EP2190773B1 - Method for applying an anti-slip coating on moving walkways or escalators - Google Patents

Abstract

Escalator with a step band with several steps (4), or moving walk with a pallet band with pallets (4), wherein the steps (4) or pallets (4) are made of metal as brass, copper, NIROSTA, steel, magnesium, aluminum, and provided with an antislip coating. The antislip coating comprises a carbide hard substance that is embedded in a, or the, metallic matrix.

Description

The invention relates to a method for applying an anti-slip coating on steps or pallets an escalator or moving walk with a step belt with steps or with a pallet belt with pallets for the transport of persons and / or objects.

Driving devices in the sense of the invention, which can also be referred to as conveyors, are escalators and moving walks with a plurality of tread units or steps or moving floor pallets, which are connected to an endless conveyor. Users of the driving devices stand on treads of the stepping units or steps or they travel on the moving platform pallets or escalator steps in the same direction of movement as the driving devices drive or travel.

Normally, due to their low weight, aluminum steps or metal steps or aluminum pallets or metal pallets are used. These steps or pallets are usually provided with ribs in the well-known manner. Despite these ribs, the steps or pallets are slippery. If the conveyor is located outside or in an area located near an outside door, the steps or pallets may become wet or dusty. In various cases or in the fall leaves or mud or sand or ground or debris or dust can reach the conveyor. Especially in these situations, the steps or pallets prove particularly slippery and dangerous.

Special problems can occur depending on the footwear of the user. For example, shoes with leather soles or rubber boots are particularly slippery.

Therefore, some anti-slip coatings are used. Out DE 100 85 003 T1 respectively. EP 1 169 256 B1 An anti-slip bar is known that is used on the steps of an escalator.

JP-A-2003 095568 discloses a moving walk with a pallet band, wherein the pallets are made of metal and provided with an anti-slip coating.

Attempts were made with the application of fluororesin. By this measure, however, the security could not be guaranteed permanently. Furthermore, it has been shown that fluororesin is too costly and expensive to handle.

Fluororesin coated steps or pallets have proven too expensive. However, there have been additional problems, such as a lack of durability, since the fluororesin tends to wear quickly and to be easily removed. The work of disassembling the entire escalator and removing the steps to be repaired will be needed to rebuild the removed fluororesin. This results in increased maintenance costs and, above all, the escalator or moving walk is not ready for use during such maintenance.

A major disadvantage of the coatings used so far is seen in the fact that the effect of the coating decreases relatively quickly. This leads in practice to the fact that the steps or pallets must be removed and recoated, as mentioned. However, the associated effort or work time is too high. To increase the durability of the coating, one would have to apply significantly thicker layers. Thicker layers, however, bring with them other problems. For example, the cleaning of the corresponding steps is made impossible.

Here is the invention to remedy the situation. The invention, as characterized in claim 1, solves the problem by a special type of coating is chosen, which is significantly thinner contrary to the previous approaches. That is, according to the invention, one goes in a direction that should not actually be successful, since the skilled person would rather apply a thicker layer to increase the effect and the durability.

There is a coating technique used, which ensures a very thin and adherent bond between the coating and the aluminum stage or metal stage or the aluminum pallet or metal pallet and in principle from the generic US 5,368,947 is known. Due to the characterizing features of claim 1, the sprayed particles combine particularly intimately with the base material, so that wear or erosion is greatly reduced. Coating materials which enable a particularly intimate and reliable coating of the metal parts or aluminum parts or steel parts or NIROSTA parts or copper parts or brass parts, magnesium parts are preferred developments of the invention.

The advantages achieved by the invention are essentially to be seen in the fact that the surface structure of the steps or pallets is not affected by the application of the coating. In addition, and continues to be an essential advantage of the invention that the function and the safe, quiet, clean, smooth running of the entire conveyor are not affected by the coating. It should also be emphasized as important that the coating has a very long fatigue life or Abtrittsfestigkeit or durability or wear resistance.

Preferred developments of the conveyor device (s) according to the invention are defined by the dependent claims.

Fig. 1

eine Seitenansicht einer erfindungsgemäss hergestellten Fahrtreppe;

Fig. 2

eine Seitenansicht eines erfindungsgemäss hergestellten Fahrtsteiges;

Fig. 3

eine Draufsicht auf eine Palette oder Stufe einer erfindungsgemäss hergestellten Fördereinrichtung;

Fig. 4

einen Aufriss einer Palette mit Antirutschbeschichtung einer erfindungsgemäss hergestellten Fördereinrichtung;

Fig. 5

eine Draufsicht auf einen Endteil bzw. Kopf einer erfindüngsgemäss hergestellten Fördereinrichtung;

Fig. 6

eine Seitenansicht auf die Kammplatten und auf die Bodenabdeckungen einer erfindungsgemäss hergestellten Fördereinrichtung.

The invention will now be described in detail by way of examples and with reference to the drawings. Show it:

Fig. 1

a side view of an inventively prepared escalator;

Fig. 2

a side view of a transit according to the invention produced;

Fig. 3

a plan view of a pallet or stage of a conveyor device according to the invention;

Fig. 4

an elevation of a pallet with anti-slip coating of a conveyor device according to the invention;

Fig. 5

a plan view of an end portion or head of a erfindüngsgemäss produced conveyor;

Fig. 6

a side view of the comb plates and on the bottom covers of a conveyor device according to the invention.

Fig. 1 shows an escalator 1, which connects a first floor E1 with a second floor E2. The escalator 1 has a step band consisting of stages 4. In the case of a moving walk 1, as in Fig. 2 shown, this has an existing pallets 4 pallet strip. A handrail 3 is arranged on a balustrade 2 which is held at the lower end by means of a balustrade pedestal.

Figure 3 shows a schematic representation of a pallet or step on which between two to six strips anti-slip coating 4.1 are applied or sprayed from carbide.

Figure 4 shows a pallet 4 with an anti-slip coating 4.1 made of a hard metal layer, in the carbide hard materials (tungsten carbide, chromium carbide, titanium carbide, nickel carbide or silicon carbide) in a metallic matrix are stored. The carbide layer is on the tread area of the pavement pallet 4, over the entire length, applied. Preferably, two longitudinal carbide strips are sprayed on.

Figure 5 shows an end portion E1, E2 and a head portion of a moving walk 1 or escalator 1 with anti-slip coating 4.1, which is applied to the pallets 4 and 4 stages. In addition, an anti-slip coating 4.1 on the comb plates 7.8 and 9 on the bottom covers. In addition, and in addition, an anti-slip coating 4.1 is available in strips on the ridges. This version provides optimal protection against sliding away or slipping. The carbide layer is sprayed or sprayed in two to six strips per bottom cover 9 or comb plate 7, 8.

Figure 6 shows the schematic representation of the comb plates 7.8 and the bottom covers 9 with anti-slip coating 4.1 carbide. The hard metal layer 4.1, made of carbide hard material, clings to the metal parts or aluminum parts and deposits in the existing metallic matrix. The surface of the components or metal parts is fine-grained and weather-resistant, enclosed by the anti-slip coating 4.1. This is applied in strips by means of a high-speed flame spraying process. This creates a non-slip surface that prevents excellent slipping or slipping.

In the further description course, the term conveyor is used instead of the term "escalator" or "moving walk".

Below are various inventive method for applying an anti-slip coating 4.1 the steps 4 of an escalator 1 or on the pallets 4 of a moving walk 1 described.

According to the invention, a metallic powder material is accelerated and heated by means of an injection process. Then, a jet of the heated and accelerated powder material is directed onto the surface to be coated by means of a spray gun. This is done so that when hitting the metal surface to be coated or alloy surface or aluminum surface, a homogeneous and fine-grained layer of a carbide hard material results, which is embedded in the metallic matrix.

The metallic powder material used is preferably a material comprising tungsten and / or chromium and / or titanium and / or nickel and / or silicon.

Particularly preferred is a high-speed flame spraying process in which a mixture of oxygen and a fuel, preferably a fuel gas (propane or propylene), is used to heat and accelerate the powder material. However, instead of the fuel gas, a liquid fuel (for example kerosene) can also be used as the fuel. Preferably, the spray material is conducted using nitrogen as a carrier gas in powder form coaxially through a nozzle, enveloped by the flame and therefore uniformly melted, and passed out of the spray gun.

In the case of the high-speed flame spraying according to the invention, the powder material is sprayed onto the metal workpiece or alloy workpiece or aluminum workpiece to be coated at very high speed. The heat to melt the powder material is generated by the reaction of oxygen and fuel (eg propane, propylene, natural gas, hydrogen, kerosene) in the combustion chamber. The temperatures reached in the flame are up to about 3000 - 4000 ° C, so that the powder material can be sprayed. The gas expands and accelerates the powder material up to speeds of 400-900 m / s. The workpiece surface, ie the metal surface or the alloy surface or the aluminum steps or pallets 4 need not be previously sandblasted or roughened, because when hitting the powder material on the workpiece a kind of welding, respectively an adhesive bond and clamping, between powder material and workpiece takes place. Due to the high speed of the powder high-speed flame spraying achieves good adhesion of the metallic powder to the workpiece and low porosity. In addition, by choosing a suitable metallic powder, a better material can be produced or established which is perfectly suitable as anti-slip material. As a result, the base material (brass, copper, NIROSTA, steel, magnesium, aluminum) of grade 4 or pallet 4 is upgraded and perfected without errors. When tungsten, chromium, titanium, nickel or silicon is used as the metallic powder, high-speed flame spraying produces optimal layers of tungsten carbide, chromium carbide, titanium carbide, nickel carbide or silicon carbide. The layer thickness according to the invention is preferably less than 0.08 mm to 0.2 mm. The porosity of the layers goes to zero.

The layers formed in the process according to the invention are denser and adhere more firmly than in other spraying processes such as commercial flame spraying, arc spraying or plasma spraying.

The inventive method is particularly well suited for hard metal layers in which carbide hard materials (Tungsten carbide, chromium carbide, titanium carbide, nickel carbide or silicon carbide) are embedded in a metallic matrix. It can be produced layers that are characterized by high wear resistance and / or stability or durability and / or resistance or durability or constancy.

In high velocity flame spraying, the effluent gas jet is used to melt and reflow the individual particles of the metallic powder material and accelerate to a high speed, which is about four to five times greater than conventional flame spraying.

The high speed flame spraying process very effectively utilizes the high kinetic energy of the powder material and, to a limited extent, thermal energy to produce dense, compact layers with low porosity and high adhesive strength. Some of the layers thus produced have an adhesive tensile strength of more than 83 MPa (equivalent to about 83 N / mm 2) and an extremely fine-grained surface.

As mentioned, the process uses a mixture of oxygen and a fuel which is supplied either in gaseous form or as liquid fuel. Therefore, there are two types of spray systems: the gas powered systems use propylene, propane, hydrogen or natural gas; Kerosene is used in the liquid fuel systems. The corresponding fuel is carefully mixed with oxygen within the spray gun, exits through a nozzle and is ignited there. The powder material is preferably coaxially passed through this nozzle using nitrogen as a carrier gas in powder form, enveloped by the flame and therefore melted uniformly. By that with extraordinary high velocity escaping gas mixture, the powder particles are accelerated and fired with very high kinetic energy but moderate temperature on the workpiece surface or sprayed or sprayed. When serving the powder particles are flattened and cling to the body. Due to the low particle temperature compared to the other thermal spraying methods, these layers have a predictable chemical composition and are almost homogeneous. In addition, the layers have a fine-grained structure.

These types of coatings survive even harsh operating conditions as well as all-weather operation. In particular, the abrasion or wear is significantly lower than in conventional anti-slip coatings. Therefore, the anti-slip coating according to the invention on the one hand offers excellent protection of the steps 4 or pallets 4 and on the other hand a coating which does not or hardly wears off in the anti-slip effect even after prolonged use. The thickness of the carbide layer remains the same for at least 5 to 10 years and there is no erosion or weathering or corrosion tendency.

In addition, and furthermore, the new coating allows the standard - EN 115: Safety rules for the construction and installation of escalators and moving walkways, as well as the AN - American National Standard - ASME A17.1-2004: Safety code for elevators and escalators. Further investigations show that also the DIN 51130 with the highest friction coefficient R13 is fulfilled.

In addition, the anti-slip coating excellently prolongs the life of the coated components.

The anti-slip coating has a very fine-grained surface, a uniform composition and low porosity even after coating and is considered to be finished. That is, it requires no further processing step or any further surface treatment.

It is an advantage of the invention that you need no pretreatment and that the complex sandblasting or glass bead blasting can be omitted entirely. This results in a large cost advantage and a large manufacturing (expiration / cycle) advantage or working time advantage.

The carbide layers according to the invention are characterized by a high hardness of almost 1400 HV (Vickers hardness).

Particularly preferred is an embodiment of the invention, which in Figure 3 is shown. According to this embodiment, not the complete surface is coated, but only a number of strips 4.1 (preferably between two to six strips per pallet or step) with strip widths of 20mm to 75mm are applied. This measure reduces the amount of powder material used. The anti-slip effect is still sufficient, since the strips 4.1 provide sufficient adhesion.

It is a further advantage of the invention that the production of the carbide layer on the pallet 4 or on the level 4 or on the comb plate 7, 8 or on the bottom cover 9 or on the machine room lid of a conveyor in one operation and fully automatically possible , Preferably, the application of the carbide layer by a robot, or by an automated system device, or by an automated coating apparatus.

By using the anti-slip coating according to the invention, the theoretical angle of inclination on the pallet 4 or on the level 4 or on the bottom cover 9, without slipping, can be markedly increased in comparison with known solutions. Consequently, the theoretical inclination angle on the pallet 4 or at the stage 4 can increase from 11 degrees to well over 40 degrees in inclination because the carbide layer excellently prevents slippage. Furthermore, when wet and / or pollution (dust, mud, sand drift or sand, soil, debris, leaves) a sliding away or slipping through the carbide layer best avoided or prevented.

As described, the invention can be equally applied to escalators and moving walks.

Claims (4)

1. Method for applying an anti-slip coating, in which

   - a powder material is accelerated and heated by means of a spraying process, and

   - a jet of the heated and accelerated powder material is directed at the surface to be coated by means of a spray gun,

   - wherein, upon impact on the surface to be coated, a homogeneous and fine-grained layer made of a carbide hard material incorporated in a or the metallic matrix is formed,

   characterized in that the method is a high velocity flame spraying process or a plasma spraying process, in which a mixture of oxygen and a flammable substance, preferably propane, propylene, natural gas, hydrogen or kerosene, is used in order to heat and to accelerate the powder material and to apply it to the steps (4) of an escalator (1) or to the pallets (4) of a moving walkway (1), wherein the anti-slip coating (4.1) is applied to the steps (4) or pallets (4) in strips, to be precise transversely to the grooves running in the direction of travel of the steps (4) or pallets (4), wherein the regions of the edges running transversely to the direction of travel of the steps (4) or pallets (4) remain free from the anti-slip coating (4.1).
2. Method according to Claim 1, characterized in that the powder material is led out of the spray gun by means of or through a nozzle.
3. Method according to either of Claims 1 and 2, characterized in that the powder material is guided by means of a carrier gas coaxially through a nozzle, surrounded by the flame and therefore uniformly pre-melted.
4. Method according to one of Claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the powder material comprises a material selected from the group consisting of tungsten, chromium, titanium, nickel and silicon.

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