PASSENGER TRANSPORT SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR OPERATING A PASSENGER TRANSPORT SYSTEM

Abstract

A passenger transport system having a conveyor belt is described. The passenger transport system comprises at least one handrail and a fastening device for a protective device in the region of the handrail end curve. A control unit blocks the operation of the passenger transport system in one direction of travel on the basis of a sensor signal, such that, if there is at least one protective device in the region of the handrail end curve, the direction of travel in which the handrail runs into the protective device is blocked. A method for controlling a bidirectional passenger transport system is also described.

Claims

1-15. (canceled)

16. A passenger transport system, comprising: a conveyor belt; at least one balustrade extending substantially in parallel with the conveyor belt, the balustrade having a first end and a second end; a handrail which is guided circumferentially along the balustrade between the first end and the second end, wherein at least one handrail end curve is located at the first end and at the second end; a fastening device for mounting a protective device, wherein the fastening device for the protective device is positioned in proximity to the handrail end curve; at least one sensor for detecting the presence of the protective device; a control unit connected to the at least one sensor for controlling the direction of travel of the conveyor belt and the handrail, which control unit is designed to operate the passenger transport system in different directions of travel, wherein the control unit blocks the operation of the passenger transport system in one direction of travel on the basis of the sensor signal, such that, if there is at least one protective device in proximity to the handrail end curve, the direction of travel in which the handrail runs into the protective device is blocked.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein a protective device is fastened to the fastening device.

18. The system of claim 16, wherein the passenger transport system is an escalator having a step belt as a conveyor belt or a moving walkway having a pallet belt as a conveyor belt.

19. The system of claim 16, wherein the protective device is divided into two parts at least substantially in the direction of travel of the handrail and the two parts, after being connected, form a housing around the handrail in the region of the handrail end curve.

20. The system of claim 16, wherein the fastening device comprises mounting elements for fastening the protective device to the balustrade.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein the fastening device comprises bores in the balustrade.

22. The system of claim 16, wherein the protective device comprises at least one interaction element, and wherein the sensor is designed to detect the presence of the interaction element after the protective device has been mounted.

23. The system of claim 22, wherein the interaction element is a magnet, and wherein the sensor is designed to detect the presence of the magnet after the protective device has been mounted.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein the position of the magnet can be changed after the installation of the protective device for the purpose of fine adjustment.

25. The system of claim 16, wherein the sensor is a magnetic sensor.

26. The system of claim 16, wherein the sensor is positioned in a region of a handrail inlet cap of passenger transport system.

27. The system of claim 16, wherein each handrail end curve has a sensor for detecting a mounted protective device.

28. The system of claim 16, wherein the balustrade is a first balustrade and the passenger transport system comprises a second balustrade which has fastening elements and extends in parallel with the first balustrade, wherein the first balustrade and the second balustrade are arranged on both sides of the conveyor belt and extend in parallel therewith, and wherein the second balustrade has a first end having a first handrail end curve and a second end having a second handrail end curve and wherein the first ends of the first and second balustrades are opposite one another and the second ends of the first and second balustrades are opposite one another.

29. The system of claim 28, wherein the control unit is further configured to: block the passenger transport system in both directions of travel if no protective device is present or a single protective device is present; and block the passenger transport system in both directions if at least one protective device is present at the first end and at least one protective device is present at the second end of either of the two balustrades.

30. A method for controlling a bidirectional passenger transport system, comprising: determining the presence of a protective device in the region of a handrail end curve based on a sensor; and preventing the operation of the passenger transport system in a blocked direction of travel based on the determination of the presence of the protective device in the region of a handrail end curve, wherein the blocked direction of travel is defined by the handrail running into the protective device.

31. The method of claim 30, wherein the bidirectional passenger transport system is an escalator having a step belt as a conveyor belt or a moving walkway having a pallet belt as a conveyor belt.

32. The method of claim 30, wherein the protective device is positioned in proximity to a handrail end curve of a balustrade of the bidirectional passenger transport system.

33. The method of claim 30, wherein the protective device comprises at least one interaction element, and wherein the sensor is designed to detect the presence of the interaction element after the protective device has been mounted.

34. The method of claim 33, wherein the interaction element is a magnet, and wherein the sensor is designed to detect the presence of the magnet.

35. The method of claim 30, wherein preventing the operation of the passenger transport system in a blocked direction of travel base comprises: blocking the passenger transport system in both directions of travel if no protective device is present or a single protective device is present; and blocking the passenger transport system in both directions if at least one protective device is present at the first end and at least one protective device is present at the second end of either of the two balustrades.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0041] Embodiments of the disclosure will be described in the following with reference to the accompanying drawings, with neither the drawings nor the description being intended to be interpreted as limiting the disclosure. Furthermore, the same reference numerals are used for elements that are identical or have the same effect. In the drawings:

[0042] FIG. 1 shows a possible embodiment of a passenger transport system in the form of a moving walkway having a protective device.

[0043] FIG. 2a is a schematic representation of possible operating states of a passenger transport system having a protective device.

[0044] FIG. 2b shows a possible implementation of a control logic to prevent the operation of a passenger transport system in a blocked direction of travel.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0045] FIG. 1 is a side view of a possible embodiment of a passenger transport system 100. The example shown is a horizontally guided moving walkway, but the features described below can be applied equally or in a similar way to an escalator.

[0046] The passenger transport system 100 shown comprises a conveyor belt (not shown) and, on both sides of the conveyor belt, a handrail 111 extending in the same direction, which is guided along a balustrade 110, although only one of the balustrades 110 with the handrail 111 is visible in the illustration shown in FIG. 1. The second balustrade 110 is designed analogously to the first balustrade.

[0047] The balustrade 110 contains fastening elements 120 at each end, which fastening elements are designed as bores in the balustrade 110 of the passenger transport system 100. If no protective device is installed, the bores are preferably closed reversibly using suitable plugs.

[0048] The passenger transport system 100 shown comprises a magnetic sensor 151 in the region of each handrail end curve 112, so that a total of four magnetic sensors 151 are present. In the example shown, the sensor 151 is installed in the vicinity of the handrail inlet cap 141, which closes a balustrade base 143, out of which the handrail 111 runs in the entry region or into which the handrail 111 runs at the exit end. The return of the handrail 111 thus takes place in the interior of the balustrade base 143.

[0049] The passenger transport system 100 furthermore comprises, for each handrail 111 at both ends, two handrail end curves 112 arranged in parallel with one another in the depth direction of the plane of the drawing. In the region of the handrail end bends 112 shown on the left in FIG. 1, a protective device 130 is additionally mounted on each of the handrails 111. The protective device 130 is fastened to the passenger transport system 100 by screwing to the balustrade 110 using the fastening device 120. The presence of the protective device 130 results in a permitted direction of travel 101 and a blocked direction of travel 102. If the position of the protective device 130 is changed from the handrail curve 112 shown on the left in FIG. 1 to the right-hand side, the permitted direction of travel and the blocked direction of travel are reversed.

[0050] In addition to the protective curve 131 covering the handrail 111, the protective device 130 comprises a cover cap 140 which is positioned in the vicinity of the handrail inlet cap 141 so that the outlet opening of the handrail 111 of the handrail inlet cap 141 is completely enclosed and covered by the cover cap 140 and unintentional penetration of foreign objects is prevented.

[0051] An interaction element 150 is located inside the cover cap 140, which is designed as a magnet in FIG. 1 and the position of which is selected such that it is in spatial proximity to the sensor 151 after the protective device 130 has been installed. The sensor 151 is configured to be able to reliably distinguish the presence of the magnet 150 from the absence of the magnet 150. If a protective device 130 is present on one of the handrail end curves, each associated sensor 151 generates a signal that can be received and evaluated by other components of the passenger transport system 100.

[0052] The passenger transport system 100 comprises a control unit 152 which is connected to the sensors 151 via electrical conductors and is configured to receive the relevant sensor signal. In addition, the control unit 152 is configured to operate the passenger transport system 100 by driving the conveyor belt and the handrails 111 in the same direction and orientation in the direction of travel 101 and the blocked direction of travel 102.

[0053] The control unit 152 is also configured to detect, on the basis of the signals from the sensors 151, whether a blocked direction of travel 102 is present. For this purpose, the entirety of the available sensor signals is evaluated and it is determined whether one or more protective devices 130 are mounted on one of the handrail end curves 112 of the passenger transport system 100. A direction that leads to the handrail 111 running into a mounted protective device 130 is a blocked direction of travel 102.

[0054] The control unit 152 is configured to not permit or to prevent operation of the passenger transport system 100 in a blocked direction of travel 102, such that, as a result of the effect of the features just described in the example shown in FIG. 1, the passenger transport system 100 can be operated only in the direction of travel 101.

[0055] It is possible that there are no blocked directions of travel, for example, when there are no protective devices 130 and the control unit 152 is additionally configured to allow this state, or that both directions of travel are blocked directions of travel, for example, when protective devices are present at both ends of the passenger transport system. In addition, the control unit 152 can optionally be configured to either permit travel in the permitted direction of travel 101 if only a single protective device 130 is present or, in the case mentioned, to block travel in both directions of travel 101, 102.

[0056] In FIG. 2a, four possible operating states 201, 202, 203, 204 of a passenger transport system of the aforementioned type are shown schematically with regard to a single handrail and a single protective device.

[0057] The balustrade of this passenger transport system comprises two handrail end curves S.sub.A, S.sub.B, it being possible for a protective device 130, symbolically represented as a line, to be located either on the handrail end curve S.sub.A or on the handrail end curve S.sub.B. The line represents the presence of a protective device 130 in the region of the handrail end curve S.sub.A, S.sub.B. The passenger transport system, and thus also the handrail thereof, can be operated in two directions D.sub.A, D.sub.B.

[0058] In state 201, a protective device is installed on the handrail end curve S.sub.A and the direction of travel D.sub.A leads to the handrail running out of the protective device. The state is allowed; the direction of travel D.sub.A is a permitted direction of travel 101.

[0059] In state 202, a protective device is installed on the handrail end curve S.sub.A and the direction of travel D.sub.B leads to the handrail running into the protective device. The state is not allowed; the direction of travel D.sub.B is a blocked direction of travel 102.

[0060] In state 203, a protective device is installed on the handrail end curve S.sub.B and the direction of travel D.sub.A leads to the handrail running into the protective device. The state is not allowed; the direction of travel D.sub.A is a blocked direction of travel 102.

[0061] In state 204, a protective device is installed on the handrail end curve S.sub.B and the direction of travel D.sub.B leads to the handrail running out of the protective device. The state is allowed; the direction of travel D.sub.B is a permitted direction of travel 101.

[0062] FIG. 2b shows an example of an implementation of a control logic 250 for preventing the operation of a passenger transport system 100 in a blocked direction of travel 102 and serves as an example for an implementation of the method according to the disclosure for controlling a bidirectional passenger transport system 100. The naming of the input values corresponds to the schematic representation of the passenger transport system in FIG. 2a. In addition to the example shown in FIG. 2a, the control logic 250 is designed to control a passenger transport system having n balustrades and thus 2n handrail end curves; the input values S.sub.A1, . . . , S.sub.An-1, S.sub.An and S.sub.B1, . . . , S.sub.Bn-1, S.sub.Bn are therefore available. The values are positive if there is a handrail protection device in the region of the handrail end curve. The direction of travel values D.sub.A, D.sub.B are available as further input values. The direction of travel values D.sub.A, D.sub.B are positive when a control signal is present which is intended to cause the passenger transport system to travel in the above-mentioned direction of travel.

[0063] The signals S.sub.A1, . . . , S.sub.An-1, S.sub.An are evaluated via OR gate 210, the signals S.sub.B1, . . . , S.sub.Bn-1, S.sub.Bn via OR gate 211. This is an OR gate having n inputs; the person skilled in the art knows that such a gate can be implemented via a serial sequence of n−1 OR gates with 2 inputs each. The output value of OR gate 210 and the direction of travel signal D.sub.A serve as input values for Exclusive-OR gate 220, and the output value of OR gate 211 and the direction of travel signal D.sub.B serve as input signals for Exclusive-OR gate 221. The two output signals from gates 220 and 221 serve as input signals for OR gate 230. The output signal from OR gate 230 corresponds to a blocking signal 240: if the output value of 230 is positive, there is a blocking signal 240; if the value is negative, there is no blocking signal 240. The blocking signal 240 blocks the journey of the passenger transport system.

[0064] In the embodiment shown, the system can only be operated in the direction of travel D.sub.A if at the same time there is at least one protective device 130 on a handrail end curve S.sub.A and no protective device 130 on a handrail end curve S.sub.B. Likewise, the system can only be operated in the direction of travel D.sub.B if at the same time there is at least one protective device 130 on a handrail end curve S.sub.B and no protective device 130 on a handrail end curve S.sub.A. The cases whereby D.sub.A=D.sub.B=0 and D.sub.A=D.sub.B=1, which are irrelevant with regard to the protective devices 130, are not discussed in detail.

[0065] The blocking signal 240 is thus defined by the presence of a blocked direction of travel 102 in the form of a direction of travel signal (depending on the state, either D.sub.A or D.sub.B) in combination with the presence of a protective device 130 (depending on the state, at least one signal from group S.sub.A or a signal from group S.sub.B). The journey of the passenger transport system is prevented on the basis of the blocking signal 240.

[0066] Numerous other inexpensive designs or expansions of the circuit are conceivable, for example, to ensure that the correct number of protective devices is available and otherwise to block the journey, or to permit the journey if no protective devices are installed.

[0067] It is clear to a person skilled in the art that the embodiments shown are to be understood as examples and that numerous aspects of the disclosure can be carried out in other ways than those shown, and that certain features of the disclosure can be combined with one another in different ways in order to achieve the desired technical effect. The description therefore serves to disclose the disclosure with sufficient clarity and should not be considered to be limiting.

[0068] Finally, it should be noted that terms such as “comprising,” “having,” etc. do not preclude other elements or steps and terms such as “a” or “an” do not preclude a plurality. Reference signs in the claims should not be considered to be limiting.