JP7395006B2 - Destination registration device and destination registration method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a destination registration device and management of a destination registration method.

There is a technique described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2015-151253 (Patent Document 1) for accepting a non-contact operation by an elevator passenger and registering a destination floor. This publication states, ``The elevator operation panel device according to the present invention includes operation buttons provided on the operation panel installed in the elevator hall or inside the car, and two or more predetermined buttons per operation button. A sensor is provided in corresponding numbers, each of which detects the presence or absence of an object on a linear detection axis in a non-contact manner, and a predetermined number of sensors corresponding to one operation button are simultaneously provided on the detection axis. a determination unit that determines that the operation button is in an operation detection state when an object is detected on the operation button, and the detection axes of the predetermined number of the sensors corresponding to one operation button are connected to each other. "They are arranged so as to intersect with each other at one point in space that is inside the operation surface of the operation button when viewed from the front."

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2015-151253

In Patent Document 1, a configuration is adopted in which operation is detected at one point where the detection axes intersect, and the distance from the operation panel to the point where operation detection is established is fixed. In this case, the distance is set near the operation panel to prevent erroneous operation, and contact with the operation panel is also allowed. However, in recent years, from the perspective of preventing infectious diseases, it has become necessary to perform the destination registration operation at a sufficient distance from the operation panel in order to reduce the risk of contact, and it is also necessary to prevent erroneous operations at this time. .

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a technology that enables remote destination registration operations while preventing erroneous operations.

In order to solve the above problems, one of the representative destination registration devices and destination registration methods of the present invention is such that a destination registration device that receives an operation by an elevator passenger and registers a destination floor is connected to a car of the elevator. A degree of crowding is determined, an operation for specifying the destination floor is detected in a non-contact manner, and a threshold related to distance is changed in accordance with the degree of crowding for the non-contact detection, and a detection result that satisfies the threshold related to distance is determined. When obtained, the destination floor is registered.

According to the present invention, it is possible to perform remote destination registration operations while preventing erroneous operations.
Problems, configurations, and effects other than those described above will be made clear by the following description of the embodiments.

An explanatory diagram of destination registration in one embodiment. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an elevator management system in one embodiment. FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of a destination registration device 40 in one embodiment. A specific example of the operation panel surface of the destination registration device 40 in one embodiment. 5 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure of the destination registration device 40 in one embodiment. A configuration example in which the output of the operation detection unit in one embodiment is used to determine the degree of congestion. FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of operation detection in a modified example of one embodiment.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of destination registration in the embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, a passenger riding in an elevator car can specify a desired destination floor by operating the destination registration device 40 without contact. The destination registration device 40 includes an infrared sensor or a capacitance sensor as an operation detection unit, and detects a passenger's operation using a distance threshold and a time threshold. That is, when the operation detection unit detects an object at a short distance less than or equal to the distance threshold and continuously for a time longer than the time threshold, the operation detecting unit registers the destination floor as an operation for registering the destination floor.

Here, the destination registration device 40 determines the degree of congestion of the cars and changes the distance threshold and time threshold. Specifically, if the car is vacant, the destination registration device 40 increases the distance threshold and decreases the time threshold. As a result, the passenger can complete the destination registration operation at a position sufficiently away from the destination registration device 40, and the risk of infection due to contact can be reduced.

On the other hand, if the distance threshold is large and the time threshold is small, an erroneous operation may occur. In particular, if the car is crowded, there is a high possibility that the passenger's body or luggage will unintentionally approach the operation detection unit and the operation will be mistakenly recognized as an operation to register a destination floor. Therefore, the destination registration device 40 prevents erroneous operations by decreasing the distance threshold and increasing the time threshold when the cars are crowded.

In this way, the destination registration device 40 realizes remote destination registration operations while preventing erroneous operations by changing the distance threshold and time threshold related to operation detection according to the degree of congestion of the car.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of the elevator management system. As shown in FIG. 1, the elevator management system includes an operation management device 10, an elevator control device 30, a destination registration device 40, and a service request device 50.

The elevator control device 30 and the destination registration device 40 are provided for each elevator car. The elevator control device 30 is a device that receives instructions from the operation management device 10 and controls the elevator car. The destination registration device 40 accepts a destination registration operation in the car.

The service request device 50 is provided at each landing on each floor. Here, a floor is used to identify a floor forming a hierarchy in a building in which an elevator is installed. An elevator car moves vertically on a hierarchical floor, and the current location and destination floor are identified by the floor. The service request device 50 includes buttons corresponding to the direction of the destination floor (upward and/or downward direction). An operation on this button is a request for service from the passenger to the elevator, that is, a "call." When the service request device 50 receives a button operation, it notifies the operation management device 10 of acceptance of the service request. This service request acceptance notification includes the floor of the platform where the service request was accepted and the direction of the destination floor.

When the operation management device 10 receives a service request acceptance notification from the service request device 50, it refers to the current position and destination floor of each elevator, and allocates an elevator to the service request. The assigned elevator registers the floor of the service requester as the destination floor and picks up passengers waiting at the platform.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of the destination registration device 40. As shown in FIG. 3, the destination registration device includes a load sensor 41, an operation detection section 42, a destination floor display section 43, a congestion degree determination section 44, a threshold value change section 45, and a registration section 46.

The load sensor 41 is a sensor that detects the load applied to the car. The operation detection unit 42 is an infrared sensor, a capacitance sensor, or the like, and is used to non-contactly detect an operation by a passenger to specify a destination floor. The destination floor display section 43 displays floors that are candidates for destination floors, that is, floors where the car can stop.

The destination floor display unit 43 is provided for each floor that is a candidate for the destination floor, and lights up the floor registered as the destination floor. Further, since the operation detection section 42 is also provided for each destination floor display section 43, it corresponds to each floor that is a candidate for the destination floor.

The congestion level determination unit 44 is a processing unit that determines the congestion level of the car. The congestion degree determination unit 44 determines the congestion degree based on the output of the load sensor 41. The more passengers there are in the car, the larger the output of the load sensor 41 becomes, and the more crowded the car becomes. As the degree of crowding increases, passengers' standing positions and movements are restricted, which increases the possibility that passengers will be located near the operation detection unit 42, leading to an increase in false detections.

The threshold changing unit 45 changes the distance threshold and time threshold related to operation detection based on the determination result by the congestion degree determining unit 44. Specifically, the threshold changing unit 45 makes the distance threshold when the degree of congestion is greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold smaller than the distance threshold when the degree of congestion is less than a predetermined threshold. Further, the threshold changing unit 45 makes the time threshold when the degree of congestion is greater than or equal to the predetermined threshold smaller than the time threshold when the degree of congestion is less than the predetermined threshold.

The registration unit 46 compares the distance threshold and time threshold set by the threshold change unit 45 with the output of the operation detection unit 42 to identify whether or not the operation is to register a destination floor. As a result, if an identification result indicating that the operation is to register a destination floor is obtained, the destination floor is registered.

Specifically, when one of the operation detection units 42 detects an object located closer than the distance threshold and this state continues for more than the time threshold, the registration unit 46 associates the object with the operation detection unit 42. The floor is registered as the destination floor.

Note that if the passenger leans close to the operation detection section 42, there is a possibility that the destination floor will be registered in a manner contrary to the passenger's intention. Therefore, the registration unit 46 cancels the registration of the destination floor when the operation detection unit 42 continues to detect an object located closer than the distance threshold for a predetermined period of time or more even after the destination floor is registered. For convenience, the predetermined time at this time is referred to as a release threshold. The release threshold is made sufficiently larger than the time threshold set in the threshold changing unit 45. For example, the time threshold is changed within a range of 1 second or less, and the release threshold is set to about 10 seconds.

FIG. 4 is a specific example of the operation panel of the destination registration device 40. In FIG. 4, corresponding destination floor display sections 43 and operation detection sections 42 are provided for floors "B1" to "5F". Further, in FIG. 4, "4F" has been registered as the destination floor, and the destination floor display section 43 of "4F" is lit.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure of the destination registration device 40. In FIG. 5, N1, N2, and N3 are used as thresholds for the degree of congestion, and N1<N2<N3. Furthermore, DS, DM, and DL are used as distance thresholds, and DS<DM<DL. Furthermore, TS, TM, and TL are used as time thresholds, and TS<TM<TL. The destination registration device 40 repeatedly executes the processing procedure shown in FIG. 5 at predetermined intervals.

First, the congestion degree determination unit 44 of the destination registration device 40 determines the congestion degree based on the output of the load sensor 41 (step S101). If the congestion degree is smaller than N1 (step S102; Yes), the threshold changing unit 45 sets the distance threshold to DL and the time threshold to TS (step S103).

If the congestion degree is greater than or equal to N1 and less than N2 (step S102; No, S104; Yes), the threshold change unit 45 sets the distance threshold to DM and the time threshold to TM (step S105). If the congestion degree is greater than or equal to N2 and less than N3 (step S104; No, S106; Yes), the threshold changing unit 45 sets the distance threshold to DS and the time threshold to TL (step S107). Note that if the congestion degree is equal to or higher than N3, the process is immediately terminated.

After step S103, step S105, or step S107, the registration unit 46 determines, for each operation detection unit 42, whether the detection distance, which is the distance to the nearest object detected by the operation detection unit 42, is less than the distance threshold. Determination is made (step S108).

If the detection distance is less than the distance threshold (step S108; Yes), the registration unit 46 adds the detection time (step S110). If the detection distance is equal to or greater than the distance threshold (step S108; No), the registration unit 46 clears the detection time added up to that point (step S109), and ends the process.

After step S110, the registration unit 46 determines whether the detection time has exceeded the time threshold (step S111). If the detection time is less than the time threshold (step S111; No), the registration unit 46 ends the process.

If the detection time is greater than or equal to the time threshold (step S111; Yes), the registration unit 46 determines whether the detection time is greater than or equal to the release threshold (step S112). If the detection time is equal to or greater than the time threshold (step S112; Yes), the registration unit 46 registers the destination floor (step S113), and ends the process. If the detection time is less than the time threshold (step S112; No), the registration unit 46 cancels the registration of the destination floor (step S114), and ends the process.

(Modified example)
In the explanation so far, the output of the load sensor 41 has been used to determine the degree of crowding, but the degree of crowding indicates the degree to which the standing position and movement of passengers in the car are restricted. However, the determination can be made using any index. For example, the determination may be made by taking an image of the inside of the car. At this time, even if the number of passengers is small, if the standing position and movement of the passengers are restricted due to large baggage, etc., it is determined that the degree of congestion is high. Further, the outputs of the plurality of operation detection units 42 may be used to determine the degree of congestion.

FIG. 6 shows a configuration example in which the output of the operation detection unit 42 is used to determine the degree of congestion. In the configuration shown in FIG. 6, the output of the operation detection section 42 is input to both the congestion degree determination section 44 and the registration section 46. The congestion degree determination unit 44 determines the congestion degree based on the outputs of the plurality of operation detection units 42, and the threshold value changing unit 45 sets the threshold based on this congestion degree. Therefore, the registration unit 46 compares the detection output of each of the plurality of operation detection units 42 with the detection output of the other plurality of operation detection units 42 to identify the destination floor registration operation.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of operation detection in a modified example. In FIG. 7, the operation detection section 42a, the operation detection section 42b, and the operation detection section 42c each output a detection distance that is the distance to the nearest object. Since the passenger operates the destination floor display section 43b corresponding to the operation detection section 42b, the detection distance output from the operation detection section 42b is the detection distance output from the operation detection section 42a and the operation detection section 42c. significantly smaller than. Further, the detection distances output by the operation detection section 42a and the operation detection section 42c are considered to be small in a crowded car.

Therefore, if the congestion degree determination section 44 determines the congestion degree using the outputs of the plurality of operation detection sections 42 (operation detection section 42a, operation detection section 42b, operation detection section 42c, etc.) and sets a distance threshold, Destination floor registration operations by passengers can be appropriately detected.

As described above, according to the present invention, the destination registration device 40 that receives an operation by an elevator passenger and registers a destination floor has a congestion level determination unit that determines the congestion level of the elevator car. 44, an operation detection unit 42 that detects the operation of specifying the destination floor in a non-contact manner, a threshold change unit 45 that changes a threshold related to distance according to the degree of congestion for the non-contact detection, and a registration unit 46 that registers the destination floor when a detection result that satisfies a threshold value is obtained. With this configuration and operation, it is possible to perform remote destination registration operations while preventing erroneous operations.

Further, the threshold value changing unit 45 makes the threshold value regarding the distance when the congestion degree is equal to or higher than the predetermined threshold value smaller than the threshold value regarding the distance when the congestion degree is less than the predetermined threshold value. Erroneous operations can be prevented when the area is crowded, and operations can be detected at a sufficient distance from the operation panel when the area is empty.

Moreover, the threshold value changing unit 45 further changes the threshold value regarding the time for the non-contact detection according to the degree of congestion, so that it is possible to prevent erroneous operations with higher accuracy.
Moreover, since the determination unit determines the degree of crowding based on the output of the load sensor 41 provided in the car, it is possible to determine the degree of crowding by effectively utilizing the existing equipment of the car.
Further, the determination unit may determine the degree of congestion based on an image obtained by capturing an image of the inside of the car. The inside of the car can be imaged by, for example, a camera installed for security purposes.

Further, the operation detection unit 42 is provided in association with each floor that is a candidate for the destination floor, and the registration unit 46 is configured such that any operation detection unit 42 is located closer than the threshold regarding the distance. When an object is detected, the floor associated with the operation detection section is registered as the destination floor, so that operations on the destination floor can be easily and reliably detected.

The registration unit may register the destination floor when the operation detection unit continues to detect an object located closer than the distance threshold for a predetermined period of time or more after the destination floor is registered. Since the registration is canceled, it is possible to cancel an unintentional registration of the passenger due to leaning or the like.

Further, the determination unit determines the degree of congestion based on the detection results of the plurality of operation detection units 42 provided in association with each floor, thereby determining the degree of congestion more easily. I can do it.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and includes various modifications. For example, the embodiments described above are described in detail to explain the present invention in an easy-to-understand manner, and the present invention is not necessarily limited to having all the configurations described. Furthermore, it is possible not only to delete such a configuration but also to replace or add a configuration.

For example, a physical button for registering the destination floor may be further provided, and when the degree of congestion is equal to or higher than a predetermined value, non-contact detection may be stopped and the destination floor registration operation using the physical button may be performed.

10: Operation management device, 30: Elevation control device, 40: Destination registration device, 41: Load sensor, 42: Operation detection section, 43: Destination floor display section, 44: Crowding degree determination section, 45: Threshold value changing section, 46 : Registration unit, 50: Service request device

Claims (9)

A destination registration device that receives an operation by an elevator passenger and registers a destination floor, the device comprising:
a determination unit that determines the degree of congestion of the elevator car;
an operation detection unit that detects the operation of specifying the destination floor in a non-contact manner;
a threshold value changing unit that changes a distance-related threshold value for the non-contact detection according to the congestion degree;
A destination registration device comprising: a registration unit that registers the destination floor when a detection result that satisfies the threshold regarding the distance is obtained. The threshold value changing unit is characterized in that the threshold value regarding the distance when the congestion degree is equal to or higher than the predetermined threshold value is set smaller than the threshold value regarding the distance when the congestion degree is less than the predetermined threshold value. The destination registration device according to claim 1. The destination registration device according to claim 2, wherein the threshold value changing unit further changes the time-related threshold value for the non-contact detection according to the degree of congestion. The destination registration device according to claim 3, wherein the determination unit determines the degree of congestion based on the output of a load sensor provided in the car. The destination registration device according to claim 3, wherein the determination unit determines the degree of congestion based on an image obtained by capturing an image of the inside of the car. The operation detection unit is provided in association with each floor that is a candidate for the destination floor,
The registration unit is characterized in that when any operation detection unit detects an object located closer than the distance-related threshold, the registration unit registers a floor associated with the operation detection unit as the destination floor. The destination registration device according to claim 3. The registration unit cancels the registration of the destination floor when the operation detection unit continues to detect an object located closer than the distance threshold for a predetermined period of time or more even after the destination floor is registered. 7. The destination registration device according to claim 6. 7. The destination registration device according to claim 6, wherein the determination unit determines the degree of congestion based on detection results from a plurality of operation detection units provided in association with each floor. A destination registration method for registering a destination floor by accepting an operation by an elevator passenger, the method comprising:
a determination step of determining the degree of congestion of the elevator car;
an operation detection step of detecting the operation of specifying the destination floor in a non-contact manner;
For the non-contact detection, a threshold changing step of changing a distance related threshold according to the congestion degree;
A destination registration method, comprising: a registration step of registering the destination floor when a detection result that satisfies the threshold regarding the distance is obtained.

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