Railways – Suspended – Single-rail type
Patent
1995-02-01
1997-08-05
Morano, S. Joseph
Railways
Suspended
Single-rail type
104 95, 104118, 105150, 182 36, B61B 300
Patent
active
056531729
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention concerns a transport system for use in connection with the servicing of a building.
In prior art, transport systems are known for moving various kinds of loads. Such systems usually comprise an elongated rail section which is carried on a stationary structure, e.g. on a wall, ceiling or equivalent structure of a building. The system further comprises a travelling crab provided with traversing wheels and to which the load that has to be transported is connected, and said travelling crab can be moved with the aid of the traversing wheels in support of said rail section and longitudinally thereto.
A particular application in which systems of this kind are employed is in association with real estate servicing operations, in which the transport system is used to suspend movable service platforms, hanging carriages, hanging ladders etc. appliances. Using these appliances, in turn, the indoor and outdoor fa.cedilla.ades, inside and outside surfaces of ceilings/roofs can be maintained and serviced, e.g. glass roof surfaces can be cleaned, facade elements can be installed, broken window panes can be replaced, etc. The rail section in support of which the travelling crab moves together with the appliance thereto attached may be mounted to run the circuit of the entire facade of the building in that it is bent at corners to conform to the configurations of the building. The rail may equally deviate from the horizontal at an upward or downward inclination, and the travelling crab provided with drive and brake means may run along the rail and negotiate uphill and downhill stretches formed in this way.
Nowadays also premises roofed over with extensive glass roofs have become increasingly common, e.g. shopping centers and enclosed courtyards; these require apparatus for minding the vertical indoor fa.cedilla.ades as well as the roof glassing. The vertical fa.cedilla.ades can be serviced using hanging scaffolds or hanging ladders. The horizontal or inclined glass roofs can be serviced from a service platform installed in bridge fashion on two rails fixed to the supporting structures.
The problem in systems of prior art is that the rail sections are designed for one type of use only, whereby a travelling crab of one single type can be installed to run along a given rail section, that is, either a travelling crab suspended from the rail section or one running thereupon. It follows that the rail sections of transport systems known in the art are greatly lacking in versatility of possible installation. If it is desired to use in estate maintenance a servicing means travelling upon the rail as well as one which is suspended under the rail, it will be necessary to install separate rails for both if one wishes to use both at the same time without either one impeding the other's free movement. Quite obviously the purchase and installation of two sets of rails involves high costs. In cases in which the rails are located on an architecturally notable object, a maximum of attractive and inconspicuous appearance is required of the transport system, and these conditions are naturally not met if a plurality of rails has to be used.
It is a further problem in systems of prior art that the possible ways of mounting their known rail sections are quite restricted. The rail section known in the art can usually be installed in one position only.
The object of the invention is to eliminate the drawbacks discussed above.
The object of the invention is in particular to provide a transport system which is highly versatile as regards its properties of use, installation and operation.
It is furthermore an object of the invention, to provide a system which enables one single, continuous rail section to be used instead of several rail sections.
It is a further object of the invention, to disclose a transport system in which the travelling crab has improved running characteristics.
As taught by the invention, the transport system comprises an elongated rail section affixed to a stationary structure, and a travelling crab provide
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