Patent Grant
11939809
This application is related to and claims the benefit of European Patent Application No. 21156782.1, filed on Feb. 12, 2021, the contents of which are herein incorporated by reference in their entirety.
The disclosure relates to a method for operating a door system, with the door system having at least one door leaf and with a sensor unit being configured and connected to a control unit of the door system, with the approach of a person to the door system being detected by means of the sensor unit, in particular designed as a radar sensor or as a camera. The disclosure also relates to a door system with a control unit for carrying out the method.
For example, EP 3 613 933 A1 shows a method for operating an automatic door system which has a door actuator connected to a door leaf. It is indicated here that radar movement detectors are used to actuate the door movement for automatic sliding doors. For swing doors, radar sensors are not common for detecting monitored regions if the sensors ultimately detect people and transmit corresponding data to a control unit to control the door system.
DE 196 13 178 A1 discloses a method for operating an automatic door system and the door system can have a door leaf which can be actuated via a door actuator. Furthermore, sensor units are proposed which cooperate with a control unit and the control unit can be actuated using sensor data such that the door system is optimally operated. Optimum operation of the door system is in particular seen as the opening behavior of the door system adapting to the passage frequency of the passing people. Thus, if a greater number of people pass the door system, the opening behavior should be designed differently to if only a single person passes the door system. In this case, weather conditions, the time of day, the day of the week and, for example, also a temperature difference between the inside and outside of a building should also be taken into consideration. In this case, the ideal condition is indicated where a door should only open as far as is also necessary for one person or a plurality of people to pass through. In particular, the door should open and close at the correct location, for example if it concerns multi-leaf door systems, in particular sliding doors. It is ideal in this respect if a door leaf is actuated such that when passing the door system, a person can continue their passing movement in the movement path, but the door leaf does not open earlier than is necessary and also does not close later than is necessary. Thus, a smart door should be provided, making it possible to control the opening and closing behavior of a complete door system as a function of the traffic situation and of environmental conditions, such as temperature, wind, pressure difference, need for air exchange and similar parameters.
The disclosure therefore further improves a method for operating a door system as well as to provide such a door system with which the method according to the disclosure can be carried out. The improvement should in particular include utilizing further essential features, preferably the movement of the at least one person, to optimally actuate the door leaves of the door system which the person would like to pass. In this case, the optimal actuation is primarily seen as a door leaf not being held open for longer than is necessary, but without impairing the passage movement of the passing person.
This is achieved by providing a method for operating a door system according to claim 1 and proceeding from a door system according to claim 13 with each of the characterizing features. Advantageous further developments of the disclosure are indicated in each of the dependent claims.
According to the disclosure, the method provides for at least the following steps: Detecting an approach angle of the person, at which the person approaches the door system and opening the at least one door leaf at an opening width and/or an opening speed, with the maximum opening width and/or the maximum opening speed being determined by the control unit as a function of the detected approach angle of the person.
The core idea of the disclosure is to detect the approach angle of the person, which is detected using the sensor unit and transmitted to the control unit. Then, in addition to other parameters, the control unit can take into account the angle from which the person approaches the door system. Thus, the door leaf can be actuated differently with the door actuator of the door system if the person approaches the door from one side than if the person moves towards the door perpendicularly, for example. Optimizations can be derived from this in order for example to only open the door leaf as wide as is actually necessary. Therefore, not only is the advantage of optimal control of the door achieved, in particular in order not to open the door leaf for longer or wider than is necessary, the wearing of the door system and of the door actuator as well as the power consumption are also reduced.
According to the disclosure, the method can be carried out using a door system, in which the door leaf has a hinge side and a closure side, with the opening width of the door leaf being set to be smaller if the person approaches the door system from the direction of the closure side than if the person approaches the door system from the direction of the hinge side, with the opening width of the door leaf consequently being set to be greater if the person approaches the door system from the direction of the hinge side than if the person approaches the door system from the direction of the closure side. The closure side is the side at which the handle set, a pressure rod, a pressure grip or the like is attached to the door leaf.
The core idea of adapting the opening width of the door leaf is the spatial adaptation to the approach direction of the person to the door system and if the person approaches the door system from the closure side, for example passing at an acute angle to the wall on which the door system is configured, then it is sufficient if the door leaf only opens for example 45°, it does not have to have a 75° opening angle in this respect. In contrast, if the person approaches from the hinge side, the person must then go around the door leaf to a certain extent. In order to make walking around the door leaf as comfortable and unnecessarily wide as possible, the door leaf does not open for example just 45°, but rather at least 75° in order to provide the person entering with a door opening that is as wide as possible and recommended as comfortable.
According to the disclosure, the method also provides for the opening speed of the door leaf to be set to be smaller if the person approaches the door system from the direction of the closure side than if the person approaches the door system in the direction of the hinge side, and with the opening speed of the door leaf consequently being set to be greater if the person approaches the door system from the direction of the hinge side than if the person approaches the door system from the direction of the closure side. If, for example, the person approaches the door system from the closure side, then an opening angle of for example 45° may be sufficient. In order to move the door leaf only to 45° opening width in the same movement duration, the door leaf can be moved more slowly in order to move to 45° in the same time as when the door leaf is moved to an opening width of 75°. As a result, energy can also be saved in this respect with the reduction in the movement speed and the material loading of the door system, in particular of the door actuator, is reduced.
On the other hand, it may be sufficient to detect the person later in the near-wall region which is also naturally the case with radar sensors. The optimal coverage of a detecting radar field moves for example from +50° to −50° around an angle of 0° which is perpendicular to the closed door. Consequently, lateral areas of somewhat poorer detection result such that the person must approach the door more closely from the edge area in order to ultimately be detected. However, since the opening width of just 45° is for example sufficient if the person approaches the door system for example from the closure side, then later detection of the need to open is not significantly disadvantageous.
The opening time is determined so that, using the distance-time law, it is first determined when the person will reach the door system. The opening duration must be considered minus this time, with a safety time also being factored in. The total time between the detection of the person and the start of the door movement can, however, be shorter due to a smaller opening angle when approaching the door in an oblique manner, for example from the direction of the closure side, since the door only requires a shorter time up to max. 45° opening angle than up to max. 75° opening angle. A person, who moves straight towards the door, thus approaches the door from an angle of 0°, will trigger an opening of the door, in the case of which the door leaf generally opens to 75°.
According to a further embodiment of the method, the door system can have a first door leaf and a second door leaf, with the opening width and/or the opening speed of the first door leaf and the opening width and/or the opening speed of the second door leaf being determined as a function of the approach angle of the person by means of the control unit in such manner that the opening widths and/or the opening speeds differ from one another if the approach angle is greater or less than 0° and/or that the opening widths and/or the opening speeds are the same if the approach angle is 0°, with the 0° corresponding to a perpendicular to the flat door leaf. Therefore, in the case of a 2-leaf door system, the behavior of the individual door leaf can also be controlled as occurs in the case of a door system with only one leaf. The special case may also arise where only a single door leaf opens when a person, who approaches the door system at an angle, is detected. Preferably, the door leaf should be opened on the side from which the person approaches the closure side.
Furthermore, the method according to the disclosure provides that the size of the person is detected and/or determined by means of the sensor unit and/or by means of the control unit, with the approach angle and the size of the person being correlated to one another by means of the control unit to form a first correlation value and the opening width and/or the opening speed being determined by means of the control unit from the first correlation value. This generates a further improvement of the door control, in particular the door leaf can be prevented from adopting only a reduced opening width in the case of very large people if the very large person approaches for example at an angle from the closure side of the door leaf. The size of the person also includes people, who for example have items with them, in particular a wheelchair, a walker, luggage, a hospital bed, a trolley or the like.
A further development of the method according to the disclosure proposes that the approach speed of the person, at which the person approaches the door system, is detected and/or determined by means of the sensor unit and/or by means of the control unit. In the case of a greater approach speed, the opening time is in this case set to be earlier by means of the control unit than in the case of a lower approach speed. Similarly, in the case of a greater approach speed, the opening speed of the at least one door leaf is determined so as to be greater than in the case of a lower approach speed. In the same way, in the case of a lower approach speed, the opening time is determined so as to be later than in the case of a high approach speed and/or in the case of a lower approach speed, the opening speed of the at least one door leaf is determined so as to be lower than in the case of a higher approach speed.
According to a further configuration of the disclosure, a movement vector, which is used as a parameter for the opening width and/or the opening speed of the at least one door leaf, is determined by means of the control unit from the approach angle and from the approach speed. If the size of the person is also detected, a movement vector is then formed with the additional information about the size of the person. The movement vector can also be designated here as a person vector since a separate movement vector is generated for each person when a plurality of people approaches the door system. In particular, a separate movement vector can be generated for each person using the additional size information about the person.
It is thus also provided that when the size of the person is detected and/or determined by means of the sensor unit and/or by means of the control unit, the movement vector and the size of the person are correlated to one another by means of the control unit to form a second correlation value which is used alone or additionally as a parameter for the opening width and/or the opening speed of the at least one door leaf.
It is also provided that, on a first side of the door system, a first sensor unit and, on the second side of the door system, a second sensor unit are provided, which are in particular designed as a radar sensor or as a camera, with the movement vector of the person being formed over both sides of the door system and/or with the movement vector being able to be determined by the sensor unit by way of calculation in an inner region of the door system between the sensor units not detected with the sensor units.
If a sensor unit on the first side of the door system detects an incoming person, then this person can be tracked using a movement vector until just before the door system itself, but detection using radar sensors or using the camera is no longer provided in the direct movement region of the door leaf. On the exit side of the door, the person is in this case recorded again by the other sensor unit until finally the person leaves the exit region of the door system and the second sensor unit can register the person leaving. The movement vector of the person can in this case be retained from the first detection of the person on the arrival side until the person leaves on the exit side, with the movement vector consequently also forming the guide variable to control the door leaf by means of the control unit.
The vector formation is in this respect enabled if the sensor unit has a radar sensor or a camera. Radar sensors in particular allow not only a presence of a person to be detected, but rather radar sensors can detect the distance of the person, the movement speed and the movement direction and it is possible to differentiate, using radar sensors, an approach or an increasing distance of a person. The same features are also possible using a camera and a corresponding image evaluation. In this case, the movement vector can already be generated by means of the sensors particularly advantageously such that only vector data of the detected objects are sent to the controller. From the information for example of both sensors, i.e. on the approach side and the exit side of the door system, the controller determines how the person is actually moving and, in the process, also calculates probable movements, in particular the direction of the movement path and the speed of the person in order to consequently optimally actuate the movement of the door leaf. Thus, the person can pass the door system with the highest level of comfort without the at least one door leaf still remaining open for an unnecessarily long time.
It is even more advantageously provided that a haptic interaction between the person and the door leaf is detected by the control unit, with the haptic interaction with the movement of the door leaf or with the door leaf in the opening position being detected by the control unit and saved permanently or briefly as a correction factor such that future movements of the door leaf, in particular the maximum opening width and/or the opening speed and/or the opening time of the door leaf and/or the strength of a servo-assisted system are adjusted by the control unit on the basis of the correction factor. Thus, a learning door controller can be achieved by the control unit storing empirical values and correlating them with actually collected data.
Thus, it can for example be detected whether, in the case of a predefined opening speed of the door leaf, people regularly push the door leaf in the opening direction or whether no haptic interaction takes place. If the door leaf is regularly pushed in the opening direction, then the controller can derive for example information therefrom to, in future, either open the door leaf earlier or increase the opening speed. As a result, the door controller itself can be optimized, with optimized operation for different people, who ultimately all no longer perform a haptic action on the door leaf/leaves.
Lastly, it is also provided that the opening time is calculated by means of the control unit, with the opening time being determined from the current distance and the approach speed of the person relative to the door system by means of the distance-time law, with the opening time being brought forward by the opening duration to open the door leaf and also by a buffer time. This prevents a person walking into the opening door leaf and the door leaf should already be open at the predefined opening width if the person actually approaches the door leaf directly.
The sensor units usually have a main detection region, with at least one of the sensor units, in particular the radar sensor or the camera, being mounted on or in the region of the door system such that the main detection region is directed in the direction of the closure side of the door leaf by the sensor unit, in particular the radar sensor or the camera, being arranged rotated from a middle position of 0°, with the detection angle of the main detection region rotated towards the middle position being calculated by means of the control unit. As a result, the weaker lateral detection region, in particular from the closure direction, is smaller such that people, who approach the door system at an acute angle to the wall in which the door system is installed, are also detected more quickly. The main detection region can in this case be rotated so far in the direction of the closure side of the door leaf that an area of poorer detection of people is practically no longer present. The naturally increasing area of poorer detection from the direction of the hinge side of the door leaves is unproblematic for people who approach a door system from the hinge side of the door leaves since they maintain a greater distance to the wall in any case because it is subconsciously clear to every person approaching a swing leaf door that when the person approaches closer to the wall, the door leaf would open counter to the direction of travel of the person. In this respect, the normal behavior of the people, who approach a door system, allows for such a rotation of the main detection region of radar sensors.
The disclosure is also aimed at a door system with a door actuator to carry out the previously described method. In this case, it is provided that the sensor unit has at least one radar sensor or one camera, with an approach angle of a person approaching the door system being detectable and/or determinable by means of the radar sensor or the camera and that the control unit is configured such that the at least one door leaf is opened at an opening time, at an opening width and/or at an opening speed as a function of the detected approach angle of the person.
Advantageous further developments of the door system are indicated in the description and in the figures. Features and details, which are described in connection with the method according to the disclosure, also apply here in connection with the door system according to the disclosure and vice versa. In this case, the features mentioned in the description and in the claims may each be essential to the disclosure individually by themselves or in combination. In particular, a door system is being protected, with which the method according to the disclosure, in particular according to claims 1 to 12, can be carried out, as well as a method according to claims 1 to 12, which can be carried out with the door system according to the disclosure as claimed in claim 13.
The door system according to the disclosure is also configured such that an approach speed of a person approaching the door system is detectable and/or determinable by means of the radar sensor or the camera, with the control unit being configured such that the at least one door leaf is opened at an opening time, at an opening width and/or an opening speed as a function of the detected approach speed of the person.
The sensor units have a main detection region, with at least one of the sensor units, in particular the radar sensor or the camera, being mounted on or in the region of the door system such that the main detection region is directed in the direction of the closure side of the door leaf by the sensor unit, in particular the radar sensor or the camera, being arranged rotated from a middle position of 0°.
The door system can in this case be designed as an in particular automatic sliding door system, as a folding leaf door system, as a swing leaf door system or as a revolving door system.
The disclosure is also aimed at a computer program product for implementation in a control unit of a door system with the features described above, which is designed to carry out the method according to the disclosure in accordance with the description above.
Further measures that improve the disclosure will be outlined in greater detail below together with the description of a preferred exemplary embodiment of the disclosure on the basis of the figures, which show:
The comparison of the
In
In
The movement of the door leaves 10 is controlled via a control unit 12 which is electrically connected to the at least one sensor unit 11 in a manner not shown in more detail. The sensor unit 11 is for example a radar sensor or a camera, which allows not only the presence of the person 13 to be detected, but rather the sensor unit 11 can also detect the distance of the person 13 from the door system 100 as well as the angle α, at which the person 13 approaches the door system 100. Moreover, a radar sensor or a camera with a corresponding image evaluation system can determine the approach speed of the person 13.
The sensor unit 11 designed as a radar sensor has a main detection region H, which, in the non-rotated arrangement, has a central axis of 0° orthogonal to the door system 100. This main detection region H extends for example from −50° to +50° around the 0°. If the sensor unit 11 rotates by a rotation angle β, then a rotated main detection region H′ also results. The then applicable 0° are drawn in with dashed lines with the two boundaries of the main detection region H′.
The regions which cannot be detected further with full field strength or are no longer detectable, in addition to the main detection region H′, are drawn in as a wide area Z1 and a narrow area Z2. If the sensor unit 11 were not rotated, both areas Z1 and Z2 would be the same size. However, the rotation results in a narrow area Z2 from the direction of the closure side of the door leaf 10, whereas, on the hinge side of the door leaf 10, the area spreads out such that a wider area Z1 results.
Since the narrow area Z2 has been reduced by the sensor unit 11 being rotated, people can then be detected in an improved manner when they approach the door system 100 from the narrow area Z2 or in the edge region to the adjoining main detection region H′. This results in the advantage of an improved function during the operation of the door system 100 such that people, who approach from the closure side, can be better detected. People, who approach the door system 100 from the hinge side, naturally preferably walk around the wide area Z1 since people know that the door has an opening direction which is counter to the direction of travel. In this respect, an enlargement of the wide area Z1 on the hinge side of the door leaf 10 is not necessarily disadvantageous. The design of the disclosure is not restricted to the preferred exemplary embodiment indicated above. In fact, a number of variants is conceivable which make use of the solution represented even in the case of essentially different embodiments. All features and/or advantages, including constructive details or spatial arrangements, which emerge from the claims, the description or the drawings, may be essential to the disclosure by themselves and in the most varied combinations.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 21156782 | Feb 2021 | EP | regional |
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5583405 | Sai | Dec 1996 | A |
| 6084367 | Landert | Jul 2000 | A |
| 20070094932 | Hoshide | May 2007 | A1 |
| Number | Date | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 19613178 | Oct 1997 | DE |
| 102007062473 | Jul 2009 | DE |
| 102018104202 | Aug 2019 | DE |
| 0696670 | Feb 1996 | EP |
| 2418517 | Feb 2012 | EP |
| 3613933 | Feb 2020 | EP |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20220268083 A1 | Aug 2022 | US |
