FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a travelator as de- fined in the preamble of claim 1. Furthermore, the in¬ vention relates to a method as defined in the preamble of claim 7. In addition, the invention relates to a method as defined in the preamble of claim 11.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In prior art, travelators intended for transporting passengers are known e.g. from patent specifications JP 2003-20181, US 1,689,201, US 2,769,522 and US 3,592,139. In these, the conveyor consists of a large number of adjacent narrow belts, several such belts being arranged over the width of the conveyor to transport users of the travelator. The conveyor has a large number of shafts, which are arranged parallel to each other, at a distance from each other and trans- versely to the transport direction of the conveyor. Connected to each shaft are a number of belt pulleys placed side by side. Further, the conveyor comprises a number of mutually parallel endless belts. The mutual arrangement of the belts is so implemented that they are interlaced with respect to each other in a comb- like fashion around each shaft. Each belt is passed over two belt pulleys on two successive shafts. Of each two closely adjacent belts on the same common shaft that are passed over adjacent belt pulleys, one belt is passed over a belt pulley on the previous shaft adjacent to the common shaft while the other belt adjacent to the aforesaid belt is passed over a belt pulley on the next shaft adjacent to the afore¬ said common shaft. The belts may serve as power trans- mitting belts or the power transmission to the shafts may be implemented via external power transfer. The belts are tensioned e.g. by adjusting the distance be¬ tween the shafts.

A problem with the prior-art construction is that the assembly of the travelator has to be started from the first shaft with the belts for that shaft ready mounted on it and the next belts have to be placed be¬ tween the previous ones before the next shaft is in- serted into the belt loops and before the belts are tightened to their proper positions by adjusting the distance between the shafts. The assembly work ad¬ vances from one end of the travelator to the other, producing a continuos structure, which, as the whole structure forms a single tensioned belt mat, can not be severed e.g. to allow replacement of a broken belt. A further problem is that this type of construction makes it necessary to carry out the entire assembly of the apparatus at the site of installation. In the case of a long conveyor (100 ... 1000 m) , installation and maintenance of the apparatus becomes unreasonably dif¬ ficult.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention is to overcome the above-mentioned drawbacks.

A specific object of the invention is to disclose a travelator the assembly and maintenance of which at the site of installation will be easier and faster than before.

A further object of the invention is to disclose a method that will allow easy and fast detachment and replacement of a conveyor module in a travelator con¬ veyor of modular construction. A further object of the invention is to disclose a method that will allow easy and fast assembly of the conveyor of a travelator.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The travelator of the invention is characterized by what is disclosed in the characterization part of claim 1. The method of the invention is characterized by what is disclosed in the characterization part of claim 7. In addition, the method of the invention is characterized by what is disclosed in the characteri¬ zation part of claim 11.

Other embodiments of the invention are characterized by what is disclosed in the other claims. Inventive embodiments are also presented in the description part and drawings of the present application. The inventive content disclosed in the application can also be de- fined in other ways than is done in the claims below. The inventive content may also consist of several sepa¬ rate inventions, especially if the invention is consid¬ ered in the light of explicit or implicit sub-tasks or in respect of advantages or sets of advantages achieved. In this case, some of the attributes con¬ tained in the claims below may be superfluous from the point of view of separate inventive concepts. Within the framework of the basic concept of the invention, features of different embodiments of the invention can be applied in conjunction with other embodiments.

According to the invention, the conveyor comprises a number of conveyor modules successively connected to each other with a connecting section between them where belts connect successive conveyor modules to¬ gether so as to form a continuos conveyor across the connecting section. The belts in the connecting sec- tion are arranged to be loosenable so that at least one shaft over which the belts to be loosened are passed is detachable so as to allow the conveyor mod¬ ules to be released from each other.

The invention has the advantage that it allows the conveyor to be divided into easy-to-handle conveyor modules of suitable length that can be pre-assembled at factory as complete preliminary assemblies, trans- ported to the site of installation and connected to¬ gether one after the other at the site of installation to form a long travelator conveyor. The installation time of the conveyor is short. The modular construc¬ tion of the conveyor is also very advantageous in re- spect of maintenance because if one of the modules is damaged, the module in question can be easily removed and replaced with a corresponding intact module and the travelator can be quickly restored to working or¬ der. The damaged module can be transported to a main- tenance facility and repaired to operating condition again and the maintenance operation is no obstacle to the use of the travelator except during the replace¬ ment of the module. Thus, the idle time due to mainte¬ nance will be short. Deviations cumulated from length tolerances of the belts remain within the modules and are not accumulated across modules .

In an embodiment of the travelator, the connecting section contains two detachable shafts arranged to be movable towards and away from each other to slacken/tighten the belts passed over the detachable shafts. The belts at the conveyor module ends to be connected to each other, which belts are longer than the other belts of the conveyor module, are each passed over the two detachable shafts and a fixed shaft. In an embodiment of the travelator, the connecting section comprises one detachable shaft and two ten¬ sioning shafts, which are arranged at a different level relative to the level of the shafts of the con- veyor module. The tensioning shafts are movable to¬ wards and away from the level of the shafts to slacken/tighten the belts. The belts at the conveyor module ends to be connected to each other, which belts are longer than the other belts of the conveyor mod- ule, are each passed over a fixed shaft at the end of the conveyor module, one tensioning shaft and the de¬ tachable shaft.

In an embodiment of the travelator, the conveyor mod- ule has at one end a detachable shaft arranged to be movable in the direction of the plane of the shafts of the conveyor modules to slacken/tighten the belts passed over the detachable shaft so as to allow the detachable shaft to be detached. The connecting sec- tion contains one tensioning shaft, which is disposed at a different level relative to the level of the shafts of the conveyor module, and which tensioning shaft is movable towards and away from the level of the shafts to allow the belts in the connecting sec- tion passed over them to be loosened/tightened. The belts in the connecting section, which are longer than the other belts of the conveyor module, are each passed over a fixed shaft at the end of the conveyor module, the tensioning shaft and the detachable shaft.

In an embodiment of the travelator, the travelator is a low-construction travelator designed to be mounted on a fixed base, such as a floor or other support.

In an embodiment of the travelator, the travelator comprises an acceleration section for accelerating the passenger transport speed from a substantially slow initial speed to a heightened transport speed, a con¬ stant-speed section for conveying the passenger at a constant transport speed, and a deceleration section for decelerating the passenger transport speed from the constant transport speed to a decelerated final speed.

According to the method of the invention, in each con¬ necting section connecting a detachable conveyor mod- ule to an adjacent other conveyor module, at least one shaft on which the belt loops in the connecting sec¬ tion turn over is moved in relation to another shaft on which the aforesaid belt loops turn over so that the belt loops are loosened. To release the conveyor modules from each other, the shaft over which the loosened belt loops are passed is detached and removed from the belt loops. Finally, the detached conveyor module is removed for maintenance and/or to replace it with another corresponding conveyor module.

In an embodiment of the method, two detachable shafts are arranged in the connecting section. Each belt loop in the connecting section is set over a fixed shaft at the end of the conveyor module, over a detachable shaft and over a detachable shaft between these. To release the conveyor modules from each other, the de¬ tachable shafts are moved towards each other to slacken the belts passed over them.

In an embodiment of the method, one detachable shaft and two tensioning shafts are arranged in the connect¬ ing section. Each belt loop in the connecting section is passed over a fixed shaft at the end of the con¬ veyor module, over one tensioning shaft and over the detachable shaft. To release the conveyor modules from each other, the tensioning shafts are moved so as to slacken the belt loops. In an embodiment of the method, a detachable shaft is arranged at the end of the conveyor module and a ten¬ sioning shaft is arranged in the connecting section. Each belt loop in the connecting section is passed over the detachable shaft at the end of the conveyor module, over a fixed shaft at the end of the adjacent conveyor module and over the tensioning shaft. To re¬ lease the conveyor modules from each other, the de- tachable shaft is moved so as to slacken the belt loops passed over it and the tensioning shaft is moved so as to slacken the belt loops passed over it.

According to the invention, in the method associated with a travelator, in the assembly of the conveyor a number of conveyor modules are provided, the transport length of each of which forms part of the transport length of the entire conveyor. In other words, the conveyor is divided into independent sub-assemblies. The conveyor modules are placed one after the other and connected to each other in the connecting section by means of belt loops and at least one detachably mounted shaft, which is placed in the belt loops in the connecting section. At least one of the shafts over which the belt loops in the connecting section are passed is moved in a direction away from the de¬ tachably mounted shaft to tighten the belt loops in the connecting section and to form a substantially continuos conveyor surface across the connecting sec- tion.

LIST OF FIGURES

In the following, the invention will be described in detail with reference to embodiment examples and the attached drawing, wherein Fig. 1 presents a diagrammatic side view of a part of a first embodiment of the travelator of the invention, wherein two conveyor modules are connected together one after the other,

Fig. 2 presents a top view of the embodiment in Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 presents the embodiment in Fig. 1 and 2 with the conveyor modules detached from each other,

Fig. 4 presents a diagrammatic side view of a part of a second embodiment of the travelator of the inven¬ tion, wherein two conveyor modules are connected to- gether one after the other,

Fig. 5 presents a top view of the embodiment in Fig. 4,

Fig. 6 presents the embodiment in Fig. 4 and 5 with the conveyor modules detached from each other,

Fig. 7 presents a diagrammatic side view of a part of a third embodiment of the travelator of the invention, wherein two conveyor modules are connected together one after the other,

Fig. 8 presents a top view of the embodiment in Fig. 7, and

Fig. 9 presents the embodiment in Fig. 7 and 8 with the conveyor modules detached from each other.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Figures 1 - 3 present a part of a travelator compris¬ ing a conveyor 1 for conveying passengers . The con¬ veyor 1 comprises a number of shafts 2, 3, 4 so ar- ranged that they are parallel to each other at a dis¬ tance from each other and perpendicular the transport direction of the conveyor. Mounted side by side on each shaft 2, 3, 4 are a number of belt pulleys.

Belts 7, 8, 9 implemented as endless loops parallel to each other are arranged in such manner that each belt is passed over two belt pulleys on successive two dif¬ ferent shafts. As can be seen from the figures, the belts are interlaced so that, of each two closely ad¬ jacent belts on the same common shaft that are passed over adjacent belt pulleys, one belt is passed over a belt pulley on the previous shaft 2 adjacent to the common shaft 2 while the other belt is passed over a belt pulley on the next shaft 2 adjacent to the common shaft 2.

Although the example figures show that the belt is passed over two immediately successive shafts, it is naturally possible to use longer belt loops whose pas¬ sage is so arranged that, between the shafts turning the belts around (180°) , there are one or more sup¬ porting shafts with belt pulleys over which the belts run substantially straight without a change of direc- tion, so the function of these shafts is only to sup¬ port the belts from below.

The conveyor 1 consists of a number of successive con¬ veyor modules connected together one after the other, of which Fig. 1 - 3 present two conveyor modules 13, 14. Between these is a connecting section 15, where the belts 8, 9 connect the successive conveyor modules 13, 14 to each other so that a continuos conveyor is formed across the connecting section 15. The belts in the connecting section 15 are arranged to be loosen- able so that the two shafts 3 and 4 over which the belts 8, 9 to be loosened are passed can be detached so as to allow the conveyor modules 13, 14 to be de¬ tached from each other.

As stated above, the connecting section 15 of the em- bodiment in Fig. 1 - 3 comprises two detachable shafts 3, 4, which have been arranged to be movable horizon¬ tally towards each other as indicated by arrows in Fig. 2 to allow the belts passed over the detachable shafts 3, 4 to be loosened. During assembly the belts 8, 9 are correspondingly tightened by moving the shafts away from each other. The belts 8, 9 at the conveyor module ends to be connected to each other are longer than the other belts 7 of the conveyor modules. Each belt 8 and 9 at the end of the conveyor module is passed over the two detachable shafts 3, 4 and a fixed shaft 2.

As can be seen from figures 2 and 3, belts 9 can be loosened by moving the first detachable shaft 3 to the right, whereupon the shaft 4 can be pulled out in its longitudinal direction from between the belts 9. Simi¬ larly, by moving the second detachable shaft 4 to the left, belts 8 can be loosened, whereupon shaft 4 can be pulled out in its longitudinal direction from be- tween the belts 8. Assembly is done in the reverse or¬ der.

Figures 4 - 6 present an embodiment in which the con¬ struction of the conveyor modules 13, 14 corresponds to the embodiment in Fig. 1 - 3 but differs from it in respect of the arrangement in the connecting section 15.

The connecting section 15 comprises one detachable shaft 5 and two tensioning shafts 16. The tensioning shafts 16 are disposed at a different level relative to the level of the shafts 2 of the conveyor module 13, 14, in this example below said level. The tension¬ ing shafts 16 can be moved upwards towards the level of shafts 2 to slacken the belts 10 and 11. Corre¬ spondingly, the belts 10 and 11 are tightened by mov- ing the tensioning shafts 16 downwards away from the level of shafts 2. The belts 10, 11 at the ends of conveyor modules 13, 14 to be connected together are longer than the other belts 7 of the conveyor module. Belts 10 are passed over the fixed shaft 2 at the end of conveyor module 13, one tensioning shaft 16 and the detachable shaft 5. Similarly, belt 11 is passed over the fixed shaft 2 at the end of conveyor module 14 , one tensioning shaft 16 and the detachable shaft 5.

By moving the tensioning shafts 16 vertically, the belts 10 and 11 in the connecting section 15 can be loosened, the shaft 5 in the middle can be removed as shown in Fig. 5, and the modules 13 and 14 can be separated from each other.

Figures 7 - 9 present yet another embodiment, in which the conveyor module 14 has a detachable shaft 6 at the end adjacent to the connecting section 15. This shaft 6 has been arranged to be movable in the direction of the plane of the shafts 2 of the conveyor modules 13, 14, i.e. horizontally, to allow the belts 7 passed over the detachable shaft 6 to be loosened so that the detachable shaft 6 can be released.

The connecting section 15 contains one tensioning shaft 17, which is disposed at a different level rela¬ tive to the level of the shafts 2 of the conveyor mod¬ ule, in this case below said level. The tensioning shaft 17 can be moved vertically towards the level of shafts 2 to allow the belts 12 of the connecting sec¬ tion 15 that are passed over them to be loosened. Dur¬ ing assembly, tensioning is performed in the reverse order. The belts 12 in the connecting section are longer than the other belts 7 of the conveyor module. Each belt 12 in the connecting section 15 is passed over the fixed shaft 2 at the end of the conveyor mod- ule 13, over the tensioning shaft 17 and over the de¬ tachable shaft 6.

By moving the tensioning shaft 17 upwards, the belts 12 in the connecting section can be loosened, where- upon, by moving the shaft 6 in module 14 that is adja¬ cent to the connecting section 15, the belts 12 passed over it can be loosened and the shaft 6 released, thus disconnecting the modules.

After the detachment, the modules 13, 14 can be re¬ placed and serviced.

For the sake of clarity, the skeleton diagrams 1 - 9 present only two modules connected together at one end. A practical travelator, which may have a length of 100 ... 1000 m, may comprise 25 ... 250 modules of a length of 4 m connected together one after the other. For the sake of clarity, the figures show only a small number of belts 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12. A practical em- bodiment of the travelator with a belt width of about 5 mm has 100 adjacent belts across the width of the travelator. Further, in practice the conveyor module 13, 14 contains a larger number of shafts 2 than the number presented in the figures 1 - 9. While the fig- ures show only 4 - 5 shafts 2 in each module, a 4 m long conveyor module in a practical example embodiment contains 32 shafts when the belt pulleys on the shafts 2 have a diameter of 10 cm and the shafts are arranged at intervals of 12.5 cm.

In a preferred case the travelator constructed from conveyor modules is a low-construction travelator de- signed to be mounted on a fixed base, such as a floor or other support, which may comprise accelerating, constant speed and/or decelerating sections.

The invention is not limited to the embodiment exam¬ ples described above; instead, many variations are possible within the scope of the inventive concept de¬ fined in the claims.