AUTOMATICALLY CONTROLLED DOOR ASSEMBLY AS AN ELEVATOR LEVEL DOOR OF AN ELEVATOR SYSTEM

Abstract

An automatically controlled door arrangement, such as a floor door of an elevator installation, includes: at least one door leaf actively moveable between an open position and a closed position; a drive moving the door leaf between the open and closed positions; a controller controlling the drive; a sensor system detecting people or objects in front of the door leaf; and a data connection for data exchange with an external computer. The door arrangement receives and processes signals from the sensor system in the controller, sends query data to the external computer via the data connection based on the processed signals, receives instruction data from the external computer, and controls the door leaf drive taking into account the instruction data. The door arrangement provides monitorable, automated and, if possible, stepless access to buildings, for example, for robots, or receiving and storing delivered goods through the door arrangement.

Claims

1-13. (canceled)

14. An automatically controlled door arrangement used as a floor door of an elevator installation, the door arrangement comprising: a door leaf actively moveable between an open position and a closed position; a drive adapted to move the door leaf between the open position and the closed position; a controller controlling the drive; a sensor system detecting people and/or objects in front of the door leaf; a data connection for data exchange between the controller and an external computer; and wherein the door arrangement receives and processes signals from the sensor system in the controller, sends query data to the external computer via the data connection based upon the processed signals, receives instruction data provided by the external computer in response to the query data, and controls the drive to operate the door leaf in response to the instruction data.

15. The door arrangement according to claim 14 wherein the sensor system interacts with the people and/or objects detected in front of the door leaf.

16. The door arrangement according to claim 14 wherein the sensor system includes a touch-sensitive panel that exchanges signals with the controller.

17. The door arrangement according to claim 14 wherein the sensor system includes a touch-sensitive screen for displaying information received from the controller.

18. The door arrangement according to claim 14 wherein the sensor system includes a camera for detecting the people and/or objects in front of the door leaf.

19. The door arrangement according to claim 18 wherein the controller processes signals from the camera to recognize gestures of a person detected in front of the door leaf.

20. The door arrangement according to claim 14 wherein the sensor system is integrated into the door leaf.

21. The door arrangement according to claim 14 including at least one light emitter that signals an arrival of an elevator car at the door arrangement.

22. The door arrangement according to claim 21 wherein the at least one light emitter signals a current occupancy state of the elevator car.

23. The door arrangement according to claim 14 wherein the sensor system and the controller communicate wirelessly with one another.

24. The door arrangement according to claim 14 wherein the controller communicates wirelessly with the external computer.

25. The door arrangement according to claim 14 wherein the door arrangement is frameless.

26. An elevator installation comprising: an elevator shaft; and the automatically controlled door arrangement according to claim 14 providing controlled access to the elevator shaft.

27. An automatically controlled door arrangement providing access to an elevator shaft of an elevator installation, the door arrangement comprising: a door leaf actively moveable between an open position and a closed position; a drive adapted to move the door leaf between the open position and the closed position; a controller controlling the drive; a sensor system detecting people and/or objects in front of the door leaf, wherein the sensor system interacts with the people and/or objects detected in front of the door leaf, and wherein the sensor system includes a touch-sensitive panel that exchanges signals with the controller and displays information received from the controller; a data connection for data exchange between the controller and an external computer; and wherein the door arrangement receives and processes signals from the sensor system in the controller, sends query data to the external computer via the data connection based upon the processed signals, receives instruction data provided by the external computer in response to the query data, and controls the drive to operate the door leaf in response to the instruction data.

28. The door arrangement according to claim 27 wherein the sensor system includes a camera for detecting the people and/or objects in front of the door leaf and the controller processes signals from the camera to recognize gestures of a person detected in front of the door leaf.

29. The door arrangement according to claim 27 including a plurality of light emitters integrated into the door leaf, the light emitters signaling at least one of an arrival of an elevator car at the door arrangement and a current occupancy state of the elevator car arriving at the door arrangement.

Description

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0049] FIG. 1 shows a door arrangement according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0050] The FIGURE is merely schematic and not to scale.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0051] FIG. 1 shows an automatically controlled door arrangement 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The door arrangement 1 is designed as a floor door of an elevator installation 3 and forms an access to an elevator shaft 5 of the elevator installation 3. The door arrangement 1 can be designed without a frame.

[0052] The door arrangement 1 has two door leaves 7 which can be moved in opposite directions in order to be moved between an open and a closed position. The door leaves 7 are moved by a drive 9. The drive 9 is controlled by a controller 11.

[0053] The door arrangement 1 also has a sensor system 13 by means of which people 23 or objects 25 such as, for example, robots can be detected in front of the door leaves 7 and can optionally be interacted with. In the example shown, the sensor system 13 comprises a touch-sensitive panel 15 and a camera 17. Both the touch-sensitive panel 15 and the camera 17 are integrated into one of the door leaves 7.

[0054] The sensor system 13 or its touch-sensitive panel 15 and its camera 17 can exchange signals with the controller 11, preferably via a wireless connection (as shown in the FIGURE by dash-dotted lines).

[0055] The controller 11 can exchange data with an external computer 21 via a data connection 19. This data connection 19 can also be wireless (as shown in the FIGURE again by a dash-dotted line), i.e. the controller 11 can, for example, have a wireless data interface in the form of a radio module in order to be able to communicate with the external computer 21.

[0056] The door arrangement 1 also has a plurality of light emitters 27, for example in the form of LEDs, which are also integrated in one or both of the door leaves 7. In the example shown, the light emitters 27 are arranged equidistant from one another along a vertical line parallel to the outer edges of the door leaves 7.

[0057] When the person 23 or the robot approaches the door arrangement 1, this can be detected using the camera 17, for example. The person 23 can possibly signal by means of a gesture that they wish to open the door arrangement 1. The gesture can be recorded using the camera 17 and corresponding image data can be processed by the controller 11 in order to recognize the gesture. Alternatively, the person 23 can operate the touch-sensitive panel 15 to indicate their wish. In a similar way, the robot could, for example, send out a light signal or make a movement that can be recognized as a gesture by the sensor system 13 and the controller 11.

[0058] The light emitters 27 can be used to signal the current state of the door arrangement 1 or the elevator installation 3 locked by the door arrangement 1. For example, an occupancy state of an elevator car waiting behind the door arrangement 1 can be visualized.

[0059] After the signals generated by the sensor system 13 have been suitably preprocessed in the controller 11, the controller 11 can send query data based thereon to the external computer 21 via the data connection 19. The external computer 21 can further process these query data. For example, the external computer 21 can determine, by comparison with data in a database accessible by the computer, whether the person 23 or the robot should be authorized to open the door arrangement 1. If necessary, the external computer 21 can establish contact with another computer or a system administrator, for example via a network, in order to clarify whether the person 23 or the robot may open the door arrangement 1.

[0060] The external computer 21 can then send corresponding instruction data back to the door arrangement 1, in particular to its controller 11, via the data connection 19. Finally, the controller 11 can then control the drive 9 according to the instruction data in order to open or close the door leaves 7.

[0061] The door arrangement 1 makes new fields of application possible such as, for example, monitorable, automated and, if possible, stepless access to buildings, for example for robots, or the acceptance and storage of delivered goods through the door arrangement 1.

[0062] Finally, it should be noted that terms such as “comprising,” “having,” etc. do not preclude other elements or steps and terms such as “a” or “an” do not preclude a plurality. Furthermore, it should be noted that features or steps that have been described with reference to one of the above embodiments may also be used in combination with other features or steps of other embodiments described above.

[0063] 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.