Passenger aerial cableway

Aerial chairlift comprising at the loading station two separate loading areas spaced apart along the travel path of the chairs. Each loading area comprises separate lanes for queuing skiers normally closed by gates. A traffic control system for controlling boarding of the chairlift is actuated by the arrival of chairs at a predetermined location for causing alternate opening of the gates so that the successive chairs are loaded at separate loading areas.

The present invention relates to an aerial cableway particularly a 
chairlift for transporting passengers from a bottom station to a top 
station. 
It is an object of the present invention to increase the effective uphill 
lift capacity of the cableway. 
Another object is to increase the rate at which the passengers can be 
loaded at the loading station. 
It is well known that the rate at which skiers can be transported by 
conventional cableways or chairlifts is limited by the loading rate of the 
passengers and it has been proposed to increase this loading rate by 
positively moving the skiers towards the loading zone by transport means. 
Devices of this type are difficult to use in that the transport means must 
be synchronized with the advancement of the chairs. 
Chairlifts having chairs suspended from trucks which may releasably grip 
the cable for advancement therewith have also been proposed. The chairs 
may be uncoupled from the cable and slowed down in the loading station for 
loading at a speed lower than the speed of the cable. Devices of this type 
suffer the shortcoming that the capability is still restricted by the rate 
at which skiers may be loaded onto the chairs and the chairs will be 
spaced apart relatively great distances on the cable. 
In another known cableway (U.S. Pat. No. 4,050,385) a pair of first and 
second shuttle tracks are provided at the loading station and lead from 
the return run of the cable to separate first and second boarding stations 
and then lead back to the transport run of the cable. The two different 
tracks provided in the loading station form a rather circuitous route to 
enable the skiers to travel to the loading areas. Further, the advancement 
of the chairs along the two tracks must be synchronized and the truck 
drive system is complicated. 
In accordance with the present invention, two loading areas spaced apart 
along the travel path of the chairs in the loading station are provided 
and each chair passes successively along the two loading areas but is 
loaded only at one of these loading areas. If one chair is loaded at one 
loading area the following chair is loaded at the other loading area so 
that the skiers at the loading areas dispose of much time to advance to 
the loading area. Each loading area is equipped with GO signal means so 
that the skiers move to the loading area only by the arrival of the 
corresponding chair. Each loading station may be provided with two or more 
loading areas and the loading rate of each loading area is thereby 
accordingly reduced. One of these loading areas may of course be reserved 
for the equipments or passengers having some priority. 
The chairs may be rigidly coupled to the cable and advance in the station 
at the speed of the cable, the two loading areas being adjacent the travel 
path of the chairs but it will be apparent that the boarding system 
according to the present invention may be advantageously used for 
chairlifts wherein the chairs, uncoupled from the cable, are decelerated 
and/or are stopped at the loading station, so that the skiers are loading 
onto stationary chairs. In the station the chairs must be enough spaced 
apart so that the progression of the skiers towards the loading areas does 
not interfere with that of the chairs. 
The progression of the skiers is controlled by a traffic control system 
displaying a GO signal to the skiers awaiting a chair on separate lanes as 
soon as the corresponding chair approaches the loading area. The control 
system is synchronized with the passage of the chairs at the loading areas 
so that the skiers may move to the loading area only after the chair has 
cleared the skier's path. 
One of the loading areas may be located in the arcuate portion of the 
transfer path and the chairs may be double chairs or three passengers 
chairs, each loading area having two or three lanes. The two or three 
gates of these lanes may be opened at the same time or successively as 
soon as the chair has cleared the path. The gates reclose automatically 
before arrival of the following chair.

While the present invention may be used with any type of mechanism 
generally known as a ski lift for transporting skiers up a mountain, for 
purpose of illustration, it is shown with a chairlift. 
In the chairlift illustrated, a cable 10 is moved in an endless path 
leading from a bottom station 12 to a top station (not shown) and having a 
downhill run 18, an uphill run 20, a downhill direction reversing and 
driving bullwheel 14 and an uphill direction reversing bullwheel (not 
shown). Chairs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 . . . are suspended from the cable by means 
of trucks including a gripper mechanism releasably gripping such cable and 
wheels riding on a loop rail track 16 provided at the station 12 and 
leading from the downhill run 18 to the uphill run 20 along an unloading 
zone 22 and a loading zone 24. The chairs are decelerated upon release 
from the cable 10 for unloading of skiers at the unloading zone 22 and 
subsequent loading of skiers at the loading zone 24. This deceleration may 
be effected by an of various mechanisms well known in the art. For 
example, deceleration of the cars may be achieved by using escort car such 
as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,050,385. The chair trucks are driven along 
the rail track 16 by haulage chains or cables or by gravity and then 
accelerated to synchronize the speed thereof with the speed of the cable 
10 before gripping thereof. Chairlifts of this type are well known (U.S. 
Pat. No. 4,050,385). 
According to the present invention, the loading zone 24 comprises two 
successive loading areas 26, 28 spaced apart along the loop rail track 16, 
the loading area 26 being located in the straight portion of the track 
while the loading area 28 is located in the arcuate portion of the track 
16 before area 26, in such a manner that the chairs 1-5 move first along 
the arcuate loading area 28 and thereafter along the straight loading area 
26. Each loading area 26, 28 comprises three parallel separate lanes 30, 
32, 34; 36, 38, 40 for queuing skiers awaiting a chair. The three lanes 
30-40 terminate at a location adjacent said loading areas 26, 28 and 
receive three skiers moving forward abreast towards a chair for three 
passengers. The chairlift may of course have loading areas 26, 28 with two 
or more lanes when the chairs may carry two or more passengers. Each lane 
30-40 is normally closed by means of an arresting bar or a gate 42, 44, 
46; 48, 50, 52 positioned adjacent the termination of the lane and movable 
into the opened position by actuating means or motors 53, 55. The gates 
42- 52 are actuated by the arrival of a chair at a predetermined location 
for opening the lane and controlling boarding of the chairlift. The gate 
actuating device 53, 55 has a control mechanism such as detectors 54, 56 
for detecting the passage of a chair at a predetermined location. This 
detector 54, 56 may include an automatic sensor such as a photoelectric 
sensor or a chair engaging electric switch, which will operate for example 
every time that a chair moves along, but the control mechanism will 
operate the gates 42-52 only one time out of two. According to FIG. 1 the 
gates 48, 50, 52 are actuated by the passage of the chairs 1, 3, 5 . . . 
along detector 56 while the gates 42, 44, 46 are actuated by the passage 
of the chairs 2, 4, 6 . . . along detector 54. The detectors 54, 56 are 
placed near the loading areas 26, 28 in such a manner that the gates are 
opened immediately after the detected chair has moved past the lanes. The 
opened gates will be closed automatically after a predetermined delay so 
that the skiers are stopped when a chair approaches the loading area and 
interferes with the skier's path. It is understood that the closing of the 
gates may be controlled automatically by other detectors (not shown) which 
detect the approach of a chair towards the loading area and that the 
chairs may be individualized, the chairs 1, 3, 5 . . . causing operation 
of detector 56 and opening of gates 48, 50, 52, and the chairs 2, 4, 6 . . 
. causing operation of detector 54 and opening of gates 42, 44, 46. 
Further, the control system may comprise only one detector which may be 
energized by the passage of each chair and may alternately open the gates 
42-46 and the gates 48-52 at a predetermined time delay to synchronize the 
opening of the gates with the passage of the chairs. In such a case the 
location of the loading areas must correspond to the selected time delay. 
In the position shown in FIG. 1, chair 1 is in the accelerating zone before 
gripping of cable 10. Three skiers 9 have been loaded onto chair 2 at the 
loading area 28 and chair 2 travels along rail track 16 towards the 
accelerating zone. At the passage of detector 54 chair 2 has opened 
temporarily the gates 42, 44, 46, which are already reclosed and three 
skiers advance to the loading area 26 as shown by the arrows. Chair 3 has 
moved past loading area 28 and approaches loading area 26 to load the 
three skiers. Chair 3 has actuated detector 56 and the gates 48, 50, 52 
are opened to permit to the skiers awaiting on lanes 36, 38, 40 to advance 
to the loading area 28 to be loaded on chair 4. The open gates 48, 50, 52 
will be closed before the arrival of chair 4 to avoid collision between 
the chair 4 and the skiers advancing to the loading area 28. Chair 5 is in 
the unloaded zone. It is noted that the chairs 1, 3, 5 . . . are loaded at 
the loading area 26 and the chairs 2, 4, 6 . . . at the loading area 28. 
FIG. 2 shows the chairlift a few moments later. Chair 1 is already on the 
line and chair 2 will be coupled to cable 10. Chair 3 is at the loading 
area 26 for loading the three skiers. Chair 3 actuates detector 54, but 
the control means inhibits this signal and the gates 42-46 remain closed. 
Chair 4 approaches the loading area 28 and the gates 48-52 are already 
reclosed. 
It will be appreciafted that the opening cycle of the gates 42-52 is only 
the half of that of the chairs passing at the loading zone 12 and that the 
skiers have more time for preparation. Further the number of loading areas 
may be increased as desired. 
It is clear that the lanes 42-52 are spaced apart along the chair travel 
path and that each lane can be opened as soon as the chair has moved past 
this lane. Instead of having all the three gates 42-46; 48-52 opened 
together when the chair has moved past the loading area 26, 28, the gates 
are advantageously opened successively as soon as the chair has cleared 
the passage. In the shown embodiment, the three gates are on the same line 
perpendicular to the lanes direction but the gates 42, 44; 48, 50 may be 
located nearer of the track 16 without blocking the way of the chairs. 
The gates 42-46; 48-52 are advantageously mounted on a removable structure 
which may be put on the snow. Advancement of the chairs may be briefly 
stopped at the loading areas 26, 28, particularly at the arcuate loading 
area 28 for the loading of skiers thereon. 
The spacing and the travel speed of the chairs 1-5 in the loading zone 12 
are of course adapted to the rate at which the skiers may advance to the 
loading area 26, 28 and may be loaded onto the chairs. 
It will be noted that the arrangement of two loading areas spaced apart 
along the travel path of the chairs in the loading station may be used 
with different ski lift devices such as gondola lifts or chairlifts. The 
chairs may be permanently coupled to the cable and move along the loading 
zone in the station with the same speed as the cable. 
The chairs face advantageously in the direction of travel of the cable but 
they may be pivoted and face sideways for loading and/or for advancement 
up the ski run. 
Safety sensors may determine the presence of a passenger and prevent 
opening of the gates if the approaching chair is already loaded.