Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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EQUIPMENT FOR CLEANING THE GROOVED STEPS OF ESCALATORS
AND OTHER GROOVED SURFACES
DESCRI PTION
The object of the invention is to solve the problem of cleaning the
surfaces of the steps of escalators, which have a dense series of grooves
oriented in the direction of motion of the escalator. The invention also
solves
other similar problems, e.g. for the surfaces of grooved moving walkways,
whether endless and made of rubber, or divided up into belts, and for other
uses.
The grooves of the steps of escalators have always been a problem
and required expensive upkeep due to the heavy daily traffic, the need to
keep the grooves clear, and the need to reduce stoppages for maintenance
and cleaning and the like to a rriinimum.
The invention solves these problems in a thoroughly effective manner,
using a simple and inexpensive piece of equipment.
The equipment in question, which is for the abovementioned objects
and for equivalent uses, essentially comprises in combination: a floor
cleaning
machine with cylindrical rotary brushes composed of essentially radial
bristles;
and, on the side of this machine, guide members.that engage in the grooves,
which guide members fit into one or more grooves so as to guide the floor
cleaning machine while the bristles pass into the grooves of said surfaces;
this prevents side skidding and procures an operation that is simple, fast,
non-
fatiguing and satisfying in the highest degree.
The guide members may be at least two spaced-out rollers, each with
at least one ridge andlor one annular slot, so that the rollers are able to
engage in the grooves and/or in the ridges of said tread surfaces of the
steps.
As an alterriative to the rollers or in combination with the rollers, guide
members may be shoes with runners for fitting into and sliding in one or more
grooves.
The bristles of the brushes are preferably arranged in circumferential
rows separated by spacing adapting to the spacing between the grooves of
the tread surfaces of the steps; the same arrangement is provided for the
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annular ridges of the rollers that fit into the grooves of the steps.
In practice there may be at least three or even more rollers.
The guide members - rollers and/or shoes with runners - may be
situated at a level such that the bristles of the brushes flex slightly
against the
bottoms of the grooves, thus ensuring complete cleaning of these grooves.
The presence of at least three rollers and the geometry of the rollers
with two annular slots and three annular ridges and/or the presence of
longitudinally extended runner shoes, ensure engagement in the grooves
during operation, and hence guide the movements of the machine in the
direction of the grooves.
Given that the floor cleaning machine is preferably of reversible type, it
is possible and easy to work right up to the two lateral edges of the grooved
surfaces, even if there are solid~balustrades on either side.
When used for cleaning escalators, the operator can simply hold the
machine in position at the bottom where the escalator starts, and reposition
it
in successive transverse positions so as to cover the full surface of the
steps.
For cleaning moving walkways, the operator can hold the machine at the
beginning of the walkway.
A clearer understanding of the invention will be gained from the
description and attached drawing, the latter showing a practical, non-limiting
embodiment of the invention. In the drawing:
Fig. 1 is a view and partial cross section of a floor cleaning machine
equipped with guide rollers and placed on the grooved surface of one step of
an escalator;
Fig. 2 is a side view from plane I I-II as marked in Fig. 1;
Fig. 3 is a schematic view, partly in plan view and partly in section;
Fig. 4 is a cross section through an escalator with the fitted machine in
the position of maximum displacement to the right when viewing the drawing;
Fig. 5 is a plan view of a floor cleaning machine in two different
positions for cleaning the two opposite edges of two adjacent steps;
Fig. 6 is an enlarged detail of the working area of a brush inside one
groove of a step of an escalator or similar; and
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Figs. 7 and 8 show diagrammatically a side view and a cross section
on VIII-VIII as marked in Fig. 7 of a solution with guide means in the form of
shoes with runners.
In the drawing the reference 1 denotes the structure of the floorplate of
one step of an escalator, the tread surface of which step - marked 1 A - is
composed of a plurality of grooves 3 running in the direction of movement of
the escalator or at any rate in a direction that is perpendicular to the
height of
a step. The problem to be solved is how to clean the step 1, particularly the
grooves 3 of said step. A similar structure, endless or belted, is that of a
moving walkway.
To carry out the above! the invention involves using a floor cleaning
machine, especially a floor cleaning machine of a type known in the trade
under the trade name "Duplex" from the applicant, to which is added an
auxiliary feature that makes it easy to clean the steps of an escalator or the
grooved surface of a walkway or equivalent equipment.
A floor cleaning machine is outlined in the drawing and comprises a
cowling suitably shaped to contain, on the sides 6, containers holding a
detergent for dispensing, and, in the center, a tank 8 in which the dirty
liquid is
recovered. This is auxiliary to the action of the . rotating brushes which are
shown schematically at 10 and are positioned beneath the containers 6 and
partly exposed on the underside so as to act on the surface on which the
machine is moved. The brushes 10 essentially project out from a side
structure 6A of the cowling 6; hinged at 12 to the top of the portion 6A is a
handle 14 which can be tilted either side of the plane of symmetry of the
machine, so that the machine can be worked backwards and forwards for an
alternating movement in the direction of displacement of the machine in
opposite directions. The brushes 10 project a small amount in the downward
direction so as to make contact with the surface of a floor or the like that
requires cleaning. In this particular case, the bristles 10A of the brushes 10
are laid out in circumferential alignments, which may preferably be spaced
apart at the same pitch as the grooves 3 of the steps 1. The bristles 10A of
the circumferential alignments can penetrate into the grooves 3 and then
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bend against the bottom 3A of the grooves 3 (see Fig. 6 in particular),
thereby
efficiently cleaning the grooves both on the bottom and against the sides
against which the bristles brush in order to carry out the cleaning. Cleaning
can be assisted also by detergents supplied in a manner known per se from
the containers 6 and delivered to the brushes in order to carry out the
cleaning, while suitable arrangements return the dirt-laden liquid carried by
the bristles back to the container. The brushes 10 are end-mounted into the
side structure 6A of the cowling, and are rotated in a manner known per se. At
the unsupported end, the brushes 10 terminate in practice with a circle of end
bristles for cleaning any corner between a surface to be cleaned and a wall -
in this particular case in order to clean the steps 1A right up to the
balustrades
1 C (Fig. 4) of the escalator. To clean the opposite edges of a step 1, the
machine can be used, as shov~in in Fig. 5, in at least two stages in which the
handle 14 is reversed and the machine itself is reversed to present the free
ends of the brushes 10 to one or other of the balustrades 1 C delineating the
escalator.
Operations of this kind with the conventional machine are not easy,
because the machine has been observed to have a rather marked tendency
to side skid erratically while cleaning a step, or, other grooved surface. To
prevent these problems and enable the grooves to be cleaned quickly and
easily, it is arranged to equip the side structure 6A of the cowling of the
machine with an accessory comprising - as indicated in Figs. 1 to 6 - three
rollers 16, each having - in accordance with the drawing - two slots 16A and
three ridges 16B that define the slots 16A. The ridges 16B are separated by
gaps equal to the pitch between the channels 3, and the thickness of the
annular ridges 16B is less than the width of the grooves 3 of the steps 1, 1A.
The rollers 16 are mounted idly on respective journals 18, which are parallel
to the axes of rotation of the brushes, and in practice can be mounted on a
shaped plate 20 equipped with screw means for application to the flank of the
side structure 6A of the cowling 6. Rollers of different geometries will be
replaceable for adaptation to the geometry of the grooved surfaces 1, 1 A.
The accessory 20, 18, 16 can in practice be fitted and removed rapidly
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using screws 22 for mounting the plate 20 at the time of use on the side part
6A of the cowling 6 when the floor cleaning machine is to be used for the
above-indicated purposes of cleaning grooved surfaces such as those of the
steps 1, 1 A of escalators.
~ To use the floor cleaning machine together with its accessory, the
machine is positioned so that, in any condition of movement of the machine
along the.line of the grooves 3, the ridges 16B of the rollers 16, or at least
two
of the rollers, can get into the grooves 3. The outer edges of the ridges 16B
of
the rollers 16 can rest on the bottoms 3A of the grooves, or the bottoms of
the
annular slots 16A may rest on the projecting tops of the walls of the grooves
3, which basically represent the walking surface of the steps or other
surfaces. Either way the guidance provided by the rollers 16 having their
ridges 16B engaged in the grooves 3 prevents any side skidding of the
machine when cleaning steps with alternating movements in the direction of
said grooves 3. The machine can subsequently be placed in various positions
across the width of each step . 1 to continue its cleaning, and turned
completely around as shown schematically in Fig. 5 to clean up to the lateral
edges of the steps against the (usually fixed) escalator balustrades 1 C,
between which the steps all move for the use of the public.
The position of the machine, at least in the vicinity of the side rollers
16, is defined by the outer edges of the ridges 16B, or by the bottoms of the
annular grooves 16A to allow for a bending of the bristles 10A as they touch
the bottoms 3A of the grooves 3, as shown clearly in Fig. 6, ensuring that the
bristles 1 OA clean completely down to the bottoms 3A of the grooves 3.
The bristles can have an arrangement with a central section of bristles
that are longer than the outer sections of the bristles in the circumferential
rows of bristles, to~ensure that the sides of the grooves 3 are cleaned as
well
as the bottoms 3A.
To clean the steps of an escalator, the operator can simply position
and hold the machine (turn on) where the steps emerge at the bottom of the
escalator. This will clean the various steps as they emerge, optionally
repeating steps that reemerge after traveling full circle; the machine is then
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moved to clean another area of the steps; and the machine is turned around
to clean the lateral edges of the steps. The same applies to cleaning
longitudinally grooved moving walkways.
Figs. 7 and 8 show a variant in which the rollers 16 are replaced by one
or more shoes with runners 116. These can be made of suitable materials,
including relatively flexible synthetic resins (such as that known as nylon)
and of suitable geometry to facilitate their insertion into the grooves and to
adapt within certain limits to the pitch between the grooves 3, 3A of the
surfaces to be cleaned. Each of these runner shoes 116 may be a single
whole or made up of adjacent sections.
Another variant can be a combination of rollers 16 and runner shoes
116 present in each groove 1 A, and an alternative to that would be to have
rollers 16 in one groove 3, 3A, and runner shoes 116 in an adjacent groove 3,
3A.
It will be understood that the drawing shows only an example purely as
a practical demonstration of the invention, which latter can be varied in its
shapes and arrangements without thereby departing from the scope of the
concept on which the invention is based. The presence of any reference
numbers in the appended claims is for the purpose of facilitating the reading
of the claims with reference to the description and to the drawing, and does
not limit the scope of protection represented by the claims.
