Maintenance and management methods for mobile vehicles and passenger conveyors, and maintenance and management systems for passenger conveyors.

Abstract

This invention provides a mobile device that automatically and safely resumes maintenance and inspection processes on a passenger conveyor belt when an earthquake occurs during these processes, interrupting the maintenance and inspection. [Solution] According to the embodiment, the mobile unit comprises a conveyor information acquisition unit and a maintenance and inspection processing unit. The conveyor information acquisition unit acquires status information of the passenger conveyor that is subject to maintenance and inspection. When the maintenance and inspection processing unit acquires disaster occurrence information while the conveyor information acquisition unit is acquiring status information of the passenger conveyor for maintenance and inspection processing, it stops the acquisition of status information of the passenger conveyor. Subsequently, when it recognizes that no abnormality has been detected in the mobile unit or the passenger conveyor, it instructs the conveyor information acquisition unit to resume the acquisition of status information of the passenger conveyor.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Embodiments of the present invention relate to a moving body, a maintenance management method for a passenger conveyor, and a maintenance management system for a passenger conveyor.

Background Art

[0002] In the regular inspection of an escalator, which is one type of passenger conveyor, workers board the steps of the escalator and perform confirmation work on various items. However, each time the inspection work is carried out, it is a heavy burden for the workers to go to the target escalator to perform the work. Therefore, technologies have been developed for a moving body that performs autonomous driving, such as a robot device, to perform the inspection process of the escalator on behalf of the workers.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] When the moving body performs the inspection process of the escalator, it gets on the steps and checks whether any abnormality has occurred by, for example, taking pictures of the members constituting the escalator and the surrounding environment with a built-in camera device and analyzing the captured image information.

[0005] When an earthquake occurs while the moving body is on the steps of the escalator in this way, the moving body may fall from the steps or tip over on the steps, and there is a risk of damage to the moving body or the escalator. Therefore, when an earthquake occurs during the inspection process of the escalator by the moving body, the maintenance worker goes to the site and checks whether any problems have occurred in the moving body and the escalator due to the tipping over of the moving body or the like. And if any problem has occurred, the maintenance worker takes measures for recovery.

[0006] However, even if an earthquake occurs during inspection work using a mobile device, depending on the situation, there may be no malfunction in either the mobile device or the escalator, allowing the inspection work to continue. Therefore, if the inspection work is interrupted every time an earthquake occurs during inspection work using a mobile device, and maintenance workers go to the site to check, the maintenance workers' efforts may be wasted.

[0007] This invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and aims to provide a mobile device for automatically and safely resuming maintenance and inspection of a passenger conveyor when an earthquake occurs during the maintenance and inspection process and interrupts the process, a method for maintaining and managing a passenger conveyor, and a maintenance and management system for a passenger conveyor. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] According to an embodiment for achieving the above objective, the mobile unit comprises a conveyor information acquisition unit and a maintenance and inspection processing unit. The conveyor information acquisition unit acquires status information of the passenger conveyor that is subject to maintenance and inspection. When a disaster occurs while the conveyor information acquisition unit is acquiring status information of the passenger conveyor for maintenance and inspection processing, the maintenance and inspection processing unit stops the acquisition of status information of the passenger conveyor. Subsequently, when it recognizes that no abnormality has been detected in the mobile unit or the passenger conveyor, it instructs the conveyor information acquisition unit to resume the acquisition of status information of the passenger conveyor. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0009] [Figure 1] This is an overall diagram showing the configuration of a maintenance management system according to one embodiment. [Figure 2] This block diagram shows the configuration of a maintenance management system according to one embodiment. [Figure 3] This is a sequence diagram showing the processes performed by each device within the maintenance management system before the maintenance management system according to one embodiment begins the escalator inspection process. [Figure 4]This is a sequence diagram showing the processes performed by each device within the maintenance management system from the time the maintenance management system according to one embodiment starts the escalator inspection process until an earthquake occurs and a status check instruction is issued. [Figure 5] This is a sequence diagram showing the processes performed by each device within a maintenance management system in one embodiment of the maintenance management system from the start of the status confirmation process until the inspection process is resumed and completed. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0010] The following describes a maintenance management system in which an elevator cloud, which functions as a maintenance management device according to one embodiment of the present invention, maintains and manages an escalator, which is a passenger conveyor, using a robotic device that is an autonomously mobile body.

[0011] <Configuration of a maintenance management system according to one embodiment> Figure 1 is an overall diagram showing the configuration of a maintenance management system 1 according to one embodiment. The maintenance management system 1 is configured by connecting an escalator 10 to be maintained and inspected, a robot device 20, an elevator cloud 30, and a robot cloud 40 via a wide-area communication network NW.

[0012] The maintenance management system 1 is communicatively connected to the manufacturer's maintenance center device C1 installed in the manufacturer's maintenance center within the manufacturer of the escalator 10, the building disaster prevention center device C2 installed in the building disaster prevention center within the building where the escalator 10 is installed, and the earthquake information management device C3 which transmits earthquake occurrence information, which is one of the disaster occurrence information.

[0013] Specifically, the manufacturer's maintenance center device C1 is connected to the elevator cloud 30 and the robot cloud 40 via a wide-area communication network NW, the building disaster prevention center device C2 is connected to the escalator 10 and the manufacturer's maintenance center device C1 via a wide-area communication network NW, and the earthquake information management device C3 is connected to the manufacturer's maintenance center device C1 via a wide-area communication network NW.

[0014] Figure 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a maintenance management system 1 according to one embodiment. The escalator 10 includes an escalator communication unit (hereinafter referred to as "ES communication unit") 11 and an escalator control panel (hereinafter referred to as "ES control panel") 12.

[0015] The ES communication unit 11 communicates with the elevator cloud 30, the manufacturer's maintenance center device C1, and the building disaster prevention center device C2 via the wide-area communication network NW. The escalator control panel 12 controls the escalator 10 based on instructions from the elevator cloud 30.

[0016] The robot device 20 includes a group of devices 21, a moving mechanism 22, a robot communication unit 23, and a robot CPU 24.

[0017] The device group 21 includes a camera device 211, an acceleration sensor 212, a vibration sensor 213, a sound collection device 214, a speaker device 215, a distance sensor 216, an infrared sensor 217, and an odor sensor 218.

[0018] The moving mechanism 22 is a mechanism for moving the robot device 20. The robot communication unit 23 communicates with the elevator cloud 30 via a wide-area communication network NW.

[0019] The robot CPU 24 is, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) provided in a general-purpose microcomputer. By installing and executing a predetermined robot control program, it constitutes one or more of the following information processing units. The robot CPU 24 includes a conveyor information acquisition unit 241, an operation control unit 242, a maintenance inspection processing unit 243, a robot abnormality determination unit 244 as a moving body abnormality determination unit, an ES abnormality determination unit 245 as a passenger conveyor abnormality determination unit, and a restartability determination unit 246.

[0020] The conveyor information acquisition unit 241 acquires information regarding the escalator 10 obtained by each device in the device group 21 as the state information of the escalator 10. The operation control unit 242 controls the moving mechanism 22. The maintenance inspection processing unit 243 performs maintenance inspection processing of the escalator 10 using the information acquired by the conveyor information acquisition unit 241.

[0021] The robot abnormality determination unit 244 determines whether an abnormality has occurred in the own robot device 20 based on the operation status of the devices in the device group 21 and the operation status of the moving mechanism 22 by the operation control unit 242. When it is determined that no abnormality has occurred in the robot device 20, the ES abnormality determination unit 245 determines whether an abnormality has occurred in the escalator 10 based on the information acquired by the conveyor information acquisition unit 241.

[0022] The restartability determination unit 246 determines whether the maintenance inspection work of the escalator 10 by the robot device 20 can be restarted based on the determination result of the ES abnormality determination unit 245. When the restartability determination unit 246 determines that the maintenance inspection work can be restarted, it causes the maintenance inspection processing unit 243 to restart the maintenance inspection processing of the escalator 10.

[0023] The elevator hoistway 30 includes a cloud communication unit 31 and a cloud CPU 32. The cloud communication unit 31 communicates with the escalator 10, the robot cloud 40, and the manufacturer maintenance center device C1.

[0024] The cloud CPU 32 is, for example, the CPU (central processing unit) of a general-purpose microcomputer, and by installing and executing a predetermined escalator management program, it constitutes one or more information processing units as shown below. The cloud CPU 32 has an operation monitoring unit 321, an earthquake occurrence detection unit 322, and an inspection monitoring unit 323.

[0025] The operation monitoring unit 321 monitors the operating status of the escalator 10. The earthquake detection unit 322 detects when an earthquake occurs in the area including the building where the escalator 10 is installed.

[0026] The inspection and monitoring unit 323, for example, when it is time for the maintenance and inspection of the escalator 10, which is once a month, causes the robot device 20 to perform the maintenance and inspection process for the escalator 10. If the earthquake detection unit 322 detects an earthquake during the maintenance and inspection process for the escalator 10, the inspection and monitoring unit 323 outputs a command to stop the operation of the robot device 20 and the escalator 10, thereby stopping the maintenance and inspection process. After that, if it recognizes that no abnormalities have occurred in the robot device 20 and the escalator 10, it sends an instruction to the robot device 20 to resume the maintenance and inspection.

[0027] <Operation of a maintenance management system according to one embodiment> Figures 3 to 5 are sequence diagrams showing the operation of the maintenance management system 1 according to one embodiment. Under normal circumstances, the escalator 10 operates in normal operation mode, and the operation monitoring unit 321 of the elevator cloud 30 acquires operating status information of the escalator 10 from the ES control panel 12 at predetermined time intervals via the cloud communication unit 31, the wide-area communication network NW, and the ES communication unit 11. The operation monitoring unit 321 monitors the operating status of the escalator 10 by analyzing the acquired information.

[0028] When the inspection monitoring unit 323 of the elevator cloud 30 detects that the pre-set timing for executing maintenance and inspection processing for the escalator 10 has arrived, it sends a maintenance and inspection start instruction to the ES control panel 12 (S1). When the ES control panel 12 receives the maintenance and inspection start instruction, it switches the operating mode from normal operation mode to maintenance operation mode (S2).

[0029] The inspection monitoring unit 323 also sends an instruction to the robot cloud 40 to start maintenance and inspection of the escalator 10 (S3). When the robot cloud 40 receives the instruction to start maintenance and inspection of the escalator 10, it sends a movement instruction to the robot device 20 to move to the escalator 10 to be inspected (S4).

[0030] When the robot device 20 receives a movement instruction, the motion control unit 242 controls the movement mechanism 22 to move to the vicinity of the escalator 10, which is the unit to be inspected (S5). When the robot device 20 arrives near the escalator 10, the motion control unit 242 notifies the robot cloud 40 of this (S6). When the robot cloud 40 receives the notification from the robot device 20, it notifies the elevator cloud 30 that the robot device 20 has arrived near the escalator 10 (S7).

[0031] When the elevator cloud 30 receives a notification from the robot cloud 40, it sends a stop command for the escalator 10 to the ES control panel 12 (S8). When the ES control panel 12 receives the stop command, it stops the operation of the escalator 10 (S9).

[0032] In the robot device 20, the camera device 211 photographs the escalator 10, and the conveyor information acquisition unit 241 acquires the image information and sends it to the maintenance and inspection processing unit 243. When the maintenance and inspection processing unit 243 confirms that the operation of the escalator 10 has stopped based on the acquired image information, the motion control unit 242 operates the movement mechanism 22 to move the robot device 20 onto the steps of the escalator 10 and start the maintenance and inspection process (S10).

[0033] The maintenance and inspection processing unit 243 acquires status information of the escalator 10 obtained by the equipment in the equipment group 21 via the conveyor information acquisition unit 241, and uses the acquired status information to perform maintenance and inspection processes such as acquiring information on the appearance of the handrail, steps, boarding / alighting plates, guardrails, and railings; acquiring information indicating the relative movement speed of the steps with respect to the handrail of the escalator 10; acquiring vibration information transmitted to the boarding / alighting plates or steps; and acquiring sound information around the robot device 20.

[0034] While these maintenance and inspection processes are being performed, if a disaster occurs in the building where the escalator 10 is installed (for example, an earthquake occurs in the area including this building), the building disaster prevention center device C2 or the earthquake information management device C3 detects this and notifies the manufacturer's maintenance center device C1. The manufacturer's maintenance center device C1 transmits the acquired earthquake information to the elevator cloud 30.

[0035] When the elevator cloud 30 receives information about an earthquake, it sends a command to the escalator 10 to stop operation (S12). The escalator 10 receives the command to stop operation from the elevator cloud 30 via the ES communication unit 11, and the ES control panel 12 stops the operation of the escalator 10 (S13).

[0036] The elevator cloud 30 also sends a maintenance stop instruction to the robot cloud 40 (S14). The robot cloud 40 sends the acquired maintenance stop instruction to the robot device 20 (S15). In the robot device 20, the maintenance stop instruction received from the robot cloud 40 is acquired by the maintenance processing unit 243 and the maintenance process is stopped (S16). When the maintenance process is stopped, the information acquisition process by each device in the device group 21 by the conveyor information acquisition unit 241 related to the maintenance process is stopped, and the operation of the moving mechanism 22 by the motion control unit 242 is stopped.

[0037] Subsequently, after a predetermined time (for example, 5 minutes) has elapsed since the maintenance and inspection process was stopped (YES in S17), the inspection monitoring unit 323 of the elevator cloud 30 sends a status confirmation instruction to the robot cloud 40 (S18). The robot cloud 40 then sends the acquired status confirmation instruction to the robot device 20 (S19).

[0038] When the robot device 20 receives a robot status check instruction, the robot abnormality determination unit 244 starts the robot status check process (S21), and determines whether or not an abnormality has been detected in the robot device 20 based on the operating status of the equipment in the equipment group 21 and the operating status of the movement mechanism 22 by the motion control unit 242 (S22).

[0039] An abnormality in the robot device 20 is detected, for example, when one of the devices in the equipment group 21 malfunctions, or when the robot device 20 falls over on a step or boarding platform and is unable to maintain the posture necessary for maintenance and inspection.

[0040] If the robot abnormality determination unit 244 determines that it has not detected any abnormality in its own robot device 20 (NO in S22), the ES abnormality determination unit 245 determines whether or not it has detected any abnormality such as damage in the escalator 10 based on the information acquired by the conveyor information acquisition unit 241 (S23).

[0041] If the ES abnormality detection unit 245 determines that no abnormality has been detected in the escalator 10 (NO in S23), the restart feasibility determination unit 246 determines that the maintenance and inspection work on the escalator 10 by the robot device 20 can be resumed. If the ES abnormality detection unit 245 determines that the maintenance and inspection work on the escalator 10 can be resumed, it instructs the maintenance and inspection processing unit 243 to resume the maintenance and inspection process for the escalator 10.

[0042] When the maintenance and inspection processing unit 243 receives a restart instruction, it resumes the maintenance and inspection process (S24). At this time, the maintenance and inspection processing unit 243 may restart the maintenance and inspection process from the beginning, or it may execute the process excluding items that were completed before the earthquake occurred. If the maintenance and inspection processing unit 243 restarts the maintenance and inspection process from the beginning, it may delete the inspection information acquired before the earthquake occurred, or it may save it as is and send it to the manufacturer's maintenance center device C1 via the elevator cloud 30 along with the inspection results after the maintenance and inspection process is completed.

[0043] When the maintenance and inspection processing unit 243 resumes the maintenance and inspection process, it notifies the robot cloud 40 of this (S25). When the robot cloud 40 receives the notification of the resumption of the maintenance and inspection process from the robot device 20, it notifies the elevator cloud 30 of this (S26). The elevator cloud 30 recognizes from the notification received from the robot cloud 40 that the maintenance and inspection process of the escalator 10 by the robot device 20 has resumed (S27).

[0044] When the robot device 20 completes the maintenance inspection process (YES in S28), it sends the maintenance inspection results to the robot cloud 40 (S29). The robot cloud 40 sends the acquired maintenance inspection results to the elevator cloud 30 (S30). In the elevator cloud 30, the inspection monitoring unit 323 receives the maintenance inspection results (S31) and sends them to the manufacturer's maintenance center device C1. As a result, the elevator cloud 30 recognizes the completion of the maintenance inspection process.

[0045] When the elevator cloud 30 recognizes the completion of the maintenance and inspection process for the escalator 10, it sends a maintenance and inspection completion notification to the ES control panel 12 (S32). Upon receiving the maintenance and inspection completion notification, the ES control panel 12 switches the operating mode from maintenance operation mode to normal operation mode (S33).

[0046] In step S22 described above, if the robot abnormality detection unit 244 determines that it has detected an abnormality in its own robot device 20 (YES in S22), it notifies the robot cloud 40 of this. The robot cloud 40 notifies the elevator cloud 30 of the acquired information regarding the detection of an abnormality in the robot device 20 (S34). When the elevator cloud 30 receives notification of the detection of an abnormality in the robot device 20, it sends an alert to the manufacturer maintenance center device C1 or the building disaster prevention center device C2 (S35). When these devices receive the alert, maintenance workers or building management center managers go to the escalator 10 and retrieve the robot device 20.

[0047] When the inspection and monitoring unit 323 of the elevator cloud 30 receives notification of an abnormality detection in the robot device 20, it may send an instruction to the escalator 10 to move the steps of the escalator 10 downwards, thereby moving the steps and the robot device 20 to the area near the lower entrance. If the robot device 20 is left stopped on the steps until a maintenance worker arrives, it may fall downwards and be damaged in the event of an aftershock, but this can be prevented by moving it to the area near the lower entrance.

[0048] Furthermore, if the position of the step where the robot device 20 is stopped is closer to the upper exit of the escalator 10 than to the lower entrance, or within a predetermined distance from the upper exit, and the length of the step that becomes horizontal just before the upper exit is greater than or equal to a predetermined value (for example, three steps or more), the inspection and monitoring unit 323 may move the steps of the escalator 10 upward to move the robot device 20 to the vicinity of the upper exit. This allows the robot device 20 to be moved to a safe and efficient position.

[0049] Furthermore, in step S23, if the ES abnormality detection unit 245 detects an abnormality in the escalator 10 (YES in S23), it notifies the robot cloud 40. The robot cloud 40 notifies the elevator cloud 30 of the acquired information about the escalator 10 abnormality (S36). When the elevator cloud 30 receives notification of the escalator 10 abnormality, it sends an alert to the manufacturer maintenance center device C1 or the building disaster prevention center device C2 (S37). When these devices receive the alert, maintenance workers go to the escalator 10 and perform the retrieval of the robot device 20 and maintenance work on the escalator 10.

[0050] In step S19 of the above-described embodiment, when the elevator cloud 30 sends a status check instruction to the robot cloud 40, it may also send a status check instruction to the ES control panel 12, causing the ES control panel 12 to perform a status check of the escalator 10.

[0051] In this case, if the robot device 20 checks its own status and determines that it has not detected any abnormalities, it transmits this determination result to the ES control panel 12 via the robot cloud 40 and the elevator cloud 30. When the ES control panel 12 receives the determination result indicating that no abnormalities have been detected in the robot device 20, it requests ES status information from the robot device 20 via the elevator cloud 30 and the robot cloud 40.

[0052] When the robot device 20 receives an ES status information request transmitted from the ES control panel 12, the ES abnormality determination unit 245 responds by transmitting information about each piece of equipment in the equipment group 21, acquired by the conveyor information acquisition unit 241, to the ES control panel 12. The ES control panel 12 analyzes the information about each piece of equipment acquired from the robot device 20 and also determines whether there are any malfunctions in the switches installed in the ES control panel 12 by having the escalator 10 perform a fault diagnosis operation. Based on this information, it determines whether there are any abnormalities in the escalator 10.

[0053] When escalator 10 determines that there is no abnormality in itself, it notifies robot device 20 of this fact. Upon receiving notification that there is no abnormality in escalator 10, robot device 20 resumes maintenance and inspection processing.

[0054] Alternatively, the elevator cloud 30 may acquire information obtained by the robot device 20 from the equipment in the equipment group 21 and information obtained by the ES control panel 12, and based on this, the elevator cloud 30 may determine whether or not an abnormality has occurred in the robot device 20 and the escalator 10.

[0055] Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, when the elevator cloud 30 performs status confirmation processing for the robot device 20 and the escalator 10, it may acquire imaging information from surveillance cameras installed in the building from the building disaster prevention center device C2 via the manufacturer maintenance center device C1 and the elevator cloud 30, and perform status confirmation using the acquired imaging information.

[0056] Furthermore, in step S17 of the above-described embodiment, the robot device 20 may detect the occurrence of an earthquake using an earthquake sensing sensor (not shown) located within the robot device 20, and based on this, stop the maintenance and inspection process.

[0057] Furthermore, in step S22 of the above-described embodiment, if an abnormality is detected in the robot device 20, the decision to resume the subsequent maintenance and inspection process and the content of the process if it is resumed may be changed depending on the nature of the abnormality.

[0058] For example, even if a faulty device is detected within the group of devices 21 of the robot device 20, if this device does not affect the maintenance and inspection process, can be replaced by another device, or can perform the maintenance and inspection process with some of the devices, the ES abnormality determination unit 245 may determine that there is an abnormality but the maintenance and inspection process can be resumed and restart it. In this case, when the maintenance and inspection process is restarted, it will be restarted using only the information obtainable from the normally operating devices. Also, if only the movement mechanism 22 of the robot device 20 is faulty, the maintenance and inspection process may be performed while the robot is stopped on the steps.

[0059] Furthermore, in the embodiment described above, if the robot device 20 is configured to perform maintenance and inspection on multiple escalators, including escalator 10, after transmitting the maintenance and inspection results in step S29, the robot device 20 moves toward the next escalator to be maintained and inspected and performs the maintenance and inspection process in the same manner.

[0060] Furthermore, if there are multiple robotic devices managed by the robot cloud 40 within the building, in step S34 of the above-described embodiment, when the robot cloud 40 notifies the elevator cloud 30 of an abnormality in the robotic device 20, the elevator cloud 30 may send instructions to the other robotic devices to check the status of the escalator 10 and perform maintenance inspection.

[0061] The robotic device 20 may be rented by the building management center from the escalator manufacturer, owned by the building management center, or owned by the robotic manufacturer.

[0062] Furthermore, in the embodiments described above, information communication between the escalator 10 and the robot device 20 was described as being performed via the elevator cloud 30 and the robot cloud 40. However, the escalator 10 and the robot device 20 may be configured to communicate with each other using short-range wireless communication or the like, and information may be sent and received directly.

[0063] Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the process executed by the maintenance management system 1 when an earthquake occurs while the conveyor information acquisition unit 241 of the robot device 20 is acquiring status information of the escalator 10 has been explained. However, the system is not limited to this, and the maintenance management system 1 may also execute similar processes in the event of a disaster other than an earthquake, for example, when strong winds cause the building to shake and there is a risk that the robot device 20 may tip over, or when a fire or water leak from a water supply system occurs and there is a risk that the robot device 20 may tip over by coming into contact with fleeing users.

[0064] [Effects of the Embodiment] According to the embodiment described above, the mobile unit includes a conveyor information acquisition unit that acquires status information of a passenger conveyor to be maintained and inspected, and a maintenance and inspection processing unit that, when the conveyor information acquisition unit is acquiring status information of the passenger conveyor for maintenance and inspection purposes and acquires disaster information, stops the acquisition of status information of the passenger conveyor, and then, when it recognizes that no abnormality has been detected in the mobile unit or the passenger conveyor, causes the conveyor information acquisition unit to resume the acquisition of status information of the passenger conveyor. Here, "mobile unit" refers to the mobile unit body equipped with the above-described conveyor information acquisition unit and maintenance and inspection processing unit.

[0065] According to this, if a disaster occurs during maintenance and inspection of a passenger conveyor using a moving vehicle, interrupting the maintenance and inspection process, the process can be automatically and safely resumed, reducing the workload for maintenance workers.

[0066] Furthermore, the mobile unit may be equipped with at least one of the following devices: a camera, an acceleration sensor, a vibration sensor, a sound pickup device, a speaker device, a distance sensor, an infrared sensor, or an odor sensor. The conveyor information acquisition unit may acquire the information acquired by the devices as passenger conveyor status information. This allows the mobile unit to acquire detailed passenger conveyor status information based on various pieces of information.

[0067] Furthermore, the maintenance and inspection processing unit may perform maintenance and inspection processing using the status information of the passenger conveyor acquired by the conveyor information acquisition unit. This eliminates the need for the passenger conveyor or its maintenance and management device to perform maintenance and management processing, thereby reducing the load on these devices.

[0068] Furthermore, the mobile unit includes a mobile unit abnormality determination unit that determines whether or not an abnormality has been detected in the mobile unit when disaster occurrence information is acquired, and a passenger conveyor abnormality determination unit that determines whether or not an abnormality has been detected in the passenger conveyor when the mobile unit abnormality determination unit determines that no abnormality has been detected in the mobile unit. The maintenance and inspection processing unit may recognize that no abnormalities have been detected in the mobile unit or the passenger conveyor when the passenger conveyor abnormality determination unit determines that no abnormality has been detected in the passenger conveyor. This eliminates the need for the passenger conveyor or its maintenance management device to perform the acquisition of status information of the mobile unit and the passenger conveyor when a disaster occurs, thereby reducing the load on these devices.

[0069] The maintenance management system also includes a passenger conveyor to be maintained, an autonomous mobile unit, and a maintenance management device that is communicatively connected to the passenger conveyor and the mobile unit. The mobile unit has a conveyor information acquisition unit that acquires status information of the passenger conveyor to be maintained, and a maintenance inspection processing unit that, when the conveyor information acquisition unit is acquiring status information of the passenger conveyor for maintenance processing and acquires disaster information, stops the acquisition of status information of the passenger conveyor, and then, when it recognizes that no abnormality has been detected in the mobile unit or the passenger conveyor based on a status confirmation process executed based on a status confirmation instruction output from the maintenance management device, restarts the acquisition of status information of the passenger conveyor to the conveyor information acquisition unit. The passenger conveyor also has a control panel that stops operation when disaster information is acquired during operation. The maintenance management device also has an inspection monitoring unit that sends a status confirmation instruction to the mobile unit after the acquisition of status information of the passenger conveyor by the mobile unit and the operation of the passenger conveyor have stopped due to a disaster.

[0070] This allows for the automatic and safe resumption of maintenance and inspection processes if an accident occurs during maintenance and inspection of a passenger conveyor using a moving vehicle, thereby reducing the workload for maintenance workers.

[0071] Furthermore, if the inspection and monitoring unit receives notification of an abnormality detected in the moving object after transmitting a status check instruction, it may move the steps of the passenger conveyor to move the moving object to the entrance or exit of the passenger conveyor. This prevents the moving object from falling and being further damaged even if an aftershock occurs before the maintenance personnel can retrieve the malfunctioning moving object.

[0072] While several embodiments of the present invention have been described, these embodiments are presented as examples only and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments can be carried out in a variety of 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 and their equivalents. [Explanation of symbols]

[0073] 1...Maintenance management system, 10...Escalator, 11...ES communication unit, 12...ES control panel, 20...Robot device, 21...Equipment group, 22...Movement mechanism, 23...Robot communication unit, 30...Elevator cloud, 31...Cloud communication unit, 40...Robot cloud, 211...Camera device, 212...Accelerometer, 213...Vibration sensor, 214...Sound collection device, 215...Speaker device, 216...Distance sensor, 217...Infrared sensor, 218...Odor sensor, 241...Conveyor information acquisition unit, 242...Motion control unit, 243...Maintenance inspection processing unit, 244...Robot abnormality detection unit, 245...ES abnormality detection unit, 246...Restart feasibility determination unit, 321...Operation monitoring unit, 322...Earthquake occurrence detection unit, 323...Inspection monitoring unit

Claims

1. A conveyor information acquisition unit that acquires status information of passenger conveyors subject to maintenance and inspection, A mobile body comprising: a maintenance and inspection processing unit that, when the conveyor information acquisition unit is acquiring status information of the passenger conveyor for maintenance and inspection purposes, acquires disaster occurrence information, stops the acquisition of status information of the passenger conveyor, and then, when it recognizes that no abnormality has been detected in the mobile body or the passenger conveyor, restarts the acquisition of status information of the passenger conveyor to the conveyor information acquisition unit.

2. The system includes at least one of the following devices: a camera, an acceleration sensor, a vibration sensor, a sound collection device, a speaker device, a distance sensor, an infrared sensor, and an odor sensor. The mobile body according to claim 1, wherein the conveyor information acquisition unit acquires the information acquired by the equipment as status information of the passenger conveyor.

3. The mobile body according to claim 1, wherein the maintenance and inspection processing unit performs the maintenance and inspection process using the status information of the passenger conveyor acquired by the conveyor information acquisition unit.

4. A mobile object abnormality determination unit that determines whether or not an abnormality has been detected in the mobile object when disaster occurrence information is acquired, When the moving body abnormality determination unit determines that it did not detect an abnormality in the moving body, the passenger conveyor abnormality determination unit determines whether or not it detected an abnormality in the passenger conveyor, Furthermore, The mobile body according to claim 1, wherein the maintenance and inspection processing unit recognizes that no abnormality has been detected in the mobile body or the passenger conveyor when the passenger conveyor abnormality determination unit determines that no abnormality has been detected in the passenger conveyor.

5. A mobile device connected to a passenger conveyor belt subject to maintenance and inspection, is capable of communicating with the conveyor belt. A maintenance management method for a passenger conveyor, wherein when acquiring status information of the passenger conveyor for maintenance inspection purposes, if disaster information is acquired, the process of acquiring status information of the passenger conveyor is stopped, and thereafter, when it is recognized that no abnormality has been detected in the self-moving vehicle or the passenger conveyor, the process of acquiring status information of the passenger conveyor is resumed.

6. A maintenance management system comprising a passenger conveyor to be maintained and inspected, an autonomously mobile body, and a maintenance management device that is communicatively connected to the passenger conveyor and the mobile body, The aforementioned moving body is A conveyor information acquisition unit that acquires status information of passenger conveyors subject to maintenance and inspection, The system includes a maintenance and inspection processing unit which, when the conveyor information acquisition unit is acquiring status information of the passenger conveyor for maintenance and inspection purposes and acquires disaster information, stops the acquisition of status information of the passenger conveyor, and then, when it recognizes that no abnormality has been detected in the moving body and the passenger conveyor based on a status confirmation process performed based on a status confirmation instruction output from the maintenance management device, restarts the acquisition of status information of the passenger conveyor to the conveyor information acquisition unit. The aforementioned passenger conveyor is It has a control panel that stops operation when it receives information about a disaster occurring while in operation. The aforementioned maintenance management device is A maintenance management system for a passenger conveyor, comprising an inspection and monitoring unit that, after a disaster occurs, the mobile unit acquires status information of the passenger conveyor and the operation of the passenger conveyor stops, transmits a status confirmation instruction to the mobile unit.

7. The passenger conveyor maintenance management system according to claim 6, wherein when the inspection and monitoring unit receives notification of abnormality detection of the moving body by transmitting the status confirmation instruction, it moves the steps of the passenger conveyor to move the moving body to the entrance or exit of the passenger conveyor.

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