JP7404451B1 - Elevator group management system - Google Patents

Abstract

[Problem] Prevent a drop in operational efficiency by applying double operation by distinguishing between users with walking difficulties and general users without requiring advance registration. An elevator group management system according to one embodiment controls the operation of a plurality of elevators each having two cars connected vertically. The elevator group management system includes a user determination means and an operation control means. The user determining means determines whether or not the user who has registered a wheelchair call is a person with walking difficulties, using images from cameras installed in the two cars or at the landings on each floor. The operation control means controls the operation of the elevator that responded to the wheelchair call among the plurality of elevators when the user is determined to be a person with walking difficulties by the user determination means. Switching to all-floor operation where call registration is possible, and if the user is determined to be other than a person with walking difficulties, double operation is performed in which one of the two cars is stopped at an even-numbered floor and the other at an odd-numbered floor. [Selection diagram] Figure 1

Description

Embodiments of the present invention relate to an elevator group management system that controls the operation of elevators (double-deck elevators) having cars connected vertically.

BACKGROUND ART In skyscrapers and the like, double-deck elevators are used in which the cab is arranged in two levels, upper and lower, in order to improve the space efficiency of the building. The operation mode of this double deck elevator is such that the upper car is stopped at an even numbered floor (2F, 4F, 6F...) and the lower car is stopped at an odd numbered floor (1F, 3F, 5F...), and the upper and lower cars are stopped at the 1st floor. There is a "double operation" that stops the machine every other time. Double operation halves the number of elevator stops and shortens the time for one round, resulting in high transportation capacity. Therefore, it is especially used when there is a high demand for transportation, such as when commuting to work or during lunch.

During double operation, the floors that can be registered as calls for the upper and lower cars are restricted, so the user may not be able to go directly to his or her destination floor. In this case, ordinary users can use the stairs, but it is inconvenient for users who have difficulty walking, such as wheelchair users. Therefore, when a user with walking difficulties registers a hall call by operating a wheelchair button, measures are taken to allow all floors to be registered without the restriction of double operation.

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2016-128356 Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2010-095378

However, the wheelchair button is usually placed side by side with the general call button, so anyone can easily operate it. For this reason, if a general user abuses the wheelchair button, the system will not switch to double operation, resulting in a significant drop in operational efficiency. Note that there is a method of identifying a user with walking difficulty using an ID tag, for example, and allowing a wheelchair call to be registered. However, in such a method, it is necessary to register the ID tag in advance, and it is also possible that a general user may use the ID tag illegally.

The problem to be solved by the present invention is elevator group management that can prevent a decline in operating efficiency by distinguishing between users with walking difficulties and general users and applying double operation without requiring advance registration. The goal is to provide a system.

An elevator group management system according to one embodiment controls the operation of a plurality of elevators each having two cars connected one above the other. The elevator group management system includes a user determination means and an operation control means. The user identification means extracts the features of the user from the images of the cameras installed inside the two cars or at the landings on each floor, and compares them with the features of the user learned in advance as a person with walking difficulties. By this, it is determined whether the user who has registered the wheelchair call is a person with walking difficulties. The operation control means controls the operation of the elevator that responded to the wheelchair call among the plurality of elevators when the user is determined to be a person with walking difficulties by the user determination means. Switching to all-floor operation where call registration is possible, and if the user is determined to be other than a person with walking difficulties, double operation is performed in which one of the two cars is stopped at an even-numbered floor and the other at an odd-numbered floor.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an elevator group management system according to an embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of the area around the entrance and exit in the car in the same embodiment. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the elevator group management system in the same embodiment. FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a method for recognizing a wheelchair user in the same embodiment. FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining a recognition method when a general user accompanies a wheelchair user in the same embodiment. FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating processing when a general user rides in the same car as Modification 1. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a case where a camera is installed in a hall as a second modification. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a configuration when a sound sensor is also used as a third modification.

Hereinafter, embodiments will be described with reference to the drawings.
Note that the disclosure is merely an example, and the invention is not limited to the content described in the embodiments below. Modifications that can be easily conceived by those skilled in the art are naturally included within the scope of the disclosure. In order to make the explanation more clear, in the drawings, the size, shape, etc. of each part may be changed from the actual embodiment and schematically represented. In some drawings, corresponding elements are designated by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof may be omitted.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an elevator group management system according to an embodiment, and shows a configuration in which a plurality of elevators 12a, 12b, 12c, . . . are group-managed. Note that the number of elevators is arbitrary, and it is sufficient if there are at least two or more elevators.

The elevators 12a, 12b, 12c, . . . are double-deck elevators in which two cars are connected, one above the other. The elevator 12a of car A has an upper car 13a and a lower car 14a arranged one above the other in one car frame. The upper car 13a and the lower car 14a move up and down in the same direction in the hoistway as one elevator. In this case, for example, when the lower car 14a stops on the first floor, the upper car 13a stops on the second floor. The same applies to the elevator 12b of the B car and the elevator 12c of the C car. The elevator 12b of car No. B has an upper car 13b and a lower car 14b, and the elevator 12c of car No. C has an upper car 13c and a lower car 14c.

Control devices 11a, 11b, 11c... of each car are provided corresponding to elevators 12a, 12b, 12c.... The A machine control device 11a controls the operation of the A machine elevator 12a. Specifically, the No. A car control device 11a controls an unillustrated motor (hoisting machine) for raising and lowering the upper car 13a and the lower car 14a, and controls opening and closing of doors. The same applies to the B-machine control device 11b and the C-machine control device 11c. The control devices 11a, 11b, 11c, . . . of each machine are constituted by a computer equipped with a CPU, ROM, RAM, etc.

Here, in this embodiment, cameras 15a, 15b, 15c... are installed in the upper cars 13a, 13b, 13c... of each car. Similarly, cameras 16a, 16b, 16c, . . . are installed in the cars 14a, 14b, 14c, . These cameras 15a, 15b, 15c..., cameras 16a, 16b, 16c... are used to identify users.

At the halls 21a, 21b, . . . on each floor, hall operation panels 22a, 22b, . . . are installed for users to register hall calls by operating buttons. In the example of FIG. 1, only one hall operation panel is shown in the hall of each floor, but for example, a plurality of hall operation panels may be installed corresponding to each car. A "hall call" is a call signal registered at the hall of each floor, and includes information on the registered floor and destination direction. On the other hand, a "car call" is a call signal registered in the car, and includes information on the destination floor.

Here, the hall operation panels 22a, 22b... each include general call buttons 23a, 23b... and wheelchair call buttons 24a, 24b.... General call buttons 23a, 23b... are provided for general users to register hall calls (hereinafter referred to as general calls), and consist of upward and downward buttons for specifying the direction of the user's destination ( On the bottom floor, there is only an up button, and on the top floor, there is only a down button). Wheelchair call buttons 24a, 24b... are provided for people with walking disabilities, including wheelchair users, to register a landing call (hereinafter referred to as a wheelchair call), and like those for general users, there are up and down buttons. (On the bottom floor, there is only an up button, and on the top floor, there is only a down button).

General call signals registered by the general call buttons 23a, 23b, . . . are given to the group management control device 31. Furthermore, the wheelchair call signals registered by the wheelchair call buttons 24a, 24b, .

The group management control device 31 exists as a main control device of this system. The group management control device 31 is a device that centrally controls the operation of the elevators 12a, 12b, 12c, . . . . The group management control device 31, like the control devices 11a, 11b, 11c, . . . of each car, is constituted by a computer equipped with a CPU, ROM, RAM, etc. In this embodiment, the group management control device 31 includes a storage section 32, an operation control section 33, and a user discrimination section 34. Note that these may be realized by software, hardware such as an IC (Integrated Circuit), or a combination of software and hardware.

The storage unit 32 stores information regarding hall calls (general calls/wheelchair calls) registered on any floor. When a hall call is registered, the operation control unit 33 performs an assignment process to allocate the hall call to any one of the elevators 12a, 12b, 12c, etc., and if the hall call is a wheelchair call. In accordance with the determination result of the user determination unit 34, control is performed to switch the operation of the elevator with the wheelchair call from double operation to all-floor operation.

"Double operation" is an operation in which one of the upper and lower cars of a double-deck elevator is stopped at an even-numbered floor and the other at an odd-numbered floor. "All-floor operation" is an operation in which all floors can be called and registered regardless of the upper or lower car, and the elevator moves through each floor like a single elevator. However, it is not possible to register the lowest floor for the upper basket, and it is not possible to register the highest floor for the lower basket.

When a wheelchair call is registered by operating one of the wheelchair call buttons 24a, 24b..., the user identification unit 34 uses a camera installed in the car to identify the user who has registered the wheelchair call. Determine. Specifically, the user determination unit 34 determines whether or not the user who has registered the wheelchair call is a person with walking difficulties, using images captured by a camera installed in the upper or lower car of the elevator that responded to the wheelchair call. Determine whether

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the structure of the area around the entrance and exit in the car. The upper and lower cars (upper cars 13a, 13b, 13c..., lower cars 14a, 14b, 14c...) of each car have basically the same configuration.

A car door 18 is provided at the entrance/exit of the car so that it can be opened and closed. In the example of FIG. 2, a double-opening type car door 18 is shown, and two door panels 18a and 18b constituting the car door 18 open and close in opposite directions along the frontage direction (horizontal direction). Note that the "frontage" is the same as the entrance and exit of the car.

Entrance pillars 41a and 41b are provided on both sides of the car entrance and surround the car entrance together with the curtain plate 17. The "entrance pillar" is also called the front pillar, and generally has a door pocket for storing the car door 18 on the back side. When the car door 18 is opened, one door panel 18a is stored in a door pocket 42a provided on the back side of the entrance pillar 41a, and the other door panel 18b is stored in a door pocket 42b provided on the back side of the entrance pillar 41b. . A display 43, a car operation panel 45 including a destination floor button 44, and a speaker 46 are installed on one or both of the entrance pillars 41a, 41b. In the example of FIG. 2, a speaker 46 is installed on the entrance pillar 41a, a display 43, and a car operation panel 45 are installed on the entrance pillar 41b. Depending on the specifications of the car, a display 43 and a car operation panel 45 may be separately installed at a low position on the side of the car for people with walking difficulties (wheelchair users).

Here, the camera 19 is installed in a curtain plate 17 horizontally arranged above the entrance/exit of the car. Note that the camera 19 corresponds to the cameras 15a, 15b, 15c, . . . and the cameras 16a, 16b, 16c, . . . shown in FIG. The camera 19 is, for example, a small surveillance camera such as a vehicle-mounted camera, has a wide-angle lens or a fisheye lens, and is capable of continuously capturing images at several frames per second (for example, 30 frames/second). The camera 19 is activated, for example, when the car arrives at one of the landings 21a, 21b, . . . on each floor, and photographs the interior of the car and the landing near the entrance.

Note that the camera 19 may be in operation all the time when the elevator is operating. In order to detect users of the landing until just before the door is closed, a camera 19 is attached to the car door 18 at the closed position. Specifically, if the car door 18 is a double-opening type, the camera 19 is attached to the center of the curtain plate 17.

Next, the operation of this system will be explained.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of this system. The processing shown in this flowchart is mainly executed by the group management control device 31.

Assume that the elevators 12a, 12b, 12c, . . . are currently in double operation. During double operation, for example, the upper cars 13a, 13b, 13c... stop at even-numbered floors (2F, 4F, 6F...), and the lower cars 14a, 14b, 14c... stop at odd-numbered floors (1F, 3F, 5F...). During such double driving, if a wheelchair call is registered by operating any of the wheelchair call buttons 24a, 24b, etc. for people with walking disabilities (Yes in step S11), the group management control device 31, Execute the process as follows.

For example, assume that a wheelchair call is registered by operating the wheelchair call button 24a installed at the landing 21a. When the group management control device 31 receives this wheelchair call signal, it selects a car (upper car or lower car) to which the wheelchair call is assigned based on the operating status of the elevators 12a, 12b, 12c, . . . (step S12). In addition, as the process for allocating wheelchair calls, for example, a method of selecting a predetermined car for wheelchairs, a method of selecting a car that can respond the fastest, a method of selecting a car with a small number of passengers, etc. be.

For example, assume that the upper car 13a of the elevator 12a is selected as the assigned car and the car arrives at the landing 21a. The group management control device 31 acquires an image taken when the door is opened from a camera 15a installed in the upper car 13a. The group management control device 31 extracts a user near the arrival gate of the upper car 13a from this image as a "user who has registered a wheelchair call" (step S13), and determines whether the user is a person with walking difficulties. (Step S14). A "user who has registered a wheelchair call" is a user who operated a wheelchair call button at a landing, and is often waiting near the arrival gate of the car that responded to the wheelchair call.

As a method for extracting a user from an image taken by a camera and identifying the user, a known technique such as machine learning is used, and a detailed explanation thereof will be omitted here. In addition, "persons with walking difficulties" are assumed to be wheelchair users, but for example, users who use walking aids such as crutches or canes, users who walk while pushing a stroller, and pregnant women. Users who have physical difficulty walking may also be included. As a method for identifying users, for example, a dictionary that has learned the features of users classified as people with walking difficulties through machine learning is used, and the features of the users extracted from the captured image are compared with the features in the dictionary. A method is used to make a judgment based on the combination of the two.

In addition, when focusing on wheelchair users, as shown in Figure 4, the wheelchair user rides the elevator alone, and as shown in Figure 5, the general user rides the elevator accompanied by the wheelchair user. There are cases. As in the example of FIG. 4, when only the wheelchair user can be extracted from the captured image, the wheelchair user can be determined as a person with walking difficulties. As in the example of FIG. 5, when a wheelchair user and a general user are extracted as one aggregate on a photographed image, the general user is recognized as a wheelchair user.

If the user who has registered the wheelchair call is determined to be a person with walking difficulties (Yes in step S14), the group management control device 31 temporarily releases the double operation restriction on the elevator 12a that responded to the wheelchair call. , the operation of the elevator 12a is switched to an all-floor operation in which all floors can be called and registered (step S15). As a result, when a person with walking disabilities gets on the upper car 13a of the elevator 12a, for example, by operating the destination floor button 44 on the car operation panel 45, the user can select his or her destination floor, including not only even-numbered floors but also odd-numbered floors. can be registered arbitrarily.

Furthermore, until the elevator 12a arrives at the destination floor of the person with walking disabilities, the group management control device 31 prohibits assignment of other hall calls to the elevator 12a (step S16). This prevents the elevator 12a, which is in operation on all floors, from stopping at each floor in response to another hall call, thereby reducing operating efficiency.

On the other hand, in step S14, if the user who registered the wheelchair call is other than a person with walking disabilities, the group management control device 31 determines that the registration of the wheelchair call is inappropriate, and requests double operation for the elevator 12a. The double operation is continued without canceling the restriction (step S18). Further, in step S11, if a general call is registered by operating one of the general call buttons 23a, 23b, etc., the group management control device 31 performs general call allocation processing (step S17). , continues the double operation (step S18).

As described above, according to the present embodiment, when a wheelchair call is registered, only if it is determined that the user is a person with walking difficulties using the camera image, the double driving restriction is canceled and all Switch to floor operation. This allows a person with walking difficulties to be directly transported to the destination floor even during double operation. On the other hand, if the person is not a person with walking difficulties, the double operation restriction can be dealt with without canceling, thereby preventing a drop in operating efficiency due to abuse of wheelchair calling. In addition, since cameras are used as a means of identifying users, there is no need for advance registration such as ID tags, and users who have difficulty walking, including wheelchair users, are correctly identified and all floors are operated. You can switch to

(Modified example)
(1) What to do when a general user gets into the same car There is a possibility that a general user gets into the car after a person with walking disabilities gets into the car (upper car or lower car) that responded to the wheelchair call. be. If a camera is installed inside the car, a general user can be detected even in the car, so double operation restrictions can be applied when the general user registers a destination floor.

FIG. 6 shows the processing at that time.
In step S15, for example, the restriction on double operation of the elevator 12a is released, and a person with walking disabilities is placed in the upper car 13a of the elevator 12a (step S21).

At this time, when the group management control device 31 detects that a user other than a person with walking disabilities has boarded the vehicle from the image of the camera 15a installed in the upper car 13a (Yes in step S22), the group management control device 31 registers the destination floor of the user. A double operation constraint is applied to (step S23). Specifically, the group management control device 31 controls the user so that, when the user comes near the car operation panel 45, a destination floor other than the stop floor defined as the double operation cannot be registered. At that time, a warning message such as "We are giving priority to wheelchair users. General users cannot go to floor XX" is sent through the display 43 and speaker 46 shown in Figure 2. You can also output it.

After the user's destination floor is registered in this way (step S25), when the upper car 13a closes the door (step S26: Yes), the elevator 12a departs for the user's destination floor (step S25). S27). In this case, in addition to the destination floor voluntarily registered by the person with walking difficulties, the destination floor that was originally designated as double operation will be subject to the stoppage, so even if a general user is on board, this will prevent a drop in operational efficiency. Can be done.

(2) Installing a camera at the landing As shown in Figure 7, at least one camera 54 is installed at the landing 50 on each floor, and the image from the camera 54 is analyzed and the user registers a wheelchair call. may be determined. 51a, 51b, and 51c in the figure indicate the landing doors of each car. 52a and 52b are general call buttons, and 53a and 53b are wheelchair buttons.

In the example of FIG. 7, one camera 54 is installed near the landing door 51b of car B, but a camera 54 may be installed for each car. When a wheelchair call is registered by operating the wheelchair button 53a or 53a, the group management control device 31 recognizes the image of this camera 54 and determines whether the user who registered the wheelchair call is a person with walking difficulties. Determine whether If the person has difficulty walking, the group management control device 31 switches the operation of the elevator that responded to the wheelchair call from double operation to all-floor operation. If the user is other than a person with walking difficulties, the group management control device 31 continues double operation of the elevator that responded to the wheelchair call.

(3) Combined use of sound sensors When a person with walking difficulties, such as a wheelchair user, gets into the car, a sound peculiar to the person with walking difficulties is generated. For example, if you are a wheelchair user, noise is generated when the wheels of your wheelchair move on the floor or cross sills (landing sills and car sills). Further, for example, if the user is using crutches or a cane, the sound of the crutch or cane hitting the floor of the hall will be generated.

As shown in FIG. 8, the user determination unit 34 provided in the group management control device 31 receives as input an image photographed by the camera 61 and a sound signal detected by the sound sensor 62. The camera 61 corresponds to the cameras 15a, 15b, 15c, . . . and the cameras 16a, 16b, 16c, . . . shown in FIG. The sound sensor 62 is installed, for example, near the entrance of the car (upper car and lower car) of each car.

The user determination unit 34 determines whether the user who has registered the wheelchair call is a person with walking difficulties, based on the image taken by the camera 61 and the sound signal detected by the sound sensor 62. In this case, if a person with walking difficulties is detected by image recognition and a sound signal specific to persons with walking difficulties is detected, the user determination unit 34 determines that the user who registered the wheelchair call is a person with walking difficulties. It is determined that there is. ``Detection of sound signals specific to people with walking disabilities'' is achieved by using a dictionary that has previously learned the patterns of sounds emitted by people with walking disabilities, such as the sounds of wheelchairs and the sounds of crutches, when they move.

On the other hand, even if a person with walking difficulties is detected by image recognition, if a sound signal specific to a person with walking difficulties is not detected, the user determination unit 34 determines that the user who has registered the wheelchair call is not a person with walking difficulties. judge. However, the method of using the sound sensor 62 in combination is effective when detecting people with walking difficulties who use walking aids that generate specific sounds, such as wheelchairs and crutches, and For people with difficulty, it is preferable to detect only the images taken by the camera 61.

According to at least one embodiment described above, an elevator that does not require advance registration and can prevent a decrease in operating efficiency by distinguishing between users with walking difficulties and general users and applying double operation. A group management system can be provided.

Although several 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 forms, and various omissions, substitutions, and changes can be made without departing from the gist of the invention. These embodiments and their modifications are included within the scope and gist of the invention, as well as within the scope of the invention described in the claims and its equivalents.

11a, 11b, 11c... Unit control device, 12a, 12b, 12c... Elevator, 13a, 13b, 13c... Upper car, 14a, 14b, 14c... Lower car, 15a, 15b, 15c... Camera, 16a, 16b, 16c... Camera, 21a, 21b... Hall, 22a, 22b... Hall operation panel, 23a, 23b... General call button, 24a, 24b... Wheelchair call button, 31... Group management control device, 32... Storage unit, 33... Driving control unit, 34...User identification unit.

Claims (6)

In an elevator group management system that controls the operation of multiple elevators having two cars connected vertically,
A wheelchair call is registered by extracting the features of the user from the images of the cameras installed in the above two cars or at the landings on each floor and comparing them with the features of the user previously learned as a person with walking difficulties. a user determination means for determining whether or not the user with walking disabilities is a person with walking difficulties;
If the user is determined to be a person with walking difficulties by the user identification means, the elevator that responded to the wheelchair call among the plurality of elevators will be called for all floors that can be registered. and an operation control means for performing double operation by switching to floor operation and stopping one of the two cars on an even-numbered floor and the other on an odd-numbered floor when the user is determined to be other than a person with walking difficulties. An elevator group management system characterized by: The above operation control means is
2. The elevator group management system according to claim 1, wherein when the operation of the elevator that has responded to the wheelchair call is switched to the all-floor operation, assignment of other hall calls to the elevator is prohibited. The above user identification means are:
2. The elevator group management system according to claim 1, wherein a user accompanying a person with walking difficulties is recognized as the person with walking difficulties. The above operation control means is
2. The elevator group according to claim 1, wherein when a user other than a person with walking disabilities gets on the elevator that has responded to the wheelchair call, the double operation restriction is applied to the destination floor registered by the user. management system. In an elevator group management system that controls the operation of multiple elevators having two cars connected vertically,
A user determination means for determining whether or not a user who has registered a wheelchair call is a person with walking difficulties, using images from cameras installed inside the two cars or at the landings on each floor;
If the user is determined to be a person with walking difficulties by the user identification means, the elevator that responded to the wheelchair call among the plurality of elevators will be called for all floors that can be registered. The system is equipped with operation control means that switches to floor operation and performs double operation in which one of the two cars is stopped on an even-numbered floor and the other on an odd-numbered floor when the user is determined to be other than a person with walking difficulties. ,
Equipped with a sound sensor installed near the entrance and exit of the car,
The above user identification means are:
An elevator group management system, characterized in that it determines whether or not the user is a person with walking difficulties in consideration of a sound signal detected by the sound sensor. The above user identification means are:
6. The elevator group management system according to claim 5, wherein when the sound sensor detects a sound signal specific to a person with walking difficulties, the user is determined to be a person with walking difficulties.

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