Patent Application
20240262395
This application claims priority to European Patent Application No. 23 155 123.5, filed Feb. 6, 2023 the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
The present invention relates to a passenger ropeway system having an entry station and an exit station for the passengers, comprising a plurality of vehicles mounted on a traction cable for movement between the entry station and the exit station, the vehicles being arranged to move along a loop passing through the entry station and the exit station, each vehicle comprising a seating area for at least one passenger, and electronic passenger detection means.
Ropeway systems are subject to safety regulations that monitor the entry and exit of passengers at the mountain and valley stations and intervene if necessary in the event of problems. Station attendants are available at the mountain and valley stations for this purpose. During normal operation, these station attendants monitor the functioning of the ropeway system and the boarding and exiting of passengers. If a passenger has a problem, such as the failure to close or open a safety bar, a skier falling in the entry or exit area, or a person entering from outside the designated access points, the station attendant has an emergency stop switch on the ropeway system at their disposal to rectify the problem before it is put back into operation.
From WO 2012/172198 A1 such a ropeway system is known in which electronic passenger detection means detect the presence of a passenger seated in the seating area and the position of the safety bar, wherein for this detection the electronic detection means comprise an image capturing device to generate an image representative of the configuration of a vehicle passing through the field of view of the image capturing device and further comprise an analysis unit for the captured image to determine the presence of a passenger seated in the vehicle and the position of the safety bar.
A system for the improved operation of ski lifts is known from WO 2021/011157 A1. It comprises at least one memory; and at least one processor coupled to the at least one memory, the at least one memory storing computer-executable instructions which, when executed, cause the at least one processor to: capturing a digital video of one or more boarding and alighting operations of a ski lift; generating digital images from said video, automatically recognizing, while the ski lift is in operation, a potential problem situation in one or more of the entry and exit areas of the ski lift based on the plurality of digital images; and initiating an action, while the ski lift is in operation, to address the potential problem situation in the one or more of the entry and exit areas of the ski lift while the potential problem situation still exists.
Based on this prior art, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improvement in the monitoring of a ropeway system. In particular, it is an object of the present invention to provide a ropeway system which is largely autonomous. In other words, the aim is to enable regular operation, i.e. operation without the presence of an operator. If it is necessary to intervene in the operating processes, such as slowing down the ropeway or even stopping the ropeway system for safety reasons, this is ensured by the control unit of the ropeway system. An operator, e.g. at the opposite station, must only view the images supplied by the control unit and ensure that the installation can be restarted without danger when it is put back into operation.
This task is solved for a ropeway system as described herein with monitoring of an exit station or with monitoring of an entry station. Of course, the exit station and the entry station at the valley station and/or at the mountain station can also be monitored accordingly. In addition, a ropeway system with an exit station can also be a middle station and the same applies to a ropeway system with an entry station, which can also be realized at a middle station. A middle station is a station between the valley station and the mountain station, where entering and/or exiting is possible.
Such a passenger ropeway system has a passenger entry station and a passenger exit station and a plurality of vehicles mounted on a traction rope for movement between the entry station and the exit station, the vehicles being arranged to move along a loop passing through the entry station and the exit station, each vehicle comprising a seating area for at least one passenger. There are also electronic passenger detection means for detecting the presence of a passenger in the vehicle. Furthermore, the system comprises one or more cameras with which the presence of a vehicle and/or one or more passengers or persons in a predetermined exit area can be determined by evaluating their successive image data, and a virtual entry vehicle grid which is provided transversely to the entry movement of a vehicle at an exit edge of the exit area, the sensors of which can detect the entry of an object or a person. A hazard detection evaluation unit is connected to the camera or cameras for obtaining image data and the virtual entry vehicle gate and is configured to detect the presence of a person in the exit area and, in the event of such presence, when the vehicle of the exited passenger leaves the exit area and another vehicle enters the exit area or is at a predetermined distance from such entry, generate an emergency deceleration or emergency stop signal and transmit it to the motor control of the ropeway system for the implementation of said signal for the movement of the vehicles, and also transmit image signals from the cameras to an operator display device via a signal transmitter. Such an operator display device then enables an operator who is not at this station to record the situation and, after rectifying it, to restart the system and move the vehicles in normal operation.
The hazard detection evaluation unit can be configured in such a way that it can determine a fall of a person detected in the image data in the predetermined exit area by evaluating successive image data of the cameras, on the basis of which the emergency deceleration or emergency stop signal can be generated.
The hazard detection evaluation unit can also be configured in such a way that the movement of a person in the direction of the vehicle's path can be determined by evaluating successive image data from the cameras, on the basis of which the emergency slowdown or emergency stop signal can be generated.
Advantageously, the peripheral edge of the exit area is completely closed by the further elements from the group of one or more physical access barriers, in particular fences, a virtual passenger exit gate, and a virtual exit vehicle gate, these further elements being connected to the hazard detection evaluation unit in order to trigger said emergency slowdown or emergency stop signal upon detection of the entry of a non-passenger into the exit area. The physical access barriers can also be station walls. If they are fences or chains arranged between poles, these can be equipped with sensors that are not triggered by e.g. landing birds, but are triggered if a person leans on these elements and overcomes them. However, you can also simply block the exit area passively.
The virtual passenger exit barriers and virtual exit vehicle barriers are usually light barriers that work with visible or IR light and react to people passing through or objects protruding into or brought into these barriers. The direction of movement of an object or person can also be determined by the hazard detection evaluation unit using virtual grids in two rows of sensors arranged next to each other in relation to a horizontal line, which then cover two parallel planes in between, and can be included in the evaluation. The virtual vehicle grids are usually deactivated when a vehicle passes through or the typical signal is recognized as a vehicle passage signal and is not taken into account.
Instead of an emergency stop signal, an emergency deceleration signal can be triggered if, for example, the detected person turns back in a movement towards the vehicle path and leaves the monitored area, which can be determined by evaluating the image data and comparing it with the sensor data.
Lateral vehicle limiting gates can be assigned to the virtual entry vehicle gate and the virtual exit vehicle gate, i.e. the passage limiting lines of the vehicles, whereby these lateral vehicle limiting gates are connected to the hazard detection evaluation unit in order to trigger the said emergency deceleration or emergency stop signal when the entry of a non-passenger into the exit area is detected by touching or swiveling the gates.
Adjacent to the exit area against the direction of movement of the vehicle beyond an exit edge, a pre-exit area can be provided which has a surface which is lower than the exit area and is provided with one or more pressure plates which are as contiguous as possible and which is connected to the exit edge with an inclined sliding surface, whereby the pressure plates are connected to the hazard detection evaluation unit in order to trigger said emergency deceleration or emergency stop signal when the presence of a passenger or non-passenger on the pressure plate is detected, possibly with a delay only when another vehicle enters. The said emergency deceleration or emergency stop signal is triggered when the presence of a passenger or non-passenger on the pressure plate is detected, possibly with a delay until another vehicle enters. This pre-exit area can be helpful if passengers open the bar on chair systems and then leave their seat prematurely before the actual exit area due to error or carelessness, which always corresponds to a small fall.
The pressure plates are designed to capture this fall, with the sliding surface to the actual exit area ensuring that these fallen persons do not successfully attempt to climb up into the exit area, as there is then a risk of collision with the next entering chair.
For this purpose, the surface provided with pressure plates can advantageously be inclined downwards at right angles to the direction of travel to a lateral exit surface in order to allow people on the pressure plates to exit the pre-exit area following the force of gravity. In this case, it may even be possible to dispense with an emergency stop apart from slowing down. In this case, once it has been established that the danger zone has been left, i.e. the pre-exit area before the next chair passes through, the cameras and the pressure plates detect this state and then resume normal operation without informing the operator display device that an emergency has been avoided. In this case, however, it makes sense to at least document the occurrence of the incident.
The operator display device can be an operator's smartphone with a control app for the ropeway system, which can therefore also issue control commands in addition to the screen and intercom system; or it can be a screen and intercom system in a duty room of the ropeway system with control elements for the ropeway system. Several smartphones and/or service rooms can also be alerted.
According to another embodiment as described herein, a ropeway system for passengers is provided with the same preamble, wherein one or more cameras are provided with which the presence of a vehicle and/or one or more passengers in a predetermined direct entry area (instead of an exit area) can be detected by evaluating their successive image data, a virtual entry vehicle grid which is provided transversely to the entry movement of a vehicle at an entry edge of the direct entry area, and a hazard detection evaluation unit, which is connected to the one or more cameras for receiving image data and to the virtual entry vehicle grid and is configured to detect the presence of a passenger in the direct entry area and, in the event of such presence, when the vehicle of the entering passenger leaves the direct entry area and another vehicle enters the entry area or is at a predetermined distance from such entry, generate an emergency deceleration or emergency stop signal and transmit it to the motor control of the ropeway system for the implementation of said signal for the movement of the vehicles, and also transmit image signals from the cameras to an operator display device via a signal transmitter.
In all ropeway systems according to the present description, the entry station can be a valley station and the exit station is a middle station or a mountain station. Alternatively, the entry station may be a mountain station and the exit station may be a middle station or a valley station. Finally, the entry station can be a middle station and the exit station can be either a valley station or a mountain station.
Ropeway systems according to one or the other embodiment have vehicles which are chairs, chairs with seat bar locks and further chairs with seat bar locks and with bubbles.
Further embodiments are given in the dependent claims.
The terms Fig., Figs., Figure, and Figures are used interchangeably in the specification to refer to the corresponding figures in the drawings.
Preferred embodiments of the invention are described below with reference to the drawings, which are for explanatory purposes only and are not to be construed restrictively. The drawings show:
In the case of a ropeway system without a locking bar, a first exit area 11 and a second exit area 12 are monitored. The name first exit area 11 indicates the possibility of a passenger exiting, but this is not desired and represents a possible emergency. The first exit area 11 is located spatially in the direction of vehicle movement after the area 13 where a vehicle 3 is uncoupled from the haul rope from line 14 to the exit edge 15, i.e. the beginning of the area where the passengers should stand up and leave the ropeway system. This corresponds to the area of entry and deceleration of vehicle 3 to the exit speed for uncoupled vehicles. In the case of coupled vehicles, the travel speed also corresponds to the exit speed.
The second exit area 12 is defined by the area from the exit edge 15 in which the vehicle, which may have slowed down, moves at a constant exit speed and is then usually moved out of this second exit area 12 in a quarter circle, as shown in
In the case of systems with a locking bar device and otherwise possibly relaxed safety requirements, monitoring of the first exit area 11 with regard to passengers 3 exiting can be dispensed with, as they can only leave the seating area 5 after the locking bar has been released. Advantageously, there is nevertheless monitoring of the first exit area 11; this exit area 11 is then considerably shorter in the direction of travel of the vehicle 2, namely only between the release of the closing bars at the closing bar locking edge 14 and the exit edge 15. Advantageously, however, there is also an area covered with pressure plates 31 in systems without closing bar locking.
On the other hand, the room monitoring for persons entering the safety area of the first or second exit areas 11, 12 from outside by means of physical access barriers 34 such as a surrounding fence, which is mentioned later, is still necessary. The access barriers 34 have sensors that emit a corresponding trigger signal to the evaluation unit when the access barriers are touched, in particular when the barrier is overcome. A weight-dependent sensor can be provided to prevent false triggering by small animals, birds or simply snow. Instead of a weight-dependent sensor, a trigger signal can also be compared with corresponding images from the camera 30 in order to determine the actual presence of a large animal or human crossing the barrier. For this purpose, there are lateral vehicle limiting gates 36 and 136 at the entrance and exit of the vehicles 3, which are flush with the entering vehicle 3 and trigger an emergency stop on contact. Instead of contact, a deflection of the flag-shaped gates by a predetermined angle about a vertical axis can also send such a signal to the control unit. These gates 36 and 136 supplement the fence 34 which extends around the first and second exit areas 11 and 12, respectively.
In addition to the vehicle boundary gates 36 and 136, other safety features may be present as a ramp boundary. A ramp limitation is a vertical virtual gate 32 and 132 between the two opposing vehicle limitation gates 36 and 136 in the entry and exit areas of the vehicle. In
The virtual exit grid 33, shown here as a dashed-line virtual barrier, which is arranged between lateral physical access barriers 34, is then essential. This allows the second exit area 12 to be exited but notifies the control unit of the system of entry into this area from the outside. This can be done directly by comparing video surveillance images of this second exit area 12 from a camera 30 with the signals from this virtual exit gate 33 by detecting the direction of movement of a person in the second exit area 12 and the person leaving the video-monitored area, or by a sequence of two or more light barriers arranged in the transverse direction, with which the direction of movement can be detected. Of course, in the case of a multi-chair lift, several people leave the second exit area 12 over a longer period of time; in this case, video surveillance with person detection can detect an additional person entering this area at the same time. Although the lateral vehicle boundary gate 136 is shown at a physical distance from the physical fence 34, the vehicle boundary gate 136 may be mounted on a movable pylon that is connected to a fence or the wall of the exit station 2 by a barrier chain.
The reference sign 14 indicates the longitudinal position of the unlocking release. For example, the sliding surface 35 has a maximum inclination of 30 percent. The virtual ramp boundary 32 and lateral vehicle boundaries 36 of the entrance to this area 12 are then located at its transition to the second exit area. A passenger falling out of his seat area 5 from the unlocking release 14 lands on one or more of the pressure plates 31 and thus triggers at least one sensor, the signal of which is transmitted to the monitoring system and after which a corresponding image indicating this area is then displayed to an operator of the lift. At the same time, an automatic emergency stop of the system can be triggered. Since the exit station 2 can work without an operator, the alarm triggering can also be organized differently. The emergency stop is triggered first, while at the same time an image from one or more of the video cameras 30 is displayed directly to a person/employee acting as on-call, for example on a smartphone or on a screen that can be viewed or accessed by the person. A voice connection to the exit station can also be established. The sliding surface 35 then prevents an ex-passenger leaving the area of the pressure plate 31 from being injured by following vehicles or the feet or skis of passengers seated in them because he or she reaches their height range. The pressure plate 31 itself can be inclined downwards at right angles to the direction of travel of the ropeway vehicles 3, so that passengers falling onto this system are guided out of this area to the side in accordance with the arrow 38 into a further exit 39, possibly simply sliding downwards on the then slippery pressure plate 31 due to the effect of gravity. This exit 39 can already be located outside the first exit area 11, so that if the presence of a passenger who has fallen out is detected there, an emergency stop of the system can be dispensed with if necessary. An at least visual check of the area 11 by an operator for remaining objects in the area 11 and, if necessary, a check for the absence of injury to the passenger who has fallen out can be determined directly or via an optical and acoustic connection with this passenger.
Pose detection can be provided for passengers to determine whether the person(s) are standing or have a falling posture, which indicates an abnormal condition. Motion detection can also be provided to determine the direction of movement and the corresponding speed. Lack of movement or slow movement can also lead to sensor signals. These can be linked at a lower escalation threshold to an acoustic indication such as a voice announcement with a request to leave the second exit area 12.
An alarm function is then triggered in cases of abnormal conditions that involve a major problem such as falls. The pose position is usually determined by the position of the human skeletal apparatus. In addition, one or more emergency stop buttons 45 may also be provided in or outside the second exit area 12 for the passengers themselves or third parties.
In addition to the signals received from the evaluation unit 40 of the video signals and the emergency stop button 45, the control unit 50 of the ropeway system also receives the corresponding signals from the virtual grids 32, 33, 132, the pressure plates 31, the lateral vehicle limiting gates 36, 136 and, if present, from sensors on the fences 34. This data can be evaluated in conjunction with image data.
The data from the control unit 50 of the monitoring system is transmitted to a signal transmitter 55. This signal transmitter 55 can be a duty room with screens and possibly a voice connection to the exit area, which can be provided in a manned station, a mountain or valley station of the relevant ropeway system or another ropeway system of the operator. In this duty room, it has the operator's workstation, possibly with a view of an entry or exit area to be directly monitored, one or more screens for the ropeway control system and an intercom unit for the entry or exit areas visible on the screen or screens, these units constituting an operator display device. The signal transmitter 55 can also include a connection setup as a push message with a smartphone of an operator. Regardless of this, the control unit 50 decides on a slowdown or an emergency stop of the system as such, i.e. regardless of how an attendant reacts. The smartphone is then an operator display device.
A screen can be controlled by the safety device in the sense that it displays an entry area or an exit area when the detection device has detected a problem. The main task of the operator is to put the system back into operation after the occurrence of incidents and to check the corresponding safety-relevant information on such an incident. In this case, the operator does not have an abundance of entry or exit areas in a video wall but is informed by the safety device of a problem with the corresponding video information.
The safety device can recognize four hazardous situations in particular.
Hazardous situations can also be detected even if no vehicle is currently entering; the measures to be taken can then be less intrusive.
In the case of application of the invention to an entry region 19, the features of the second exit region 12 can be applied accordingly. Here, the entry area 19 is considered to be the area beyond the gates 136. Said entry area 19 can be monitored in the same way as the second exit area 12.
The safety functions of the system include ensuring the “correct” camera perspective, which can be done by checking the comparison with a test image or an image section defined in advance that changes only slightly. It must also be ensured that the images are actually extracted images of a video, which can be done by requiring that pixel values of the image change as part of a sequence of entering vehicles, i.e. that a movement of at least one object in the detection area is detected. Furthermore, the function of the detection system can also be improved by comparing different sensors, which can also include different camera perspectives.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 23 155 123.5 | Feb 2023 | EP | regional |
