FR2658468A1 - BOARDING DOCK FOR SEMI-CONTINUOUS TRANSPORT SYSTEMS. - Google Patents

Abstract

The boarding zone in a vehicle V passing slowly in a station S is divided by means of separating elements (31-34) into corridors (C1, C2, C3) oriented in a direction forming an acute angle (alpha) with the direction of vehicle travel. This arrangement promotes orderly boarding of passengers and leads to an increase in the vehicle occupancy rate.

Description

"Loading platform for semi-continuous transport systems" The invention

  relates to transport systems of the so-called semi-continuous type, the principle of which is based on a continuous running of vehicles in station Examples of such systems have been described in particular in the patents

FR 79 08510 and PCT / EU 26 190.

  The current development of such systems, both in urban and winter sports resorts, has revealed some problems with boarding

passengers.

  Two types of defect can be observed especially if there is no staff on the embarkation platform to guide passengers: 1) a risk of confusion when the platforms are congested, which goes against the image of continuity and fluidity of the systems; moreover, these disturbances increase the time of boarding, thus reduce the efficiency of the system; 2) limitation of the filling rate of vehicles, where

  flow limitation in peak periods.

  The sharpness of these two defects increases with the increase of the flow of the semi-continuous systems Gold, the increase of the flow is an important objective because it is likely to offer for semicontinuous systems a promising niche for distances greater than 200 meters, badly

  covered by moving walkways.

  The present invention, in its perspectives, aims to improve passenger boarding conditions. To this end, it proposes an improvement of the embarkation docks, consisting essentially in providing, downstream of an approach zone, a boarding area divided by separators into at least two adjacent corridors oriented in a direction transverse to each other. to the running direction of the vehicles, said separators

  extending near the edge of the wharf.

  Such an arrangement improves the continuity and fluidity of the flow of passengers, the distribution between the corridors is done in an orderly and perfectly natural way even if there is no staff

operating on the wharf.

  This mode of unmanned operation on the wharf is fundamental because it conditions the profitability of most

  semi-continuous transport systems in cities.

  The arrangement according to the invention leads, moreover, to a significant increase in the occupancy rate at peak periods; however, a 20% increase, for example, in the occupancy rate results in a corresponding gain in the cost of

  system that needs to be sized for the peak period.

  This increase in the occupancy rate is attributable in particular to the fact that passengers engaged in a downstream corridor do not have the possibility of reaching an empty cabin; they can only join the passengers already in the cabins from the upstream corridor and thus increase the occupancy rate Indeed, the separators extending to the edge of the wharf reduce the number of passengers.

  possibilities of passage from one corridor to another.

  According to an advantageous additional arrangement of the invention there is provided at the end of a separator, between two adjacent corridors, a flap extending this separator substantially to the edge of the platform, this flap being adapted to pivot downstream, but comprising a means of prohibition

its pivoting upstream.

  While allowing a passenger engaged in an upstream corridor to pass or escape, if desired, in an adjacent downstream corridor, this component prevents passengers already engaged in a downstream corridor from tending to change

corridor upstream.

  The width of the corridors and their number will be advantageously chosen so that the flow of the

passengers be permanent.

  The orientation of the guide corridors according to the invention with respect to the direction of travel of the vehicles contributes, moreover, to obtaining a natural boarding as well oriented. The characteristics and advantages of the invention

  will emerge from the following description, in

  reference to the accompanying drawing, in which: Figure 1 is a schematic view of a terminal station of a semi-continuous transport system; Figure 2 is a schematic view of an alternative embodiment. According to the embodiment chosen and shown in FIG. 1, a station S is served by an arrival l A lane and a departure lane 1 D. A vehicle arriving at the station first runs along a quay. boarding 2 limited by a device 3 of

end of platform safety.

  The passengers disembarked on platform 2 leave the station through an exit zone 4 Reference 5 designates a turning zone at the exit of which is a boarding platform 6 limited by an end-of-platform safety device 7 This device , known per se, can cause the stopping of the vehicle in the event of an incident at the end of the wharf when boarding a passenger The station offers, for access to the embarkation platform, an approach area 8 o the circulation is carried out in a general direction parallel to the direction of advancement of the vehicles V, indicated by the arrow 9 This approach zone is itself fractionated in the present embodiment from a zone substantially adjacent to the turnaround zone, in two lanes 11, 12, respectively qualified upstream and downstream A separating means 10 extends between the two lanes, while the downstream lane 12 is separated from the rest of the station by a medium separator 1 3, similar to the means 10. From a place situated approximately opposite the middle of the loading dock, the separating means 10 continues with a part 1 OA, in an orientation forming, with the direction of advance. 9 of the vehicle, an acute angle alpha for example 45. The separating means 13 comprises, for its part, an extension 13 A parallel to the extension OA and extended

  until end of the platform safety device 7.

  The separating means 10 and 13 can be realized in various forms and can be reduced, if necessary, to simple guide bars and / or support In some cases, they could even be reduced to simple marking lines on the ground. The widths L1, L2, will be chosen for a permanent flow of passengers; they will be, for example, of the order of a meter, so as to allow the

front passage of two people.

  In the embodiment of Figure 1, the upstream lane 11 has a narrowing or constriction in its initial part due to the shape of the outline of the

turning station 5.

  Such initial strangulation may be advantageous as an incentive for passengers to use the corridor

downstream 12.

  The corridor 11 located closest to the turnaround zone is called upstream because the passengers who are engaged are the first to be able to get into the vehicle V coming out of the turning zone for its

  scroll in front of the loading dock.

  Corridor 12 is called downstream because the passengers who are engaged in it will only be able to access the entrance of vehicle V when it has already passed in front of upstream corridor 11. In other words, passengers in the corridor downstream 12 will be able to board the vehicle only after a certain number of passengers already embarked from the upstream lane 11 Therefore, any boarding of passengers coming down the corridor downstream 12 will have the effect of increasing the

vehicle occupancy rate.

  According to an advantageous arrangement of the invention, there is provided, at the end of the separator 10-1A, a movable flap adapted to pivot freely on a hinge 21 provided for this purpose at the end of the separator OA, but in cooperation with an abutment means 22 which opposes its

pivoting in the downstream-upstream direction.

  With such a component that extends the OA separator practically to the edge of the embarkation platform 6, the possibility is offered to a passenger engaged in the upstream corridor 11 to pass, if desired, in the downstream corridor 12 But, thanks to the stop 22, it avoids the eventual tendency of a passenger arriving by the downstream corridor 12, of

  change lanes upstream, which is not desirable.

  In the embodiment of FIG. 2, the access to the loading dock is effected by an approach lane 30, unfractionated, of width L, limited between two separating elements 31, 32, whose extensions are oriented 31 A, 32 A, extend respectively to the beginning and the end of the loading dock. The approach corridor 30 gives access to a distribution area 30 'limited externally by the separator 32-32A, and internally by a boarding area divided into three corridors Cl, C 2 and C 3 determined by two oriented separators 33, 34 advantageously equipped with shutters 33 ', 34' to unilateral clearance. The flow of passengers limited by the width L of the approach corridor thus finds a relaxation zone in the distribution area 30 'at the entrance to the fractional loading zone in the upstream corridors Ci,

intermediate C 2 and downstream C 3.

  Thus, without any risk of confusion, it is possible to achieve optimal use of the access time in vehicles offered by a door of a given width during

  scrolling from the entrance to the exit of the embarkation platform.

  The invention is, of course, not limited to the particularities of the embodiments which have just been described by way of example. Thus, the approach zone could have a transverse orientation with respect to the platform; the provisions of the invention are not limited to the terminal stations considered above, remaining equally applicable, on the contrary, to the intermediate stations in which the loading zone is downstream of the landing zone. The usefulness of an orientation according to the invention of the embarkation may extend to landing, for example, in the form of a simple ground marking of favorable orientation lines for landing

passengers.

  In the case where there is no difference in level between the platform and the vehicle passage zone, the "edge

  the wharf "is defined by the boundary of that passage zone.

Claims (5)

  1) Loading docks for semi-automatic transport systems   continuous, the type comprising vehicles traveling at low speed along the wharf, characterized in that it comprises, downstream from an approach zone (8,30) a boarding area fractionated by separators in at least two adjacent corridors (11, 12, C1, C 2, C 3) transversely oriented relative to the direction of travel of the vehicles, said   separators extending near the edge of the wharf.   2) loading dock according to claim 1, characterized in that the orientation direction of the corridors form with the direction of advance of the vehicles an acute angle alpha.   3) Quay boarding according to claim 1 or 2, characterized by the disposition, at the end of a separator between two adjacent corridors, a flap (20) extending the separator, adapted to pivot downstream and comprising a   means (22) prohibiting pivoting upstream.   4) loading dock according to claim 1, 2 or 3, characterized in that there is provided a fractionation (11,12)   from the terminal part of the approach zone (8).   Boarding platform according to claim 4, characterized by a constriction in the upstream corridor (11) in the approach area.   6) Quay boarding according to claim 1, 2 or 3, characterized in that the approach zone comprises an unfractionated approach lane (30) and a distribution area (30 ') forming a corridor (Cl , C 2, C 3) of the boarding area. 7) Embarkation platform according to any of the   preceding claims, characterized by the presence   end of platform safety (7) down the corridor downstream (12, C 3).