ESCALATOR CONTROLLER ARRANGEMENT The present invention is concerned with passenger conveyer systems, such as escalators and, more particularly, with the configuration and location of the escalator controller.

A typical passenger conveyer, such as an escalator or moving walkway, includes a frame, balustrades with moveable handrails, tread plates or steps, a drive system and a step chain for propelling the tread plates.

The frame includes a truss section on both the left and right hand side of the frame. Each truss section has two end portions forming landings, connected by an inclined midsection. The upper landing usually houses the escalator drive system or machine which is positioned in a machine space between the trusses, beyond the step chain, where the tread plates or steps turn around at the top of the escalator incline.

The escalator controller is generally located below the drive or machine in the machine area at the end of the step band.

The amount of space required by an escalator in a building, also known as its'footprint'is defined by the frame or truss which encloses the elevator steps or treads, the elevator drive system, the balustrade, the landings and the machine area containing the machine and the controller. The overall length of the'footprint' corresponding to the length of the truss is also known as the'Distance Between Ends'or DBE.

It is desirable that escalators take up as little space as possible whilst providing the necessary travel and, in recent years, there has been focus on reducing the footprint of an escalator wherever possible.

Apart from the actual length to be travelled by the escalator steps, which is, of course, set by the requirements of the building, the DBE has been determined, in previous systems, by the size of the machine area which, as mentioned above, is located in the space beyond the turnarounds of the steps and this space defines the minimum truss length or DBE. In addition to the fact that this space beyond the turnaround is required to house the machine and the controller, it has also been necessary, with existing escalator systems, to provide sufficient space there for a person to enter that space at the end of the truss in order to remove steps, e. g. for repair or maintenance, since steps cannot, in such systems, be removed elsewhere in the escalator.

In recent years a new generation of escalators has been developed such as the escalator system by Otis elevator company described in e. g. US 6547573, WO 02/44072 and WO 02/44071. Such systems include various new developments including the location of the drive machine in the incline of the escalator, rather than in the space beyond the turnaround at the top landing.

Thus, in such systems, the drive system is located along the balustrade or in the step chain which provides a more compact arrangement and, therefore, saves space at the ends of the escalator.

Another feature of this new generation of escalators is that individual steps mounted in the escalator train can be removed in the incline, rather than having to be removed in the turnaround portion of the escalator path in the landing. Various aspects of the new system are disclosed in US Patent Nos. 6547573 B1 and in WO 02/44072 and WO 02/44071.

Thus, the DBE is not limited by the size of the machine located beyond the turnaround as in the prior

art and does not have to be of a particular length to allow a person to enter that space to remove steps, since the steps can be removed from the incline.

As mentioned above, in previous systems, and in the new generation of systems, the controller is located in the machine room, or where the machine room was previously located, beyond the turnaround under the landing.

This clearly adds to the DBE to some extent.

Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a controller and an escalator system in which the controller is configured and located so as to minimize the DBE for an escalator.

Thus, according to one aspect, the present invention provides an elevator controller unit being shaped and configured such that at least part of the controller unit fits between the portion of an escalator where the steps turn around and the floor plate of a landing.

Preferably, the entire controller fits in this space and a preferred shape is a wedge-shaped controller having a curved surface to follow the curved path of the step turnaround.

Whilst this particular arrangement will have space saving advantages in all types of escalators, it is, as will be appreciated, particularly advantageous in the reduced footprint generation of escalators in which the machine is located in the incline rather than in a machine room at the end of the turnaround.

According to a second aspect of the invention,

there is provided a passenger conveyor system comprising a plurality of tread plates connected by a step chain, said plurality of tread plates passing through a turnaround area in which said plurality of tread plates change heading along a path, and a floor plate located above said turnaround area and defining part of a landing, said passenger conveyer system further comprising a control unit located between said turnaround area and said floor plate.

Whilst existing controllers could, perhaps, fit, to some extent, between the turnaround of the elevator steps and the floor plate of the landing, existing controllers have, previously, not been restricted in size and shape, since the DBE has, in any case, been defined by the size of the machine which is generally larger than that of the controller.

Since the focus is generally on reducing the footprint as much as possible and there is also focus on making escalators as inexpensive and easy to maintain as possible, it is also an object of the invention to provide an elevator controller satisfying these needs.

Existing controllers generally comprise electrical components and/or a printed circuit board and appropriate wires and connectors mounted on a plate or a backplate within a generally rectangular sheet metal box. The rigid rectangular shape of such a controller, however, will not best optimise the available space in escalators according to the first aspect of the invention mentioned above. Furthermore, with such controllers, there is no clear definition of the locations of the various components and these can, if not installed by an expert, become interchanged or incorrectly connected. Furthermore, since the housing of the controller is a sheet metal box, there is a risk

of electric shock and/or skin burning when touched.

Such metal boxes can also be fairly heavy and relatively expensive to manufacture.

It is, therefore, a further aim of the present invention to provide an improved controller. Thus, according to a third aspect of the invention, there is provided a controller unit comprising a foam body in which the electronic components of the controller unit are embedded, the outer surface of said foam body also defining the outer surface of the controller unit.

It is known to embed electronic components and electrical components of units such as controller units in a foam material, the foam material then being mounted inside a sheet metal box. Mounting of electronic components in foam is described, for example, in WO 01/20735 and EP 0743813. Whilst such controllers can be used in the context of the first aspect of the present invention, a controller unit according to the third aspect of the present invention overcomes some of the problems described above.

With the foam structure of the controller, wherein both the packaging and the controller itself are within the same foam body, and wherein the various components are mounted within the foam, the positions of the various parts are defined and non-interchangeable. The non-electrical surface of the foam controller prevents electric shock and/or skin burning when touched.

Furthermore, the foam controller is lightweight, slightly smaller than such a controller with a metal casing and less expensive to manufacture. Also, with such a foam structure, it is possible, in an efficient way, to form controllers having shapes other than rectangular, e. g. curved shapes. Thus, particularly in the context of the first two aspects of the present invention, such a controller can be specifically shaped

to fit optimally in the available space between the step turnarounds and the floor plate, thus minimising the space required and, therefore, minimising the footprint of the escalator.

It should be noted, however, that although the foam controller described above is particularly advantageous when used in the context of the first two aspects of the present invention, such a controller would also have advantages when used in any other escalator system such as known in the prior art, since the advantages of cost, the defined non-interchangeable positions of the parts, the removal of the risk of electrical shock and the weight and size advantages are important in all types of escalator.

Preferred embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Figure 1A shows a perspective view of a standard escalator; Figure 1B shows a view of the step chain mechanism of a portion of the standard escalator shown in Figure 1A ; Figure 2 shows an escalator of the new, space- saving generation in which the machine is mounted in the incline of the escalator path and in which the steps are removable; Figures 3A and 3B show the location of a controller in accordance with different embodiments of the present invention; and Figure 4 is a perspective view of a controller in accordance with the present invention.

Referring first to Figs. 1A, 1B and 2, the escalator comprises a frame with balustrades and

moveable handrails 1, tread plates or steps 2 which move in a continuos path up or down an incline and then change heading at a turnaround area at either end of the incline. The turnaround area is indicated by reference numeral 5 in Figure 1B. The tread plates or steps are propelled by a step chain 3. The entire escalator and its machine and controller (not shown in Figures 1A and 1B) are enclosed by a truss 4 which defines the footprint of the escalator.

In a standard escalator such as shown in Figures 1A and 1B, the drive machine, sprocket and controller would be located in the machine space in the upper landing beyond the upper turnaround area of the escalator and, therefore, sufficient space needs to be enclosed by the truss in this area for the entire machine and also, as discussed above, for a person to stand in this space to remove steps.

Figure 2 shows a modified escalator system such as the systems described in the above mentioned patents of Otis Elevator Company. The basic components are essentially as described above in relation to the standard escalator. However, as shown in Figure 2, in the modified escalator, the machine components 6 are, in fact, mounted in the incline of the escalator rather than beyond the upper turnaround below the upper landing. Furthermore, in this new generation of escalators, the individual steps are removable in the incline. This means, as described above, that it is not necessary to have such a large space defined by the truss at the ends of the escalator beyond the turnaround areas.

Figures 3A and 3B show how the controller of the present invention is arranged in the escalator, particularly in an escalator such as shown in Figure 2 where there is no large machine space beyond the end of

the turnaround. Figure 3A shows the controller 7 mounted at the landing at the bottom of the incline.

Figure 3B shows the controller 7 mounted at the top turnaround.

As can be seen from Figures 3A and 3B, the controller 7 is mounted in the existing space between the turnaround and the floor plate of the landing and is shaped and configured so as to fit in the available space. Thus, in the preferred embodiment shown, the controller is provided with a curved front surface which matches the curve of the turnaround and the steps, thus optimising space. The top and back walls of the controller are flat to match the floor plate and the back wall of the truss.

As described above, in the most preferred embodiment, the controller unit has a foam body which forms the controller itself as well as its housing and the various leads and components are embedded in the foam. This makes the controller outer shape easier to fashion to match the curve of the turnaround and other parts of the elevator system.

Figure 4 shows, again, the controller of the preferred embodiment of the present invention which is formed to fit closely to the turnaround of the steps.

With the controller location and shape of the present invention, the DBE of an escalator, particularly an escalator having the features of the Nextstep escalator, is significantly reduced.