Elevator system and elevator control method

Abstract

To improve operability even if a non-contact sensor is added to an operation panel equipped with a contact sensor.SOLUTION: An operation panel (control panel 40) comprises: a contact sensor 42 that receives a contact operation; a non-contact sensor 43 that receives a non-contact operation; and an input processing portion 21 that sends a designation of a destination floor detected by the contact sensor 42 and a designation of a destination floor detected by the non-contact sensor 43 to an elevator control device 10. The input processing portion 21, when receiving a selection of the destination floor by the contacting operation during detection of selection of the destination floor by the non-contact operation, sends the destination floor selected by the contact operation to the elevator control device 10.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 10

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 operated by the user bringing their finger close to the button displayed on the display panel.

[0004] For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a destination floor registration device that includes a plurality of push buttons for a user to register a destination floor, a distance measuring means for detecting the distance between an object such as the user's hand and each of the plurality of push buttons, a control means for registering a destination floor based on the distance between the detected object and the push button, and a detection state presenting means for presenting to the user the detection state of an object for each push button based on the distance between the detected object and the push button. That is, the technology described in Patent Document 1 uses a push button and a non-contact sensor (non-contact sensor). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] JP 2011-162307 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] However, in the technology described in Patent Document 1, when a push button is touched with a finger, if the angle of the finger approaching the push button is oblique to the operation surface, or if another finger approaches the panel surface when the push button is touched, the non-contact sensor may detect an operation on another push button in addition to the touched push button. This causes an unintended button selection, resulting in a problem of reduced operability.

[0007] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned circumstances, and has an object to improve operability even when a non-contact sensor is added to an operation panel equipped with a contact sensor. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] In order to solve the above problems, an elevator system according to one embodiment of the present invention is an elevator system equipped with an operation panel that accepts selection of a destination floor by both contact operation and non-contact operation, the operation panel including a contact sensor that accepts contact operation, a non-contact sensor that accepts non-contact operation, and an input processing unit that sends the destination floor designation detected by the contact sensor and the destination floor designation detected by the non-contact sensor to an elevator control device. When the input processing unit receives a selection of a destination floor by a contact operation while detecting the selection of a destination floor by a non-contact operation, the input processing unit sends the destination floor selected by the contact operation to the elevator control device. Effect of the Invention

[0009] According to at least one aspect of the present invention, even when a non-contact sensor is added to an operation panel equipped with a contact sensor, operability can be improved. 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 a configuration example of an elevator system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of a control terminal of the elevator system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of display panel arrangement in a car according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a display example (ten-key input mode) of the display panel according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 5] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a display example (floor button input mode) of the display panel according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 6] 1A to 1C are diagrams showing examples of displays and their changes on a display panel according to a first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 7] 2 is a diagram showing a first example of the configuration of a display panel and a sensor disposed on a control panel used in the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. [Figure 8] 11 is a diagram showing a second configuration example of a display panel and a sensor arranged on the control panel used in the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. [Figure 9] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a third example of the configuration of a display panel and a sensor arranged on the control panel used in the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 10] 3A to 3C are diagrams illustrating an example of non-contact control during an input operation on the control panel according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 11] 5 is a flowchart showing an example of a destination floor registration process according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 12] 13A to 13C are diagrams illustrating an example of non-contact control during input operation in the control panel according to the second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 13]10 is a flowchart showing an example of a destination floor registration process according to the second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 14] FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of an elevator system according to a third embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 15] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of an operation in a maintenance operation mode on the operation panel used in the third embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 16] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example (first half) of a process during maintenance operation of an elevator system according to the third embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 17] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a processing example (second half) during maintenance operation of the elevator system according to the third 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] <First 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 elevator car 50, and controls the display on the display panel 41 (FIG. 3) with input function disposed on the operation panel 40 (FIG. 3) installed in the elevator car 50, and the audio output from the audio device 44. In addition to the display panel 41, the operation panel 40 is provided with a contact sensor 42 that detects contact input (touch) on the surface of the display panel 41 by an object such as a user's finger, and 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 both a contact operation by the contact sensor 42 and a non-contact operation by the non-contact sensor 43. The control terminal 20 detects the contact input and non-contact input on the display panel 41 by the contact sensor 42 and 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 registered floor display area 41b. In the following description, the input operation includes a non-contact input operation and an operation of directly touching the surface of the display panel 41 with a finger (including a substantial touch).

[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) The configuration of the control system of the control terminal 20 will be described. The control terminal 20 includes an input processing unit 21, an input information transmitting unit 22, a destination floor registration operation processing unit 23, a registered floor display processing unit 24, and a voice output determining unit 25.

[0017] The input processing unit 21 inputs and processes information on the detection state of a finger or the like in contact (touch) with the display panel 41 by the contact sensor 42, and information on the detection state of a finger or the like in non-contact with the display panel 41 by the non-contact sensor 43. Furthermore, the input processing unit 21 determines, from the input-processed detection state information, which display portion of the display panel 41 the finger or the like has come into contact with or approached, and thus a contact operation and a non-touch operation have been performed. 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 signals of the contact sensor 42 and the non-contact sensor 43. Then, the input processing unit 21 determines what kind of input operation (instruction, etc.) has been performed, based on the detected coordinates on the display panel 41.

[0018] The input information transmitting unit 22 performs an input information transmitting process of transmitting information about the contact operation or 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] (Elevator control device control system) The configuration of the control system of the elevator control device 10 will be described. 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, and a destination floor registration / cancellation processing unit 14.

[0023] 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.

[0024] 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.

[0025] 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.

[0026] 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.

[0027] [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.

[0028] 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.

[0029] 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.

[0030] 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 function of the input information transmitting unit 22 is realized by utilizing the network interface 30d. The input unit 30e performs an input process of information relating to the detection state of the contact sensor 42 and 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 .

[0031] 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.

[0032] 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).

[0033] [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.

[0034] The operation panel 40 is provided with a display panel 41, a contact sensor 42, a non-contact sensor 43, and an audio device 44. As described above, the contact sensor 42 detects a finger or the like that touches the surface of the display panel 41. The non-contact sensor 43 detects a finger or the like that approaches within a predetermined distance from the surface of the display panel 41.

[0035] A card reader 32 is disposed below the display panel 41 of the operation panel 40. This card reader 32 is used, for example, to authenticate an IC card carried by a passenger and to register a floor for which security is set as a destination floor. A maintenance switch 45 is disposed below the card reader 32 of the operation panel 40. A maintenance worker or the like operates the maintenance switch to switch the elevator system to a maintenance operation mode. The maintenance operation mode will be described in the second embodiment.

[0036] The display panel 41 is composed of a liquid crystal display panel or an organic EL (Electro-Luminescence) panel, and is disposed 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.

[0037] The contact sensor 42 is a touch sensor that detects a touch operation by an object such as a passenger's finger. In general, the contact sensor 42 is integrally built into the display panel 41. As the contact sensor 42, a resistive film type, a capacitive type, an infrared type, or other touch panel (touch screen) can be used. An infrared type contact sensor has the same configuration as the non-contact sensor 43. That is, the non-contact sensor 43 is configured, for example, by an infrared sensor, and is disposed 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 .

[0038] 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.

[0039] 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.

[0040] 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.

[0041] 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.

[0042] 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.

[0043] [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.

[0044] In the case of this embodiment, the destination floor input mode includes a numeric keypad input mode and a floor selection mode.

[0045] (Numeric keypad input mode) The display shown in Fig. 4 is an example of a display in a numeric keypad input mode. In the numeric keypad input mode, the destination floor registration area 41a is displayed as a numeric keypad, and the user inputs a floor number. 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.

[0046] 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 corresponding operation becomes invalid and the entered floor is not displayed in Entered Floors 103, or the entered floor is displayed in Entered Floors 103 until the registration button 102 is selected, but after selection, a message indicating that the call could not be registered, such as "The elevator will not stop at that floor," is displayed.

[0047] 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.

[0048] 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.

[0049] 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.

[0050] 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.

[0051] (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.

[0052] 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.

[0053] 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.

[0054] (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.

[0055] 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.

[0056] 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.

[0057] 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.

[0058] [First example of the control panel configuration] Next, a configuration example of the operation panel will be described with reference to Figs. FIG. 7 shows a first example of the configuration of the display panel and the sensor arranged on the operation panel 40. As shown in FIG. Fig. 7 shows the same configuration as the operation panel 40 shown in Fig. 3. That is, the operation panel 40 includes a display panel 41, a contact sensor 42 using a touch panel (one example of a touch sensor), and a non-contact sensor 43 (infrared sensor) using infrared rays. In this way, by adding the non-contact sensor 43 to the touch panel type operation panel 40, both touch operation (contact operation) and touchless operation (non-contact operation) of the destination floor are possible.

[0059] 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.

[0060] 7, the multiple infrared LEDs emit infrared rays L from the left side to the right side of the display panel 41 (contact sensor 42). The infrared rays L are emitted parallel to the surface (operation surface) of the contact sensor 42 laminated on 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 (contact sensor 42 such as a touch panel).

[0061] Then, information on the detection state of the contact sensor 42 due to contact with a user's finger or the like (touch input) and information on the detection state of the non-contact sensor 43 due to non-contact with a user's finger or the like (sensor input) are each input to the control terminal 20. Then, information on the contact operation and 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 output signals from 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.

[0062] [Second example of the control panel configuration] FIG. 8 shows a second configuration example of the display panel and the sensor arranged on the operation panel 40. In FIG. In the example shown in FIG. 8, the operation panel 40 includes a display panel 41A, a contact sensor 42A using a physical push button, and a non-contact sensor 43 using infrared rays. The push button can be considered a type of touch sensor (contact sensor) in that it detects pressing (contact) by an object such as a user's finger. The display panel 41A is, for example, integrated with a plurality of push buttons (contact sensor 42A), and it can be said that the push buttons of the display panel 41A have displays embedded in them. In this way, adding the non-contact sensor 43 to the physical button type operation panel 40 enables destination floor button operation (contact operation) and touchless operation (non-contact operation).

[0063] Non-contact sensor 43 has a plurality of infrared LEDs and a corresponding plurality of detectors, which are arranged vertically on the side (for example, the left side) of display panel 41A. Note that infrared rays L emitted from the infrared LEDs are parallel to the surface of contact sensor 42A (push button) arranged on display panel 41A and are positioned several mm to several cm away from the surface.

[0064] Then, information on the detection state of the contact sensor 42A when it is contacted (pressed) by a user's finger or the like (button press), and information on the detection state of the non-contact sensor 43 when it is not contacted by a user's finger or the like (sensor input) are each input to the control terminal 20. Then, information on the contact operation and non-contact operation determined by the control terminal 20 is transmitted to the elevator control device 10. 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 lights up a display arranged on the contact sensor 42A (push button) of the display panel 41A based on the display information received from the elevator control device 10.

[0065] [Third example of the control panel configuration] FIG. 9 shows a third example of the configuration of the display panel and the sensor arranged on the operation panel 40. In FIG. 9, the operation panel 40 includes a display panel 41, a contact sensor 42B, and a non-contact sensor 43 that uses infrared rays. The contact sensor 42B is a non-contact sensor (infrared sensor) that uses infrared rays, the same as the non-contact sensor 43. Here, contact sensor 42B is disposed closer to display panel 41 than non-contact sensor 43. That is, infrared rays Lb emitted from the infrared LED of contact sensor 42B are parallel to the surface of display panel 41 and are positioned about several mm away from the surface.

[0066] Therefore, contact sensor 42B can detect a state in which a user's finger or the like touches the surface of display panel 41, or a state immediately before or after the touch. Therefore, contact sensor 42B formed of an infrared sensor can be used as a touch sensor that substantially detects a touch operation (contact operation) by the user. In this way, by adding the contact sensor 42B to the non-contact panel type operation panel 40 equipped with the non-contact sensor 43, touch operation (contact operation) and touchless operation (non-contact operation) for the destination floor are possible. Note that the operation panel 40 of this example uses two infrared sensors (contact sensor 42B, non-contact sensor 43), which provides a dual system for operation input, improving reliability and availability.

[0067] Then, information on the detection state of the contact sensor 42B in substantial contact with a user's finger or the like (touch input), and information on the detection state of the non-contact sensor 43 in non-contact with a user's finger or the like (sensor input) are each input to the control terminal 20. Information on the contact operation and non-touch operation determined by the control terminal 20 is transmitted to the elevator control device 10. The elevator control device 10 transmits display information to the control terminal 20 based on the information on the user's operation 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.

[0068] Although an example in which infrared sensors are used as the non-contact sensor 43 and the contact sensor 42B has been described, the present invention is not limited to this example. For example, the non-contact sensor 43 and the contact sensor 42B may be configured using radio waves (electromagnetic waves) such as millimeter wave band waves or ultrasonic waves.

[0069] [Example of non-contact control during input operation] Next, an example of non-contact control during input operation on the pendant 40 according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. Fig. 10 shows an example of non-contact control during input operation on the operation panel 40 according to the first embodiment. Here, it is assumed that the operation panel 40 includes a display panel 41A equipped with a contact sensor 42A such as a push button, and a non-contact sensor 43. However, the concept of non-contact control is the same even if the contact sensor 42 in Fig. 7 (e.g., a touch panel) or the contact sensor 42B in Fig. 9 (e.g., an infrared sensor) is used as the contact sensor.

[0070] (Problem 1) First, a problem with the conventional non-contact control during input operation will be described. When a finger F (here, an index finger) operates the contact sensor 42A (hereinafter, referred to as a "push button"), if the angle of the finger F approaching the push button is oblique to the operation surface, or if another finger approaches the surface of the display panel 41A when the finger F presses the push button, the non-contact sensor 43 may detect an operation on another push button in addition to the push button that was operated by contact. Therefore, both destination floor registration by contact operation (contact sensor 42A) and destination floor registration by non-contact operation (non-contact sensor 43) are performed. In this way, there is a problem that unintended button selection (destination floor registration) occurs, resulting in a decrease in operability.

[0071] Here, a specific example will be described of a method for registering the number of the last selected push button when the finger is removed from the infrared rays L (detection area) of the non-contact sensor 43. For example, as shown in the left side (1) of the upper part of Fig. 10, a user attempts to press push button "4" with finger F and moves finger F closer to push button "4". At this time, the non-contact sensor 43 detects the approach of finger F. In the figure, a black circle represents object detection by the non-contact sensor 43, and a white circle represents object detection by the push button.

[0072] Next, as shown in the upper right-hand side (2) of FIG. 10, when the user presses the push button "4" with his / her finger F, "4" is lit and registered as the destination floor. At that time, the non-contact sensor 43 reacts to another finger, and "9", which is different from the destination floor, is also lit and registered. As a result, "4" and "9", or "49" are registered as the destination floor.

[0073] In this way, in the case of a system in which the number of the last selected push button is registered when the finger is removed from the infrared ray L of the non-contact sensor 43, the non-contact sensor 43 may detect another finger when the push button is pressed (contact operation), and a destination floor may be registered by an unintended non-contact operation. Therefore, we propose a method in which, when a destination floor is registered by push button operation (contact sensor 42A), the destination floor registration by non-contact operation (non-contact sensor 43) is invalidated, so as not to reduce operability.

[0074] (Proposed method) The proposed method is a method in which the number of the operation button last detected by the non-contact sensor 43 is registered at the time when the finger is removed from the infrared ray L (detection area) of the non-contact sensor 43. In this proposed method, if a destination floor is registered by a push button (contact sensor 42A) while the non-contact sensor 43 is detecting an object, registration by the non-contact sensor 43 is not performed when the finger is removed.

[0075] 10, for example, as shown in the left side (1) of the lower part, a user attempts to press push button "4" with a finger F and brings the finger F closer to the push button "4." At this time, the non-contact sensor 43 detects the approach of the finger F.

[0076] Next, as shown in the center (2) of the bottom row of Fig. 10, when the user presses push button "4" with finger F, "4" lights up and is registered as the destination floor. At that time, the non-contact sensor 43 reacts to another finger, and push button "9", which is different from the destination floor, lights up, but is not registered.

[0077] 10, when the user removes his / her finger F from the push button "4", other fingers also remove themselves from the infrared rays L of the non-contact sensor 43, but since no registration is performed by the non-contact sensor 43, the push button "9" goes out. As a result, "4" is registered as the destination floor.

[0078] According to the above proposed method, in a method in which the number of the last selected push button is registered when the finger is removed from the infrared ray L of the non-contact sensor 43, it is possible to prevent the non-contact sensor 43 from detecting another finger when the push button is pressed (contact operation), thereby preventing the destination floor from being registered through an unintentional non-contact operation.

[0079] In the example of Fig. 10, an example of non-contact control during input operation on a control panel equipped with a push button (contact sensor 42A) has been described, but the proposed method can also be applied to a control panel equipped with a contact sensor 42 (touch panel). In other words, the proposed method can be used by replacing the push button with a button provided on a touch panel (numeric keypad input mode, floor selection mode). Similarly, the proposed method can also be applied to a control panel equipped with a contact sensor 42B (e.g., an infrared sensor) that detects substantial contact operations.

[0080] [Destination floor registration process] Next, a destination floor registration process that reflects the example of non-contact control during input operation in the proposed method of FIG. 10 will be described with reference to FIG. Fig. 11 is a flow chart showing an example of the destination floor registration process according to this embodiment. Although the description will be given taking the case where the display panel 41 (Fig. 7) equipped with the contact sensor 42 (touch panel) is used as an example, the same applies when it is replaced with the display panel 41A equipped with the contact sensor 42A (push button) in Fig. 8 or the display panel 41 equipped with the contact sensor 42B in Fig. 9.

[0081] 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 S1101). When the non-contact sensor 43 does not detect an object approaching the destination floor registration area 41a in step S1101 (NO in step S1101), the input processing unit 21 ends the processing of this flowchart.

[0082] Then, when an object is detected approaching the destination floor registration area 41a in step S1101 (YES in step S1101), the input processing unit 21 judges whether the area where the object is detected is an operation button in the destination floor registration area 41a (step S1102). If the area where the object is detected approaching is not an operation button in step S1102 (NO in step S1102), the input processing unit 21 waits until it detects an object approaching an operation button.

[0083] Then, in step S1102, if the area where the approach of the object is detected is an operation button (YES in step S1102), 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 S1103). Next, the input processing unit 21 judges whether the object has been approaching for a predetermined period of time or more (step S1104). The operation sound issued in step S1103 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 S1103 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.

[0084] In step S1104, when an object has not approached for a predetermined time or longer (NO in step S1104), the input processing unit 21 repeats the determination in step S1104. 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.

[0085] In step S1104, when it is detected that an object is approaching for a predetermined period of time or longer (YES in step S1104), the control terminal 20 changes the display brightness or display color of the operation button so that the corresponding non-contact selected operation button is lit (step S1105).

[0086] Next, the input processing unit 21 judges whether or not a button touch (contact operation) is detected by the contact sensor 42 (step S1106). If a button touch is detected in step S1106 (YES in step S1106), the input processing unit 21 issues an operation sound from the audio device 44 of the operation panel 40 (step S1107). Next, the control terminal 20 changes the display brightness or display color of the touched operation button so that the button is illuminated (step S1108).

[0087] Then, the input information transmitting unit 22 transmits information on the touched operation button to the elevator control device 10 (step S1109).

[0088] On the other hand, if no button touch is detected in step S1106 (NO in step S1106), the input processing unit 21 determines whether or not removal of an object (finger) from the infrared ray L (detection area) of the non-contact sensor 43 is detected (step S1110). If removal of an object is not detected in step S1110 (NO in step S1110), the process of this flowchart ends.

[0089] After that, in step S1110, if the removal of the object is detected (YES in step S1110), the input information transmitting unit 22 transmits information about the operation button that is being selected in a non-contact manner to the elevator control device 10 (step S1111).

[0090] After the processes of steps S1109 and S1111, the process of this flowchart ends, but the input processing unit 21 executes the process of this flowchart at regular intervals.

[0091] As described above, in the elevator system (control terminal) according to the first embodiment, the number of the operation button last detected by the non-contact sensor is registered when the finger is removed from the sensor wave (e.g., infrared) of the non-contact sensor. In this method, if registration occurs due to a contact operation while the non-contact sensor is detecting an object, registration by the non-contact sensor when the finger is removed is not performed. As a result, this embodiment can prevent registration due to unintentional non-contact operation even if a non-contact sensor is added to an operation panel (operation panel 40) equipped with a contact sensor, thereby improving operability.

[0092] <Second embodiment> The second embodiment is an improvement of the destination floor registration process (FIGS. 10 and 11) according to the first embodiment. Hereinafter, the destination floor registration process according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 12 and 13.

[0093] [Example of non-contact control during input operation] First, with reference to FIG. 12, an example of non-contact control during input operation on the pendant 40 according to the second embodiment will be described. Fig. 12 shows an example of non-contact control during input operation on the operation panel 40 according to the second embodiment. Here, it is assumed that the operation panel 40 includes a display panel 41 integrated with a contact sensor 42 (touch panel), and a non-contact sensor 43. However, the concept of non-contact control is the same even if the contact sensor 42A (e.g., a push button) in Fig. 8 or the contact sensor 42B (e.g., an infrared sensor) in Fig. 9 is used as the contact sensor.

[0094] (Problem 2) As a premise, consider a case where the operation buttons constituting the contact sensor 42 (hereinafter referred to as "touch panel") are closely spaced like a numeric keypad. For example, as shown in the leftmost part (1) in the upper part of Fig. 12, a user tries to press operation button "2" with his / her finger F and brings finger F close to operation button "2" from an oblique angle relative to the operation surface. At this time, non-contact sensor 43 detects the approach of finger F, and operation button "3" next to operation button "2" lights up.

[0095] 12, when the user presses operation button "2" with finger F, operation button "2" lights up and is registered. At this time, since finger F is tilted diagonally, non-contact sensor 43 continues to react to operation button "3".

[0096] Next, as shown in the center right (3) of the upper row of Fig. 12, when the user removes finger F from operation button "2", operation button "2" goes out. The user further removes finger F, but since finger F is removed in the same direction and at approximately the same angle as when finger F approached, finger F or another finger covers infrared light L (detection area) and the reaction (lighting) of operation button "3" continues.

[0097] Next, as shown in the right end (4) of the upper part of Fig. 12, when the finger F and other fingers are completely removed from the infrared rays L of the non-contact sensor 43, the operation button "3" last detected by the non-contact sensor 43 at the time of removal is registered. As a result, "23" may be registered as the destination floor.

[0098] In this way, when the spacing between the operation buttons is narrow and the angle of entry of the finger F is oblique, even if the method is such that the last selected operation button is registered when the finger F leaves the infrared ray L of the non-contact sensor 43, the destination floor may be registered by an unintentional non-contact operation.

[0099] (Proposed method) Therefore, we propose a method in which, when registration occurs by touching a button (contact operation) while the non-contact sensor 43 is detecting an object, the non-contact sensor 43 does not perform detection from the time registration by touching the button until the finger is removed from the infrared ray L (detection area).

[0100] For example, as shown in the leftmost part (1) of the lower part of Fig. 12, a user tries to press operation button "2" with finger F and approaches finger F obliquely to the operation surface. At this time, non-contact sensor 43 detects the approach of finger F, and the adjacent operation button "3" lights up.

[0101] 12, when the user presses operation button "2" with finger F, operation button "2" is lit and registered. At this time, due to the registration of operation button "2", detection by non-contact sensor 43 is disabled, and the adjacent operation button "3" is no longer detected (it is turned off).

[0102] 12, when the user removes the finger F from the operation button "2", the operation button "2" goes out. Even if the finger F or another finger comes into contact with the infrared ray L while the finger F is being further removed from the operation button "2", the detection by the non-contact sensor 43 is disabled, and therefore the button input is not detected.

[0103] Then, when the finger F and other fingers are completely removed from the infrared rays L (detection area) of the non-contact sensor 43, the detection by the non-contact sensor 43 becomes valid. As a result, "2" is registered as the destination floor. The timing for invalidating the detection by the non-contact sensor 43 may be after the registration is completed by touching the registration button 102 (FIG. 4) or after a predetermined time has elapsed since the registration is completed.

[0104] When operating the touch panel, the user slides his / her finger to touch the next operation button without removing the finger from the operation surface. Therefore, as in the proposed method, the non-contact sensor 43 does not detect an object from the time the button is touched and registered until the finger is removed from the infrared ray L (detection area), so there is no button response (lighting and input) from the non-contact sensor 43, improving visibility when selecting buttons consecutively and thus operability.

[0105] [Destination floor registration process] Next, a destination floor registration process that reflects the example of non-contact control during input operation in the proposed method of FIG. 12 will be described with reference to FIG. Fig. 13 is a flow chart showing an example of a destination floor registration process according to this embodiment. Although the description will be given taking as an example a case where a display panel 41 (Fig. 7) equipped with a contact sensor 42 (touch panel) is used, it is also possible to apply to a case where a display panel 41A equipped with a contact sensor 42A (push button) in Fig. 8 or a display panel 41 equipped with a contact sensor 42B in Fig. 9 is used. The contact sensor 42B may be attached to the upper or lower side of the display panel 41. As described above, this embodiment is particularly suitable for a case where the operation buttons constituting the contact sensor are arranged with narrow intervals.

[0106] The process flow shown in Fig. 13 is the same as that in Fig. 11, with some exceptions. That is, the processes in steps S1301 to S1306 and S1309 to S1313 in Fig. 13 are the same as steps S1101 to S1106 and S1107 to S1111 in Fig. 11, so duplicated explanations will be omitted.

[0107] 13, when a button touch (contact operation) by the contact sensor 42 is detected in step S1306 (YES in step S1306), the input processing unit 21 disables detection of the operation button by the non-contact sensor 43 (S1307). Next, the input processing unit 21 turns off the operation button that is being selected in a non-contact manner by the non-contact sensor 43 (S1308).

[0108] Next, the input processing unit 21 causes the audio device 44 of the operation panel 40 to emit an operation sound in response to the button touch (step S1309). Then, the input processing unit 21 executes the processes of steps S1310 and S1311.

[0109] In the elevator system (control terminal) according to the second embodiment described above, if registration occurs by the contact sensor (contact operation) while the non-contact sensor is detecting an object, detection by the non-contact sensor is not performed from the registration by the contact operation until the finger is released. As a result, this embodiment can further improve operability compared to the first embodiment, even if a non-contact sensor is added to an operating panel equipped with a contact sensor.

[0110] As described above, the elevator system (control terminal) according to the first and second embodiment examples is an elevator system equipped with an operation panel that accepts destination floor selection by both contact operation and non-contact operation, and the operation panel includes a contact sensor that accepts contact operation, a non-contact sensor that accepts non-contact operation, and an input processing unit that sends the destination floor designation (e.g., registration) detected by the contact sensor and the destination floor designation (e.g., registration) detected by the non-contact sensor to the elevator control device. Then, when the input processing unit receives a destination floor selection by a contact operation while detecting the selection of a destination floor by a non-contact operation, the input processing unit sends the destination floor selected by the contact operation to the elevator control device. For example, when the input processing unit receives a destination floor selection by a contact operation while detecting the selection of a destination floor by a non-contact operation, the input processing unit invalidates the destination floor selected by the non-contact operation, and does not accept the selection of a destination floor by the non-contact operation until the object operating the operation panel moves away from the non-contact sensor by a predetermined distance or more.

[0111] Here, the non-contact sensor is disposed to the side of a display panel provided on the operation panel, and emits a sensor wave and detects the reflected wave reflected by an object.

[0112] <Third embodiment> In general, elevator systems perform slow upward travel / slow downward travel (hereinafter "slow UP / DOWN travel") by pressing and holding the destination floor button (physical button) for the top floor / bottom floor during maintenance operation using an operation panel. However, when the top floor / bottom floor buttons are not displayed on the numeric keypad screen (numeric keypad input mode) or floor selection screen (floor selection mode), there are no destination floor buttons for the top floor / bottom floor, and UP / DOWN slow travel cannot be selected. In addition, with a non-contact panel type operation panel using a non-contact sensor, it is difficult to hold a finger over the destination floor button in the air for a long time. Therefore, as an elevator system according to a third embodiment, a method is proposed that enables selection of UP / DOWN slow travel and easy continuation of selection confirmation by holding the finger over the non-contact panel type operation panel.

[0113] FIG. 14 shows a configuration example of an elevator system according to the third embodiment. The configuration of the elevator system according to this embodiment is basically the same as the configuration of the elevator system shown in Fig. 1. Below, Fig. 14 will be explained focusing on the differences from Fig. 1.

[0114] The elevator control device 10 of the elevator system shown in Fig. 14 additionally includes an operation control unit 15 in comparison with the elevator control device 10 shown in Fig. 1. The elevator control device 10 in Fig. 1 also includes an operation control unit 15, but its illustration has been omitted.

[0115] 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. Furthermore, when the operation control unit 15 detects that the maintenance switch 45 provided in the car 50 has been turned on, it switches the operation mode of the elevator to the "maintenance operation mode."

[0116] 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 elevator car 50 stopped is erased from the registered floor sequence 107 (FIG. 4) in the registered floor display area 41b.

[0117] Next, the method proposed in this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. Fig. 15 shows an example of operation in the maintenance operation mode on the operation panel used in this embodiment. Here, a touch panel type operation panel 40 (see Fig. 7) equipped with a display panel 41, a contact sensor 42, and a non-contact sensor 43 will be described as an example, but the present invention can also be applied to an operation panel 40 equipped with a contact sensor 42A (Fig. 8) or a contact sensor 42B (Fig. 9).

[0118] (1) By turning on the maintenance switch 45, the display screen of the display panel 41 of the operation panel 40 is switched from the "normal operation mode" to the "maintenance operation mode." In the "maintenance operation mode," pressing and holding the UP travel button 1501 causes the machine to travel at a slow upward speed, and pressing and holding the DOWN travel button 1502 causes the machine to travel at a slow downward speed. (2) In the "maintenance operation mode", an UP travel button 1501 and a DOWN travel button 1502 are displayed on the entire screen. Each travel button is made larger than a predetermined size, for example, larger than the destination floor button 111 (FIG. 5). Since you will be holding your hand out in the maintenance operation mode, it is better for the travel button to be displayed larger.

[0119] At this time, the object detection size setting of the non-contact sensor 43 is expanded to "palm size", which is a predetermined detection size that can adequately detect objects about the size of a palm. This allows non-contact operation to be performed with the entire palm instead of with fingers, making it easy to achieve low-speed driving by holding the hand H out over the object. In addition, by expanding the detection size to "palm size", it is possible to prevent erroneous detection of maintenance operations caused by contact with the elbow of a maintenance worker or baggage carried by the maintenance worker.

[0120] (3) To prevent erroneous operation, low-speed travel is initiated by holding a hand H over the vehicle for a specified period of time (1 second). In the maintenance operation mode, the vehicle travels at a slow speed of, for example, 15 m / min for safety reasons. (4) In order to facilitate fine-tuning of the stopping position when traveling at low speeds, a voice and display will inform the user that the vehicle is traveling at low speed, and if the maintenance worker moves his / her hand H away from the operating panel more than a specified distance, the vehicle will immediately stop traveling.

[0121] Next, a processing example during maintenance operation in an elevator system that reflects the proposed method of this embodiment will be described with reference to Figs. 15 and 16.

[0122] 16 and 17 show a processing example (first half) during maintenance operation of the elevator system according to this embodiment. Connectors A and B in Fig. 16 are connected to connectors A and B in Fig. 17, respectively. First, the input processing unit 21 of the control terminal 20 determines whether or not the current operation mode of the elevator system is the maintenance operation mode based on information obtained from the elevator control device 10 (step S1601). If the current operation mode is not the maintenance operation mode (NO in step S1601), the input processing unit 21 ends the processing of this flowchart.

[0123] If the mode is the maintenance operation mode (YES in step S1601), the input processing unit 21 switches the display screen of the display panel to a maintenance operation mode screen (step S1602). The input processing unit 21 then displays the UP travel button 1501 and the / DOWN travel button 1502 (FIG. 15) on the display panel. Next, the input processing unit 21 enlarges the object detection size setting of the non-contact sensor 43 to "palm size" (step S1603). Here, the method of enlarging the object detection size may be a method in which the control terminal 20 issues an instruction to the non-contact sensor 43 depending on the sensor type.

[0124] Next, the input processing unit 21 determines whether or not a touch to the UP travel button 1501 or the DOWN travel button 1502 is detected (step S1604). If a touch to any of the travel buttons is detected (YES in step S1604), the input processing unit 21 invalidates the detection by the non-contact sensor 43 (step S1605).

[0125] If no touch to any of the driving buttons is detected (NO in step S1604), the input processing unit 21 determines whether the non-contact sensor 43 has detected an object approaching the operation surface (step S1606). If the non-contact sensor 43 has not detected an object in step S1606 (NO in step S1606), the input processing unit 21 ends the processing of this flowchart.

[0126] After the process of step S1605, or when an object is detected by the non-contact sensor 43 in step S1606 (YES in step S1606), the input processing unit 21 judges whether or not an operation on the UP travel button 1501 or the DOWN travel button 1502 is detected (step S1607). The button operation is detected by either the contact sensor 42 or the non-contact sensor 43 depending on the judgment result of step S1604 or S1606. However, assuming a case where a failure continues in the on state of the non-contact sensor 43, if the contact sensor 42 is detected, the detection of the non-contact sensor 43 is invalidated. If an operation on neither the UP travel button 1501 nor the DOWN travel button 1502 is detected in step S1607 (NO in step S1607), the input processing unit 21 repeats this judgment process.

[0127] Then, in step S1607, when an operation on the UP travel button 1501 or the DOWN travel button 1502 is detected (YES in step S1607), the input processing unit 21 starts sounding by the sound device 44 (FIG. 3) (step S1608). Here, sounding is continued while an operation on the UP travel button 1501 or the DOWN travel button 1502 is detected.

[0128] Next, the input processing unit 21 judges whether the selection operation of the UP travel button 1501 or the DOWN travel button 1502 continues for a predetermined time or more (step S1609). If the predetermined time has not yet elapsed (NO in step S1609), the input processing unit 21 repeats this judgment process.

[0129] In step S1609, if the selection operation of the UP travel button 1501 or the DOWN travel button 1502 continues for a predetermined time or more (YES in step S1609), the input processing unit 21 transmits information on the type of the selected UP / DOWN travel button for a predetermined time or more to the operation control unit 15 of the elevator control device 10. The operation control unit 15 starts low-speed travel of the car 50 based on the type of the selected UP / DOWN travel button (step S1610).

[0130] Next, the input processing unit 21 judges whether or not an operation of the UP travel button 1501 or the DOWN travel button 1502 has not been detected (step S16011). If an operation of the UP / DOWN travel button is continuously detected (NO in step S16011), the input processing unit 21 repeats this judgment process.

[0131] Then, when operation of the UP / DOWN travel button is no longer detected (YES in step S16011), the input processing unit 21 transmits information indicating that the UP / DOWN travel button is no longer detected to the operation control unit 15 of the elevator control device 10. The operation control unit 15 receives the information of non-detection of the travel button from the input processing unit 21 of the control terminal 20 and stops low-speed travel of the car 50 (step S1612). In addition, the input processing unit 21 stops sounding by the audio device 44 (step S1613). After the processing of step S1613, the processing of this flowchart ends.

[0132] As described above, in the elevator system (control terminal) according to the third embodiment, in the maintenance operation mode, the input processing unit outputs an image indicating the direction of low-speed travel to the operation panel, and expands the object detection size of the non-contact sensor to a specified detection size that can adequately detect a palm. When an object is detected by the non-contact sensor for a predetermined period of time on the image indicating the direction of low-speed travel, the elevator control device starts low-speed travel of the car, and when an object is no longer detected by the non-contact sensor on the image indicating the direction of low-speed travel, the elevator control device stops low-speed travel of the car.

[0133] In addition, in the elevator system (control terminal) according to this embodiment, it is preferable that the input processing unit disables detection by the non-contact sensor from the time when the contact sensor detects the operation of the travel button until the maintenance operation mode is released. This is because the non-contact sensor has a higher possibility of false detection than the contact sensor.

[0134] In the elevator system (control terminal) according to the third embodiment of the above configuration, a touch operation function (contact sensor) is added to a non-contact panel type operation panel equipped with a non-contact sensor. In such a configuration, after a touch operation is detected (YES in S1604), the touch operation mode is set and the non-contact sensor is disabled (S1605) until the maintenance switch is operated again (on / off). This improves the reliability of maintenance operations on the non-contact panel type operation panel.

[0135] Furthermore, in this embodiment, even if the non-contact sensor has an OFF failure, maintenance operations can be performed by touching the contact sensor. Furthermore, in this embodiment, even if the non-contact sensor has an ON failure, maintenance operations can be performed by touching the contact sensor by disabling the non-contact sensor. Here, an OFF failure is a failure in which the sensor remains in an OFF state when it should be ON. An ON failure is a failure in which the sensor remains in an ON state when it should be OFF.

[0136] <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.

[0137] 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.

[0138] In the first to third embodiments described above, the direction of the scanning lines (sensor waves) of infrared rays or the like emitted by the non-contact sensor 43 and the contact sensor 42 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 lines of infrared rays or the like may be both the lateral direction and the vertical direction.

[0139] 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.

[0140] 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.

[0141] In addition, in the configuration diagrams shown in Figures 1, 2, and 14, 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 processing flows shown in the flowcharts in Figures 11, 13, 16, and 17 are also examples, and as long as the processing results are the same, the order of some of the processing may be changed or multiple processes may be executed simultaneously.

[0142] 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.

[0143] 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]

[0144] 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 table display processing unit, 25... voice output determination unit, 40... operation panel, 41, 41A... display panel, 41a... destination floor display area, 41b... registered floor display area, 42, 42A, 42B... contact sensor, 43... non-contact sensor, 44... voice device, 45... maintenance switch, 101... floor input button, 102... registration button, 103... input floor, 104... cancel button, 105... input guidance, 106... screen switching button, 111... destination floor button, 107... registered floor

Claims

1. In an elevator system having an operation panel that accepts destination floor selection by both contact operation and contactless operation, The operation panel includes a contact sensor that receives a contact operation; A non-contact sensor that accepts a non-contact operation; an input processing unit that sends the destination floor designation detected by the contact sensor and the destination floor designation detected by the non-contact sensor to an elevator control device, when the input processing unit receives a selection of a destination floor by a contact operation while detecting a selection of a destination floor by a non-contact operation, the input processing unit sends the destination floor selected by the contact operation to the elevator control device; the input processing unit outputs an image indicating a direction of low-speed travel to the operation panel, and expands a detection size of an object in the non-contact sensor to a predetermined detection size that can satisfactorily detect a palm of a hand; When an object is detected by the non-contact sensor for a predetermined period of time on the image indicating a direction of low-speed travel, the elevator control device starts low-speed travel of the car, When the non-contact sensor no longer detects the object on the image indicating the direction of low-speed travel, the elevator control device stops the low-speed travel of the elevator car. Elevator system.

2. When the input processing unit receives a selection of a destination floor by a contact operation while detecting the selection of a destination floor by a contactless operation, the input processing unit invalidates the destination floor selected by the contactless operation and does not accept the selection of a destination floor by the contactless operation until the object operating the operation panel is moved away from the contactless sensor by a predetermined distance or more.

2. The elevator system of claim 1.

3. The input processing unit outputs an operation sound when the non-contact sensor receives a non-contact operation.

3. The elevator system of claim 2.

4. 1. An elevator control method for an elevator system having an operation panel that accepts selection of a destination floor by both a contact operation and a contactless operation, A process in which a contact sensor included in the operation panel receives a contact operation; A process in which a non-contact sensor included in the operation panel receives a non-contact operation; an input processing unit of the operation panel sending, to an elevator control device, the designation of the destination floor detected by the contact sensor and the designation of the destination floor detected by the non-contact sensor; when the input processing unit receives a selection of a destination floor by a contact operation while detecting a selection of a destination floor by a non-contact operation, the input processing unit sends the destination floor selected by the contact operation to the elevator control device; the input processing unit outputs an image indicating a direction of low-speed travel to the operation panel, and expands a detection size of an object in the non-contact sensor to a predetermined detection size that can satisfactorily detect a palm of a hand; When an object is detected by the non-contact sensor for a predetermined period of time on the image indicating a direction of low-speed travel, the elevator control device starts low-speed travel of the car, When the non-contact sensor no longer detects the object on the image indicating the direction of low-speed travel, the elevator control device stops the low-speed travel of the elevator car. Elevator control method.

Images