The technology described herein relates generally to an elevator system. Exemplary embodiments of the technology relate in particular to an elevator operator terminal and an elevator system having such an elevator operator terminal. Exemplary embodiments of the technology further relate to a method for operating the call input terminal.
In known elevator systems, a passenger can input an elevator call at an elevator operator device, hereinafter referred to as an elevator operator terminal. An elevator operator terminal can be arranged on a floor of a building to allow the input of a floor call from there. Depending on the control technology used in an elevator system, different types of elevator operator terminals are used. An elevator operator terminal for an elevator system with an upward/downward direction control system only allows the desired direction of travel to be input as a floor call with one button for the upward direction and one button for the downward direction. In such an elevator system, an elevator operator terminal in an elevator car allows a passenger to input a car call indicating the desired destination floor, for example, by pressing a button associated with the destination floor. An elevator operator terminal for an elevator system with a destination call control enables the input of the desired destination floor as a floor call, for example, by pressing a button associated with the destination floor. It is then usually no longer possible to input a call in the elevator car.
In particular in very high buildings with a correspondingly large number of floors, a high number of buttons with correspondingly high space requirements may be required to enable the input of all possible destination floors. As an alternative to such buttons, a call input terminal is known from EP 0 699 617 B1 that has a reader for an RFID card presented by a user for call input. However, such readers and the management of RFID cards are not suitable for all buildings, e.g. because they require a relatively high effort in terms of cost and management. Another alternative is known from US 2014/0014444, in which an elevator operator terminal arranged on a floor only displays some floors on a display in the form of a row that the user can touch to input a call. If the user swipes over the display at any point, other floors are displayed. Floors that have already been selected are no longer indicated in the list. Although these alternatives disclose certain solutions to the aforementioned problem of the high number of buttons, there is a need for a technology for an elevator operator terminal that can be used in a plurality of buildings and is user-friendly.
One aspect of the technology described herein relates to an elevator operator terminal for an elevator system comprising an elevator car and an elevator controller configured to move the elevator car along a travel path in a building having a predetermined number of floors. The elevator control terminal comprises a display device, a storage device, and a processing device. The processing device is connected to the storage device and activates the display device to generate a user interface having a plurality of display fields. The user interface has a call input area and a floor indicator area. The call input area displays a predetermined first number of display fields which are each associated with a predetermined floor and are enabled for call input. The floor indicator area displays a predetermined second number of display fields which are each associated with a predetermined floor, can be shifted into the call input area and are disabled for call input.
Another aspect relates to an elevator system comprising an elevator car, an elevator controller, and an elevator operator terminal. The elevator controller is configured to move the elevator car along a travel path in a building having a predetermined number of floors. The elevator operator terminal is communicatively coupled to the elevator controller and comprises a display device, a storage device, and a processing device. The processing device is coupled to the storage device and activates the display device to generate a user interface having a plurality of display fields. The user interface has a call input area and a floor indicator area. The call input area displays a predetermined first number of display fields which are each associated with a predetermined floor and are enabled for call input. The floor indicator area displays a predetermined second number of display fields which are each associated with a predetermined floor, can be shifted into the call input area, and are disabled for call input.
Another aspect relates to a method for operating an elevator operator terminal comprising a display device and a processing device that activates the display device. According to the method, a user interface having a plurality of display panels is generated, wherein the user interface is displayed by the display device. A call input area is generated on the user interface, wherein the call input area comprises a first number of display fields which are each associated with a predetermined floor. The display fields in the call input area are enabled for a call input. According to the method, a floor indicator area is also generated on the user interface, wherein the floor indicator area comprises a second number of display fields which are each associated with a predetermined floor (L1, L2, L3) and can be shifted into the call input area. The display fields in the floor indicator area are disabled for call input.
In the case of an elevator operator terminal, according to the technology described here, the user interface comprises a call input area and at least one floor indicator area. The call input area shows the display fields that are enabled for call input, while the floor indicator area shows the display fields where (currently) no call input is possible; these display fields are deactivated or disabled. The area in which a call can be input is thus predetermined. This has the advantage that the elevator operator terminal can be arranged (with the call input area as a reference point) in such a manner that the call input area is located within a specified height range (e.g. at a distance of 900 mm to 1200 mm from the floor), regardless of the number of display fields shown in the floor indicator area. The display fields shown remotely from the call input area on the user interface can be used for information but do not need to be touched.
Depending on the number of floors, all or most of the floors are shown on the user interface. This allows flexibility when configuring the elevator operator terminal for a building in terms of the decision how many floors are to be displayed in addition to those in the call input area, without users possibly losing the overview. If not only the display fields currently enabled for call input are shown, but also additional fields in the floor indicator area, it can be easier for a user to find his way around the building with regard to the floors.
In one exemplary embodiment, the processing device is configured to confirm an input call for a travel request to a destination floor by marking the display field corresponding to the destination floor. The marking can be done by a perceptible color and/or pattern selection (e.g., by means of a (background) illumination). The user thus receives confirmation that the call has been registered. In addition, the marked display field remains marked until the call has been carried out. Other users are thus informed which calls have already been made and on which floors the elevator car stops.
In one exemplary embodiment, the processing device can be configured such that, in the case of a plurality of input calls for travel requests to different destination floors, each call is confirmed by marking the display field corresponding to the respective destination floor; the respectively marked display field can be associated with the call input area or the floor indicator area. This enables, e.g., a newly arriving user to quickly recognize which floor or floors shown in the call input area have already been completed, so that there is no need to input the call again.
In one exemplary embodiment, the processing device is configured to generate on the user interface a display field for a convenience function that is set apart from the call input area and floor indicator area. The processing device is configured to register a call input for a travel request to a special floor when the convenience function is used by a user. For this convenience function, a frequently requested floor, such as an entrance hall, can be predetermined as a special floor. As a display field that is set apart, it is easily recognizable by a user.
In one exemplary embodiment, the aforementioned shiftability of display fields from the floor display area to the call input area is carried out by means of a display field for a shift function, which is shown on the user interface. The processing device is configured in this case to replace the display fields shown in the call input area with a corresponding number of display fields from the floor indicator area when a user uses the shift function. This allows a user to “scroll” through the selectable floors until the desired destination floor is shown in the call input area. The display field for the shift function is arranged here at the height of the call input area, which results in the advantages mentioned with regard to the height arrangement.
In one exemplary embodiment, a sum of the first number of display fields and the second number of display fields is smaller than the predetermined number of floors of the building, so that fewer floors are represented than can be operated by the elevator system in the building. This is particularly advantageous in buildings with many floors and not all floors have space on the user interface in the usual/standard size. For example, if a user uses the shift function, he can “scroll” until the top or bottom floor is displayed that is operated by the elevator system. In the technology described herein, the user is made aware that there may still be “many” hidden floors that can be shifted into the call input area by “scrolling”.
In one exemplary embodiment, the processing device is configured to show the display fields of the floor indicator area and the display fields of the call input area arranged row-by-row on the user interface. The display fields of the floor indicator area are arranged in multiple rows. Such a representation in the form of a matrix makes it easier for a user to operate the elevator operator terminal.
In one exemplary embodiment, the processing device is configured to show the display fields in the call input area larger than the display fields in the floor indicator area. This also contributes to simplifying operation and thus user-friendliness.
In addition to simplifying operation of the elevator operator terminal, the technology described here also makes it possible to optimize use of the building or orientation in the building. In one exemplary embodiment, the processing device is configured to show a pictogram that can be activated by a user in a display field shown in the call input area. Upon activation of the pictogram in the call input area, floor-specific information is shown.
In the following, various aspects of the improved technology are explained in more detail by means of exemplary embodiments in connection with the figures. All figures are merely schematic illustrations of methods and devices or their components according to exemplary embodiments of the improved technology. In particular, distances and size relations are not reproduced to scale in the figures. In the figures, identical elements have identical reference signs. In the figures:
In the exemplary embodiment shown, the elevator system 1 has an elevator car 6 that is movable along a travel path in the building. For example, the travel path extends along a vertical elevator shaft 10. In another exemplary embodiment, the travel path may extend along a horizontal or inclined plane. In yet another exemplary embodiment, the travel path may have vertical and horizontal sections. In the following, the description of the technology disclosed herein is based on the exemplary elevator system 1 shown in
The elevator system 1 shown in
In
In
The floor terminal 4 can be arranged at a desired location on a floor L1, L2, L3, e.g., on a building wall or freestanding at a desired location. The location can be, e.g., an anteroom in front of one or more elevator (floor) doors or an entrance to an elevator lobby. While the location is relatively freely selectable, there are specifications (e.g. according to a standard or of legal nature) in terms of in which height range the floor terminal 4 or a user interface of the floor terminal 4 is to be arranged. This is to ensure that the floor terminal 4 is located at a height at which the floor terminal 4 or the user interface can be reached by potential users and displayed information can be perceived. Exemplary potential users include standing users (adults and children, with or without hand/arm mobility limitations) and seated users (e.g., in a wheelchair). In an exemplary standard (EN81-70), the height range is specified between 900 mm and 1200 mm. Corresponding requirements could also exist for the arrangement of the car terminal 2.
In one exemplary embodiment, the transmission device 20 comprises an electric cable provided, for example, in a traction elevator for transmitting electrical energy and electrical signals and extending between the elevator car 6 and a fixed point to which the elevator controller 12 is coupled. For this purpose, the electrical cable has electrical power and signal lines. For example, the electrical cable supplies electrical energy to the elevator car 6 and transmits signals (e.g., load, status, and/or car call information) to and from the elevator car 6. The electrical cable is also known to the person skilled in the art as a (flat) traveling cable and is therefore referred to as such below. Devices that couple the traveling cable, on the one hand, to the elevator controller 12 and its power/voltage supply and, on the other hand, to the elevator car 6 and its electrical and electronic components are therefore known to the person skilled in the art. The person skilled in the art will recognize that the car terminal 2 is electrically coupled to the traveling cable.
In one exemplary embodiment, the display device 34 comprises a touch-sensitive screen, hereinafter referred to as a touch screen. The operating mode and structure of a touch screen are generally known to the person skilled in the art; the person skilled in the art knows in particular, for example from the programming and use of smartphones, how symbols, pictograms, input and output fields, etc. are generated on a touch screen and shown on the user interface. It is also known to the person skilled in the art that the components of the elevator operator terminal 2, 4 can be arranged, for example, in a housing so that the elevator operator terminal 2, 4 can be arranged at the desired location in the elevator car 6 or on a floor L1, L2, L3.
Controlled by the processing device 32, the display device 34 displays a user interface 38 depending on the situation prevailing in the elevator system 1. By means of this user interface 38, a user can, for example, input a call and receive information about the prevailing situation, for example, about calls made and confirmed. In addition to this user interface 38, the terminal 2, 4 in one exemplary embodiment has a speaker (not shown) for outputting acoustic messages.
In the exemplary embodiment shown in
In the situation shown in
In one exemplary embodiment, the user can operate the field 36 to be able to display other display fields 40 for floor selection. The field 36 represents a functionality that allows the user to change a portion of the screen content by virtually “scrolling” through the floors. For example, from the user's point of view, the user can scroll up or down; if the user swipes down with a finger, display fields 40 for higher floors are increasingly enlarged row by row (or they move increasingly from the background to the foreground), whereas if the user swipes up with a finger, display fields 40 for lower floors are increasingly enlarged row by row. In
The person skilled in the art will recognize that in another exemplary embodiment, the user interface 38 can illustrate the display fields 40 and the input area 46 in a different arrangement, for example with one, two, four, or more columns. For example, the input area 46 can extend perpendicular to the axis 50 and can comprise one, two, or more than three display fields 40. In addition, the display fields 40 can be displayed in a more or less overlapping manner to intuitively illustrate spatiality or shiftability. Because of the illustration of a spatiality desired in one exemplary embodiment, the display fields 40 in the area around the axis 50 are shown larger than the remaining display fields 40 (they appear quasi in the foreground), wherein the remaining display fields 40 are shown smaller the further away they are from the axis 50 (they appear quasi in the background or they are not shown because, e.g., the number of floors is too high).
In one exemplary embodiment, the display fields 40 can be displayed highlighted once they are shifted into the call input area 46. Such highlighting can be accomplished, e.g., by the coloring and/or brightness of the display fields 40 and/or the shape of the display fields 40. This makes it possible to signal to a user that these display fields 40 are now in the selectable area.
The mentioned remaining display fields 40, i.e. those displayed outside the call input area 46, are displayed in a floor indicator area 54, 56. In
In
In one exemplary embodiment, the user interface 38 displays the field 42 shown in
In
In the exemplary embodiment shown, the information field 60 shown in
In
With the understanding of the above-described principal system components of the elevator system 1 and its functionalities, a description of an exemplary method for operating an elevator operator terminal 2 arranged in the elevator system 1 is provided below with reference to
The elevator operating device 2 is activated and its processing device 32 controls the display device 34. The activation generates a user interface 38 that is shown by the display device 34. The generated user interface 38 comprises a plurality of display fields. In
In a step S3, a call input area 46 is generated on the user interface 38. The call input area 46 comprises a first number of display fields 40 which are each associated with a predetermined floor L1, L2, L3. In
In a step S4, the display fields 40 in the call input area 46 are enabled for a call input. That is, a user can touch a display field 40 shown in the call input area 46 to input an elevator call to the floor associated with the display field 40.
In a step S5, a floor indicator area 54, 56 is generated on the user interface 38. The floor indicator area 54, 56 comprises a second number of display fields 40 which are each associated with a predetermined floor L1, L2, L3. In
In a step S6, the display fields 40 in the floor indicator area 54, 56 are disabled for a call input. This means that a user can see a display field 40 shown in the floor display area 54, 56, but a call input is not possible by means of the display fields 40 in the floor indicator area 54, 56.
The person skilled in the art will recognize that the processing device 32 of the elevator operator terminal 2 dynamically adapts the user interface 38 to the situation prevailing in the elevator system 1. Each of the situations shown in
The exemplary user interfaces 38 shown in
Among the confirmed calls, there may be a call that a user has input on a floor. If the elevator operator terminal 2 is arranged in the elevator car 6, the user interface 38, in an exemplary embodiment, can mark this floor call by a special marking (e.g., by means of color). Users in the elevator car 6 can therefore prepare for the boarding of another user, for example by clearing the door area, thereby avoiding possible delays.
In an exemplary embodiment, the boarding user in the elevator car 6 can input a car call to the desired destination floor. Depending on the situation, the desired destination floor may already be associated with a display field 40 shown in the call input area 46, which the user can touch to input the call. These display fields 40 are highlighted by their size and are easily recognizable by the user. If the desired destination floor is not in the call input area 46, the user can use the field 36 (or a larger area on the user interface 38, as described above) to “scroll” in the direction of higher or lower floors until the destination floor appears in the call input area 46. Alternatively, the user can touch the field 42 for the convenience function described above.
For the exemplary description of the method according to
Regardless of whether the elevator operator terminal 2, 4 is arranged on a floor L1, L2, L3 or in the elevator car 6, the technology described here provides the advantage that the call input can be made at a height that lies in the height range between 900 mm and 1200 mm (e.g. in accordance with EN81-70). With the technology described here, this is ensured, among other things, even if there are very many floors. By means of the implemented scroll function, in particular by means of the field 36, a user can also shift the display fields 40 for (from the user's point of view) “distant” floors (which may be either relatively small or not yet displayed at all on the user interface 38) into the call input area 46.
In accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes, the present invention has been described in what is considered to represent its preferred embodiment. However, it should be noted that the invention can be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated and described without departing from its spirit or scope.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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18203493.4 | Oct 2018 | EP | regional |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/EP2019/078750 | 10/22/2019 | WO | 00 |