JPH0428626B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Application of the Invention] The present invention relates to an escalator or a spiral type passenger conveyor for electric roads, and more particularly to a rail that supports a treadle and a driving gear that drives the treadle.

[Prior art]

There are two types of passenger conveyors that have been used so far: escalators that go up and down at an inclination angle of 30° and electric roadways that have a gentle slope, and the characteristics of each have been utilized to become popular in many areas. However, recently, people are not satisfied with the linear transportation function of these two models,
There is a growing demand for spiral passenger conveyors that can provide passengers with a wide field of view. The spiral type has the advantage of providing a panoramic view of the inside of a shopping store, allowing a wide view of the products on display, and has attracted attention because it increases the desire to purchase more than traditional conveyors.

Various proposals have been made regarding this spiral type passenger conveyor, but no concrete solution has yet been presented. In particular, no plans have been proposed regarding the most problematic method of installing the rails.

[Purpose of the invention]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a helical type passenger conveyor that allows the rails to be arranged so that the treads of the steps can be kept in a substantially horizontal plane at all times in the helical part and the horizontal part, and can run smoothly.

[Summary of the invention]

A plurality of endlessly arranged treadboards, two rails having a spiral locus for guiding the rotation of these treadboards, a plurality of chains connecting the treadboards in an endless manner, and engaging these chains. In the passenger conveyor equipped with a driving gear, a distance between the rail in a range where the treadle rotates spirally and the rail in a range where the treadle moves horizontally is set constant, and The radius of the rail in the range of movement is formed larger than the radius of the rail in the range of spiral rotation, and among the plurality of driving gears that drive the plurality of tunes, the driving gear on the inner diameter side of the spiral is formed. The diameters of the driving gears are gradually reduced, and the extension lines connecting the points on the outer diameter side of each of these driving gears are formed to intersect the radial center of the rail in the horizontally moving range.

[Embodiments of the invention]

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described based on the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, a step 1 of a spiral escalator has rollers 6 attached below it to support the step 1 and make it run smoothly. Beneath the step, rails 2a and 2b are arranged that transmit the load applied to the step 1 to the escalator body via rollers 6, and at the same time guide the roller 6 to guide the travel of the step 1. Therefore, the inclination of the tread surface of the step 1 is influenced by the rails 2a and 2b, similar to the floor surface of a train. However, the mission of an escalator is to carry people up or down the stairs on step 1, so for safety reasons, the treads of the steps must always be level or have a gentle slope that does not interfere with the passenger's posture when using the escalator. . The present invention pays particular attention to this point,
Even in a spiral escalator, the rail shape is determined so that the tread always remains horizontal.

In Figure 2, if the inner cylinder is the pillar of the building where the spiral escalator is placed, the inner rail has a radius approximately equal to the radius of the building pillar.
It becomes a spiral line along the cylinder _R1 . on the other hand,
Since the rail spacing is determined by the shape (size) of the steps, the outer rails are
It becomes a helical line that follows a cylinder with radius _R2 , which is _R1 plus the inner and outer rail spacing. Geometrically, the helical line is obtained by winding right triangles 3a, 3b having a certain slope around a cylinder, as shown in FIG. FIG. 3 shows the right triangles 3a and 3b, which are wound around the axis of a cylinder at an arbitrary angle, taken out and developed.
OA ₁ and OA ₂ correspond to the inner and outer rails, respectively, and A ₁ B ₁ and A ₂ B ₂ are the vertical distances of the step 1 along the inner and outer rails, and this A ₁
By making B ₁ and A ₂ B ₂ equal, the tread surface of the step can always be kept horizontal. However, OB ₁ /
Since OB ₂ =R ₁ /R ₂ , the two right triangles 3a and 3b can be uniquely determined, and the above-mentioned requirement to always keep the steps horizontal can be satisfied. Inner and outer rails 2a, 2 with the same trajectory as such a spiral line
Figure 4 shows the state in which the steps that have ascended along b have reached the horizontal part. The inner and outer rail radii r ₁ and r ₂ in the horizontal section must be larger than R ₁ and R ₂ , respectively. This is because the speed ratio of the step 1 on the inner and outer rails 2a and 2b in the spiral portion is equal to OA ₁ /OA ₂ in FIG. 3, which is clearly smaller than OB ₁ /OB ₂ , that is, R ₁ /R ₂ . . Therefore, by setting the radius ratio of the inner and outer rails in the horizontal part to r ₁ /r ₂ = OA ₁ /OA ₂ and connecting them to the end of the spiral part rail, the step 1 can rotate around the arc center O' in the horizontal part. This allows for smooth movement from the spiral part to the horizontal part.

As shown in Figure 5, the stairs that traveled on the horizontal section and dropped off the passengers were reversed at the terminal section, and
It will be returned to its original starting point to welcome new passengers. In this case, the terminal part has two large and small driving gears 4a and 4b that drive the steps and are connected by the same shaft 4c, but the diameter ratio (D ₁ /D ₂ ) of these gears is also the same as that on the inner and outer rails. Set to the speed ratio of the steps. However, since these gears drive the steps that travel through the horizontal section, one point of each pitch circle must be placed within the horizontal plane passing through the center O' of the rail radius of the horizontal section. There must be. To do this,
This problem can be solved by installing the two driving gear central axes at a certain angle β with respect to the horizontal as shown in FIG. By the way, if the pitch circle diameters of the two large and small gears are D ₁ and D ₂ respectively, β = sin _-1
(D ₂ /2r ₁ ) orsin _-1 (D ₁ /2r ₁ ).

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, in the present invention, two screw curves are arranged so that the distance R ₂ −R ₁ between the rails in any horizontal plane within the space in which the rails rotate in a spiral manner is always constant. Since the rails are set, the spiral movement of the tread can be made smoother.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the exemplified steps of an escalator having a step, but can also be applied to a so-called tread type passenger conveyor without a step.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall view showing a part of a step transitioning along a rail with a spiral trajectory;
Figures 3 and 4 are principle diagrams for determining the rail trajectory, Figure 5 is a diagram showing the state of the rail at the terminal, and Figure 6 is a diagram showing the state of the rail at the terminal.
The figure is a perspective view showing the driving gear. 1...Step, 2...Rail, 4...Driving gear, 5...Driver, 6...Roller.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of treadboards arranged in an endless manner, two rails having a spiral locus for guiding the rotation of these treadboards, a plurality of chains connecting the treadboards in an endless manner, and engaging these chains. In the passenger conveyor equipped with a driving gear that is driven by The radius of the rail in the range of movement is larger than the radius of the rail in the range of spiral rotation, and among the plurality of driving gears driving the plurality of chains, a driving gear on the inner diameter side of the spiral. A passenger conveyor characterized in that the driving gears are formed to have smaller diameters in order, and an extension line connecting each point on the outer diameter side of each driving gear intersects with the radial center of the rail in the horizontally moving range.