according to claim 9, wherein the mark portion is disposed on a front edge of the door and has a color or a reflectance different from that of the front edge of the door.   10. The safety control method for an elevator door according to claim 9, wherein the foreign object detection area determination step includes a step of determining an area inside the mark portion as a foreign object detection area.

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