JP2575867B2 - Automatic door start switch device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION <Industrial Application Field> The present invention detects an approach of an object such as a human body to a predetermined area near an automatic door and controls an automatic door opening / closing operation. The present invention relates to a door start switch device.

<Prior Art> As a start switch device for controlling the opening and closing of such an automatic door, a rubber mat switch in which two metal plates opposed to each other at a predetermined gap are entirely covered with rubber for waterproofing has long been used. However, this rubber mat switch has various disadvantages due to the object contact detection system. As a solution to this drawback, an electronic mat type object detector of the object non-contact detection type has been devised and put into practical use. In recent years, however, other object non-contact type detectors that can easily set and change the detection area have been developed. Object detectors tend to be heavily used. As these non-contact type object detectors,
A hot-wire (passive infra red) type that uses the variation of the radiated infrared light flux based on the temperature difference between the background of the detection area and the moving object, an ultrasonic type that uses the time difference between the transmitted and received waves and the Doppler effect, There is an infrared type that detects a change in the amount of reflected light from an object by projecting infrared light, or a radio (radar) type that uses the Doppler effect of microwaves.

Since each of the activation switch devices using these object detectors has a configuration substantially as shown in FIG. 6, an example using the hot-wire type object detector 1 will now be described. I do. In the object detector 1, an infrared light beam emitted from a predetermined detection area set by the optical system is condensed by the optical system and is incident on the infrared detecting element of the object detector 1, and the infrared detecting element is incident. The infrared light beam is converted into an electric signal which is proportional to the amount of the change, and is outputted. After the electric signal is amplified by the amplifier 2, it is compared with a reference signal of a constant level by a signal level discriminator 3, and the level of the reference signal is obtained. It is determined whether or not this is the case. That is, the signal level discriminating unit 3 constantly monitors the signal intensity, that is, the fluctuation amount of the infrared light flux, and outputs a detection signal when a fluctuation exceeding the set detection sensitivity by the reference signal is detected. The door 4 is turned on, and the door operation controller is energized through the relay 4 in the on state, so that the motor is driven to rotate and the automatic door is opened.

<Problems to be Solved by the Invention> Incidentally, in any of the above-described object non-contact detection type object detectors, a detection area is set at a position near an automatic door as described above, and the detection area is set. When an object such as a human body enters the door, it outputs a detection signal for door activation, turns on the door activation relay 4 and opens the automatic door, and after the object passes through the detection area, for safety, For example, the automatic door is closed after maintaining the open state for a certain period of time, for example, about one second.
However, since the detection area is invariable once it has been set, for example, when a person walks slowly through an automatic door, after a certain period of time has passed since the human body entered the detection area and passed through the detection area. For a relatively long period of time, the automatic door remains open. If air conditioning such as cooling and heating is performed inside, there is a problem that energy is lost and external noise enters. Therefore, if the range of the detection area is set to be small, the above problem can be considerably alleviated.However, if the human body tries to pass through the automatic door quickly, even if this human body approaches the automatic door, The automatic door will not open all the time, and you will have to stop in front of the automatic door or collide with the automatic door.

The present invention has been made in view of such a conventional problem, and an automatic door that can be controlled to open the automatic door for a minimum necessary time according to the moving speed of an object passing through the automatic door. It is a technical object to provide a start switch device.

<Means for Solving the Problems> In the present invention, as a technical means for achieving the above-described problems, a start switch device for an automatic door is configured as follows. In other words, an object detector is provided that outputs an electric signal that changes in response to the movement of an object in a detection area set on each side near the automatic door, and detects an object based on a change in the output signal of the object detector. Automatic door activation switch device for outputting a signal for controlling the opening and closing of the automatic door, wherein a detection area setting means for setting a plurality of detection areas at different distances from the automatic door on both sides of the automatic door Detection speed setting means for setting the reference speed range of the object to be detected for each detection area farther from the automatic door so as to be faster, and the presence of the detected object based on the output signal from the object detector. Area determining means for determining a detection area; speed determining means for determining a moving speed of the detected object based on the output signal; and Direction discriminating means for discriminating the approach / separation direction of the detected object with respect to the automatic door, and outputting an automatic door start signal using the discrimination result of each discriminating means and a reference speed range set for each detection area. Control means for controlling the movement of the detected object according to the approach / separation direction of the object with respect to the automatic door only when the moving speed of the object is within the reference speed range in the detection area where the object is present. A door open / close start signal is issued.

<Operation> The electric signal output from the object detector fluctuates as the object moves within the detection area. The moving speed of the detected object can be known from the fluctuation state of the electric signal, and the detected object is present in any of a plurality of detection areas set on both sides of the automatic door. It is possible to know the direction of the object (the direction of approach / separation to the automatic door) from the temporal change of the area determination result.

The control means determines whether the moving speed of the detected object is within the reference speed range in the detecting area where the object is present, based on the determination results of the moving speed of the object, the existing detection area, and the direction of movement. Only when the object is approaching / separating from the automatic door, an activation signal for opening / closing the automatic door is issued.

Here, the reference speed range for detection is set to a higher speed for each detection area as the distance from the automatic door increases, so that when an object moves toward the automatic door at a high speed, the automatic door speed range is set. The automatic door is quickly opened when entering the detection area far away from the automatic door and moving away from the automatic door, and conversely, when an object moves at a slow speed toward the automatic door, it moves to the detection area near the automatic door. Automatic doors are opened at a slow timing when entering. Also, when an object passes through the automatic door and separates, if the speed of the separation is high, the object enters the detection area near the door immediately after passing through the automatic door, and within a short time Since the object reaches the detection area far from the automatic door, if the object is in the detection area close to the automatic door, the automatic door will not be closed and safety will be secured, and after reaching the remote detection area, the automatic door will be closed, and If the separation speed is low, the automatic door is closed immediately when the object reaches the detection area near the automatic door. Therefore, while ensuring safety, the automatic door is opened only for the minimum necessary time according to the moving speed of the object such as the human body passing through the automatic door, so that energy can be saved during cooling and heating, and noise enters from outside. Can be prevented as much as possible.

Embodiment Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

In FIG. 1 showing a block configuration of one embodiment of the present invention, the same or equivalent components as those in FIG. 6 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the object detector 1 is an ultrasonic Doppler in this embodiment. The case where a sensor is used will be described.
This object detector 1 has an automatic door D as shown in FIG.
In addition, each object detector 1 is disposed on an indoor side and an outdoor side, and each object detector 1 is provided with a first detection area far from itself by a detection area setting means (not shown) such as a transmission / reception horn.
Two types of second detection areas a2 close to a1 are set.

The area discriminating unit 5 performs the processing from the object detector 1 to the detected object H based on the time from when the transmitted wave of the object detector 1 including the ultrasonic Doppler sensor is emitted to when the reflected wave is received. Is calculated, the detection area a1 or a2 where the object H is present is determined based on the detected distance, and an area determination signal is output. Also, the speed discriminating unit 6
Calculates the moving speed of the detected object H based on the frequency fluctuation of the received wave received by the object detector 1 and outputs speed data. These area determination unit 5 and speed determination unit 6
Are activated by being triggered by an object detection signal from the signal level determination unit 3.

The detection speed setting unit 7 sets and stores two types of reference speed range data for detection, and reads out and outputs the reference speed range data corresponding to the area determination signal input from the area determination unit 5. The comparing unit 8 compares the reference speed range data output from the detecting speed setting unit 7 with the detected speed data from the speed discriminating unit 6, and activates the door when the detected speed data is within the reference speed range data. Output a signal. The signal discriminating unit 9 detects the moving direction of the detected object H with respect to the automatic door D from the output signal of the area discriminating unit 5 when the door activating signal is input from the comparing unit 8, and the moving direction of the detected object H is determined. If the direction is toward the automatic door D, a door open signal is output and the automatic door D
When the vehicle leaves, the door close signal is output.

Then, as shown in FIG. 2, the object detectors 1 are installed on the indoor side and the outdoor side of the automatic door D, respectively. Therefore, a pair of the structures shown in FIG. 1 are provided. The two detection areas a1 and a2 of each object detector 1 are set within a range of l (0.1 m) to L (4 m) from the automatic door D as shown in FIG.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The signal level discriminating unit 3 compares the electric signal output from the object detector 1 and amplified by the amplifier 2 with a reference signal of a certain level, and determines whether the electric signal is equal to or higher than the level of the reference signal. Is constantly monitored (step S1) to determine whether the object H has entered the detection areas a1 and a2, and outputs an object detection signal when a change exceeding the set detection sensitivity due to the reference signal is detected.

When the detected object H that has entered the detection area is detected and an object detection signal is output, the detection signal triggers the area discriminating unit 5 and the speed response discriminating unit 6 to be driven together, and the speed discriminating unit 6 is driven. Calculates the moving speed of the detected object H based on the frequency fluctuation of the electric signal from the amplifier 2 (step S2).

On the other hand, the area discriminating unit 5 first calculates the distance from the object detector 1 to the detected object H based on the time from when the transmitted wave of the object detector 1 is emitted to when the reflected wave is received (step S1). S3) Yes. From the calculated distance, it is determined whether or not the object H has entered the first detection area a1 (step S4). If it is not the first detection area a1, then the second detection area a2 is determined. Is determined (step S7), and an area determination signal is output to the detection speed setting unit 7. Here, if the object detector 1 outputs a detection signal due to disturbance noise or the like, step S4
Also, in both cases, NO is determined in step S7, and the process jumps to step S1 without malfunction.

Next, the detection speed setting unit 7 reads out reference speed range data corresponding to the area determination signal input from the area determination unit 5 and outputs the reference speed range data to the comparison unit 8. For example, if it is determined to be the first detection area a1, 1.0 to 3.0
The first reference speed range of [m / sec] is read and set (step S5), and when it is determined that the area is the second detection area a2, the first reference speed range of 0 to 2.0 [m / sec] is determined. The second reference speed range is read and set (step S8). And
The comparing unit 8 determines whether the detected speed of the object calculated by the speed determining unit 6 is within the set reference speed range (steps S6 and S9).

If it is determined in step S6 or step S9 that the detected speed is within the reference speed range, a door start signal is output from the comparing unit 8 to the signal determining unit 9, and the signal determining unit 9 Then, it is determined whether or not the detected object H is moving toward the automatic door D based on the area determination signal from the area determination unit 5 (step S10). That is,
When the initially input area discrimination signal indicates the first detection area a1, it is determined that the automatic door D is approaching, and a door open signal is output (step S11). On the other hand, if it represents the second detection area a2, it is determined that it is moving in a direction away from the automatic door D, and a door close signal is output (step S12).

Next, a description will be given based on an example with reference to FIG. 4. The first detected object H1 enters the first detection area a1 at a speed of 0.5 m / sec and moves toward the automatic door D. , The second detected object H2 is in the first detection area at a speed of 1.5 m / sec.
a1 and moves toward the automatic door D, the third detected object H3 is stopped in front of the automatic door D, and the fourth detected object H4 is substantially parallel to the automatic door D, It is assumed that the user has moved within the detection area a1.

In the case of the first detected object H1, the first detection area a1
Is detected by the object detector 1 when entering the
If NO is determined in S6, the loop of steps S2 to S6 is repeated to keep the automatic door D closed, and the vehicle enters the second detection area a2, and waits for determination of YES in step S9. A door open signal is output. Thus, when the vehicle passes through the opened automatic door D and enters the second detection area a2 on the opposite side, YES in step S9 and step S
At 10, each is determined to be NO, and the automatic door D is closed.

In the case of the second detected object H2, when the vehicle enters the first detection area a1 and is detected by the object detector 1, it is determined as YES in step S6, and the door opening signal is output immediately. , Automatic door D opened by this
After passing through the second detection area a2 on the opposite side, the open state of the automatic door D is maintained until it has passed through the first detection area a1, and when entering the first detection area a1, YES in step S6 and NO in step S10. And the automatic door D is closed.

Further, since the third detected object H3 is located in the second detection area a2 in front of the object detector 1, YES is always determined in step S2 in the repetition of the loop. Here, in the case where the vehicle has moved toward the automatic door D and has stopped, the output of the door open signal is continued because it is always determined to be YES in step S10, and after the automatic door D has passed. In this case, the output of the door closing signal is continued.

Further, since the fourth detected object H4 moves in the first detection area a1 in parallel with the automatic door D, the distance from the object detector 1 does not change so much, sec
The following detection speed data is output, and the second detection area a2
The automatic door D is not opened unless it enters the inside.

As described above, the automatic door D is opened at a quick timing for an object moving at a high speed, and the automatic door D is opened at a slow timing for an object moving at a low speed. Will be opened only for the minimum necessary time according to the speed of travel,
In addition, even if the object moves within the detection area and does not pass through the automatic door, there is an advantage that the automatic door D does not need to be opened and closed unless the automatic door is considerably approached.

FIG. 5 shows another embodiment of the present invention.
Components that are the same as or equivalent to those in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof is omitted. The difference from FIG. 1 is that the area discriminating unit 3 sets the first detection area a1 and the second detection area
Each of the area determination signals of the detection area a2 is output from an individual terminal, and accordingly, the detection speed setting unit and the comparison unit are divided into two, and the first reference speed range is set and stored. A detection speed setting unit 7a and a second detection speed setting unit 7b that sets and stores a second reference speed range, a first comparison unit 8a that compares the detection speed with the first reference speed range, and a detection speed and A configuration in which a first comparing section 8a for comparing with the second reference speed range is provided, and the corresponding comparing sections 8a and 8b are selectively driven by one of the area discriminating signals of the area discriminating section 5. Only the same effects as in FIG. 1 can be obtained.

The present invention is not limited to the above description and the illustrated examples, but may include various modifications without departing from the scope of the claims. For example, it goes without saying that three or more detection areas can be provided by the detection area setting means and a reference speed range can be provided in each of the detection areas. As the object detector 1, an ultrasonic sensor or an infrared sensor can be used in addition to the ultrasonic Doppler sensor described in the embodiment. For example, an ultrasonic sensor calculates the distance to the detected object H by irradiating an ultrasonic wave to the detected object H and measuring a time until receiving a reflected reception wave from the ultrasonic sensor. The distance to the detected object H is measured by the method. Then, these object detectors are periodically driven every 0.5 seconds, for example, to periodically calculate the distance, and to calculate the moving speed of the object from the change amount of the periodically output distance data. do it.

Further, a radio wave type Doppler sensor can be used as the object detector. Although this radio wave type Doppler sensor can detect only the moving speed of the detected object from the frequency fluctuation of the reflected wave received from the detected object, for example, two pairs of object detectors each for indoor and outdoor use The detection areas of each of the two object detectors are set to be different from an area far from the automatic door and an area close to the automatic door, and the reference speed range of the object to be detected by each object detector is set as described above. What is necessary is just to set fast for a distant detection area and slow for a near detection area. Therefore, the detection area setting means does not use the above-mentioned transmission / reception horn or the like, but is constituted by a plurality of object detectors in which different detection areas are individually set.

<Effects of the Invention> The present invention is configured and operates as described above, and thus has the following effects. That is, according to the automatic door activation switch device of the present invention, when an object such as a human body approaches the automatic door at a high speed, it is detected when the object enters the detection area distant from the automatic door. When the object approaches the automatic door at a slow speed, the object slowly opens at the timing when the object enters a detection area close to the automatic door. Also, when an object passes through the automatic door and separates, if the speed is high, even if this object enters the detection area near the automatic door, the automatic door will not be closed immediately and will be moved to the distant detection area. When the automatic door is reached, the automatic door is closed. Conversely, when the separation speed is low, the automatic door is closed when the vehicle enters a close detection area. Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to open the automatic door only for the minimum necessary time according to the moving speed of the object passing through the automatic door while securing the safety of the object, thereby saving energy during cooling and heating. In addition, it is possible to prevent noise from entering from the outside as much as possible.

[Brief description of the drawings]

 FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the detection area, FIG. 3 is a flowchart thereof, FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view for explaining the operation, FIG. FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a conventional example of another embodiment of the present invention. Reference numeral 1: Object detector 7: Detection speed setting unit (detection speed setting means) 8, 8a, 8b Comparison unit (comparison means) H, H1 to H4: Detected object D: Automatic door a1 , a2 …… Detection area

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. An object detector for outputting an electric signal which varies in accordance with the movement of an object in a detection area set on both sides in the vicinity of an automatic door. In an automatic door start switch device that detects an object and outputs a signal for controlling opening and closing of an automatic door, detection that sets a plurality of detection areas at different distances from the automatic door on both sides of the automatic door. Area setting means, detection speed setting means for setting a reference speed range of an object to be detected for each of the detection areas farther from the automatic door so as to be faster, and an object to be detected based on an output signal from the object detector. Area determining means for determining the detection area where the object exists, speed determining means for determining the moving speed of the detected object based on the output signal, Direction discriminating means for discriminating the approach / separation direction of the detected object with respect to the automatic door, and activating the automatic door using the discrimination result of each discriminating means and the reference speed range set for each detection area. Control means for outputting a signal, wherein the control means controls the approach / separation of the object from the automatic door only when the moving speed of the object is within a reference speed range in a detection area where the object is present. An automatic door activation switch device configured to issue a door opening / closing activation signal in accordance with a direction.