EP2623453A2

EP2623453A2 - An outer decking apparatus and a central decking apparatus

Info

Publication number: EP2623453A2
Application number: EP13151514.0A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Kevin Fan Jin Quan; Yu Wu Jin
Original assignee: Kone Corp
Current assignee: Kone Corp
Priority date: 2012-02-01
Filing date: 2013-01-16
Publication date: 2013-08-07
Anticipated expiration: 2033-01-16
Also published as: CN103241631B; EP2623453B1; EP2623453A3; ES2541849T3; CN103241631A

Abstract

An easily mounting and dismantling outer decking apparatus for an escalator or moving walkway is provided, which comprises: a cover plate (10); a positioning member (20) for the cover plate; and an elastic holding member (30), wherein the clamping means formed by the elastic holding member and a part of the cover plate clamps the second end part of the positioning member therein to achieve the mounting and fixing of the cover plate, so that the cover plate can be dismantled from the escalator or moving walkway without dismantling any bolts or screws. A decking apparatus for an escalator or moving walkway, the central decking apparatus positioned between the panels of two adjacent escalators or moving walkways is also provided, which comprises: a cover plate (10'''); a positioning member pair (20''') for the cover plate; an elastic holding member pair(30'''); and a clamping mating member, wherein the clamping means formed by the elastic holding member and the clamping mating member clamps the second end part of the positioning member therein to achieve the mounting and fixing of the cover plate, so that the cover plate can be dismantled from the escalator or moving walkway without dismantling any bolts or screws.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an escalator or moving walkway or the equivalents. More particularly, the present invention relates to an outer decking apparatus and a central decking apparatus of an escalator or moving walkway or the equivalents.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

An outer decking apparatus is an essential component or device of an escalator or moving walkway or the equivalents, which mainly comprises a cover plate and some related components for fixing the cover plate to the base of the escalator or moving walkway. The outer decking apparatus is disposed at the outer side (i.e. the side farther from the passenger of the escalator or walking way) of the panel (normally a glass panel) of the escalator or moving walkway, and is used to cover the components on the base, so that people can only see the smooth cover plate of the outer decking apparatus of the escalator or moving walkway, and thus the escalator or moving walkway may give a pleasing appearance effect.
People may have two main requirements to the outer decking apparatus. First, the cover plate of the outer decking apparatus may be easily dismantled from the escalator or moving walkway since the components/parts under the cover plate may need frequent, for example regular, maintenance. Second, the cover plate of the outer decking apparatus can be secured to the base or counterpart of the escalator or moving walkway solidly enough to avoid that for example it is kicked off accidentally by the passenger and thus a safety risk is raised, or it becomes warped and thus its appearance becomes bad.
In the most of the prior arts, the cover plate of the outer decking apparatus is fixed to the escalator or moving walkway by bolts. More particularly, the underside of the cover plate may have bolts welded or glued on it, for fitting with the bores in the base of the escalator or moving walkway, so that the cover plate may be fixed to the base. Bolt connection has advantageous of solid connecting. However, in some situations, the operation of connecting bolts is difficult to be carried out. For example, when mounting the escalator or moving walkway beside a wall of the building, there is a very small space between the escalator or moving walkway and the wall in order to save space or provide better appearance, thus there is no sufficient space for the operator to dispose and rotate the mounting tool, such as wrench. Further, even if the mounting tool may have its operation space, the rotating operation is time consuming and effort consuming since the operator is hard to see the bolts under the cover plate in operation. It is also the case for dismantling the cover plate.
Based on above, recently, some designers of the companies of escalator or moving walkway have proposed to adopt a snapping/clamping means to facilitate the mounting or dismantling of the cover plate. For example, they proposed to set a snapping member on the middle part of the underside of the cover plate for snapping the cover plate to the base of the escalator or moving walkway. Unfortunately, they failed to figure out a cover plate with snapping/clamping means having sufficient connection strength, thus some assistant bolts/screws have to be used to improve connection strength, which adversely impact the mounting and dismantling easiness. In addition, since the snapping/clamping means is disposed at the middle part of the cover plate, the edge of the cover plate tends to become warped in the later as time goes by, which adversely impacts the appearance of the cover plate.
In practice, sometimes, two or more escalators or moving walkways are needed to be disposed side by side. In this case, it is desired to dispose just one, rather than two, decking apparatus between two adjacent escalators or moving walkways to cover the space between them. In this case, the decking apparatus is normally called central decking apparatus. For the central decking apparatus, it is rather hard to adopt bolts/screws to fix its cover plate to the escalators or moving walkways. Therefore, the measure of adopting snapping means plus assistant bolts/screws mentioned above does not wok.
Therefore, there is a need to design an outer decking apparatus and a central decking apparatus which are on the hand easy to be mounted and dismantled and on the other hand may solidly fixed to the escalator or moving walkway.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The aim of the present invention is to eliminate, among others, the aforementioned drawbacks of the prior-art solutions.
In one preferred embodiment according to the present invention, an easily mounting and dismantling outer decking apparatus for an escalator or moving walkway is provided, which comprises: a cover plate, having a first end part, a second end part opposite to the first end part, and a body part extending between the first end part and the second end part to cover components on the base of the escalator or moving walkway, wherein the first end part is adjacent to the panel of the escalator or moving walkway, the second end part has a flexed part with an angle relative to the body part; a positioning member for the cover plate, having a first end part and a second end part opposite to the first end part, wherein the first end part of the positioning member is secured to the base of the escalator or moving walkway; and an elastic holding member, joined to the cover plate, and forming a clamping means with the cooperation of a part of the cover plate, wherein the clamping means clamps the second end part of the positioning member therein to achieve the mounting and fixing of the cover plate, so that the cover plate can be dismantled from the escalator or moving walkway without dismantling any bolts or screws. In practice, the positioning member for the cover plate may be mounted to the base of the escalator or moving walkway in advance when the mounting space for it is still enough, for example, before the base of the escalator or moving walkway is disposed as having a very small distance from the wall of the building. Thus, when the mounting space becomes very limited, what is needed to be mounted is just the cover plate, and the mounting of the cover plate just needs operation like pressing, without any operation like screwing some bolts or screws, therefore the mounting is very easy. When repairing or maintaining of the escalator or moving walkway, it just needs to dismantle the cover plate without any awkward and time-consuming screwing operation. Further, since the clamping means formed on the cover plate utilizes the sufficient elasticity of the elastic holding member to closely clamp the positioning member for the cover plate therein, good connection strength is guaranteed.
In the preceding preferred embodiment according to the present invention, the elastic holding member may be joined to a part, close to the flexed part, of the body part of the cover plate, and forms the clamping means with the cooperation of the flexed part of the cover plate, so that the second end part of the positioning member for the cover plate can be inserted into the clamping means in a direction parallel to the plane of the flexed part. Thus, the cover plate may be mounted by pressing the cover plate in a direction substantially parallel to the panel, for example a glass panel, of the escalator or moving walkway. In this situation, even if the escalator or moving walkway has a very small distance from the wall of the building, the cover plate may be easily mounted. Alternatively, the elastic holding member may be joined to the flexed part of the cover plate, and forms the clamping means with the cooperation of the body part of the cover plate, so that the second end part of the positioning member for the cover plate can be inserted into the clamping means in a direction parallel to the plane of the body part of the cover plate. Since the elastic holding member for connecting the cover plate to the positioning member is located at the end part of the cover plate, rather than located at the middle part of the cover plate, the phenomena in the prior art that the end part of the cover plate becomes warped and deformed after the cover plate is mounted and in the later time may be effectively avoided.
In any of the preceding preferred embodiments according to the present invention, the elastic holding member may have a fixing part for fixing the elastic holding member to the cover plate, a holding part joined to the fixing part, a clamping part joined to the holding part and a guiding part joined to the clamping part, wherein a distance between the clamping part and the flexed part is smaller than a distance between the holding part and the flexed part, and is smaller than a distance between the guiding part and the flexed part. This may be the case, when the clamping means is formed by the elastic holding member and the flexed part of the cover plate; and if the clamping means is formed by the elastic holding member and the body part of the cover plate, a distance between the clamping part and the body part is smaller than a distance between the body part and the flexed part, and is smaller than a distance between the guiding part and the body part.
An easily mounting and dismantling outer decking apparatus is characterized in that the elastic holding member has a fixing part for fixing the elastic holding member to the cover plate, a holding part joined to the fixing part, a clamping part joined to the holding part and a guiding part joined to the clamping part, wherein a distance between the clamping part and the body part is smaller than a distance between the body part and the flexed part, and is smaller than a distance between the guiding part and the body part.
More preferably, the clamping part and the guiding part together form an arc shape, and the arc opens away from the cover plate. In this way, under the guiding of the guiding part of the elastic holding member, the cover plate may be easily mounted to the positioning member for the cover plate, and by means of the clamping force provided by the clamping part, the cover plate departing from the positioning member for the cover plate may be effectively prevented. In addition, the arc shape may be easily fabricated and operated.
In any of the preceding preferred embodiments according to the present invention, the elastic holding member may also be designed as having a fixing part for fixing the elastic holding member to the cover plate, an extending part joined to the fixing part, a guiding part joined to the extending part, a clamping part joined to the guiding part and a holding part joined to the clamping part, wherein a distance between the clamping part and the flexed part (of the cover plate) is smaller than a distance between the holding part and the flexed part, and is smaller than a distance between the guiding part and the flexed part.
More preferably, the fixing part of the elastic holding member may be formed as an elastic snapping part to snap to a mating snapping part on the underside of the body part of the cover plate. More preferably, the cover plate is made from aluminum or aluminum alloy, and the mating snapping part is integral to the body part of the cover plate. In this way, both the extending part and the guiding part provide elastic force and during mounting, the positioning member for the cover plate presses against the guiding part, and the guiding part may be deflexed away from the flexed part of the cover plate more easily under the elastic deformation of the guiding part and the guiding part, therefore, the mounting become easier. Further, the elastic holding member may be fixed to the cover plate through the snapping of the fixing part of the elastic holding member, which may avoid adopting awkward way such as gluing or welding to fix the elastic holding member to the cover plate.
In any of the preceding preferred embodiments according to the present invention, the second end part of the positioning member , i.a. for the cover plate, may have a bulge part with relative bigger thickness and a clamped part with relative smaller thickness joined to the bulge part, and when the positioning member has been clamped by the claiming means in place, the clamping means clamps the clamped part of the positioning member, and the bulge part may prevent the clamping means from departing from the positioning member.
In any of the preceding preferred embodiments according to the present invention, the second end part of the positioning member for the cover plate may contact and support the underside of the body part of the cover plate. Preferably, the positioning member is a single elongate member extending in a direction of the conveying direction of the escalator or moving walkway. This may provide good support to the cover plate and facilitate the easy fitting between the elastic holding members on different locations of the underside of the cover plate and the single elongate positioning member.
In any of the preceding preferred embodiments according to the present invention, the outer decking apparatus may further comprise a plurality of positioning brackets each having a first part fixed at the base of the escalator or moving walkway or at the positioning member and a second part parallel to the body part of the cover plate and supporting the body part, the height of the second part of the positioning bracket is higher than that of the positioning member, and parts contacting with the body part of the cover plate, of the second parts of the plurality of the positioning brackets are in a same plane. In this case, since the positioning bracket is higher than the positioning member for the cover plate, the position of the cover plate may be defined by the positioning brackets in the direction perpendicular to the body part of the cover plate, thus during mounting, the operator may just press the cover plate until the cover plate contacts the positioning brackets in a same plane where the cover plates may be aligned and leveled. Thus, the fast mounting of the plurality of consecutive cover plates may be achieved.
In any of the preceding preferred embodiments according to the present invention, the positioning member , i.a. for the cover plate, is a single elongate member extending in a direction of the conveying direction of the escalator or moving walkway, and the positioning member has a plurality of bores therein, the bottom parts and the top parts of the plurality of bores are respectively in a straight line, the first parts of the plurality of positioning brackets are fixed to at least one of the bores so that parts contacting with the body part of the cover plate, of the second parts of the plurality of the positioning brackets are in a same plane.
In any of the preceding preferred embodiments according to the present invention, when the outer decking apparatus has a plurality of cover plates consecutive with each other, at least one positioning bracket is positioned at the ends of the cover plates to join and support the ends of adjacent cover plates.
In any of the preceding preferred embodiments according to the present invention, the outer decking apparatus may further comprise an insertion strip into which the first end part of the cover plate is inserted, and the insertion strip contacts with the panel of the escalator or moving walkway.
In one preferred embodiment according to the present invention, an easily mounting and dismantling central decking apparatus for an escalator or moving walkway is provided. The central decking apparatus is positioned between the panels of two adjacent escalators or moving walkways, and comprises: a cover plate, having a first end part, a second end part opposite to the first end part, and a body part extending between the first end part and the second end part to cover components on the base of the escalator or moving walkway, wherein the first end part is adjacent to the panel of one escalator or moving walkway, the second end part is adjacent to the panel of the other escalator or moving walkway; a positioning member pair for the cover plate, composed of one positioning member for the cover plate secured to the base of one escalator or moving walkway and another positioning member for the cover plate secured to the base of the other escalator or moving walkway, each positioning member having a first end part and a second end part opposite to the first end part, wherein the first end part of the positioning member is secured to the base of the escalator or moving walkway; an elastic holding member pair, each elastic holding member joined to the underside of the middle part of the cover plate; a clamping mating member having a pair of clamping mating parts secured to or integral to the underside of the body part of the cover plate, extending downward substantially perpendicular to the body part of the cover plate, positioned between the two elastic holding members, and forming clamping means pair with the cooperation of respective elastic holding member of the elastic holding member pair, wherein each clamping means clamps the second end part of the positioning member therein to achieve the mounting and fixing of the cover plate, so that the cover plate can be dismantled from the escalator or moving walkway without dismantling any bolts or screws.
In the preceding preferred embodiment according to the present invention, for each clamping means, the elastic holding member has a fixing part for fixing the elastic holding member to the cover plate, a holding part joined to the fixing part, a clamping part joined to the holding part and a guiding part joined to the clamping part, wherein a distance between the clamping part and the corresponding clamping mating part is smaller than a distance between the holding part and the corresponding clamping mating part, and is smaller than a distance between the guiding part and the corresponding clamping mating part.
In any one of the preceding preferred embodiments according to the present invention, the clamping part and the guiding part together form an arc shape, and the arc opens away from the clamping mating part.
In any one of the preceding preferred embodiments according to the present invention, for each clamping means, the elastic holding member has a fixing part for fixing the elastic holding member to the cover plate, an extending part joined to the fixing part, a guiding part joined to the extending part, a clamping part joined to the guiding part and a holding part joined to the clamping part, wherein a distance between the clamping part and the corresponding clamping mating part is smaller than a distance between the holding part and the corresponding clamping mating part, and is smaller than a distance between the guiding part and the corresponding clamping mating part.
In any one of the preceding preferred embodiments according to the present invention, the fixing part of the elastic holding member may be formed as an elastic snapping part to snap to a mating snapping part on the underside of the body part of the cover plate.
In any one of the preceding preferred embodiments according to the present invention, the cover plate is made from aluminum or aluminum alloy, and the mating snapping part is integral to the body part of the cover plate.
In any one of the preceding preferred embodiments according to the present invention, the second end part of each positioning member, i.a. for the cover plate, has a bulge part with relative bigger thickness and a clamped part with relative smaller thickness joined to the bulge part, and when the positioning member has been clamped by the claiming means in place, the clamping means clamps the clamped part of the positioning member, and the bulge part may prevent the clamping means from departing from the positioning member for the cover plate.
In any one of the preceding preferred embodiments according to the present invention, the second end part of each positioning member contacts and supports the underside of the body part of the cover plate.
In any one of the preceding preferred embodiments according to the present invention, the positioning member pair is one pair of positioning members, each positioning member being a single elongate member extending in a direction of the conveying direction of the corresponding escalator or moving walkway.
In any one of the preceding preferred embodiments according to the present invention, the central decking apparatus further comprises a plurality of positioning brackets each having a first part fixed at the base of the escalator or moving walkway or at the positioning member and a second part parallel to the body part of the cover plate and supporting the body part, the height of the second part is higher than that of the positioning member, and parts contacting with the body part of the cover plate, of the second parts of the plurality of the positioning brackets are in a same plane.
In any one of the preceding preferred embodiments according to the present invention, each positioning member is a single elongate member extending in a direction of the conveying direction of the escalator or moving walkway, the positioning member has a plurality of bores therein, the bottom parts and the top parts of the plurality of bores are respectively in a straight line, the first parts of the plurality of positioning brackets are fixed to at least one of the bores so that parts contacting with the body part of the cover plate, of the second parts of the plurality of the positioning brackets are in a same plane.
In any one of the preceding preferred embodiments according to the present invention, when the central decking apparatus has a plurality of cover plates consecutive with each other, at least one positioning bracket is positioned at the ends of the cover plates to join and support the ends of adjacent cover plates.
In any one of the preceding preferred embodiments according to the present invention, the central decking apparatus further comprises insertion strips into which the first and second end parts of the cover plate are respectively inserted, the insertion strips contact with the respective panels of the escalators or moving walkways.
From above, it can be seen that the central decking apparatus in the preferred embodiment according to the present invention in some degree may be equivalent to two outer decking apparatuses side by side, therefore, the inventive concept of the central decking apparatus and that of the outer decking apparatus is similar in some degree, therefore, the some elements of the central decking apparatus and the outer decking apparatus may be substituted or assembled with each other in practice. In addition, it can be seen that the central decking apparatus in the preferred embodiment according to the present invention may also have advantageous technical effects as those of the outer decking apparatus as mentioned above, therefore, here the detailed description to the advantageous technical effects of the central decking apparatus are omitted.
It should be understood that the description above is intended for purposes of illustration only and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention.

LIST OF FIGURES

In the following, the present invention will be described in detail by the aid of some examples of its embodiments with reference to the attached drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a side view of an outer decking apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, viewing in the conveying direction of an escalator or moving walkway, wherein some parts of the escalator or moving walkway are not illustrated for clarity purpose;
Figure 2 is a perspective view of the outer decking apparatus according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention as shown in Figure 1, wherein the cover plate is not inserted into the insertion strip as in the Figure 1 and the positioning bracket is not illustrated as in the Figure 1;
Figure 3 is a perspective view of an outer decking apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, which mainly illustrates the structure of the positioning bracket;
Figure 4 is a plan view of the cover plate and the elastic holding member of the outer decking apparatus according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention as shown in the Figure 1;
Figure 5 is an enlarged view of the elastic holding member of the outer decking apparatus according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention as shown in the Figure 1;
Figure 6 is a perspective view of the elastic holding member according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention as shown in the Figure 5;
Figure 7 is an enlarged view of the positioning member for the cover plate of the outer decking apparatus according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention as shown in the Figure 1;
Figure 8 is a perspective view of the positioning member for the cover plate of the outer decking apparatus according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention as shown in the Figure 7;
Figure 9 is a side view of an outer decking apparatus according to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, viewing in the conveying direction of an escalator or moving walkway, wherein some parts of the escalator or moving walkway are not illustrated for clarity purpose;
Figure 10 is an enlarged view of the elastic holding member and the related components of the outer decking apparatus according to the another preferred embodiment of the present invention as shown in the Figure 9;
Figure 11 is a side view of an outer decking apparatus according to a further preferred embodiment of the present invention, viewing in the conveying direction of an escalator or moving walkway, wherein some parts of the escalator or moving walkway are not illustrated for clarity purpose;
Figure 12 is a side view of a central decking apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, viewing in the conveying direction of an escalator or moving walkway, wherein some parts of the escalator or moving walkway are not illustrated for clarity purpose;
Figure 13 is a plan view of the cover plate, the elastic holding member and the clamping mating member of the central decking apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention as shown in the Figure 12;
Figure 14 is a side view of a central decking apparatus according to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, viewing in the conveying direction of an escalator or moving walkway, wherein some parts of the escalator or moving walkway are not illustrated for clarity purpose; and
Figure 15 is a plan view of the cover plate and the clamping mating member of the central decking apparatus according to the another preferred embodiment of the present invention as shown in the Figure 14.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In the following, the present invention will be described in detail by the aid of some examples of its embodiments with reference to the attached drawings. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that what are illustrated in the drawings are just some preferred embodiments of the present invention and for example some parts/components shown in the drawings are not necessary for solving a certain technical problem sought to be solved by the present invention.
Figure 1 is a side view of an outer decking apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, viewing in the conveying direction of an escalator or moving walkway, wherein some parts of the escalator or moving walkway are not illustrated for clarity purpose; Figure 2 is a perspective view of the outer decking apparatus according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention as shown in Figure 1, wherein the cover plate is not inserted into the insertion strip as in the Figure 1 and the positioning bracket 40 is not illustrated as in the Figure 1; Figure 3 is a perspective view of an outer decking apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, which mainly illustrates the structure of the positioning bracket; Figure 4 is a plan view of the cover plate and the elastic holding member of the outer decking apparatus according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention as shown in the Figure 1; Figure 5 is an enlarged view of the elastic holding member of the outer decking apparatus according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention as shown in the Figure 1; Figure 6 is a perspective view of the elastic holding member according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention as shown in the Figure 5; Figure 7 is an enlarged view of the positioning member for the cover plate of the outer decking apparatus according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention as shown in the Figure 1; and Figure 8 is a perspective view of the positioning member for the cover plate of the outer decking apparatus according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention as shown in the Figure 7.
Referring to the Figures 1-8, an easily mounting and dismantling outer decking apparatus for an escalator or moving walkway according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention comprises: a cover plate 10 (referring to Figures 1, 2 and 4), having a first end part 101, a second end part opposite to the first end part 101, and a body part 103 extending between the first end part 101 and the second end part to cover components on the base of the escalator or moving walkway, wherein the first end part 101 is adjacent to the panel (which is not illustrated in the Figures 1-8, however a slot 70 for containing the panel is illustrated) of the escalator or moving walkway, the second end part has a flexed part 104 with an angle (which is 90 degrees shown in the figures, however the present invention is not limited to 90 degrees) relative to the body part 103; a positioning member 20 (referring to Figures 1, 2, 7 and 8) for the cover plate, having a first end part 201 and a second end part 202 opposite to the first end part 201, wherein the first end part 201 of the positioning member 20 is secured to the base 50 of the escalator or moving walkway; and an elastic holding member 30 (referring to Figures 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6), joined to the body part 103 of the cover plate 10 at a location near to the flexed part 104, and forming a clamping means with the cooperation of a part (in the illustrated embodiment, that is the flexed part 104 of the cover plate 10) of the cover plate 10, wherein the clamping means clamps the second end part 201 of the positioning member 20 therein to achieve the mounting and fixing of the cover plate 10, so that the cover plate 10 can be dismantled from the escalator or moving walkway without dismantling any bolts or screws.
As shown in the Figures 1 and 4, in a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the elastic holding member 30 is arranged as forming a clamping means with the cooperation of the flexed part 104 of the cover plate 10, so that the second end part 202 of the positioning member 20 for the cover plate can be inserted into the clamping means in a direction parallel to the plane of the flexed part (in the Figures 1 and 4, in a vertical direction). Preferably, the elastic holding member 30 may be a leaf spring with suitable elasticity and stiffness. Preferably, there may be a plurality of elastic holding members to form a plurality of clamping means. However, the elastic holding member may just a single one extending in the conveying direction of the escalator or moving walkway with a length substantially equal to the length of the cover plate.
As shown in the Figures 5 and 6, preferably, the elastic holding member 30 has a fixing part 301 for fixing the elastic holding member 30 to the cover plate 10, a holding part 302 joined to the fixing part 301, a clamping part 303 joined to the holding part 302 and a guiding part 304 joined to the clamping part 303, wherein a distance between the clamping part 303 and the flexed part 104 of the cover plate 10 is smaller than a distance between the holding part 302 and the flexed part 104, and is smaller than a distance between the guiding part 304 and the flexed part 104, therefore, the position member for the cover plate may be easily inserted into the clamping means formed by the elastic holding member and the flexed part of the cover plate and be clamped therein. The fixing part 301 may be secured to the underside of the cover plate 10 by mans of welding, gluing and so on. Preferably, the clamping part 303 and the guiding part 304 together form an arc shape whose open is away from the flexed part of the cover plate.
As shown in Figures 7 and 8, preferably, the second end part 202 of the positioning member 20 for the cover plate has a bulge part 2021 with relative bigger thickness and a clamped part 2022 with relative smaller thickness joined to the bulge part 2021. When the positioning member 20 has been clamped by the claiming means in place, the clamping means clamps the clamped part 2022 of the positioning member 20, and thus the bulge part 2021 may prevent the clamping means from departing from the positioning member 20 (for example referring to Figure 1). Preferably, the bulge part 2021 of the positioning member 20 may be formed by bending back of a top edge of a profiled sheet. Preferably, the second end part 2021 of the positioning member 20 for the cover plate may contact and support the underside of the body part 103 of the cover plate 10, and preferably, as shown in the Figure 8, the positioning member 20 is a single elongate member extending in a direction of the conveying direction of the escalator or moving walkway. Thus, the cover plate 10 may be supported and positioned by the single elongate positioning member 20. Through making the top part (i.e. the part farthest away from the base of the escalator or moving walkway) of the second end part 202 of the positioning member 20 be in a straight line, one or more cover plates 10 may be disposed on a same plane with the help of the positioning member 20 (normally, there are a plurality of cover plates since the escalator or moving walkway is relative long and thus needs a plurality of consecutive cover plates, and in this case, the positioning member 20 with straight top edge is important). On the other hand, considering that sometimes not all of the cover plates 10 may closely abut against the top part of the second end part 202 of the positioning member 20, or sometimes the body parts 103 of some cover plates closely abut against the top part of the second end part 202 of the positioning member whereas the transition part between the flexed part 104 and the body part 103 of some cover plates may closely abut against the top part of the second end part 202 of the positioning member, and thus in this case the cover plates are not in a same plane by means of the positioning member 20. Therefore, more preferably, the outer decking apparatus in the present invention may include a plurality of positioning brackets 40 (referring to Figures 1 and 3), each having a first part 401 fixed at the base of the escalator or moving walkway or at the positioning member 20 (referring to Fig. 3, the first part 401 is fixed at the positioning member 20, but it may be fixed elsewhere as long as it may be well fixed) and a second part 402 parallel to the body part of the cover plate and supporting the body part. The height of the second part 402 of the positioning bracket 40 is higher than the height of the second end part 202 of the positioning member 20. Parts, which contact with the body part of the cover plate, of the second parts 402 of the plurality of the positioning brackets 40 are in a same plane. Further, as shown in Figures 3 and 8, the positioning member 20 for the cover plate is formed from a profiled sheet, and has a plurality of bores therein. The bottom parts and the top parts of the plurality of bores are respectively in a straight line (which nay be easily achieved since the positioning member for the cover plate is formed from a profiled sheet), the first parts 401 of the plurality of positioning brackets 40 are fixed to at least some of the bores so that parts contacting with the body part of the cover plate, of the second parts 402 of the plurality of the positioning brackets 40 are in a same plane. Thus, the alignment and leveling of the plurality of cover plates may be easily achieved by pressing the cover plates onto the positioning brackets 40. Preferably, when the outer decking apparatus has a plurality of cover plates 10 consecutive with each other, at least one positioning bracket may be positioned at the ends of the adjacent cover plates to join and support the ends of adjacent cover plates. Thus, through positioning the ends of each cover plate on the positioning plate, the alignment and leveling between the adjacent cover plates may be better achieved.
As shown in Figure 1, preferably, the outer decking apparatus may further comprise an insertion strip 60 into which the first end part 101 of the cover plate 10 is inserted, and the insertion strip 60 contacts with the panel, for example glass panel, of the escalator or moving walkway.
Figures 9 and 10 illustrate an outer decking apparatus according to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, wherein the Figure 9 is a side view of an outer decking apparatus according to the another preferred embodiment of the present invention, viewing in the conveying direction of an escalator or moving walkway, wherein some parts of the escalator or moving walkway are not illustrated for clarity purpose; Figure 10 is an enlarged view of the elastic holding member and the related components of the outer decking apparatus according to the another preferred embodiment of the present invention as shown in the Figure 9.
Said another embodiment illustrated in the Figures 9-10 and the embodiment illustrated in the Figures 1-8 are different mainly in that an elastic holding member 30' with a shape as shown in the Figures 9-10 takes the place of the elastic holding member 30 with the shape as shown in the Figures 1-8. Therefore, hereafter the description is mainly focused on above difference, and the components/parts having same structures with those as shown in the Figures 1-8 are omitted.
Referring to Figure 9, the easily mounting and dismantling outer decking apparatus for an escalator or moving walkway comprises: a cover plate 10', a positioning member 20' for the cover plate, a elastic holding member 30' forming a clamping means for clamping the positioning member 20' with the cooperation of the flexed part of the cover plate 10', a positioning bracket 40' for aligning and leveling the plurality of cover plates, a base 50' on which is positioned the positioning member 20', and an insertion strip 60' for the insertion of the cover plate 10'. It will be noted that as in the embodiment illustrated in the Figures 1-8, some components/parts are not necessary for solving the technical problem sought to be solved by the present invention. For example, there may be no positioning bracket 40', and in some cases the insertion strip is either unnecessary. Similarly, in the present embodiment, the cover plate may be dismantled from the escalator or moving walkway without any operation of screwing any blots or screws.
Referring to Figure 10, the elastic holding member 30' has a fixing part 301' for fixing the elastic holding member to the cover plate, a extending part 302' joined to the fixing part 301', a guiding part 303' joined to the extending part 302', a clamping part 304' joined to the guiding part 303' and a holding part 305' joined to the clamping part 304', wherein a distance between the clamping part 304' and the flexed part of the cover plate is smaller than a distance between the holding part 305' and the flexed part of the cover plate, and is smaller than a distance between the guiding part 303' and the flexed part of the cover plate. Preferably, the fixing part 301' is formed as an elastic snapping part to snap to a mating snapping part on the underside of the body part of the cover plate. Thus, different with the way of welding, gluing and so on of securing the fixing part onto the underside of the cover plate in the embodiment of Figures 1-8, the elastic holding member 30' in the present embodiment may directly snap onto the snapping feature on the underside of the cover plate, thus further simplifying the manufacturing and mounting process. Further, in order to facilitate the manufacturing of the snapping feature on the underside of the cover plate, preferably, the cover plate may be formed from aluminum or aluminum alloy, and the snapping feature and the body part of the cover plate are integral. Further, compared with the embodiment of the Figures 1-8, in the present embodiment, both the extending part 302' and the guiding part 303' of the elastic holding member 30' may produce elastic deformation, and thus in the mounting, the positioning member 20' for the cover plate may press against the guiding part 303', and the guiding part 303' may more easily shift away from the flexed part of the cover plate under the deformation of both the extending part 303' and the guiding part 303', thus, the mounting become easier.
It will be noted that in the present invention, the elastic holding member is not limited to the embodiment of Figures 1-8 and the embodiment of the Figures 9-10, as long as it may realize suitable clamping. One of the key inventive points of the present invention is that an elastic holding member and a part of the cover plate are formed as a clamping means, and through inserting the positioning member for the cover plate secured on the base into the clamping means, the cover plate may be easily and securely mounted, and it may also be easily dismantled later in the maintenance of the escalator or moving walkway.
Figure 11 is a side view of an outer decking apparatus according to a further preferred embodiment of the present invention, viewing in the conveying direction of an escalator or moving walkway, wherein some parts of the escalator or moving walkway are not illustrated for clarity purpose. The embodiment illustrated in the Figure 11 and the embodiment illustrated in the Figures 1-8 are different mainly in that in the Figures 1-8 the elastic holding member cooperates with the flexed part of the cover plate to form a clamping means for clamping the positioning member for the cover plate, whereas in the Figure 11, the elastic holding member cooperates with the body part of the cover pate to form the clamping means for clamping the positioning member for the cover plate. Accordingly, the positioning member for the cover plate has a different structure. Therefore, hereafter, the description will be focused on above difference, and the components/parts having same structures with those in the Figures 1-8 will be omitted.
Referring to Figure 11, the easily mounting and dismantling outer decking apparatus for an escalator or moving walkway comprises: a cover plate 10", a positioning member 20" for the cover plate, a elastic holding member 30" forming a clamping means for clamping the positioning member 20" with the cooperation of the body part of the cover plate 10", a base 50" on which is positioned the positioning member 20", and an insertion strip 60" for the insertion of the cover plate 10". Similarly, in the present embodiment, the cover plate may be dismantled from the escalator or moving walkway without any operation of screwing any blots or screws.
As shown in Figure 11, in the present embodiment, the elastic holding member 30" is secured to the flexed part of the cover plate, and cooperates with a part of the body part of the cover plate to form a clamping means, so that the second end part of the positioning member 20" for the cover plate may be inserted into the clamping means in a direction parallel to the plane of the body part of the cover plate (i.e. in the horizontal direction in the Figure 11). Accordingly, the part of the positioning member 20" cooperating with the holding member 30" is formed as extending in the horizontal direction.
Figure 12 is a side view of a central decking apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, viewing in the conveying direction of an escalator or moving walkway, wherein some parts of the escalator or moving walkway are not illustrated for clarity purpose; and Figure 13 is a plan view of the cover plate, the elastic holding member and the clamping mating member of the central decking apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention as shown in the Figure 12;
The central decking apparatus and the outer decking apparatus are different mainly in their application. Particularly, the cover plate of the outer decking apparatus is disposed at the outer side of the escalator or moving walkway, whereas the central decking apparatus is disposed between two adjacent escalators or moving walkways, thus avoiding use two separate outer decking apparatus between the two adjacent escalators or moving walkways.
Referring to Figures 12 and 13, an easily mounting and dismantling central decking apparatus for an escalator or moving walkway comprises: a cover plate 10"', having a first end part 101"', a second end part 102"' opposite to the first end part 101"', and a body part 103"' extending between the first end part 101"' and the second end part 102"' to cover components on the base of the escalator or moving walkway, wherein the first end part 101"' is adjacent to the panel of one escalator or moving walkway, the second end part 102"' is adjacent to the panel of the other escalator or moving walkway; a positioning member pair for the cover plate, composed of one positioning member 20"' for the cover plate secured to the base of one escalator or moving walkway and another positioning member 20"' for the cover plate secured to the base of the other escalator or moving walkway, each positioning member 20"' having a first end part and a second end part opposite to the first end part, wherein the first end part of the positioning member 20"' is secured to the base of the escalator or moving walkway; an elastic holding member pair, each elastic holding member 30"' joined to the underside of the middle part of the cover plate 10"'; a clamping mating member 90"' having a pair of clamping mating parts 901"', 902"'secured to or integral to the underside of the body part of the cover plate, extending downward substantially perpendicular to the body part of the cover plate, positioned between the two elastic holding members 30"', and forming clamping means pair with the cooperation of respective elastic holding member of the elastic holding member pair, wherein each clamping means clamps the second end part of the positioning member 20"' therein to achieve the mounting and fixing of the cover plate, so that the cover plate can be dismantled from the escalator or moving walkway without dismantling any bolts or screws.
It will be noted that in the central decking apparatus in the Figures 12-13, the elastic holding member and the positioning member for the cover plate have same structures respectively as those in the outer decking apparatus, and thus the detailed description to their structures are omitted here. The central decking apparatus as shown in the Figures 12-13 and the outer decking apparatus are different mainly in that in the Figures 1-8, the flexed part of the cover plate and the elastic holding member cooperate with each other to form the clamping means for clamping the positioning member for the cover plate, whereas in the Figures 12-13, a clamping mating member 90"' secured to the underside of the body part of the cover plate and the elastic holding member to form the clamping means for clamping the positioning member for the cover plate.
Figure 14 is a side view of a central decking apparatus according to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, viewing in the conveying direction of an escalator or moving walkway, wherein some parts of the escalator or moving walkway are not illustrated for clarity purpose; and Figure 15 is a plan view of the cover plate and the clamping mating member of the central decking apparatus according to the another preferred embodiment of the present invention as shown in the Figure 14.
The central decking apparatus illustrated in the Figures 14-15 and the central decking apparatus illustrated in the Figures 12-13 are different mainly in that in the Figures 12-13, the clamping means is like that shown in the Figures 1-8, whereas in the Figures 14-15, the clamping means is like that shown in the Figures 9-10. Thus, the below description will be focused on this difference.
Referring to the Figures 14-15, an easily mounting and dismantling central decking apparatus for an escalator or moving walkway according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention comprises: a cover plate 10"", having a first end part 101"", a second end part 102"" opposite to the first end part 101"", and a body part 103"" extending between the first end part 101"" and the second end part 102"" to cover components on the base of the escalator or moving walkway, wherein the first end part 101"" is adjacent to the panel of one escalator or moving walkway, the second end part 102"" is adjacent to the panel of the other escalator or moving walkway; a positioning member pair for the cover plate, composed of one positioning member 20"" for the cover plate secured to the base of one escalator or moving walkway and another positioning member 20"" for the cover plate secured to the base of the other escalator or moving walkway, each positioning member 20"" having a first end part and a second end part opposite to the first end part, wherein the first end part of the positioning member 20"' is secured to the base of the escalator or moving walkway; an elastic holding member pair, each elastic holding member 30"" joined to the underside of the middle part of the cover plate 10""; a clamping mating member 90"" having a pair of clamping mating parts 901"", 902"" secured to or integral to the underside of the body part of the cover plate, extending downward substantially perpendicular to the body part of the cover plate, positioned between the two elastic holding members 30"", and forming clamping means pair with the cooperation of respective elastic holding member of the elastic holding member pair, wherein each clamping means clamps the second end part of the positioning member 20"" therein to achieve the mounting and fixing of the cover plate, so that the cover plate can be dismantled from the escalator or moving walkway without dismantling any bolts or screws. The fixing part of the elastic holding member 30"" is formed as a flexed elastic snapping part for snapping onto the corresponding snapping feature 104"" (see Figure 15). The cover plate is also formed from aluminum or aluminum alloy and the snapping feature 104"" is integral to the body part of the cover plate.
While the disclosure has been described in the specification and illustrated in the drawings with reference to various embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted for elements thereof without departing from the scope of the disclosure as defined in the claims. Furthermore, some features in the embodiments (for example the positioning bracket and the insertion strip etc.) are not necessary in some cases for solving the technical problem sought to be solved by the present invention. Furthermore, the mixing and matching of features, elements and/or functions between various embodiments is expressly contemplated herein so that one of ordinary skill in the art would appreciate from this disclosure that features, elements and/or functions of one embodiment may be incorporated into another embodiment as appropriate, unless described otherwise above. For example, the features, elements and/or functions of the embodiment of the Figures 1-8, of the embodiment of the Figures 9-10 and of the embodiment of the Figure 11 may be combined or substituted with each other; the features, elements and/or functions of the embodiment of the Figures 12-13, and of the embodiment of the Figures 14-15 may be combined or substituted with each other; the features, elements and/or functions of the embodiment of the Figures 12-15, and of the embodiment of the Figure 1-11 may be combined or substituted with each other.

Claims

An easily mounting and dismantling outer decking apparatus for an escalator or moving walkway, comprising:
a cover plate, having a first end part, a second end part opposite to the first end part, and a body part extending between the first end part and the second end part to cover components on the base of the escalator or moving walkway, wherein the first end part is adjacent to the panel of the escalator or moving walkway, the second end part has a flexed part with an angle relative to the body part;

a positioning member for the cover plate, having a first end part and a second end part opposite to the first end part, wherein the first end part of the positioning member is secured to the base of the escalator or moving walkway; and

an elastic holding member, joined to the cover plate, and forming a clamping means with the cooperation of a part of the cover plate,

wherein the clamping means clamps the second end part of the positioning member therein to achieve the mounting and fixing of the cover plate, so that the cover plate can be dismantled from the escalator or moving walkway without dismantling any bolts or screws.
An easily mounting and dismantling outer decking apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the elastic holding member is joined to a part, close to the flexed part, of the body part of the cover plate, and forms the clamping means with the cooperation of the flexed part of the cover plate, so that the second end part of the positioning member can be inserted into the clamping means in a direction parallel to the plane of the flexed part.
An easily mounting and dismantling outer decking apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the elastic holding member is joined to the flexed part, and forms the clamping means with the cooperation of the body part of the cover plate, so that the second end part of the positioning member can be inserted into the clamping means in a direction parallel to the plane of the body part of the cover plate.
An easily mounting and dismantling outer decking apparatus as claimed in one of claims 1-3, wherein the second end part of the positioning member contacts and supports the underside of the body part of the cover plate.
An easily mounting and dismantling outer decking apparatus as claimed in one of claims 1-3, wherein the outer decking apparatus further comprises a plurality of positioning brackets each having a first part fixed at the base of the escalator or moving walkway or at the positioning member and a second part parallel to the body part of the cover plate and supporting the body part, the height of the second part is higher than that of the positioning member, and parts contacting with the body part of the cover plate, of the second parts of the plurality of the positioning brackets are in a same plane.
An easily mounting and dismantling outer decking apparatus as claimed in claim 5, wherein when the outer decking apparatus has a plurality of cover plates consecutive with each other, at least one positioning bracket is positioned at the ends of the cover plates to join and support the ends of adjacent cover plates.
An easily mounting and dismantling outer decking apparatus as claimed in one of claims 1-3, wherein the outer decking apparatus further comprises an insertion strip into which the first end part of the cover plate is inserted , the insertion strip contacts with the panel of the escalator or moving walkway.
An easily mounting and dismantling central decking apparatus for an escalator or moving walkway, the central decking apparatus positioned between the panels of two adjacent escalators or moving walkways, comprising:
a cover plate, having a first end part, a second end part opposite to the first end part, and a body part extending between the first end part and the second end part to cover components on the base of the escalator or moving walkway, wherein the first end part is adjacent to the panel of one escalator or moving walkway, the second end part is adjacent to the panel of the other escalator or moving walkway;

a positioning member pair for the cover plate, composed of one positioning member for the cover plate secured to the base of one escalator or moving walkway and another positioning member for the cover plate secured to the base of the other escalator or moving walkway, each positioning member having a first end part and a second end part opposite to the first end part, wherein the first end part of the positioning member is secured to the base of the escalator or moving walkway;

an elastic holding member pair, each elastic holding member joined to the underside of the middle part of the cover plate;

a clamping mating member having a pair of clamping mating parts secured to or integral to the underside of the body part of the cover plate, extending downward substantially perpendicular to the body part of the cover plate, positioned between the two elastic holding members, and forming clamping means pair with the cooperation of respective elastic holding member of the elastic holding member pair ,

wherein each clamping means clamps the second end part of the positioning member therein to achieve the mounting and fixing of the cover plate, so that the cover plate can be dismantled from the escalator or moving walkway without dismantling any bolts or screws.
An easily mounting and dismantling central decking apparatus as claimed in claim 8, wherein the second end part of each positioning member contacts and supports the underside of the body part of the cover plate.
An easily mounting and dismantling central decking apparatus as claimed in one of claims 8-9, wherein the central decking apparatus further comprises a plurality of positioning brackets each having a first part fixed at the base of the escalator or moving walkway or at the positioning member and a second part parallel to the body part of the cover plate and supporting the body part, the height of the second part is higher than that of the positioning member, and parts contacting with the body part of the cover plate, of the second parts of the plurality of the positioning brackets are in a same plane.
An easily mounting and dismantling central decking apparatus as claimed in claim 10, wherein when the central decking apparatus has a plurality of cover plates consecutive with each other, at least one positioning bracket is positioned at the ends of the cover plates to join and support the ends of adjacent cover plates.
An easily mounting and dismantling central decking apparatus as claimed in one of claims 8-11, wherein the central decking apparatus further comprises insertion strips into which the first and second end parts of the cover plate are respectively inserted , the insertion strips contact with the respective panels of the escalators or moving walkways.