Safety confirmation system and safety confirmation method

Abstract

To more surely detect an unsafe action of a maintenance worker and reduce an erroneous report and a report failure.SOLUTION: A safety confirmation system includes: a first transmitter 501 provided in an external opening key 401 for opening a landing door; a second transmitter 502 provided on a hook 402 of a fall prevention device; a reception unit worn by a maintenance worker, configured to receive radio waves transmitted by the first transmitter 501 and the second transmitter 502; and a control unit configured to measure a reception signal intensity of the received radio waves. The control unit rings an alarm for urging hooking of the fall prevention device, while the reception signal intensity of the radio waves from the second transmitter 502 is not reduced to a predetermined ratio with respect to an initial value after it is detected that the reception signal intensity from the first transmitter 501 is reduced to the predetermined ratio with respect to the initial value measured at a start of a maintenance work.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 8

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a safety confirmation system and a safety confirmation method for detecting unsafe behaviors of maintenance workers who perform maintenance work on elevators and the like.

Background Art

[0002] An elevator, which is a lifting device, transports people vertically within a building and is an essential device in urban spaces. In order to ensure the safe operation of elevators, regular maintenance inspections are carried out. Usually, the part where people get on and off is called a car. Maintenance inspection work is performed not only inside the car but also on the equipment that controls the lifting and lowering of the car within the hoistway where the car moves up and down.

[0003] In such maintenance inspection work, from the perspective of disaster prevention, there is a need to detect unsafe behaviors of maintenance workers. Elevator maintenance is basically high-altitude work, and it is necessary to wear fall-prevention equipment. The fall-prevention equipment is configured such that a rope with a buffer mechanism called a lanyard and a hook are attached to a full-harness-type belt mechanism in which a shoulder belt, a chest belt, a torso belt, a leg belt, and a pelvic belt are integrated. When performing high-altitude work, it is a principle to hang the hook of the lanyard on a specific locking part to prevent falling. However, if a maintenance worker neglects this operation, there is a risk of falling.

[0004] Therefore, it is desirable to have a mechanism that checks whether the hook of the safety belt is correctly attached to the locking part and issues a warning to the maintenance worker to prompt the attachment of the hook if the worker is working without the hook being attached. Hereinafter, unless otherwise specified, the "lanyard" or "fall-prevention equipment" will be referred to as the "safety belt," which is the conventional term.

[0005] As a technology related to this, there is a technology in which electrical, magnetic, or mechanical connection detection means are provided on the hook and the locking part of the safety belt to monitor the use state of the hook. This technology can detect whether the safety belt is hung on the locking part.

[0006] However, if we are to pursue greater safety, maintenance workers should immediately use their safety harnesses once they enter an area where they require them, and first, it is necessary to determine whether the maintenance worker has entered an area where a safety harness is required.

[0007] Patent Document 1 describes a technology for detecting when an elevator landing door is manually opened using a special maintenance key during elevator maintenance work. This technology involves a detection unit that detects the actions of a maintenance worker to determine if the elevator landing door has been opened, and notifying the maintenance worker if the elevator car is not in a predetermined position corresponding to the floor where the maintenance worker is located. This prevents maintenance workers from falling into the elevator shaft. [Prior art documents] [Patent Documents]

[0008] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2020-83535 [Overview of the Initiative] [Problems that the invention aims to solve]

[0009] Incidentally, the next action for a maintenance worker after opening the elevator landing door is to board the elevator car, so the use of a safety harness is necessary. Therefore, opening the landing door is considered an important event before the maintenance worker enters the area where a safety harness is required. Furthermore, a special key carried by the maintenance worker is used as a means of manually opening the elevator door from the landing side during maintenance work. This key is called an "external opening key" or "landing door unlocking key," but hereafter it will be referred to as the "external opening key."

[0010] The technology described in Patent Document 1 above detects external opening based on the results of measuring the acceleration, angular velocity, and electromyography of the maintenance worker's arm using a detection unit attached to the maintenance worker. However, this requires more consideration for the reproducibility of actions such as the magnitude and speed of movement, as well as individual differences. With such conventional technologies, the detection accuracy is low, resulting in many false alarms and missed alarms due to false detections of the maintenance worker's movements.

[0011] Given the above situation, there was a need for a method that could more reliably detect unsafe behavior by maintenance workers and reduce false alarms and missed reports. [Means for solving the problem]

[0012] To solve the above problems, one aspect of the present invention is a safety confirmation system for confirming the safety of maintenance work on an elevator. This safety confirmation system comprises a first transmitter attached to an external release key for manually opening the landing door from the outside, a second transmitter attached to a hook of a fall arrest device, a receiver worn by a maintenance worker that receives radio waves transmitted by the first transmitter and radio waves transmitted by the second transmitter, and a control unit that measures the received signal strength of the radio waves received by the receiver. The control unit, at the start of maintenance work, measures the received signal strength of the radio waves emitted from the first transmitter attached to the external release key and the received signal strength of the radio waves emitted from the second transmitter attached to the hook of the fall arrest device using a receiving unit, and sets these as initial values ​​for the received signal strength. Then, after detecting that the received signal strength of the radio waves emitted from the first transmitter has decreased to a predetermined ratio relative to the initial value, the control unit sounds an alarm prompting the hook of the fall arrest device as long as the received signal strength of the radio waves emitted from the second transmitter has not decreased to a predetermined ratio relative to the initial value. [Effects of the Invention]

[0013] According to at least one aspect of the present invention, by detecting the hooking of a fall arrest device in combination with the detection of an external opening operation, unsafe actions by maintenance workers can be detected more reliably, and false alarms and missed reports can be reduced. Problems, configurations, and effects other than those described above will be clarified by the following description of the embodiments.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0014] [Figure 1] It is a diagram schematically showing an elevator landing and an elevator car. [Figure 2] It is a schematic diagram on top of an elevator car. [Figure 3] It is a diagram showing a typical process from the opening of the landing door by an elevator maintenance worker to the hanging of the safety belt hook. [Figure 4] It is a schematic diagram of a maintenance worker wearing a full harness type fall arrest device according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 5] It is a diagram showing an example of an external release key with a transmitter attached and a safety belt hook according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 6] It is a diagram showing how a maintenance worker operates an external release key. [Figure 7] It is a diagram showing how a maintenance worker hangs a safety belt hook. [Figure 8] It is a diagram showing an overview of a safety confirmation system according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 9] It is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the control system of a receiver (information control device) according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 10] It is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the control system of a transmitter according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 11] It is a diagram showing the flow of work management processing by a safety confirmation system according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 12] It is a graph showing an example of the received signal strength from transmitters attached to an external release key and a safety belt hook during maintenance work. [Figure 13] It is a graph showing another example of the received signal strength from transmitters attached to an external release key and a safety belt hook during maintenance work. [Figure 14]As a modification example of the safety confirmation system according to an embodiment of the present invention, it is a diagram showing an example of a configuration in which an information control device provided with an action detection program and a receiver are separated.

Embodiment for Carrying Out the Invention

[0015] Hereinafter, examples of embodiments for carrying out the present invention (hereinafter referred to as "embodiments") will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In this specification and the accompanying drawings, the same reference numerals are given to the same components or components having substantially the same functions, and redundant explanations are omitted.

[0016] <Overview of Elevator> First, an overview of an elevator, which is an example of a lift, will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing a landing of an elevator and an elevator car. FIG. 2 is a schematic view of the elevator car top.

[0017] As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a landing door 101 is provided at the landing (floor 102) of the elevator. When the elevator car 103 (a structure into which people get on) arrives at the floor of the destination floor, the landing door 101 opens. On the car 103, a connection part 201 of an elevator rope 205, a control device (not shown), a safety fence 202, an eyebolt 203, etc. are provided. The control device controls the operations of an operation panel, a display device, etc. inside the car 103. The eyebolt 203 is a locking part for hanging a hook when transporting the car 103 with a heavy machine, but it is also used as a locking part for hanging a hook 402 of a safety belt (see FIGS. 4 and 5).

[0018] The car top switch 204 is installed behind the ceiling of the car 103 and is a maintenance switch used during maintenance work. By manually switching the on / off of the car top switch 204 by a maintenance worker, the state of starting or stopping work of the car top switch 204 can be switched. A signal indicating the state of the car top switch 204 is transmitted to a computer 804 (see FIG. 8) of a work monitoring sensor via wireless communication through the control device.

[0019] <The process from opening the boarding doors to attaching the safety harness hooks> Next, we will explain the process from the elevator maintenance worker opening the landing doors to the hooking of the safety harness, referring to Figure 3. Figure 3 shows a typical process from opening the landing door 101 by an elevator maintenance worker to hooking the safety harness.

[0020] First, the maintenance worker inserts the external release key 401 (see Figures 4 and 5) into the keyhole 104 to unlock the landing door 101 (S301). Next, the maintenance worker manually opens the landing door 101 (S302). When the landing door 101 opens, the car-side door also opens in accordance with the movement of the landing door 101. The landing doors 101, which have opened to the left and right, are designed to close naturally by the force of a spring, so a stopper device is placed in the center to prevent the landing doors 101 from closing (S303). Next, the maintenance worker operates the car-top switch 204 installed on the car 103 (S304) to input to the control device that work will be performed on the car 103. Then, the maintenance worker attaches the hook 402 of the safety harness to the eyebolt 203 (S305) and begins work on the car-top 103 (S306).

[0021] <Maintenance worker wearing fall protection equipment> Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of a maintenance worker wearing a full-body harness type fall protection device according to this embodiment. The fall protection equipment is designed to safely support the body of a maintenance worker in the event of a fall from a height. When performing work, the maintenance worker wears an external release key 401, a safety harness hook 402, and a receiver 403 on specific locations on their body. The receiver 403 receives weak radio waves emitted from transmitters attached to the external release key 401 and the safety harness hook 402, and analyzes the received radio waves to determine the maintenance worker's work procedure.

[0022] <External release key with transmitter attached and safety harness hook> Figure 5 shows an example of an external release key 401 and a safety harness hook 402 with a transmitter attached according to this embodiment. For example, transmitter 501 is attached to the part of the external release key 401 closest to the handle. Transmitter 502 is attached to the part of hook 402 closest to the belt. Details of transmitters 501, 502 and the receiver will be explained later with reference to Figures 9 and 10.

[0023] Figure 6 shows a maintenance worker operating the external release key 401. As a means of external unlocking, there are several types depending on the elevator model and manufacturer, such as a type in which a rod-shaped external unlocking key is pushed into the keyhole 104 (Figure 1) as shown here, or a type in which the external unlocking key is inserted into the keyhole 104 and then turned to unlock it. In all cases, from the standpoint of preventing tampering, the keyhole 104 is basically located in a high place, as shown in Figure 1.

[0024] Figure 7 shows a maintenance worker attaching a safety harness hook. Before starting work on the elevator car 103, maintenance workers first take precautions to prevent falls by attaching the hook 402 of their safety harness to the locking part (such as the eyebolt 203) shown in Figure 2.

[0025] <Overview of the Safety Verification System> Next, an overview of the safety confirmation system of this embodiment will be described with reference to Figure 8. Figure 8 is a diagram showing an overview of the safety confirmation system according to this embodiment. In the safety confirmation system 800 according to this embodiment, a transmitter 501 (reference numeral 801) that emits weak radio waves is provided on the external release key 401, and a transmitter 502 (reference numeral 802) is provided on the hook 402 of the safety belt. In addition, a means (receiver 403) (reference numeral 803) is provided to receive these radio waves and measure the distance to each transmitter 501 and 502. The receiver 403 may also have a function to measure the direction of each transmitter 501 and 502 (the positional relationship between the transmitter and the receiver) in addition to the function of measuring the distance to the transmitter.

[0026] First, at the start of maintenance work, the safety confirmation system 800 receives radio waves emitted from transmitter 501 attached to the external release key 401 and radio waves emitted from transmitter 502 attached to the safety harness hook 402 using a receiver 403 worn by the maintenance worker, and measures the distance (and direction) to transmitters 501 and 502. The safety confirmation system 800 then uses the value measured at the start of maintenance work as the initial value.

[0027] Next, the safety confirmation system 800 detects that the received signal strength of the radio waves emitted from the transmitter 501 attached to the external release key 401 has decreased to a predetermined ratio relative to the initial value. When the received signal strength from the transmitter 501 decreases to a predetermined ratio relative to the initial value, it can be determined that the distance between the external release key 401 and the receiver 403 has become longer than the predetermined distance relative to the initial state.

[0028] Subsequently, the safety confirmation system 800 determines whether the received signal strength of the radio waves emitted from the transmitter 502 attached to the safety harness hook 402 has decreased to a predetermined ratio relative to the initial value, that is, whether the distance between the hook 402 and the receiver 403 has changed relative to the initial state.

[0029] Here, the safety confirmation system 800 assumes that the maintenance worker is taking unsafe actions if the received signal strength from the transmitter 502 of the hook 402 does not change. For this reason, the safety confirmation system 800 sounds an alarm prompting the worker to attach the safety harness hook as long as the distance between the hook 402 and the receiver 403 has not changed from the initial state.

[0030] The safety confirmation system 800 then stops sounding the alarm when it detects that the distance between the hook 402 and the receiver 403 has increased beyond the initial state. Conversely, if the alarm continues to sound for a certain period of time or longer, the safety confirmation system 800 determines that an abnormal condition has occurred and notifies the computer 804 at the work monitoring center. Details of these processes will be explained later with reference to Figure 11.

[0031] In this way, the safety confirmation system 800 estimates the work procedure of the elevator maintenance worker based on the distance (and direction) from the tools the maintenance worker uses during the work, and if an abnormality is detected, it warns the maintenance worker or notifies the work monitoring center.

[0032] <Configuration of the control system of the receiver (information control device)> Next, the configuration of the receiver control system according to this embodiment will be described with reference to Figure 9. Figure 9 shows an example of the hardware configuration of the control system of the receiver (information control device) according to this embodiment. As shown in Figure 9, in this embodiment, a portable information control device 900 such as a mobile phone (smartphone) or wearable terminal is used as the receiver 403 in Figure 8.

[0033] The information control device 900 includes a controller 901, an input device 910, an output device 911, and a receiving device 912. The controller 901 controls each piece of hardware operating within the information control device 900. The controller 901 is hardware used as a so-called computer and has the following configuration.

[0034] The CPU 902 (Central Processing Unit) is a processing unit that loads programs stored in the ROM 904 (Read-only memory) and non-volatile storage 905 into the RAM 903 (Random-access memory) and executes calculations. By executing calculations, the CPU 902 comprehensively controls each piece of hardware within the controller 901. Alternatively, a processing unit such as an MPU (Micro-Processing Unit) may be provided instead of the CPU 902. The CPU 902, along with the RAM 903 and / or ROM 904, constitute the control unit.

[0035] RAM903 is volatile memory and serves as work memory for the CPU902 during processing. RAM903 temporarily stores necessary data while the CPU902 is executing a program.

[0036] ROM904 is a non-volatile memory that stores the BIOS (Basic Input / Output System) and firmware, which are executed by the CPU902 when the information control unit 900 starts up.

[0037] The non-volatile storage 905 is an auxiliary storage device that stores data in a non-volatile manner. The non-volatile storage 905 stores programs (for example, work management applications) and control data that are calculated and executed by the CPU 902. In this embodiment, programs and various data that provide the functions described below are pre-installed in the non-volatile storage 905.

[0038] The Network I / F906 is an interface board responsible for controlling data communication with external devices, and it performs wireless communication with external devices via access points (not shown) and other means.

[0039] The input interface 907 is a group of interfaces that control the input and output of signals to and from the input device 910. The output interface 908 is a group of interfaces that receive instructions from the CPU 902 to cause the output device 111 to draw images or output sound.

[0040] The input device 110 may be, for example, a keyboard, mouse, touch panel, or microphone. The output device 111 may be a display device such as an LCD display for displaying images, or a speaker for providing voice notifications. The output device 111 may also be a vibration generator for generating vibrations.

[0041] The receiving interface 909 is an interface that controls the reception of radio waves transmitted from external devices to the receiving device 912. The receiving device 912 is a short-range wireless communication device (an example of a receiving unit) that receives radio waves transmitted from external devices. For example, the receiving device 912 has specifications compliant with Bluetooth®, one of the standards for short-range wireless communication, or an extended specification thereof. Alternatively, the receiving device 912 may have specifications using ultra-wideband wireless communication technology such as UWB (Ultra Wide Band). By applying UWB to the receiving device 912, the position (distance and direction) of the transmitter can be measured with high precision in a limited space while consuming low power.

[0042] <Configuration of the transmitter's control system> Next, the configuration of the control system of the transmitter according to this embodiment will be described with reference to Figure 10. Figure 10 shows an example of the hardware configuration of the control system of the transmitter according to this embodiment. Here, the hardware configuration of transmitter 501 will be described, but transmitter 502 has a similar configuration.

[0043] The transmitter 501 includes a controller 1001 having a CPU 1002, RAM 1003, and ROM 1004, an input I / F 1005, a transmission I / F 1006, an input device 1010, and a transmission device 1011. Hardware with the same names as those in Figure 9 basically has the same hardware function.

[0044] The input I / F 1005 is a group of interfaces that control the input and output of signals to and from the input device 1010. The input device 1010 is, for example, a power button. When the power button is operated to turn on the power, power is supplied to each piece of hardware in the transmitter 501, including the controller 1001. Alternatively, power may be supplied to the transmitter 501 by inserting batteries instead of operating the power button.

[0045] The transmit interface 1006 is an interface that controls the transmission of radio waves to external devices with respect to the transmit device 1011. The transmit interface 1005 controls the transmitter device 1011 to transmit radio waves while power is supplied to the transmitter.

[0046] The transmitting device 1011 is a short-range wireless communication device that emits weak radio waves accompanied by information of a unique identifier (e.g., the transmitter's identification number). For example, the transmitting device 1011 has specifications compliant with Bluetooth or its extended specifications. Alternatively, the transmitting device 1011 may have specifications using ultra-wideband wireless communication technology such as UWB.

[0047] A receiver 403 (information control device 900) located in close proximity to transmitters 501 and 502 can identify which device the radio waves originated from by using an identifier included in the received signal obtained from the radio waves.

[0048] Transmitters 501 and 502 can be configured to execute programs and perform advanced processing, but they only need to have the ability to transmit radio waves.

[0049] The safety confirmation system 800 of this embodiment comprises wireless communication devices: transmitters 501 and 502 attached to the external release key 401 and the safety harness hook 402, and a receiver 403 (information control device 900). By having these wireless communication devices, the safety confirmation system 800 can determine that a maintenance worker has opened the landing door 101 and that the maintenance worker has attached the safety harness hook 402 to the locking part. If the safety confirmation system 800 detects that the maintenance worker has not performed these actions, i.e., that the maintenance worker is taking unsafe actions, it issues a warning (a notification to alert the maintenance worker). The details of this embodiment will be described below.

[0050] <Work Management Process Flow> Next, the flow of the work management process (action detection process) by the safety confirmation system 800 according to this embodiment will be explained with reference to Figure 11.

[0051] Figure 11 shows the workflow of the work management process by the safety confirmation system 800 according to this embodiment. Figure 11 shows an example in which the work procedure of a maintenance worker is determined based on the strength of the received signal, that is, the change in the distance between the transmitter and the receiver, and an alert is output depending on the situation. The work management procedure in this embodiment is programmed and implemented as one of the functions of the work management application installed on the information control device 900 (receiver 403). The work management application is for supporting the work of maintenance workers and for managers to understand the work status.

[0052] In the information control device 900, when the control unit (CPU 902) detects that a maintenance worker has notified the work management application of "start work" when starting work, the work management application automatically starts the "action detection processing program" (S1101). Notifications of "start work" and "end work" (described later) are made, for example, using the input device 910. Here, the action detection processing program is assumed to be built into the information control device 900 (receiver 403) as a function of the work management application, and alarms are also assumed to be emitted from the output device 911 of the information control device 900.

[0053] Next, the action detection processing program sets the signal strength of the received signals from transmitters 501 and 502, which are attached to the external release key 401 and the safety harness hook 402, respectively, located at a predetermined position on the maintenance worker, as initial values ​​(S1102). The initial values ​​of the received signal strengths for transmitters 501 and 502 are not necessarily the same.

[0054] Next, the action detection processing program monitors whether the received signal strength from the transmitter 501 attached to the external open key 401 has decreased to a predetermined ratio relative to the initial value, based on the received signal received by the receiving device 912 (S1103). For example, if a threshold ratio (30% as an example) is set in advance, and the received signal strength becomes a value smaller than the threshold relative to the initial value (e.g., 25%), it can be determined that the received signal strength has decreased to a predetermined ratio relative to the initial value.

[0055] If the received signal strength has not decreased to a predetermined ratio relative to the initial value (NO judgment in S1103), the action detection processing program executes the judgment process in step S1103 again after a certain period of time has elapsed. In this way, the action detection processing program waits until the received signal strength from the transmitter 501 of the external open key 401 decreases to a predetermined ratio relative to the initial value.

[0056] If the received signal strength from the transmitter 501 of the external open key 401 decreases to a predetermined ratio (YES determination in S1103), the action detection processing program then monitors whether the received signal strength from the transmitter 502 attached to the safety belt hook 402 has decreased to a predetermined ratio relative to the initial value (S1104).

[0057] If the received signal strength from the transmitter 502 of the safety harness hook 402 does not decrease to a predetermined ratio relative to the initial value (NO judgment in S1104), the action detection processing program sounds an alarm (S1105). As long as the received signal strength from the transmitter 502 of the safety harness hook 402 does not decrease to a predetermined ratio relative to the initial value, it is presumed that the hook 402 is not attached to the eyebolt 203, etc. (see Figure 13 described later), and the alarm continues to sound.

[0058] Next, if the alarm continues to sound, the action detection processing program checks whether the maintenance worker has notified the work management application that "work completed" in order to determine whether there is an abnormality (S1106). If the control unit detects that the maintenance worker has notified the work management application that "work completed" (YES determination in S1106), the action detection processing program stops the alarm and also terminates (S1107). When work is completed, the maintenance worker returns the safety harness hook 402 to its original position, so the received signal strength from the transmitter 502 becomes the same as the initial value and the alarm sounds, but the alarm stops upon notification of "work completed". After the processing in step S1107 is completed, this work management process is terminated.

[0059] On the other hand, if the control unit has not detected a "work completed" notification to the work management application (NO determination in S1106), the action detection processing program determines whether the alarm has been sounding for a certain period of time or longer (S1108). If the alarm has not been sounding for a certain period of time or longer (NO determination in S1108), the action detection processing program proceeds to the determination process in step S1104.

[0060] Then, the action detection processing program stops the alarm (S1110) when the received signal strength from the transmitter 502 of the safety harness hook 402 drops to a predetermined ratio relative to the initial value (YES judgment in S1104). When the received signal strength from the transmitter 502 of the safety harness hook 402 drops to a predetermined ratio relative to the initial value, it is presumed that the hook 402 is attached to the eye bolt 203, etc. (see Figure 12 described later). After processing in step S1110, the program proceeds to the judgment processing in step S1104.

[0061] If the alarm continues to sound for a certain period of time or longer in step S1108 (YES judgment in S1108), it is assumed that some kind of abnormality has occurred, and the action detection processing program notifies the computer 804 of the work monitoring center that the alarm continues to sound (S1109). This notification allows the work monitoring center to understand that some kind of abnormality has occurred with the maintenance worker or the safety confirmation system 800.

[0062] <Example of received signal strength> Figure 12 is a graph showing an example of the time-series change in the received signal strength when radio waves emitted from transmitters 501 and 502 attached to the external release key 401 and the safety harness hook 402 are received by the receiver 403 (information control device 900) during maintenance work.

[0063] In Figure 12, the vertical axis represents the received signal strength (RSSI) [dBm], and the horizontal axis represents time. The received signal strength 1201, shown by the dashed line, is the received signal strength from the transmitter 501 attached to the external open key 401, and the received signal strength 1202, shown by the dashed line, is the received signal strength from the transmitter 502 attached to the safety harness hook 402.

[0064] When a maintenance worker removes the external release key 401 from its designated position and inserts it into the overhead keyhole 104 to operate the external release key 401, the external release key 401 moves away from the receiver 403, and after unlocking, the external release key 401 is returned to its original position. Therefore, after approximately 10 to 20 seconds, the received signal strength 1201 from the transmitter 501 of the external release key 401 returns to the same value as the initial value.

[0065] Subsequently, in order to attach the safety harness hook, the maintenance worker removes the safety harness hook 402 from its designated position, attaches the hook 402 to the eye bolt 203, etc., and then returns the hook 402 to its original position when the work is completed. From the time the hook 402 is attached to the eye bolt 203, etc. until the work is completed, the received signal strength 1202 from the transmitter 502 of the hook 402 will be a small value, reduced to at least a predetermined ratio from its initial value.

[0066] <Other examples of received signal strength> Figure 13 is a graph showing another example of the time-series changes in the received signal strength from transmitters 501 and 502 attached to the external release key 401 and the safety harness hook 402 during maintenance work.

[0067] Figure 13 shows an example where the safety harness hook 402 is initially removed from the designated position by the maintenance worker in order to attach it to the eyebolt 203, but is immediately returned to its original position for some reason. In this case, as shown in the received signal strength 1302, the received signal strength from the transmitter 502 of the hook 402 becomes the same as the initial value, and the information control device 900 determines that the hook 402 is not attached to the eyebolt 203, etc., and sounds an alarm.

[0068] As described above, the safety confirmation system (safety confirmation system 800) according to this embodiment includes a first transmitter (transmitter 501) attached to an external release key for manually opening the landing door from the outside, a second transmitter (transmitter 502) attached to a hook of a fall arrest device, a receiving unit (receiving device 912 of the information control device 900) worn by a maintenance worker that receives radio waves transmitted by the first transmitter and radio waves transmitted by the second transmitter, and a control unit (control unit (CPU 902) of the information control device 900) that measures the received signal strength of the radio waves received by the receiving unit. The control unit, at the start of maintenance work, measures the received signal strength of the radio waves emitted from the first transmitter attached to the external release key and the received signal strength of the radio waves emitted from the second transmitter attached to the hook of the fall arrest device using a receiving unit, and sets these as initial values ​​for the received signal strength. Then, after detecting that the received signal strength of the radio waves emitted from the first transmitter has decreased to a predetermined ratio relative to the initial value, the control unit sounds an alarm prompting the hook of the fall arrest device as long as the received signal strength of the radio waves emitted from the second transmitter has not decreased to a predetermined ratio relative to the initial value.

[0069] As described above, the safety confirmation system according to this embodiment sounds an alarm to prompt the hooking of a fall arrest device (safety harness) in conjunction with the detection of the elevator's external opening operation (the operation of manually opening the landing door during maintenance work), and continues to sound the alarm to prompt the hooking of the hook until the use of the hook is confirmed.

[0070] Therefore, according to this embodiment, by detecting the hooking of fall arrest equipment in combination with the detection of the external opening operation of the elevator, it is possible to more reliably detect unsafe behavior by maintenance workers and reduce false alarms and missed reports compared to a method that simply uses a coupling detection means to detect only hooking. Furthermore, according to this embodiment, it is possible to detect unsafe behavior by maintenance workers at a lower cost than a method of installing sensors on top of the elevator car.

[0071] In the above-described embodiment, the distance between the transmitter and receiver was used, but there are also transmitters and receivers that can detect the direction of the transmitter relative to the receiver from the received radio waves. Therefore, it is thought that the accuracy of action detection can be improved by using directional information, such as whether the external release key 401 is above the receiver 403 or whether the hook 402 is below the receiver 403, in conjunction with distance. For example, it is possible to detect an action such as the external release key 401 moving 50 cm upward away from the maintenance worker's designated position. It is also possible to detect when the safety harness hook 402 moves downward away from the maintenance worker's designated position. Measurement can be performed using UWB or an altitude sensor attached to the maintenance worker's wrist. In this way, by measuring the distance from the receiver to the transmitter and the direction of the transmitter, the actions of the maintenance worker can be detected with higher accuracy, further reducing false alarms and missed reports.

[0072] <Modified version of the safety confirmation system> Next, a modified example of the safety confirmation system of the above-described embodiment will be explained with reference to Figure 14. Figure 14 shows an example of a modified safety confirmation system according to this embodiment, in which an information control device equipped with an action detection processing program and a receiver are separated.

[0073] When using an information control device 900 such as a mobile phone (smartphone) as the receiver 403, as shown in Figure 9, the position of the information control device 900 changes when it is operated, making the action detection process using radio waves complicated. Therefore, in practice, it is considered that the action detection process can be simplified by providing a separate receiver that is fixed in position for the maintenance worker, in addition to the information control device 900.

[0074] The example in Figure 14 shows a configuration in which the receiver 1401 and the information control device 1402 are provided separately. The receiver 1401 incorporates the function of receiving weak radio waves for short-range wireless communication (receiving device 912, etc.) from the information control device 900 into a separate device. This receiver 1401 is equipped with a controller (control unit) that estimates the position of the tool to which the transmitter is attached from the received radio waves. The information control device 1402 is configured without the function of receiving radio waves for short-range wireless communication from the information control device 900.

[0075] The receiver 1401 estimates the positions (distance / distance and direction) of the external release key 401 and the hook 402 based on the received signals from the transmitter 501 of the external release key 401 and the transmitter 502 of the safety harness hook 402. The receiver 1401 then transmits the position information of the external release key 401 and the hook 402 to the information control device 1402. Based on the position information of the external release key 401 and the hook 402 obtained from the receiver 1401, the information control device 1402 estimates the usage status of each tool by the maintenance worker and detects unsafe behavior.

[0076] <Other> Up to this point, we have shown examples of attaching transmitters to the external release key 401 and the safety harness hook 402, but in addition to these, transmitters may also be attached to other tools used by elevator maintenance workers. For example, a transmitter could be attached to a door stopper, which prevents the landing door 101 from closing when it is manually opened by a maintenance worker using the external release key 401, as shown in step S303 of Figure 3, or to a toolbox (not shown).

[0077] Assuming the correct procedure is for maintenance workers to place the toolbox in front of the landing door 101 before starting work, hook the safety harness hook 402 to any desired location, and then move the toolbox onto the elevator car 103. In this case, it is assumed that the received signal strength from the transmitters attached to the external release key 401, the safety harness hook 402, the door stopper, and the toolbox will decrease in the following order according to the correct procedure (see the work process in Figure 3).

[0078] However, if the work procedure is not in this order, for example, if (1) unlocking with the external release key 401 is followed by (3) attaching the safety harness hook, the action detection processing program will immediately prompt the maintenance worker to install the door stopper. In this way, the system uses radio waves emitted from transmitters attached to the tools used by the maintenance worker to infer how the tools are being used. Based on how the tools are being used, the system recognizes the maintenance worker's work procedure and guides the maintenance worker to the correct procedure through notifications, etc., thereby ensuring that elevator maintenance work can be performed safely.

[0079] Conversely, the information control device 900 may be configured to use radio waves from a transmitter attached to a tool used for maintenance work to detect if a maintenance worker has used a tool other than the hook 402 of the safety harness before attaching the hook 402. In this case, it may be determined that the tool was used before fall prevention measures were taken, and an alarm may be issued. In this case as well, the usage status of the tool can be estimated based on the distance from the receiver to the transmitter, or the distance to the transmitter and the direction of the transmitter.

[0080] In the above modified example, radio waves transmitted from tools such as door stoppers or toolboxes can be used to measure the distance and direction between the receiver and the tool, thereby estimating the usage status of the tool.

[0081] Furthermore, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and of course, various other applications and modifications can be taken as long as they do not depart from the gist of the invention as described in the claims. For example, the embodiments described above are described in detail and specifically in order to explain the configuration of the present invention in an easy-to-understand manner, and are not necessarily limited to those comprising all the components described. Also, it is possible to add, replace, or delete other components in some of the configurations of the embodiments described above.

[0082] Furthermore, some or all of the above configurations, functions, and processing units may be implemented in hardware, for example, by designing them as integrated circuits. Broadly defined processor devices such as FPGAs (Field Programmable Gate Arrays) and ASICs (Application Specific Integrated Circuits) may be used as hardware.

[0083] Furthermore, in the embodiments described above, the control lines and information lines shown are those deemed necessary for explanatory purposes, and not all control lines and information lines are necessarily shown in the actual product. In practice, it can be assumed that almost all components are interconnected. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0084] 101…Platform door, 103…Elevator car, 203…Eyebolt, 401…External release key, 402…Hook, 403…Receiver, 501…Transmitter, 502…Transmitter, 800…Safety confirmation system, 900…Information control device, 901…Controller, 902…CPU, 911…Output device, 912…Receiver device, 1001…Controller, 1002…CPU, 1011…Transmitter device

Claims

1. A safety confirmation system for verifying the safety of maintenance work on elevators, A first transmitter attached to an external release key for manually opening the boarding door from the outside, A second transmitter attached to the hook of the fall arrest device, A receiving unit that receives radio waves transmitted by the first transmitter and radio waves transmitted by the second transmitter, The system comprises a control unit for measuring the received signal strength of the radio waves received by the receiving unit, When a maintenance worker begins maintenance work, the external release key, the hook of the fall arrest device, and the receiving unit are attached to a specific location on their body. The control unit, At the start of maintenance work, the received signal strength of the radio waves emitted from the first transmitter attached to the external release key and the received signal strength of the radio waves emitted from the second transmitter attached to the hook of the fall arrest device are measured and set as the initial value of the received signal strength. After it is detected that the received signal strength of the radio waves emitted from the first transmitter has decreased to a predetermined ratio relative to the initial value, an alarm is sounded to prompt the hooking of the fall arrest device as long as the received signal strength of the radio waves emitted from the second transmitter does not decrease to a predetermined ratio relative to the initial value. Safety confirmation system.

2. If the alarm continues to sound for a certain period of time or longer, the control unit notifies the computer at the work monitoring center that the alarm is still sounding. The safety confirmation system according to claim 1.

3. The control unit, In addition to the change in the received signal strength of the radio waves emitted from the first transmitter and the second transmitter, Based on the received signals of radio waves emitted from the first transmitter and the second transmitter, the direction of the first transmitter and the second transmitter with respect to the receiving unit is measured to detect that the external release key has moved upward away from the predetermined position of the maintenance worker, and that the hook of the fall arrest device has moved downward away from the predetermined position of the maintenance worker. The safety confirmation system according to claim 1.

4. A safety confirmation method using a safety confirmation system to confirm the safety of maintenance work on elevators, The safety confirmation system comprises a first transmitter attached to an external release key for manually opening the boarding door from the outside, a second transmitter attached to a hook of a fall arrest device, a receiving unit that receives radio waves transmitted by the first transmitter and radio waves transmitted by the second transmitter, and a control unit that measures the received signal strength of the radio waves received by the receiving unit. When a maintenance worker begins maintenance work, the external release key, the hook of the fall arrest device, and the receiver are attached to a specific location on their body. At the start of maintenance work, the control unit measures the received signal strength of the radio waves emitted from the first transmitter attached to the external release key and the received signal strength of the radio waves emitted from the second transmitter attached to the hook of the fall arrest device, and sets these as initial values ​​for the received signal strengths. The control unit includes the following process: after detecting that the received signal strength of the radio waves emitted from the first transmitter has decreased to a predetermined ratio relative to the initial value, it sounds an alarm to prompt the hooking of the fall arrest device as long as the received signal strength of the radio waves emitted from the second transmitter has not decreased to a predetermined ratio relative to the initial value. Safety confirmation method.

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