Passenger conveyor

Abstract

To provide a passenger conveyor capable of accurately determining whether or not a passenger is walking on a step. [Solution] The escalator 10 is equipped with a right-side detection unit 44A that is arranged in the passenger passage SW and detects the passage of passengers, a right-side detection unit 44B that is arranged downstream of the right-side detection unit 44A so that the distance between it and the right-side detection unit 44A is distance DS and that detects the passage of passengers, and a usage status determination unit 56 (see Figure 3) that performs a walking presence determination, determining that a passenger is walking and moving on a plurality of steps 22 that constitute an endless conveyor 20 if the elapsed time TX from when the right-side detection unit 44A detects the passage of a passenger to when the right-side detection unit 44B detects the passage of a passenger is shorter than a minimum time TXmin.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a passenger conveyor. [Background technology]

[0002] In passenger conveyors that use an endless transport body consisting of multiple linked steps to transport passengers from boarding to disembarking, it is recommended that passengers remain stationary on the steps to prevent them from falling over.

[0003] However, some passengers who use passenger conveyors may try to walk on the steps to the disembarkation area while they are still standing on the steps. Therefore, some passenger conveyors are capable of determining whether passengers are walking on the steps.

[0004] For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a passenger conveyor having a configuration that has a function of determining that a passenger is walking on the condition that the length of a rectangular wave when a passenger detection sensor is in an ON state detecting a passenger is within ΔP. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] JP 2016-216174 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] In the passenger conveyor described in the above Patent Document 1, for example, when a passenger uses the passenger conveyor while holding a long and thin object, such as an umbrella and standing still on a step, if the long and thin object is detected by the passenger detection sensor, it may be determined that the passenger is walking on the step (hereinafter, appropriately referred to as "walking presence determination"). For this reason, there is a problem in that it is not possible to accurately determine whether a passenger is walking.

[0007] An object of the present invention is to provide a passenger conveyor capable of accurately determining whether or not a passenger is walking on a step. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] The passenger conveyor according to the present invention is a passenger conveyor having an endless transport body consisting of a plurality of steps that transports passengers along a passenger passageway from a boarding area to a disembarking area, and is provided with: a first passage detection unit that is arranged in the passenger passageway and detects the passage of passengers; a second passage detection unit that is arranged downstream of the first passage detection unit so that a distance between the first passage detection unit and the second passage detection unit is a predetermined distance and detects the passage of passengers; and a utilization status determination unit that performs a pedestrian presence determination that determines that a passenger is walking and moving on the plurality of steps that constitute the endless transport body when the time required from when the first passage detection unit detects the passage of a passenger to when the second passage detection unit detects the passage of a passenger is shorter than a preset time. The utilization status determination unit measures the elapsed time from the timing when the first passage detection unit detects the passage of the passenger, and calculates the required time using the longest time among the elapsed times measured when the second passage detection unit detects the passage of the passenger that is within a preset time limit. It is something.

[0009] In the passenger conveyor of the present invention, the preset time may be set based on the length of time required for a passenger standing still on the endless transport body to be transported a predetermined distance by the endless transport body.

[0010] In the passenger conveyor of the present invention, the multiple steps are configured to allow multiple passengers to board while lined up in the width direction of the passenger passage, the first passage detection unit and the second passage detection unit are configured to be capable of detecting passengers passing through one end side and the other end side in the width direction of the passenger passage, respectively, and the utilization status determination unit may have a function of providing preset voice guidance according to the utilization status of passengers passing through the one end side and the other end side. Effect of the Invention

[0012] According to the passenger conveyor of the present invention, if the length of time required from when a passenger is detected by the first passage detector to when the passenger is detected by the downstream second passage detector is shorter than a preset time, it can be determined that a passenger is walking on the steps, thereby making it possible to accurately determine the presence or absence of a passenger walking on the steps. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0013] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an escalator according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of an escalator as viewed from the platform side. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram mainly showing a control device included in the escalator shown in FIG. [Figure 4] FIG. 4(a) is a timing chart showing the state when the upstream right-side detection unit detects a passenger moving through the passenger passage while stationary on the steps during normal operation mode, and FIG. 4(b) is a timing chart showing the state when the passenger detected by the right-side detection unit shown in FIG. 4(a) is detected by the downstream left-side detection unit. [Diagram 5] FIG. 5(a) is a timing chart showing a case where the passage of a passenger is detected two times within a preset time while the normal operation mode is being executed, and FIG. 5(b) is a timing chart showing a case where the passage of a passenger is detected three times within a preset time while the normal operation mode is being executed. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a control process for determining whether or not a person is walking. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a control process in the determination update process. [Figure 8] FIG. 8 is a flowchart of the guidance control. [Figure 9]FIG. 9 is a flowchart of guidance control according to a modified example. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0014] Fig. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an escalator (passenger conveyor) 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Fig. 1, the escalator 10 includes a passenger passage SW leading from a landing 12 on a lower floor to a landing 14 on an upper floor, and includes an endless conveying body 20 having a function of conveying passengers from the landing 12 to the landing 14, and a control device 50 for controlling the operation of the endless conveying body 20. In addition, the passenger passage SW is provided with right detectors 44A, 44B (see Fig. 2) and left detectors 42A, 42B (see Fig. 2) for detecting the passage of passengers (objects) moving from the landing 12 to the landing 14 by the endless conveying body 20.

[0015] The right-side detectors 44A and 44B have a role of detecting the presence or absence of passengers passing through the right half area (hereinafter referred to as the "right part") of the passenger passage SW, and the left-side detectors 42A and 42B have a role of detecting the presence or absence of passengers passing through the left half area (hereinafter referred to as the "left part") of the passenger passage SW. The right-side detector 44A and the left-side detector 42A correspond to the first passing detector, and the right-side detector 44B and the left-side detector 42B correspond to the second passing detector. The control device 50 has a function of performing each voice guidance according to the usage situation based on the detection situation of each detector 42A, 42B, 44A, 44B (described in detail later).

[0016] 1, the endless conveyor 20 is configured by endlessly connecting a plurality of steps 22A, 22B, 22C, ... (hereinafter, when there is no need to distinguish between them, they will be referred to as "steps 22") via a step chain 21. The length of the steps 22 in the left-right direction, in other words, the width direction, is set to a length that allows two passengers to stand side by side, and is set to a length of 1000 mm, for example.

[0017] In this embodiment, the step 22 is sized so that two passengers can stand side by side in the width direction, but the step 22 may be a relatively small step on which only one passenger can stand. In this case, it is necessary to provide only one of the left and right detection units 42A, 42B or the right detection units 44A, 44B.

[0018] A rotatably supported step sprocket 14P is provided in an upper floor machine room 14M provided immediately below the landing 14. Meanwhile, a rotatably supported step sprocket 12P is provided in a lower floor machine room 12M provided immediately below the landing 12. A step chain 21 constituting a part of the endless conveyor 20 described above is wound around each of the step sprockets 12P, 14P, and as the step chain 21 is rotationally driven via a driven sprocket 14Q described later, the steps 22 circulate along the passenger passage SW from the landing 12 to the landing 14, i.e., along the conveying direction α.

[0019] An electric motor 24 is installed in the upper floor machine room 14M, and the driving force of the electric motor 24 is transmitted to an output shaft (not shown) via a reducer (not shown), and a driving sprocket 24P is rotated and driven via the output shaft. The rotational power of the driving sprocket 24P is transmitted to a driven sprocket 14Q via a roller chain 24C. The driven sprocket 14Q is attached to the shaft 14X together with the step sprocket 14P, and by rotating the driven sprocket 14Q, the step sprocket 14P is also rotated in conjunction.

[0020] As a result, the step chain 21 described above travels in a circular motion along a guide rail (not shown), and the steps 22 each connected endlessly to the step chain 21 travel in a circular motion accordingly.

[0021] Fig. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of escalator 10 as viewed from the landing 12 side. As shown in Fig. 2, balustrade portions 31, 32 are provided along passenger passage SW. Balustrade portions 31 and 32 are symmetrical with respect to passenger passage SW, and are made of similar components. In the following explanation, balustrade portion 31 will be mainly explained, and explanation of balustrade portion 32 will be omitted as appropriate.

[0022] 1 and 2, the balustrade section 31 includes a balustrade panel 33 that stands along the passenger passage SW, and a support section 34 that supports the balustrade panel 33. The balustrade panel 33 is, for example, configured by arranging a plurality of glass sheets in a row, and has translucency. A movable handrail 35 is attached along the outer periphery of the balustrade panel 33.

[0023] 2, a skirt guard 34A is attached to the support portion 34 so as to cover the side surface on the passenger passage SW side. Similarly, a skirt guard 36A is attached to the support portion 36 of the balustrade portion 32 so as to cover the side surface on the step 22 side.

[0024] 1, speakers SP1, SP2 (hereinafter, when there is no need to distinguish between them, they will be referred to as "SP" as appropriate) are built into the end of the support part 34 on the side of the landing 12 and the end on the side of the landing 14. Each speaker SP has the role of broadcasting voice guidance and the like.

[0025] The left detectors 42A, 42B and the right detectors 44A, 44B are disposed on the upper and lower floors, respectively, so as to face each other with the endless transport body 20 in between. Since the detectors 42A, 42B, 44A, 44B have the same configuration, the right detector 44A will be mainly described as an example, and descriptions of the right detector 44B and the left detectors 42A, 42B will be omitted as appropriate.

[0026] As shown in Fig. 2, the right-side detection unit 44A is attached to the skirt guard 34A at a position closer to the landing 12, and is configured by a reflective photoelectric sensor, for example. The right-side detection unit 44A has a function of detecting the passage of an object by receiving reflected light that is generated when light that is irradiated onto a detection area AP shown by a dashed line in Fig. 2, i.e., a spatial area corresponding to the right half in the width direction of the passenger passage SW, is blocked by an object.

[0027] Fig. 3 is a functional block diagram mainly showing control device 50 included in escalator 10 shown in Fig. 1. Control device 50 is placed in upper floor machine room 14M (see Fig. 1) and has the function of comprehensively controlling the operation of escalator 10. More specifically, as shown in Fig. 3, control device 50 includes a memory unit 58 consisting of a ROM, RAM, HDD, etc. in which various control programs are stored, and an arithmetic processing device (not shown) such as a CPU.

[0028] The control device 50 functions as an operation control unit 52 that controls the driving of the electric motor 24 by the calculation processing device reading the control program from the storage unit 58 and performing calculation processing, a utilization status determination unit 56 that determines the utilization status based on the detection results of the above-mentioned detection units 42A, 42B, 44A, 44B, and a guidance control unit 54 that provides voice guidance through the speaker SP. The operation control unit 52 has a normal operation mode in which the endless conveying body 20 is circulated so that the steps 22 move in the conveying direction α (see FIG. 1) in the passenger passage SW at a predetermined speed V (30 m per minute, for example) by controlling the driving of the electric motor 24.

[0029] 3 determines whether passengers are walking and how crowded the left portion of the passenger passage SW is, based on the object detection conditions at the left side detectors 42A and 42B. Similarly, the utilization status determiner 56 determines whether passengers are walking and how crowded the right portion of the passenger passage SW is, based on the object detection conditions at the right side detectors 44A and 44B.

[0030] Here, the methods of determining whether passengers are walking and the degree of congestion in the right and left portions of the passenger aisle SW by the utilization status determination unit 56 are almost the same. For this reason, the following description will mainly describe the right portion of the passenger aisle SW, i.e., the method of determining whether passengers are walking and the degree of congestion using the right detection units 44A and 44B, and will omit descriptions of the left portion of the passenger aisle SW, i.e., the method of determining whether passengers are walking and the degree of congestion using the left detection units 42A and 42B, as appropriate.

[0031] Figure 4(a) is a timing chart showing the state when the upstream right-side detection unit 44A detects a passenger P1 moving through the passenger passage SW while stationary on the step 22 during normal operation mode, and Figure 4(b) is a timing chart showing the state when passenger P1 detected by the right-side detection unit 44A shown in Figure 4(a) is detected again by the downstream right-side detection unit 44B.

[0032] 4(a) and 4(b), if the elapsed (required) time TX from the time TA when the passenger P1 is detected by the upstream right-side detector 44A to the time TB when the passenger P1 is detected again by the downstream right-side detector 44B satisfies the relationship of the following formula (1), the utilization status determination unit 56 determines that the passenger is moving toward the landing 14 while remaining stationary on the steps 22 (hereinafter referred to as "non-walking" determination). In the following formula (1), TXmin is the minimum time, and TXmax is the maximum time.

[0033] TXmin≦TX≦TXmax (1) Here, the minimum time TXmin is set to the time required for a passenger stationary on the step 22 to move the distance DS (see Figure 2) between the two detection units 44A, 44B at the conveying speed of the endless conveying body 20, in other words, to move the distance (predetermined distance) DS at a predetermined speed V.

[0034] On the other hand, the maximum time (predetermined time limit) TXmax is set to a time required for a passenger stationary on the step 22 to move the distance DS (see Figure 2) between the two detection units 44A, 44B at the conveying speed of the endless conveying body 20, in other words, a time longer than the time required to move the distance (predetermined distance) DS at a predetermined speed V.

[0035] In addition, when a passenger is present ahead when using the escalator 10, the passenger is directly in front of the step 22 on which the passenger is standing in the conveying direction α. above Instead of stepping on the adjacent step 22 on the downstream side (in other words, immediately behind), the step 22 is positioned further in the conveying direction α than the adjacent step 22. above There is a tendency for many passengers to board the other steps 22 located on the downstream side. For this reason, there is often a gap equivalent to one step 22 between each passenger on the escalator 10.

[0036] Therefore, it is preferable to set the minimum time TXmin to a time length shorter than the elapsed time TX by the time required for one step 22 to pass through the above-mentioned detection area AP at a predetermined speed V, and the maximum time TXmax to a time length longer than the elapsed time TX by the time required for one step 22 to move through the above-mentioned detection area AP at the predetermined speed V. With the above configuration, it is possible to accurately determine the presence or absence of passengers walking on the multiple steps 22 while suppressing erroneous determinations due to erroneous detection of different passengers in front and behind.

[0037] Furthermore, if the elapsed time TX is shorter than the minimum time TXmin, it means that the passenger has moved the above-mentioned distance DS at a speed faster than the speed V of the steps 22 during execution of the normal operation mode. Therefore, if the elapsed time TX is shorter than the minimum time TXmin, the utilization status determination unit 56 determines that the passenger is walking on the steps 22 toward the landing 14 (hereinafter, appropriately referred to as a "walking" determination).

[0038] On the other hand, if the elapsed time TX is longer than the maximum time TXmax, the passenger's usage status cannot be determined and the status is determined to be indefinite (hereinafter, appropriately referred to as an "indefinite" determination). For example, a case where a passenger changes his / her standing position from the right side to the left side on the same step 22 may be considered as a case where the passenger changes his / her standing position.

[0039] Next, a method of determining the degree of congestion in the utilization state determination unit 56 will be described with reference to Fig. 5(a) and Fig. 5(b). Fig. 5(a) is a timing chart showing a case where the upstream right-side detection unit 44A detects the passage of a passenger two times within a preset time TJ while the normal operation mode is being executed, and Fig. 5(b) is a timing chart showing a case where the upstream right-side detection unit 44A detects the passage of a passenger three times within a preset time TJ while the normal operation mode is being executed.

[0040] As shown in Fig. 5(a), the utilization status determination unit 56 determines that the right side of the passenger passage SW is not crowded (hereinafter, appropriately referred to as "empty" determination) when the right side detection unit 44A located near the landing 12 detects the passage of passengers (i.e., detects the timing when the detection state switches from OFF state to ON state) two or less times within a preset time TJ. On the other hand, as shown in Fig. 5(b), the utilization status determination unit 56 determines that the right side of the passenger passage SW is crowded (hereinafter, appropriately referred to as "crowded" determination) when the right side detection unit 44A detects the passage of passengers (i.e., detects the timing when the detection state switches from OFF state to ON state) three or more times within a preset time TJ.

[0041] The utilization status determination unit 56 may be configured to consider the detection state of the right-side detection unit 44A to have switched from the ON state to the OFF state if the detection state does not switch from the ON state to the OFF state within a certain period of time after the detection state of the right-side detection unit 44A has switched from the OFF state to the ON state. This makes it possible to treat the multiple passengers as having been detected separately after a certain period of time has passed, even if the detection of multiple passengers overlaps seamlessly due to some factor and the ON state continues.

[0042] In this embodiment, the utilization status determination unit 56 determines whether a seat is available based on the condition that a passenger passes through the seat two or fewer times within a preset time TJ, but the condition may be one or fewer times, or three or more times.

[0043] In this embodiment, the utilization status determination unit 56 determines whether a station is crowded when it detects passengers passing through three or more times within a preset time TJ, but the utilization status determination unit 56 may also determine whether a station is crowded when it detects passengers passing through two or four or more times.

[0044] Next, the flow of the process of determining whether or not a passenger is walking when the normal operation mode is executed will be described with reference to Fig. 6. Fig. 6 is a flowchart SB1 showing the flow of the process of determining whether or not a passenger is walking in the utilization status determination unit 56. As shown in Fig. 6, when the utilization status determination unit 56 detects the passage of a passenger via the right side detection unit 44A located on the upstream side, that is, when the detection state of the right side detection unit 44A changes from the OFF state to the ON state (step S1: YES), it starts measuring the elapsed time (step S2). In the following description, the measurement of the elapsed time started in step S2 will be referred to as a "timer" as appropriate.

[0045] This makes it possible to measure the elapsed time from when the right-side detector 44A changed from an OFF state to an ON state. That is, every time a passenger is detected via the right-side detector 44A, measurement of the elapsed time is started (in other words, a new timer is set).

[0046] When the passage of a passenger is detected via the right-side detector 44B located downstream (step S3: YES), the utilization status determination unit 56 determines whether or not the timer set in step S2 exists (step S4). If a timer exists (step S4: YES), and the time length of the timer with the longest measurement time among the timers (hereinafter referred to as "timer MX") is shorter than the minimum time TXmin, the utilization status determination unit 56 performs the above-mentioned walking presence determination (steps S5, S6). Here, timer MX corresponds to the above-mentioned elapsed time TX (see FIG. 4(b)).

[0047] Furthermore, the utilization status determination unit 56 performs a non-walking determination when the time length of the timer MX is equal to or greater than the minimum time TXmin and equal to or less than the maximum time TXmax (steps S5, S7).

[0048] Furthermore, if the timer MX is greater than the maximum time TXmax, the utilization status determination unit 56 performs an indefinite determination (steps S5, S8).

[0049] Next, the usage status determination unit 56 deletes timer MX, which is the timer with the longest elapsed time among the timers (step S9). Then, if there is a timer (hereinafter referred to as "timer NE") among the timers that has a time length equal to or longer than the maximum time TXmax, the usage status determination unit 56 also deletes timer NE (step S10).

[0050] In addition, in the above-mentioned step S3, if the passage of a passenger is not detected via the right-side detection unit 44B (step S3: NO), and if a timer does not exist in step S4 (step S4: NO), the utilization status determination unit 56 erases the timer NE (step S10).

[0051] Furthermore, if there is no other timer, the usage status determination unit 56 ends the series of processes (step S11: NO). On the other hand, if there is another timer, the usage status determination unit 56 transitions to the process of step S1 (step S11: YES).

[0052] The utilization status determination unit 56 executes a determination update process, which will be described later, based on the determination status of pedestrian presence or absence in steps S6 to S8 of the above-mentioned flow chart SB1 (i.e., pedestrian presence determination, non-pedestrian presence determination, indefinite determination) and whether or not the downstream right-side detection unit 44B has not detected the passage of a passenger after the detection by the right-side detection unit 44A. In this embodiment, the above-mentioned pedestrian presence or absence determination and the determination update process, which will be described later, are executed independently. As an example, the control process of pedestrian presence or absence determination is executed constantly in the utilization status determination unit 56, and the determination update process is executed at regular time intervals, such as at one-second intervals, to successively update the determination status. The determination update process in the utilization status determination unit 56 will be described below with reference to FIG. 7.

[0053] Fig. 7 is a flowchart SB2 showing the flow of the determination update process in the utilization status determination unit 56. As shown in Fig. 7, when the utilization status determination unit 56 has not performed the non-walking determination in the above-mentioned flowchart SB1, that is, when the utilization status determination unit 56 has performed the walking presence determination or the indefinite determination, or when the right side detection unit 44B has not detected the passage of a passenger after the detection by the right side detection unit 44A, the utilization status determination unit 56 proceeds to step S22 (step S21: NO). Then, when the utilization status determination unit 56 has performed the walking presence determination (step S22: YES), the utilization status determination unit 56 records the determination time HT at which the walking presence determination was performed (step S23).

[0054] On the other hand, in the process of step S22, if the presence of walking has not been determined, that is, if an indefinite determination has been made or if the downstream right-side detection unit 44B has not detected the passage of a passenger after the upstream right-side detection unit 44A has detected one (step S22: NO), and if the determination time HT has been recorded (step S24: YES), the utilization status determination unit 56 determines whether or not a predetermined time has elapsed since the determination time HT (step S25). Here, the predetermined time is set to a time interval of, for example, about 3 to 5 seconds.

[0055] Then, if the above-mentioned predetermined time has passed since the judgment time HT, the utilization status judgment unit 56 updates the judgment to a non-walking judgment (step S25: YES, step S26) and erases the judgment time HT (step S27). As a result, if an indefinite judgment has been made, it is possible to change the judgment result by regarding that no passengers are walking on the steps 22 and moving toward the landing 14 after the predetermined time has passed.

[0056] On the other hand, if the above-mentioned predetermined time has not passed since the judgment time HT, the utilization status judgment unit 56 updates the judgment state to a walking judgment (step S25: NO, step S29). As a result, even if the judgment is indefinite or the downstream right side detection unit 44B does not detect the passage of a passenger after the upstream right side detection unit 44A detects it, it is treated as if there is a passenger walking on the multiple steps 22 and heading to the landing 14 until the predetermined time has passed since the judgment time HT.

[0057] Furthermore, in the above-mentioned step S24, even if the determination time HT is not recorded, the utilization status determination unit 56 updates the determination to a non-walking determination (step S24: NO, step S28). As a result, in the case where the determination time HT is not recorded, even if an indefinite determination is made due to some factor or at least one of the right side detection units 44A, 44B does not detect the passage of a passenger, it is possible to perform a non-walking determination by assuming that there is no passenger walking on the multiple steps 22 and moving toward the landing 14.

[0058] The guidance control unit 54 executes voice guidance based on the results of the determination of whether passengers are walking and the congestion state by the above-mentioned utilization state determination unit 56. Hereinafter, the voice guidance by the guidance control unit 54 will be described with reference to FIG.

[0059] Fig. 8 is a diagram showing a flowchart SB3 showing the flow of voice guidance in the guidance control unit 54. As shown in Fig. 8, when the utilization state determination unit 56 performs a non-walking determination (step S30: NO), if there is no bias in the degree of congestion on the right and left sides of the passenger passage SW, the guidance control unit 54 repeatedly executes voice guidance such as "Thank you for your cooperation in stopping to board" (hereinafter, appropriately referred to as announcement A) through the speaker SP until a preset announcement execution time (for example, 10 seconds) has elapsed (step S31: NO, step S33, step S37: NO).

[0060] Here, a state in which there is no bias in the degree of congestion in the right and left parts of the passenger passage SW includes a case in which the above-mentioned vacancy determination is made in both the right and left parts of the passenger passage SW, and a case in which the above-mentioned congestion determination is made in both the right and left parts.

[0061] On the other hand, when the utilization status determination unit 56 determines that either the right or left side of the passenger passage SW is crowded and the other side is empty (in other words, the state can be expressed as one-sided congestion), the guidance control unit 54 repeatedly executes voice guidance to guide passengers to the side where the empty state is determined to be, until the preset announcement execution time has elapsed (hereinafter referred to as announcement B as appropriate) (step S31: YES, step S34, step S38: NO).

[0062] More specifically, when the utilization status determination unit 56 determines that the right side of the passenger passage SW is crowded and the left side is empty, it executes voice guidance such as "Please stop on the left side to board the escalator" as announcement B. This encourages passengers to board the escalator on the less crowded side of either the left or right side of the passenger passage SW, thereby encouraging efficient use of the escalator 10.

[0063] In addition, when the utilization status determination unit 56 has determined that there is walking (step S30: YES), if the determination is made on only one of the left and right parts of the passenger passage SW (step S32: NO), the guidance control unit 54 executes voice guidance (hereinafter appropriately referred to as announcement C) urging passengers to stop at either the left or right part where the determination is made and board the train, until the preset announcement execution time has elapsed (step S35, step S39: NO).

[0064] More specifically, when the utilization state determination unit 56 determines that there is walking on the right side of the passenger passage SW and determines that there is no walking on the left side of the passenger passage SW, the guidance control unit 54 executes voice guidance such as "Please stop on the right side to board the train" as announcement C. This prevents passengers from walking on the steps 22 toward the alighting station 14 because their path is blocked by other passengers even if they try to walk on the steps 22 toward the alighting station 14.

[0065] Furthermore, when the utilization status determination unit 56 determines that there is walking on both the left and right sides of the passenger passage SW (step S32: YES), the guidance control unit 54 executes voice guidance (hereinafter referred to as announcement D) urging passengers not to walk on the steps 22 toward the landing 14 until a preset announcement execution time has elapsed (steps S36, S40: NO). More specifically, voice guidance such as "It is dangerous to walk. Please stop and board the train" is executed as announcement D.

[0066] With the above configuration, by executing each of announcements A to D suitable for the usage situation of escalator 10, it is possible to encourage passengers to use escalator 10 in a way that is suitable for the situation.

[0067] According to the escalator 10 of this embodiment, if the elapsed time TX required from when a passenger is detected by the upstream right-side detection unit 44A until when a passenger is detected by the downstream right-side detection unit 44B is shorter than the minimum time TXmin, it can be determined that a passenger is walking on the multiple steps 22 and heading toward the landing 14.

[0068] Similarly, according to the escalator 10, if the elapsed time TX required from when a passenger is detected by the upstream left side detection unit 42A until when a passenger is detected by the downstream left side detection unit 42B is shorter than the minimum time TXmin, it can be determined that a passenger is walking on the multiple steps 22 and heading toward the landing 14. This makes it possible to accurately determine the presence or absence of a passenger walking on the multiple steps 22.

[0069] In the above embodiment, the guidance control unit 54 executes one of announcements A to D for a preset announcement execution time, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, after executing one of announcements A to D for a preset execution time, a pause during which no announcement is made may be provided. This makes it possible to prevent different types of announcements from being made consecutively, such as announcement D being made immediately after announcement A for the escalator 10. This makes it less likely that passengers will mishear the contents of the announcements.

[0070] The flow of guidance control in guidance control unit 54 according to this modified example will be described with reference to Fig. 10. Fig. 10 shows a flowchart SB4 of guidance control when a pause is provided after an announcement is made. Steps S50 to S60 in the flowchart SB4 have the same configuration as the processes in steps S30 to S40 in the flowchart SB3 described above.

[0071] The guidance control unit 54 executes any one of the announcements A to D until a preset execution time has elapsed in the above steps S57 to S60, and then does not make any announcement until a preset pause time (e.g., 3 seconds) has elapsed (step S61: NO). Even in this case, the same effect as in the above embodiment can be obtained. Moreover, the above preset pause time may be shorter or longer than 3 seconds.

[0072] In addition, the guidance control unit 54 may provide a pause period during which no announcement is made, as shown in step S61, only when the announcement made in any of steps S53 to S56 is different from the announcement made last time (i.e., for example, the announcement made last time was announcement A in step S53, but announcement D is being made this time in step S56).

[0073] In the above embodiment, the escalator 10 has been taken as an example of a passenger conveyor, but the present invention may also be applied to a moving walkway.

[0074] The present invention can be implemented in various forms that include improvements, modifications, or variations based on the knowledge of a person skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the present invention. In addition, the present invention can be implemented in a form in which any of the invention-specific features are replaced with other technologies within the scope of the same action or effect. [Explanation of symbols]

[0075] 10 Escalator (passenger conveyor) 12 Platform 14 Drop-off point 20 Endless conveyor 22,22A,22B,22C Steps 24 Electric motor 31,32 Parapet section 34,36 Support part 34A, 36A Skirt guard 42A Left side detector (first passing detector) 44A Right side detector (first passing detector) 42B Left side detector (second passage detector) 44B Right side detector (second passage detector) 50 Control device 52 Operation control unit 54 Guidance control unit 56 Usage status determination unit AP Detection Area DS distance (predetermined distance) S1~S61 Step SB1~SB4 Flowchart SP, SP1, SP2 speakers

Claims

1. A passenger conveyor including an endless conveyor having a plurality of steps for conveying passengers along a passenger passageway from a boarding area to a disembarking area, A first passage detection unit that is disposed in the passenger passage and detects the passage of a passenger; a second passage detection unit that is provided downstream of the first passage detection unit at a predetermined distance from the first passage detection unit and detects the passage of a passenger; a utilization status determination unit that performs a pedestrian presence determination to determine that a passenger is walking and moving on the plurality of steps constituting the endless conveyor when a required time from when the first passage detection unit detects the passage of a passenger to when the second passage detection unit detects the passage of the passenger is shorter than a preset time, the utilization status determination unit measures an elapsed time from the timing when the first passage detection unit detects the passage of the passenger, and calculates the required time using the longest time among the elapsed times measured when the second passage detection unit detects the passage of the passenger that is within a preset time limit. Passenger conveyor.

2. the preset time is set based on a time length required for a passenger in a stationary state on the endless conveying vehicle to be conveyed by the endless conveying vehicle over the predetermined distance.

2. A passenger conveyor as claimed in claim 1.

3. The steps are configured so that a plurality of passengers can board while lined up in a width direction of the passenger passage, The first passage detection unit and the second passage detection unit are provided to be capable of detecting passengers passing through one end side and the other end side in a width direction of the passenger passage, respectively, The utilization status determination unit has a function of performing a preset voice guidance in accordance with the utilization status of passengers passing through the one end side and the other end side.

2. A passenger conveyor as claimed in claim 1.

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