Elevator Car Operating Panel Audible Feedback for Crowded Conditions
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional car operating panels for elevators lack feedback mechanisms that allow passengers to confirm their destination floor selections, especially in crowded conditions where visual confirmation is not possible, leading to uncertainty and potential miscommunication.
Innovation Solution
Implementing an audible feedback system that outputs the selected destination floor via a speaker when the elevator car occupation exceeds a predetermined limit, using existing hardware and software modifications to provide voice messages indicating the selected floor, ensuring all passengers, including those with visual impairments, can confirm their selections.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If visual feedback mechanisms (illuminated push buttons) are used to confirm destination floor selections, then passengers can confirm their selections, but passengers in crowded conditions or with visual impairments cannot receive this feedback
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical/visual feedback system (illuminated push buttons) with an acoustic feedback system (speaker emitting audible signals). This substitution allows passengers who cannot see the visual indicators to receive feedback through sound, thereby resolving the contradiction between visual feedback effectiveness and accessibility to passengers with visual impairments or in crowded conditions.
2Loss of information
If audible feedback is always provided to confirm selections, then all passengers can confirm their selections, but it increases device complexity and energy consumption
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a dynamic feedback system that adapts the type of feedback provided based on real-time detection of occupation degree. When the occupation degree exceeds a threshold, the system activates audible feedback; otherwise, it relies on visual feedback alone. This dynamic adaptation resolves the contradiction by providing comprehensive feedback coverage only when necessary, thereby avoiding unnecessary device complexity and energy consumption.
3Ease of operation
If audible feedback is provided to confirm selections, then passenger comfort and clarity are enhanced, but it requires additional hardware components
Solution Approach 1:
The patent integrates the speaker into the existing car operating panel system, making it a multi-functional device that serves both visual indication (through illuminated buttons) and acoustic feedback functions. By making the COP universal and multi-functional, the patent enhances passenger comfort through audible feedback without requiring completely separate hardware systems, thereby mitigating the increase in device complexity.
4Loss of energy
If the system detects occupation degree to control feedback output, then feedback is provided only when needed, but it requires additional sensing and control logic
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a self-service control mechanism where the car operating panel automatically detects its own occupation degree through integrated sensors and autonomously decides whether to activate audible feedback. This self-service approach resolves the contradiction by eliminating the need for external control systems or complex centralized control logic, as the system monitors and adjusts its own feedback behavior based on real-time conditions.
Data Source
Figure 1
AI summary
A method for operating a car operating panel (1) in an elevator car (3) for an elevator is proposed. The method comprising (i) receiving a destination selection signal indicating a passenger's request for transportation to a selected destination floor; (ii) detecting an occupation degree indicating a current occupation of the elevator car; and (iii) outputting an audible feedback stating the selected destination floor in case the occupation degree is higher than a predetermined occupation limit. While the approach presented herein appears to be simple, it may provide significant benefits with respect to improved traffic management, advantages for blind or handicapped people with low eye sight or lack of awareness or knowledge, improved customer satisfaction and/or increased life cycle of components. Furthermore, the approach presented herein may require no or only minor hardware modification of existing COPs but may mainly be implemented in software.