Apartment Intercom System

Abstract

To provide a housing intercom system including a living room master unit having a function of automatically unlocking an entrance door when a visitor who intends to go to a specific facility calls a housing entrance machine.SOLUTION: A housing intercom system includes a housing entrance machine 1 for a visitor to call and talk to a resident, and a plurality of living room master units 2 for a resident to respond to a call from the housing entrance unit 1, and the living room master unit 2 includes an unlocking button 24a for unlocking an entrance door 9 for the visitor to enter a living area from the entrance, and some living room master units 2 have an automatic unlocking mode that unlocks the entrance door 9 without waiting for the unlock button 24a to be operated when a call signal is transmitted from the housing entrance machine 1.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an intercom system for an apartment complex, and more particularly to an intercom system for an apartment complex that is adapted to a location within the apartment complex where a facility such as a hospital that is frequently used by people who are not residents is located. [Background technology]

[0002] In apartment buildings with automatic doors at the entrance, visitors can use the apartment building intercom system to have the resident unlock the automatic door from the apartment entrance device, allowing them to enter the residential area and proceed to their destination. On the other hand, for security reasons, some apartment buildings are divided into multiple residential areas and have automatic doors installed in each area, in addition to the entrance to the apartment building. When multiple automatic doors are installed like this, a collective entrance machine is also installed, and the residents are required to unlock the automatic door each time (for example, see Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2007-13671 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In recent years, some apartment complexes have facilities such as hospitals that are visited by many people other than the residents of the complex. In such facilities, users from outside the complex must operate the collective entrance machine to open the entrance door, and they are frequently called during consultation hours. This places a heavy burden on the staff who respond to calls from the main room machine. However, unlike normal housing units, facilities such as hospitals are desirable for patients to be able to enter and exit smoothly. Therefore, if the area is set so that patients cannot enter facilities or housing units other than the hospital, the doors may be controlled to automatically unlock when a call is made from the collective entrance unit, without the need to operate the unlocking operation on the room master unit, for visitors who are visiting the facility such as a hospital. This reduces the burden on hospital staff who respond to calls.

[0005] In consideration of these problems, the present invention aims to provide an apartment building intercom system equipped with a room master unit that has the function of automatically unlocking the entrance door when a visitor who is going to a specific facility calls the apartment entrance unit. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to solve the above problems, the invention of claim 1 provides an intercom system for an apartment complex comprising a collective entrance unit for visitors to call and talk to residents, and a plurality of room master units for residents to respond to calls from the collective entrance unit, the room master units each having an unlock button for unlocking an entrance door for visitors to proceed from the entrance to the living area, and some of the room master units are provided with an automatic unlock mode for unlocking the entrance door without waiting for the operation of the unlock button when a call signal is sent from the collective entrance unit. The resident's master unit equipped with an automatic unlocking mode is a portable terminal that is carried by the resident and communicates with the collective entrance unit via an external general-purpose network, and is capable of responding to calls from the collective entrance unit. An interface means is disposed between the collective entrance unit and the general-purpose network, allowing the collective entrance unit to communicate with the portable terminal. When the portable terminal, set in the automatic unlocking mode, receives a call from the collective entrance unit, it transmits an unlocking operation signal to the entrance door via the general-purpose network, thereby unlocking the entrance door. It is characterized by: With this configuration, some of the room master units unlock the entrance door when a call signal is sent without waiting for the operation of the unlock button, making it convenient as a room master unit for facilities installed in an apartment complex that are used by many people outside the complex who are not residents, such as hospitals. Security can be maintained by making it impossible to set the room master units for general dwelling units to the automatic unlock mode. In addition, since the room master unit equipped with the automatic unlocking mode is a portable terminal that can be carried around, even if it is necessary to release the automatic unlocking mode to respond, the response can be made from anywhere, which is convenient. Also, there is no need to install the room master unit in the room.

[0007] The invention of claim 2 is characterized in that, in the configuration described in claim 1, the room master unit equipped with an automatic unlocking mode has a time zone setting unit that sets the time zone for switching to the automatic unlocking mode, and switches to the automatic unlocking mode during the set time zone. According to this configuration, since the time period during which the automatic unlocking mode is to be switched on can be set, the automatic unlocking mode is automatically switched on during that time period, eliminating the need to operate the mode each time, which is convenient.

[0008] The invention of claim 3 is characterized in that in the configuration of claim 2, the time period setting unit has a week setting unit that sets the time period during which the mode is changed to the automatic unlocking mode for each day of the week. According to this configuration, even if the time period during which you want to switch to the automatic unlocking mode varies depending on the day of the week, the time period for each day of the week can be set all at once, so there is no need to set it each time, which is convenient.

[0009] The invention of claim 4 is characterized in that, in the configuration described in any one of claims 1 to 3, the room master unit equipped with the automatic unlocking mode has a mode display unit that displays the current mode status. According to this configuration, when the automatic unlocking mode is in operation, that state is displayed, making it easy to grasp the current mode state. Effect of the Invention

[0011] According to the present invention, some of the room master units unlock the entrance door when a call signal is sent without waiting for the operation of the unlock button, which is convenient as a room master unit for facilities installed in an apartment complex that are used by many people who are not residents of the apartment complex, such as hospitals. Security can be maintained by making it impossible to set the room master units for general dwelling units to the automatic unlock mode. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0012] [Figure 1] 1 is a configuration diagram showing an example of an intercom system according to the present invention. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of a special master unit. [Diagram 3]FIG. 11 is a configuration diagram showing another embodiment of the intercom system. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0013] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of an apartment house intercom system according to the present invention. The apartment house intercom system includes an apartment entrance unit 1 installed at the entrance of the apartment house to allow visitors to call residents, a room master unit 2 installed in each dwelling unit to respond to calls from the apartment entrance unit 1, an entrance slave unit 3 installed at the entrance of each dwelling unit to call residents, and a management master unit 4 installed in the management room to talk to residents, etc. Also, reference numeral 9 denotes an entrance door installed between the entrance and the living area, 9a denotes an electric lock, and 10 denotes a door control unit that locks and unlocks the entrance door 9.

[0014] At least one room master unit 2 and one management master unit 4 are installed in each dwelling unit or manager's office, but here, two of each are shown. Reference numeral 8 denotes a HUB, and each device is connected to a LAN via communication line L1. Communication between devices is carried out via IP (Internet Protocol). Reference numeral M1 denotes a dwelling unit, M2 denotes a facility in the housing complex (a hospital in this case), and M3 denotes the manager's office, all of which are located in residential areas.

[0015] The collective entrance unit 1 is equipped with a camera 11 for capturing images of visitors, an operation unit 12 for selecting or inputting the residence to be called, a display unit 13 for displaying the call destination, etc., a microphone 14 and speaker 15 for making calls, a call button 16, etc. The entrance slave unit 3 is equipped with a slave unit camera 31, a call button 32, a microphone 33, and a speaker 34.

[0016] There are two types of room master units 2: a general-purpose master unit 2a and a special master unit 2b. Here, the room master unit 2 installed in the hospital M2 is the special master unit 2b, and the room master unit 2 installed in the other residence M1 is the general-purpose master unit 2a. Figure 2 shows a functional block diagram of the special master unit 2b. As shown in Figure 2, the special master unit 2b is equipped with a call button 21 for answering a call, an audio unit 22 equipped with a microphone 22a and speaker 22b for making calls, a monitor 23 for displaying the image captured by the camera 11 (or the slave unit camera 31), an operation unit 24 for performing various operations, a mode display unit 26 for displaying whether the unit is in normal mode or the automatic unlocking mode described below, a master unit CPU 27 for controlling the special master unit 2b, and a master unit communication IF 28 for communicating with other devices.

[0017] The operation unit 24 has an unlock button 24a that unlocks the entrance door 9 when a call is received in normal mode, and an automatic unlock setting button 24b that sets the mode to an automatic unlock mode in which an unlock signal that unlocks the entrance door 9 is automatically output when a call is received. The automatic unlock setting button 24b is displayed when an automatic unlock setting section (not shown) is displayed by a predetermined operation of the operation section 24. The automatic unlock setting section also has a time zone setting section for setting a time zone for switching to the automatic unlock mode, and if a time zone is set in this time zone setting section, the mode automatically switches to the automatic unlock mode during the set time zone. The general-purpose master unit 2a does not have the automatic unlock setting unit and the mode display unit 26, but the other components are the same.

[0018] The operation of the apartment complex intercom system configured as described above is as follows: The operation of operating the apartment complex entrance unit 1 to call a resident, causing the room master unit 2 of the called residence to sound a ring tone, the operation of establishing a call path when the room master unit 2 responds to the call, the operation of transmitting the image captured by the camera 11 in response to the call and displaying it on the monitor 23 of the room master unit 2, and other operations are the same as those of the conventional system, so a description thereof will be omitted. Here, the operation when the special master unit 2b is set to the automatic unlocking mode will be mainly described.

[0019] The special master unit 2b switches to the automatic unlocking mode when the automatic unlocking setting button 24b is turned on or during the time period set in the time period input section. When the automatic unlocking mode is entered, the mode display section 26 lights up to indicate that the operating state has switched to the automatic unlocking mode. A case will now be described in which a call is made from the common entrance unit 1 to the hospital M2 equipped with the special master unit 2b that has thus been switched to the automatic unlocking mode.

[0020] When the common entrance unit 1 is operated, hospital M2 is selected and a call is made, and a call signal and an image captured by camera 11 are transmitted to the special master unit 2b, which is set to the automatic unlocking mode, the master unit CPU 27 transmits an unlocking signal to the door control unit 10. The image captured by camera 11 transmitted together with the call signal is displayed on the monitor 23, but no call tone is sounded.

[0021] The door control unit 10 thus receives the unlock signal and controls to unlock the electric lock 9a of the entrance door 9. The unlock signal sent by the special master unit 2b is also sent to the collective entrance unit 1, and upon receiving the unlock signal, the collective entrance unit 1 announces, for example, "The door is open," to inform visitors that the door has been unlocked. Incidentally, the special master unit 2b which has received the call signal is in an incoming call state, and by operating the call button 21, a call path is established between the special master unit 2b and the collective entrance unit 1, enabling a call to be made.

[0022] In this way, some of the room master units 2 unlock the entrance door 9 when a call signal is sent without waiting for the operation of the unlock button 24a, making them convenient as room master units 2 for facilities installed in apartment complexes and used frequently by outsiders who are not residents of the apartment complex, such as hospitals. Security can be maintained by making it impossible for room master units 2 for general dwelling units to be set to the automatic unlock mode. Furthermore, when the automatic unlocking mode is in operation, the mode display unit 26 displays it, making it easy to grasp the current mode status. Furthermore, the time period for switching to the automatic unlock mode can be set, and the mode will automatically switch during the set time period. This is convenient because there is no need to set it each time.

[0023] Fig. 3 is a block diagram showing another embodiment of an apartment building intercom system, and the other embodiment will be described below with reference to Fig. 3. This embodiment differs from the above embodiment in that the special master unit 2b is not fixedly installed in the room, but is a portable terminal 5 carried by the resident, etc. Incidentally, the collective entrance unit 1, general-purpose main unit 2a, entrance slave unit 3, management main unit 4, etc. are the same as those in the above embodiment, so their explanations are omitted and the following explanation focuses on the differences.

[0024] The mobile terminal 5 is configured to have a function as the special master unit 2b by installing a specific application software (hereinafter, simply referred to as "app"). For example, a smartphone can be used, and communication with the collective entrance unit 1 may be performed using a telephone number, but communication with the collective entrance unit 1 may also be performed using VoIP technology with the app without using a telephone number. When an application that does not use a telephone number is used, a communication management server (not shown) that manages the application and controls communication using the application is placed on the general-purpose network N.

[0025] The collective entrance unit 1 is connected to a general-purpose network N via a GW (Gateway) adapter 7, and communicates with the portable terminal 5. Similarly, the entrance slave unit 3 communicates with the portable terminal 5 via the GW adapter 7 and the general-purpose network N.

[0026] The operation of the system in which the special master unit 2b is portable in this way is as follows: When the application is installed on the portable terminal 5 and the application is turned on, an automatic unlock setting button (not shown) is displayed on the display unit 51, and when the button is tapped, the system switches to the automatic unlock mode. In this state, when the collective entrance unit 1 is operated to call a residence in which the portable terminal 5 is the room master unit 2, the call signal is transmitted from the collective entrance unit 1 to the portable terminal 5 via the GW adapter 7 and the general-purpose network N.

[0027] The portable terminal 5 that receives this call signal outputs an unlock operation signal to the door control unit 10 to unlock the entrance door 9 without performing a call operation. The portable terminal 5 that receives the call signal enters an incoming call state, and when a predetermined answering operation is performed, a communication path is established with the collective entrance unit 1, enabling communication. The output unlock operation signal is transmitted to the door control unit 10 via the general-purpose network N and the GW adapter 7, and the door control unit 10 unlocks the electric lock 9a of the entrance door 9. Also, like the special master unit 2b, it has a time zone setting section, which is displayed on the display unit 51 by a predetermined operation, making it possible to set the time zone during which the automatic unlocking mode is to be entered.

[0028] In this way, the special master unit 2b equipped with the automatic unlocking mode is a portable terminal 5 that can be carried around, so calls can be answered even from outside the home, and there is no need to install the special master unit 2b inside the room. In addition, the entrance door is automatically unlocked when a call is received without the need to perform an unlocking operation, so there is no need to perform an unlocking operation every time a call is received. In addition, even if it is necessary to release the automatic unlocking mode and respond, the response can be made from anywhere, which is convenient and does not require the installation of the room master unit 2 in the room.

[0029] Furthermore, if the portable terminal 5 is not set to the automatic unlocking mode, a call operation is performed when a call signal is received, just as in the case of the general-purpose base unit 2a, and a communication path is established with the collective entrance unit 1 when a response operation is performed. Furthermore, the special base unit 2b is a portable terminal 5, but the general-purpose base unit 2a may also be a portable type instead of a fixed type. Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the apartment building intercom system is configured to implement communication between devices via IP communication, but the technology of the present invention can also be applied to a configuration in which a controller that controls communication between devices is provided as in the conventional case, and the devices are connected via, for example, a two-wire transmission line. In addition, when setting the time period for automatic transition to automatic unlocking mode, a weekly setting section may be provided to enable different time periods to be set for each day of the week. By setting the time periods for each day of the week all at once, there is no need to set the time period each time the user wishes to transition to automatic unlocking mode, even if it differs for each day of the week, thereby further improving convenience. [Explanation of symbols]

[0030] 1··Common entrance unit, 2··Residential parent unit, 2a··General-purpose parent unit, 2b··Special parent unit (parent unit with automatic unlocking mode), 3··Entrance sub-unit, 4··Administrative parent unit, 5··Portable terminal, 7··GW adapter (interface means), 9··Entrance door, 9a··Electric lock, 10··Door control unit, 11··Camera, 21··Call button, 23··Monitor, 24··Operation unit, 24a··Unlock button, 24b··Automatic unlocking setting button, 26··Mode display unit, 27··Parent unit CPU, 31··Sub-unit camera.

Claims

1. An intercom system for an apartment complex comprising a collective entrance unit for a visitor to call a resident and a plurality of room master units for the resident to respond to a call from the collective entrance unit, the room master units each having an unlock button for unlocking an entrance door for a visitor to proceed from the entrance to a resident area, Some of the room master units have an automatic unlocking mode for unlocking the entrance door without waiting for the operation of the unlock button when a call signal is transmitted from the collective entrance unit, The room master unit having the automatic unlocking mode is a portable terminal carried by a resident, communicates with the collective entrance unit via an external general-purpose network, and can respond to calls from the collective entrance unit; an interface means is disposed between the collective entrance device and the general-purpose network, for enabling the collective entrance device to communicate with the portable terminal; This is an apartment building intercom system characterized in that, when the portable terminal, which is set to the automatic unlocking mode, receives a call from the apartment entrance machine, it sends an unlocking operation signal to the entrance door via the general-purpose network, thereby unlocking the entrance door.

2. The apartment building intercom system according to claim 1, characterized in that the room master unit equipped with the automatic unlocking mode has a time zone setting unit that sets the time zone during which the automatic unlocking mode is switched to, and the automatic unlocking mode is switched to during the set time zone.

3. 3. The intercom system according to claim 2, wherein the time period setting section includes a week setting section for setting the time period during which the door is to be switched to the automatic unlocking mode for each day of the week.

4. 4. The intercom system according to claim 1, wherein the room master unit having the automatic unlocking mode has a mode display unit that displays a current mode state.

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