JP7841565B2 - Platform destination floor registration device - Google Patents

Description

This invention relates to a platform destination floor registration device.

Conventionally, there are landing destination floor registration devices that search for tenants based on entered keywords and register the floor where the tenant is located as the destination floor.

Japanese Patent Publication No. 2004-277019

The number of landing destination floor registration devices installed on a single floor is limited. Therefore, if the search process takes time, the time required for each person to call their desired landing destination floor increases, sometimes reducing the convenience of elevators equipped with these devices.

One aspect of the present invention aims to reduce the time required to register a landing destination floor call in a landing destination floor registration device, thereby improving the convenience of an elevator control system having a landing destination floor registration device.

To solve the above problems, a landing destination floor registration device according to one aspect of the present invention is installed in a building where an elevator is provided, and is a landing destination floor registration device for registering landing destination floor calls by users of the elevator. The device comprises: a display control unit that displays an input screen on a display unit for receiving input operations including the input of one or more characters by the user; a search unit that searches for destination candidates that are one or more of the multiple tenants residing in the building, based on tenant information that associates string information corresponding to each of the multiple tenants and the floor where each of the multiple tenants resides, and which associates the string information including the input characters entered by the user; and a registration unit that registers a landing destination floor call where the floor where the tenant selected by the user resides is the user's destination floor. The display control unit displays a keyboard on the input screen that has multiple keys corresponding to each of the hiragana characters, including the Japanese syllabary, voiced consonants, and semi-voiced consonants, and/or katakana characters, including the Japanese syllabary, voiced consonants, and semi-voiced consonants.

Each aspect of the present invention may be implemented by a computer. In this case, the control program for the platform destination floor registration device, which enables the computer to operate as each component (software element) of the platform destination floor registration device, and a computer-readable recording medium on which this program is recorded, also fall within the scope of the present invention.

According to one aspect of the present invention, the time required for registering the destination floor call for the elevator can be reduced.

This is a block diagram showing the configuration of an elevator control system including a landing destination floor registration device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. This figure shows an example of a destination floor input screen. This is a diagram showing an example of a registration completion screen. This figure shows an example of an input screen. This figure shows another example of an input screen. This figure shows yet another example of an input screen. This figure shows an example of a search results screen. This figure shows an example of resident information. This figure shows an example of a search results screen when a search is performed based on specified criteria. This flowchart shows an example of the processing flow performed by the boarding destination floor registration device. This figure shows an example of resident information according to Embodiment 2. This figure shows an example of an input screen according to Embodiment 2. This figure shows an example of an industry-specific screen. This figure shows an example of a search results screen. This diagram shows an example of a floor selection screen. This figure shows another example of the floor selection screen. This is an example of a search results screen that includes results based on whether or not a sale is currently being held. This figure shows an example of an input screen according to Embodiment 3. This figure shows another example of an input screen. This figure shows an example of an input screen related to Modification 4.

[Embodiment 1]
Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail. Figure 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an elevator control system 100 including a landing destination floor registration device 1 according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. As shown in Figure 1, the elevator control system 100 comprises a landing destination floor registration device 1, a group control device 2, an elevator control device 3, and an elevator 4. In Figure 1, only one set of elevator 4 and elevator control device 3 that controls the elevator 4 is shown, but the elevator control system 100 may comprise multiple sets of elevator 4 and elevator control device 3.

The landing destination floor registration device 1 according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention is a device installed in a building where an elevator 4 is provided, and which registers landing destination floor requests made by users of the elevator 4. The landing destination floor registration device 1 displays an input screen on the display unit 13 for receiving input operations, including the operation of entering one or more characters by the user. Furthermore, the landing destination floor registration device 1 searches for destination candidates that correspond to one or more residents, based on resident information 121, which associates string information corresponding to each of the multiple residents residing in the building with the floor where each of the multiple residents resides. The landing destination floor registration device 1 then registers a landing destination floor request, with the floor where the resident selected by the user from the destination candidates resides as the user's destination floor.

Furthermore, the boarding destination floor registration device 1 displays a keyboard on the input screen equipped with multiple keys corresponding to each hiragana character, including the syllabary, voiced consonants, and semi-voiced consonants, and/or katakana characters, including the syllabary, voiced consonants, and semi-voiced consonants.

As an example, the building where elevator 4 is installed may be an office building, and the tenants may be corporations such as companies located in the building, but this is not limited to this. For example, the building may be a commercial facility, and the tenants may be shops, etc. located in the building, or the building may be a mixed-use facility, and the tenants may include both corporations such as companies and shops, etc. In this embodiment, we will explain using the example of a building where elevator 4 is installed as an office building, and the tenants are corporations such as companies located in the building.

The group control device 2 registers the elevator destination floor call received from the elevator destination floor registration device 1. Specifically, upon receiving an elevator destination floor call from the elevator destination floor registration device 1, the group control device 2 assigns the most suitable elevator 4 to that call. Subsequently, the group control device 2 transmits information indicating the assignment result to the elevator destination floor registration device 1, the source of the call. This information includes information indicating the assigned elevator and information indicating the destination floor.

Furthermore, based on the assignment results, the group control device 2 transmits information regarding the landing destination floor call registered to the elevator control device 3 that controls the assigned elevator. This information includes information indicating the departure floor and destination floor.

The elevator control device 3 controls the operation of the elevator 4 installed in the building. The elevator control device 3, which controls the elevator assigned to a landing destination floor call, receives information regarding the landing destination floor call from the group control device 2. The elevator control device 3 controls the elevator 4 based on this information.

Elevator 4 is equipped with a car and doors and is capable of moving between floors according to the control of the elevator control device 3. The elevator 4 assigned to a landing destination floor call moves to the departure floor and destination floor according to the control of the elevator control device 3.

<Display section 13>
The display unit 13 is a display device that displays a predetermined screen based on instructions from the display control unit 112 of the control unit 11. It may also be a touch panel that functions as both a screen display device and an input device for receiving input operations. If the display unit 13 is a touch panel, the display unit 13 outputs a signal to the control unit 11 indicating the input operation. The following explanation will use a configuration in which the display unit 13 is a touch panel as an example.

If no operation is performed on the boarding destination floor registration device 1, the display unit 13 displays the destination floor input screen. The destination floor input screen is a screen for receiving input operations to specify a destination floor. Figure 2 shows an example of the destination floor input screen. As shown in Figure 2, the destination floor input screen includes buttons (reference numeral 201) indicating floor levels. The destination floor input screen also includes a button (reference numeral 202) for displaying an input screen, which is a screen for searching for destination candidates.

For example, if a user knows the floor where their destination is located, they select the floor on the destination floor input screen. When the display unit 13 receives a selection from one of the floor buttons, it outputs a signal indicating the selected floor to the control unit 11. This registers the landing destination floor call in the group control device 2. Once the landing destination floor call is registered in the group control device 2, the display unit 13 displays a registration completion screen based on instructions from the display control unit 112. The registration completion screen is a screen that notifies the user that the registration of the landing destination floor call is complete. Figure 3 shows an example of the registration completion screen. As shown in Figure 3, the registration completion screen includes information indicating the assigned elevator unit (reference numeral 301) and information indicating the destination floor (reference numeral 302) for the registered user's landing destination floor call.

When the destination floor input screen is displayed, the display unit 13 can accept an input start operation, which is an operation to instruct the display of the input screen. The input screen is a screen for accepting input operations to search for destination candidates. For example, the input start operation may be an operation to select a specific button (the button shown as reference numeral 202 in Figure 2) on the destination floor input screen. When the display unit 13 accepts the input start operation, the display unit 13 displays the input screen according to the control of the display control unit 112. Figure 4 is a diagram showing an example of the input screen. As shown in Figure 4, the input screen includes a keyboard (reference numeral 401) equipped with multiple keys corresponding to each hiragana character, including the 50-character syllabary, voiced consonants, and semi-voiced consonants.

The display unit 13 can accept input operations, including the operation of entering one or more characters, when the input screen is displayed. Specifically, the display unit 13 can accept input operations that select a key included in the keyboard. When the display unit 13 accepts such input operations, it displays the character corresponding to the entered key, i.e., the input character entered by the user's input operation, in the search window (reference numeral 402).

The input screen may also include a condition input screen for receiving condition information indicating the criteria for searching for destination candidates. In this case, the display unit 13 can accept input operations for entering condition information. For example, Figure 4 shows a condition input screen (reference numeral 403) that can accept input operations for entering legal entity information indicating the legal entity of a resident. When the display unit 13 accepts an input operation for entering legal entity information indicating the legal entity of a resident, a search is performed based on the input characters and the entered legal entity information.

Furthermore, the display unit 13 may be capable of accepting input operations, including an operation to input information indicating the search range as condition information. This input operation may involve selecting one of the buttons labeled "First Match" or "Partial Match" among the buttons shown as reference numeral 404 in Figure 4. When the display unit 13 accepts this input operation, destination candidates are searched based on the selected conditions.

Furthermore, while the input screen is displayed, the display unit 13 can accept a search instruction operation, which is an operation to instruct the execution of a search. For example, the search instruction operation may be an operation to select a button (reference numeral 406 in Figure 4) for issuing a search instruction to execute a search.

Furthermore, the display unit 13 may be capable of accepting an operation to select the keyboard type while the input screen is displayed. The operation to select the keyboard type may be the operation of selecting one of the buttons indicating the keyboard type on the input screen (the button shown as reference numeral 406 in Figure 4). When the display unit 13 receives an operation to select a button indicating the keyboard type, it displays the selected keyboard type according to the instructions of the display control unit 112.

Figure 5 shows another example of the input screen. When the system receives an operation to select a keyboard including katakana characters, the display unit 13 displays an input screen including a keyboard (reference numeral 501) as shown in Figure 5. The operation to select a keyboard including katakana characters may specifically refer to selecting the button labeled "Katakana" as shown in Figure 4. As shown by reference numeral 501 in Figure 5, the keyboard including katakana characters has multiple keys corresponding to each of the katakana characters, including the 50-sound syllabary, voiced consonants, and semi-voiced consonants.

Figure 6 shows yet another example of the input screen. When the system receives an operation to select a keyboard including the alphabet, the display unit 13 displays a keyboard (reference numeral 601) as shown in Figure 6. Specifically, the operation to select a keyboard including the alphabet may be the operation to select the button labeled "Alphabet, Numbers, and Symbols" as shown in Figure 4. As shown by reference numeral 601 in Figure 6, the keyboard including the alphabet has multiple keys corresponding to the alphabet, numbers, and symbols.

When a user inputs at least some characters to the display unit 13 and performs a search instruction, the landing destination floor registration device 1 searches for destination candidates based on the input information. Once a destination candidate search is complete, the display unit 13 receives information from the display control unit 112 that associates each destination candidate with a signal to display the search results screen and information indicating the floor on which that destination candidate resides. Upon receiving this information, the display unit 13 displays the search results screen.

The search results screen displays destination candidates identified through the search. Figure 7 shows an example of the search results screen. Figure 7 illustrates the results of a search performed after the word "Fuji" was entered in the input screen. As shown in Figure 7, the search results screen displays information (reference numeral 701) that associates the name of the destination candidate with the floor on which the destination candidate is located, for each destination candidate. Also, as shown in Figure 7, the input characters (reference numeral 702) entered in the input screen may be displayed within the search window (reference numeral 703) on the search results screen. Furthermore, as shown in Figure 7, the search results screen may include a button (reference numeral 704) for instructing the display of the input screen. When an input indicating the selection of this button is received, the display unit 13 displays the input screen according to the control of the display control unit 112.

While the search results screen is displayed, the display unit 13 can accept input operations, including selecting a resident who is the user's destination from the destination candidates identified as a result of the search. When the display unit 13 receives an input operation to select a resident, the group control device 2 registers a landing destination floor call, designating the floor where the selected resident resides as the destination floor. Once the landing destination floor call is registered, the display unit 13 displays a registration completion screen according to instructions from the display control unit 112.

<Storage unit 12>
The memory unit 12 stores information used in the landing destination floor registration device 1. As shown in Figure 1, the memory unit 12 stores resident information 121. The resident information 121 is information related to residents living in the building and is used for searching for destination candidates based on input characters and for registering landing destination floor calls based on the search results.

Figure 8 shows an example of resident information 121. As shown in Figure 8, in resident information 121, string information 122 and occupancy floor information 123 are associated for each of the multiple residents living in the building. Occupancy floor information 123 indicates the floor on which the resident resides.

The string information 122 is information relating to the characters corresponding to each resident. The string information 122 includes a string indicating the resident's name. As shown in Figure 8, the string indicating the resident's name may include the resident's formal name, including kanji and symbols, and the phonetic reading of the resident's name. Furthermore, if the resident is a legal entity, the string information 122 includes information indicating the type of legal entity. The type of legal entity may be, for example, a stock company, limited liability company, limited partnership, association, foundation, welfare corporation, independent administrative agency, cooperative, school corporation, or office, or it may be any other type.

<Control Unit 11>
The control unit 11 performs various processes that the boarding destination floor registration device 1 performs. As shown in Figure 1, the control unit 11 comprises an acquisition unit 111, a display control unit 112, a search unit 113, and a registration unit 114.

(Acquisition unit 111)
The acquisition unit 111 acquires information regarding input operations performed on the display unit 13. When the display unit 13 receives an input operation from a user, the acquisition unit 111 acquires information indicating the content of the input operation from the display unit 13 and performs processing according to the acquired information.

When the destination floor input screen is displayed, if the display unit 13 receives an operation to select a destination floor, the acquisition unit 111 acquires information indicating the selected destination floor from the display unit 13. Upon acquiring this information, the acquisition unit 111 outputs the information indicating the selected floor to the registration unit 114. As a result, the group control device 2 registers a landing destination floor call with the selected floor as the destination floor.

Furthermore, when the destination floor input screen is displayed, if the display unit 13 receives an input start operation, the acquisition unit 111 acquires information from the display unit 13 indicating that the input start operation has been received. Upon acquiring this information, the acquisition unit 111 outputs information indicating that the input start operation has been performed to the display control unit 112. As a result, the display control unit 112 controls the display unit 13 to display the input screen.

Furthermore, when the input screen is displayed, if the display unit 13 receives an input operation that includes the input of one or more characters, the acquisition unit 111 acquires information indicating the input characters from the display unit 13. Upon acquiring this information, the acquisition unit 111 stores it in the storage unit 12. The acquisition unit 111 also outputs information indicating that characters have been input to the display control unit 112.

Furthermore, when the input screen is displayed, if the display unit 13 receives a search command, the acquisition unit 111 acquires information from the display unit 13 indicating that the search command has been received. Upon acquiring this information, the acquisition unit 111 outputs information to the search unit 113 indicating that a search command has been performed. As a result, the search unit 113 performs a search for destination candidates based on the input characters, or the input characters and condition information.

Furthermore, when the search results screen is displayed, if the display unit 13 receives an input operation that includes selecting a resident who is the user's destination from the destination candidates, the acquisition unit 111 acquires information indicating the selected resident from the display unit 13. Upon acquiring this information, the acquisition unit 111 outputs it to the registration unit 114. This registers the landing destination floor call in the group control device 2.

Furthermore, when the display unit 13 receives an operation to input condition information for setting search conditions, the acquisition unit 111 acquires the input condition information and stores it in the storage unit 12. The condition information may include at least one of the following: legal entity information indicating the type of legal entity of the tenant, floor information instructing a search based on the building's floor level, and range selection information. When the display unit 13 receives an operation to input condition information, the search unit 113 searches for destination candidates based on the input characters and the conditions set by the input condition information.

Furthermore, when the display unit 13 receives an operation to select a keyboard type, the acquisition unit 111 acquires information indicating the selected keyboard type and outputs this information to the display control unit 112. As a result, the display unit 13 displays an input screen including the selected keyboard type.

(Display control unit 112)
The display control unit 112 causes the display unit 13 to display a predetermined screen.

If no operation is performed on the landing destination floor registration device 1, the display control unit 112 displays the destination floor input screen on the display unit 13. If a landing destination floor call is registered in the group control device 2 as a result of a predetermined operation on the landing destination floor registration device 1, the display control unit 112 obtains information indicating the assignment result for the landing destination floor call from the acquisition unit 111. This information includes information indicating the elevator number 4 assigned to the landing destination floor call and information indicating the destination floor. Upon obtaining the assignment result information, the display control unit 112 displays a registration completion screen on the display unit 13, including information indicating the elevator number assigned to the user's landing destination floor call and information indicating the destination floor.

The display control unit 112 may, after displaying the registration completion screen for a predetermined time (for example, 5 seconds), switch the screen displayed on the display unit 13 to the destination floor input screen. This allows the display unit 13 to accept input operations from the next user for calling the boarding floor.

When the destination floor input screen is displayed, and the display unit 13 receives an input start operation, the display control unit 112 displays the input screen on the display unit 13. Here, the input screen includes a keyboard (reference numeral 401 in Figure 4 or reference numeral 501 in Figure 5) equipped with multiple keys corresponding to each of the hiragana characters, including the syllabary, voiced consonants, and semi-voiced consonants, and/or katakana characters, including the syllabary, voiced consonants, and semi-voiced consonants.

When the input screen is displayed, if the display unit 13 receives an input operation that includes entering one or more characters, specifically an operation to select a key representing a character, the display control unit 112 obtains information indicating that a character has been entered from the acquisition unit 111. Upon obtaining this information, the display control unit 112 consults the storage unit 12 to obtain information indicating the character corresponding to the entered key, i.e., the input character entered by the user's input operation, and displays it in the search window (reference numeral 402 in Figure 4) of the display unit 13.

The input screen may include a condition input screen for receiving condition information indicating the criteria for searching for destination candidates. When condition information is entered by the user into the display unit 13, the boarding destination floor registration device 1 searches for destination candidates based on the entered condition information in addition to the string. For example, Figure 4 shows a condition input screen (reference numeral 403) that can accept input operations for entering legal entity information. When condition information including legal entity information is entered into the display unit 13, the boarding destination floor registration device 1 searches for destination candidates that include the input characters and have a legal entity corresponding to the entered legal entity information. Furthermore, the input screen may include other condition input screens. For example, as shown in Figure 4, the input screen may include a condition input screen (reference numeral 404) that can accept input operations including specifying a search range as condition information.

When a user enters at least some input characters into the display unit 13 and then performs a search command, the display control unit 112 retrieves information from the search unit 113 indicating the search results based on the entered information. This information includes information indicating destination candidates identified as a result of the search. Upon retrieving this information, the display control unit 112 displays the search results screen on the display unit 13.

Specifically, the display control unit 112 identifies the floor where the destination candidate resides based on the resident information 121, and outputs a signal to the display unit 13 instructing the display of the search results screen, as well as information that associates each destination candidate with the floor on which that destination candidate resides. As a result, the display unit 13 displays a search results screen that includes the destination candidate found by the search unit 113 and information (reference numeral 701 in Figure 7) indicating the floor on which that destination candidate resides.

Furthermore, as shown in Figure 7, the search results screen may include a button (reference numeral 702) for instructing the display of the input screen. When the display unit 13 receives input indicating the selection of this button, the display control unit 112 displays the input screen on the display unit 13. This allows the user to perform another search after confirming the search results without having to register the boarding location and floor call again.

Furthermore, if conditional information is entered into the display unit 13 in addition to the input characters, and a search instruction operation is performed, the display control unit 112 retrieves the search results based on the input characters and conditional information from the search unit 113 and displays the search results screen, including the search results, on the display unit 13.

Figure 9 shows an example of a search results screen when a search is performed based on conditional information. As an example, the case where the display unit 13 receives an input of conditional information including input characters and legal entity information will be described. In this case, as shown in Figure 9, the display control unit 112 displays a search results screen on the display unit 13 that includes the input characters and information (reference numeral 901) indicating destination candidates that have the legal entity status indicated in the input legal entity information. When displaying a search results screen as a result of a search based on conditional information, the display control unit 112 may also display the set conditions in the search results screen.

Furthermore, if the search results based on the entered information show no residents matching the destination candidate, the display control unit 112 acquires information indicating that no residents matching the destination candidate exist as part of the search results. Upon acquiring this information, the display control unit 112 displays the search results screen on the display unit 13. Here, the search results screen when no residents matching the destination candidate exist may either not include information indicating the destination candidate, or it may include a message indicating that no residents matching the destination candidate exist.

Furthermore, when the display unit 13 receives an operation to select a keyboard type, the display control unit 112 acquires information indicating the selected keyboard type from the acquisition unit 111. Upon acquiring this information, the display control unit 112 displays an input screen including the selected keyboard type on the display unit 13.

(Search section 113)
The search unit 113 searches for destination candidates and outputs information indicating the search results to the display control unit 112.

The search unit 113 searches the resident information 121 for destination candidates associated with string information 122 containing the input characters entered through the input operation. When the search unit 113 obtains information from the acquisition unit 111 indicating that a search instruction operation has been performed, it refers to the storage unit 12 and determines whether condition information is stored. If the input characters are stored in the storage unit 12 but no condition information is stored, the search unit 113 performs a search based on the input characters. The search unit 113 may or may not distinguish between hiragana and katakana. The following explanation uses a configuration where the search unit 113 does not distinguish between hiragana and katakana as an example.

If a search command is performed without inputting condition information, the memory unit 12 does not store any condition information. In this case, the search unit 113 refers to the string information 122 and searches for destination candidates whose names contain the input characters. Note that "having a name containing the input characters" means that the input characters are included in at least part of the phonetic spelling. The search unit 113 may perform a prefix match search or a partial match search. In the following explanation, the configuration in which the search unit 113 performs a prefix match search unless otherwise specified will be used as an example.

If a search command is performed without any condition information being entered, the search unit 113 searches for destination candidates whose names begin with the input characters. For example, if "fuji" or "フジ" is entered as the input characters and a search command is performed, the search unit 113 searches for destination candidates in the string information 122 that begin with "fuji" or "フジ".

When condition information is entered on the condition input screen, the memory unit 12 stores both the input characters and the condition information. In this case, the search unit 113 searches for destination candidates based on the input characters entered on the input screen and the condition information entered on the condition input screen. For example, the search unit 113 may narrow down the destination candidates from those whose names begin with the input characters to those that satisfy the conditions indicated in the condition information.

For example, if legal entity information is entered on the condition input screen, the system searches for destination candidates whose names begin with the entered characters and which include the type of legal entity indicated in the legal entity information.

An example of searching based on conditional information and displaying search results will be explained using the building where the four tenant information entries 121 shown in Figure 8 reside as an example. In this example, if "Fuji" is entered as input text and corporate information indicating "Kabushiki Kaisha" (corporation) is entered as conditional information, the search unit 113 searches for tenants whose names begin with "Fuji" and who are registered as "Kabushiki Kaisha". In this example, the only destination candidate that satisfies these conditions is "Fujitec Co., Ltd." On the other hand, if "Fuji" is entered as input text and corporate information indicating "Kabushiki Kaisha" is entered as conditional information, the search unit 113 identifies only "Fujitec Co., Ltd." as a destination candidate in the search results. The display control unit 112 displays the search results screen containing only "Fujitec Co., Ltd." as a destination candidate on the display unit 13, as shown in Figure 9.

Furthermore, if "Fuji" is entered as the input character and no condition information is entered, the search unit 113 will identify three destination candidates as search results: "Fujitec Co., Ltd.", "Fuji XXX Union", and "Fuji ○○○ Office".

If information indicating a partial match search is entered as condition information on the condition input screen, the search unit 113 may perform a partial match search. In this case, the search unit 113 searches for destination candidates whose names contain the input characters somewhere. For example, if "Tech" is entered as the input characters and information indicating a partial match search is entered as condition information, the search unit 113 searches for tenants whose names contain "Tech" in at least part of them. Here, if the tenant information 121 shown in Figure 8 is stored, the search unit 113 identifies "Futekku Co., Ltd." and "Fujitec Co., Ltd." as destination candidates.

Furthermore, if multiple conditional information is stored in the memory unit 12, the search unit 113 will perform a search using all of the conditional information. For example, if legal entity information indicating "Kabushiki Kaisha" (corporation) is entered as conditional information, and information instructing a partial match search is also entered, the search unit 113 will search for destination candidates that include the input characters in at least part of the name and correspond to "Kabushiki Kaisha".

(Registration Section 114)
The registration unit 114 registers the boarding destination floor call based on the input operation received by the display unit 13.

When a destination floor is selected on the destination floor input screen, or when a destination candidate is selected on the search results screen, the registration unit 114 acquires information indicating the destination floor from the acquisition unit 111. Upon acquiring the destination floor information, the registration unit 114 identifies the floor where the boarding destination floor registration device 1 is installed as the departure floor.

Once the departure and destination floors are identified, the registration unit 114 transmits the platform destination floor call to the group control device 2. The platform destination floor call includes information indicating the departure and destination floors, and identification information for identifying the platform destination floor registration device 1. As a result, the platform destination floor call is registered in the group control device 2, and the platform destination floor registration device 1 can obtain information indicating the assignment result for that platform destination floor call.

<An example of the processing flow performed by the boarding destination floor registration device 1>
Figure 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the processing flow performed by the boarding destination floor registration device 1. The following explanation will use Figure 10 to describe an example of the processing flow performed by the boarding destination floor registration device 1.

If no operation is performed on the boarding destination floor registration device 1, the display control unit 112 displays the destination floor input screen on the display unit 13 (S1). While the destination floor input screen is displayed, the display unit 13 can accept input operations for entering a destination floor. Upon receiving an input operation for entering a destination floor, the display unit 13 outputs information indicating the entered destination floor to the control unit 11.

The acquisition unit 111 determines whether or not a destination floor has been entered for the display unit 13 (S2). If the acquisition unit 111 acquires information indicating the destination floor from the display unit 13, it determines that a destination floor has been entered for the display unit 13 (YES in S2). If YES in S2, the process proceeds to S13.

If no destination floor is entered for the display unit 13 (NO in S2), the acquisition unit 111 determines whether the display unit 13 has accepted the input start operation (S3). If the acquisition unit 111 has not received information from the display unit 13 indicating that the input start operation has been accepted, it determines that the display unit 13 has not accepted the input start operation (NO in S3). If NO in S3, the process returns to S2.

When the display unit 13 receives an input start instruction (YES in S3), the acquisition unit 111 outputs information indicating that the input start operation has been performed to the display control unit 112. Upon acquiring this information, the display control unit 112 displays the input screen on the display unit 13 (S4).

When the input screen is displayed, the display unit 13 can accept input operations for entering new characters, inputting conditional information, and search instruction operations.

When the display unit 13 is displaying the input screen, the acquisition unit 111 determines whether or not a new character has been entered into the display unit 13 (S5). When the display unit 13 receives an input operation to enter a character, it outputs information indicating the entered character to the acquisition unit 111. Upon acquiring the information indicating the entered character, the acquisition unit 111 determines that a new character has been entered (YES in S5). If YES in S5, the acquisition unit 111 stores the information indicating the newly entered input character in the storage unit 12 and outputs information indicating that a new character has been entered to the display control unit 112. Upon acquiring this information, the display control unit 112 displays the input character stored in the storage unit 12 in the search window of the input screen (S6). After S6, the process returns to S5.

If no new characters have been entered (NO in S5), that is, if the display unit 13 has not received an input operation to enter characters, the acquisition unit 111 determines whether or not condition information has been entered into the display unit 13 (S7). If the display unit 13 has received an input operation to enter condition information, it outputs the entered condition information to the acquisition unit 111. When the acquisition unit 111 acquires the condition information, it determines that condition information has been entered (YES in S7). If YES in S7, the acquisition unit 111 stores the acquired condition information in the storage unit 12 and registers the condition information entered into the display unit 13 (S8). After S8, the process returns to S5.

If no condition information is entered (NO in S7), that is, if the display unit 13 has not received an input operation to enter condition information, the acquisition unit 111 determines whether or not the display unit 13 has received a search instruction operation (S9). If the acquisition unit 111 has not acquired information indicating that a search instruction operation has been received, the process returns to S5.

When the display unit 13 receives a search command, it outputs information indicating that the search command has been received to the acquisition unit 111. Upon acquiring this information, the acquisition unit 111 determines that the display unit 13 has received the search command (YES in S9). If YES in S9, the acquisition unit 111 outputs information indicating that the display unit 13 has received the search command to the search unit 113.

When the search unit 113 acquires the information, it refers to the storage unit 12 and identifies the input characters that were input to the display unit 13 between S5 and S9 and stored in the storage unit 12. The search unit 113 searches the resident information 121 for destination candidates that are residents associated with the string information 122 containing the identified input characters (S10). Furthermore, if condition information is stored in the storage unit 12, the search unit 113 searches for destination candidates using the condition information in addition to the input characters. The search unit 113 outputs information indicating the search results, including the identified destination candidates, to the display control unit 112.

The display control unit 112, upon acquiring information indicating the search results, identifies the floor on which the destination candidate is located. Then, the display control unit 112 displays a search results screen on the display unit 13, including information indicating the name of the destination candidate and the floor on which it is located (S11).

The display unit 13 can accept a destination selection operation while displaying the search results screen. When the display unit 13 receives a destination selection operation, it outputs information indicating the selected destination to the acquisition unit 111.

After S11, the acquisition unit 111 waits for processing until a destination candidate is selected in the display unit 13 (until YES is selected in S12), that is, until information indicating the selected destination candidate is acquired from the display unit 13. If information indicating the selected destination candidate is acquired from the display unit 13 (YES in S12), the acquisition unit 111 outputs the acquired information indicating the destination candidate to the registration unit 114. If a predetermined time (e.g., 10 seconds) elapses after S11 without a destination candidate being selected, the display control unit 112 may terminate the display of the search results screen and display the destination registration screen on the display unit 13.

When the destination floor input screen is displayed and a destination floor is entered (YES in S2), or when the search results screen is displayed and a destination candidate is selected (YES in S12), the registration unit 114 identifies the destination floor. If YES in S2, the registration unit 114 identifies the floor indicated in the information acquired from the acquisition unit 111 as the destination floor. If YES in S2, upon acquiring information indicating a destination candidate, the registration unit 114 refers to the storage unit 12 and identifies the floor where the occupant indicated by the destination candidate resides as the destination floor. Subsequently, the registration unit 114 transmits a landing destination floor call to the group control device 2 (S13). The landing destination floor call includes information indicating the departure floor, which is the floor where the landing destination floor registration device 1 is installed, information indicating the destination floor identified by the above process, and identification information of the landing destination floor registration device 1.

When the group control device 2 receives a landing destination floor call from the landing destination floor registration device 1, it assigns the most suitable elevator 4 to that landing destination floor call. Subsequently, the group control device 2 transmits information indicating the assignment result to the landing destination floor registration device 1, which was the source of the landing destination floor call.

When the display control unit 112 acquires information indicating the assignment result (YES in S14), it displays a registration completion screen on the display unit 13 (S15) that includes information indicating the assigned elevator unit for the user's boarding destination floor call, and information indicating the destination floor. After displaying the registration completion screen for a predetermined time (for example, 5 seconds), the display control unit 112 may switch the screen displayed on the display unit 13 to the destination floor input screen. This allows the display unit 13 to accept input operations for the next user's boarding destination floor call.

Furthermore, based on the assignment results, the group control device 2 transmits information regarding the landing destination floor call registered to the elevator control device 3 that controls the assigned elevator. This information includes information indicating the departure floor and destination floor.

The elevator control device 3, which controls the elevator assigned to a landing destination floor call, receives information regarding the landing destination floor call from the group control device 2. Based on this information, the elevator control device 3 controls elevator 4. Elevator 4 moves to the departure floor according to the control of the elevator control device 3, and then moves to the destination floor. This allows users to travel to a floor where a potential destination exists using the assigned elevator.

[Embodiment 2]
Other embodiments of the present invention are described below. For the sake of clarity, components having the same function as those described in the above embodiments will be denoted by the same reference numerals, and their descriptions will not be repeated.

In Embodiment 1 of the present invention, the building where the elevator 4 is installed is an office building, and the landing destination floor registration device 1 is configured to perform a search based on the input characters and the legal entity information when legal entity information is entered as condition information. However, the building where the elevator 4 is installed is not limited to an office building, and the condition information accepted by the landing destination floor registration device 1 is not limited to that described in Embodiment 1.

For example, elevator 4 may be installed in a building containing multiple stores, such as a commercial facility. In this case, the tenants of the building may be retail stores or restaurants, etc. Embodiment 2 will explain the configuration in which elevator 4 is installed in a building containing multiple stores, such as a commercial facility, as an example.

The landing destination floor registration device 1 according to Embodiment 2 stores resident information 121A instead of resident information 121. Figure 11 shows an example of resident information 121A. As shown in Figure 11, in resident information 121A, string information 122A and resident floor information 123 are associated for each resident.

String information 122A includes a string indicating the tenant's name, a string indicating the tenant's occupation, and a string indicating the handling of the property. Although not shown in the diagram, each string in string information 122A is associated with its phonetic reading.

The "handling string" is a string that indicates at least one of the following: the products handled by the tenant, the services provided by the tenant, or the brand name corresponding to the tenant. The handling string may be set by the building manager or by the manager of the tenant store.

In the landing destination floor registration device 1 according to Embodiment 2, the display unit 13 displays an input screen. While the input screen is displayed, the display unit 13 can accept input of industry-specific instruction information for instructing a search based on industry, or handling instruction information for instructing a search based on handling strings. Figure 12 shows an example of the input screen displayed in the display unit 13 of the landing destination floor registration device 1 according to Embodiment 2. The condition input screen (reference numeral 1201) included in the input screen includes a button for inputting industry-specific instruction information (reference numeral 1202), a button for inputting handling instruction information (reference numeral 1203), and a button for displaying the floor selection screen (reference numeral 1204).

When industry information is entered on the condition input screen, the search unit 113 performs a search based on the industry. If no text is entered and the display unit 13 receives an input request for industry information, the search unit 113 searches for the tenant's industry. Specifically, the search unit 113 refers to the tenant information 121A and identifies the tenant's industry and the number of tenants belonging to that industry for each industry. The search unit 113 outputs the identified information as a search result to the display control unit 112. Upon acquiring the search result, the display control unit 112 transitions the screen displayed on the display unit 13 from the input screen to the industry screen.

Figure 13 shows an example of the industry category screen displayed on the display unit 13. As shown in Figure 13, the industry category screen displays information (reference numeral 1301) indicating the industry and the number of tenants belonging to that industry, for each industry category. The industry category screen also includes a button (reference numeral 1302) that accepts an operation to display the input screen. While the industry category screen is displayed, the display unit 13 can accept an operation to select one of the industries and an operation to display the input screen.

When the display unit 13 receives an operation to select one of the business categories, the search unit 113 acquires information indicating the selected business category via the acquisition unit 111. Upon acquiring this information, the search unit 113 identifies tenants corresponding to the selected business category as destination candidates. The search unit 113 also identifies the floor level where each identified destination candidate is located. The search unit 113 outputs the search results, including the destination candidates and the floor level information, to the display control unit 112.

The display control unit 112 displays the search results screen, including the search results obtained from the search unit 113, on the display unit 13. Figure 14 shows an example of the search results screen displayed by the display unit 13 of the landing destination floor registration device 1 according to Embodiment 2. Figure 14 shows an example where the industry category "restaurant" is selected when the display unit 13 is displaying the industry category screen shown in Figure 13. As shown in Figure 14, when a search is performed based on industry category information, the search results screen includes information (reference numeral 1401) indicating the destination candidates who are tenants corresponding to the selected industry category and the floor on which the destination candidates are located. When any destination candidate is selected by the user's input operation, the registration unit 114 transmits a landing destination floor call to the floor on which the destination candidate is located, and the group control device 2 assigns elevator number 4 to the landing destination floor call.

If text is entered on the input screen, and industry information is also entered on the condition input screen, the search unit 113 may search for destination candidates corresponding to the industry containing the entered text. Furthermore, the display control unit 112 may display the industry screen or search results screen, including the search results from the search unit 113, on the display unit 13.

For example, if "i" is entered on the input screen and industry information is entered on the condition input screen, the search unit 113 searches the tenant information 121A and identifies tenants whose industry string begins with "in" and the floor on which those tenants reside. As an example, among the industry categories shown in Figure 13, only "restaurants" contains the string "in". In this case, the display control unit 112 may display an industry screen on the display unit 13 that includes only "restaurants [13 items]" as information indicating the tenant and the number of tenants. Alternatively, in the above case, the display control unit 112 may display the search results screen shown in Figure 14 on the display unit 13.

According to the above configuration, users can identify their destination not only by the name of the tenant but also by the type of business. For example, if a user is not targeting a specific store but wants to find a destination among tenants belonging to a specific type of business, they can input business type information to find potential destinations identified based on their desired business.

Furthermore, if handling instruction information is entered on the condition input screen, the search unit 113 may search for destination candidates that include the input characters in the handling string. If "shoes" is entered on the input screen and handling instruction information is entered on the condition input screen, the search unit 113 searches the resident information 121A and identifies residents whose handling strings begin with "shoes" and the floor on which those residents reside. In the case where the resident information 121A shown in Figure 11 is stored, residents whose handling strings containing "shoes" are registered reside on the 10th floor. In this case, the search unit 113 identifies that resident as a destination candidate.

The search unit 113 outputs the search results, which include information such as the identified destination candidate, the floor on which the destination candidate is located, and the corresponding string of characters, to the display control unit 112. The display control unit 112 displays the search results screen, including the acquired search results, on the display unit 13. For example, in the above example, the display unit 13 displays the search results screen, which includes the destination candidate "U-ten," the floor on which the destination candidate is located "10th floor," and the corresponding string of characters "Shoes" as search results.

According to the above configuration, users can identify their destination not only by the name of the tenant, but also by the goods and services that the tenant handles. For example, if a user is not heading to a specific store, but rather wants to find a destination among tenants that handle a specific product, they can input the handling instruction information. This will display potential destinations that handle the desired product as search results, allowing the user to register a boarding floor call to the floor where the desired product is located by selecting a potential destination.

Furthermore, if floor information, which specifies the floor to be searched, is entered on the condition input screen, the search unit 113 may search for destination candidates whose names include the input characters and which are located on the floor indicated by the floor information.

Figure 15 shows an example of the floor selection screen displayed by the display unit 13 of the landing destination floor registration device 1 according to Embodiment 2. The floor selection screen is a screen for receiving input of floor information as condition information.

The display unit 13, while displaying an input screen as shown in Figure 12, can receive an input operation to instruct the display of the floor selection screen. This input operation may, for example, be the operation of selecting a predetermined button (reference numeral 1204). When the display unit 13 receives an input operation to instruct the display of the floor selection screen, the display control unit 112 causes the display unit 13 to display the floor selection screen.

As shown in Figure 15, the floor selection screen includes a condition input screen (reference numeral 1501) containing buttons for selecting floors of the building, and a button (reference numeral 1302) that accepts an operation to instruct the display of the input screen.

The display unit 13, while displaying the floor selection screen, can accept operations to input floor information, which is information specifying the floor to be searched, as condition information; specifically, operations to select buttons indicating floors. The display unit 13 can accept operations to select multiple floors.

When the display unit 13 receives floor information as conditional information, the acquisition unit 111 acquires the floor information from the display unit 13 and stores it in the storage unit 12. Subsequently, when the display unit 13 receives an operation to instruct the display of the input screen, the display control unit 112 transitions the screen displayed on the display unit 13 from the floor selection screen to the input screen. This allows the user to input text and conditional information, as well as perform search instructions. When the display unit 13 receives a search instruction, the search unit 113 searches for destination candidates based on the input characters and floor information. Specifically, the search unit 113 searches for destination candidates containing the input characters from among the residents residing on the floors included in the floor information.

According to the above configuration, the boarding destination floor registration device 1 can narrow down destination candidates, including input characters, based on floor information entered by the user. For example, in a 15-story building, if information indicating the 1st and 2nd floors is entered as floor information, other floors will be excluded from the search. For example, by entering floor information excluding crowded floors, the user can find destination candidates located on relatively less crowded floors as search results.

Furthermore, the operation to select a floor may mean either determining the search target or determining the floor to exclude from the search, as in the configuration described above. For example, when the display unit 13 is displaying the floor selection screen and an input operation to select a floor is received, the acquisition unit 111 may designate the selected floor as a floor to exclude from the search and store information indicating the unselected floors as floor information in the storage unit 12. In this case, the search unit 113 also searches for destination candidates from the floor information stored in the storage unit 12, i.e., from the residents residing on the floors not selected in the above input operation.

Furthermore, in the above configuration, the display control unit 112 may distinguish between floors to be searched and floors not to be searched and display them separately on the display unit 13. Figure 16 shows an example of a floor selection screen when an operation to select a floor is received. Let's consider an example where a building has floors from the second basement floor to the 20th floor, and floors from the second basement floor to the 5th floor are excluded from the search due to the user's input. In this case, as shown by reference numeral 1601 in Figure 16, the display control unit 112 distinguishes between floors 2 through 5 and floors 6 through 20. Specifically, on the floor selection screen, the display control unit 112 changes the display color for floors 2 through 5, or displays diagonal lines or the like on the display portion of floors 2 through 5. This allows the user to easily understand the floors to be searched determined based on their own operation.

Furthermore, in the boarding destination floor registration device 1 according to Embodiment 2, the display control unit 112 may display a condition input screen on the display unit 13 that can accept input operations instructing a search based on sale stores. In this case, the tenant information 121A in the storage unit 12 stores information for each tenant indicating whether or not the tenant store is holding a sale. When the display unit 13 receives an input operation instructing a search based on sale stores on the condition input screen, the search unit 113 searches for destination candidates among the tenants who are registered as tenants holding sales. The search unit 113 may consider all tenants holding sales as destination candidates, or it may search for some of the tenants holding sales, for example, tenants holding sales whose names include the input characters already entered.

The display control unit 112 displays a search results screen, including the search results from the search unit 113, on the display unit 13. Figure 17 is an example of a search results screen that includes the results of a search based on whether or not a sale is being held. As shown in Figure 17, the search results screen includes information (reference numeral 1701) indicating the type of business of the tenant holding the sale and the floor on which that tenant is located. The search results screen may also include the tenant's name instead of the type of business. When the display unit 13 receives an operation to select a floor while the search results screen is displayed, the registration unit 114 transmits a landing destination floor call to the group control device 2, specifying the selected floor as the destination floor.

[Embodiment 3]
Embodiment 3 describes yet another display mode of the input screen. Figure 18 is a diagram showing an example of an input screen displayed by the display unit 13 in the boarding destination floor registration device 1 according to Embodiment 3.

The display control unit 112 may display, on the input screen, the number of residents whose names begin with the character indicated by the key, along with the key itself. When the destination floor input screen is displayed and the display unit 13 receives an input operation instructing the display of the input screen, the search unit 113 refers to the resident information 121 and identifies the number of residents whose names begin with the character indicated by the key, for each character displayed as a key. Subsequently, the display control unit 112 displays an input screen on the display unit 13 based on the information identified by the search unit 113. As shown by reference numeral 1801 in Figure 18, the display unit 13 displays an input screen that includes information showing both the key indicating the character and the number of residents whose names begin with the character indicated by that key. This allows the user to grasp the number of residents for each character. If there is only one resident whose name begins with a certain character, the user can identify the target resident by entering only that character and performing a search. If the number of residents is not displayed on the input screen, users may enter multiple characters to search for a resident as described above. In response, the display control unit 112 displays the number of residents whose names begin with the character indicated by the key, along with the key itself, on the input screen. For example, if there is only one resident whose name begins with a certain character, the input screen will display "1" along with the key indicating that character. This allows residents to understand that they can identify their desired resident by entering just one character, thus reducing unnecessary input by users.

Furthermore, the display control unit 112 may distinguish between characters that are included at the beginning of a resident's name and characters that are not included at the beginning of a resident's name on the input screen. In this case, the search unit 113 identifies characters whose number of residents included at the beginning of the name is 0. Then, the display control unit 112 displays an input screen on the display unit 13 based on the information identified by the search unit 113. Figure 19 is a diagram showing an example of an input screen when characters included at the beginning of a resident's name and characters that are not included at the beginning of a resident's name are distinguished. As shown by reference numeral 1901 in Figure 19, the display unit 13 grays out the key indicating characters that are not included as characters at the beginning of the name. When a user looks at the display unit 13, if the characters included at the beginning of the name of the target resident are grayed out, the user can understand that the target resident is not living in the building. In this way, the display control unit 112 distinguishes between characters that appear at the beginning of a resident's name and characters that do not appear at the beginning of a resident's name, allowing users to easily and clearly confirm whether or not the desired resident is present.

Furthermore, the search unit 113 may perform filtering based on conditional information. For example, if legal entity information indicating a limited company is entered on the input screen, the search unit 113 identifies tenants who have legal entity information indicating a limited company. The search unit 113 also identifies the number of tenants whose names begin with the character indicated by the key, for each character displayed as the key. The display control unit 112 displays the input screen based on the information identified by the search unit 113 on the display unit 13. As a result, the display unit 13 displays an input screen containing information that includes both the key indicating the character and the number of tenants whose names begin with that character and who are limited companies.

Furthermore, the display control unit 112 may distinguish between characters included in the resident's name other than the first character and characters not included in the name.

The display control unit 112 identifies the tenant of interest whose name begins with the input character. Furthermore, on the input screen, the display control unit 112 distinguishes and displays the characters in the identified tenant's name that follow the part matching the input character from the characters that do not follow the matching part.

When the input screen is displayed, and the display unit 13 receives a character input operation, the display control unit 112 identifies the featured resident whose name begins with the input character. Next, the display control unit 112, with X being the number of characters in the input character, identifies the X+1 character in the name of the featured resident that contains the input character. If there are multiple featured residents, the display control unit 112 identifies the X+1 character for all featured residents. The display control unit 112 distinguishes between characters corresponding to the identified X+1 character and characters that do not correspond to the X+1 character and displays them accordingly.

For example, if "ふ" is entered as the first character, the display control unit 112 identifies tenants whose first character is "ふ" as featured tenants. As an example, if tenant information 121 as shown in Figure 8 is stored, the display control unit 112 identifies "Futekku Co., Ltd.", "Fujitec Co., Ltd.", "Fuji XXX Union", and "Fuji ○○○ Office" as featured tenants. In this case, the display control unit 112 identifies "し" and "じ" as the X+1 character in the second character of the featured tenant's name. Subsequently, the display control unit 112 displays "し" and "じ" separately from other characters. For example, the display control unit 112 may gray out characters other than "し" and "じ" on the input screen.

The display control unit 112 performs the above-described processing each time a new character is entered. This allows the user to understand which characters may follow the entered character in the resident's name.

Furthermore, the display control unit 112 may display the number of residents of interest along with their keys. For example, if there is one resident whose name contains "fu" as the first character and "shi" as the second character, the display control unit 112 may display "1" alongside the key indicating "shi" on the input screen. Similarly, if there are three residents whose name contains "fu" as the first character and "ji" as the second character, the display control unit 112 may display "3" alongside the key indicating "ji" on the input screen.

[Variation]
(Variation 1)
In the embodiments 1 to 3 described above, the condition information that the display control unit 112 displays on the condition input screen may be set in advance. The storage unit 12 of the landing destination floor registration device 1 may store all the information that can be displayed as condition information. For example, the storage unit 12 may store all of the legal entities that can be entered as legal entity information, as well as the type of business instruction information, the handling instruction information, and the floor information.

The display control unit 112 may display pre-set items as conditional information from the information stored in the storage unit 12. For example, in the case of an office building, the display control unit 112 may set legal entity information and floor information as items of conditional information to be displayed on the display unit 13.

The display control unit 112 may determine the items of conditional information to be displayed on the display unit 13 based on input operations to the display unit by, for example, the building manager or the elevator 4 manager. Alternatively, the display control unit 112 may determine the items of conditional information to be displayed on the display unit 13 based on instructions from an external device that is communicatively connected to the landing destination floor registration device 1.

Furthermore, the boarding destination floor registration device 1 may store only the necessary information from among the information indicating items that can be displayed as condition information. For example, the boarding destination floor registration device 1 may receive information indicating items that can be displayed as condition information from an external device that is communicatively connected to the boarding destination floor registration device 1, and store the received information as items of condition information to be displayed on the display unit 13. The display control unit 112 may display the items stored in the storage unit 12 as condition information on the display unit 13.

(Variation 2)
In embodiments 1 to 3, the storage unit 12 stores resident information 121, 121A relating to residents of the building, and the search unit 113 searches for destination candidates from among the residents based on the input characters. However, the search unit 113 may also search for destination candidates other than residents.

The search unit 113 may search for landmarks within the building or facilities other than those used by residents. Facilities other than those used by residents may include, for example, restrooms within the building. In this case, the memory unit 12 may store strings indicating the names of landmarks within the building and the names of facilities other than those used by residents. When the display unit 13 receives a search start instruction, the search unit 113 may search for destination candidates by referring to the above strings in addition to the resident information 121, based on the input characters.

(Variation 3)
In Embodiments 1 to 3, various types of conditional information have been described, but the conditional information is not limited to those described above. For example, if a building is divided into multiple areas, the resident information 121 in the storage unit 12 may store information indicating the area in which the resident resides for each resident. For example, if a building is divided into an east area and a west area, the resident information 121 may store information indicating whether the resident resides in the east area or the west area for each resident. The display control unit 112 may display information on the display unit 13 to receive input instructing the execution of a search based on the area within the building as conditional information. This information may include information specifying which area should be the search target.

When the display unit 13 receives input instructing it to perform a search based on an area within the building, the search unit 113 searches for residents whose names include the input characters and who reside in the specified area, presenting them as destination candidates. By inputting search criteria information specifying the area the user is currently in, residents residing in the user's area are displayed as destination candidates. This reduces the likelihood of residents residing in areas far from the user being displayed as destination candidates, thereby improving user convenience.

(Variation 4)
In the above-described embodiment 2, the display control unit 112 displayed the floor selection screen when the display unit 13 received a predetermined operation, but it is not limited to this. For example, the display control unit 112 may display the floor selection screen together with the input screen.

Figure 20 shows an example of an input screen according to Modification 4. As shown in Figure 20, the input screen may include information (reference numeral 2001) included in the floor selection screen, in addition to the information included in the input screen shown in Figure 20. With this configuration, the display unit 13 can receive floor information without transitioning from the input screen. This reduces the number of screen transitions and input operations required when the user inputs floor information. Furthermore, in the example shown in Figure 20, since the input screen includes information indicating the floor to be searched based on the floor information, the user can input text and condition information while confirming the floor to be searched.

(Variation 5)
In the embodiments 1 to 3 described above, when the display unit 13 receives a search instruction operation, the search unit 113 starts a search; however, the timing of the start of the search is not limited to this. For example, when the input screen is displayed, if the display unit 13 receives input of condition information, the search unit 113 may start a search based on the input condition information. If input characters have already been stored, the search unit 113 performs the search based on the already entered input characters and the newly entered condition information. With this configuration, the user does not need to perform a search instruction operation when performing a search based on condition information. Therefore, the amount of operation required for a search can be reduced.

(Variation 6)
In a building where elevator 4 is installed, there may be tenants that are both companies with legal personality as described in Embodiment 1 and shops as described in Embodiment 2. When elevator 4 is installed in such a building, the landing destination floor registration device 1 may be able to accept input of either condition information for searching for companies or condition information for searching for shops. In this case, the storage unit 12 may store both tenant information 121 according to Embodiment 1 and tenant information 121A according to Embodiment 2. If the tenant is a company with legal personality, information indicating legal personality is associated with information indicating the tenant's name. If the tenant is a shop, industry information and handling string are associated with information indicating the tenant's name.

When conditional information containing any of the following—legal entity information, industry information, or handling string—is entered into the display unit 13, the search unit 113 refers to the tenant information 121 and tenant information 121A and searches for tenants corresponding to the entered characters and conditional information.

[Examples of implementation using software]
The function of the boarding destination floor registration device 1 (hereinafter referred to as "the device") is a program that causes a computer to function as the device, and can be realized by a program that causes a computer to function as each control block of the device (particularly each part included in the control unit 11).

In this case, the device comprises a computer having at least one control device (e.g., a processor) and at least one storage device (e.g., memory) as hardware for executing the program. By executing the program using this control device and storage device, the functions described in each of the above embodiments are realized.

The above program may be recorded on one or more computer-readable recording media, rather than on a temporary storage medium. This recording media may or may not be present in the above device. In the latter case, the program may be supplied to the above device via any wired or wireless transmission medium.

Furthermore, some or all of the functions of each of the above control blocks can also be implemented using logic circuits. For example, an integrated circuit in which logic circuits functioning as each of the above control blocks are formed is also included in the scope of this invention. In addition, it is also possible to implement the functions of each of the above control blocks using, for example, a quantum computer.

Furthermore, each process described in the above embodiments may be executed by AI (Artificial Intelligence). In this case, the AI may operate on the control device described above, or it may operate on other devices (e.g., an edge computer or a cloud server).

The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and various modifications are possible within the scope of the claims. Embodiments obtained by appropriately combining the technical means disclosed in different embodiments are also included within the technical scope of the present invention.

〔summary〕
A landing destination floor registration device according to embodiment 1 of the present invention is installed in a building where an elevator is provided, and is a landing destination floor registration device for registering landing destination floor calls by users of the elevator, comprising: a display control unit that displays an input screen on a display unit for receiving input operations including an operation by the user to input one or more characters; a search unit that searches for destination candidates that are one or more of the residents, which are associated with the string information including the input characters that are the one or more characters entered by the input operation, from resident information which is associated with string information corresponding to each of a plurality of residents residing in the building and the floor on which each of the plurality of residents resides; and a registration unit that registers a landing destination floor call to which the floor on which the resident selected by the user resides is the destination floor of the user, wherein the display control unit displays a keyboard on the input screen which has a plurality of keys corresponding to each of the hiragana including the Japanese syllabary, voiced consonants and semi-voiced consonants, and/or katakana including the Japanese syllabary, voiced consonants and semi-voiced consonants.

In the second aspect of the present invention, the landing destination floor registration device, as described in aspect 1, may include a string representing the name of each of the multiple residents, and the search unit may search for destination candidates whose names begin with the input characters.

The boarding destination floor registration device according to aspect 3 of the present invention, in aspect 1 or 2 above, includes a condition input screen for receiving condition information indicating conditions for searching for destination candidates, the input operation includes an operation for inputting the condition information, and the search unit may search for destination candidates based on the input characters and the input condition information when the condition information is input.

In the fourth aspect of the present invention, the landing destination floor registration device, as described in aspect 3 above, includes legal entity information indicating the type of legal entity of the tenant, and the search unit may, when the legal entity information is input, search for destination candidates having a name containing the input characters and including the type of legal entity indicated in the legal entity information.

The landing destination floor registration device according to aspect 5 of the present invention, in aspect 3 or 4 above, may include, in the string information, a string indicating the type of business of the tenant, and the condition information, a business type indication information that instructs a search based on the business type. The search unit may, when the business type indication information is input, search for destination candidates corresponding to the business type containing the input characters.

The landing destination floor registration device according to embodiment 6 of the present invention, in any of embodiments 3 to 5 above, wherein the string information includes a handling string indicating at least one of the goods handled by the tenant, the services provided by the tenant, and the brand name corresponding to the tenant, and the condition information includes handling instruction information that instructs a search based on the handling string,
When the handling instruction information is input, the search unit may search for destination candidates that include the input characters in the handling string.

In the landing destination floor registration device according to embodiment 7 of the present invention, in any of embodiments 3 to 6 above, the condition information includes floor information that instructs a search based on the floor level of the building, and the search unit may, when the floor information is input, search for the destination candidates that exist on the floor indicated by the floor information.

In the landing destination floor registration device according to embodiment 8 of the present invention, in any of embodiments 3 to 7 above, the display control unit may determine the condition information to be displayed on the condition input screen based on the input operation or instructions from an external device that is communicatively connected to the landing destination floor registration device.

In the landing destination floor registration device according to embodiment 9 of the present invention, in any of embodiments 1 to 8 above, the display control unit may display, on the input screen, the number of residents whose names include the character indicated by the key at the beginning, along with the key.

In the boarding area destination floor registration device according to embodiment 10 of the present invention, in any of embodiments 1 to 9 above, the display control unit may distinguish and display characters that are included at the beginning of the resident's name and characters that are not included at the beginning of the resident's name on the input screen.

In the boarding destination floor registration device according to embodiment 11 of the present invention, in any of embodiments 1 to 10 above, the display control unit may identify the tenant of interest whose name includes the input character at the beginning, and on the input screen, distinguish and display the characters in the tenant of interest's name that are included after the part matching the input character and the characters that are not included after the part matching the input character.

1. Platform destination floor registration device 4. Elevator 13. Display unit 112. Display control unit 113. Search unit 114. Registration unit 121, 121A. Resident information 122, 122A. String information

Claims (14)

A landing destination floor registration device installed in a building where an elevator is provided, which registers landing destination floor calls made by users of the elevator,
A display control unit that displays an input screen on the display unit for accepting input operations, including the operation of the user to input one or more characters,
A search unit searches for destination candidates that are one or more of the tenants, which are associated with the string information corresponding to each of the multiple tenants residing in the building, and the floor on which each of the multiple tenants resides, from the tenant information which is associated with the string information which includes the input characters which are one or more characters entered by the input operation.
The facility includes a registration unit that registers a landing destination floor call, where the floor on which the resident located, selected by the user from the destination candidates, resides, is the destination floor for the user.
The display control unit displays a keyboard on the input screen that has multiple keys corresponding to each of the hiragana characters, including the 50 sounds, multiple voiced consonants, and multiple semi-voiced consonants, and/or katakana characters, including the 50 sounds, multiple voiced consonants, and multiple semi-voiced consonants .
The input screen includes a condition input screen for receiving condition information indicating the conditions for searching for the destination candidates,
The aforementioned input operation includes the operation of inputting the aforementioned condition information,
When the condition information is entered, the search unit searches for destination candidates based on the input characters and the entered condition information.
The aforementioned condition information includes floor information that instructs a search based on the floor level of the building,
When the floor information is input, the search unit searches for the destination candidates that exist on the floor indicated by the floor information .
Platform destination floor registration device. A landing destination floor registration device installed in a building where an elevator is provided, which registers landing destination floor calls made by users of the elevator,
A display control unit that displays an input screen on the display unit for accepting input operations, including the operation of the user to input one or more characters,
A search unit searches for destination candidates that are one or more of the tenants, which are associated with the string information corresponding to each of the multiple tenants residing in the building, and the floor on which each of the multiple tenants resides, from the tenant information which is associated with the string information which includes the input characters which are one or more characters entered by the input operation.
The facility includes a registration unit that registers a landing destination floor call, where the floor on which the resident located, selected by the user from the destination candidates, resides, is the destination floor for the user.
The display control unit displays a keyboard on the input screen that has multiple keys corresponding to each of the hiragana characters, including the 50-sound system, voiced consonants, and semi-voiced consonants, and/or katakana characters, including the 50-sound system, voiced consonants, and semi-voiced consonants.
The input screen includes a condition input screen for receiving condition information indicating the conditions for searching for the destination candidates,
The aforementioned input operation includes the operation of inputting the aforementioned condition information,
When the condition information is entered, the search unit searches for destination candidates based on the input characters and the entered condition information.
The aforementioned condition information includes floor information that instructs a search based on the floor level of the building,
When the floor information is input, the search unit searches for the destination candidates that exist on the floor indicated by the floor information.
Platform destination floor registration device. A landing destination floor registration device installed in a building where an elevator is provided, which registers landing destination floor calls made by users of the elevator,
A display control unit that displays an input screen on the display unit for accepting input operations, including the operation of the user to input one or more characters,
A search unit searches for destination candidates that are one or more of the tenants, which are associated with the string information corresponding to each of the multiple tenants residing in the building, and the floor on which each of the multiple tenants resides, from the tenant information which is associated with the string information which includes the input characters which are one or more characters entered by the input operation.
The facility includes a registration unit that registers a landing destination floor call, where the floor on which the resident located, selected by the user from the destination candidates, resides, is the destination floor for the user.
The display control unit causes the input screen to display a keyboard equipped with multiple keys corresponding to each of the hiragana characters, including the 50-sound system, voiced consonants, and semi-voiced consonants, and/or katakana characters, including the 50-sound system, voiced consonants, and semi-voiced consonants.
The display control unit displays, on the input screen, the number of residents whose names begin with the character indicated by the key, along with the key itself.
Platform destination floor registration device. The aforementioned string information includes a string representing the name of each of the multiple residents,
The search unit searches for destination candidates whose names begin with the input characters.
A landing destination floor registration device according to any one of claims 1 to 3. The input screen includes a condition input screen for receiving condition information indicating the conditions for searching for the destination candidates,
The aforementioned input operation includes the operation of inputting the aforementioned condition information,
When the condition information is entered, the search unit searches for destination candidates based on the input characters and the entered condition information.
The landing destination floor registration device according to claim 3 . The aforementioned conditional information includes legal entity information indicating the type of legal entity of the tenant,
When the legal entity information is entered, the search unit searches for destination candidates whose names include the input characters and which include the type of legal entity indicated in the legal entity information.
The landing destination floor registration device according to claim 5. The aforementioned string information includes a string indicating the occupation of the tenant,
The aforementioned conditional information includes industry-specific information that instructs a search based on the aforementioned industry,
When the industry specification information is entered, the search unit searches for destination candidates that correspond to the industry containing the entered characters.
The landing destination floor registration device according to claim 5. The string information includes a handling string indicating at least one of the goods handled by the tenant, the services provided by the tenant, and the brand name corresponding to the tenant.
The aforementioned condition information includes handling instruction information that instructs a search based on the handling string,
When the handling instruction information is input, the search unit searches for destination candidates that include the input characters in the handling string.
The landing destination floor registration device according to claim 5. The aforementioned condition information includes floor information that instructs a search based on the floor level of the building,
When the floor information is input, the search unit searches for the destination candidates that exist on the floor indicated by the floor information.
The landing destination floor registration device according to claim 5. The display control unit determines the condition information to be displayed on the condition input screen based on the input operation or instructions from an external device that is communicatively connected to the boarding destination floor registration device.
The landing destination floor registration device according to claim 5. A landing destination floor registration device installed in a building where an elevator is provided, which registers landing destination floor calls made by users of the elevator,
A display control unit that displays an input screen on the display unit for accepting input operations, including the operation of the user to input one or more characters,
A search unit searches for destination candidates that are one or more of the tenants, which are associated with the string information corresponding to each of the multiple tenants residing in the building, and the floor on which each of the multiple tenants resides, from the tenant information which is associated with the string information which includes the input characters which are one or more characters entered by the input operation.
The facility includes a registration unit that registers a landing destination floor call, where the floor on which the resident located, selected by the user from the destination candidates, resides, is the destination floor for the user.
The display control unit,
The input screen displays a keyboard equipped with multiple keys corresponding to each of the hiragana characters, including the 50-sound syllable, multiple voiced consonants, and multiple semi-voiced consonants, and/or katakana characters, including the 50-sound syllable, multiple voiced consonants, and multiple semi-voiced consonants .
On the input screen, along with the key, the number of residents whose names begin with the character indicated by the key is displayed .
Platform destination floor registration device. The display control unit displays, on the input screen, the number of residents whose names begin with the character indicated by the key, along with the key itself.
The landing destination floor registration device according to claim 2 . The display control unit,
In the input screen, characters that are included at the beginning of the resident's name and characters that are not included at the beginning of the resident's name are displayed separately.
A landing destination floor registration device according to claim 11 or 12 . The display control unit,
Identify the tenant of interest whose name contains the aforementioned input characters at the beginning,
In the input screen, the characters in the name of the tenant of interest that follow the part that matches the input character and the characters that do not follow the part that matches the input character are displayed separately.
A landing destination floor registration device according to any one of claims 1 to 3.