JP7814527B2 - Station elevator control system - Google Patents

Description

This disclosure relates to a control system for elevators in train stations.

Conventional station elevator systems control elevators that transport passengers between the platform floor and the ticket gate floor of a station. The station elevator system also registers elevator calls based on train arrival time data. The train arrival time data is either pre-stored in the station elevator system or obtained from an external control device (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2007-84233 A

In conventional station elevator systems such as those described above, if there is a discrepancy between the train arrival time data and the actual train arrival time, call registration will not be linked to train departures and arrivals, which may result in reduced convenience for elevator users.

This disclosure has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems and aims to provide a control system for station elevators that can further improve convenience for users.

The control system for a station elevator according to the present disclosure includes an operation control device that controls the operation of the elevator car installed in the station building. The operation control device includes a boarding plan information acquisition unit that acquires boarding plan information, which is information indicating that a user located within a set distance from the station building plans to board the car, from a mobile device carried by the user, and a standby control unit that selects a boarding floor at which the user plans to board the car based on the boarding plan information and causes the car to wait at the boarding floor.

The station elevator control system disclosed herein can further improve convenience for users.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of an overall configuration according to a first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the mobile terminal shown in FIG. 1 . FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the operation control device shown in FIG. 1 . 3 is a flowchart showing a process of the mobile terminal shown in FIG. 2 . 4 is a flowchart showing a standby process of the operation control device shown in FIG. 3 . 4 is a flowchart showing a departure control process of the operation control device shown in FIG. 3 . 1 is a configuration diagram showing a first example of a processing circuit that realizes the operation control device of the first embodiment. FIG. FIG. 10 is a configuration diagram showing a second example of a processing circuit that realizes the operation control device of the first embodiment.

The following describes the embodiments with reference to the drawings.

Embodiment 1.
Fig. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the overall configuration in embodiment 1. In Fig. 1, a station elevator 100 is provided in a station building, and includes a control system 1 and an elevator main body 120.

The elevator body 120 comprises a car 140, a hoist (not shown), a suspension body (not shown), a counterweight (not shown), a ticket gate floor landing panel 130, and a platform floor landing panel 150.

The hoist has a drive sheave, a hoist motor, and a hoist brake. The hoist motor rotates the drive sheave. The hoist brake keeps the drive sheave stationary. The hoist brake also brakes the rotation of the drive sheave.

The suspension body is wound around the drive sheave. Multiple ropes or belts are used as the suspension body. The car 140 and counterweight are suspended by the suspension body and move up and down in the elevator shaft as the drive sheave rotates.

The car 140 transports passengers inside the car 140 by moving between the ticket gate floor and the platform floor. The car 140 is equipped with a car body 140a, an in-car beacon transmitter 141, an in-car destination designation button 142, a speaker 143, a monitor 144, and a photoelectric sensor 145.

The in-car destination designation button 142 is a button operated by a user inside the car 140. The in-car destination designation button 142 includes an operation button for designating the destination floor. The in-car destination designation button 142 also includes an open button for keeping the door open and a close button for closing the door.

The speaker 143 and the monitor 144 are notification devices that notify users in the car 140. The speaker 143 notifies users in the car 140 by voice. The monitor 144 notifies users in the car 140 by displaying an image.

The in-car beacon transmitter 141 transmits a beacon signal using BLE (Bluetooth (registered trademark) Low Energy) wireless technology. The radio wave strength of the in-car beacon transmitter 141 is adjusted so that the beacon signal is not output outside the car 140.

The photoelectric sensor 145 is a transmission sensor installed on the door of the car 140. The photoelectric sensor 145 detects whether a person has passed through the door of the car 140.

The ticket gate floor platform panel 130 is located at the ticket gate floor platform and is equipped with a ticket gate floor beacon transmitter 131 and a ticket gate floor call button 132.

The ticket gate floor beacon transmitter 131 transmits a beacon signal within its output range, covering the platform on the ticket gate floor. The ticket gate floor call button 132 is an operation button that calls the car 140 to the ticket gate floor.

The platform floor landing panel 150 is provided at the platform floor landing and is equipped with a platform floor beacon transmitter 151 and a platform floor call button 152.

The platform floor beacon transmitter 151 transmits a beacon signal within its output range, covering the platform floor landing. The platform floor call button 152 is an operation button that calls the car 140 to the platform floor.

The control system 1 is equipped with an operation control device 110.

The operation control device 110 controls the operation of the car 140. The operation control device 110 controls the operation of the car 140 in response to the operation of the ticket gate floor call button 132, the car destination designation button 142, and the platform floor call button 152.

In addition, the operation control device 110 controls the speaker 143 and monitor 144 to notify users in the car 140.

In addition, the operation control device 110 controls the ticket gate floor beacon transmitter 131, the car beacon transmitter 141, and the platform floor beacon transmitter 151 to transmit beacon signals.

In addition, a detection signal from a photoelectric sensor 145 is input to the operation control device 110. Based on the detection signal from the photoelectric sensor 145, the operation control device 110 determines whether a person has boarded the car 140.

In addition, the operation control device 110 is connected to the data server 300 via the Internet network. Note that the control system 1 may also be provided with a dedicated device for communicating with the data server 300.

The data server 300 is located, for example, in a control center. The data server 300 relays data transmission and reception between the operation control device 110 and the mobile terminal 200 via the Internet network.

The mobile terminal 200 is, for example, a smartphone carried by a user. The mobile terminal 200 is connected to the data server 300 via the Internet network.

Figure 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the mobile terminal 200 shown in Figure 1.

The mobile terminal 200 includes a beacon receiving unit 210, a GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) information receiving unit 220, an acceleration detection unit 230, a departure command creating unit 240, a boarding schedule information creating unit 250, a communication control unit 260, and a terminal status information creating unit 270.

The beacon receiving unit 210 receives beacon signals emitted from the ticket gate floor beacon transmitter 131, the car beacon transmitter 141, or the platform floor beacon transmitter 151.

The GNSS information receiving unit 220 receives signals transmitted from multiple GNSS satellites and detects the current position of the mobile terminal 200.

The acceleration detection unit 230 is an inertial sensor that detects acceleration in three axial directions and detects the acceleration of the mobile terminal 200.

The boarding schedule information creation unit 250 creates boarding schedule information. The boarding schedule information is information indicating that a user located within a set distance from the station building is planning to board the elevator 140.

In addition, the boarding schedule information creation unit 250 pre-stores the location information of the elevator body 120 as information indicating the location of the station building. The boarding schedule information creation unit 250 creates boarding schedule information when the distance between the location of the elevator body 120 and the current location is within a set distance.

The boarding schedule information includes a communication identifier, boarding floor information, disembarking floor information, and departure time information.

A communication identifier is a unique value used to distinguish communications.

The boarding floor information is information indicating the floor at which the user carrying the mobile terminal 200 plans to board the car 140. The disembarking floor information is information indicating the floor at which the user carrying the mobile terminal 200 plans to disembark from the car 140.

If a user arrives at the station on foot and plans to board a train, the boarding floor will be the ticket gate floor and the disembarking floor will be the platform floor. On the other hand, if the train carrying the user is about to arrive at the station, the boarding floor will be the platform floor and the disembarking floor will be the ticket gate floor. The boarding floor information and disembarking floor information are set in advance in the mobile terminal 200 by the user's operation.

Departure time information is information regarding the departure time of the train that the user plans to board. The departure time information is set in advance in the mobile terminal 200 by the user's operation.

The terminal status information creation unit 270 creates terminal status information. The terminal status information is information for determining whether the user is running. The terminal status information includes at least one piece of information: the moving speed of the mobile terminal 200, and the vibration amount of the mobile terminal 200.

The terminal state information creation unit 270 calculates the moving speed based on the current position at each time detected by the GNSS information receiving unit 220. The terminal state information creation unit 270 also calculates the amount of vibration based on the acceleration detected by the acceleration detection unit 230.

The departure command creation unit 240 creates a departure command. The departure command is a command to cause the car 140 to depart after a user has boarded the car 140. The departure command is also created when the beacon receiving unit 210 receives a beacon signal from the in-car beacon transmitter 141.

The departure command includes a communication identifier. The value of this communication identifier is the same as the communication identifier included in the boarding schedule information.

The communication control unit 260 controls communication with the data server 300. The communication control unit 260 transmits boarding schedule information, terminal status information, and departure commands to the operation control device 110 via the data server 300.

Figure 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the operation control device 110 shown in Figure 1. The operation control device 110 includes a boarding schedule information acquisition unit 111, a departure time information acquisition unit 112, a status information acquisition unit 113, and a standby control unit 114.

The boarding schedule information acquisition unit 111 acquires boarding schedule information from the mobile terminal 200 via the data server 300.

The departure time information acquisition unit 112 extracts and acquires departure time information from the boarding schedule information.

The status information acquisition unit 113 acquires terminal status information from the mobile terminal 200 via the data server 300.

The standby control unit 114 selects the boarding floor where the user plans to board the car 140 based on the boarding plan information. The standby control unit 114 also causes the car 140 to wait at the selected boarding floor.

If the car 140 is not at the boarding floor, the standby control unit 114 moves the car 140 to the boarding floor and then places the car 140 on standby. Also, if the car 140 is at the boarding floor, the standby control unit 114 places the car 140 on standby.

In addition, when the standby control unit 114 receives boarding schedule information from multiple mobile terminals 200, it determines the highest priority terminal, which is the mobile terminal 200 that should be given the highest priority. The highest priority terminal is determined based on the terminal status information transmitted from each mobile terminal 200.

In addition, when the boarding floor is the ticket gate floor and the car is waiting at the ticket gate floor, the waiting control unit 114 calculates the waiting time of the car 140 based on the departure time information. This waiting time is referred to as the ticket gate floor waiting time. The waiting control unit 114 releases the waiting state of the car 140 when the ticket gate floor waiting time has elapsed.

Figure 4 is a flowchart showing the processing of the mobile terminal 200 shown in Figure 2. The flowchart in Figure 4 is executed repeatedly.

In step S101, the mobile terminal 200 determines whether the mobile terminal 200 is located within a set distance from the station building based on the mobile terminal 200's location information and the station building's location information. If the mobile terminal 200 is not located within the set distance from the station building, the mobile terminal 200 terminates the processing of Figure 4. On the other hand, if the mobile terminal 200 is located within the set distance from the station building, the processing proceeds to step S102.

In step S102, the mobile terminal 200 creates boarding schedule information. In step S103, the mobile terminal 200 creates terminal status information that includes the travel speed. The mobile terminal 200 may also create terminal status information that includes the vibration amount.

In step S104, the mobile terminal 200 transmits boarding schedule information and terminal status information.

After step S104, the mobile terminal 200 terminates the processing of Figure 4.

Figure 5 is a flowchart showing the standby processing of the operation control device 110 shown in Figure 3.

In step S201, the boarding plan information acquisition unit 111 determines whether boarding plan information has been acquired. If the boarding plan information acquisition unit 111 has not acquired boarding plan information, it terminates the processing of Figure 5. In this case, the flowchart of Figure 5 is executed again.

If the boarding schedule information acquisition unit 111 acquires boarding schedule information, it proceeds to step S202.

In step S202, the standby control unit 114 determines whether the boarding plan information acquisition unit 111 has acquired two or more pieces of boarding plan information. This step S202 is a step for determining whether boarding plan information has been sent from multiple mobile terminals 200 at the same time.

If the boarding plan information acquisition unit 111 has not acquired two or more pieces of boarding plan information, the standby control unit 114 proceeds to step S204. On the other hand, if the boarding plan information acquisition unit 111 has acquired two or more pieces of boarding plan information, the standby control unit 114 proceeds to step S203.

In step S203, the waiting control unit 114 determines the highest priority terminal from among the multiple mobile terminals 200 based on the terminal status information sent along with the boarding schedule information.

When a user is running, the standby control unit 114 determines that the user is in a hurry. Furthermore, the movement speed of a user when running is faster than when walking. Therefore, the standby control unit 114 determines the mobile terminal 200 with the fastest movement speed as the highest priority terminal.

The same applies when the terminal status information includes the amount of vibration. The amount of vibration is greater when the user is running than when walking. For this reason, the standby control unit 114 determines the mobile terminal 200 with the greatest amount of vibration as the highest priority terminal.

In addition, if the terminal status information includes both the movement speed and the vibration amount, the standby control unit 114 determines the highest priority terminal by using the movement speed as a priority.

In addition, users on a moving train are moving at a speed greater than the normal walking speed of a person. On the other hand, it is difficult to determine whether a user on a moving train is in a hurry. For this reason, the standby control unit 114 excludes a mobile terminal 200 on a moving train if the moving speed is greater than or equal to a set threshold. This set threshold is determined in advance based on the normal walking speed of a person.

After determining the highest priority terminal in step S203, the standby control unit 114 stops processing the other mobile terminals 200. The standby control unit 114 then performs subsequent processing assuming that the highest priority terminal is the only mobile terminal 200 that has transmitted boarding schedule information.

In step S204, the standby control unit 114 compares the current floor of the car 140 with the boarding floor included in the boarding schedule information. The standby control unit 114 then determines whether the car 140 needs to be moved.

If the current floor of the car 140 is different from the boarding floor included in the boarding schedule information, the standby control unit 114 determines that the car 140 needs to be moved to the boarding floor. In this case, the standby control unit 114 proceeds to step S205.

On the other hand, if the current floor of the cage 140 and the boarding floor are the same, the waiting control unit 114 determines that there is no need to move the cage 140 and proceeds to step S207.

In step S205, the standby control unit 114 notifies the elevator 140 via the speaker 143 and the monitor 144 of information indicating that the elevator 140 will be moved to the boarding floor. Then, in step S206, the standby control unit 114 moves the elevator 140 to the boarding floor.

In step S207, the standby control unit 114 notifies the user's mobile terminal 200 that the car 140 is waiting at the boarding floor. If the standby control unit 114 receives boarding schedule information from two or more mobile terminals 200, it may notify only the highest priority terminal or all mobile terminals 200.

After step S207, the standby control unit 114 terminates the processing of Figure 5 and executes the processing of the flowchart of Figure 6.

Figure 6 is a flowchart showing the departure control processing of the operation control device 110 shown in Figure 3. The flowchart in Figure 6 is executed after the flowchart in Figure 5 is executed.

In step S301, the standby control unit 114 determines whether a person has boarded the car 140 based on the detection signal from the photoelectric sensor 145. If a person has boarded, the standby control unit 114 proceeds to step S302. If a person has not boarded, the standby control unit 114 proceeds to step S306.

In step S302, the waiting control unit 114 determines whether a departure command has been received from the mobile terminal 200.

Here, the operation of the mobile terminal 200 in step S302 will be explained. When the mobile terminal 200 receives a beacon signal from the in-car beacon transmitter 141, it determines that a user has boarded the car 140. Then, the mobile terminal 200 transmits a departure command to the operation control device 110 via the data server 300.

When the waiting control unit 114 receives a departure command from the mobile terminal 200, it determines that the person who has boarded the car 140 is a user carrying the mobile terminal 200, and proceeds to step S303.

On the other hand, if the waiting control unit 114 does not receive a departure command from the mobile terminal 200, it determines that the person who has boarded the car 140 is not a user carrying the mobile terminal 200, and proceeds to step S306.

In step S303, the waiting control unit 114 notifies the car 140 of information that the car 140 will be moved using the speaker 143 and the monitor 144.

In step S304, the standby control unit 114 moves the car 140 to the disembarking floor included in the boarding schedule information. After step S304, the standby control unit 114 ends the processing of Figure 6. In this case, the standby control unit 114 returns the processing to the flowchart of Figure 5.

Meanwhile, in S306, the waiting control unit 114 determines whether the waiting time has elapsed. Here, the method for calculating the waiting time differs depending on whether the boarding floor is the ticket gate floor or the platform floor.

When the passenger's boarding floor is the ticket gate floor, the waiting control unit 114 calculates the waiting time at the ticket gate floor based on the departure time information. The waiting control unit 114 also calculates the waiting time at the ticket gate floor by taking into account the time required for the car 140 door to close, the travel time of the car 140, the speed at which passengers are moving to the train, etc.

If the ticket gate floor waiting time has not elapsed, the waiting control unit 114 proceeds to step S307. On the other hand, if the ticket gate floor waiting time has elapsed before the user boards the car 140, the waiting control unit 114 proceeds to step S308.

In step S306, if the boarding floor is a platform floor, the standby control unit 114 determines whether the platform floor standby time has elapsed. The platform floor standby time is set in advance in the standby control unit 114.

If the platform floor waiting time has not elapsed, the waiting control unit 114 proceeds to step S307. On the other hand, if the platform floor waiting time has elapsed before the user boards the car 140, the waiting control unit 114 proceeds to step S308.

In step S307, the standby control unit 114 notifies the car 140 using the speaker 143 and the monitor 144 that the car 140 is waiting to wait for a user. After step S307, the standby control unit 114 returns the process to step S301.

In step S308, the standby control unit 114 releases the standby state of the car 140 and terminates control caused by the mobile terminal 200. After step S308, the standby control unit 114 terminates the processing of the flowchart in Figure 6. In this case, the standby control unit 114 returns the processing to the flowchart in Figure 5.

The operation control device 110 in embodiment 1 includes a boarding plan information acquisition unit 111 and a standby control unit 114. The boarding plan information acquisition unit 111 acquires boarding plan information from a mobile terminal 200 carried by a user. The boarding plan information is information indicating that a user located within a set distance from the station building plans to board the elevator 140. The standby control unit 114 selects a boarding floor at which the user plans to board the elevator 140, based on the boarding plan information. The standby control unit 114 then causes the elevator 140 to wait at the boarding floor.

Therefore, the control system 1 for the station elevator 100 can further improve convenience for users.

In addition, when the waiting control unit 114 makes the car 140 wait at the boarding floor, information that the car 140 is waiting to wait for a user is notified within the car 140 via the speaker 143 and the monitor 144. This allows anyone aboard the car 140 other than the user to understand the reason for waiting.

In addition, if it is necessary to move the car 140 to the boarding floor before making the car 140 wait at the boarding floor, the waiting control unit 114 notifies the car 140 via the speaker 143 and the monitor 144 that the car 140 will be moved to the boarding floor. This allows anyone in the car 140 other than the user to understand the reason for the move.

When the waiting control unit 114 has the car 140 wait at the ticket gate floor, it calculates the waiting time at the ticket gate floor based on the departure time information. Furthermore, when the waiting time at the ticket gate floor has elapsed before a passenger boards the car 140, the waiting control unit 114 releases the waiting state of the car 140 at the ticket gate floor. Therefore, the car 140 can be made to wait until the passenger inside the car 140 is able to make it in time for the train's departure time.

The standby control unit 114 also has a platform floor standby time set. When the standby control unit 114 has the car 140 wait on the platform floor, if the platform floor standby time elapses before a user boards the car 140, the standby state of the car 140 on the platform floor is released. This makes it possible to prevent the car 140 from continuing to wait on the platform floor.

The operation control device 110 also includes a status information acquisition unit 113. The status information acquisition unit 113 acquires terminal status information from the mobile terminal 200, including at least one of the information on the movement speed of the mobile terminal 200 and the vibration amount of the mobile terminal 200. If the boarding plan information acquisition unit 111 acquires two or more pieces of boarding plan information before selecting a boarding floor, the waiting control unit 114 selects a boarding floor based on the terminal status information. Therefore, even if two or more pieces of boarding plan information are acquired, only one boarding floor can be selected.

In addition, if there is another floor within the section between the ticket gate floor and the platform floor, the elevator main body 120 will also move the car 140 to this other floor.In addition, if there is another floor outside the section between the ticket gate floor and the platform floor, the elevator main body 120 will also move the car 140 to this other floor.

The boarding plan information creation unit 250 also creates boarding plan information based on the distance between the current location of the mobile terminal 200 and the location of the station building. Alternatively, the boarding plan information creation unit 250 may create boarding plan information when the beacon receiving unit 210 receives a beacon signal from the ticket gate floor beacon transmitter 131 or the platform floor beacon transmitter 151.

In addition, the departure time information acquisition unit 112 of the operation control device 110 may estimate the train departure time based on the time at which the boarding schedule information is received. In this case, departure time information does not need to be transmitted from the mobile terminal 200.

Furthermore, each function of the operation control device 110 of embodiment 1 is realized by a processing circuit. Figure 7 is a configuration diagram showing a first example of a processing circuit that realizes each function of the operation control device 110 of embodiment 1. The processing circuit 600 of the first example is dedicated hardware.

The processing circuit 600 may be, for example, a single circuit, a composite circuit, a programmed processor, a parallel programmed processor, an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), or a combination of these. Each function of the operation control device 110 may be realized by a separate processing circuit 600. Alternatively, the functions of the operation control device 110 may be realized collectively by the processing circuit 600.

Figure 8 is a diagram showing a second example of a processing circuit that realizes each function of the operation control device 110 of embodiment 1. The processing circuit 700 of the second example includes a processor 710 and a memory 720.

In the processing circuit 700, each function of the operation control device 110 is realized by software, firmware, or a combination of software and firmware. The software and firmware are written as programs. The software and firmware are then stored in memory 720. The processor 710 realizes the functions of each part by reading and executing the programs stored in memory 720.

The programs stored in memory 720 can be said to cause the computer to execute the procedures or methods of each of the above-mentioned sections. Here, memory 720 refers to non-volatile or volatile semiconductor memory such as RAM (Random Access Memory), ROM (Read Only Memory), flash memory, EPROM (Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory), and EEPROM (Electrically Erasable and Programmable Read Only Memory). Magnetic disks, flexible disks, optical disks, compact disks, minidisks, DVDs, etc. also qualify as memory 720.

Some of the functions of each of the above-mentioned parts may be realized by dedicated hardware, and some may be realized by software or firmware.

In this way, the processing circuitry can realize the functions of each of the above-mentioned parts through hardware, software, firmware, or a combination of these.

The processing circuits 600 and 700 can be applied not only to the operation control device 110, but also to the mobile terminal 200 and the data server 300.

1 Control system, 100 Station elevator, 110 Operation control device, 111 Boarding schedule information acquisition unit, 112 Departure time information acquisition unit, 113 Status information acquisition unit, 114 Waiting control unit, 120 Elevator body, 140 Cage, 143 Speaker (notification device), 144 Monitor (notification device), 200 Mobile terminal.

Claims (6)

an operation control device that controls the operation of the elevator car installed in the station building;
The operation control device includes:
a boarding plan information acquisition unit that acquires boarding plan information, which is information that a user located within a set distance from the station building is planning to board the elevator, from a mobile terminal carried by the user;
and a standby control unit that selects a boarding floor at which the user plans to board the elevator based on the boarding plan information and causes the elevator to wait at the boarding floor. The station elevator control system of claim 1, wherein the standby control unit, when placing the car on standby at the boarding floor, notifies the interior of the car by a notification device provided in the car that the car is on standby to wait for the passenger. The station elevator control system of claim 2, wherein the standby control unit, when it is necessary to move the car to the boarding floor before making the car wait at the boarding floor, causes the notification device to notify the inside of the car of information that the car will be moved to the boarding floor. The operation control device includes:
a departure time information acquisition unit that acquires departure time information that is information about train departure times,
4. A control system for a station elevator as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein when the boarding floor is a ticket gate floor and the car is made to wait at the ticket gate floor, the waiting control unit calculates a ticket gate floor waiting time, which is the time for the car to wait, based on the departure time information, and when the ticket gate floor waiting time has elapsed before the user boards the car, the waiting state of the car at the ticket gate floor is released. A platform floor waiting time is set in the waiting control unit,
4. A station elevator control system as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein, when the boarding floor is a platform floor and the car is made to wait on the platform floor, the standby control unit cancels the standby state of the car on the platform floor when the platform floor standby time has elapsed before the user boards the car. The operation control device includes:
a state information acquisition unit that acquires, from the mobile terminal, terminal state information including at least one of information on the moving speed of the mobile terminal and information on the vibration amount of the mobile terminal,
A control system for a station elevator as described in any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the waiting control unit selects the boarding floor based on the terminal status information when the boarding plan information acquisition unit acquires two or more pieces of boarding plan information before selecting the boarding floor.