Conveyors: power-driven – Conveyor or accessory therefor specialized to convey people – By stairway having steps forming an endless member
Reexamination Certificate
2000-01-13
2001-07-17
Ellis, Christopher P. (Department: 3651)
Conveyors: power-driven
Conveyor or accessory therefor specialized to convey people
By stairway having steps forming an endless member
C198S331000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06260687
ABSTRACT:
The present invention relates to escalators with a circulating step conveying run for the transport of persons between different levels, as well as to moving walkways with a circulating plate conveying run for horizontal conveyance of persons, such escalators and moving walkways substantially consisting of a support construction with side railings (balustrades), a step or plate conveying run, guides in the support construction for the conveying run, two respective circulating handrail belts and a drive station.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A drive station for an escalator or moving walkway includes, for the drive of a long-link chain of the conveying run, two chainwheels, which are driven by a combination of roller chainwheels flange-mounted thereat, drive chains and a geared motor. The conveying run chainwheels are connected by a common hollow shaft. Pressed into the center of each conveying run chainwheel is a roller bearing which is seated by its inner race on a non-rotating central axle, the ends of which are fixed in axle carriers bolt-connected to the support construction. Such a sub-assembly described here is designated a “chainwheel sub-assembly” in the following.
Although “lubricated for life”, such roller bearings utilized in chainwheel subassemblies are highly loaded by the operating forces experienced and are often exposed to a moist, corrosive atmosphere. Accordingly, they normally have to be changed several times in the course of the service life of the conveying equipment. In known embodiments of such escalators and moving walkways the change of the roller bearings requires complicated additional manipulations such as the separating of the conveying run and the drive chains, the lifting out of the chain sub-assembly from the support construction, as well as the reassembly of the demounted and separated components. An additional problem is that during this time the escalator cannot be walked on as a stairway.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The change of roller bearings at the chainwheel sub-assembly of escalators and moving walkways is substantially simplified by the present invention, in particular that the conveying run no longer has to be separated and the chainwheel sub-assembly no longer has to be lifted out of the support construction. This is achieved by a support construction which has, on both sides of the drive station, auxiliary supports to which the chainwheel sub-assembly can be rigidly fixed at both ends by means of detachable connections, such as, for example, bolt connections with spacers or cotter pin connections. It is thereby made possible to remove the central axle carriers, which are bolt-connected with the support construction and which in the normal state prevent access to the roller bearings in the conveying run chainwheels, and to exchange the roller bearings according to a method in accordance with the invention. The escalator remains able to be walked on as a stairway during the roller bearing exchange.
The roller bearing exchange process according to the invention is as follows:
The long-link chains of the conveying run are so fastened to the support construction in the vicinity of the drive station by means of conventional chain-blocking devices whereby the drive station is relieved of chain tension. Thereafter, the above- described fixing and locking of the chainwheel sub-assembly relative to the support construction and the removal of the central axle carriers takes place. In order to be able to demount the now visible and accessible roller bearing installed at a first side conveying run chainwheel, the central axle of the chainwheel sub-assembly is axially drawn to the second side, such as with the assistance of a spindle puller fastened to the second side conveying run chainwheel such that the first side axle end leaves the inner race of the roller bearing which is to be demounted. The roller bearing is now withdrawn from the outer bearing seat in the chainwheel, such as by a commercial-type bearing extractor which is supported on the end face of the central axle locked by the spindle withdrawal device. In a next step a new roller bearing is pressed into the bore of the first side chainwheel by means of a spindle pressing-in device. For exchange of the second roller bearing, which is installed in the conveying run chainwheel at the second side, the process is reversed, whereby the central axle is subsequently pulled sufficiently to the first side that the inner race of the second side bearing now lies free and the bearing can be removed and replaced as above. Finally, the central axle is returned to its normal position. The central axle carriers are then remounted and the fixing of the chainwheel sub-assembly to the auxiliary supports of the support construction, as well as the chain-blocking devices, are removed. The installation is now ready again for operation.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4535880 (1985-08-01), Botrek
patent: 4674619 (1987-06-01), Nakazawa et al.
patent: 4775044 (1988-10-01), Hofling
patent: 5131521 (1992-07-01), Johnson et al.
patent: 5950797 (1999-09-01), Aulanko et al.
patent: 1 230 270 (1971-04-01), None
Ellis Christopher P.
Inventio AG
Schweitzer Cornman Gross & Bondell LLP
Sharma Rashmi
LandOfFree
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