Linkage device and elevator system

Abstract

Provided is a cooperation device for enabling a self-propelled mobile body to safely get on and off an elevator car. 【Solution means】According to an embodiment, the cooperation device includes a step amount detection unit and an operation cooperation unit. The step amount detection unit detects the step amount between the floor surface of the elevator car and the floor surface of the landing when the self-propelled mobile body applies its own weight to both the floor surface of the elevator car and the floor surface of the landing. When the operation cooperation unit recognizes that the step amount detected by the step amount detection unit is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, the operation of the mobile body is stopped, and the elevator car is moved so that the floor surface of the elevator car matches the floor surface of the landing.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Embodiments of the present invention relate to an associated device and an elevator system.

Background Art

[0002] In a building, mobile bodies such as self-driving robots are being used for security and luggage transportation. Such a mobile body can move to each floor in the building by using the elevator car in conjunction with an elevator system.

[0003] When the mobile body enters the elevator car, if the front wheels of the mobile body enter the car and the front and rear wheels straddle the floor surface of the car and the landing floor surface, part of the weight of the mobile body is applied to the car, and the car may move downward. Also, when the mobile body gets off the car onto the landing, if the front wheels of the mobile body get off onto the landing and the front and rear wheels straddle the floor surface of the landing and the floor surface of the car, part of the weight of the mobile body is applied to the landing, and the car may move upward.

[0004] When the car moves downward or upward with the front and rear wheels of the mobile body straddling the floor surface of the car and the floor surface of the landing in this way, a step is generated between the floor surface of the car and the floor surface of the landing.

[0005] When a step is generated between the floor surface of the car and the floor surface of the landing, the mobile body may stop without being able to proceed over the step. In view of this, an area including the floor surface of the car and the floor surface of the landing is photographed by an imaging device installed in the car during boarding and alighting of the mobile body, and when it is detected by analyzing the photographed imaging information that a step has occurred between these floor surfaces and the mobile body has stopped, there is a technique of raising and lowering the car to eliminate the step and performing floor alignment (for example, Patent Document 1).

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0006]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0007] However, when the amount of step generated between the floor surface of the car and the floor surface of the landing is not large enough to prevent the moving body from proceeding but is large enough to cause a risk of losing balance during movement, the floor alignment is not performed by the above-described technique, and there is a problem that the moving body may not be able to avoid falling.

[0008] The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a cooperation device and an elevator system that enable a self-propelled moving body to safely get on and off an elevator car.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0009] According to an embodiment for achieving the above object, the cooperation device includes a step amount detection unit and an operation cooperation unit. The step amount detection unit detects the amount of step between the floor surface of the car and the floor surface of the landing that occurs when a self-propelled moving body applies its own weight to both the floor surface of the elevator car and the floor surface of the landing. When the operation cooperation unit recognizes that the amount of step detected by the step amount detection unit is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, it stops the operation of the moving body and moves the car so that the floor surface of the car matches the floor surface of the landing.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0010]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4A

Figure 4B

Figure 5A

Figure 5B

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0011] Hereinafter, as an embodiment of the present invention, an elevator system using a cooperation device that coordinates the operation of a self-driving moving body and the operation of an elevator will be described.

[0012] 〈Configuration of an Elevator System According to an Embodiment〉 FIG. 1 is an overall view showing the configuration of an elevator system 1 according to an embodiment. The elevator system 1 includes an elevator 10, a self-driving moving body 20, and a cooperation device 30.

[0013] The elevator 10 includes a hoisting machine 12 installed above the hoistway 11 of a building, a rope 13 wound around the hoisting machine 12, a car 14 suspended from one end of the rope 13, and an elevator control panel 16 connected to the car 14 via a tail cord 15 and connected to the hoisting machine 12 via a communication line. The elevator control panel 16 controls the hoisting machine 12 and the like based on information acquired from devices and the like inside the car 14.

[0014] Inside the car 14, there are a car door 141 and an imaging device 142a installed above the car door 141. At the landing 17 of the building, there is a landing door 171 installed that opens and closes in conjunction with the operation of the car door 141. When the car door 141 and the landing door 171 are opened, the imaging device 142a captures an area within a predetermined distance from the car door 141 inside the car 14, an area within a predetermined distance from the landing door 171 inside the landing 17 on the floor where the car 14 has landed, and an area between the doors of the car door 141 and the landing door 171, which together form a monitoring area AR.

[0015] Figure 2 is a block diagram showing the configurations of the moving body 20 and the cooperation device 30. The moving body 20 uses the car 14 to move to each floor inside the building and has front wheels 21 and rear wheels 22 installed at the lower part, a driving unit 23, a moving body wireless communication unit 24, and a movement control device 25. The driving unit 23 drives the rotation of the front wheels 21 and the rear wheels 22. The moving body wireless communication unit 24 performs wireless communication with the cooperation device 30.

[0016] The movement control device 25 is composed of, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) provided in a general-purpose microcomputer, and controls the driving unit 23 by installing and executing a predetermined movement control program.

[0017] The cooperation device 30 coordinates the operation of the elevator 10 and the operation of the moving body 20 and is installed, for example, at the landing 17 inside the building, the hoistway 11, or a machine room (not shown) above the hoistway 11. The cooperation device 30 has a storage unit 31, a cooperation wireless communication unit 32, and a CPU 33.

[0018] The storage unit 31 has an equilibrium state information storage unit 311 and an allowable step amount storage unit 312. The equilibrium state information storage unit 311 stores equilibrium shape information, which is shape information of the moving body 20 in the equilibrium state as seen by the imaging device 142a. The allowable step amount storage unit 312 stores an allowable step amount, which is the upper limit value of the step amount that the moving body 20 can safely cross. The cooperation wireless communication unit 32 performs wireless communication with the moving body 20.

[0019] The CPU 33 is, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) provided in a general-purpose microcomputer, and constitutes one or more of the following information processing units by installing and executing a predetermined cooperation control program. The CPU 33 includes an imaging information acquisition unit 331, a step amount detection unit 332, an operation cooperation unit 333, and an input / output unit 334.

[0020] The imaging information acquisition unit 331 acquires the imaging information captured by the imaging device 142a. The step amount detection unit 332 detects the step amount between the floor surface of the car 14 and the floor surface of the landing 17 based on the imaging information acquired by the imaging information acquisition unit 331 and the shape information of the moving body 20 stored in the balance state information storage unit 311.

[0021] The operation cooperation unit 333 executes cooperative operations on the elevator 10 and the moving body 20 based on the step amount detected by the step amount detection unit 332 and the allowable step amount stored in the allowable step amount storage unit 312, so that the moving body 20 can safely get on and off the car 14. The input / output unit 334 inputs the operation status information of the elevator 10 and the moving body 20, and outputs the operation instruction information to the elevator 10 and the moving body 20.

[0022] 〈Operation of the Elevator System According to an Embodiment〉 During the operation of the elevator system 1, the process when the moving body 20 stopped at the landing 17 gets into the car 14 to move to another floor will be described. In the balance state information storage unit 311 of the cooperation device 30 of the elevator system 1, the equilibrium shape information of the moving body 20 is stored in advance. Also, in the allowable step amount storage unit 312, the allowable step amount, which is the upper limit value of the step amount indicating the height of the step that the moving body 20 can safely overcome, is stored in advance.

[0023] FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the process executed by the cooperation device 30 when the moving body 20 gets into the car 14. The cooperation device 30 monitors the operation state of the moving body 20 by communicating with the moving body 20.

[0024] When the car body 14 lands on the landing 17 and the car door 141 and the landing door 171 open, the movement control device 25 of the moving body 20 drives the drive unit 23 to rotate the front wheels 21 and the rear wheels 22, and starts the operation of boarding into the car body 14. Also, when the car door 141 and the landing door 171 open, the imaging device 142a starts shooting the monitoring area AR.

[0025] When the imaging information acquisition unit 331 of the cooperation device 30 detects that the moving body 20 is in the operation of boarding the car body 14 (``YES'' in S1), it acquires the imaging information by the imaging device 142a (S2). The imaging information acquisition unit 331 sequentially sends the acquired imaging information to the step amount detection unit 332.

[0026] Here, when the moving body 20 is moving toward the inside of the car body 14 and the front wheels 21 are on the floor surface of the car body 14 and the rear wheels 22 are on the floor surface of the landing 17, that is, when the moving body 20 straddles the floor surface of the car body 14 and the floor surface of the landing 17 and the weight of the moving body 20 is applied to both floor surfaces, the car body 14 moves downward due to the weight of the moving body 20, and a step is generated between the floor surface of the car body 14 and the floor surface of the landing 17. When this step is generated, the moving body 20 is in a state where the front part is lowered and tilted.

[0027] When the step amount detection unit 332 analyzes the acquired imaging information and detects that the moving body 20 has straddled the floor surface of the car body 14 and the floor surface of the landing 17 (``YES'' in S3), it acquires the equilibrium shape information of the moving body 20 from the equilibrium state information storage unit 311 (S4).

[0028] The step amount detection unit 332 collates the acquired equilibrium shape information of the moving body 20 with the imaging information of the moving body 20 during movement shot by the imaging device 142a to determine whether the moving body 20 is tilted (S5). When the step amount detection unit 332 determines that the moving body 20 is tilted (``YES'' in S5), it detects the step amount, which is the height of the step generated between the floor surface of the car body 14 and the floor surface of the landing 17, from the degree of tilt.

[0029] FIG. 4A is a diagram showing a state in which the imaging device 142a installed in the car door 141 views the moving body 20 in a balanced state, and FIG. 4B is a diagram showing a state in which the imaging device 142a views the tilted moving body 20.

[0030] As shown in FIG. 4A, in the equilibrium shape information when viewing the moving body 20 in a balanced state from the imaging device 142a, the length of the moving body in the traveling direction of the vehicle body is recognized as L1. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 4B, in the imaging information when viewing the tilted moving body 20 from the imaging device, the length of the moving body in the traveling direction of the vehicle body is recognized as L2. This length L2 is shorter than L1, and the greater the tilt of the moving body 20, the greater the difference between the lengths L1 and L2.

[0031] Utilizing this, the step amount detection unit 332 determines that the moving body 20 is tilted if the lengths L1 and L2 are different, and further calculates the degree of tilt of the moving body 20 based on the magnitude of the difference between the lengths L1 and L2. Also, the step amount detection unit 332 identifies the tilt direction of the moving body 20 by analyzing the imaging information of the moving body 20. Furthermore, the step amount detection unit 332 detects the step amount between the floor surface of the car 14 and the floor surface of the landing 17 and the moving direction (upward or downward) of the car 14 from the calculated degree of tilt of the moving body 20 and the identified tilt direction.

[0032] The operation cooperation unit 333 determines whether the step amount detected by the step amount detection unit 332 exceeds the allowable step amount of the moving body 20 stored in the allowable step amount storage unit 312 (S6). When the operation cooperation unit 333 determines that the detected step amount exceeds the allowable step amount of the moving body 20 (''YES'' in S6), it recognizes that floor leveling processing for equalizing the height between the floor surface of the car 14 and the floor surface of the landing 17 is necessary. When the operation cooperation unit 333 recognizes that floor leveling processing is necessary, it transmits a stop instruction to the moving body 20 via the input / output unit 334 and the cooperation wireless communication unit 32 (S7).

[0033] In the moving body 20, the movement control device 25 acquires the stop instruction transmitted from the cooperation device 30 via the mobile body wireless communication unit 24, and stops the rotation operations of the front wheels 21 and the rear wheels 22 by the drive unit 23. Thereby, the moving body 20 stops.

[0034] Also, when the operation cooperation unit 333 recognizes that floor alignment processing is necessary, it calculates the moving direction and the moving amount of the car body 14 for aligning the floor based on the step amount detected by the step amount detection unit 332 and the moving direction of the car body 14. The operation cooperation unit 333 transmits a floor alignment instruction to the elevator control panel 16 together with the information on the calculated moving direction and moving amount of the car body 14 (S8). This floor alignment instruction is an instruction for moving the car body 14 so that the floor of the car body 14 matches the floor of the landing 17 based on the step amount detected by the step amount detection unit 332 and the moving direction of the car body 14.

[0035] When the elevator control panel 16 acquires the floor alignment instruction transmitted from the cooperation device 30, it performs floor alignment by moving the car body 14 according to the moving direction and the moving amount of the car body 14 added thereto.

[0036] When the elevator control panel 16 completes the floor alignment process, it generates a floor alignment completion notification and transmits it to the cooperation device 30.

[0037] In the cooperation device 30, the operation cooperation unit 333 acquires the floor alignment completion notification transmitted from the elevator control panel 16 via the input / output unit 334. When the operation cooperation unit 333 acquires the floor alignment completion notification (``YES'' in S9), it transmits a travel permission notification to the moving body 20 (S10).

[0038] In the moving body 20, when the travel permission notification is acquired from the cooperation device 30, the movement control device 25 drives the drive unit 23 to start the rotation operations of the front wheels 21 and the rear wheels 22. Thereby, the moving body 20 resumes moving into the car body 14.

[0039] When the moving body 20 that has entered the car 14 also gets off the car 14 at the destination floor, the processes of the above-described steps S1 to S10 are executed. In this case, the moving body 20 moves from the car 14 toward the landing, and when the front wheels 21 ride on the floor surface of the landing and the weight of the moving body 20 applied to the floor surface of the car 14 decreases, the car 14 moves upward as if it floats, and a step is generated between the floor surface of the car 14 and the floor surface of the landing 17. When the cooperation device 30 detects this step, it stops the operation of the moving body 20, causes the elevator control panel 16 to perform floor alignment, and then resumes the operation of the moving body 20.

[0040] In the above-described step S3, when the step amount detection unit 332 does not detect that the moving body 20 has straddled the floor surface of the car 14 and the floor surface of the landing 17 (\"NO\" in S3), the process returns to step S1.

[0041] Also, in the above-described step S5, when the step amount detection unit 332 determines that the moving body 20 is not tilted (\"NO\" in S5), or in step S6, when it is determined that the detected step amount does not exceed the allowable step amount (\"NO\" in S6), the process ends.

[0042] According to the above-described embodiment, the cooperation device includes a step amount detection unit that detects the step amount between the floor surface of the car of the elevator and the floor surface of the landing, which is generated when the self-propelled moving body applies its own weight to both the floor surface of the car of the elevator and the floor surface of the landing, and an operation cooperation unit that stops the operation of the moving body and moves the car so that the floor surface of the car matches the floor surface of the landing when it is recognized that the step amount detected by the step amount detection unit is equal to or greater than a predetermined value.

[0043] Accordingly, when a large - weight moving body or a moving body carrying a heavy load enters the car and the car sinks downward, or when these moving bodies move from the car to the landing and the car floats upward, the operations of the moving body and the elevator can be coordinated so that the self - driving moving body can safely get on and off the elevator car. At this time, there is no need to provide a new device or function for the moving body, and existing moving bodies can be used.

[0044] In addition, when the operation coordination unit recognizes that the floor surface of the car has aligned with the floor surface of the landing after moving the car, the operation of the moving body is resumed. Thereby, the moving body that has stopped due to the occurrence of a step can resume its operation in a safe state.

[0045] In addition, the step amount detection unit detects the moving direction of the car when a step occurs between the floor surface of the car and the floor surface of the landing, and the operation coordination unit moves the car so that the floor surface of the car aligns with the floor surface of the landing based on the step amount and the moving direction detected by the step amount detection unit. Thereby, the elevator can appropriately perform the floor alignment process.

[0046] Also, in the above - described embodiment, the case where the imaging device 142a is installed above the car door 141 and the moving body 20 getting on and off the car 14 is photographed from above has been described. However, the installation position of the imaging device 142a is not limited to this. As long as the monitoring area AR can be photographed, it may be the side plate inside the car 14, the ceiling or wall surface of the landing 17, etc.

[0047] FIG. 5A is a diagram showing a state of viewing the moving body 20 in a balanced state from the imaging device 142b installed in a direction obliquely upward with respect to the moving direction of the moving body 20, and FIG. 5B is a diagram showing a state of viewing the tilted moving body 20 from this imaging device 142b.

[0048] As shown in FIG. 5A, in the equilibrium shape information when viewing the moving body 20 in the equilibrium state from the imaging device 142b, the length of the moving body in the traveling direction of the vehicle body is recognized as L3. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 5B, in the imaging information when viewing the tilted moving body 20 from the imaging device, the length of the moving body in the traveling direction of the vehicle body is recognized as L4. This length L4 is longer than L3, and the greater the tilt of the moving body 20, the greater the difference between the lengths L3 and L4.

[0049] Utilizing this, if the lengths L3 and L4 are different, the step amount detection unit 332 determines that the moving body 20 is tilted, and further, based on the magnitude of the difference between the lengths L3 and L4, the degree of tilt of the moving body 20 can be calculated. Also, the step amount detection unit 332 can detect the step amount between the floor surface of the car body 14 and the floor surface of the landing 17 from the calculated degree of tilt of the moving body 20.

[0050] Also, the object that the step amount detection unit 332 compares between the equilibrium state and the tilted state of the moving body 20 is not limited to a line segment, and may be the area or shape of any surface within the moving body 20 or a mark attached to the moving body 20.

[0051] Also, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the step amount detection unit 332 detects the step amount based on the imaging information of photographing the moving body 20 has been described, but it is not limited to this. For example, a laser transmitter (not shown) installed in the landing 17 or the car body 14 irradiates a light beam to a predetermined position of the moving body 20, and the step amount detection unit 332 calculates the degree of tilt of the moving body 20 by detecting the reflection state information such as the reflection direction of the light beam, and detects the step amount based on this.

[0052] Also, the step amount detection unit 332 may predict the degree of tilt of the moving body 20 based on the ratio of the weight of the moving body 20 applied to the floor surface of the car body 14 and the floor surface of the landing 17, and detect the step amount based on this.

[0053] Further, the step amount detection unit 332 may calculate the degree of inclination of the moving body 20 based on the weight information of the moving body 20 and the loading status information of the load loaded on the moving body 20, and detect the step amount based on this. For example, information such as when no load is loaded on the moving body 20, when a load with a weight below a predetermined value is loaded, or when a load exceeding the predetermined value is loaded is acquired in advance, and when the moving body 20 gets on and off the car, by considering this information, a highly accurate step amount can be detected.

[0054] Further, the step amount detection unit 332 may detect the step amount between the floor surface of the car 14 and the floor surface of the landing 17 based on the information on the relative positional relationship between the landing door 171 and the car door 141. For example, marks are respectively attached to predetermined positions on the side surfaces that appear when the car door 141 and the landing door 171 are opened, and when the relative positional relationship of these marks is different from the relative positional relationship when the height of the floor surface of the car 14 and the height of the floor surface of the landing 17 match and are displaced, the step amount may be detected based on this displacement amount.

[0055] Also, information on the step amount generated when the moving body 20 got into the car 14 and when it got out of the car 14 in the past is stored, and the step amount detection unit 332 may detect the step amount using this stored information.

[0056] Further, before the moving body 20 gets on and off the car 14, the step amount detection unit 332 is based on the difference between the height of a predetermined position of the moving body 20 that gets on and off and the height of a predetermined position of another moving body of the same type as the moving body 20 that is in the landing 17 or the car 14, and detects the step amount between the current floor surface of the car 14 and the floor surface of the landing 17. The operation cooperation unit 333 transmits the detected step amount information to the elevator control panel 16 and moves the car 14 based on this, so that the floor surfaces may be aligned in advance before getting on and off. By performing the floor surface alignment before getting on and off in this way, the moving body 20 can get on and off the car 14 more safely.

[0057] In the above-described embodiment, the case where the movement control device 25 is installed in the moving body has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the movement control device may be provided outside the moving body 20, and the above-described processing may be performed by the movement control device communicating with the moving body 20 and the cooperation device 30. Thereby, the configuration of the moving body 20 can be simplified.

[0058] In the above-described embodiment, the case where the cooperation device 30 is installed in the building equipped with the elevator system 1 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the cooperation device may be provided at a remote location or on the cloud from this building, and the elevator system may be constructed by being communicably connected to the elevator control panel 16 and the moving body 20 via a wide-area communication network. By constructing the elevator system in this way, the cooperation device can collectively manage the elevators in a plurality of buildings.

[0059] Although some embodiments of the present invention have been described, these embodiments are presented as examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, replacements, and changes can be made without departing from the gist of the invention. These embodiments and their modifications are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are also included in the invention described in the claims and the equivalent scope thereof.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0060] 1... Elevator system, 10... Elevator, 11... Hoistway, 12... Hoisting machine, 13... Rope, 14... Car, 15... Tail cable, 16... Elevator control panel, 17... Landing, 20... Moving body, 21... Front wheel, 22... Rear wheel, 23... Driving unit, 24... Moving body wireless communication unit, 25... Movement control device, 30... Cooperation device, 31... Storage unit, 32... Cooperation wireless communication unit, 33... CPU, 141... Car door, 142a, 142b... Imaging device, 171... Landing door, 311... Equilibrium state information storage unit, 312... Allowable step amount storage unit, 331... Imaging information acquisition unit, 332... Step amount detection unit, 333... Operation cooperation unit, 334... Input / output unit

Claims

1. a step amount detection unit that detects a step amount between a floor surface of an elevator car and a floor surface of a landing when an autonomous traveling type moving body applies its own weight to both the floor surface of the elevator car and the floor surface of the landing; and an operation linking unit that, when it is determined that the step amount detected by the step amount detection unit is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, stops the operation of the moving body and moves the car so that the floor surface of the car matches the floor surface of the hall, before the moving body gets on or off the elevator, the step amount detection unit detects a step amount between a floor surface of the elevator and a floor surface of the hall based on a difference between a height of a predetermined position of the moving body and a height of a predetermined position of another moving body of the same type as the moving body that is located within the hall or the elevator, The operation coordination unit is a coordination device that moves the elevator so that the floor surface of the elevator matches the floor surface of the hall based on the detected amount of step.

2. The coordination device according to claim 1 , wherein the operation coordination unit resumes the operation of the moving body when it recognizes that the floor surface of the elevator is aligned with the floor surface of the hall by moving the elevator.

3. The step amount detection unit detects a moving direction of the elevator car when a step occurs between a floor surface of the elevator car and a floor surface of a landing, The coordination device according to claim 1 , wherein the operation coordination unit moves the elevator so that a floor surface of the elevator matches a floor surface of the hall based on the step amount and movement direction detected by the step amount detection unit.

4. The coordination device described in claim 1, wherein the step amount detection unit detects the amount of step based on at least any of the following: imaging information of the moving body, information on the reflection state of light irradiated to the moving body, the ratio of the weight of the moving body to the floor surface of the elevator car and the floor surface of the landing, weight information of the moving body, loading status information of the luggage loaded on the moving body, information on the relative positional relationship between the elevator landing door and the car door, and information on the amount of step that occurred when the moving body previously got on and off the elevator car.

5. The elevator comprises an elevator, an autonomous mobile body that uses the elevator, and a linking device; The linkage device includes: a step amount detection unit that detects a step amount between a floor surface of the elevator car and a floor surface of the landing that occurs when the moving body applies its own weight to both the floor surface of the elevator car and the floor surface of the landing; and an operation linking unit that, when it is determined that the step amount detected by the step amount detection unit is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, stops the operation of the moving body and moves the car so that the floor surface of the car matches the floor surface of the hall, before the moving body gets on or off the elevator, the step amount detection unit detects a step amount between a floor surface of the elevator and a floor surface of the hall based on a difference between a height of a predetermined position of the moving body and a height of a predetermined position of another moving body of the same type as the moving body that is located within the hall or the elevator, The operation coordination unit moves the elevator car so that the floor surface of the elevator car matches the floor surface of the landing based on the detected step amount.

Images