Escalator control device, escalator control method and escalator control system

Abstract

The invention aims to provide an escalator control device, an escalator control method and an escalator control system which can maintain the safety of a user of an escalator and improve the operation efficiency. An escalator control device for controlling the operation of an escalator determines the operation of the escalator on the basis of first retention information, which is a person in a first area near the entrance of the escalator, and second retention information, which is a person in a second area near the entrance of the escalator. The escalator control device enables the judgment conditions for operation judgment according to the first retention information and the second retention information to be different.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to an escalator control device, an escalator control method and an escalator control system. Background Art

[0002] Patent document 1 discloses a technique that includes a photographing unit for photographing passengers on a passenger conveyor and obtaining image data, detecting a disturbance in the moving direction of the image data determined by the moving direction of the passenger conveyor, determining an abnormality in the flow of the passengers, and determining that an abnormality has occurred in the passengers when the flow is different from a stable state. (See paragraphs

[0020] and

[0030] )

[0003] In addition, it is disclosed that the area where the steps of the escalator are displayed is set as the first area, and the area near the entrance of the escalator is displayed is set as the second area. (See paragraphs

[0028] ,

[0031] , Figure 5 )

[0004] Prior art literature

[0005] Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-319762 Summary of the invention

[0006] Problems to be solved by the invention

[0007] However, in Patent Document 1, the degree of congestion or the number of people holding suitcases is determined and a warning or deceleration is given, and the entrapment or damage of foreign objects is detected. When a moving trajectory that is disturbed compared to a stable state is detected, the vehicle actually stops even when there is no congestion or overturning, and thus a reduction in operating efficiency becomes an issue.

[0008] That is, the two areas of the escalator and the escalator are photographed, and the turbulent movement trajectory such as tipping over and starting to move in the opposite direction compared to the stable state is detected, and the vehicle is decelerated or stopped. However, although the vehicle deviates from the stable behavior, the stop control is performed even in the case of tipping accidents such as congestion and stacking. Therefore, after stopping, safety confirmation is performed, and the reduction in operating efficiency caused by re-operation cannot be avoided. In order to solve the above problems, it is expected to focus on detecting detention and consider both safety and operating efficiency, rather than control of detecting abnormal behavior.

[0009] An object of the present invention is to provide an escalator control device, an escalator control method, and an escalator control system that can maintain the safety of escalator users and improve operating efficiency.

[0010] Means for solving problems

[0011] The escalator control device of the present invention controls the operation of the escalator, and determines the operation of the escalator based on the first stay information of the people in the first area near the lower landing of the escalator and the second stay information of the people in the second area near the lower landing of the escalator. It is characterized in that the determination conditions for making the operation determination according to the first stay information and the second stay information are different.

[0012] Alternatively, the escalator control method of the present invention controls the operation of the escalator, and determines the operation of the escalator based on the first stay information of the people in the first area near the lower landing of the escalator and the second stay information of the people in the second area near the lower landing of the escalator. It is characterized in that the control is such that the determination conditions for making the operation determination according to the first stay information and the second stay information are different respectively.

[0013] Alternatively, the escalator control system of the present invention controls and manages the operation of the escalator, and is characterized by having: a photographing unit that obtains the first stay information of the people in the first area near the lower landing of the escalator, a photographing unit that obtains the second stay information of the people in the second area near the lower landing of the escalator, and an instruction unit that makes the determination conditions for making the operation determination according to the first stay information and the second stay information different and makes an instruction for operation management according to the determination conditions.

[0014] Advantages of the Invention

[0015] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an escalator control device, an escalator control method, and an escalator control system that can maintain the safety of the users of the escalator and improve the operation efficiency. Brief Description of the Drawings

[0016] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the control system of the escalator in Embodiment 1.

[0017] Figure 2 is a diagram showing the control device of the escalator in Embodiment 1.

[0018] Figure 3 is the control flow chart of the escalator in Embodiment 1.

[0019] Figure 4 is a diagram showing the area setting in Embodiment 1.

[0020] Figure 5 is a diagram showing an example of the in-area state diagram in Embodiment 1.

[0021] Figure 6 is a diagram showing an example of the in-area state diagram in Embodiment 1.

[0022] Figure 7 This is an example of a diagram showing the state within the area of Embodiment 1. Detailed implementation

[0023] In the mode for implementing the present invention, the operation of the escalator is determined based on the first stay information of the people in the first area 1 near the lower landing of the escalator and the second stay information of the people in the second area near the lower landing of the escalator. The operation is determined based on the first stay information and the second stay information. At this time, the escalator is controlled with different determination conditions. Hereinafter, detailed description will be given through specific examples.

[0024] [Embodiment 1]

[0025] Figure 1 and Figure 2 are respectively a schematic diagram of the escalator control system of Embodiment 1 and the escalator control device of Embodiment 1.

[0026] As Figure 1 shown, the control system of this escalator has an escalator control device 3. And, an instruction unit 7 for giving an operation instruction based on the information from the escalator control device 3 is configured, and there is a notification device 8 for giving attention reminders such as stopping the escalator to people, and a photographing device 9 for photographing the vicinity of the lower landing of the escalator and the vicinity in front of the lower landing of the escalator. In addition, in this embodiment, the case of photographing two places with one photographing device 9 is described, but a plurality of photographing devices 9 may be separately provided at the two places.

[0027] The escalator control device 3 has: an image analysis unit 4, a notification control 5, and a GUI 6. The image analysis unit 4 has a stay detection unit 10 for the first area 1 and a stay detection unit 20 for the second area 2. In addition, it has: an instruction unit 7, a notification device 8, and a photographing device 9.

[0028] The setting information 30 from a PC or the like is sent to the escalator control device 3 and is sent to the image analysis unit 4 via the GUI 6. Here, settings such as the ranges of the first area 1 and the second area 2 and the time threshold of the stay status of people when making a stop determination can be made.

[0029] In this embodiment, the image information of the first area 1 and the second area 2 is obtained by a photographing device 9 such as a camera. Here, as Figure 4 shown, the first area 1 is near the lower landing of the escalator, and the second area 2 is near the escalator on the front side of the lower landing of the escalator. In this embodiment, one photographing device 9 is described, but it may also be separately provided for the first area 1 and the second area 2.

[0030] AsFigure 2 As shown, the image information obtained by the imaging device 9 is received by the image receiving unit 11. The image information is sent from the image receiving unit 11 to the person detection unit 21 to detect a person. Based on this information, the stay detection unit 10 and the stay detection unit 20 respectively detect the stay status of the person in the first area 1 and the second area 2. That is, the first stay information of the first area 1 and the second stay information of the second area 2 can be detected. The acquisition of the first stay information of the first area 1 and the second stay information of the second area 2 is carried out almost simultaneously. By carrying out almost simultaneously, the conditions in the first area 1 and the second area 2 can be grasped, and appropriate determination can be made.

[0031] The notification control 5 controls whether to make a notification based on the stay status in the first area 1 and the second area 2, and sends it to the instruction unit 7. The notification instruction is sent from the instruction unit 7 to the notification device 8.

[0032] Figure 3 It is the control flowchart of the escalator in the first embodiment 1. In the first area 1, an image request is sent to the imaging device 9, and the image receiving unit 11 receives the image. Then, a person is detected based on this image information. If no person is detected, it returns to the image request. If a person is detected, it is judged whether to stop based on this stay information. If it is detected that it stops, a stay detection notification is made, an instruction to stop is given, and the escalator stops. If it is not detected that it stops, it returns to the person detection.

[0033] In the second area 2, an image request is sent to the imaging device 9, and the image receiving unit 11 receives the image. Then, a person is detected based on this image information. If no person is detected, it returns to the image request. If a person is detected, it is judged whether there is a person. If it is detected that there is a person, a stay detection notification is made, an instruction to stop is given, and the escalator stops. If it is not detected that there is a person, it returns to the person detection.

[0034] As described above, in the first area 1 and the second area 2, the determination of stopping is implemented based on the respective stay information, but the determination conditions are different in the first area 1 and the second area 2. That is, on the one hand, it focuses on the stop as the stay information, and on the other hand, it focuses on the presence in the area for determination. By making the determination conditions different, safety can be maintained and the operation efficiency can be improved.

[0035] Hereinafter, a more specific description will be given. Figure 5 、 Figure 6 、 Figure 7 It is a diagram showing an example of the in-area state diagram of the first embodiment 1. It is a diagram for observing the escalator based on information. The traveling direction of the escalator is from the upper part to the lower part of the drawing.

[0036] Figure 5 An example is that a person in the first area 1 stops, and there are four people 22 in the second area 2. Regardless of the situation in the second area 2, since a person in the first area 1 stops, the escalator is stopped.

[0037] Figure 6 An example is that a person in the first area 1 moves slowly forward. Since the person does not stop in the first area 1, the determination in the first area 1 does not make a judgment to stop the escalator. In addition, in the second area 2, there are four people on the right side and two people on the left side in the drawing. One of the four people in the front row of the moving direction on the right side wants to avoid obliquely forward as shown by the arrow. That is, an action to avoid outside the second area 2 is performed. That is, by confirming the presence within the range of the second area 2, it is possible to avoid outside the area, so the judgment to stop the escalator is not made. Therefore, the double-stop judgment is not made according to the situations of the first area 1 and the second area 2, so the escalator does not stop, and safety can be maintained and operation can be maintained, thereby improving the operation efficiency.

[0038] Regarding Figure 7 In the example, a person in the first area 1 moves slowly. Since the person does not stop, the determination in the first area 1 does not make a judgment to stop the escalator. In addition, in the second area 2, there are four people on the right side and four people on the left side in a dense state in the drawing. Since the four people on the right side are affected by the slow movement of the person in the first area 1 in front, they want to retreat respectively. However, due to the dense state, the people cannot avoid outside the area and will move horizontally and backward into the area. Therefore, it can be confirmed that there are people within the range of the second area 2, and the judgment to stop the escalator is made. Therefore, according to the situations of the first area 1 and the second area 2, the escalator can be stopped to maintain safety.

[0039] Next, the time threshold for judging whether a person stops or moves based on the stay information in each area will be described. For example, the time used as the threshold can be set according to the rated speed of the escalator and the size of the area. In addition, the time from the intrusion of the person to the avoidance can be set as positive α, or the frequency and the field of view angle of the camera can be considered. When the activity starts before exceeding the time used as the threshold, the counting of the time is reset. By setting an appropriate threshold, the accuracy of the stop determination will be improved. In addition, an appropriate threshold can be set for each actual machine.

[0040] When it is impossible to determine that it is a person and the situation is not a stopped state such as slow movement, it is preferable not to count time. When accidentally entering the lower staircase side but noticing the difference and leaving the place, it is preferable not to perform detection. If outside the area before exceeding the threshold time, reset the time count. There are cases where people avoid and move even when there are people stopped at the lower staircase.

[0041] Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0042] 1…First Area

[0043] 2…Second Area

[0044] 3…Escalator Control Device

[0045] 4…Image Analysis Unit

[0046] 5…Notification Control

[0047] 6…GUI

[0048] 7…Indicator Unit

[0049] 8…Notification Device

[0050] 9…Shooting Device

[0051] 10…Residence Detection Unit

[0052] 11…Video Reception Unit

[0053] 20…Residence Detection Unit

[0054] 21…Person Detection Unit

[0055] 22…Person

[0056] 30…Setting Information.

Claims

1. An escalator control device for controlling the operation of an escalator, determining the operation of the escalator based on first retention information of people in a first area near a landing of the escalator and second retention information of people in a second area near the landing of the escalator, It is characterized in that The escalator control device makes different determination conditions for operation determination based on the first and second retention information.

2. The escalator control device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The escalator control device is configured to obtain the first stay information and the second stay information at substantially the same time.

3. The escalator control device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The escalator control device determines whether the person has stopped based on the first stay information, and determines whether the person has moved within the second area or outside the second area based on the second stay information.

4. The escalator control device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The escalator control device sets a threshold value for determining whether a person stops based on the first detention information and for determining whether a person moves within or outside the second area based on the second detention information, based on the rated speed of the escalator and the sizes of the first area and the second area.

5. An escalator control method for controlling the operation of an escalator, determining the operation of the escalator based on first retention information of people in a first area near a landing of the escalator and second retention information of people in a second area near the landing of the escalator, It is characterized in that The control is performed so that the determination conditions for the operation determination based on the first retention information and the second retention information are different from each other.

6. An escalator control system for controlling and managing the operation of an escalator, characterized in that: The escalator control system has: A photographing unit for obtaining first retention information of persons in a first area near a landing of the escalator, a photographing unit for obtaining second retention information of persons in a second area near a landing of the escalator, and an indication unit for making different determination conditions for operation determination based on the first retention information and the second retention information and for indicating operation management based on the determination conditions.

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