Elevator calling methods, mobile devices, and elevator systems

Abstract

The display screen for registering via mobile devices will be simplified to prevent user errors and improve convenience. [Solution] The user's mobile device is used to register the floors of the second floor that the user will be using in advance. The mobile device detects the user's location, and based on the changes in location information from the mobile device, it is estimated which floor of the second floor the user is on. Based on the estimated floor where the user is located, destination buttons are displayed on the mobile device's display, and the user can call the elevator and register their destination floor by touching the destination button displayed on the mobile device.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Embodiments of the present invention relate to an elevator calling method, a mobile terminal, and an elevator system.

Background Art

[0002] In recent years, applications that allow registration of a destination floor by "smartphone call", which calls an elevator from the screen of a smartphone held by an elevator user, have begun to be introduced.

[0003] Although the GUIs (Graphical User Interfaces) displayed on the screen of a smartphone are various, among them, there is a type that can support movement in both the up and down directions with one type of setting by registering the floors to go to and from (departure floor and destination floor) in advance and selecting only the destination direction for call registration. In this GUI, when the departure floor is a lower floor, the destination floor call can be automatically registered by pressing the up button, and when the departure floor is an upper floor, the destination floor call can be automatically registered by pressing the down button.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Patent Document 2

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] [[ID=4)) However, in the conventional screen configuration, it is only assumed that the user presses the up button when on a lower floor and the down button when on an upper floor. Therefore, since the boarding floor cannot be grasped, both buttons always exist on the screen, which may lead to an accidental operation.

[0006] Furthermore, conventional methods have involved changing screen settings based on the assumption that the boarding floor and destination floor will switch after a certain period of time, but this method has the problem that it cannot always be accurately estimated based on the passage of time.

[0007] In view of the above circumstances, the present invention aims to provide an elevator calling method, a mobile terminal, and an elevator system that simplify the display screen when registering a call from a mobile terminal, thereby preventing user errors and improving convenience. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] An embodiment to achieve the above objective involves pre-registering the floors of the second floor that the elevator user will be traveling to and from on a mobile terminal carried by the elevator user, detecting the user's location information using the mobile terminal, estimating which floor of the second floor the user is on based on the changes in location information from the mobile terminal, displaying destination buttons on the mobile terminal's display based on the estimated floor where the user is, and the user calling the elevator and registering the destination floor by selecting the destination button displayed on the mobile terminal. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0009] [Figure 1] A diagram illustrating the configuration of an elevator system to which the embodiment is applied. [Figure 2] A block diagram showing the system configuration of the embodiment. [Figure 3] An explanatory diagram showing the processing procedure of the embodiment in chronological order. [Figure 4] A flowchart illustrating the processing procedure of the embodiment. [Figure 5] An explanatory diagram showing the relationship between the user's location information changes and the screen display. [Figure 6] An explanatory diagram showing the relationship between the user's location information changes and the screen display. [Figure 7] An explanatory diagram showing an example of a display screen on a smartphone. [Figure 8] An explanatory diagram showing an example of a display screen on a smartphone. [Figure 9]An explanatory diagram showing an example of a display screen on a smartphone. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0010] 《Configuration of the Embodiment》 Figure 1 shows an example configuration of an elevator system to which the embodiment is applied.

[0011] As shown in the figure, the building 1 in this embodiment is assumed to be a seven-story apartment building or office building. In the elevator shaft 2 of building 1, a car 3 is raised and lowered by a hoisting machine 5 installed in the machine room 4 to transport users 6 to their destination floor. The hoisting machine 5 is driven and controlled by an elevator control panel 10 in the machine room 4. The elevator control panel 10 is connected to a cloud server 20, which centrally controls multiple elevators. In this embodiment, a "smartphone call" from a smartphone 30 owned by user 6 is supplied to the elevator control panel 10 via the cloud server 20, and the car 3 moves within the elevator shaft 2 based on this "smartphone call".

[0012] In this embodiment, if the first floor is the entrance floor and the seventh floor is the office floor, then when arriving at work, one moves from the first floor to the seventh floor where the office is located, and when leaving or returning to building 1, one moves from the seventh floor to the seventh floor which is the entrance floor.

[0013] Figure 2 is a block diagram showing the system configuration of the embodiment. As shown in the figure, the elevator control panel 10 includes a call registration unit 11, a travel control unit 12, and a call setting unit 13.

[0014] The call registration unit 11 registers calls made via smartphone 30 (or calls made at the landing or for the elevator car) when such calls are received.

[0015] The travel control unit 12 controls the movement of the car 3 based on the registered call.

[0016] The call setting unit 13 sets up smartphone calls (or landing calls, car calls).

[0017] The cloud server 20 includes a smartphone call input / output unit 21 and a call registration notification unit 22.

[0018] When there is a smartphone call from the smartphone 30, the smartphone call input / output unit 21 transfers it to the elevator control panel 10.

[0019] When a call is set by the elevator control panel 10, the call registration notification unit 22 notifies the smartphone 30 owned by the user 6 that the call has been registered.

[0020] A smartphone call application is registered in the smartphone 30. In terms of functional configuration, it also includes a position information input unit 31, a display control unit 32, a display unit 33, a floor information setting unit 34, a smartphone call output unit 35, and a call registration input unit 36.

[0021] The position information input unit 31 inputs the position information of the smartphone 30 from GPS.

[0022] The display control unit 32 controls the display shown on the display unit 33 based on the position information. [[ID=2३]]

[0023] As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the display unit 33 displays the destination direction based on the position information.

[0024] The floor information setting unit 34 registers the two floors for going back and forth.

[0025] The smartphone call output unit 35 outputs the smartphone call input from the call registration input unit 36 to the cloud server 20.

[0026] The call registration input unit 36 inputs call registration through input from the display unit 33 of the smartphone 30.

[0027] 《Processing Procedure of the Embodiment》 FIG. 3 shows the processing procedure of the embodiment in chronological order. FIG. 4 shows the processing procedure of the embodiment in a flowchart.

[0028] As shown in Figure 3(a)(1), when user 6, who is a user of the smartphone app, registers a call from smartphone 30, a call registration signal is supplied to elevator control panel 10 via cloud server 20. Once the call registration is complete, a call registration completion notification is sent to smartphone 30 via cloud server 20 (Figure 3(a)(2)). In response to the call registration, elevator control panel 10 drives the hoisting machine 5 to move car 3 to the registered floor. When car 3 arrives, user 6 gets inside car 3 and travels (Figure 3(a)(3)).

[0029] While user 6 disembarks and is active until the next call, the location information input unit 31 acquires GPS transition information as user 6's location information (Figures 3(a) and 3(4)). Based on this location information, the display control unit 32 determines whether or not the user has left the building. Specifically, as shown in Figure 5(a), if the user's location information transition 51 is a certain distance away from the registered elevator location coordinates 50 within the building, it is presumed that user 6 has left the building 1 and gone outside. On the other hand, as shown in Figure 6(a), if the user's location information transition 51 is not a certain distance away from the registered elevator location coordinates 50, it is presumed that user 6 is inside the building 1. In the example in Figure 3, user 6 is presumed to be "out of the building".

[0030] When user 6 launches the smartphone app (Figure 3(a)(5)), the call originates from the entrance floor (1st floor), so the display unit 33 screen shows an upward-pointing destination button (Figure 3(a)(6)). A specific example of the display is shown in Figure 5(b), where an upward-pointing destination button is displayed in the center of the screen as the destination direction display 40. As shown in Figure 6, if user 6 is presumed to be "not going out", then, as shown in Figure 6(b), a downward-pointing destination button is displayed in the center of the screen as the destination direction display 40.

[0031] The process of the above embodiment is explained in the flowchart of Figure 4.

[0032] When commuting to work, the employee registers an elevator call using a smartphone app on their smartphone (S1). In this example, the call is registered from the boarding floor (1st floor, entrance floor) to the disembarking floor (7th floor, residential floor, office floor).

[0033] Even after user 6 boards and disembarks from the elevator, the location information input unit 31 uses the GPS function to acquire the location information of the smartphone 30 at regular intervals (S2, S3).

[0034] Subsequently, when user 6 launches the smartphone app, it determines whether they are out or not (S4, S5).

[0035] If the system determines that the user has left the station, the boarding and alighting floors will not be swapped. In other words, the boarding floor will remain the 1st floor (entrance floor), and the alighting floor will remain the 7th floor (residential and office floor), and the upward-pointing destination buttons will be displayed as they are.

[0036] If it is determined that the passenger has not left the premises, the boarding and alighting floors will be swapped. Specifically, the boarding floor will be the 7th floor (residential and office floors), and the alighting floor will be the 1st floor (entrance floor), and the destination buttons will be displayed pointing downwards.

[0037] Thus, according to this embodiment, the display screen when registering a call from a smartphone 30 can be simplified, thereby preventing user errors and improving convenience.

[0038] Next, we will compare and explain this embodiment with a conventional example with reference to Figures 7 to 9.

[0039] As shown in Figure 7, the initial step is to register the item as a "favorite."

[0040] Select the elevator (or bank) you want to use (Figure (a)). For example, select the elevator in your apartment building or the building where you work.

[0041] Next, select the floor you will be using (Figure (b)). In Figure 7, the user has selected to move between the 1st and 7th floors. When doing so, the floor settings from the previous use of the selected bank will be displayed. For example, residential floor ⇔ entrance floor, office floor ⇔ entrance floor, etc. will be displayed.

[0042] Next, select your destination (Figure (c)), and finally, tap the heart icon to add it to your favorites (Figure (d)).

[0043] After completing the favorites registration process as described above, when you launch the smartphone app, you first select your destination direction, as shown in the example in Figure 8. From the display screen, select the "destination direction button" in the same way as the boarding buttons. For example, if you want to go from the 1st floor to the 7th floor, select the up direction button 41; if you want to go from the 7th floor to the 1st floor, select the down direction button 42.

[0044] In the example shown in Figure 9, first, the user selects the elevator (bank) to be used (Figure (a)). Next, the user selects the floor to be used from the display screen (Figure (b)). The display screen shows the floor settings from the previous use of the selected bank by default (Figure (c)). User 6 then selects the destination direction.

[0045] As shown in the display examples in Figures 8 and 9, both the upward destination button 41 and the downward destination button 42 are displayed, which is not user-friendly for user 6.

[0046] In this embodiment, the GPS function of the smartphone 30 is utilized to determine whether the user has left the building where the elevator is located if they are a certain distance away from the registered elevator's location coordinates, or whether they are about to leave the building if they are not. This allows the system to estimate which of the pre-specified floors the user is currently on. Only the buttons used according to the estimated boarding floor are displayed on the smartphone app screen. That is, as shown in Figures 5 and 6, the display unit 33 of the smartphone 30 displays either an upward or downward destination button 41 or 42 based on the estimated floor where the user 6 is located. The user 6 can then call the elevator and register their destination floor by touching the displayed destination button 41 or 42. This simplifies the display screen when registering a call from the smartphone 30, preventing user errors and improving convenience.

[0047] Furthermore, real-time GPS information alone can only determine the horizontal position, and using Bluetooth requires the installation of equipment on the elevator side. However, with the configuration of this embodiment, there is no need to add equipment on either the elevator side or the user 6 side.

[0048] Furthermore, considering the possibility that the screen display may differ from what is expected due to GPS errors, etc., it may be possible to manually display either destination floor button. In this case, a switching button will be placed on the display screen of the smartphone 30, and the user 6 will be able to switch manually.

[0049] Although several embodiments of the present invention have been described above, these embodiments are presented as examples only and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments can be implemented 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 variations are included in the scope and spirit of the invention, as well as in the claims of the invention and its equivalents. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0050] 1...Building, 2...Hoistway, 3...Car, 4...Machine Room, 5...Hoisting Machine, 6...User, 10...Elevator Control Panel, 11...Call Registration Unit, 12...Travel Control Unit, 13...Call Setting Unit, 20...Cloud Server, 21...Smartphone Call Input / Output Unit, 22...Call Registration Notification Unit, 30...Smartphone, 31...Location Information Input Unit, 32...Display Control Unit, 33...Display Unit, 34...Floor Information Setting Unit, 35...Smartphone Call Output Unit, 36...Call Registration Input Unit, 40, 41, 42...Destination Direction Display (Destination Direction Buttons), 50...Registered Location Coordinates, 51...Location Information Transition

Claims

1. The second floor floors that the elevator user will be using are pre-registered on the user's mobile device. The mobile device detects the user's location information, Based on the changes in location information from the aforementioned mobile device, it is estimated which of the two floors the user is on. Based on the estimated floor where the user is located, destination direction buttons are displayed on the display of the mobile terminal. A method for calling an elevator, in which the user selects a destination direction button displayed on the mobile terminal to call the elevator and register the destination floor.

2. The aforementioned mobile terminal detects location information within the building where the elevator is installed at predetermined intervals, If the user is a certain distance away from the registered elevator location coordinates within the building, it is presumed that the user has left the building and gone outside. The elevator calling method according to claim 1, wherein if the user is not a certain distance away from the registered elevator's location coordinates, it is presumed that the user is inside the building.

3. A portable device carried by an elevator user, A floor information setting unit that pre-registers the second-floor floors that the aforementioned users will move between, A location information input unit that acquires location information, A mobile terminal comprising: a display control unit that estimates which of the two floors the user is on based on the change in location information, and displays destination direction buttons on the display unit based on the estimated floor where the user is located.

4. The location information input unit detects location information within the building where the elevator is installed at predetermined intervals, The display control unit estimates that the user has left the building if they are a certain distance away from the registered elevator location coordinates within the building, and estimates that the user is inside the building if they are not a certain distance away from the registered elevator location coordinates, as described in claim 3.

5. The system comprises an elevator control panel for controlling elevators, a cloud server for managing each elevator control panel, and a mobile terminal according to claim 3 or 4 for registering calls to the elevator control panel via the cloud server. An elevator system in which users call an elevator and register their destination floor by selecting a destination direction button displayed on the screen based on their estimated location.

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