Elevator system and method

Abstract

To make elevator announcements easy to hear while suppressing noise pollution. [Solution] An elevator system according to one embodiment comprises an elevator control system, a wireless announcement device installed in at least one of the elevator car or landing and capable of transmitting wireless signals containing audio data related to elevator announcements to the surroundings, a wireless signal transmitting device capable of transmitting wireless signals containing landing information to the surroundings, a mobile terminal for users of the elevator car, on which an application is installed that allows setting information related to the settings of the wireless announcement device to be set for each user, and a cloud server that is communicatively connected to the elevator control system and the mobile terminal. The user is equipped with an audio device that can receive wireless signals transmitted from the wireless announcement device and reproduce the audio data contained in the wireless signals.

Description

Technical Field

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

Background Art

[0002] Generally, elevator announcements are made by playing voice from speakers installed in the landing or inside the car. However, in such a method, there is a problem that the voice played from the speaker is mixed with ambient sounds and voices, making it difficult to hear. As a method for solving this problem, a method of increasing the volume of the voice played from the speaker can be considered, but in this method, another problem occurs that the voice played from the speaker (i.e., the elevator announcement) becomes noise.

[0003] Therefore, it is desired to realize a new technology that can make elevator announcements easier to hear while suppressing the elevator announcements from becoming noise.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Patent Document 2

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] The problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide an elevator system and method that can make elevator announcements easier to hear while suppressing the elevator announcements from becoming noise.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] An elevator system according to one embodiment includes an elevator control system that controls the elevator; a wireless announcement device installed in at least one of the elevator car or landing and capable of transmitting wireless signals containing audio data related to elevator announcements to the surroundings; a wireless signal transmitter installed in the landing of a predetermined floor and capable of transmitting wireless signals containing landing information related to the landing of that predetermined floor to the surroundings; a mobile terminal for a user using the elevator car, on which an application is installed that allows setting information related to the settings of the wireless announcement device to be set for each user; and a cloud server that is communicatively connected to the elevator control system and the mobile terminal. The user is equipped with an audio device that can receive wireless signals transmitted from the wireless announcement device and reproduce the audio data contained in the wireless signals. When the application is activated in the landing of the predetermined floor, the mobile terminal transmits a setting request containing the setting information set in the application and the landing information contained in the wireless signals received from the wireless signal transmitter to the cloud server. The cloud server identifies the target property based on the landing information received from the mobile terminal and sends a setting change command to the elevator control system installed in the property to change the settings of the wireless announcement device to the settings included in the setting request received from the mobile terminal. The elevator control system changes the settings of the wireless announcement device to the settings according to the setting change command received from the cloud server and causes the wireless announcement device to transmit a wireless signal containing voice data according to the changed settings. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0007] [Figure 1] Figure 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration example of an elevator system according to one embodiment. [Figure 2] Figure 2 shows an example configuration of an elevator control device according to the same embodiment. [Figure 3] Figure 3 shows an example configuration of a wireless signal transmitting device according to the same embodiment. [Figure 4]Figure 4 shows an example of the external configuration of a mobile terminal according to the same embodiment. [Figure 5] Figure 5 shows an example configuration of a mobile terminal according to the same embodiment. [Figure 6] Figure 6 shows an example of the data structure of the property boarding table according to the same embodiment. [Figure 7] Figure 7 shows an example of the data structure of wireless announcement setting information according to the same embodiment. [Figure 8] Figure 8 is an example of the operation of the elevator system according to the same embodiment, and is a diagram illustrating an example of the operation when a user boards the elevator car. [Figure 9] Figure 9 is an example of the operation of the elevator system according to the same embodiment, and is a diagram illustrating an example of the operation when a user disembarks from the elevator car. [Figure 10] Figure 10 is a timing chart showing an example of the operation of the elevator system according to the same embodiment. [Figure 11] Figure 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of the operation of an elevator system according to the first modified example. [Figure 12] Figure 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of the operation of an elevator system according to the second modified example. [Figure 13] Figure 13 is a diagram illustrating the priority order related to the second modified example. [Figure 14] Figure 14 is a diagram illustrating an example of the operation of an elevator system according to the third modified example. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0008] The embodiments will be described below with reference to the drawings. It should be noted that the disclosure is merely an example, and the invention is not limited by the contents described in the embodiments below. Modifications that a person skilled in the art can easily conceive are naturally included within the scope of the disclosure. In order to make the explanation clearer, the size, shape, etc. of each part may be schematically represented in the drawings with modifications from the actual embodiments. In some cases, the same reference numerals are used for corresponding elements in multiple drawings, and detailed explanations are omitted.

[0009] Figure 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration example of an elevator system according to one embodiment. For example, an elevator 10 is installed in a building such as an office building or an apartment building. The elevator 10 comprises one elevator car 11 and an elevator control system 12. The elevator car 11 is supported so as to be able to move up and down on a pair of guide rails erected in the hoistway, and moves between floors in response to landing calls or car calls.

[0010] A "landing call" is a call signal registered at the landing on each floor, and includes information on the registered floor and destination direction. A "car call" is a call signal registered inside the car, and includes information on the destination floor. The "registered floor" is the floor on which the user registered the landing call at the landing, and indicates the floor to which the car that responded to the landing call will arrive. The "destination floor" is the floor on which the user registered the car call inside the car, and indicates the destination floor to which the car will depart from the registered floor. However, in this system, as will be described later, it is possible to register a destination call including information on the registered floor (departure floor) and destination floor using the user's mobile terminal 30, and button operation (operation of the landing button 23 or destination floor button 16) inside the landing or car is not required.

[0011] A car door 13 is installed at the entrance of the elevator car 11 so as to be able to open and close, and a car control panel 14 is provided near the car door 13. The car control panel 14 is equipped with a display 15 for showing the current position and direction of travel of the elevator car 11, as well as various operation buttons including destination floor buttons 16 corresponding to each floor of the building, door open button 17a, door close button 17b, etc.

[0012] The elevator car 11 is provided with a first wireless announcement device 18. The first wireless announcement device 18 is a wireless device corresponding to, for example, AURACAST (registered trademark) broadcast audio (hereinafter simply referred to as "AURACAST"), and transmits a wireless signal including voice data related to elevator announcements (in-car announcements) using Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE).

[0013] The elevator control system 12 includes an elevator control device 12a and a controller 12b. The elevator control device 12a is also called a "control panel" and is installed in a machine room (not shown) provided at the top of the building or at the upper part inside the hoistway. The elevator control device 12a is composed of a computer equipped with, for example, a CPU, ROM, RAM, etc., and performs various controls related to the elevator including the operation control of the elevator car 11, the control of the first wireless announcement device 18, and the control of a second wireless announcement device 24 described later. The elevator control device 12a is communicably connected to a cloud server 40 described later via the controller 12b.

[0014] The controller 12b is an intermediary device having an interface function and a hub function for controlling the communication between the elevator control device 12a and the cloud server 40 and mediating various signals transmitted and received between the elevator control device 12a and the cloud server 40. The controller 12b is installed together with the elevator control device 12a in the machine room at the top of the building or at the upper part inside the hoistway.

[0015] In this embodiment, a configuration in which the elevator control device 12a and the controller 12b are provided separately is shown, but it is not limited to this. The elevator control device 12a and the controller 12b may be provided as one device, that is, a configuration in which an elevator control device 12a having the function of the controller 12b is provided.

[0016] At each floor's landing 20, a landing door 21 is installed at the arrival point of the elevator car 11 so as to be able to open and close, and a landing control panel 22 is provided near the landing door 21. The landing door 21 opens and closes together with the elevator car door 13 when the elevator car 11 arrives. The drive source (door motor) is located on the elevator car door 13 side, and the landing door 21 opens and closes by engaging with the elevator car door 13. The landing control panel 22 is equipped with landing buttons 23 to make the elevator car 11 respond to the landing 20. The landing buttons 23 consist of an up button and a down button to specify the user's destination direction (only an up button is available on the lowest floor, and only a down button is available on the top floor).

[0017] In addition, a second wireless announcement device 24 is installed at each floor landing 20. The second wireless announcement device 24, like the first wireless announcement device 18, is a wireless device compatible with AURACAST and transmits wireless signals containing voice data related to elevator announcements (landing announcements) using BLE.

[0018] In this embodiment, we describe a case where the elevator system includes both a first wireless announcement device 18 installed inside the elevator car 11 and a second wireless announcement device 24 installed at the landing 20 on each floor. However, the system is not limited to this, and the elevator system only needs to include at least one of the first wireless announcement device 18 and the second wireless announcement device 24.

[0019] A wireless signal transmitter 25, such as one using Bluetooth®, is installed at any location on each floor's landing 20. The wireless signal transmitter 25 is used as a "landing beacon" and transmits a wireless signal in a predetermined frequency band. The installation location of the wireless signal transmitter 25 is, for example, the wall near the landing door 21, but is not limited to this; it can be any location within range of a mobile terminal 30 carried by a user who has come to the landing 20.

[0020] The wireless signal transmitter 25 is always ON while the elevator 10 (car 11) is in operation and has the function of transmitting information related to the landing (hereinafter referred to as "landing information") using radio waves in a predetermined frequency band. The landing information includes floor number information indicating the current floor (current landing floor). Furthermore, the landing information includes property information to identify the building in which the wireless signal transmitter 25 is installed (in other words, the building in which the elevator with this system is installed).

[0021] The mobile device 30 possessed by the user is a typical mobile phone, smartphone, tablet, smartwatch, etc. This mobile device 30 has an elevator application 31 (hereinafter referred to as "elevator application 31") pre-installed. The elevator application 31 was developed by a company affiliated with elevator 10 and can be freely downloaded from a website dependent on the operating system (OS) of the mobile device 30.

[0022] Users can use the elevator application 31 to set up boarding information for multiple properties. Here, "property" refers to a building where an elevator equipped with this system is installed. As described later, the user's boarding information includes information on the boarding floor and destination floor (see Figure 6).

[0023] Furthermore, users can use the elevator application 31 to set information regarding wireless announcement settings (hereinafter referred to as "wireless announcement setting information"). In other words, wireless announcement setting information is information that indicates the settings for each user of the first wireless announcement device 18 and the second wireless announcement device 24. As will be described later, wireless announcement setting information includes information indicating whether wireless announcements are used, information indicating the language used, and information indicating the announcement reading speed (see Figure 7).

[0024] When the mobile terminal 30 receives a wireless signal (landing information) transmitted from the wireless signal transmitter 25 at the landing 20, the elevator application 31 is automatically activated. As will be described in more detail later, once the elevator application 31 is activated, the mobile terminal 30 transmits the passenger information and wireless announcement setting information set in the elevator application 31 to the cloud server 40, which will be described later.

[0025] In this embodiment, it is assumed that the user is wearing headphones 32 compatible with AURACAST, that is, the user is wearing headphones 32 that can receive wireless signals transmitted from the first wireless announcement device 18 and the second wireless announcement device 24 and reproduce the audio data contained in the received wireless signals. However, the user may wear, for example, earphones or hearing aids compatible with AURACAST instead of the headphones 32 described above. Headphones, earphones, and hearing aids may also be referred to as audio equipment.

[0026] The cloud server 40 is a server built by an affiliate of the elevator 10 and is connected to the elevator control device 12a via the controller 12b in a communicative manner.

[0027] Furthermore, the cloud server 40 is connected to the user's mobile terminal 30 in a communication-enabled manner. When the cloud server 40 receives boarding information and wireless announcement setting information from the mobile terminal 30, it transmits a call registration command to the elevator control device 12a to register a destination call according to the received boarding information, and an announcement setting change command to change the settings of the first wireless announcement device 18 and the second wireless announcement device 24 to the settings according to the received wireless announcement setting information.

[0028] Figure 2 shows an example configuration of the elevator control device 12a according to this embodiment. As shown in Figure 2, the elevator control device 12a comprises a control unit 121 and a storage unit 122. The control unit 121 further includes a functional unit that performs various processes necessary for the operation of the elevator 10 upon program activation, and here it further includes an operation control unit 121a, a door opening / closing control unit 121b, and an announcement control unit 121c.

[0029] The operation control unit 121a controls the operation of the elevator car 11. More specifically, the operation control unit 121a controls the operation of the elevator car 11 based on destination calls or regular calls (landing calls / car calls) registered in accordance with call registration commands received from the cloud server 40.

[0030] The door opening / closing control unit 121b controls the opening and closing operation of the car door 13 when the elevator car 11 arrives at the landing 20. More specifically, when the door opening / closing control unit 121b detects that the elevator car 11 has arrived at the landing 20 using a landing detection device (not shown), it moves the car door 13 in the door-opening direction to fully open it. Then, after a predetermined time has elapsed, the door opening / closing control unit 121b moves the car door 13 in the door-closing direction to fully close it. The landing door 21 also moves in the same direction as the car door 13.

[0031] The announcement control unit 121c controls the settings of the first wireless announcement device 18 and the second wireless announcement device 24 from their default settings to the settings specified in the announcement setting change command received from the cloud server 40.

[0032] The memory unit 122 stores call registration commands and announcement setting change commands received from the cloud server 40. The operation control unit 121a and the announcement control unit 121c perform various controls based on the call registration commands and announcement setting change commands stored in the memory unit 122.

[0033] Figure 3 shows an example configuration of the wireless signal transmitting device 25 according to this embodiment. As shown in Figure 3, the wireless signal transmitter 25 comprises a control unit 251 and a communication unit 252. The communication unit 252 performs transmission / reception processing of wireless signals in a preset frequency band. The control unit 251 is the part that controls the operation of the wireless signal transmitter 25 and has an information transmission unit 251a. The information transmission unit 251a transmits wireless signals containing landing information (more specifically, landing information including floor number information indicating the floor number of the landing 20 where the wireless signal transmitter 25 is installed, and property information indicating the building where the wireless signal transmitter 25 is installed).

[0034] Figure 4 shows an example of the external configuration of the mobile terminal 30 according to this embodiment. The mobile terminal 30 is, for example, a mobile phone, smartphone, or smartwatch, and is a small terminal device equipped with communication functions. The elevator application 31 described above is installed on the mobile terminal 30. 31a in the figure is an icon indicating that the elevator application 31 is installed. As described above, when the mobile terminal 30 receives a wireless signal in a predetermined frequency band from the wireless signal transmitter 25 installed on the landing 20, the elevator application 31 is activated.

[0035] Figure 5 shows an example configuration of the mobile terminal 30 according to this embodiment. As shown in Figure 5, the mobile terminal 30 includes an input unit 301, a display unit 302, a control unit 303, a voice input unit 304, a storage unit 305, a GPS (Global Positioning System) module 306, a communication unit 307, and a radio wave intensity measurement unit 308, etc.

[0036] The input unit 301 consists of various keys and buttons, etc., and is used for data input and instructions. The display unit 302 consists of, for example, an LCD, and is used for displaying data. Alternatively, the input unit 301 may be a transparent touch panel superimposed on the display unit 302, and data input and instructions may be performed on the screen of the display unit 302.

[0037] The control unit 303 consists of a CPU and executes various functions by starting a predetermined program. The control unit 303 has a function to request the registration of destination calls in accordance with the elevator application 31. The control unit 303 also has a function to request that the settings of the first wireless announcement device 18 and the second wireless announcement device 24 be changed from the default settings to the settings in accordance with the elevator application 31.

[0038] The audio input unit 304 consists of a microphone for inputting audio and a speaker for outputting audio. The storage unit 305 consists of memory devices such as ROM and RAM, and stores various programs, including the elevator application 31. The storage unit 305 also stores a property passenger table 305a containing passenger information for each property, and wireless announcement setting information 305b.

[0039] Here, with reference to Figures 6 and 7, the passenger boarding table 305a and the wireless announcement setting information 305b will be explained in detail. Figure 6 shows an example of the data structure of the property boarding table 305a according to this embodiment. As shown in Figure 6, the property boarding table 305a stores user boarding information set for each property using the elevator application 31. The boarding information includes information on the user's boarding floor and destination floor. Properties a, b, and c in the figure are, for example, residential apartments, head office buildings, branch office buildings, etc., and are properties where elevators that users use on a daily basis are installed.

[0040] Figure 7 shows an example of the data structure of the wireless announcement setting information 305b according to this embodiment. As shown in Figure 7, the wireless announcement setting information 305b is information that links together, for example, information indicating whether or not wireless announcements are used (whether or not the voice data included in the wireless signals transmitted from the first wireless announcement device 18 and the second wireless announcement device 24 is available), information indicating the language used (the language in which the elevator announcement is read aloud from the headphones 32 when the voice data is played), and information indicating the reading speed of the announcement.

[0041] Figure 7 illustrates a case where information indicating whether or not wireless announcements will be used ("to be used"), information indicating the language to be used ("Japanese"), and information indicating the announcement reading speed ("slow") are linked to each other. This indicates that a user who has set the wireless announcement setting information 305b shown in Figure 7 wishes to "use" wireless announcements, wishes to have the announcements read in "Japanese", and wishes to have the announcements read at a "slow" speed.

[0042] Let's return to the explanation of Figure 5. The GPS module 306 is used to detect the current location. The communication unit 307 is a general-purpose interface for wireless communication with external devices such as the wireless signal transmitter 25 and the cloud server 40, enabling long-distance wireless communication using the public network and short-distance wireless communication such as Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.

[0043] The radio wave intensity measuring unit 308 measures the radio wave intensity of the radio signals transmitted from the first radio announcement device 18 and the second radio announcement device 24.

[0044] According to the elevator system of this embodiment, a user can register a destination call corresponding to pre-set passenger information in the elevator application 31 simply by going to the landing 20 with a mobile terminal 30 and headphones 32 compatible with AURACAST, and can also change the settings of the first wireless announcement device 18 and the second wireless announcement device 24 from the default settings to settings (their own settings) corresponding to the wireless announcement setting information pre-set in the elevator application 31.

[0045] The following describes an example of the operation of the elevator system according to this embodiment, with reference to Figures 8 and 9. In this example of operation, the situation transitions according to the numbers in parentheses in the figures. Figure 8 shows an example of the system's operation when a user boards the elevator car 11, and Figure 9 shows an example of the system's operation when a user alights from the elevator car 11.

[0046] First, suppose user P, who has a mobile terminal 30 with the elevator application 31 installed and is wearing headphones 32 compatible with AURACAST, arrives at the landing 20 on any floor (see Figure 8 (1)). In this case, the elevator application 31 installed on user P's mobile terminal 30 is activated when the mobile terminal 30 receives a wireless signal transmitted from a wireless signal transmitter 25 installed at the landing 20. However, the elevator application 31 may also be activated by user P manually before or upon arriving at the landing 20.

[0047] When the elevator application 31 is activated, the mobile terminal 30 reads the boarding information (boarding floor and destination floor) of user P corresponding to the current property from the property information table set in the elevator application 31, based on the property information contained in the wireless signal (boarding floor information) transmitted from the wireless signal transmitter 25. The mobile terminal 30 also reads the wireless announcement setting information set in the elevator application 31. The mobile terminal 30 sends a call registration request containing the read boarding information and an announcement setting request containing the read wireless announcement setting information, along with the boarding information received from the wireless signal transmitter 25, to the cloud server 40. The boarding information received from the wireless signal transmitter 25 (i.e., the boarding floor corresponding to user P) is temporarily stored in the mobile terminal 30.

[0048] When the cloud server 40 receives a call registration request, an announcement setting request, and landing information from the mobile terminal 30, it sends a call registration command and an announcement setting change command to the elevator control system 12 of the current property, which is identified by the property information contained in the received landing information (see (2) in Figure 8).

[0049] More specifically, the cloud server 40 sends a call registration command to the elevator control system 12 to register a destination call corresponding to the passenger information included in the received call registration request. The cloud server 40 also sends an announcement setting change command to the elevator control system 12 to change the settings of the first wireless announcement device 18 installed in the elevator car 11 of the current building, and the settings of the second wireless announcement device 24 installed on the current floor (i.e., the floor where user P boarded) identified by the floor number information included in the received landing information of the current building, from the default settings to settings according to the wireless announcement setting information included in the received announcement setting request. The call registration command includes, for example, the received passenger information. The announcement setting change command includes, for example, the received wireless announcement setting information and landing information.

[0050] When the elevator control system 12 receives a call registration command from the cloud server 40, it registers a destination call corresponding to the passenger information included in the call registration command. As a result, user P can register a destination call to go from the boarding floor to the destination floor using the elevator application 31 without having to operate the landing button 23 or the destination floor button 16.

[0051] Although not shown in the diagram, when a destination call is registered in accordance with the received call registration command, the landing button 23 corresponding to the destination direction of user P, among the landing buttons 23 included in the landing control panel 22 installed on the user P's boarding floor, lights up. Also, when a destination call is registered in accordance with the received call registration command, the destination floor button 16 corresponding to the destination floor of user P, among the destination floor buttons 16 included in the car control panel 14 installed on the elevator car 11, lights up.

[0052] When the elevator control system 12 receives an announcement setting change command from the cloud server 40, it changes the settings of the first wireless announcement device 18 installed in the elevator car 11 and the settings of the second wireless announcement device 24 installed on the floor specified by the floor number information of the landing information included in the announcement setting change command (i.e., the floor on which user P boards) from the default settings to settings according to the wireless announcement setting information included in the announcement setting change command. The first wireless announcement device 18 and the second wireless announcement device 24 transmit wireless signals containing audio data related to elevator announcements to the surrounding area according to the changed settings.

[0053] When user P comes within range of the radio signal transmitted from the second radio announcement device 24, the headphones 32 worn by user P, which are compatible with AURACAST, receive the radio signal transmitted from the second radio announcement device 24 and play back the audio data related to the boarding announcement included in the received radio signal (see (3) in Figure 8).

[0054] According to this, user P can hear the landing announcements directly through their headphones 32 by configuring the wireless announcement settings information set in the elevator application 31. For example, if the wireless announcement settings information 305b shown in Figure 7 is set in the elevator application 31, user P can hear the landing announcements in "Japanese" through their headphones 32 at a slower reading speed than usual.

[0055] When user P boards the elevator car 11 upon arrival at the boarding floor and comes within range of the wireless signal transmitted from the first wireless announcement device 18, the headphones 32 worn by user P, which are compatible with AURACAST, receive the wireless signal transmitted from the first wireless announcement device 18 and play the audio data related to the in-car announcement included in the received wireless signal (see (4) in Figure 8).

[0056] According to this, user P can hear in-car announcements directly through their headphones 32, based on the wireless announcement setting information configured in the elevator application 31. For example, if the wireless announcement setting information 305b shown in Figure 7 is configured in the elevator application 31, user P can hear in-car announcements in "Japanese" at a slower reading speed than usual through their headphones 32.

[0057] For example, as long as user P is within range of the wireless signal transmitted from the first wireless announcement device 18, such as when the elevator car 11 is moving from user P's boarding floor to the destination floor, the headphones 32 compatible with AURACAST worn by user P will receive the wireless signal transmitted from the first wireless announcement device 18 and play the audio data related to the in-car announcement included in the received wireless signal (see (5) in Figure 9).

[0058] When user P disembarks from elevator car 11 upon arrival at the destination floor (see (6) in Figure 9), the mobile terminal 30 receives a radio signal (platform information corresponding to the destination floor) transmitted from the radio signal transmitter 25 installed at the platform 20 of the destination floor. If the mobile terminal 30 receives platform information different from the platform information corresponding to the boarding floor that it has temporarily stored (in this case, platform information corresponding to the destination floor), it sends an announcement setting cancellation request to the cloud server 40. The announcement setting cancellation request includes the platform information corresponding to the boarding floor that it has temporarily stored.

[0059] When the cloud server 40 receives an announcement cancellation request from the mobile terminal 30, it sends an announcement cancellation command to the elevator control system 12 of the current property, which is identified by the property information of the landing information included in the received announcement cancellation request (see (7) in Figure 9).

[0060] More specifically, the cloud server 40 transmits an announcement setting cancellation command to the elevator control system 12 to change the settings of the first wireless announcement device 18 installed in the elevator car 11 of the current property, and the settings of the second wireless announcement device 24 installed on the floor identified by the floor number information included in the received landing information of the current property (i.e., the floor where user P boarded), back to the default settings. The announcement setting cancellation command includes, for example, the landing information corresponding to the received boarding floor.

[0061] When the elevator control system 12 receives an announcement setting cancellation command from the cloud server 40, it changes the settings of the first wireless announcement device 18 installed in the elevator car 11 and the settings of the second wireless announcement device 24 installed on the floor specified by the floor number information of the landing information included in the announcement setting cancellation command (i.e., the floor where user P boards) back to their default settings. This allows the settings of the first wireless announcement device 18 and the second wireless announcement device 24 to be returned to the state before user P arrived at the landing 20 on the boarding floor (i.e., the original state).

[0062] Figure 10 is a timing chart showing an example of the operation of the elevator system according to this embodiment. Here, we assume that a user carrying a mobile terminal 30 with the elevator application 31 installed and wearing headphones 32 compatible with AURACAST arrives at the landing 20 on any floor.

[0063] First, when the mobile terminal 30 receives a wireless signal (landing information corresponding to the boarding floor) transmitted from the wireless signal transmitter 25 installed at the landing 20 (step S1), it activates the installed elevator application 31 (step S2).

[0064] When the elevator application 31 is activated, the mobile terminal 30 reads out passenger information corresponding to the property identified by the property information included in the landing information received in step S1 from the property passenger table 305a stored in the memory unit 305, and also reads out the wireless announcement setting information 305b stored in the memory unit 305 (step S3).

[0065] Subsequently, the mobile terminal 30 transmits to the cloud server 40 a call registration request including the passenger information read in step S3, an announcement setting request including the wireless announcement setting information read in step S3, and the boarding information corresponding to the boarding floor received in step S1 (step S4). The boarding information corresponding to the boarding floor is temporarily stored, for example, in the storage unit 305.

[0066] When the cloud server 40 receives a call registration request, an announcement setting request, and landing information corresponding to the boarding floor from the mobile terminal 30 (step S5), it identifies the target property based on the property information contained in the landing information and sends a call registration command to the elevator control system 12 installed in that property to register a destination call corresponding to the boarding information contained in the call registration request (step S6). The call registration command includes, for example, the boarding information received in step S5.

[0067] Furthermore, the cloud server 40 transmits an announcement setting change command to the elevator control system 12 installed in the property (step S7) to change the settings of the first wireless announcement device 18 installed in the elevator car 11 of the property and the second wireless announcement device 24 installed on the boarding floor of the property from the default settings to settings according to the wireless announcement setting information included in the announcement setting request received in step S5. The announcement setting change command includes, for example, the wireless announcement setting information received in step S5 and the landing information corresponding to the boarding floor.

[0068] When the elevator control system 12 receives a call registration command and an announcement setting change command from the cloud server 40 (step S8), it registers a destination call corresponding to the passenger information included in the call registration command (step S9).

[0069] Furthermore, the elevator control system 12 identifies the passenger's boarding floor based on the floor information of the landing information included in the announcement setting change command received in step S8, and changes the settings of the first wireless announcement device 18 and the second wireless announcement device 24 installed on the boarding floor from the default settings to settings according to the wireless announcement setting information included in the announcement setting change command (step S10). As a result, the first wireless announcement device 18 and the second wireless announcement device 24 can transmit wireless signals containing voice data related to elevator announcements to the surrounding area according to the changed settings.

[0070] When the headphones 32, which are compatible with AURACAST and are worn by the user, receive a wireless signal transmitted from the second wireless announcement device 24, they play audio data related to the landing announcement contained in the wireless signal, and when they receive a wireless signal transmitted from the first wireless announcement device 18, they play audio data related to the in-car announcement contained in the wireless signal (step S11). As a result, the user can hear the landing announcement and in-car announcement directly from their headphones 32, based on the wireless announcement setting information set in the elevator application 31.

[0071] Subsequently, when the mobile terminal 30 receives a radio signal (boarding information corresponding to the destination floor) transmitted from a radio signal transmitter 25 installed on a floor different from the boarding floor identified by the boarding information temporarily stored in the memory unit 305 (step S12), it sends an announcement setting cancellation request to the cloud server 40, which includes the boarding information corresponding to the boarding floor (step S13).

[0072] When the cloud server 40 receives an announcement setting cancellation request from the mobile terminal 30 (step S14), it identifies the target property based on the property information of the landing information corresponding to the boarding floor included in the announcement setting cancellation request, and sends an announcement setting cancellation command to the elevator control system 12 installed in that property to change the settings of the first wireless announcement device 18 and the second wireless announcement device 24 back to the default settings (step S15). The announcement setting cancellation command includes, for example, the landing information corresponding to the boarding floor received in step S14.

[0073] Subsequently, when the elevator control system 12 receives an announcement setting cancellation command from the cloud server 40 (step S16), it changes the settings of the first wireless announcement device 18 and the second wireless announcement device 24 to the default settings (step S17), and the elevator system terminates the series of operations shown in Figure 10.

[0074] According to the elevator system of this embodiment described above, elevator announcements can be provided to a user who has a mobile terminal 30 with the elevator application 31 installed and is wearing headphones 32 compatible with AURACAST, in accordance with the wireless announcement setting information pre-set by the user. In other words, the user can hear the elevator announcements directly through their headphones 32 according to the wireless announcement setting information (user preference) set in the elevator application 31. With this, problems such as the elevator announcements being difficult to hear due to mixing with surrounding sounds and voices, as can occur when using a general announcement device that plays sound from a speaker, cannot occur.

[0075] [First variation] The first modified example will be described below with reference to Figure 11. In the first modified example, we will describe the operation when, after the settings of the first wireless announcement device 18 and the second wireless announcement device 24 have been changed according to the wireless announcement setting information of user P by the operation shown in Figure 8, another user P' who uses wireless announcements arrives at the boarding area 20 on the same boarding floor as user P, and the language used by user P' as indicated by the wireless announcement setting information is different from the language used by user P as indicated by the wireless announcement setting information.

[0076] The operation from when user P' arrives at the landing 20 on the same boarding floor as user P, until the elevator control system 12 receives the call registration command and announcement setting change command corresponding to user P', is the same as in Figure 8, so a detailed explanation is omitted here. Similarly, the operation in which the elevator control system 12 registers a destination call according to the call registration command corresponding to user P' is the same as in Figure 8, so a detailed explanation is omitted here. Below, we will mainly describe the operation after the elevator control system 12 receives the announcement setting change command corresponding to user P'. In this example of operation, the situation transitions according to the numbers in parentheses in the figure.

[0077] When the elevator control system 12 receives an announcement setting change command corresponding to user P' from the cloud server 40, it determines whether the language used by user P', as indicated by the wireless announcement setting information of user P' included in the received announcement setting change command, is the same as the language used by user P that has already been set in the first wireless announcement device 18 and the second wireless announcement device 24 (see (1) in Figure 11).

[0078] In this example, it is assumed that the language used by user P' is different from the language used by user P. In this case, the elevator control system 12 performs control to add settings according to user P's wireless announcement setting information as settings for the first wireless announcement device 18 and the second wireless announcement device 24, in addition to the settings according to user P's wireless announcement setting information (see (2) in Figure 11).

[0079] According to this, the first wireless announcement device 18 and the second announcement device 24 (more specifically, the second wireless announcement device 24 installed on the boarding floors of users P and P') can transmit to the surrounding area a wireless signal containing audio data related to elevator announcements according to the settings indicated by user P's wireless announcement setting information, and a wireless signal containing audio data related to elevator announcements according to the settings indicated by user P's wireless announcement setting information.

[0080] When user P comes within range of the radio signal Sig1A transmitted from the second radio announcement device 24, the headphones 32 corresponding to AURACAST worn by user P receive the radio signal Sig1A transmitted from the second radio announcement device 24 and play the audio data related to the boarding announcement contained in the received radio signal Sig1A. Similarly, when user P' comes within range of the radio signal Sig2A transmitted from the second radio announcement device 24, the headphones 32 corresponding to AURACAST worn by user P' receive the radio signal Sig2A transmitted from the second radio announcement device 24 and play the audio data related to the boarding announcement contained in the received radio signal Sig2A (see Figure 11 (3)).

[0081] Furthermore, when user P boards the elevator car 11 upon arrival at the boarding floor and comes within range of the wireless signal Sig1B transmitted from the first wireless announcement device 18, the headphones 32 compatible with AURACAST worn by user P receive the wireless signal Sig1B transmitted from the first wireless announcement device 18 and play the audio data related to the in-car announcement contained in the received wireless signal Sig1B. Similarly, when user P' boards the elevator car 11 upon arrival at the boarding floor and comes within range of the wireless signal Sig2B transmitted from the first wireless announcement device 18, the headphones 32 compatible with AURACAST worn by user P' receive the wireless signal Sig2B transmitted from the first wireless announcement device 18 and play the audio data related to the in-car announcement contained in the received wireless signal Sig2B (see Figure 11 (4)).

[0082] According to this, users P and P' can hear landing announcements and in-car announcements directly through their headphones 32, based on the wireless announcement settings they have each configured in the elevator application 31.

[0083] When using a typical announcement system that plays audio from speakers to broadcast audio in multiple languages, it is necessary to play the audio in a sequence, such as playing the audio in the first language (e.g., Japanese), then the audio in the second language (e.g., English), and then the audio in the first language again. This requires adjusting the order and timing of the playback of the audio in each language.

[0084] On the other hand, in the configuration of this modified example, it is possible to increase the number of wireless announcement devices according to the number of languages ​​used. For example, it is possible to simultaneously transmit wireless signals corresponding to the first language (e.g., wireless signals Sig1A and Sig1B shown in Figure 11) and wireless signals corresponding to the second language (e.g., wireless signals Sig2A and Sig2B shown in Figure 11) from the wireless announcement device. Therefore, it is not necessary to sequentially play audio in multiple languages ​​or to adjust the order and timing of playing audio in multiple languages, as is the case when using a general announcement device.

[0085] [Second variation] The second modified example will be described below with reference to Figure 12. In the second modified example, we will describe the operation when, after the settings of the first wireless announcement device 18 and the second wireless announcement device 24 have been changed according to the wireless announcement setting information of user P, another user P' who uses wireless announcements arrives at the boarding area 20 on the same boarding floor as user P, and the language used by user P' as indicated by the wireless announcement setting information is the same as the language used by user P as indicated by the wireless announcement setting information.

[0086] The operation from when user P' arrives at the landing 20 on the same boarding floor as user P, until the elevator control system 12 receives the call registration command and announcement setting change command corresponding to user P', is the same as in Figure 8, so a detailed explanation is omitted here. Similarly, the operation in which the elevator control system 12 registers a destination call according to the call registration command corresponding to user P' is the same as in Figure 8, so a detailed explanation is omitted here. Below, we will mainly describe the operation after the elevator control system 12 receives the announcement setting change command corresponding to user P'. In this example of operation, the situation transitions according to the numbers in parentheses in the figure.

[0087] When the elevator control system 12 receives an announcement setting change command corresponding to user P' from the cloud server 40, it determines whether the language used by user P', as indicated by the wireless announcement setting information of user P' included in the received announcement setting change command, is the same as the language used by user P that has already been set in the first wireless announcement device 18 and the second wireless announcement device 24 (see (1) in Figure 12).

[0088] In this example, it is assumed that user P's language of use is the same as user P's language of use. In this case, the elevator control system 12 compares the settings according to user P's wireless announcement setting information with the settings according to user P's wireless announcement setting information, and sets (applies) the setting with higher priority to the first wireless announcement device 18 and the second wireless announcement device 24 (see (2) in Figure 12).

[0089] Here, as an example, we assume that the elevator control system 12 manages priority based on the announcement reading speed indicated by the wireless announcement setting information. More specifically, as shown in the upper left diagram of Figure 13, we assume that the slower the announcement reading speed, the higher the priority (priority), and the faster the announcement reading speed, the lower the priority. It is desirable that the priority be set so that settings that are preferable to a wider range of users are given higher priority. For example, if priority is managed based on the announcement reading speed, it is expected that a slower announcement reading speed will be preferable to a wider range of people, including the elderly, so the priority will be set so that slower announcement reading speeds are given higher priority.

[0090] Here, as shown in the upper right diagram of Figure 13, if the announcement reading speed indicated by user P's wireless announcement setting information is "fast" and the announcement reading speed indicated by user P's wireless announcement setting information is "slow", the elevator control system 12 sets (applies) the setting according to user P's wireless announcement setting information, which has a higher priority and indicates "slow", to the first wireless announcement device 18 and the second wireless announcement device 24.

[0091] According to this, the first wireless announcement device 18 and the second wireless announcement device 24 (more specifically, the second wireless announcement device 24 installed on the boarding floor of users P and P') can transmit wireless signals to the surrounding area that include audio data regarding elevator announcements in the language preferred by both users P and P', according to the higher priority setting.

[0092] Let's return to the explanation of Figure 12. When users P and P' come within range of the radio signal transmitted from the second radio announcement device 24, the headphones 32 corresponding to AURACAST, each worn by users P and P', receive the radio signal transmitted from the second radio announcement device 24 and play the same audio data related to the boarding announcement included in the received radio signal (see (3) in Figure 12).

[0093] According to this, user P' can hear the landing announcement directly through their headphones 32, based on the wireless announcement settings configured in the elevator application 31. In addition, user P can hear the landing announcement directly through their headphones 32, even though the announcement reading speed may differ from the wireless announcement settings configured in the elevator application 31, as long as the language used is the same.

[0094] Furthermore, when users P and P' board the elevator car 11 upon arrival at the boarding floor and come within range of the wireless signal transmitted from the first wireless announcement device 18, the headphones 32 corresponding to AURACAST, each worn by users P and P', receive the wireless signal transmitted from the first wireless announcement device 18 and play the same audio data regarding the in-car announcement included in the received wireless signal (see (4) in Figure 12).

[0095] According to this, user P' can hear the in-car announcements directly through their headphones 32, based on the wireless announcement settings configured in the elevator application 31. In addition, user P can hear the in-car announcements directly through their headphones 32, even though the announcement reading speed may differ from the wireless announcement settings configured in the elevator application 31, as long as the language used is the same.

[0096] According to the modified configuration described above, it is possible to change the settings of the first wireless announcement device 18 and the second wireless announcement device 24, taking priority into consideration.

[0097] [Third variation] The third modified example will be described below with reference to Figure 14. The third variation differs from the case shown in Figure 9 in that the condition under which a request to cancel the announcement setting is sent from user P's mobile terminal 30 is not the receipt of boarding information that is different from the boarding information corresponding to the boarding floor (i.e., boarding information corresponding to the destination floor).

[0098] Note that the explanation of the operation, similar to that shown in Figure 9, will be omitted here. In this example of operation, the situation transitions according to the numbers in parentheses in the figure.

[0099] The radio wave strength measuring unit 308 of user P's mobile terminal 30 measures the radio wave strength of the radio signal Sig1B received from the first wireless announcement device 18 and the radio wave strength of the radio signal Sig1A received from the second wireless announcement device 24 installed on the destination floor of user P. When the mobile terminal 30 detects that the radio wave strength of the radio signal Sig1B received from the first wireless announcement device 18 has become lower than the radio wave strength of the radio signal Sig1A received from the second wireless announcement device 24 installed on the destination floor of user P (see (1) in Figure 14), it assumes that user P has disembarked from the elevator car 11 and sends an announcement setting cancellation request to the cloud server 40, as shown in Figure 9.

[0100] The cloud server 40 sends an announcement setting cancellation command to the elevator control system 12, as shown in Figure 9 (see (2) in Figure 14). Subsequently, the elevator control system 12 returns the settings of the first wireless announcement device 18 and the second wireless announcement device 24 installed on the boarding floor of user P to the state before user P arrived at the landing 20 on the boarding floor (i.e., the original state), in the same manner as shown in Figure 9.

[0101] According to the modified configuration described above, for example, even if the wireless signal transmitter 25 installed on the destination floor of user P malfunctions and is unable to transmit a wireless signal (platform information corresponding to the destination floor), it is possible to restore the settings of the first wireless announcement device 18 and the second wireless announcement device 24 to their original state.

[0102] According to the embodiment described above, it is possible to provide an elevator system and method that can make elevator announcements easier to hear while suppressing the noise caused by the elevator announcements.

[0103] While several embodiments of the present invention have been described, these embodiments are presented as examples only and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, substitutions, and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. These embodiments and their variations are included in the scope and spirit of the invention, as well as in the claims of the invention and its equivalents. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0104] 10...Elevator, 11...Car, 12...Elevator control system, 12a...Elevator control device, 12b...Controller, 13...Car door, 14...Car control panel, 15...Display unit, 16...Destination floor button, 17a...Door open button, 17b...Door close button, 18...First wireless announcement device, 20...Landing, 21...Landing door, 22...Landing control panel, 23...Landing button, 24...Second wireless announcement device, 25...Wireless signal transmitter, 30...Mobile terminal, 31...Elevator application, 32...Headphones, 40...Cloud server.

Claims

1. An elevator control system that controls the elevator, A wireless announcement device installed in at least one of the elevator car or landing, capable of transmitting wireless signals containing audio data related to elevator announcements to the surrounding area, A wireless signal transmitting device installed at a landing on a designated floor and capable of transmitting wireless signals containing landing information related to that landing to the surrounding area, A mobile terminal used by a user of the aforementioned elevator, the mobile terminal having an application installed that allows setting information regarding the settings of the wireless announcement device to be set for each user, The elevator control system and the cloud server are connected to the mobile terminal in a way that enables communication between them. Equipped with, The user receives a wireless signal transmitted from the wireless announcement device and wears an audio device capable of playing back the audio data contained in the wireless signal. The mobile terminal, upon activation of the application at the landing of the predetermined floor, transmits to the cloud server a configuration request including configuration information set in the application and landing information included in the wireless signal received from the wireless signal transmitter. The cloud server identifies the target property based on the landing information received from the mobile terminal, and sends a setting change command to the elevator control system installed in the property to change the settings of the wireless announcement device to the settings included in the setting request received from the mobile terminal. The elevator control system changes the settings of the wireless announcement device to the settings in accordance with the setting change command received from the cloud server, and causes the wireless announcement device to transmit a wireless signal containing voice data according to the changed settings. Elevator system.

2. The aforementioned setting information includes information indicating whether or not audio data included in the wireless signal transmitted from the wireless announcement device is available, information indicating the language in which the elevator announcement will be read aloud from the audio device when the audio data is played back, and information indicating the reading speed of the elevator announcement. The elevator system according to claim 1.

3. When the mobile terminal receives a wireless signal transmitted from another wireless signal transmitter installed at a landing on a different floor than the predetermined landing, it sends a request to the cloud server to reset the settings of the wireless announcement device. The elevator system according to claim 1.

4. The elevator control system is, If, after changing the settings of the wireless announcement device to the settings in accordance with the setting change command received from the cloud server, another setting change command is received from the cloud server in response to a setting request from a user other than the user, it is determined whether the language of the elevator announcement read aloud set by the other user is the same as the language of the elevator announcement read aloud set by the user. If the language used to read elevator announcements set by the aforementioned other user differs from the language used to read elevator announcements set by the aforementioned user, the setting according to the aforementioned other setting change command is added to the wireless announcement device, and the wireless announcement device is made to transmit a wireless signal containing voice data according to the setting of the aforementioned user and a wireless signal containing voice data according to the setting of the aforementioned other user. The elevator system according to claim 2.

5. The elevator control system is, If, after changing the settings of the wireless announcement device to the settings in accordance with the setting change command received from the cloud server, another setting change command is received from the cloud server in response to a setting request from a user other than the user, it is determined whether the language of the elevator announcement read aloud set by the other user is the same as the language of the elevator announcement read aloud set by the user. If the language used to read elevator announcements set by the aforementioned other user is the same as the language used to read elevator announcements set by the aforementioned user, the setting with higher priority between the setting change command and the setting set by the aforementioned other setting change command will be applied to the wireless announcement device, and a wireless signal containing voice data according to the higher priority setting will be transmitted to the wireless announcement device. The elevator system according to claim 2.

6. The elevator control system manages the priority based on the reading speed of the elevator announcement, assigning a higher priority to elevators with slower announcement reading speeds. The elevator system according to claim 5.

7. The wireless announcement device is installed in the elevator car, the landing on the predetermined floor, and the landing on a different floor from the landing on the predetermined floor. When the mobile terminal detects that the radio wave strength of the radio signal transmitted from the first wireless announcement device installed in the elevator car has become lower than the radio wave strength of the radio signal transmitted from the second wireless announcement device installed at the landing on another floor, it sends a request to the cloud server to reset the settings of the first wireless announcement device and the third wireless announcement device installed at the landing on the predetermined floor to their original settings. The elevator system according to claim 1.

8. A method performed by a portable terminal owned by a user equipped with sound equipment capable of receiving a wireless signal containing audio data related to elevator announcements and playing back the audio data contained in the wireless signal, the portable terminal having an application installed for changing the settings of a wireless announcement device capable of transmitting the wireless signal to the surrounding area, The application is activated upon receiving a wireless signal transmitted from a wireless signal transmitter installed at the landing of a designated floor. The application transmits a setting request, including the setting information set by the user, along with landing information relating to the landing of the predetermined floor included in the wireless signal received from the wireless signal transmitter, to a cloud server that is communicatively connected to the elevator control system that controls the operation of the wireless announcement device. The settings of the wireless announcement device are changed via the cloud server and the elevator control system to match the settings information included in the setting request, and the wireless announcement device transmits a wireless signal containing voice data according to the changed settings. method.

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