EP0510357A1 - Automatic locking device for a weather protection cap of a chairlift or the door of a telpher carrier - Google Patents

Abstract

A chair for a chairlift, with an attachment rod (9) and a weather protection cap (5) which is swivellably borne by the latter. An actuation lever (11) is movably mounted on the attachment rod (9) above the said weather protection cap (5), can be moved by the station's own control device (13,14) and whose movement is transmitted via a transmission device (8a,8b) to the swivel movement of the weather protection cap (5). In order to lock the enclosed weather protection cap there is provision for a locking device (16) to be arranged on the actuation lever (11) above the weather protection cap (5) and for the locking device (16) to lock the actuation lever (11) to the attachment rod (9) or to a part (17) connected thereto in order to lock the weather protection cap (5) in the closed position. <IMAGE>

Description

The invention relates to an armchair for a chairlift, with a hanger bar and a pivotable weather protection hood carried by it, an actuating device being movably mounted above the hanger bar, which can be moved by a station-specific control device and the movement of which via a transmission device to the pivoting movement of the weather protection hood is transmitted, and with a locking device for locking the closed weather protection hood. Furthermore, the invention relates to a gondola for a gondola lift, with a hanger bar and a cabin carried by it with an automatically actuable door, an actuating device being movably mounted above the hanger bar, which can be moved by a station-specific control device and the movement of which is via a transmission device the closing and opening movement of the door is transmitted, and with a locking device for locking the closed door.

In armchairs with swiveling weather protection hoods ("hood armchairs"), it is customary to automatically close at least the vacant armchairs when leaving the station. The chair-specific actuating mechanism provided for this purpose can have, for example, a lever pivotably mounted on the hanger, which carries a control roller at its free end. When the station exits, this control roller runs onto a station-specific actuating device, in the simplest case onto a closing rail which is arranged at a slight angle to the direction of travel and which pivots the actuating lever. This pivoting movement of the actuating lever can then via a linkage, a Bowden cable or another transmission device can be transferred to a closing movement of the weather protection hood. It has now been shown that it always happens with wind influences that the weather protection hoods are opened automatically by the wind power. The open hoods now offer a larger area exposed to the wind, which can result in undesirably strong swinging or swinging of the armchairs. In addition, the seat is exposed to the effects of the weather, and it can therefore be adversely affected by snow and ice overnight.

It is already known to lock the weather protection hoods in the closed position by means of split pins which can be inserted manually. However, this requires more effort and it must be ensured before opening the hoods that this split pin has been removed in order to avoid damage to the actuating mechanism.

Furthermore, it is known from European patent specification 0 242 242 B1 to close the weather protection hoods by means of a locking part which engages directly on the weather protection hoods and which is closed by a separate control rail when the station is exited and opened by a separate control rail when the station is entered. A disadvantage of this proposal is the need for separate control rails for the locking part, which not only represent additional construction work but also impair the unhindered entry and exit of passengers due to their arrangement in the area of the entry and exit point. Another disadvantage of the known proposal is that the locking part is also necessarily locked on armchairs occupied by passengers. The passenger is therefore not able to open the weather protection hood. This can lead to panic-like situations, especially in the event of disruptions to the operational emergence due to the relatively small space under the weather protection hood.

The object of the invention is to provide an armchair or gondola of the type mentioned, an automatic locking is possible after closing the weather protection cover of the armchair or the door of the gondola without additional control rails for the locking function being necessary. The locking device according to the invention should also be easy to retrofit, without changing the chair covers or gondola doors and without changing the station's own actuating devices (closing and opening rails for the chair covers or gondola doors).

In the case of an armchair, this is achieved according to the invention in that the locking device is arranged on the actuating device above the weather protection hood and that the locking device for locking the weather protection hood in the closed position locks the actuating device on the hanger rod or a part connected to it.

In the case of a nacelle, this is achieved according to the invention in that the locking device is arranged on the actuating device above the cabin and in that the locking device for locking the door in the closed position the actuator on the hanger bar or a part connected thereto.

Although the locking device according to the invention is also suitable for doors of gondolas, the following will mainly deal with armchairs, analogous considerations, which are generally recognizable to the person skilled in the art, apply to gondola lifts on the whole. In the following, hangers mean a chair of a chairlift or a gondola of a gondola lift.

In contrast to the device known from European patent specification 0 242 242 B1, the locking device according to the invention does not act on the armchair cover, but rather directly on the chair-specific actuating device, which is mounted on the hanger bar above the weather protection cover. This allows the locking device to be actuated via the already existing in-house control devices for opening and closing the weather protection hoods (opening and closing rails), without additional control rails for the locking device being necessary in the entry and exit area. A direct and functionally reliable locking of the actuating device on the hanger rod and thus a locking of the weather protection hood is thus possible without additional devices. The locking device according to the invention is arranged in a space-saving manner in the upper region of the hanger bar and can also be retrofitted to existing armchairs without changing the armchair covers and without changing the closing and opening rails.

In the case of a hanger in which the actuating device has an actuating lever pivotably mounted on the hanger rod, the pivoting movement of which is transmitted via a transmission device designed as a linkage, a Bowden cable or the like, it is preferably provided that a second lever in the form of a pawl is provided on this actuating lever an angular range limited by stops relative to the actuating lever is pivotably mounted, this latching pawl latching in the position of the closed weather protection hood or door into a counter detent connected to the hanger rod for locking the actuating lever. This latch can latch to lock the actuating lever and thereby the weather protection hood into a counter detent connected to the hanger bar, the latch being directly operable by the station's own control devices (opening rails, closing rails).

The operation of this double articulated lever, consisting of an operating lever and a latch, is now as follows: When an unoccupied chair moves out of the station, an operating roller, preferably provided on the latch, runs onto a closing rail that is slightly inclined to the direction of conveyance and initially only pivots the latch. The locking pawl then comes to a first stop on the actuating lever and takes it with it during the further pivoting process caused by the locking rail. The weather protection hood closes. At the end of the closing process, the latch clicks into a counter-latch on the hanger bar. For example, the locking pawl can have a locking lug, which is designed as a pin Engages counter-latch. This closes and locks the weather protection hood of the extending armchair so that no undesired opening due to wind influences can occur on the route. When entering the opposite station, an opening rail first pivots the latch, which emerges from the counter latch. After a certain pivoting path of the latching pawl, it runs up to a second stop on the actuating lever and takes it with it, whereby the weather protection hood is opened.

The armchairs equipped with the locking device according to the invention can easily remain on the track overnight. To do this, the chairlift only needs to be driven half a total turn with the closing rail in the top and bottom stations in the closed position. The weather protection hoods of the vacant armchairs close and lock automatically when leaving the station and are thus optimally protected against wind and weather influences. No special precautions need to be taken when starting up again, as the weather protection hoods are automatically unlocked when entering the station.

In order to enable the passenger, for example, to leave the weather protection hood open when the weather is good and to prevent passengers from being endangered when the chair exits the station, it is already known to bring the closing rail at the station exit into a neutral position in which no actuation takes place of the chair's own operating mechanism for closing the weather protection hood he follows. This neutral position can be achieved with a closing rail simply by pivoting it away, for example, into a position parallel to the conveying direction. There is therefore preferably no forced closure of the weather protection hood when the armchairs are occupied. If the passenger decides to close the weather protection hood, he can do this easily by hand. In this case, however, the weather protection hood is preferably not locked by the locking device in the closed position. This means that the passenger can open the weather protection hood at any time, which is particularly advantageous in the event of a malfunction. In the case of the above-mentioned double articulated lever consisting of the actuating lever and latch, this “unlocking” is automatically given in the case of a manual closure: in the event of a manual closure, the latch remains in contact with the second stop of the actuating lever and does not change its position relative to the actuating lever. This pivots when manually closing the actuating lever together with the detent pawl attached to it. In this position, however, this latching pawl does not engage the counter-latching, which means that the passenger can easily open the hood again.

It should also be mentioned that the detection of whether an armchair is occupied or not can be carried out in a known manner by means of a known light barrier which detects the leg area of the passenger, the position of the closing rail being changeable as a function of the light barrier signal.

Further advantages and details of the invention are explained in more detail with reference to the description of the figures below.

1 shows a schematic side view of a hood armchair according to the prior art and station-specific control devices (opening and closing rails) for the automatic opening and closing of the weather protection hood.
Fig. 2 shows an embodiment of an armchair according to the invention and in particular the locking device according to the invention in a schematic side view, wherein several positions of the chair's own actuating device and the locking device are shown.
FIG. 3 shows a schematic side view of a further exemplary embodiment of the actuating device according to the invention including the locking device, and FIG. 4 shows a schematic plan view of the device shown in FIG. 3. Finally, FIG. 5 shows a gondola of a gondola lift equipped with a locking device according to the invention in a side view.

Fig. 1 shows an armchair 1 according to the prior art, which is clamped via a clamp 2 on the moving cable 4 in the conveying direction 3. The armchair 1 has a weather protection hood made of transparent plastic material, which is closed in the position shown in FIG. 1. The weather protection hood can be pivoted about the pivot bearing 6 in the direction of arrow 7 in order to allow passengers to get on and off. The weather protection hood 5 can be opened and closed automatically when entering or leaving the station. Is to a chair-side actuating device 11 is provided, which in the present case essentially consists of an actuating lever 11 which is pivotally mounted on the hanger rod 9 about an axis 10 and which has an actuating roller 12 at its free end. A linkage 8a, 8b acting as a transmission device transmits the movement of the actuating lever 11 to a pivoting movement of the weather protection hood. The actuating roller 12 runs on the station's own control devices when the armchair moves in the station. To open the weather protection hood 5, an opening rail 13 which is arranged obliquely to the direction of movement 3 and which pivots the actuating lever 11 is provided as the station's own control device. This pivoting movement is then converted via the linkage 8a, 8b into an opening movement of the weather protection hood 5. In the open position of the weather protection hood, the actuating lever is in the position shown in broken lines in FIG. 1. To close the weather protection hood at the station exit, an analog locking rail 14 is provided as the station's own control device. The moving armchair provides the energy required for opening and closing.

The opening and closing rails 13 and 14 can be pivoted into a neutral position, in which they are parallel to the conveying direction and do not come into contact with the actuating roller 12. This is particularly desirable at the station exit with occupied armchairs. If a light barrier detects that the armchair is occupied, the closing rail 14 goes into the neutral position and the weather protection hood is not forced to close. Rather, the passenger can decide for himself whether to use the weather protection hood wants to close or not. Unoccupied armchairs are automatically closed when the station exits via the closing rail 14, the actuating lever 11 and the linkage 8a, 8b.

So far, there has been the problem that the weather protection hoods were opened on the route due to wind influences, so that there was a large area exposed to the wind and thus an undesired strong swinging or swinging of the armchair. In addition, when the weather protection hood is open, the seat is fully exposed to the weather (snow and ice).

In order to avoid this and to keep the weather protection hood of the unoccupied armchair securely closed on the route, in the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 2, according to a preferred exemplary embodiment of the invention, a latching pawl 16 pivotably mounted on the actuating lever 11 is provided (pivot axis 15), which in the Locked position shown by solid lines with a locking lug 16a engages behind a counter-locking 17, which can be designed as a pin, for example.

The operation of the double articulated lever shown in FIG. 2 and consisting of actuating lever 11 and detent pawl 16 is as follows: In the open position of the weather protection hood 5, the double articulated lever is in the position indicated by dashed lines 18a. Instead of the previous arrangement of the actuating roller 12 directly on the actuating lever 11 (FIG. 1), the actuating roller 12 'is now arranged on a projection 19 of the latch 16. So it's still just one Actuating roller 12 'provided. If this actuating roller 12 'now runs on the closing rail 14, the control pawl first pivots the latch 16 relative to the actuating lever 11 until the latch 16 abuts the stop a of the actuating lever 11 (position 18b). From this point in time, the locking pawl 16 pushed up by the closing rail 14 takes the actuating lever 11 with it, with the weather protection hood 5 being closed. At the end of the closing process, the detent 16a automatically engages the counter detent 17, with which the actuating lever 11 is locked. The weather protection hood 5 is thus not only closed, but at the same time is also locked against unwanted opening by wind.

In the opposite station, the actuating roller 12 'runs onto an opening rail 13, with which the detent pawl 16 of the double articulated lever is initially pivoted relative to the actuating lever 11 into the position shown in dashed lines at 18c. In this position, part of the latch 16 rests against the stop b of the actuating lever 11. From this position, the detent pawl 16 takes the actuating lever 11 with it and the weather protection hood is opened until the double articulated lever is in the position denoted by 18a.

The locking device according to the invention can easily be retrofitted to existing chairlifts, with no changes being necessary to the stations. Rather, the locking device according to a special feature of the invention is automatically operated by the already existing opening or closing rails for the weather protection hood. The actuating lever on the hanger bar is locked in a functionally reliable manner.

When an occupied armchair leaves the station, it is considered favorable if the weather protection hood is not forced to close. This does not endanger the passengers and the passenger can intentionally leave the weather protection cover open. For this purpose, only the closing rail 14 needs to be pivoted out of the area of the actuating roller 12 '. If the passenger closes the weather protection hood on the route, the actuating lever 11 pivots into the position shown in solid lines in FIG. 2 without the real position of the latch 16 relative to the actuating lever 11 changing. In the manually closed position, the latch 16 is in the position designated 18c, in which the counter-latch 11 is not engaged. Therefore, when the weather protection hood is closed manually, there is deliberately no locking to enable the passenger to open the weather protection hood at any time.

3 and 4 a further embodiment of the double articulated lever according to the invention is shown, the same reference numerals designating the same or equivalent parts as in FIG. 2. In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the cranked actuating lever 11 is one Pivot axis 20 is pivotally mounted on the bracket 21. The schematically indicated spring 22 is insignificant for the mode of operation and only prevents an inadmissible pivoting of the actuating lever into the one to be kept free in the event of a malfunction Clearance profile. The second part of the double articulated lever, namely the latch 16, is shown in FIG. 3 with solid lines in the position locked with the counter-latch 17. The stops necessary for the operation, which limit the relative pivoting path of the latch 16 relative to the actuating lever 11, are solved in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 in that the actuating lever 11 has an elongated hole 23 in which a fixed with the Latch 16 connected pin 24 is movable. The two ends of the elongated hole form the stops limiting the pivoting path between the latch and the actuating lever.

The exemplary embodiment shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 has, as a further special feature, a movable counter-latch 17 which is spring-loaded towards the latching pawl 16. The counter-catch 17 is designed as a pin which projects from a pivotable lever 25 which is spring-loaded by a spring 26 in the direction of the arrow 27, that is to say towards the catch 16. A stop, not shown, limits the pivoting path of the lever 25 in the direction of arrow 27 when the latch 16 is released. The resilient mounting of the counter latch 17 has the advantage that a functionally absolutely perfect latching of the latch is possible. When the latch is pivoted open, the spring-loaded counter-latch can initially withdraw from the outside of the latch 16a into the position shown in broken lines in FIG. 3 against the spring load. When the pawl 16 reaches the end position, the counter-latch 17 automatically snaps under the latch, which provides the locking.

Finally, the exemplary embodiment shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 also has the feature that the pivotable connection between the actuating lever 11 and the latch 16 is intentionally made stiff, in order to prevent unintentional relative pivoting between the latch 16 except when actuated by the opening or closing rail and to avoid actuating lever 11. This sluggishness of the connection can be realized, for example, in that the two lever parts 11 and 16 are resiliently pressed against one another and thus the friction between them is increased. In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a spring 29 is provided for this purpose, which can be preloaded via a nut 28.

As already mentioned at the beginning, the locking device according to the invention is particularly suitable for hood armchairs, that is to say armchairs with weather protection hoods.

In principle, however, it is also conceivable and possible to advantageously use such a locking device in gondola lifts. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, a detachable nacelle 30 is shown, the door 31 of which can be automatically closed or opened in the stations. This opening takes place via a nacelle-specific actuating device and a transmission device, of which only the upper area is shown. The transmission device as such, that is to say the transmission of the pivoting movement of the actuating lever 11 to an opening or closing movement of the door, is well known to the person skilled in the art and therefore need not be described in more detail here. Again, that is consisting of actuating lever 11 and pawl 16 provided double articulated lever, via which the doors can be locked automatically when the doors are closed. The operation of the double joint lever shown in FIG. 5 is the same as that of the double joint lever of FIG. 2.

Claims (10)

Armchair for a chairlift, with a hanger bar and a pivotable weather protection hood carried by it, above which an actuating device is movably mounted on the hanger bar, which can be moved by a station-specific control device and whose movement is transmitted to the swiveling movement of the weather protection hood via a transmission device, and with a locking device for locking the closed weather protection hood, characterized in that the locking device (16) is arranged on the actuating device (11) above the weather protection hood (5) and that the locking device (16) for locking the weather protection hood (5) in the closed position the actuating device (11) on the hanger bar (9) or a part (17) connected thereto. Gondola for a gondola lift, with a hanging bar and a cabin carried by it with an automatically operated door, above which an actuating device is movably mounted on the hanging bar, which can be moved by a station-specific control device and whose movement via a transmission device to the closing and opening movement is transmitted to the door and with a locking device for locking the closed door, characterized in that the locking device (16) is arranged on the actuating device (11) above the cabin and in that the locking device (16) for locking the door in the closed position the actuating device (11) on the hanger bar (9) or a part (17) connected thereto. Bucket according to Claim 1 or 2, in which the actuating device has an actuating lever (11) pivotably mounted on the hanging rod (9), the pivoting movement of which is transmitted via a transmission device (8a, 8b) designed as a linkage, a Bowden cable or the like that a second lever designed as a latch (16) is pivotably mounted on this actuating lever (11) in an angular range limited by stops (a, b) relative to the actuating lever (11), this latch (16) for locking the actuating lever ( 11) in the position of the closed weather protection hood (5) or door (31) engages in a counter detent (17) connected to the hanger bar (9). Hangers according to claim 3, characterized in that the latch, preferably on a protruding projection (19), carries an actuating roller (12 '), via which the latch (16) and the actuating lever (11) through the station's own opening rails (13) or Closing rails (14) can be actuated. Hangers according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that the pivotable connection between the actuating lever (11) and the latch (16) is made stiff. Bucket according to one of claims 3 to 5, characterized in that the actuating lever (11) has an elongated hole (23) in which a pin (24) fixedly connected to the latching pawl (16) can be moved, the two ends of the elongated hole ( 23) represent the stops limiting the pivoting path between the latch (16) and the actuating lever (11). Hangers according to one of claims 3 to 6, characterized in that the counter-catch (17) towards the catch (16) spring-loaded, movably mounted on the hanger bar (9). Hangers according to claim 7, characterized in that the counter-latch (17) is a pin projecting from a spring-loaded and limitedly pivotable lever (25) which a latching lug (16a) can reach behind at the end of the latching pawl (16). Chair lift with armchairs according to one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that at least one station-specific control device (13, 14) can be brought into a neutral position, in which the chair-specific actuating device (11) is not actuated and the locking device (16) is not actuated. Chairlift according to claim 9, characterized in that the station control device (14) located at the station exit goes into or remains in the neutral position when the chairs are occupied, and in that the locking device (16) is designed such that when the weather protection hood is closed by the passenger by hand the weather protection hood is not locked by the locking device (16) in the closed position.

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