WO2005075332B1

WO2005075332B1 - Travelator, moving ramp or escalator

Info

Publication number: WO2005075332B1
Application number: PCT/FI2005/000043
Authority: WO
Filing date: 2005-01-21
Publication date: 2006-01-26

Abstract

A travelator, moving ramp or escalator for transporting people, comprising a people mover (1); a balustrade (2) extending alongside the people mover throughout its length. The balustrade comprises a handrail belt (3) formed as an endless loop and having an upper handhold portion (4), which the passenger can grasp with a hand for support, a lower return portion (5), and a turn-around portion (6) between the handhold portion and the return portion. The balustrade frame (7) comprises a turn-around guide (8) at the end of the balustrade to form a so-called turn-around to support and guide the turn-around portion (6) of the handrail belt. The turn-around guide (8) comprises a number of pressure rollers (9) arranged as a sequence in the form of a circular arc, spaced by a distance from each other. In addition, a drive assembly (10) is provided to move the handrail belt. The drive assembly comprises a drive belt (11) formed as an endless loop and having a contact portion (12), which is in driving contact with the handrail belt (3) over a predetermined length, and a power means (13) for driving the drive belt. The contact portion (12) of the drive belt (11) is passed over the sequence of pressure rollers (9) between the pressure rollers (9) and the turnaround portion (6) of the handrail belt (3).

Claims

AMENDED CLAIMS[Received by the International Bureau on 14 November 2005 (14.11.2005): original claims 1-13 unchanged; new claims 14 and 15 added] 17CLAIMS

1. A travelator, moving ramp or escalator for trans¬ porting people, comprising - a people mover (1) ;

- a balustrade (2) extending alongside the people mover throughout its length, said balustrade comprising

-- a handrail belt (3) formed as an endless loop and having an upper handhold portion (4) , which the passenger can grasp with a hand for support, a lower return portion (5), and a turn-around portion (6) between the handhold portion and the return por¬ tion, -- a balustrade frame (7), which comprises a turn-around guide (8) provided at the end of the bal¬ ustrade to form a so-called turn-around and to support and guide the turn-around portion (6) of the handrail belt, said turn-around guide (8) comprising a number of pressure rollers (9) arranged as a sequence in the form of a circular arc, spaced by a distance from each other; and

- a drive assembly (10) for moving the hand¬ rail belt, said drive assembly comprising a drive belt (11) formed as an endless loop and having a contact portion (12) which is in driving contact with the handrail belt (3) over a predetermined length, and a power^' means (13) for driving the drive belt, c ha r ¬ a c t e r i z e d in that the contact portion (12) of the drive belt (11) is passed over at least some of the pressure rollers (9) of the turn-around guide (8), be¬ tween the pressure rollers (9) and the turn-around portion ^"(6) of the handrail belt (3) .

2. A travelator, moving ramp or escalator according to claim 1, c ha r a c t e r i z e d in that the pressure

AMENDED SHEET (ARTICLe 18

rollers (9) are arranged in a sequence forming a cir¬ cular arc of about 180°.

3. A travelator, moving ramp or escalator according to claim 1 or 2, cha r a c t e r i z e d in that the drive belt (11) is passed substantially over all the pres¬ sure rollers (9) .

4. A travelator, moving ramp or escalator according to any one of claims 1 - 3, c ha r a c t e r i z e d in that the drive assembly (10) comprises a deflection roller (14) located at one end of the sequence of pressure rollers (9), and a driving roller (15) located at the other end of the sequence of pressure rollers (9), said driving roller (15) being arranged to be rotated by the power means (13) .

5. A travelator, moving ramp or escalator according to claim 4, cha r a c t e r i z e d in that the deflection roller (14) is placed at the upper end of the sequence of pressure rollers (9) and the driving roller (15) is placed at the lower end of the sequence of pressure rollers .

6. A travelator, moving ramp or escalator according to any one of claims 1 - 5, c ha r a c t e r i z e d in that the drive belt (11) formed as an endless loop comprises a return portion (16), which in the drive belt loop is on the side opposite to the contact por- tion (12) ; and that the drive assembly (10) comprises a number of back-tension rollers (17) arranged in a sequence in the form of an arc at a distance from each other between the deflection roller (14) and the driv¬ ing roller (15) near the sequence of pressure rollers (9), the return portion (6) of the drive belt (11) be¬ ing passed over said back-tension rollers (17) .

AMENDED SHEET (ARTICLE 19^} 19

7. A travelator, moving ramp or escalator according to any one of claims 1 - 6, c ha r a c t e r i z e d in that the drive belt (11) is a toothed belt with toothing on the inner side of the drive belt loop; and that the driving roller (15) is a toothed sprocket.

8. A travelator, moving ramp or escalator according to claim 7, c ha r a c t e r i z e d in that some of the pressure rollers (9) are toothed sprockets.

9. A travelator, moving ramp or escalator according to any one of claims 1 - 8, c ha r a c t e r i z e d in that the handrail belt (3) is in cross-section a substan¬ tially a C-shaped profile with a groove (18) inside it, which groove is delimited by a bottom (19) and side walls (20) and which opens inwards into the hand¬ rail belt loop; and that the contact portion (12) of the drive belt (11) is in frictional contact with the bottom (19) of the groove (18) .

10. A travelator, moving ramp or escalator according to any one of claims 1 - 9, c ha r a c t e r i z e d in that the drive assembly (10) for driving the handrail belt (3) is disposed at the exit end of the travela- tor, moving ramp or escalator relative to the trans¬ port direction.

11. A travelator, moving ramp or escalator according to any one of claims 1 - 10, c ha r a c t e r i z e d in that the drive assembly (10) for driving the handrail belt (3) is disposed at the entry and exit ends of the travelator, moving ramp or escalator.

12. A travelator, moving ramp or escalator according to any one of claims 1 - 11, c ha r a c t e r i z e d in that the turn-around guide (8) comprises a frame (21) to which the shafts of the pressure rollers (9) , back-

AMENDEDSHEET(ARTICLE19} 20

tension rollers (17), deflection roller (14) and/or driving roller (15) are connected.

13. A travelator, moving ramp or escalator according to any one of claims 1 - 12, c ha r a c t e r i z e d in that the travelator, moving ramp or escalator is a travelator, moving ramp or escalator of low construc¬ tion designed to be mounted on a fixed base, such as a floor or other support.

14. A travelator, moving ramp or escalator according to any one of claims 1 - 13, c ha r a c t e r i z e d in that the power means (13) is placed on one side of the balustrade.

15. A travelator, moving ramp or escalator for trans¬ porting people, comprising

- a people mover (1) ;

-- a handrail belt (3) formed as an endless loop and having an upper handhold portion (4) , which the passenger can grasp with a hand for support, a lower return portion (5), and a turn-around portion (6) between the handhold portion and the return por¬ tion,

-- a balustrade frame (7), which comprises a turn-around guide (8) provided at the end of the bal- ustrade to form a so-called turn-around and to support and guide the turn-around portion (6) of the handrail belt, said turn-around guide (8) comprising a number of pressure rollers (9) arranged as a sequence in the form of a circular arc, spaced by a distance from each other; and

- a drive assembly (10) for moving the hand¬ rail belt, said drive assembly comprising a drive belt

AiENDED SHEET (ARTICLE r' 21

(11) formed as an endless loop and having a contact portion (12) which is in driving contact with the handrail belt (3) over a predetermined length, the contact portion (12) of the drive belt (11) is passed over at least some of the pressure rollers (9) of the turn-around guide (8), between the pressure rollers (9) and the turn-around portion (6) of the handrail belt (3) and a power means (13) for driving the drive belt, the power means (13) being on a side of a balus- trade.

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