Patent Application
20090044718
This application claims the priority, under 35 U.S.C. §119, of Austrian patent application A 1269/2007, filed Aug. 13, 2007; the prior application is herewith incorporated by reference in its entirety.
The invention relates to a cableway with at least one valley station and a mountain station, a hoisting cable between the valley station and the mountain station, and with transport units for transporting persons and/or objects from the valley station to the mountain station and, optionally, back again.
In recent years, it has become increasingly popular to slide down the slopes of sand dunes using sports equipment that is similar to skis or snowboards. In this type of sport, efforts are made to facilitate sportsmen's arduous climb up onto the dunes.
Depending on the construction and ambient conditions, sand dunes display characteristic migratory behavior and their height can also change, so that the best location for the mountain station, usually at the crest or the tip of the dune, changes over time. Conventional cableway systems cannot easily adapt to the change in location.
It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide a cableway system, which overcomes the above-mentioned disadvantages of the heretofore-known devices and methods of this general type and which adapts such systems for use on sand dunes or other elevations which are, in the broadest sense, comparable and which display noticeable “migratory behavior.”
With the foregoing and other objects in view there is provided, in accordance with the invention, a cableway, comprising:
at least one valley station and a mountain station;
a hoisting cable extending between said valley station and said mountain station and supporting traveling means for transporting persons or goods between said valley station to said mountain station; and
wherein said mountain station is disposed to be displaceable in a horizontal direction and/or in a vertical direction.
In accordance with an added feature of the invention, the mountain station is displaceably mounted on a carrying construction. Preferably, the carrying construction comprises supports and at least one mounting cable between the supports. The mountain station is displaceable along the mounting cable.
In other words, the objects of the invention are achieved in that the mountain station is arranged not stationarily and immovably, as is conventional in the case of known cableways, but rather so as to be displaceable in the horizontal and/or vertical direction. This allows the location of the mountain station to be changed in accordance with the migratory behavior of the sand dunes, thus allowing the mountain station to be located at all times in the desired or ideal region, conventionally in the region of the crest of the sand dune.
Whereas constructing the mountain station stably and securely presents no problem in normal cableways which are built on slopes of hills or mountains, so that the mountain station can accommodate, in addition to its own weight, also the tensile forces of carrying cables, traction cables and/or hoisting cables, this is usually not the case in cableways on sand dunes.
In the case of the invention, it is therefore preferred that the mountain station is arranged on a carrying construction and is displaceable thereon.
The carrying construction offers the possibility of not having to place and fasten the mountain station directly on the sand dune (this would entail the aforementioned drawbacks); instead, the carrying construction can be stably fastened at another suitable location, generally in the region of the foot of a sand dune, and the mountain station is carried by the carrying construction, wherein the mountain station can either hover completely above the sand dune or else, with regard to both its size and its weight, rest partly on the sand dune.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the carrying construction can have a boom on which the mountain station is displaceably arranged. In this case, the carrying construction can have a base in the region of the valley station and the boom be arranged at the end of a carrying arm to which the base is connected.
This embodiment offers the advantage that it is technically possible for the carrying construction, in particular the carrying arm and the boom, to pivot relatively freely and thus to be adapted to the shape and the migratory behavior of the sand dunes. In this case, it is in principle also not necessary for the mountain station actually to be arranged on or in the region of the crest of a sand dune, as the mountain station can also be swiveled into the slope region of a sand dune.
This construction also allows a deflection sheave for the hoisting cable to be mounted on the carrying construction, in particular on the boom. If at the same time the base is formed by the foundation of the valley station, there is produced a self-enclosed force system which is very stable and trouble-free.
In an alternative embodiment of the invention, the carrying construction has supports and at least one mounting cable which is arranged between these supports and on which the mountain station is displaceably arranged.
This embodiment has the advantage over the above-described construction with a boom, the size of which construction is limited owing to its inherent weight, that the spatial region in which the mountain station can be arranged and displaceable is larger.
There are various possibilities for fastening and for displacing the mountain station on the mounting cable. One possibility is for the mountain station to be displaceable on at least one mounting cable extending continuously from one support to the other. In the case of this embodiment, the mountain station is displaced directly on the mounting cable into the desired region via rollers or sliding blocks and subsequently fixed in this position. The advantage of this embodiment is that the flow of force in the mounting cable is not interrupted.
Another possibility is permanently to secure the mountain station on the mounting cable and to displace the mounting cable with the mountain station. Whereas in the aforementioned embodiment the mountain station has to be equipped with an optionally motor-driven drive or an additional traction cable must be provided for the mountain station, in this embodiment a drive has to be provided for displacing the mounting cable. This drive can for example be provided via one or more hydraulic cylinders.
A further alternative is not to use a continuous mounting cable to which the mountain station is secured, but rather for mounting cables, fastened on opposing sides of the mountain station, to extend toward the respectively adjacent support.
Especially in the case of the embodiment with separate mounting cables, it is possible to fasten to the mounting cables a rail on which the mountain station is displaceably arranged. The rail can however also be fastened to a continuous mounting cable. The advantage of this embodiment is that the mountain station is more easily displaceable on rails than directly on a mounting cable. This embodiment can also be combined with an embodiment in which the mounting cable can be additionally displaced, in this case with the rail. In this case, the mounting cable could for example be displaced for more extensive changes in position of the mountain station and the mountain station could be on the rail for less extensive changes in position.
In the case of the invention it is preferred that—viewed in the direction of the longitudinal extension of the mounting cables—all mounting cables are provided in pairs and extending next to one another. In this way, compared to a mounting cable, not only are the loads distributed onto two mounting cables, vibration of the mountain station, if said mountain station is not in some way secured to the sand dune, is also reduced.
In the case of two mounting cables extending parallel next to each other, obviously there are also provided two rails which extend parallel next to each other and on which the mountain station is displaceably arranged. The rails are then ideally joined together to form a stable frame.
As an alternative to the possibility of fixing the supports to foundations and of displacing the mountain station with or on a mounting cable or a rail, it is also possible for at least one support to be pivotably fastened to a foundation or for both supports to be pivotably fastened to their foundations. Suitable pivoting of one or both supports also allows the position of the mountain station to be changed in the vertical and/or horizontal direction.
If the supports are fastened with the aid of bracing cables, one or both supports can easily be pivoted as a result of the fact that the effective length of at least one bracing cable is variable.
Changing dynamic loads caused by passengers and by wind can result in undesirable vibratory movements or oscillations of the mountain station. In order to prevent or to damp the vibratory movements or oscillations, it is possible for a guy cable to be fastened to the mountain station. Furthermore, it is in this case preferred that a lever arm, to which the guy cable is fastened, is fastened to the mountain station. This guy cable, which is stationarily braced, can effectively prevent vibratory movements and oscillations in the longitudinal direction of the guy cable.
If the mountain station is arranged suspended from at least one mounting cable between two supports, said mountain station assumes a horizontal position only when it is arranged more or less exactly in the center between these two supports and is not moved from the horizontal position by additional external forces, for example by the hoisting cable.
The guy cable, which is preferably fastened to a lever arm, can also compensate for or prevent such changes in position of the mountain station.
A further possibility to compensate for these undesirable changes in position of the mountain station is for at least one counterbalancing weight to be fastened to the mountain station.
In the case of this embodiment, it is preferred either if the counterbalancing weight is displaceable directly on the mountain station or if a lever arm, to which the counterbalancing weight is fastened, is fastened to the mountain station. Displacement of the counterbalancing weight on the mountain station or on the lever arm or pivoting or displacement of the lever arm allows the position of the mountain station to be individually corrected.
In order to compensate for an oblique position of the mountain station, it is also possible for the mountain station to be vertically displaceably arranged on the mounting cable and for—viewed in the direction of the longitudinal extension of the mounting cables—the two sides of the mountain station to be vertically adjustably arranged, preferably independently of each other, on the mounting cable. These two possibilities can also be used to carry out vertical corrections to the mountain station above the sand dune.
As the mountain station can vibrate or oscillate not only about a horizontal axis but rather also about a vertical axis, such undesirable movement should also be prevented. In the case of the invention, this is possible as a result of the fact that the pairs of the cables extend toward one another at an angle greater than 0°, preferably greater than 3°. The larger this angle is, the more effectively the mountain station is protected from vibration or oscillation about a vertical axis and also from lateral movements.
A further possibility for preventing vibration or oscillation of the mountain station is for the mountain station to have a device for connecting to the substrate.
As sand dunes generally do not display high strength, it is in the case of the invention preferred that the device has at least one anchoring rod which is preferably provided at its end with a thread. One or more anchoring rods of this type can easily be inserted into the sand dune and also detached again and offer a simple possibility of securing the mountain station.
Other features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in the appended claims.
Although the invention is illustrated and described herein as embodied in dune-cableway, 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.
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.
Referring now to the figures of the drawing in detail and first, particularly, to
Traveling means or transport devices, for example chairs or gondolas that are known per se from cableway engineering, are fastened to the hoisting cable 11.
The supports 3, 4 are braced via bracing cables 16, 17. Conventionally, three bracing cables 16, 17 are used for each support 3, 4: one on the side opposing the carrying cable 2 and one which is braced on each of the sides, for example at right angles thereto. In the case of A-shaped supports, the lateral bracing cables may be dispensed with.
There are a plurality of possibilities, which may if necessary also be combined with one another, for displacing the mountain station 1 in the vertical and horizontal directions.
One possibility is to fasten the carrying cable 2 to the support heads of the supports 3, 4 and to pivot one or both supports 3, 4 at joints 18, 19 in the region of the foundations 8, 9. The supports 3, 4 are pivoted most effectively by varying the effective cable length of the bracing cables 16, 17; this can be carried out for example by way of cable winches, but even more effectively by way of hydraulic cylinders arranged in the region of the foundations 5, 6.
Alternatively and/or additionally, it is possible to displace, in the case of the mountain station 1 secured to the mounting cable 2, the mounting cable 2 in one or other direction. This can also be carried out with the aid of cable winches and/or hydraulic cylinders.
A third possibility, which can if necessary be combined with the two foregoing possibilities, is for the mountain station 1 to be displaceable on the mounting cable 2. Provided for this purpose on the mountain station 1 are either rollers or sliding blocks and also an apparatus (not shown in the drawings), which can be actuated manually or in a motor-driven manner, for displacing the mountain station on the mounting cable 2.
In order to facilitate displacement of the mountain station 1, use may be made of the embodiments according to
In the case of the embodiments with a rail 20, the roller batteries 13 and 14, which are represented symbolically by a single roller, can be arranged either, as shown in
The ideal horizontal orientation of the mountain station 1 is adversely influenced by various geometric conditions and by forces acting on the mountain station 1, in particular forces introduced by the hoisting cable 2. As far as the geometric conditions are concerned, oblique positioning of the mountain station 1 results primarily from the fact that displacement of the mountain station 1 from the exact center between the supports 3, 4 by way of the cable curve gives rise to oblique positioning of the mountain station 1. In order to compensate for these influences, a lever arm 22 (
In the case of an arrangement of the lever arm 23 according to
Alternatively or additionally, a counterbalancing weight 26, which can be of variable mass and preferably displaceable on the mountain station 1, can, as shown in
It is also expedient to suspend the mountain station 1 from the rollers 21 on both sides via length-variable devices 27, 28, such as is shown in
A further possibility to compensate for tilting of the mountain station 1 is to guide each of the two rollers 21 of the mountain station 1 via a separate mounting cable 2a, 2b, as may be seen in
As the mountain station 1 will generally not be arranged hovering freely above the sand dune 32 but rather will be attached thereto more or less securely, it is within the scope of this invention preferred if the mountain station 1 is secured in the sand dune via anchoring rods 29 or the like which are provided at their tips with a thread, such as is shown schematically in
The foregoing description of preferred embodiments of the invention referred, owing to the two-dimensional representation in
The embodiments described hereinbefore with reference to the figures described a design of the cableway in which valley stations 7, 8 are present on both sides of the sand dune 32, so that assistance in climbing up onto the sand dune 32 can also be offered on both sides. It will be understood that a valley station can also be arranged only on one side of the sand dune 32 and either the hoisting cable is therefore already deflected through 180° on the mountain station 1 via a cable sheave and guided again back to the valley station, or that the hoisting cable is guided on the other side of the sand dune 32 to a type of valley station, but there is no possibility there for passengers to climb in and out. If the hoisting cable is again deflected already on the mountain station 1, it can be advantageous for static and dynamic reasons to brace the mountain station on the side opposing the hoisting cable 11 with the aid of an additional tensioning cable in the direction toward the adjacent support.
The carrying arm 33 is supported via a support arm 47 via which a bracing cable 42 is guided, which is fastened on the one hand to the carrying arm 33 in the region of the bearing 35 and on the other hand to a hydraulic cylinder 43. The hydraulic cylinder 43 serves to tension the bracing cable 42 and also to vary the effective length of the bracing cable 42, thus allowing the angle of the carrying arm 33, which is pivotably mounted on the foundation via a bearing 46, to be varied relative to the horizontal. The boom 34 is held in position via a further bracing cable 44 which is guided from the foundation 37 or a mount 48 fastened thereto parallel to the carrying arm 33 and via a strut 45 to the free end of the boom 34. The arrangement of the bracing cable 44 parallel to the carrying arm 33 produces a type of parallel steering means, so that the boom 34 always automatically remains in its horizontal position even if the carrying arm 33 is pivoted further upward or downward.
As a result of the horizontal displaceability of the mountain station 1 along the boom 34 and the vertical adjustability of the mountain station 1 by pivoting the carrying arm 33, the carrying construction described in connection with
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| A 1269/2007 | Aug 2007 | AT | national |
