Controls and elevators

Abstract

To distribute to improvement in operability of a car operation panel equipped with a non-contact type sensor that assumes a role as a destination floor button.SOLUTION: An operating device comprises a car operation panel provided in at least either of left and right sides of a door in a front view from the inside of an elevator car. The car operation panel has a plurality of contact type destination floor buttons arranged along a vertical direction and a plurality of non-contact type sensors arranged along the vertical direction, corresponding to the plurality of destination floor buttons respectively. All of the non-contact type sensors undertake roles as the destination floor buttons corresponding to the non-contact type sensors, which register floors corresponding to the non-contact type sensors as destination floors when detecting the floors, and which are arranged closer to the door side than the destination floor buttons corresponding to the non-contact type sensors.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention generally relates to a car operating panel provided in an elevator car. [Background technology]

[0002] Generally, destination floor buttons are arranged on the elevator car operation panel so that passengers can specify the destination floor. It is possible to adopt non-contact buttons as the destination floor buttons (for example, Patent Document 1). The adoption of non-contact buttons can contribute to infection control and hygiene maintenance. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2019-142686 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] Although Patent Document 1 discloses the use of a non-contact sensor (non-contact button) as a destination floor button, it does not disclose or suggest any technology that contributes to improving the operability of a car control panel equipped with a non-contact sensor that serves as a destination floor button. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] In an operating device having a car operating panel provided on at least one of the left and right sides of the door when viewed from the front from inside the elevator car, the car operating panel has a plurality of contact-type destination floor buttons arranged in a vertical direction, and a plurality of non-contact sensors arranged in a vertical direction corresponding to the plurality of destination floor buttons. Each non-contact sensor serves as a destination floor button corresponding to the non-contact sensor, and when detected, the floor corresponding to the non-contact sensor is registered as a destination floor, and the non-contact sensor is arranged closer to the door than the destination floor button corresponding to the non-contact sensor. Effect of the Invention

[0006] According to the present invention, it is possible to contribute to improving the operability of a car operating panel equipped with a non-contact sensor. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0007] [Figure 1] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the inside of a car according to the first embodiment. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a car operating panel according to the first embodiment. [Diagram 3] 3 is a schematic configuration diagram of a system including an operating device equipped with the car operating panel shown in FIG. 2. [Figure 4A] FIG. 2 illustrates an example of an unlit destination floor button and its corresponding non-contact sensor. [Figure 4B] FIG. 4B is a diagram showing the illumination of the destination floor button shown in FIG. 4A. [Diagram 5] FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of a car operating panel according to a second embodiment. [Figure 6] 6 is a schematic configuration diagram of a system including an operating device equipped with the car operating panel shown in FIG. 5. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0008] Hereinafter, several embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description, common reference symbols are used when describing elements of the same type without distinction, and reference symbols are used when describing elements of the same type with distinction.

[0009] [First embodiment]

[0010] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the inside of a car according to the first embodiment.

[0011] When viewed from the front from inside the elevator car, a car operation panel 10 is provided on at least one of the left and right sides of the door 5. In this embodiment, a car operation panel 10L is provided to the left of the door 5, and a car operation panel 10R is provided to the right of the door 5.

[0012] Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of each of the car operating panels 10L and 10R. According to the example shown in Fig. 2, the difference between the car operating panels 10L and 10R is the presence or absence of a monitor 30, but each of the car operating panels 10L and 10R may or may not have a monitor 30. In the following explanation, the car operating panel 10R is mainly taken as an example, but the explanation of the car operating panel 10R is also applicable to the car operating panel 10L.

[0013] The car operation panel 10R has a plurality of contact-type destination floor buttons 20 arranged along the vertical direction, and a plurality of non-contact sensors 40 arranged along the vertical direction and corresponding to the plurality of destination floor buttons 20. That is, there is a destination floor button 20 and a non-contact sensor 40 for each floor that can be specified as a destination floor. In this embodiment, there are five floors that can be specified as a destination floor, and therefore the destination floor buttons 20a to 20e and the non-contact sensors 40a to 40e are provided. In addition, the car operation panel 10R has a contact-type door close button 51 that is pressed to close the door 5, and a contact-type door open button 52 that is pressed to open the door 5. For each of the door close button 51 and the door open button 52, a non-contact sensor may be provided on the car operation panel 10R instead of or in addition to the button, but at least for the door open button 52, a contact button may be adopted and a non-contact sensor may not be provided instead or additionally. In this specification, the "contact" in the "contact type" may refer to contact in the narrow sense, but also refers to contact in the broad sense including pressing.

[0014] Each non-contact sensor 40 serves as the destination floor button 20 corresponding to that non-contact sensor 40, and when a detection is made, the floor corresponding to that non-contact sensor 40 is registered as a destination floor, and the non-contact sensor 40 is disposed closer to the door 5 (to the left) than the destination floor button 20 corresponding to that non-contact sensor 40. The same is true for the car operation panel 10L. That is, in the car operation panel 10L, the non-contact sensor 40 is disposed to the right of the destination floor button 20.

[0015] In this embodiment, a non-contact sensor 40 is used for specifying a destination floor, with one objective being to take measures against infectious diseases or maintain hygiene on the destination floor, and the non-contact sensor 40 is provided in addition to the destination floor buttons 20. This allows passengers to specify a destination floor using the destination floor buttons 20, even if the detection accuracy of any of the non-contact sensors 40 decreases (or even if any of the non-contact sensors 40 breaks down).

[0016] In addition, the non-contact sensor 40 is disposed closer to the door 5 than the destination floor button 20 corresponding to the non-contact sensor 40. In other words, the non-contact sensor 40 is closer to the door 5 than the destination floor button 20. For this reason, when a passenger gets on the car and extends his / her hand toward the car operation panel 10R to specify a destination floor, the non-contact sensor 40 detects that an object (here, a hand) is held over the car operation panel 10R before the hand reaches the destination floor button 20. The detection of an object by the non-contact sensor 40 corresponds to the floor corresponding to the non-contact sensor 40 being specified as a destination floor. For this reason, a passenger can specify a destination floor without touching the destination floor button 20 (specifically, for example, by extending a hand toward the destination floor button 20 to touch the destination floor button 20, without touching the destination floor button 20). As a result, it is possible to contribute to the purpose of infection control and hygiene maintenance, while contributing to improving the operability of the car operation panel 10R equipped with the non-contact sensor 40.

[0017] Also, in the car operation panel 10L, the non-contact sensor 40 is positioned closer to the door 5 than the destination floor button 20, so improved operability can be expected in that passengers can specify their destination floor before touching the destination floor button 20, regardless of whether they place their hand on the car operation panel 10R or 10L.

[0018] In addition, when there are many floors that can be specified as destination floors, the row of destination floor buttons along the vertical direction generally becomes two or more rows aligned in the left-right direction, but in this embodiment, the car operation panel 10R is expanded in the vertical direction, and both the row of destination floor buttons 20 and the row of non-contact sensors 40 remain in a single row. As a result, it is expected that the above-mentioned improved operability will be maintained even in cases where the elevator is installed in a tall building or where many floors can be specified as destination floors in one car for other reasons.

[0019] This embodiment will be described in detail below.

[0020] The non-contact sensor 40 may be an infrared, inductive, capacitive, ultrasonic, magnetic, or other proximity sensor. For example, if a sensor with narrow directivity is used as the non-contact sensor 40, it is expected that the need to provide a large distance between the sensors 40 can be avoided.

[0021] In this embodiment, the non-contact sensor 40 detects an object by irradiating the object with light and detecting the light reflected from the object.

[0022] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a system including an operating device equipped with a car operating panel 10R.

[0023] The operation device 300 includes at least a car operation panel 10R. The operation device 300 may further include a non-contact sensor controller 60, a destination floor display controller 70, a monitor controller 80 connected to the monitor 30 and controlling the display on the monitor 30, and an in-car operation control device 90. An elevator control device 100 that controls the lifting and lowering of the car is connected to the operation device 300. In addition to the operation device 300 and the elevator control device 100, the elevator may include the car itself, a lifting and lowering mechanism for the car, etc.

[0024] The non-contact sensor controller 60 is electrically connected to each non-contact sensor 40. For example, a signal from each non-contact sensor 40 becomes equal to or higher than a predetermined level when the non-contact sensor 40 detects an object. The non-contact sensor controller 60 identifies the non-contact sensor 40 whose signal has become equal to or higher than the predetermined level, and outputs to the in-car operation control device 90 the floor number corresponding to the non-contact sensor 40 (which may be an example of the position information of the non-contact sensor 40).

[0025] The destination floor display controller 70 is electrically connected to the destination floor button 20. When the destination floor button 20 is touched (e.g., pressed), the destination floor display controller 70 lights up the destination floor button 20 and outputs the floor number of the destination floor button 20 to the in-car operation control device 90.

[0026] The monitor controller 80 is electrically connected to the monitor 30 and displays information from the car in-car operation control device 90 (for example, destination floor, advertisements, etc.) on the monitor 30.

[0027] When a floor number is input (i.e., when a destination floor is specified), the car in-operation control device 90 outputs the floor number to the monitor controller 80 and the elevator control device 100. The elevator control device 100 registers the input floor number as the destination floor and controls the raising and lowering (operation) of the car.

[0028] When the floor number is input from the non-contact sensor controller 60, the in-car operation control device 90 outputs the floor number to the destination floor display controller 70. When the destination floor display controller 70 receives the floor number input from the in-car operation control device 90 and the destination floor button 20 corresponding to the floor number is not lit, the destination floor display controller 70 lights up the destination floor button 20. In this way, for example, when the non-contact sensor 40e corresponding to an unlit destination floor button 20e (see FIG. 4A) detects an object (typically a human hand or finger), the destination floor button 20e lights up (see FIG. 4B). [Second embodiment]

[0029] The second embodiment will be described below, focusing mainly on the differences from the first embodiment, and explanations of the points in common with the first embodiment will be omitted or simplified.

[0030] FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a car operating panel according to the second embodiment.

[0031] The car operating panel 10RR on the right side of the door is provided with an LED 45 (an example of a light emitting portion) for each of the non-contact sensors 40, the LED 45 being arranged closer to the door 5 than the non-contact sensor 40.

[0032] For each non-contact sensor 40, the LED 45 is provided to assist the non-contact sensor 40 in detecting an object. That is, at least a part of the light emitted by the LED 45 and reflected from an object can be received by the non-contact sensor 40 corresponding to the LED 45. In this embodiment, such an LED 45 is disposed closer to the door 5 than the non-contact sensor 40. Therefore, when a passenger puts his / her hand on the car operating panel 10RR and the hand approaches the non-contact sensor 40, the hand reflects the light from the LED 45 and the non-contact sensor 40 detects the reflected light, so that the non-contact sensor 40 can be expected to quickly detect the object.

[0033] The arrangement of the LED 45 (the LED 45 being arranged closer to the door than the non-contact sensor 40) is not limited to the right car operating panel 10RR, but may also be applied to the left car operating panel (not shown).

[0034] FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a system including an operating device equipped with a car operating panel 10RR.

[0035] The operation device 300A further includes an LED display controller 65.

[0036] The LED display controller 65 controls the lighting (e.g., color) of the LED 45 based on an instruction from the in-car operation control device 90A. For example, the following control may be adopted. That is, the LED display controller 65 lights up the LED 45 next to (to the left in the example of FIG. 6) the non-contact sensor 40 corresponding to a floor not specified as a destination floor (e.g., a floor corresponding to an unlit destination floor button 20) in a first color (e.g., a color that contributes to object detection by the non-contact sensor 40). When the non-contact sensor 40 detects an object (e.g., when the floor corresponding to the non-contact sensor 40 is registered as a destination floor), the LED display controller 65 may light up the LED 45 corresponding to the non-contact sensor 40 in a second color different from the first color based on an instruction from the in-car operation control device 90A. This allows passengers to determine from the color of the LED 45 whether the floor corresponding to that LED 45 has been designated as the destination floor (for example, whether the non-contact sensor 40 corresponding to that LED 45 has detected a hand).

[0037] Although several embodiments have been described above, these are merely examples for the purpose of explaining the present invention, and the scope of the present invention is not limited to these embodiments. The present invention can be implemented in various other forms. [Explanation of symbols]

[0038] 10: car operation panel, 20: destination floor button, 40: non-contact sensor

Claims

1. In an elevator operating device having a car operating panel provided on at least one of the left and right sides of a door when viewed from the front from inside the elevator car, The car operation panel is A plurality of contact-type destination floor buttons arranged vertically; a plurality of non-contact sensors arranged along a vertical direction and corresponding to the plurality of destination floor buttons, respectively; having Both non-contact sensors are It serves as a destination floor button corresponding to the non-contact sensor, When a non-contact sensor detects a floor, the floor corresponding to the non-contact sensor is registered as the destination floor. The non-contact sensor is disposed on the door side of a destination floor button corresponding to the non-contact sensor and next to the destination floor button, There is a single row of destination floor buttons and a single row of non-contact sensors. Each of the plurality of non-contact sensors is a sensor that detects reflected light, the car operating panel includes a light emitting unit arranged for each of the plurality of non-contact sensors on the door side of the non-contact sensor and adjacent to the non-contact sensor, For each light-emitting unit, at least a portion of the light emitted by the light-emitting unit and reflected from an object can be received by a non-contact sensor located adjacent to the light-emitting unit; Each of the light emitting units is If the floor corresponds to a floor that is not specified as the destination floor, a light of a first color is emitted; When the floor corresponds to a floor designated as a destination floor, light of a second color different from the first color is emitted. Operating device.

2. A car operation panel is provided on both the left and right sides of the door, In any car operation panel, for each destination floor button, a non-contact sensor is disposed closer to the door than the destination floor button. The operating device according to claim 1 .

3. An elevator comprising the operating device according to claim 1 or 2.

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