Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
BACKGR011ND OF TH3i~: INVENTION
This invention relates to a man conveyor such as an
escalator.
An escalator which is typical of man conveyors is
arranged as follows: Endlessly continuous steps connected
one another are placed between a pair of balustrades
positioned on the transversel~ both outsides of steps,
respectively, and driven by an upper and lower drive
units, being guided by tracks on there upper line as well
as by another tracks on there return, thereby travelling
on tracks. In addition, a pair of endless hand rails, on
each side, are guided on the balustrades on their upper
line, and by guide rollers on their return run, and travel
at the same speed and in the same direction with the
endlessly continuous steps.
An escalator of this type includes a main frame body
on the both sides consisting of an upper main member and
a lower main member, and subsidiary members fixed thereto,
thus providing a truss construction. In addition, track
supporting members are rigidly connected to the subsid-
iary members positioned on the both sides of steps in the
transverse direction and cantilever track supporting beams
are fixed to the each subsidiary members, while tracks for
an upper line of the step are fixed to the track supporting
members and the tracks for the return of steps are fixed
to the cantilever track supporting beams, respectively.
Step-supporting wheels attached to the side edges of steps
roll on the aforesaid tracks, being driven by step chains
;. which connect the steps into an endless form. Guide
; 30 rollers for use with the hand-rails are attached to guide-
roller-supporting bases secured to the subsidiary members
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in the main frame body, and roll and guide the handrails
on their return. In addition, the lower main members
in the main frame body on the both sides are connected
together rigidly by connecting members, to which is
secured a drip pan adapted to receive lubricating oils
fed to step-chains and tracks or dusts carried by pas-
sengers. As has been described, the main frame body is
of a welded truss construction consisting of upper main
members, lower main members and subsidiary members, which
10 are independent of each other, so that a large number of
members have to be used. In addition, the subsidiary
members in general have varying lengths depending on the
positions thereof, i.e., in upper and lower horizontal
step portions (entrance and exit portions), or in in-
termediate inclined portions. Still furthermore, the
subsidiary members should bear various kinds of stresses,
unlike the main members, so that subsidiary members of
varying sizes and lengths are required, resulting in a
complicated main frame body. Yet furthermore, indepen-
20 dent members are welded together to provide a trussconstruction, thereby incurring assembly errors and
hence lowering the dimensional accuracy of tracks. As
a result, there is required an expenditure of much time
and efforts for correcting dimensional errors, preparation
of materials, quality control of members, and accuracy in
assembly. Furthermore, supporting beams and supporting
members consist of entirely independent members which are
welded to the subsidiary members, thus suffering from the
shortcomings similar thereto.
For allowing endless steps to travel smoothly in
carrying passengers with safety, the dimensional accuracy
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of tracks upon attaching should be highly controlled.
However, these rails have to be fixed in supporting
members or supporting beams welded to the subsidiary
members of a main frame body, resulting in an assembly
operation in narrow spaces within the main frame body,
with the accompanying lowered operational efficiency,
thus dictating much time and efforts and high level of
skill. In addition, even if the supporting bases are
attached normally or properly, the supporting beams
provide a canti-lever construction, so that the sup-
porting beams are susceptible to deformation due to
vertical loads given by such as passengers, steps and
the like, thus leading to improper dimensional accuracy
of tracks, thereby hindering smooth travelling of steps.
While description has been had for an escalator in
conjunction with the shortcomings thereof, man-conveyors
such as electrically driven passages, in general, all
suffer from the shortcoming similar thereto.
SUMMARY OF T~E INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide
a man-conveyor which is simple in construction and allows
easy assembly and dimensional adjustment.
According to the present invention, there is provided
a man conveyor comprising: a continuous flight of steps
formed from a plurality of steps which are connected with
one another by connecting members such as chains into an
endless form which is disposed in a longitudinal running
direction, each
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of said steps having front and rear wheels on opposing
transverse sides; guide tracks disposed beneath said front
and rear wheels and extending in the running direction of
said steps so as to guide said front and rear wheels; main
frame members arranged at opposite transverse sides of
said continuous flight of steps and extending the length
thereof, each main frame member consisting essentially of
an upper and a lower horizontal portion and a vertical por-
tion interconnecting said horizontal portions; transverse
beams mounted on and interconnecting the upper horizontal
portions and tran~sverse connecting members place beneath
and interconnecting the lower horizontal portions to form
a box-like transverse cross section shape; and supporting
brackets independent of the main frame members, and carried
by the transverse beams while extending in the longitudinal
direction of said flight of steps, said brackets supporting
said guide tracks for said front and rear wheels.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DR~WINGS
Fig. 1 is a side view of an escalator showing one
embodiment of the present invention;
Fig. 2 is an enlarged partial cross-sectional view of
the escalator, taken along the line II-II of Fig. l; and
Figs. 3 to 6 are cross-sectional views of essential
parts of other embodiments of the invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
An outline of an escalator embodying the present inven-
tion will now be described in more detail in conjunction
with Figs. 1 and 2. Provided within each of a pair of bal-
ustrades 1 is a main frame member 4 of a beam form, which
is made of 'I' steel. Each of the main frame members 4
consists of an upper and lower horizontal flange portion
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2, 2', respectively, and a vertical web portion 3 between
the flange portions 2, 2'. Transverse beams 5 are secured
to the upper flange portions 2 of the main frame members
4, while transverse connecting members 6 are secured to
the lower flange portions 2'. Thus, there is formed a
box-type main frame body. In addition, track supporting
brackets 16, 17 are secured to the transverse beams 5,
while tracks 9, 10 for the upper line are integrally
secured to ~he supporting brackets 16, and tracks 11, 12
for the return run are integrally secured to the support-
ing brackets 17. Guide rollers adapted to guide a hand-
rail 13 on its return are mounted by the medium of guide-
roller supporting brackets (not shown) on the upper edge
portions of the main frame members 4.
Front wheels 7 and rear wheels 8 attached to the left
and right sides of steps 15 roll and travel on the tracks
9 to 12, while hand-rail 13 travels on the guide rollers
on its return.
In this embodiment, an 'I' steel beam having an 'I'
shaped cross-section is used as the main frame member 4,
while the upper flange portions 2 are coupled together by
transverse beams 5, and the lower flange portions 2' are
; coupled together by transverse connecting members 6 which
support a drip pan 22 thereon, thereby forming a main
frame body. Thus, the main frame body according to the
present invention is not of such a construction as that of
the prior art, in which independent members are assembled
or welded together for providing a truss construction.
In contrast thereto, the construction of the man conveyor
according to the present invention is simple, and provides
ease of assembly and toughness because of a box-shaped
-~ construction of the main frame body.
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As is clear from the foregoing, the construction of the
main frame body is simplified, and in addition, the only
portions which require dimensional accuracy upon assembly
of the main frame body are the upper horizontal flange por-
tions 2 of the main frame member 4, to which the transverse
beams 5 holding tracks 9 to 12 are to be secured, and to
which guide rollers are to be attached, thereby allowing
easy assembly and dimensional adjustment of the main frame
body. In addition, the supporting brackets 16, 17 for
tracks 9 to 12 each support two tracks such as 9, 10 and
11, 12 respectively, thus improving the efficiency of the
attaching operation.
Furthermore, the rail supporting brackets 16, 17 are
; secured to the transverse beams 5, so that the rail sup-
porting brackets 16, 17 may bear vertical loads acting on
the tracks 9 to 12 in the vertical direction, i.e., in the
same direction as that of the loads, thus preventing defor-
mation of guide rails 9 to 12, and maintaining dimensional
accuracy thereof achieved upon assembly, for a long period
of time.
; As a result, improper dimensional adjustment of guide
rails due to improper assembly, and deformation of guide
rails due to loads may be completely prevented, thus avoid-
s ing zig-zag travelling of steps and resulting vibrations
and noises, so that there may be achieved an escalator pro-
viding high and consistent performances for a long period
of time.
On the other hand, according to the prior art escala-
tor, the rail-supporting members support respective rails
individually, and are welded to the main frame body, so
that the rails have to be assembled in the main frame
body within a limited narrow space therein
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and adjusted for proper dimensions. In contrast thereto,
according to this embodiment of the present invention,
a pair of tracks 9, 10 for the upper line and a pair
of tracks 11, 12 for the return on one side may be inte-
grally supported by the supporting brackets, 16, 17, as
an integral construction, respectively, and thereafter the
assemblies of tracks and supporting brackets may be fixed
in the main frame body, respectively. As a resùlt, before
the aforesaid tracks are constructed in the main frame
body, several tracks may be assembled, thus allow-
ing easy dimensional adjustment and an improved attaching
operation of the aforesaid assemblies, when assembled into
the main frame body
Meanwhile, in the embodiment shown in Fig. 2, descrip-
tion has been given of the supporting brackets each adapted
to integrally support a pair of tracks for an upper line
or a return on one side of the escalator, respectively.
Alternatively, Fig. 3 shows a single supporting bracket
18 adapted to integrally support four tracks for upper
line and return on one side. Further alternatively, Figs.
4 and 5 show supporting brackets 19, 20 which are each
adapted to support four tracks 9, 10 on the upper line
on the left and right sides or four tracks 11, 12 on the
return on the left and right sides, integrally, at the
same bracket. In addition, Fig. 6 shows a single sup-
porting bracket 21 which may support eight tracks 9 to 12
for the upper line and return on the both sides integrally.
In case two or more tracks 9 to 12 are integrally
supported by a single supporting bracket, the tracks
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are fixed to the supporting brackets at intervals of 0.5
to 1.5 m. More particularly, two to eight of guide rails
9 to 12 are rigidly assembled on several track-supporting
brackets 16 to 21, and then the brackets are secured to
the transversc beams 5 which are in turn secured to the
upper flange portions 2 of the main frame members 4 at
the same interval as that of the supporting brackets.
As shown in Figs. 4 to 6, transverse connecting por-
tions l9a, 20a, 21a may be commonly used as transverse
beams 5, and in such a case, rail supporting bases 19
to 21 are directly secured to the main frame members 4,
without using the transverse beams 5.
From viewpoints of manufacture and transportation,
respective tracks 9 to 12 are generally cut a suitable
length as shown by the lines A-A, B-B in Fig. 1. In this
embodiment, as well, tracks are secured to their support-
ing brackets to provide integral constructions for each
division of the escalator.
As is apparent from the foregoing description, the
positional relationship of mutual guide rails may be
adjusted independently from the dimensional accuracy of
the main frame body, and yet the adjustment or assembly
of the tracks may be carried out outside of the main
frame body, thus providing ease of adjustment. In
addition, assembly of tracks and main frame body may
be carried out in line with each other, or at the same
time, resulting in much improvement in operational
efficiency. In addition, track supporting bracket 16 to
; 21 may be secured to the transverse beams 5 before-hand,
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and then tracks 9 to 12 may be secured to the supporting
brackets. In this case, two or more track supporting
brackets may be secured in position to the main frame
body according to a single attaching operation of a beam,
thereby saving the effort required for the attaching
operation~
While the main frame members 4 of an 'I' shaped cross
section ('I' steel) are used in the aforesaid embodiment,
a section steel of a 'U' shaped cross section may be used,
with their open sides being directed inwardly or outwardly,
with the same results achieved as those of the preceding
case. In addition, while description has been had for the
case of an escalator, the present invention is apparently
applicable to general type man-conveyors such as electri-
cally driven passages and the like.
As is apparent from the foregoing, the main frame body
according to the present invention is not only tough but
also its construction is simplified, thereby permitting
ease of assembly of respective components such as tracks,
as well as ease of adjustment thereof, with the resulting
improvement in efficiency of the attaching operation o~
respective components, and reduction in manufacturing cost.
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