U.S. patent number 3,580,182 [Application Number 04/818,241] was granted by the patent office on 1971-05-25 for variable-speed transport apparatus.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Battelle Memorial Institute. Invention is credited to Gabriel Bouladon, Paul Zuppiger.
United States Patent |
3,580,182 |
Bouladon , et al. |
May 25, 1971 |
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.
Inventors: |
Bouladon; Gabriel
(St.-Loup/Bersoix, CH), Zuppiger; Paul
(Athenaz/Geneva, CH) |
Assignee: |
Battelle Memorial Institute
(Carouge/Geneva, CH)
|
Family
ID: |
4307059 |
Appl.
No.: |
04/818,241 |
Filed: |
April 22, 1969 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
|
|
|
|
|
Apr 26, 1968 [CH] |
|
|
6280/68 |
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
198/324; 198/337;
198/334 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B66B
29/08 (20130101); B66B 21/12 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
B66B
29/00 (20060101); B66B 29/08 (20060101); B66B
21/12 (20060101); B66B 21/00 (20060101); B65g
017/06 () |
Field of
Search: |
;104/25 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: La Point; Arthur L.
Assistant Examiner: Keen; D. W.
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.
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.
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