Support structure with aligning device for support structure section-connecting region

Abstract

The invention relates to a support structure (11) of a passenger transport system (1) designed as an escalator or a moving walkway, comprising an alignment device (40) for two support structure sections (13, 15) of the support structure (11) to be connected to each other. The alignment device (40) has a first alignment part (41) with a fastening region (43) and a recess (45) and a second alignment part (42) with a fastening region (43) and a projection (44), the contour (47) of the projection (44) being designed complementary to the contour (47) of the recess (45). In addition, the protrusion and / or the recess have a V-shape.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to a people mover designed as an escalator or moving walkway, which can be divided into a plurality of sections for transport and assembly purposes. In particular, the invention relates to the design of the connection areas of the load-bearing structure sections of the load-bearing structure of such a people mover. Background Art

[0002] People moving equipment of the type mentioned above is used, for example, to move people between levels of different heights or within a level of constant height in a building. Escalators (also called rolling stairs) are used, for example, to move people from one floor to another in a building. Moving walkways can be used to move people within a floor on a horizontal plane or between two floors over a moderately inclined plane.

[0003] These personnel transport devices usually have a load-bearing structure that serves as a structure for carrying loads. This load-bearing structure is usually designed as a truss structure with steel profiles. Due to the available modern manufacturing equipment, such as laser cutting machines and large bending machines, the load-bearing structure can also be manufactured as a sheet material load-bearing structure. The load-bearing structure is designed to absorb static and dynamic forces acting on the personnel transport device, such as the weight of the people being transported, the force caused by the drive of the personnel transport device, etc., and support this force on the structure of the building that accommodates the personnel transport device. For this purpose, the personnel transport device can be supported and fixed on the building at a properly designed support position. Depending on the application field, the load-bearing structure can, for example, extend on two or more planes or floors of a building and / or extend on a shorter or longer distance within a constant floor in a building.

[0004] In this case, the load-bearing structure, which is supported on the supporting parts of the building in the assembled state, can accommodate movable parts and stationary parts of the people mover. Depending on the design of the people mover as an escalator or moving walkway, these parts can be designed, for example, as step belts, tray belts, deflection shafts, drive shafts, drive motors, transmissions, controllers, monitoring systems, safety systems, guardrails, combs, supporting parts, running belts and / or guide rails.

[0005] The load-bearing structure usually consists of a large number of mutually connected load-bearing structural parts. Such load-bearing structural parts can include, for example, so-called upper parts and lower parts and connecting struts, such as cross braces, diagonal struts, columns, etc., which connect these parts to each other. In addition, supplementary load-bearing structures, such as joint plates, angle plates, retaining plates, bottom plates, soffit plates, etc., can be provided.

[0006] In order to ensure sufficient stability and load-bearing capacity of the load-bearing structure, the individual load-bearing structure components must be connected to each other in a sufficiently stable manner. Most of the time, for this purpose, the load-bearing structure components are welded or riveted to each other.

[0007] Depending on the place of use, escalators or moving walkways can have a considerable feeding length of 30 meters or more. However, such long people transport equipment and in particular its supporting structure can no longer be transported from the place of manufacture to the place of use in one piece. Therefore, this supporting structure usually consists of at least two supporting structure sections that can be connected to each other by a connecting area. The connecting area disclosed in WO 2020 173753 A2 has a connecting plate welded to the upper and lower parts of the supporting structure section at the end side, and the connecting plate is provided with screw holes. These supporting structure sections are usually provided with all other components of the people transport equipment in the manufacturer's factory. The sections created in this way are then packaged for transportation and transported to the installation location set in the building. At the installation location, it is only necessary to connect the individual sections together in the correct order to obtain a people transport equipment ready for use.

[0008] The process of installing a passenger transport device divided into several segments into a building requires qualified fitters who work precisely. JP 2006232489 A describes a corresponding process for the assembly of an escalator in a subway shaft. Here, the segments are installed one by one into the subway shaft, connected to one another and anchored in the building. Due to the considerable weight of the individual segments and the structural conditions of the shaft, the process of connecting two segments is very time-consuming and labor-intensive, because the connecting areas of the segments that are adjacent to each other and are to be connected together must be aligned precisely with each other before the connecting areas can be connected to one another, for example using connecting screws.

[0009] JP 2013193843 A has load-bearing structure sections whose connection regions are equipped with alignment devices in the region of the load-bearing wall. These alignment devices are formed by plates welded on the end sides, one of which has a hole and the other has a conical bolt that can engage in the hole. A particular disadvantage of this solution is that due to the available space and the required strength, the conical bolt can only have a small taper, so that only automatic fine adjustment during the connection is possible. In addition, when the load-bearing structure sections are connected together, it is difficult to see the bolts and the holes, so that a lot of time, personnel and technology are still required to align the load-bearing structure sections. Summary of the invention

[0010] The object of the invention is to minimize the alignment work required when assembling a personnel transport device which is divided into a plurality of sections and to simplify the assembly to such an extent that it can also be carried out by less qualified assemblers.

[0011] This object is achieved by a load-bearing structure of a passenger transport device designed as an escalator or a moving walkway, which has at least a first load-bearing structure section and a second load-bearing structure section. Here, the two load-bearing structure sections can be connected to each other by means of a connection area formed on their end sides. In the connection area, at least one alignment device is arranged permanently or at least temporarily during the assembly process. The alignment device has a first alignment component with a fixing area and a recess and a second alignment component with a fixing area and a protrusion. The profile of the protrusion is designed to be complementary to the profile of the recess, and the profile of the protrusion and / or the recess has a V-shaped shape. The load-bearing structure sections each have two load-bearing walls arranged in parallel planes and at least two cross braces. The load-bearing walls are firmly connected to each other by the cross braces, so that the load-bearing structure section has an H-shaped cross section. The load-bearing structure section can also be supplemented with a bottom structure, so that the H-shaped cross section of the load-bearing structure section is supplemented to a U-shaped cross section.

[0012] Accumulated assembly experience has shown that aligning the load-bearing structural parts with each other in the lateral direction always brings about considerable difficulties. In order to solve these difficulties, the V-shaped shape of the protrusion or recess of at least one aligning device is arranged in a flat manner in a directional plane extending orthogonally to the load-bearing walls and extending between these load-bearing walls.

[0013] In other words, the alignment device is permanently or temporarily installed in the load-bearing structure of the people mover designed as an escalator or moving walkway, in particular before the people mover is installed in a building. In at least one connecting area, preferably in each connecting area, at least one alignment device is arranged, wherein the two alignment parts of the alignment device are logically divided into two load-bearing structure sections to be connected to each other.

[0014] As already mentioned, the V-shaped shape of the projections and / or recesses is arranged in a flat manner in a directional plane extending orthogonally to the load-bearing walls and extending between these load-bearing walls. Due to this configuration, when the load-bearing structure sections are connected together by the aligning device, the load-bearing structure sections are "automatically" aligned with each other in the lateral direction, so that in the lateral direction, there is no longer any offset of the load-bearing structure sections. If necessary, the alignment work only needs to be carried out vertically with respect to the directional plane between two load-bearing structure sections.

[0015] In other words, the V-shape or the position of the orientation plane in the support structure section determines the direction in which the support structure section is aligned by the alignment device. This direction always lies in the orientation plane and always runs orthogonally to the symmetry axis of the V-shape.

[0016] As a preparation for assembly, in the connection region on the first supporting structure section, at least one first alignment component is arranged in a fixed position by means of its fixing region. Here, the axis of symmetry of the recess extends parallel to the central longitudinal axis of the supporting structure section. In the connection region of the second supporting structure section, at least one second alignment component is arranged in a fixed position by means of its fixing region, the axis of symmetry of the projection also extending parallel to the central longitudinal axis of the supporting structure section. According to the invention, the first alignment component and the second alignment component are arranged in alignment with each other in the connection region in such a way that in the assembled state, due to the mutual engagement of the projection and the recess, the supporting walls of the supporting structure section are precisely aligned with each other.

[0017] A preferred arrangement is one in which the alignment device is clearly visible to the fitter, in which the alignment device is divided into two support structure sections arranged on a cross strut in the connection region. Depending on the space requirements of the alignment device, the alignment device can remain in the support structure without any problems. However, the alignment device can also be removed again after the two support structure sections have been connected, if, for example, the alignment device interferes with movable components of the personnel transport device.

[0018] If two load-bearing structure sections provided with the alignment device are moved relative to each other when installing the personnel transport device in a building, the projection gradually engages in the recess. Due to the design of the recess and the projection, the two load-bearing structure sections are aligned with high precision in the directional plane. This is very important because the rail joints of the guide rails of the step belt or the pallet belt, which are fixed in the factory in the sections, must be aligned with each other exactly. Once the load-bearing structure modules are arranged against each other in the load-bearing structure, in the connection area, fasteners such as connecting screws, rivets, etc. can be easily installed in the holes provided for them without having to carry out lengthy alignment work.

[0019] The above observations during the assembly process also show that due to the use of lifting equipment and assembly equipment, lateral deviations of up to 5% of the load-bearing structure width of the load-bearing structure can often occur when connecting the load-bearing structure sections. It is therefore preferred that the alignment device has a V-shaped bottom width with a ratio of 1:20 to 1:40 to the load-bearing structure width of the load-bearing structure for which it is used.

[0020] Preferably, the V-shape is designed to be mirror-symmetrical to the central longitudinal axis of the alignment component, since the offsets that occur when the load-bearing structure modules are assembled are arbitrary and therefore do not always occur in the same direction. The fixing area of ​​the corresponding alignment component can be designed according to the application requirements and, for example, have holes for accommodating screws, rivets, pins, etc. The contour of the fixing area can also be designed so that the alignment component can be easily welded, brazed or glued to the component of the load-bearing structure section. The fixing area can also have clamping devices, such as clamping claws, clamping frames, etc., in order to fix the alignment component to the component of the load-bearing structure section in an undisplaceable manner.

[0021] The first and second alignment elements are machined from plate-like material. Due to the plate-like design, the space requirement is very small, so that the alignment elements arranged on the cross struts can remain in the installed escalator or moving walkway, ready for use. The projections or recesses are formed by the machined contours of the respective alignment element. The production of such an alignment device is particularly economical and material-saving if the two alignment elements are cut from the plate-like material in one operation by means of a laser cutting system or a water jet cutting system.

[0022] Of course, other processing methods such as milling or sawing can also be used. Different shape combinations can be considered in the alignment device. For example, both the protrusion and the recess can have a V-shape. Another possibility is that the recess is designed as a prism, thereby presenting a V-shape, and the protrusion is designed as a semi-cylindrical shape. Here, the complementary contours mean that the semi-cylindrical body of the protrusion fits precisely into the prism of the recess, so that after the load-bearing structure sections equipped with the protrusion are connected together, the surface of the protrusion contacts the surface of the recess, but is not pressed against each other with a strong force. It is also conceivable that the protrusion has a V-shape and the recess is designed as a rectangular recess. However, this solution may cause problems when assembled together, because the groove has sharp corners, so there is only line contact between the protrusion and the recess.

[0023] The V-shape of the projection or recess has side faces arranged at a predetermined side angle to one another. The side angle should be selected in the range between 10° and 140°, preferably between 60° and 100° and particularly preferably between 60° and 90°.

[0024] The load-bearing structure sections can each be provided with a base plate in order to retain lubricant and dirt deposits that occur in the personnel transport device. In the connection area of ​​two load-bearing structure sections, an edge area of ​​one of the two mutually adjacent base plates protrudes beyond the two load-bearing walls, and the protruding edge area is provided with a double folded edge with inclined side surfaces in order to ensure that the two base plates overlap. The inclined side surfaces can also be coordinated with and cooperate with the alignment device, so that when connecting two load-bearing structure sections, lateral offsets are aligned by the alignment device and vertical offsets are aligned by the inclined side surfaces. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0025] In the following description, preferred embodiments of the present invention are explained in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein similar elements are provided with the same reference numerals in all drawings. The drawings and descriptions should not be interpreted as limiting the present invention. Among them:

[0026] Figure 1 A schematic side view shows a passenger transport device having a supporting structure consisting of two supporting structure sections that are firmly connected to one another via a connecting region; and

[0027] Figure 2 An enlarged three-dimensional view of the connection region with two alignment devices arranged in the connection region is shown. Figure 1 Part A given in . DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0028] Figure 1 A passenger transport device 1 designed as an escalator or moving walkway is schematically shown in a side view and connects a first floor E1 with a second floor E2 of a building 3. The passenger transport device 1 has a supporting structure 11, which consists of two supporting structure sections 13, 15. The supporting structure 11 is supported on the floors 5, 7 of the floors E1, E2 of the building 3 by two supporting angles 17 arranged at the end and spans the gap 9 between the floors E1, E2 like a bridge.

[0029] The two load-bearing structure sections 13, 15 of the load-bearing structure 11 are connected to each other at a location A via a connection area 21. Typically, a detachable connection means, such as a high-strength connection screw, is used to connect the two load-bearing structure sections 13, 15. Of course, the load-bearing structure 11 can be divided into more than two load-bearing structure sections 13, 15, thereby increasing the number of connection areas 21. As indicated, the load-bearing structure 11 shown is a truss structure, which consists of steel profiles welded together or is processed from metal sheets.

[0030] As schematically shown by the guardrail 19, the support structure 11 receives all other components of the personnel transport device 1 in a load-bearing manner and supports these components on the support structure 3. The personnel transport device 1 is usually constructed as a set at the manufacturer, tested and then separated in the connection area 21. The segments 14, 16 produced in this way are then packaged for transportation and transported to the intended installation location. At the installation location, the segments 14, 16 only need to be connected to each other in the correct order to obtain a personnel transport device 1 that is ready for use.

[0031] Figure 2 The connecting region 21 of the two supporting structure sections 13 , 15 is shown in an enlarged three-dimensional illustration. Figure 1 Each supporting structure section 13, 15 has two supporting walls 23 arranged in mutually parallel planes. Figure 2 In the figure, only one of the two supporting walls 23 is shown for each supporting structure section 13, 15 in order to better illustrate the inner space 25 of the supporting structure section which is bounded by these supporting structure sections. The central longitudinal axis ML of the supporting structure sections 13, 15 should also indicate that in each supporting structure section 13, 15 there is a second supporting wall 23 which is designed mirror-symmetrically to the first supporting wall 23. The two supporting walls 23 are firmly connected to each other at their average height Hm by a cross brace 27, so that each of the supporting structure sections 13, 15 has an H-shaped cross section. The two supporting structure sections 13, 15 are firmly connected to each other in the connecting area 21 by fixing means such as the connecting screws 31 and the connecting plate 33 shown.

[0032] Furthermore, two alignment devices 40 are arranged in the connection region 21. Each alignment device 40 has a first alignment part 41 with a fixing region 43 and a recess 45, and a second alignment part 42 with a fixing region 43 and a projection 44. The profile 47 of the projection 44 is designed to be complementary to the profile 47 of the recess 45, both profiles being V-shaped.

[0033] As in Figure 2, two first alignment elements 41 are arranged in a fixed position with their fixing areas 43 on the cross struts 27 of the first supporting structure section 13 in the connecting region 21. Here, the axis of symmetry SA of the V-shaped recesses 45 runs parallel to the central longitudinal axis LM of the first supporting structure section 13 or parallel to the longitudinal extension. In a similar manner, two second alignment elements 42 are arranged in a fixed position with their fixing areas 43 on the cross struts 27 of the second supporting structure section 15 in the connecting region 21. Here, the first alignment elements 41 and the second alignment elements 42 are aligned with each other in the connecting region 21 in such a way that in the assembled state, the support walls 23 of the support structure sections 13, 15 are aligned exactly with each other due to the mutual engagement of the V-shaped projections 44 and the V-shaped recesses 45. The V-shape of the projections 44 and the recesses 45 is arranged in a flat manner in a directional plane RE which is orthogonal to the support walls 23 and extends between these support walls 23. Due to this arrangement, the load-bearing walls 23 are "automatically" aligned relative to each other when the load-bearing structure sections 13, 15 are connected together. However, alignment is only possible if the projections 44 also hit the recesses 45. Experience has shown that when the load-bearing walls 23 of two load-bearing structure sections 13, 15 are connected together using common assembly means such as hoists, cables, etc., the lateral offset of the load-bearing walls is not particularly large, but always exists. Preferably, the ratio of the width B of the base of the V-shape to the load-bearing structure width Y of the load-bearing structure 11 should be in the range of 1:20 to 1:40.

[0034] Two in Figure 2 The alignment device 40 shown in the figure is made of a plate-like material. The alignment parts 41 and 42 of the alignment device 40 can be cut out of a steel plate by a laser cutting system, or cut out of a high-strength polymer plate by a water jet cutting system. The fixing area 43 is provided with a through hole. Figure 2 The cross brace 27 is covered by screws 48. There are threaded holes (not visible) in the cross brace 27, in which screws 48 are fastened.

[0035] In order to achieve an exact alignment of the alignment parts 41, 42 on the cross brace 27, the alignment device 40 is assembled in the connection area 21 after the personnel transport device 1 has been assembled in a complete set in the manufacturing plant. To this end, the alignment device 40 is fixed to the cross brace 27 with screws 48, wherein it must be noted that the protrusion 44 is arranged exactly in the recess 45. This is the case when the sides 51, 52 of the V-shaped shape that form the V-shaped protrusion 44 or the V-shaped recess 45 are in contact with each other. In the present embodiment, the sides 51, 52 are arranged at a side angle α of 90° to each other, but the side angle can also be selected to be blunter or more acute. After tightening the screw 48, a hole for the matching pin 49 is drilled and the matching pin 49 is pressed into the hole. Then, by removing the connecting screws 31 and the connecting plate 33 in the connection area 21, the finished personnel transport device 1 can be disassembled into multiple sections in the manufacturing plant.

[0036] Still like Figure 2 , the supporting structure sections 13, 15 are respectively provided with bottom plates 61, 63, wherein in the connection region 21 of the two supporting structure sections 13, 15, the edge region 65 of one of the two mutually adjacent bottom plates 13, 15 protrudes beyond the two supporting walls 23. The protruding edge region 65 is provided with a double folded edge portion 67 with an inclined side surface 69 to ensure that the two bottom plates 61, 63 overlap.

[0037] Although the invention has been described by showing a specific embodiment, it is obvious that many other implementation variants can be produced using the knowledge of the invention, for example by arranging a plurality of alignment devices 40 on the cross brace 27, which, by their specific arrangement, not only achieve lateral alignment but also vertical alignment. Here, the V-shaped shape of some alignment components 41, 42 is arranged in the directional plane RE, and the V-shaped shape of other alignment components 41, 42 is arranged in a plane parallel to the supporting wall 23.

Claims

1. A support structure (11) of a passenger transport device (1) designed as an escalator or a moving walkway, the support structure having at least a first support structure section (13) and a second support structure section (15), wherein: Two supporting structure sections (13, 15) can be connected to one another by means of a connecting area (21) formed on their end faces, wherein at least one alignment device (40) is arranged in the connecting area (21), the at least one alignment device having a first alignment part (41) with a fixing area (43) and a recess (45) and a second alignment part (42) with a fixing area (43) and a projection (44), wherein the contour (47) of the projection (44) is designed to be complementary to the contour (47) of the recess (45), wherein , the contour (47) of the protrusion (44) and / or the recess (45) is V-shaped, wherein the supporting structure sections (13, 15) respectively have two supporting walls (23) arranged in parallel planes and at least two cross braces (27), and the supporting walls (23) are firmly connected to each other by the cross braces, characterized in that the V-shape of the protrusion (44) or recess (45) of at least one alignment device (40) is arranged in a flat manner in a directional plane (RE) that is orthogonal to the supporting walls (23) and extends between the supporting walls (23).

2. The load-bearing structure (11) according to claim 1, wherein: In the connection area (21) on the first supporting structure section (13), at least one first alignment component (41) is arranged in a fixed position by means of its fixing area (43), and the symmetry axis (SA) of the recess (45) extends parallel to the central longitudinal axis (ML) of the supporting structure section (13, 15), and in the connection area (21) on the second supporting structure section (15), at least one second alignment component (42) is arranged in a fixed position by means of its fixing area (43), and the symmetry axis (SA) of the projection (44) extends parallel to the central longitudinal axis (ML) of the supporting structure section (13, 15), and the first alignment component and the second alignment component (41, 42) are arranged in alignment with each other in the connection area (21) in such a way that when the supporting structure (11) is assembled together, the supporting walls (23) of the supporting structure sections (13, 15) are precisely aligned with each other due to the mutual engagement of the projection (44) and the recess (45).

3. The load-bearing structure (11) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: The at least one alignment device (40) is arranged distributed over the transverse struts (27) of the two supporting structure sections (13, 15) arranged in the connecting region (21).

4. The load-bearing structure (11) according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein: The supporting structure sections (13, 15) which are respectively connected to each other are firmly connected to each other in the connecting region (21) by means of fixing means (31, 33).

5. The load-bearing structure (11) according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein: The ratio of the width (B) of the base of the V-shape to the width (Y) of the supporting structure is in the range of 1:20 to 1:

40.

6. The load-bearing structure (11) according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein: The supporting structure sections (13, 15) are respectively provided with base plates (61, 63), and in a connection area (21) of the two supporting structure sections (13, 15), an edge area (65) of one of the two adjacent base plates (61, 63) protrudes beyond the two supporting walls (23), wherein the protruding edge area (65) is provided with a double folded edge portion (67) with an inclined side surface (69) to ensure that the two base plates (61, 63) overlap.

7. The load-bearing structure (11) according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein: The first alignment component (41) and the second alignment component (42) are processed from a plate-like material, and the protrusion (44) or the recess (45) is formed by a processed contour (47) of the corresponding alignment component (41, 42).

8. The load-bearing structure (11) according to claim 7, wherein: The V-shape of the projection (44) or the recess (45) has side faces (51, 51) arranged at a side angle (α) to one another, the side angle (α) being in the range between 10° and 140°, preferably between 30° and 100° and particularly preferably between 60° and 90°.

9. A passenger transport device (1) which is designed as an escalator or a moving walkway and can be divided into a plurality of sections (14, 16), characterized in that: The passenger transport device comprises a support structure (11) according to any one of claims 1 to 8.

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