Truss construction for a passenger conveyor

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9676597-B2
Application number	US-200913496232-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 19, 2009
Priority date	Oct 19, 2009
Publication date	Jun 13, 2017
Grant date	Jun 13, 2017

Abstract

The invention relates to a truss construction ( 2 ) for a passenger conveyor comprising at least one self-supporting element ( 4, 16 ). The self-supporting element, which is a roller molded element ( 4, 16 ), extends in a conveying direction of the passenger conveyor and is formed with at least one rail portion ( 6, 8 ) for guiding step chain rollers ( 7 a ) and/or step rollers ( 7 b ).

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. Truss construction for a passenger conveyor, comprising
at least one self-supporting element extending in a conveying direction of the passenger conveyor,
wherein the self-supporting element is formed with at least one rail portion for guiding step chain rollers or step rollers, and
wherein the self-supporting element is a roller molded element.

2. Truss construction for a passenger conveyor as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the self-supporting element comprises a plurality of molded structures.

3. Truss construction for a passenger conveyor as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the self-supporting element includes at least one molded rail portion extending in a conveying direction of the passenger conveyor.

4. Truss construction for a passenger conveyor as claimed in claim 1 , wherein at least a portion of the self-supporting element has cut-outs formed therein.

5. Truss construction for a passenger conveyor of one as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the self-supporting element includes at least one roller molded beam structure extending in a conveying direction of the passenger conveyor.

6. Truss construction for a passenger conveyor as claimed in claim 5 , wherein the roller molded beam structure has a substantially closed cross section.

7. Truss construction for a passenger conveyor as claimed in claim 1 , comprising a plurality of vertical beams for supporting the at least one self-supporting element.

8. Truss construction for a passenger conveyor as claimed in claim 7 , wherein the at least one self-supporting element is fixed to at least some of the vertical beams.

9. Truss construction for a passenger conveyor as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the passenger conveyor comprises an inclined portion and the truss construction comprises the inclined portion of the passenger conveyor.

10. Truss construction for a passenger conveyor as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the passenger conveyor comprises at least one of a transition area and a landing area and the truss construction comprises at least one of the transition area and the landing area of the passenger conveyor.

11. Truss construction for a passenger conveyor as claimed in claim 1 , comprising a first pair of identical self-supporting elements, which are arranged at lateral sides of the passenger conveyor, symmetrically to a first plane extending vertically and parallel to the conveying direction of the conveyor.

12. Truss construction for a passenger conveyor as claimed in claim 11 , wherein a second pair of self-supporting elements is disposed below the first pair of self-supporting elements.

13. Truss construction for a passenger conveyor as claimed in claim 12 , wherein the second pair of self-supporting elements is arranged symmetrically to the first pair of self-supporting elements with respect to a second plane extending parallel to the conveying direction of the conveyor, the second plane being orthogonal to the first plane.

14. Truss construction for a passenger conveyor as claimed in claim 12 , wherein the self-supporting elements of the second pair are identical to the self-supporting elements of the first pair.

15. The truss construction for a passenger conveyor of claim 1 , wherein the at least one rail portion of the self-supporting element extends in a generally horizontal direction from a vertically oriented portion of the self-supporting element and the at least one rail portion does not contact other structural members of the truss.

16. A passenger conveyor comprising a truss construction including
at least one self-supporting element extending in a conveying direction of the passenger conveyor,
wherein the self-supporting element is formed with at least one rail portion for guiding step chain rollers or step rollers, and
wherein the self-supporting element is a roller molded element.

17. The passenger conveyor of claim 16 , wherein the at least one rail portion of the self-supporting element extends in a generally horizontal direction from a vertically oriented portion of the self-supporting element and the at least one rail portion does not contact other structural members of the truss.

18. Method of modernizing a passenger conveyor, the passenger conveyor comprising:
at least one rail for supporting step chain rollers or step rollers of tread plates, and
a truss supporting the at least one rail;
wherein the method comprises the steps of:
removing the at least one rail from the truss, and
installing a truss construction between remaining parts of the truss, the truss construction including
at least one self-supporting element extending in a conveying direction of the passenger conveyor,
wherein the self-supporting element is formed with at least one rail portion for guiding step chain rollers or step rollers, and
wherein the self-supporting element is a roller molded element.

19. Method of modernizing a passenger conveyor as claimed in claim 18 , wherein the step of removing includes removing horizontal and diagonal beams from the truss.

20. Method of modernizing a passenger conveyor as claimed in claim 18 , wherein the step of removing does not include removing vertical beams from the truss.

21. The method of claim 18 , wherein the at least one rail portion of the self-supporting element extends in a generally horizontal direction from a vertically oriented portion of the self-supporting element and the at least one rail portion does not contact other structural members of the truss.

22. A method of forming a self-supporting element of a truss construction for a passenger conveyor including the step of roller molding, wherein the truss construction includes
at least one self-supporting element extending in a conveying direction of the passenger conveyor,
wherein the self-supporting element is formed with at least one rail portion for guiding step chain rollers or step rollers, and
wherein the self-supporting element is a roller molded element.

23. Method of forming a self-supporting element as claimed in claim 22 , wherein the self-supporting element is formed in a single roller molding process.

Assignees

• Senger Alois
• Metzdorf Goetz
• Otis Elevator Co

Inventors

• Senger Alois
• Metzdorf Goetz

Classifications

• Y10T29/4973

  Replacing of defective part · CPC title

• B66B23/00 Primary

  Component parts of escalators or moving walkways · CPC title

• B66B23/14

  Guiding means for carrying surfaces · CPC title

• B66B19/007

  method for modernisation of elevators · CPC title

• B66B21/02 Primary

  Escalators · CPC title