HK1133631B - A drive machinery of a travelator, method for replacing the drive belt and support element - Google Patents

Description

Drive machine for moving walkways, drive Belt replacement method and support Member

Technical Field

The invention relates to a device in a drive machine for a moving walkway or similar; a method for replacing the drive belt of a handrail installed in a travelator or similar; and a support element for a handrail belt of a handrail of a travelator or similar.

Background

Travelators, moving ramps and moving walkways generally comprise at least one handrail around which a handrail belt is fitted in a loop, with which passengers can support themselves and which usually moves at substantially the same speed as the actual steps of the steps, ramps and walkways. The handrail belt of the handrail is in prior art constructions moved, for example, with the same drive machinery as the pallets. The drive mechanism is typically provided at the end of the system. The handrail belt of the handrail comprises at least a support section, which runs on top of the track, on which the passenger can rest with his arm; a return segment that does not rotate away from the field of view in substantially the same plane as the lower edge of the track; and the curved turning sections are positioned between the bearing sections and the returning sections and are arranged at two ends of the track. At the ends of the track, the handrail belt changes direction of travel when the bend section of the belt passes over a bend guide arranged at the end, which guide in the prior art is e.g. made up of a number of supporting rollers arranged in a curve at a suitable distance from each other. One solution consisting of the above-mentioned support rollers is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,634,546.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,117,960 presents a traction mechanism for a handrail belt of a handrail of a travelator, such as the travelator type described above. In this publication, on the return run of the handrail belt there is a traction mechanism comprising two belts pressed against each other, both belts forming a closed loop. The two belts are pressed against the handrail belt with a number of spring-loaded rollers, which are located in a closed loop of the belt. The traction belt of the handrail belt is pressed against the inner surface of the handrail belt and the belt serving as a support is pressed against the outer surface of the handrail belt, i.e. against the surface visible to the passengers. The problem with this solution is that the construction is expensive and complicated due to the large number of rolls and also requires a lot of maintenance work. Another problem is that the support belt, which presses on the outer surface of the handrail belt, wears the outer surface of the handrail belt, which is visible to passengers, thereby shortening the service life of the handrail belt.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,450,317 proposes another traction mechanism for the handrail belt of the handrail of a travelator, in which both the pallets and the handrail belt of the handrail are moved with the same mechanical drive. The outer surface of the handrail belt, i.e. the surface visible to the passenger, is in frictional contact with a drive belt which is rotated by a drive motor. This contact is further ensured by a number of pressure rollers pressing the handrail belt inwards towards the drive belt. The problem with this solution is also that, because of the presence of many pressure and guide rollers, the construction is expensive and complicated and requires many maintenance operations. Another further problem is that the drive belt, which is pressed against the outer surface of the handrail belt, wears the outer surface of the handrail belt, which is visible to passengers, and thus shortens the service life of the handrail belt. The applicant himself may also state that the material of the handrail belt must be very wear resistant for this reason, which, however, increases the price.

International patent application No. WO 2005/075332 proposes a solution for moving the handrail belt. In this case, a belt, which is rotated by a drive mechanism, is fitted in a loop around the support rollers. The belt is fitted so that it contacts the inner surface of the handrail belt and thus the handrail belt moves while the belt rotates around the support rollers.

Disclosure of Invention

The object of the invention is to eliminate the aforementioned drawbacks and to achieve a simple and inexpensive arrangement in the drive machine of a travelator or similar, in which drive machine the drive belt of the handrail does not wear as quickly as in the earlier solutions. Another object is to achieve a simple, easy and inexpensive method for replacing the drive belt of the handrail belt of a handrail installed in a travelator or similar. Another object is to obtain a support structure for the handrail belt of the handrail of a travelator or similar, which is simple, space-saving, easy to maintain and which drive belt is easy to replace or install.

According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided an arrangement in a drive machine of a travelator or escalator, which travelator or escalator comprises, in addition to the drive machine, at least one handrail with a handrail belt, and which drive machine comprises at least a drive motor, a support member for the handrail belt and a drive belt connecting the rotation of the drive motor to the support member, characterized in that the support member is a large-diameter supporting wheel fitted for use with the drive belt, and in that the drive belt is fitted to the edge of the supporting wheel.

Preferably the radius of the supporting wheel is substantially the same as, or smaller than, the radius of curvature of the inner surface of the contact surface of the endless loop of the handrail belt at the location of the supporting wheel, at most the thickness of the drive belt.

Preferably, the drive belt is fitted to the rim of the supporting wheel such that the outer surface of the drive belt is in frictional contact with the inner surface of the handrail belt.

Preferably, the outer edge of the supporting wheel is in frictional contact with the inner surface of the handrail belt.

Preferably the supporting wheel comprises a coupling member, the drive belt of which is mounted in connection with the mounting of the drive belt in place.

Preferably the coupling member is an installation groove extending inwardly from the edge of the supporting wheel, to which installation groove the drive belt is fitted in conjunction with the mounting of the drive belt in place.

According to another aspect of the invention, a method is provided for replacing the drive belt of the handrail belt of a handrail, which handrail is installed in a travelator or escalator, which drive belt is fitted in the drive machine of the travelator or escalator, which drive machine comprises at least a drive motor, the handrail belt, a supporting member and a drive belt connecting the rotation of the drive motor to the supporting member, characterized in that, in connection with the installation in place of the drive belt, the drive belt is fitted to the supporting member and the supporting member is rotated about its axis of rotation until the drive belt is wrapped around the supporting member.

Preferably, an installation groove is used in the support member as a coupling member for said drive belt, in connection with the placement in position of the drive belt, which is fitted in this installation groove.

Preferably, in connection with the placement in position of the drive belt, the drive belt is guided around the support member on the edge of the support member in an installation groove serving as a coupling member.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a support member for a handrail belt of a handrail of a travelator or escalator, said support member being a supporting wheel, characterized in that the supporting wheel comprises a coupling member for coupling and mounting the driving belt of the supporting wheel to the rim of the supporting wheel in connection with the placing in position of the driving belt.

Preferably the coupling member is an installation groove extending inwardly from the rim of the supporting wheel, to which installation groove the drive belt is fitted in connection with the mounting in place of the drive belt.

Some inventive embodiments are also discussed in the descriptive section of the present application. The inventive content of the application can also be defined in different ways. The inventive content may also consist of several separate inventions, especially if the invention is considered in the light of expressions or implicit sub-tasks or from the point of view of advantages or categories of advantages achieved. In this case, some of the features included in the following technical solutions may be superfluous from the point of view of separate inventive concepts. Likewise, the different details described in connection with each embodiment of the invention may also be used in other embodiments.

An advantage of the arrangement according to the invention is that the drive belt and other components of the handrail belt of the handrail installed in the machine do not wear so quickly that they do not need to be replaced and the machine does not need to be serviced as often. Another advantage is that the machine is simple, cheap to manufacture and, due to the small number of parts, easy to assemble. Because, in particular, the placement of the drive belt, the machine can also be configured to be advantageously narrow in the handrail width direction. The device according to the invention is also easy to service, for example with the method according to the invention. An advantage of the method according to the invention is that the drive belt of the handrail can be installed or replaced quickly, easily and cheaply, since the frame structure does not need to be dismantled separately in order to replace the belt. An advantage of the support element of the invention is that the drive belt of the handrail can be installed or replaced quickly, easily and cheaply, since the frame structure does not need to be dismantled separately in order to replace the belt. Furthermore, the support element according to the invention makes possible a simple handrail belt machine and a narrow handrail construction, since the drive belt runs over the edge of the support element.

Drawings

The invention will now be described in more detail by means of embodiments thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which

Fig. 1 shows a side view of the drive machinery of a travelator and the handrail belt of the handrail thereof;

fig. 2 shows an oblique side view of the drive machinery of the travelator and the handrail belt of the handrail thereof;

fig. 3 shows an oblique side view of the drive machine of the travelator and the handrail belt of its handrail when the drive belt has started to be changed;

fig. 4 shows an oblique side view of the drive machine of the travelator and the handrail belt of its handrail when the change of drive belt has proceeded to the subsequent stage of the situation shown in fig. 3;

fig. 5 shows an oblique side view of the drive machine of the travelator and the handrail belt of its handrail when the change of drive belt has been completed.

Detailed Description

Fig. 1 presents a side view of one end of a travelator and fig. 2 presents an oblique side view of one end of a travelator, in which a drive machine 1 of the travelator and the handrail belt of the handrail installed in it is arranged, which drive machine comprises at least one motor provided with a central shaft 3 and serving as a drive motor 2. The closing belt 4 is fitted to a pulley on the shaft 3, whereby the belt is led around a tension pulley 5 and a transmission wheel 6. The belt 4 comprises a closed loop tensioned to the desired tension, which loops around a pulley on the shaft 3 and around a tensioning wheel 5 and a transmission wheel 6. When the shaft 3 of the drive machine 2 rotates, the transmission wheel 6 also rotates via the belt 4. The transmission wheel 6 is intended to move the pallets of the travelator through a power transmission scheme suitable for the purpose, not shown in the figure. In addition, the drive wheel 6 is intended to transmit drive to the handrail belt 12 of the handrail 13, in which case the drive motor 2 simultaneously moves the handrail belt 12 of the handrail. In the solution according to the invention, the drive machinery 1 of the handrail belt 12 of the handrail is essentially at the end of the handrail 13, where the direction of travel of the handrail belt 12 changes when the handrail belt 12 passes around the turn-around guide arranged at the end.

The drive belt 8 is also arranged to pass around the rotation axis 7 of the transmission wheel 6, and the drive belt leaving the pulley on the axis 7 passes around a supporting wheel 10, which supporting wheel 10 is fitted to rotate on an axis 11 and serves as a supporting member for the handrail belt 12. The drive belt 8 forms a closed loop which passes around the shaft 7 pulleys and the supporting wheel 10, so that the drive belt 8 passes under the diverting pulley 9, wherein the diverting pulley 9 tensions the drive belt 8 and changes the running direction of the drive belt 8. By adjusting the position of the diverting pulley 9, the drive belt 8 can be tensioned to the desired degree of tension.

The supporting runner 10 of the handrail belt is e.g. a large-diameter disc-shaped runner, the diameter of which is dimensioned so that it simultaneously forms a suitable turning guide for the turning section of the handrail belt 12. Depending on the structural solution, the radius of the supporting wheel 10 is of substantially the same size as the radius of curvature of the inner surface, which is the contact surface of the loop of the handrail belt 12 at least for the length corresponding to the contact distance between the supporting wheel 10 and the handrail belt 12, or the radius of the supporting wheel 10 is smaller than the radius of curvature of the loop of the handrail belt 12 where the supporting wheel 10 is located, but to the most extent the thickness of the drive belt 8.

In the latter solution, which is described in more detail below, the turning section of the handrail belt 12 is arranged to pass around the supporting wheel 10, for instance so that said inner surface, which is the contact surface of the handrail belt 12, and the outer surface 15 of the drive belt 8 on the rim of the supporting wheel 10 are in frictional contact with each other. When the drive motor 2 rotates the transmission wheel 6, the supporting wheel 10 is also rotated via the drive belt 8. Since the drive belt 8 and the handrail belt 12 are in frictional contact with each other, the handrail belt 12 will also move under the traction of the drive belt 8 when supporting the wheel 10, due to the friction between the drive belt 8 and the handrail belt 12. The belt drives of the machine 1 are each arranged to move the pallets of the travelator and the handrail belt 12 with respect to each other at a desired speed.

The belts 4 and 8 are preferably toothed belts, while the pulleys connected to each belt and the supporting runner 10 are provided with a toothing adapted to said belts.

Figure 3 shows a situation in which the replacement of the drive belt 8, which is arranged on the shaft 7 of the transmission wheel 6 and around the supporting wheel 10, has started. The metal or glass panel at the end of the handrail and the old drive belt have been removed and the new drive belt 8 is ready to be wound onto the supporting wheel 10. On one side of the supporting wheel 10 there is an installation groove 14, which installation groove 14 serves as a coupling member and extends substantially radially inwards from the rim, preferably towards the centre axis of the supporting wheel, on which groove a part of the new belt 8 to be installed is fitted. The installation groove 14 is sufficiently deep in the axial direction of the supporting wheel 10 to keep the drive belt 8 inside the groove for the duration of the replacement, but the installation groove does not necessarily extend in the axial direction through the entire supporting wheel. Furthermore, the installation groove can be suitably rounded at the edges and a filler element can be placed in it, which filler element is only removed during the placement of the drive belt in place.

Figure 4 shows a situation in which the installation of the new drive belt 8 has progressed further than in the situation shown in figure 3. In this case the supporting wheel 10 has rotated to some extent in the direction of arrow a, and the drive belt 8 has moved together with the groove 14 between the handrail 12 and the supporting wheel 10, and at the same time the drive belt 8 has been placed on the supporting wheel 10 a distance after the installation of the groove 14.

Fig. 5 shows a situation in which the installation of the new drive belt 8 has been completed. The supporting wheel 10 has been turned further and the installation groove 14 has been moved so that the belt 8 has slipped out of the groove. The new drive belt 8 has now passed around the supporting wheel 10 and has also passed under the diverting wheel 9 and around the shaft 7 of the transmission wheel 6.

With the method according to the invention, the replacement of the drive belt 8 of the handrail takes place for example as follows: first, any guard machine components are removed from the side to be replaced to allow access to operate the machine. These components can be, for example, a machine-side frame plate. After this, the old drive belt 8 is removed, for example by cutting it and pulling it out of its position. Next, the supporting wheel 10 is turned to a position such that the installation groove 14, which serves as a coupling member for the new drive belt 8, is in a suitable position for starting installation, and the new drive belt 8 is fitted into the installation groove 14. Thereafter the supporting wheel 10 is turned by hand or by means of some suitable tool, so that a new drive belt is placed on the supporting wheel 10 and finally the belt 8 falls out of the installation groove 14. The new drive belt 8 is then passed further around the pulley on the shaft 7 of the transmission wheel 6 and also under the diverting pulley 9, and the belt 8 is tensioned to the required degree of tension by adjusting the position of the diverting pulley 9.

Although in the above embodiments only the replacement of the old drive belt with a new belt has been described, it is of course possible to place the drive belt 8 in place with the same means and in the same way also in other situations than the replacement of the belt. Thus, for example, in connection with commissioning of the equipment, the drive belt 8 to be put in place in the initial installation can be installed in the same way, and also, for example, in connection with maintenance or other work, the detached belt can be put back in place in the same way. In this case, it is thus not necessary to install a new drive belt, but instead the previous drive belt can be used. In general, this may be referred to as placing the drive belt 8 in place.

The support member of the handrail belt of the handrail according to the invention is marked with the reference number 10 in fig. 1-5. The supporting member is a supporting wheel 10, on the rim of which a supporting wheel drive belt 8 is fitted to run. The supporting wheel 10 comprises coupling members 14 for coupling and mounting the drive belt 8 of the supporting wheel 10 to the rim of the supporting wheel 10 between the supporting wheel 10 and the handrail belt in connection with placing the drive belt 8 in place. In the figure the coupling structure 14 is an installation groove extending substantially inwards from the rim of the supporting wheel 10, to which installation groove the drive belt 8 is fitted in connection with placing the drive belt 8 in position. The trough-like connection is simple and substantially space-free. If desired, the installation groove can be temporarily covered with a filler piece. The routing of the installed drive belt 8 on the rim of the supporting wheel 10 is preferably arranged so that the drive belt 8 passes between the supporting wheel 10 and the handrail belt 12 so that its outer surface 15 is in frictional contact with the inner surface of the handrail belt 12 and the inner surface is in contact with the supporting wheel 10. This results in a large contact area between the supporting wheel 10 and the drive belt 8 and between the drive belt 8 and the handrail 12. With the supporting wheel 10 according to the invention, the installation of the drive belt 8 can be carried out in a manner described elsewhere in the application. The basic fact lies in: the drive belt 8 to be installed is fitted into the installation groove 14, after which the supporting wheel 10 is rotated such that a new drive belt 8 is placed on the supporting wheel 10 and at the end the belt 8 slides out of the installation groove 14. The structure of the support structure 10 is also described elsewhere in this application.

The support element of the handrail belt according to the invention can be used with embodiments in which the drive belt 8 is smooth or toothed. Thus, the drive belt 8 may be either smooth or toothed on its inner and/or outer surface. If the inner surface of the drive belt 8 is toothed, the outer surface of the supporting wheel is correspondingly toothed. According to one embodiment the outer rim of the supporting wheel may contain a protruding edge portion that fits tightly against the drive belt 8 on at least one side of the drive belt 8 at the level of the rim of the supporting wheel at its edge in order to hold the drive belt 8 in place. This edge portion may be shallower than the thickness of the drive belt, in which case the aforementioned large contact area of the belt is not lost. According to one embodiment of the invention the rim portion extends from the rim surface of the supporting wheel 10 outside the drive belt 8. In this case, traction from friction can be obtained between the supporting wheel and the handrail belt 12. In this case, one advantage is that the drive belt is less worn.

It is obvious to the person skilled in the art that the invention is not exclusively limited to the examples described above, but that it may be varied within the scope of the invention. Thus, for example, the new drive belt may be secured to the supporting wheel and installed by other means than by mounting it to the mounting groove. The belt can be fixed to the supporting wheel for the duration of the installation, for example by means of some suitable type of fixing element.

It is further obvious to the person skilled in the art that the different stages of installing the new drive belt can be performed in a different order than described above. The new belt can be wound around the axle of the driving wheel and passed under the diverting wheel, for example, at the beginning, and after that it can be fitted around the supporting wheel.

It is also obvious to the person skilled in the art that only the outer rim of the supporting wheel may be in frictional contact with the inner surface as the contact surface of the handrail belt, in which case the drive belt is embedded in the rim of the supporting wheel. In this case the handrail belt is moved by pulling it directly by means of the outer edge of the supporting wheel.

Claims (11)

1. Drive machine (1) of a travelator or escalator, which travelator or escalator comprises, in addition to the drive machine (1), at least one handrail (13) with a handrail belt (12), and which drive machine (1) comprises at least a drive motor (2), a supporting element of the handrail belt (12) and a drive belt (8) which transmits the rotation of the drive motor (2) to the supporting element, characterized in that the supporting element is a supporting wheel (10) of large diameter, fitted for use with the drive belt (8), and in that the drive belt (8) is fitted to the rim of the supporting wheel (10).

2. Drive machine as defined in claim 1, characterized in that the radius of the supporting wheel (10) is substantially the same as the radius of curvature of the inner surface of the contact surface of the loop of the handrail belt (12) at the location of the supporting wheel (10) or smaller than the radius of curvature of the inner surface of the contact surface of the loop of the handrail belt (12) at the location of the supporting wheel (10), at most to the thickness of the drive belt (8).

3. Drive machine as defined in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the drive belt (8) is fitted to the rim of the supporting wheel (10) in such a way that the outer surface (15) of the drive belt (8) is in frictional contact with the inner surface of the handrail belt (12).

4. Drive machine as defined in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the rim of the supporting wheel (10) is in frictional contact with the inner surface of the handrail belt (12).

5. Drive machine as defined in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the supporting wheel (10) comprises a coupling member (14), the drive belt (8) of the supporting wheel (10) being fitted to couple with the coupling member (14) during fitting of the drive belt (8) in place.

6. Drive machine as defined in claim 5, characterized in that the coupling member (14) is an installation groove extending inwardly from the rim of the supporting wheel (10), to which installation groove the drive belt (8) is fitted during installation of the drive belt (8) in place.

7. A method for replacing the drive belt (8) of a handrail belt (12) of a handrail (13), which handrail (13) is installed in a travelator or escalator, which drive belt (8) is fitted in the drive machine (1) of the travelator or escalator, which drive machine (1) comprises at least a drive motor (2), the handrail belt (12), a supporting member and a drive belt (8) which transmits the rotation of the drive motor (2) to the supporting member, characterized in that, during installation of the drive belt (8) in place, the drive belt (8) is fitted to the supporting member and the supporting member is rotated about its axis of rotation (11) until the drive belt (8) is fitted around the rim of the supporting member.

8. A method according to claim 7, characterized in that an installation groove is used in the support member as the coupling member (14) of the drive belt, to which installation groove the drive belt (8) is fitted during the placing in place of the drive belt (8).

9. A method according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that during placing of the drive belt (8) in place, the drive belt (8) is guided around the support element onto the rim of the support element in an installation groove serving as a coupling element (14).

10. Support element for a handrail belt (12) of a handrail (13) of a travelator or escalator, which support element is a supporting wheel (10), characterized in that the supporting wheel (10) comprises a coupling element (14), which coupling element (14) is used to couple the driving belt (8) of the supporting wheel (10) and to mount the driving belt (8) to the rim of the supporting wheel during the placing in place of the driving belt (8).

11. A support element according to claim 10, characterized in that the coupling element (14) is an installation groove extending inwardly from the rim of the supporting wheel (10), to which installation groove the drive belt (8) is fitted during installation of the drive belt (8) in place.