JPH10324489A - Hand rail - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a hand rail, in which deterioration is hard to be caused even in the case where it is used outside and which can improve safety and reliability. SOLUTION: A canvas 1 is formed of two or more layers, and a tension member 2 is provided at an intermediate part of the canvas 1. A face rubber material 3 is provided on a surface of the canvas 1. A hand rail has a C-shaped cross section as a whole. In the canvas 1, polyester fiber or polyamide fiber is used for a first layer, which is positioned most outside, and the tension member 2 is formed of a fabric including a first vertical yarn 21 of aramide fiber and a second vertical yarn 22 for binder, which is arranged along the first vertical yarn 21 and which has a diameter narrower than that of the first vertical yarn 21, and a lateral yarn 23 woven in the second vertical yarn 22, and while pre-tension is given to the tension member 2. In this case, the lateral yarn is a fiber having a thickness at 1/2 or less of the first vertical yarn. The tension member 2 has a width at 20-50 mm.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a handrail used for a handrail of an escalator or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an escalator in a department store, a moving passage in a station, etc., in order to prevent a fall due to a movement of only the floor side and no movement of the upper body of the person, the movement is synchronized with the movement of the floor. It has a handrail that moves (rotates) (hereinafter referred to as “handrail”). The handrail is
It consists of a canvas layer, a tension member and a rubber layer. In a conventional handrail, a cotton fabric is used for a canvas layer, and a steel cord is used for a tension member. Further, there is a combination of a polyester fabric with a canvas layer and a steel cord as a tension member, or a combination of a woven fabric with a canvas layer and a cross-woven cord with a tension member of rayon. Further, there is a type using aramid fiber woven into a tension member by blinds.

[0003]

However, according to the conventional handrail, outdoor use is more likely to be exposed to wind, rain and dust than indoor use, so that the use environment is much higher than indoor use. Outdoor service life is often a fraction of the time indoors. The cause will be described in detail below. (1) When a cotton fabric is used for the canvas layer, since the water absorption of cotton is high, the surface becomes slimy and becomes slippery after a long use. As a result, the handrail slips and does not rotate smoothly. If you try to rotate it forcibly, the tension of the handrail must be increased, and the life is shortened.

[0004] Further, rust is generated on the steel cord as a tension member due to the influence of moisture permeating from the surface of the canvas layer, and the function as a tension member is not achieved, and the handrail shrinks. As a result, the running resistance of the handrail increases, and the life of the handrail is significantly shortened. Continued use without noticing the above problems may result in increased damage to the handrail, shattering the canvas layer, exposing or popping out the steel cord, and possibly injuring the touched hand. . As described above, using a metal for the tension member has a problem in safety. (2) When polyester is used for the canvas layer, problems such as cotton fabric do not occur, but as long as metal is used for the tension member, the problem described in (1) is not solved. (3) When rayon, which is a synthetic fiber, is used for the tension member, compatibility with existing handrails is poor due to a large initial elongation. In addition, the length has to be adjusted during use because the length is further increased during use. Therefore, they are hardly used in practice. (4) In the case where the aramid fiber interwoven with the blind is used for the tension member, as shown in FIG. 6, when the tension member is bent, the unevenness 11 of the weft is formed on the surface of the decorative rubber 10.
Occurs. This is because, as shown in FIG. 7, the warp yarn 13 crossing the weft yarn at the weft yarn 12 floats when bent as shown in FIG. When unevenness of the weft yarn 12 occurs on the surface of the decorative rubber 10,
Not only does it impair the appearance, but if used as is, the service life can be significantly reduced.

As a solution to the above-mentioned problem (4), a structure has been proposed in which the weft is eliminated and only the cord 14 is used, as shown in FIG. However, it has been found that the warp still causes fraying 14a in the warp, and the warp emerges on the surface of the decorative rubber to impair the appearance. This embossment can be improved by increasing the number of twists of the warp or by reducing the thickness of the warp, but this results in even greater elongation than a steel cord-containing handrail and has not been put to practical use.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a handrail which is hardly deteriorated even when used outdoors and can improve safety and reliability.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a handrail which is used by being circulated along a guide rail or the like, which comprises two or more layers and is provided at the innermost position. A first layer composed of a polyester fiber or a polyamide fiber; a first warp made of aramid fiber; and a first warp provided along the first warp, the first warp being provided along the first warp. A tension member having a second warp for a smaller diameter binder, and a weft including a weft woven into the second warp, and having a pretension applied before molding, and a surface of the canvas. And a cosmetic rubber material to be provided.

According to this structure, the first layer of the canvas is made of a polyester fiber or a polyamide fiber having water absorption and microbial resistance more excellent than other materials, so that it can be used under severe outdoor conditions. Even if used, performance degradation can be prevented. Further, since no metal is used, rust does not occur, peeling, built-in components jump out, running performance is not deteriorated, and the safety, appearance, and life are improved. In addition, since the aramid fiber is used in a straight line, the elongation is greatly reduced, and compatibility with a conventional handrail becomes possible. In particular, it is possible to significantly reduce the initial elongation by applying pretension before molding.

[0009] The weft yarn may be a fiber having a thickness of 1/2 or less of the first warp yarn. According to this configuration, even if it contains moisture, it is prevented that a horizontal crack is formed,
The service life can be extended even when used outdoors. The tension member may have a width of 20 to 50 mm.

[0010] According to this configuration, it is possible to prevent the guide rail from coming off from the guide rail while having a specified tensile force, prevent the rigidity from becoming too high, and sufficiently increase the function as a hand rail while suppressing an increase in cost. Can be satisfied.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of a handrail according to the present invention. The handrail has a "C" shape, and the inside of the canvas 1 has multiple layers (here 5 layers)
, And the tension member 2 is arranged in the middle thereof. Further, a decorative rubber 3 is provided on the outer surface of the canvas 1. Although not shown, the canvas 1
Rubber is also provided between layers.

For the first layer of the canvas 1, a woven fabric of polyester fibers or polyamide fibers (nylon) is used. As shown in FIG. 2, polyester fibers and polyamide fibers are superior to materials such as cotton in terms of water absorption, abrasion resistance, dimensional stability, strength, microbial resistance, availability, and cost. You can see that it is. In particular, when it is used as an outdoor handrail, its excellent effects of water absorption and resistance to microbial degradation are maximized. The woven fabric is desirably densely woven so that rubber (not shown) inside the first layer of the canvas 1 does not flow to the surface during vulcanization.
Further, the canvas 1 is preferably subjected to an adhesive treatment in order to increase the adhesive strength with rubber. As described above, the canvas 1 is composed of five layers, but the material other than the first layer is not particularly specified. However, the same synthetic fiber as polyester, polyamide or the like as the first layer may be used, or natural fiber such as cotton may be used. Can also be used.

FIGS. 3 and 4 are front views showing the first and second structural examples of the tension member 2 (cross sections of the weft). The tension member 2 according to the present invention includes a straight and thick warp 21 (first warp) made of aramid fiber and a warp 22 of binder fiber thinner than this (second warp).
Of warp) and a weft 23 disposed so as to go under the warp 22. Here, the warp yarn 22 and the weft yarn 23
Is used to prevent the warp yarn 21 from tangling.

The reason why the aramid fiber is used for the warp yarn 21 is as follows.
This is to provide a tensile strength enough to replace the conventional steel cord. Aramid fibers have high strength, for example, a value of 25 to 30 kgf per 1500 denier. By twisting several of them, it is possible to easily obtain 50 to 200 kgf per cord. The pulling force of the handrail is practically 1000 kgf and 2000 kgf is sufficient if there is a margin, so there is no problem at all. Since the aramid fiber preferably has a small elongation, it is ideal to insert the tension member 2 as straight as possible as shown in FIGS. In addition, the tension member 2 is usually woven wide, treated with an adhesive, and coated on one or both sides with a thin rubber, but finally cut to a required width (20 mm to 50 mm) for use. Can be If the width is small, the specified tensile force cannot be obtained, and the rigidity is small and the opening force of the ear portion is small, so that it is easy to come off the guide rail. Conversely, if the width is large, the rigidity is increased, the bend is difficult, and the aramid fiber is expensive, which leads to an increase in cost.

In the conventional manufacturing process of a tension member containing a steel cord, in order to suppress elongation,
Molding is performed after the adhesive is applied or impregnated to the woven fabric. So-called heat setting, in which heat is applied in a tensioned state until molding, is performed. Therefore, in the present invention, when forming a tension member containing a steel cord, pretension is given before forming the handrail to suppress initial elongation. The heat setting conditions in this case are as follows: the warp yarn 22 and the weft yarn 2
Although it depends on the material of No. 3, in order to increase the effect, it is desirable to spend as much time as possible at a temperature as high as possible and as long as the heat setting is performed, as long as the characteristics of the material are not impaired.

FIG. 5 (showing the relationship between tensile load and elongation) shows a handrail according to the present invention manufactured by applying pretension and a comparative example according to the prior art. As comparative examples, A: a handrail with a steel cord, and B: a handrail with a rayon blind. In addition,
C is the characteristic of the handrail according to the present invention with pretension. C ′ is the characteristic of the handrail when no pretension is applied in the configuration of C.

As is clear from FIG. 5, the handrail with pretension according to the present invention has a slightly larger amount of elongation than that of the steel rail, but has a significantly smaller amount of elongation than handrails of other structures. You can see that it was done. Further, as shown by C ', it can be seen that even when the structure is the same as that of the present invention, the elongation becomes remarkable when no pretension is applied.

The warp yarn 22 as the binder fiber is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 4 and arranged on both sides of the warp 21 and woven so as to press the weft 23 against the warp 21, the warp 21 does not become straight like the warp 21. FIG. 3 shows a structure in which the warp yarns 22 are slightly shifted in the length direction, and FIG. 4 shows an arrangement in which the vertical positional relationship between the warp yarns 22 on both sides is reversed.

The warp yarn 22 does not need to be thick, and is at least thinner than aramid fiber. The warp 21 of the aramid fiber and the warp 22 of the binder fiber both enter in the longitudinal direction, and are inserted alternately. By doing so, a structure resistant to fraying can be obtained. In addition, any of polyester, polyamide, cotton and the like can be used for the warp yarn 22 and the weft yarn 23, and aramid fiber is suitable if cost is ignored. In addition, the warp yarn 22 and the weft yarn 23 can be made of the same material or can be selected separately.

In FIGS. 3 and 4, the warp 22
Are two, but may be one. Further, the number of the weft yarns 23 may be reduced so that the interval becomes rough. Conversely, the number of the weft yarns 23 may be increased, and the number of cycles of the warp yarns 22 may be increased. In addition, the warp 2 has a warp 2
It is desirable to use a fiber that is thinner than 1/2 of one aramid fiber. The present inventors attempted a continuous running life test using a weft yarn 23 having a thickness exceeding half of the thickness of the warp yarn 21. As a result, there was no problem in the test in the dry state, but in the test in which the first layer of the canvas 1 was sprayed with water, a horizontal crack was formed on the surface of the first layer of the canvas corresponding to the weft yarn 23. The lifespan before a horizontal crack is formed depends on the material used for the first layer of the canvas,
Although there is a difference depending on the weaving method, the thickness of the woven fabric, and the like, a tendency was observed that the thicker the material, the sooner the crack was formed. From the above results, the thickness of the weft yarn 23 is preferably reduced to 1/2 or less so as to withstand long-term outdoor use.

Further, the rubber 3 may be CSM or other suitable synthetic rubber. As the interlayer rubber used between the layers of the canvas 1 or the rubber for the tension member 2, synthetic rubber or natural rubber can be used.

[0022]

As described above, the present invention uses a polyester fiber or a polyamide fiber for the first layer of the canvas, and uses the first warp of the aramid fiber for the tension member and the first warp along the first warp. A woven fabric including a second warp yarn for a binder having a diameter smaller than that of the first warp yarn and a weft yarn woven into the second warp yarn is used, and a pretension is applied to the tension member before molding. With the configuration provided, the performance can be prevented from deteriorating even when used outdoors in a harsh environment.

Further, since no metal is used, rust does not occur, peeling, protrusion of built-in parts and deterioration of running performance do not occur, and safety, appearance and life are improved. Furthermore, since the aramid fiber is used in a straight line, the elongation is greatly reduced, and compatibility with a conventional handrail becomes possible. In particular, by applying pretension before molding, the elongation can be reduced in accordance with the steel cord.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of a handrail according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a comparative explanatory diagram for explaining the superiority of polyester fiber or polyamide fiber.

FIG. 3 is a front view showing a first configuration example of the tension member 2 according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a front view showing a second configuration example of the tension member 2 according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a characteristic diagram showing the relationship between tensile load and elongation of a handrail according to the present invention manufactured by applying pretension and a comparative example according to the prior art.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a state in which unevenness of the weft is generated on the surface of the decorative rubber when the tension member using the aramid fiber woven by the blinds is bent.

FIGS. 7A and 7B are cross-sectional views for explaining a cause of unevenness of the weft on the surface of the decorative rubber, where FIG. 7A shows a case where no bending occurs, and FIG. 7B shows a state where the warp floats due to bending. I have.

FIG. 8 shows a tension member having a twisted yarn structure,
(A) is a front view in a state where it is not bent, and (b) is a front view which shows a twisted and frayed state when bent.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 canvas 2 tension member 3 rubber 21 and 22 warp 23 weft

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Tatsuhiko Takahashi 1070 Ma, Hitachinaka-shi, Ibaraki Pref., Ltd. Inside the Mito Plant of Hitachi, Ltd. Inside Mito Plant (72) Inventor Takeo Takaboshi 1070 Ma, Hitachinaka City, Ibaraki Prefecture Inside Mito Plant of Hitachi, Ltd.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A handrail which is used by being circulated along a guide rail or the like, comprising: a canvas composed of two or more layers, a first layer provided on the innermost side being made of polyester fiber or polyamide fiber; A first warp of aramid fiber provided between layers of the canvas, a second warp for a binder disposed along the first warp and having a diameter smaller than that of the first warp;
A hand comprising: a tension member having a pretension given before molding; and a decorative rubber material provided on a surface of the canvas, which is constituted by a woven fabric including a weft woven into warp yarns. rail. 2. The handrail according to claim 1, wherein the weft yarn is a fiber having a thickness of 1/2 or less of the first warp yarn. 3. The tension member has a width of two.
The handrail according to claim 1, wherein the handrail has a length of 0 to 50 mm.