Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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CABI~- FOR ~ ~O~DOLA LIFT~
BA~I;GRO~'ND OF THE INVE~-TION
The in-ention relates to a cabin or oondola especiall~- for
a oondola lift, runnir1g continuously in a closed circuit
bet~een a startino~ and an arrival station. rhe cabins,
supported by carriages ~ith grips, are coupled with the
cable on the circuit and de-coupled or released from the
travellinc~ cable ~1t the stations. The c,arriages, supporting
the cabins, travel throu~h the station at low velocity on-a
half-loop circuit linkin~ the up and down trac~s before
being reattached to the cable as they lea~-e the station.
~ransport installations ot' this kind have a hio7~h conveying
capacity, due to the large number of cabins running on the
closed circuit. There is a tendenc~- to increase this
conveying capacity and to provide accomodation in each
cabirl ~'or an increased number of passen~ers. In such a casè
the embarkin~ of l~assen~ers must be effected more quickl~r
and the ~kiel;s et~ter tl1e cabin with their skis, but the~-
remain standin~ or seate~ on non comfortable seats.
It is ar1 o~iect or` the prè'xent invention to provide a
cabin which permi~s access in the ~pri~ht position with the
s~is in the harld an-l wherein the passeno~ers are seated~
~ nother Qb,iec1: ot` the invention is to pro~ide a cabin in
whi~h the s~iers ma~ nter ~nto thè cabin even if the seats
neàr the door Are occupied.
rther ob~ject of tne invention is to provide a cabin
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havirl, a rounded ~hape so that the cabins may travel along
tt1e c~rve o~ the hai~`-ioo~ circuit ~-ithout increasing the
,spacin~ or the travel speed o~` the cabins. In such a case
the embarklno~ an~d disembarkin~ sections can extend along
he curve~and'the len~th of the station i,s reduced.
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.~ further ob.iect of the invention is to provide a
swingabl~- supported cabin which is acutel~ swingable in a
vertical direction without en~agino7 the cable.
â~ lAR~ OF THE I~ ENTION.
The cableway cabin accordin~ to the-invention comprises a
cabin bod~ having ir. a cross section ta~en along a centrai
horizontal plane an oval shape ha~in~ a ,~reat axis which
e~tends perpendic~larl~ to the lateral sides. In a cross
section t~ken alono~ a central vertical plane the cabin bod~r
has an o~al shape with upper and lower tr~lncated parts and
a ~-erticall~- ~reat a~is. A door opening is provided on a
lateral side and a set of seats are disposed alon~ the
cabin wall substantiall~ in a horseshoe shape open on the
door openina side. The s~iers ma~ enter the cabin with
their skis, which can be placed into tro~l~hs provided in
the floor before the seats.
The cabin oval shape pro~ides a lar~er central part
without a framework and the skiers ma~ enter freel~-, sit
down and place the s~is into the trou~hs. 'rhe cabin width
allows the entrance of a rollin~o chair, for instance for
handicaped passeno~ers. It is clear that the trou~hs ma~ be
~ro~lpe~ in the center of the cabin to free the space before
I;he skiers. ~he cabin has advantaaeo~sl~- ei~ht seats or a
bench for èi~ht passen~ers and access is pro~ided b~ means
of a two s-lidin~ panels door. The vertical o~al cabin shape
'pro~ides in the central part a cabin hei~ht which permits
the entranGe o~ the skiers with their skis and'alon~ 'the
cabin walls-thè hei~ht is reduced but the skiers can sit
down on the~seats~havin~ their backs along the wall.
The chana,e of'passen~ers will be effected more quiGkly &s
th'e skis are not~attached o~lts-ides the cabin and the
s-paci~g~be~tween two~successive cabins is reduced.
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BRrEF DESCRIPTIO~ OF ~HE DRA~ GS
The attached dra-~inos show by wa~ of eYample an embodiment
of the present invention in which:
Fio. 1 shows a diagrammaticai cross section of a cabin
accordin~ to the invention taken along a line 1-1 of Fig.
2;
Fi~.'2 sho~s a cross section taken alono~ a line ~-2 of
Fig. l: `
Fio,. 3 is a schematic plan ~-iew of cabins travelling on
the half-loop circuit;
Fig. 4 is a similar ~iew to that of Fig. l showino an ''
alternati~e embodiment;
Fig. ~ is a general persPective view of a gondola lift
terminal.
~RIhF ~ESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODI~IENT
:
In the fi~ures a cabin 10 or a ~ondola of a ~ondola lift
ls fixed o~ a han~er arm 1I to a carriage 12 bearing a
grip coupling it to an o-erhead haula~e-track cable 26 .
The orips are of the ~.~etachable t~pe permittin~ the
urIco~lplirlo of the carriaoe 1`rom the cable at the entrance
.in the cerminais and the runnino at a slow speed on a
:~ : transfer rail 13 ,joirIin~ the up and down track~. The
. transf~er rail e.Ytends in a ha1f-loop in the termin~l and
pl~t.~.or.~ins 1~ Eor loadino~ or In10adin~ passen,~ers are'
loc~ted a10ng l-.he rail l~articu.larl~ a10n~ the semi-circù1ar
end seet,io.n. The carriao~es 1i~. are dri~en at slow.speed for .,
:.in`st.ance by f~i~tion~dri~e sheaves 27 or a drive chain 30
and 1.;he caoirls are~practicall~- in abutment~ As will be
nderstood b-y referring 'o F i o~ . 3 the rounded shape
.;fac:ilitates the passa~e o~ he cur~ed section. Such a
nd~la~ f`t`, sho~n in:Fi~. ~, is well ~nown and for
instanc.e described in ~he ~'.S. Pat. N~ 4,627,361
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~ s shown in Fi~. 1 the horizontai cross section of the
cabin accordin~ to the in~ention~ which has an outer wall
31, is an oval having a Sreat axis 1~ perpendicular to the
travel direction. ~ door openin~ 16 is provided in a
lateral wall of the cabin which is equipped with ei~ht
passeno~ers' seats or a passen~er bench l9 arrand~ed alon,
the cabin wall. The shape of this bencn corresponds
substantiail~ to a horseshoe with its open sida facin~ the
door openin~ which is closed by a door having two slidin~
I>anels 17~18. Passen~ers'28 ar,e seated back to the wall and
thus substantiall~- face to face~
Referrin~ to Fio. 2 it will be seen a vertical cross
section of the c.abin which has an oval shape with upper
and lower parts 20 truncated and horizontal formina, the
roof 29 and the floor '~7 of the cabin. In the central part
of the cabin its heio,ht permits access in the upri~ht
position and the skiers ~.8 'will hold their skis 21. The
cabin heid,,ht above the bench 19 is smaller but the
passen~ers can ~e seated comfortably. The ovai shape
redu,ces the risk that the cabin roof 29 en~a~es the cable
during an oscillation. The framework of the, cabin is
incorporate(i in or constituted b~ the cabin walIs so t.hat
the passen~er finds no.obstacle when entering the cabin. In
t.he floor '"~ are provided openings or recesses 23 for
receivin~ the ski heels so as to maintain sa~'ely the skis
21. The openin~s 23 ~lre ciosed b~ tro~hs ',?4 secured on the
floor underside and these protr~ding trou~hs '~`~ are co~ered~
b~ means of a co~rer 2,~ which~can support ~uiding rollers or
g~idin$ shoes.
;As illustrated in Fi~. 1 the openin~s 23 are disposed
àloDg the s.eats 19 before each passen~e~. The Gentral ~art
of the c~bin: lO is-free:and the passen~ers ~ay enter and
ci~roulate~in:the ca:bin. It will be noted that the eight
openin~s 23 can be arranded otherwise for instance as shown
in ~ at ,th`e cabin centrum. Each seated skier has
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before him a free space l~hich allows the passage of the
other skiers. ~he passen~ers walk normally to leave or to
enter in the cabin and the loadin~ and unloading platforms
can e~tend alono~ the semi-circular section of the half-loop
circuit. The lenoth of the terminal is thus reduced and a
chanoe ot' passen~ers will also be effected more quickly on
cabins which contact each other in the terminals even in
the curved section.
~ he above described structure is an e~ample of embodiment
but man~ arran~ements and shapes are replaceable b~
equivalents thereof.
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