Escalator Support Frame Using Sheet Metal Panels
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional support structures for transportation devices like escalators and moving walks are bulky, costly, and require significant space due to their framework design, making them complex and resource-intensive to manufacture and assemble.
Innovation Solution
A support structure composed of metal sheets with attached struts, providing stability without the need for extensive framework constructions, achieved through welding or screwing the metal sheets and struts, which can be made from steel, aluminum, or plastic, and featuring a regular pattern of diagonal and vertical elements for enhanced stability and reduced weight.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If a truss structure with longitudinal, vertical and diagonal supports is used, then the supporting structure achieves high stability and strength, but it increases the overall space requirement and becomes massive and voluminous
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the rigid truss framework with thin sheet metal panels that form the supporting structure. These sheets, when properly configured and connected, provide the necessary structural support without the bulk of traditional truss constructions, directly addressing the contradiction between strength and volume.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the fundamental parameter of structural form from three-dimensional truss assemblies to two-dimensional sheet metal configurations. This parameter change allows achieving structural integrity with significantly reduced material volume and spatial footprint.
2Strength
If a truss structure with multiple beams and struts is used, then the supporting structure provides robust support, but it becomes complex and expensive to manufacture and assemble
Solution Approach 1:
By using sheet metal panels instead of multiple discrete beams and struts, the invention simplifies manufacturing to panel fabrication and connection processes, eliminating the complexity of assembling numerous truss components while maintaining structural support capabilities.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention merges multiple structural functions (support, stabilization, spatial definition) into single sheet metal panels, reducing the number of components and simplifying manufacturing and assembly processes compared to traditional truss structures.
3Weight of stationary object
If metal sheets are used for side surfaces, then the support structure becomes lightweight and space-efficient, but additional support structures must be attached to ensure stability
Solution Approach 1:
The invention combines the sheet metal panels with attached support structures into an integrated supporting system where the panels and supports work together as a unified structure, achieving both weight reduction and structural stability without requiring separate, complex support systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The supporting structure is segmented into modular components (sheet metal panels and attached supports) that can be manufactured separately and assembled together, facilitating easier manufacturing and maintenance while achieving the desired weight and stability characteristics.
Data Source
Figure 1a
Figure 1b
Figure 2
AI summary
The present invention relates to a support frame (100) for a transport device, in particular for an escalator or moving walkway, having a bottom surface (103) and two side surfaces (101, 102), and to a corresponding transport device. At least one of the side surfaces (101, 102) of the support frame (100) is made of sheet metal (105, 106). A supporting structure (130) is mounted on the metal sheet (105, 106) forming at least one of the side surfaces (101, 102).