JPH02208589A - Starting switch device for automatic door - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make it possible to perform control so that an automatic door is opened only for the minimum required time by providing a speed operating part which computes the moving speed of a body, and providing a signal generator which outputs an operation control signal in response to speed data. CONSTITUTION:When a body enters into a detecting area, the electric signal outputted from a body detector 1 is fluctuated. A speed operating part 8 computes the moving speed of the body from said electric signal. An operation control signal which opens and closes an automatic door at a faster speed when the speed of the body becomes faster in response to the moving speed is outputted from a signal generator 11. That is, when the moving speed of the body is fast, the automatic door 7 is opened at the quick operating speed after the detection. Conversely, when the moving speed is slow, the automatic door 7 is opened at the slow operating speed after the detection. Therefore, the automatic door 7 is opened for the minimum required time in response to the moving speed of a passing person. Energy for cooling and warming can be saved, and external noises can be prevented.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] <Industrial Application Field> The present invention is an automatic system for controlling the opening/closing operation of an automatic door by detecting that an object such as a human body approaches a predetermined area near the automatic door. This invention relates to a door activation switch device.

<Prior Art> As a starting switch device for controlling the opening and closing of such an automatic door, a rubber mud switch, which is made of two metal plates facing each other with a predetermined gap and entirely coated with waterproof rubber, has been used for a long time. However, this rubber mud switch has various drawbacks because it uses an object contact detection method. To overcome this drawback, an electronic mat type object detector with non-contact object detection has been devised and put into practical use. Object detectors tend to be used frequently. These non-contact object detectors include heat-ray (passive infrared) type detectors that utilize fluctuations in radiated infrared light flux based on the temperature difference between the background of the detection area and the moving object, and those that utilize the time difference between transmitted and received waves. An ultrasonic type that uses the Doppler effect, an infrared type that projects infrared rays and detects changes in the amount of light reflected from an object, and a radio wave (radar) type that uses the Doppler effect of microwaves. etc. exist.

Since each of the start switch devices using these object detectors has a configuration as shown in FIG. 3, the start switch device S using the hot wire type object detector 1 is now This will be explained using an example. In the object detector 1, an infrared beam emitted from a predetermined detection area set by the optical system is focused by the optical system and enters the infrared detecting element of the object detector 1, and the infrared detecting element enters the infrared detecting element. The infrared light flux is converted into an electric signal proportional to its variation and output. After this electric signal is amplified by an amplifier 2, it is compared with a reference signal of a constant level by a signal level comparison section 3 to determine the level of this reference signal. It is determined whether or not the value is greater than or equal to the value. That is, the signal level comparison section 3 constantly monitors the amount of variation in signal strength, that is, the amount of variation in infrared luminous flux, and outputs a detection signal when it detects a variation exceeding the detection sensitivity set by the reference signal, and this detection signal activates the door activation relay. 4 is turned on, and a DC signal starting signal is supplied to the motor control circuit 5 of the automatic door device through the relay 4 in the on state, and the motor control circuit 5 rotationally drives the door operating motor 6 to open the automatic door. 7 is about to be opened.

<Problems to be Solved by the Invention> By the way, in any of the object detectors 1 of the non-contact detection type described above, the automatic door 7
A detection area is set in the vicinity of the detection area, and when an object such as a human body enters the detection area, the door starting relay 4 is turned on, and a starting signal is output to open the automatic door 7.
After this object passes through the detection area, for safety reasons, the automatic door 7 is held open for a certain period of time, for example, about one second, and then the automatic door 7 is closed.

However, once the detection area is set, it remains unchanged, so for example, if a person walks slowly and passes through the automatic door 7, a certain amount of time will elapse from the time the human body enters the detection area until the time it passes through the detection area. If the automatic door 7 remains open for a relatively long period of time, and if air conditioning such as cooling or heating is being performed inside, there is a problem that not only is energy lost, but also external noise enters. There is.

Therefore, if the range of the detection area is set narrowly, the above problem can be alleviated considerably, but in this case, if a human body tries to quickly pass through the automatic door, even if the human body approaches the automatic door, The automatic door will not open fully, resulting in the vehicle stopping in front of the automatic door or colliding with it.

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

Means for Solving the Problems> In the present invention, as a technical means for achieving the above-mentioned problems, an automatic door start switch device is configured as follows. That is, an object detector is installed near the automatic door and outputs an electric signal that fluctuates when a moving object such as a human body enters a predetermined detection area set near the automatic door. In an automatic door activation switch device that detects fluctuations in an electrical signal of an object detector to control opening and closing operations of the automatic door, a speed calculation means calculates a moving speed of an object based on an output signal of the object detector; and signal generating means for outputting an operation control signal for opening and closing the automatic door at a faster operating speed as the speed increases in response to the speed data output from the speed calculating means. There is.

Effect> When an object such as a human body or a car moves toward the automatic door and enters the detection area, the electrical signal output from the object detector fluctuates. Based on this fluctuating electrical signal, the speed calculation means calculates the moving speed of the detected object, and in response to this moving speed, an operation control signal is generated that opens and closes the automatic door at a faster operating speed as the speed increases. output from the means. In other words, if the object is moving fast, the automatic door will be opened quickly after detecting this object, and if the object is moving slowly, the automatic door will be opened quickly after detecting this object. The automatic door is opened slowly at a slow operating speed.Therefore, the automatic door is blocked for the minimum amount of time necessary depending on the movement speed of the person passing through the automatic door, which saves energy during cooling and heating, and prevents noise from entering from outside. can be prevented as much as possible.

<Example> Hereinafter, preferred examples of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

In FIG. 1 showing the block configuration of an embodiment of the present invention, the same or equivalent components as in FIG. 3 are given the same reference numerals. A case where a type Doppler sensor is used will be explained.

Then, the speed calculating section 8 calculates the moving speed of the detected object based on the frequency fluctuation of the received wave received by the object detector 1. Further, the direction detection unit 9 detects the moving direction of the detected object based on the frequency fluctuation of the received wave. Furthermore, the signal processing unit 10 is composed of a microcomputer,
The output signals of the speed calculation unit 8 and the direction detection unit 9 are determined, and based on the results of these determinations, data set and stored in advance is read out, and the signal generator 11 is controlled by the data to generate a predetermined signal. output. The starting switch device S shown in FIG. 1 is provided on the indoor side and the outdoor side of the automatic door, respectively.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be explained with reference to FIG. The signal level comparison unit 3 compares the electrical signal output from the object detector 1 and amplified by the amplifier 2 with a reference signal of a certain level, and constantly monitors whether the electrical signal is higher than the level of the reference signal. . That is, it constantly monitors whether or not an object has entered the detection area, and outputs an object detection signal when it detects a change exceeding the set detection sensitivity based on the reference signal.

Then, when a detected object that has entered the detection area is detected and a detection signal is output, the speed calculation section 8 and direction detection section 9 are triggered and driven by this detection signal, respectively.
The speed calculation unit 8 calculates the moving speed of the object to be detected based on the frequency fluctuation of the electrical signal from the amplifier 2, while the direction detection unit 9 calculates the time required from the time of emission of the transmitted wave until the reception of the reflected wave. The distance to the object is calculated based on the time, and a direction determination signal is output based on changes in this distance to determine whether the object is approaching or moving away from the automatic door. The speed data from the speed calculation section 8 and the direction discrimination data from the direction detection section 9 are both input to the signal processing section 10, and the signal processing section 10 extracts corresponding data from the ROM based on the speed data and direction discrimination data. The signal generator 11 is controlled by the read data and the signal generator 11 generates a predetermined signal.

For example, as shown in FIG. 2, when an object moves toward the automatic door at a relatively high speed and enters the detection area at time t1, the signal generator 11 detects a high speed as shown in FIG. A pulse signal with a short pulse width corresponding to the pulse width is output, and this pulse signal causes the motor control circuit section 5 to rotate the door operating motor 6 in the forward direction at high speed, and the automatic door 7 is opened at a relatively high speed. T in the same figure (b)
It is released in a relatively short time indicated by 1.

When this object moves at the same speed and passes through the automatic door 7, at time t2 when the object detector 1 on the opposite side of the automatic door 7 detects the object that has entered its detection area, the signal generator 11 A high level signal is output as shown in FIG. The object is closed in a relatively short period of time as shown by T2 in Figure (b).However, even if the moving speed of the object is the same, for the purpose of maintaining safety, the closing operation time T2 is shorter than the opening operation time T1. It is slightly longer.

In addition, when an object moves toward the automatic door 7 at a relatively slow speed and enters the detection area at 13:00, the signal generator 11 sends a signal with a long pulse width corresponding to the slow speed as shown in the same figure (al). A pulse signal is output, and this pulse signal causes the motor control circuit section 5 to rotate the door operating motor 6 in the forward direction at a low speed, and the automatic door 7 is opened at a relatively slow speed. It will be released for a relatively long time as indicated by .

When this object moves at the same speed and passes through the automatic door 7, at time t4 when the object detector 1 on the opposite side of the automatic door 7 detects the object that has entered its detection area, the signal generator 11 A low-level signal is outputted from , as shown in FIG. The closing operation is performed at a high speed and is closed for a relatively long time shown at T4 in FIG. 2(b). However, even if the moving speed of the object is the same, the closing operation time T4 is slightly longer than the opening operation time T3 for the purpose of maintaining safety as described above.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned description and illustrated examples, but may include various modifications without departing from the scope of the claims. For example, even if a radio wave Doppler sensor is used instead of the ultrasonic Doppler sensor described above as the object detector, the same effects as in the above embodiment can be obtained.

Moreover, an ultrasonic sensor or an infrared sensor can also be used as an object detector. For example, an ultrasonic sensor calculates the distance to a detected object by measuring the time between irradiating the object with ultrasonic waves and receiving the reflected received waves, while an infrared sensor uses a triangulation method to calculate the distance to the detected object. Measures the distance to the detected object. Then, these object detectors are driven periodically, for example, every 0.1 seconds, and the speed calculation unit 8 calculates the moving speed from the amount of change in the distance data that is periodically output. Then, the direction of movement is determined from the increase/decrease in the amount of change.

Furthermore, as object detectors, heat ray (passive infrared) sensors,
It is also possible to use a type that detects only the presence of an object within the detection area, such as a radio wave type sensor or a light beam type sensor. In this case, it is recommended to set multiple detection areas using an optical system, etc., calculate the movement speed from the passage time between each detection area, and determine the movement direction from the order in which each detection area passes. Bye.

Furthermore, in the embodiment described above, a case has been described in which the signal generator 11 outputs four types of operation control signals, but it is also possible to output two types of operation control signals. for example,
A pulse signal is used as the operation control signal, and when a fast-moving object is detected, a pulse signal with a short pulse width is output to open the automatic door at a high operating speed, and the output of the pulse signal with a short pulse width is stopped. To close an automatic door at a relatively fast operating speed at a certain point.

On the other hand, when a slow-moving object is detected, a pulse signal with a long pulse width is output to open the automatic door at a slow operating speed, and when the output of the pulse signal with a long pulse width stops, the automatic door is opened relatively quickly. Make it close at a slow operating speed. Moreover, it goes without saying that instead of the pulse signal, it is also possible to output two types of operation control signals, high voltage and low voltage, to perform the same operation as described above.

<Effects of the Invention> Since the present invention is configured and operates as described above, it produces the following effects. That is, according to the automatic door activation switch device of the present invention, when an object such as a human body moves at a high speed, the automatic door is quickly activated at a high operating speed after detecting that the object enters the detection area. (Open,
Conversely, if an object moves at a slow speed, the object enters the detection area and opens the automatic door at a relatively slow movement speed, so the speed at which the object passes through the automatic door while maintaining safety is reduced. Since the automatic door can be opened only for the minimum amount of time required, it is possible to significantly save energy during cooling and heating, and to prevent noise from entering from outside as much as possible.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a timing chart of the operation control signal and the opening/closing operation of an automatic door, and FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a conventional example. S--Start switch device 1-Object detector 7--Automatic door 8-Speed calculation section (speed calculation means) 1-Signal generator (signal generation means) Patent applicant Optex Co., Ltd.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) An object detector is installed near the automatic door and outputs an electric signal that fluctuates when a moving object such as a human body enters a predetermined detection area set near the automatic door, In this automatic door start switch device that detects fluctuations in the electrical signal of the object detector to control the opening/closing operation of the automatic door, a speed calculation means calculates the moving speed of the object based on the output signal of the object detector. ,
and signal generating means for outputting an operation control signal for opening and closing the automatic door at a faster operating speed as the speed increases in accordance with the speed data output from the speed calculating means. Door activation switch device.