JPH07315706A - Elevator annoucement device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve service for elevator users, when an elevator is operated after changing it to an operation type correspondingly to a signal from outside, by selecting the annoucement mode correspondingly to the changed operation type by an annoucement node judging command unit and outputting a corresponding message through speakers. CONSTITUTION:In case an elevator 13 is operated after changing it to an operation type by a traveling control unit 11A correspondingly to a signal from outside, an annoucement mode corresponding to the switched over operation type by an annoucement mode judging command unit 11B and, in accordance with the mode, a corresponding message is composed by an audio composition unit 12A. Simultaneously, speakers 16, 16-1,...16-8, which output by a speaker changeover unit 12C correspondingly to the annoucement mode, are made to speak the annoucement message after selecting the speakers according to the installation positions and switched thereto. Thus service for the elevator users can be improved by making annoucement after selecting the positions where the annoucement is actually needed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an elevator announcement device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, most of elevators are controlled by microcomputers, and many elevators having an advanced function of switching between a plurality of complicated driving modes according to the situation and driving the same are becoming common. ing.
In such an elevator, for example, a so-called VIP-compatible elevator is provided with a call button for VIP operation that performs a dedicated operation for a call of an important person or a person to be preferentially used, in addition to a normal hall call button, Answering a general call during normal operation, and if the call button for VIP operation is operated, after the service to passengers in the car is completed, the mode is switched to the VIP-only mode to answer the VIP call. There is.

In such a multifunctional elevator, VIP
When a call is registered, general users waiting at the hall will not be able to use the elevator for a while until the VIP operation ends, and they will not be able to go to the destination floor even if they get on without knowing the car that arrived. So VI
Notifying the general user that the operation has been switched to the P mode by turning on the indicator lamps installed in the car and at each floor hall, or by displaying a message informing the exclusive operation on the display unit 1 as shown in FIG. I am trying.

Further, with the development of computer technology and the sophistication of speech synthesis technology, it has become possible to manufacture a speech synthesis announcement device at low cost. In recent years, even in an elevator system, a speech synthesis function has been used for transmitting information to users. In some elevators equipped with such a voice synthesizing function, a voice announcement may be made to inform a general user that the speaker in the car has switched to the dedicated operation.

FIG. 5 shows a conventional elevator announcement device for outputting an announcement message by voice in an elevator having a voice synthesizing function. In this conventional elevator announcement device, an elevator control device 2 for controlling the overall operation of the elevator and a voice synthesizer device 3 for synthesizing and outputting an announcement message are output. It is installed in 4. Then, a speaker 6 is installed in the elevator car 5, a voice signal is output to the speaker 6 from the voice synthesizer 3 through the cable 7, and a necessary announcement message is converted into voice and announced to passengers in the car 5. I am doing it.

For example, when the elevator starts closing the door to start toward the upper floor, the elevator control device 2 outputs an upstart announcement command,
In response to this, the voice synthesizer 3 takes out the message data of "come up" from the memory, synthesizes it, converts it into an analog voice signal and outputs it to the speaker 6 through the cable 7, and "come up" from the speaker 6. Will be announced. Also, when the elevator begins to close the door to start towards the lower floor, the same announcement is made, "Come down."

[0007]

However, such a conventional elevator announcement device has the following problems. When the elevator system has a VIP operation function, normally, after a VIP call is registered, new hall calls and car calls are canceled, while VIP-only operation is completed after all car calls for passengers in the car have been answered. , And go straight to the floor where the VIP call was generated to respond to the VIP call. However, after the VIP call is registered and before the service to passengers in the car is completed,
When the IP call stops at the registered floor in response to the car call, the elevator has not yet switched to the VIP operation mode, so it is mistaken that the user who made the VIP call arrived in response to the VIP call. Even if you get on the bus, additional registration is prohibited, so you cannot register the car call to your destination floor, and you will be confused to see other passengers already in the car.

In such a case, even if the message to use another elevator is displayed because the VIP operation is generated by the display lamp or the display unit for the general passenger, it is inadvertent or thoughtful. There is a problem in that the VIP user who is currently operating may reflexively board the arriving car without noticing the displayed message.

Further, even if the elevator system has a function of making an announcement by a voice synthesizer as shown in FIG. 5, it is conventionally only made an announcement by the speaker 6 installed in the car 5, so that the hall is We couldn't announce enough messages to our customers,
There is a problem that VIP service users cannot be provided with sufficient services.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and users in places where guidance is required, such as passengers waiting for landing, VIP users, passengers in a car, etc., depending on the operation mode of the elevator. It is an object of the present invention to provide an announcement device for an elevator, which can make an appropriate announcement by voice to a user.

[0011]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an elevator announcement device, which includes a traveling control unit for switching and operating an elevator operation mode in response to a signal from the outside.
Corresponds to the speaker installed in the elevator car and the elevator hall on each floor, the announcement mode determination command unit that selects and outputs the announcement mode corresponding to the driving mode that the traveling control unit switches, and the announcement mode given by the announcement mode determination command unit And an audio synthesizing unit for synthesizing the announcement message and outputting it to the speaker.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the elevator announcement device according to the first aspect, the traveling control unit has a priority call function for a specific floor.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the elevator announcement device according to the first or second aspect, a speaker that outputs in accordance with an announcement mode given by the announcement mode determination command section is selected according to its installation location. This is provided with a speaker switching unit that outputs switching and an announcement message synthesized by the speech synthesis unit.

[0014]

In the elevator announcement device of the first aspect of the invention, when the traveling control unit switches to a certain operation mode in response to a signal from the outside to operate the elevator, the announcement mode determination command unit switches the switched operation. An announcement mode corresponding to the form is selected and output, and in response to this, the voice synthesis unit synthesizes the corresponding announcement message and outputs it from the speaker.

In this way, the service to the elevator users is improved by announcing the necessary guidance not only in the car but also in the hall according to the switching of the operation mode of the elevator.

In the elevator announcement device according to the second aspect of the present invention, the traveling control unit has a priority call function for a specific floor as one of the driving modes, so that when the operating mode is switched to, a notification is provided to inform the operator. Can be announced by selecting a speaker in a hall on a specific floor or a car, and the service for priority call users on the specific floor and other users can be improved.

In the elevator announcement device according to the third aspect of the invention, when the traveling control unit switches to a certain operation mode in response to a signal from the outside to operate the elevator, the announcement mode determination command unit switches the switched operation. A speaker that selects and outputs an announcement mode corresponding to the form, and in response to this, the voice synthesizing unit synthesizes the corresponding announcement message, and at the same time, the speaker switching unit outputs corresponding to the announcement mode given by the announcement mode determination command unit. Is selected and switched according to its installation location, and the announcement message synthesized by the voice synthesizer is output.

In this way, the elevator user is selected by selecting a place where guidance is actually required, such as a car or a landing on a specific floor, according to the switching of the operation mode of the elevator, and making an announcement to the user there. To improve the service to.

[0019]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a circuit block diagram of a common embodiment of the inventions of claims 1 to 3. The elevator announcement device of this embodiment has a priority call function of a specific floor, that is, a VIP operation function, and is roughly classified into an elevator control device 11 for executing elevator operation control,
Announcement control unit 12 that executes the voice synthesis of the announcement message of the necessary guidance, speakers 16, 16-1, ..., 1 installed in the elevator car 13 and at the halls on each floor
It is composed of 6-8.

The elevator control device 11 has the hall call buttons 17-1, ..., 17-8 installed at each hall, and the hall calls generated in the car 13, and the car calls generated in the car 13.
Alternatively, a VIP call button 18 installed on a specific floor
A traveling control unit 11A that switches the operation mode of the elevator in response to the VIP call generated in A and 18B and performs operation control according to the operation mode, and an announcement mode corresponding to the operation mode signal a of the travel control unit 11A. An announcement mode determination command section 11B is provided for determining and outputting an announcement command b and an announcement floor command c.

The announcement control unit 12 executes voice synthesis of a required announcement message based on the announcement command b received from the announcement mode determination command unit 11B, and outputs a synthesized voice signal d. A voice synthesizing unit 12A based on an announcement floor command c received from a memory 12B that stores a voice waveform given to the unit 12A and an announcement mode determination command unit 11B.
The switching unit 12C that selects, switches, and outputs the speaker that outputs the announce message that is synthesized by.

Next, the operation of the elevator announcement device having the above configuration will be described. First, the operation during VIP operation will be described. Now, as shown in FIG. 1, the basket 13
Suppose that you are on the 8th floor and started to descend. And
As the calls, it is assumed that the upward general hall calls and the car calls 19A and 19B on the 6th and 7th floors are registered.

In this state, when the downward VIP call for the 7th floor is registered, the general hall calls for the 1st and 6th floors are canceled. At this time, these state signals a are output from the traveling control unit 11A to the announcement mode determination command unit 11B, and the announcement mode determination command unit 11B detects the transition to the VIP operation mode and cancellation of the general hall call, The process shown in the flowchart of FIG. 3 is started.
In this flowchart, first, it is determined whether or not there is a VIP call (step S1), and if a VIP call has occurred, it is determined whether or not it is detected for the first time (step S2).
If a VIP call is detected for the first time, in order to announce the switch to VIP mode, the announcement message when switching the operation mode "This elevator will be switched to dedicated operation from now on. Announcement order that specifies "Please use the elevator" b
And an announcement floor command c is output to set the announcement destination to be a hall for all floors. In response to this, the voice synthesis unit 12A of the announcement control unit 12 stores the designated message in the memory 12
It is taken out from B, synthesized, converted into an audio signal d and outputted. Further, the switching unit 12C receives the announcement floor command c, and the speakers 16-1, 16-2, ..., 16- of the halls on all floors.
8 is connected and synthesized by the voice synthesizer 12A. "From now on, this elevator will be switched to dedicated operation.
If you are waiting in the hall, please use another elevator. ”The announcement message is output from those speakers all at once (step S3).

As a result, the general user waiting for the elevator at the hall can easily recognize that the operation mode has been changed, and the passenger can smoothly move to another elevator.

After that, when the elevator car 13 arrives at the 7th floor as shown in FIG. 2, the elevator call does not respond to the VIP call because the car call on the 6th floor still remains. Continue. However, if the car 13 door is opened after arriving on the 7th floor, the VIP call user may mistakenly think that the VIP call user arrived in response.
It is necessary to avoid this, and when the VIP operation mode is not yet switched to when the VIP call arrives at the 7th floor, this state signal a is transmitted from the traveling control unit 11A to the announcement mode determination command unit 11B, The announcement mode judgment command section 11B announces the message when switching the operation mode "There are customers who are still riding.
It outputs an announcement command b that specifies "please wait for a while" and an announcement floor command c that makes the announcement destination the hall of the seventh floor where the VIP call occurred.

Receiving this, the voice synthesizing unit 12A takes out the instructed announcement message from the memory 12B, synthesizes it, converts it into a voice signal d, and outputs it. At the same time, the switching unit 12C connects only the speaker 16-7 of the 7th floor hall to output the announcement from the speaker of the 7th floor hall only by the announcement floor command c, and the above-mentioned "There are customers who are still riding. Wait a while longer. Please output the announcement message "Please"
S6).

After that, when the elevator has completed the response to all car calls, the traveling control unit 11A switches to the VIP operation mode and outputs the status signal a to the announcement mode determination command unit 11B. Then, when the announcement mode determination command unit 11B again enters the process of the flowchart of FIG. 3, a VIP call occurs (step S1), and since it is not the first VIP call detection, step S3
When the VIP call generation floor on the 7th floor is reached without sending the announcement message (step S4), the VIP mode is on, so the process proceeds from step S5 to step S7, and the announcement mode determination command section 11B causes the announcement message. "Thank you for waiting. Please ride."
Announcement command b that specifies the command and announcement floor command c that the announcement destination is the 7th floor landing where the VIP call occurred.
Is output.

Receiving this, the voice synthesizing unit 12A takes out the instructed announcement message from the memory 12B, synthesizes it, converts it into a voice signal d, and outputs it. At the same time, the switching unit 12C connects only the speaker 16-7 of the hall on the 7th floor to output the announcement from the speaker on the hall on the 7th floor in response to the announcement floor command c.
Please give me a ride "announcement message.

Therefore, the VIP call user can smoothly hear the announcement message and receive the car 1
You will be able to board VIP 3 and use VIP operation.

In this way, in this embodiment, when switching between the normal mode and the dedicated mode in the elevator for VIP operation, it is possible to clearly inform the general user at the hall and the VIP driver of the mode switching, and the mode is changed. There is no confusion due to the difference in the usage method associated with switching, troubles can be reliably avoided, and services can be improved.

Although the VIP operation has been described in the above embodiment, in addition to this, as an example in which a specific announcement message is output by specifying a speaker at a certain installation place, when switching to a direct operation between specific floors, Or even when switching to special operation for a specific user for a certain period of time, when switching from normal mode to those special modes, and conversely when switching from special mode to normal mode, passengers in the car and specific floor Appropriate announcements can be made to waiting passengers at the landing.

For example, in a hospital, when an emergency patient is brought in, it is necessary to switch to the direct operation from the first floor to a floor with a specific emergency operating room to carry the patient. In such a case, all other cases are required. The call will be canceled once and the mode will be switched to the direct drive mode, but the switching of the announcement message such as "I have an emergency patient, please wait for a while" is output from the hall speakers on all floors. Can inform general users.

When it is desired to prevent a general user from entering a specific floor at night, such as in a bank building, that floor becomes a non-stop floor, but when switching to the non-stop floor mode. Also, it is possible to output an announcement message "This floor will be a non-stop floor soon, so please move from this floor if you are using it" from the speaker at the landing of the floor that is the non-stop floor.

When it is necessary to switch to the direct operation from the specific floor to the hall floor during the work hours, work hours, etc.,
The switching can be output in advance from the hall speaker on each floor.

[0035]

As described above, according to the invention of claim 1,
When driving the elevator by switching the driving control unit to a certain operation mode in response to a signal from the outside, the announcement mode determination command unit selects and outputs the announcement mode corresponding to the switched operation mode, and outputs this. In response to this, the voice synthesis unit synthesizes the corresponding announcement message and outputs it from the speaker. Therefore, the elevator user can announce the necessary guidance not only in the car but also at the landing according to the switching of the operation mode of the elevator. Can improve the service to.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the traveling control unit has a priority call function for a specific floor as one of the driving modes. Therefore, when the driving mode is switched to, a guide for notifying that is specified. It is possible to announce by selecting a speaker in the hall on the floor or in an air car, and it is possible to improve the service to the user of the priority call on the specific floor and other users.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, when the traveling control section switches to a certain operation mode in response to a signal from the outside to operate the elevator, the announcement mode determination command section corresponds to the switched operation mode. Select and output the announcement mode to be output, and in response to this, the voice synthesis unit synthesizes the corresponding announcement message, and at the same time, the speaker switching unit installs the speaker that outputs according to the announcement mode given by the announcement mode determination command unit. It is selected and switched according to the location, and the announcement message synthesized by the voice synthesizer is output, so it is necessary to actually provide guidance such as the inside of the car or the hall on a specific floor according to the switching of the elevator operation mode. Improve service to elevator users by choosing a location and announcing the users there It is.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a circuit block diagram of a common embodiment of the inventions of claims 1 to 3.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an operation in a VIP operation mode in the above embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a VIP operation operation of the above embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a display mode of a conventional example.

FIG. 5 is a circuit block diagram of another conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11 Elevator control device 11A Travel control unit 11B Announce mode determination command unit 12 Announce control unit 12A Voice synthesis unit 12B Memory 12C switching unit 13 Basket 16, 16-1, ..., 16-8 Speaker 17-1, ..., 17-8 Landing Call Button 18A, 18B VIP Call Button

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A traveling control unit for switching and operating an elevator operation mode in response to a signal from the outside, a speaker installed in an elevator car and an elevator hall on each floor, and an operation mode switched by the traveling control unit. An announcement mode determination command unit that selects and outputs a corresponding announcement mode, and an elevator comprising a voice synthesis unit that synthesizes an announcement message corresponding to the announcement mode given by the announcement mode determination command unit and outputs the synthesized message to the speaker. Announcement device. 2. The elevator announcement device according to claim 1, wherein the traveling control unit has a priority call function for a specific floor. 3. The elevator announcement device according to claim 1, further comprising: selecting and switching a speaker that outputs in response to an announcement mode given by the announcement mode determination command unit, according to its installation location, An elevator announcement device comprising a speaker switching unit for outputting an announcement message synthesized by a voice synthesis unit.