GB2173757A

GB2173757A - Improvements in passenger conveyors

Info

Publication number: GB2173757A
Application number: GB08604378A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Kazuhira Kohima; Chuichi Saito; Shoichi Nakao
Original assignee: Hitachi Ltd
Current assignee: Hitachi Ltd
Priority date: 1985-03-01
Filing date: 1986-02-21
Publication date: 1986-10-22
Also published as: GB2173757B; SG29089G; JPS61203089A; GB8604378D0; HK52389A; JPH0635314B2

Abstract

In a passenger conveyor of an auto-motive road type, in order to reduce the weight of the step (2) while providing the same with a footboard (9) increased in strength and width, and to allow them to have a stable footboard support structure suitable for conveyance of heavy goods, an additional frame (13 or 23) is located on the underside of the footboard at an intermediate portion widthwise thereof and extends with its end portions lapping over and fixed to front and rear beams of the footboard (9). A support member (18,20 or 24) is provided on the frame (13 or 23), and a guide rail (19, 21 or 25) is laid correspondingly to the support member. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Improvements in passenger conveyors The present invention relates generally to man or passenger conveyors for escalators or auto-motive roads, and more particulary to passenger footboards thereof improved in strength and a supporting construction therefor which are suitable for multiple purposes including not only conveyance of passengers but also transportation of heavy goods.

An auto-motive or electro-motive road of a horizontal or a gentle slope type is known in addition to the well-known escalator equipments as transportation facilities for personnel conveyance.

Man conveyors of this auto-motive road type are widely used as transport equipments, for instance, at railroad stations, airports or shopping centers, and they fulfill their function of mass transportation in every field.

Recently, however, man conveyors, particularly those of an auto-motive road type, are often utilized for conveyance of heavy goods such as passengers baggages at airports and shopping carts at shopping centers, so that the conventional design thought for only passengers having spread so far comes out of accord with the actual state of use of the man conveyors in strength, safety and life-span aspects.

In general, the step of an auto-motive road type man conveyor has a passenger footboard which is approximately one meter in width. Thus, the footboard is wide enough for two passengers to be carried side by side, It is desired, however, that the footboard is increased in width when the conveyor is used at a railroad or an airport where passengers carry large baggages with them.

There has been a proposal for step construction in response to the above demand, for example in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 172181/1983.

According to this proposal, an auxiliary roller is provided on the lower side of a footboard at the central portion widthwise thereof, and a guide rail along which the auxiliary roller rotationally moves is added so as to dispensively bear the load applied to the central portion of the footboard.

With the above construction, however, the step is generally increased in weightforthe reason that in accordance with the extension of width of the footboard, it is inevitably necessary to add reinforcements for strengthening the lower face of the footboard and to increase the rigidity of back and forth bases supporting the lower face of the footboard. Moreover, the above construction lacks practical consideration so that support portions for the added auxiliary roller are unbalanced and are short of strength. For these reasons, the step of this construction has not been used in any product yet.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a step of a man or passenger conveyor suitable for carrying heavy goods, wherein a footboard is increased in strength and width, and the step has a stable footboard supporting structure while being reduced in weight.

Illustrative embodiments of the invention will be described hereinunder with reference to the accompanying drawings, where: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a footboard and a guide rail of a man conveyor according to the invention; Figure 2 is a sectional perspective view as viewed along the line II - II of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a sectional view taken along the line Ill III of Figure 1; Figure 4 is a perspective view showing the rotating roller and the supporting rail of another embodiment of the invention; Figure 5 is a sectional view similar to Figure 3 but showing still another embodiment of the invention; Figure 6 is an enlarged view of an essential portion of the embodiment of Figure 5; and Figure 7 is an overall side view of a man conveyor.

Referring first to Figure 7, there is shown a electro-motive type passenger conveyor 1, which conveyor generally includes such essential elements as rotational members constituted by endlessly connected steps 2 and handrails 3, banisters 4, platforms or floors for getting on or off 5, driving wheels 6 and a main frame 7. In Figure 7, a passenger M is illustrated as riding on the conveyor and pushing a cart 8 to carry heavy goods.

The step 2 is constructed in such a manner as shown in Figures 1 to 3. More specifically, the body of a footboard 9 is constituted by a corrugated member in order to decrease its weight, which member is formed by bending a thin plate in a corrugated manner. Reinforcements 10a, 10b and 10c are securely attached to the back or underside of the footboard to extend in directions perpendicular to the corrugations of the footboard, respectively.

Also secured to the back of the footboard 9 at the front and rear ends thereof as viewed in the direction of movement of the step are a front beam 1 la and a rear beam 11 b. Further, frames 12, 12 and a frame 13 are provided on the back of the footboard 9 at its both lateral end portions and an intermediate portion therebetween, respectively. Each of these frames 12 and 13 extends between the front and rear beams with its both end portions lapping over the respective beams, and is fixed thereto by means of bolts B. A set of guide rollers 14 and 15 are rotatably mounted on either frame 12 for movement of the step 2 along guide rails 16 and 17 which are laid correspondingly to the guide rollers.On the other hand, the center frame 13 is provided at a middle portion of the length thereof with an auxiliary roller 18 which is mounted in parallel with the guide rollers 14 and 15 and serves as a support member. Also, a guide rail 19 is laid correspondingly to the auxiliary roller 18. The auxiliary roller 18 as well as the rollers 14 and 15 has a rubber tire fitted on the periphery of the roller.

In the construction described above, when a heavy load is applied to the footboard 9 for such reason that many passengers get on or heavy goods are put on the footboard 9 of the step 2, the load is transmitted to the guide rollers 14 and 15 through the reinforcements 1 0a-1 0c, front and rear beams 11a a and 11 b, and the frames 12 so as to be born by the rollers. At the same time, the additional frame 13 effectively disperses the load on the middle portion of the footboard 9 over the front beam 11 a and the rear beam 11 b, so that an amount of displacement or depression of the footboard 9 is suppresively minimized.The guide rail 19 is so arranged as to support a load which is transmitted thereto through the auxiliary roller 18 disposed in the middle of the center frame 13 when a higher load is applied to the footboard 9 to increase the amount of displacement thereof.

According to the above arrangement, even if the width of the footboard 9 is increased, the amount of displacement thereof can be effectively suppressed within a predetermined allowable level by virtue of the center frame 13 provided on the central portion of the underside of the footboard 9, without making the reinforcements 1 Oa-1 0c, front and rear beams 11 a and 11 b, and the frames 12 larger in size, or without increasing their rigidity.

Figure 4 shows another embodiment in which an auxiliary roller 20 serving as a support member is made of steel but has no rubber tire on the periphery thereof. In this embodiment, it is necessary to absorb noises caused by the rotation of the auxiliary roller 20 during the operation by providing on the surface of a guide rail 21 with a rubber sheet 22 which has an absorbing effect. The use of such a steel roller may increase the productivity of the auxiliary roller 20.

Further, Figures 5 and 6 show a modification of the support member to be provided on a centerframe. In this modification, a convex slider 24 is formed on the lower end of a center frame 23 in place of the auxiliary roller 18 or 20 of the foregoing embodiment. Similarly to either preceding embodiment, however, the frame 23 is located at an intermediate position between the right and left side frames 12, and extends between the front beam 11 a and the rear beam (not shown) with its end portions lapping over and fixed to the respective beams. At the position corresponding to that of the slider, a guide rail 25 is laid. According to this embodiment, it is possible to attain the same effect as that in the case of using the auxiliary roller 18 or 20.Moreover, if a guide rail 25 for receiving the slider 24 is made of a high molecular plastic material which has a small frictional coefficient and an absorbing effect, a more benefical effect may be attained.

It has been described in the foregoing that the auxiliary rollers 18 and 20 of the embodiments of Figures 1 to 4 are always rotate through the contact thereof with the corresponding guide rails 19 and 20.

It will be appreciated, however, that this is not exclusive, and that many modifications and changes may be made thereto within the scope of the appended claims. For instance, the auxiliary roller 18 or 20 may be so arranged as to be out of contact with the guide rail when no load is applied to the step and to be in contact with the guide rail when a load is applied to the step.

According to the present invention having been described above, it is possible to achieve the remarkable resu It that a footboard increased in strength and width is available while reducing the weightofa step.

Claims

1. In a passenger conveyor including a plurality of steps endlessly connected to each other and mounted movably on guide rails, each of said steps having a footboard, a front beam and a rear beam for supporting said footboard mounted on ront and rear portions of the underside thereof, respectively, frames located on opposite ends widthwise of said footboard and lapping over said front and rear beams to be fixed thereto, and guide rollers rotatably mounted on said frames, the improvement comprising: an additional frame located on the underside of said footboard at an intermediate portion widthwise thereof and extending between said front and rear beams with end portions of said additional frame lapping over and fixed to said respective beams; a support member mounted on said additional frame; and an additional guide rail laid correspondingly to said support member,

2. A passenger conveyor according to Claim 1, wherein said footboard is of a thin plate formed in a corrugation shape.

3. A passenger conveyor according to Claim 1, wherein said support member comprises an auxiliary roller.

4. A passenger conveyor constructed substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.