Elevator system

Abstract

To provide an elevator system capable of effectively suppressing the occurrence of stress due to the fact that a destination floor (dwelling floor) is known by a fellow passenger of a car and the risk of trouble occurrence between residents.SOLUTION: A registered floor display device for displaying a registered floor which is a destination floor registered by an elevator user and a floor display device for displaying a current position of a car are not provided in the car as a destination floor leakage prevention measure, and a radio communication means 10 capable of performing radio communication with a portable device 9 carried by the elevator user and a linking means 11 for linking an elevator control device 4 and the portable device 9 through the radio communication means 10 are provided. The linkage means 11 performs registered floor arrival notification processing for notifying the getting-off target person of the arrival of the car at the registered floor by operating the portable equipment 9 of the getting-off target person whose destination floor is the arrival registered floor among the elevator users by the linkage between the elevator control device 4 and the portable equipment 9 via the radio communication means 10 at the timing of the arrival of the car at the registered floor.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an elevator system equipped with an elevator control device that controls the operation of a car and that has a destination floor leakage prevention measure in place to prevent the destination floor of an elevator user from being leaked. [Background technology]

[0002] The background art of the present invention includes, for example, an elevator system configured to start secret operation, such as stopping the display of the destination floor on the display unit of the destination floor registration device or stopping the display of the floor on the hall display unit installed at the hall, when a predetermined operation is performed on the destination floor registration device installed at the hall, such as holding a storage medium such as a card held by an elevator user over a card information reading device of the destination floor registration device (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

[0003] In addition, there is an elevator system that is configured so that, if an elevator user is authorized to not notify the car's position and is in a situation where not notifying the car's position is also authorized, the elevator user can choose between not notifying the car's position using a hall car position display device or an in-car notification device at the landing, or displaying the car's position on the screen of a mobile terminal (see, for example, Patent Document 2). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 6609537 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-326775 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] In the technology described in Patent Document 1, when secret operation begins, measures are taken to prevent the destination floor from being leaked, such as stopping the display of the destination floor on the display unit of the destination floor registration device installed at the landing and the floor display on the landing display unit, thereby preventing the destination floor registered by the elevator user (registered person) from being known to third parties who happen to be at the same landing. However, if the third party is a fellow passenger in the same car, the registered floor and the current location of the car will be displayed on a registered floor display device or floor display device installed in the car, and the fellow passenger will be able to know the destination floor of the registered person.

[0006] In the technology described in Patent Document 2, if the conditions for not reporting the car's position are met, the car's position can be suppressed from being reported by the hall car position display device at the boarding area or the in-car reporting device, etc. However, if the conditions for not reporting the car's position are not met, the car's position cannot be suppressed from being reported by these devices, and therefore the registered person's destination floor may become known to third parties at the boarding area or fellow passengers in the car.

[0007] Furthermore, if the building in which the above-mentioned elevator system is installed is an apartment building, it could easily lead to stress or trouble between residents due to fellow passengers in the car knowing the destination floor, which is also the residential floor.

[0008] In view of this situation, the main objective of the present invention is to provide an elevator system that can effectively reduce the risk of stress and trouble between residents caused by fellow passengers in elevators in apartment buildings and the like knowing the destination floor, which is the residential floor. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] A first characteristic configuration of the present invention is an elevator system equipped with an elevator control device that controls the operation of a car and that has a destination floor leakage prevention measure that prevents the destination floor of an elevator user from being leaked, As a measure to prevent leakage of the destination floor, a registered floor display device that displays the registered floor that is the destination floor registered by the elevator user and a floor display device that displays the current position of the elevator car are not provided in the elevator car, but a wireless communication means that can wirelessly communicate with a portable device carried by the elevator user and a linking means that links the elevator control device and the portable device via the wireless communication means are provided, The linking means links the elevator control device and the portable device via the wireless communication means at the time of the elevator car's arrival at the registered floor, and performs a registered floor arrival notification process to activate the portable device of the elevator users who are to disembark and whose destination floor is the registered arrival floor, thereby notifying the users of the arrival of the elevator car at the registered floor.

[0010] According to this configuration, the elevator car is not equipped with a registered floor display device and a floor display device, and the arrival of the elevator car at a registered floor is notified only to the disembarking person via their mobile device who will get off at the registered floor where the elevator car has arrived, making it difficult for passengers in the elevator car other than the disembarking person who will get off at the registered floor where the elevator has arrived to know which registered floor the elevator car has arrived at.

[0011] As a result, an elevator system can be provided that can effectively reduce the risk of stress and trouble between residents caused by fellow passengers in elevators in apartment buildings and other buildings knowing the destination floor, which is also the residential floor.

[0012] A second characteristic configuration of the present invention is that when a predetermined destination floor registration operation for registering the destination floor of an elevator user is performed on the portable device, the linking means links the elevator control device and the portable device via the wireless communication means to transmit the destination floor of the elevator user from the portable device to the elevator control device, and performs a destination floor registration process for registering the destination floor of the elevator user in the elevator control device.

[0013] According to this configuration, an elevator user can register a destination floor in the elevator control device using a portable device that the user carries, thereby avoiding the risk of the destination floor being secretly viewed by others who happen to be present at the time of registration.

[0014] As a result, when registering the residential floor as the destination floor, it is possible to effectively reduce the stress and risk of trouble that may arise from other people who happen to be present at the time finding out the residential floor.

[0015] The third characteristic feature of the present invention is that, as a measure to prevent the destination floor from being leaked, the elevator car is not provided with an operation panel on the side wall of the elevator car 3 to enable the destination floor to be registered from within the elevator car 3.

[0016] According to this configuration, since the control panel that is normally provided on the side wall inside the car is not provided, it is possible to eliminate the side wall of the car, which in turn allows the boarding and alighting door of the car to be made wider, thereby improving the ease of boarding and alighting from the car. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0017] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic vertical cross-sectional view of an apartment building equipped with an elevator system according to the present invention, and an enlarged view of a main part thereof. [Figure 2] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an elevator system according to the present invention. [Figure 3] FIG. 1 is a perspective cross-sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a car; [Figure 4] Registration linking process flowchart [Figure 5] Flowchart of registered floor arrival notification processing DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0018] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment in which an elevator system according to the present invention is applied to a housing complex such as an apartment building for single occupants will be described below with reference to the drawings as an example of an embodiment for carrying out the present invention. The elevator system according to the present invention is not limited to apartment buildings for single occupants, but can also be applied to other apartment buildings, hotels, and other accommodation facilities, for example.

[0019] As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the elevator system S exemplified in this embodiment includes a car 3 (see Figure 1) that rises and falls between a first-floor entrance floor 1 (see Figure 1) and each of the second and higher residential floors 2 (see Figure 1) in an apartment building, an elevator control device 4 (see Figure 2) that controls the operation of the car 3, a car call device 6 installed at an elevator hall 5 (see Figure 1) on each floor, an elevator device 7 that raises and lowers the car 3, and a position sensor 8 (see Figure 2) that detects the position of the car 3. As shown in Figures 1 and 3, the car 3 is equipped with doors 3B that open and close its entrance 3A. As shown in Figure 1, the elevator hall 5 on each floor is equipped with doors 5B that open and close its entrance 5A.

[0020] Furthermore, the entrance floor 1 and the residential floor 2 can be changed in various ways depending on the structure of the apartment building, for example, the second floor may be set as the entrance floor 1 and all floors other than the second floor may be set as the residential floor 2.

[0021] As shown in Fig. 2, the elevator control device 4 is equipped with a memory unit 4A that stores various information such as control programs. When a predetermined call floor registration operation for registering a call floor for the car 3 is performed in the car call device 6 for any floor, the elevator control device 4 registers the call floor for the car 3 in the memory unit 4A in response to the operation, and controls the operation of the lifting device 7 based on the registered call floor for the car 3 to raise or lower the car 3 to the call floor. Also, when a predetermined destination floor registration operation for registering a destination floor for an elevator user is performed, the elevator control device 4 registers the destination floor of the elevator user in the memory unit 4A in response to the operation, and controls the operation of the lifting device 7 based on the registered destination floor for the elevator user to raise or lower the car 3 to the destination floor.

[0022] The elevator system S illustrated in this embodiment is constructed on the assumption that if an elevator user is a resident of an apartment building, there is no need for the user to travel to any other residential floors other than their own residential floor and entrance floor 1.

[0023] The elevator system S is provided with a destination floor leakage prevention measure to prevent the destination floor of an elevator user (resident) from being leaked. As a destination floor leakage prevention measure, the elevator car 3 and the elevator hall 5 on each floor are not provided with a registered floor display device that displays registered floors such as destination floors registered by the elevator user, and a floor display device that displays the current location of the elevator car 3, but rather, as shown in Fig. 2, a wireless communication means 10 capable of wireless communication with a smartphone 9, which is an example of a portable device carried by an elevator user, and a linking means 11 that links the elevator control device 4 and the smartphone 9 via the wireless communication means 10, etc.

[0024] The portable device is not limited to the smartphone 9, but may be, for example, a smart watch, a tablet-type personal computer, or a portable device dedicated to the elevator system S.

[0025] The elevator system S is equipped with wireless communication means 10, including a Wi-Fi communication means 10A that enables communication between the elevator control device 4 and the smartphone 9 using the Wi-Fi (registered trademark) method, and an NFC communication means 10B that enables communication between the car call device 6 and the smartphone 9 using the NFC (Near Field Communication) method.

[0026] The wireless communication means 10 may be provided with only a Wi-Fi communication means 10A, or may be provided with a Bluetooth (registered trademark) communication means that enables communication with the smartphone 9 using the Bluetooth (registered trademark) method instead of the Wi-Fi communication means 10A or the NFC communication means 10B.

[0027] 2, the Wi-Fi communication means 10A is composed of Wi-Fi communication units 4B and 9A provided in the elevator control device 4 and each smartphone 9, and a Wi-Fi router 12 provided in the car 3. The NFC communication means 10B is composed of a car call device 6 on each floor and NFC communication units 6A and 9B provided in each smartphone 9. Although not shown in the figure, the car call device 6 on each floor is communicatively connected to the elevator control device 4 via communication means such as a LAN (Local Area Network).

[0028] The linking means 11 is composed of a main application (control program) 11A for preventing destination floor leakage provided in the elevator control device 4, and a sub-application (control program) 11B for preventing destination floor leakage installed in the smartphone 9. Based on the sub-application 11B for preventing destination floor leakage installed in the smartphone 9, the entrance floor 1 of the apartment building, the residence floor of the holder (elevator user), and the authentication number are pre-registered.

[0029] When the sub-application 11B for preventing destination floor leakage installed on the smartphone 9 is activated and the NFC communication unit 9B of the smartphone 9 is held over the NFC communication unit 6A of the car call device 6, the linking means 11 is configured to register the entrance floor 1 of the apartment building and the owner's residential floor, which have been pre-registered on the smartphone 9, in the elevator control device 4 as the call floor of the car 3 or the destination floor of the elevator user, and to perform a registration linking process that links the destination floor of the registered elevator user to the authentication number of the owner of the smartphone 9 used to register the destination floor.

[0030] The registration linking process performed by the linking means 11 will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart of FIG. When the smartphone 9 is held over the NFC communication unit 6A of the car call device 6, the linking means 11 first performs a pre-registration information reading process (step #1) to read the entrance floor 1 of the apartment building, the owner's residence floor, and the authentication number that have been pre-registered in the smartphone 9, by linking the elevator control device 4 and the smartphone 9 via the NFC communication means 10B or the like.The linking means 11 also performs an installation floor determination process (step #2) to determine whether the installation floor of the car call device 6, over which the smartphone 9 is held over, is the entrance floor 1 or the owner's residence floor of the smartphone 9. Then, if the installation floor of the car call device 6 determined in the installation floor determination process is the entrance floor 1, a first call floor registration process (step #3) is performed to register the entrance floor 1 in the memory unit 4A of the elevator control device 4 as the call floor for the car 3 by the elevator user, and a first destination floor registration process (step #4) is performed to register the residence floor of the owner of the smartphone 9 in the memory unit 4A of the elevator control device 4 as the destination floor of the elevator user. Furthermore, if the installation floor of the car call device 6 determined in the installation floor determination process is the residence floor of the owner of the smartphone 9, a second call floor registration process (step #5) is performed to register the residence floor in the memory unit 4A of the elevator control device 4 as the call floor for the car 3 by the elevator user, and a second destination floor registration process (step #6) is performed to register the entrance floor 1 in the memory unit 4A of the elevator control device 4 as the destination floor of the elevator user. Then, after performing the first destination floor registration process or the second destination floor registration process, a destination floor linking process (step #7) is performed to link the elevator user's destination floor with the authentication number of the owner of the smartphone 9 used to register the destination floor.

[0031] In this way, in the elevator system S exemplified in this embodiment, when the sub-application 11B for preventing destination floor leakage installed on the smartphone 9 is activated, the operation of holding the NFC communication unit 9B of the smartphone 9 over the NFC communication unit 6A of the car call device 6 is a predetermined call floor registration operation that registers the call floor of the car 3 in the elevator control device 4 on the smartphone 9, and is also a predetermined destination floor registration operation that registers the destination floor of the elevator user on the smartphone 9.

[0032] That is, an elevator user can simultaneously perform the call floor registration operation and the destination floor registration operation described above simply by holding the smartphone 9 described above over the NFC communication unit 6A of the elevator car call device 6. This improves operability compared to when these operations are performed separately, while also preventing the possibility that, for example, when performing the registration operation on the entrance floor 1, other residents who live on different floors and happen to be present may spy on the destination floor (residential floor) being registered.

[0033] As a result, when registering the residential floor as the destination floor, it is possible to effectively reduce the stress and risk of trouble that may arise from other people who happen to be present at the time finding out the residential floor.

[0034] In the elevator system S illustrated in this embodiment, as a measure to prevent the leakage of destination floor information, the elevator system is configured so that elevator users can register their destination floors using only the smartphone 9 they carry, and does not have a control panel for registering destination floors that has multiple destination floor buttons that are usually installed on the side walls on both sides of the entrance / exit 3A of the car 3.

[0035] In this way, since there is no control panel that is normally installed on the side wall inside the car 3, it is possible to eliminate the side wall of the car 3, as shown in Figure 3, and as a result, the boarding and alighting door 3A of the car 3 can be made wider, thereby improving the ease of boarding and alighting from the car 3.

[0036] As shown in Fig. 3, an indicator 13 is installed above the entrance / exit 3A in the car 3, which displays information about emergency operation in the event of an earthquake, power outage, etc. Also, on the left side wall 3C in the car 3, there is installed a control panel 14 exclusively for the elevator manager, which is equipped with a plurality of destination floor buttons 14A that enable the elevator manager to register destination floors when performing maintenance or inspection of the elevator.

[0037] The location where the elevator manager's dedicated control panel 14 is installed is not limited to the left side wall 3C inside the car 3, but may be, for example, the right side wall or rear wall inside the car 3.

[0038] The linking means 11 is configured to link the elevator control device 4 and the smartphone 9 via the Wi-Fi communication means 10A at the time when the car 3 arrives at the registered floor, to perform a registered floor arrival notification process that activates the smartphone 9 of the elevator user who is to disembark and whose destination floor is the registered arrival floor, thereby notifying the user of the arrival of the car 3 at the registered floor.

[0039] The registered floor arrival notification process performed by the linking means 11 will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The linking means 11 first performs a process (step #11) in which the main application 11A for preventing destination floor leakage provided in the elevator control device 4 performs a process to identify the smartphone 9 of the person to be disembarked, whose destination floor is the registered floor that the elevator user is approaching, based on the registered floor that is the destination floor of the elevator user registered in the destination floor registration process described above and the position of the elevator car 3 detected by the position sensor 8 described above, each time it detects that the elevator car 3 is approaching a registered floor, using the destination floor of the elevator user linked in the destination floor linking process described above and the authentication number of the smartphone holder. Then, a registered floor arrival transmission process (step #12) is performed to transmit information about the arrival of the elevator 3 at the registered floor via the Wi-Fi communication means 10A only to the smartphones 9 of the persons to be disembarked identified in the disembarking person smartphone identification process, at the time of arrival of the elevator 3 at the registered floor. Then, the sub-application 11B for preventing leakage of destination floor information, which is installed on the smartphone 9 of the person to disembark, detects that the elevator 3 has arrived at the registered floor, and activates the notification unit 9C (see Figure 2) such as a display unit or speaker provided on the smartphone 9 to perform a notification unit activation process (step #13) for notifying the person to disembark that the elevator 3 has arrived at the registered floor.

[0040] In this way, when the car 3 approaches a registered floor registered on the smartphone 9 of the elevator user, the linking means 11 performs the above-mentioned registered floor arrival notification process, so that the arrival of the car 3 at the registered floor is notified only to the person to disembark, whose destination is the registered floor, at the time of the arrival of the car 3 at the registered floor, using the smartphone 9 carried by that person. This allows the elevator user to know that the car 3 has arrived at the destination floor that they have registered, even if the car 3 is not equipped with a registered floor display device and a floor display device as described above, and they can get off the car 3 at that destination floor.

[0041] In the elevator system S exemplified in this embodiment, as mentioned above, the elevator car 3 is not provided with a registered floor display device and a floor display device, and the arrival of the elevator car 3 at a registered floor is notified only to the smartphone 9 of the person disembarking at the registered floor where the elevator car 3 has arrived, making it difficult for fellow passengers in the elevator car 3 other than the person disembarking at the registered floor where the elevator car 3 has arrived to know which registered floor the person has arrived at.

[0042] As a result, in an elevator in an apartment building, it is possible to effectively reduce the risk of stress and trouble between residents caused by fellow passengers in car 3 knowing the destination floor, which is the residential floor.

[0043] Furthermore, in the registered floor arrival notification process, the timing of arrival of the elevator 3 at the registered floor to notify the person disembarking can be changed in various ways depending on the elevator 3's ascent and descent speed, etc., and can be, for example, the time when the elevator 3 passes the floor just before the registered floor, or just before the elevator 3 arrives at the registered floor, or it can be between the time when the elevator 3 arrives at the registered floor and the time when the elevator 3's door 3B etc. opens.

[0044] [Another embodiment] Another embodiment of the present invention will now be described. The configurations of the other embodiments described below are not limited to being applied alone, but can also be applied in combination with the configurations of the above-described embodiment or other other embodiments.

[0045] (1) In the above embodiment, the elevator system S is exemplified as being constructed on the assumption that the elevator user is a resident of an apartment building and does not need to travel to any residential floors other than the user's own residential floor and entrance floor 1. However, this is not limited to this. For example, if the user needs to travel to a specific floor, such as a specified residential floor, other than the user's own residential floor and entrance floor 1, the specific floor may also be pre-registered on the smartphone 9, and the elevator user may be configured to be able to select the call floor or destination floor to be registered in the elevator control device 4 on the smartphone 9 before registering the call floor or destination floor in the elevator control device 4 on the user's smartphone 9.

[0046] (2) In the above embodiment, the elevator system S is exemplified as one configured such that when the smartphone 9 described above is held over the NFC communication unit 6A of the car call device 6, the linking means 11 performs the above-mentioned destination floor registration process, etc. However, this is not limited to this, and the linking means 11 may be configured to perform the above-mentioned destination floor registration process, etc., when a pre-registration information transmission operation is performed using a send button to transmit the residence floor, etc. pre-registered in the smartphone 9 from the smartphone 9 to the elevator control device 4 or the car call device 6, etc.

[0047] (3) In the above embodiment, the elevator system S is exemplified as being configured such that when the smartphone 9 described above is held over the NFC communication unit 6A of the car call device 6, the linking means 11 performs the call floor registration process, destination floor registration process, and destination floor linking process described above. However, this is not limited to this, and for example, when the smartphone 9 is held over the elevator system S, the linking means 11 may be configured to perform the destination floor registration process and destination floor linking process described above without performing the call floor registration process described above. In this case, for example, the car call device 6 on each floor may be provided with a call floor registration button, and when this call floor registration button is operated, the floor on which the car call device 6 with the call floor registration button is installed may be transmitted from the car call device 6 to the elevator control device 4 as the call floor of the car 3 and registered in the elevator control device 4. Furthermore, for example, a destination floor registration device having an NFC communication unit may be installed inside the elevator car 3, and when an elevator user who has boarded the elevator car 3 holds the above-mentioned smartphone 9 over the NFC communication unit of the destination floor registration device, the linking means 11 may be configured to perform the above-mentioned destination floor registration process and destination floor linking process.

[0048] (4) In the above embodiment, as a measure to prevent leakage of destination floors in the elevator system S, an example was given in which the aforementioned registered floor display device and floor display device are not provided in the elevator car 3 and at the elevator landing 5 on each floor, but this is not limited to this, and for example, the elevator landing 5 on each floor may be provided with the aforementioned floor display device.

[0049] (5) In the above embodiment, an example was given of a car 3 that does not have a sleeve wall, but this is not limited to this. For example, the car 3 may be provided with a sleeve wall and a destination floor registration device having an NFC communication unit on the sleeve wall, so that it is possible to register destination floors, etc. using a smartphone 9 from inside the car 3. [Explanation of symbols]

[0050] 3 Car 4 Elevator control device 9. Smartphones (mobile devices) 10 Wireless communication means 11. Linkages S Elevator System

Claims

1. An elevator system equipped with an elevator control device that controls the operation of a car and that has a destination floor leakage prevention measure that prevents the destination floor of an elevator user from leaking, As a measure to prevent leakage of the destination floor, a registered floor display device that displays the registered floor that is the destination floor registered by the elevator user and a floor display device that displays the current position of the elevator car are not provided in the elevator car, but a wireless communication means that can wirelessly communicate with a portable device carried by the elevator user and a linking means that links the elevator control device and the portable device via the wireless communication means are provided, The linking means is an elevator system that performs a registered floor arrival notification process, in which, at the time the elevator car arrives at the registered floor, the linking means links the elevator control device and the portable device via the wireless communication means to activate the portable device of elevator users who are to disembark and whose destination floor is the registered arrival floor, thereby notifying the users of the arrival of the elevator car at the registered floor.

2. 2. The elevator system according to claim 1, wherein when a predetermined destination floor registration operation for registering a destination floor of an elevator user is performed on the portable device, the linking means links the elevator control device and the portable device via the wireless communication means to transmit the destination floor of the elevator user from the portable device to the elevator control device, thereby performing a destination floor registration process for registering the destination floor of the elevator user in the elevator control device.

3. 3. The elevator system according to claim 1, wherein, as a measure to prevent leakage of the destination floor, the elevator car is not provided with an operation panel installed on the side wall of the elevator car to enable registration of the destination floor from inside the elevator car.

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