Patent Application
20180244503
The invention relates to a conveyor device which is configured for conveying people and/or goods and which includes at least one sensor configured for detecting the presence of people next to the conveyor device.
Conveyor devices are often provided in the form of escalators or inclined moving walks extending between two landing portions which are located at different levels of height. There is some risk that people, in particular children or teenagers, will hang on the moving handrail of the conveyor device from outside to be lifted by the handrail and fall down from some height, which may cause severe injuries or even death.
Safety codes therefore require barriers to prevent people from accessing the outer decking of escalators and inclined moving walks. Different kinds of mechanical barriers are used for preventing access to different arrangements of escalators and moving walks. Mechanical barriers, however, suffer from a plurality of disadvantages: If a wrong type of barrier is used, the risk of climbing the outer decking is not mitigated which results in non-compliance to the code. Architects often do not consider the barriers due to optical and design reasons. Customers and local installation companies sometimes do not realize the need for such barriers. Retrofitting already installed escalators and moving walks is not explicitly demanded by the code.
It therefore would be beneficial to provide an improved conveyor device with at least one handrail, which allows to reliably prevent people from hanging onto the handrail from outside the conveyor device.
A conveyor device according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention comprises:
The at least one sensor is located at or next to the at least one balustrade; and the main detection direction of the detection zone extends from the at least one sensor in a direction away from the balustrade.
The detection zone of the at least one sensor is in particular designed so that a person approaching the balustrade from the outside and/or hanging onto the handrail of the conveyor device is detected by the at least one sensor. In this case, an alarm signal may be issued in order to cause the person to leave the detection zone. Alternatively or additionally, the movement of the conveyor device may be stopped.
As a result, a conveyor device according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention allows to reliably prevent people residing outside the conveyance element from being pulled up by the moving handrail without using a mechanical barrier. As a result, it increases the safety of operating a conveyor device without suffering from the disadvantages which result from employing a mechanical barrier.
Exemplary embodiments of the invention will be described with respect to the enclosed figures:
The conveyor device 2 extends between a lower landing portion 4 and an upper landing portion (not shown in
An emergency stop button (safety switch) 14 is provided outside the right balustrade 12 when viewed in the conveying direction from the lower landing portion 4 to the upper landing portion. A balustrade cable channel 18 is formed inside the balustrade 12 housing a cable 16. The cable 16 extends from the emergency stop button 14 through the balustrade cable channel 18 and further along the bottom of the balustrade 12 to a control device 30 of the conveyor device 2.
In case of an emergency situation, any movement of the conveyance element 8 may be stopped immediately by pushing the emergency stop button 14.
A sensor 22 is arranged at the outside of the balustrade 12 below the emergency stop button 14. The sensor 22 in particular is located on the balustrade cable channel 18 allowing to use the balustrade cable channel 18 for electrically connecting the sensor 22 with the control device 30 by means of a cable 16. Alternatively, the sensor may transmit its signals to the control device 30 by means of a wireless connection (WLAN, Bluetooth, e.g.).
The sensor 22 is configured for detecting the presence of a person in a defined detection zone. The detection zone will be discussed in detail further below with reference to
In case the sensor 22 detects the presence of a person within the detection zone, it will send a signal to the control device 30 which than will issue an optical and/or acoustic alarm signal. Additionally or alternatively, the control device 30 may stop the movement of the conveyance element 8.
The elements which are identical with the elements of the first embodiment are denoted with the same reference signs and will not be discussed in detail again.
In the embodiments shown in
Providing two or more sensors 22, 23 at each of the balustrades 10, 12 allows to enhance the reliability of detecting the presence of a person within an area outside the balustrades 10, 12.
In particular, in a configuration as it is shown in
However, in case the presence of a person is detected within the detection zone of at least one of the upper sensors 22, said person already has been pulled up some distance from the level of the lower landing area 4. In consequence, the movement of the conveyance element 8 is stopped immediately in order to prevent said person from being pulled up even further to a dangerous height.
A skilled person will easily understand that the configuration comprising two sensors 22, 23 at each of the balustrades 10, 12, as it is shown in
According to
In the illustrated embodiment, the detection zone 28 extends from the sensor 22 in the form of a cone centered around a main detection direction D, with the main detection direction D being oriented orthogonally to the plane of the balustrade 12.
The detection zone 28 comprises a detection range R of e.g. 300 mm from the sensor 22 with a detection angle α of 140° in the horizontal plane and a detection angle β of 60° in the vertical plane.
The illustrated dimensions and angles, however, are only exemplarily and may be amended depending on the actual situation in order to ensure a reliable detection of a person hanging onto the handrail 26 of the conveyance device 8, but at the same time avoid any false alarms caused by a person laterally approaching the conveyance device 8 without hanging onto the handrail 26.
As shown in
As it is illustrated in the vertical sectional view of
This might be beneficial from an aesthetic point of view, especially when the vertically extending portion 13 of the balustrade 12 is at least partly transparent. It further reduces the costs for installing the sensor 22, as there is no need to provide an additional balustrade cable channel 18 within the vertical portion 13 of the balustrade 12.
The detection range 28 of the sensor 22 in a horizontal sectional view and in a vertical sectional view is shown in
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
The outer edge of the detection zone 28 may be inclined, e.g. by an angle γ of 60° with respect to the horizontal, as it is shown in
Although balustrades 10, 12 shown in the figures all extend in a vertical direction, the skilled person will understand that the invention may be employed to conveyors comprising inclined balustrades, as well.
A number of optional features are set out in the following. These features may be realized in particular embodiments, alone or in combination with any of the other features.
In an embodiment the detection zone is located on a first side of the balustrade and the conveyance element is located on a second, opposite side of the balustrade. As a result, people approaching the balustrade from outside the conveyor device will enter the detection zone and will be detected by the sensor, whereas people and goods located on the conveyance element will not be detected by the sensor.
In an embodiment the balustrade defines a plane and the main detection direction of the sensor is oriented in an angle of 30°, 60° or 90° with respect to said plane. These orientations have been identified as advantageous for reliably detecting people hanging onto the handrail from outside the conveyor device without causing a large number of false alarms.
The balustrade may be oriented vertically or basically vertically, i.e. at an angle in the range of 70° to 90° with respect to the horizontal.
In an embodiment the shape of the detection zone is symmetric with respect to the main detection direction. This facilitates the mounting of the sensor(s) as they may be mounted in an arbitrary orientation.
In an embodiment the detection angle is in the range of 60° to 120°, in particular 60°, 90° or 120°. Such detection angles have been identified as advantageous for reliably detecting people hanging onto the handrail from outside the conveyor device without causing too many false alarms.
In an embodiment the detection zone extends up to a distance (detection range) of 250 mm to 350 mm, in particular 300 mm, from the sensor. A detection range in this order of magnitude has been identified as advantageous for reliably detecting people hanging onto the handrail from outside the conveyor device without causing too many false alarms.
In an embodiment the at least one balustrade comprises a basement and the at least one sensor is positioned at and/or in the basement of the balustrade. The basement provides an easy and advantageous possibility for mounting and electrically connecting the at least one sensor without much effort.
In an embodiment an emergency stop button, which is configured for stopping the movement of the conveyance element, is provided at or in at least one balustrade and the at least on sensor is located between the emergency stop button and the basement of the balustrade. This provides an easy way of mounting the sensor to the balustrade. In particular, a balustrade cable channel extending within the balustrade in a basically vertical direction and housing at least one cable connected to the emergency stop button may additionally house at least one cable connected to the at least one sensor. This avoids the need of providing an additional cable channel for housing the cable(s) connected to the at least one sensor.
The electrical wiring of the sensor(s) also may be combined with the electrical wiring of an illumination provided inside or at the balustrade.
In an embodiment the conveyor device is equipped with at least two sensors which are located in some distance from each other in the longitudinal and/or in the vertical direction. Providing a plurality of spaced apart sensors enhances the reliability of detecting people approaching the conveyor device.
In an embodiment the two landing portions are arranged at different levels of height. A first sensor is arranged at a first height, e.g. 50 mm, above the level of the lower landing portion, and a second sensor is arranged at a different second height, e.g. 100 mm, above the level of the lower landing portion. A configuration comprising at least two sensors, which are arranged at different heights above the level of the lower landing portion, allows a very reliable detection of people hanging on and being pulled up by a moving handrail.
In an embodiment the at least one sensor comprises at least one of an ultrasonic sensor, a radar sensor, an infrared sensor, an optical video sensor, and a LIDAR sensor. Each of these sensors may provide a reliable sensor for detecting the presence of a person in the detection zone, which is defined by the sensor. The most appropriate type of sensor may be selected based on the actual circumstances, e.g. dimensions of the required detection zone, level of noise, ambient light, etc.
In an embodiment a basement cable channel extending basically in the longitudinal direction is formed in the basement of the balustrade and houses at least one cable connected to the at least one sensor. Using a basement cable channel allows an easy wiring of the at least one sensor.
In an embodiment the conveyor device further comprises a control device which is configured for issuing an alarm signal and/or for stopping any movement of the conveyance element when the presence of at least one person within the detection area of at least one sensor is detected.
The alarm signal may cause the detected person to leave the detection zone. Alternatively or additionally, the movement of the conveyor device may be stopped. The movement in particular may be stopped in case the presence of a person in the detection zone is detected for more than a predetermined period of time and/or when the presence of a person is detected by a sensor having a detection zone located in some height about the lower landing portion indicating that the person already has been started to being pulled up by the moving handrail.
In an embodiment the conveyor device is provided in the form of an escalator, wherein the conveyance element is a step band comprising a plurality of steps. In the case of an escalator extending between two different levels of height, the risk of getting injured when falling from the balustrade is particularly high, and thus it is particularly advantageous to reliably detect people hanging onto the handrail and/or the balustrade of the escalator.
While the invention has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted for elements thereof without departing from the scope of the invention. In addition many modifications may be made to adopt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the invention without departing from the essential scope thereof. Therefore, it is intended that the invention not be limited to the particular embodiment disclosed, but that the invention include all embodiments falling within the scope of the dependent claims.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/EP2015/069523 | 8/26/2015 | WO | 00 |
