Elevator

Abstract

To provide an elevator capable of adjusting the volume of sound emitted through a sound emitting part installed in a car to an appropriate volume. [Solution] The elevator 10 has a function of adjusting the volume of the voice guidance provided through a speaker (sound emission unit) SP installed inside the car 20, and is equipped with a communication microphone (sound collection unit) 46M in the car 20 and a sound control unit 36 ​​that controls the voice guidance provided through the speaker SP, and the sound control unit 36 ​​has a volume adjustment mode that adjusts the volume of the sound generated from the speaker SP using a correction value that removes sudden sounds from the environmental sounds picked up by the communication microphone 46M.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to elevators, and more particularly to the loudness of sound emitted within an elevator car. [Background technology]

[0002] Elevator cars are equipped with speakers to emit various types of audio guidance and other information into the car. It is desirable to set the volume of the audio emitted from such speakers into the car so that passengers can easily hear the audio guidance. However, if the audio emitted from the speaker is too loud, it may impair the comfort of the car. For this reason, it is necessary to set the volume at an appropriate level so that passengers can easily hear it.

[0003] In addition, the volume of so-called background noise (environmental noise) that is generated from sound sources other than the speakers and propagates inside the elevator car varies greatly depending on the level of congestion in the elevator car and various environmental factors inside and outside the elevator car that could be noise sources. For this reason, the appropriate volume to be generated from the speakers varies individually depending on the elevator installation environment and usage conditions.

[0004] For example, Patent Document 1 discloses an elevator in which an output signal from a microphone that picks up environmental sounds inside the car is analyzed by in-car sound analysis means to create a sound component signal 11a, and a broadcast signal 7a from an in-car public address system is analyzed by broadcast signal analysis means to create a sound component signal 9a, and a noise signal 13a is generated by subtracting the sound component signal 9a from the sound component signal 11a, and the broadcast volume is controlled based on the magnitude of this noise signal 13a and the relationship between the noise signal 13a and the broadcast signal 7a. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 9-297587 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] However, in the elevator configuration described in Patent Document 1, when a sound generated by a temporary factor, such as the sound of an object hitting the wall inside the car or the user's voice, is picked up by the microphone, it is not possible to set the volume to an appropriate level, which can cause problems such as the volume of the voice guidance being set to an inappropriate level.

[0007] An object of the present invention is to provide an elevator capable of adjusting the volume of sound emitted through a sound emitting unit installed inside the car to an appropriate level. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] The elevator of the present invention is an elevator having a function of adjusting the volume of sound generated from a sound emitting unit installed in the elevator car, and the car is provided with a car door for passengers to board and disembark, and Microphone for calls and a sound control unit that controls the sound emitted from the sound emission unit, Microphone for calls Environmental sounds captured through Calculate frequency characteristic correction data that corrects the low-frequency range of environmental sounds so that the sound is closer to the actual sound. The system has a volume adjustment mode in which weighting processing is performed on the sound with consideration given to human hearing, and the volume of the sound emitted from the sound emission section is adjusted using a correction value calculated by removing sudden sounds, and the volume adjustment mode is executed when the car door is open and when the car door is closed.

[0009] In the elevator of the present invention, the elevator has a function of adjusting the volume of the sound generated from the sound emitting unit installed in the elevator car, Microphone for calls and a sound control unit that controls the sound emitted from the sound emission unit, Microphone for calls Environmental sounds captured through Calculate frequency characteristic correction data that corrects the low-frequency range of environmental sounds so that the sound is closer to the actual sound.The system has a volume adjustment mode in which weighting processing is performed taking into account human hearing and the volume of the sound emitted from the sound emission unit is adjusted using a correction value calculated by removing sudden sounds, and the volume adjustment mode is executed when the elevator car is stopped at each boarding area.

[0010] In the elevator of the present invention, the elevator has a function of adjusting the volume of the sound generated from the sound emitting unit installed in the elevator car, and the car includes a load detection unit that detects the load, and Microphone for calls and a sound control unit that controls the sound emitted from the sound emission unit, Microphone for calls Environmental sounds captured through Calculate frequency characteristic correction data that corrects the low-frequency range of environmental sounds so that the sound is closer to the actual sound. The sound output from the sound output unit is adjusted by executing the volume adjustment mode when the load detected by the load detection unit is equal to or greater than a predetermined value and when the load detected by the load detection unit is less than a predetermined value, while a weighting process is performed taking into account human hearing. Effect of the Invention

[0012] According to the elevator of the present invention, the volume of the sound generated from the sound emitting unit can be adjusted using the correction value calculated by removing the abnormal sound from the environmental sound. As a result, the volume of the sound generated from the sound emitting unit can be accurately adjusted to an appropriate volume according to the volume of the environmental sound. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0013] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of an elevator according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] Fig. 2(a) is a diagram showing a schematic internal configuration of the vicinity of the car door of the car, and Fig. 2(b) is a diagram showing the configuration of the car operation panel. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 is a block diagram mainly showing the control device included in FIG. [Figure 4]FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the flow of the control process in the volume adjustment mode. [Diagram 5] FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the flow of control processing in the environmental sound acquisition subroutine. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of frequency characteristics of a microphone for communication. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a graph showing a schematic change in the squared value of sound pressure over time in the corrected data. [Figure 8] FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the flow of control processing in the sudden sound region identifying subroutine. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0014] Hereinafter, an elevator 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In each drawing, "X" indicates a horizontal direction substantially perpendicular to the axial direction of the sheave 16A, "Y" indicates a horizontal direction Y perpendicular to the horizontal direction X, and "Z" indicates a vertical direction Z.

[0015] Fig. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an elevator 10. As shown in Fig. 1, the elevator 10 is a traction-type rope elevator, and includes a car 20 suspended via a support frame 14 connected to one end of a main rope 11, a counterweight W suspended from the other end of the main rope 11, and a control device 30 provided in a machine room M provided directly above a hoistway 12. The main rope 11 is stretched across a sheave 16A and a deflector sheave 16B of a hoisting machine 16 installed in the machine room M, and the car 20 and the counterweight W are raised and lowered relatively by rotating the sheave 16A forward or backward by an electric motor 16M (see Fig. 3).

[0016] The support frame 14 includes a lower beam 14U that supports the bottom surface of the car 20, and this lower beam 14U is provided with a load detection unit 23 for detecting the load weight of the car 20 (see FIG. 3).

[0017] In addition, landings 24A, 24B, 24C... (hereinafter referred to as "landings 24" unless there is any particular need to distinguish between them) on each floor are provided with landing doors 26A, 26B, 26C... (hereinafter referred to as "landing doors 26" unless there is any particular need to distinguish between them).

[0018] Fig. 2(a) is a diagram showing a schematic internal configuration around car doors 28A, 28B of the car 20. Fig. 2(b) is a diagram showing the configuration of a car operation panel 40. As shown in Fig. 2(a) and Fig. 2(b), in the car room of the car 20, car doors 28A, 28B for boarding and disembarking, and a car operation panel 40 are provided on a sleeve wall 21 adjacent to the car doors 28A, 28B.

[0019] A passenger using the elevator 10 presses a destination floor button 42A, 42B, 42C, ... (hereinafter, referred to as destination floor button "42" unless there is a need to distinguish between them) located in the center of the car operation panel 40 to determine the destination floor of the car 20. In addition, a display unit 44 is provided on the top of the car operation panel 40 to display the ascending and descending direction of the car 20, the floors the car 20 will pass through, and other information to be notified to passengers.

[0020] An emergency call button 46 is provided between the display unit 44 and the destination floor button 42. This emergency call button 46 has a function of enabling communication with a management center (not shown) by pressing it, and is an emergency communication means for passengers to report the occurrence of an abnormality to the outside when an abnormality occurs inside the elevator car 20. A call microphone (sound pickup unit) 46M is provided adjacent to the emergency call button 46. The call microphone 46M is, for example, composed of an intercom microphone. Also, a speaker (sound emission unit) SP that outputs sound is built in directly above the emergency call button 46.

[0021] Fig. 3 is a block diagram mainly focusing on the control device 30. As shown in Fig. 3, the control device 30 includes a storage device 32 including a ROM, a RAM, and an HDD in which various control programs are stored, and an arithmetic processing device (not shown) such as a CPU.

[0022] The control device 30 functions as an operation control unit 34 that reads the control program from the storage device 32 and performs arithmetic processing to control the driving of the hoist 16, and a sound control unit 36 ​​that controls the generation of sound effects, such as voice guidance and sound effects for notifying the opening and closing of the car doors 28A, 28B, in the car 20 via the above-mentioned speaker SP. The operation control unit 34 has a function of raising and lowering the car 20 based on a car call operation received via a car operating panel 40 or a hall call operation received via a hall operating panel (not shown).

[0023] The sound control unit 36 ​​has a volume adjustment mode that adjusts the volume of the various voice guidances described above based on the environmental sound (background noise) in the car. In the volume adjustment mode of this embodiment, the volume adjustment is performed after removing sudden (abnormal) sounds that occur temporarily from the environmental sound collected through the communication microphone 46M. In this embodiment, the environmental sound means various sounds that are heard by passengers in the car 20, such as noise generated at nearby construction sites, running sounds of cars, sounds of a crowd generated by people walking around the boarding area, and sounds that propagate from various sound sources into the car, such as sounds generated from the hoist 16 and the main rope 11. In this embodiment, the sound control unit 36 ​​executes the volume adjustment mode, for example, immediately before executing the voice guidance. This makes it possible to provide voice guidance at a volume appropriate to the situation in the car 20.

[0024] The volume adjustment mode in this embodiment will be described below with reference to Fig. 4. Fig. 4 is a flowchart showing the flow of control processing in the volume adjustment mode. As shown in Fig. 4, when the volume adjustment mode is executed (step S1: YES), the sound control unit 36 ​​sets the count N to 1 (step S2) and transitions to an environmental sound acquisition subroutine SB1.

[0025] FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the flow of control processing in the environmental sound acquisition subroutine SB1. As shown in FIG. 5, the sound control unit 36 ​​collects environmental sounds in the car 20 through the microphone 46M for communication (see FIG. 2(b)) at a predetermined sampling frequency (for example, 12.8 kHz) for a preset time (for example, 2 seconds) (step S21), and performs microphone correction processing on the collected sound data SD1 to obtain frequency characteristic correction data SD2 (step S22). This microphone correction processing is a correction processing that applies a microphone correction filter to the collected sound data SD1 collected through the microphone 46M for communication. In this embodiment, the collection of environmental sounds by the sound control unit 36 ​​in step S21 is configured to be performed when sounds such as voice guidance and sound effects are not generated through the speaker SP.

[0026] Here, FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the frequency characteristics of the microphone 46M for communication by a solid line and the change in the frequency characteristics after applying the microphone correction filter by a dashed line. As shown by the solid line in FIG. 6, the frequency characteristics of the microphone 46M for communication have low sensitivity to sounds in the low frequency range. Therefore, sounds in the low frequency range are picked up as smaller sounds (sound pressure) than they actually are. On the other hand, as shown by the dashed line in FIG. 6, the microphone correction filter is a filter that corrects the sound pressure of the collected sound data SD1 so that the frequency characteristics in the low frequency range of the microphone 46M for communication (see FIG. 2(b)) become closer to flat. This makes it possible to obtain frequency characteristic correction data SD2 that is pseudo-approximated to the sound pressure of the actual environmental sound based on the collected sound data SD1 collected through the microphone 46M for communication. As a result, it is possible to obtain data on the environmental sound in the car 20 with high accuracy without using an expensive microphone such as a condenser microphone.

[0027] Next, the sound control unit 36 ​​uses an A-weighting filter to perform weighting on the frequency characteristic correction data SD2 to calculate the hearing characteristic correction data SD3. This A-weighting filter is a correction filter for performing weighting taking into account the human hearing. This allows the collected environmental sound to be approximated to the noise that a passenger actually feels when listening to it in the elevator 20.

[0028] Furthermore, the sound control unit 36 ​​calculates the square value of the hearing characteristic correction data SD3 to calculate square value conversion data SD4 (step S24).

[0029] Furthermore, the sound control unit 36 ​​applies a low-pass filter (for example, a filter that passes only frequency components of 10 Hz or less) to the squared value converted data SD4 to obtain averaged processed data SD5. This makes it possible to average out the variation in loudness of the sound over time. Then, the process transitions from the environmental sound acquisition subroutine SB1 to the process of step S3 (see FIG. 4).

[0030] The sound control unit 36 ​​calculates the maximum value V(m) in each section when the averaged data SD5 is divided into sections each having a predetermined number of samples (step S3). Here, when the number of sections is U, m is an integer that satisfies the relationship 1≦m≦U. Furthermore, the sound control unit 36 ​​calculates the average value α of the averaged data SD5 (step S4).

[0031] FIG. 7 is a graph showing a schematic change in the square value of sound pressure (Pa) over time included in a portion of the averaging process data SD5, and also shows a partially enlarged view of the end time TE(i-1) and start time TS(i) regions, which will be described in detail later. In FIG. 7, the boundary line BL shown by the dashed line indicates a reference value four times the average value α. As shown in FIG. 7, in this embodiment, the region in the averaging process data SD5 that is four times or more the average value α is set as the sudden sound occurrence section. Then, when the variable i is a number indicating the chronological order of the sudden sound occurrence sections (i=1, 2, 3, . . .), the start time TS(i) indicates the occurrence start time of the i-th sudden sound occurrence section, and the end time TE(i) indicates the occurrence end time of the i-th sudden sound occurrence section.

[0032] The sound control unit 36 ​​sets the initial values ​​of the variables i and m to 1, and sets the initial value of the end time TE(0) to 0 (step S5), and transitions to the sudden sound area identification subroutine SB2.

[0033] Here, Fig. 8 is a flowchart showing the flow of control processing in the sudden sound region identification subroutine SB2. As shown in Fig. 8, when the maximum value V(m) in each section of the averaging processing data SD5 is four times or more the average value α (step S31: YES), the sound control unit 36 ​​assigns the time corresponding to the maximum value V(m), i.e., the occurrence time of the maximum value V(m), to the start time TS(i) (step S32). Then, the sound control unit 36 ​​determines whether the relationship of the following (Equation 1) is satisfied (step S33).

[0034]

number

[0035] In this embodiment, the above-mentioned predetermined front-rear region CL is set to a region of time t shown in the following (Equation 2) (see FIG. 7).

[0036]

number

[0037] On the other hand, in the processing of step S33, if the elapsed time from the end time TE(i-1) of the (i-1)th, i.e., the previous sudden sound occurrence section, to the start time TS(i) of the i-th sudden sound occurrence section is less than 0.3 seconds, the sound control unit 36 ​​regards this as a region where sudden sounds are continuously occurring, does not consider this region as a calculation target region for the calculation required for volume adjustment described later, and ends the series of processes (step S33: NO).

[0038] Furthermore, when the maximum value V(m) in each section of the averaging processing data SD5 is less than four times the average value α (step S31: NO), the sound control unit 36 ​​assigns the occurrence time of the maximum value V(m) to the end time TE(i) (step S36) on the condition that a value has been assigned to the start time TS(i), in other words, that the start time of the i-th sudden sound occurrence section has already been input (step S35: YES).

[0039] Then, the sound control unit 36 ​​adds 1 to the variable i and proceeds to the process of step S6 (step S37). If a value has not been substituted for the start time TS(i), that is, if the start time of the i-th sudden sound occurrence section has not yet been input, the sound control unit 36 ​​proceeds to the process of step S6 (see FIG. 4) without going through steps S36 and S37 (step S35: NO).

[0040] Next, as shown in FIG. 4, if the variable m has not reached the maximum value, that is, if the variable m is a number less than U indicating the final section divided in step S3 described above (step S6: NO), the sound control unit 36 ​​adds 1 to the variable m and transitions again to the sudden sound area identification subroutine SB2 (step S9).

[0041] On the other hand, if the variable m has reached the maximum value (step S6: YES), the sound control unit 36 ​​creates volume adjustment data SD6 by removing data from sections other than the region selected as the calculation target in the above-mentioned step S34 (step S7). Furthermore, if the count N is 1 (step S8: NO), the sound control unit 36 ​​adds 1 to the count N (step S10) and returns to the processing of step S3. By repeatedly executing the processing to remove the sudden sound generation region twice in this manner, sudden sounds can be removed with high accuracy. Note that, in this embodiment, the series of processing to remove the sudden sound generation region is repeated twice, but it may be performed only once, or may be performed three or more times.

[0042] On the other hand, if the count N is 2 (S8: YES), the sound control unit 36 ​​calculates an average value β of the volume adjustment data SD6 (step S11). Then, the sound control unit 36 ​​converts the average value β into a sound pressure level (decibel conversion) using the following (Equation 3) to calculate a correction value Q (step S11).

[0043]

number

[0044] The sound control unit 36 ​​uses the correction value Q to adjust the volume of the voice guidance and various sound effects outputted through the speaker SP (step S12).

[0045] In this embodiment, in step S11, the sound control unit 36 ​​calculates the average value β and then performs decibel conversion to calculate the correction value Q, but the correction value Q may also be obtained by calculating the average value after decibel conversion of the volume adjustment data SD6.

[0046] According to the elevator 10 of this embodiment, the volume of the sound generated from the speaker SP can be adjusted using the correction value Q calculated by removing the sudden (abnormal) sound from the environmental sound. As a result, the volume of the sound generated from the speaker SP can be accurately adjusted to an appropriate volume according to the volume of the environmental sound.

[0047] In the above embodiment, the sound control unit 36 ​​executes the volume adjustment mode immediately before executing the voice guidance, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the sound control unit 36 ​​may execute the volume adjustment mode in the following cases (A) to (I).

[0048] (A) The sound control unit 36 ​​may be configured to execute the volume adjustment mode at the landing 24 on a specific floor at a predetermined time interval (for example, every hour) or several times a day (for example, once each in the morning, afternoon, and evening).

[0049] (B) The sound control unit 36 ​​may execute the volume adjustment mode at the landing 24 on a specific floor for each time period, such as once every few days or once a week, and store the calculated correction values ​​in the memory device 32. The sound control unit 36 ​​may then read out the correction values ​​corresponding to each time period stored in the memory device 32 and change the volume of sounds such as voice guidance generated through the speaker SP.

[0050] (C) When the elevator car 20 is stopped at the landing 24 on a specific floor, the sound control unit 36 ​​may execute a volume adjustment mode separately for when the elevator doors 28A, 28B are open (door open state) and when the elevator doors 28A, 28B are closed (door closed state), and adjust the volume of voice guidance, etc. in the door open state and the door closed state to a level appropriate for each state.

[0051] (D) The sound control unit 36 ​​may be configured to execute a volume adjustment mode at the landing 24 on a specific floor when a maintenance technician performs a specified operation via a terminal such as a computer connected to the car operation panel 40 or the control device 30 during maintenance and inspection, etc.

[0052] (E) The sound control unit 36 ​​may detect the load weight in the elevator car 20 via the load detection unit 23, and store in the storage device 32 the first and second correction values ​​obtained by executing the volume adjustment mode when the detected load value is equal to or greater than a predetermined value and when it is less than the predetermined value. The sound control unit 36 ​​may set the volume of the voice guidance or the like provided through the speaker SP to different volumes by using the first correction value when the load value is equal to or greater than a predetermined value and the second correction value when the load value is less than the predetermined value. In this case, the sound control unit 36 ​​may execute the volume adjustment mode when the elevator car 20 is stopped at the landing 24 of a specific floor.

[0053] (F) In the above cases (A) to (E), the sound control unit 36 ​​may execute the volume adjustment mode not only at the landing 24 of a specific floor, but also at each floor landing 24, for example, when the elevator car 20 is stopped, to calculate the correction value for each and store it in the storage device 32, and may read out the corresponding correction value from the storage device 32 and set the volume of the voice guidance provided through the speaker SP at each floor landing 24 individually. In this case, for example, the volume of the voice guidance provided at the landing 24 of a floor where the surroundings are noisy and the volume of the voice guidance provided at the landing 24 of a floor where the surroundings are quiet can be individually set to a volume suitable for each environment.

[0054] (G) In the above case of (F), the sound control unit 36 ​​may adjust the volume using the average value γ of each correction value obtained by executing the volume adjustment mode at each floor landing 24, and set the volume to the same level at each floor landing 24. In this case, the volume of the voice guidance and the like at each floor landing 24 is the same, so the volume variation can be suppressed and the volume can be set to be within an appropriate range.

[0055] (H) The sound control unit 36 ​​may be configured to execute the volume adjustment mode every time voice guidance is executed via the speaker SP a predetermined number of times.

[0056] (I) The sound control unit 36 ​​may be configured to execute the volume adjustment mode while the car 20 is moving up and down.

[0057] The present invention can be implemented in various forms that include improvements, modifications, or variations based on the knowledge of a person skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the present invention. In addition, the present invention can be implemented in a form in which any of the invention-specific features are replaced with other technologies within the scope of the same action or effect. [Explanation of symbols]

[0058] 10. Elevator 11 Main Rope 12 Lift 14 Support Frame 14U bottom frame 16 Hoisting machine 20 Car 24A, 24B, 24C, 24 Platform 28A, 28B Cage door 30 Control device 34 Operation control unit 36 Sound control section 40 Cage operation panel 46 Emergency call button 46M Call microphone (sound pickup section) S1~S37 steps SB1 Environmental sound acquisition subroutine SB2 Sudden sound area identification subroutine SP Speaker (sound emission part) X,Y horizontal direction Z vertical direction

Claims

1. An elevator having a function for adjusting the volume of sound generated from a sound emitting unit installed in the elevator car, The car is provided with a car door for passengers to board and disembark, A microphone for communication installed in the car; A sound control unit that controls the sound emitted from the sound emitting unit; Equipped with the sound control unit calculates frequency characteristic correction data in which a sound in a low frequency range in the environmental sound is corrected so that the environmental sound picked up through the call microphone approaches an actual sound, performs a weighting process on the frequency characteristic correction data in consideration of human hearing, and has a volume adjustment mode in which a volume of the sound emitted from the sound emission unit is adjusted using the correction value calculated by removing a sudden sound, and executes the volume adjustment mode when the car door is open and when the car door is closed. Elevator.

2. An elevator having a function for adjusting the volume of sound generated from a sound emitting unit installed in the elevator car, A microphone for communication installed in the car; A sound control unit that controls the sound emitted from the sound emitting unit; Equipped with The sound control unit calculates frequency characteristic correction data in which a sound in a low frequency range in the environmental sound is corrected so that the environmental sound picked up through the call microphone approaches an actual sound, and performs a weighting process on the frequency characteristic correction data in consideration of human hearing, and has a volume adjustment mode in which the volume of the sound emitted from the sound emission unit is adjusted using the correction value calculated by removing sudden sounds, and the volume adjustment mode is executed when the elevator car is stopped at each landing. Elevator.

3. An elevator having a function for adjusting the volume of sound generated from a sound emitting unit installed in the elevator car, The car includes a load detection unit that detects a load, A microphone for communication installed in the car; A sound control unit that controls the sound emitted from the sound emitting unit; Equipped with The sound control unit calculates frequency characteristic correction data in which a sound in a low frequency range in the environmental sound is corrected so that the environmental sound picked up through the call microphone approaches an actual sound, and performs a weighting process on the frequency characteristic correction data taking into consideration human hearing, and has a volume adjustment mode in which the volume of the sound emitted from the sound emission unit is adjusted using the correction value calculated by removing sudden sounds, and executes the volume adjustment mode when the load detected by the load detection unit is equal to or greater than a predetermined value and when the load is less than the predetermined value, respectively, to adjust the volume of the sound emitted from the sound emission unit. Elevator.

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