HK1214581B - Conveyor system for the transport of passengers/goods - Google Patents

Abstract

A conveyor system for displacing passenger/goods formed by a moving endless belt comprising a plurality of pallet assemblies (100, 101) and drive means (200) to transmit a drive movement to the pallet belt (100, 101). The pallets (100, 101) have a functional surface opposite to the support surface (160) and having first meshing means (130). The drive means (200) comprise second meshing means (230) designed to interact with the first meshing means (130), so that the drive pallets (100), are driven by the drive means (200) by means of a meshing between the first meshing means (130) and the second meshing means (230) and to drive said pallet belt (100, 101) in the movement direction D. The drive means (200) have a linear motor aligned with the movement direction D.

Description

Transport system for passenger/goods transport

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a transport system for passenger/goods transport. More particularly, it relates to a transition speed section having a low speed section located in a boarding/disembarking area, a high speed section located in a middle area, and a low speed section located between the boarding/disembarking area and the middle area.

The invention is applied to mechanical walkways, such as those used in airports, stations and large public places in general, where users have to walk more or less large sections and where the aim is to make this type of displacement easier.

Background

It is common to find mechanical walkways such as those described above, the sections of which are defined and run at different speeds so that, depending on their direction of travel, a first boarding zone with low speed, an acceleration zone, an intermediate zone with maximum speed, a deceleration zone, and a disembarkation zone with low speed are established on the walkway.

In order to achieve variable speeds, which are necessary in the acceleration and deceleration regions, there are different solutions included in ES 2179720. Said document describes an acceleration walkway with a moving surface formed by plate assemblies, each formed by a driven plate and a driving plate, hinged to each other according to an axis perpendicular to the direction of travel. The walkway includes a boarding area and a disembarking area, wherein the plates circulate between a low speed area, a high speed central area and two transition areas in which the plates accelerate and decelerate due to the use of different drive systems for each of these areas.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention provides a transport system in which the drive elements of the pallets have a simpler operation than the state of the art closest to the invention. Rather than using a different drive for each zone, such as a chain in the low and high speed zones and a variable pitch spindle in the transition zone, a single drive element is used to control the speed of the pallet assembly. The single drive element allows to provide segments with different speed profiles, that is to say low speed in the boarding and disembarking areas, high speed in the central area and corresponding transition areas between high speed and low speed areas.

In the present invention, it is not necessary to use a different drive means for each region exhibiting a different velocity profile. By choosing the design for each of them, which meets all the requirements of the system, it is possible to avoid the need to use chains for the boarding low speed zone, for the disembarking low speed zone, for the maximum speed zone, for the variable pitch spindles for the acceleration zone, from the boarding low speed zone to the central highest speed zone and for the deceleration zone, from the central highest speed zone to the disembarking low speed zone.

The number of components in the system is reduced in view of the number of other mechanical elements and transmission members, whereby whenever maintenance work is required is reduced in addition to its simplification. On the other hand, the noise and noise level as well as the vibrations are also reduced, taking into account the excessive mechanical friction and transmission presented by the known systems.

The present invention relates to a transport system for passenger/cargo transport, such as defined in the claims.

Drawings

In the following, for a better understanding of the invention, a series of drawings will be described very briefly. The drawings are explicitly associated with the embodiments of the invention as non-limiting examples thereof.

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a portion of an endless belt with several pallet assemblies shown;

FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment of the invention in which several components of the system are shown;

fig. 3a, 3b and 3c show the position of the pallet assembly controlled by means of different controllers.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

One embodiment of the present invention relates to a conveyor system for passengers/goods, formed by a moving endless belt comprising a plurality of pallet assemblies or belts, wherein, as shown in fig. 1, each assembly has a support surface 160 intended to support the passengers/goods; a pallet 101 driven by a driving pallet 100, the two pallets 100, 101 being hinged to each other with an axis perpendicular to the direction of movement D of the belt.

The pallet assemblies are mounted in such a way that the relative distance between the pallet assemblies is variable.

As shown in fig. 2, the system comprises a drive means 200 intended to transmit a driving motion to the pallet belt 100, 101 in a low speed section in the boarding/disembarking area of the endless belt, in a high speed section in the middle area of the endless belt, in a transition speed section between the boarding/disembarking area and the middle area of the endless belt.

The tray 100, 101 of each assembly comprises a functional surface opposite the support surface 160 and has first engagement means 130.

On the other hand, the driving means 200 comprise second engaging means 230 intended to interact with said first engaging means 130, so that the driving pallet 100 is driven by the driving means 200 by means of the engagement between said first engaging means 130 and second engaging means 230 and drives in the direction of movement D said pallet strips 100, 101, and comprises a linear motor in line with the direction of movement D.

The system further comprises guide means 300, coinciding with the direction of movement D, intended to ensure the engagement between said first engagement means 130 and second engagement means 230 along said low speed section, high speed section and transition speed section, and positioning means 400 intended to ensure a parallelism tolerance (parallel tolerance) between said drive means 200 and guide means 300 along said low speed section, high speed section and transition speed section.

The positioning device 400 has a profile comprising first connecting means 401 designed to be connected to the driving device 200, second connecting means 402 designed to be connected to the guiding device 300 and third connecting means 403 designed to be connected to a system location.

The linear motor of the drive of each pallet belt or module coincides with the direction of movement D along the low-speed section, the high-speed section and the transition-speed section. The linear motors may be arranged one next to the other. They may be adjacent or separate. The distance between the linear motors may be different in a region where the gap between the linear motors may exist, depending on the region where the linear motors are located.

These linear motors drive the pallet assemblies 100, 101 strongly enough even in the event of failure of adjacent motors.

The system may comprise control means intended to control system operating parameters such as the position of the pallet assembly 100, 101, the speed of said pallet assembly 100, 101 and the speed pattern of the pallet assembly 100, 101.

The control device includes:

the control mode of each controller depending on the step of said first engagement means 130 on the linear motor; and

-control of the selection between position control and force control.

As shown in fig. 2, the system of the present embodiment includes a plurality of sensors 500 designed to detect the input of the first engagement device 130, i.e., the carriage includes a magnetic field that defines the magnetic flux (magnetic flux) in the linear motor, and to determine the position of the first engagement device 130 relative to the linear motor at all times. The first engagement means 130 comprises a magnetic strip 131 designed to indicate the control system, which is found in each of the first engagement means 130.

The magnetic part of the linear motor may be U-shaped (yoke) or have any other shape. It is also possible to use a planar linear motor.

In a second preferred embodiment, the control system may be decentralized, wherein each linear motor is controlled by one controller.

In this second embodiment, a central processing unit (host) configures each controller so that it performs a given motion profile in a decentralized manner. The particular motion profile for each controller is synchronized by means of a clock generated by the host, so that all controllers execute the commands of the motion profile synchronously. This motion profile provides position over time, as well as sensors that should be used to control, control the mode and force values. It further has a number of values that are large enough to ensure efficient control. This motion profile covers one complete motion cycle of the walkway (one pallet passing at a time), whereby when it ends, it starts again from the beginning and this is periodic.

In this way the control mode of each controller is also defined, since depending on the step of the car on the motor, the control mode is transferred from position (master) to force (slave), which allows a smooth transition between the motors (there is a gap between them).

A further feature is that each controller must have a large number (between 5 and 6) of inputs from the position sensors, since the distance between the sensors (which are fixedly placed) must be slightly smaller than the length of the strip mounted on the moving carriage, so that it is possible to transfer a reliable signal from one sensor to the other.

An alternative to this large number of inputs from unknown sensors is possible, i.e. with a global position signal, which would be the sum of some sensors covering one complete movement cycle. In this case this global signal can be taken as a single input signal to all controllers in such a way that with only two inputs a complete movement cycle will be ensured at any position of the controller. This global position generator may be an external device or integrated into the controller.

In fig. 3A, 3B and 3C, the area of the box represents the time it takes to complete one complete cycle (pallet lane). Each controller, characterized in fig. 3A, 3B and 3C respectively, executes a different profile depending on its position.

It is also possible to use one controller for several linear motors. This allows for a more powerful controller to be used at a fixed speed in the center and thus reduces the total number of controllers. However, using one controller for each motor should avoid the failure of a single controller causing a large area to be uncontrollable.

As an alternative to all the data being transferred by a single central processor managing the motors, each controller manages one or more linear motors by means of certain specific parameters. This management is decentralized because the control by means of centralized management would make the system unmanageable, considering the large number of linear motors included in the conveying system.

Claims (10)

1. A conveyor system for passenger/cargo transport formed by a moving endless belt, comprising:

1a) a plurality of pallet assemblies (100, 101), wherein:

1a1) each assembly having a support surface (160) designed to support passengers/cargo;

1a2) each assembly comprising a driven pallet (101) driven by a driving pallet (100), the two pallets (100, 101) being hinged to each other according to an axis perpendicular to the direction of movement D of the endless belt;

1a3) the pallet assemblies (100, 101) are mounted in such a way that the relative distance between the pallets (100, 101) is variable;

the method is characterized in that:

1b) comprising a drive device (200) designed to transmit a drive motion to the pallet assembly (100, 101):

1b1) in the low speed section located in the boarding/disembarking area of the endless belt;

1b2) in a high velocity section located in a middle region of the endless belt;

1b3) in a transition speed section between the boarding/disembarking area and the intermediate area of the endless belt;

1c) the pallet (100, 101) comprises:

1c1) a functional surface opposite the support surface (160) and having a first engagement means (130);

1d) -a drive device (200) comprising a second engagement device (230) designed to interact with the first engagement device (130), such that the drive pallet (100) is driven by the drive device (200) by means of an engagement between the first engagement device (130) and the second engagement device (230) and drives the pallet assembly (100, 101) in a direction of motion D;

1e) the drive means (200) comprise a linear motor in line with the direction of movement D.

2. System according to claim 1, characterized by comprising guide means (300) coinciding with said direction of movement D, designed to ensure the engagement between said first engagement means (130) and second engagement means (230) along low, high and transition speed sections.

3. System according to claim 1 or 2, characterized by comprising positioning means (400) designed to ensure a parallelism tolerance between said drive means (200) and guide means (300) along the low speed section, high speed section and transition speed section.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the positioning device (400) comprises a profile comprising:

4a) -first connection means (401) designed to be connected to said drive means (200);

4b) -second connection means (402) designed to be connected to said guide means (300);

4c) -third connecting means (403) designed to be connected to a location of the system.

5. The system of claim 4, comprising a plurality of linear motors along low, high and transition speed segments, coincident with the direction of motion D.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the linear motor is powerful enough to drive the pallet assembly (100, 101) even in the event of a failure of an adjacent motor.

7. A system according to claim 1 or 2, comprising control means designed to control operating parameters of the system, comprising:

7a) the position of the pallet assembly (100, 101);

7b) -the speed of the pallet assembly (100, 101);

7c) a speed pattern of the pallet assembly (100, 101).

8. A system according to claim 1 or claim 2, comprising a decentralized control system, wherein each linear motor is controlled by a controller.

9. A system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized by comprising a plurality of sensors (500) designed for detecting an input of a first engagement means (130) in the linear motor and for determining the position of the first engagement means (130) relative to the linear motor at each moment.

10. The system of claim 7, wherein the control device comprises: a control mode for each controller depending on the step of the first engagement means (130) on the linear motor, and a control selected between the position control and the force control.