Elevator management method and elevator system

Abstract

To provide an elevator management method that a user in a car can easily call for help only in elevator emergencies.SOLUTION: An elevator management method according to an embodiment is executed by an elevator management device which is communicatively connected to an elevator having a car with a display device installed and which includes a contact address storage unit storing the contact address information set for each elevator operation status. The elevator management device acquires elevator operating status information, acquires the contact address information corresponding to the acquired operating status information from the contact address storage unit, and makes the display device display the display information including the acquired contact address information which can be read by a user terminal carried by an elevator user.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] FIELD OF THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention relate to an elevator management method and an elevator system. [Background technology]

[0002] If an elevator car goes into an emergency state due to an elevator malfunction or a disaster such as an earthquake or fire while the car is moving up or down, the car may stop between floors, trapping passengers inside the car.

[0003] In such cases, the user can either operate an emergency call button pre-installed in the elevator to connect an intercom to the building's management office, or call a contact number attached to the inside of the elevator from a mobile terminal to inform the elevator manager of the elevator's identification information and the situation inside the elevator and request rescue. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-106520 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2010-95358 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] However, there has been a problem in that if the user is a child, elderly person, visually impaired person, or hearing impaired person, it may be difficult for them to operate the panic button or read a telephone number to make a call in an emergency.

[0006] In view of this, it is conceivable to install a display medium in the car that displays code information that can be read by a general-purpose mobile device, including the telephone number of the management office. By installing such code information, users can read the code information with their own mobile device in the event of an emergency and call the management office with a simple operation.

[0007] However, if such display media is installed at all times, there is a risk of pranksters reading the code information with a mobile terminal and calling the management office even when there is no emergency, which creates a burden on the management office.

[0008] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and aims to provide an elevator management method and elevator system that allows users in elevator cars to easily request rescue only in the event of an elevator emergency. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] According to an embodiment for achieving the above object, an elevator management method is executed by an elevator management device that is communicatively connected to an elevator having a car on which a display device is installed and that has a contact storage unit that stores contact information set for each elevator operation status. The elevator management device acquires elevator operation status information, acquires contact information corresponding to the acquired operation status information from the contact storage unit, and displays display information including the acquired contact information on the display device in a state readable by a user terminal carried by an elevator user. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an elevator system according to first and second embodiments. [Figure 2] 3 is a sequence diagram showing the processing executed by the elevator system according to the first embodiment during normal elevator operation. FIG. [Figure 3] 10 is an example of contact information displayed on a touch panel of a user terminal under normal circumstances. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a sequence diagram showing the processing executed by the elevator system in an elevator emergency. [Figure 5] 10 is an example of emergency contact information displayed on a touch panel of a user terminal. [Figure 6] FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram showing processing executed by the elevator system according to the second embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0011] An elevator system using an elevator control device according to a first and second embodiment of the present invention will be described below.

[0012] First Embodiment <Configuration of elevator system according to first embodiment> 1 is an overall view showing the configuration of an elevator system 1A according to a first embodiment. The elevator system 1A includes an elevator 10 installed in a commercial facility X, which is a building with multiple tenants such as stores and companies, a user terminal 20 carried by a user Y of the elevator 10, a facility management device 30 installed in a management office that manages the commercial facility X, store management devices 40a, 40b, and 40c installed in stores that are tenants within the commercial facility X, and an elevator management device 50A installed in a location remote from the commercial facility X.

[0013] The elevator 10 and the elevator management device 50A, the user terminal 20 and the facility management device 30, the user terminal 20 and the store management devices 40a, 40b, 40c, and the user terminal 20 and the elevator management device 50A are connected via a wide area communication network 60.

[0014] Although FIG. 1 shows a case where facility management device 30 and store management devices 40a, 40b, and 40c are installed within commercial facility X, these devices may also be installed outside commercial facility X. Also, while FIG. 1 shows a case where elevator system 1A includes one elevator 10, one user terminal 20, and one facility management device 30, two or more of these may be connected. Also, while FIG. 1 shows a case where three store management devices 40a, 40b, and 40c are installed within elevator system 1A, the number of devices may be one, two, four, or more.

[0015] The elevator 10 has a car 11A and an elevator control device 12 communicatively connected to the car 11A. A display device 111A is installed inside the car 11A. A DX controller 112 connected to the display device 111A and to the elevator control device 12 is installed above the car 11A. The elevator control device 12 controls the elevator 10 and transmits operating status information of the elevator 10 to the elevator management device 50A.

[0016] The user terminal 20 is configured, for example, as a smart device, and has a touch panel 21, an imaging unit 22, a first communication unit 23, a first CPU 24, and a storage unit 25. The touch panel 21 inputs operation details of the user Y and displays information sent from the first CPU 24. The imaging unit 22 captures an image in a predetermined direction in response to an operation by the user Y. The first communication unit 23 communicates with the facility management device 30 and the elevator management device 50A via the wide area communication network 60.

[0017] The first CPU 24 executes operation processing of the touch panel 21 , the imaging unit 22 , and the first communication unit 23 , and storage processing in the storage unit 25 .

[0018] The facility management device 30 is installed in the management office of the commercial facility X and manages information about the facilities within the commercial facility X.

[0019] Store management devices 40a, 40b, and 40c manage information on stores that are service facilities within commercial facility X. In this embodiment, store management device 40a manages information on a store called "ABC Home Appliances Mass Retailer" within commercial facility X, store management device 40b manages information on a store called "123 Automobiles" within commercial facility X, and store management device 40c manages information on a store called "Iroha Market" within commercial facility X.

[0020] The elevator control device 50A is a device owned by an elevator maintenance company that is an organization that maintains elevators in multiple buildings including commercial facility X, and is constructed, for example, on a cloud that provides services via a wide area communication network 60. The elevator control device 50A has a contact storage unit 51, a second communication unit 52, and a second CPU 53A.

[0021] The contact information storage unit 51 stores contact information to be provided to users for each operating status and user attribute of the elevator 10. Specifically, the contact information storage unit 51 stores contact information to be provided to users that is set in advance for general users, visually impaired users, and hearing impaired users for both normal and emergency situations. The contact information stored in the contact information storage unit 51 can be changed as needed by maintenance personnel of an elevator maintenance company, etc.

[0022] The second communication unit 52 communicates with the elevator 10 and the user terminal 20 via the wide area communication network 60 .

[0023] The second CPU 53A is, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) provided in a general-purpose microcomputer, and by installing and executing a predetermined elevator control program, constitutes one or more information processing units described below. The second CPU 53A has an operation status acquisition unit 531 and a contact information provision unit 532A.

[0024] The operation status acquisition unit 531 acquires operation status information of the elevator 10 transmitted from the elevator control device 12.

[0025] The contact information providing unit 532A obtains contact information corresponding to the operation status information obtained by the operation status obtaining unit 531 from the contact storage unit 51, generates display information including the obtained contact information in a state readable by the user terminal 20, and displays the generated display information on the display device 111A. In this embodiment, the contact information providing unit 532A generates display information in the form of QR Code information (registered trademark), which is two-dimensional code information, as the display information including the obtained contact information in a state readable by the user terminal 20.

[0026] A Braille nameplate (not shown) indicating that the QR code is displayed on the display device 111A is installed in a position adjacent to the display device 111A inside the car 11A.

[0027] <Operation of the elevator system according to the first embodiment> In this embodiment, the elevator construction company has previously concluded contracts for providing services with the stores "ABC Home Appliances Mass Retailer," "123 Automobiles," and "Iroha Market" in commercial facility X.

[0028] The contact information stored in contact storage unit 51 under normal circumstances includes URL information d1, which is access information for connecting to store management device 40a that manages information about store "ABC Home Appliance Mass Retailer" in commercial facility X, URL information d2, which is access information for connecting to store management device 40b that manages information about store "123 Automobile", and URL information d3, which is access information for connecting to store management device 40c that manages information about store "Iroha Market". Contact storage unit 51 may store normal contact information for general users, visually impaired people, and hearing impaired people.

[0029] The contact storage unit 51 also stores, as emergency contact information, a telephone number d4 for general users, a telephone number d5 for visually impaired persons, and URL information d6 for hearing impaired persons, which are access information for each user attribute for connecting to the facility management device 30 that manages equipment information of the commercial facility X. The contact storage unit 51 also stores, as emergency contact information, a telephone number d7 for general users, a telephone number d8 for visually impaired persons, and URL information d9 for hearing impaired persons, which are access information for each user attribute for connecting to the elevator management device 50A owned by the elevator maintenance company.

[0030] While the elevator system 1A is in operation, the elevator control device 12 transmits operation status information of the elevator 10 to the elevator management device 50A at predetermined time intervals. In the elevator management device 50A, the operation status information transmitted from the elevator control device 12 is acquired by the operation status acquisition unit 531.

[0031] 2 is a sequence diagram showing the processing executed by the elevator system 1A during normal operation of the elevator 10. When the contact information providing unit 532A of the elevator management device 50A determines that the elevator 10 is operating normally based on the operation status information acquired by the operation status acquiring unit 531, the contact information providing unit 532A acquires normal contact information from the contact storage unit 51.

[0032] The contact information providing unit 532A generates first QR code information including the acquired normal contact information and transmits it to the elevator control device 12 (S1). The elevator control device 12 displays the first QR code information acquired from the elevator management device 50A on the display device 111A in the car 11A (S2).

[0033] User Y gets into the car 11A and captures the first QR code information displayed on the display device 111A using the imaging unit 22 of the user terminal 20. If user Y is visually impaired, user Y confirms the position of the display device 111A using the Braille nameplate inside the car 111a and captures the first QR code information.

[0034] In the user terminal 20, the first CPU 24 uses a pre-installed application to acquire normal contact information from the image information obtained by capturing the first QR code information, and displays it on the touch panel 21 (S3).

[0035] 3 is an example of contact information Da under normal conditions displayed on touch panel 21. This contact information Da includes URL information d1, which is access information for connecting to a store management device 40a that manages information about a store "ABC Home Appliances Mass Retailer" in commercial facility X, URL information d2, which is access information for connecting to a store management device 40b that manages information about a store "123 Automobiles," and URL information d3, which is access information for connecting to a store management device 40c that manages information about a store "Iroha Market."

[0036] When user Y visually checks the contact information Da displayed on the touch panel 21 and performs an operation to select any URL information in the contact information Da, for example, URL information d1 ("YES" in S4), the first CPU 24 accesses the store management device 40a via the first communication unit 23 and establishes communication (S5).

[0037] When communication with the user terminal 20 is established, the store management device 40a transmits predetermined service information, for example, point information that can be used at the store "ABC Home Appliance Retail Store" (S6). The user terminal 20 receives the point information transmitted from the store management device 40a and stores it in the storage unit 25 (S7). This can encourage the use of services provided by tenants in the commercial facility X.

[0038] FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram showing the process that the elevator system 1A executes in an emergency of the elevator 10. As shown in FIG.

[0039] When a malfunction occurs in the elevator 10 or an earthquake or fire occurs and the elevator 10 switches to controlled operation, the elevator control device 12 detects that the elevator 10 has entered an emergency state and transmits emergency detection information to the elevator management device 50A (S11).

[0040] In elevator management device 50A, operation status acquisition unit 531 acquires the emergency detection information transmitted from elevator 10. Contact information provision unit 532A determines that elevator 10 has entered an emergency state based on the emergency detection information acquired by operation status acquisition unit 531, and acquires emergency contact information from contact storage unit 51. The emergency contact information includes access information such as URL information and telephone numbers for accessing facility management device 30 and elevator management device 50A, respectively.

[0041] The contact information providing unit 532A generates second QR code information, which is display information including the acquired emergency contact information, and transmits it to the elevator control device 12 (S12). The elevator control device 12 displays the second QR code information acquired from the elevator management device 50A on the display device 111A in the car 11A (S13).

[0042] While riding in the elevator 11A, the user Y uses the imaging unit 22 of the user terminal 20 to capture an image of the second QR code information displayed on the display device 111A. In the user terminal 20, the first CPU 24 uses a pre-installed application to acquire emergency contact information from the captured image of the second QR code information, and displays the information on the touch panel 21 (S14).

[0043] 5 is an example of contact information Db displayed on touch panel 21 under normal conditions. This contact information Db includes a telephone number d4 for general users, a telephone number d5 for visually impaired persons, and URL information d6 for hearing impaired persons, which are access information for each user attribute for connecting to facility management device 30 that manages equipment information for commercial facility X. Contact information Db also includes a telephone number d7 for general users, a telephone number d8 for visually impaired persons, and URL information d9 for hearing impaired persons, which are access information for each user attribute for connecting to elevator management device 50A owned by an elevator maintenance company.

[0044] When user Y visually checks the contact information Da displayed on the touch panel 21 and performs an operation to select any access information in the contact information Db, for example, telephone number d4 ("YES" in S15), the first CPU 24 makes a call to the facility management device 30 via the first communication unit 23 using telephone number d4 (S16), and establishes voice communication between the user terminal 20 and the facility management device 30 (S17). The connection destination of this telephone number d4 is a general user contact point within the facility management device 30. Once voice communication is established between the user terminal 20 and the facility management device 30, user Y can request rescue from the manager of commercial facility X via voice communication.

[0045] Here, if user Y is visually impaired and selects telephone number d5 from the displayed contact information Db using a support application for the visually impaired or the like, user terminal 20 will establish voice communication with a dedicated service desk for the visually impaired within facility management device 30. This allows user Y to request rescue from the manager of commercial facility X via voice communication.

[0046] Furthermore, if user Y is hearing impaired and selects URL information d6 from the displayed contact information Db, user terminal 20 will connect to a site dedicated to hearing impaired people within facility management device 30. This allows user Y to request rescue from the manager of commercial facility X using chat or the like.

[0047] Furthermore, when user Y selects telephone number d7 from the displayed contact information Db, the user terminal 20 establishes voice communication with the general user counter via the emergency information processing unit 533 of the elevator management device 50A. This allows user Y to request rescue from a maintenance person at the elevator maintenance company via voice communication.

[0048] Furthermore, if user Y is visually impaired and selects telephone number d8 from the displayed contact information Db, the user terminal 20 will establish voice communication with a contact point exclusively for visually impaired people via the emergency information processing unit 533 in the elevator management device 50A. This allows user Y to request rescue from a maintenance worker at the elevator maintenance company via voice communication.

[0049] Furthermore, if user Y is hearing impaired and selects URL information d9 from the displayed contact information Db, the user terminal 20 will connect to a website exclusively for hearing impaired people via the emergency information processing unit 533 in the elevator management device 50A. This allows user Y to request rescue from the manager of commercial facility X using chat or the like.

[0050] In the first embodiment described above, the contact information providing unit 532A may acquire multiple pieces of contact information from the contact storage unit 51, generate multiple pieces of QR code information including at least one of the acquired pieces of contact information, and display the generated QR code information on the display device 111A. This makes it possible to provide users with contact information for a large number of tenants, divided by area, even in a large facility with tens to hundreds of tenants.

[0051] Furthermore, in the first embodiment described above, when generating emergency contact information, the contact information providing unit 532A may generate the emergency contact information including the identification information of the elevator 10. By generating emergency contact information including the identification information of the elevator 10, the identification information of the elevator 10 can be obtained when the user terminal 20 reads the second QR code information and transmitted to the facility management device 30 or the elevator management device 50A. When a rescue request is received, the facility management device 30 or the elevator management device 50A can quickly start rescue operations based on the identification information of the elevator 10 transmitted from the user terminal 20.

[0052] According to the first embodiment described above, the elevator management device 50A displays QR code information including contact information corresponding to the operation status of the elevator 10 on the display device 111A in the car 11A. As a result, under normal circumstances, a user can easily obtain service information and the like by simply selecting access information to the management device of the desired tenant from the contact information provided by reading the first QR code information displayed on the display device 111A with the user terminal 20.

[0053] Furthermore, when the elevator 10 is in an emergency state and the car 11A stops, the user can easily request rescue by simply selecting the access information to the facility management device 30 or the elevator management device 50A from the contact information provided by reading the second QR code information displayed on the display device 111A with the user terminal 20.

[0054] In the elevator system 1A configured in this manner, even users who have difficulty physically operating conventional covered emergency buttons or who do not know how to operate emergency call buttons can easily request rescue using the user terminal 20 in an emergency.

[0055] In addition, in the elevator system 1A, the telephone number of the facility's management office or elevator maintenance company is not displayed inside the elevator car at all times, so there is no risk of prank calls being made to this number during normal times other than when there is a malfunction or disaster, thereby reducing the burden on the management office and elevator maintenance company.

[0056] Furthermore, in the first embodiment described above, the display device 111A installed inside the car 11A may be dedicated to displaying the QR code, or an existing display device that displays the current position and traveling direction of the car 11A, etc. may be used.

[0057] In the first embodiment described above, the contact information providing unit 532A generates QR code information as display information including contact information in a state readable by the user terminal 20. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the contact information providing unit 532A may generate image information with embedded contact information, or URL information or a phone number indicated by text information that can be captured and analyzed by the user terminal 20, as display information including contact information in a state readable by the user terminal 20.

[0058] Second Embodiment <Configuration of elevator system according to second embodiment> The configuration of the elevator system 1B according to the second embodiment is similar to the configuration of the elevator system 1A described with reference to FIG. 1, and therefore detailed description of parts having the same functions will be omitted.

[0059] In this embodiment, a display medium 111B such as a sticker is installed on the car 11B of the elevator 10, on which third QR code information including access information (URL information) for communication connection to the elevator management device 50B is displayed.

[0060] In addition, when the contact information providing unit 532B of the elevator management device 50B receives an access request from a user terminal 20 that has read the third QR code information displayed on the display medium 111B, it obtains contact information corresponding to the operation status information obtained by the operation status obtaining unit 531 from the contact memory unit 51 and transmits it to the user terminal 20 that made the request.

[0061] <Operation of the elevator system according to the second embodiment> 6 is a sequence diagram showing the processing executed by the elevator system 1B. User Y gets into the car 11B and captures an image of the third QR code information displayed on the display medium 111B using the imaging unit 22 of the user terminal 20. The user terminal 20 transmits an access request to the elevator control device 50B based on the URL information read from the image information capturing the third QR code information (S21).

[0062] In the elevator management device 50B, when an access request is acquired from the user terminal 20, the contact information providing unit 532B acquires contact information corresponding to the operation status information acquired by the operation status acquiring unit 531 from the contact storage unit 51. Here, as in the first embodiment, the contact information providing unit 532B acquires normal contact information when it determines that the elevator 10 is operating normally, and acquires emergency contact information when it determines that the elevator 10 is in an emergency state. The contact information providing unit 532B transmits the acquired contact information to the user terminal 20 (S22).

[0063] In the user terminal 20, the first CPU 24 causes the touch panel 21 to display the contact information transmitted from the elevator control device 50B (S23).

[0064] When user Y visually checks the contact information displayed on the touch panel 21 and performs an operation to select any of the access information from the contact information ("YES" in S24), the first CPU 24 transmits an access request to the contact indicated by the selected access information via the first communication unit 23 to establish communication (S25). User Y uses the user terminal 20 to obtain store service information under normal circumstances, and to request rescue by voice communication or chat in an emergency.

[0065] According to the second embodiment described above, when contact information is requested from the user terminal 20, the elevator control device 50B provides contact information according to the operating status of the elevator 10 at that time. As a result, by accessing the elevator control device 50B provided by reading the QR code information displayed in the car 11 with the user terminal 20, the user can obtain tenant service information under normal circumstances, and can request rescue from a specified organization in an emergency.

[0066] Although several embodiments of the present invention have been described, these embodiments are presented as examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments can be embodied in various other forms, and various omissions, substitutions, and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. These embodiments and their modifications are included within the scope and spirit of the invention, and are also included in the scope of the invention and its equivalents as defined in the claims. [Explanation of symbols]

[0067] DESCRIPTION OF THE REFERENCE NUMERALS 1A, 1B... Elevator system, 10... Elevator, 11A, 11B... Car, 12... Elevator control device, 20... User terminal, 21... Touch panel, 22... Imaging unit, 23... First communication unit, 24... First CPU, 25... Memory unit, 30... Facility management device, 40a, 40b, 40c Store management devices, 50A, 50B... Elevator management device, 51... Contact memory unit, 52... Second communication unit, 53A... Second CPU, 60... Wide area communication network, 111A... Display device, 111B... Display medium, 112... DX controller, 531... Operation status acquisition unit, 532A, 532B... Contact information provision unit, 533... Emergency information processing unit

Claims

1. The elevator has a car on which a display device is installed and is communicatively connected to an elevator arranged in the building, an elevator control device having a contact information storage unit that stores contact information set for each operation status of the elevator, An elevator management method comprising: acquiring operation status information of the elevator; acquiring contact information corresponding to the acquired operation status information from the contact storage unit; and displaying, on the display device, display information including the acquired contact information in a state readable by a user terminal carried by a user of the elevator.

2. The elevator management method according to claim 1 , wherein the contact information is set for each operation status of the elevator and for each user attribute.

3. The elevator management method according to claim 1 , wherein the display information is configured as two-dimensional code information.

4. The elevator management method according to claim 1, wherein the elevator management device acquires from the contact storage unit a plurality of pieces of contact information corresponding to the acquired operating status information, generates display information including the acquired plurality of pieces of contact information in a state readable by the user terminal, and displays the display information on the display device.

5. The elevator management method according to claim 1, wherein the elevator management device acquires a plurality of pieces of contact information corresponding to the acquired operation status information from the contact storage unit, generates a plurality of pieces of display information including at least one of the acquired pieces of contact information in a state readable by the user terminal, and displays the generated display information on the display device.

6. the contact information storage unit stores access information for communication connection to a device installed in an institution that maintains or manages the elevator as emergency contact information for the elevator; 2. The elevator management method according to claim 1, wherein, when the elevator management device determines that the elevator is in an emergency state based on the acquired operating status information, the elevator management device acquires the emergency contact information from the contact storage unit, generates display information including the acquired contact information in a state readable by the user terminal, and displays the display information on the display device.

7. The elevator management method according to claim 6, wherein the elevator management device generates the display information including identification information of the elevator in a state readable by the user terminal.

8. the contact information storage unit stores, as normal contact information for the elevator, access information for communication connection to a tenant management device that manages information on tenants in the building; 2. The elevator management method according to claim 1, wherein, when the elevator management device determines that the elevator is in a normal state based on the acquired operating status information, the elevator management device acquires the normal contact information from the contact storage unit, generates display information including the acquired contact information in a state readable by the user terminal, and displays the display information on the display device.

9. The device is communicatively connected to an elevator having a car on which a display medium including access information for communicatively connecting to the device is installed, an elevator control device having a contact information storage unit that stores contact information set for each operation status of the elevator, An elevator management method in which, when an access request is obtained from a user terminal that has read the access information, operation status information of the elevator is obtained, contact information corresponding to the obtained operation status information is obtained from the contact storage unit, and the contact information is sent to the user terminal.

10. An elevator arranged in a building; and an elevator control device communicatively connected to the elevator, The elevator has a car on which a display device is installed, The elevator control device is a contact storage unit that stores contact information set for each operation status of the elevator; an operation status acquisition unit that acquires operation status information of the elevator; and a contact information providing unit that acquires contact information corresponding to the operation status information acquired by the operation status acquisition unit from the contact storage unit, and displays display information including the acquired contact information on the display device in a state that can be read by a user terminal carried by a user of the elevator.

11. An elevator arranged in a building; and an elevator control device communicatively connected to the elevator, The elevator is a car on which a display medium including access information for communication connection to the elevator control device is installed, The elevator control device is a contact storage unit that stores contact information set for each operation status of the elevator; an operation status acquisition unit that acquires operation status information of the elevator; an elevator system having a contact information providing unit that, when it receives an access request from a user terminal that reads the access information, obtains operation status information of the elevator, obtains contact information corresponding to the obtained operation status information from the contact storage unit, and transmits it to the user terminal.

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