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JP-2026514302-A - Contactless button system

JP2026514302AJP 2026514302 AJP2026514302 AJP 2026514302AJP-2026514302-A

Abstract

[Problem] To provide a non-contact button system with high sensing accuracy and low installation costs. [Solution] The non-contact button system of the present invention comprises a plurality of buttons, a distance sensor having a plurality of sensing areas and installed between the plurality of buttons so as to face the direction of pressing the buttons, and a control unit that selects one of the plurality of buttons using information about an object sensed by the distance sensor. The non-contact button system according to the present invention has the advantages of high object recognition accuracy and low installation cost. [Selection Diagram] Figure 1

Inventors

  • ピョン，フンソク

Assignees

  • アイリオン カンパニー リミテッド
  • シン，キョンミン

Dates

Publication Date
20260508
Application Date
20240330
Priority Date
20230427

Claims (4)

  1. A non-contact button system characterized by comprising: multiple buttons; a distance sensor having multiple sensing areas and positioned between the multiple buttons so as to face the direction of button pressing; and a control unit that selects one of the multiple buttons using information about an object sensed by the distance sensor.
  2. The non-contact button system according to claim 1, characterized in that the control unit is configured to select the button when the distance to the object changes to sequentially decreasing.
  3. The non-contact button system according to claim 1, characterized in that the control unit ignores the approach of an object when the object approaches the sensing area corresponding to the front of the distance sensor.
  4. The non-contact button system according to claim 1, characterized in that the control unit is configured to select the button according to the direction of change of the sensing area in which the object is sensed.

Description

This invention relates to a contactless button system, and more particularly to a contactless button system equipped with a Time of Flight (ToF) sensor. High-rise buildings such as office buildings and apartment complexes are equipped with elevators to facilitate vertical movement. Users typically move to their desired floor and open/close the elevator doors by pressing the touch buttons displayed on the elevator door. Conventional elevator touch buttons use either a pressure-activated or capacitive sensing method, but both require finger contact with the button. In recent years, hygiene has become a critical issue in public facilities, and research is focused on minimizing contact with hands, which often carry many contaminants. Therefore, to reduce the transmission of infectious diseases through elevator touch buttons installed in subway stations, airports, hospitals, etc., a contactless system that allows users to register their desired floor and can be easily applied to existing elevators has been proposed. One way to implement a non-contact (or non-contact) button system with high sensing accuracy is to use a Time of Flight (ToF) sensor. However, applying ToF sensors to each elevator button presents the problem of requiring the replacement of existing buttons. This figure illustrates the configuration and operation of a contactless button system according to one embodiment of the present invention.Figure 1 is a detailed diagram of the distance measuring unit.Figure 2 shows the configuration diagram of the ToF (Time of Flight) sensor.This figure provides a detailed explanation of the operation of the non-contact button system shown in Figure 1 when an object approaches normally.This diagram illustrates the operation of the non-contact button system shown in Figure 1 when an object with a large surface area approaches.Figure 1 illustrates the operation of the non-contact button system based on the direction of movement of an object.This figure illustrates the configuration and operation of a non-contact button system according to another embodiment of the present invention. To fully understand the present invention, preferred embodiments will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Embodiments of the present invention can be modified in various forms, and the scope of the invention should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments described in detail below. These embodiments are provided to provide a more complete explanation of the invention to those with average knowledge of the art. Therefore, the shapes of elements in the drawings may be exaggerated to emphasize a clearer explanation. It should be noted that identical components may be indicated by the same reference numerals in each drawing. Detailed descriptions of known functions and configurations that are deemed to unnecessarily obscure the gist of the invention are omitted. Figure 1 illustrates the configuration and operation of a non-contact button system 100 according to one embodiment of the present invention; Figure 1(a) is a front view, and Figure 1(b) is a side view. As shown, the non-contact button system 100 comprises a plurality of (exemplary, two) buttons 102a, 102b and a distance measuring unit 104. The distance measuring unit 104 comprises a ToF sensor as a distance sensor and a control unit for button selection, as will be described in detail below. The ToF sensor is installed between buttons 102a and 102b so as to face the direction of pressing (indicated by arrows in Figure 1). The ToF sensor is also installed in front of the surface 107 on which the buttons 102a and 102b are located, having multiple sensing regions 106a, 106b, 106c, and 106d perpendicular to the direction of pressing. The ToF sensor can generate information about the sensing region where an object 108 is located, along with the distance to the object 108 located in the sensing regions 106a, 106b, 106c, and 106d. A multi-zone ToF sensor, which has multiple sensing regions adjacent to each other in the lateral direction, can be used as a ToF sensor. A multi-zone ToF sensor can recognize not only the distance to an object but also the sensing region in which the object exists. When an object 108 approaches to select a specific button on the non-contact button system 100, the ToF sensor of the distance measuring unit 104 transmits information about the distance to the object 108 and information about the sensing area where the object 108 is located to the control unit. The control unit operates to select one of the multiple buttons 102a and 102b based on the distance information and sensing area information transmitted from the ToF sensor. The control unit maps sensing area 106a to button 102a and sensing area 106d to button 102b. In the case of object 108 shown in Figure 1, object 108 is present in all sensing areas 106a, 106b, 106c, and 106d. However, since the distance to object 108 in sensing area 106a is the closest from the distance