Method for measuring braking distance of escalator or moving walk

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for measuring a braking distance (LB) and to a braking distance measuring device (30) for carrying out the method in an escalator (1) or a moving walkway. The braking distance measuring device (30) comprises at least one trigger device (45) which can be connected to a controller (14) of the escalator (1) or the moving walkway, a linear measuring scale (31) which can be optically detected, an optical sensor (35) and an acoustic sensor (36). In order to be able to accurately measure the braking distance (LB), the braking process is optically and acoustically recorded as a sequence of images (60) having a graphically displayed audio track (65). According to the invention, the starting point (68) and the end position (69) of the braking operation noise (51) recorded on the audio track (65) can be precisely associated with the images (62, 63) of the sequence of images (60), and the braking distance (LB) is determined by comparing the different positions of the marking (53) with respect to the measuring scale (31) on the basis of the detected images (62, 63).

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to a method for measuring the braking distance of an escalator or a moving walk, a braking distance measuring device for carrying out the method, and an escalator or a moving walk having such a braking distance measuring device. Background Art

[0002] Escalators and moving walkways are used to transport people and are used in department stores, shopping malls, railway stations, airports, etc. For this purpose, escalators and moving walkways have a conveyor belt, which is arranged in a rotatable manner in the escalator or moving walkway and can be driven by a drive motor. Since people are transported by these devices, they are subject to high safety requirements, such as those defined in the European standard EN115-1 or the American standard ASME A17.1 / CSA B44.

[0003] One of these safety regulations concerns the permissible length of the braking distance of the conveyor belt. When the drive motor is disconnected from the power supply and the service brake or safety brake (hereinafter non-specifically referred to as the brake) of the escalator or moving walk is activated, a braking distance inevitably occurs due to the inertia of the moving parts. Most authorities require the operator or the company entrusted with the maintenance of these systems to regularly check the length of the braking distance and to maintain the brake if the braking does not comply with the applicable standard values. To prevent the user from falling, the brake must not hold too tightly. Therefore, the maximum permissible deceleration during braking is also specified in the standard. For example, EN115-1 stipulates that the standard braking distance of the conveyor belt for escalators and moving walkways is 0.4m to 1.5m at a specified nominal speed of 0.75m / s (operating speed), of which the maximum permissible deceleration must not exceed 1m / s 2 .

[0004] In order to measure the standard braking distance of the conveyor belt, JP2008265971A proposes a braking distance measuring device and a method for performing such measurement. Here, a linear measuring scale is fixed on the conveyor belt, an optical sensor is temporarily fixed on a fixedly held portion of the escalator or moving walkway, and the optical sensor is connected to the controller of the escalator. Then, the conveyor belt reaches the running speed. Once the optical sensor detects the front end of the measuring scale, a stop signal is sent to the controller, and the conveyor belt is braked by the brake. Here, the distance traveled by the optical sensor on the measuring scale is equivalent to the standard braking distance. This measurement method is fully in line with the standard provisions of EN115-1, because it is stipulated here that the braking distance from the appearance of the stop signal to the stop of the conveyor belt must be measured. In addition, the standard recommends that the standard braking distance be kept as low as possible at the lower limit of the range (0.4m in the example).

[0005] The disadvantage of the above-described braking distance measurement method is that the time period without braking torque is also detected, such as the reaction time of the optical sensor, the controller and the electromechanical switch (contactor or relay) controlled by the controller, and the braking reaction time from the disconnection of the interval current to the effective braking torque. Therefore, the described braking distance measurement method does not provide any measurement results reflecting the actual braking performance of the brake (the braking distance when the braking torque of the brake is applied). Summary of the invention

[0006] The object of the present invention is to provide a braking distance measurement method, which provides a more accurate measurement result for the actual braking performance of the brake.

[0007] This object is achieved by the following method for measuring the braking distance of an escalator or a moving walk and a braking distance measuring device for carrying out the method.

[0008] An escalator or moving walkway capable of carrying out such a measurement has a conveyor belt, at least one drive motor for driving the conveyor belt, a brake for braking the conveyor belt, and a controller. The drive motor and the brake can be controlled by the controller. The method for measuring the braking distance can be used for escalators and moving walkways of all known braking types. To carry out the method, a braking distance measuring device is arranged in the region of the conveyor belt, which comprises at least one triggering device connectable to the controller, a linear measuring scale that can be detected optically, and an optical sensor.

[0009] The method for measuring the braking distance has a plurality of steps which can be performed in the following order. However, this order is not mandatory; as long as it makes sense, some method steps can be performed before other method steps or after these method steps, or other method steps can be inserted between these method steps as described in the following paragraphs.

[0010] In one method step, a linear measuring scale is arranged in an escalator or moving walkway in such a way that it has a relative motion course relative to the markings due to the movement of the conveyor belt. This relative motion course can be detected by an optical sensor, for example as an image sequence. As described below, there are various possibilities for arranging the measuring scale and defining or arranging the markings.

[0011] In a further method step, the conveyor belt reaches a predetermined speed. The predetermined speed usually corresponds to the conveying speed in normal operation and is usually referred to as the nominal speed. If different operating conditions of the service brake are to be tested, the predetermined speed can also be faster or slower than the nominal speed. After reaching the predetermined speed, a stop signal is sent to the control device by means of a trigger device. The stop signal can be triggered manually, for example by manual input into the trigger device. However, the stop signal can also be generated automatically by the trigger device, for example in such a way that a stop signal is triggered in the trigger device when the predetermined speed is reached.

[0012] In a further method step, the optical sensor is used to record the relative movement process at least from the stop signal until the conveyor belt has completely stopped. In addition, the braking distance measuring device includes an acoustic sensor, which records the braking operation noises of the brake synchronously with the visual recording. These braking operation noises reflect the actual brake closing in chronological order. Since the relative movement process has been detected synchronously, the beginning of the braking operation noise can be clearly assigned to a specific image of the relative movement process detected as an image sequence. In order to determine the braking distance, it is also necessary to select a subsequent image of the captured image sequence of the movement process, which image has been clearly detected when there is no longer any braking noise. If the two images are now compared with each other, the braking distance covered during the actual closing of the brake can be read out based on the different positions of the markings relative to the measuring scale.

[0013] The braking distance measured in this way makes it possible, for example, to calculate the average deceleration of the brakes more precisely. It is also possible to record a braking curve (distance / time diagram, where the time is defined by the number of images per second) by evaluating the covered braking distances in an image-by-image distribution, from which the maximum deceleration can be read. Based on these measurements, the brakes can be set close to the maximum permissible deceleration. This minimizes the braking distance that actually occurs without exceeding the specified maximum deceleration value.

[0014] When diagnosing the technical condition of an escalator or moving walk, it is also advantageous to measure the braking distance during the actual closing of the brake. For example, the condition of the brake pads of the brake and / or the change of the brake compared to the previously performed measurement can then be evaluated more accurately. In addition, the triggering time of the stop signal can also be detected, so that the images of the recorded image sequence can be assigned to the stop signal. If the optical detection of the movement process starts with a stop signal, the stop signal is logically the first image. Now, by comparing the two recording times of this first image and the image with the start of the brake operation noise, the reaction time of the brake system until the brake actually applies the braking torque and the distance traveled can be determined. The distance traveled by the mark (hereinafter referred to as the reaction length) can also be determined using these two images. Compared with the empirical value, a response time or a response length that is too long may indicate that, for example, the above-mentioned contactor needs to be replaced. As mentioned at the beginning, the EN115-1 standard stipulates that the braking distance from the occurrence of the stop signal to the complete stop of the conveyor belt must be detected. This standard braking distance can be determined by simply adding the reaction length and the braking distance.

[0015] As already mentioned, this evaluation activity can be carried out entirely manually, but this is very time-consuming. In a further development of the method, the recording of the relative movement and the recording of the synchronously recorded brake operating noise are therefore displayed as graphic display tracks in parallel with each other in the image sequence. This makes it easier to determine two or three key images of the above-mentioned image sequence, since it is not necessary to first assign the images to the time course of the brake operating noise by reading out the recording times.

[0016] The start position of the marking relative to the measuring scale is now extracted from the image sequence using the start position of the brake running noise. Furthermore, the end position of the marking relative to the measuring scale is extracted from the absence of the brake running noise. The image containing the end position can also be defined by a determined end position in which there is definitely no longer any brake running noise, because as soon as the conveyor belt stops there is no longer any brake running noise and all subsequently recorded images of the image sequence have exactly the same appearance.

[0017] In a further development of the invention, the start position and the end position are automatically determined based on the graphically displayed brake operation noise or sound track by means of an image processing program. Here, the image processing program uses known image analysis methods and image analysis algorithms, which are known from the electronic processing of video sequences. For example, these analysis algorithms are based on well-known image processing techniques that are optimized and applied to self-learning processes using artificial intelligence in neural networks. Common image processing techniques for generating information from images are, for example, the calculation of histograms, which provide information about the statistical brightness distribution in the image. Such a histogram can be used, for example, as a configuration for further image method steps or as information for software users. Other calculable information about the image is, for example, its entropy or average brightness. Based on this information, vector analysis can track how the various significant parts move relative to each other, and from this conclusion can be drawn about the movement scenario of the mark relative to the measurement mark scale. Using the aforementioned method, for example, the sound track displayed visually in the image sequence can be image analyzed, and the images of the image sequence contain the starting point of the brake operation noise and the images of the image sequence that can reliably identify the lack of brake operation noise can be marked in the image sequence. Of course, the noise level of the recorded braking operation noises can also be analyzed so that the time of the start and the time of the end of the braking operation can be determined and the corresponding images from the image sequence can be identified by the time distribution.

[0018] In a further automated step of the method, the distance between the start position and the end position is determined by comparing two marked images of the image sequence. This distance corresponds to the braking distance covered when the brake is applied. For example, the different positions marked on the measuring scale can be read by optical recognition (optical character recognition OCR) of the numbers drawn on the measuring scale and then taking the difference.

[0019] In one embodiment of the present invention, the trigger device is connected to the controller. Here, the trigger device obtains the operation data from the drive motor from the controller, and once the drive motor reaches a rotation speed corresponding to the predetermined speed of the conveyor belt, a stop signal is sent to the controller.

[0020] In another embodiment of the invention, the stop signal can be manually input into the trigger device, for example by pressing a button or via the keyboard of the trigger device. Once the stop signal is input, the trigger device transmits the stop signal directly to the controller. Further commands can be transmitted to the controller via a keyboard that can also be generated on the touch screen of the trigger device. For example, a start command can be input via the keyboard so that the controller starts the conveyor belt to move. In addition, the feed direction or movement direction of the conveyor belt can also be input via the keyboard. The controller can also transmit operating data (such as the current speed) from the personnel transport device to the trigger device, and then display the operating data on the screen. The controller can also transmit safety-critical messages to the trigger device so that, for example, the rejection of the start command and the reasons for the initiation can be displayed on its screen.

[0021] In summary, the braking distance measuring device for performing the above method has at least one trigger device that can be connected to a controller, a linear measuring scale that can be optically detected, an optical sensor and an acoustic sensor. The optical sensor, the acoustic sensor and the trigger device are preferably part of a smartphone or tablet with a software application (computer program). The software application includes at least a program step that can synchronously record the relative movement of the arranged or defined markings relative to the measuring scale and the braking operation noise. The software application can also contain a program part that can be used to perform the above-mentioned image processing. In addition, a wired or wireless connection to the escalator or moving walkway control device can be temporarily established.

[0022] The braking distance measuring device preferably comprises a holder for a smartphone or tablet computer, which can be temporarily arranged on a fixed part of an escalator or moving walkway. The fixed part can be, for example, a guardrail or a guardrail base or a floor covering of an escalator or moving walkway.

[0023] In order to be able to better record the braking operation noise in terms of quality, at least the linear measuring scale of the braking distance measuring device, the optical sensor and the acoustic sensor are preferably arranged in the drive area of ​​the escalator or moving walkway. In the case of an escalator, the drive area is usually designed in the upper inlet area so that the main pulling force acts on the conveyor belt. The drive motor, drive shaft, transmission and brake are usually arranged in the drive area below the floor cover that can be stepped on. The conveyor belt of the escalator can be stepped on or off through this floor cover that can be stepped on. Moving walkways are designed in a similar way.

[0024] As further mentioned above, there are many variants for arranging the linear measuring scale and, if necessary, also the markings. The linear measuring scale preferably has a strip-shaped carrier with a metric length scale and / or an imperial length scale. The markings can be existing contours of the escalator or moving walkway, or they can be temporarily placed objects, such as stickers, painted dots, etc.

[0025] In a first variant, a mark is arranged or defined on the conveyor belt and the linear measuring scale is arranged on a fixedly held part of the escalator or moving walk. In order to simplify the operation of the person responsible for the measurement, the mark is preferably defined. Here, the mark is, for example, the gap between two escalator steps of an escalator conveyor belt or the gap between two pallets of a moving walk conveyor belt. Of course, it is also possible to use a mark that can be temporarily placed on the conveyor belt, for example a line applied with a waterproof felt-tip pen and extending transversely to the direction of movement of the conveyor belt.

[0026] In a second variant, the measuring scale is arranged on the conveyor belt and the marking is defined or arranged on a fixedly held part of the escalator or moving walkway. For example, a sheet joint between two claddings of a guardrail of an escalator or moving walkway can be defined as a marking. Of course, markings that can be temporarily set to the guardrail, such as arrow-shaped stickers, can also be used. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0027] The following describes the embodiments of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein neither the drawings nor the description should be interpreted as limiting the present invention. The drawings are only schematic and not drawn to scale. The same or equivalent features have the same reference numerals. Among them:

[0028] Figure 1 A schematic side cross-sectional view showing an escalator and its most important components;

[0029] Figure 2 A three-dimensional partial view of a braking distance measuring device Figure 1 The driving area drawn in ;

[0030] Figure 3 A smartphone is shown in a three-dimensional representation with a software application, by means of which the smartphone can be used as part of a braking distance measuring device;

[0031] Figure 4 Shown by Figure 2 An image from a sequence of images captured by an optical sensor of a braking distance measuring device is shown;

[0032] Figure 5A shows a first image in a sequence of images captured by a braking distance measuring device when a stop signal is input;

[0033] Figure 5B a second image from the same image sequence showing a point in time at which a parallel recorded braking operation noise begins; and

[0034] Figure 5C A third image from the same image sequence is shown at the point in time at which the end position of the brake operation noise recorded in parallel ends. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0035] Figure 1 The escalator 1 and its most important components are shown schematically in a cut-away side view. By means of the escalator 1, people can be transported, for example, between two levels E1, E2 of a building.

[0036] The escalator 1 has a conveyor belt 26 with a plurality of escalator steps 3 which are arranged one behind the other and which can be moved by means of two endlessly closed feed chains 5 arranged parallel to one another (in the Figure 1 The escalator 1 is a 3D escalator of the embodiment of the present invention. ... Figure 1 The service brake shown in , the service brake is usually designed as a jaw plate brake or a band brake. In addition, the escalator can also have a safety brake, as disclosed in WO2014 / 009227A1 for example.

[0037] The drive area 13 is usually arranged in the upper plane E2 of the building, while the tensioning station 7 with the deflection axis 15, which is only shown schematically, is arranged in the lower plane E1. The drive axis 17 and the deflection axis 15 of the escalator 1 and other load-bearing components are held in a load-bearing structure 2, which is usually in the form of a truss structure, which is shown in FIG. Figure 1 The escalator 1 also has two guardrails 8 (only one of which is visible), on which a handrail 4 is arranged pivotally in each case.

[0038] Here, the escalator step 3 is moved in the upward movement direction 6 from the lower entrance area 10 of the escalator 1 adjacent to the lower plane E1 via the central obliquely extending area 11 to the upper entrance area 12 adjacent to the upper plane E1 and then moves back in the opposite direction.

[0039] The drive motor 19 and the brake 18 arranged in the drive area 13 are controlled and regulated by means of the controller 14. The torque or rotational movement of the motor shaft of the drive motor 19 (hidden by the transmission) is transmitted to the drive shaft 17 via the transmission 16 (worm gear and drive chain are shown as examples). Since there are usually two feed chains 5, between which the escalator steps 3 are arranged, the drive shaft 17 must also have two drive sprockets (not shown in detail), by means of which the conveyor belt 26 is guided in a motion-transmitting manner. All components of the drive area 13 are also installed in the support structure 2 and are covered by a floor cover 9 that can be stepped on, which is part of the upper entrance area 12.

[0040] In addition, a braking distance measuring device 30 for measuring the braking distance is arranged in the driving area 13 of the escalator 1. The braking distance measuring device 30 can be temporarily installed in the present embodiment, that is, it can be installed, used and removed as needed. However, fixed installation of the braking distance measuring device 30 is also conceivable, for example, fixed installation in the guardrail base 20 of the guardrail 8.

[0041] Figure 2 Shown in a three-dimensional enlarged partial view Figure 1 The driving area 13 shown in FIG. 1 has a braking distance measuring device 30 installed in the driving area. The braking distance measuring device 30 has a linear measuring scale 31 and an optical sensor 35 and an acoustic sensor 36 (see FIG. Figure 3 ) smartphone 32. The braking distance measuring device 30 also comprises a holder 33 for the smartphone 32 and a fastening device 34 for the linear measuring scale 31. In the present exemplary embodiment, the measuring scale 31 designed in the form of a strip is placed with its first end 31A on the floor covering 9 and is fastened to the floor covering 9 by a fastening device 34 in the form of a brick. The linear measuring scale 31 is arranged in the drive region 13 with respect to its longitudinal extension parallel to the direction of movement 6. In this case, the second end 31B of the linear measuring scale protrudes beyond the comb plate 27 serving as a transition from the floor covering 9 to the conveyor belt 26 and also protrudes beyond more than two escalator steps 3 of the conveyor belt 26. In the present exemplary embodiment, the holder guardrail base 33 has a suction cup 37, which is fastened to the cover plate 21 of the guardrail base 20. The smartphone 32 rests on a support 33 which is arranged on the cladding 21 in such a way that the optical sensor 35 of the smartphone 32 can detect the linear measuring scale 31 and always detect at least two escalator steps 3 of the conveyor belt 26. Since the brake 18 is located under the floor covering, the acoustic sensor 36 of the smartphone 32 (see Figure 3 ) is also ideally positioned for recording brake operating noise 51 (see FIG. 5A to FIG. 5C ).

[0042] Figure 3 A smartphone 32 with a software application 38 is shown in a three-dimensional view, by means of which the smartphone 32 can be used as a component of the braking distance measuring device 30. In addition, the components of the escalator 1, the drive motor 19, the brake 18 and the controller 14 are shown in FIG. Figure 3 Schematically shown in order to illustrate the interaction of the escalator with the smartphone 32.

[0043] Therefore, it is advisable to use a conventional smartphone 32, since it has sufficient computing power and storage capacity to store and process software applications 38, and has an optical sensor 35 (symbolically represented as a camera), an acoustic sensor 36 (symbolically represented as a handheld microphone) and a touch screen 39, on which graphical buttons 41, 42, 43, 44 and thus manually actuatable elements of the triggering device 45 can be generated. In addition, the smartphone 32 has a communication module 47, via which a data connection to the controller 14 of the escalator can be established. Since so-called tablet computers have the same components and properties, tablet computers can also be used instead of smartphones 32. Of course, the same type of components for the braking distance measuring device 30 can also be unified in a device designed and manufactured specifically for the braking distance measuring device 30 instead of smartphones 32. It is even possible to arrange the aforementioned components separately from each other in the drive area 13, wherein a communication connection 47 must be established at least temporarily between the triggering device 45, the optical sensor 35, the acoustic sensor 36 and possibly the controller 14. The triggering device 45 can be designed as a handheld device with a button (not shown), for example for inputting a stop signal 46 .

[0044] The software application 38 for the smartphone 32 comprises at least a program step capable of synchronously recording the relative movement of the markings 53, 54, 55 with respect to the linear measuring scale 31 and the braking operation noise 51 of the brake 18 (see Figure 4 ). A further explanation of the linear measuring scale 31 and the aforementioned markings 53, 54, 55 can be found below. Figure 4 can be found in the description.

[0045] The software application 38 also has program steps, by which the required graphic buttons 41, 42, 43, 44 and / or the graphic representation 48 of the operating data can be generated on the screen 39 according to the processing flow. In the present embodiment, the first button 41 is used to activate the escalator 1 (see also Figure 1 ) along the movement direction 6 from the lower plane E1 to the upper plane E2. Using the second button 42, the escalator 1 can be moved along the movement direction 6 from the upper plane E2 to the lower plane E1.

[0046] In the central area of ​​the screen 39, a graphical representation 48 can be created and displayed by further program steps of the software application 38. The measurement data required for this purpose are transmitted from the controller 14 via the communication module 47 to the smartphone 32 serving as the triggering device 45. The graphical representation 48 of this exemplary embodiment shows the conveyor belt 26 from a stationary state V0 to a nominal speed V N Once the nominal speed V is reached N , a stop signal 46 can be input through the third button 43 of the trigger device 45 and sent to the controller 14 of the escalator 1. When the stop signal 46 is input, the optical sensor 35 and the acoustic sensor 36 are activated at the same time to record the image sequence 60 and the associated sound track 65 (see Figure 4 and Figures 5A to 5C ).

[0047] The stop signal 46 is immediately processed by the control unit 14, so that the drive motor 19 is disconnected from the power supply (not shown) and the brake 18 is activated by cutting off the interval current. As soon as the brake jaw 18' of the brake 18 is closed, a loud braking operation noise 51 is emitted with a decreasing trend until the conveyor belt 26 (see Figure 1 ) stops. At this point it should be mentioned that the braking operation noise 51 of the service brake and the safety brake can be different, especially when the braking operation noise 51 disappears, however, all types of braking have in common that the beginning of the braking operation noise 51 can be well recognized on the sound track 65. Once the conveyor belt 26 stops, the evaluation of the measurement results and the determination of the braking distance L based on the measurements performed can be initiated by tapping the fourth button 44 of the trigger device 45. B . The following uses Figures 5A to 5C Shows braking distance L B of determination.

[0048] Figure 4 An image 64 from the image sequence 60 is shown, the image being Figure 1 and 2 3. The optical sensor 35 of the braking distance measuring device 30 shown in FIG. 3 is clearly visible, as is the linear measuring scale 31 arranged above the escalator step 3 of the conveyor belt 26. Furthermore, the guardrail base 20 is partially visible, in particular the two covering plates 22, 23 of the guardrail base 20 as well as the floor cover 9 and the comb plate 27.

[0049] As described above, a linear measuring scale 31 is arranged in the drive area 13 and markings 53, 54 are defined or arranged if necessary. In the arrangement actually determined in the image, the gap arranged between two escalator steps serves as a marking 53, which moves relative to the fixedly arranged measuring scale 31 when the conveyor belt 26 is running. In other words, the gap is defined as the marking 53. Alternatively, a special marking 54 can also be temporarily set on the conveyor belt 26, such as an arrow indicated by a dotted line, which is preferably fixed to one of the escalator steps 3 in an easily recognizable color or as a sticker. It should also be pointed out here that in the case of a conveyor belt 26 of a moving walkway, the gap between two pallets can be defined as a marking 53. Due to the very narrow design of the pallets, it is best to provide a temporarily settable marking 54.

[0050] As indicated by the dashed line, the measuring scale 56 can also be arranged on the conveyor belt 26, for example as a sticker. In this embodiment variant, the markings 24, 55 are arranged on a fixedly held part of the escalator 1 or the moving walkway. For example, the sheet joint between the two covering plates 22, 23 can be defined as the marking 24. In an alternative, the marking 55 can also be an arrow-shaped sticker, which can be temporarily fixed on a fixedly held part of the escalator 1 or the moving walkway.

[0051] Reference below FIG. 5A to FIG. 5C And with the help of Figure 2 and Figure 3 The method that can be performed using the braking distance measuring device 30 described above is explained below. Figure 5A A first image 61 of an image sequence 60 recorded by braking distance measuring device 30 when stop signal 46 is input 67 is shown. Figure 5B A second image 62 from the same image sequence 60 is shown at the point in time of a starting point 68 at which the brake operation noise 51 recorded in parallel begins. Figure 5C A third image 63 from the same image sequence 60 is shown at the point in time of end position 69 at which the brake operation noise 51 recorded in parallel ends.

[0052] Used to measure the braking distance L of escalators 1 or moving walkways B The method comprises a preparation step on the one hand and a measuring and evaluation step on the other hand. The preparation step comprises arranging the braking distance measuring device 30 in the drive region 13 above the conveyor belt 26. Figure 2 and Figure 4 A possible embodiment thereof is described. Furthermore, the triggering device 45 of the braking distance measuring device 30 is connected to the controller 14 of the escalator 1 in a signal-transmitting manner.

[0053] The measuring step includes the method steps required to generate the image sequence 60 and the associated sound track 65 with the brake operation noise 51. The conveyor belt 26 is then brought to a predetermined speed V by a manual input at the trigger device 45. V , for example, the nominal speed V N When the predetermined speed V is reached V After that, a stop signal 46 is sent to the controller 14 by means of the trigger device 45. The trigger device 45 can also receive the operating data of the drive motor 19 from the controller 14, and once the drive motor 19 reaches a predetermined speed V with the conveyor belt 26 V Corresponding to the speed, a stop signal 46 is automatically sent to the controller 14 .

[0054] When the stop signal 46 is input, the optical sensor 35 starts recording the relative movement course between the mark 53 and the linear measuring scale 31, at least from the start of the stop signal 46 until the conveyor belt 26 reaches a standstill V0. The recording of the sound track 65 with the brake operation noise 51 of the brake 18 by the acoustic sensor 36 of the braking distance measuring device 30 is carried out synchronously with the optical recording.

[0055] like FIG. 5A to FIG. 5C As shown, for a simpler and clearer evaluation, the recording of the relative movement between the marking 53 and the linear measuring scale 31 and the recording of the sound track 65 recorded synchronously therewith are combined parallel to one another in the image sequence 60 .

[0056] The first image 61 of the image sequence 60 may correspond to the time point of the input 67 of the stop signal 46. The sound track 65 is not simply a horizontal line, but has a pattern reflecting the escalator 1 at the nominal speed V N The signal input position 81 shown by the dashed line when the stop signal 46 is stopped can be read from the position of the mark 53 relative to the measuring scale 31 on the first image 61 and recorded.

[0057] exist FIG. 5A to FIG. 5C In the present embodiment, if the finger 74 is used to push the audio track 65 in the direction indicated by the arrow 70, the audio track 65 is pushed to the direction indicated by the software application 38 (see Figure 3 ) a fixed mark 75 is generated on the screen 39, and the subsequent images of the image sequence 60 are displayed on the screen 39 in chronological order.

[0058] like Figure 5A and Figure 5BAs shown, the sound track 65 has a sudden increase in the noise level which then decreases continuously. This area of ​​the sound track 65 has the brake operation noise 51. The second image 62 shows the position of the mark 53 relative to the linear measuring scale 31 at the starting point 68 at which the parallel recorded brake operation noise 51 begins. The second image 62 is displayed when the sudden increase in the noise level coincides with the fixed mark 75. The position of the mark 53 can also be read from the measuring scale 31 and determined as the starting position 82 of the brake operation noise 51. The distance traveled by the mark 53 between the signal input position 81 and the starting position 82 is the reaction length L. R The reaction length is produced in such a way that the controller 14 and the components involved in the brake closing, such as a contactor (not shown) for interrupting the gap current and the brake 18 itself, have a certain reaction time.

[0059] The third image 63 of the image sequence 60 shows the position of the mark 53 relative to the linear measuring scale 31 at the end position 69 at which the parallel recorded brake operation noise 51 ends on the sound track 65 and the conveyor belt 26 stops. The third image 63 is displayed when the noise level of the sound track 65 has fallen to its lowest level. The sound track 65 has only background noise. Since the conveyor belt 26 stops from this point in time, all subsequent images of the image sequence 60 look exactly the same. Instead of the solution of accurately determining the end of the brake operation noise 51, it is preferred to select an image 63 that reliably reflects the static state of the conveyor belt 26. This is the case when two images separated in time at the end of the image sequence 60 have the same position of the mark 53 relative to the measuring scale 31. The position of the mark 53 can also be read from the measuring scale 31 and determined as the end position 83.

[0060] like Figure 5B and Figure 5C As shown, in Figure 5A The mark 53 defined in the figure disappears at the bottom edge of the image when the finger 74 continues to push the track 65, so that Figure 5B The subsequent gap between two escalator steps 3 is defined as a marking 53 ′ in an auxiliary manner. Therefore, the new starting position 82 ′ is also read and determined on the measuring scale 31 in an auxiliary manner.

[0061] The distance between the starting position 82' and the ending position 83 covered by the mark 53' is the actual braking distance L of the brake 18 during the braking closing period. B As mentioned at the beginning, the EN115-1 standard stipulates that the braking distance detection must be carried out from the input 67 or from the appearance of the stop signal 46 until the conveyor belt 26 stops completely. This standard braking distance only requires the reaction length L R Braking distance L B Simply add up to determine.

[0062] The manual evaluation of the above-described image sequence 60 can also be performed automatically using an image processing program in that the curve of the recorded brake operation noise 51 optically displayed in the image sequence 60 is image-analyzed and images of the image sequence 60 containing the starting point 68 of the brake operation noise 51 and missing images of the image sequence 60 that can reliably identify the brake operation noise 51 are marked in the image sequence 60. In the automated process, the braking distance L between the starting position 82 and the end position 83 is B It is also determined by image comparison of two marked images of the image sequence 60. Here, the different positions of the marking 53 relative to the measuring scale 31 are read and the braking distance L is determined by difference. B .

[0063] although Figure 1 and Figure 2 An escalator is shown in the figure, but it is obvious that the braking distance measuring device 30 and the related method can also be used for moving walkways.

[0064] Finally, it should be noted that terms such as "having", "comprising" etc. do not exclude other elements or steps, and terms such as "a" or "an" etc. do not exclude a plurality. Furthermore, it should be noted that features or steps that have been described with reference to one of the above embodiments may also be used in combination with other features or steps of other above-described embodiments. Reference signs in the claims should not be considered as limiting.

Claims

1. A device for measuring the braking distance (L) of an escalator (1) or moving walkway. B ) method, in which, The escalator (1) or moving walkway comprises: a conveyor belt (26), at least one drive motor (19) for driving the conveyor belt (26), a brake (18) for braking the conveyor belt (26), and a controller (14), wherein the drive motor (19) and the brake (18) can be controlled by the controller (14), and a braking distance measuring device (30) is at least temporarily arranged in the area of ​​the conveyor belt (26), the braking distance measuring device comprising: at least one trigger device (45) that can be connected to the controller (14), a linear measuring scale (31) that can be detected optically, and an optical sensor (35), It is characterized in that The linear measuring scale (31) is arranged on the escalator (1) or moving walkway in such a way that the relative movement course of the linear measuring scale relative to the markings (24, 53, 54, 55) based on the movement of the conveyor belt (26) can be detected by an optical sensor (35); The conveyor belt (26) reaches a predetermined speed (V V ); When the predetermined speed (V V ), a stop signal (46) is sent to the controller (14) by means of a trigger device (45); The relative movement progress is recorded by means of an optical sensor (35) at least from the stop signal (46) to the complete stop of the conveyor belt (26); and The braking distance measuring device (30) further comprises an acoustic sensor (36) which records the braking operation noise (51) of the brake (18) in a temporally synchronous manner with the optical recording.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The recording of the relative movement and the recording of the brake operating noise (51) recorded synchronously with the relative movement are displayed as a graphically displayed sound track (65) in parallel with one another in the image sequence (60).

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein: The starting position (82, 82') of the marking (24, 53, 54, 55) relative to the measuring scale (31) is extracted from the image sequence (60) using the starting point (68) of the brake operating noise (51), and the end position (83) of the marking (24, 53, 54, 55) relative to the measuring scale (31) is extracted from the absence of the brake operating noise (51).

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein: The starting position (82, 82') and the end position (83) are determined with the aid of an image processing program by performing an image analysis on a curve of the recorded brake operating noise (51) which is visually displayed in an image sequence (60), and marking in the image sequence (60) an image (62) of the image sequence (60) containing a starting point (68) of the brake operating noise (51) and one of the images of the image sequence (60) in which a missing image of the brake operating noise (51) can be reliably identified.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein: The braking distance (L) between the starting position (82, 82') and the ending position (83) B ) is determined by image comparison of two marked images (62, 63) of the image sequence (60) by reading out the different positions of the markings (24, 53, 54, 55) relative to the measuring scale (31) and determining the braking distance (L) by taking the difference B ).

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein: The trigger device (45) is connected to the controller (14) and receives operating data of the drive motor (19) from the controller, wherein once the drive motor (19) reaches a predetermined speed (V V ) corresponding to the rotation speed, a stop signal (46) is sent to the controller (14).

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein: The stop signal (46) can be manually input into the trigger device (45), and the stop signal (46) is sent directly from the trigger device (45) to the controller (14).

8. A braking distance measuring device (30) for performing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 7 in an escalator (1) or a moving walk, characterized in that: The braking distance measuring device (30) comprises: at least one trigger device (45) connected to a controller (14), a linear measuring scale (31) that can be detected optically, an optical sensor (35), and an acoustic sensor (36).

9. The braking distance measuring device (30) according to claim 8, wherein: The optical sensor (35), the acoustic sensor (36) and the triggering device (45) are part of a smartphone (32) or tablet computer having a software application (38), wherein the software application (38) includes at least program steps that enable the synchronous recording of the relative movement of the markings (24, 53, 54, 55) relative to the measuring scale (31) and the brake operation noise (51).

10. The braking distance measuring device (30) according to claim 9, wherein: The braking distance measuring device comprises a holder (33) for a smartphone (32) or a tablet computer, which holder (33) can be temporarily arranged on a fixedly held part of an escalator (1) or a moving walkway.

11. An escalator (1) or a moving walkway, comprising a braking distance measuring device (30) according to any one of claims 8 to 10, characterized in that: At least a linear measuring scale (31), an optical sensor (35) and an acoustic sensor (36) of a braking distance measuring device (30) are arranged in a drive region (13) of an escalator (1) or a moving walkway.

12. The escalator (1) or moving walkway according to claim 11, wherein: The markings (53, 54) are arranged or defined on the conveyor belt (26), and the measuring scale (31) is arranged on a fixedly held part of the escalator (1) or moving walkway.

13. The escalator (1) or moving walkway according to claim 12, wherein: The mark (53) is a gap between two escalator steps (3) of a conveyor belt (26) of an escalator (1), or a gap between two pallets of a conveyor belt (26) of a moving walkway, or a mark (54) that can be temporarily set on the conveyor belt (26).

14. The escalator (1) or moving walkway according to claim 11, wherein: The measuring scale (56) is arranged on the conveyor belt (26), and the markings (24, 55) are arranged on a fixedly held part of the escalator (1) or moving walkway.

15. The escalator (1) or moving walkway according to claim 14, wherein: The mark (55) is an arrow-shaped sticker, which can be temporarily fixed on a fixed part of the escalator (1) or moving walkway.

Images