U.S. patent application number 12/211497 was filed with the patent office on 2009-06-04 for transportation device for cableway systems.
This patent application is currently assigned to INNOVA PATENT GMBH. Invention is credited to Ekkehard Assmann.
Application Number | 20090139427 12/211497 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 40377141 |
Filed Date | 2009-06-04 |
United States Patent
Application |
20090139427 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Assmann; Ekkehard |
June 4, 2009 |
Transportation Device for Cableway Systems
Abstract
A transportation device, mainly a gondola or a chair with a
covering hood, for a cableway system having a supporting and
conveying cable which is guided, in the stations, over deflecting
pulleys, of which at least one is driven. The transportation device
may be firmly clamped to the supporting and conveying cable or it
can be coupled thereto and, in the stations, can be uncoupled
therefrom and moved along guide rails, through the boarding and
disembarking regions, at a speed which is substantially reduced in
relation to the speed of the supporting and conveying cable, and
the passengers board the transportation device or disembark
therefrom in the process. The gondola is formed with transparent
wall parts or the chair is formed with a pivotally mounted
transparent covering hood. The transparent wall parts or the
transparent covering hood are produced from a plastic material, in
particular from a polycarbonate, containing a dye.
Inventors: |
Assmann; Ekkehard;
(Dornbirn, AT) |
Correspondence
Address: |
LERNER GREENBERG STEMER LLP
P O BOX 2480
HOLLYWOOD
FL
33022-2480
US
|
Assignee: |
INNOVA PATENT GMBH
Wolfurt
AT
|
Family ID: |
40377141 |
Appl. No.: |
12/211497 |
Filed: |
September 16, 2008 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
105/149.2 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B61B 12/002
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
105/149.2 |
International
Class: |
B61B 11/00 20060101
B61B011/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Dec 3, 2007 |
AT |
A 1964/2007 |
Claims
1. In a transportation device for a cableway system having a
supporting and conveying cable extending between stations and
guided about deflecting pulleys, wherein at least one of the
pulleys is a driven pulley and the transportation device is firmly
clamped to the supporting and conveying cable or configured to be
coupled thereto and uncoupled therefrom in the stations, for
movement along guide rails extending through boarding regions and
disembarking regions at a speed substantially below a speed of the
supporting and conveying cable, for enabling one or more passengers
to board the transportation device or disembark therefrom in the
station, the transportation device being formed with one or more
transparent wall parts or having a transparent covering hood
pivotally mounted thereon, the improvement which comprises: the one
or more transparent wall part or the transparent covering hood is
produced from a plastic material containing at least one dye.
2. The transportation device according to claim 1, wherein said
plastic material is polycarbonate.
3. The transportation device according to claim 1, configured as a
lift chair with a frame and a seating surface supported on said
frame, and wherein said covering hood is a transparent bubble
pivotally supported on said frame between an open position and a
closed position.
4. The transportation device according to claim 1, configured as a
gondola formed with a cabin having a plurality of walls formed of
said plastic material containing the dye.
5. The transportation device according to claim 1, wherein said
wall parts or said covering hood are thermoformed panels of a
plastic material containing said at least one dye, pressed in a
pressing operation in heated molds.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application claims the priority, under 35 U.S.C. .sctn.
119, of Austrian patent application A 1964/2007, filed Dec. 3,
2007; the prior application is herewith incorporated by reference
in its entirety.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to a transportation device,
mainly a gondola or a chair formed with a covering hood, for a
cableway system having a supporting and conveying cable which is
guided, in the stations, over deflecting pulleys, of which at least
one is driven. The transportation device is firmly clamped to the
supporting and conveying cable or it can be coupled thereto and, in
the stations, can be uncoupled therefrom and moved along guide
rails, through the boarding and disembarking regions, at a speed
which is considerably reduced in relation to the speed of the
supporting and conveying cable, and the passengers board the
transportation device or disembark therefrom in the process. The
gondola is formed with transparent wall parts or the chair is
formed with a transparent covering hood mounted in a pivotable
manner thereon.
[0003] Prior art cablecars are formed predominantly with wall parts
made of a transparent plastic material. It is likewise the case
that the covering hoods for chairs of cableway systems are produced
from a transparent plastic material. The advantage of forming
cablecars with a very large number of transparent wall parts, or of
forming covering hoods which are transparent, resides in the
particular level of convenience for the users of the cars or of the
chairs, who are thus afforded a largely unrestricted view of the
landscape.
[0004] The transparent wall parts for cars, or covering hoods,
which consist of a plastic material e.g. of polycarbonate, are
produced by panels of the plastic material being pressed in heated
molds, this achieving the desired three-dimensional
configurations.
[0005] Wall parts for cablecars and covering hoods for chairs need
to have largely constant wall thicknesses of approximately 3 mm to
5 mm in order thus to ensure the necessary strength. Production of
these wall parts and of the covering hoods, however, gives rise to
the problem where, on account of the resistances during the
deformation of the plastic material which are brought about by the
different three-dimensional configurations, it is possible for
regions which have insufficient low wall thicknesses to form. This
applies, in particular, to corner regions. If these shortcomings
are not detected, these products are processed further, i.e. they
are used in cars and in chairs in which case the insufficient
strength results, within short periods of operation, in damage, in
particular fracturing, which makes it necessary for the relevant
wall parts or covering hoods to be replaced by new wall parts or
covering hoods.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0006] It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide a
transportation device for a cableway system which overcomes the
above-mentioned disadvantages of the heretofore-known devices and
methods of this general type and which allow these
production-related shortcomings of the wall parts or of a covering
hood to be immediately detected, as a result of which these can be
separated out straightaway.
[0007] With the foregoing and other objects in view there is
provided, in accordance with the invention, a transportation device
for a cableway system having a supporting and conveying cable
extending between stations and guided about deflecting pulleys,
wherein at least one of the pulleys is a driven pulley and the
transportation device is firmly clamped to the supporting and
conveying cable or configured to be coupled thereto and uncoupled
therefrom in the stations, for movement along guide rails extending
through boarding regions and disembarking regions at a speed
substantially below a speed of the supporting and conveying cable,
for enabling one or more passengers to board the transportation
device or disembark therefrom in the station. The transportation
device is formed with one or more transparent wall parts or it has
a transparent covering hood pivotally mounted thereon. The
improvement according to the invention is found in the fact that
the one or more transparent wall parts or the transparent covering
hood is/are produced from a plastic material containing at least
one dye.
[0008] In other words, the objects of the invention are achieved in
that the wall parts or the covering hood are or is produced from a
plastic material containing at least one dye.
[0009] As a result of the dye contained in the plastic material,
regions of a large wall thickness have more pronounced coloring,
whereas regions with a small wall thickness have lesser coloring.
This makes it possible to detect straightaway whether the relevant
product meets the technical requirements in respect of the
necessary wall thickness or whether it is unsuitable for further
processing and has to be separated out.
[0010] Plastic materials to which at least one dye is added also
achieve the effect where particles of infrared radiation are stored
in the dye particles, as a result of which the wall parts or the
covering hood are or is heated to a more pronounced extent than is
the case with plastic materials which are not dyed. This means that
the wall parts of cablecars and the covering hoods of chairs ice up
to a lesser extent and the surfaces dry more quickly. In addition,
the transparent wall parts or covering hoods which are tinted as a
result of being dyed provide antidazzle protection for the
passengers in strong sunshine.
[0011] In accordance with a concomitant feature of the invention,
the wall parts or the covering hood (3) are or is produced from
panels made of a plastic material, containing at least one dye, by
way of a pressing operation which takes place in heated molds.
[0012] The instant application contains certain overlapping subject
matter, such as information concerning the molding and inspection
process, with my copending patent application No. [Attorney Docket
WRA-36066], which is herewith incorporated by reference.
[0013] Other features which are considered as characteristic for
the invention are set forth in the appended claims.
[0014] Although the invention is illustrated and described herein
as embodied in transportation device for cableway systems, it is
nevertheless not intended to be limited to the details shown, since
various modifications and structural changes may be made therein
without departing from the spirit of the invention and within the
scope and range of equivalents of the claims.
[0015] The construction and method of operation of the invention,
however, together with additional objects and advantages thereof
will be best understood from the following description of specific
embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying
drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING
[0016] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a lift chair of a
cableway-system with a covering hood, which is illustrated in an
open position; and
[0017] FIG. 2 is a similar perspective view of the chair according
to FIG. 1, this time with the covering hood in the closed
position.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0018] Referring now to the figures of the drawing in detail, the
cableway-system chair which is illustrated as an exemplary
embodiment of the invention comprises a carrying frame 1 which has
a seat surface 2 for a number of passengers. In order to provide
the passengers protection, for instance from inclement weather, a
covering hood 3, also referred to as a bubble, is mounted on the
carrying frame 1. The hood 3 is pivotally mounted about an axis 31.
In the open position of the covering hood 3--the position
illustrated in FIG. 1--passengers can be seated and they can
disembark from the chair. If the passengers require protection
against wind, snowfall or other climatic effects as they are
traveling on a cableway system, the covering hood 3 is pivoted into
the closed position--the position illustrated in FIG. 2.
[0019] The covering hood 3 is produced fully, or for the most part,
from a plastic material, in particular from polycarbonate, to which
at least one dye is added. The addition of a dye thus makes it
possible to detect, following production of the covering hood,
whether the latter has the wall thickness of approximately 3 mm to
5 mm which is necessary for the desired strength, since regions
with a small wall thickness have a lighter tinting than regions
with a greater wall thickness.
[0020] If it is established that a covering hood has one or more
regions with an insufficient wall thickness, and thus obviously
does not ensure the necessary strength, this covering hood is
separated out. Since this, to the greatest extent possible, rules
out production-related damage, in particular fracturing, changeover
operations which would otherwise be necessary are avoided, and
substantial savings in cost are achieved as a result.
[0021] Producing covering hoods from a plastic material which
contains a dye, furthermore, results in the covering hood being
heated up more quickly and being de-iced more quickly. In addition,
such a covering hood provides a certain amount of shade and
antidazzle protection for the users of the chair.
[0022] It will be readily understood that such covering hoods can
be used both for chairs which are rigidly fastened on the carrying
and conveying cable of a cableway system and for chairs which can
be coupled to the carrying and conveying cable.
[0023] The same advantages as outlined also apply to
cableway-system cars and gondolas that are formed with transparent
wall parts.
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