JP2006069771A - Moving handrail of passenger conveyor and its manufacturing method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a moving handrail of a passenger conveyor using thermoplastic elastomer and having no trouble in weatherability even when it is set outdoor and its manufacturing method. <P>SOLUTION: Thermoplastic elastomer having strength is used as a material of a core body layer 31 and thermoplastic elastomer excellent in weatherability different from the thermoplastic elastomer of the core body layer is used as a material of a decorative layer 32 on the cross-section roughly C letter shaped moving handrail 3 having at least two layers of the core body layer 31 made from the thermoplastic elastomer and the decorative layer 32 made from the thermoplastic elastomer provided on the outside of the core body layer, continuously provided with the metallic or synthetic fiber made tension member 34 along the lengthy direction of the core body layer in the thermoplastic elastomer of the core body layer and provided with slider 33 made of canvass, etc. on the inside of the core body layer. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a moving handrail for a passenger conveyor that is provided on a railing of a passenger conveyor such as an escalator or a moving sidewalk and is driven to rotate in synchronization with a step, and a method for manufacturing the same.

Conventionally, a moving handrail of a passenger conveyor includes a handrail using a thermoplastic elastomer, and urethane is generally used as the thermoplastic elastomer. This is because the elastic properties of urethane are optimal as an alternative to rubber handrails.
As a prior art of this kind of moving handrail, it consists of a first layer made of a thermoplastic material and a second layer made of a thermoplastic material, and the first layer is made of a thermoplastic resin harder than the second layer. What is made (for example, see Patent Document 1), and what is made by attaching a contact film such as polyethylene to the inside of a moving handrail made of a soft synthetic resin such as urethane or olefin (for example, see Patent Document 2). Proposed.

JP-T-2002-519271 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-236756

In a conventional handrail for a passenger conveyor, thermoplastic urethane is used as a material for the thermoplastic elastomer. This is because the properties of thermoplastic urethane are very close to those of thermosetting rubber used in conventional handrails. However, thermoplastic urethane is inferior in weather resistance to thermosetting rubber due to its characteristics, and has a disadvantage that it is particularly vulnerable to ultraviolet rays or easily hydrolyzed. For this reason, as a handrail of a passenger conveyor installed outdoors, there is a problem in weather resistance, and the service life is inferior.
In addition, none of the above-described conventional techniques describes a moving handrail having excellent weather resistance in a moving handrail using a thermoplastic elastomer.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a moving handrail for a passenger conveyor that uses a thermoplastic elastomer and has no problem in weather resistance even when installed outdoors. And a manufacturing method thereof.

  The moving handrail of the passenger conveyor according to the present invention has at least two layers of a core layer made of a thermoplastic elastomer and a decorative layer made of a thermoplastic elastomer provided outside the core layer. Movement with a substantially C-shaped cross section in which a tensile body made of metal or synthetic fiber is continuously provided in the plastic elastomer along the longitudinal direction of the core layer, and a slider made of canvas or the like is provided inside the core layer. In the handrail, a strong thermoplastic elastomer is used as the material of the core layer, and a thermoplastic elastomer having excellent weather resistance is used as the material of the decorative layer, unlike the thermoplastic elastomer of the core layer.

  Further, a heat fusion promoting material is inserted between the core layer and the decorative layer, and both are heat fused.

  In the method for manufacturing a handrail for a passenger conveyor according to the present invention, at least a molten strong thermoplastic elastomer for a core layer and a tensile body made of metal or synthetic fiber are simultaneously extruded from a molding machine, and the tensile body is A step of forming a core layer having a substantially C-shaped cross-section, and a cosmetic layer that has better weather resistance than the thermoplastic elastomer of the core layer and is transparent and colored in a desired color such as a customer-specified color Extruding the melted thermoplastic elastomer from a molding machine to form a decorative layer having a substantially C-shaped cross section, thermally fusing the molded decorative layer to the outside of the core layer, and inside the core layer And a step of heat-sealing a slider made of canvas.

  The present invention has at least two layers of a core layer made of a thermoplastic elastomer and a decorative layer made of a thermoplastic elastomer provided outside the core layer, and the core body in the thermoplastic elastomer of the core layer In a moving handrail having a substantially C-shaped cross section in which a tensile body made of metal or synthetic fiber is continuously provided along the longitudinal direction of the layer, and a slider made of canvas or the like is provided inside the core body layer, A strong thermoplastic elastomer is used as the material, and a thermoplastic elastomer with excellent weather resistance is used as the material for the decorative layer, unlike the thermoplastic elastomer of the core layer. There is no problem in performance, and a long-life passenger conveyor moving handrail can be provided.

Embodiment 1 FIG.
1 is a cross-sectional view showing a left half of a moving handrail of a passenger conveyor according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.
In FIG. 1, 3 is a moving handrail having a substantially C-shaped cross section, 31 is a core of a moving handrail 3 that is extruded into a substantially C-shaped cross section by a thermoplastic elastomer made of polyurethane or the like that is very close to the elastic characteristics of thermosetting rubber. The body layer 34 is a tensile body made of a metal tape that is continuously included along the longitudinal direction of the core layer 31. The tensile body 34 prevents the movable handrail 3 from being elongated in the longitudinal direction and increases the tensile strength at break. The tensile body 34 can use a plurality of low-stretch materials made of metal or synthetic fiber cords instead of the metal tape.
32 is a decorative layer of the moving handrail 3 provided on the outer side of the core layer 31, which is colored in a color specified by the customer or other desired color, and is extruded into a substantially C-shaped section by a thermoplastic elastomer It has been done. The thermoplastic elastomer of the decorative layer 32 is different from the thermoplastic elastomer of the core layer 31 and uses, for example, a thermoplastic elastomer having excellent weather resistance such as a polyolefin-based elastomer. That is, a strong thermoplastic elastomer is selected as the material of the core layer 31, and a thermoplastic elastomer excellent in weather resistance is selected as the material of the decorative layer 32.
Reference numeral 33 denotes a canvas slider provided on the inner side of the core layer 31, which is not shown, but abuts against a handrail guide rail or a driving roller of a passenger conveyor.
In addition, since the polyurethane which is the thermoplastic elastomer constituting the core layer 31 and the polyolefin elastomer which is the thermoplastic elastomer constituting the decorative layer 32 may have insufficient heat-sealing strength due to their properties, For maintenance, it is preferable to insert a heat-fusion promoting material (tape or the like) 35 between the core layer 31 and the decorative layer 32 to heat-bond the decorative layer 31.

Next, the manufacturing method of the handrail of the passenger conveyor by this invention is demonstrated.
According to the method for manufacturing a moving handrail for a passenger conveyor of the present invention, at least a molten thermoplastic elastomer (polyurethane or the like) for a core body layer and a tensile body 34 made of metal or synthetic fiber are simultaneously extruded from a molding machine. A step of forming a core layer 31 having a substantially C-shaped cross section conjugated with 34, and a weather resistance superior to that of the thermoplastic elastomer of the core layer 31, and including a transparent color such as a customer-specified color A step of extruding a melted thermoplastic elastomer (polyolefin-based) for the decorative layer from a molding machine to form a decorative layer 32 having a substantially C-shaped cross section, and forming the decorative layer 32 on the outside of the core layer 31 And a step of heat-sealing a canvas slider 33 on the inner side of the core layer 31.
In the case of the two-layer structure of the core layer 31 and the decorative layer 32, the core layer 31 is molded and then the decorative layer 32 is molded and heat-sealed, and the core layer 31 and the decorative layer 32 are extruded simultaneously. There is a method of heat-sealing while forming.
Further, when the decorative layer 32 is colored in a desired color such as a customer-specified color including transparency, a method in which the decorative layer 32 is heat-sealed to the outside of the core layer 31 or the intermediate layer later is preferable.
As the thermoplastic elastomer of the decorative layer 32, for example, a polyolefin-based elastomer is used. Polyolefin elastomers have excellent weather resistance as a characteristic, but mechanical strength such as tensile strength is inferior to polyurethane. However, since the core layer 31 has at least a two-layer structure such as polyurethane and the decorative layer is polyolefin, it is possible to realize a moving handrail having sufficient mechanical strength and excellent weather resistance.
Since polyurethane and polyolefin may have insufficient heat fusion strength due to their properties, as shown in FIG. 1, a heat fusion promoting material (for example, a tape or the like) 35 is formed with a core layer 31 and a decorative layer 32. The decorative layer 32 can be heat-sealed by being inserted between the two.

  FIG. 2 is a manufacturing process diagram showing an example of a process for manufacturing the core body layer 31 of the moving handrail. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 1 is a canvas supply Tyco for supplying a canvas to be a slider 33, 2 is a metal tape supply Tyco for supplying a metal tape to be a tensile body 34, and 4 is a molten heat for a core layer. A molding apparatus 5 for integrally molding a plastic elastomer (polyurethane or the like), a canvas slider 33 and a tensile body 34 made of a metal tape, 5 extrudes an integrally molded product (core body layer 31) molded by the molding apparatus 4. A core layer elastomer extrusion device, 6 is a cooling water tank, 7 is a take-up machine, and 8 is a winding coil for winding the core layer 31.

  FIG. 3 is a manufacturing process diagram showing an example of a process for manufacturing the moving handrail 3 by heat-bonding the decorative layer 32 after the core body layer 31 is formed. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 11 denotes a thermal fusion promoting tape supply Tyco for supplying the thermal fusion promoting tape 35, and 12 denotes a core layer supply for supplying the core layer 31 manufactured by the manufacturing process shown in FIG. 2. Tyco, 14 is excellent in weather resistance, is transparent, includes a thermoplastic thermoplastic elastomer (polyolefin-based) for a decorative layer colored in a desired color such as a customer-specified color, and the core layer 31 to promote thermal fusion A molding device for integrally molding the sheet 35, 15 is a moving handrail elastomer extrusion device for extruding an integrally molded product (moving handrail) molded by the molding device 14, 16 is a cooling water tank, 17 is a take-up machine, 18 is a moving handrail 3 It is a wind-up Tyco to wind up.

It is sectional drawing which shows the left half of the moving handrail of a passenger conveyor in Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a manufacturing process figure which shows an example of the process of manufacturing the core body layer of the moving handrail of a passenger conveyor in Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a manufacturing process figure which shows an example of the process of manufacturing a moving handrail by heat-seal | fusing a decorative layer, after shape | molding the core body layer of the moving handrail of a passenger conveyor in Embodiment 1 of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Canvas supply Tyco 2 Metal tape supply Tyco 3 Moving handrail 4, 14 Molding device 5 Core body layer elastomer extrusion device 6, 16 Cooling water tank 7, 17 Take-out machine 8, 18 Winding Tyco 11 Heat fusion promotion tape supply Tyco 12 Core Body layer supply Tyco
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 15 Moving handrail elastomer extrusion apparatus 31 Core body layer 32 Cosmetic layer 33 Slider 34 Tensile body 35 Heat-fusion-adhesion sheet

Claims (5)

  It has at least two layers of a core layer made of a thermoplastic elastomer and a decorative layer made of a thermoplastic elastomer provided outside the core layer, and the length of the core layer in the thermoplastic elastomer of the core layer In the moving handrail of a passenger conveyor having a substantially C-shaped cross section in which a tensile body made of metal or synthetic fiber is provided continuously along a direction, and a slider made of canvas or the like is provided inside the core body layer, A passenger conveyor characterized in that a strong thermoplastic elastomer is used as a material of the layer, and a thermoplastic elastomer having excellent weather resistance is used as the material of the decorative layer, unlike the thermoplastic elastomer of the core layer. Moving handrail.   The moving handrail of the passenger conveyor according to claim 1, wherein polyurethane is used as the thermoplastic elastomer of the core layer and polyolefin is used as the thermoplastic elastomer of the decorative layer.   The moving handrail of a passenger conveyor according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a heat-fusion promoting material is inserted between the core layer and the decorative layer to heat-seal them together. It has at least two layers of a core layer made of a thermoplastic elastomer and a decorative layer made of a thermoplastic elastomer provided outside the core layer, and the length of the core layer in the thermoplastic elastomer of the core layer In a moving handrail of a passenger conveyor having a substantially C-shaped cross section in which a tensile body made of metal or synthetic fiber is continuously provided along the direction, and a slider made of canvas or the like is provided inside the core body layer,
At least a molten thermoplastic elastomer for core layer and a tensile body made of metal or synthetic fiber are simultaneously extruded from a molding machine to form a core body layer having a substantially C-shaped cross section. And extruding from the molding machine a molten thermoplastic elastomer for a decorative layer that is superior in weather resistance to the thermoplastic elastomer of the core layer and is transparent and colored in a desired color such as a customer-specified color. A step of forming a decorative layer having a substantially C-shaped cross section, a step of thermally fusing the molded decorative layer to the outside of the core layer, and a thermal slider of a canvas made to the inner side of the core layer. A method for manufacturing a handrail for a passenger conveyor, comprising: a step. 5. The passenger according to claim 4, wherein the step of heat-sealing the molded decorative layer to the outside of the core layer is performed after inserting a heat-fusion promoting material between the core layer and the decorative layer. A method for manufacturing a moving handrail of a conveyor.

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