GB2053126A

GB2053126A - Passenger conveyor balustrades

Info

Publication number: GB2053126A
Application number: GB8021436A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Hitachi Ltd
Current assignee: Hitachi Ltd
Priority date: 1979-07-06
Filing date: 1980-07-01
Publication date: 1981-02-04
Also published as: GB2053126B; JPS5830237B2; JPS5612289A; SG24684G

Abstract

In a passenger conveyor including an endless series of moving steps, a pair of handrails 2 located on opposite sides of the steps for movement in synchronism with the steps, and a pair of balustrades, each balustrade including a balustrade panel 5a disposed immediately or substantially immediately below one of the handrails, a handrail frame 10 is interposed between the balustrade panel and the handrail and has in a portion thereof near the handrail a width greater than the width of the handrail, the handrail frame having one or both sides 10a inclined downwardly or concave (Figure 7) in going from the top of the handrail frame toward the balustrade panel. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Passenger conveyor balustrades BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention This invention relates to balustrades of a passenger conveyor, such as moving stairway, moving footway, etc.

Description ofthe prior art Generally, a passenger conveyor comprises, as described in US Patent Specifications 3,321,059 and 3,353,650, movable members, such as treads or steps linked in an endless belt for conveying passengers, and a pair of handrails, and stationary members, such as a pair of handrail frames for supporting the handrails, a pair of balustrade frames, a pair of outer decks, and a pair of inner decks. These rotary members and stationary members are all supported by a strongly built main frame. The steps and handrails change the direction of their movement at each end of the passenger conveyor.

A moving stairway or escalator will be described as an example for further discussion. The effective width of an escalator is typically the width of the escalator as measured between the pair of balustrade panels. In one escalator described as an example, the steps have a width of about 1000 mm and the escalator has an overall width of about 1700 mm when its effective width is 1200 mm.

In recent years there has been an increased demand for an escalator design which would enable spaces required for installing an escalator to be decreased by minimizing its overall width while keeping its effective width intact so as not to reduce the capacity of the escalator to convey passengers.

This demand for decreased spaces for installing an escalator is motivated by the need to make full use of floor space as sales rooms. Thus a reduction in the overall width of an escalator would have a great merit from the economical point of view.

However, as subsequently to be described, difficulties are encountered in attaining this end. If the width of the escalator as measured between the handrail frames is made smaller than the width thereof as measured between the handrails, a child would have the finger tips stuck in the gap and injured. Conversely, if the width of the escalator as measured between the handrail frames is made larger than the width thereof as measured between the handrails, there would be the danger that the objects carried by passengers would strike the handrail frames.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention has as its object the provision of passenger conveyor balustrades suitable for use in a passenger conveyor of the space saving type which ensure the safety of passengers by obviating the problems involving the gaps between the handrails and handrail frames which would otherwise be encountered when an attempt is made to reduce the overall width of the passenger conveyor.

The aforesaid object of the invention is accomplished by providing a constructional form wherein each handrail frame has in a portion thereof near each handrail a width greater than the width of the handrail and the handrail frame tapers downwardly in going toward each balustrade panel so that the handrail frame has inclined surfaces on opposite sides thereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 is a side view of an upper portion of a passenger conveyor; Figure 2 is a sectional view taken along the line ll-ll in Figure 1; Figures 3 and 4 show constructions of balustrades of passenger conveyors of the prior art, Figure 3 being a sectional view of the essential portions of the passenger conveyor shown in Figure 2 and Figure 4 being a sectional view taken along the line iV-IV in Figure 1; Figure 5 is a sectional view corresponding to Figure 4 and showing the balustrade comprising one embodiment of the invention; and Figures 6 and 7 are sectional views of modifications of the balustrade shown in Figure 5.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The invention will now be described by referring to the embodiments shown in the drawings.

Figures 1 and 2 show a passenger conveyor or escalator of the usual construction comprising a plurality of steps 1 connected in an endless belt for movement and a pair of handrails 2 which constitute essentiai portions. The escalator further comprises a pair of balustrade sections 3 (only one is shown) located on opposite sides of the steps 1, each balustrade section 3 including a handrail frame 4, balustrade panel 5, inner deck 6 and an outer deck 7.

The components of the escalator described hereinabove are all supported by a strongly built main frame 8. The steps 1 and handrails 2 change the direction of their movement at each end of the escalator (near a and bin Figure 1).

Figure 2 shows a typical transverse sectional shape of the balustrade section 3, and the widths of the escalator are as follows.

The effective width W1 of an escalator which is a width determined by measuring the spacing between the balustrade sections 3 (to be exact, the spacing as measured at a point 600 mm vertically above the step 1 shown in Figure 2) may vary from one escalator to another. Generally, an escalator with W1 = 1200 mm is referred to as a 1200 model and an escalator with W1 = 800 mm is referred to as a 800 model. In these two types of escalators, there are two types of steps 1 for passengers to stand on, one having a width W2 of about = 1000 mm (for 1200 model) and the other having a width W2 of about 600 mm (for 800 model).

Meanwhile the width of the escalator as measured between the handrails 2 designated by W3 is larger than the effective width W1 so that the handrail 2 is disposed outwardly of the balustrade panel 5 because the former is disposed over and below the latter in its travel. The main frame 8 and outer deck 7 are disposed outwardly of the handrail 2 W1 < Ws, and the widths of the escalator as measured in the main frame 8 and between the outer decks 7 designated by W4 and W5 respectively have following relations: (W3 < W4, W3 < W5 and W4 < W5). The overall width W5 of the escalator is about 1700 mm.

An escalator is constructed such that crosssectional surfaces thereof are arranged in positions in which they do not overlap one another with respect to the nominal effective width W1.

In recent years there has been an increased demand for an escalator design which would enable spaces required for installing an escalatorto be decreased by minimizing its overall width while keeping its effective width intact so as not to reduce its passenger conveying capacity. This demand for decreasing the required spaces for the escalator is motivated by the need to make full use of floor space as sales rooms. Thus a reduction in the overall width of the escalator would have a great merit from the economical point of view.

To meet this need, proposals have more recently been made to move the main frame 8 to a position below the handrail 2 as indicated by imaginary lines at 8a in Figure 2, so as to decrease the overall width W5 by one hundred and scores of millimeters. This constructional form is favorably received by the users because a decrease in overall width W5 can be achieved without varying the width of the steps 1 and the effective width of the escalator as measured between the balustrade sections 3 (W2 and W1) which directly affect the number of passengers conveyed. In this case, however, the path of travel of each handrail 2 is considerably influenced and the width W3 of the escalator as measured between the handrails 2 is reduced.Thus the handrail 2 is inevitably moved inwardly to a position in which it is directly over and below the balustrade panel 5 as shown in Figures 3 and 4 (in Figures 3 and 4, the balustrade panel is designated by 5b but the width of the escalator as measured between the balustrade panels 5a is W1). In this constructional form, it is unavoidable that the handrail 2 and balustrade panel 5 have the aforesaid structural relationship if it is desired to reduce W5 while keeping W1 and W2 intact.

The escalator of the constructional form shown in Figures 3 and 4 which is designed primarily with a view to meeting the requirement for reducing escalator installing spaces encounters problems with regard to the safety with which passengers are conveyed.

More specifically, the handrail frame 9 is interposed between the handrail 2 and balustrade panel 5a, and amounts M1 and M2 ofthe portion ofthe handrail frame 9 which projects further then the balustrade panel 5a should be selected. There is a potential source of trouble in this selection. If M1 is set at about 10-20 mm, there would be the problem that a child's fingers would be stuck in the. gap G between the handrail 2 and handrail frame 9 and injured. If M2 is increased so that the handrail frame 9 extends greatly beyond the edge of the handrail 2, an object (designated by K in Figure 1) carried by a passenger (designated by H in Figure 1) would strike the handrail frame 9 as indicated by arrows A2 and B2 in Figures 3 and 4 respectively.This would result in damage to some parts of the escalator and injury to the passenger if the latter falls on the step due to the shock of coliision. The situation is serious particularly when the projection of the handrail frame 9 relative to the balustrade panel 5 has the vaiue MI which is smaller than M2. In this case, there could occur the accident that the finger tips would be caught in the gap as indicated by an arrow fl in Figure 3 or passenger would collide against the handrail 2 as indicated by an arrow C when the handrail 2 changes the direction of its travel. The arrow A in Figure 1 and the arrows B1 and B2 in Figure 3 indicate the cases of collision which would occur if a passenger lifted an object he carries.It might be said that in these cases the trouble is not so serious as in the case of collision indicated by the arrow C in Figure 4.

When the projection of the handrail frame 2 has the larger amount M2 to avoid the problem of finger tips being stuck in the gap as indicated by the arrow fl in Figure 3, finger stips would have the difficulty of being led into the gap as indicated by an arrowf2.

However, the problem of an object carried by a passenger striking the handrail frame 9 as indicated by arrows Al and B1 in Figure 4 would be raised. The collision occurring in the directions of arrows Al and B1 might be said to be smaller in shock produced thereby than the collision occurring in the direction of arrows A2 and B2 because the projection of the handrail frame 9 has the smaller value M1.

From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that the escalator having balustrades designed to reduce escalator installing spaces as shown in Figures 3 and 4 encounters a problem with regard to the safety with which passengers are conveyed.

Figures 5 and 6 show embodiments of the present invention in which the handrail frame 10 has inclined sides 1 Oa tapering in going from the top of the handrail 10 toward the balustrade panel 5a, although the relative positions of the handrail 2 and balustrade panel 5 as viewed vertically of the balustrade panel 5a are similar to those shown in Figure 4. The handrail frame 10 has angled portions lOb which, as shown in Figure 5, extend slightly outwardly with respect to the handrail 2 by an amount 6, so that the inclined sides 10a extend from the angled portions 10b toward the balustrade panel 5a at an angle (3 with respct to a perpendicular to the length of the balustrade panel 5a. The inclined side surfaces 10a of the aforesaid constriction have the functions of preventing finger tips, for example, of a child from being stuck in the gap gas indicated by an arrow f3, and guiding an object carried by a passenger in the direction of an arrow D toward the steps 1. In this case, no serious collision as indicated by the arrow C in Figure 4 occurs, and even if a bag carried by a passenger, for example, strikes the handrail frame 10, the bag would be guided by the inclined side surface 1 Oa, thereby enabling collision of the bag against the handrail 2 which is travelling to be avoided.

The amount 6 of projection of the angled portions lOb would be advantageously set at a level sufficiently high to prevent slipping of finger tips into the gap. Figure 6 shows a modification of the embodiment shown in Figure 5 in which the angled portion of the inclined side lla does not extend beyond the edges of the handrail 2 and remains inwardly thereof by an amount oa, and the handrail frame 11 may have a large projection 11 a on its outer side. Also, the handrail frame may have a concavely inclined side designated by Z in Figure 7.

In Figure 6, the handrail frame 11 has a space Q for containing illuminating means or cords therefor.

From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that the balustrades of a passenger conveyor according to the invention are capable of increasing the safety of operation of a passenger conveyor designed primarily to reduce spaces required for installing the escalator.

Claims

1. Balustrades of a passenger conveyor comprising a plurality of steps arranged in an endless belt for movement, and a pair of handrails disposed on opposite sides of said steps for movement in synchronism with the steps, said balustrades each comprising: a balustrade panel located immediately or substantially immediately below one of said handrails; and a handrail frame interposed between said balustrade panel and said one handrail; wherein the improvement resides in that said handrail frame has in a portion thereof near said handrail a width greater than the width of said handrail, and that said handrail frame has inclined sides tapering downwardly in going toward said balustrade panel.

2. Balustrades as claimed in claim 1, wherein the improvement further resides in that said inclined sides of said handrail frame are concave.

3. Balustrades as claimed in claim 1, wherein the improvement further resides in that said handrail frame is formed in its outer end portion with a space for containing illuminating means, cords, etc.

4. A balustrade substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to, and as illustrated in Figures 1 and 2; or Figure 5; or Figure 6 or Figure 7 of the accompanying drawings.