Elevator

Abstract

To provide an elevator capable of eliminating factors that interfere with voice recognition during inspection work.SOLUTION: An elevator 10 is provided with multiple cars 12 in one hoistway 11. When one car 20 is under inspection, audio played flowed in other car(s) 20 and / or audio played in the landing of the other car(s) 20 is muted.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an inspection mode for an elevator. [Background technology]

[0002] In elevator inspections, the elevator inspection work is performed by workers. Conventionally, elevator inspection work has been performed by multiple workers. For example, one of the multiple workers would visually inspect, palpate, auscultate, measure, and check the operation of the equipment for the inspection items, while another of the multiple workers would record the inspection results.

[0003] In recent years, elevator inspections are often performed by a single worker to improve the efficiency of inspection work. For example, the worker may visually inspect, palpate, auscultate, measure, and check the operation of equipment for inspection items, vocalize the inspection results, and use a microphone on a portable information terminal (such as a smartphone or laptop computer) to recognize the voice and record the inspection results (for example, Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 7260076 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] Incidentally, among elevators, multi-car elevators in which multiple cars are installed in one elevator shaft are well known. For example, when an operator inspects one car of a multi-car elevator, and the inspection result is spoken by the operator and the spoken voice is recognized by a portable information terminal, the voice (guidance, music, etc.) played in the adjacent cars or halls may hinder the voice recognition.

[0006] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an elevator that can eliminate factors that hinder voice recognition during elevator inspection work. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The elevator of the present invention is an elevator having multiple cars in a single hoistway, and is characterized in that when one car is undergoing inspection work, the audio played in the other cars and / or the audio played at the landings of the other cars is muted.

[0008] In the elevator of the present invention, when one car is undergoing inspection work, it is preferable to mute the audio played in the car close to the first car and / or the audio played at the landing of the car close to the first car.

[0009] In the elevator of the present invention, when one car is undergoing inspection work, it is preferable to mute the audio played in other cars operating at a height position close to that of the first car, and / or the audio played at a landing at a height position close to that of the first car.

[0010] In the elevator according to the present invention, it is preferable to specify the height position of the car during the inspection work based on height position information on an information terminal carried by a worker performing the inspection work. Effect of the Invention

[0011] According to the elevator of the present invention, factors impeding voice recognition during elevator inspection work can be eliminated. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0012] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an elevator inspection operation as an example of an embodiment. [Diagram 2] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an elevator as an example of an embodiment. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a control panel according to an embodiment; [Figure 4] FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a control panel as another example of the embodiment. [Diagram 5] FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a control panel as another example of the embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0013] An example of an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below. In the following description, specific shapes, materials, directions, values, etc. are merely examples for the purpose of easily understanding the present invention, and can be appropriately changed according to the application, purpose, specifications, etc.

[0014] [Elevator] An elevator 10 as an example of an embodiment will be described with reference to Figs. 1 to 3.

[0015] As shown in Fig. 1, an inspection of an elevator 10 is performed by an operator. The inspection includes a periodic inspection report of the elevator 10 and a maintenance inspection of the elevator 10. In the inspection of the elevator 10, one operator visually inspects, palpates, auscultates, measures, and checks the operation of the equipment for the inspection items, vocalizes the inspection results, and records the inspection results by having the vocalized voice recognized by a microphone in a portable information terminal 20. With the elevator 10, it is possible to eliminate factors that hinder voice recognition during the inspection of the elevator 10, as will be described in detail later.

[0016] The elevator 10 of this embodiment is installed in, for example, a shopping mall. The elevator of the present invention may also be installed in a department store, an office building, a public facility, or the like.

[0017] As shown in FIG. 2, the elevator 10 is a multi-car elevator in which a plurality of cars 12A, . . . , 12E are provided in one hoistway 11 and move up and down between halls 15A, . . . , 15E. In the elevator 10 of this embodiment, the cars 12A, . . . , 12E are adjacent to each other and move up and down. In the following, when the cars 12A, . . . , 12E are commonly described or when any car 12 is described, they will be simply referred to as the car 12. Similarly, when the halls 15A, . . . , 15E are commonly described or when any hall 15 is described, they will be simply referred to as the hall 15.

[0018] The elevator of the present invention may be a one-shaft multi-car elevator, in which an upper car and a lower car arranged directly below the upper car each independently ascend and descend in a common hoistway.

[0019] The car 12 carries passengers and rises and falls according to the passengers' requests, stopping at landings 15 on each floor. The car 12 is hung from one end of a wire rope (not shown). A counterweight (not shown) whose weight is set so as to balance with the car 12 is hung from the other end of the wire rope. The car 12 and the counterweight are raised and lowered by rotating a pulley (not shown) to which the wire rope is hung, using an electric motor (not shown).

[0020] The car 12 is provided with a speaker 13 that broadcasts audio to passengers in the car 12. The audio includes shopping mall guidance, sales floor guidance on each floor, warnings, shopping mall advertising, music, etc. In the following, when a common explanation is given for the speakers 13A, ..., 13E, or when an arbitrary speaker 13 is explained, it will simply be referred to as speaker 13.

[0021] The landing 15 is provided with a speaker 16 that plays audio to passengers waiting at the landing 15 for the arrival of the car 12. The audio includes shopping mall guidance, sales floor guidance on each floor, arrival guidance for the car 12, warnings, shopping mall advertising, music, etc. In the following, when a common explanation is given for the speakers 16A, ..., 16E, or when an arbitrary speaker 16 is explained, it will simply be referred to as speaker 16.

[0022] A control panel 30 is provided at the top of the elevator shaft 11. The control panel 30 controls the operation or speed of the car 12, and controls the operation of the devices that operate the elevator 10, such as the opening and closing of the doors of the car 12, the opening and closing of the doors of the hall 15, the voice guidance by the speaker 13, and the voice guidance by the speaker 16. The control panel 30 will be described in detail later.

[0023] [Information terminal] 1 again, the information terminal 20 is carried by a worker who performs inspection work on the elevator 10. The information terminal 20 is, for example, a smartphone or a notebook computer. The information terminal 20 has a CPU (Central Processing Unit) which is an arithmetic processing unit, and storage units such as a RAM (Random Access Memory) and a ROM (Read Only Memory), and performs signal processing according to a program pre-stored in the ROM while utilizing the temporary storage function of the RAM.

[0024] 3, the information terminal 20 has an inspection mode start signal transmission unit 21, a voice recognition unit 22, and an inspection recording unit 23, each of which will be described in detail later. The inspection mode start signal transmission unit 21, the voice recognition unit 22, and the inspection recording unit 23 are realized by the CPU executing a program stored in the ROM or RAM.

[0025] The inspection mode start signal transmitting unit 21 transmits an inspection mode start signal to the control panel 30. The inspection mode start signal is a signal for causing the control panel 30 to start the inspection mode. The inspection mode refers to putting one of the cars 12A, ..., 12E into a state in which an operator can inspect it. Specifically, the car 12 is put into a state in which an operator can inspect it by disabling the operation button of the platform 15 of the car 12 in the inspection mode, disabling the operation button of the car 12 in the inspection mode, etc. Note that the cars 12 other than the car 12 in the inspection mode are assumed to operate normally.

[0026] The inspection mode start signal transmitting unit 21 may transmit the signal to the control panel 30 via a monitoring center that centrally monitors elevators in multiple buildings.

[0027] The voice recognition unit 22 recognizes the voice of the worker who performs the inspection of the car 12 in the inspection mode by visual inspection, palpation, auscultation, measurement, and confirmation of the operation of the equipment, and issues the inspection result by the worker's voice. The inspection recording unit 23 records the inspection result of the worker that has been recognized by voice.

[0028] [Control panel] 3, the control panel 30 is connected to the speakers 13A, . . . , 13E of each of the cars 12A, . . . , 12E and the speakers 16A, . . . , 16E of each of the landings 15. The control panel 30 is also connected to the information terminal 20 wirelessly.

[0029] The control board 30 has a CPU (Central Processing Unit) which is an arithmetic processing unit, and storage units such as a RAM (Random Access Memory) and a ROM (Read Only Memory), and performs signal processing according to a program pre-stored in the ROM while utilizing the temporary storage function of the RAM.

[0030] The control panel 30 has an inspection mode start signal receiving unit 31, an inspection mode executing unit 32, and a voice guidance muting unit 35, each of which will be described in detail later. The inspection mode start signal receiving unit 31, the inspection mode executing unit 32, and the voice guidance muting unit 35 are realized by the CPU executing programs stored in the ROM or RAM.

[0031] The inspection mode start signal receiving unit 31 receives the inspection mode start signal transmitted from the information terminal 20. The inspection mode executing unit 32 executes the inspection mode that puts the car 12 in the inspection mode into a state in which the above-mentioned inspection work can be performed.

[0032] While the inspection mode is being executed by the inspection mode execution unit 32, the voice guidance mute unit 35 tunes out the voices played from the speakers 13 of the cars 12 other than the cars 12 in the inspection mode (hereinafter, cars 12 in normal operation). At the same time, it tunes out the voices played from the speakers 16 of the platforms 15 of the "cars 12 in normal operation." Note that it is also possible to mute only the voices played from the speakers 13 of the "cars 12 in normal operation," or to mute only the voices played from the speakers 16 of the platforms 15 of the "cars 12 in normal operation."

[0033] According to the voice guidance mute unit 35, by muting the voice from the speaker 13 of the "car 12 in normal operation" and the speaker 16 of the platform 15 of the "car 12 in normal operation", these voices are not recorded as voice data in the information terminal 20, and it is possible to eliminate factors that hinder voice recognition during the inspection work of the car 12 in the inspection mode. This makes it possible to improve the workability of the inspection work of the car 12.

[0034] In addition, while the voice from the speaker 13 of the "car 12 in normal operation" is muted by the voice guidance mute unit 35, it is preferable to display on the display within the "car 12 in normal operation" a message that the voice guidance has been temporarily suspended because another car 12 is undergoing inspection work.

[0035] In addition, while the voice guidance mute unit 35 is muting the voice from the speaker 16 at the platform 15 of the "normally operating car 12," it is preferable to display on the display of the normally operating platform 15 a message indicating that the voice guidance has been temporarily halted because another car 12 is undergoing inspection work.

[0036] [Another embodiment] Elevators 40 and 60, which are other examples of the embodiment, will be described with reference to Figures 4 and 5. Note that only configurations different from the above-mentioned elevator 10 will be described below, and configurations similar to those of the elevator 10 will be omitted or will be simply described using the same reference numerals.

[0037] 4, the control panel 50 of the elevator 40 has an inspection mode start signal receiving unit 51, an inspection mode executing unit 52, a sound-silencing car selecting unit 54, and a voice guidance sound-silencing unit 55, each of which will be described in detail later. The inspection mode start signal receiving unit 51, the inspection mode executing unit 52, the sound-silencing car selecting unit 54, and the voice guidance sound-silencing unit 55 are realized by the CPU executing programs stored in the ROM or RAM.

[0038] The inspection mode start signal receiving unit 51 and the inspection mode executing unit 52 have the same configuration as the inspection mode start signal receiving unit 31 and the inspection mode executing unit 32 described above, and therefore a description thereof will be omitted.

[0039] The mute car selection unit 54 selects a car 12 (hereinafter, "adjacent car 12") close to the car 12 in which the inspection mode is being executed by the inspection mode execution unit 52. The mute car selection unit 54 may select, for example, a car 12 adjacent to the car 12 in which the inspection mode is being executed as the "adjacent car 12".

[0040] The voice guidance mute unit 55 tunes out the voice played from the speaker 13 of the "adjacent car 12" while the inspection mode is being executed by the inspection mode execution unit 52. At the same time, it tunes out the voice played from the speaker 16 of the platform 15 of the "adjacent car 12". Note that it is also possible to mute only the voice played from the speaker 13 of the "adjacent car 12" or only the voice played from the speaker 16 of the platform 15 of the "adjacent car 12".

[0041] According to the voice guidance mute unit 55, by muting the voice from the speaker 13 of the "nearby car 12" and the speaker 16 of the platform 15 of the "nearby car 12", these voices are not recorded as voice data in the information terminal 20, and it is possible to eliminate factors that hinder voice recognition during the inspection work of the car 12 in the inspection mode. This makes it possible to improve the workability of the inspection work of the car 12.

[0042] 5, the control panel 70 of the elevator 60 has an inspection mode start signal receiving unit 71, an inspection mode executing unit 72, an inspection work position detecting unit 73, a sound-silencing car selecting unit 74, and a voice guidance sound-silencing unit 75, each of which will be described in detail later. The inspection mode start signal receiving unit 71, the inspection mode executing unit 72, the inspection work position detecting unit 73, the sound-silencing car selecting unit 74, and the voice guidance sound-silencing unit 75 are realized by the CPU executing programs stored in the ROM or RAM.

[0043] The inspection mode start signal receiving unit 71 and the inspection mode executing unit 72 have the same configuration as the inspection mode start signal receiving unit 31 and the inspection mode executing unit 32 described above, and therefore a description thereof will be omitted.

[0044] The inspection work position detection unit 73 detects the height position of the inspection work based on the altitude of the information terminal 20 carried by the worker. The altitude of the information terminal 20 may be calculated based on the atmospheric pressure around the information terminal 20. Furthermore, the height position of the inspection work may use the position information of the car 12.

[0045] The mute car selection unit 74 selects a car 12 (hereinafter, adjacent car 12) that is operating at a height position close to the height position of the car 12 in which the inspection mode is being executed by the inspection mode execution unit 72. At the same time, the mute car selection unit 74 selects a platform 15 (hereinafter, adjacent platform 15) that is at a height position close to the height position of the car 12 in which the inspection mode is being executed by the inspection mode execution unit 72. The car selection unit 74 may select, for example, a car 12 that is operating at a height position within a predetermined range from the height position of the car 12 in which the inspection mode is being executed as the "adjacent car 12". In addition, the car selection unit 74 may select, for example, a platform 15 that is at a height position within a predetermined range from the height position of the car 12 in which the inspection mode is being executed as the "adjacent platform 15".

[0046] The voice guidance mute unit 75 tunes out the voice played from the speaker 13 of the "nearby car 12" while the inspection mode is being executed by the inspection mode execution unit 72. At the same time, it tunes out the voice played from the speaker 16 of the "nearby landing 15". Note that it is also possible to mute only the voice played from the speaker 13 of the "nearby car 12" or only the voice played from the speaker 16 of the "nearby landing 15".

[0047] According to the voice guidance mute unit 75, by muting the voice from the speaker 13 of the "nearby car 12" and the speaker 16 of the "nearby landing 15", these voices are not recorded as voice data in the information terminal 20, and it is possible to eliminate factors that hinder voice recognition during the inspection work of the car 12 in the inspection mode. This makes it possible to improve the workability of the inspection work of the car 12.

[0048] It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment and its modified examples, and various modifications and improvements are possible within the scope of the matters described in the claims of this application. [Explanation of symbols]

[0049] 10, 40, 60 elevator, 11 elevator shaft, 12 car, 13 speaker, 15 landing, 16 speaker, 20 information terminal, 21 inspection mode start signal transmitter, 22 voice recognition unit, 23 inspection recorder, 30, 50, 70 control panel, 31, 51, 71 inspection mode start signal receiver, 32, 52, 72 inspection mode execution unit, 73 inspection work position detector, 54, 74 silencing car selection unit, 35, 55, 75 voice guidance silencing unit

Claims

1. An elevator having multiple cars in one elevator shaft, When one of the cars is undergoing an inspection operation, the audio played in the other cars and / or the audio played at the landing of the other cars is muted; Elevator.

2. 2. The elevator according to claim 1, When one of the elevator cars is undergoing the inspection work, the audio played in the elevator car close to the one of the elevator cars and / or the audio played at the landing of the elevator car close to the one of the elevator cars is muted. Elevator.

3. 2. The elevator according to claim 1, When one of the elevator cars is undergoing the inspection work, the audio played in the other elevator cars operating at a height position close to the height position of the one of the elevator cars and / or the audio played at the landing close to the height position of the one of the elevator cars are muted. Elevator.

4. 4. The elevator according to claim 3, A height position of the elevator car during the inspection work is identified based on height position information of an information terminal carried by a worker performing the inspection work. Elevator.

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