JP7733223B2 - Non-contact operation panel control device, elevator and non-contact operation panel control method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a non-contact control panel control device, an elevator, and a method for controlling a non-contact control panel.

In recent years, an increasing number of elevators have adopted contactless destination floor registration devices to prevent virus infection through touching buttons. Contactless destination floor registration devices have a contactless sensor located on or near each destination floor button that detects the proximity of a user's finger. The control device for the contactless operation panel (hereinafter referred to as the contactless operation panel control device) then registers the floor associated with the destination floor button as the destination floor based on the detection results from the contactless sensor.

However, depending on the position of the user's finger or arm when held over the contactless sensor, the contactless sensor may react to a destination floor that the user did not intend to register. In this case, a floor other than the one the user intended will be mistakenly registered as the destination floor.

Patent Document 1 discloses an elevator control panel that, if a contactless operation detection unit detects a contactless operation during at least one of a first period, which is a predetermined time before the detection of a contact operation, and a second period, which is a predetermined time after the detection of a contact operation, performs control to not accept the contactless operation. The technology described in Patent Document 1 has the effect of reducing false detection of contactless operations in elevators equipped with a control panel capable of detecting both contact and contactless operations.

Patent No. 7006758

By the way, some elevators may have floor-cut floors set up. Floor-cut floors are floors where elevator service is not provided, i.e., floors where the elevator is prohibited from stopping. If a specific floor is set up as a floor-cut floor, calls to that floor will not be registered in the elevator, even if that floor is selected via the destination floor registration device.

For example, if a non-contact sensor associated with a destination floor button for a floor-cut floor reacts, the elevator control device controls the car to make an announcement to inform the user that the elevator will not stop at this floor through a speaker in the car. This control allows the user to understand that the floor they were attempting to register as a destination floor is one where the elevator will not stop (and cannot be registered as a destination floor).

However, even when a user places their finger near a destination floor button for a floor where the service is provided, the non-contact sensor associated with the destination floor button for a nearby floor-cut floor may also react at the same time. In this case, even though the response light indicating that registration to the destination floor has been completed is lit, an announcement (warning) is made at the same time to the effect that registration of the specified floor cannot be performed. When such an announcement is made, the user may mistakenly believe that the floor they intended to register is a floor where the elevator will not stop.

The present invention was made in consideration of the above situation, and its object is to prevent the execution of erroneous notifications in elevators with non-contact control panels.

In order to solve the above problems and achieve the object of the present invention, the non-contact operation panel control device of the present invention is a non-contact operation panel control device that controls a non-contact operation panel equipped with multiple non-contact sensors respectively associated with multiple destination floors of an elevator, and includes a destination floor registration processing unit that registers the floor associated with the non-contact sensor that detected the input as a destination floor, and an alarm unit that issues an alarm to a user in the elevator car.When both a first non-contact sensor associated with a service floor where elevator service is provided and a second non-contact sensor associated with a floor-cut floor where elevator service is not provided detect an input, the destination floor registration processing unit does not cause the alarm unit to issue an alarm indicating that the destination floor is a floor-cut floor and that the elevator will not stop at that floor .

The present invention makes it possible to prevent erroneous notifications from being issued in elevators with non-contact control panels.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an elevator according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of an in-car operating panel according to an embodiment of the present invention. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a control system of a controller and an in-car operating panel according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of a controller according to an embodiment of the present invention. 10 is a diagram showing an example in which a plurality of non-contact sensors of an in-car operating panel detect input according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of a procedure for control processing of an in-car operating panel by a controller according to an embodiment of the present invention.

An example of a form for implementing the present invention (hereinafter referred to as an "embodiment") will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The present invention is not limited to the embodiment, and various numerical values in the embodiment are examples. Furthermore, in this specification and drawings, identical components or components having substantially the same functions will be given the same reference numerals, and duplicate explanations will be omitted.

<Elevator configuration>
First, the configuration of an elevator according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to Fig. 1. Fig. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an elevator 100. As shown in Fig. 1, the elevator 100 includes a car 1, a hoisting machine 4, a control panel 5, and a hall operating panel 8.

Cab 1 ascends and descends within an elevator shaft (not shown) formed within a building, carrying people, luggage, etc. A main rope 3 with a counterweight 2 attached to its end is connected to the top of the cage 1, and the main rope 3 is wound around a hoist 4. The operation of the hoist 4 is controlled by a control controller 6 within a control panel 5, causing the cage 1 to ascend and descend within the elevator shaft. The cage 1 also has an in-cab operating panel 7 (an example of a non-contact operating panel) equipped with non-contact destination floor buttons.

The control panel 5 is installed inside a machine room or the like in a building, and has a control controller 6. The control controller 6 (an example of a non-contact operation panel control device) controls the operation of each component of the elevator 100. The control controller 6, for example, registers destination floors in the car 1 based on calls from the hall operation panel 8 or the car operation panel 7, controls the lifting and lowering operation of the car 1, adjusts the lifting and lowering speed of the car 1, and controls the operation of various devices or equipment installed inside the car 1.

<Configuration of the car control panel>
Next, the configuration of the car operation panel 7 will be described with reference to Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the car operation panel 7. As shown in Fig. 2, the car operation panel 7 includes a display unit 71, a non-contact destination floor button 72, an open button 75, and a close button 76.

The display unit 71 is composed of a panel made of, for example, an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) or organic EL (Electronic Luminescent) and displays information such as the floor at which the elevator car 1 is stopped, the floor it is passing through, or the floor at which it will next stop. The display unit 71 may also display other information, such as disaster information in the event of a disaster or news.

The contactless destination floor button 72 has destination floor buttons 721_1 to 721_12. Destination floor button 721_1 is a button for registering the first floor of a building as the destination floor, and destination floor button 721_12 is a button for registering the twelfth floor of a building as the destination floor. Contactless sensors 722_1 to 722_12 are provided above the destination floor display portion of destination floor buttons 721_1 to 721_12, respectively.

In the following explanation, when there is no need to individually identify the destination floor buttons 721_1 to 721_12, they will be collectively referred to as destination floor buttons 721, and when there is no need to individually identify the non-contact sensors 722_1 to 722_12, they will be collectively referred to as non-contact sensors 722.

The non-contact sensor 722 is composed of, for example, an infrared beam sensor, and when it detects reflected light from the infrared beam it emits, it detects the proximity of the user's finger, which is the object to be detected. The non-contact sensor 722 then outputs the detection result to the sensor input processing unit 621 (see Figure 3) of the control controller 6. Note that the method by which the non-contact sensor 722 detects the object to be detected is not limited to the infrared beam method, and other methods may be used.

The destination floor button 721 is configured as a contact-type push button. The destination floor button 721 outputs detection information when pressed by the user's finger to the destination floor registration processing unit 622 (see Figure 3) in the control controller 6.

In other words, the user can register a destination floor by either holding their hand or finger over the non-contact sensor 722 of the destination floor button 721 (non-contact), or by directly pressing the destination floor button 721.

<Configuration of the control system of the control controller and the car operation panel>
Next, the configuration of the control system of the controller 6 in the control panel 5 and the in-car operation panel 7 will be described with reference to Fig. 3. Fig. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the control system of the controller 6 and the in-car operation panel 7.

[Controller]
The controller 6 includes a hoisting machine drive control section 61 and an operation control section 62. The hoisting machine drive control section 61 controls the operation of the motor 41 of the hoisting machine 4 based on the control by the operation control section 62.

The operation control unit 62 includes a sensor input processing unit 621 and a destination floor registration processing unit 622 .
The sensor input processing unit 621 receives the detection result from the non-contact sensor 722 of the car operation panel 7 , and outputs information on the destination floor identified from the detection result to the destination floor registration processing unit 622 .

The destination floor registration processing unit 622 registers the destination floor of car 1 based on information transmitted from the hall operating panel 8 (see Figure 1), the sensor input processing unit 621, or the destination floor button 721 on the in-car operating panel 7. If the destination floor information transmitted from the hall operating panel 8, the sensor input processing unit 621, or the destination floor button 721 indicates a floor set as a floor cut floor, the destination floor registration processing unit 622 does not register the destination floor. Then, the notification unit 6221 of the destination floor registration processing unit 622 notifies passengers in car 1 via the speaker 74 in the in-car operating panel 7 with an announcement such as "The train will not stop at that floor."

When input detection information is transmitted from both a non-contact sensor 722 (an example of a second non-contact sensor) associated with a floor set as a floor cut floor and a non-contact sensor 722 (an example of a first non-contact sensor) associated with a service floor that is not set as a floor cut floor, the destination floor registration processing unit 622 registers only the service floor as a destination floor. The destination floor registration processing unit 622 then controls the notification unit 6221 not to issue the above-mentioned notification when the floor entered by the user is a floor cut floor.

Furthermore, the destination floor registration processing unit 622 is equipped with a detection history information storage unit 6222. The detection history information storage unit 6222 stores the detection history of inputs by the non-contact sensors 722 associated with the floor cut floors. This detection history is referenced when the destination floor registration processing unit 622 performs control to prevent the above-mentioned announcements from being made. The method of control of the car operation panel 7 by the destination floor registration processing unit 622 with reference to the detection history will be described in detail with reference to Figure 6 below.

By performing this type of control, the destination floor registration processing unit 622 can prevent announcements such as "The train will not stop at that floor" from being made for floors that the user does not remember selecting, even though the floor selected by the user has been registered as a destination floor. The content of the announcement is not limited to this, and other content may be used, such as "That floor cannot be registered as a destination floor." Furthermore, the announcement is not limited to audio announcements made by the speaker 74. For example, the announcement may be made in text form via the display unit 71 (see Figure 2), by flashing the response light 73, or by lighting or flashing a lamp (not shown).

[In-car control panel]
The car operation panel 7 includes a destination floor button 721, a non-contact sensor 722, a response light 73, and a speaker 74. The destination floor button 721 and the non-contact sensor 722 have been described with reference to Figure 2, so a description thereof will be omitted here.

The response light 73 is located in approximately the same position as the non-contact sensor 722 on the destination floor button 721, and lights up when the destination floor is registered by the destination floor registration processing unit 622, and remains off in other situations.
The speaker 74 emits various announcements or buzzers under the control of the destination floor registration processing unit 6221 .

<Example of computer hardware configuration>
Next, a hardware configuration for realizing the functions of the controller 6 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 4. Fig. 4 is a block diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the controller 6.

Computer 200 is hardware used as a so-called computer. Computer 200 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 201, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 202, and a RAM (Random Access Memory) 203, each connected to bus B. Furthermore, computer 200 includes non-volatile storage 204 and a network interface 205.

The CPU 201 reads from the ROM 202 and executes the program code of the software that realizes each function of this embodiment. The computer 200 may also include a processing device such as an MPU (Micro-Processing Unit) instead of the CPU 201. Variables, parameters, etc. that arise during the calculation process are temporarily written to the RAM 203.

The non-volatile storage 204 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 non-volatile memory card, etc. This non-volatile storage 204 stores the OS (Operating System), various parameters, and programs for operating the computer 200.

The program may also be stored in ROM 202. In other words, non-volatile storage 204 or ROM 202 is used as an example of a computer-readable, non-transitory recording medium that stores a program to be executed by a computer.

The network interface 205 may be, for example, a NIC (Network Interface Card), and may transmit and receive various data to and from external devices via a network such as a LAN or a communication line.

<Example of multiple non-contact sensors detecting input>
Next, an example in which the plurality of non-contact sensors 722 on the in-car operation panel 7 detect an input (approach of a user's hand or finger) will be described with reference to Fig. 5. Fig. 5 is a diagram showing an example in which the plurality of non-contact sensors 722 on the in-car operation panel 7 detect an input. In the example shown in Fig. 5, it is assumed that the 12th floor of the building in which the elevator 100 (see Fig. 1) is installed is set as a service providing floor, and the 5th floor is set as a floor cut floor.

Figure 5 shows a state in which a user's finger is held over the non-contact sensor 722_12 of the 12th floor destination floor button 721_12 on the car operation panel 7. In this state, the non-contact sensor 722_12 detects the proximity of the user's finger. Then, since the 12th floor is a service-providing floor, the destination floor registration processing unit 622 (see Figure 3) registers the 12th floor as a destination floor.

In the example shown in Figure 5, the user's arm is close to the non-contact sensor 722_5 on the fifth floor. In this case, the non-contact sensor 722_5 also detects the proximity of the user's finger. However, because the fifth floor is a floor-cut floor, the destination floor registration processing unit 622 (see Figure 3) does not register the fifth floor as a destination floor.

In conventional technology, at this point, an announcement would be made from speaker 74 (see Figure 3) informing users that the fifth floor is a floor-cut floor, i.e., a floor where the elevator will not stop. A user hearing such an announcement could mistakenly believe that the elevator will not stop at the twelfth floor, which they had designated as their destination floor. In this embodiment, if both non-contact sensor 722_12 associated with the service floor (twelfth floor) and non-contact sensor 722_5 associated with the floor-cut floor (fifth floor) detect input, notification unit 6221 (see Figure 3) will not cause speaker 74 to make an announcement that the elevator will not stop at the fifth floor. This prevents the confusion among users described above.

<Method of controlling the car operation panel by the controller>
Next, a control method for the car operation panel 7 by the controller 6 (see FIG. 3) according to this embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 6. Fig. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of a procedure for control processing of the car operation panel 7 by the controller 6.

First, the destination floor registration processing unit 622 determines whether the non-contact sensor 722 associated with the floor cut floor has detected the proximity of a detection object (such as a user's finger) (step S1). If it is determined in step S1 that the proximity of a detection object has been detected (if step S1 is determined to be YES), the destination floor registration processing unit 622 determines whether a predetermined threshold time has elapsed since the detection in step S1 (step S2).

If it is determined in step S2 that the predetermined threshold time has not elapsed (if step S2 is determined as NO), the destination floor registration processing unit 622 determines whether the non-contact sensor 722 associated with the service floor has detected the approach of a detection object (step S3). In other words, the destination floor registration processing unit 622 determines whether the non-contact sensor 722 associated with the service floor has detected the approach of a detection object within the predetermined threshold time after the non-contact sensor 722 associated with the floor cut floor detected the detection object.

If, in step S3, it is determined that the non-contact sensor 722 associated with the service floor has not detected the proximity of the object to be detected (if step S3 is determined to be NO), the control processing of the in-car operation panel 7 by the control controller 6 is terminated.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S3 that the non-contact sensor 722 associated with the service floor has detected the proximity of a detection target (if step S3 is determined to be YES), the destination floor registration processing unit 622 does not cause the notification unit 6221 to issue an announcement informing the user that the floor specified by the user is a floor-cut floor (step S4). After processing step S4, the control processing of the in-car operation panel 7 by the control controller 6 ends.

If it is determined in step S1 that the proximity of the detection object has not been detected (if step S1 is determined to be NO), the destination floor registration processing unit 622 determines whether there is a detection history by the non-contact sensor 722 associated with the floor cut floor by referring to the detection history information storage unit 6222 (see Figure 3) (step S5). By making this determination, the destination floor registration processing unit 622 can prevent the erroneous determination that the proximity of the user's finger, hand, etc. has not been detected, for example, when the user's finger, hand, etc. is placed near the non-contact sensor 722 associated with the floor cut floor and then moves away from that position.

If it is determined in step S5 that there is no detection history (if step S5 is judged as NO), the control processing of the car operation panel 7 by the control controller 6 ends. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S5 that there is detection history (if step S5 is judged as YES), the destination floor registration processing unit 622 performs the judgment of step S2. That is, it determines whether a predetermined threshold time has elapsed since the detection in step S1.

If it is determined in step S2 that the predetermined threshold time has elapsed (if step S2 returns a YES result), the destination floor registration processing unit 622 clears the history information stored in the detection history information storage unit 6222 (step S6). Next, the destination floor registration processing unit 622 causes the notification unit 6221 to make an announcement informing the user that the floor specified by the user is a floor-cut floor (step S7). After processing step S7, the control processing of the in-car operation panel 7 by the control controller 6 ends.

For example, if the user's fingers or hands are placed only at the positions of the non-contact sensors 722 associated with the floor cut floor, i.e., if the user intentionally specifies a floor cut floor, step S7 will result in a NO judgment. In such a case, it is necessary to notify the user that the specified floor is a floor cut floor, i.e., a floor at which the elevator 100 will not stop. Therefore, in this embodiment, after processing step S6, the notification processing of step S7 is performed.

In the above-described embodiment, when both the non-contact sensor 722 associated with the service floor where the elevator 100 provides service and the non-contact sensor 722 associated with the floor-cut floor detect input, the destination floor registration processing unit 622 does not cause the notification unit 6221 to issue a notification indicating that the destination floor is a floor-cut floor. Therefore, according to this embodiment, even if the user sets a service floor as the destination floor, an announcement such as "the elevator will not stop at that floor" will not be issued, thereby preventing the execution of erroneous notifications in an elevator 100 that has a non-contact control panel (in-car control panel 7 having a non-contact sensor 722).

In addition, in the above-described embodiment, the destination floor registration processing unit 622 registers the floor associated with the service floor as the destination floor when both the non-contact sensor 722 associated with the service floor and the non-contact sensor 722 associated with the floor-cut floor detect input. Therefore, according to this embodiment, even if the non-contact sensor 722 associated with the floor-cut floor detects input due to the user's arm or the like coming close, the service floor that the user intended to register is registered as the destination floor without fail.

In addition, in the above-described embodiment, even if the non-contact sensor 722 associated with the floor-cut floor has not detected an input when the non-contact sensor 722 associated with the service floor detects an input, the destination floor registration processing unit 622 does not cause the notification unit 6221 to issue a notification indicating that the specified floor is a floor-cut floor if detection history is stored in the detection history information storage unit 6222. Therefore, according to this embodiment, it is possible to prevent an announcement such as "the train will not stop at that floor" from being issued when there is a discrepancy between the input detection timing of the non-contact sensor 722 associated with the service floor and the input detection timing of the non-contact sensor 722 associated with the floor-cut floor.

In addition, in the above-described embodiment, if the non-contact sensor 722 associated with the floor cut floor does not detect an input within a predetermined threshold time after the non-contact sensor 722 associated with the service floor detects an input, the destination floor registration processing unit 622 deletes the detection history stored in the detection history information storage unit 6222 and causes the notification unit 6221 to issue a notification. Therefore, according to this embodiment, if a user intentionally specifies a floor cut floor as a destination floor, an announcement is made to the effect that the vehicle will stop at that floor. Therefore, according to this embodiment, a user who attempts to register a destination floor without knowing that it is a floor cut floor can understand that the floor cannot be registered as a destination floor.

In the above-described embodiment, the car operation panel 7 may be controlled not only using the detection results of the non-contact sensor 722 but also using the detection results of the pressing of the destination floor button 721. For example, when the destination floor registration processing unit 622 detects the pressing of a destination floor button 721 associated with a service floor, even if the non-contact sensor 722 associated with a floor cut floor detects an input, the alarm unit 6221 may be controlled not to issue an alarm informing the user that the elevator will not stop at that floor. By performing such control, it is possible to prevent erroneous alarms from being issued even in an elevator 100 equipped with an car operation panel 7 that has both contact-type destination floor buttons 721 and a non-contact sensor 722.

In addition, in the above-described embodiment, an example was given in which the control controller 6 of the present invention is provided in an elevator 100 having only one car 1 (see Figure 1), but the present invention is not limited to this. The control controller 6 of the present invention may also be provided in an elevator system having multiple cars.

Furthermore, the above-mentioned embodiments have been described in detail to clearly explain the present invention, and are not necessarily limited to those having all of the configurations described.

In addition, the control lines or information lines shown in solid lines in Figures 3 and 4 indicate those considered necessary for explanation, and do not necessarily represent all control lines or information lines in the product. In reality, it can be assumed that almost all components are interconnected.

In addition, in this specification, 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).

Furthermore, each component of the elevator according to one embodiment of the present invention described above may be implemented in any hardware, as long as the respective hardware can send and receive information to each other via a network. Furthermore, the processing performed by a certain processing unit may be realized by a single piece of hardware, or may be realized by distributed processing using multiple pieces of hardware.

1...car, 5...control panel, 6...controller, 7...in-car operation panel, 8...landing operation panel, 72...non-contact type destination floor button, 74...speaker, 100...elevator, 621...sensor input processing unit, 622...destination floor registration processing unit, 721...destination floor button, 722...non-contact sensor, 6221...alarm unit, 6222...detection history information storage unit

Claims (7)

A non-contact operation panel control device that controls a non-contact operation panel having a plurality of non-contact sensors each corresponding to a plurality of destination floors of an elevator,
a destination floor registration processing unit that registers the floor associated with the non-contact sensor that detected the input as a destination floor;
a notification unit that notifies users in the elevator car,
When both a first non-contact sensor associated with a service floor where service is provided by the elevator and a second non-contact sensor associated with a floor-cut floor where service is not provided by the elevator detect input, the destination floor registration processing unit does not cause the notification unit to issue a notification indicating that the destination floor is the floor-cut floor and that the elevator will not stop at that floor . The non-contact operation panel control device according to claim 1, wherein the destination floor registration processing unit registers the floor associated with the first non-contact sensor as the destination floor when both the first non-contact sensor and the second non-contact sensor detect an input. a detection history information storage unit for storing a detection history of an input by the second non-contact sensor;
The non-contact operation panel control device according to claim 1, wherein the destination floor registration processing unit does not cause the notification unit to issue the notification if a detection history is stored in the detection history information storage unit, even if the second non-contact sensor has not detected an input when the first non-contact sensor detects an input. The non-contact operation panel control device according to claim 3 , wherein, if the second non-contact sensor does not detect an input within a predetermined threshold time after the first non-contact sensor detects an input, the destination floor registration processing unit deletes the detection history stored in the detection history information storage unit and causes the notification unit to execute the notification. The elevator further includes contact-type destination floor buttons corresponding to each of a plurality of destination floors of the elevator,
The non-contact operation panel control device according to claim 4, wherein the destination floor registration processing unit does not cause the notification unit to execute the notification when it detects that a destination floor button associated with the service floor has been pressed, even if the second non-contact sensor detects an input. a non-contact operation panel having a plurality of non-contact sensors respectively corresponding to a plurality of destination floors of the elevator;
a destination floor registration processing unit that registers the floor associated with the non-contact sensor that detected the input as a destination floor;
a notification unit that notifies users in the elevator car,
When both a first non-contact sensor associated with a service floor where service is provided by the elevator and a second non-contact sensor associated with a floor-cut floor where service is not provided by the elevator detect input, the destination floor registration processing unit does not cause the notification unit to issue a notification indicating that the destination floor is the floor-cut floor and that the elevator will not stop at that floor . A control method for a non-contact operation panel having a plurality of non-contact sensors respectively corresponding to a plurality of destination floors of an elevator, comprising:
a destination floor registration step of registering the floor associated with the non-contact sensor that detected the input as a destination floor;
a notification procedure for notifying a user in the elevator car,
In the destination floor registration procedure, if both a first non-contact sensor associated with a service floor where service is provided by the elevator and a second non-contact sensor associated with a floor-cut floor where service is not provided by the elevator detect input, the method does not issue an alert indicating that the destination floor is the floor-cut floor and that the elevator will not stop at that floor .