Touch-sensitive call-giving device

• US 9,994,422 B2
• Filed: 05/11/2015
• Issued: 06/12/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 11/12/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kone Corporation
• Original Assignee: Kone Corporation
• Inventors: Hiltunen, Jussi, Salonen, Tommi, Bergman, Kim, Parkkinen, Jarmo
• Primary Examiner(s): SALATA, ANTHONY J
• Application Number:
  US14/708,871
• Publication Number:
  US 20150246790A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,128 Days
• Field of Search: 187247, 187380-388, 187391, 187393, 187395, 187396
• CPC Class Codes: B66B 1/2408 where the allocation of a call to an elevator car is of importance, i.e. by means of a supervisory or group controller
• CPC Class Codes: B66B 1/2458 For elevator systems with multiple shafts and a single car per shaft
• CPC Class Codes: B66B 1/3415 Control system configuration and the data transmission or communication within the control system
• CPC Class Codes: B66B 1/461 characterised by their shape or profile
• CPC Class Codes: B66B 1/463 Touch sensitive input devices
• CPC Class Codes: B66B 1/468 Call registering systems
• CPC Class Codes: B66B 2201/4615 Wherein the destination is registered before boarding
• CPC Class Codes: B66B 2201/463 Wherein the call is registered through physical contact with the elevator system
• CPC Class Codes: B66B 2201/4653 wherein the call is registered using portable devices

Abstract

A destination call-giving device for giving destination calls in an elevator system includes a device available to a user for selecting a destination floor from a plurality of floors that are in a certain sequence, and an output for communicating the selected destination floor to the control system of the elevator system. The device for selecting a destination floor includes a touch-sensitive display forming a user interface for presenting to the user information related to the selection of a destination floor and for receiving the input of the user. The destination floor is arranged to be selectable by the user from the aforementioned plurality of floors by moving a touch-sensitive point on a touch-sensitive display.

Claims

1. A destination call-giving device for giving destination calls in an elevator system, said destination call-giving device comprising:

a device available to a user for selecting a destination floor from a plurality of floors that are in a certain sequence; and

an output for communicating the selected destination floor to a control system of the elevator system,

wherein the device for selecting a destination floor comprises a touch-sensitive display forming a user interface for presenting to the user information related to the selection of a destination floor and for receiving the input of the user, and wherein the destination floor is arranged to be selectable by the user from the plurality of floors by moving a touch-sensitive point on touch-sensitive display,

wherein the touch-sensitive display includes a sliding indicator configured to be moved along a line in a first direction to an upmost point indicating a topmost floor and along the line in a second direction to a bottommost floor, said directions being opposite to each other, which sliding indicator can be moved with movement of a touch-sensitive point to change the selected destination floor, and

wherein an initial position of the sliding indicator along said line corresponds to a sequential position of a departure floor.

2. The destination call-giving device according to claim 1, wherein the device for selecting a destination floor comprises a processing unit in data transfer connection with the touch-sensitive display for processing a touch signal received from the touch-sensitive display and for executing program commands, which processing unit comprises a processor, which can be brought into data transfer connection with a memory, which is comprised in the processing unit or is separate from the processing unit and stores program commands and/or information relating to the floor plurality.

3. The destination call-giving device according to claim 1, wherein the range of movement of the sliding indicator covers the position of the sliding indicator for each (every) floor of the floor plurality.

4. The destination call-giving device according to claim 1, wherein the destination call-giving device is a portable destination call-giving device.

5. The destination call-giving device according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of floors that are in a certain sequence, from which the destination floor is arranged to be selectable, is arranged to be presented to the user as a series on a touch-sensitive display, which series is arranged to be browseable by moving the touch-sensitive point on the touch-sensitive display.

6. The destination call-giving device according to claim 1, wherein the selected destination floor is arranged to be presented to the user on a touch-sensitive display.

7. An elevator system comprising:

one or more elevator cars; and

a control system, which is arranged to control the one or more elevator cars on the basis of destination calls of a destination call-giving device communicating with the control system, which destination call-giving device is according to claim 1.

8. The elevator system according to claim 7, wherein the control system is arranged to allocate an elevator car in response to a destination call received from the destination call-giving device, and to communicate to the destination call-giving device the allocate elevator car, and the destination call-giving device is arranged to identify for the user the allocated elevator car with the touch-sensitive display.

13. The elevator system according to claim 7, wherein the control system is configured to determine access rights of a user, including which floors the user has access to, and to display on the touch-sensitive display floors to which the user does not have access rights differently than the floors that the user does have access rights.

15. The destination call-giving device according to claim 4, wherein the departure floor is selected by a user via a touch-input applied to the touch-sensitive display.

9. A method for giving a destination call to a control system of an elevator system, in which method a destination floor is selected from a plurality of floors that are in a certain sequence, said method comprising the steps of:

presenting the selected destination floor to the user on a touch-sensitive display, the touch sensitive display includes a sliding indicator configure to be moved along a line in a first direction to an upmost point indicating a topmost floor and to be moved along the line in a second direction to a bottommost floor, said directions being opposite to each other, which sliding indicator can be moved with movement of a touch-sensitive point to change the selected destination floor, an initial position of the sliding indicator along said line corresponds to a sequential position of a departure floor;

detecting the moving of a touch-sensitive point along said line on the touch-sensitive display;

changing the selected destination floor on the basis of the movement of the touch-sensitive point; and

sending a signal containing information identifying the selected destination floor to the control system of the elevator system.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein a response signal to the destination call signal sent to it earlier is received from the control system of the elevator system, which response signal contains information identifying the elevator car, and the information identifying the elevator car is presented to the user on the touch-sensitive display.

11. The method according to claim 9, wherein the selected destination floor is changed within the plurality on the basis of at least the movement distance and movement direction of the touch-sensitive point and also on the basis of the speed of the movement of the touch-sensitive point.

12. A computer program product, which comprises program commands, which bring a computer provided with a touch-sensitive display and an output to perform a method according to claim 9, when the program commands are run in the computer, which is arranged to communicate via the output with the control system of the elevator system.

14. The method according to claim 9, further comprising determining access rights of a user, including which floors the user has access to, and

displaying on the touch-sensitive display floors to which the user does not have access rights differently than the floors that the user does have an access rights.

16. The method according to claim 9, wherein the touch-sensitive display is part of a portable destination call-giving device, and the method further comprises selecting the departure floor via a touch-input applied to the touch-sensitive display.