US1740121A - Moving stairway - Google Patents

Description

Dec. '17, 1929. M. c. SCHWAB 1,740,121

movxm snmwn Filed May 27. 1927 '5 Sheets-Sheet 1 H62 mverrrop k BY ATTORNEY Dec. 17 1929. c, sc w 1,740,121

MOVING STAIRWAY Filed May 27. 1927 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Mm CSM INVEHTQE 5 ATTORNEY Dec. 17, 1 929. Q SCHWAB "1,740,121

MOVING STAIRWAY Filed May 27,. 1927 S She'etSrSheet 5 156.5 fia 56.7

Ma/JZM C. M mvEn'ros Patented Dec; 17, 1929 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MARTIN C. SCHWAB, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO OTIS ELEVATOR COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY MOVING STAIRWAY Application filed May 27,

This invention relates to moving stairways.

One feature of the invention is the provision of a moving stairway in which the number of lanes of traflic may be varied.

A second feature of. the invention is to provide hand rails for moving stairways ofthe above character that will divide the trailic into a plurality of lanes.

A third feature of the invention lies in the provision of hand rails that may be readily removed from the moving stairway when desired.

A fourth feature of the invention is to provide hand rails that occupy a minimum of space.

Still another feature of the invention lies in the provision of hand rails that are readily installed and which are silent and positive in operation.

Other features and advantages will become apparent from the specification, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein the invention is embodied in concrete form.

In the drawings Figure 1 is an end view with parts broken away of the upper landing of a moving stairway made in accordance with this invention; Figure 2 is a view with parts broken away taken along line 22 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is an end view with parts broken away of the lower landing of themoving stairway of Figure 1;

Figure 4 IS a view with parts broken away taken along the line 4-4 of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a view taken along line 5--5 of Figure 2;

Figure 6 is a view similar to Figure 5 but illustrates a plurality of hand rails;

Figure 7 is a View taken along the line 77 of Figure 2; and

Figure 8 is a schematic view'in side elevation of a moving stairway and illustrates a side hand rail.

Referring to Figures 1 to 4 and to Figure 8, a moving stairway 1 extends between landings 3 and 4. The steps 5 of moving stairway 1 have their risers 6 secured to axles 7. Axles 7 have wheels 8 mounted upon their ends. Wheels 8 are arranged to ride on suit- 1927. Serial N0. 194,706.

the wheels 12. Driving sprockets 16 are secured to the driving shaft 22.

A driving motor 23 is arranged to drive the moving stairway 1. The shaft of motor 23 isoperativcly connected by means of a worm and worm wheel within a casing 24, a sprocket 25 mounted on the worm wheel shaft 19 and a sprocket chain 26 to a sprocket 27 sccuredto the driving shaft 22. A brake 28 is mounted on the motor shaft between the motor'23 and the casing 24.

Hand rails 30 and 31 are supported on the balustrades 32 and 33 at the sides of the moving stairway 1 and are movable along with the moving stairway. As both of these hand rails are arranged and drvien in a similar manner, the arrangement and drive for only one of them, namely, hand rail 30, will be described. As illustrated in Figure 8, the hand rail 30 extends around an idler pulley 34 positioned at landing 3. From pulley 34 this hand rail extends upwardly and over a pulley 35 positioned at the landing 4. From the pulley 35 the hand rail 30 extends around a pulley 36, around an inclined tightener pulley 37 and around a pulley 38 that is concentric with pulley 35. From pulley 38 the hand rail 30 extends downwardly around an idler pulley 40 and thence to pulley 34. A sprocket chain 41 extends around sprocket wheels 42 and 43 that are secured to the pulleys 38 and 36 respectively. From the sprocket wheels 43 the sprocket chain 41 extends around an adjustable idler sprocket 44 and around a driving sprocket wheel 45 that is secured to the driving shaft 22. From the driving sprocket wheel 45 the chain 41 extends around an idler sprocket 46 and thence to the sprocket wheel 42.

During the operation of the moving stairway, the driving sprocket wheel 45 turns with the driving shaft 22 and causes the sprocket chain 41 to drive the sprocket wheels 42 and 43 so that the pulleys 38 and 36 revolve and effect movement of the hand rails 30 and 3 1 in synchronism with the moving stairway 1.

According to the preferred arrangement, a balustrade 47 (Figures 1 to 5) extends be tween landings 3 and 4 and is positioned between the balustrades 32 and 33. The lower end portion 48 of the balustrade 47 is supported upon the landing 3 while the higher end portion 50 of the balustrade is supported upon the landing 4. These end portions of balustrade 47 are retained in fixed position on the landings 3 and 4 as bybolts. The intermediate portion 51 of this balustrade ex tends above the moving stairway 1. A hand rail 52 is supported on the balustrade 47. Hand rail 52 extends around an idler pulley 53 positioned at the landing 3. From the idler-pulley 53 the hand rail 52 extends upwardly along the balustrade 47. A guide 55 is secured to a stationary subrail 49 that is mounted upon the hollow frame 54 ofbalustrade 47 and guides the hand rail 52 along this balustrade. See also Figure 7. At the landing 4 the hand rail 52 extends over an idler pulley 56, thence around a pulley 57 at the end of the balustrade and thence around a pulley 58. From the pulley 58 the hand rail twists through anangle of one hundred and eighty degrees and extends around a tightener pulley 60. From the tightener pulley 60 the hand rail extends over an idler pulley 61, thence, twisting through an angle of one hundred and eighty degrees, it extends within the frame 54 to the lower end portion 48 of the balustrade and under an idler pulley 62. From the idler pulley 62 the hand rail 52 extends to the idler pulley 53. Pulleys 53, 56, 57, 58, 60, 61 and 62 are mounted on shafts that are carried by the frame 54 of the balustrade 47.

The shaft supporting the tightener pulley 60 is secured to a bracket 63 that is slidably mounted upon guide rods 64' and 65. Guide rods 64 and 65 have their ends secured to angle bars 66 and 67 constituting a part of the frame 54. One end of a threaded rod 68 is secured to the bracket 63 and the other end of this rod extends through an aperture provided in the an le bar 66. A hand wheel 70 is threaded on t e free endof the rod 68 and I a reduced portion 72 of the worm wheel shaft 19. A sprocket chain .7 3'exteiids around the s rocket wheel 71 and is arranged to drive e hand rail 52. From the sprocket wheel 71 the chain 73 extends upwardly and around a tightener s rocket wheel 74. From the tightener sproc et wheel 74 the chain 73 extends around a sprocket wheel 75 that is concentric with and is secured to the pulley 57. From the sprocket wheel 75 the chain 73 extends around a sprocket wheel 76 that is concentric with and is secured to the pulley 58. From the sprocket wheel 7 6 the chain 73 extends over, an idler sprocket wheel 77 and thence to the driving sprocket wheel 71.

The tightener sprocket wheel 74 is adapted to tighten the sprocket chain 73 in the same manner as the tightener pulley 60 is adapted to tighten the hand rail 52. The hand wheel used for adjusting the position of the tightener sprocket wheel 74 is designated 69. A door 79 is provided in the balustrade 47 in order to provide access to the hand wheels 70 and 69.

During the operation of the moving stairway 1 the sprocket wheel 71 turns with the worm wheel shaft 19 and causes the sprocket chain 73 to revolve the sprocket wheels 75 and 76. Pulleys 57 and 58 turn with the sprocket wheels 75 and 76 and cause the hand rail 52 to move along with the hand rails 30 and 31 and with the moving stairway 1. Owing to the ratio of the various sprocket wheels used in driving the hand rails, these. rails move at a surface speed that is the same as that of the moving stairway 1.

As' illustrated in Figure 6, the intermediate balustrade 47 may carry two hand rails 78 and 81 instead of the single hand rail 52. In this event the hand rail pulleys are duplicated but only one sprocket chain is used for driving the hand rail. Chain 80 drives sprockets 82 and 83. Each of these sprockets is secured to a pair of adjacent hand rail pulleys.

If desired, the balustrade 47 may be completely removed from the moving stairway 1 by disconnecting the bolts holding this balustrade to the landings 3 and 4 and by removing the sprocket chain 73 from the driving sprocket wheel 71. In this event the moving stairway. Several advantages result from' this, for example, by suitable partitions either at the upper or lower landings, or at both landings, with the removable balustrades in place, traflic may be guided from and to different areas such as different departments in a department store.

A further advantage, especially in connection with double file moving stairways, is that the center balustrade prevents a passenger from occupying more than his share of the width of the moving stairway so that the carrying capacity of the stairway is considerably increased;

Any number of intermediate hand rails and supporting balustrades may be positioned over the moving stairway 1, depending upon the requirements of the particular installation.

As many changes could be made in the above construction and many apparently widely difi'ercnt embodiments of this invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

-' What is claimed is:

1. ,In combination, a moving stairway, and a a movable hand rail forsaid stairway, said hand rail extending above said stairway and arranged to divide the traffic on said stairway.

2. In combination, a moving stairway, a movable hand rail for said stairway extending in the direction of motion thereof, said hand rail being positioned intermediate the sides of the stairway to divide the stairway into two lanes, and a balustrade for supporting said hand rail, said balustrade extending above said stairway and being supported upon the landings served by said stalrway, said balustrade and hand rail being removable to join said lanes into a single lane.

3; In combination, a moving stairway, movable hand rails extending along the sides of said stairway, a movable hand rail extending along the central portion of said stairway, an (ll means for driving said movable hand rai s.

4. In combination, a moving stairway, and v a plurality of hand rails for said stairway, said hand rails extending in the direction of motion of said stairway and dividing the traffic on said stairway into a plurality of lanes.

5. In combination, a moving stairway, a. balustrade positionedintermediate the sides of said stairway and extending in the direction of movement of said stairway, and a movable endless hand rail carried by said balustrade, the longitudinal centerlines of the runs of said endless hand rail being in a common plane.

6. In combination, a moving stairway, abalustrade positioned intermediate the sides of said stairway and extending in the direction ofmovementof said stairway, pulleys .carried by said balustrade, an endless hand rail extending along said balustrade and around said pulleys, and means for driving one of said pulleys so as to cause said hand rail to movein synchronism with said stairway. a v

'7. In" combination, a moving stairway, a

I balustrade positioned intermediate the. sides of said moving stairway and extending ii the direction of movement of said moving stairway, pulleys carried by said balustrade,

having all points of its longitudinal center- 7 line in a common plane, means for driving one of said pulleys so as to cause said hand rail to move in synchronism with said stairway and means for moving another of said pulleys so as to eliminate slack in said hand rail.

'In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

MARTIN C. SCHWAB.

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