Driving Pulley for Flexible Handrail with Liquid-Filled Tire
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing wheels for driving flexible handrails on escalators and moving walks suffer from slip-stick effects, noise, and excessive wear due to bulge formation, which are caused by the elasticity and gas-filled nature of the driving wheel tires.
Innovation Solution
A wheel design featuring a solid, dimensionally stable, yet elastically deformable middle layer with an inner and outer layer, where the outer layer is prestressed to maintain frictional contact with the handrail, preventing slip-stick effects and bulge formation by ensuring consistent friction and reduced material deformation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a gas-filled elastic driving wheel tire is used to drive the handrail, then the handrail can be driven with continuous contact, but bulges form on the driving wheel tire causing noise and wear
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the physical state of the filling medium from gas to liquid. The liquid-filled tire maintains continuous contact with the handrail for reliable driving while the liquid's incompressibility prevents bulge formation, eliminating noise and wear problems associated with gas-filled elastic tires
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses a composite structure combining an elastic tire casing with liquid filling. The elastic material provides necessary deformation for continuous contact, while the liquid filling prevents bulge formation, creating a system that achieves both reliable continuous drive and eliminates harmful bulges
2Reliability
If the driving wheel tire is made highly elastic to prevent slip-stick effects, then static friction is maintained, but considerable wear and tear occur
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the filling medium from gas to liquid, which modifies the tire's deformation characteristics. The liquid-filled tire maintains sufficient elasticity for static friction while reducing excessive deformation that causes wear, achieving a balance between friction maintenance and wear reduction
3Reliability
If compressed gas is used to fill the driving wheel tire to maintain pressure contact, then the handrail is driven continuously, but noise development increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces gas filling with liquid filling. The liquid's incompressibility prevents the tire from over-deforming and creating bulges that generate noise, while maintaining continuous contact pressure for reliable continuous drive operation
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution reduces noise, wear, and energy consumption while enhancing driving comfort by preventing slip-stick effects and bulging, ensuring a continuous, jerk-free operation of the handrail.
Implementation Method 1
The driving wheel tire acts as a power transmission element in that its outer peripheral surface bears under pressure against the inner surface of the handrail
Implementation Method 2
a body made of a solid material, which in itself, i.e. without, for example, the Acting upon by pressurized gas, is dimensionally stable, and which is also elastically well deformable
Implementation Method 3
the handrail is driven by the static friction acting between the power transmission element and the handrail
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~4
AI summary
The wheel (10) has inner layer (20) adjacent to an inner circumferential surface of readily elastically deformable layer (30). The inner layer is stiffer than readily elastically deformable layer. An outer layer (40) is arranged adjacent to outer circumferential surface of the deformable layer and arranged to rest against the handrail under static friction. The adjacent layers are coupled to each other in non-rotating manner.