Variable-speed Transport Apparatus

Abstract

A variable-speed passenger transporter for conveying passengers from a stationary surface to a belt moving at constant speed, which includes a plurality of rhomboid platforms driven along guide means in a closed circuit along a section of which the platforms are in contacting relationship to form a moving floor. Along the initial portion of this section the platforms travel at low speed and at right angles to their center lines towards the belt but at an angle thereto. Along the following portion they are shifted along one another without changing their orientation to increase their speed until they come alongside the belt. The platforms then move with the belt at more or less the same speed as the latter and at an angle thereto, the oblique ends of the rhomboid platforms providing the moving floor with a substantially straight edge at least alongside the belt. A reverse, decelerating, arrangement and various modified constructional forms are also provided.

Description

This invention relates to a transporter, in particular for conveying passengers, of the kind comprising a plurality of transport platforms which have parallel longitudinal edges and which are are arranged to move over a closed circuit, common drive means for causing said platforms to move at a relatively low speed transversely to their longitudinal axis through a loading or unloading zone of said circuit and to move at a higher speed over at least one transport section of said circuit along a trajectory which is transverse to the one followed by said platforms when moving at said low speed, said circuit including at least one link section lying between said transport section and said loading or unloading zone over which the speed of each platform is brought gradually from its higher value to its lower value or vice versa, and means marking out a passageway meant to be followed by the users over the portion of the circuit lying between said loading or unloading zone and the terminal or starting end of said transport section.

Various such transporters are already known and in some of these transporters the platforms change their orientation when passing from the loading or unloading zone to the higher speed transport sections.

For instance, there is disclosed in French Pat. Specification No. 619,659 a passenger transporter wherein the platforms together form an articulated train which folds accordionwise in the passenger loading and unloading zones and which straightens out along the transport section until the platforms come to lie end to end, their longitudinal axis then becoming parallel to their axis of movement along this section.

According to another arrangement also described and illustrated in this French Pat. Specification, a plurality of platforms, which are initially piled up side by side, are made to come into end-to-end alignment by sliding one platform relatively to another and at the same time causing it to topple through 90.degree. in a way similar to that of a row of books slipping along a shelf until they finally come to occupy a position in which they all lie down flat on the shelf.

These two solutions necessitate imparting to the platforms relatively large angular accelerations when they are being brought into end-to-end relationship unless the sections of the circuit along which the change in platform orientation takes place are particularly long (hence taking up a large amount of space). Moreover, the centrifugal forces due to the changes in orientation will be appreciably greater at the ends of the platforms than near their middle portions and passengers standing at these ends may feel substantial discomfort from these centrifugal forces.

Furthermore, the transporter whose platforms spread out accordionwise suffers from an additional drawback: upon moving into end-to-end alignment the initially adjacent platforms come to be moved angularly through 180.degree. in relation to one another so that passengers, who all get on the platforms with the same orientation since they cannot anticipate the orientation that these platforms will come to have along the transport sections, come to travel along these transport sections some facing the direction of movement and others with their backs turned thereto, depending on the platform on which they happen to be. Thus some passengers may arrive at the alighting deck with their backs turned thereto, thereby making it necessary for them to do a quick about turn while their platform is still moving.

It has already been proposed to obviate the above drawbacks, in particular in Swiss Pat. Specification No. 385,732, by providing the transporter with guide means which force adjacent platforms to shift both transversely and longitudinally, one alongside the other, while they are travelling along the section of the circuit which lies between the loading and unloading zones, on the one hand, and the maximum-speed transport section, on the other hand, in such a way as to keep a substantially unchanging orientation of the platforms during passenger transport.

In either case, the various platforms only form a continuous floor in the loading and unloading zones of the transporters and rapidly come to be so positioned over the remainder of their transport path as to leave empty spaces on opposite sides of their surface, this being particularly dangerous for passengers.

It was subsequently proposed to improve the transporter described in the above Swiss Pat. Specification by causing the platforms to move between walls that are in contact with their free edges and which become deformed at the platforms move along so that this contact may be permanent. Such an arrangement is obviously particularly complex, delicate and expensive.

An object of the present invention is to provide a transporter free from the drawbacks of these known arrangements.

According to the invention there is provided a transporter of the kind set forth further comprising guide means for so guiding said platforms in their movement that each platform remains in mutual contact with its two adjacent platforms by at least part of its longitudinal edges throughout displacement along said passageway, the forward motion of said platforms, at least in the higher speed transport section of the circuit, taking place at an angular position such that the longitudinal edges of said platforms form in relation to their direction of motion an angle lying between 0.degree. and 90.degree., and the lengthwise extent of said platforms being at least sufficient to form a continuous moving floor over the entire area of said passageway.

In the accompanying diagrammatic drawings:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a first station for loading and unloading passengers on and off two moving belts, and which includes two similar transporters according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view on a larger scale of a loading passageway and of an unloading passageway comprised by such a station;

FIG. 3 is a section along line III-III of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a section along line IV-IV of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a section along line V-V of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the arrangement shown in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a plan view of a number of platforms visible in FIG. 2 showing certain features of the platform guide means;

FIG. 8 is a sectional view along line VIII-VIII of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a plan view of a second station for loading and unloading passengers on and off two moving belts and which includes a further two similar transporters according to the invention but different from those shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 10 is a partial view of FIG. 9 on an enlarged scale and in greater detail;

FIG. 11 is a plan view of one of the platforms visible in FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is a plan view of a modified form of platform;

FIG. 13 illustrates diagrammatically the use which can be made thereof; and

FIGS. 14, 15, 16 and 17 show four other forms of stations including transporters according to the invention.

The arrangement which can be seen in FIG. 1 constitutes a loading and unloading station in a system for transporting people, at a constant speed V, of, say, about 10 km. per hour, on two belts A and B moving in opposite directions.

This station comprises two similar transporters each defining a loading track, which loading tracks serve to convey people on to the belts by subjecting them to continuous acceleration along their initial portion so that their speed along the terminal part of each track may be substantially identical to the speed of travel of the belt with which it is associated, this latter speed being several times greater than the speed at which people are conveyed when they first step on to the track.

Each transporter device also defines an unloading track for conveying passengers stepping off belts A and B. Along this track passengers are subjected to continuous deceleration whereby their initial speed which is substantially equal to the speed of travel of the belt off which they have stepped may be reduced to a very much lower speed, for example equal to the speed at which passengers are conveyed along the initial portion of a loading track, so that they may step gently on to terra firma.

The acceleration or deceleration to which is subjected a passenger being conveyed on a track can for example be such that the speed at the exit from a track may be four to five times greater than the entry speed in the case of acceleration, and from four to five times less than this entry speed in the case of deceleration.

In FIG. 1, the track for loading and accelerating passengers is referenced 1A in the case of the first transporter, and is referenced 1B in the case of the second transporter; correspondingly the unloading and deceleration tracks are identified 2A or 2B.

Tracks 1A and 2A and tracks 1B and 2B in the two transporters shown in FIG. 1 are formed by the juxtaposition of a plurality of identical platforms 3 which are driven, as will be described below, along a closed circuit, tracks 1A and 2B forming sections of the circuit of one transporter and tracks 1B and 2A forming sections of the circuit of the other transporter.

The sections of these two circuits which correspond to these tracks are connected by two intermediate sections C.sub.1 and D.sub.1 in the case of the first transporter and by two intermediate sections C.sub.2 and D.sub.2 in the case of the other transporter which intermediate sections serve to lead the platforms leaving track 1A or 1B to the entry of track 2B or 2A and to lead the platforms leaving track 2B or 2A to the entry of track 1A or 1B.

Whereas the platforms must obviously be apparent along tracks 1A, 2A, 1B and 2B to enable passengers to have access thereto, they are out of sight and preferably travelling in tunnels at a lower level when they are moving along circuit sections C.sub.1, C.sub.2, D.sub.1 and D.sub.2.

Tracks 1A and 1B and tracks 2A and 2B are respectively bounded, except along belts A and B, by stationary walls 4 and 5 and stationary walls 4' and 5'. These walls could of course be replaced by any other suitable barrier means able to prevent passengers, once they have stepped on to the tracks from leaving them except where they are meant to, or again from stepping on to these tracks at a location other than that provided for boarding. Similar walls or barriers are of course also provided along the moving belts A and B and are only interrupted in the zones where passengers are meant to step on to these belts or to step off them. Along these zones, which are identified as l in FIG. 1, the speed at which the boarding and alighting tracks of the two transporters move should be substantially identical to the speed of movement of belts A and B. Moreover, along zones l the platforms 3 travelling along the tracks should preferably move at the same level as the associated moving belt or at a level which is only slightly lower or higher, such that passenger transfer from an acceleration track to the belt or from the belt to a deceleration track remains easy for anybody.

Preferably also, the platforms are made to follow an exclusively horizontal path over the remainder of the track, i.e. the portion lying between the entry and the end of the wall 5 in the case of acceleration track 1A or 1B or the portion lying between the exit and the beginning of a wall 5' in the case of deceleration track 2A or 2B. However, it is not impossible to give a slightly ascending configuration or a slightly descending configuration to the part of each track that is bounded by wall 5 or 5' should circumstances so require it.

As shown, tracks 1A, 1B, 2A and 2B do not follow a wholly straight course but are curved along the portions thereof that are bordered by walls 5 and 5' and it is along these curved portions that the previously mentioned passenger acceleration or deceleration takes place in a manner which will be described in greater detail below. The axis of access to an acceleration track or of exit from a deceleration track and the axis of travel along the portion of each acceleration or deceleration track which borders on belt A or B are therefore transversely disposed in relation to each other.

In each of the illustrated transporters the opening providing access to the associated acceleration track bounded by one end of the corresponding walls 4 and 5 is of lesser width than the opening which forms the exit of the deceleration track and which is bounded by one end of the corresponding walls 4' and 5' and is so gauged as just to allow the simultaneous passage of four people, this being ensured by the provision of three partition walls 6a, 6b and 6c.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 7, the platforms 3 of each transporter have the shape of a generally rhomboid quadrilateral whose longitudinal sides 3a and 3b are parallel but whose two other, shorter, sides 3c and 3d are slightly convergent thereby defining at each end of the platform two dissimilar triangular surfaces the usefulness of which will become apparent later.

As is more readily apparent from FIG. 8, each platform 3 is provided, on its underside in the vicinity of its obtuse angles, with a pair of downwardly projecting studs 7a carrying at their free ends rollers 7 which are respectively engaged in two channel section rails 8 and 9 extending along the entire circuit followed by the platforms. These rails form not only a rolling path for the platforms defining their trajectory, but also act as guide means for maintaining each platform in a given angular position, for example relatively to the direction of travel of belts A and B, throughout displacement along the circuit.

At the two corners of the rectangle inscribed in the rhomboid outline of each platform that are not already occupied by rollers 7 are provided two rollers 10 which are pivotally mounted in housings 11 hollowed out in the actual sides 3a and 3b, these rollers being arranged to be slightly outstanding to facilitate any relative axial shifting to which the platforms may be subjected when in juxtaposition.

Each platform is coupled to its two adjacent platforms by two pairs of levers, e.g. 11a, 11b and 12a, 12b (FIG. 2), which are pivotally connected in pairs to form heads 14; at their inner ends the levers are again connected together in pairs and to studs 13 lying at the center of gravity of each platform. These levers together form a jointed continuous chain K (FIG. 2) by means of which the platforms can be driven with the help of a motor (not shown) and by means of which the relative position of the platforms can be controlled. Such control is achieved by varying the angle between the outer ends of each pair of levers, such angular variation being obtained by causing the heads 14 to engage in and slide along a guide rail 15 which extends round the entire circuit to be followed by the platforms, at a set distance from the rails 8 and 9, this distance being dependent on the local radius of curvature of these two rails, on the speed at which the platforms travel and on the spacing that is required between the platforms at each point along the circuit.

It will be observed, in this connection, that in the straight parts of the circuit where the speed of travel of the platforms will be constant the trajectory followed by studs 13 at the centers of gravity of the platforms coincides with that followed by the heads 14 of the chain of levers or is at least parallel thereto.

The distance between the rollers 7 of each platform, the path followed by the rails 8 and 9 as well as the variation of their spacing, the length of the levers 11a, 11b, 12a and 12b in the chain K and the path followed by their guide rail 15 are so chosen that, along the sections of the circuit corresponding to the acceleration and deceleration tracks the platforms 3 travel along these tracks in such a way that their longitudinal axis or center line always maintains a constant orientation and forms an angle other than 0.degree. or 90.degree. with the trajectory they follow when travelling at maximum speed, i.e. along sections l in FIG. 1. Moreover these platforms are always in contact with one another along at least part of their longitudinal sides 3a and 3b, over the entire length of the track.

Because the platforms enter a track along a straight trajectory (FIG. 2) and likewise leave it along a straight trajectory but obliquely in relation to the first one, it follows that they are required to travel along a curved intermediate portion and if the platform center lines are to maintain a constant orientation throughout displacement along the track it follows that the platforms are required to carry out a relative sliding movement from left to right in FIG. 2 alongside one another as they approach a moving belt.

In addition, the length of these platforms and the inclination given to their side 3c relative to their longitudinal sides 3a and 3b -which inclination is equal to that of these longitudinal sides relatively to the trajectory of the platforms along the maximum speed portion of the circuit (segment l in FIG. 1) - are such that the surface of the floor formed by the platforms along a track and bounded by wall 4 or 4', to one side, and by wall 5 or 5' and the adjacent edge of the belt A or B along section l, to the other side, may in no way be discontinuous such that a passenger may, if need by, step without danger from one platform to another, even along those parts of the track where the speed of travel of the platforms is greatest. Of course, what has just been stated is likewise true for an acceleration track and a deceleration track. The drive for the various platforms comprised by each track is achieved by means common to all the platforms: it can for example be provided by a synchronous linear motor or a rack device.

These features help to render the described transporter quite safe thereby making it suitable for use in conjunction with heavy traffic public transport installations, such as the one shown in FIG. 1.

The area allotted to each passenger arriving at the entry point of an acceleration track is indicated in FIG. 2 on the platforms by a circle p; it will be observed from an examination of the straight part l of the acceleration track, adjacent the moving belt, that the obliqueness of the platforms and their total length have moreover been so chosen that the passengers on one platform will not be inconvenienced by those on the preceding platform when the time comes for them to step on to a moving belt. Besides they are provided with an additional intermediate surface formed by the trailing, triangular, portion of the preceding platform. The same is, of course, true in the case of a deceleration track as regards passengers stepping off a moving belt on to this track.

In order that the passengers may be conveyed in complete safety on the described transporter, each platform has associated therewith five support uprights 16 arranged in a row along the center line of the platform on opposite sides of the circles p.

These uprights extend slidingly through holes 17 provided in the platforms and at their lower end they are provided with a head 18 defining an annular groove 18a; their height ranges from about 1.20 to about 1.40 metres so that they may conveniently be grasped, even by very tall people.

Each upright is engaged by its head in a cam-acting guide rail 20 which can for example extend round the whole circuit of the transporter and be arranged at different levels, depending on whether it is laid along the track-forming or operative portions of the circuit or it is laid along the other, inoperative, portions of the circuit. However, as suggested by FIGS. 3 and 4, rail 20 could be interrupted along the inoperative section of the circuit where the uprights 16 are in a retracted position. Thus rails 20 could consist, along each operative section of the circuit, of an upwardly sloping portion at the beginning of this section to bring uprights 16 to their fully projected position, of a downwardly sloping portion at the end of the operative of track-forming section to bring uprights 16 to their fully retracted position, and possibly a horizontal portion between these sloping portions to keep the upright 16 in their fully projected position throughout displacement of the platforms along this operative or track-forming section of the circuit.

Along the inoperative sections of the circuits the uprights travel along trenches as is apparent from FIGS. 3 and 4.

As will be seen from FIG. 3, which is a sectional view of the beginning of an acceleration track-forming section taken along the second row of uprights from the right of FIG. 2 and through partition wall 6c, the uprights 16 of each row are made successively to rise up through a longitudinal slot formed in the partition wall associated with a row until they come to project slightly above the latter at their upper ends to an extent sufficient to enable them to be grasped. Thus, a passenger arriving at the point of entry of, for instance, track 1A of the transporter will simultaneously see appearing before him the platform on which he is to step and the five uprights with which this platform is provided.

The width of the exit from deceleration track 2A or 2B is appreciably greater than the width of the entry to acceleration track 1A or 1B thereby to facilitate and speed up the unloading of passengers on to terra firma (FIG. 2).

It is in order to enable this flaring out of the exit of track 2A or 2B that the platform sides 3d are not made parallel to the sides 3c as this helps to provide the rhomboid platforms with a longer minor diagonal.

Also with a view to facilitating the unloading of passengers from the deceleration tracks 2A and 2B, the uprights 16 at the end of these tracks are made to retract rapidly by means, for instance, of the arrangement shown in FIGS. 4 to 6.

In the zone provided for the retraction of the uprights, at the far end of track 1B, the floor 21 is formed with five slots 21a, 21b, 21c, 21d and 21e along the edges of which are provided overlapping sealing strips 22a and 22b which are made of resilient material and which can be locally forced apart by an upright as it progresses along the corresponding slot (FIG. 6).

These sealing strips are so constructed and so shaped that passengers stepping off the transporter can tread thereon without any risk of their feet being caught in the slot closed off by these sealing strips.

According to the modified constructional form of FIG. 12, each platform comprises a central panel 23 having parallel edges and rounded ends on which are pivotally mounted two triangular flaps 24a and 24b able to occupy two angular positions as shown by the dash-dotted lines. The platforms are provided, like the platforms 3 previously described, with guide rollers 7 and slide rollers 10; they can be connected to each other by means of a chain of levers similar to the one illustrated in FIG. 2.

The platform construction which has just been described makes it possible to design tracks of different configurations and comprising several sections that are curved either way (as in the FIG. 14 arrangement) and along which these platforms can move either obliquely relatively to their axis of displacement, as along section Q in FIG. 13, or coaxially with this axis, as along section R in FIG. 13. The angular positioning of the flaps 24a and 24b of each platform can conveniently be controlled by appropriately mounted guide rails engaged by rollers provided on the underside of the flaps.

A quadrilateral shape with oblique inclined front sides is not of course the only one that is possible for the platforms of a transporter according to the invention. Also, the shape of the circuit followed by the platforms can be very different from the one shown in FIG. 1 and can be adapted to suit different cases as required.

Preferably, the deceleration and acceleration tracks are so arranged along the moving belts of a conveyor-belt passenger transport installation that a deceleration track is located ahead of an acceleration track along each belt, viewed in the direction of travel of this belt, as in the FIGS. 1 and 9 arrangements, so that the passengers who have reached their destination can get off the belt they are travelling on before new passengers can get on. In this way any interference caused by the presence on the belt of people about to disembark will be avoided during boarding.

In contradistinction to the arrangement adopted for the boarding and alighting station of FIG. 1, where belts A and B are spaced apart and are separated from each other by the presence of two passenger alighting tracks, belts A and B in the FIGS. 9 and 10 construction are adjacent one another and the loading and unloading for each belt is effected along their outer edges.

In the FIG. 9 transporter, each platform comprises, as shown in FIG. 11, a main panel 25 whose left end 25a forms a triangle having two equal sides 26a and 26b symmetrically disposed in relation to the center line of the platform. Along these sides 26a and 26b are hingedly mounted triangular flaps 27 and 28 whose bases 27a and 28a are in alignment with the longitudinal sides of panel 25, whose second sides are coextensive with the sides 26a and 26b of triangle 25a and whose third sides are in alignment with side 26b, in the case of flap 27, and with side 26a, in the case of flap 28.

These flaps 27 and 28 are not meant to be both in a horizontal position all the time, as shown in FIG. 11, that is in coplanar relationship with panel 25, and alongside belts A and B, either one or the other is swung downwards to a vertical retracted or inoperative position, depending on the position of the platform relative to its associated moving belt.

This swinging motion of the flaps can be controlled by any appropriate means as, for instance, those already described, i.e. rails and rollers, wherever it is essential to achieve correct positioning of the platforms along the circuit over which they are required to travel while also enabling them to form a continuous surface along the operative, passenger carrying, sections of the circuit.

As will be appreciated from the right-hand part of FIG. 10, when a platform passes from the acceleration track forming portion of the circuit to the deceleration track forming portion of the circuit, one flap, say 28, is moved to its lowered position whereas the other flap, say 27, is moved to its raised position, in coplanar relationship with panel 25.

The right-hand end of each platform as viewed in FIG. 11 is cut at right angles and the length of each platform is arranged to be sufficient for the surface of the floors formed by the platforms to be continuous along both the acceleration and deceleration tracks.

In the acceleration track case, the portion of a platform marked out in FIG. 11 by the oblique broken line m is the minimum area at that end of the platform that remains unused at any time along the acceleration track whereas in the deceleration track case it is a symmetrical portion marked out by the broken line n which corresponds to the minimum area at that end of the platform which remains unused at any time along the deceleration track, i.e. along the maximum speed sections of these tracks.

The relative and actual positioning of the various platforms and their drive are achieved in a way similar to that described in relation to the arrangement illustrated in FIG. 2, i.e. by means of guide and supporting rollers and of a chain of levers.

Moreover the platforms of the FIGS. 9 and 10 construction are also equipped with vertically slidable support uprights, which are moved upwards into the operative projected position at the beginning of each acceleration or deceleration track or downwards beneath the platforms upon the latter reaching the end of these tracks.

In the FIG. 14 arrangement, two transporters are placed wholly between two moving belts A and B, the circuit of each of these transporters including, as in the FIG. 1 construction, an acceleration track associated with one belt and a deceleration track associated with the other belt.

The FIG. 15 arrangement, wherein two moving belts A and B are set relatively near to each other, is in some ways similar to the FIG. 1 construction except that provision is made for the final part of the deceleration track of each transporter to dip and to form a series of steps in order to pass underneath the moving belt with which this deceleration track is associated.

By way of variant, this last part of each deceleration track could be made to pass over the associated belt.

In FIG. 16 is shown a transporter arrangement which is particularly suited for a terminal station in a passenger transport system having two moving belts A and B. Here, the transporter comprises two acceleration and deceleration tracks 1A and 1B which are connected at one end by a circuit section 1C of which only part is shown. At the other end tracks 1A and 1B are connected to each other as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10.

Passenger transporters according to the invention are not only intended to increase the speed of passengers to an extent sufficient to allow them to step without any trouble on to a moving belt or again to enable passengers to step off this belt and subsequently reducing their speed to an extent such as to make alighting easy even for old or handicapped people, but can be combined, as shown in FIG. 17, with another similar transporter in order to form a single closed circuit including a first track for conveying passengers from a point A to a point B and a second track for conveying passengers from point B to point A.

In such a circuit, x indicates two transport sections which can be of any length, depending on the distance separating points A and B, and along which passengers are conveyed at a constant maximum speed V.sub.1, y indicates two sections along which passengers are accelerated from a minimum speed V.sub.o to said maximum speed V.sub.1, and z indicates two sections along which passengers are decelerated from speed V.sub.1 to speed V.sub.o so that they can alight.

The arcuate sections which connect sections y and z at the ends of the circuit are preferably covered with flooring to enable passengers to have access to sections y or to alight from sections z.

Claims

We claim:

1. A transporter, in particular for conveying passengers, comprising a plurality of transport platforms which have parallel longitudinal sides and which are arranged to travel over a closed circuit, common drive means for driving said platforms at a relatively low speed transversely to their respective longitudinal axis across a loading or unloading zone of said circuit and at a higher speed over at least one transport section of said circuit along a trajectory which is transverse to the one followed by said platforms when moving at said low speed, said circuit including at least one link section lying between said transport section and said loading or unloading zone over which the speed of each platform is brought gradually from its higher value to its lower value or vice versa, and means for defining a passageway to be followed by the users over the portion of the circuit lying between said loading or unloading zone and the terminal or starting end of said transport section respectively, said transporter further comprising guide means for guiding said platforms in their movement such that each platform remains in mutual contact with its two adjacent platforms along at least part of its longitudinal sides throughout displacement along said passageway, the forward motion of said platforms, at least along said higher speed transport section of the circuit, taking place at an angular position such that the longitudinal side of said platforms form in relation to their direction of motion angle lying between 0.degree. and 90.degree. and the lengthwise extent of said platforms being at least sufficient to form a continuous moving floor over the entire area of said passageway.

2. A transporter according to claim 1, wherein the platforms are quadrilaterals and wherein at least one of the two sides of each platform which lie between the said longitudinal sides forms therewith an angle corresponding to that of the inclination of these longitudinal sides relatively to the trajectory of said platform along the higher speed transport section.

3. A transporter according to claim 1, wherein each platform comprises a panel having parallel longitudinal edges, defining the longitudinal sides of said platform, and symmetrical triangular end portions, the two oblique edges of said portions each forming with the longitudinal edge of the panel adjacent thereto an angle which corresponds to that at which the longitudinal sides of the platform lie relatively to its trajectory along the higher speed transport section of said circuit, and further comprises two triangular flaps each hinged along one of the said oblique edges and selectively movable into a first, operative, position in coplanar relationship with said panel and a second, inoperative, downwardly folded position, each flap having a first edge parallel to said one oblique edge on which it is hinged, a second edge in alignment with the adjacent longitudinal edge of said panel, when said flap is raised into its operative position, and a third edge in alignment with the other of said two oblique edges in said raised operative position of said flap.

4. A transporter according to claim 1, wherein each platform comprises a central panel having parallel longitudinal edges, defining the longitudinal sides of said platform, and two triangular flaps pivotally mounted on opposite ends of said panel, and wherein means are provided for selectively swinging each flap into a first operative position in which one of the edges of said flap is in substantial alignment with one longitudinal edge of said panel, and into a second operative position in which the other edge of said flap is in substantial alignment with the other longitudinal edge of said panel.

5. A transporter according to claim 4, wherein said platform-guiding means are so adapted that when said platforms follow a curved trajectory, at a constant speed of travel, they come into contact at diagonally opposite ends of the longitudinal sides of their central panels, and that the triangular flaps of each platform come into contact, one with one of the longitudinal sides of the first platform that is adjacent thereto and the other with the other longitudinal side of the second adjacent platform.

6. A transporter according to claim 1, wherein each platform is formed with at least one vertical hole through which extends an upright rod for the support of passengers, means being provided for causing said rod to slide upwardly into a projecting, operative, position upon said platform reaching the entry of said passageway and downwardly into a retracted, inoperative, position upon said platform reaching the exit of said passageway, said rod-actuating means maintaining said rod in said projecting position throughout displacement of said platform along said passageway and in said retracted position while said platform moves along said link section of the circuit.

7. A transporter as claimed in claim 6, wherein said rod is provided at its lower end with a head and wherein said rod-actuating means include a guide rail for engaging said head, said guide rail being so shaped as to form a cam controlling vertical movement of said rod relatively to said platform.

8. A transporter according to claim 7, wherein each platform is provided with at least two upright support rods which form in said passageway together with the rods of the other platforms two separate rows, wherein said rod-actuating means include, per row of rods, at least one guide rail extending over at least one part of its length upstream of the loading zone or downstream of the unloading zone, respectively, and over another part of its length downstream from the terminal or starting end of said transport section respectively, and wherein a trench is provided for the passage of the rods of each row in their retracted position, said trench extending along said link section of the circuit and said guide rails extending from the bottom of said trench to the edge thereof and vice versa in the zones of the circuit where they are required to effect upward or downward actuation of the rods.

9. A transporter according to claim 8, wherein partition walls are provided at the entry to said passageway in the loading zone for channelling passengers entering said passageway, said walls being equal in number to the rows of support rods and being each arranged in the line of motion of a particular row, and wherein each wall is longitudinally slotted whereby said rods may pass thereinto during upward movement thereof, and has a height less than the height of the rods in their projecting position whereby said rods may successively emerge from the top of said wall to an extent which is at least sufficient for them to be grasped by oncoming passengers.

10. A transporter according to claim 8, wherein, downstream from the exit of said passageway in the unloading zone, are provided a plurality of slots equal in number to the rows of support rods and communicating with said trench, and wherein the edges of each slot are provided with elastic strips which normally close off said slot through overlapping one another, said strips having a rigidity such that they cannot flex vertically under the mere weight of passengers whereas they are adapted to open upon passage of a rod, promptly to close again after such passage.

11. A transporter according to claim 1, wherein the width of the entry to said passageway, in the loading zone, is less than the width of the exit from said passageway, in the unloading zone.