Touch screen call-giving device and method for giving elevator call

Abstract

A call-giving device for giving an elevator call for an elevator includes a touch-sensitive display having at least one touch detection area. The call-giving device is configured to: detect a first gesture performed in the at least one touch detection area; register a call to a floor according to a floor marking in response to detecting a touch meeting call-giving criterion on the touch-sensitive display at a point corresponding to the floor marking; and present, on the touch-sensitive display, registration data associated with the registered call, the registration data indicative of registered floor calls that have not yet been served by the elevator.

Claims

1. A call-giving device for giving an elevator call for an elevator, the call-giving device comprising: a touch-sensitive display having at least one touch detection area; wherein the call-giving device is configured to detect a first gesture performed in the at least one touch detection area, the call-giving device is configured to register a call to a floor according to a floor marking, among a first string of consecutively situated floor markings, in response to detecting a touch meeting call-giving criterion on the touch-sensitive display at a point corresponding to the floor marking, the call-giving device is configured to present, on the touch-sensitive display, registration data associated with the registered call, the registration data indicative of registered floor calls that have not yet been served by the elevator, and the registration data presented as a second string of consecutively situated floor markings on the touch-sensitive display, and the call-giving device is configured to present the first and second strings of consecutively situated floor markings simultaneously on the touch-sensitive display.

2. The call-giving device according to claim 1, wherein the call-giving device is configured to move the floor marking on the touch-sensitive display based on the first gesture.

3. The call-giving device according to claim 1, wherein the call-giving device is further configured to, detect a movement direction of the first gesture, and move the floor marking on the touch-sensitive display in the detected movement direction.

4. The call-giving device according to claim 2, wherein the call-giving device is further configured to, determine a movement speed of the first gesture, and move the floor marking at a speed that is proportional to the determined movement speed of the first gesture.

5. The call-giving device according to claim 2, wherein the call-giving device is further configured to, detect a second gesture for decelerating a speed of the moving floor marking, and decelerate the speed of the moving floor marking based on the second gesture for decelerating the speed of the moving floor marking.

6. A call-giving device comprising: an input device having at least one touch-sensitive display; wherein the input device is configured to present first and second strings of consecutively situated floor markings simultaneously on the at least one touch-sensitive display; wherein the input device is configured to register a call to a floor corresponding to a floor marking, among the first string of consecutively situated floor markings, in response to detecting a touch meeting call-giving criterion on the at least one touch-sensitive display at a point corresponding to the floor marking, wherein the second string of consecutively situated floor markings includes registration data indicative of registered floor calls that have not yet been served by the elevator; wherein the input device is further configured to receive input from a user, and to move the floor marking presented on the at least one touch-sensitive display based on the input from the user.

7. The call-giving device according to claim 2, wherein the call-giving device is configured to decelerate, at a set deceleration, speed of the moving floor marking.

8. The call-giving device according to claim 1, wherein the first gesture is a gesture in a direction of the first string of consecutively situated floor markings; and the call-giving device is further configured to detect a movement direction of the first gesture in the direction of the first string of consecutively situated floor markings, and move the first string of consecutively situated floor markings in the detected movement direction.

9. The call-giving device according to claim 1, further comprising: a memory in which the consecutively situated floor markings and a sequence of the consecutively situated floor markings are recorded; wherein the call-giving device is further configured to present, on the touch-sensitive display, only a portion of the consecutively situated floor markings recorded in the memory.

10. The call-giving device according to claim 9, wherein the first string of consecutively situated floor markings travels on the touch-sensitive display from a first edge area of the touch-sensitive display to a second edge area of the touch-sensitive display.

11. The call-giving device according to claim 10, wherein the call-giving device is further configured to remove a floor marking among the first string of consecutively situated floor markings from the touch-sensitive display when the floor marking arrives at the second edge area of the touch-sensitive display.

12. The call-giving device according to claim 11, wherein the call-giving device is further configured to add, in place of the floor marking removed from the display, a floor marking at an opposite end of the first string of consecutively situated floor markings.

13. The call-giving device according to claim 2, wherein the floor marking includes a name designator.

14. An elevator system, the elevator system comprises: an elevator; and the call-giving device according to claim 1 for giving an elevator call for the elevator.

15. A method for giving an elevator call via an elevator call-giving device including a touch-sensitive display, the method comprising: presenting a first string of consecutively situated floor markings on the touch-sensitive display; registering a call to a floor corresponding to a floor marking, among the first string of consecutively situated floor markings, in response to detecting a touch meeting call-giving criterion on the touch-sensitive display at a point corresponding to the floor marking; presenting, simultaneously with the first string of consecutively situated floor markings, a second string of consecutively situated floor markings on the touch-sensitive display, the second string of consecutively situated floor markings including registration data associated with the registered call, the registration data indicative of registered floor calls that have not yet been served by an elevator; detecting a first gesture in a touch detection area of the touch-sensitive display; and controlling the floor marking based on the detected first gesture.

16. The method according to claim 15, wherein the controlling comprises: moving the floor marking on the touch-sensitive display based on the first gesture in the touch detection area.

17. The method according to claim 16, wherein the controlling further comprises: detecting a movement direction of the first gesture in the touch detection area; and moving the floor marking on the touch-sensitive display in the detected movement direction.

18. The method according to claim 16, wherein the controlling further comprises: determining a movement speed of the first gesture in the touch detection area; and moving the floor marking on the touch-sensitive display at a speed that is proportional to the determined movement speed of the first gesture in the touch detection area.

19. The method according to claim 16, further comprising: detecting a second gesture in the touch detection area for decelerating a speed of the moving floor marking; and decelerating the speed of the moving floor marking based on the second gesture for decelerating the moving floor marking.

20. A method for giving an elevator call via an elevator call-giving device including a touch-sensitive display having a touch detection area, the method comprising: presenting a first string of consecutively situated floor markings on the touch-sensitive display; registering a call to a floor corresponding to a floor marking, among the first string of consecutively situated floor markings, in response to detecting a first touch meeting call-giving criterion on the touch-detection area at a point corresponding to the floor marking; presenting, simultaneously with the first string of consecutively situated floor markings, a second string of consecutively situated floor markings on the touch-sensitive display, the second string of consecutively situated floor markings including registration data associated with the registered call, the registration data indicative of registered floor calls that have not yet been served by an elevator; receiving an input via the touch detection area; and moving the floor marking, among the first string of consecutively situated floor markings, on the touch-sensitive display based on the input from the user.

21. The method according to claim 16, wherein the controlling further comprises: decelerating a speed of the moving floor marking at a set deceleration.

22. The method according to claim 15, wherein the first gesture is a gesture in a direction of the first string of consecutively situated floor markings; and the controlling includes, detecting a movement direction of the first gesture in the direction of the first string of consecutively situated floor markings, and moving the first string of consecutively situated floor markings in the detected movement direction.

23. The method according to claim 15, further comprising: recording, in a memory of the call-giving device, the consecutively situated floor markings and a sequence of the consecutively situated floor markings; and presenting, on the touch-sensitive display, only a portion of the consecutively situated floor markings recorded in the memory.

24. The method according to claim 23, further comprising: moving the first string of consecutively situated floor markings on the touch-sensitive display in a direction of the first string, from a first edge area of the touch-sensitive display to a second edge area of the touch-sensitive display.

25. The method according to claim 24, further comprising: removing a floor marking among the first string of consecutively situated floor markings from the touch-sensitive display when the floor marking arrives at the second edge area of the touch sensitive display.

26. The method according to claim 25, further comprising: adding, in place of the floor marking removed from the touch-sensitive display, another floor marking at an opposite end of the first string.

Description

BRIEF EXPLANATION OF THE FIGURES

(1) FIG. 1 presents a front view of the display of a call-giving device according to the invention

(2) FIG. 2 presents the gesture to be performed in the area detecting a touch of the call-giving device according to FIG. 1

(3) FIG. 3 presents the structure of the memory in a call-giving device according to the invention

(4) FIG. 4 presents a block diagram of the control of a call-giving device according to the invention

(5) FIGS. 5a, 5b present some call-giving devices according to the invention fitted into an elevator system

(6) FIG. 6 presents a front view of a call-giving device according to the invention

MORE DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

(7) FIG. 1 presents a call-giving device 1 according to the invention for giving an elevator call, as viewed from the front, from the direction of usage. The call-giving device 1 comprises a touch-sensitive display. ITO (Indium Tin Oxide) patterning is used in the touch-sensitive sensoring, which patterning is etched onto the surface of a PET plastic film, onto one of its sides. This type of plastic film is translucent, and its thickness is e.g. approx. 100 micrometers. The plastic film is spread on top of the display 10, in which case an area 2 detecting a touch forms in front of the display 10. An OLED display functions as the display 10. In addition, as protection, outermost on top of the display 10 is a wear-resistant lens fabricated from e.g. plastic or glass. Inside the call-giving device 1 is a microcontroller, which is connected, in a manner the conducts electricity, to the area 2 detecting a touch. The microcontroller, which functions as a measuring unit, supplies burst-type measuring signals to the area detecting a touch, by means of which a change in capacitance in the area 2 detecting a touch is determined. The capacitance in the area 2 detecting a touch changes when an elevator passenger touches the surface/lens, in which case the microcontroller receives information about the input given by a user on the basis of the change in capacitance. This type of construction enables the fabrication of a very thin and structurally simple call-giving device. In addition, in the aforementioned solution the touch point of the display can also be detected from a change in capacitance.

(8) FIG. 4 presents a block diagram of a control of a touch-sensitive display according to FIG. 1. A control unit 12 comprising a microprocessor is connected with a communications channel to a measuring unit 11 and to a display controller 13. The control unit 12 is also connected with a data bus to a memory 8, in which a program to be executed in the microprocessor of the control unit 12 is stored. Among other things, the floor markings intended to be presented on the display 10 and also the sequence of floor markings that are consecutive to each other are recorded in the memory 8. The structure of the memory 8 is illustrated in FIG. 3. The control unit 12 sends to the display controller 13 control commands, on the basis of which the display controller 13 presents floor markings 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, 4E on the display 10. In addition, the control unit 12 receives from the measuring unit 11 information about a touch occurring in the area 2 detecting a touch, as well as about the duration of the touch and also about the touch point e.g. in the form of coordinates.

(9) The control unit 12 processes the touch data it receives from the measuring unit 11, combining the touch data with and comparing it to the information to be presented on the display 10. Based on the processing, the control unit 12 controls the display 10 and registers elevator calls.

(10) A string (FIG. 1) formed by consecutively situated floor markings 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, 4E to be presented on the display 10 travels horizontally across the display 10 from one edge area 9A, 9B to the other. The sequence of the floor markings in a string formed by consecutive floor markings is sequentially from the floor marking indicating the lowest floor to the floor marking indicating the highest floor, and vice versa. Only a part of the floor markings recorded in the memory 8 of the control unit are presented on the display 10 at one time The control unit 12 determines a gesture to be performed in the area 2 detecting a touch on the display 10 when the measuring unit 11 detects a changing touch point as a finger moves on the display. The control unit determines both the movement direction and the movement speed of the gesture and controls the display 10 on the basis of the determined gesture/movement speed. FIG. 2 illustrates the gesture to be performed in the part of the touch-sensitive display according to FIG. 1 detecting a touch. The control unit 12 detects the gesture to be performed in the direction of the string formed by the floor markings 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, 4E on the display 10 (the direction of the arrows 3A, 3B in FIG. 2), as well as the movement direction and also the speed at which the gesture is performed. On the basis of the detection the control unit 12 sends to the display controller 13 control commands for moving the floor markings to be presented on the display 10 in the detected movement direction (the possible movement directions of the floor markings are presented in FIG. 1 with the arrows 6A, 6B) and such that the movement speed of the floor markings 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, 4E are set to be proportional to the movement speed of the gesture 3A, 3B performed in the area 2 detecting a touch. Consequently, when performing a gesture to the left, according to the arrow 3A, in the area 2 detecting a touch the string formed by the floor markings 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, 4E moves to the left in the direction of the arrow 6A; correspondingly, when performing a gesture to the right, according to the arrow 3B, the string formed by the floor markings 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, 4E moves to the right in the direction of the arrow 6B.

(11) The control unit 12 removes from the display 10 a floor marking 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, 4E when it arrives in the edge area 9A, 9B of the display and in the same connection adds another floor marking to the opposite end of the string formed by the floor markings 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, 4E, in place of the floor marking 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, 4E to be removed from the display, on the basis of the sequence among the floor markings recorded in the memory.

(12) When the string formed by the floor markings 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, 4E moves, the width of each floor marking to be presented on the display changes when the position on the display 10 of the floor marking 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, 4E changes such that the width of a floor marking 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, 4E traveling in the horizontal direction across the display from one edge area 9A, 9B to another first increases as the floor marking diverges from the edge area 9A, 9B and the width of the floor marking 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, 4E starts to decrease again as the floor marking approaches the edge area 9A, 9B of the opposite end, such that a floor marking is at its widest when the distance to both edge areas 9A, 9B is of equal magnitude. In the same connection also the brightness of a floor marking 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, 4E first increases as the floor marking diverges from the edge area 9A, 9B and the brightness of the floor marking 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, 4E starts to dim again as the floor marking 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, 4E approaches the edge area 9A, 9B of the opposite end. Controlled in this way, a moving string of floor markings 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, 4E forms a visual impression of part of a rotating roll, in which the changing size and change in brightness of a floor marking 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, 4E enhances the information about and noticeability of the movement of the floor markings 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, 4E.

(13) The control unit 12 of the call-giving device 1 registers a destination call to a floor according to a floor marking 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, 4E when it detects a continuous touch of sufficiently long duration at the point of the aforementioned floor marking 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, 4E on the display 10. When giving a destination call an elevator passenger presses the floor marking 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, 4E that indicates that floor of the building to which the person giving the call is traveling by elevator.

(14) The control unit 12 decelerates at a set deceleration a string of floor markings 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, 4E that has been brought to move such that the string of floor markings 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, 4E on the display 10 gradually stops and the view of the display 10 stabilizes. In addition to this, when the string of floor markings 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, 4E moves, the control unit 12 determines a gesture, i.e. a touch, to be performed on the display in an area 2 detecting a touch for decelerating the speed of the string formed by the floor markings 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, 4E. The speed of the string sharply decelerates when pressing the display as the floor markings move.

(15) The control unit 12 also presents on the display registration data 5A, 5B connected to calls registered with the call-giving device 1 that are to be served. In the situation of FIG. 1 registration data 5A, 5B is presented on the display 10, according to which registration data the call-giving device 1 has destination calls registered to floors 2 and 6, which calls are still waiting to be served. The floor markings according to the destination calls waiting to be served are also removed from the string of floor markings 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, 4E; for example, in the situation of FIG. 1 the floor marking of floor 6 has been removed from the string from between the floor markings of floors 5 and 7, because the destination call in question is awaiting service and no new corresponding call can be given yet.

(16) FIG. 5a presents an elevator system into which a call-giving device 1 according to the embodiment of FIGS. 1-4 is fitted. In the solution presented in FIG. 5a the call-giving device 1 is disposed on a floor level in connection with the door 15 of the elevator. The call-giving device 1 in the elevator system of FIG. 5b differs from that presented above in connection with the embodiments of FIGS. 1-4 such that the string of floor markings 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, 4E travels on the display 10 of the call-giving device in the vertical direction; likewise, for using the display the gesture to be performed in the area 2 detecting a touch occurs in the vertical direction. The height of floor markings traveling in the vertical direction across the display increases as a floor marking diverges from the edge area 9A, 9B of the display and starts to decrease again as the floor marking approaches the edge area 9A, 9B of the opposite end. According to FIG. 5b, the call-giving device 1 can be made to be elongated and narrow in its width, which has enabled integration of the call-giving device 1 into the architrave 16 of the door of an elevator. This type of placement method is advantageous both owing to the small space requirement and from the viewpoint of manufacturability.

(17) The call-giving device 1 in the elevator systems of FIGS. 5a and 5b is connected to the control unit (not in figure) of elevator calls in a manner that is per se known in the art via a communications channel, using some type of communication protocol that is known in the art, and the communication method in question between the call-giving device 1 and the control unit of elevator calls is not presented in more detail in this context.

(18) The call-giving device 1 can also be disposed inside the elevator car as a replacement to a conventional control panel.

(19) The call-giving device 1 presented in FIG. 6 differs from that presented in connection with the embodiments of FIGS. 1-5 such that with the touch-sensitive display of the call-giving device 1 name designators 17 are presented in a vertical row. A name designator 17 comprises the information needed for giving a destination call, such as the name of a tenant/resident of the building, the logo of a company operating in the building, et cetera. Call giving occurs in the same manner as is presented above in connection with the embodiments of FIGS. 1-5, i.e. by pressing the display at the point of a name designator 17 for a sufficiently long period of time. For example, when pressing the display 10 at the point of the name of a resident of a building, the call-giving device registers a destination call to the floor on which the resident in question lives.

(20) The display 10 is scrolled with a gesture to be performed in an area 2 detecting a touch in the same manner as is presented in connection with the embodiments of FIGS. 1-5. Consequently, the scrolling of the display occurs by performing a vertical gesture in an area 2 detecting a touch. Only a part of the possible name designators recorded in the memory of the control unit 12 are presented on the display 10 at one time. A name designator 17 is removed from the display when it arrives in an edge area 9A, 9B of the display; likewise a second name designator 17 is added to the other end of the row in place of the removed name designator 17, as is presented in connection with the embodiments of FIGS. 1-5. The height of the name designators changes such that the height of a name designator 17 increases when an added name designator 17 diverges from the edge area 9A, 9B of the display and starts to decrease again when the name designator 17 approaches the edge area 9A, 9B of the opposite end.

(21) It is obvious to the person skilled in the art that the invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, but that many adaptations and different embodiments of the invention are possible within the framework of the inventive concept defined by the claims presented below.