EP3967643A1

EP3967643A1 - Force-driven handrail belt apparatus

Info

Publication number: EP3967643A1
Application number: EP19929090.9A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Xueming ZHU
Original assignee: Hanson Lift Suzhou Co Ltd
Current assignee: Hanson Lift Suzhou Co Ltd
Priority date: 2019-05-10
Filing date: 2019-09-11
Publication date: 2022-03-16
Also published as: JP2022533273A; WO2020228200A1; CN109969916A; KR20220005095A; CA3138971A1; EP3967643A4; CA3138971C

Abstract

A force-driven handrail belt apparatus, comprising a handrail belt (1) and a drive wheel (2): the handrail belt (1) has a contact surface that is in contact with the drive wheel (2); a plurality of force-driven grooves (3) are evenly provided at the center position of the contact surface along the length direction thereof; a plurality of force-driven gears (4) are evenly distributed on the outer edge of the drive wheel (2); and the force-driven gears (4) of the drive wheel (2) are embedded into the force-driven grooves (3) on the contact surface of the handrail belt (1) to achieve the forced driving of the handrail belt (1).

Description

The present application claims the priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 201910389464.9, titled "POSITIVE DRIVE HANDRAIL BELT DEVICE", filed with the China National Intellectual Property Administration on May 10, 2019 , which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

FIELD

The present application relates to the technical field of escalators or moving walks, and in particular to a positive drive handrail belt device.

BACKGROUND

With the rapid development of society, escalators and moving walk apparatuses have become necessary vehicles for major commercial centers and transportation hubs in cities. Especially in recent years, related accidents have occurred frequently and are always the focus of social attention.
At present, most escalator handrail belts are driven by friction wheels, and a contact surface between the handrail belt and the drive device is a flat surface (the handrail belt is a C-shaped handrail belt) or a V-shaped surface (the handrail belt is a V-shaped handrail belt), as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2. A fatal disadvantage thereof is that, the synchronization and stability of the drive cannot be ensured. Since friction drive is affected by factors such as friction coefficient, positive pressure and tension of the handrail belt, the stability of the transmission is poor, and especially with changes in external temperature, humidity, tension and wear condition of the handrail belt, the stability of the transmission is greatly affected, and jam and slipping often occur, which causes the immediate deviation between the operation speed of the handrail belt and the operation speed of the step or between the operation speeds of left and right handrail belts, that is, the operation of the handrail belt is not synchronized with the operation of the step pedal.
According to the riding principle of the escalator and the moving walk, if the operation of the handrail belt is not synchronized with the operation of the step pedal, it may likely cause the passenger to stand unstable and fall, and may cause fatal danger. In view of this, various countries, regions or alliances clearly stipulate the deviation range (0 to +2%) of the operation speed of the handrail belt relative to the operation speed of the step pedal in the safety regulation for the mounting and manufacturing of the escalator and the moving walk, and stipulate that the escalator and the moving walk must be equipped with a speed detection and control device for the handrail belt. If it is detected that the deviation between the operation speed of the handrail belt and the operation speed of the step pedal exceeds a certain range, the escalator or the moving walk should stop. Inspection and adjustment of the handrail belt and the drive device of the handrail belt and the tension of the handrail belt are an important part of the maintenance of the escalator and the moving walk. If the handrail belt or the drive device is severely worn or improperly adjusted, the escalator or the moving walk is extremely prone to failure or safety accident.
In view of the above existing problems, it is necessary to further optimize the structure of the existing handrail belt, so as to ensure the synchronous operation of the handrail belt and the step pedal.

SUMMARY

In view of this, an object according to the present application is to provide a positive drive handrail belt device. Positive drive grooves are defined on the handrail belt and configured to cooperate with a drive wheel of the handrail belt corresponding to the positive drive grooves, so as to achieve the synchronous operation of the handrail belt of an escalator or a moving walk and a step pedal.
In order to achieve the above objects, the technical solution according to the present application is as follows.
A positive drive handrail belt device includes a handrail belt and a drive wheel. The handrail belt has a contact surface in contact with the drive wheel, and multiple positive drive grooves are uniformly defined in the middle of the contact surface in a length direction of the contact surface. Multiple positive drive tooth elements are uniformly distributed on an outer edge of the drive wheel, and the multiple positive drive tooth elements of the drive wheel are embedded into the multiple positive drive grooves on the contact surface of the handrail belt, to positively drive the handrail belt.
Preferably, the contact surface of the handrail belt is a flat contact surface, and the multiple positive drive grooves are uniformly defined in the middle of the contact surface in the length direction of the contact surface.
Preferably, a steel belt is provided inside the handrail belt in a length direction of the handrail belt, and a bottommost surface of the multiple positive drive grooves is lower than a bottommost surface of the steel belt of the handrail belt, that is, the multiple positive drive grooves penetrate through the steel belt of the handrail belt.
Preferably, the contact surface of the handrail belt is a protruding contact surface, a long-strip block is provided on the handrail belt, a surface of the long-strip block constitutes the protruding contact surface, and the multiple positive drive grooves are uniformly defined on a top surface of the long-strip block in a length direction of the top surface.
Preferably, multiple parallel steel wires are provided inside the handrail belt in a length direction of the handrail belt, and a bottommost surface of the multiple positive drive grooves is higher than an uppermost surface of the multiple steel wires of the handrail belt.
Preferably, the long-strip block is a trapezoidal block, the multiple positive drive grooves are arranged as trapezoidal grooves corresponding to a shape of the trapezoidal block, and the multiple positive drive tooth elements of the drive wheel are arranged as trapezoidal tooth elements corresponding to the multiple trapezoidal grooves.
Preferably, a spacing and a shape between the multiple positive drive grooves are in one-to-one correspondence with a spacing and a shape between the multiple positive drive tooth elements.
Compared with the conventional technology, the positive drive handrail belt device provided according to the present application has the following advantages:

1. the transmission ratio is fixed, which is not affected by the environment and the wear degree, and ultimately ensures the synchronous operation of the handrail belt and the step pedal;
2. the drive force is large, which provides sufficient drive force for the handrail belt, overcomes the frictional resistance generated during operation and the pulling force of handrail belt of the passenger, and can be used in a handrail belt drive scheme of a super-high escalator or a super-long moving walk;
3. the transmission efficiency is high, which reduces the energy loss of the friction heating of the drive;
4. the positive pressure of the drive wheel of the handrail belt on the handrail belt can be reduced, the radial pressure on a drive axle and a bearing is reduced, and the service life of the drive wheel and the support bearing is prolonged;
5. the drive method of this device is positive drive, which can reduce the tension of the handrail belt, reduce the frictional resistance during the operation of the handrail belt, reduce the friction heating and wear between the handrail belt and a guide rail, greatly prolong the service life of the handrail belt and the guide rail of the handrail belt, and slow down the wear of a support roller and prolong the service life of a bearing of the support roller since most of the radial pressure on the support roller during the operation of the handrail belt is reduced; and
6. the structure can be arranged on a handrail belt of any specification and model, as long as the handrail belt has a contact surface in contact with the drive wheel, which has a wide range of applicability.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For more clearly illustrating embodiments of the present application or the technical solutions in the conventional technology, drawings to be used in the description of the embodiments or the conventional technology will be briefly described hereinafter. Apparently, the drawings in the following description are only embodiments of the present application. For those skilled in the art, other drawings may be obtained based on the provided drawings without any creative work.

FIG. 1 is a schematic structural view of a C-shaped handrail belt;
FIG. 2 is a schematic structural view of a V-shaped handrail belt;
FIG. 3 is a schematic structural view of a handrail belt in a positive drive handrail belt device according to the present application, wherein a contact surface of the handrail belt is a flat contact surface;
FIG. 4 is a schematic structural view of the handrail belt in the positive drive handrail belt device according to the present application, wherein the contact surface of the handrail belt is a protruding contact surface; and
FIG. 5 is a schematic structural view of the positive drive handrail belt device according to the present application.

Description of reference numerals and components involved in the drawings is as follows:

1 handrail belt; 2 drive wheel;

3 positive drive groove; 4 positive drive tooth element;

5 contact surface; 6 steel belt;

7 long-strip block; 8 steel wire.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

The existing handrail belt has the disadvantage of inability to ensure the synchronization and stability of the drive. Since friction drive is affected by factors such as friction coefficient, positive pressure and tension of the handrail belt, the stability of the transmission is poor, and especially with changes in external temperature, humidity, tension and wear condition of the handrail belt, the stability of the transmission is greatly affected, and jam and slipping often occur, which causes the immediate deviation between the operation speed of the handrail belt and the operation speed of the step or between the operation speeds of left and right handrail belts, that is, the operation of the handrail belt is not synchronized with the operation of the step pedal.
In view of the above existing problems, the structure of the existing handrail belt is further optimized according to the present application, so as to ensure the synchronous operation of the handrail belt and the step pedal.
Technical solutions of the present application are described clearly and completely with reference to embodiments hereinafter. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present application, rather than all the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the present application, all of the other embodiments which are obtained by those skilled in the art without any creative work fall within the protection scope of the present application.
A positive drive handrail belt device includes a handrail belt 1 and a drive wheel 2. The handrail belt 1 has a contact surface in contact with the drive wheel 2, and multiple positive drive grooves 3 are uniformly defined in the middle of the contact surface in a length direction of the contact surface. Multiple positive drive tooth elements 4 are uniformly distributed on an outer edge of the drive wheel 2. A spacing and a shape between the multiple positive drive grooves 3 are in one-to-one correspondence with a spacing and a shape between the multiple positive drive tooth elements 4, so that the multiple positive drive grooves 3 are in close contact with and engaged with the multiple positive drive tooth elements 4. Referring to FIG. 5, the multiple positive drive tooth elements 4 of the drive wheel 2 are embedded into the multiple positive drive grooves 3 on the contact surface of the handrail belt 1, the drive wheel 2 rotates and forcibly drives the handrail belt 1 to operate by realizing the cooperation between the multiple positive drive tooth elements 4 and the multiple positive drive grooves 3.
Referring to FIG. 3, the contact surface of the handrail belt 1 is a flat contact surface 5. In order to improve the strength of the handrail belt 1, a steel belt 6 is intentionally provided inside the handrail belt 1 in a length direction of the handrail belt 1.
The multiple positive drive grooves 3 are uniformly defined in the middle of the contact surface 5 in the length direction of the contact surface 5, and a width of the multiple positive drive grooves 3 is larger than or equal to half of a width of the contact surface 5 and less than the width of the contact surface 5. Further, a bottommost surface of the multiple positive drive grooves 3 is lower than a bottommost surface of the steel belt 6 of the handrail belt 1, that is, the multiple positive drive grooves 3 penetrate through the steel belt 6 of the handrail belt 1, so that the steel belt 6 provides strength support for the handrail belt 1 on one hand, and provides strength support for the multiple positive drive grooves 3, so as to ensure that the drive force of the multiple positive drive tooth elements 4 is competent to drive the handrail belt 1 to operate.
In order to adapt to the handrail belt 1 of other specifications, corresponding structural alterations can also be made. Referring to FIG. 4, the contact surface of the handrail belt 1 is a protruding contact surface. That is, a long-strip block 7 is provided on the handrail belt 1, and a surface of the long-strip block 7 constitutes the protruding contact surface. Similarly, in order to improve the strength of the handrail belt 1, multiple parallel steel wires 8 are provided inside the handrail belt 1 in the length direction of the handrail belt 1. Multiple positive drive grooves 3 are defined on a top surface of the long-strip block 7 in a length direction of the top surface, and a bottommost surface of the multiple positive drive grooves 3 is higher than an uppermost surface of the multiple steel wires 8 of the handrail belt 1. In order to facilitate processing, a width of the multiple positive drive grooves 3 is set to be larger than or equal to half of a width of the long-strip block 7 and less than the width of the long-strip block 7.
In FIG. 4, the long-strip block 7 preferably is a trapezoidal block, the multiple positive drive grooves 3 are arranged as trapezoidal grooves corresponding to a shape of the trapezoidal block, and the multiple positive drive tooth elements 4 of the drive wheel 2 are arranged as trapezoidal tooth elements corresponding to the multiple trapezoidal grooves.
During working, when an escalator start button is pressed, the positive drive handrail belt device is started, the drive wheel 2 rotates under the drive of multiple front drive wheels, and the multiple positive drive tooth elements 4 of the drive wheel 2 are embedded into the corresponding multiple positive drive grooves 3 of the handrail belt 1, so that the drive wheel 2 rotates and drives the handrail belt 1 to move synchronously with the step pedal.
A handrail belt with a new structure and a drive wheel corresponding to the handrail belt are provided according to the present application. The cooperation use of the handrail belt and the drive wheel can overcome the disadvantages of the structure and the drive method of the existing handrail belt, and fundamentally ensure the operation synchronization of the handrail belt and the step pedal, ensure the safety of the passenger, slow down the wear of the handrail belt and the drive wheel of the handrail belt, improve the drive efficiency, and achieve the objects of energy saving, prolonging the service life of the handrail belt, the drive device of the handrail belt, the guide rail of the handrail belt, and the support roller of the handrail belt and other related components.
According to the above description of the disclosed embodiments, those skilled in the art may implement or practice the present application. Many modifications to these embodiments are apparent for those skilled in the art. The general principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the present application. Therefore, the present application should not be limited to the embodiments disclosed herein, but has the widest scope in accordance to the principle and the novel features disclosed herein.

Claims

A positive drive handrail belt device, comprising: a handrail belt and a drive wheel, wherein the handrail belt has a contact surface in contact with the drive wheel, and a plurality of positive drive grooves are uniformly defined in the middle of the contact surface in a length direction of the contact surface, a plurality of positive drive tooth elements are uniformly distributed on an outer edge of the drive wheel, and the plurality of positive drive tooth elements of the drive wheel are embedded into the plurality of positive drive grooves on the contact surface of the handrail belt, to positively drive the handrail belt.
The positive drive handrail belt device according to claim 1, wherein the contact surface of the handrail belt is a flat contact surface, and the plurality of positive drive grooves are uniformly defined in the middle of the contact surface in the length direction of the contact surface.
The positive drive handrail belt device according to claim 2, wherein a steel belt is provided inside the handrail belt in a length direction of the handrail belt, and a bottommost surface of the plurality of positive drive grooves is lower than a bottommost surface of the steel belt of the handrail belt, that is, the plurality of positive drive grooves penetrate through the steel belt of the handrail belt.
The positive drive handrail belt device according to claim 1, wherein the contact surface of the handrail belt is a protruding contact surface, a long-strip block is provided on the handrail belt, a surface of the long-strip block constitutes the protruding contact surface, and the plurality of positive drive grooves are uniformly defined on a top surface of the long-strip block in a length direction of the top surface.
The positive drive handrail belt device according to claim 4, wherein a plurality of parallel steel wires are provided inside the handrail belt in a length direction of the handrail belt, and a bottommost surface of the plurality of positive drive grooves is higher than an uppermost surface of the plurality of steel wires of the handrail belt.
The positive drive handrail belt device according to claim 4, wherein the long-strip block is a trapezoidal block, the plurality of positive drive grooves are arranged as trapezoidal grooves corresponding to a shape of the trapezoidal block, and the plurality of positive drive tooth elements of the drive wheel are arranged as trapezoidal tooth elements corresponding to the plurality of trapezoidal grooves.
The positive drive handrail belt device according to claim 1, wherein a spacing and a shape between the plurality of positive drive grooves are in one-to-one correspondence with a spacing and a shape between the plurality of positive drive tooth elements.