JP7600354B1 - Elevator group management device and elevator group management method - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide an elevator control device that controls an elevator so that a user who has an object with whom he or she wishes to avoid riding in the elevator car can use the elevator while reliably and easily avoiding riding in the elevator with that object.
[Solution] According to an embodiment, an elevator control device includes a first registration information storage unit, a first registration information acquisition unit, a first determination unit, and an operation control unit. The first registration information storage unit stores avoidance information, which is registered in advance for each user and indicates an object that the user wishes to avoid riding in the car. The first registration information acquisition unit acquires the avoidance information of a user who has performed a hall call registration operation from the first registration information storage unit. The first determination unit determines whether or not the object indicated by the acquired avoidance information is within the car. When the operation control unit determines that the object indicated by the avoidance information is within the car, it causes the car to run past the floor where the hall call occurred.
[Selected Figure] Figure 1

Description

An embodiment of the present invention relates to an elevator group control device and an elevator group control method .

Depending on the elevator user, there may be people with whom they would like to avoid riding in the elevator car. For example, while many users understand that crying babies and noisy young children are acceptable, some users would like to avoid riding in an enclosed space such as an elevator car, given the growing concern over infectious diseases. Also, users who have allergies to animals would like to avoid riding in the elevator car with their pets.

Therefore, if a user performs a hall call registration operation and the elevator doors open in response to this, and there is someone in the elevator that the user does not want to ride with, such as a crying baby, a noisy child, or a pet, the user will not board the elevator, will wait for the elevator to depart, and will then perform the hall call registration operation again and wait for the next elevator to arrive.

When this happens, users have to perform the hall call registration procedure multiple times, which is inconvenient for users and reduces the operating efficiency of the elevator.

JP 2019-151464 A

In light of this, for example, in order to efficiently prevent passengers who wish to avoid riding with pets from riding together with people accompanying their pets, there is a technology that allows either of these passengers to operate a special button when using the elevator, thereby controlling the operation of the elevator car to prevent these passengers from riding together.

However, when using this technology, either the user who wants to avoid riding with their pet or the person accompanying the pet must press a special button every time they use the elevator, which is inconvenient for users. There is also the problem that if the user forgets to press the button, it may not be possible to avoid riding with a pet.

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned circumstances, and has an object to provide an elevator group management device and an elevator group management method that control elevators so that a user who has an object that he or she wishes to avoid riding in the elevator car with can use the elevator while reliably and easily avoiding riding in the elevator with this object.

According to an embodiment for achieving the above object, an elevator control device includes a first registration information storage unit, a first registration information acquisition unit, a first determination unit, and an operation control unit. The first registration information storage unit stores avoidance information, which is registered in advance for each user and indicates an object that the user wishes to avoid riding in the car. The first registration information acquisition unit acquires the avoidance information of the user who performed the hall call registration operation from the first registration information storage unit. The first determination unit determines whether or not the object indicated by the acquired avoidance information is inside the car. When the operation control unit determines that the object indicated by the avoidance information is inside the car, it causes the car to run past the floor where the hall call occurred.

1 is an overall view showing the configuration of an elevator system using an elevator control device according to a first embodiment. 13 is an example of a registration operation screen for avoidance information displayed on a user terminal communicatively connected to the elevator control device according to the first embodiment. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation of the elevator control device according to the first embodiment when performing elevator control using avoidance information of a registered user. FIG. 11 is an overall view showing the configuration of an elevator system using an elevator group control device according to a second embodiment. 13 is a flowchart showing an operation of an elevator group control device according to a second embodiment when performing allocation processing using avoidance information of registered users. 13 is a flowchart showing an operation of the elevator group control device according to the second embodiment when executing an allocation process using all user avoidance information.

First Embodiment
Configuration of an elevator system using the elevator control device according to the first embodiment
Fig. 1 is an overall view showing the configuration of an elevator system 1 using an elevator control device according to this embodiment. The elevator system 1 includes a hoist 11 installed at the top of a hoistway 10-1 in a building, a rope 12 stretched across the hoist 11, a car 13 suspended from one end of the rope 12, and an elevator control device 14 installed at the top of the hoistway 10-1. The car 13 and the elevator control device 14 are connected via a tail cord 15. An in-car camera device 131, an in-car sound collecting device 132, and an in-car operation panel 133 are installed inside the car 13.

The car interior camera device 131 is installed, for example, on the interior panel or ceiling of the car 13, and captures images of the interior of the car 13. The car interior sound collection device 132 collects sounds from within the car 13. The car interior operation panel 133 has a destination floor registration button (not shown) that allows users to register car calls.

The elevator system 1 also includes a hall call registration device 21-1, a hall camera device 22-1, an image analysis device 23-1, and a wireless communication device 24-1, all installed at the hall 20-1. The hall call registration device 21-1, the image analysis device 23-1, and the wireless communication device 24-1 are connected to the elevator control device 14 via signal lines 25-1, 26-1, and 27-1, respectively. Although FIG. 1 shows only one hall 20-1 in the building, halls on other floors can be configured in the same way.

The hall camera device 22-1 photographs the hall 20-1. The image analysis device 23-1 analyzes the image information photographed by the hall camera device 22-1 to obtain identification information and facial expression information of the user who performed the hall call registration operation. The wireless communication device 24-1 performs wireless communication with a communication device in the hall 20-1, for example, by short-range wireless communication.

The elevator system 1 is also connected to a user terminal 30-1 carried by a user X1 who uses the elevator system 1 via a wireless communication device 24-1 so as to be able to communicate wirelessly. The user terminal 30-1 is equipped with an application AP for transmitting and receiving information to and from the elevator system 1. The user terminal 30-1 uses this application AP to perform a process of registering avoidance information for user X1 in the elevator control device 14 based on the operation of user X1. The user terminal 30-1 also outputs information transmitted from the elevator control device 14.

The elevator control device 14 has a call registration unit 141, a first registration information storage unit 142, and a first CPU 143. The call registration unit 141 registers hall call information based on hall call registration operations performed by users on the hall call registration device 21-1, and car call information based on car call registration operations performed on the car operation panel 133. The first registration information storage unit 142 stores avoidance information indicating targets that users wish to avoid riding in the car 13, which is registered in advance for each elevator user, as user-specific avoidance information.

The first CPU 143 is, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) provided in a general-purpose microcomputer, and configures one or more information processing units described below by installing and executing a specific elevator control program. The first CPU 143 has a car information acquisition unit 143a, a first hall information acquisition unit 143b, a first registration information acquisition unit 143c, a first determination unit 143d, an operation control unit 143e, and a first waiting time calculation unit 143f.

The car information acquisition unit 143a acquires, via the tail cord 15, information acquired by the in-car camera device 131, the in-car sound collection device 132, and the in-car operation panel 133 in the car 13 as car in-information indicating the situation inside the car. The first hall information acquisition unit 143b acquires, from the image analysis device 23-1, the identification information, facial expression, and other information of the user who performed the hall call registration operation at hall 20-1.

The first registration information acquisition unit 143c acquires the user's avoidance information corresponding to the identification information acquired by the first hall information acquisition unit 143b from the first registration information storage unit 142. The first determination unit 143d determines whether or not the object indicated by the avoidance information acquired by the first registration information acquisition unit 143c is inside the elevator 13, based on the elevator interior information acquired by the elevator information acquisition unit 143a.

When the first determination unit 143d determines that there is an object indicated by the avoidance information inside the car 13, the operation control unit 143e causes the car 13 to run past the floor where the hall call occurs. The first waiting time calculation unit 143f calculates a predicted value of the waiting time, which is the time from when the hall call is generated until the car 13 lands on the floor where the hall call occurs and the door opens.

Operation of the elevator system according to the first embodiment
The operation when a user X1 uses the elevator system 1 according to this embodiment will be described. In this embodiment, the image analysis device 23-1 holds face information of a user (hereinafter, referred to as a "registered user") who is registered in advance as a user of the elevator system 1, in association with the identification information of the registered user. User X1 is a registered user of the elevator system 1.

Using application AP on user terminal 30-1, user X1 performs an operation to register avoidance information indicating the person that user X1 wants to avoid riding in car 13 in elevator control device 14.

The application AP stores in advance information on "babies" and "toddlers" as information on people who should be avoided from riding in the car 13. The application AP also stores information on "crying babies" and "noisy toddlers" as information on people who should be avoided and are in a specified status.

Figure 2 is an example of an avoidance information registration operation screen P1 displayed on the user terminal 30-1 by the application AP. The registration operation screen P1 has a selection area 31 for selecting whether to agree to ride with a "baby" (Yes) or to not agree and avoid it (No) based on pre-stored information, and a selection area 32 for selecting whether to agree to ride with a "crying baby" (Yes) or to not agree and avoid it (No). The selection area 31 is always selectable, and the selection area 32 becomes selectable when "Yes" is selected in the selection area 31. Here, "Yes" is selected in the selection area 31 by the user X1, and "No" is selected in the selection area 32 that has become selectable. In other words, the user X1 agrees to ride with a baby, but chooses to avoid riding with a crying baby.

The registration operation screen P1 also has a selection area 33 for allowing the user to select whether to agree to ride with a "toddler" (Yes) or to decline and avoid the ride (No) based on pre-stored information, and a selection area 34 for allowing the user to select whether to agree to ride with a "noisy toddler" (Yes) or to decline and avoid the ride (No). Selection area 33 is always selectable, and selection area 34 becomes selectable when "Yes" is selected in selection area 33. Here, user X1 selects "No" in selection area 33, which makes selection area 34 unavailable. In other words, user X1 has selected not to agree to ride with a toddler, regardless of the toddler's status.

When user X1 performs an operation to register the selected information in this manner, this information is stored in the first registration information storage unit 142 as avoidance information for user X1.

Figure 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the elevator control device 14 of the elevator system 1 according to this embodiment when performing elevator control using the avoidance information of registered users. In the initial state, the operation control unit 143e of the elevator control device 14 is set to perform response processing that prioritizes service performance when a hall call or car call is registered in the call registration unit 141. In other words, the operation control unit 143e controls the operation of the car 13 so as to shorten the waiting time of waiting users at the hall as much as possible.

During operation of the elevator system 1, the hall camera device 22-1 photographs the hall 20-1, and the image analysis device 23-1 analyzes the image information photographed by the hall camera device 22-1 to monitor whether or not a user has performed a hall call registration operation. The image analysis device 23-1 may use an emotion recognition AI to recognize the emotion of a user who has performed a hall call registration operation from the image information.

The in-car camera device 131 captures images of the inside of the car 13 and transmits the captured image information to the elevator control device 14. The in-car sound collection device 132 collects sounds inside the car 13 and transmits the captured sound information to the elevator control device 14. In the elevator control device 14, the car information acquisition unit 143a acquires the captured image information transmitted from the in-car camera device 131 and the sound information transmitted from the in-car sound collection device 132. The car information acquisition unit 143a may analyze the captured image information captured by the in-car camera device 131 to predict the age of people in the car 13, or may use emotion recognition AI to recognize the emotions of children, their parents, etc. in the car 13.

When user X1 enters hall 20-1 and performs hall call registration operation on hall call registration device 21-1, this operation information is transmitted to elevator control device 14. In elevator control device 14, a hall call is registered in call registration unit 141 based on the hall call registration operation information transmitted from hall call registration device 21-1 ("YES" in S1).

When user X1 performs a hall call registration operation, image analysis device 23-1 detects the presence of a user who has performed the hall call registration operation by analyzing the image information captured by hall camera device 22-1. When image analysis device 23-1 detects the presence of a user who has performed a hall call registration operation, it performs face authentication by comparing image information of the face of this user with the face information it holds, and determines whether or not this user is a registered user. Here, image analysis device 23-1 determines that user X1 who performed the hall call registration operation is a registered user, and transmits identification information of this user X1 to elevator control device 14.

In the elevator control device 14, the first hall information acquisition unit 143b acquires the identification information of user X1 transmitted from the image analysis device 23-1 ("YES" in S2). Upon acquiring the identification information of user X1, the first hall information acquisition unit 143b recognizes that a hall call registration has been made by user X1, who is a registered user.

The first hall information acquisition unit 143b here judges whether it has acquired the identification information of two or more registered users who have registered hall calls for hall 20-1 (S3). Here, the first hall information acquisition unit 143b judges that it has acquired only the identification information of user X1, that is, only one registered user ("NO" in S3). When the first hall information acquisition unit 143b judges that it has acquired the identification information of only one registered user, it sends the identification information of user X1 to the first registration information acquisition unit 143c.

The first registration information acquisition unit 143c acquires the avoidance information of user X1 corresponding to the identification information acquired by the first hall information acquisition unit 143b from the first registration information storage unit 142 (S4). Here, the first registration information acquisition unit 143c acquires, as the avoidance information of user X1, information indicating that the avoidance targets are a "crying baby" and a "toddler" (regardless of their status of whether they are making noise or not).

The first determination unit 143d determines whether or not the avoidance target indicated by the avoidance information acquired by the first registration information acquisition unit 143c is present inside the elevator car 13 based on the imaging information and sound information acquired by the elevator information acquisition unit 143a (S5).

For example, when the first determination unit 143d analyzes the image information from inside the car 13 and recognizes that there is a baby inside the car 13, and recognizes that the baby is crying based on the volume (decibels) of the sound information inside the car 13, it determines that a "crying baby" is present inside the car 13. Furthermore, when the first determination unit 143d analyzes the image information from inside the car 13 and recognizes that there is a toddler inside the car 13, it determines that there is a "toddler" inside the car 13. When the first determination unit 143d determines that either of these is present inside the car 13, it determines that there is an object to be avoided by user X1 inside the car 13 ("YES" in S5).

When the first judgment unit 143d judges that an avoidance target for user X1 exists in the car 13, the operation control unit 143e causes the car 13 to run past the floor where the hall call registration occurs, that is, the floor of hall 20-1 (S7) if the predicted waiting time calculated by the first waiting time calculation unit 143f when the car 13 passes through the floor where the hall call registration occurs is not equal to or greater than a preset threshold (e.g., "1 minute") ("NO" in S7). This threshold may be set in advance by an administrator, or may be set as the waiting time tolerated by each user when registering the avoidance information.

When the car 13 passes through the floor of hall 20-1, the operation control unit 143e transmits notification information to the user terminal 30-1 via the wireless communication device 24-1, indicating that the car 13 has passed through hall 20-1 due to the presence of an object to be avoided within the car 13 (S8). The user terminal 30-1 outputs the notification information obtained from the elevator control device 14 by display or voice. User X1 can recognize the output notification information and confirm the reason why the car 13 passed through hall 20-1.

Then, returning to step S3, if the identification information of two or more registered users for hall 20-1 has not been acquired, the processing of steps S3 to S8 is repeated until it is determined that the avoidance target indicated in the avoidance information of user X1 is not present in car 13 ("NO" in S5) or it is determined that the predicted waiting time is equal to or greater than a predetermined value ("YES" in S6).

In step S2, if the elevator control device 14 does not acquire the identification information of user X1 from the image analysis device 23-1 ("NO" in S2), the first hall information acquisition unit 143b recognizes that the hall call registration has been made by a user other than the registered user. In this case, the operation control unit 143e executes normal response processing, that is, response processing to the hall call that prioritizes service performance (S9).

In addition, in step S3, if the first platform information acquisition unit 143b determines that it has acquired the identification information of two or more registered users who have registered platform calls, for example, if two platform calls, an upward platform call and a downward platform call, have been registered at platform 20-1 and both are unanswered, and it has acquired the identification information of both the registered user who registered the upward platform call and the registered user who registered the downward platform call, the first determination unit 143d does not perform the process of determining whether or not the user's avoidance target is present in the car 13.

When two registered users perform hall call registration operations for different directions, it is difficult for the first hall information acquisition unit 143b to identify from the imaging information which registered user performed the hall call registration operation corresponding to the current traveling direction of the car 13. Therefore, when the contents of the avoidance information of these two people are different, for example, when the avoidance information of one registered user is registered as allowing riding with a baby, and the avoidance information of the other registered user is registered as avoiding riding with a baby, the first judgment unit 143d cannot appropriately judge whether or not to let the car 13 pass. In such a case, the operation control unit 143e executes normal call response processing for this hall call (S9).

In addition, in step S5, when the first registration information acquisition unit 143c determines that the avoidance target indicated in the avoidance information acquired is not present in the car 13 ("NO" in S5), the operation control unit 143e executes normal call response processing for this hall call (S9).

In addition, in step S6, when the first judgment unit 143d judges that the predicted waiting time is equal to or greater than a predetermined value ("YES" in S6), the operation control unit 143e executes normal call response processing for this hall call (S9). By performing processing in this manner, it is possible to avoid a significant decrease in convenience for users.

According to the first embodiment described above, it is possible for a user who has a subject with whom they wish to avoid riding in the elevator car to be able to use the elevator while reliably and easily avoiding riding in the elevator with this subject without the need for any special operations when using the elevator. Furthermore, by controlling in this way, it is possible to reduce the occurrence of unnecessary hall calls, and the elevator can be operated efficiently.

In the first embodiment described above, the elevator control device 14 may acquire image information captured by the hall camera device 22-1, and the elevator control device 14 may perform face recognition processing of the user who performed the hall call registration operation. In this case, the elevator control device 14 stores face information of the registered user in advance.

In the above-mentioned first embodiment, the image analysis device 23-1 analyzes the image information captured by the hall camera device 22-1 to obtain the identification information of the user who performed the hall call registration operation, and the image analysis device 23-1 transmits this identification information to the elevator control device 14. However, this is not limited to the above, and the elevator control device 14 may obtain the user's identification information from a user terminal carried by the user who performed the hall call registration operation, via a short-range wireless communication device (not shown) installed on the floor where the hall call is generated.

Second Embodiment
<Configuration of an elevator system using an elevator group control device according to the second embodiment>
4 is an overall diagram showing the configuration of an elevator system 2 using an elevator group control device according to this embodiment. The elevator system 2 includes a number of elevators, namely, elevator A 100A and elevator B 100B, and an elevator group control device 40 that performs group control of the elevators 100A and 100B. In this embodiment, a case will be described in which the elevator group control device 40 performs group control of two elevators, but the present invention is not limited to this and may perform group control of three or more elevators.

Elevator A 100A is equipped with a hoist 11A installed at the top of elevator shaft 10-2 inside the building, a rope 12A hung from hoist 11A, a car 13A suspended from one end of rope 12A, and an elevator A control device 14A installed at the top of elevator shaft 10-2. The car 13A and elevator A control device 14A are connected via a tail cord 15A. An in-car camera device 131A, an in-car sound pickup device 132A, and an in-car operation panel 133A are installed inside elevator car 13A.

Elevator B 100B has the same configuration as elevator A 100A.

The elevator system 1 also includes a hall call registration device 21-2, a hall camera device 22-2, an image analyzer 23-2, and a wireless communication device 24-2, all installed at the hall 20-2. The hall call registration device 21-2, the image analyzer 23-2, and the wireless communication device 24-2 are connected to the elevator group control device 40 via signal lines 25-2, 26-2, and 27-2, respectively. A pass button 28 is installed near the hall call registration device 21-2. The pass button 28 is connected to the elevator group control device 40 via a signal line 29. Although only one hall 20-2 in the building is shown in FIG. 4, halls on other floors can be configured in the same way.

The hall camera device 22-2 photographs the hall 20-2. The image analysis device 23-2 analyzes the image information photographed by the hall camera device 22-2 to obtain identification information and facial expression information of the user who performed the hall call registration operation. The wireless communication device 24-2 wirelessly communicates with a communication device in the hall 20-2, for example, by short-range wireless communication. The pass button 28 is a button that indicates the user's intention to request that the car 13A or 13B pass through the floor of the hall 20-2.

The elevator system 2 is also connected to a user terminal 30-2 carried by a user X2 who uses the elevator system 2 via a wireless communication device 24-1 so as to be able to communicate wirelessly. The user terminal 30-2 is equipped with an application AP for transmitting and receiving information to and from the elevator system 2. The user terminal 30-2 uses this application AP to perform a process of registering the avoidance information of user X2 in the elevator group control device 40 based on the operation of user X2. The user terminal 30-2 also outputs information transmitted from the elevator group control device 40.

The elevator group management device 40 has a hall call registration unit 41, a second registration information storage unit 42, and a second CPU 43. The hall call registration unit 41 registers hall call information based on a hall call registration operation performed by a user on the hall call registration device 21-2.

The second registered information storage unit 42 stores avoidance information indicating objects that registered users wish to avoid riding in the cars 13A and 13B as user-specific avoidance information. The second registered information storage unit 42 also stores all-user avoidance information indicating objects that registered users wish to avoid riding in the cars 13A and 13B, which is pre-registered for all users of the elevator system 2, regardless of whether they are registered users or not. The all-user avoidance information is objects that many people generally wish to avoid riding in the cars, such as babies, children, and pets.

The second CPU43 is, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) provided in a general-purpose microcomputer, and configures one or more information processing units described below by installing and executing a specific elevator control program. The second CPU43 has a car number information acquisition unit 431, a second hall information acquisition unit 432, a second registration information acquisition unit 433, a second judgment unit 434, a second waiting time calculation unit 435, an allocation control unit 436, and an operation instruction unit 437.

The elevator information acquisition unit 431 acquires operation information of the elevator A 100A from the elevator A control device 14A, and acquires operation information of the elevator B 100B from the elevator B control device 14B. The second hall information acquisition unit 432 acquires, from the image analysis device 23-1, the identification information, facial expression information, etc. of the user who performed the hall call registration operation at the hall 20-1.

The second registration information acquisition unit 433 acquires user avoidance information corresponding to the identification information acquired by the second hall information acquisition unit 432 from the second registration information storage unit 42. In addition, when the second registration information acquisition unit 433 detects that a hall call registration operation has been performed, it acquires all-user avoidance information from the second registration information storage unit 42.

The second judgment unit 434 judges whether or not the target indicated by the avoidance information acquired by the second registration information acquisition unit 433 is located within the cars 13A and 13B based on the information of the elevator A 100A and the elevator B 100B acquired by the elevator information acquisition unit 431.

The second waiting time calculation unit 435 calculates a predicted value of the waiting time, which is the time from when a hall call is generated until each of the elevator cars 13A and 13B arrives at the floor where the hall call is generated and the doors open.

The allocation control unit 436 executes an allocation process to allocate an elevator to respond to the hall call registered in the hall call registration unit 41 based on the information acquired by the elevator information acquisition unit 431 and the result of the judgment by the second judgment unit 434.

The operation instruction unit 437 generates notification information to notify the user based on the elevator information assigned by the assignment control unit 436 and transmits the notification information to the user terminal 30-2.

Operation of the elevator system according to the second embodiment
The following describes the operation of the elevator system 2 according to this embodiment when a user X2 who is a registered user of the elevator system 2 uses the elevator system 2. In this embodiment, the image analysis device 23-2 holds face information of the registered user of the elevator system 2 in association with identification information of the registered user, as in the first embodiment.

Using application AP on user terminal 30-2, user X2 performs an operation to register, in elevator group control device 40, avoidance information indicating targets that user X2 wishes to avoid riding in cars 13A and 13B. The process of registering the avoidance information is similar to the process described in the first embodiment, and therefore a detailed description will be omitted.

Figure 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the elevator group management device 40 according to this embodiment when performing allocation processing using avoidance information of registered users. In the initial state, the allocation control unit 436 of the elevator group management device 40 is set to perform allocation processing that prioritizes service performance when a hall call is registered in the hall call registration unit 41. In other words, the allocation control unit 436 performs allocation control so as to shorten the waiting time of waiting users at the hall as much as possible.

In addition, while the elevator system 2 is in operation, the hall camera device 22-2 captures images of the hall 20-2, and the image analysis device 23-2 analyzes the image information captured by the hall camera device 22-2 to monitor whether any users have performed a hall call registration operation.

In-car camera devices 131A and 131B capture images of the inside of cars 13A and 13B, respectively, and transmit the captured image information to elevator group management device 40 via control devices 14A and 14B. In-car sound collection devices 132A and 132B capture sounds from inside cars 13A and 13B, respectively, and transmit the acquired sound information to elevator group management device 40 via control devices 14A and 14B. In elevator group management device 40, car information acquisition unit 431 acquires the captured image information transmitted from in-car camera devices 131A and 131B and the sound information transmitted from in-car sound collection devices 132A and 132B.

When user X2 enters hall 20-2 and performs hall call registration operation on hall call registration device 21-2, this operation information is transmitted to elevator group control device 40. In elevator group control device 40, a hall call is registered in hall call registration unit 41 based on the hall call registration operation information transmitted from hall call registration device 21-2 ("YES" in S11).

When user X2 performs a hall call registration operation, the image analysis device 23-2 detects the presence of a user who has performed the hall call registration operation by analyzing the image information captured by the hall camera device 22-2. When the image analysis device 23-2 detects the presence of a user who has performed a hall call registration operation, it performs face authentication in the same manner as described in the first embodiment, determines that user X2 who performed the hall call registration operation is a registered user, and transmits the identification information of this user X2 to the elevator group control device 40.

In the elevator group control device 40, the second hall information acquisition unit 432 acquires the identification information of user X2 transmitted from the image analysis device 23-2 ("YES" in S12). Upon acquiring the identification information of user X2, the second hall information acquisition unit 432 recognizes that a hall call registration has been made by user X2, who is a registered user.

The second hall information acquisition unit 432 here judges whether or not it has acquired the identification information of two or more registered users who have registered hall calls for hall 20-2 (S13). Here, the second hall information acquisition unit 432 judges that it has acquired only the identification information of user X2, that is, only one registered user ("NO" in S13). When the second hall information acquisition unit 432 judges that it has acquired the identification information of only one registered user, it sends the identification information of user X2 to the second registration information acquisition unit 433.

The second registration information acquisition unit 433 acquires, from the second registration information storage unit 42, the avoidance information of user X2 corresponding to the identification information acquired by the second hall information acquisition unit 432 (S14). Here, the second registration information acquisition unit 433 acquires, as the avoidance information of user X2, information indicating that the objects to be avoided are a "crying baby" and a "toddler" (regardless of their status of whether they are making noise or not).

The second determination unit 434 determines, for each car, whether or not the avoidance target indicated by the avoidance information acquired by the second registration information acquisition unit 433 is present in the cars 13A and 13B, in the same manner as described in the first embodiment, based on the imaging information and sound information acquired by the car information acquisition unit 431 (S15).

Based on the judgment result by the second judgment unit 434, the allocation control unit 436 judges whether or not there is an avoidance target for user X2 in all cars, i.e., both cars 13A and 13B (S16). Here, if there is no avoidance target for user X2 in at least one of cars 13A and 13B ("NO" in S16), the allocation control unit 436 obtains a predicted waiting time value for a car that does not have an avoidance target from the second waiting time calculation unit 435.

Based on the information acquired from the second waiting time calculation unit 435, the allocation control unit 436 judges whether the predicted waiting times of all cars that do not have an avoidance target are equal to or greater than a predetermined value (e.g., "1 minute") (S17). If the allocation control unit 436 judges that there is a car that has a predicted waiting time less than the predetermined value among the cars that do not have an avoidance target ("NO" in S17), it assigns the car with the shortest waiting time among them to the hall call (S18).

In step S12, when the elevator group control device 40 does not acquire the identification information of user X2 from the image analysis device 23-2 ("NO" in S12), the second hall information acquisition unit 432 recognizes that a hall call registration has been made by a user other than the registered user. In this case, the first determination unit 143d does not perform the process of determining whether or not there is an object to be avoided by the user in the car 13, and the allocation control unit 436 executes normal allocation control, that is, allocation processing to hall calls with priority given to service performance. (S19).

Also, if the second hall information acquisition unit 432 determines in step S13 that it has acquired the identification information of two or more registered users who have registered hall calls ("YES" in S13), if the allocation control unit 436 determines in step S16 that there are avoidance targets for user X2 in both cars 13A and 13B ("YES" in S16), or if the allocation control unit 436 determines in step S17 that the predicted waiting times for all cars with no avoidance targets are equal to or greater than a predetermined value ("YES" in S17), the allocation control unit 436 also performs normal allocation processing (S19).

Next, as another example of the operation of the elevator system 2, the operation when performing the allocation process using all-user avoidance information will be described. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation when the elevator group control device 40 performs the allocation process using all-user avoidance information. This process may be performed in place of the normal allocation process in step S19 when the allocation process is performed using the avoidance information of registered users as described above.

When user X3, who is not registered with the elevator group control device 40, enters and performs a hall call registration operation with the hall call registration device 21-2, a hall call is registered in the hall call registration unit 41 based on this operation ("YES" in S21).

When user X3 performs a hall call registration operation, the image analysis device 23-2 detects that a user has performed a hall call registration operation by analyzing the image information captured by the hall camera device 22-2. When the image analysis device 23-2 detects that a user has performed a hall call registration operation, it notifies the elevator group management device 40 that a user has performed a hall call registration operation, regardless of whether the user is a registered user or not.

In the elevator group control device 40, the second hall information acquisition unit 432 acquires the notification sent from the image analysis device 23-2 and sends it to the second registration information acquisition unit 433. The second registration information acquisition unit 433 acquires all-user avoidance information from the second registration information storage unit 42 based on the acquired notification.

The second judgment unit 434 judges, for each car, whether or not an avoidance target registered as all-user avoidance information is present in car 13A or 13B based on the imaging information and sound information acquired by the car information acquisition unit 431 (S22).

Based on the result of the judgment by the second judgment unit 434, the allocation control unit 436 judges whether or not the avoidance target for all users is present in the elevator car assigned to this hall call by normal allocation control (S23). If the avoidance target is present in the elevator car assigned to this hall call ("YES" in S23), the allocation control unit 436 further judges whether or not the avoidance target for all users is present in the cars of all cars, that is, in both cars 13A and 13B (S24).

Here, if the allocation control unit 436 determines that there is no avoidance target for all users in at least one of the cars 13A and 13B ("NO" in S24), it obtains from the second waiting time calculation unit 435 the expected waiting time for user X3 when the elevator car assigned to this hall call by normal allocation control passes through the occurrence floor of the hall call registration.

The operation instruction unit 437 outputs, from a speaker device (not shown) installed at the hall 20-1, announcement information informing the passenger that the car in which the avoidance target exists is scheduled to arrive and the expected waiting time if the pass button 28 is operated (S25).

When user X3 presses the pass button 28 due to the output of the announcement information, information on this pressing operation is transmitted to the elevator group control device 40. In the elevator group control device 40, the allocation control unit 436 acquires the operation information of the pass button 28.

When the allocation control unit 436 obtains the operation information of the pass button 28 ("YES" in S26), it detects that user X3 has indicated an intention to pass through the elevator to avoid riding with an avoidance target, and allocates to the hall call the car with the shortest waiting time among the cars that do not have an avoidance target for all users (S27).

If, in step S23, the allocation control unit 436 determines that there are no avoidance targets for all users in the elevator cars assigned to this hall call by normal allocation control ("NO" in S23), if, in step S24, it determines that there are avoidance targets for all users in the cars of all elevators ("YES" in S24), or if, in step S26, operation information for the pass button 28 is not obtained within a predetermined time ("NO" in S26), the allocation control unit 436 executes normal allocation processing (S28).

The allocation process using the avoidance information of registered users and the allocation process using the all-user avoidance information described above may be performed simultaneously, or the allocation process using the all-user avoidance information may be performed only when no hall calls from registered users are registered.

According to the second embodiment described above, when a user who wishes to avoid riding in the elevator car with a person uses one of multiple elevators, elevator group management can be performed so that the user can use the elevator without having to ride in the elevator car with the person without having to perform any special operations and without having to reliably and easily avoid riding in the elevator with the person. Furthermore, by controlling in this manner, it is possible to reduce the occurrence of unnecessary hall calls, and to efficiently manage multiple elevators in a group. Furthermore, for people who generally wish to avoid riding in the elevator car with a person, it is possible to allow users who have not been pre-registered in the elevator group management device 40 to choose whether or not to ride in the elevator car with the person.

In the second embodiment described above, the elevator group control device 40 may acquire image information captured by the hall camera device 22-2, and perform face recognition processing on the user who has performed the hall call registration operation. In this case, the elevator group control device 40 may hold face information of the registered user in advance.

In the second embodiment described above, when the elevator group control device 40 recognizes that a user who has registered a hall call is in a hurry, the elevator group control device 40 may shorten the time it takes for the car doors to open and close at the hall where the user is located.

In this case, the second hall information acquisition unit 432 acquires, from the image analysis device 23-2, facial expression information indicating the facial expression of the user who performed the hall call registration operation, and waiting user presence information indicating the presence or absence of waiting users other than the user who performed the hall call registration operation at the hall where the hall call registration operation was performed. In addition, the elevator number information acquisition unit 431 acquires car call information registered in each of the multiple elevators.

Then, the operation instruction unit 437 recognizes that the user who registered the hall call is in a hurry based on the facial expression information acquired by the second hall information acquisition unit 432, and determines that there are no waiting users at the hall other than the user who registered the hall call based on the waiting user presence information, and when the elevator number information acquisition unit 431 determines that no car call has been registered with the floor where the hall call occurred as a destination floor in the elevator assigned to the hall call, it shortens the car door opening time when the car of the assigned elevator arrives at the floor where the hall call occurred.

By performing processing in this way, the elevator can be operated so that passengers who are in a hurry can move between floors in the shortest possible time.

In the above-mentioned second embodiment, the image analysis device 23-2 analyzes the image information captured by the hall camera device 22-2 to obtain the identification information of the user who performed the hall call registration operation, and the image analysis device 23-2 transmits this identification information to the elevator group control device 40. However, this is not limited to this, and the elevator group control device 40 may obtain the user's identification information from a user terminal carried by the user who performed the hall call registration operation, via a short-range wireless communication device (not shown) installed on the floor where the hall call is generated.

In the second embodiment described above, the hall call registration device 21-2 may be configured as a hall destination floor registration device where a user specifies a destination floor and performs a hall call registration operation. In this case, even if the second determination unit 434 of the elevator group management device 40 acquires the identification information of two or more registered users, it can determine the destination direction of each user from the operation information of the hall destination floor registration device and the analysis information of the image information by the image analysis device 23-2. Therefore, based on the destination direction determined for each user who performed the hall call registration operation, the allocation control unit 436 assigns elevators other than the elevators in whose cars it is determined that each avoidance target is located, as elevators that respond to the corresponding hall call. This allows allocation control to be performed so that each user avoids riding with each avoidance target.

The hall call registration device 21-2 may also be configured as a hall destination floor registration device, and when a user uses an elevator, the user may hold a user terminal or the like held by the user over the hall destination floor registration device, thereby transmitting destination floor information stored in the user terminal to the elevator group control device 40 and registering a hall call. In this case, information on people to be avoided that the user wants to avoid riding with may be stored in the user terminal in advance, and when the user holds the terminal over the hall destination floor registration device, the information on the people to be avoided may also be transmitted to the elevator group control device.

Although several embodiments of the present invention have been described, these embodiments are presented as examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, substitutions, and modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the invention. These embodiments and their modifications are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are included in the scope of the invention and its equivalents described in the claims.

1, 2... elevator system, 10-1, 10-2... elevator shaft, 11, 11A, 11B... hoist, 12, 12A, 12B... rope, 14, 14A, 14B... elevator control device, 15, 15A, 15B... tail cord, 20-1, 20-2... landing, 21-1, 21-2... landing call registration device, 22-1, 22-2... landing camera device , 23-1, 23-2... image analysis device, 24-1, 24-2... wireless communication device, 25-1, 25-2, 26-1, 26-2, 27-1, 27-2, 29... signal line, 28... passage button, 30-1, 30-2... user terminal, 31 to 34... selection area, 40... elevator group control device, 41... hall call registration unit, 42... second registration information storage unit, 43... 2nd CPU, 100A... Elevator A, 100B... Elevator B, 131, 131A, 131B... Camera device in car, 132, 132A, 132B... Sound collecting device in car, 133, 133A, 133B... Operation panel in car, 141... Call registration unit, 142... First registration information storage unit, 143... 1st CPU, 143a... Car information acquisition unit, 14 3b...first hall information acquisition unit, 143c...first registration information acquisition unit, 143d...first judgment unit, 143e...operation control unit, 143f...first waiting time calculation unit, 431...unit number information acquisition unit, 432...second hall information acquisition unit, 433...second registration information acquisition unit, 434...second judgment unit, 435...second waiting time calculation unit, 436...allocation control unit, 437...operation instruction unit

Claims (9)

Group management of multiple elevators,
A registration information storage unit that stores avoidance information indicating a target that a user wants to avoid riding in a car, which is registered in advance for each user, as user-specific avoidance information;
a car information acquisition unit that acquires car interior information indicating a status inside the car for each of the plurality of elevators;
a hall information acquiring unit that acquires, when a hall call of the plurality of elevators is registered, identification information of a user who has performed an operation to register the hall call;
a registration information acquisition unit that acquires, from the registration information storage unit , avoidance information of a user corresponding to the identification information acquired by the hall information acquisition unit;
a determination unit that determines, for each of the plurality of elevators, whether or not an object indicated by the avoidance information acquired by the registration information acquisition unit is inside a car based on the car in-information acquired by the elevator information acquisition unit;
and an allocation control unit that allocates an elevator other than the elevator in which the determination unit has determined that the object is in a car as an elevator that will respond to the hall call ,
The elevator information acquisition unit is an elevator group management device that acquires, as in-cab information for each of the plurality of elevators, image information obtained by photographing the inside of each car and sound information obtained by collecting sound inside each car . Group management of multiple elevators,
A registration information storage unit that stores avoidance information indicating a target that a user wants to avoid riding in a car, which is registered in advance for each user, as user-specific avoidance information;
a car information acquisition unit that acquires car interior information indicating a status inside the car for each of the plurality of elevators;
a hall information acquiring unit that acquires, when a hall call of the plurality of elevators is registered, identification information of a user who has performed an operation to register the hall call;
a registration information acquisition unit that acquires, from the registration information storage unit , avoidance information of a user corresponding to the identification information acquired by the hall information acquisition unit;
a determination unit that determines, for each of the plurality of elevators, whether or not an object indicated by the avoidance information acquired by the registration information acquisition unit is inside a car based on the car in-information acquired by the elevator information acquisition unit;
and an allocation control unit that allocates an elevator other than the elevator in which the determination unit has determined that the object is in a car as an elevator that will respond to the hall call ,
The platform information acquisition unit acquires facial expression information indicating an expression of the user who performed the platform call registration operation, and waiting user presence/absence information indicating the presence or absence of waiting users other than the user who performed the platform call registration operation at the platform where the platform call registration operation was performed,
The elevator information acquisition unit acquires information of car calls registered in a plurality of elevators,
an operation instruction unit that recognizes that the user who registered the hall call is in a hurry based on the facial expression information acquired by the hall information acquisition unit, determines that there are no waiting users at the hall other than the user who registered the hall call based on the waiting user presence information, and when the car number information acquisition unit determines that no car call has been registered in an elevator assigned to the hall call with the floor where the hall call occurred as a destination floor, shortens the door-opening time of the car of the assigned elevator when the car of the assigned elevator arrives at the floor where the hall call occurred . Group management of multiple elevators,
A registration information storage unit that stores avoidance information indicating a target that a user wants to avoid riding in a car, which is registered in advance for each user, as user-specific avoidance information;
a car information acquisition unit that acquires car interior information indicating a status inside the car for each of the plurality of elevators;
a hall information acquiring unit that acquires, when a hall call of the plurality of elevators is registered, identification information of a user who has performed an operation to register the hall call;
a registration information acquisition unit that acquires, from the registration information storage unit , avoidance information of a user corresponding to the identification information acquired by the hall information acquisition unit;
a determination unit that determines, for each of the plurality of elevators, whether or not an object indicated by the avoidance information acquired by the registration information acquisition unit is inside a car based on the car in-information acquired by the elevator information acquisition unit;
and an allocation control unit that allocates an elevator other than the elevator in which the determination unit has determined that the object is in a car as an elevator that will respond to the hall call ,
The registration information storage unit further stores all-user avoidance information indicating targets to be avoided from riding in the elevator car, the all-user avoidance information being registered in advance for all users of the plurality of elevators,
The determination unit determines whether or not a target indicated by the all-user avoidance information is present in an elevator car assigned to the hall call by the assignment control unit, based on the car in-car information acquired by the car number information acquisition unit;
The allocation control unit, when the determination unit determines that the elevator car assigned to the hall call contains a target indicated in the all-user avoidance information, detects that the user who registered the hall call recognizes the determination result and performs an operation indicating an intention to avoid riding in the hall call, and changes the elevator that responds to the hall call . Group management of multiple elevators,
A registration information storage unit that stores avoidance information indicating a target that a user wants to avoid riding in a car, which is registered in advance for each user, as user-specific avoidance information;
a car information acquisition unit that acquires car interior information indicating a status inside the car for each of the plurality of elevators;
a hall information acquiring unit that acquires, when a hall call of the plurality of elevators is registered, identification information of a user who has performed an operation to register the hall call;
a registration information acquisition unit that acquires, from the registration information storage unit , avoidance information of a user corresponding to the identification information acquired by the hall information acquisition unit;
a determination unit that determines, for each of the plurality of elevators, whether or not an object indicated by the avoidance information acquired by the registration information acquisition unit is inside a car based on the car in-information acquired by the elevator information acquisition unit;
and an allocation control unit that allocates an elevator other than the elevator in which the determination unit has determined that the object is in a car as an elevator that will respond to the hall call ,
The elevator group management device, in a case where there are multiple users who have performed a hall call registration operation at the floor where the hall call is generated, the determination unit does not perform a determination as to whether or not the target indicated in the user-specific avoidance information acquired by the registration information acquisition unit is within a car . Group management of multiple elevators,
A registration information storage unit that stores avoidance information indicating a target that a user wants to avoid riding in a car, which is registered in advance for each user, as user-specific avoidance information;
a car information acquisition unit that acquires car interior information indicating a status inside the car for each of the plurality of elevators;
a hall information acquiring unit that acquires, when a hall call of the plurality of elevators is registered, identification information of a user who has performed an operation to register the hall call;
a registration information acquisition unit that acquires, from the registration information storage unit , avoidance information of a user corresponding to the identification information acquired by the hall information acquisition unit;
a determination unit that determines, for each of the plurality of elevators, whether or not an object indicated by the avoidance information acquired by the registration information acquisition unit is inside a car based on the car in-information acquired by the elevator information acquisition unit;
and an allocation control unit that allocates an elevator other than the elevator in which the determination unit has determined that the object is in a car as an elevator that will respond to the hall call ,
The hall call is registered together with information on an operation for designating a destination floor performed by a user at a hall destination floor registration device,
The determination unit determines a destination direction for each user who has performed the hall call registration operation from information on an operation performed by the hall destination floor registration device and the identification information acquired by the hall information acquisition unit,
The allocation control unit assigns, for each user who has performed the hall call registration operation, elevators other than the elevators determined to have the respective avoidance targets in their cars, as elevators that will respond to the corresponding hall calls, based on the destination direction determined by the determination unit. The registration information storage unit stores information on an avoidance target in a predetermined status as information on an avoidance target for each user of the plurality of elevators,
The registration information acquisition unit acquires, from the registration information storage unit , information on an avoidance target that is in a predetermined status and corresponds to the identification information of the user acquired by the hall information acquisition unit ,
the determination unit determines, for each of the plurality of elevator cars, whether or not an avoidance target having a predetermined status corresponding to the information acquired by the registration information acquisition unit is present in the car based on the car in-information acquired by the car number information acquisition unit;
The elevator group management device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the allocation control unit allocates elevators other than an elevator in which the determination unit has determined that an avoidance target in a predetermined status is present in a car, as an elevator to respond to the hall call. A waiting time calculation unit is further provided for calculating a predicted value of a waiting time from when a hall call is generated until the elevator car arrives at the floor where the hall call is generated and the door opens, for each of the plurality of elevators,
The elevator group management device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the allocation control unit performs allocation control to allocate, as the elevator responding to the hall call, an elevator having the shortest waiting time among elevators whose predicted waiting time values calculated by the waiting time calculation unit are less than a predetermined value . The elevator group control device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the hall information acquisition unit acquires identification information of the user who performed the hall call registration operation based on information obtained by analyzing image information obtained by photographing the floor where the hall call is generated, or acquires identification information of the user from a user terminal carried by the user who performed the hall call registration operation, via a short-range wireless communication device installed on the floor where the hall call is generated. Group management of multiple elevators,
an elevator group control device including a registration information storage unit that stores avoidance information, which is registered in advance for each user and indicates a target that the user wishes to avoid riding in a car with, as user-specific avoidance information;
When a hall call of the plurality of elevators is registered, identification information of a user who has performed an operation to register the hall call is acquired, and avoidance information of the user corresponding to the acquired identification information is acquired from the registration information storage unit ,
acquiring image information of an image captured inside each car and sound information of a sound captured inside each car as car interior information indicating a state inside the car for each of the plurality of elevators, and determining, based on the acquired car interior information, for each of the plurality of elevators, whether or not an object indicated by the acquired avoidance information is inside the car;
The elevator group management method assigns elevators other than the elevator in which it is determined that the target is in a car as elevators that will respond to the hall call.

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