Elevator system and elevator control method

Abstract

To realize detection of a failure and positional deviation of a non-contact sensor disposed on an operation panel for registering a destination floor.SOLUTION: An operation panel comprises: a non-contact detection area where an elevator is operated with a non-contact sensor; a sensor check area where the elevator is not operated with the non-contact sensor; and an input processing portion that detects coordinates of a reference object installed in the sensor check area with the non-contact sensor, and monitors the non-contact sensor on the basis of the detected coordinates. The input processing portion, when it is determined that abnormality occurs in the non-contact sensor on the basis of the detected coordinates of the reference object, notifies the elevator control device that abnormality occurs in the non-contact sensor.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 11

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an elevator system and an elevator control method. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, a destination floor registration button for registering a destination floor is arranged as an operation panel inside an elevator car, and a user who gets into the car operates to press the destination floor registration button for the destination floor. For example, when the destination floor is the 10th floor, the user operates to press the destination floor registration button for the 10th floor from among the destination floor registration buttons arranged on the operation panel. When the destination floor registration button for the 10th floor is pressed, the display color of the pressed destination floor registration button for the 10th floor changes to a conspicuous color, and it is clear that the 10th floor has been registered as a destination floor.

[0003] As an advanced version of such conventional destination floor registration buttons, it has been proposed to place a touch panel with a display function inside the car as an operation panel. Also, as a measure against infectious diseases in recent years, it has been proposed to replace the touch panel with a non-contact touchless panel. A non-contact touchless panel is equipped with a non-contact sensor and is operated by the user bringing an object such as a finger close to the button displayed on the display panel.

[0004] For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a screen driving device that sets an effective operation area on a touch screen corresponding to an operation unit image on the touch screen, and when an operation outside the effective area is detected and then an operation into the effective area is detected, corrects at least one of the setting position of the effective area and the display position of the operation unit image. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] JP 2007-310739 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] Incidentally, the screen driving device described in Patent Document 1 can correct the relative positional relationship (positional deviation) between the operation unit image and the effective area of ​​the touch screen, but is not configured to detect failures of the touch screen. In particular, an off failure of the touch screen can only be detected when a user is operating the touch screen, and cannot be detected without human intervention. Furthermore, the device described in Patent Document 1 does not take into consideration the detection of failures and position deviations of the non-contact sensor provided in the touchless panel.

[0007] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned circumstances, and aims to enable detection of malfunctions and misalignment of non-contact sensors arranged on an operation panel for registering destination floors. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] In order to solve the above problems, an elevator system according to one aspect of the present invention is an elevator system equipped with an operation panel that allows destination floors to be registered using a non-contact sensor. The operation panel includes a non-contact detection area for operating the elevator using a non-contact sensor, a sensor check area where the elevator is not operated using the non-contact sensor, and an input processing unit that detects the coordinates of a reference object installed in the sensor check area using the non-contact sensor and monitors the non-contact sensor based on the detected coordinates. Then, when the input processing unit determines that an abnormality has occurred in the non-contact sensor based on the detection coordinates of the reference object, it performs processing to notify the elevator control device that an abnormality has occurred in the non-contact sensor. Effect of the Invention

[0009] According to at least one aspect of the present invention, it is possible to detect malfunctions and misalignments of a non-contact sensor arranged on an operation panel for registering destination floors. Problems, configurations and effects other than those described above will become apparent from the following description of the embodiments. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of an elevator system according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of a control terminal of an elevator system according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a display panel arrangement in a passenger car according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a display example (ten-key input mode) of a display panel according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 5] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a display example (floor button input mode) of a display panel according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 6] 1A to 1C are diagrams showing examples of displays and changes of the displays on a display panel according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 7] 4 is a flow chart illustrating an example of an input process according to an example embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 8] 10 is a flowchart showing an example (first half) of a destination floor registration process according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 9] 13 is a flowchart showing an example (second half) of a destination floor registration process according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 10] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overview of a monitoring method for a non-contact sensor disposed on a display panel used in an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 11] 1A and 1B are diagrams illustrating an example of a non-contact sensor monitoring result based on specific coordinates of a reference object according to an example embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 12] 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a non-contact sensor setting process according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 13] 4 is a flow chart illustrating an example of a non-contact sensor monitoring process according to an example embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 14]10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a process when an abnormality occurs in the non-contact sensor according to an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0011] Hereinafter, examples of embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In this specification and the accompanying drawings, components having substantially the same functions or configurations are designated by the same reference numerals, and duplicated descriptions will be omitted.

[0012] <One embodiment> [Elevator system configuration] FIG. 1 shows an example of the configuration of an elevator system according to a first embodiment. As shown in Fig. 1, the elevator system of this embodiment includes an elevator control device 10 and a control terminal 20. The control terminal 20 functions as a so-called destination floor registration device, and is installed in a car 50 (Fig. 3). Moreover, the configuration of the elevator control device 10 shown in Fig. 1 only shows the configuration related to setting the destination floor and the registered floor, and other configurations such as the running control of the car 50 are omitted.

[0013] The elevator control device 10 controls the running (raising and lowering) of the car 50 by the hoist based on the operation of the car call button at the landing of each floor and the operation of registering the destination floor inside the car 50.

[0014] The control terminal 20 is disposed in the car 50, and controls the display on a display panel 41 (FIG. 3) with an input function disposed on an operation panel 40 (FIG. 3) installed on the car 50, and the audio output from an audio device 44. In addition to the display panel 41, the operation panel 40 is also provided with a non-contact sensor 43 that detects non-contact input by an object such as a user's finger approaching the display panel 41. That is, the operation panel 40 is formed with an operation panel that accepts the selection of a destination floor by a non-contact operation on the non-contact sensor 43. The control terminal 20 detects the non-contact input on the display panel 41 by the non-contact sensor 43, and sends an instruction to the elevator control device 10. The display panel 41 has a destination floor registration area 41a and a registration floor display area 41b. In the following description, the input operation basically refers to a non-contact input operation, but may also include an operation of directly touching the surface of the display panel 41 with a finger.

[0015] The destination floor indicates the destination floor where a user boarding the elevator car 50 gets off, and the registered floor indicates a floor registered in the elevator control device 10 as the destination floor. In other words, a user inputs the destination floor on the operation panel 40 in the car 50 and performs an operation to set the destination floor, whereby the destination floor is registered in the elevator control device 10, the display panel 41 displays the registered floor, and the car 50 stops at the registered floor. However, the car 50 may stop at a floor other than the registered floor in response to a car call at the landing, etc.

[0016] (Control system of control terminal) Regarding the configuration of the control system of the control terminal 20, the control terminal 20 includes an input processing unit 21, an input information transmission unit 22, a destination floor registration operation processing unit 23, a registered floor display processing unit 24, a voice output determination unit 25, and a sensor monitoring result transmission unit 26.

[0017] The input processing unit 21 inputs and processes information on the detection state of a finger or the like not touching the display panel 41 by the non-contact sensor 43. Furthermore, the input processing unit 21 determines, based on the input-processed detection state information, which display location on the display panel 41 the finger or the like approached to perform a non-touch operation. That is, the input processing unit 21 detects the coordinates on the display panel 41 (for example, the destination floor registration area 41a) operated by the user based on the output signal from the non-contact sensor 43. Then, the input processing unit 21 determines what kind of input operation (instruction, etc.) was performed based on the detected coordinates on the display panel 41. The input processing unit 21 also monitors the state of the non-contact sensor 43 and outputs the monitoring result to the sensor monitoring result transmission unit 26 .

[0018] The input information transmitting unit 22 performs an input information transmitting process of transmitting information about the non-contact operation determined by the input processing unit 21 (the contents of the input operation by the user on the operation panel 40) to the elevator control device 10. The function of this input information transmitting unit 22 may be provided in the input processing unit 21.

[0019] The destination floor registration operation processing unit 23 determines whether the mode of the display screen of the destination floor registration area 41a of the display panel 41 is a floor selection mode or a numeric keypad input mode. Specific display examples of the floor selection mode and the numeric keypad input mode will be described later (FIGS. 4 to 6). This mode determination in the destination floor registration operation processing unit 23 is performed based on an instruction from the elevator control device 10. The destination floor registration operation processing unit 23 performs display processing of the registered floor display area 41b of the display panel 41 based on information transmitted from the elevator control device 10 based on the user's destination floor registration operation. In addition, the destination floor registration operation processing unit 23 performs processing to update the display of the destination floor registration area 41a of the display panel 41 at a predetermined timing (for example, at a fixed cycle).

[0020] The registered floor display processing unit 24 receives information about the registered floors set in the elevator control device 10, and performs a registered floor display process to display the registered floors in floor order in the registered floor display area 41b of the display panel 41. In addition, the destination floor registration operation processing unit 23 performs a process to update the display in the registered floor display area 41b of the display panel 41 at a predetermined timing (for example, at a fixed cycle). The display processing of the destination floor registration operation processing unit 23 and the registered floor display processing unit 24 may be performed based on information from the input processing unit 21. Availability is increased by having the destination floor registration operation processing unit 23 and the registered floor display processing unit 24 obtain display information and perform display processing without going through a network between the elevator control device 10 and the control terminal 20.

[0021] The voice output determination unit 25 determines whether or not it is the timing to output a voice based on the input information from the input processing unit 21, and when it determines that it is the timing to output a voice, outputs a voice from the voice device 44 arranged on the operation panel 40. The voices output by the voice device 44 include operation sounds indicating the detection of an input operation, and various voice guidances to notify passengers inside the car 50. The determination of the timing to output a voice by the voice output determination unit 25 is made based on information from the elevator control device 10 and the status of the control terminal 20. At least one of the frequency, volume, and tone of the notification sound such as the operation sound output by the audio device 44 can be changed, and these changes are made according to preset conditions. For example, the audio device 44 performs a process of changing at least one of the frequency, volume, and tone of the operation sound output depending on the time period.

[0022] The sensor monitoring result transmission unit 26 performs processing to transmit the monitoring results of the non-contact sensor 43 input from the input processing unit 21 to the sensor monitoring result transmission unit 26 of the elevator control device 10.

[0023] (Elevator control device control system) Regarding the configuration of the control system of the elevator control device 10, the elevator control device 10 includes an initial setting display information storage unit 11, a display information processing unit 12, a display information transmission unit 13, a destination floor registration / cancellation processing unit 14, and an operation control unit 15.

[0024] The initial setting display information storage unit 11 stores initial setting display information of the elevator to be displayed in the destination floor registration area 41a of the display panel 41. The initial setting display information is, for example, information such as the destination floor name (entrance floor, lobby floor, parking floor, etc.), floors subject to express operation, and floors subject to local operation. The initial setting display information differs depending on the building in which the elevator is installed, the elevator model, etc.

[0025] The display information processing unit 12 performs display information processing to display the destination floor or registered floor on the display panel 41 based on the initial setting display information for the destination floor stored in the initial setting display information storage unit 11. Here, the display information processing unit 12 is supplied with information on the registration and cancellation of the destination floor from the destination floor registration / cancellation processing unit 14. When the destination floor is registered or canceled, the display information processing unit 12 generates display information reflecting the corresponding registration or cancellation information, and outputs it to the display information transmission unit 13.

[0026] The display information transmitting unit 13 transmits the display information obtained by the display information processing unit 12 to the registration floor display processing unit 24 and the destination floor registration operation processing unit 23 of the control terminal 20.

[0027] The destination floor registration / cancellation processing unit 14 receives input information from the input information transmission unit 22 of the control terminal 20, and determines whether or not a destination floor has been registered or cancelled on the operation panel 40 of the car 50. Then, the destination floor registration / cancellation processing unit 14 outputs the result of the determination regarding the registration or cancellation of the destination floor to the display information processing unit 12.

[0028] The operation control unit 15 controls the operation of the elevator based on the operation of the car call button at the landing of each floor and the operation of registering the destination floor by the operation panel 40 (FIG. 3) in the car 50. For example, the operation control unit 15 acquires the determination result on the registration or cancellation of the destination floor by the operation panel 40 from the destination floor registration / cancellation processing unit 14, and controls the running (ascending and descending) of the car 50 by the hoist based on the determination result. Then, the operation control unit 15 outputs information on the operation of the car 50, such as the current operation mode and the position of the car 50 in the building (hoistway), to the display information processing unit 12. The display information processing unit 12 reflects the operation information obtained from the operation control unit 15 in the display information processing. For example, based on the latest operation information, the floor where the car 50 stopped is erased from the registered floor row 107 (FIG. 4) of the registered floor display area 41b.

[0029] In addition, the operation control unit 15 performs a process of transmitting the monitoring results of the non-contact sensor 43 transmitted from the sensor monitoring result transmission unit 26 of the control terminal 20 via the network to an information terminal (not shown) assigned to the maintenance personnel (hereinafter referred to as the "maintenance personnel terminal").

[0030] [Hardware configuration of control terminal] FIG. 2 shows an example of a hardware configuration in which the control terminal 20 is configured as a computer. The control terminal 20 is configured using a computer device 30. The computer device 30 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 30a, a main memory unit 30b, a non-volatile storage 30c, a network interface 30d, an input unit 30e, and an output unit 30f, which are all connected to a bus.

[0031] The CPU 30a is an arithmetic processing unit that reads out program code of software that realizes the functions performed by the control terminal 20 from the main storage unit 30b or the non-volatile storage 30c and executes it. The CPU 30a reads out program codes from the main storage unit 30b or the non-volatile storage 30c and executes arithmetic processing in the work area of ​​the main storage unit 30b, thereby configuring various processing function units in the main storage unit 30b. That is, the main storage unit 30b is configured with each processing unit such as the input processing unit 21, the destination floor registration operation processing unit 23, the registered floor display processing unit 24, and the voice output determination unit 25 shown in FIG. 1.

[0032] The non-volatile storage 30c may be, for example, a large-capacity information storage medium such as a hard disk drive (HDD), a solid state drive (SSD), a memory card, etc. The non-volatile storage 30c stores software that realizes the functions of the control terminal 20, data obtained by executing the program, and data required for display screen settings.

[0033] For example, a network interface card (NIC) is used as the network interface 30d, and data is transmitted and received via the network interface 30d with other devices such as the elevator control device 10. For example, the functions of the input information transmitting unit 22 and the sensor monitoring result transmitting unit 26 are realized by utilizing the network interface 30d. The input unit 30e performs an input process of information relating to the detection state of the non-contact sensor 43. The output unit 30f performs a process of supplying display data to the destination floor registration area 41a and the registration floor display area 41b of the display panel 41. In addition, the output unit 30f outputs voice data to the voice device .

[0034] Like the control terminal 20, the hardware configuration of the elevator control device 10 can also be realized using a computer device 30. In this case, the CPU 30a of the computer device 30 included in the elevator control device 10 executes program code of software that realizes the functions performed by the elevator control device 10, whereby the main memory unit 30b is configured with each processing unit such as the display information processing unit 12 and the destination floor registration / cancellation processing unit 14 shown in Fig. 1. The non-volatile storage 30c is configured with the initial setting display information holding unit 11. The function of the display information transmission unit 13 is realized by utilizing the network interface 30d.

[0035] Moreover, configuring the control terminal 20 and the elevator control device 10 with the computer shown in Fig. 2 is just an example, and they may be configured with other arithmetic processing devices other than a computer. For example, some or all of the functions performed by the control terminal 20 may be realized by hardware such as an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) or an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit).

[0036] Furthermore, similar to the control terminal 20, the hardware configuration of the maintenance personnel terminal can also be realized using a computer device 30. In this case, a CPU 30a of the computer device 30 provided in the maintenance personnel terminal executes program code of software that realizes the functions performed by the maintenance personnel terminal, thereby configuring a processing unit such as a sensor monitoring result display function.

[0037] [Display panel placement inside the car] FIG. 3 shows an example in which a display panel 41 is installed inside a car 50 provided in the elevator system of this embodiment. 3 is a view of the vicinity of the door 51 of the car 50 as viewed from inside the car 50. Door side panels 52 and 53 are disposed on the left and right sides of the door 51. Here, the operation panel 40 is disposed on the door side panel 53 on the right side of the door 51.

[0038] The operation panel 40 is provided with the display panel 41, the non-contact sensor 43, and the audio device 44. As described above, the non-contact sensor 43 detects a finger or the like that approaches the surface of the display panel 41 within a predetermined distance.

[0039] In addition, a card reader 32 is disposed below the display panel 41 of the operation panel 40. This card reader 32 is used, for example, when authenticating an IC card carried by a passenger and registering a floor with security settings as a destination floor.

[0040] The display panel 41 is composed of a liquid crystal display panel or an organic EL (Electro-Luminescence) panel, and is arranged vertically with a size that fits within the width of the door side panel 53. The display panel 41 can display letters, numbers, and various figures, as will be described in display examples below. The non-contact sensor 43 is composed of, for example, an infrared sensor, and is arranged at the left end of the display panel 41 to detect when a finger or the like approaches the surface of the display panel 41.

[0041] In the example of FIG. 3, non-contact sensor 43 is disposed so as to protrude slightly from the surface of display panel 41, and is capable of scanning the surface of display panel 41 with a sensor wave (scanning line) such as infrared light. The non-contact sensor 43 detects that an object such as a finger has approached to within a few centimeters to a few millimeters of the surface of the display panel 41, for example, based on the state of reflection of infrared rays. At this time, the non-contact sensor 43 also detects the coordinate position on the display panel 41 to which the finger has approached. Note that using an infrared sensor as the non-contact sensor 43 is just one example, and an object such as a finger approaching the surface of the display panel 41 may be detected by a sensor using a means other than infrared rays.

[0042] The audio device 44 is disposed, for example, above the display panel 41, and outputs operation sounds and various kinds of guidance voices from a built-in speaker. Placing the audio device 44 on the operation panel 40 as shown in Fig. 3 is just one example, and the audio device 44 may be disposed in other locations within the car 50. For example, the audio device 44 may be disposed on the ceiling of the car 50. In addition, as the audio device 44, a circuit unit that performs processing related to audio output and a speaker may be separated, the circuit unit may be disposed on the operation panel 40, and only the speaker may be disposed at an arbitrary position within the car.

[0043] The non-contact sensor 43 may detect the approach of a finger based on a capacitance value. The non-contact sensor that detects the capacitance value is integrated into the display panel 41, for example.

[0044] 3 shows a state in which a display panel 41 and a non-contact sensor 43 are installed as the operation panel 40, but for example, buttons for instructing to open or close the door and an emergency call button may be placed near the display panel 41. Alternatively, the buttons for instructing to open or close the door and an emergency call button may be displayed on the display panel 41.

[0045] The configuration in which the operation panel 40 and the display panel 41 are disposed on the door side panel 53 on the right side of the door 51 is one example, and the operation panel 40 and the display panel 41 may be disposed on the door side panel 52 on the left side of the door 51. In this case, the operation panel 40 and the display panel 41 may be disposed on either the left or right door side panel 52 or 53, or the operation panel 40 and the display panel 41 may be disposed on both the left and right door side panels 52, 53. Furthermore, when the operation panel 40 and the display panel 41 are disposed on both the left and right door side panels 52, 53, one of the operation panels 40 may be provided with a touch panel or a push button that detects touch operations by passengers.

[0046] [Display panel display format] Next, the display mode of the display panel 41 will be described with reference to FIGS. As already explained, the display panel 41 has a destination floor registration area 41a and a registered floor display area 41b. As shown in Fig. 4 and Fig. 5, the destination floor registration area 41a is arranged in the right region of the display panel 41, and the registered floor display area 41b is arranged in the left region of the display panel 41. The registered floor display area 41b is a relatively narrow region capable of displaying the numerical values ​​of the registered floors in one vertical column (or two columns), and the remaining region is entirely the destination floor registration area 41a. The sizes of the destination floor registration area 41a and the registered floor display area 41b may be variable. Various display forms will be described in detail below with reference to Figs.

[0047] In the case of this embodiment, the destination floor input mode includes a numeric keypad input mode and a floor selection mode.

[0048] (Numeric keypad input mode) The display shown in Fig. 4 is an example of a display in a numeric keypad input mode, in which the destination floor registration area 41a is displayed as a numeric keypad, and the user inputs a floor number using a numeric keypad. That is, the destination floor registration area 41a displays a floor input button 101 consisting of ten number buttons 0, 1, 2, 3, ..., 9, a "B" button indicating the basement, a registration button 102, an input floor 103, a cancel button 104, an input guide 105, and a screen switching button 106. The example of FIG. 4 shows a state in which a finger approaches "6" on floor input button 101, and "6" is displayed in the input floor 103 field.

[0049] In the input guidance 105, a message is displayed in Japanese urging the user to "Please enter the destination floor," and a similar message is also displayed in English urging the user to "Please select a destination floor." The input floor number 103 displays the number entered using the floor input button 101 or "B." When the "B" button is pressed followed by a number button, a display such as "B1" indicating a basement floor is displayed. Furthermore, even if a two-digit number or a number followed by "B" is entered, if a floor on which the elevator does not stop (a floor that does not exist in the building) is entered, the operation is invalidated and the entered floor is not displayed in Entered Floors 103.

[0050] The registration button 102 is a button for confirming the floor displayed in the input floor 103 as the registered floor. The cancel button 104 is a button for performing an operation to cancel the floor displayed in the input floor 103. This cancel button 104 may be displayed at all times, or may be displayed only when a floor has been input in the input floor 103 by operating the floor input button 101. The screen switching button 106 displays "To main floors" in both Japanese and English, and pressing this button switches the display to a floor selection mode in which the buttons for the main floors are displayed.

[0051] In the registered floor display area 41b, the registered floor column 107 is displayed in a vertical line as shown in Fig. 4. If nothing is displayed in the registered floor display area 41b, it indicates that no registered floors are registered. In the registered floor column 107, registered floors with smaller numerical values ​​are displayed in ascending order from the bottom based on the layout of floors in an actual building. Since the display in the registered floor column 107 is based on the layout of floors in an actual building, for basement floors, the numerical value of the floor increases the further down you go.

[0052] The example of FIG. 4 shows a situation in which ten registered floors have been registered, and shows a registered floor row 107 in which the ten floors are displayed, using almost the entire registered floor display area 41b. In addition, when the number of registered floors is small, the registered floors are displayed from the bottom of the registered floor display area 41b. For example, when the registered floors are "6th floor" and "10th floor", "6" and "10" are displayed from the bottom in the registered floor display area 41b.

[0053] Also, when the number of registered floors decreases as a result of the elevator stopping at each floor, the remaining registered floors are displayed in the registered floor display area 41b, moving from the bottom up. However, displaying the registered floors in a packed manner from the bottom is merely an example, and the registered floors may be displayed together in the center, for example, or may be displayed in a packed manner from the top. The display in this registered floor display area 41b is the same whether in the floor selection mode or the numeric keypad input mode.

[0054] (Floor selection mode) The display shown in Fig. 5 is an example of a display in a floor selection mode. In this floor selection mode, buttons of destination floor candidates indicating floors are directly displayed in the destination floor registration area 41a, and the registered floors are directly set by operating the buttons.

[0055] For example, in the destination floor registration area 41a, a destination floor button 111 indicating a main floor of the building, a screen switching button 112, and an input guide 105 are displayed. 5, only buttons for the first floor (entrance floor), second floor (lobby floor), first basement floor (fourth parking lot), second basement floor (third parking lot), third basement floor (second parking lot), and fourth basement floor (first parking lot), which are major floors where the vehicle frequently stops, are displayed as destination floor buttons 111. When an input operation is performed with a finger or the like approaching these destination floor buttons 111, the floor displayed on the operated button is directly confirmed as the registered floor without performing a confirmation operation or the like.

[0056] The screen switching button 112 displays "To all floors" in both Japanese and English, and inputting information from this screen switching button 112 switches to a floor input mode display (FIG. 4) showing buttons such as a numeric keypad. The input guide 105 displays a message in Japanese urging the user to "Please enter the destination floor," and also displays a similar message in English, "Please select a destination floor." The display of the registered floor display area 41b in the floor selection mode is the same as that in the numeric keypad input mode. It should be noted that displaying the destination floor buttons 111 for main floors in the floor selection mode is merely an example, and the destination floor buttons 111 for all floors may be displayed, for example.

[0057] (Screen mode switching) Next, a description will be given of the display and change example of the destination floor registration area 41a shown in Fig. 6. The display change shown in Fig. 6 shows an example of switching the screen mode by manual operation by the operator. For example, when the default screen is the floor selection mode display M11 shown in the upper left of Fig. 6, the destination floor button 111 of the main floor is displayed on the default screen. This default screen is the initial screen when the door 51 of the car is opened, for example, in a state where no registered floors have been set.

[0058] Here, assume that a finger or the like approaches the screen switching button 112 and the screen switching button 112 is selected on the default screen shown in display M11 on which destination floor buttons 111 for main floors are displayed as shown in the upper left of Fig. 6. At this time, the default screen changes to display M12 shown in the upper right of Fig. 6. In display M12, the screen switching button 112 that has been approached by a finger or the like changes its display color, so that the user can know that the corresponding button has been operated. It is preferable that the display color of the button is changed to a brighter color, for example, so that the corresponding button appears to be lit up. Note that, although the state where the screen switching button 112 is operated is shown here, the display form of the button also changes in the same way when a finger or the like approaches a button other than the screen switching button 112.

[0059] When the screen switching button 112 is operated in the display M12 shown in the upper right of Figure 6, the destination floor registration area 41a changes to a numeric keypad input mode displaying the floor input button 101 and the registration button 102, as shown in the display M13 shown in the lower right of Figure 6. By registering a destination floor in this numeric keypad input mode, the registered floor column 107 is displayed in the registered floor display area 41b, as in display M14 shown in the lower left of Fig. 6. In the example in the lower left of Fig. 6, a finger approaches "1" and then "9" on the floor input button 101, causing "19" to be displayed in the input floor column 103, and display M14 shows that nine registered floors (registered floor column 107) have been registered in the registered floor display area 41b.

[0060] Then, by operating the screen switching button 106 in this numeric keypad input mode, the destination floor registration area 41a changes to a floor selection mode of a display M11 shown in the upper left of FIG.

[0061] [Processing performed on the control terminal] Next, the process performed by the control terminal 20 in order for the display panel 41 to perform the display described above will be described with reference to FIGS.

[0062] (Input processing in floor button input mode) 7 is a flowchart showing an example of input processing performed by the input processing unit 21 of the control terminal 20. This flowchart shows an example when the display mode of the destination floor registration area 41a of the display panel 41 (FIG. 7) is the floor button input mode.

[0063] First, the input processing unit 21 determines whether or not the non-contact sensor 43 detects an object (finger) approaching the destination floor registration area 41a of the display panel 41 (step S701). When the non-contact sensor 43 does not detect an object approaching the destination floor registration area 41a in step S701 (NO in step S701), the input processing unit 21 ends the processing of this flowchart.

[0064] Then, when the input processing unit 21 detects the approach of an object to the destination floor registration area 41a in step S701 (YES in step S701), the input processing unit 21 judges whether the area where the approach of the object is detected is an operation button in the destination floor registration area 41a (step S702). If the area where the approach of the object is detected is not an operation button in step S702 (NO in step S702), the input processing unit 21 waits until it detects the approach of an object to an operation button.

[0065] Then, in step S702, if the area where the approach of the object is detected is an operation button (YES in step S702), the input processing unit 21 issues an operation sound from the audio device 44 of the operation panel 40 via the audio output determination unit 25 (step S703). Next, the input processing unit 21 judges whether the object has been approaching for a predetermined time or more (step S704). The operation sound issued in step S703 is a short-time sound output to notify the user that the operation has been accepted. Moreover, the output of the operation sound in step S703 is performed at a stage where the operation has not yet been confirmed, i.e., before the input information transmitting unit 22 transmits information on the operation based on the approach detection to the elevator control device 10.

[0066] In step S704, when an object has not approached for a predetermined time or longer (NO in step S704), the input processing unit 21 repeats the determination in step S704. The predetermined time here is set to a time, such as 0.3 seconds, that is assumed to be the minimum duration of operation when operated with a finger or the like. This makes it possible to eliminate cases where an object such as a finger approaches the display panel 41 by mistake.

[0067] In step S704, when it is detected that an object is approaching for a predetermined period of time or longer (YES in step S704), the control terminal 20 changes the display brightness or display color of the operation button so that the operation button selected by non-contact operation is illuminated (step S705).

[0068] Thereafter, the input processing unit 21 determines whether or not removal of the object (finger) from the infrared rays of the non-contact sensor 43 has been detected (step S706). If removal of the object is not detected in step S706 (NO in step S706), the input processing unit 21 repeats detection of removal of the object.

[0069] Then, when the control terminal 20 detects the removal of the object in step S706 (YES in step S706), the control terminal 20 restores the light emission brightness or light emission color of the operation button selected by non-contact operation so that the operation button is turned off (step S707).

[0070] After that, the input processing unit 21 judges whether the selected operation button that was turned on in step S705 is other than the screen switching button (step S708). When the selected operation button that was turned on in step S708 is other than the screen switching button (YES in step S708), the input information transmitting unit 22 transmits information on the selected operation button to the elevator control device 10 (step S709).

[0071] Furthermore, in step S708, when the selected operation button that has been turned on is the screen switching button (NO in step S708), the control terminal 20 switches the display mode of the destination floor registration area 41a to the numeric keypad input mode (step S710).

[0072] After the processes of steps S709 and S710, the process of this flowchart ends, but the input processing unit 21 executes the processes of steps S701 to S710 of this flowchart at regular intervals.

[0073] (Input processing in numeric keypad input mode) 8 and 9 are flowcharts showing an example (first half) of the destination floor registration process performed by the input processing unit 21 and the destination floor registration operation processing unit 23 of the control terminal 20. Connector A in Fig. 8 is connected to connector A in Fig. 9. This flowchart is an example when the display mode of the destination floor registration area 41a of the display panel 41 (Fig. 7) is the numeric keypad input mode.

[0074] First, the destination floor registration operation processing unit 23 judges whether there is a destination floor being displayed in the middle of input (step S801). That is, the destination floor registration operation processing unit 23 judges whether there is a display of an input floor 103 such as the display M14 in FIG. 6.

[0075] In step S801, when there is a destination floor being input and displayed (YES in step S801), the destination floor registration operation processing unit 23 displays the cancel button 104 (FIG. 4) (step S802).

[0076] Then, if there is no destination floor being input and displayed in step S801 (NO in step S801), or after displaying the cancel button 104 in step S802, the input processing unit 21 determines whether or not the non-contact sensor 43 has detected an object (finger) approaching the destination floor registration area 41a of the display panel 41 (step S803). If the non-contact sensor 43 has not detected an object approaching the destination floor registration area 41a in step S801 (NO in step S803), the input processing unit 21 ends the process.

[0077] Then, when the input processing unit 21 detects the approach of an object to the destination floor registration area 41a in step S803 (YES in step S803), the input processing unit 21 judges whether the area where the approach of the object is detected is an operation button in the destination floor registration area 41a (step S804). If the area where the approach of the object is detected is not an operation button in step S804 (NO in step S804), the input processing unit 21 waits until it detects the approach of an object to an operation button.

[0078] Then, in step S804, if the area where the approach of the object is detected is an operation button (YES in step S804), the input processing unit 21 causes the audio device 44 of the operation panel 40 to emit an operation sound via the audio output determination unit 25 (step S805). Next, the input processing unit 21 determines whether the object has been approaching for a predetermined period of time or more (step S806). Moreover, the operation sound is output in step S805 at a stage where the operation has not yet been confirmed, i.e., before the input information transmitting unit 22 transmits information on the operation based on the approach detection to the elevator control device 10.

[0079] In step S806, when no object has approached for a predetermined time or longer (NO in step S806), the input processing unit 21 repeats the determination in step S806.

[0080] In step S806, when it is detected that an object is approaching for a predetermined period of time or longer (YES in step S806), the control terminal 20 changes the display brightness or display color of the operation button so that the operation button selected by non-contact operation is illuminated (step S807).

[0081] 9, the input processing unit 21 determines whether or not removal of an object (finger) from the infrared rays (detection area) of the non-contact sensor 43 is detected (step S808). When removal of an object is not detected in step S808 (NO in step S808), the input processing unit 21 repeats detection of removal of an object.

[0082] Then, when the control terminal 20 detects the removal of the object in step S808 (YES in step S808), the control terminal 20 restores the light emission brightness or light emission color of the operation button selected by non-contact operation so that the operation button is turned off (step S809).

[0083] After that, the input processing unit 21 judges whether the selected operation button that was lit in step S807 is other than the screen switching button (step S810). If the selected operation button that was lit in step S810 is other than the screen switching button (YES in step S810), the control terminal 20 displays the floor of the selected operation button in the input floor 103 (FIG. 4) of the destination floor registration area 41a (step S811). Note that the processing in steps S803 to S810 is the same as the processing in steps S701 to S708 in FIG. 7.

[0084] Also, in step S810, when the selected operation button is the screen switching button (NO in step S810), the destination floor registration operation processing unit 23 switches the display mode of the destination floor registration area 41a to a floor button input mode (step S816). Then, after the screen switching in step S816, the process ends.

[0085] Furthermore, after displaying the floor of the operation button selected in step S811, the input processing unit 21 determines whether or not an operation of the registration button 102 (FIG. 4) has been detected (step S812). When the operation of the registration button 102 is detected in step S812 (YES in step S812), the input information transmitting unit 22 transmits information of the selected operation button to the elevator control device 10 (step S813). After that, the control terminal 20 erases the display of the input floor 103 in the destination floor registration area 41a (step S814) and ends the process.

[0086] If the input processing unit 21 does not detect the operation of the register button 102 in step S812 (NO in step S812), the input processing unit 21 judges whether or not the operation of the cancel button 104 (FIG. 4) is detected (step S815). If the operation of the cancel button 104 is detected in step S815 (YES in step S815), the process proceeds to step S814, and the control terminal 20 erases the display of the input floors 103. Furthermore, if operation of the cancel button 104 is not detected in step S815 (NO in step S815), the control terminal 20 ends the process.

[0087] After the processes of steps S814 and S816, the process of the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 ends, but the input processing unit 21 executes the process of this flowchart at regular intervals.

[0088] [Contactless sensor status monitoring] Next, the state monitoring of the non-contact sensor 43 arranged on the display panel 41 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. Fig. 10 is a diagram showing an outline of a monitoring method for the non-contact sensor 43. Fig. 10 shows the same configuration as the operation panel 40 shown in Fig. 3. That is, the operation panel 40 includes a display panel 41 and a non-contact sensor 43 (infrared sensor) that uses infrared rays. Here, the display mode of the destination floor registration area 41a is the floor button input mode.

[0089] The non-contact sensor 43 is composed of a plurality of light sources (not shown) that emit light such as infrared rays, and a corresponding plurality of light receivers, which are arranged vertically on the side (e.g., the left side) of the display panel 41. The light sources are arranged at a predetermined interval. Similarly, the light receivers are also arranged at a predetermined interval. For example, in the case of a reflective type infrared sensor, infrared LEDs as light sources and light receivers that receive infrared rays reflected by an object are arranged around the operation surface with a thickness perpendicular to the operation surface. The non-contact sensor 43 includes a printed circuit board 43s (FIG. 1) on which a circuit is formed for controlling the driving of the light source (output of a sensor wave such as infrared rays) and for processing a signal obtained from the light receiver. The printed circuit board 43s outputs an output signal including the result of the signal processing to the input processing unit 21. Here, in the car 50, dust or dirt may fly near the operation surface due to wind blowing in when the door opens or a person gets in, and the non-contact sensor 43 may temporarily react. Therefore, it is desirable to perform a process in the printed circuit board 43s or the input processing unit 21 to invalidate the temporary sensor reaction. For example, when the printed circuit board 43s or the input processing unit 21 receives an input from the non-contact sensor 43 at a cycle of 10 ms, if the sensor input is not on for 40 ms or more continuously, the input data is discarded. It is also assumed that the sensor input on state continues due to a temporary failure of the non-contact sensor 43. Therefore, when the sensor input on state continues for a predetermined time (for example, one minute), it is desirable for the input processing unit 21 to issue a reset command to the non-contact sensor 43 to restart the non-contact sensor 43. However, when an object is placed near the operation surface, the non-contact sensor 43 will be repeatedly restarted, so it is desirable to limit the restart to a predetermined number of times (for example, three consecutive times).

[0090] 10, the multiple infrared LEDs emit infrared rays L from the left side to the right side of the display panel 41. The infrared rays L are emitted parallel to the surface (operation surface) of the display panel 41 and at a predetermined distance of about several millimeters to several centimeters from the surface. The multiple infrared rays L emitted from the non-contact sensor 43 are distributed planarly above the operation surface of the display panel 41.

[0091] Then, information on the detection state (sensor input) of the non-contact of the user's finger or the like in the non-contact sensor 43 is input to the control terminal 20. Then, information on the non-contact operation determined by the control terminal 20 is transmitted to the elevator control device 10. The input processing unit 21 (FIG. 1) of the control terminal 20 detects the coordinates of an object such as a finger on the display panel 41 by processing signals from the multiple light receivers. The elevator control device 10 transmits display information to the control terminal 20 based on the user's operation information received from the control terminal 20. Then, the control terminal 20 outputs a screen on the display panel 41 based on the display information received from the elevator control device 10.

[0092] Although an example in which an infrared sensor is used as the non-contact sensor 43 has been described, the present invention is not limited to this example. For example, the non-contact sensor 43 can be configured using radio waves (one example of electromagnetic waves) such as millimeter wave bands, or ultrasonic waves.

[0093] In this embodiment, the detection area of ​​the non-contact sensor 43 is divided into a non-contact operation area A1 corresponding to the surface (operation surface) of the display panel 41 and a sensor check area A2 used to monitor the state of the non-contact sensor 43. In the sensor check area A2, a reference object 120 is arranged on the opposite side (right side) of the side (for example, the left side) where the non-contact sensor 43 is arranged, and facing the non-contact sensor 43 across the sensor check area A2. The reference object 120 is an object that serves as a reference for judgment when monitoring the state of the non-contact sensor 43. The reference object 120 is a protrusion formed of a material that reflects at least sensor waves (infrared rays, millimeter waves, ultrasonic waves, etc.). In addition, since the elevator car 50 is a moving object, it is accompanied by vibrations during travel and departure / landing, and further, depending on the mounting method of the non-contact sensor 43, aging deterioration, and maintenance status, an error of about several millimeters occurs. Therefore, it is desirable to perform state monitoring of the non-contact sensor 43 taking the error into consideration.

[0094] The non-contact sensor 43 receives reflected infrared light indicated by an arrow, thereby detecting a finger attempting to non-contactly select the destination floor button 111a displayed in the destination floor registration area 41a. The non-contact sensor 43 also receives reflected infrared light projected onto the reference object 120, and detects the position (coordinates) of the reference object 120. In FIG. 10, the horizontal direction of the display panel 41 is the X coordinate, and the vertical direction is the Y coordinate. The detected coordinate data of the reference object 120 is sent from the non-contact sensor 43 to the input processing unit 21 (FIG. 1) of the control terminal 20. While the non-contact sensor 43 is operating, the coordinates of the reference object 120 are detected at regular intervals. If the operation of the non-contact sensor 43 and the relative positional relationship between the non-contact sensor 43 and the display panel 41 (destination floor registration area 41a) are normal, the coordinates of the reference object 120 obtained by the non-contact sensor 43 will be within a pre-estimated range. In this embodiment, the coordinates within the assumed range are called "specific coordinates."

[0095] The input processing unit 21 of the control terminal 20 monitors the state of the non-contact sensor 43 using the coordinates of the reference object 120. When the relative positional relationship (e.g., position, angle, distance) between the non-contact sensor 43 and the reference object 120 changes, the sensor wave (e.g., the light amount of the reflected wave) received by the non-contact sensor 43 changes according to the positional relationship. Therefore, the change in the sensor wave is detected by the multiple light receivers of the non-contact sensor 43. Then, when an abnormality is detected in the non-contact sensor 43, the sensor monitoring result transmission unit 26 (FIG. 1) of the control terminal 20 notifies the elevator control device 10 of the occurrence of the abnormality. The elevator control device 10 remotely notifies a maintenance person (e.g., issues a fault report) and aims to quickly restore the non-contact sensor 43 to minimize the impact on elevator operation. Below, examples of abnormalities that occur in the non-contact sensor 43 are shown.

[0096] FIG. 11 shows an example of the monitoring result of the non-contact sensor 43 based on specific coordinates of the reference object 120. (1) If the specific coordinates of the reference object 120 cannot be detected, it is determined that a "sensor off failure" has occurred. A sensor off failure is a failure in which the sensor remains in the off state when it should be on. (2) If the position of the specific coordinates of the reference object 120 is outside the expected range, it is determined that "sensor position deviation has occurred." For example, in the example of Fig. 11, the position of the non-contact sensor 43 is shifted downward with respect to the display panel 41 (destination floor registration area 41a), so the return position of the reflected light from the reference object 120 is displaced in the Y direction. (3) If the specific coordinates of the reference object 120 cannot be detected within a predetermined range of the detection area of ​​the non-contact sensor 43 (for example, the sensor check area A2), but there is input from the non-contact operation area A1, it is determined that a “sensor detection abnormality” has occurred.

[0097] 10 and 11, the non-contact operation area A1 is set above the detection area, and the sensor check area A2 is set below the detection area, but the arrangement of the two areas may be reversed. As shown in FIG. 3, the non-contact sensor 43 and the reference object 120 (not shown) are attached to the periphery (inner wall) of a recess having a rectangular opening formed in the door side panel 53. Therefore, when the sensor check area A2 is placed above the detection area of ​​the non-contact sensor 43, dust and dirt are less likely to accumulate on the reference object 120 than below the detection area. This prevents a decrease in the accuracy of the state monitoring of the non-contact sensor 43.

[0098] [Non-contact sensor setting process] Next, an example of a non-contact sensor setting process according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing an example of a non-contact sensor setting process. This non-contact sensor setting process is desirably performed by a person in charge (e.g., the system designer or the designer of the project) before the elevator system is delivered to a building, i.e., before the system is shipped from the factory. A PC (Personal Computer) or the like on which a setting process application is installed is connected to the non-contact sensor 43 (printed circuit board 43s) to execute the non-contact sensor setting process. The PC can be configured using the computer device 30 shown in FIG. 2. Here, the non-contact sensor setting may be configured to be performed via the elevator control device 10 or the control terminal 20.

[0099] First, the setting processing application of the PC sets a non-contact operation area A1 and a sensor check area A2 (FIG. 10) as detection areas of the non-contact sensor 43 based on the X and Y coordinates input by the person in charge (step S1201). Next, the setting processing application determines whether there is an overlap between the non-contact operation area A1 and the sensor check area A2 based on the input setting values ​​(step S1202). If there is an overlap between the two areas in step S1202 (NO in step S1202), the setting processing application displays a warning on the display panel of the PC (step S1208) and proceeds to step S1201.

[0100] In step S1202, if there is no overlap between the two areas (YES in step S1202), the setting process application determines whether the non-contact sensor 43 is in a mode for manually setting the coordinates of the reference object 120 (step S1203). A mode changeover switch for changing the setting mode is provided on the printed circuit board 43s (FIG. 1) of the non-contact sensor 43. The setting process application acquires the state of the mode changeover switch from the printed circuit board 43s to determine the setting mode.

[0101] In step S1203, if the non-contact sensor 43 is in a mode for manually setting the coordinates of the reference object 120 (YES in step S1203), the person in charge manually inputs the coordinates of the reference object 120 in the sensor check area A2. The setting process application manually sets the coordinates of the reference object 120 in the sensor check area A2 based on the values ​​manually input by the person in charge (step S1204).

[0102] In step S1203, if the non-contact sensor 43 is not in a mode for manually setting the coordinates of the reference object 120 (NO in step S1203), the setting processing application determines whether or not the coordinates of a point have been detected in the sensor check area A2 (step S1205).

[0103] In step S1205, if the coordinates of one point are detected in the sensor check area A2 (YES in step S1205), the setting process application sets the detected coordinates as the coordinates of the reference object 120 (step S1206). In step S1205, if the coordinates of one point are not detected in the sensor check area A2 (NO in step S1205), the setting process application performs a warning display process in step S1208.

[0104] After processing in step S1204 or after processing in step S1206, the setting processing application sets the tolerance for the coordinate detection error of the reference object 120 (e.g., ±5%) based on the value manually input by the person in charge (S1207), and terminates the processing.

[0105] The above-mentioned non-contact sensor setting process is performed before shipment from the factory, but the setting process may be performed by connecting a maintenance personnel terminal to the non-contact sensor 43 after the elevator system is delivered to the building.

[0106] [Non-contact sensor monitoring process] Next, an example of a non-contact sensor monitoring process according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing an example of a non-contact sensor monitoring process. The input processing unit 21 of the control terminal 20 executes the process of this flowchart at a predetermined cycle (for example, every 12 seconds) while the display panel 41, i.e., the non-contact sensor 43, is in operation.

[0107] First, the input processing unit 21 of the control terminal 20 judges whether or not the reference object 120 is detected within a predetermined range of the detection area of ​​the non-contact sensor 43 (for example, within the sensor check area A2 (FIG. 10)) (step S1301). If the reference object 120 is detected within the predetermined range of the detection area of ​​the non-contact sensor 43 in step S1301 (YES in step S1301), the input processing unit 21 judges whether or not the detection coordinates of the reference object 120 in the sensor check area A2 are within the range of the error allowance (step S1302). Here, if the detection coordinates of the reference object 120 are within the range of the error allowance (YES in step S1302), the input processing unit 21 judges that the non-contact sensor 43 is operating normally (step S1303). However, if the detection coordinates are outside the range of the sensor check area A2, the change in the coordinates is too large for a sensor position shift, so it is not considered to be a sensor position shift. The reason why an error tolerance is provided here is that with non-contact sensor 43, button selection is performed in the air, so it is desirable to have a configuration that can tolerate, for example, a shaky finger.

[0108] Also, in step S1302, if the detected coordinates of the reference object 120 are outside the range of the error tolerance (NO in step S1302), the input processing unit 21 determines that a “sensor position deviation” (center (2) in FIG. 11) has occurred in the non-contact sensor 43 (step S1304).

[0109] In the above step S1301, if the reference object 120 is not detected within a predetermined range (sensor check area A2) of the detectable region of the non-contact sensor 43 (NO in step S1301), the input processing unit 21 judges whether or not an input from the non-contact operation area A1 (FIG. 10) has not been detected (step S1305). If an input from the non-contact operation area A1 has not been detected (YES in step S1305), the input processing unit 21 judges that a "sensor off fault" (left side (1) in FIG. 11) has occurred (step S1306).

[0110] In step S1305, when an input from the non-contact operation area A1 is detected (NO in step S1305), the input processing unit 21 judges that a "sensor detection abnormality" (right side (3) in FIG. 11) has occurred (step S1307). Even though the output of the non-contact sensor 43 is off and the reference object 120 in the sensor check area A2 is not being detected, an input is detected in the non-contact operation area A1, so it can be judged that the sensor input / output element or the sensor input detection circuit is malfunctioning. If this judgment is made when there are no passengers using a scale or the like provided in the car 50, it becomes clearer whether the input detection is due to human operation or a malfunction. If a "sensor detection abnormality" occurs, the input data is generated due to a sensor failure, so the input processing unit 21 discards the coordinate data of the object input from the non-contact sensor 43 (step S1308). Here, the input detection is performed within the range of the non-contact operation area A1 and does not include the range of the sensor check area A2 in order to distinguish it from the sensor position deviation described above. Also, the input detected within the range of the non-contact operation area A1 may be one coordinate or multiple coordinates.

[0111] Next, after the processing of step S1304, step S1306, or step S1308, the sensor monitoring result transmission unit 26 notifies the operation control unit 15 of the elevator control device 10 that there is an abnormality in the non-contact sensor 43 (step S1309). The operation control unit 15 transmits to the display information processing unit 12 that there is an abnormality in the non-contact sensor 43. The display information processing unit 12 performs a display information generation process and transmits information to be displayed on the display panel 41 of the car 50 from the display information transmission unit 13 to the control terminal 20. Then, the control terminal 20 displays on the display panel 41 that an abnormality has occurred in the non-contact sensor 43 based on the display information received from the elevator control device 10 (step S1310).

[0112] In parallel with the display process of the sensor abnormality occurrence in step S1310, the operation control unit 15 transmits information of the sensor abnormality occurrence to a maintenance staff terminal to remotely notify the maintenance staff (step S1311). After the process of step S1303 or the process of step S1311, the process of this flowchart ends. Here, the targets of the remote notification are not limited to maintenance staff, and may be changed or added to include system administrators, building facility managers, etc., according to the operation form.

[0113] In addition, in the above step S1309, when the operation control unit 15 detects a sensor abnormality a predetermined number of times in succession in the non-contact sensor monitoring process, the operation control unit 15 may generate an alert (attention, warning, etc.) of the occurrence of the sensor abnormality and notify the display information processing unit 12 and the maintenance staff terminal. In this case, it is not necessary to call a maintenance staff every time a sensor abnormality is detected, so that the burden on the maintenance staff can be reduced.

[0114] [Processing when a non-contact sensor error occurs] Next, an example of processing when an abnormality occurs in the non-contact sensor according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

[0115] 14 is a flowchart showing an example of a process when an abnormality occurs in the non-contact sensor. The process when an abnormality occurs in the non-contact sensor is started after the input processing unit 21 executes the non-contact sensor monitoring process of FIG.

[0116] First, the input processing unit 21 judges whether or not an abnormality has occurred in the non-contact sensor 43 (S1401). If an abnormality has occurred in the non-contact sensor 43 in step S1401 (YES in S1401), the input processing unit 21 judges whether or not the setting of automatic restart of the non-contact sensor 43 is enabled in step S1402 (S1402). The setting information of automatic restart of the non-contact sensor 43 is recorded in the printed circuit board 43s constituting the non-contact sensor 43. For example, the setting information can be stored in a non-volatile storage (not shown) or a CPU register. For example, if flag information "1" is recorded in the setting information recording area of ​​the non-volatile storage, the setting of automatic sensor restart is enabled. The CPU mounted on the printed circuit board 43s reads the setting information of automatic sensor restart and checks whether the setting is enabled or disabled.

[0117] If the occurrence of an abnormality in the non-contact sensor 43 is not detected in step S1401 (NO in S1401), or if the setting for automatic restart of the non-contact sensor 43 is not enabled in step S1402 (NO in S1402), the process ends.

[0118] In step S1402, if the setting for automatic restart of the non-contact sensor 43 is enabled (YES in S1402), the input processing unit 21 instructs the non-contact sensor 43 to restart (S1403). The restart instruction may be a restart by resetting communication or a restart of the sensor itself.

[0119] After the non-contact sensor 43 is restarted, the input processing unit 21 executes the non-contact sensor monitoring process of Fig. 13 to determine whether or not the non-contact sensor 43 has returned to normal operation (S1404). If the non-contact sensor 43 has returned to normal operation in step 1404 (YES in S1404), the sensor monitoring result transmission unit 26 notifies the operation control unit 15 of the elevator control device 10 that the non-contact sensor 43 has returned to normal operation (the abnormality of the non-contact sensor 43 has been resolved). The control terminal 20 changes the display panel 41 from an alert display to a normal display based on the input information from the elevator control device 10 (S1405).

[0120] If the non-contact sensor 43 has not returned to normal operation in step 1404 (NO in S1404), the sensor monitoring result transmission unit 26 transmits an error notification to the operation control unit 15 of the elevator control device 10, indicating that the non-contact sensor 43 has not returned to normal operation (S1406). Note that, since the elevator control device 10 has been notified of the occurrence of a sensor abnormality in step S1309 in Fig. 13, the processing of step S1406 may be omitted.

[0121] Then, the operation control unit 15 transmits the result of whether the non-contact sensor 43 has returned to normal operation to the maintenance personnel terminal, and remotely notifies the maintenance personnel (step S1407). This allows the maintenance personnel to know whether the non-contact sensor 43 has returned to normal operation. After the process of step S1407, the process of this flowchart ends.

[0122] However, this processing when a non-contact sensor abnormality occurs may be started when the input processing unit 21 detects the occurrence of a sensor abnormality in step S1304, step S1306, or step S1308. Alternatively, this processing when a non-contact sensor abnormality occurs may be started when an alert of the occurrence of a sensor abnormality is displayed on the display panel 41. Alternatively, the operation control unit 15 of the elevator control device 10 may determine to start this processing when a non-contact sensor abnormality occurs when a sensor abnormality is detected a predetermined number of times in succession. Furthermore, the operation control unit 15 may analyze the frequency of occurrence of sensor abnormalities and determine to start this processing when a non-contact sensor abnormality occurs.

[0123] As described above, the elevator system (control terminal) according to this embodiment is an elevator system equipped with an operation panel (e.g., operation panel 40) that allows the destination floor to be registered using a non-contact sensor. The operation panel includes a non-contact operation area for operating the elevator using the non-contact sensor (detecting non-contact operation), a sensor check area where the elevator is not operated (does not detect non-contact operation), and an input processing unit that detects the coordinates of a reference object placed in the sensor check area using the non-contact sensor and monitors the non-contact sensor based on the detected coordinates. If the input processing unit determines that an abnormality has occurred in the non-contact sensor based on the detected coordinates of the reference object, it performs a process of notifying the elevator control device that an abnormality has occurred in the non-contact sensor.

[0124] In such an elevator system (control terminal) according to an embodiment, both non-contact operation and sensor monitoring are performed using a non-contact sensor arranged on an operation panel for registering destination floors. Sensor failure (sensor off failure, sensor detection abnormality) and sensor position deviation can be detected by the sensor monitoring using the non-contact sensor. In particular, conventionally, OFF failure detection of a sensor arranged on an operation panel could only be performed when a person was operating the panel, making it difficult to detect the OFF failure before using the elevator (operation panel). However, according to this embodiment, it is possible to detect an OFF failure of a non-contact sensor without a person operating the panel. In other words, even when the elevator is in operation, it is possible to detect an OFF failure of a non-contact sensor without human intervention. Also, depending on the sensor type, a decrease in convenience can be suppressed by improving availability by issuing a restart command to the non-contact sensor.

[0125] <Modification> It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various other applications and modifications are possible without departing from the gist of the present invention as set forth in the claims. For example, the above-described embodiments are provided to explain the configuration of an elevator system in detail and specifically in order to explain the present invention in an easily understandable manner, and the elevator system is not necessarily limited to one that includes all of the components described.

[0126] In addition, in the above-mentioned embodiment example, an example was described in which a control terminal functioning as a destination floor control device was applied to an operation panel inside a car, but it is also possible to apply it to an operation panel (destination floor control device) installed at a boarding area, for example.

[0127] In the first to third embodiments described above, the direction of the scanning line (sensor wave) of infrared rays or the like emitted by the non-contact sensor 43 is the lateral direction (horizontal direction) with respect to the display panel 41, but it may be the vertical direction (vertical direction). Alternatively, the non-contact sensor 43 may be disposed on either the left or right side and either the upper or lower side of the display panel 41, and the direction of the scanning line of infrared rays or the like may be both the lateral direction and the vertical direction.

[0128] Furthermore, the distance measuring means described in Patent Document 1 may be used as a non-contact sensor in which a light source and a light receiver are integrally configured. In this case, for example, the distance measuring means are disposed on the upper and lower sides of the display panel on which the physical buttons are disposed. Furthermore, the non-contact sensor may be disposed in correspondence with the physical button. For example, the non-contact sensor may be disposed on the surface of the physical button, or the non-contact sensor may be disposed next to the physical button.

[0129] Moreover, the display examples of the display panel shown in each drawing are also shown as preferred examples, and the present invention is not limited to these examples.

[0130] In addition, in the configuration diagrams shown in Figures 1 and 2, only control lines and information lines that are considered necessary for explanation are shown, and not all control lines and information lines in the product are necessarily shown. In reality, it can be considered that almost all components are connected to each other. In addition, the process flows shown in the flowcharts in Figures 7 to 9 and Figures 12 to 14 are also examples, and as long as the processing results are the same, the order of some of the processes may be changed or multiple processes may be executed simultaneously.

[0131] Furthermore, when the system described in this embodiment is configured with an information processing device such as a computer, the programs that realize each processing function may be prepared in non-volatile storage or memory within the computer device, or may be stored on a recording medium such as an external memory, an IC card, an SD card, or an optical disk, and then transferred.

[0132] Furthermore, in this specification, when terms such as "parallel" and "orthogonal (perpendicular)" are used, each term does not mean only "parallel" and "orthogonal" in the strict sense, but also includes the meanings of "parallel" and "orthogonal" in the strict sense, and further includes the meanings of "approximately parallel" and "approximately orthogonal" within the range in which the respective functions can be exerted. [Explanation of symbols]

[0133] 10... elevator control device, 11... initial setting display information storage unit, 12... display information processing unit, 13... display information transmission unit, 14... destination floor registration / cancellation processing unit, 15... operation control unit, 20... control terminal, 30a... CPU, 30b... main memory unit, 30c... non-volatile storage, 30d... network interface, 30e... input unit, 30f... output unit, 21... input processing unit, 22... input information transmission unit, 23... registered floor registration operation processing unit, 24... registered floor display processing unit, 25... voice output determination unit, 26...sensor monitoring result transmission unit, 40...operation panel, 41...display panel, 41a...destination floor display area, 41b...registered floor display area, 43...non-contact sensor, 43s...printed circuit board, 44...audio device, 101...floor input button, 102...registration button, 103...entered floor, 104...cancel button, 105...input guidance, 106...screen switching button, 111...destination floor button, 107...registered floor, 120...reference object, A1...non-contact operation area, A2...sensor check area

Claims

1. In an elevator system having an operation panel capable of registering destination floors using a non-contact sensor, The operation panel has a non-contact operation area for operating the elevator using the non-contact sensor, a sensor check area where the non-contact sensor does not operate the elevator; an input processing unit that detects coordinates of a reference object placed in the sensor check area by the non-contact sensor and monitors the non-contact sensor based on the detected coordinates; When it is determined that an abnormality has occurred in the non-contact sensor based on the detection coordinates of the reference object, the input processing unit performs a process of notifying an elevator control device that an abnormality has occurred in the non-contact sensor. Elevator system.

2. The input processing unit performs a process of notifying the elevator control device that a sensor off failure has occurred in the non-contact sensor when the coordinates of the reference object are not detected.

2. The elevator system of claim 1.

3. The input processing unit performs a process of notifying the elevator control device that a sensor position deviation has occurred in the non-contact sensor when the detected coordinates of the reference object exceed an error allowable value.

2. The elevator system of claim 1.

4. The input processing unit performs a process of notifying the elevator control device that a sensor detection abnormality has occurred in the non-contact sensor when the coordinates of the reference object are not detected within a predetermined range of a detection area of ​​the non-contact sensor and an input from the non-contact operation area is detected.

2. The elevator system of claim 1.

5. The input processing unit restarts the non-contact sensor after determining that an abnormality has occurred in the non-contact sensor, and when the non-contact sensor returns to normal operation, performs a process of notifying the elevator control device that the abnormality in the sensor has been resolved. An elevator system according to any one of claims 2 to 4.

6. When the input processing unit determines that an abnormality has occurred in the non-contact sensor, the operation panel displays that an abnormality has occurred in the non-contact sensor. An elevator system according to any one of claims 2 to 4.

7. The reference object is a protrusion made of a material that reflects the sensor wave emitted by the non-contact sensor.

2. The elevator system of claim 1.

8. The reference object is disposed on the opposite side of the sensor check area from the side on which the non-contact sensor is disposed.

8. The elevator system of claim 7.

9. An elevator control method in an elevator system having an operation panel capable of registering destination floors using a non-contact sensor, comprising: A non-contact operation area for operating the elevator by the non-contact sensor and a sensor check area for not operating the elevator by the non-contact sensor are set, a process of detecting coordinates of a reference object placed in the sensor check area by the non-contact sensor, and monitoring the non-contact sensor based on the detected coordinates; and when it is determined that an abnormality has occurred in the non-contact sensor based on the detection coordinates of the reference object, notifying an elevator control device that an abnormality has occurred in the non-contact sensor. Elevator control method.

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