1. A hall destination controller (20) allowed to scan a two-dimensional code and generate a hall call by using the two-dimensional code, comprising: 5 a scan unit (21) which scans a two-dimensional code; and a control unit (22) which determines whether the two-dimensional code scanned by the scan unit (21) is a two-dimensional code 10 for data settings or a two-dimensional code for call registration, changes, when the two-dimensional code scanned by the scan unit (21) is a two-dimensional code for data settings, settings of the hall destination controller 15 (20) by using the two-dimensional code for data settings, and generates, when the two-dimensional code scanned by the scan unit (21) is a two-dimensional code for call registration, a hall call by using the two- 20 dimensional code for call registration.

2. The hall destination controller (20) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the control unit (22) determines whether the two dimensional code scanned by the scan unit (21) is a 25 two-dimensional code for data settings or a twodimensional code for call registration based on an identification pattern included in the two-dimensional code scanned by the scan unit (21).

3. The hall destination controller (20) as 30 claimed in claim 1, wherein the control unit (22) causes, when the twodimensional code scanned by the scan unit (21) is neither a two-dimensional code for data settings nor a 18 two-dimensional code for call registration, a display (20a) provided in the hall destination controller (20) to display an error message indicating this result.

4. The hall destination controller (20) as 5 claimed in claim 1, wherein the control unit (22) outputs, when the two-dimensional code scanned by the scan unit (21) is a two-dimensional code for data settings, a first buzzer sound indicating this result 10 from a speaker provided in the hall destination controller (20), and outputs, when the two-dimensional code scanned by the scan unit (21) is a two-dimensional code for call registration, a second buzzer sound indicating this 15 result from the speaker provided in the hall destination controller (20).

5. The hall destination controller (20) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the control unit (22) 20 determines, when the two-dimensional code scanned by the scan unit (21) is a two-dimensional code for call registration, whether a destination floor indicated by the two-dimensional code for call registration is a floor which can be registered by the 25 hall destination controller (20), 30 generates, when the control unit (21) determines that the destination floor is a floor which can be registered by the hall destination controller (20), a hall call corresponding to the destination floor, and causes, when the control unit (21) determines that the destination floor is not a floor which can be registered by the hall destination controller (20), a display (20a) provided in the hall destination 19 Dated this 1st day of February 2023

HALL DESTINATION CONTROLLER
FIELD
Embodiments described herein relate generally to a
hall destination controller.
5 BACKGROUND
In general, in the hall of each floor of
buildings, a hall call button for registering a hall
call is provided. When a passenger of the elevator
operates the hall call button, a car responds to the
10 registered floor of the hall call. When the passenger
gets into the car and operates a destination floor
button of a car elevator controller, the destination
floor is registered, and the car moves to the
destination floor.
15 In recent years, apart from the above hall call
button, an elevator system comprising a hall
destination controller (HDC) which enables a passenger
to register a destination floor in a hall has been put
to practical use. This type of elevator system is
20 called a destination control system (DCS). The
destination control system selects an optimal car from
a plurality of cars based on the destination floor
registered by a passenger in a hall and causes the
selected car to respond to the hall. In this
25 destination control system, an optimal car can be
assigned, thereby improving the transport efficiency.
One type of hall destination controller reads
destination floor information indicating the
destination floor of a passenger by using a camera and
30 registers the destination floor. In this type of hall
destination controller, there is no need to provide a
numerical keypad, etc., for registering a destination
floor. Thus, compared to a hall destination controller
1
in which a numerical keypad is provided, the number of
components can be reduced, thereby decreasing the size
and cost.
Even in this type of hall destination controller,
5 buttons, a touch panel and the like which can be
operated by maintenance engineers are provided. A
maintenance engineer operates the buttons and touch
panel to carry out initial settings when the hall
destination controller is provided or to change the
10 settings of the hall destination controller.
15
However, in terms of the reduction in size or
cost, in a manner similar to that of the numerical
keypad described above, it is preferable that these
buttons or touch panel should not be provided.
Embodiments described herein aim to provide a hall
destination floor registration device which can realize
the reduction in size and cost.
SUMMARY
According to one embodiment, a hall destination
20 controller is a device which is allowed to scan a twodimensional
code and generate a hall call by using the
two-dimensional code. The hall destination controller
comprises a scan unit and a control unit. The scan
unit scans a two-dimensional code. The control unit
25 determines whether the two-dimensional code scanned by
the scan unit is a two-dimensional code for data
settings or a two-dimensional code for call
registration. The control unit changes, when the twodimensional
code scanned by the scan unit is a two-
30 dimensional code for data settings, settings of the
hall destination controller by using the twodimensional
code for data settings. The control unit
generates, when the two-dimensional code scanned by the
2
5
scan unit is a two-dimensional code for call
registration, a hall call by using the two-dimensional
code for call registration.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a general
configuration example of an elevator system according
to an embodiment.
FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a hall
destination controller in the embodiment.
10 FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration
example of the hall destination controller in the
embodiment.
FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining an example of
display in the hall destination controller in the
15 embodiment.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation example
of the hall destination controller in the embodiment.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Embodiments will be described hereinafter with
20 reference to the accompanying drawings.
The disclosure is merely an example and is not
limited by contents described in the embodiments
described below. Modification which is easily
conceivable by a person of ordinary skill in the art
25 comes within the scope of the disclosure as a matter of
course. In some cases, in order to make the
description clearer, the sizes, shapes, etc., of the
respective parts are illustrated schematically in the
drawings, rather than as an accurate representation of
30 what is implemented. Constituent elements
corresponding to each other in a plurality of drawings
are denoted by like reference numerals and their
detailed descriptions may be omitted unless necessary.
3
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a general
configuration example of an elevator system according
to an embodiment. In the elevator system of the
embodiment, the drive operation of a plurality of cars
5 10 is controlled overall.
As shown in FIG. 1, the elevator system comprises
a plurality of cars 10, a hall destination controller
20 and a elevator controller 30. FIG. 1 shows three
cars 10, namely, car A, car B and car C. However, the
10 number of cars 10 is not limited to this example and
may be an arbitrary number greater than or equal to
two. Further, FIG. 1 shows a single hall destination
controller 20. However, the number of hall destination
controllers 20 is not limited to this example and may
15 be an arbitrary number.
For example, when the hall destination controller
20 scans a two-dimensional code (for example, a QR code
[registered trademark]) for call registration displayed
in a mobile terminal (for example, a smartphone, a
20 tablet terminal, etc.) 40 owned by a passenger and
obtains destination floor information indicating the
destination floor of the passenger, the hall
destination controller 20 generates a hall call in
which the destination floor is associated with the
25 floor on which the registration operation of the
destination floor has been conducted (in other words,
the floor on which the hall destination controller 20
is provided), and transmits the generated hall call to
the elevator controller 30.
30 For example, when the hall destination controller
20 scans a two-dimensional code (for example, a QR
code) for data settings displayed in a mobile terminal
40 owned by a maintenance engineer and obtains a
4
setting value related to the settings of the hall
destination controller 20, the hall destination
controller 20 changes the settings of the hall
destination controller 20 based on the setting value.
5 The two-dimensional code presented to the hall
destination controller 20 by the passenger or
maintenance engineer is prepared by using, for example,
an application installed on the mobile terminal 40. It
should be noted that predetermined use restrictions are
10 placed on the preparation of the two-dimensional code
for data settings, such as a request to input a
password known to only the maintenance engineer. This
configuration can prevent passengers from preparing a
two-dimensional code for data settings and changing the
15 settings of the hall destination controller 20 without
permission.
The two-dimensional code which is presented to the
hall destination controller 20 by the passenger or
maintenance engineer includes an identification pattern
20 for identifying the type of the two-dimensional code.
Based on the identification pattern, the hall
destination controller 20 identifies whether the
scanned two-dimensional code is a two-dimensional code
for data settings or a two-dimensional code for call
25 registration.
The settings of the hall destination controller 20
using a two-dimensional code for data settings include,
for example, the following settings:
to set the device identification number of the
30 hall destination controller 20;
to set the floor on which the hall destination
controller 20 is provided;
to set the names of floors which can be registered
5
by the hall destination controller 20 (for example, the
first floor, the second floor, the n-th floor,
the first basement floor, the second basement
floor, , the m-th basement floor, the lobby floor
5 and the roof floor);
to set the names of the cars (cars 10) displayed
in the hall destination controller 20 (for example, car
A, car B and car C);
to set the transmission address of the hall
10 destination controller 20; and
to set a buzzer sound output from the speaker of
the hall destination controller 20.
Here, the above various types of settings can be
conducted by using a two-dimensional code for data
15 settings. However, the data settings are not limited
to the above examples. Other types of settings may be
carried out by using a two-dimensional code for data
settings.
The elevator controller 30 controls the drive
20 operation of each car (car 10). When the elevator
controller 30 receives a hall call from the hall
destination controller 20, the elevator controller 30
performs an assignment process for selecting the
assignment car of the hall call from the managed cars
25 (cars 10). The elevator controller 30 controls the
drive operation of the car (car 10) selected as the
assignment car so as to cause the car (car 10) to
respond to the floor on which the registration
operation has been conducted. The elevator controller
30 30 transmits assignment car information for notifying
the passenger of the car selected as the assignment car
to the hall destination controller 20.
When the hall destination controller 20 receives
6
the assignment car information from the elevator
controller 30, the hall destination controller 20
notifies the passenger of the assignment car indicated
by the assignment car information. By this
5 configuration, the passenger can know on which car the
passenger should ride to go to the destination floor.
FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the hall
destination controller 20 in the embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 2, the hall destination
10 controller 20 comprises a display area 20a in which a
display is provided, and a scan area 20b which can scan
a two-dimensional code. In the display, an assignment
car indicated by assignment car information is
displayed. For example, the display example of FIG. 2
15 allows the passenger to know that the passenger should
ride on car A to go to the destination floor. The scan
area 20b is an area equivalent to the capturing range
of a camera 21 (FIG. 3) incorporated into the hall
destination controller 20. The hall destination
20 controller 20 can scan a two-dimensional code held
(presented) over the scan area 20b.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration
example of the hall destination controller 20 in the
embodiment.
25 As shown in FIG. 3, the hall destination
controller 20 comprises the camera 21, a control unit
22, a communication unit 23, a setting storage unit 24
and a display unit 25.
The camera 21 scans a two-dimensional code held
30 over the scan area 20b shown in FIG. 2. Therefore, the
camera 21 may be referred to as a scan unit. Here, the
two-dimensional code held over the scan area 20b is
assumed to be displayed on the screen of the mobile
7
terminal 40. However, the two-dimensional code is not
limited to this example and may be printed on a piece
of paper, etc. The two-dimensional code scanned by the
camera 21 is output to the control unit 22.
5 The control unit 22 comprises a data conversion
function 22a. When the two-dimensional code scanned by
the camera 21 is input to the control unit 22, the
control unit 22 converts the two-dimensional code into
a character string by using the data conversion
10 function 22a and obtains the character string.
Based on the identification pattern included in
the obtained character string, the control unit 22
determines whether the two-dimensional code scanned by
the camera 21 is a two-dimensional code for data
15 settings or a two-dimensional code for call
registration. As a result, when the two-dimensional
code scanned by the camera 21 is a two-dimensional code
for data settings, the control unit 22 changes the
settings of the hall destination controller 20 based on
20 a setting value included in the obtained character
string and related to the settings of the hall
destination controller 20. More specifically, the
control unit 22 changes the settings of the hall
destination controller 20 by storing the desired
25 setting data in the setting storage unit 24 or updating
the desired setting data stored in the setting storage
unit 24 based on the above setting value.
When the two-dimensional code scanned by the
camera 21 is a two-dimensional code for call
30 registration, the control unit 22 generates a hall call
corresponding to the two-dimensional code for call
registration based on the destination floor information
included in the obtained character string.
8
When the two-dimensional code scanned by the
camera 21 is neither a two-dimensional code for data
settings nor a two-dimensional code for call
registration, the control unit 22 outputs an
5 instruction signal for displaying an error message in
the display provided in the display area 20a to the
display unit 25.
The communication unit 23 is a communication
interface for communicating with an external device
10 (for example, the elevator controller 30), and
transmits a hall call generated by the control unit 22
to the elevator controller 30. The communication unit
23 receives assignment car information which is
transmitted by the elevator controller 30 based on the
15 transmitted hall call. The received assignment car
information is output to the display unit 25.
In the setting storage unit 24, various types of
setting data related to the settings of the hall
destination controller 20 are stored. Specifically,
20 the following types of setting data are stored:
25
setting data indicating the device identification
number of the hall destination controller 20;
setting data indicating the floor on which the
hall destination controller 20 is provided;
setting data indicating the names of floors which
can be registered by the hall destination controller
20;
setting data indicating the names of the cars
(cars 10) displayed in the hall destination controller
30 20;
setting data indicating the transmission address
of the hall destination controller 20; and
setting data related to a buzzer sound output from
9
the speaker of the hall destination controller 20.
When the assignment car information received by
the communication unit 23 is input to the display unit
25, as shown in FIG. 2, the display unit 25 causes the
5 display provided in the display area 20a to display the
car indicated by the assignment car information. When
an instruction signal indicating that an error message
should be displayed is input from the control unit 22
to the display unit 25, for example, as shown in
10 FIG. 4, the display unit 25 causes the display provided
in the display area 20a to display an error message
such as "Error: Go back and prepare two-dimensional
code again".
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation example
15 of the hall destination controller in the embodiment.
The process shown in the flowchart of FIG. 5 is
performed by the hall destination controller 20 (or the
control unit 22).
When the mobile terminal 40 which is in a state
20 where a two-dimensional code is displayed on the screen
is held over the scan area 20b, the hall destination
controller 20 scans the two-dimensional code by the
camera 21, converts the two-dimensional code into a
character string by using the data conversion function
25 22a of the control unit 22 and obtains the character
string. The hall destination controller 20 confirms
whether or not the obtained character string includes
an identification pattern indicating a two-dimensional
code for data settings as the identification pattern
30 indicating the type of the scanned two-dimensional
code. Thus, the hall destination controller 20
confirms whether or not the two-dimensional code
scanned by the camera 21 is a two-dimensional code for
10
data settings (step S1).
As a result of the process of step S1, when the
hall destination controller 20 confirms that the twodimensional
code scanned by the camera 21 is a two-
5 dimensional code for data settings (Yes in step S1),
the hall destination controller 20 changes the settings
of the hall destination controller 20 based on the
setting value included in the obtained character string
and related to the settings of the hall destination
10 controller 20 (step S2).
When the settings of the hall destination
controller 20 are changed by the above process of step
S2, the hall destination controller 20 outputs a first
buzzer sound for notifying the maintenance engineer
15 that the two-dimensional code scanned by the camera 21
is a two-dimensional code for data settings and the
setting change of the hall destination controller 20
based on the two-dimensional code is completed (step
S3). The hall destination controller 20 terminates the
20 process here.
As a result of the above process of step S1, when
the hall destination controller 20 confirms that the
two-dimensional code scanned by the camera 21 is not a
two-dimensional code for data settings (No in step S1),
25 the hall destination controller 20 confirms whether or
not the obtained character string includes an
identification pattern indicating a two-dimensional
code for call registration as the identification
pattern indicating the type of the scanned two-
30 dimensional code. Thus, the hall destination
controller 20 confirms whether or not the twodimensional
code scanned by the camera 21 is a twodimensional
code for call registration (step S4).
11
As a result of the process of step S4, when the
hall destination controller 20 confirms that the twodimensional
code scanned by the camera 21 is a twodimensional
code for call registration (Yes in step
5 S4), the hall destination controller 20 refers to the
setting data stored in the setting storage unit 24 and
confirms whether or not the destination floor indicated
by the destination floor information included in the
obtained character string is a floor which can be
10 registered (displayed) by the hall destination
controller 20 (step S5). As a result of the process of
step S5, when the hall destination controller 20
confirms that the destination floor indicated by the
destination floor information is not a floor which can
15 be registered (displayed), in other words, confirms
that the destination floor is a floor which cannot be
registered (displayed) (for example, when the
destination floor indicated by the destination floor
information is the lobby floor although the floors
20 which can be registered (displayed) are the first floor
to the tenth floor) (No in step S5), the hall
destination controller 20 performs the process of step
S8 described later.
As a result of the process of step S5, when the
25 hall destination controller 20 confirms that the
destination floor indicated by the destination floor
information is a floor which can be registered
(displayed) (Yes in step S5), the hall destination
controller 20 generates a hall call corresponding to
30 the destination floor indicated by the destination
floor information and transmits it to the elevator
controller 30. More specifically, the hall destination
controller 20 generates a hall call in which the
12
destination floor indicated by the obtained destination
floor information is associated with the floor on which
the hall destination controller 20 is provided (more
specifically, the floor on which the hall destination
5 controller 20 is provided and which is indicated by the
setting data stored in the setting storage unit 24),
and transmits the generated hall call to the elevator
controller 30 (step S6).
When the hall call is transmitted to the elevator
10 controller 30 by the above process of step S6, the hall
destination controller 20 outputs a second buzzer sound
for notifying the passenger that the two-dimensional
code scanned by the camera 21 is a two-dimensional code
for call registration and the registration of the hall
15 call based on the two-dimensional code is completed
(step S7). The hall destination controller 20
terminates the process here.
As a result of the above process of step S4, when
the hall destination controller 20 confirms that the
20 two-dimensional code scanned by the camera 21 is not a
two-dimensional code for call registration (No in step
S4), the hall destination controller 20 causes the
display provided in the display area 20a to display the
error message shown in FIG. 4 as the two-dimensional
25 code is neither a two-dimensional code for data
settings nor a two-dimensional code for call
registration (step S8). The hall destination
controller 20 terminates the process here.
It should be noted that the hall destination
30 controller 20 may further perform a process of
confirming whether or not the setting value included in
the obtained character string and related to the
settings of the hall destination controller 20 is an
13
abnormal value (in other words, whether or not the
setting value is a normal value) between the above
process of step S1 and the above process of step S2.
As a result of this process, when the hall destination
5 controller 20 confirms that the setting value is not an
abnormal value, the hall destination controller 20
performs the above process of step S2. When the hall
destination controller 20 confirms that the above
setting value is an abnormal value, the hall
10 destination controller 20 performs the above process of
step S8 and prompts the maintenance engineer to prepare
a two-dimensional code for data settings again. This
process can prevent an undesired abnormal setting for
the hall destination controller 20.
15 The hall destination controller 20 may be
configured to change the settings of the hall
destination controller 20 only when the camera 21
successively scans a two-dimensional code including
specific information and a two-dimensional code for
20 data settings. In this configuration, even if a
maintenance engineer accidentally holds a twodimensional
code for data settings over the scan area
20b, the settings of the hall destination controller 20
are not changed unless a two-dimensional code including
25 specific information and the two-dimensional code for
data settings are successively held over the scan area
20b. Thus, the possibility that the settings of the
hall destination controller 20 are accidently changed
can be reduced.
30 The hall destination controller 20 of the
embodiment explained above comprises the camera 21
which scans a two-dimensional code, and the control
unit 22 which determines whether the two-dimensional
14
code scanned by the camera 21 is a two-dimensional code
for data settings or a two dimensional code for call
registration. When the two dimensional code scanned by
the camera 21 is a two-dimensional code for data
5 settings, the control unit 22 changes the settings of
the hall destination controller 20 by using the twodimensional
code for data settings. When the twodimensional
code scanned by the camera 21 is a twodimensional
code for call registration, the control
10 unit 22 generates a hall call by using the twodimensional
code for call registration.
In this configuration, when the camera 21 which
can scan a two-dimensional code is provided, both the
settings of the hall destination controller 20 and the
15 generation of a hall call can be conducted. Thus, in
addition to a numerical keypad which is used to
register a destination floor, the provision of buttons
or a touch panel which is used by a maintenance
engineer to carry out the initial settings or setting
20 change of the hall destination controller can be
omitted. In this way, the number of components of the
hall destination controller can be decreased, thereby
realizing the reduction in the size and cost of the
hall destination controller.
25 In addition, the hall destination controller 20 of
the present embodiment can change the settings of the
hall destination controller 20 by only holding a twodimensional
code for data settings over the scan area
20b. Thus, compared to a hall destination controller
30 which changes settings by operating the above buttons
or touch panel, the settings of the hall destination
controller can be easily changed. In this way, the
maintenance property can be improved.
15
In the embodiment explained above, a twodimensional
code (QR code) including the various types
of information described above is presented to the hall
destination controller 20 by a passenger or a
5 maintenance engineer. However, a passenger and a
maintenance engineer can present other types of codes.
For example, a barcode including the various types of
information described above may be presented by a
passenger or a maintenance engineer. Even in this
10 case, the various types of information included in the
barcode is the same as the various types of information
included in a two-dimensional code. Therefore, the
hall destination controller 20 can perform the above
operation shown in FIG. 5. Effects similar to the
15 various effects described above can be obtained.
Further, the hall destination controller 20 of the
present embodiment may comprise a camera which can
capture a passenger in addition to the camera 21. In
this case, the hall destination controller 20 may
20 further comprise a function of, when a specific
passenger whose destination floor is set in advance is
detected from an image captured by the above camera,
generating a hall call corresponding to the specific
passenger based on the destination floor set in
25 advance.
The embodiment explained above can provide a hall
destination controller 20 which can realize the
reduction in size and cost.
While certain embodiments have been described,
30 these embodiments have been presented by way of example
only, and are not intended to limit the scope of the
inventions. Indeed, the novel embodiments described
herein may be embodied in a variety of other forms;
16
furthermore, various omissions, substitutions and
changes in the form of the embodiments described herein
may be made without departing from the spirit of the
inventions. The accompanying claims and their
5 equivalents are intended to cover such forms or
modifications as would fall within the scope and spirit
of the inventions.
17

We Claim:
1. A hall destination controller (20) allowed to
scan a two-dimensional code and generate a hall call by
using the two-dimensional code, comprising:
5 a scan unit (21) which scans a two-dimensional
code; and
a control unit (22) which
determines whether the two-dimensional code
scanned by the scan unit (21) is a two-dimensional code
10 for data settings or a two-dimensional code for call
registration,
changes, when the two-dimensional code scanned by
the scan unit (21) is a two-dimensional code for data
settings, settings of the hall destination controller
15 (20) by using the two-dimensional code for data
settings, and
generates, when the two-dimensional code scanned
by the scan unit (21) is a two-dimensional code for
call registration, a hall call by using the two-
20 dimensional code for call registration.
2. The hall destination controller (20) as
claimed in claim 1, wherein
the control unit (22) determines whether the two
dimensional code scanned by the scan unit (21) is a
25 two-dimensional code for data settings or a twodimensional
code for call registration based on an
identification pattern included in the two-dimensional
code scanned by the scan unit (21).
3. The hall destination controller (20) as
30 claimed in claim 1, wherein
the control unit (22) causes, when the twodimensional
code scanned by the scan unit (21) is
neither a two-dimensional code for data settings nor a
18
two-dimensional code for call registration, a display
(20a) provided in the hall destination controller (20)
to display an error message indicating this result.
4. The hall destination controller (20) as
5 claimed in claim 1, wherein
the control unit (22)
outputs, when the two-dimensional code scanned by
the scan unit (21) is a two-dimensional code for data
settings, a first buzzer sound indicating this result
10 from a speaker provided in the hall destination
controller (20), and
outputs, when the two-dimensional code scanned by
the scan unit (21) is a two-dimensional code for call
registration, a second buzzer sound indicating this
15 result from the speaker provided in the hall
destination controller (20).
5. The hall destination controller (20) as
claimed in claim 1, wherein
the control unit (22)
20 determines, when the two-dimensional code scanned
by the scan unit (21) is a two-dimensional code for
call registration, whether a destination floor
indicated by the two-dimensional code for call
registration is a floor which can be registered by the
25 hall destination controller (20),
30
generates, when the control unit (21) determines
that the destination floor is a floor which can be
registered by the hall destination controller (20), a
hall call corresponding to the destination floor, and
causes, when the control unit (21) determines that
the destination floor is not a floor which can be
registered by the hall destination controller (20), a
display (20a) provided in the hall destination
19
Dated this 1st day of February 2023