JP4868765B2 - Escalator schedule operation control device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a scheduled operation control device for an escalator, and more particularly, to a scheduled operation control device for an escalator that instructs the escalator in operation to change the operation speed at a preset time.

  Depending on the location where the escalator is installed, the passenger traffic often varies greatly depending on the time of day. For example, in the case of an escalator installed in a railway station building, the number of passengers using the escalator increases dramatically during morning and evening rush hours that are crowded with commuting and attending school passengers, so it is necessary to increase the escalator's operating speed and increase transportation capacity There is. On the other hand, in times other than rush hours, there is no need to maintain the driving speed during rush hours, so the driving speed is switched to improve the user's safety by changing the speed to normal driving or low speed driving. Yes.

  Conventionally, when switching the escalator operating speed, the escalator administrator manually switched the speed by operating the operation panel, but nowadays the number of managers is being reduced for rationalization, at the time set in advance A schedule operation using a scheduler that transmits a command for accelerating and decelerating the operation speed to the control panel of the escalator has become widespread (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  In the conventional schedule operation, at the preset time, regardless of whether the escalator user is actually on the step, a speed change command signal is unilaterally transmitted from the scheduler, and the escalator is immediately commanded. Start street acceleration / deceleration.

Inverter control is adopted as the speed control method of the escalator, and acceleration / deceleration is performed more slowly. Therefore, the passenger on the step usually does not receive a sudden impact due to inertial force.
JP 2004-10259 A

  However, depending on the position of the step on which the passenger is riding, there are a place where the balance is easily lost during acceleration and deceleration, and a place where the balance is relatively difficult to lose.

  For example, at the comb plate attached to the floor plate of the exit gate, the tip of the comb plate has a step with respect to the step, so when the passenger has just moved to this position, it is accelerated and decelerated , Passengers tend to break the balance of the posture by tripping to the com plate.

  In addition, the balance may be easily lost even when passing through the step motion generation area on the upper and lower floors where the moving direction of the step changes from the tilt direction to the horizontal direction or from the horizontal direction to the tilt direction during acceleration / deceleration operation. It has been pointed out.

  Therefore, the object of the present invention is to solve the problems of the prior art described above, and when acceleration / deceleration operation is performed, such as a comb plate at a step exit and a step difference motion generation area on the upper and lower floors, the passenger is balanced. When it is in a position where it tends to collapse, it is detected and acceleration / deceleration operation is not executed, and acceleration / deceleration is started only after there is no user who may reach the dangerous position when acceleration / deceleration operation is executed. Then, it is providing the schedule operation control apparatus of the escalator which implements acceleration / deceleration driving | operating considering passenger safety first.

In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1
In the schedule operation control device of the escalator that changes the operation speed at a preset fixed time,
At a certain time, a scheduler that transmits a speed change command for the driving speed based on a preset speed change pattern;
Passenger detection means for detecting a passenger in the detection area having a detection area set in advance in the step generation area of the escalator step;
When an acceleration / deceleration command is received, an acceleration / deceleration permission determination is started based on an output signal from the passenger detection sensor to determine whether or not there is a passenger in the detection area, and to determine whether or not speed change is permitted based on the determination result. Means,
An operation control means for controlling the operation speed of the escalator based on the acceleration / deceleration command when the speed change is permitted;
It is characterized by comprising.

  According to the present invention, when acceleration / deceleration operation is performed, such as a comb plate at a step exit and a step difference motion generation area on the upper and lower floors, when the passenger is easily out of balance, it is detected and added. Since deceleration operation is not performed, acceleration / deceleration starts only after there is no user who may reach the dangerous position when acceleration / deceleration operation is performed. Driving can be carried out.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of a schedule operation control device for an escalator according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
First embodiment
FIG. 1 is a side view showing the overall configuration of an escalator that performs a scheduled operation according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 indicates an escalator balustrade, and 2 indicates a handrail belt. The step chain 4 fixed to the step 3 is wound endlessly on a drive sprocket 5 disposed on the upper floor side and a driven sprocket 6 disposed on the lower floor side. The step 3 is driven by an electric motor 7 and circulates while being guided by a step guide rail 8. The escalator itself can perform the schedule operation of the present invention using a conventional escalator.

Next, FIG. 2 shows a signal transmission / reception relationship between the operation control device that controls the operation of the escalator and the scheduler that commands the schedule operation.
In FIG. 2, reference numeral 10 is an operation control device. The operation control device 10 transmits a speed command signal to the inverter device 11, and the electric motor 7 that drives the escalator is gently accelerated or decelerated to the speed commanded by the inverter control. Reference numeral 12 is a scheduler that sets the schedule operation of the escalator. The scheduler 12 transmits an operation speed acceleration / deceleration command to the operation control device 10 based on a speed change pattern time chart as shown in FIG. Reference numerals 20, 21, and 22 are human sensor groups described later.

  In the speed pattern illustrated in FIG. 3, three stages of speeds are set. Driving the escalator at a low speed of 20 m / min is a time zone when there are few users in the daytime, and during the rush hour time, driving at a double speed of 40 m / min at the low speed increases the transportation efficiency. Drive at an intermediate speed during periods other than quiet hours and rush hours.

  Regarding the time for commanding acceleration / deceleration, the scheduler 12 activates the escalator and starts operation at 30 m / min at 5:00 in the morning. Then, at 7:00 in the morning when the number of commuting users increases soon, the scheduler 12 transmits a speed increase command for changing the speed to 40 m / min to the operation control device 10. The operation control device 10 instructs the inverter device 11 to gradually accelerate the speed from 30 m / min to 40 m / min. At 10 am when the number of rushes is over and the number of users decreases, the scheduler 12 sends a deceleration speed command to the operation control device 10 to reduce the speed from 40 m / min to 20 m / min. The operating speed is slowly reduced to 20 m / min. As shown in the time chart of FIG. 3, acceleration / deceleration is performed at the operation speed set at the set time, and the transportation force of the escalator is adjusted according to the number of users.

  In the present invention, when executing the schedule operation set in the speed change pattern as described above, the operation speed is not simply switched depending on the time zone, but a plurality of human sensors are installed on the escalator step within a certain range. An area for detecting the presence or absence of passengers is set.

  Here, FIG. 4 shows a position where the user easily loses balance of posture during acceleration / deceleration operation of the escalator. In FIG. 4, if the escalator is performing an ascending operation, the user is in danger of losing his / her posture in the areas A and B surrounded by the wavy line close to the exit on the upper floor side. Of these, A is an area where a step motion occurs on the step as a result of the moving direction of the step 3 changing from the tilt direction to the horizontal direction, and is added while the user is passing the step motion generation area A. When the vehicle is decelerated, the posture is easily lost. B is a front area of the comb plate 15 arranged at the exit. When acceleration / deceleration is executed while passing through the front area B of the comb plate, the passenger hits at the front end of the comb plate 15. It is easy to lose balance.

  Similarly, when the escalator is in a descending operation, similarly, the balance between the step motion generation region C and the comb plate front region D near the lower floor exit is easily lost.

  Therefore, in the case of the escalator for the ascending operation, as shown in FIG. 5, a detection area composed of human sensor groups is set in advance along the steps of the escalator.

  In FIG. 5, detection areas are set by three sensor groups of human sensor groups 20, 21, and 22. Among them, the human sensor group 20 is a sensor group for preventing the user from reaching the step motion generation area A of the step during acceleration / deceleration, and the human sensor group 21 is an area in front of the comb plate 15. This is a sensor group for preventing the tip of the comb plate 15 from being reached midway during acceleration / deceleration when the user is passing. The sensor unit 22 on the lower floor side is a sensor group for preventing a user who has entered from the lower floor side from reaching the step motion generation region C on the lower floor side during acceleration / deceleration.

  As shown in FIG. 6, in the human sensor group 20, a plurality of human sensors 20a to 20f are arranged on the deck at regular intervals, of which the human sensor 20a is a sensor arranged at the detection start point. It is. In this case, if the movement distance of the step progressing from the start of acceleration / deceleration to the end of acceleration / deceleration is s, the position returned from the step motion generation start point P1 by this movement distance s is set as the detection start point. The human sensors 20a to 20f are arranged so as to cover a region from the detection start point of the human sensor group 20 to the end point P2 where the step movement of the step ends. The same applies to the sensor group 22 on the lower floor side.

  The human sensor group 21 that prevents the user from striking at the step at the tip of the comb plate 15 is also defined as the movement distance that the step advances from the start of acceleration / deceleration to the end of acceleration / deceleration. The position returned from the step at the tip is set as the detection start point. The human sensors 21a to 21d are arranged so as to cover a region from the detection start point to the tip of the comb plate 15 at the exit.

  Next, the operation of the operation control apparatus during the scheduled operation will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  First, when the operation control device 10 receives a speed change command from the scheduler 12 (step S10), the operation control device 10 switches on the operation of all the human sensors of the human sensor groups 20, 21, and 22 (step S10). S11), detection of whether there is a user in the detection area is started.

  Therefore, if none of the human sensors in the human sensor groups 20, 21, and 22 detect the user (no in step S13), the process proceeds to step S14. Allow speed change. As a result, the escalator accelerates or decelerates the operating speed to the designated speed (step S15). The human sensor is turned off and is on standby until the next speed change speed command is received (step S16).

  If a user is not detected in the detection area, the passenger will not reach the step motion generation area or the tip of the comb plate before acceleration / deceleration is completed. It can be executed without any problems.

  On the other hand, if there is even one human sensor that detects the user among all the human sensors in the human sensor groups 20, 21, and 22 (yes in step S13), the speed is changed. Will not be allowed. Thereby, an escalator continues the present driving speed (step S17). This loop is repeated until there are no passengers in the detection area. Only when there are no more passengers is the speed change permitted in step S14, and the escalator starts acceleration / deceleration.

  For example, in FIG. 6, when a user is at the position of the human sensor 20a at the detection start point of the human sensor group 20 when the speed change command transmitted from the scheduler 12 is received, acceleration / deceleration is executed. Since acceleration / deceleration is started only after the user goes out of the detection area, it is possible to reliably prevent the step motion generation area and the comb plate 15 from being reached during the acceleration / deceleration.

Second embodiment
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
In this second embodiment, the detection area is the same as that of the first embodiment, but when a user is detected with one human sensor to be arranged for each area, the acceleration / deceleration is executed in order. I am trying to delay.

  As shown in FIG. 8, only one human sensor 20a, 21a, 22a is installed at the detection start position in the three sensor groups 20, 21, and 22 where the detection area is set. Yes. As shown in FIG. 9, the detection start position is set to a position returned from the step luck starting point and the step at the tip of the comb plate 15 by the moving distance s that the step advances from the start of acceleration / deceleration to the end of acceleration / deceleration. This is the same as in the first embodiment. The time required for the step to move at the speed before acceleration / deceleration from the installation position of the human sensor 20a to the end point of the step motion is t1, and the step from the installation position of the human sensor 21a to the tip of the comb plate is before acceleration / deceleration. When the user is detected by the human sensors 20a and 21a with the time required to move at the speed of t2 being t2, the execution of acceleration / deceleration is delayed by t1 and t2, respectively.

  Therefore, the operation of the operation control apparatus during the scheduled operation will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  First, the scheduler 12 transmits a signal for turning on the operation of the human sensor prior to transmitting the speed change command at the set time (at least before t1 and t2 described above than the set time). (Step S20). Thereafter, the operation control apparatus 10 starts detecting whether or not there is a user in the detection area from the output signals of the human sensors 20a, 21a, and 22a (step S21).

  Therefore, when none of the human sensors 20a, 21a, and 22a detects the user (no in step S22), the process proceeds to step S23 and the speed change is permitted. Then, simultaneously with receiving the speed change signal transmitted from the scheduler 12 (step S24), the escalator accelerates or decelerates the operation speed to the designated speed (step S25). Thereafter, the human sensor is turned off and waits until the next speed change speed is reached (step S26).

  If a user is not detected in the detection area, the passenger will not reach the step motion generation area or the tip of the comb plate before acceleration / deceleration is completed. It can be executed without any problems.

  On the other hand, when the user is detected by the human sensor 21a among the human sensor groups 20, 21, and 22, for example (yes in step S22), the process proceeds to step S27 and the speed change command is issued. After waiting for reception (step S27), permission of speed change is put on hold until time t1 has elapsed from reception of the speed change command (step S28). During this time, the escalator continues the current operating speed. And if time t1 passes, a user will pass the level difference end point. At this time, if the human sensor 21a does not detect the user (step S29), the speed change is permitted in step S23 (step S30), and the escalator starts acceleration / deceleration.

If there is a passenger detection, steps S28 and S29 are repeated until there is no user from within the area. The escalator will begin to accelerate and decelerate only when there are no passengers. Even when the human sensor 21a detects a user, the speed change is not permitted until the time t2 has elapsed since the speed change command was received.
In this way, when there is a user without using many human sensors as in the first embodiment, acceleration / deceleration starts only when the user goes out of the detection area without executing acceleration / deceleration. Therefore, it is possible to reliably prevent reaching the step motion generation region and the comb plate during acceleration / deceleration.

The whole escalator block diagram to which the schedule operation control device of the escalator by the present invention is applied. Explanatory drawing of signal transmission / reception of the schedule operation control apparatus of the escalator. The time chart which shows the example of the speed change pattern set to the scheduler by the schedule operation control apparatus of the escalator of this invention. Explanatory drawing of the position where a passenger's balance will be easily lost when acceleration / deceleration is performed in the schedule operation of an escalator. The figure which shows arrangement | positioning of a human sensitive sensor. The figure which shows arrangement | positioning of a human sensitive sensor in detail. The flowchart of the schedule driving | operation in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows arrangement | positioning of the human sensitive sensor in 2nd Embodiment. The figure which shows arrangement | positioning of a human sensitive sensor in detail. The flowchart of the schedule driving | operation in the 2nd Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Parapet 2 Handrail belt 3 Step 4 Step chain 10 Operation control device 12 Scheduler 15 Complate 20 Human sensor group 21 Human sensor group 22 Human sensor group

Claims (7)

In the schedule operation control device of the escalator that changes the operation speed at a preset fixed time,
At a certain time, a scheduler that transmits a speed change command for the driving speed based on a preset speed change pattern;
Passenger detection means for detecting a passenger in the detection area having a detection area set in advance in the step generation area of the escalator step;
When an acceleration / deceleration command is received, an acceleration / deceleration permission determination is started based on an output signal from the passenger detection sensor to determine whether or not there is a passenger in the detection area, and to determine whether or not speed change is permitted based on the determination result. Means,
An operation control means for controlling the operation speed of the escalator based on the acceleration / deceleration command when the speed change is permitted;
An escalator schedule operation control device comprising:   2. The escalator scheduled operation control device according to claim 1, wherein the acceleration / deceleration permission determination unit permits a speed change only when it is determined that there is no passenger in the detection area.   2. The escalator schedule according to claim 1, wherein when the acceleration / deceleration permission determination unit determines that there are passengers in the detection area, the acceleration / deceleration permission determination unit does not permit the speed change until the passengers disappear from the detection area. Operation control device.   The detection area includes a region from the detection start point to the tip of the comb plate by calculating the distance of the step from the acceleration / deceleration start to the acceleration / deceleration from the tip of the comb plate to obtain a detection start point. The schedule operation control device for an escalator according to claim 1.   The detection area calculates the detection start point by back-calculating the moving distance of the step from the start of acceleration / deceleration to the end of acceleration / deceleration from the step motion start point, and until reaching the region where the step motion of the step occurs from this detection start point The escalator schedule operation control device according to claim 1, wherein the escalator schedule operation control device is included.   5. When the user is detected, the execution of acceleration / deceleration is delayed from the time when the speed change command is received by the time required for the step to advance from the detection start point to the tip of the comb plate. The escalator schedule operation control device described in 1.   When a user is detected, the execution of acceleration / deceleration is delayed from the time when the speed change command is received by the time required for the step to travel from the detection start point to the point where the step movement of the step ends. The escalator schedule operation control device according to claim 5.

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