Riding situation guiding management system

• US 5,485,347 A
• Filed: 06/15/1994
• Issued: 01/16/1996
• Est. Priority Date: 06/28/1993
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Miura, Okimi
• Primary Examiner(s): Ramirez, Ellis B.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Tkacs, Stephen R.
• Application Number:
  US08/260,984
• Time in Patent Office: 580 Days
• Field of Search: 104/28, 104/30, 104/31, 235/33, 364/400, 364/403, 364/407, 364/557, 364/559, 364/561, 364/565, 364/569, 377/6, 377/25, 340/944, 105/329.1, 105/341, 105/341.5
• US Class Current: 702/128
• CPC Class Codes: G06M 1/101 by electro-optical means
• CPC Class Codes: G06M 3/06 for printing or separately displaying result of count display systems G09
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/00 Individual registration on entry or exit
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/62 for transportation systems, e.g. in vehicles

Abstract

A riding situation guiding management system includes, in each of plural cars constituting a train, an up/down counter for counting passengers getting on and off each car with passenger sensor/counter units provided at doorways and passways of the cars, and a transmission unit arranged in the train for transmitting the passenger information to forward stations, and a broadcasting unit provided in each station for receiving and analyzing the information as well as for broadcasting speech indicative of a current riding situation for each car of the train to passengers who are waiting for the train.

Claims

1. A situation guiding management system comprising:

a plurality of counting means for counting a number of persons entering and a number of persons exiting each of a plurality of enclosed areas, said plurality of counting means including a plurality of temperature sensors linearly arranged for sensing a temperature change, in respective portions of said enclosed areas, sensing pattern recognition means for determining, responsive to outputs of said temperature sensors, a number of persons entering and exiting each of the enclosed areas, photosensors for determining whether said persons entering and exiting said each of said plurality of enclosed areas are entering or exiting, an up/down counter connected to the pattern recognition means and the photosensors for accumulatively counting up and down the number of persons entering and exiting each of the plurality of enclosed areas to generate a count, and a plurality of light emitting diodes for emitting light into respective ones of said portions of said enclosed areas so that when one of the plurality of persons is in one of the areas, said one of the plurality of persons reflects said light from a respective one of the plurality of light emitting diodes to a respective one of the photosensors;

transmission means for receiving the count from the plurality of counting means and transmitting the count to at least one waiting area; and

broadcasting means, arranged in the at least one waiting area, for receiving the count and analyzing the count from the transmission means, to broadcast information indicating a current crowding situation in each of the plurality of enclosed areas.

2. A situation guiding management system according to claim 1, wherein said broadcasting means comprises:

display means for displaying at least part of said information; and

printing means for printing said at least part of said information.

3. A situation guiding management system according to claim 2, wherein said broadcasting means further comprises:

input means for receiving an input from one of said persons in said at least one waiting area; and

control means for controlling said printing means to print a portion of said information in accordance with said input.

4. A situation guiding management system according to claim 1, wherein:

said plurality of counting means comprise recording means for recording said count; and

said broadcasting means comprises;

storage means for accumulatively storing said count; and

analyzing means for statistically analyzing said count accumulatively stored in said storage means.

5. A situation guiding management system according to claim 1, wherein said broadcasting means comprises means for synthesizing speech in accordance with said information and broadcasting said speech.

6. A situation guiding management system according to claim 1, wherein:

said plurality of enclosed areas are a plurality of cars of a train, each of said plurality of cars having at least one doorway and at least one passageway to an adjacent one of said plurality of cars;

said plurality of counting means comprise means for counting a number of persons entering and exiting said each of said plurality of cars through said at least one doorway and said at least one passageway; and

said at least one waiting area is located in at least one station served by said train.

7. A situation guiding management system according to claim 1, wherein said information comprises guiding information for enabling persons to select a desirable one of said plurality of enclosed spaces.

8. A situation guiding management system comprising:

a plurality of counting means, arranged at each doorway of a plurality of enclosed areas, for counting a number of persons entering and a number of persons exiting each of said plurality of enclosed areas through said each doorway to generate a count;

transmission means for receiving said count from said plurality of counting means and transmitting said count from said plurality of counting means to at least one waiting area; and

broadcasting means, arranged in said at least one waiting area, for receiving said count transmitted from said transmitting means and analyzing said count from said transmission means, to broadcast information indicating a current crowding situation in said each of said plurality of enclosed areas for persons waiting in the at least one waiting area;

wherein said plurality of counting means include, in said each of said plurality of enclosed areas;

a plurality of temperature sensors linearly arranged for sensing a temperature change in respective portions of said enclosed areas in order to produce a sensor output indicating a number of persons entering and exiting said each of said plurality of enclosed areas through its doorway which has a width to allow a plurality of persons of normal constitution to simultaneously pass therethrough;

sensing pattern recognition means for receiving said sensor output and recognizing in said sensor output a sensing pattern indicative of a temperature change sensed by said temperature sensors to determine the number of persons entering and exiting said each of said plurality of enclosed areas through its doorway;

photo sensors equal in number to said temperature sensors, respectively arranged adjacent each said doorway of said enclosed areas, for determining whether said persons entering and exiting said each of said plurality of enclosed areas are entering or exiting, said photo sensors forming pairs with said temperature sensors; and

an up/down counter connected to said pattern recognition means and said photo sensors for accumulatively counting up and down the number of persons entering and exiting said each of said plurality of enclosed areas;

wherein;

said doorway forms a single continuous aperture which allows said plurality of persons to simultaneously pass through said doorway; and

said plurality of counting means further comprise a plurality of light emitting diodes, equal in number to said photo sensors, for emitting light into respective ones of said portions of said areas so that when one of said plurality of persons is in one of said portions of said areas, said one of said plurality of persons reflects said light from a respective one of said plurality of light emitting diodes to a respective one of said photo sensors.

9. A situation guiding management system according to claim 8, wherein said broadcasting means further comprises:

display means for displaying at least part of said information; and

printing means for printing said at least part of said information.

10. A situation guiding management system according to claim 9, wherein said broadcasting means further comprises:

input means for receiving an input from one of said persons in said at least one waiting area; and

control means for controlling said printing means to print a portion of said information in accordance with said input.

11. A situation guiding management system according to claim 8, wherein:

said plurality of counting means comprise recording means for recording said count; and

said broadcasting means comprises;

storage means for accumulatively storing said count; and

analyzing means for statistically analyzing said count accumulatively stored in said storage means.

12. A situation guiding management system according to claim 8, wherein said broadcasting means comprises means for synthesizing speech in accordance with said information and broadcasting said speech.

13. A situation guiding management system according to claim 8, wherein:

said plurality of enclosed areas are a plurality of cars of a train, each of said plurality of cars having at least one doorway and at least one passageway to an adjacent one of said plurality of cars;

said plurality of counting means comprise means for counting a number of persons entering and exiting said each of said plurality of cars through said at least one doorway and said at least one passageway; and

said at least one waiting area is located in at least one station served by said train.

14. A situation guiding management system according to claim 8, wherein said at least part of said information comprises guiding information for enabling persons to select a desirable one of said plurality of enclosed spaces.