URBAN TRANSPORT SYSTEM USING FAST CONVEYOR BELTS

Abstract: The invention relates to a fast conveyor belt-type transport system, in particular for urban transport systems, and comprises one or more platforms or discs (2), of opportune diameters, which revolve about a vertical access; an auxiliary belt (6) or a principal belt (1) with jointed elements wind around said platforms or discs (2). When the user transfers from the belt to the periphery of said platform or disc (2) and moves towards its rotation axis his or her linear velocity is reduced by said movement. Inverse movement from the rotation axis of said platform or disc (2) to the belt (1) causes an increase in the linear velocity of the user. Use of different levels of belt transport by means of a series of devices such as lifts and stairs, and using belts and platforms in series, any increase and reduction in velocity may be obtained, and belts travelling at any velocity may be envisaged.

Description: URBAN TRANSPORT SYSTEM USING FAST CONVEYOR BELTS Description. The invention relates to an urban transport system using fast conveyor belts. The invention is applicable in the field of transport systems using fast conveyor belts which travel at a velocity faster than normal walking pace. Prior art systems present access problems when the belt is in motion as well as problems concerning the succeeding alighting, and also the problem of passing from one belt to another. Aim of the present invention is to eliminate the above-described drawbacks by providing a transport system which exploits, with the aim of facilitating said access to and alighting from a conveyor belt- type transport system, the different linear velocities at points at different distances from the rotation axis on a revolving rigid body. Said aims are fully attained by the fast conveyor belt transport system, object of the present invention, which comprises! a conveyor belt with jointed elements which winds at any angle around a platform or disc having an accessible upper surface, which revolves about an axis and has a central aperture occupied by a stationary structure; said belt and said disc having equal or nearly equal linear velocities in the areas which are in contact or which face on to each other; said system having the aim of reducing the linear velocity of a passenger on the belt when said passenger transfers from the belt to the platform or disc, moving on to wal ways situated on said platform towards the rotation axis, the velocity gradually being reduced along said walkway until the passenger, having reached the internal lip of the platform, can easily step on to the stationary structure; said system enabling also an inverse transfer from the stationary structure to the belt. These and other characteristics will better emerge from the description which follows, of some preferred but not exclusive embodiments illustrated in the accompanying diagrams purely in the form of non-limiting examples, in which: —Figure 1 shows a schematic plan of a particular of the transport system; —Figure 2 shows a plan of a particular of the system of transport according to a different embodiment; -Figure 3 shows a schematic plan of the transport system according to a further embodiment. With reference to the illustrations, Fig. 1 shows a conveyor belt (with jointed elements) 1 which winds around a platform or disc 2 revolving about its own axis and which is accessible on its upper surface. The platform or disc 2 is doughnut-shaped, that is it has a circular central aperture which is occupied by a stationary structure 3. The belt 1 and the platform or disc 2 are in mutual contact, or near-contact, and the belt 1 may drive the platform or disc 2, or vice-versa, or the two elements may even be motorised independently of one another, as long as their linear velocities are more or less the same along the external lip of the platform or disc 2 and the belt 1. When a passenger wishes to alight from the belt 1, he can transfer on to the platform or disc 2 simply by stepping on to it as soon as he is in a transfer area 5, indicated by the shaded area in Figure 1, wherein the platform or disc 2 and the belt 1 are in contact or nearly in contact. At the point of the disc where he finds himself after alighting from the belt 1, the passenger will be travelling at a linear velocity which is more or less identical to that of the belt 1, but as he moves towards the centre the velocity at which he is moving is reduced in relation to his distance from the rotation of the platform or disc's 2 axis. By making the rapport between the external and internal radii adequate, the velocity of the internal lip of the platform or disc 2 can be so low as to permit the system's users to pass without di-fficulty from the platform or disc 2 to the internal stationary structure 3. There is no necessity for the platform or disc 2 to be flat, and preferably it will be of a form tending to a paraboloid of revolution, in order to compensate for the centrifugal force, which is low °5 in any case, with the help of the force of gravity. The fixing of barriers (not illustrated) is also envisaged, which can be used by the users to counter the low acceleration of Coriolis generated by the !0 users' movement on the platform or disc 2. Staircases or lifts can be installed in the stationary structure 3 to carry the passengers to a di-fferent level from that of the belt 1 and thus 15 outside the transport system. In Fig. , 2a indicates a further platform or disc 2 which enables the belt 1 to return to the original direction of movement which it had before reaching 20 the first platform or disc 2. The winding angle of the belt 1 around the platform or disc 2 can be varied according to the constructional needs, the diameter of the platform 25 or disc 2 and the time afforded to the users for the transfer from the belt to the platform and vice- versa. In the case that the velocity of the belt 1 was so high as to require a too-elevated ratio between the radii, its being impossible to reduce the diameter of the stationary structure 3 below a certain limit, an exaggerated diameter of the platform or disc 2 could be envisaged: in this case a variant of the original embodiment might be realised, which is illustrated in Fig.3. In Fig.3, which represents the scheme of a possible station for a double transport line (out and return), 1 indicates the two principal conveyor belts which constitute the transport system. An auxiliary belt 6 winds around platforms or discs 7 and moves at the same velocity as the belt 1 in the areas where it flanks said belt 1. The platforms or discs 7 do not revolve around a stationary central area, as does the platform or disc 2 of Fig.l and one platform 8 of Fig.3. The platforms or discs 7 have instead a central area which is solid to them, also having a platform 9 with diameter inferior to platform or disc 7 which platform 9 is solid to said central area and is situated at a different level to that of the first platform and linked to it by stairs and/or lifts. Another belt 10 winds around platform 9 and also around platform 8. When a user wishes to alight from one of the belts 1, he can step on to the auxiliary belt 6 in the area where the two belts 1 and 6 are parallel. Once on the auxiliary belt 6, the user can transfer on to one of the platforms or discs 7, in the same way as has been explained for Fig.l, and thus can reach platform 9 by moving on the structure which rigidly links the two platforms. When the user is on the platform 9, he can go to the lip of said platform 9 and transfer to the belt 10. Since the diameter of the platform 9 is inferior to that of the platform or disc 7, the linear velocity with which the user is moving at the moment of transferring to the belt 10 will be lower than his original velocity thanks to the ratio between the diameters. The belt 10 will bring the user to the platform 8 whose velocity is identical or nearly identical to that of the belt 10. The user can then transfer to said plaform 8 and descend to a stationary area 11, in the same way as was explained for Fig.l. The reduction of the velocity from the original velocity to that at alighting on to the stationary area 11 will be in proportion to the original winding diameters of the belts around the platforms and the diameter of the stationary area 11. Said reduction in velocity also depends on the accurate synchronisation of the movements of the belts and platforms. It is obvious that, from the technical point of view there are no limits to the number of reductions that can D e made in series in order to increase the ratio between the initial velocity and the velocity at alighting. It is quite feasible, for example, that the stationary area 11 could be substituted by a further platform having the same diameter as it and being solid to the platform BJ around this new platform a further belt could wind; and this belt could draw another platform of greater diameter, causing a greater reduction of velocity. It is also obvious that on all groups of platforms of the types 7 and 9 lifts could be mottnted which could permit handicapped or aged people to use the transport system, and that all the necessary arrangements could be made to help the users counter the force of centrifugal acceleration and thus have no problems keeping their balance during transfer from the discs to the centre or vice-versa. Even in the case of the direct winding of the principal transport belt around a single platform a certain variety of constructional schemes are possible: for example, the platform could be constituted by a series of areas having circular crown form and revolving with decreasing angular velocities from the periphery to the centre. In such a case there would be a reduction of the user's velocity caused in part by the movement of the user himself from the periphery towards the centre of each area, and in part by the movement of the user from a peripheral to an internal area. The transport system of the present invention is thus a fast conveyor belt, equipped with revolving platform systems for the access and alighting of passengers and for the realisation of connections between different transport lines. Said system has the advantage that, by exploiting the different linear velocities which on a revolving rigid body exist at different points from the rotation axis, it permits easy access to said belt when in movement as well as easy alighting from same and simple transfer from one conveyor belt to another.

Claims: 11 Claims. 1) Fast conveyor belt-type urban transport system comprising a jointed conveyor belt 1 which can be wound at any angle around a platform or disc 2, which platform or disc 2 is accessible on its upper surface, revolves about an axis and is equipped with a central aperture occupied by a stationary structure 3j said belt 1 and said platform or dic 2 having a linear velocity which is the same or nearly the same in the areas where they are in mutual contact or where they flank each other; said system being aimed at redttcing the linear velocity of a passenger when said passenger transfers from the belt J. to the platform or disc 2, moving on to the walkways of said platform or disc 2 and approaching the rotation axis until reaching the internal lip of of said platform or disc 2 which is travelling much more slowly, enabling the passenger to acceed to the stationary structure 3; said system enabling also inverse transfer from said stationary structure 3 to said belt 1. 2) Fast conveyor belt—type urban transport system as in claim 1, comprising two auxiliary conveyor belts 6 and 10 which can be wound at any angle and at different levels around two platforms 7 and 9 which are rigidly connected to each other and which revolve about the same axis; said two platforms 7 being of diameter which is proportional or nearly proportional to the velocities of the jointed belts which wind around them, in such a way as to facilitate the transfer of passengers from one of said belts 6 and 10 to the other, said belts 6 and 10 having different velocities. 3 ) System as in either of the previous claims, cmprising auxiliary conveyor belts 6 aimed at permitting access to or alighting from a fast conveyor belt used for the transport of passengers. 4) System as in claims 1 or 2, comprising connections between different fast conveyor belt-type urban transport lines.

Inventors: CAVALCA FABIO, CAVALCA ROBERTO, CAVALCA, FABIO, CAVALCA, ROBERTO
Applicants: CAVALCA FABIO, CAVALCA ROBERTO, CAVALCA, FABIO, CAVALCA, ROBERTO
Application year: 1991
Main classification: B66B29
IPC codes: B66B21, B66B29