Non-contact operation detection device and elevator destination floor registration system

Abstract

A non-contact operation detection device according to the present disclosure comprises a determination unit which, when it has been determined that a detection value of any one or more proximity sensors among a plurality of proximity sensors included in each of a plurality of non-contact buttons is greater than a registered determination value, determines whether a change in the detection value of the proximity sensor(s) has been caused by vibration or impact on the basis of a change in a detection value of a second proximity sensor having a smaller change amount in the detection value than a first proximity sensor having the largest change amount in the detection value.

Description

Non-contact operation detection device and elevator destination floor registration system

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a non-contact operation detection device and an elevator destination floor registration system.

[0002] Patent Document 1 describes a non-contact operation detection device for a vehicle that allows an operator to open and close doors, such as a vehicle back door and sliding door, without contact. This non-contact operation detection device uses a sensor electrode that detects operation by a change in capacitance when a part of the operator's body approaches. In the non-contact operation detection device of Patent Document 1, the sensor electrode is installed on one side of a spacer, and a first electrode is provided on the opposite side of the spacer. In Patent Document 1, the sensor electrode and the first electrode are supported by the spacer to prevent fluctuations in stray capacitance caused by vibrations, etc., and suppress fluctuations in the detection value of the sensor electrode due to vibrations.

[0003] JP 2014-212044 A

[0004] For example, some destination floor registration devices that register elevator destination floors use non-contact buttons that can be operated by users without contact. In these destination floor registration devices, a proximity sensor in the non-contact button detects a change in capacitance when a user's finger or the like approaches the non-contact button, thereby determining whether the non-contact button has been operated and registering the destination floor.

[0005] In a destination floor registration device using contactless buttons, changes in parasitic capacitance due to vibration or impact can lead to false detection of the operation of the contactless button. To address this issue, installing spacers on each contactless button, as described in Patent Document 1, is considered to prevent false detection due to vibration or impact. However, an elevator destination floor registration device has a large number of contactless buttons corresponding to the number of landing floors. Installing spacers to prevent false detection due to vibration or impact would require installing spacers on every contactless button, which would increase the number of components and manufacturing processes for the entire device and potentially increase manufacturing costs. Furthermore, installing spacers on each contactless button would increase the thickness of the contactless button, thereby increasing the overall thickness of the device, or would make it impossible to install contactless buttons on a contactless operation detection device that cannot accommodate the increased thickness.

[0006] The present disclosure has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned problems, and provides an improved non-contact operation detection device that can suppress false detection when vibration or impact occurs without adding additional parts such as spacers to the non-contact button.

[0007] The non-contact operation detection device of the present disclosure includes a judgment unit that, when it is determined that the detection value of any one or more of the multiple proximity sensors provided on each of multiple non-contact buttons is greater than a registered judgment value, judges whether the change in the detection value of the proximity sensor is caused by vibration or impact based on the change in the detection value of a second proximity sensor, which has a smaller change in detection value than a first proximity sensor, which has the largest change in detection value.

[0008] The non-contact operation detection device of the present disclosure can determine whether a change in the detection value of the proximity sensor is due to vibration or impact based on the detection value of the second proximity sensor of the non-contact button, thereby preventing erroneous detection of the operation of the non-contact button based on a change in the detection value of the proximity sensor due to vibration or impact.

[0009] 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of an elevator destination floor registration system according to embodiment 1 of the present disclosure. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the configuration of a control panel according to embodiment 1 of the present disclosure. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a case where the control panel according to embodiment 1 of the present disclosure is physically operated. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a case where the control panel according to embodiment 1 of the present disclosure is operated without contact. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of changes in the detected values ​​of the proximity sensors when the control panel according to embodiment 1 of the present disclosure is operated without contact. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of changes in the detected values ​​of the proximity sensors when vibration or impact occurs on the control panel according to embodiment 1 of the present disclosure. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of a vibration impact determination process executed by a sensor control device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of an elevator destination floor registration system according to embodiment 2 of the present disclosure. FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of a vibration impact determination process in embodiment 2 of the present disclosure.

[0010] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. In each drawing, the same or corresponding parts are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be simplified or omitted.

[0011] Embodiment 1. Figure 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of an elevator destination floor registration system according to embodiment 1. The elevator destination floor registration system shown in Figure 1 includes an operation panel 100, which is a non-contact operation detection device, and an elevator control device 200.

[0012] The control panel 100 is installed, for example, in each elevator car, and a user can register a destination floor by operating the control panel 100. However, there is no limitation on the installation location of the control panel 100, and it may be installed and used, for example, at an elevator landing.

[0013] The operation panel 100 includes a plurality of non-contact buttons 110, a sensor control device 120, and a button control device 130. Each of the non-contact buttons 110 includes a mechanical button 111, an LED 112 as lighting means, and a proximity sensor 113.

[0014] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the configuration of a control panel. The control panel 100 includes a plurality of contactless buttons 110a to 110h. In the example shown in FIG. 2, the control panel 100 is provided with contactless buttons 110a to 110f having numbers from "1" to "6" displayed on the front thereof corresponding to floors for which calls can be registered as elevator destination floors, and contactless buttons 110g and 110h for opening and closing the car doors. Note that the configuration of the control panel 100 shown in FIG. 2 is only an example, and the number, types, and arrangement of the contactless buttons are not limited to the example shown in FIG. 2. Various configurations can be adopted for the control panel 100 depending on the application and purpose.

[0015] Referring again to FIG. 1, the mechanical button 111 detects that it has been physically pressed, and generates an ON signal indicating that the non-contact button 110 corresponding to the mechanical button 111 has been pressed.

[0016] The proximity sensor 113 is a sensor that emits a detection value according to a change in capacitance. The proximity sensor 113 is electrically connected to the sensor control device 120. The detection value of the proximity sensor 113 is transmitted to the sensor control device 120.

[0017] The sensor control device 120 includes a reading unit 121, a button candidate determination unit 122, a vibration / impact determination unit 123, an LED control unit 124, a button-on determination unit 125, and a transmission unit 126. The reading unit 121 can read detection values ​​from the proximity sensors 113 of all of the non-contact buttons 110. The button candidate determination unit 122 detects a button candidate for registration based on the detection values ​​read by the reading unit 121 and outputs information about the button candidate for registration. The vibration / impact determination unit 123 determines whether a change in the detection value is due to vibration or impact based on the information about the button candidate for registration and the detection values ​​read by the reading unit 121. Based on the determination result, the LED control unit 124 half-lights the LED 112 of the button candidate for registration. The button-on determination unit 125 determines whether a non-contact operation of the button candidate for registration has continued for a reference time or longer. Based on the result of this determination, the transmitting unit 126 transmits to the button control device 130 an ON signal indicating that the non-contact button 110 corresponding to the registration candidate button has been operated.

[0018] The button control device 130 is communicatively connected to the elevator control device 200, and is also communicatively connected to the mechanical button 111, the LED 112, and the sensor control device 120.

[0019] The button control device 130 receives an ON signal transmitted from the mechanical button 111 or the sensor control device 120, converts the ON signal into destination floor information, and transmits the destination floor information to the elevator control device 200. The elevator control device 200 performs call registration for the destination floor based on the destination floor information. Upon completing the destination floor registration, the elevator control device 200 transmits destination floor registration completion information to the button control device 130.

[0020] The button control device 130 also controls the turning on and off of the LED 112. For example, the button control device 130 receives destination floor registration completion information from the elevator control device 200 and turns on the LED 112 of the contactless button 110 corresponding to the destination floor registration completion information. Furthermore, when the button control device 130 receives information from the elevator control device 200 that the car has arrived at the destination floor corresponding to the destination floor registration completion information, it turns off the LED 112 of the contactless button 110 corresponding to the destination floor.

[0021] As described above, in this embodiment, the contactless button 110 is equipped with both a mechanical button 111 and a proximity sensor 113, and a user can register a destination floor by performing a physical operation of pressing the contactless button 110 with a finger, and can also register a destination floor by a contactless operation of bringing a part of the body, such as a finger, close to the contactless button 110.

[0022] First, a case where a destination floor is registered by physical operation will be described. Fig. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a case where the operation panel according to this embodiment is physically operated. Each of the non-contact buttons 110 provided on the operation panel 100 has a mechanical button 111, and a user can register a destination floor by pressing the non-contact button 110.

[0023] More specifically, as shown in the example of Figure 3, when user A presses the contactless button 110 corresponding to the sixth floor, which is the destination floor, the mechanical button 111 of the contactless button 110 corresponding to the sixth floor reacts, and an ON signal of the contactless button 110 corresponding to the sixth floor is sent to the button control device 130. The button control device 130 converts the ON signal of the contactless button 110 corresponding to the sixth floor into destination floor information indicating the sixth floor and sends it to the elevator control device 200. The elevator control device 200 registers the received destination floor information and sends destination floor information registration completion information to the button control device 130. Upon receiving the destination floor registration completion information, the button control device 130 lights up the LED 112 of the contactless button 110 for the sixth floor, which corresponds to the destination floor registration completion information.

[0024] When the non-contact button 110 is physically operated, a detection value of the proximity sensor 113 (described later) is also output, but this detection value is sufficiently larger than that of the non-contact operation. Therefore, when the detection value of the proximity sensor 113 is large enough to determine that a physical operation has occurred, the operation may be determined to be a physical operation, and the proximity sensor 113 (described later) may not detect a non-contact operation, thereby preventing a false response by the proximity sensor 113 during a physical operation.

[0025] Next, a case where a destination floor is registered by a non-contact operation will be described. Fig. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a case where the control panel according to this embodiment is operated by a non-contact operation, and Fig. 5 is a diagram showing a change in the detection value of the proximity sensor during the non-contact operation.

[0026] 4, when the user A's finger approaches the non-contact button 110, the LED 112 of the non-contact button 110 turns semi-lit, and when the proximity state continues for a reference time, the LED 112 turns on. At this time, the destination floor registration is completed.

[0027] As shown in Fig. 5, when user A's finger or the like approaches the contactless button 110, the detection value of the first sensor, which is the proximity sensor 113 of the contactless button 110, increases significantly. As shown in Fig. 5, if the state in which only the detection value of the first sensor is greater than the registration determination value continues for a reference time or longer, a contactless operation is detected, and the destination floor corresponding to the contactless button 110 having the first sensor is registered. Note that the registration determination value here is a threshold value for determining whether or not a contactless operation has been performed by the user, and is a value that is set in advance based on the detection value indicated by the proximity sensor 113 during a contactless operation and stored in the sensor control device 120.

[0028] A more specific description will be given of the operation of detecting a non-contact operation by the sensor control device 120. In detecting a non-contact operation, the reading unit 121 reads the detection values ​​of all the proximity sensors 113, for example, at a fixed control cycle.

[0029] The candidate button determination unit 122 obtains data indicating changes in the detection values ​​of each proximity sensor 113 from a predetermined determination period before the current time to the current time from the detection value data read by the reading unit 121, and identifies the proximity sensor 113 with the largest change in detection value during the determination period as the first sensor. Furthermore, if the current detection value a of the first sensor exceeds the registration determination value, the contactless button 110 of that proximity sensor 113 is determined to be a registration candidate button. However, if the destination floor corresponding to the contactless button 110 has already been registered and the LED 112 of the contactless button 110 is lit, the contactless button 110 is not determined to be a registration candidate button. Furthermore, if there is a proximity sensor 113 other than the first sensor that exceeds the registration determination value, the process of determining a registration candidate button may be omitted to prevent erroneous responses during contactless operation.

[0030] The vibration / impact determination unit 123 performs a vibration / impact determination process to determine whether a change in the detection value of the first sensor is due to vibration or impact. Details of the process of the vibration / impact determination unit 123 will be described later. If the vibration / impact determination unit 123 determines that the change in the detection value of the first sensor is not due to vibration or impact, the LED control unit 124 semi-illuminates the LED 112 of the registration candidate button.

[0031] The button-ON determination unit 125 determines whether the non-contact operation of the registration candidate button has continued for a reference time or longer. In other words, it determines whether the state in which the detection value of the first sensor exceeds the registration determination value has continued for a reference time or longer. If the button-ON determination unit 125 determines that the state has continued for a reference time or longer, the transmission unit 126 transmits an ON signal for the non-contact button 110, which is the registration candidate button, to the button control device 130. The subsequent registration process is omitted because it is the same as that during physical operation.

[0032] Next, the vibration / impact determination process will be described. Fig. 6 is a diagram showing an example of changes in the detection values ​​of the proximity sensors when vibration or impact occurs on the operation panel. When vibration or impact occurs, the parasitic capacitance changes in the proximity sensors 113 of the multiple non-contact buttons 110. As a result, the detection values ​​of the proximity sensors 113 fluctuate even when nothing is in proximity to the non-contact button 110. In this embodiment, the vibration / impact determination unit 123 performs a process to determine whether the fluctuation in the detection value of the first sensor corresponding to the registration candidate button is due to vibration or impact, thereby suppressing erroneous detection of a non-contact operation due to fluctuations in the detection value caused by vibration or impact.

[0033] Based on the detection values ​​currently read by the reading unit 121, the vibration / impact determination unit 123 identifies the proximity sensor 113 with the next largest detection value after the proximity sensor 113 of the registration candidate button (i.e., the first sensor) as the second sensor. If the detection value b of the second sensor is greater than the vibration / impact determination value and the characteristics of the change in the detection value of the second sensor during the determination period are determined to be different from the characteristics of the change in the detection value during non-contact operation, the vibration / impact determination unit 123 determines that vibration or impact has occurred. In this case, the vibration / impact determination unit 123 cancels the registration process for the registration candidate button. The vibration / impact determination value is a value smaller than the registration determination value, preset based on the change in the detection value indicated by the proximity sensor 113 when subjected to vibration or impact, and stored in the sensor control device 120.

[0034] In this embodiment, the method for determining whether the detection value of the second sensor exhibits different characteristics is based on whether the slope c of the change in the detection value during the determination period is greater than a slope threshold. That is, if the detection value of the second sensor increases rapidly with a high slope, the fluctuation is determined to be due to vibration or impact. To avoid erroneous determination, the slope c of the change is calculated as the average slope over a period in which the detection value of the second sensor changes significantly, such as by calculating the average slope from a value near a minimum value smaller than the vibration / impact determination processing threshold to a value near a maximum value larger than the vibration / impact determination processing threshold. The slope threshold is a threshold for determining whether the change in the detection value data of the proximity sensor 113 exhibits similar characteristics to the change during non-contact operation. The slope threshold is a value that is preset based on the change in the detection value indicated by the proximity sensor 113 during non-contact operation and is stored in the sensor control device 120.

[0035] 7 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the vibration / impact determination process executed by the sensor control device according to this embodiment. The operation of FIG. 7 is executed repeatedly at regular control intervals, for example. In the vibration / impact determination process of FIG. 7, first, in step S101, the reading unit 121 reads the detection values ​​of all the proximity sensors 113.

[0036] Next, in step S102, the sensor with the largest change in detected value based on the data on change in detected value during the determination period is identified as the first sensor.

[0037] Next, in step S103, it is determined whether or not the destination floor corresponding to the contactless button 110 of the first sensor has been registered. If the destination floor has been registered, the current processing is terminated.

[0038] On the other hand, if it is determined in step S103 that the destination floor is not registered, the process proceeds to step S104. In step S104, it is determined whether the current detection value a of the first sensor read in step S101 exceeds the registration determination value. If it is determined in step S103 that the detection value a of the first sensor does not exceed the registration determination value, the current process is terminated. In this case, the destination floor is not registered.

[0039] On the other hand, if it is determined in step S104 that the detection value a of the first sensor exceeds the registered judgment value, then in step S105, based on the data on the change in the detection value during the judgment period, the sensor with the next largest change in the detection value after the first sensor is identified as the second sensor.

[0040] Next, in step S106, it is determined whether the current detection value b of the second sensor read in step S101 exceeds the registration determination value. If it is determined in step S106 that the detection value b of the second sensor exceeds the registration determination value, the current processing is terminated. In this case, the destination floor registration processing is not performed.

[0041] On the other hand, if it is determined in step S106 that the detection value b of the second sensor does not exceed the registered judgment value, then in step S107 it is determined whether the detection value b of the second sensor exceeds the vibration / impact judgment value.

[0042] If it is determined in step S107 that the detection value b of the second sensor exceeds the vibration impact determination value, then in step S108 it is determined whether the slope c of the change in the detection value during the determination period exceeds the slope threshold value.

[0043] If it is determined in step S108 that the slope c exceeds the slope threshold, the current process is terminated. That is, if the value of the detection value b of the second sensor is greater than the vibration / impact determination value and the slope c of the change in the detection value of the second sensor is greater than the slope threshold, it can be determined that the detection value of the proximity sensor 113 has changed due to vibration or impact, and therefore the destination floor registration process is not performed.

[0044] On the other hand, if it is determined in step S107 that the detection value b of the second sensor does not exceed the vibration impact judgment value, or if it is determined in step S108 that the slope c of the change in the detection value of the second sensor does not exceed the slope threshold, then in step S109 the non-contact button 110 corresponding to the first sensor is set as a registration candidate button.

[0045] Next, in step S110, it is determined whether the registration candidate button has remained a registration candidate button for a reference time or longer. That is, based on the data on the change in the detection value during the determination period, it is determined whether the state in which the detection value of the first sensor is equal to or greater than the registration determination value has continued for a reference time or longer.

[0046] If it is determined in step S110 that the time has not continued for the reference time or longer, the LED 111 of the registration candidate button is half-lit in step S111, after which the current processing ends.

[0047] On the other hand, if it is determined in step S110 that the registration has continued for a reference time or longer, an ON signal for the registration candidate button is sent to the button control device 130 in step S112. The current processing then ends. After the ON signal is sent to the button control device 130, destination floor information is sent from the button control device 130 to the elevator control device 200, as described above. When the button control device 130 receives destination floor registration completion information from the elevator control device 200, it lights up the LED 112 of the registration candidate button.

[0048] As described above, according to this embodiment, in the operation panel 100 having a plurality of contactless buttons 110, it is possible to determine whether a change in the detection value by the proximity sensor of the contactless button is due to a contactless operation by the user or due to vibration or shock, without providing any additional components. This makes it possible to suppress erroneous detection of the destination floor due to vibration or shock, without adding any components to the operation panel 100.

[0049] In the present embodiment, the case where the vibration / impact determination process determines whether the change in the detection value of the proximity sensor 113 exhibits characteristics different from those observed during non-contact operation based on whether the tilt c of the second sensor exceeds the tilt threshold has been described. However, the determination of whether the change in the detection value exhibits characteristics different from those observed during non-contact operation may be performed using other methods.

[0050] For example, the first sensor may be configured to calculate the slope of the change in the detection value during the determination period, similar to that of the second sensor, and determine that the first sensor exhibits different characteristics if the difference between the calculated slope and the slope c of the second sensor is equal to or less than a reference difference. This determination method is not limited to this, and the occurrence of vibration or impact may be determined based on other characteristics of the change in the detection value that are not observed during non-contact operation but are observed when vibration or impact occurs. Furthermore, the method is not limited to comparing the detection value of the first sensor with the detection value of the second sensor. The presence or absence of vibration or impact may be determined by sequentially identifying a third sensor with the second largest fluctuation, a fourth sensor with the second largest fluctuation, and so on, and comparing the change data of the detection value of these sensors with the characteristics of the change in the detection value when vibration or impact occurs.

[0051] In addition, in this embodiment, the case where the contactless operation detection device is used as the control panel 100 of the elevator destination floor registration system has been described. However, the contactless operation detection device according to this embodiment is not limited to this, and can also be used as another contactless detection device that has a plurality of contactless buttons and detects contactless operations.

[0052] The reading unit 121, the candidate button determination unit 122, the vibration / shock determination unit 123, the LED control unit 124, the button ON determination unit 125, and the transmission unit 126 included in the sensor control device 120 are each realized by a processing circuit. The processing circuit may be dedicated hardware or a CPU (Central Processing Unit) that executes a program stored in a memory.

[0053] Embodiment 2. Fig. 8 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of an elevator destination floor registration system according to Embodiment 2. The elevator destination floor registration system according to Embodiment 2 is the same as the elevator destination floor registration system according to Embodiment 1, except that the sensor control device 120 has a correction unit 127.

[0054] The correction unit 127 converts into absolute values ​​the detection values ​​of the proximity sensors 113 read by the reading unit 121. The vibration / impact determination unit acquires the detection value data during the determination period that has been converted into absolute values ​​by the correction unit 127, and determines whether or not there is a vibration / impact based on the detection value data that has been converted into absolute values.

[0055] 9 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the vibration / impact determination process according to the present embodiment. The operation shown in Fig. 9 is the same as the processing operation shown in Fig. 6 except for the inclusion of step S201.

[0056] 9, after it is determined in step S104 that the detected value a of the first sensor is greater than the registered determination value, each of the detected values ​​read in step S101 is converted into an absolute value. In the subsequent processing from step S105 onwards, the detected value data converted into absolute values ​​is used.

[0057] As described above, in this embodiment, the detection value of each proximity sensor is converted to an absolute value in the vibration / impact determination process. This makes it possible to determine whether or not a vibration or impact has occurred even if the detection value of the proximity sensor 113 fluctuates to the negative side due to the influence of vibration or impact. Therefore, it is possible to determine with high accuracy whether or not a vibration or impact has occurred.

[0058] In the above embodiments, when the number, quantity, amount, range, etc. of each element is mentioned, each element is not limited to the mentioned number unless it is specifically stated or clearly specified in principle. Furthermore, the structures, etc. described in this embodiment are not necessarily essential unless it is specifically stated or clearly specified in principle.

[0059] 100 Operation panel, 110, 110a-110h Non-contact button, 111 Mechanical button, 113 Proximity sensor, 120 Sensor control device, 121 Reading unit, 122 Candidate button determination unit, 123 Vibration / impact determination unit, 124 LED control unit, 125 Button ON determination unit, 126 Transmission unit, 127 Correction unit, 130 Button control device, 200 Elevator control device

Claims

1. When it is determined that the detection value of any one or more of the proximity sensors included in each of the non-contact buttons is greater than the registration determination value, Based on a change in the detection value of a second proximity sensor, the change in the detection value of which is smaller than that of a first proximity sensor, the change in the detection value of which is the largest, a determination unit that determines whether a change in the detection value of the proximity sensor is caused by a vibration or an impact; the determination unit determines that the change in the detection value of the proximity sensor has been caused by vibration or impact when a gradient of the change in the detection value of the second proximity sensor is greater than a gradient threshold value. Non-contact operation detection device.

2. The non-contact operation detection device according to claim 1 , wherein the second proximity sensor is a proximity sensor having a second largest change in the detection value after the first proximity sensor.

3. The non-contact operation detection device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the determination unit determines that the change in the detection value of the proximity sensor is caused by vibration or impact when the difference between the slope of the change in the detection value of the second proximity sensor and the slope of the change in the detection value of the first proximity sensor is smaller than a reference difference.

4. The non-contact operation detection device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the judgment unit judges that the change in the detection value of the proximity sensor is caused by vibration or impact when the detection value of the second proximity sensor is greater than a vibration / impact judgment value that is smaller than the registered judgment value.

5. The non-contact operation detection device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the determination unit corrects the detection values ​​of the multiple proximity sensors to absolute values ​​and uses the corrected absolute values ​​as the detection values ​​to determine whether a change in the detection values ​​of the proximity sensors is caused by vibration or impact.

6. A destination floor registration system for an elevator comprising the non-contact operation detection device according to claim 1 or 2, An elevator destination floor registration system configured to register a call for a destination floor corresponding to a non-contact button equipped with the first proximity sensor when the determination unit determines that the change in the detection value of the proximity sensor is not caused by vibration or impact.

7. Each of the non-contact buttons includes a lighting means for lighting each of the non-contact buttons; 7. The elevator destination floor registration system according to claim 6, wherein the lighting means of the non-contact button having the first proximity sensor is turned on when the destination floor call registration is performed.