JP7461277B2 - Elevator group management control device and platform congestion avoidance control method. - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an elevator group management control device and a control method for avoiding crowding at elevator halls.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an elevator system is known in which a call is assigned to each elevator car based on destination floor information registered in a destination floor registration device provided at an elevator landing. In such elevator systems, controls are implemented to prevent each car to which passengers are assigned from becoming full, and to increase the efficiency of elevator boarding by encouraging users to get on and off the cars smoothly. .

For example, Patent Document 1 discloses that the occupied area occupied by the passenger in the car is calculated based on the detected silhouette of the passenger, and a predetermined space is secured in the car based on the occupied area and destination floor information. An elevator system is described that determines which car to assign to the passenger. According to the technology described in Patent Document 1, it is possible to secure a sufficient space allocated to each passenger within the car.

Patent Document 2 also describes an elevator guidance device that determines the boarding order to be guided into the car based on information on the number of passengers for each destination floor, and projects onto the hall a hall display image showing waiting positions, taxiways, and boarding guidance from the waiting positions to the car based on the boarding order information. The technology described in Patent Document 2 makes it possible to clearly guide passengers to the elevator waiting positions where they should board, and also enables passengers to smoothly board and disembark from the car, thereby reducing the time the car spends at the hall.

JP 2015-9902 A Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2015-218015

However, even if controls are implemented to prevent the elevator car from becoming full or to prevent the elevator car from being stopped for too long, if controls are not implemented to adjust the number of users staying at the platform, many users may flow into the platform, causing it to become crowded. In other words, there is a possibility that users may come into close contact with each other. Neither Patent Document 1 nor Patent Document 2 mentioned above discloses adjusting the number of users staying at the platform, and therefore it is not possible to prevent the platform from becoming crowded.

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above situation, and an object of the present invention is to prevent users from coming into close contact with each other at an elevator landing.

An elevator group management control device according to one embodiment of the present invention includes a landing congestion information generating unit that generates landing congestion information, which is information regarding the congestion state of a landing at each landing where the cars of a plurality of elevators that ascend and descend between a plurality of floors are stopped, due to users waiting for the cars to arrive; a landing congestion determination unit that determines whether or not the landing is crowded by comparing the landing congestion information with a first threshold value that is predetermined as a value that allows for a state in which users at the landing are not in close contact with each other; an in-car congestion information generating unit that generates car congestion information, which is information regarding the congestion state inside the car; an in-car congestion determination unit that determines whether or not the car is crowded by comparing the in-car congestion information with a second threshold value that is predetermined as a value that allows for a state in which users in the car are not in close contact with each other; and an assignment command processing unit that performs a process of assigning users to elevators. When the landing congestion information exceeds a first threshold value, or when the congestion information in the car exceeds a second threshold value and it is determined that there is no elevator available for allocation, the allocation command processing unit prohibits the creation of a call for the destination floor of the car at that landing, and controls the door of the security gate used by users heading to the landing to be in a closed state . When the landing congestion information exceeds the first threshold value, the allocation command processing unit prohibits the creation of a call for the destination floor of the car at that landing, regardless of the presence of a car with a low passenger rate. The first threshold value is a value smaller than the upper limit of the number of users that the landing can physically accommodate or the upper limit of the area occupied by users at the landing, and is set to a value that makes it possible to create spatial leeway in the landing. The second threshold value is a value smaller than the upper limit of the number of users that the car can physically accommodate or the upper limit of the area occupied by users in the car, and is set to a value that makes it possible to create spatial leeway in the car.

Furthermore, a landing congestion avoidance control method according to one aspect of the present invention is a landing congestion avoidance control method for an elevator, comprising: a landing congestion information generation unit that generates landing congestion information, which is information regarding the congestion state of the landing at each landing where the cars of a plurality of elevators moving up and down between a plurality of floors are stopped, by users waiting for the arrival of the cars; a landing congestion determination unit that determines whether the landing is crowded or not by comparing the landing congestion information with a first threshold value that is predetermined as a value that allows for a state in which users in the landing are not in close contact with each other; an in-car congestion information generation unit that generates car congestion information, which is information regarding the congestion state inside the car; an in-car congestion determination unit that determines whether the car is crowded or not by comparing the in-car congestion information with a second threshold value that is predetermined as a value that allows for a state in which users in the car are not in close contact with each other; and an assignment command processing unit that performs a process of assigning users to elevators . A method for controlling congestion avoidance at a landing according to one aspect of the present invention includes a procedure in which, when the landing congestion information exceeds a first threshold value, or when the congestion information in the car exceeds a second threshold value and it is determined that there is no elevator available for allocation, an allocation command processor prohibits creation of a call for a destination floor of a car at the landing and closes a door of a security gate used by a user heading to the landing . When the landing congestion information exceeds the first threshold value, the allocation command processor prohibits creation of a call for a destination floor of a car at the landing, regardless of whether there is a car with a low passenger rate, the first threshold value is set to a value that is smaller than the upper limit of the number of users that the landing can physically accommodate or the upper limit of the occupied area of the users at the landing and allows for spatial clearance to be created at the landing, and the second threshold value is set to a value that is smaller than the upper limit of the number of users that the car can physically accommodate or the upper limit of the occupied area of the users at the car and allows for spatial clearance to be created in the car.

According to at least one aspect of the present invention, it is possible to prevent users from coming into close contact with each other at an elevator landing.
Problems, configurations, and effects other than those described above will be made clear by the following description of the embodiments.

1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an elevator system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of each device included in the elevator system according to one embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a landing destination floor registration device according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a perspective view showing a configuration example of a security gate according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of the state of a platform when platform congestion avoidance control is not being performed according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the state of a security gate when platform congestion avoidance control is performed according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of the state of a landing area when the landing area congestion avoidance control is performed according to an embodiment of the present invention. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a procedure for a platform congestion avoidance control process by a group management control device according to an embodiment of the present invention. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a procedure for a platform congestion avoidance control process by a group management control device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the state of a landing on the first floor and a landing on the second floor of a building according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Hereinafter, examples of modes for carrying out the present invention (hereinafter referred to as "embodiments") will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. The present invention is not limited to the embodiments, and various numerical values and the like in the embodiments are merely examples. In addition, in this specification and the drawings, the same components or components having substantially the same functions are designated by the same reference numerals, and redundant explanations will be omitted.

<Schematic configuration of elevator system>
An elevator system according to an embodiment of the present invention has a configuration of a group management system that collectively manages a plurality of elevators, has a security gate at the entrance/exit of a landing, and authenticates users who pass through the security gate. Equipped with a security management device.

First, with reference to FIG. 1, the configuration of an elevator system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an elevator system 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[System configuration]
As shown in FIG. 1, the elevator system 100 of this embodiment includes a landing destination floor registration device 1, an information reading terminal device 2, a landing destination floor reading section 3, a gate control section 4, a security management device 5, an elevator section 6, It includes a car control device 7, a group management control device 8, an input/output control section 9, and the like. Hereinafter, each elevator in the elevator section 6 may be referred to as a "machine".

[Platform destination floor registration device]
The landing destination floor registration device 1 is a device for a user to register a destination floor name at an elevator landing P (hereinafter sometimes simply referred to as a "landing") (see FIG. 5). They are installed near corridors, near entrances and exits of buildings, near entrances to platform P, etc. The landing destination floor registration device 1 includes an operation display section 11 . The operation display section 11 is configured of a touch panel or the like in which a panel made of an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), an organic EL (Electro-Luminescence), etc., and a touch sensor as an operation section are integrally formed.

The platform destination floor registration device 1 transmits information about the destination floor registered by the user and the floor where the destination floor call registration operation was performed, i.e., the departure floor, to the input/output control unit 9. The configuration of the platform destination floor registration device 1 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 3 below.

[Information reading terminal device]
The information reading terminal device 2 is a device that reads a pre-registered user ID from an information medium such as an IC tag or an IC card carried by the user, or from a mobile terminal. (see 4). The information reading terminal device 2 is comprised of, for example, a card reader, an NFC (Near Field Communication) reader, or the like. The information reading terminal device 2 also has a configuration for acquiring information from a mobile terminal through a Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity, registered trademark) device, Bluetooth (registered trademark), or the like. Then, when the information reading terminal device 2 reads the user ID from the information medium or mobile terminal owned by the user, the information reading terminal device 2 transmits the read user ID to the landing destination floor reading section 3.

[Platform destination floor reading unit]
The platform destination floor reading unit 3 has an information reading unit 31, a display control unit 32, etc., and is connected to the platform destination floor registration device 1 and the information reading terminal device 2. The information reading unit 31 acquires destination floor information transmitted from the platform destination floor registration device 1, or a user ID transmitted from the information reading terminal device 2. The platform destination floor reading unit 3 then transmits the acquired information to the input/output control unit 9.

For example, suppose that a user inputs "10th floor" as the destination floor into the platform destination floor registration device 1 installed on the first floor of a building. In this case, the information reading unit 21 of the platform destination floor reading unit 3 reads the information that the departure floor is "1st floor" and the destination floor is "10th floor" and transmits this information to the input/output control unit 9.

The display control unit 32 controls the display of various information on the screen of the operation display unit 11 of the platform destination floor registration device 1. For example, when the platform destination floor reading unit 3 receives destination floor information transmitted from the platform destination floor registration device 1, the display control unit 32 controls the display of the destination floor information on the screen of the operation display unit 11 of the platform destination floor registration device 1.

In addition, when the assigned elevator information transmitted from the group management control device 8 is received by the platform destination floor reading unit 3 via the input/output control unit 9, the display control unit 32 controls the display of the assigned elevator information on the screen of the operation display unit 11 of the platform destination floor registration device 1, etc.

[Gate control section]
The gate control section 4 includes an information reading section 41, a gate opening/closing section 42, a notification control section 43, and the like. The information reading unit 41 receives user ID information from the information reading terminal device 2 when the information reading terminal device 2 reads the user ID of a user passing through the security gate 300 (see FIG. 4). When the information reading section 41 receives the user ID, the gate opening/closing section 42 controls the security gate 300 to open the door 302 (see FIG. 4) leading to the landing P (see FIG. 5).

In this embodiment, even if the information reading unit 41 receives a user ID, if a gate closing command is sent from the group management control device 8, the gate opening/closing unit 42 controls the door 302 at the security gate 300 leading to the landing P to remain closed.

The notification control unit 43 controls the turning on and off of the indicator light (not shown) that guides the user, the display operation of the display unit 303 of the security gate 300 (see Figure 4), etc.

In this embodiment, an example was given in which the information reading section 31 of the landing destination floor reading section 3 and the information reading section 41 of the gate control section 4 are configured separately, but the present invention is not limited to this. These may be constructed integrally.

[Security management device]
The security management device 5 includes an input information reception processing section 51, an entrance judgment processing section 52, an exit judgment processing section 53, a registered ID management processing section 54, an elevator information transmission processing section 55, a gate control processing section 56, etc. include.

The input information reception processing unit 51 receives various information transmitted from the input/output control unit 9. From the input/output control unit 9 to the input information reception processing unit 51, the user ID transmitted to the input/output control unit 9 from the platform destination floor reading unit 3, the gate control unit 4, etc., and the group management control device 8 Gate opening/closing commands and the like are transmitted to the input/output control unit 9.

The entrance person determination processing unit 52 detects entrance persons based on the user ID transmitted from the information reading terminal device 2 installed at the security gate 300 (see FIG. 4). The exit person determination processing unit 53 detects exit persons based on the user ID transmitted from the information reading terminal device 2 installed at the security gate 300.

The registered ID management processing unit 54 manages a table or DB (database) (not shown) that associates user IDs with user authentication information or user type information, etc. When the registered ID management processing unit 54 receives a user ID from the input/output control unit 9, it determines whether the user ID matches an ID pre-registered in the table or DB. If the user ID matches a pre-registered ID, the registered ID management processing unit 54 acquires user type information associated with the ID information. The user type information indicates, for example, the gender of the user, whether the user is a wheelchair user, or whether the user is pregnant.

The elevator information transmission processing unit 55 transmits information that associates the user type information extracted by the registration ID management processing unit 54 with the departure floor and destination floor information for the user ID to the group management control device 8 via the input/output control unit 9.

When the entrance determination processing unit 52 detects an entrance, or when the exit determination processing unit 53 detects an exit, the gate control processing unit 56 transmits a gate opening/closing signal to the gate control unit 4 via the input/output control unit 9.

[Elevator section]
The elevator unit 6 has N units of elevators 6_1, ..., 6_N. The N units of elevators 6_1, ..., 6_N of the elevator unit 6 are collectively managed under the control of a group management control device 8, and the most suitable units for users are assigned in terms of waiting time and the like. Each unit of elevators 6_1, ..., 6_N of the elevator unit 6 has a well-known configuration in which, for example, a car 61 and a counterweight 62 installed in a hoistway are connected to both ends of a main rope 63, and the main rope 63 is wound around a sheave 64 and a pulley 65 of a hoisting machine. In the following description, when it is not necessary to distinguish between the units of elevators 6_1, ..., 6_N, they are collectively referred to as unit 6.

The car 61 is provided with a door 611 that can be opened and closed. When the car 61 arrives at the landing P (see FIG. 5), the door 611 opens, and the door opening operation also opens the landing door (not shown). After the car 61 arrives at the platform P, it waits for a predetermined period of time with the door 611 open. Waiting for the car 61 at the landing P with the door 611 open is called waiting with the door open.

When a user (passenger) boarding the car 61 operates a door close button (not shown) on the controller inside the car 61 or when the maximum door opening time limit elapses, the car 61 closes the door 611. close. Then, the landing door is also closed by the door closing operation. When the door is closed, the car 61 leaves the platform P and moves to the floor designated by the destination floor call.

[Unit control device]
The car control device 7 has car control devices 7_1, ..., 7_N provided corresponding to each of the cars 6_1, ..., 6_N. The car control devices 7_1, ..., 7_N control the operation of each of the cars 6_1, ..., 6_N. More specifically, the car control devices 7_1, ..., 7_N mainly control the operation of each of the cars 6_1, ..., 6_N by issuing running commands to each floor and door opening/closing commands to the car 61 installed in the elevator shaft.

[Group management control device]
The group management control device 8 (an example of an elevator group management control device) includes a learning system 81, an intelligence system 82, and an operation management control system 83. The learning system 81 determines which operation program is optimal from information collected by daily operation management, or learns the daily operation status by floor, thereby learning the crowded destination floors for each departure floor and calculating the high-demand floors. The intelligence system 82 performs a simulation using the information collected by the learning system 81, and automatically generates an optimal operation program.

The operation management control system 83 manages the operation of a plurality of (N) elevator cars 6_1, . . . , 6_N in the elevator section 6. Specifically, the operation management control system 83 performs processes such as assigning a car 6 to a destination floor call and managing the door opening time of each car 6.

The operation management control system 83 includes, for example, an input information receiving processing unit 831, an allocation command processing unit 832, a utilization status statistics processing unit 833, a platform capacity threshold setting unit 834, a car capacity threshold setting unit 835, a platform congestion prediction unit 836, etc. Furthermore, the operation management control system 83 includes an in-car congestion prediction unit 837, an in-car congestion determination unit 838, a platform congestion determination unit 839, and a platform guidance processing unit 840, etc.

The input information reception processing unit 831 receives various information transmitted from the input/output control unit 9.

The allocation command processing unit 832 assigns a destination floor based on the information on the user's departure floor and destination floor, the elevator operation status, etc. transmitted from the landing destination floor reading unit 3 via the input/output control unit 9. Allocate the call number to machine number 6. The allocation command processing unit 832 also refers to the determination result of the in-car congestion determination unit 838 and the determination result of the platform congestion determination unit 839, which will be described later, as the elevator operation status.

For example, if the car to be allocated is full, or if the in-car congestion state information for the car exceeds the car accommodating tolerance threshold (the car is full), the allocation command processing unit 832 Change the machine number to another machine number. Further, if the allocation command processing unit 832 determines that there is no machine that can be allocated, the allocation command processing unit 832 requests the gate control unit 4 via the input/output control unit 9 to close the door 302 on the entrance side of the security gate 300. Send commands.

In addition, the allocation command processing unit 832 does not generate a destination floor call registration if congestion at the boarding station P is predicted, even if there is a car 61 with a low occupancy rate.Then, the allocation command processing unit 832 sends a command to the gate control unit 4 via the input/output control unit 9 to close the door 302 on the entrance side of the security gate 300.

By performing such control (hereinafter referred to as "land congestion avoidance control") by the allocation command processing unit 832, it is possible to prevent users from flowing into the landing P from outside the security gate 300. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the boarding area P from becoming crowded.

The allocation command processing unit 832 also transmits a code or the like specifying a message to be displayed on the display unit 303 (see FIG. 4) of the security gate 300 to the gate control unit 4 via the input/output control unit 9. As a result, a message or the like informing the user that entry to platform P is not permitted is displayed on the display unit 303 of the security gate 300, so the user can know why the door 302 of the security gate 300 will not open. The allocation command processing unit 832 may send message text or an image instead of a code. The allocation command processing unit 832 may also transmit a code indicating a message or the message itself to a mobile terminal or the like carried by the user.

In addition, for example, when congestion at platform P is predicted and there are multiple cars 61 scheduled to arrive at the platform P, the allocation command processing unit 832 performs control to stagger the timing of opening the doors of each car 61 (platform congestion avoidance control). By performing such control by the allocation command processing unit 832, users are prevented from disembarking from multiple cars 61 at the same time, and therefore platform P can be prevented from becoming overcrowded.

The allocation command processing unit 832 does not need to perform all of the above-mentioned controls as the platform congestion avoidance control. The allocation command processing unit 832 may perform only one of the platform congestion avoidance controls described above, or may perform a combination of some of the platform congestion avoidance controls described above.

The usage statistics processing unit 833 counts the number of users assigned to each machine 6 by the allocation command processing unit 832. For example, if a user whose departure floor is the 1st floor and whose destination floor is the 10th floor is assigned to car 6_1 by the assignment command processing unit 832, the usage statistics processing unit 833 Add "1" to the number.

The landing accommodating threshold setting unit 834 sets the number of people that can be accommodated in the landing P, the area occupied by users, etc. as the landing accommodating threshold (an example of a first threshold). The landing area capacity threshold is set to a number of people or an occupied area that does not cause crowding at the landing area. A state in which the platform P is not crowded is a state in which users at the platform are not in close contact with each other, and is, for example, a state in which it is possible to maintain the minimum social distance between users. Therefore, the platform accommodation tolerance threshold is set to a value smaller than 100%, such as 80% when the upper limit of the number of users or the occupied area that the platform P can physically accommodate is 100%.

The cage accommodating tolerance threshold setting unit 835 sets the number of people that can be accommodated in the cage 61 or the area occupied by users as the cage accommodating tolerance threshold (an example of a second threshold). The cage accommodating tolerance threshold is set to a number of people or an area occupied by users that does not cause overcrowding inside the cage 61. For example, if the upper limit of the number of users or the area occupied by users that the cage 61 can physically accommodate is set to 100%, the cage accommodating tolerance threshold is set to a value smaller than 100%, such as 80%.

The platform congestion prediction unit 836 (an example of a platform congestion state information generation unit) predicts the congestion state of platform P based on the platform capacity tolerance threshold set by the platform capacity tolerance threshold setting unit 834 and the statistical results by the usage status statistical processing unit 833. The congestion state of platform P is indicated by the number of users at platform P and the area occupied by users at platform P, and the platform congestion prediction unit 836 generates this information as "platform congestion information."

The car congestion prediction unit 837 (an example of a car congestion information generation unit) predicts the congestion state in the car 61 based on the threshold set by the car accommodation tolerance threshold setting unit 835 and the statistical results by the usage status statistical processing unit 833. The congestion state of the car 61 is indicated by the number of users in the car 61 and the area occupied by the users in the car 61, and the car congestion prediction unit 837 generates this information as "car congestion information."

Note that prediction of the congestion state in the elevator 61 and prediction of the congestion state at the platform P may be based on the analysis results of images of users captured by a camera (not shown) or the detection results of users by a sensor (not shown).

The in-car congestion determination unit 838 compares the in-car congestion state information generated by the in-car congestion prediction unit 837 with the car accommodation permissible threshold set by the car accommodation permissible threshold setting unit 835. Determine whether the room is crowded or not. When the in-car congestion information exceeds the car accommodation permissible threshold, the in-car congestion determination unit 838 determines that the inside of the car 61 is crowded.

The platform congestion determination unit 839 determines whether the platform P is crowded by comparing the platform congestion state information generated by the platform congestion prediction unit 836 and the platform capacity tolerance threshold set by the platform capacity tolerance threshold setting unit 834. Determine whether or not there is. If the landing area congestion state information exceeds the landing area capacity tolerance threshold, the in-car congestion determination unit 838 determines that the landing area P is crowded.

The platform guidance processing section 840 transmits various commands generated under the control of the allocation command processing section 832 to the input/output control section 9 .

Note that the functional configuration of the group management control device 8 is not limited to the example shown in FIG. A certain function and another function may be integrated into a single function, a certain machine may be divided into a plurality of functions, or functions not shown in FIG. 1 may be added.

[Example of computer hardware configuration]
Next, the hardware configuration of each device for realizing the functions of the control system of the elevator system 100 shown in Fig. 1 will be described with reference to Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of each device provided in the elevator system 100.

Here, the above-mentioned landing destination floor registration device 1, information reading terminal device 2, landing destination floor reading section 3, gate control section 4, security management device 5, car control device 7, group management control device 8, and input/output An example of the hardware configuration of the computer 200 included in the control unit 9 will be described.

The calculator 200 is hardware used as a so-called computer. The calculator 200 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 201, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 202, and a RAM (Random Access Memory) 203, each of which is connected to a bus B. The calculator 200 further includes a display unit 204, an operation unit 205, a non-volatile storage 206, and a network interface 207.

The CPU 201 reads out from the ROM 202 a software program code that implements each function according to the present embodiment and executes it. Note that the computer 200 may include a processing device such as an MPU (Micro-Processing Unit) instead of the CPU 201.

Variables and parameters generated during the calculation process are temporarily written to the RAM 203. The display unit 204 is, for example, a monitor configured with an LCD or the like, and displays the results of the processing performed by the calculator 200. The operation unit 205 is, for example, a keyboard, a mouse, etc.

The non-volatile storage 206 may be, for example, a hard disk drive (HDD), a solid state drive (SSD), a flexible disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, a CD-ROM, a CD-R, a magnetic tape, a non-volatile memory card, etc. In addition to the operating system (OS) and various parameters, programs for operating the computer 200 are recorded in this non-volatile storage 206.

The network interface 207 may be, for example, a network interface card (NIC), and may transmit and receive various types of data to and from external devices via a network such as a LAN or a communication line.

[Configuration of the platform destination floor registration device]
Next, the configuration of the landing destination floor registration device 1 will be described with reference to Fig. 3. Fig. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the landing destination floor registration device 1. As shown in Fig. 3, the landing destination floor registration device 1 includes an operation display unit 11. In the example shown in Fig. 3, the screen of the operation display unit 11 displays a message "Please input the destination floor" along with keys "0" to "9" for inputting a destination floor. By touching these keys, a user can register a desired destination floor in the landing destination floor registration device 1. In addition, after the destination floor call registration has been performed, alphabets or numbers indicating the destination floor are displayed on the screen of the operation display unit 11 of the landing destination floor registration device 1.

[Security gate configuration]
Next, the configuration of the security gate 300 will be described with reference to FIG. 4. The security gate 300 is a gate that permits or denies a user's entry into or exit from the platform P. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a configuration example of the security gate 300. As shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, the security gate 300 includes a main body portion 301, an information reading terminal device 2, a door 302, a display portion 303, and the like.

In the example shown in FIG. 4A, the message "Please Tap the Card" is displayed on the display unit 303. This message encourages a user who wishes to pass through the security gate 300 to hold an IC card or the like over the top surface of the information reading terminal device 2. When this message is displayed, the door 302 is closed. If the user ID information acquired from the IC card held over the top surface of the information reading terminal device 2 by the user is registered, that is, if it is determined that the owner of the IC card is a user authorized to enter, the door 302 opens.

In the example shown in FIG. 4B, door 302 is open, and the letter "A" is displayed on display unit 303. This "A" is the letter indicating the name of the car for which the destination floor call registration was made. A user who sees this message can move to the front of car 6 called "A" and wait for the arrival of car 61 heading for the destination floor.

[Overview of platform congestion avoidance control using group management control device]
Next, an overview of platform congestion avoidance control by the group management control device 8 according to the present embodiment will be explained with reference to FIGS. 5 to 7. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of the state of the platform P when the platform congestion avoidance control is not performed. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the state of the security gate 300 when the platform congestion avoidance control is performed. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of the state of the platform P when the platform congestion avoidance control is performed.

In the example shown in FIG. 5, normal control is performed as the opening/closing control of the security gate 300. That is, an information medium such as an IC card of a user U who is about to enter the platform P is read by the information reading terminal device 2 provided at the security gate 300, and the security management device 5 allows the user U to enter the platform. When the security gate 300 is opened, the door 302 of the security gate 300 is opened. FIG. 5 shows how, in a situation where such normal control is being performed, many users U have flowed into the platform P, and the platform P has begun to become crowded.

Under such a situation, if the platform congestion determination unit 839 of the group management control device 8 determines that the platform P is crowded, the allocation command processing unit 832 sends a message to the gate control unit via the input/output control unit 9. 4, a command to close (remain closed/not open) the door 302 of the security gate 300 and a code indicating a message indicating that entry to the landing area is prohibited are transmitted. As a result, as shown in FIG. 6, messages such as "ALL LIFT FULL" and "PLEASE WAIT A MINUTES" are displayed on the display unit 303 of the security gate 300, and the door 302 is maintained in a closed state.

As a result of such control, as shown in FIG. 7, the user U who wants to move into the platform P cannot pass through the security gate 300, and therefore has to wait outside the security gate 300. become. This prevents the users U who are outside the security gate 300 from flowing into the platform P, thereby preventing the platform P from becoming crowded.

If the congestion at the platform P is resolved by the user U staying at the platform P being transported to the destination floor using one of the elevators 6_1 to 6_6, the platform congestion determination is made. The board 839 determines that the platform P is not crowded. In this case, the destination floor call registration is performed by the assignment command processing unit 832, and a command to open the door 302 of the security gate 300 is transmitted. This allows the user U who was outside the security gate 300 to move into the platform P.

Further, in this embodiment, in addition to the control illustrated in FIGS. 5 to 7, the group management control device 8 performs control such as shifting the door opening timing of each car 611 of cars 6_1 to 6_6. This control can prevent the boarding area P from becoming crowded.

[Platform congestion avoidance control process using group management control device]
Next, with reference to FIGS. 8 and 9, the procedure of the platform congestion avoidance control process by the group management control device 8 will be described. 8 and 9 are flowcharts illustrating an example of the procedure of the platform congestion avoidance control process by the group management control device 8.

FIG. 8 shows an example of a procedure for car number assignment processing and opening/closing processing for the security gate 300 in the platform congestion avoidance control.

First, the allocation command processing unit 832 (see FIG. 1) of the group management control device 8 acquires the hall accommodation tolerance threshold from the hall accommodation tolerance threshold setting unit 834 and the car accommodation tolerance threshold from the car accommodation tolerance threshold setting unit 835 (step S1). Next, the allocation command processing unit 832 determines whether departure floor/destination floor information and user ID information have been input to the input information receiving processing unit 831 (step S2).

If it is determined in step S2 that this information has not been input (if step S2 is judged as NO), the allocation command processing unit 832 repeats the judgment in step S2. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S2 that this information has been input (if step S2 is judged as YES), the allocation command processing unit 832 extracts the departure floor (the floor where the boarding area P is located), the destination floor, and the type information of the user U (step S3).

The information on user U extracted in step S3 is used when the platform congestion prediction unit 836 predicts the congestion state of platform P, and when the car congestion prediction unit 837 predicts the congestion state inside the car 61. Specifically, the type information on user U is referenced when calculating the area (proportion) of platform P or car 61 that user U occupies.

For example, if the type information of user U states that user U is a wheelchair user or that user U is a pregnant woman, the user U The proportion of the boarding area P or the car 61 is larger than that of users who do not have these types of information. That is, by referring to the attribute information of the user U, the landing area congestion prediction unit 836 or the in-car congestion prediction unit 837 can more accurately grasp the congestion state in the landing area P or the car 61.

Next, the assignment command processing unit 832 determines whether the floor specified as the destination floor is a floor present in the elevator (step S4). For example, if the destination floor set via the information reading terminal device 2 of the security gate 300 or the landing destination floor registration device 1 is a floor higher than the highest floor of the elevator, i.e., if the input is incorrect, step S4 will be judged as NO.

If it is determined in step S4 that the destination floor is a floor present within the elevator (if step S4 is determined as YES), the allocation command processing unit 832 determines whether the floor specified as the destination floor is a floor at which the car 61 can stop (step S5). Floors at which the car 61 cannot stop include, for example, floors where no tenants or residents exist, floors protected by security, and other floors where elevator service is not provided.

If it is determined in step S5 that the destination floor is a floor on which the car 61 can stop (YES in step S5), the allocation command processing unit 832 specifies the car to be occupied (step S6). The car to be fully occupied is a car that is expected to be full, that is, the crowded state of the car 61 exceeds the car accommodation permissible threshold.

Then, the allocation command processing unit 832 determines whether or not there is a car to which user U can be allocated (step S7). A car to which user U can be allocated is a car that is not actually full or a car that is not subject to being full. If it is determined in step S7 that there is a car that can be allocated (if step S7 is determined to be YES), the platform congestion determination unit 839 determines whether or not the platform congestion state information exceeds the platform capacity threshold (simply indicated as "threshold" in the figure) (step S8).

If it is determined in step S8 that the platform congestion information does not exceed the platform capacity threshold (if step S8 is judged as NO), the allocation command processing unit 832 performs car number allocation processing (step S9).

Then, the hall guidance processing unit 840 transmits information about the car number assigned in step S9 to the hall destination floor registration device 1 via the input/output control unit 9 (step S10). As a result, the name of the floor registered in the destination floor call is displayed on the operation display unit 11 of the hall destination floor registration device 1. After the processing of step S10, the hall congestion avoidance control processing by the group management control device 8 ends.

On the other hand, if step S7 is judged as NO or step S8 is judged as YES, the allocation command processing unit 832 generates a command to prohibit the creation of a destination floor call at hall P and to close the security gate 300. The generated command is then sent by the hall guidance processing unit 840 to the gate control unit 4 via the input/output control unit 9 (step S11).

By prohibiting creation of a destination floor call at the landing P, a state in which the user U waits at the landing P does not occur. Further, based on the command to close the security gate 300, the door 312 of the security gate 300 is closed, so that the user U cannot enter the platform P from the security gate 300. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the boarding area P from becoming crowded.

Next, the landing guidance processing unit 840 transmits the reason why the car number cannot be assigned (or a code indicating the reason, etc.) to the landing destination floor registration device 1 via the input/output control unit 9 (step S12). Even when the determination in step S4 or step S5 is NO, the process in step S12 is performed. After the processing in step S12, the platform congestion avoidance control processing by the group management control device 8 ends.

Note that when the platform congestion determination unit 839 of the group management control device 8 determines that the platform P is crowded, the message that the allocation command processing unit 832 displays on the display unit 303 of the security gate 300 is the message described above. It is not limited to "ALL Lift FULL" or "PLEASE WAIT A MINUTES". For example, a message such as "The boarding area is crowded, please wait for a while" may be used to inform that the boarding area is crowded. Further, the contents of these messages will be different depending on whether the determination in step S7 in FIG. 8 is NO or the case in which the determination in step S8 is NO. By displaying such a message, the user U can appropriately understand the situation in which he or she is placed.

Figure 9 shows an example of the procedure for controlling the timing of opening the doors 611 of the elevator car 61 in the platform congestion avoidance control. First, the allocation command processing unit 832 (see Figure 1) of the group management control device 8 acquires the platform capacity tolerance threshold from the platform capacity tolerance threshold setting unit 834 (step S21).

Next, the platform congestion determination unit 839 acquires platform congestion state information from the platform congestion prediction unit 836 (step S22). Next, the platform congestion determination unit 839 determines whether the number of users U or the occupied area, etc. of the platform P, acquired as the platform congestion state information in step S22, exceeds the platform accommodation allowable threshold (step S23).

If it is determined in step S23 that the platform congestion state information exceeds the platform capacity threshold (if step S23 is judged as YES), the allocation command processing unit 832 judges whether there are multiple vehicles scheduled to stop at platform P (step S24). If it is determined in step S24 that there are multiple vehicles scheduled to stop at platform P (if step S24 is judged as YES), the allocation command processing unit 832 sends a command to the vehicle control device 7 to stagger the door opening timing of each of the multiple vehicles (step S25).

By performing such control, a large number of users boarding multiple cars will not get off at the same time and flow into the platform P, which will cause the platform P to become crowded. This can be prevented. After the process in step S25, or if the determination in step S23 or step S24 is NO, the platform congestion avoidance control process by the group management control device 8 ends.

Note that in the example shown in FIG. 9, if the determination in step S24 is NO, that is, if there are no multiple cars scheduled to stop at the platform P, the process ends there; however, the present invention is not limited to this. . Even when there is only one car scheduled to stop at the platform P, control may be performed to delay the timing of opening the door, such as waiting until the congestion at the platform P is resolved and then opening the door. By performing such control, it is also possible to prevent the boarding area P from becoming crowded.

In the example shown in FIG. 9, the door opening timing of the car 61 is controlled to prevent the platform P from becoming overcrowded, but the present invention is not limited to this. If the platform P is crowded when the car 61 arrives at the platform P, control may be performed to stop the car 61 at a floor other than the destination floor where the platform P is located. For example, when the car 61 is ascending, control may be performed to stop the car 61 at the floor one floor below the destination floor, or when the car 61 is descending, control may be performed to stop the car 61 at the floor one floor above the destination floor.

Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the allocation command processing unit 832 generates in-car congestion state information indicating the number of users expected to use the car 61 or the occupied area even if the car 61 is not full. If the car accommodation permissible threshold is exceeded, the car 61 is not allocated. In other words, according to this embodiment, it is possible to prevent the inside of the car 61 from becoming crowded.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of the state of the landing area P1 on the first floor and the landing area P2 on the second floor of a building. In the example shown in FIG. 10, a large number of users U are shown waiting at a landing P1 on the first floor of a building (denoted as "1FL" in the figure). There are not that many users U waiting at platform P2 on the second floor of the building (denoted as "2FL" in the figure).

If the platform congestion avoidance control according to this embodiment is not performed, a situation may occur in which the elevator car 61 departs from platform P1 while the elevator car 61 is full. In this case, a user U waiting for the elevator at platform P2 on the second floor of the building cannot board the elevator car 61 that has come up from the first floor.

On the other hand, when the platform congestion avoidance control according to the present embodiment is performed, the number of users U accommodated in the car 61 is equal to or less than the car accommodation allowable threshold. Therefore, the car 61 is not full, and the car 61 departs from the landing P1 on the first floor with sufficient space. Therefore, the user U who is waiting on the second floor, shown on the right side of FIG. 10, can also board the car 61. In other words, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to prevent the user U from the second floor or later from taking a long time to use the car 61.

The present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, and various other applications and modifications are possible without departing from the spirit of the present invention as described in the claims.

For example, the above-mentioned embodiment examples have described the configuration of the device and system in detail and specifically in order to explain the present invention in an easy-to-understand manner, and are not necessarily limited to having all of the configurations described. Furthermore, it is possible to replace part of the configuration of one embodiment example with the configuration of another embodiment example. It is also possible to add the configuration of another embodiment example to the configuration of one embodiment example. It is also possible to add, delete, or replace part of the configuration of each embodiment example with other configurations.

Further, the control lines and information lines are shown to be necessary for explanation purposes, and not all control lines and information lines are necessarily shown in the product. In reality, almost all components may be considered to be interconnected.

In addition, in this specification, the processing steps describing chronological processing include not only processing that is performed chronologically in the order described, but also processing that is not necessarily performed chronologically but is performed in parallel or individually (for example, parallel processing or processing by objects).

Moreover, each component of the image processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present disclosure described above may be implemented in any hardware as long as the respective hardware can send and receive information to and from each other via a network. Moreover, the processing performed by a certain processing unit may be realized by one piece of hardware, or may be realized by distributed processing by a plurality of pieces of hardware.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Platform destination floor registration device, 2... Information reading terminal device, 3... Platform destination floor reading section, 4... Gate control section, 5... Security management device, 6... Elevator section, 8... Group management control device, 9... Input Output control section, 83... Operation management control system, 100... Elevator system, 832... Assignment command processing section, 833... Usage status statistics processing section, 834... Platform accommodation permissible threshold value setting section, 835... Car accommodation permissible threshold value setting section, 836 ... platform congestion prediction unit, 837... congestion prediction unit, 838... congestion determination unit, 839... platform congestion determination unit, 840... platform guidance processing unit

Claims (5)

a landing congestion information generating unit that generates landing congestion information, which is information regarding a congestion state of a landing at which a plurality of elevator cars that ascend and descend between a plurality of floors stop, due to users waiting for the arrival of the elevator cars;
a platform congestion determination unit that determines whether the platform is crowded by comparing the platform congestion state information with a first threshold value that is predetermined as a value that allows users at the platform to avoid close contact with each other ;
A car crowded state information generating unit that generates car crowded state information, which is information regarding a crowded state in the car;
an in-car congestion determination unit that determines whether the car is crowded by comparing the in-car congestion state information with a second threshold value that is predetermined as a value that allows users in the car to be in a state where they are not in close contact with each other;
An elevator group management control device comprising:
when the landing congestion state information exceeds the first threshold value, or when the car congestion state information exceeds the second threshold value and it is determined that there is no elevator available for the allocation, the allocation command processing unit prohibits the creation of a call for the destination floor of the car at the landing, and performs control to close the door of a security gate used by the user heading to the landing ,
When the platform congestion state information exceeds the first threshold, the assignment command processing unit prohibits the creation of a call for a destination floor of the elevator at the platform, regardless of whether or not there is the elevator with a low passenger rate,
The first threshold value is a value smaller than the upper limit of the number of users that the platform can physically accommodate or the upper limit of the area occupied by the users at the platform, and is set to a value that allows for the creation of spatial margin at the platform, and the second threshold value is a value smaller than the upper limit of the number of users that the elevator can physically accommodate or the upper limit of the area occupied by the users at the elevator, and is set to a value that allows for the creation of spatial margin in the elevator.
Elevator group management control device. further comprising a display section,
The elevator group management control according to claim 1, wherein the allocation command processing unit performs control to display a reason why the elevator cannot be allocated on the display unit when the hall congestion state information exceeds the first threshold value. Device. The elevator group management control device according to claim 1, wherein, when the hall congestion state information exceeds the first threshold, the assignment command processing unit performs control to adjust a timing for opening a door of the car that stops at the hall. The allocation command processing unit performs control to shift the opening timing of each door of the plurality of cars when a plurality of the cars arrive at the landing where the landing congestion state information exceeds the first threshold value. The elevator group management control device according to item 1 or 3 . Platform congestion that generates platform congestion state information, which is information about the congestion state of the platform due to users waiting for the arrival of the elevator cars at each platform where a plurality of elevator cars that go up and down between a plurality of floors stop. a state information generation unit;
Whether or not the platform is crowded is determined by comparing the platform congestion state information with a first threshold predetermined as a value that allows users at the platform to not be in close contact with each other. A platform congestion determination unit that determines;
an in-car congestion state information generation unit that generates in-car congestion state information that is information regarding the congestion state in the car;
It is determined whether the car is crowded by comparing the in-car congestion state information with a second threshold predetermined as a value that allows users in the car not to be in close contact with each other. an in-car congestion determination unit that determines whether the
An assignment command processing unit that performs assignment processing of the user to the elevator, the elevator hall congestion avoidance control method comprising:
If the platform congestion state information exceeds the first threshold, or if the car congestion state information exceeds the second threshold, and it is determined that the elevator that can be allocated does not exist, including a step in which the allocation command processing unit prohibits the creation of a call for the destination floor of the car at the landing area, and performs control to close a door of a security gate used by the user heading to the landing area ;
When the platform congestion state information exceeds the first threshold, the allocation command processing unit assigns a call for the destination floor of the car at the platform, regardless of the existence of the car with a low passenger rate. Prohibit the creation of
The first threshold value is a value smaller than the upper limit of the number of users that the boarding area can physically accommodate or the upper limit of the area occupied by the users at the boarding area, and is a value that is smaller than the upper limit of the number of users that the boarding area can physically accommodate. The second threshold is set to a value that can be generated, and the second threshold is smaller than the upper limit of the number of users that the car can physically accommodate, or the upper limit of the area occupied by the users in the car. A value that is set to a value that can create space in the car.
A control method for avoiding congestion at boarding areas.

Images