Passenger transportation device

The present invention relates to a passenger transportation device as e.g. an escalator or a moving side walk, comprising at least one moving handrail arrangement. The moving handrail arrangement comprises a handrail belt and a handrail drive for the handrail belt. With this arrangement it is ensured that the handrail belt moves with about the same velocity as the pallets or support surface on which the passengers are standing.

Usually, the handrail belt runs between direction changing areas where the handrail belts are lead from an upper guiding track where the handrail belt is guided to be used by passengers driving with the transportation device to a lower return path via wheels whereby in known solutions at least one of these wheels has been driven by a drive motor so as to drive the handrail belt in about the same velocity as the transportation device via the friction between the drive wheel and the handrail belt. As this solution is quite clumsy and voluminous a kind of linear handrail drive has been proposed in JP 6-227782.

This known solution provides in the return path of the handrail belt a handrail drive which consists of a toothed endless belt running around two drive wheels whereby the toothed outer surface of the toothed endless belt interacts with a toothed surface on the inner part of the C-profile like handrail belt. The advantage of this arrangement is that the large drive wheels in the direction changing areas are avoided. The disadvantage of this device is that the handrail belt has to be provided on its inner part with the toothed surface, which surface is therefore not able to be used as a guide surface for the handrail belt in the upper guiding track of the handrail belt where the handrail belt is guided on a handrail guide to be gripped by passengers. The passenger transportation device of JP 6-227782 corresponds to a passenger transportation device according to the preamble of claim 1.

In this object of the invention to provide a passenger transportation device having a space saving handrail drive which does not need a modification of the handrail belt.

This object is solved with a passenger transportation device of claim 1. Preferred embodiments of the invention are subject matter of the sub-claims.

The passenger transportation device of the invention comprises at least one moving handrail arrangement, which comprises a handrail-belt and a handrail drive. The handrail drive comprises an endless-loop drive member, which drives the handrail belt in a contact section wherein the force is transmitted from the drive member to the handrail belt. According to the invention the endless loop drive member of the handrail drive is provided with suction cup means which are arranged to come into contact with the handrail belt in the contact section. By this contact of the suction cup means of the drive member with the handrail belt at least one cavity under sub-atmospheric pressure is formed which sub-atmospheric pressure is used to increase the adhesion between the drive member and the handrail belt so that the drive force can be transmitted from the drive member to the handrail belt. The advantage of this solution is that no toothed drive surface has to be provided on the handrail belt. The handrail belt is usually a multi layer belt comprising an inner steel and /or textile material layer covered with a polymer or rubber surface. The usual smooth rubber surface of such known handrail belt co-acts in a very favourable manner with the suction cup means of the present invention to enhance the gripping between the endless loop drive member and the handrail belt. Therefore, the present invention enables via the increase of the adhesion and /or frictional force between the handrail belt and the drive member via the suction cup means. Accordingly the invention offers a space saving handrail drive which does not necessitate any modification of per so known handrail belts.

The suction cup means can be smaller or larger suction cups which are arranged on the drive member so as to protrude form the drive member's surface or within the drive member (within the thickness of the drive member) of the handrail drive. Essentially for both embodiments is the generation of sub-atmospheric pressure in the cavity /cavities between the suction cups means and the handrail belt by which the handrail belt is tightly drawn to the drive member. Hereby e.g. the frictional force is increased so as to allow the transmission of force from the drive member to the handrail.

Of course, the suctions cup means can also be provided as notches or recesses within the drive member, particularly if the drive member itself is a belt with a somewhat elastic surface layer. Furthermore, the suction cup means can also be provided as simple perforations in the drive member which are in the contact section connected with a vacuum generating means so that the friction between the handrail belt and the drive member is enhanced via a sub- atmospheric pressure which is provided from the vacuum via generating means via the perforations in the drive member to the surface of the handrail belt.

It should be clear for the skilled person that the invention is applicable for each kind of passenger transportation device as escalators, moving side walks as well as passenger conveyors in which either pallets or transportation belts or chains built the support area for the passengers to be transported.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention the suction cup means are elastic and the distance between the drive member and the handrail belt is smaller in a first part of the contact section than in a second part of the contact section following the first part in line with the direction of the drive member. By this means the suction cup means of the drive member is pressed more intensely to the handrail belt which leads to a reduction of the volume in the cavity between the suction cup means and the handrail belt. By keeping the distance between the drive member and the handrail belt in a second part of the contact section larger than in the first part the deformation of the suction cup means in that second part is smaller than in the first part resulting in an increase of the volume of the cavity between the suction cup means and the surface of the handrail belt in that second part whereby a sub-atmospheric pressure in that cavity is generated which keeps the handrail belt in a strong frictional contact with the drive member.

It should be clear that the handrail drive can be located either on the inner part of the C-profile handrail belt which is usually used for guiding purposes or in the outer part which is gripped by the passengers in the upper guiding track of the handrail belt. It should be clear for the skilled person that a main factor of the force increase between the drive member of the handrail drive and the handrail belt is an increase of frictional force in the remaining direct contact areas between the handrail belt surface and the suction cup means or the drive member surface (where the suction cup means are embedded in the drive member). But also a very small elastic deformation can occur in the handrail belt in the contact areas with the suction cup means, which also increase the immovability between the drive member and the handrail belt as a kind of very soft indenting. Therefore, the increase of adhesion and immovability between the handrail belt and drive member may not only be caused by frictional force.

Advantageously the handrail drive is located in the return path of the handrail belt, in which return path the handrail belt is guided not visible for passengers from the end of the passenger transportation device to the beginning thereof. As the return path is not visible the rail drive can be located there in any location which is well accessible for maintenance personnel or adapted for the installation of the handrail drive because of other reasons.

Another advantageous location of the handrail drive is the direction changing area of the handrail belt whereby the handrail drive is located at a position where normally the return wheels are located. The advantage of this position is that the tension of the endless loop handrail belt presses the handrail belt in the direction changing area against the drive member of the handrail drive which again improves the friction and the mutual appearance between the handrail belt and the drive member. In a further advantageous embodiment of the invention the suction cup means comprise mechanical means to change the volume of the suction cup means or to release the suction cup means from an adhering surface. These mechanical means in connection with suction cups are per se known from suction cup holders for navigation systems in cars (e.g. US 2009294609) wherein a lever is provided to enlarge the volume of the suction cup after the suction cup has been pressed to the window. By this enlargement a sub- atmospheric pressure is established in the cavity between the suction cup and adhering surface. Another means of that kind is shown e.g. in US 5,176,357 where a lever is used to release the suction cup from a adhering surface. These mechanical means can be fixedly arranged at the beginning and/ or the end of the contact section to establish the sub-atmospheric pressure in the cavity between the suction cub means and the handrail belt and/ or to facilitate the releasing of the suction cup means from the handrail belt at the end of the contact section. This enables a smooth and reliable operation of the handrail drive.

In this kind of suction cup the mechanical means comprise advantageously comprise an actuator as e.g. a lever which is designed to be actuated by an actuating means arranged in fixed relationship to the contact section. Accordingly , a first actuating means, e.g. a rod, could be provided at the beginning of the contact section to push a lever of the suction cup means from a releasing position in a vacuum establishing position and at the end of the contact section a second actuating means could be provided to turn the lever back from the vacuum position to the release position. This arrangement enables on one hand a defined vacuum generation already at the beginning of the contact section and therefore a good adhesion between the handrail belt and the drive member and on the other hand an unobstructed release of the suction cup means from the handrail belt at the end of the contact section thereby avoiding any undue deformation of the handrail belt and /or the suction cup means. This enables a reliable and smooth operation of the handrail drive.

The above statements related to suction cup means wherein generation of sub- atmospheric pressure in the cavity between the suction cup means and the handrail belt based on a deformation of the elastic suction cup means. Of course, also vacuum generating means as e.g. vacuum pump can be provided to ensure the adherence between the drive member and the handrail belt via suction cup means. In this case the suction cup means need not necessarily be very elastic and the suction cup means can be provided within the drive member in form of perforations or openings. In this case vacuum generating means provides a vacuum chamber which is arranged on the backside of the drive member in the contact section so that the vacuum from that vacuum chamber is lead via the openings or perforations in the drive member to the handrail belt which is thereby drawn against the drive member. Hereby the mutual adherence between handrail belt and drive member is enhanced. The advantage of this embodiment is that the friction or adherence between handrail belt and drive member can be adjusted via the vacuum level in the vacuum chamber and on the other hand as no elastic suction cups have to be provided in the suction cup means but only openings or perforations which do not need to be elastic there is no wear of the suction cup means and therefore this arrangement has a very long lifetime. Advantageously, the handrail drive comprises two wheels around which the drive member is running. This embodiment is very easy and reliable and reduces the costs for installation and maintenance. In this case one of both wheels or both wheels can be driven by a drive motor to provide the drive force for the drive member. The wheels can alternatively and advantageously also be driven by a drive already present in the passenger transportation means, e.g. the drive of the transportation means itself. This obviates the need of a separate handrail drive motor so that the handrail drive acts more or less as a transmission means for transmitting the drive force from the passenger transportation drive to the handrail belt.

A further very advantageous solution does not need an own drive for the handrail at all. In this advantageous embodiment the drive member obtains its drive force via a contact zone in which the passenger transportation device drive means or the transportation surface of the passenger transportation device is in contact with the suction cup means of the drive member so that the drive member obtains the drive force from the drive means in the same way as it further transmits this drive force to the handrail belt. In this embodiment the identical suction cup means are provided to perform the force transmission between the transportation device drive means and the drive member of the handrail drive as well as the force transmission between the handrail drive member and the handrail belt. Thereby, a separate drive for the handrail can be omitted, reducing the costs of the passenger transportation device in total.

A further advantage of the invention is that the friction between the drive member of the handrail drive and the handrail belt is not obtained via pressure rollers which always cause an essential deformation of the handrail belt in the contact area. Such a known system is shown e.g. in US 3,414,109.

The handrail drive can be provided in contact with the outer part of the C- profile handrail belt which is gripped by persons or with the inner part which is generally used for guiding purposes. Therefore, the open unrestricted design or construction of the handrail drive leaves plenty of choice for the constructors of escalators or moving side walks. The invention is now described in an exemplary way by means of embodiments in connection with the appended drawings. In these show:

Figure 1 a very schematic side view of the arrangement of the handrail drive in a direction changing area of a moving side walk,

Figure 2 an alternate location of the handrail drive in the return path of the handrail belt,

Figure 3 a perspective view of a part of a drive member of a handrail drive comprising suction cup means provided on the drive member,

Figure 4 a perspective view of a part of an alternate embodiment of a drive member of a handrail drive comprising suction cup means provided in the drive member, Figure 5 a side view showing the location of a handrail drive according to the invention on the inner side of the handrail belt,

Figure 6 a side view as in Figure 5 with the location of the handrail drive on the outer side of the handrail belt,

Figure 7 an arrangement with a handrail drive which obtains its drive force from a drive of the passenger transportation device,

Figure 8 a side view of a moving side walk with a handrail drive comprising a vacuum generating means, and

Figure 9 a top view on a drive member being in contact with a handrail belt which drive member comprises suction cups with mechanical means for establishing and releasing vacuum in the suction cups.

Figure 1 shows a side view of the relevant parts of a moving handrail arrangement 10 of a moving side walk. The moving handrail arrangement 10 comprising an endless handrail belt 12 running between two direction changing areas 14, 16 along an upper guiding track 18 for proving there a moving handrail for the passengers standing on the moving side walk and a lower return path 20 in which the handrail belt 12 is transferred from the end of the transportation passage to its beginning. Accordingly, the handrail belt 12 is running as an endless loop. The moving handrail arrangement 10 further comprises a handrail drive 22. The handrail drive 22 comprises a first wheel 25 and a second wheel 26 around which a drive member 28 in form of an endless belt is running. In a contact section S the drive member 28 gets into contact with the handrail belt 12 and in this area the drive force is transferred from the drive member 28 to the handrail belt 12. The drive member 28 itself is driven by a motor - not shown - which is driving either the first wheel 24 or the second wheel 26 or both, or at least one of the wheels is driven by the drive of the passenger transportation device.

The drive member 28 is a toothed belt so that the drive force from the driven wheel 24 and/ or 26 is transferred to the drive belt 28 without slip. The use of a toothed belt is optional. Alternatively a normal belt with the smooth surface could be used in which case the force transmission to the drive belt 28 would be performed via friction. The drive member 28 comprises on its outer surface which gets into contact with the handrail belt 12 suction cups 30 or 32 as shown in figures 3, 4 or 9. The drive member may also be configured in a way as it is shown in figure 8.

Figure 2 shows a moving handrail arrangement 10 according to figure 1 wherein the handrail drive 34 is in contrast to figure 1 not located in a direction changing area but in the lower return path 20 of the handrail belt 12.

In this context it is emphasized that in the figures identical elements or elements with the same function are specified with identical reference numbers. The handrail drive 34 has a linear contact section S in the lower return path 20 of the handrail belt 12. Also in this embodiment any kind of drive member with suction cup means e.g. of figs. 3, 4, 8 and 9 can be used to improve the grip between the drive member 28 and the handrail belt 12. Advantageously also here the drive member 28 is preferably a toothed belt which engages this toothed surfaces of both wheels 24 and 26. Figure 3 shows a part of a drive member 28 in the form of a toothed endless belt having a toothed inner surface 36 for improving the grip with wheels 24 and 26. On its surface as the suction cup means 30 are provided which build closed capacities when coming into contact with the inner surface of the handrail belt 12 in the contact section S of figures 1 and 2. In this cavities sub atmospheric pressure is provided e.g. by a stronger initial deformation of the suction cups at the beginning of the contact section S and subsequent slight release, e.g. by adjusting the distance between the handrail belt 12 and the drive member 28 over the contact section S accordingly, or by mechanical means.

Figure 4 shows a second embodiment of a drive member 28 also having a toothed surface for the interaction with wheels 24 and 26 of the handrail drive 22, 34 of figures 1 or 2. In contrast to figure 3 the suction cups 32 are provided within the thickness of the drive belt 28, in which case it is advantageous if the drive belt 28 is at least in its upper surface region kind of elastic.

Figure 5 and 6 show two different arrangements of the linear handrail drive 34, in figure 5 at the inner side of the handrail belt 12 where the suction cups 30 come in contact with the inner portion of the usually C-type hand belt, whereas in figure 6 the linear handrail drive 34 is located at the outside of the handrail belt 12 which is in the upper guide track gripped by passengers. These two figures provided to show the liberty of arrangement of the linear handrail drive 34 at desired in locations in the return path of the handrail belt 12.

Figure 7 shows a moving side walk 40 comprising a handrail 12 which is driven by a handrail drive 34 as it is known from figures 2, 5 or 6. In contrast to these figures the linear handrail drive 34 is in contact with a drive element 42 of the moving side walk in a contact zone Z, which drive element 42 is configured to drive the pallets or support areas for the passengers of the moving side walk. The drive element 42 of the moving side walk is driven by a drive wheel 44 in connection with a - not shown - drive machine or by any other means known in the art. The moving direction of the components is shown with arrows. In the contact zone Z the suction cups 30 on the drive member 28 of the linear handrail 34 come into contact with the drive element 42 of the moving side walk, thereby enabling a force transfer from the drive element of the moving side walk to the drive member 28 of the linear handrail drive 34. The drive member 28 transmits in the contact zone S the force obtained from the drive element 42 to the handrail belt 12 via the interaction of the suction cups with the outer surface of the handrail belt 12. Therefore this advantageous embodiment of the invention does not need a separate drive for the handrail 12.

If in figs 5, 6 or 7 suction cup means within the thickness of the drive member are used, the drive member has to com into direct contact with the handrail belt.

Figure 8 shows a linear handrail drive 50 comprising a drive member 52 in the form of an endless belt running between two wheels 24 and 26. The endless belt 52 of the drive member comprises perforations 54 perpendicular to the plane of the drive belt. Within the contact section S a vacuum chamber 56 is provided on the back side of the drive belt 52 opposite to the handrail belt 12,. The vacuum chamber is connected via a vacuum duct 58 with a vacuum generating means 59 e. g. vacuum pump. During the operation of the moving side walk or escalator a vacuum is created in the vacuum chamber 56 which is open to the drive belt 52. This vacuum is forwarded via the perforations 54 in the drive belt 52 to the handrail belt 12 leading to a secure tightened connection between the drive belt 52 and the handrail belt 12 which enables the transmittance of the drive force from the drive belt 52 to the handrail belt 12.

Figure 9 shows a top view on a handrail drive 60 in the contact section S of a moving handrail arrangement as it is shown in figures 2 and 5 wherein the drive member acts on the inner side of the handrail belt 12. The handrail belt 12 comprises on its inner side which faces towards a handrail guide a quite linear inner portion 62 and on both sides of that inner portion 62 two bended curved outer portions 64 of the C-profile handrail belt 12. The drive member 65 of the handrail drive 60 comprises in running direction (arrow) successive suction cup means 66 which can be actuated by an actuator 68 to create vague vacuum or to release vacuum. In fixed relationship to the contact zone S a first actuating means 70 is provided in the beginning of said contact section S. When the drive means together the handrail moves in running direction the actuator 68 of the suction cup means 66 hits the first actuating means 70 so that the actuator 68 is turned and vacuum is generated in the cavity between the suction cup means 66 and the surface of the inner portion 62 of the handrail belt 12. At the end of the contact section S a second actuating means e.g. rod 72 is provided which again hits the actuator 68 of the suction cup means 66 whereby the actuator is turned in counter direction and the vacuum is released so that now the drive member 65 can be released from the inner portion 62 of the handrail belt 12. The drive member 65 can be guided between two wheels as it is shown in figures 2 and 5. Preferably, the circumferential surface of the wheels 24, 26 of the handrail drive 60 has to provide recesses or accommodations for the parts of the suction cup means 66 and the actuator 68 protruding above the surface of the drive member 65.

It should be clarified that features of the different embodiments can be combined with each other as long as such a combination is not prevented by contradicting technical features. The invention can be carried out in different ways deviating from the shown embodiments within this scope of the claims as appended below.