Stairway facility having a passenger conveyor in parallel with a stairway

Abstract: In order to provide a step passage facilities which does not degrade safety of a walker by providing a passenger conveyer in parallel with the step passage facilities, a handrail 14, 17, 18 for a walker supported to the outside of the balustrade 7a of the passenger conveyer 4 is installed to be longer than the balustrade 7a of the passenger conveyer, and a start and an end edges of the handrail for the walker is supported on the horizontal parts 9, 10 of the main frame 5 of the passenger conveyer

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a stairway facility having a passenger conveyor such as an escalator or an electrical moving walk in parallel with a stairway. Such stairway facilities are disclosed in JP-A-4-343860 and JP-A-7-189449 for example. They include a stairway and a passenger conveyor alongside the stairway, wherein the stairway has a handrail supported by the balustrade of the conveyor. A stairway facility with the features included in the first part of claim 1 is known from JP-A-10045368. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of this invention is to provide a stairway facility which is safe for the user of the stairs without requiring a complex structure. This object is met by the stairway facility defined in claim 1. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 is a schematic side view of an embodiment of a stairway facility. Figure 2 is an enlarged plan view to show the upper floor area in Figure 1. Figure 3 is a perspective view of Figure 2. Figure 4 is an enlarged sectional view showing one side of the balls-trade along a IV-IV line of Figure 1. Figure 5 is a perspective view which shows the main frame of the escalator shown by Figure 1. Figure 6 is a side view showing another embodiment equivalent to Figure 3. Figure 7 is a view showing another embodiment equivalent to Figure 6. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Based on Figure 1 to Figure 5, an embodiment of the present invention will be explained as follows. An escalator 4 being a passenger conveyer which is installed in parallel with stairs 3 to communicate a upper floor 1 and a lower floor 2 of a building, has a main frame 5, a plurality of foot steps 6 guided in the main frame 5, a pair of balustrades 7a, 7b installed on the main frame 5 at both sides of the foot steps 6, and moving handrails 8 moving around the peripheries of the balustrades 7a, 7b in synchronism with the foot steps 6. The above stated main frame 5 is constructed with an upper horizontal part 9 and a lower horizontal part 10 formed at the upper and lower ends of the main frame 5, and an intermediate part 11 to connect the upper horizontal part 9 and the lower horizontal part 10. The width W 0 of the intermediate part 11 is smaller than the width W of the upper horizontal part 9 and the lower horizontal part 10. Such a construction, where the intermediate part 11 has a smaller width W 0 , is determined based on the consideration that the width of the stairs 3 should not be too narrow when the escalator 4 is installed. In addition, the upper horizontal part 9 and the lower horizontal part 10 should be wider because the driving mechanism for the foot steps 6 and the moving handrail 8 (not shown in the Figure) or a control machinery thereof is provided therein. An upper landing part 12 and a lower landing part (not shown) are coplanar with the upper floor 1 and the lower floor 2, respectively, and do not form an obstacle for a person using the stairway. These landing parts have a width W 3 which is almost the same as the width W of the upper horizontal part 9 and the lower horizontal part 10. They have a central part 12a having a width W 1 which is almost the same as the width W 0 of the intermediate part 11 of the main frame 5, and side parts 12b, 12c having a width W 2 at both sides of the central part 12a. At least the part 12a is fixed on the top of the upper horizontal part 9 and the lower horizontal part 10 and divided into plural pieces so as to be easily removed and replaced. The escalator 4 is disposed between a wall 13 and the stairs 3. Among the pair of balustrades 7a, 7b, the balustrade 7a at the side remote from the wall 13 has the function of separating the escalator 4 from the stairs 3. On the side of balustrade 7a opposite the wall 13, a handrail 14 is arranged to facilitate the use of the stairs 3. In this embodiment, the handrail 14 is longer than the balustrade 7a by a length at the start and/or end of the handrail 14. The handrail 14 is outside the width dimension W 0 of the intermediate part 11 of the main frame 5 and inside the width dimension W of both the upper horizontal part 9 and the lower horizontal part 10, so that the width of the stairs 3 offered to the user is not reduced. The handrail 14 is supported by support members 16 in balustrade pillars 15 fixed to the upper chord 11a of the main frame 5 of the balustrade 7a as shown in Figure 4, and the length L by which the handrail 14 exceeds the balustrade 7a is supported in the main frame 5 located under the side landing part 12c of the upper horizontal part 9 as shown in Figure 3. According to the above embodiment, since the handrail 14 exceeds the length of the balustrade 7a a person using the stairway can walk without touching the balustrade 7a and catch the handrail 14 safely. If, on the other hand, the balustrade is installed in only the inclined part of the stairs 3, the handrail cannot be caught before starting to use the stairs 3, and must be left just before finishing the stairs, which is dangerous especially when going downstairs. In addition, a person using the stairs is prevented from gripping the moving handrail 8 of the escalator 4, and the safety of the stairway facility is improved by the portions of the handrail 14 which exceed the length of the balustrade 7a. The handrail 14 is directly or indirectly supported on the main frame 5. Therefore, no works are necessary on the upper floor 1 and lower floor 2 in order to fix the start or end portion of the handrail 14. This is very effective to avoid complexity in construction works especially if the escalator is to be installed in parallel with existing stairs. Moreover, by extending the handrail 14 at the start and/or end portions of balustrade 7a, crossing at the landing part 12 by persons using the stairs and those using the escalator 4 is avoided, and the escalator 4 is freely accessible. By the way, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the handrail 14 is installed beyond the start or end portion of the balustrade 7a along the escalator 4. However, as shown in Figure 6, the handrail 14 may be constructed with a main handrail portion 17 which is shorter than the total length of the balustrade 7a so that the start or end portion thereof does not reach the start or end portion of balustrade 7a, and a supplementary handrail portion 18 which is installed along an extension line of the handrail 17 portion, whereby the same effect same as in the embodiment stated above may be attained. The side of the supplementary handrail portion 18 next to the balustrade 7a is supported by the main frame 5 through the balustrade pillars 15 and support members 16, and the portion exceeding the start or end portion of the balustrade 7a is supported by the main frame 5 in the same way as the embodiment stated above. In each above embodiment, an end portion of the handrail 14 or the portion 18e of the supplementary handrail 18 exceeds the start or end portion of the balustrade 7a; however, if the point is only to prevent gripping of the moving handrail 8, the handrail 14 is installed over just the length of the balustrade 7a, that is, the end portion of the handrail 14 or the portion 18e of the supplementary handrail 18 may be at the same location as the start or end portion of the balustrade 7a. Moreover as shown in Figure 7, when the handrail 19 does not reach the start or end portion of the balustrade 7a, the supplementary handrail 20 which at one end overlaps with the handrail 19 and at the end is located in the same location as the start or end portion of the balustrade 7a or exceeds it, may be fixed to the main frame (not illustrated in the Figure) under the landing part 12. Moreover when safety of the persons using the stairway is given priority, the end portion of the handrail 14 or the supplementary handrail 18, 20 may be fixed on the upper floor 1 and the lower floor 2. In each above embodiment, although an escalator is explained as a passenger conveyer installed next to a stairway, the effect same may be expected if an electrical moving walkway is used instead of an escalator. In addition, in each embodiment mentioned above, although a passenger conveyer is installed in parallel with and at one side of stairs it may be installed in the middle of wider stairs, and handrails may be installed at both sides of the conveyer.

Claims: A stairway facility including a stairway (3) and a passenger conveyor (4) in parallel with the stairway (3), the conveyor (4) having a main frame (5) and a balustrade (7a) mounted thereon, and the stairway having a stationary handrail (14) supported by the balustrade (7a), characterised in that the conveyor main frame (5) has upper and lower horizontal end parts (9, 10) and an intermediate part (11), the end parts (9, 10) having a width (W) greater than the width (W 0 ) of the intermediate part (11), the balustrade (7a) is provided along said intermediate part (11), and the handrail (14) has an intermediate portion (17, 19) supported by said balustrade (7a) and start and end portions (18, 20) supported by the horizontal end parts (9, 10) of said main frame (5). The facility of claim 1, wherein at least one of the start and end portions of the handrail (14) is at a location advanced with respect to the start or end part of the balustrade (7a). The facility of claim 1, wherein said handrail (14) extends outside the width of the intermediate part (11) of said main frame (5) but inside the width of said upper and lower end parts (9, 10). The facility of claim 1, wherein the start and end portions (18, 20) of the handrail (14) are separate from its intermediate portions (17, 19).

Inventors: SAITOH CHUICHI, UTSUNOMIYA HIROFUMI, SAITOH, CHUICHI, UTSUNOMIYA, HIROFUMI
Applicants: HITACHI BUILDING SYS CO LTD, HITACHI LTD, HITACHI BUILDING SYSTEMS CO., LTD., HITACHI, LTD.
Application year: 2000
Main classification: B66B23
IPC codes: B66B23, E04F11