The present invention relates to a safety device, especially conceived for mechanical walkways, of the type mainly designed for transporting people, although the device could be equally applicable to walkways to transport materials provided that acceleration and deceleration areas are provided in said walkway.
The object of the invention is to prevent and detect the lifting of the pallets participating in said walkway, specifically in the mentioned acceleration and deceleration areas thereof.
The invention is applied to mechanical walkways such as those used in airports, stations and generally in large public places in which users must walk more or less large sections and in which it is intended to make this type of movement easier.
In any mechanical walkway of those previously mentioned, several sections acting at different speeds are usually provided, such that following the direction of use thereof a first embarking area, a second slow speed area, an acceleration area, a larger maximum speed intermediate area, a deceleration area, a new slow speed area, and finally the disembarking area are established in said walkways.
In order to obtain the necessary variable speed in the acceleration and deceleration areas, there are various solutions among which the following must be pointed out:
Specifically in this last patent, two types of plates or pallets having different lengths and alternately arranged are used as a moving surface of the walkway, each pair of pallets both being linked to each other according to an axis perpendicular to the operating direction.
The larger rear pallet is assembled on two lateral drive chains and on lateral drive guides, assuring perfect guiding for same, whereas the smaller front pallets have lateral rolling or sliding elements, moveable on the lateral guides of the rear pallet, such that both pallets undergo a relative longitudinal movement during the acceleration and deceleration phases.
This solution, perfectly valid from the theoretical point of view, has one drawback in practice since the shorter front pallet tends to be lifted due to any accidental cause that tends to lock both pallets during the relative movement thereof, which is dangerous for both the user and the mechanical system.
This can occur both by the accidental introduction of any small object between both pallets as well as by the deliberate lifting of the walkway on the part of the user.
The device proposed by the invention solves the problem set forth above in a fully satisfactory manner, preventing under any circumstance that the front and shortest pallet tilts, therefore preventing that said pallet is lifted with respect to the general working plane of the mechanical walkway.
To that end, more specifically and starting from a basic structure for the mechanical walkway as previously mentioned, the safety device proposed by the invention is created in a safety counter-guide acting as a physical stop for the roller of the short pallet, preventing said pallet from lifting.
Additionally and according to another of the features of the invention, it is provided that said counter-guide incorporates a sensor in the form of a band so that at the moment in which the mentioned roller of the short pallet makes contact with such sensor, a signal is generated to the mechanical walkway control element (PLC), carrying out the instantaneous stop or functional interruption of said walkway, which will be maintained over time while the breakdown is not repaired and the maintenance technicians reset the system.
To complement the description being made and for the object of aiding to better understand the features of the invention according to a preferred practical embodiment thereof, a set of drawings is attached as an integral part of said specification, in which the following has been shown with an illustrative and non-limiting character:
In view of the figures described, it can be observed how the safety device proposed by the invention is applicable to mechanical walkways in which there are plates or long pallets (1) alternately arranged with short pallets (2), both being able to move relatively to one other in the acceleration and deceleration areas of the walkway, as shown in
As is also conventional, the long pallets (1) incorporate on each of their edges pairs of rollers (3, 3′) considerably spaced from one another and offset in height, as can be observed in
In turn the short pallets (2), hingedly joined to the long pallets (1) inside each pair of pallets, incorporate a single roller (5) on each side, sliding on the upper guide (4′) of the previously mentioned pallets, in the constant speed area, and in the speed variation areas, the short pallet (2) slides on the long pallet (1), the roller (5) of the short pallet (2) not having guided support in its movement, such that provisionally said short pallet (2) can be tilted upwards through its joining axis hinged to the corresponding long pallet (1).
According to the invention a counter-guide (7) is arranged on the mentioned rollers (5) of the short pallets (2) and conveniently integral to the fixed structure (6) of the mechanical walkway, which counter-guide is especially visible in the section of
Finally, the mentioned guide (7) incorporates on its lower edge, the one closest to the rollers (5), a sensor (8) in the form of a band on which any roller (5) tending to be lifted by the tilting effect of the corresponding short pallet would first act, which sensor, due to contact with one of the rollers (5), generates a signal fed to the mechanical walkway control equipment, i.e. the PLC, which causes the instantaneous functional stop of the walkway if the breakdown causing such incidence is not solved.
As has been said previously and once the problem that caused the stop of the mechanical walkway is solved, the system will need to be reset so that said walkway can begin its normal operation again.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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200603299 | Dec 2006 | ES | national |
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20080164118 A1 | Jul 2008 | US |