Display guide apparatus of elevator and its display method

We claim:

1. An elevator display guide apparatus comprising an elevator control unit, an information production unit and an information display control unit, said elevator display guide apparatus displaying running information of an elevator and general information on display units at least disposed in halls according to a running situation of the elevator, wherein:

the information display control unit is so configured that an auxiliary memory medium storing information required to display the running information of the elevator may be mounted thereon;

the information display control unit derives information required to display the running information of the elevator from said auxiliary memory medium;

the information display control unit derives information required to display general information from the information production unit; and

the running information of the elevator and general information are displayed on display units at least disposed in halls according to information relating to the running situation of the elevator derived from the elevator control unit.

2. An elevator display guide apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the auxiliary memory medium comprises one of an IC card, a floppy disk and a compact disk.

3. An elevator display guide apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the auxiliary memory medium stores therein display data, display picture edit data and file data as information required to display the running information of an elevator, and the information display control unit selects information to be displayed out of a table disposed in the information display control unit to store information relating to the running situation of the elevator derived from the elevator control unit and a file derived from said auxiliary memory medium.

4. An elevator display guide apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information display control unit includes data input and output means for taking out information required to display the running situation of an elevator as stored in the auxiliary memory medium.

5. An elevator display guide apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information display control unit has a voice synthesizing unit and is so configured that an auxiliary memory medium storing data required to broadcast voices may be mounted thereon, and said display unit has a speaker and outputs voices in synchronism with a guidance display.

6. An elevator display guide apparatus comprising an elevator control unit, an information production unit and an information display control unit, said elevator display guide apparatus displaying running information of an elevator and general information on a display unit at least disposed in halls according to a running situation of the elevator, wherein:

the information display control unit is so configured that an auxiliary memory medium storing information required to display the running information of the elevator in a digital code form may be mounted thereon;

the information display control unit derives information required to display the running information of the elevator from said auxiliary memory medium;

the information display control unit derives digital-coded information required to display general information from the information production unit; and

the running information of the elevator and general information are displayed on display units at least disposed in halls according to information relating to the running situation of the elevator supplied from the elevator control unit.

7. An elevator display guide apparatus comprising an elevator control unit, an information production unit and an information display control unit, said elevator display guide apparatus displaying running information of an elevator and general information on display units at least disposed in halls according to a running situation of the elevator, wherein:

said information display control unit derives information required to display at least the running information of an elevator and represented in a digital signal form from an auxiliary memory medium and deriving information required to display general information and represented in a digital signal form from the information production unit;

said information display control unit selects digital signals relating to information to be displayed out of information thus derived, and transmits the digital signals thus selected to a display unit to store the digital signals therein;

said information display control unit stores digital signals for a display command in its own memory and issues a command for making the display unit display the running information of the elevator and general information according to a situation of the elevator running supplied from the elevator control unit; and

the display unit receives said command, takes out digital signals corresponding to said command from digital signals relating to information transmitted beforehand to be displayed, and produces a predetermined display.

8. An elevator display guide apparatus comprising an elevator control unit, an information production unit and an information display control unit, said elevator display guide apparatus displaying running information of an elevator and general information on display units at least disposed in halls according to a running situation of the elevator, wherein:

said information display control unit derives information required to display at least the running information of an elevator from an auxiliary memory medium as digital codes and derives information required to display general information from the information production unit as digital codes;

said information display control unit selects digital codes relating to information to be displayed out of information thus derived, transmits the digital codes to a display unit, and stores the digital codes derived from the auxiliary memory medium and the digital code derived from the information production unit separately into a memory of the display unit;

said information display control unit stores digital codes for issuing a display command derived from the auxiliary memory medium and digital codes for issuing a display command derived from the information production unit separately into its own memory;

said information display control unit issues a command for making the display unit display the running information of the elevator and general information according to information relating to a running situation of the elevator derived from the elevator control unit; and

the display unit takes out digital codes corresponding to said command, on the basis of said command, from digital signals relating to information supplied beforehand to be displayed and stored in the memory, and produces a predetermined display on the basis of digital codes thus taken out.

9. An elevator display guide apparatus comprising an elevator control unit, an information production unit and an information display control unit, said elevator display guide apparatus displaying running information of elevator and general information on display units at least disposed in respective halls according to running situation of elevator, wherein:

the information display control unit is so configured that an auxiliary memory medium storing information required to display the running information of an elevator may be mounted thereon;

the information display control unit derives information required to display the running information of the elevator from said auxiliary memory medium;

the information display control unit derives information required to display general information from the information production unit;

the information display control unit successively selects a display unit out of a plurality of display units at least disposed in halls; and

the display unit thus selected displays the running information of the elevator and general information according to information relating to the running situation of the elevator derived from the elevator control unit.

10. An elevator display guide apparatus comprising an elevator control unit, an information display control apparatus and a display unit, said elevator display guide apparatus displaying information on the display unit according to a running situation of the elevator, wherein:

the information display control unit is provided with an auxiliary memory medium which is detachably provided on the information control unit for storing information required to be displayed;

the information display control unit includes means for transmitting information required for display from the auxiliary memory medium to the display unit according to information relating to the running situation of the elevator as derived from the elevator control unit; and

the display unit displays the information received from said auxiliary memory medium to perform guidance display.

11. An elevator display guide apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the display control unit is so configured that an auxiliary memory medium storing voice data may be mounted thereon, and a display unit has a speaker and outputs voices in synchronism with a guidance display.

12. A display method for elevator display guide apparatus including an elevator control unit, an information display control unit, said elevator display guide apparatus displaying running information of elevator and general information on display units at least disposed in halls according to running situation of an elevator, comprising:

the information display control unit deriving information required to display the running information of the elevator from an auxiliary memory medium mounted on the information display control unit;

the information display control unit deriving information required to display general information from the information production unit; and

the running information of the elevator and general information being displayed on display units at least disposed in halls according to information relating to the running situation of the elevator derived from the elevator control unit.

13. A display method for elevator display guide apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the auxiliary memory medium comprises one of an IC card, a floppy disk and a compact disk.

14. A display method for elevator display guide apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the auxiliary memory medium stores therein display data, display picture edit data and file data as information required to display the running information of an elevator, and the information display control unit selects information to be displayed out of a table disposed in the information display control unit to store information relating to the running situation of the elevator derived from the elevator control unit and a file derived from said auxiliary memory medium.

15. A display method for elevator display guide apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the information display control unit includes data input and output means for taking out information required to display the running situation of the elevator stored in the auxiliary memory medium.

16. A display method for elevator display guide apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the information display control unit derives data required to broadcast voices from a second auxiliary memory medium mounted thereon, makes display units at least disposed in halls display the running information of elevator and general information according to information relating to the running situation of elevator derived from the elevator control unit, and broadcasts voices through speakers disposed in the display units in synchronism said display.

17. A display method for elevator display guide apparatus including an elevator control unit, an information production unit and an information display control unit, said elevator display guide apparatus displaying running information of an elevator and general information on display units at least disposed in halls according to running situation of the elevator, comprising:

said information display control unit deriving information required to display the running information of the elevator and represented in a digital signal form from an auxiliary memory medium mounted thereon and deriving information required to display general information and represented in a signal form from the information production unit;

the running information of the elevator and general information being displayed on display units at least disposed in halls according to information relating to the running situation of the elevator derived from the elevator control unit.

18. A display method for elevator display guide apparatus including an elevator control unit, an information production unit and an information display control unit, said elevator display guide apparatus displaying running information of an elevator and general information on display units at least disposed in halls according to running situation of the elevator, comprising:

said information display control unit deriving information required to display at least the running information of the elevator and represented in a digital signal form from an auxiliary memory medium and deriving information required to display general information and represented in a digital signal form from the information production unit;

said information display control unit selecting digital signals relating to information to be displayed out of information thus derived, and transmitting the digital signals thus selected to a display unit to store the digital signals therein;

said information display control unit storing digital signals for issuing a display command in its own memory and issuing a command for making the display unit display the running information of the elevator and general information according to situation of the elevator running supplied from the elevator control unit; and

the display unit receiving said command, taking out digital signals corresponding to said command from digital signals relating to information transmitted beforehand to be displayed, and performing predetermined display.

19. A display method for elevator display guide apparatus including an elevator control unit, an information production unit and an information display control unit, said elevator display guide apparatus displaying running information of an elevator and general information on display units at least disposed in halls according to running situation of the elevator, comprising:

said information display control unit deriving information required to display at least the running information of the elevator from an auxiliary memory medium as digital codes and deriving information required to display general information from the information production unit as digital codes;

said information display control unit selecting digital codes relating to information to be displayed out of information thus derived, transmitting the digital codes to a display unit, and storing the digital codes derived from the auxiliary memory medium and the digital code derived from the information production unit separately into a memory of the display unit;

said information display control unit storing digital codes for issuing a display command derived from the auxiliary memory medium and digital codes for issuing a display command derived from the information production unit separately into its own memory;

said information display control unit issuing a command for making the display unit display the running information of the elevator and general information according to information relating to running situation of elevator derived from the elevator control unit; and

the display unit taking out digital codes corresponding to said command, on the basis of said command, from digital signals relating to information supplied beforehand to be displayed and stored in the memory, and producing a predetermined display on the basis of digital codes thus taken out.

20. A display method for elevator display guide apparatus including an elevator control unit, an information production unit and an information display control unit, said elevator display guide apparatus displaying running information of an elevator and general information on display units at least disposed in respective halls according to running situation of the elevator, comprising:

the information display control unit deriving information required to display the running information of the elevator from an auxiliary memory medium mounted thereon;

the information display control unit deriving information required to display general information from the information production unit;

the information display control unit successively selecting a display unit out of a plurality of display units at least disposed in halls; and

the display unit thus selected displaying the running information of the elevator and general information according to information relating to the running situation of the elevator derived from the elevator control unit.

21. A display method for elevator display guide apparatus including an elevator control unit, an information display control unit, said elevator display guide apparatus displaying running information of an elevator and general information on display units at least disposed in halls according to running situation of the elevator, comprising:

the information display control unit deriving information required to display the running information of the elevator from an auxiliary memory medium mounted on the information display control unit;

the information display control unit deriving information required to display general information from the information production unit; and

general information being displayed on display units at least disposed in halls in accordance with predetermined schedule in case information relating to running situation of the elevator is not available from the elevator control unit.

22. A display method for elevator display guide apparatus including an elevator control unit, an information display control unit, said elevator display guide apparatus displaying running information of an elevator and general information on display units at least disposed in halls according to running situation of the elevator, comprising:

the information display control unit deriving information required to display the running information of the elevator from an auxiliary memory medium mounted on the information display control unit;

the information display control unit deriving information required to display general information from the information production unit; and

the information display control unit making display units at least disposed in halls display the running information of the elevator and general information in the order of priority supplied to the information and according to information relating to running situation of the elevator derived from the elevator control unit.

23. A display method for elevator display guide apparatus including an elevator control unit, an information display control unit, and a display unit, said information display control unit displaying information on the display unit according to information relating to running situation of an elevator derived from the elevator control unit, comprising:

said information display control unit deriving information required for display from an auxiliary memory medium which is detachably mounted thereon; and

said information display control unit issuing a display command to the display unit on the basis of information relating to a running situation of the elevator derived from the elevator control unit.

24. A display method for elevator display guide apparatus according to claim 23, wherein said information display control unit derives information required for broadcasting voices from an auxiliary memory medium mounted thereon, and issues a command for outputting voices through a speaker disposed in the display unit in synchronism with display.

Description Submit all comments and votes

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a display guide apparatus for an elevator, and in particular to an elevator display guide apparatus facilitating alteration of display format at halls and the like on the basis of the desire of a passenger or the like, and its display method.

Various proposals have been made to display not only the running information of the elevator but also general information such as guidance of various events performed in the building in which the elevator is installed and a weather forecast to passengers using the elevator by means of characters, figures and picture patterns using dot images.

In the prior art, an information production unit such as a personal computer is installed in a management room of the elevator, and information required for display is produced by the information production unit and transmitted to display units installed in halls or the like to be displayed there. JP-A-60-16781, JP-A-61-136887, and JP-A-62-196283 relate to the prior art apparatus.

If a passenger makes a complaint that the display format of characters, figures and picture patterns displayed on the display unit is not suitable to the place where the display has been installed, information required for display must be remade by the information production unit.

Since it takes a long time to produce information required for display, it is rather difficult to deal with complaints made by passengers or the like. In particular, the tendency is strengthened as the displayed contents are diversified.

In the above described JP-A-61-136887, alteration of the display information is not mentioned at all.

On the other hand, alteration of display information is explained in the above described JP-A-60-167871 and JP-A-62-196283. In the JP-A-60-167871 and JP-A-62-196283, display information is altered by an input unit or a modification unit corresponding to the above described information production unit, and rapid alteration of figures and picture patterns is impossible.

Further, since figures and picture patterns are displayed by means of dot images, a large number of signals are needed to display them. Since those signals are transmitted to perform display, it is impossible to alter figures and picture patterns at high speed during the display. Display conforming to the running of the elevator is not sufficiently attained.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide a display guide method and apparatus for an elevator which facilitates alteration of the display format.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a display guide method and apparatus for an elevator which produces a suitable display even if the building has a number of floors.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a display guide apparatus and method for an elevator in which the display can follow the running of the elevator even if the running of the elevator is intense.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a display guide method and apparatus for an elevator capable of performing display according to the running of the elevator even if the display format comprises complex picture patterns.

In order to achieve the above described objects, an elevator display guide apparatus according to the present invention comprises an elevator control unit, an information production unit, and an information display control unit, the information display control unit being so configured that an auxiliary memory medium storing information required to display running information of an elevator may be mounted thereon, the information display control unit deriving at least the running information of the elevator from the auxiliary memory medium and deriving information required to display general information from the information production unit, and the running information of the elevator and general information being displayed on display units at least disposed in halls according to information relating to the running situation of the elevator supplied from the elevator control unit.

In the auxiliary memory medium, information required to display the running information of the elevator is stored beforehand in various display formats. By replacing the auxiliary memory medium, therefore, the display format appearing on the display units is easily altered.

By preparing a large number of auxiliary memory media, it becomes possible to rapidly respond to various requests.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram showing an embodiment of a display guide apparatus according to the present invention.

FIGS. 2 to 4 show configuration examples of an information display control unit, an IC card and a display unit used in the display guide apparatus of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 shows an example of configuration of display data used in the display guide apparatus of FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is a diagram used for explaining a display panel of the display unit shown in FIG. 4.

FIGS. 7A and 7B show an example of figure data used in the display guide apparatus of FIG. 1.

FIGS. 8 to 10 show an example of relationship among characters, figures and registration numbers displayed by the display unit of FIG. 4.

FIG. 11 shows an example of configuration of display picture edition data used in the display guide apparatus of FIG. 1.

FIG. 12 shows an example of configuration of one screen shown on the display unit of FIG. 4.

FIG. 13 shows an example of configuration of schedule data used in the display guide apparatus of FIG. 1.

FIG. 14 shows display flow of the display guide apparatus shown in FIG. 1.

FIGS. 15 to 20 show relations between various tables used in the display guide apparatus of FIG. 1 and files.

FIGS. 21A to 21C show one example of alteration of characters and figures displayed by the display unit of FIG. 4.

FIG. 22 shows relationship between table and file for deriving the example of display alteration shown in FIGS. 21A to 21C.

FIGS. 23A to 23C show variations of characters and figures displayed by the display unit of FIG. 4.

FIG. 24 shows an example of precedence judgment flow in case where the order of priority is given to information to be displayed.

FIGS. 25 and 26 are circuit diagrams showing another embodiment of a display guide apparatus whereby voices are broadcast in synchronism with display of characters, picture patterns and the like.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

An embodiment of the present invention will now be described by referring to FIG. 1.

In FIG. 1, numeral 1 denotes a management room, in which a personal computer 2 is installed as an information production unit. In the personal computer 2, information required to display general information which will be described later is produced. Numeral 3 denotes a PBX line, which is connected to a distributor 5 installed in a machine room 4 and the personal computer 2.

Elevator cages 8 and 9 are installed in elevator hoistways 6 and 7 of a building, respectively. Running of the elevator cages 8 and 9 is controlled by elevator control units 10 and 11, respectively. When a passenger depresses any one of hall call buttons 12 to 17 located at halls F.sub.n to F.sub.n+2, the cage 8 or 9 is served by the elevator control unit 10 or 11. In the machine room 4, information display control units 18 and 19 are installed for the cages 8 and 9, respectively. The information display control units 18 and 19 are respectively connected to the elevator control units 10 and 11 to take in information relating to the situation of running of the cages 8 and 9 from the control units 10 and 11, respectively. Information required to display general information produced by the personal computer 2 is supplied to the information display control units 18 and 19 via the PBX line 3 and the distributor 5. The information display control units 18 and 19 have IC card readers 20 and 21, respectively. The information display units 18 and 19 are so constructed that IC cards 22 and 23 may be mounted thereon and removed therefrom as auxiliary memory media, respectively. As described later, information required to display the situation of running of the cages 8 and 9 is stored on the IC cards 22 and 23, respectively.

At upper parts of elevator gates of the halls F.sub.n to F.sub.n+2, display units 24 to 29 are installed. Within the cages 8 and 9 as well, display units 30 and 31 are installed. For the cages 8 and 9, display units 24 to 26 and 30, and display units 27 to 29 and 31 are respectively connected to the information display control units 18 and 19 via cables or the like.

For convenience of explanation, only two elevator cages 8 and 9 are shown. However, more elevator cages may be used. In case group control is performed, microprocessors for group control are connected to the elevator control units 10 and 11, respectively.

Instead of the distributor 5 of FIG. 1, telephones for transmitting and receiving signal data, i.e., so-called hybrid phones may be disposed between the personal computer 2 and the PBX line 3 and between the PBX line 3 and the information display control units 18 and 19, respectively.

FIG. 2 shows a configuration of the information display control units 18 and 19. Since both of them have identical configuration, they are represented by a block denoted by numeral 1800.

The information display control unit 1800 comprises boards 1801 and 1802. The board 1801 is connected to the personal computer 2, the elevator control unit 10 and the display unit 24 via interfaces 1803 to 1805, respectively. A bus 1806 is connected to interfaces 1803 to 1805 via data transmission sections 1807 to 1809. An MPU 1809 and a memory 1810 are connected to the bus 1806. A data transmission section 1811 is connected to the bus 1806. Further, an interface 1812 is connected to the data transmission section 1811 to perform information transmission with the board 1802. The board 1802 constitutes the IC card reader of FIG. 1. The IC card 22 is coupled to a bus 1814 via a connector 1813.

An MPU 1815 and a memory 1816 are connected to the bus 1814. The bus 1814 is connected to the board 1801 successively via a data transmission section 1817 and an interface 1818.

As described later in detail, the board 1801 takes in information required for display from the personal computer 2, the elevator control unit 10, and the IC card 22 mounted on the board 1802, and transmits the information to the display unit 24 and the like to display the information.

FIG. 3 shows a configuration of the IC cards 22 and 23. Both of them have identical configuration. A representative one denoted by numeral 2200 will now be described.

The IC card 2200 has a memory 2201 and a connector 2202. Between the memory 2201 and the connector 2202, a data bus 2203, an address bus 2204 and a decoder bus 2205 are disposed. A decoder 2206 is disposed on the decoder bus 2205. The decoder 2206 is connected to power supply 2207.

Data inputs and outputs of the IC card 2200 will be described later.

FIG. 4 shows the display units 24 to 31 as numeral 2400.

A bus 2402 is connected to the information display control unit 18 via an interface 2401 and a data transmission section 2402. An MPU 2404, a memory 2405, a Chinese character ROM 2406 and a display panel 2407 are connected to the bus 2403. Chinese characters, alphameric characters and kanas (Japanese syllabaries) of the first and second levels of JIS (Japanese Industrial Standard) are stored beforehand in the Chinese character ROM 2406 in the coded form. The display panel 2407 comprises 3 (longitudinal).times.10 (lateral) display modules, i.e., 30 display modules in total. Each display module comprises 16 (longitudinal).times.16 (lateral) red light emission diodes (LEDs) and 16 (longitudinal).times.16 (lateral) green LEDs.

It is possible to display one character on one display module and display two characters on one display module (i.e., to perform half angle specification). In displaying figures and picture patterns, one display module comprising 16 (longitudinal).times.16 (lateral) LEDs is assumed to have dots (i.e., red and green LEDs) arranged in 16 longitudinal columns. Dots in the longitudinal direction are divided into 4 sections each having 4 dots, and an LED lighted in each section is represented by a hexadecimal number. And hexadecimal numbers are arranged in the order advancing from an upper section to a lower section. All of the 16 columns are thus coded. Since two LEDs comprising a red LED and a green LED are present in each dot, both of those LEDs are coded. By controlling the turning on and off of the red and green LEDs, figures and picture patterns are displayed with four kinds of colors comprising red, orange, green and ground colors.

Information required for display will now be described. General information and running information of the elevator are generated in an identical format and displayed. For some display contents, general information is produced by the personal computer 2 immediately before display. Unlike the general information, the running information of the elevator is stored beforehand in the IC cards 22 and 23. However, the running information of the elevator is also generated beforehand by the personal computer or the like before being stored in the IC cards 22 and 23.

General information includes general-purpose information, common information and emergency information. General-purpose information is information specific to the building in which the elevator is installed. The general-purpose information does not change with time and includes event guidance for the building such as the theme, place, day and time of a conference and the menu of a dining hall. Common information is information which is common to buildings and which changes with time such as a weather forecast and news broadcast through a radio or a television set. Emergency information is information conveyed when it has become impossible to use the elevator and relates to occurrence of an accident such as an earthquake or a fire and display guidance in case of trouble.

Running information of the elevator is information representing the current situation of running of the elevator cage such as the degree of congestion of passengers within the cage, waiting time, current position and the direction of running.

These information pieces are supplied with picture numbers every picture displayed on the display panel 2407. Orders of priority are supplied to picture numbers. As an example, higher orders of priority are supplied to information in the order of emergency information, running information of the elevator, common information, and general-purpose information. If picture numbers 1 to 20, 21 to 40, 41 to 50 and 51 to 60 are respectively assigned to general-purpose information, common information, running information of the elevator and emergency information, for example, confusion is not caused when information is changed.

These information pieces may be displayed by characters or may be displayed by figures and picture patterns. Further, characters, figures and picture patterns may be simultaneously displayed.

The format of information required for display will now be described.

Information required for display comprises display data, display picture edit data, schedule data and a file.

All of these pieces of information are converted into digital codes beforehand.

These information pieces will now be described individually.

First of all, display data relate to contents to be displayed and are supplied with a registration number every displayed content.

As shown in FIG. 5, one display datum comprises registration specification, a registration number, a picture size datum, and a display contents datum.

Registration specification clearly indicates whether contents to be displayed are characters or figures.

When LEDs of the display panel 2407 of the display unit 2400 shown in FIG. 4 are represented by dots in X and Y directions as shown in FIG. 6, the screen size datum specifies a screen size by means of the number of dots XL in the X direction and the number of stages YL. For character data, 8.ltoreq.XL.ltoreq.160 and YL=1, 2, 3, whereas for figure data, 1.ltoreq.XL.ltoreq.160 and YL=1, 2, 3.

The display contents datum comprises a character datum or a figure datum. As described before, the character datum comprises character codes specifying Chinese characters, alphametric characters and kanas (Japanese Syllabaries) of the first and second levels of JIS. The character datum comprises a character command. The character command is placed at the top of the specifying character code to specify the character class as shown in Table 1.

TABLE 1 __________________________________________________________________________ CHARACTER COMMAND CODE FUNCTION __________________________________________________________________________ COLOR RED COLOR IS SPECIFIED. SPECIFICATION RED COLOR CAN BE SPECIFIED WHILE TAKING CHARACTER AS UNIT. GREEN COLOR IS SPECIFIED. GREEN COLOR CAN BE SPECIFIED WHILE TAKING CHARACTER AS UNIT. ORANGE COLOR IS SPECIFIED. ORANGE COLOR CAN BE SPECIFIED WHILE TAKING CHARACTER AS UNIT. HALF ANGLE FOLLOWING CHARACTERS BECOME SPECIFICATION HALF ANGLE. ALPHAMETRIC CHARACTERS AND SPACES CAN BE SPECIFIED AS HALF ANGLES. FOLLOWING CHARACTERS ARE RESTORED TO FULL ANGLES INVERSION FOLLOWING CHARACTERS BECOME SPECIFICATION SKIP CHARACTERS. FOLLOWING CHARACTERS ARE RESTORED TO NORMAL. FLICKER SPECIFICATION BLANK BLANK IS INSERTED BETWEEN SPECIFICATION STRINGS OF CHARACTERS. IN CASE OF HALF ANGLE, BLANK OF HALF ANGLE IS CAUSED. __________________________________________________________________________

In the Table 1, column of code is left blank because it can be arbitrarily specified.

In case characters are displayed, a command display datum is further produced as occasion demands.

A command display datum comprises a scroll display datum and a flicker display datum.

The scroll display datum specifies that characters should be scrolled in the registered picture size and a specified composition should be displayed. Codes are defined as shown in Table 2.

TABLE 2 ______________________________________ COMMAND CODE FUNCTION ______________________________________ SCROLL LEFT: SCROLL - CHARACTERS DIRECTION IN THE VALUE CONVERTED SPECIFI- INTO FULL ANGLE. CATION RIGHT: " UP: " DOWN: " MIDDLE SPLIT SPECI- FICATION SPEED SCROLL SPEED IS DEFINED TO SPECIFI- BE 80 DOTS/SECOND. 8 KINDS CATION ARE PROVIDED. SCROLL TOP START OF SCROLL SPECIFI- INFORMATION CATION STRING IS INDICATED. SCROLL END END OF SCROLL INFORMATION SPECIFI- STRING IS INDICATED. CATION TEMPORARY TEMPORARY STOP OF SCROLL STOP AND ITS TIME ARE SPECIFIED. MAXIMUM VALUE IS DEFINED TO BE 99 SECONDS. SCROLL REPETITION SPECIFI- CATION ______________________________________

The flicker display datum specifies that characters within the registered picture size should be lighted and extinguished by a command shown in Table 3.

TABLE 3 ______________________________________ COMMAND CODE FUNCTION ______________________________________ LIGHTING LIGHTING TIME: AND TO EXTINGUISHING SECONDS TIMING EXTINGUISHING TIME: TO SPECIFICATION TO SECONDS LIGHTING CHARACTERS ARE LIGHTED AND AND EXTINGUISHED FOR A EXTINGUISHING SPECIFIED TIME. MAXIMUM TIME TIME IS 99 SECONDS. SPECIFICATION LIGHTING AND EXTINGUISHING TIMING IS MADE EQUIVALENT TO LIGHTING AND EXTINGUISHING DISPLAY. ______________________________________

In the tables 2 and 3, code columns are left blank because they can be specified arbitrarily.

As described before, the figure datum for displaying the picture pattern is derived by representing dots of 16 longitudinal columns with a hexadecimal number every 4 dots in the longitudinal direction to encode red and green LEDs.

FIGS. 7A and 7B show examples of display contents data obtained when characters and figures (picture pattern) are to be displayed, respectively.

FIGS. 8 to 10 show examples of relations between the registration numbers and displayed characters/figures.

In FIG. 8, the position of the cage is displayed by means of characters. In FIG. 9, the degree of congestion of passengers within the cage is displayed by a figure. In FIG. 10, the running direction of the cage and the position of the cage are displayed by a figure. Since these change moment by moment depending upon the running situation of the elevator, various characters and fig