JP6874104B1 - Elevator system and elevator control method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an elevator system capable of suppressing a decrease in safety of a user getting on and off a car.
An elevator system according to an embodiment is provided above an entrance / exit of an elevator, and is between a camera 21 that obtains an image of a photographing area extending from the landing to the inside of the car and a door 13 of the car from opening to closing. , A motion detecting means for detecting the movement of the user riding in the car based on the image of the photographing area obtained by the camera 21, and a door of the car based on the movement of the user detected by the motion detecting means. It is provided with a control means for controlling the opening / closing operation of the. Further, the elevator system according to the embodiment includes a lighting device 30 for illuminating the entrance and exit, and an illuminance detecting means for detecting the illuminance of the entrance and exit. The control means turns on the lighting device 30 when the illuminance of the entrance / exit detected by the illuminance detecting means is lower than a predetermined threshold value. [Selection diagram] FIG.

Description

Embodiments of the present invention relate to elevator systems and elevator control methods.

Elevator landing congestion detectors are known. In this congestion degree detection device, the landing is photographed by a camera provided at the landing, and the congestion degree of the landing is detected by analyzing the photographed image. When the landing becomes dark, the landing is illuminated with a lighting device to prevent deterioration of detection accuracy.

However, when the landing is dark, the elevator doorways can also be dark. At the doorway, there is a gap between the car sill of the car and the landing sill of the landing. Therefore, when the doorway becomes dark, the safety of users getting on and off the car may be reduced.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 64-91083

The present invention has been made in consideration of such a point, and an object of the present invention is to provide an elevator system and an elevator control method capable of suppressing a decrease in safety of a user getting on and off a car. ..

The elevator system according to the embodiment is provided at the upper part of the elevator doorway, and is obtained by a camera that obtains an image of the shooting area extending from the landing to the inside of the car and a camera from the opening to the closing of the car door. A motion detecting means for detecting the movement of a user riding in a car based on an image of a shooting area, and a control for controlling an opening / closing operation of a car door based on the movement of the user detected by the motion detecting means. It has the means. Further, the elevator system according to the embodiment includes a lighting device for illuminating the doorway and an illuminance detecting means for detecting the illuminance of the doorway. The control means turns on the lighting device when the illuminance of the entrance / exit detected by the illuminance detecting means is lower than a predetermined threshold value.

Further, the elevator control method according to the embodiment is an elevator control method that illuminates the entrance and exit of the above-mentioned elevator system. The elevator control method according to the embodiment includes a step of detecting the illuminance of the doorway and a step of turning on the lighting device for illuminating the doorway when the illuminance of the doorway is lower than a predetermined threshold value.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of an elevator device according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an elevator system according to the present embodiment. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the car of FIG. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the curtain plate of FIG. 3 from the back side. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of an image taken by the camera of FIG. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an elevator control method according to the present embodiment.

Hereinafter, the elevator system and the elevator control method according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Here, first, an elevator device to which the elevator system according to the present embodiment is applied will be described.

As shown in FIG. 1, the elevator device 1 includes a car 3 and a balance weight 4 arranged in the hoistway 2. The car 3 and the balance weight 4 are connected via a main rope 5. The main rope 5 is wound around a traction sheave 6a provided on the hoisting machine 6, and is wound by the hoisting machine 6. In this way, the car 3 and the balance weight 4 are moved up and down by the hoisting machine 6 via the main rope 5. The hoisting machine 6 is installed in a machine room 7 provided above the hoistway 2. An elevator control device 8 is installed in the machine room 7. The elevator control device 8 is a device that controls the entire elevator device 1 including the hoisting machine 6. For example, the elevator control device 8 controls the operation of the hoisting machine 6 in response to a landing call and a car call, and causes the car 3 to land on the landing 9 on the called floor.

The elevator device 1 is not limited to the form shown in FIG. For example, it may be a so-called machine roomless elevator device. That is, the hoisting machine 6 and the elevator control device 8 may be provided in the upper part of the hoistway 2 or the like without providing the machine room 7.

In the elevator device 1 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a landing door 11 is provided at the landing entrance 10 of the landing 9 provided on each floor of the building. On the other hand, a car door 13 is provided at the car entrance 12 of the car 3. The elevator entrance / exit 14 is composed of the landing entrance / exit 10 and the car entrance / exit 12. The landing door 11 engages with and interlocks with the car door 13 provided in the car 3 via an engaging plate (not shown) when the car 3 lands on the floor. The car 3 is provided with a drive device (not shown) for driving the car door 13, and the car door 13 opens and closes together with the landing door 11 by this drive device. The drive device is controlled by the car control device 23, which will be described later.

As shown in FIG. 3, the car entrance / exit 12 is provided with a pair of entrance / exit pillars 15. A curtain plate 16 is provided above each doorway pillar 15. The curtain plate 16 extends from the upper part of one entrance / exit pillar 15 to the upper part of the other entrance / exit pillar 15. The car entrance / exit 12 is defined by the curtain plate 16 and the pair of entrance / exit pillars 15. On the back surface of the curtain plate 16, a position indicator indicating the floor on which the car 3 is located, a direction indicator indicating the ascending / descending direction of the car 3 and the like may be provided.

The elevator system 20 according to the present embodiment is a system applied to the elevator device 1 described above, and detects the movement of the user trying to get into the car 3 from the landing 9 (in other words, the user's intention to get on). It may be configured to control the opening / closing operation of the car door 13.

More specifically, as shown in FIG. 2, the elevator system 20 includes a camera 21 provided above the doorway 14, an image processing device 22 (motion detecting means) for detecting the movement of the user, and a car door. It is equipped with a car control device 23 (control means) that controls the opening / closing operation of 13.

The camera 21 is provided on the curtain plate 16 arranged at the upper part of the doorway 14 (the upper part of the car doorway 12). As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the camera 21 is mounted so as to face the landing 9. Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the camera 21 is arranged on the back side of the curtain plate 16, and the landing 9 and the car are seen from above through an opening (not shown) provided on the bottom surface of the curtain plate 16. Take a picture of the inside of 3. More specifically, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 5, the camera 21 is configured to photograph the photographing area L extending from the landing 9 to the inside of the car 3 and obtain an image of the photographing area L. The photographing area L includes an area L1 on the side of the landing 9 and an area L2 on the side of the car 3. That is, the photographing area L includes the entrance / exit 14 of the elevator. The dimension of the region L1 on the side of the landing 9 in the depth direction is, for example, 3 m. The dimension of the region L2 on the side of the car 3 in the depth direction is, for example, 50 cm. The widthwise dimension may be at least greater than the width of the car door 13. The camera 21 continues to shoot from the time when the car 12 lands on the landing 9 and the landing door 11 and the car door 13 start to open until the car door 13 closes. The camera 21 may be capable of capturing, for example, several frames of images per second.

The image processing device 22 analyzes and processes an image captured by the camera 21. The image processing device 22 detects the movement of the user moving from the landing 9 to the car 3 from the opening of the car door 13 to the closing, and analyzes the user's intention to board. The detected user is tracked to determine whether or not the user is willing to board. This judgment may be made based on the moving direction of the user's foot position. For example, the image taken by the camera 21 is as shown in FIG. As described above, the camera 21 is provided on the curtain plate 16 arranged at the upper part of the car entrance / exit 12, and is directed diagonally downward from the curtain plate 16 toward the landing 9. As a result, when the user is moving from the landing 9 toward the car 3, the user's right or left foot is located in front of the captured image. Therefore, even if the image processing device 22 tracks the foot position of the user and determines that the user is willing to board the vehicle when the foot position is moving toward the car 3. Good.

The car control device 23 controls the opening / closing operation of the car door 13 based on the movement of the user detected by the image processing device 22. The car control device 23 may not close the car door 13 when the user is moving toward the car 3.

The car control device 23 is connected to the elevator control device 8 described above. The elevator control device 8 is a device that controls the entire elevator, and the car control device 23 is a device that controls the car 3. Signals such as landing call and car call are transmitted between the elevator control device 8 and the car control device 23. The car control device 23 includes a door opening / closing control unit 24, and the door opening / closing control unit 24 may control the opening / closing operation of the car door 13 of the car 3. That is, the door opening / closing control unit 24 controls the opening / closing of the car door 13 when the car 3 lands on the landing 9. More specifically, when the car 3 lands on the landing 9, the door open / close control unit 24 opens the car door 13 and after a predetermined time elapses, or when the user presses the close button (not shown). , Close the car door 13.

The elevator system 20 according to the present embodiment may be further configured to illuminate the elevator entrance / exit 14.

More specifically, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the elevator system 20 includes a lighting device 30 provided above the entrance / exit 14 and an illuminance detection unit 31 (illuminance detecting means) for detecting the illuminance of the entrance / exit 14. And, further equipped.

The lighting device 30 is provided on the above-mentioned curtain plate 16 arranged at the upper part of the doorway 14 (the upper part of the car doorway 12). As shown in FIG. 4, the lighting device 30 is arranged on the back side of the curtain plate 16 and illuminates the doorway 14 from above through an opening (not shown) provided on the bottom surface of the curtain plate 16. The lighting device 30 may be arranged at a position close to the camera 21 or may be adjacent to the camera 21. The lighting device 30 is adapted to illuminate the doorway 14 (that is, the landing doorway 10 and the car doorway 12) from above. The lighting device 30 can adopt any lighting method such as LED lighting as long as it can illuminate the doorway 14.

The illuminance detection unit 31 detects the illuminance of the doorway 14. For example, the illuminance detection unit 31 may obtain the illuminance from the image of the photographing region L photographed by the camera 21 according to the instruction from the car control device 23. The illuminance of the image may be the average value of the entire photographing area L including the entrance / exit 14, or may be the illuminance of the area near the entrance / exit 14. Further, as the illuminance of the image, for example, the brightness or saturation of the image may be used. The illuminance detection unit 31 may be obtained by directly measuring the illuminance of the actual entrance / exit 14 instead of obtaining it from the image taken by the camera 21. The illuminance detection unit 31 may be incorporated in the image processing device 22 described above.

The car control device 23 described above controls the lighting device 30 based on the illuminance of the doorway 14 detected by the illuminance detecting unit 31. The car control device 23 may turn on (light on) the lighting device 30 when the illuminance of the doorway 14 detected by the illuminance detecting unit 31 is lower than a predetermined threshold value.

More specifically, the car control device 23 has a determination function of comparing the illuminance of the doorway 14 detected by the illuminance detection unit 31 with the threshold value and determining whether or not the illuminance of the doorway 14 is lower than the threshold value. You may have. For example, the illuminance threshold value may be registered in advance in the car control device 23, and the registered threshold value may be compared with the illuminance detected by the illuminance detection unit 31. Alternatively, a reference image taken with a threshold illuminance may be registered in advance in the car control device 23, and the brightness of the reference image is compared with the brightness of the taken image to determine the illuminance of the doorway 14. It may be determined whether or not it is lower than the threshold value.

The car control device 23 stops the image processing device 22 from detecting the movement of the user in the car 3 when the illuminance of the doorway 14 detected by the illuminance detection unit 31 is lower than a predetermined threshold value. May be good. When the illuminance of the doorway 14 is low, even if the shooting area L is taken by the camera 21, the obtained image becomes dark and the accuracy of the image may decrease. Even if such an image is analyzed and processed by the image processing device 22, the accuracy of detecting the movement of the user may decrease. In this case, there is a possibility that the car door 13 is opened and closed inconsistent with the movement of the user. Therefore, in order to ensure the safety of the user, the detection of the user's movement by the image processing device 22, that is, the analysis of the user's intention to board the vehicle may be stopped.

Further, the car control device 23 may stop the image processing device 22 from detecting the movement of the user in the car 3 even when the lighting device 30 is illuminating the doorway 14. The image of the camera 21 obtained when the doorway 14 is illuminated may be affected by the lighting and the sharpness may be reduced. More specifically, the illuminated part of the shooting area L becomes brighter than the other parts, and it is displayed in white due to a phenomenon called overexposure, and the image of that part may be lost. There is. Since it becomes difficult for the image processing device 22 to analyze such an image, the detection of the user's movement by the image processing device 22, that is, the analysis of the user's intention to board the vehicle may be stopped.

Further, after the car control device 23 turns on the lighting device 30 and stops the detection of the movement of the user riding in the car 3 by the image processing device 22, there is no user in the car 3. In this case, the lighting device 30 may be turned off and the image processing device 22 may detect the movement of the user in the car 3. That is, when the user in the car 3 gets off, the illuminance of the doorway 14 may decrease. Therefore, when the illuminance of the doorway 14 is lowered due to the user getting off, the lighting device 30 is turned on while the user gets off. As a result, the safety of the user getting off can be ensured. Also, during this period, the image processing device 22 stops detecting the movement of the user riding in the car 3, that is, analyzing the user's intention to board. Then, after all the users in the car 3 get off, the lighting device 30 is switched to OFF, and the movement of the user who gets in the car 3 is detected by the image processing device 22. The method for determining the presence or absence of a user in the car 3 is arbitrary. For example, by providing a camera (not shown) in the car room of the car 3 and taking a picture of the car room, the image obtained by the shooting may be analyzed and the presence or absence of a user may be determined. .. Alternatively, the car 3 is provided with a weight sensor (not shown) of the car 3, and there is a user who is in the car 3 based on the weight of the car 3 measured by the weight sensor. You may try to judge.

Next, the elevator control method according to the present embodiment having such a configuration will be described with reference to FIG.

When the car 3 lands on the landing 9 and the landing door 11 and the car door 13 start to open, the analysis of the boarding intention of the user at the landing 9 is executed (step S1). That is, the camera 21 starts shooting the shooting area L, and the image processing device 22 executes the analysis processing of the image shot by the camera 21. At this time, the lighting device 30 provided above the car entrance / exit 12 is turned off and turned off.

While the analysis of the user's intention to board is being carried out, the safety of the user is being improved. For example, if a user who intends to board the vehicle is detected while the landing door 11 and the car door 13 are fully open, the landing door 11 and the car door 13 are not closed and the fully open state is maintained. On the other hand, if a user who intends to board is detected while the landing door 11 and the car door 13 are closing, the landing door 11 and the car door 13 are opened. In this way, the user who intends to board can be prevented from being pinched or touched by the landing door 11 or the car door 13, and the safety of the user can be improved.

Further, while the analysis of the user's intention to board is being executed, the illuminance detection unit 31 detects the illuminance of the doorway 14 (step S2). At this time, the illuminance detection unit 31 may detect the illuminance of the entrance / exit 14 from the image of the photographing region L photographed by the camera 21.

Subsequently, it is determined whether or not the illuminance of the doorway 14 detected by the illuminance detection unit 31 is lower than a predetermined threshold value (step S3).

When the illuminance of the doorway 14 is lower than the threshold value, the lighting device 30 is turned on (step S4). As a result, the lighting device 30a is turned on. As a result, the lighting device 30 can illuminate the dark entrance / exit 14, increase the illuminance of the entrance / exit 14, and brighten the entrance / exit 14. Therefore, the feet of the user getting on and off the car 3 become brighter, and the safety of the user can be ensured. Further, in step S4, by turning on the lighting device 30, the analysis of the user's intention to board may be stopped.

On the other hand, when the illuminance of the entrance / exit 14 is equal to or higher than the threshold value, the lighting device 30 is continuously turned off and the analysis of the user's intention to board is continued (step S5).

After step S4 or step S5, the process returns to step S2, the illuminance of the entrance / exit 14 is detected again, and it is determined whether or not the illuminance is lower than the threshold value (step S3). In this way, step S2, step S3, and step S4 or step S5 depending on whether or not the illuminance is lower than the threshold value are performed while the analysis of the user's intention to board is being executed. Such repetition may be performed frame by frame of the image captured by the camera 21, or may be performed intermittently every few frames.

While step S2 and step S3 are repeated, it is confirmed whether the landing door 11 and the car door 13 are fully closed (step S6). In FIG. 6, as an example, the landing door 11 and the car door 13 are confirmed to be fully closed before the illuminance of the doorway 14 is detected, but the timing of confirming the fully closed is arbitrary. If the landing door 11 and the car door 13 are not fully closed, step S2 is performed. On the other hand, when the landing door 11 and the car door 13 are fully closed, the analysis of the user's intention to board is completed (step S7). For example, after a predetermined time has elapsed since the landing door 11 and the car door 13 are fully opened, or after the close button (not shown) is pressed by the user in the car 3, the landing door 11 and the car door 13 are fully opened. It is closed. In step S7, the lighting device 30 is turned off.

If there are no more users in the car 3 while steps S2 and S3 are being repeated, the lighting device 30 is turned off and the user's intention to board is analyzed. You may try to do it.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, when the illuminance at the entrance / exit 14 of the elevator is lower than the predetermined threshold value, the lighting device 30 is turned on. As a result, the doorway 14 is illuminated by the lighting device 30, and the illuminance of the doorway 14 can be increased to brighten the doorway 14. Therefore, it is possible to brighten the feet of the user who gets on and off the car 3, and it is possible to suppress the deterioration of the safety of the user.

Further, according to the present embodiment, the lighting device 30 is provided on the curtain plate 16 of the car 3 arranged above the doorway 14. As a result, the doorway 14 can be illuminated from almost directly above. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the light from the lighting device 30 from being blocked by the user getting on and off the car 3. Therefore, the visibility of the doorway 14 (particularly, the car sill and the landing sill) can be improved.

Further, according to the present embodiment, the illuminance detection unit 31 can obtain the illuminance of the doorway 14 from the image obtained by the camera 21. As a result, the illuminance of the entrance / exit 14 can be detected with high accuracy. Further, when the detected illuminance is lower than the threshold value, the accuracy of the determination to stop the analysis of the user's intention to board can be improved. That is, when the illuminance of the entrance / exit 14 is low, the image obtained by the camera 21 also becomes dark, and the accuracy of the analysis may decrease. By detecting the illuminance based on the image used for the analysis, it is possible to accurately determine whether or not the image can be analyzed.

Further, according to the present embodiment, when the illuminance of the doorway 14 detected by the illuminance detection unit 31 is lower than the threshold value, the image processing device 22 stops the analysis of the user's intention to board. That is, when the illuminance of the entrance / exit 14 is low, the image obtained by the camera 21 also becomes dark, and the accuracy of the analysis may decrease. In this case, there is a possibility that the landing door 11 and the car door 13 are opened and closed inconsistent with the movement of the user. Therefore, the safety of the user can be ensured by stopping the analysis when the illuminance of the entrance / exit 14 is low.

Further, according to the present embodiment, after the lighting device 30 is turned on and the user's intention to board is analyzed, when there are no more users in the car 3, the lighting device 30 is turned off. And analyze the user's intention to board. In this case, since all the users who were in the car 3 got off, the illuminance at the entrance 14 can be improved. As a result, by turning off the lighting device 30 and executing the analysis, it is possible to prevent a user who intends to board the vehicle from being pinched or touched by the landing door 11 or the car door 13. Therefore, the safety of the user can be improved.

According to the above-described embodiment, it is possible to suppress a decrease in safety of the user getting on and off the car.

Although some embodiments of the present invention have been described, these embodiments are presented as examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments can be implemented in various other embodiments, and various omissions, replacements, and changes can be made without departing from the gist of the invention. These embodiments and modifications thereof are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are also included in the scope of the invention described in the claims and the equivalent scope thereof.

1: Elevator device, 10: Elevator doorway, 11: Landing door, 12: Car doorway, 13: Car door, 14: Doorway, 15: Doorway pillar, 16: Curtain board, 20: Elevator system, 21: Camera, 22: Image processing device, 23: Car control device, 24: Door open / close control unit, 30: Lighting device, 31: Illuminance detection unit, L: Shooting area

Claims (4)

A camera installed at the top of the elevator doorway that captures an image of the shooting area from the landing to the inside of the car.
A motion detecting means for detecting the movement of a user riding in the car based on an image of the photographing area obtained by the camera from the opening to the closing of the car door.
A control means for controlling the opening / closing operation of the car door based on the movement of the user detected by the motion detecting means.
A lighting device that illuminates the doorway and
An illuminance detecting means for detecting the illuminance of the entrance / exit is provided.
When the illuminance of the entrance / exit detected by the illuminance detecting means is lower than a predetermined threshold value, the control means turns on the lighting device and moves the user in the car by the motion detecting means. When the detection is stopped and then there are no more users in the car, the lighting device is turned off and the movement of the user in the car is detected by the motion detection means. , Elevator system. The elevator system according to claim 1, wherein the lighting device is provided on a curtain plate of the car arranged above the doorway. The elevator system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the illuminance detecting means obtains the illuminance of the entrance / exit from an image obtained by the camera. The elevator control method for illuminating the entrance / exit of the elevator system according to any one of claims 1 to 3.
The process of detecting the illuminance of the doorway and
An elevator control method comprising a step of turning on a lighting device that illuminates the doorway when the illuminance of the doorway is lower than a predetermined threshold value.

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