JP2017214180A - Passenger conveyor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a passenger conveyor which makes a speed of footsteps low and can secure safety when a walking speed of a passenger such as an elderly person is slow.SOLUTION: A mat 72 is provided at an entrance of an escalator 10, and the mat 72 detects footprints of a passenger walking thereon. A control section 50 calculates a walking speed w of the passenger from the footprints detected, and lowers a traveling speed v of footsteps 30 to a first reference traveling speed v1 slower than a normal speed v0 when the walking speed w is slower than a first reference walking speed k1.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  Embodiments of the present invention relate to passenger conveyors.

  Conventionally, in passenger conveyors such as escalators and moving sidewalks, the speed of steps on which passengers ride is made to run at a constant normal speed. However, when elderly people or passengers with physical disabilities use the technology, a technique for lowering the step speed from the normal speed has been proposed in order to ensure the safety of getting on and off.

JP 2010-64884 A

  However, such technology reads the identification information of the portable terminal that the passenger has, and when the passenger corresponding to the identification information is a passenger such as an elderly person, the speed of the step is reduced. Therefore, when a passenger such as an elderly person who does not have such a portable terminal rides on a passenger conveyor, there is a problem that the steps do not become low speed.

  Therefore, in view of the above problems, an embodiment of the present invention aims to provide a passenger conveyor that can secure safety by lowering the steps when the elderly passenger or the like has a slow walking speed.

  An embodiment of the present invention includes a plurality of steps connected endlessly, a motor that drives the steps, a mat provided at a boarding / alighting port of the steps, a control unit that controls the rotational speed of the motor, The mat detects a footprint of a passenger walking on the mat, and the control unit calculates a walking speed of the passenger from the detected footprint, and the walking speed is slower than a first reference walking speed k1. In addition, the passenger conveyor is characterized in that the travel speed of the step is lowered to a first reference travel speed v1 that is slower than the normal speed v0.

Explanatory drawing seen from the side of the escalator which shows one Embodiment of this invention. The top view of an entrance / exit. Explanatory drawing which showed the footprint on the mat. The block diagram which shows the electrical constitution of an escalator. The flowchart of the control method of the running speed of a step.

  A passenger conveyor according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

(1) Escalator 10
The structure of each escalator 10 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is an explanatory view of the escalator 10 as seen from the side.

  A truss 12 that is a framework of the escalator 10 is supported using support angles 2 and 3 across the upper and lower floors of the building 1.

  Inside the upper floor machine room 14 at the upper end of the truss 12, a drive unit 18 for running the step 30, a pair of left and right drive sprockets 24, 24, and a pair of left and right handrail belt sheaves 27, 27 are provided. . The drive device 18 stops and stops the rotation of the motor 20, the speed reducer, the output sprocket attached to the output shaft of the speed reducer, the drive chain 22 driven by the output sprocket, and the motor 20. It has a disc brake 23 for maintaining the state. The drive chain 22 rotates a pair of left and right drive sprockets 24, 24. The pair of left and right drive sprockets 24, 24 and the pair of left and right handrail belt sheaves 27, 27 are connected by a connecting belt (not shown) and rotate synchronously. Further, a control unit 50 for controlling the motor 20, the disc brake 23, and the like is provided in the machine room 14 on the upper floor side.

  A pair of left and right driven sprockets 26 and 26 are provided in the lower floor machine room 16 at the lower end of the truss 12. Between the pair of left and right drive sprockets 24, 24 on the upper floor side and the pair of left and right driven sprockets 26, 26, a pair of left and right endless step chains 28, 28 are suspended. A plurality of steps 30 are attached to the pair of left and right step chains 28, 28 at equal intervals. When the motor 20 rotates, the front wheel 301 of the step 30 engages with a recess in the outer periphery of the drive sprocket 24 and travels on a guide rail (not shown) fixed to the truss 12, and the rear wheel 302 is fixed to the truss 12. It travels on the guide rail 25 made.

  On the left and right sides of the truss 12, a pair of left and right balustrades 36, 36 are erected. A handrail rail 39 is provided above the balustrade 36, and an endless handrail belt 38 moves along the handrail rail 39. A front skirt guard 40 on the upper floor side is provided in the lower front part on the upper floor side of the balustrade 36, and a front skirt guard 42 on the lower floor side is provided in the lower front part on the lower floor side. Inlet portions 46 and 48, which are entrances and exits of the handrail belt 38, protrude from each other.

  A skirt guard 44 is provided at the lower side of the balustrade 36, and the step 30 travels between the pair of left and right skirt guards 44, 44. Operation panels 52 and 56 and speakers 54 and 58 are provided on the inner side surfaces of the skirt guards 44 on the upper and lower floors, respectively.

  The handrail belt 38 enters the front skirt guard 40 from the inlet section 46 on the upper floor side, and is passed over the handrail belt sheave 27 via a guide roller group 64 including a plurality of guide rollers, and then a plurality of guides. It moves in the skirt guard 44 via a guide roller group 66 composed of rollers, and appears outside the front skirt guard 42 from the inlet 46 on the lower floor side. The handrail belt 38 moves in synchronization with the step 30 as the handrail belt sheave 27 rotates together with the drive sprocket 24. Further, a pressing roller group 68 including a plurality of pressing rollers for pressing the handrail belt 38 that travels to the rotating handrail belt sheave 27 is provided.

  An entrance / exit of a pair of left and right skirt guards 44, 44 on the upper floor side, and the upper floor side entrance / exit plate 32 is horizontally provided on the ceiling surface of the machine room 14. A lower floor side entrance / exit board 34 is provided horizontally on the ceiling surface of the machine room 16, which is the entrance for the pair of left and right skirt guards 44, 44 on the lower floor side. A comb-like comb 60 is provided at the front end of the upper floor board 32, and the step 30 enters the comb 60. A comb-like comb 62 is also provided at the tip of the lower floor board 34. Furthermore, mats 72 for calculating the walking speed w of the passenger are respectively placed on the boarding board 32 at the boarding gate on the upper floor side and the boarding board 34 at the boarding gate on the lower floor side. The structure of the mat 72 will be described later.

  The escalator 10 is provided with a safety device 70. As the safety device 70, a skirt guard pinched detection device provided in the skirt guard 44, an inlet pinched detection device provided in the inlet portions 46, 48, a step lift detection device provided in the guide rail 25, and a step chain cutting Detection device, emergency stop button, etc. The skirt guard pinching detection device is a device that detects that a foreign object (for example, clothes or luggage) is pinched between the skirt guard 44 and the step 30, and the inlet pinching detection device is a handrail belt 38. Is a device that detects when a foreign object (for example, a passenger's hand or baggage) is simultaneously drawn into the inlet part 46 or the inlet part 48. The safety device 70 is connected to the control unit 50, and when one of the safety devices 70 operates, the control unit 50 stops the motor 20 and operates the disc brake 23 to stop the escalator 10.

(2) Structure of Mat 72 Next, the structure of the mat 72 will be described with reference to FIG.

  The mat 72 has a rectangular shape and is formed in the same size as the boarding board 32 and the boarding board 34. Inside the mat 72, a sheet-like surface pressure sensor 74 is provided. This surface pressure sensor 74 is composed of a plurality of cell surface pressure sensors 76 arranged in a lattice pattern. When the passenger steps on the mat 72, each cell surface pressure sensor 76 changes from the OFF state to the ON state, and the control unit 50, position information and ON information of the cell surface pressure sensor 76 are output as sensor information.

  The “positional information” of the cell surface pressure sensor 76 is the x-axis and y-axis values in the plurality of cell surface pressure sensors 76 arranged in a lattice pattern, and the x-axis indicates the width direction of the boarding / exiting plates 32 and 34. The y-axis direction indicates the direction in which passengers on the boarding / exiting plates 32 and 34 walk. Each cell surface pressure sensor 76 is previously provided with corresponding position information. For example, in FIG. 2, the position information of the cell surface pressure sensor 76 on the left end of the mat 72 and on the inlet side is set to (0, 0).

(3) Electrical configuration of escalator 10 The electrical configuration of the escalator 10 will be described based on the block diagram of FIG.

  The motor 20 is inverter-controlled by the inverter circuit 21, and the movement, stop, and rotation speed are controlled. The inverter circuit 21 is controlled based on a control signal from the control unit 50. The control unit 50 also controls the disc brake 23 for stopping the motor 20.

  The control unit 50 is connected to the operation panels 52 and 54 on the upper floor side, the operation panel 56 on the lower floor side, the speaker 58, and the safety device 70. Further, the surface pressure sensor 74 described above is connected to the control unit 50. Sensor information is input to the controller 50 from each cell surface pressure sensor 76 of the surface pressure sensor 74.

(4) Calculation of walking speed w Next, a method in which the control unit 50 calculates the walking speed w of the passenger using the surface pressure sensor 74 of the mat 72 will be described. In addition, since the step 30 of the escalator 10 moves in the down direction and the boarding board 32 on the upper floor side is the passenger entrance side, description will be made using the mat 72 on the upper floor side.

  First, all the cell surface pressure sensors 76 constituting the surface pressure sensor 74 of the mat 72 are all OFF in the initial state.

  Next, when the passenger steps on the mat 72 in order from the entrance side, only the stepped cell surface pressure sensor 76 is turned on. At this time, a plurality of cell surface pressure sensors 76 corresponding to the footprint size are simultaneously turned on corresponding to the size of the cell surface pressure sensor 76.

  Next, each cell surface pressure sensor 76 in the ON state outputs the position information and the ON information to the control unit 50 as sensor information.

  Next, the control unit 50 acquires the sensor information and the input time t of the cell surface pressure sensor 76 that has been turned on. Here, when passengers get on the step 30, they are divided into left and right, one by one, or in one row in most cases. Therefore, a plurality of passengers do not step on the same place on the mat 72 at the same time.

  Next, the control unit 50 integrates the positional information of the cell surface pressure sensor 76 that is in the ON state at the same time t, and acquires it as the surface pressure distribution of the footprint. This surface pressure distribution is a distribution corresponding to the footprint of the passenger. However, in the case of an adult, the control unit 50 has a surface pressure distribution with a dimension in the x-axis direction of 7 cm to 15 cm and a dimension in the y-axis direction of 20 cm to 30 cm. When the dimension in the axial direction is 4 cm to 10 cm and the dimension in the y-axis direction is 14 cm to 22 cm, the surface pressure distribution of the footprint is acquired, and the surface pressure distribution under other conditions is not acquired as the footprint. And the control part 50 acquires the surface pressure distribution of the footprint nearest to the entrance side of the mat 72 as the footprint of the first step.

  Next, the control unit 50 calculates the center of gravity of the surface pressure distribution of the footprint, calculates the center of gravity position (x1.y1) of the surface pressure distribution corresponding to the footprint of the first step, and the input time t1. Stored as information A1 (x1, y1, t1).

  Next, when the passenger steps on the mat 72 on the second step, the control unit 50 calculates the surface pressure distribution of the footprint on the second step from the sensor information input from the cell surface pressure sensor 76. In the calculation method of the second step, the control unit 50 searches for the distribution reversed from the surface pressure distribution of the footprint of the first step, that is, the surface pressure distribution of the symmetrical surface pressure distribution. Acquired as the surface pressure distribution of the other footprint corresponding to the footprint of the first step. The control unit 20 stores the footprint information A2 (x2, y2, t2) of the second step. In addition, when the control part 50 searches the surface pressure distribution of the footprint of the 2nd step, it searches for the back from the surface pressure distribution of the footprint of the 1st step, and searches the front from the footprint of a single passenger.

  Next, the control unit 50 calculates footprint information A3 for the third step and footprint information A4 for the fourth step in the same manner as described above.

  Next, the control unit 50 calculates the walking speed w of the passenger using the footprint information A1 to A4 of the first to fourth steps. The walking speed w is obtained by calculating the distance L1 between the position information (x1, y1) of the footprint information A1 and the position information (x2, y2) of the footprint information A2, and the difference time between the time t1 and the time t2. The walking speed w1 = L1 / T1 is calculated from the distance L1 and the difference time T1. Similarly, the walking speed w2 of the second and third steps, the walking speed w3 of the third and fourth steps are obtained, and the average speed of, for example, w1, w2, and w3 is calculated therefrom. The control unit 50 determines this average speed as the walking speed w of the passenger. In addition, in the method of calculating the walking speed w of the control unit 50, not only the average speed is calculated, but the walking speed w may be calculated from the position information from the first step to the fourth step and the difference time, for example.

(5) Control Method of Travel Speed of Escalator 10 Next, a control method of the travel speed v of the escalator 10 will be described based on the flowchart of FIG.

  In step S1, the control unit 50 activates the motor 20 to start operation of the escalator 10, and proceeds to step S2.

  In step S2, the control unit 50 causes the travel speed v of the step 30 to travel at a normal speed v0 (for example, 30 m / min), and proceeds to step S3.

  In step S3, the control unit 50 calculates the walking speed w of the passenger as described above based on the sensor information from the surface pressure sensor 74 of the mat 72, and proceeds to step 4.

  In step S4, if the calculated walking speed w is slower than the first reference walking speed k1 (for example, 50 m / min), the control unit 50 determines that the passenger trying to get on the escalator 10 is a passenger such as an elderly person. The process proceeds to step S5, and if it is the same speed or earlier, it is determined that the passenger is a healthy passenger, and the process returns to step S2.

  In step S5, until a passenger such as an elderly person gets on the step 30, the control unit 50 reduces the traveling speed v of the step 30 from the normal speed v0 to the first reference traveling speed v1 (for example, 25 m / min). Proceed to S6.

  In step S <b> 6, the control unit 50 increases the traveling speed v from the first reference traveling speed v <b> 1 to the normal speed v <b> 0 after the passenger such as an elderly person gets on the step 30. This is because even passengers such as elderly people are safe regardless of the traveling speed v when riding on the step 30. Then, the process proceeds to step S7.

  In step S7, the traveling speed v of the step 30 is lowered again to the first reference traveling speed v1 before the passenger such as the elderly arrives on the lower floor side so that the passenger such as the elderly can easily get off the step 30. Proceed to S8. The timing at which the control unit 50 lowers the first reference travel speed v1 is obtained by measuring in advance the time from the upper floor to the lower floor at the normal speed v0, and based on that time, the first reference travel speed v1 is measured. Lower to v1.

  In step S8, after the surface pressure sensor 74 of the mat 72 on the lower floor detects that a passenger such as an elderly person has descended from the step 30, the traveling speed v of the step 30 is returned to the normal speed v0 again. Then, the process returns to step 2.

(6) Effect According to the present embodiment, when a passenger such as an elderly person tries to get on the step 30, the traveling speed v of the step 30 decreases, so that the safety of the passenger can be ensured.

  Further, since the walking speed w of the passenger is determined based on the footprint of the mat 72 on which the passenger walks, the walking speed w can be reliably calculated.

  In addition, when detecting a pair of left and right footprints, the surface pressure distribution in a state reversed from the surface pressure distribution of one footprint is used as the other footprint, so that one footprint can be reliably detected.

  Further, since the surface pressure sensor 74 includes a plurality of cell surface pressure sensors 76 arranged in a lattice shape, the position of the footprint can be reliably grasped.

(7) Modification Example In the above embodiment, the detected walking speed w changes the traveling speed v of the step 30 based on the first reference walking speed k1, but instead of this, the first reference walking speed k1 and the first walking speed k1 are changed. By setting the 2 reference walking speed k2 (where k1> k2), the walking speed w of the passenger is divided into three stages, and the traveling speed v of the step 30 is lowered as the walking speed w is slower. That is, when the walking speed w is slower than the second reference walking speed k2, it is lowered to the second reference traveling speed v2 (0 <v2 <v1 <v0, for example, 20 m / min).

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, after passengers, such as an elderly person, got on the step 30, it was reset to normal speed v0, but it is not limited to this, and 1st passengers, such as an elderly person, get off the escalator 10. The vehicle may travel at the reference travel speed v1.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, although walking speed w was judged only from the footprint of the passenger who walks the mat | matte 72, in addition to this, a camera is installed in the ceiling surface of the building 1, for example, and the moving image of an entrance / exit is image | photographed. The control unit 50 analyzes the appearance of the passenger from the captured moving image, determines whether the passenger is an adult, a child, a passenger sticking a cane or using a crutch, and removes the surface pressure distribution due to the cane or the crutch, Only passenger footprints may be detected.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the cell surface pressure sensor 76 of the mat | matte 72 detected only ON / OFF, it may replace with this and the cell surface pressure sensor 76 which measures a pressure value may be used. In this case, the cell surface pressure sensor 76 outputs position information and a detected pressure value to the control unit 50 as sensor information. The control unit 50 determines whether or not it is a human footprint according to the magnitude of the detected pressure value. For example, a surface pressure distribution including a pressure value of a passenger weighing 60 kg or a child weight of 30 kg is stored in advance, and the footprint of the passenger is detected by the surface pressure distribution including the stored pressure value. The walking speed w may be calculated from the above.

  In the above embodiment, the position of the center of gravity of the surface pressure distribution of the footprint is set as the position of the footprint. Alternatively, the position of the front end, the center position, or the rear end of the surface pressure distribution may be set as the position of the footprint. Good.

  In the said embodiment, although demonstrated applying to the escalator 10, you may replace with this and may apply to the moving sidewalk.

  Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, this embodiment is presented as an example and is not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, replacements, and changes can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. These embodiments and modifications thereof are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are included in the invention described in the claims and the equivalents thereof.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Escalator, 20 ... Motor, 30 ... Step, 32 ... Boarding board, 34 ... Boarding board, 50 ... Control apparatus, 72 ... Mat, 74 ... Surface Pressure sensor, 76 ... Cell surface pressure sensor

An embodiment of the present invention controls a plurality of steps connected endlessly, a motor that drives the steps, a mat that includes a surface pressure sensor provided at an entrance of the steps, and a rotational speed of the motor. And a mat that detects a pair of left and right surface pressure distributions corresponding to a pair of left and right footprints of a passenger walking on the surface pressure sensor, and the control unit includes the surface pressure sensor. Calculating a first surface pressure distribution that is an initial surface pressure distribution detected by the first surface pressure distribution, specifying a position of the first surface pressure distribution as a position of one of the footprints of the pair of left and right footprints, and A second surface pressure distribution in a state reversed from the first surface pressure distribution among the surface pressure distributions detected by the sensor is calculated, and the position of the second surface pressure distribution is determined based on the other of the pair of left and right footprints. Identify the position of the footprint and detect the walking speed from the detected pair of left and right surface pressure distributions. When the walking speed is slower than the first reference walking speed k1, the running speed of the footstep, lowers to the first reference speed v1 is slower than the normal speed v0, a passenger conveyor.

The handrail belt 38 enters the front skirt guard 40 from the inlet section 46 on the upper floor side, and is passed over the handrail belt sheave 27 via a guide roller group 64 including a plurality of guide rollers, and then a plurality of guides. It moves in the skirt guard 44 via a guide roller group 66 composed of rollers, and appears outside the front skirt guard 42 from the inlet 48 on the lower floor side. The handrail belt 38 moves in synchronization with the step 30 as the handrail belt sheave 27 rotates together with the drive sprocket 24. Further, a pressing roller group 68 including a plurality of pressing rollers for pressing the handrail belt 38 that travels to the rotating handrail belt sheave 27 is provided.

An embodiment of the present invention controls a plurality of steps connected endlessly, a motor that drives the steps, a mat that includes a surface pressure sensor provided at an entrance of the steps, and a rotational speed of the motor. And a mat that detects a pair of left and right surface pressure distributions corresponding to a pair of left and right footprints of a passenger walking on the surface pressure sensor, and the control unit includes the surface pressure sensor. Calculating a first surface pressure distribution that is an initial surface pressure distribution detected by the first surface pressure distribution, specifying a position of the first surface pressure distribution as a position of one of the footprints of the pair of left and right footprints, and A second surface pressure distribution in a state reversed from the first surface pressure distribution among the surface pressure distributions detected by the sensor is calculated, and the position of the second surface pressure distribution is determined based on the other of the pair of left and right footprints. identify the position of the footprint, it detects the walking speed of the passenger from the detected pair of the surface pressure distribution , When the walking speed is slower than the first reference walking speed k1, the running speed of the footstep, lowers to the first reference speed v1 is slower than the normal speed v0, a passenger conveyor.

Claims (11)

A plurality of steps connected endlessly;
A motor for driving the steps;
A mat provided at the entrance of the step;
A control unit for controlling the rotation speed of the motor;
The mat detects the footprints of passengers walking on the mat,
The controller calculates the walking speed of the passenger from the detected footprint, and when the walking speed is slower than the first reference walking speed k1, the running speed of the step is a first reference running slower than the normal speed v0. Reduce to speed v1,
A passenger conveyor characterized by that. The mat is laid on a board for getting on and off the step,
The passenger conveyor according to claim 1. The mat includes a surface pressure sensor,
The passenger conveyor according to claim 1. The surface pressure sensor detects a pair of left and right surface pressure distributions corresponding to the pair of left and right footprints of the passenger,
The control unit detects the walking speed from the detected pair of left and right surface pressure distributions,
The passenger conveyor according to claim 3. The controller is
Calculating a first surface pressure distribution which is an initial surface pressure distribution detected by the surface pressure sensor;
Specifying the position of the first surface pressure distribution as the position of one of the footprints of the pair of left and right footprints;
Calculating a second surface pressure distribution in a state where the surface pressure distribution detected by the surface pressure sensor is reversed with respect to the first surface pressure distribution;
Identifying the position of the second surface pressure distribution as the position of the other footprint in the pair of left and right footprints;
The passenger conveyor according to claim 4. The control unit calculates the distance between the position of the first surface pressure distribution and the position of the second surface pressure distribution and the time when calculating the second surface pressure distribution from the time when the first surface pressure distribution is calculated. The walking speed is calculated from the time of
The passenger conveyor according to claim 5. The surface pressure sensor comprises a plurality of cell surface pressure sensors,
Each cell surface pressure sensor has position information indicating a position on the mat,
The control unit identifies the position of the surface pressure distribution from the position information of the cell surface pressure sensor that has detected the footprint.
The passenger conveyor according to claim 6. The plurality of cell surface pressure sensors are arranged in a grid pattern,
The passenger conveyor according to claim 7. The controller is
Store the footprint surface pressure distribution size measured in advance as the footprint size,
When the surface pressure sensor detects a surface pressure distribution corresponding to the size of the footprint surface pressure distribution, the surface pressure sensor identifies the surface pressure distribution corresponding to the footprint.
The passenger conveyor according to claim 5. When the walking speed is slower than the second reference walking speed k2 (where k1>k2> 0), the control unit sets the travel speed of the step to the second reference traveling speed v2 (where v0> v1). >V2> 0).
The passenger conveyor according to claim 1. The control unit detects the walking speed from the detected pair of left and right surface pressure distributions, and the step corresponds to the walking speed from the first reference walking speed k1 or the second reference walking speed k2. Is reduced to the first reference travel speed v1 or the second reference travel speed v2, and when the mat detects that a passenger on the step has descended, the normal speed v0 is set. Reinstate,
The passenger conveyor according to claim 10.

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