Detection of people relative to a passenger conveyor with a capacitive sensor

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9272882-B2
Application number	US-200913515446-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 18, 2009
Priority date	Dec 18, 2009
Publication date	Mar 1, 2016
Grant date	Mar 1, 2016

Abstract

A system for detecting a person relative to a passenger conveyor includes a driving circuit for supplying an oscillating drive signal to a first electrode of a capacitive sensor configured to produce an electric field toward a second electrode in response to the oscillating drive signal. A detection circuit is connected to the capacitive sensor, and produces an output as a function of the capacitance of the capacitive sensor, such that the detection circuit senses a change in capacitance of the capacitive sensor, such as when a person enters the electric field between the first and second electrodes. A controller is responsive to the change in capacitance sensed by the detection circuit to selectively adjust an operation mode of the passenger conveyor.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A system for detecting a person relative to a passenger conveyer having a structural component and a passenger riding area, the system comprising:
a driving circuit for supplying an oscillating drive signal;
a capacitive sensor having a first electrode configured to produce an electric field toward a second electrode in response to the oscillating drive signal;
a detection circuit connected to the capacitive sensor that senses a change in capacitance of the capacitive sensor and produces an output as a function of capacitance; and
a controller responsive to the detection circuit output to selectively adjust an operation mode of the passenger conveyor;
wherein the first and second electrodes are disposed on portions of the passenger conveyor structural component on opposite sides of the passenger riding area, and wherein a change in capacitance is caused by the presence of a person in the electric field between the first and second electrodes;
the driving circuit further comprising:
an oscillator for creating an oscillating drive signal;
an amplifier connected to the oscillator to amplify the oscillating drive signal;
an impedance matching network connected between the amplifier and the capacitive sensor; and
a mode selector operable to drive the capacitive sensor in a selected mode.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the oscillator has a frequency of 100 kHz to 1 MHz.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the oscillator has a frequency of 100 kHz to 150 kHz.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the detection circuit comprises: a comparator configured to sense the change in capacitance of the capacitive sensor and produce the output as a function of capacitance of the capacitive sensor.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein
the passenger conveyor structural component is a balustrade, and the first electrode comprises a conducting surface of the balustrade on one side of the passenger riding area, and the second electrode comprises a conducting surface of the balustrade on the opposite side of the passenger riding area.

6. The system of claim 5 , wherein the balustrade is formed from a non-conducting material and a conductive material is disposed on a surface thereof on opposite sides of the passenger riding area.

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein the non-conducting material is glass.

8. The system of claim 6 , wherein the conductive material is adhered to the surface of the non-conducting balustrade.

9. The system of claim 6 , wherein the conductive material is formed integrally with the non-conducting balustrade.

10. The system of claim 6 , wherein the conductive material is divided into multiple sections.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein a multiplexer connects the sections to transmit the output of the capacitive sensor to the detection circuit.

Assignees

• Soldner Nicholas C
• Hsu Arthur C
• Veronesi William A
• Siewert Bryan R
• Gschwendtner Gero
• Ercan Abdullah
• Senger Alois
• Otis Elevator Co

Inventors

• Soldner Nicholas C
• Hsu Arthur C
• Veronesi William A
• Siewert Bryan R
• Gschwendtner Gero
• Ercan Abdullah
• Senger Alois

Classifications

• B66B25/00 Primary

  Control of escalators or moving walkways (walkways of variable speed type B66B21/12; handrails of variable speed type B66B23/26; of general application G05) · CPC title

• B66B25/006

  Monitoring for maintenance or repair (for security reasons B66B29/005) · CPC title

• G01R15/16

  using capacitive devices · CPC title

• G06F3/044

  by capacitive means · CPC title

• G01V3/00 Primary

  Electric or magnetic prospecting or detecting; Measuring magnetic field characteristics of the earth, e.g. declination, deviation · CPC title