Escalator control device, escalator control method, and escalator control system

Abstract

To provide an escalator control device, an escalator control method, and an escalator control system that enable improved operational efficiency while maintaining the safety of escalator users.SOLUTION: An escalator control device that controls operation of an escalator determines operation of the escalator based on first congestion information of people in a first area near an exit of the escalator and second congestion information of people in a second area just before the exit of the escalator, and differentiates the determination conditions for operation determination based on the first congestion information and the second congestion information.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

Technical Field

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

Background Art

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses imaging means for imaging passengers on a man conveyor to obtain image data, detecting disturbance in the moving direction of the image data determined by the moving direction of the man conveyor, determining an abnormality in the flow of the passengers, and determining that an abnormality has occurred to the passengers when it is different as compared with a steady state. (See paragraphs

[0020] and

[0030] ) It is also disclosed that a region in which the steps of the escalator are imaged is defined as a first region, and a region in which the vicinity of the boarding and alighting openings of the escalator is imaged is defined as a second region. (See paragraphs

[0028] and

[0031] , Figure 5)

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] However, in Patent Document 1, congestion conditions and people with carry cases are identified to give warnings, decelerate, detect pinching or breakage of foreign objects, and when detecting a disturbed movement trajectory or the like as compared with a steady state, it will stop even when there is actually no congestion or fall, resulting in a problem of reduced operation efficiency.

[0005] That is, imaging is performed in two areas, namely the exit and on the escalator. By comparing with the steady state, it detects disrupted movement trajectories such as a person falling down or starting to move in the reverse direction, and performs deceleration or stopping. However, even if the behavior deviates from the steady behavior but does not necessarily result in congestion or overlapping fall accidents, stop control is still performed. After stopping, safety confirmation is carried out, and a decrease in operation efficiency due to restarting is inevitable. To solve the above problems, instead of controlling based on detecting abnormal behavior, it is desirable to focus on detecting congestion and consider both safety and operation efficiency.

[0006] An object of the present invention is to provide an escalator control device, an escalator control method, and an escalator control system that can improve the operation efficiency while maintaining the safety of escalator users.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0007] The escalator control device of the present invention is an escalator control device that controls the operation of an escalator. Based on the first stay information of a person in a first area near the exit of the escalator and the second stay information of a person in a second area in front of the exit of the escalator, it is a control device that determines the operation of the escalator, and is characterized in that it makes the determination conditions for determining the operation based on the first stay information and the second stay information different.

[0008] Alternatively, the escalator control method of the present invention is an escalator control method that controls the operation of an escalator. Based on the first stay information of a person in a first area near the exit of the escalator and the second stay information of a person in a second area in front of the exit of the escalator, it is a control method that determines the operation of the escalator, and is characterized in that it controls by making the determination conditions for determining the operation based on the first stay information and the second stay information different respectively.

[0009] Alternatively, in the escalator control system of the present invention that controls and manages the operation of an escalator, imaging means for obtaining first stay information of a person in a first area near the exit of the escalator, and imaging means for obtaining second stay information of a person in a second area in front of the exit of the escalator are provided. A determination condition for determining the operation is made different based on the first stay information and the second stay information, and an instruction unit for giving an instruction for operation management based on the determination condition is provided.

Advantages of the Invention

[0010] 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 improve the operation efficiency while maintaining the safety of escalator users.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0011]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

Figure 7

Modes for Carrying Out the Invention

[0012] In the embodiment for carrying out the present invention, based on the first stay information of the people in the first area 1 near the escalator exit and the second stay information of the people in the second area in front of the escalator exit, the operation of the escalator is determined. The operation is determined based on the first stay information and the second stay information. At this time, different determination conditions are set to control the escalator. Hereinafter, a detailed description will be given with specific examples.

Example

[0013] FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 respectively show an overview diagram of the escalator control system of the first embodiment 1 and the escalator control device of the first embodiment 1.

[0014] As shown in FIG. 1, the control system of this escalator includes an escalator control device 3. And an instruction unit 7 that gives an operation instruction based on the information from the escalator control device 3, an alarm device 8 that alerts people about the stop of the escalator, etc., and an imaging device 9 that images the vicinity of the escalator exit and in front of the escalator exit are provided. In this embodiment, a case where one imaging device 9 images two locations will be described, but a plurality of imaging devices 9 may be installed individually at each of the two locations.

[0015] The escalator control device 3 includes an image analysis unit 4, an alarm control 5, and a GUI 6. The image analysis unit 4 includes 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, an alarm device 8, and an imaging device 9.

[0016] The setting information 30 from a PC or the like is transmitted to the escalator control device 3 and then transmitted to the image analysis unit 4 via the GUI 6. Here, settings such as the range of the first area 1 and the second area 2 and the time threshold of the stay situation of people when determining the stop can be made.

[0017] In this embodiment, an imaging device 9 such as a camera obtains the image information of the first area 1 and the second area 2. Here, as shown in FIG. 4, the first area 1 is near the escalator exit, and the second area 2 is near the escalator on the front side of the escalator exit. In this embodiment, one imaging device 9 is described, but it may be provided separately for the first area 1 and the second area 2 respectively.

[0018] As shown in FIG. 2, the video information obtained by the imaging device 9 is received by the video receiving unit 11. The video information is sent from the video receiving unit 11 to the person detection unit 21 to detect a person. From these pieces of information, the stay status of a person is detected by the stay detection unit 10 and the stay detection unit 20 in the first area 1 and the second area 2 respectively. 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 performed almost simultaneously. By performing it almost simultaneously, the situations in the first area 1 and the second area 2 can be grasped and appropriate determination can be made.

[0019] Whether to issue a warning is controlled by the warning control 5 based on the stay status in the first area 1 and the second area 2, sent to the instruction unit 7, and an instruction to issue a warning is sent from the instruction unit 7 to the warning device 8.

[0020] FIG. 3 is a control flowchart of the escalator in the first embodiment. In the first area 1, from the start, a video request is sent to the imaging device 9, and the video is received by the video receiving unit 11. Next, a person is detected from the video information. If no person or people are detected, the process returns to the video request. If a person or people are detected, it is determined whether to stop based on the stay information. If a stop is detected, a stay detection warning is issued, a stop instruction is received, and the escalator is stopped. If a stop is not detected, the process returns to the person detection.

[0021] In the second area 2, from the start, a video request is sent to the imaging device 9, and the video is received by the video receiving unit 11. Next, a person is detected from the video information. If no person is detected, the process returns to the video request. If a person is detected, it is determined whether a person exists. If the presence is detected, a dwelling detection report is sent, a stop instruction is received, and the escalator is stopped. If the presence is not detected, the process returns to the person detection.

[0022] As described above, in the first area 1 and the second area 2, the stop determination is performed based on the respective dwelling information, but the determination conditions are different between the first area 1 and the second area 2. That is, on the one hand, attention is paid to the stop, which is dwelling information, and on the other hand, the determination is made by paying attention to the presence within the area. By making the determination conditions different, it is possible to improve the operation efficiency while maintaining safety.

[0023] The following will be described more specifically. FIGS. 5, 6, and 7 are diagrams showing an example of the in-area state diagram of the first embodiment. It is a diagram of the escalator seen from the information, and the traveling direction of the escalator is from the upper part to the lower part of the drawing.

[0024] The example of FIG. 5 is an example in which one person in the first area 1 has stopped and four persons 22 exist in the second area 2. Regardless of the situation in the second area 2, since one person in the first area 1 has stopped, the escalator is stopped.

[0025] The example in FIG. 6 shows a person in the first area 1 moving slowly forward. Since the person in the first area 1 is not stopped, the determination in the first area 1 does not result in a decision to stop the escalator. Also, in the second area 2, there are four people on the right side and two people on the left side in the drawing. Among the four people on the right side, the person at the front of the moving direction is trying to avoid diagonally forward like an arrow. That is, it is making a movement to avoid outside the second area 2. That is, within the range of the second area 2, since it can be confirmed that it can avoid outside the area, a decision to stop the escalator is not made. Therefore, based on the situations in the first area 1 and the second area 2, since neither is determined to stop, the escalator does not stop, and while maintaining safety, it can maintain operation and improve operation efficiency.

[0026] The example in FIG. 7 shows a person in the first area 1 moving slowly. Since the person is not stopped, the determination in the first area 1 does not result in a decision to stop the escalator. Also, 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 see the person in the first area 1 in front moving slowly, each tries to retreat, but due to the dense state, the people cannot avoid outside the area and are facing horizontally or backward within the area, so it can be confirmed that there is a presence within the range of the second area 2, and a decision to stop the escalator is made. Therefore, based on the situations in the first area 1 and the second area 2, the escalator can be stopped to maintain safety.

[0027] Next, regarding the time threshold for determining whether a person is stopped or moving based on the stay information in each area, an explanation will be given. For example, the time used as the threshold can be set based on the rated speed of the escalator and the size of the area. Also, the time from when a person enters to when they retreat can be set as plus α, or the usage frequency and the viewing angle of the camera can be considered. If the person starts moving before exceeding the time set as the threshold, the time count is reset. By setting an appropriate threshold, the accuracy of the stop determination is improved. Also, an appropriate threshold can be set for each actual machine.

[0028] If a person cannot be identified, or if the person is moving slowly and not in a stopped state, it is desirable not to count the time. If a person accidentally enters the exit side but notices the mistake and leaves the spot, it is desirable not to detect it. If a person exits the area before exceeding the time set as the threshold, reset the time count. → This is the case where a person moves around while avoiding a person stopped at the exit.

Explanation of Signs

[0029] 1…First Area 2…Second Area 3…Escalator Control Device 4…Image Analysis Unit 5…Transmission Control 6…GUI 7…Instruction Unit 8…Transmission Device 9…Imaging Device 10…Stay Detection Unit 11…Video Reception Unit 20…Stay Detection Unit 21…Person Detection Unit 22…Person 30…Setting Information

Claims

1. In an escalator control device that controls the operation of an escalator, a control device that determines the operation of the escalator based on first stay information of a person in a first area near the exit of the escalator and second stay information of a person in a second area in front of the exit of the escalator, the escalator control device being characterized in that determination conditions for determining the operation based on the first stay information and the second stay information are made different.

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

3. In the escalator control device according to claim 1, it is determined whether a person has stopped based on the first stay information, and it is determined whether the person has moved within the range of the second area or moved outside the range of the second area based on the second stay information. The escalator control device is characterized by this.

4. In the escalator control device according to claim 1, threshold values for the time to determine whether a person has stopped based on the first stay information and the time to determine whether the person has moved within the range of the second area or moved outside the range of the second area based on the second stay information are set based on the rated speed of the escalator, the size of the first area, and the size of the second area. The escalator control device is characterized by this.

5. In an escalator control method for controlling the operation of an escalator, a control method for determining the operation of the escalator based on first stay information of a person in a first area near the exit of the escalator and second stay information of a person in a second area in front of the exit of the escalator, the escalator control method being characterized in that control is performed by making different determination conditions for determining the operation based on the first stay information and the second stay information.

6. In an escalator control system that controls and manages the operation of an escalator, Imaging means for obtaining first stay information of a person in a first area near the descending opening of the escalator, imaging means for obtaining second stay information of a person in a second area in front of the descending opening of the escalator, different determination conditions for performing operation determination based on the first stay information and the second stay information, and an instruction unit for giving an instruction for operation management based on the determination conditions. An escalator control system characterized by comprising the above.

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