Abstract:
A chair-lift has a chair, in turn having a seat, a safety bar rotating about a first axis between an open position and a closed position, and at least one footrest bar supported by the safety bar and mounted to rotate about a second axis to move the footrest bar with respect to the seat, when the safety bar is in the closed position.

Description:
PRIORITY CLAIM 
       [0001]    This application is a national stage application of PCT/EP2008/054771, filed Apr. 18, 2008, which claims the benefit of and priority to Italian Patent Application No. MI2007U 000157, filed on Apr. 20, 2007, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein. 
     
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
       [0002]    The present disclosure relates to a chair-lift. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to a chair-lift comprising a chair, in turn comprising a seat, a safety bar movable between an open position and a closed position, and at least one footrest bar. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0003]    In certain known chair-lifts, the footrest bar is supported rigidly by the safety bar, as shown, for example, in Patent Application FR 2,854,853, and therefore cannot be moved with respect to the seat independently of the safety bar. On the other hand, passengers often need to arrange their skis and/or feet positioned underneath the footrest bar. On these known chair-lifts, this can only be done by lifting the safety bar into the open position, thus endangering all the passengers on the chair. 
         [0004]    In other types of known chair-lifts, each chair is equipped with a lock device that only allows the safety bar to be raised at the departure and arrival stations, so passengers in this case have no possibility whatsoever of changing position. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0005]    It is an advantage of the present disclosure to provide a chair-lift designed to eliminate the drawbacks of the known art. 
         [0006]    According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, there is provided a chair-lift comprising a number of transportation units, each of which comprises a chair, in turn comprising a seat, a safety bar movable about a first axis between an open position and a closed position, and at least one footrest bar supported by the safety bar. The chair-lift being configured such that the footrest bar is mounted to rotate about a second axis to move the footrest bar with respect to the seat. 
         [0007]    Additional features and advantages are described in, and will be apparent from, the following Detailed Description and the figures. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0008]    A non-limiting embodiment of the present disclosure will be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: 
           [0009]      FIG. 1  shows a partly sectioned, partly schematic side view of a chair-lift in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure and in a first operating position; 
           [0010]      FIG. 2  shows a partly sectioned side view, with parts removed for clarity, of the chair-lift of  FIG. 1  in a second operating position; 
           [0011]      FIG. 3  shows a larger-scale section, with parts removed for clarity, of a detail of the chair-lift of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0012]      FIG. 4  shows a larger-scale section, with parts removed for clarity, of a detail of the chair-lift of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0013]      FIG. 5  shows a larger-scale section, with parts removed for clarity, of a detail of the chair-lift of  FIG. 1 ; and 
           [0014]      FIG. 6  shows a partly sectioned front view, with parts removed for clarity, of the chair-lift of  FIG. 1 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0015]    Referring now to the example embodiment of the present disclosure illustrated in  FIGS. 1 to 6 , number  1  in  FIG. 1  indicates as a whole a chair lift for passenger transport. Chair-lift  1  comprises a cable  2  extending along an endless path P between a departure station (not shown) and an arrival station (not shown); and a number of transportation units equally spaced along cable  2 . Only one of the transportation units is shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 . The transportation unit comprises a clamping device  3  (shown in phantom in  FIG. 1 ); a supporting bar  4  fixed at the top end to clamping device  3 ; a chair  5  fixed to supporting bar  4 ; and a lock device  6  connected to supporting bar  4  and chair  5 . 
         [0016]    Chair  5  comprises a frame  7 ; a seat  8 ; a backrest  9 ; a safety bar  10 ; two flanges  11  supporting safety bar  10 ; a footrest bar  12 ; and two armrests  13 , only one of which is shown in  FIG. 1 . 
         [0017]    Safety bar  10  is mounted to rotate, about a substantially horizontal axis A 1  and with respect to flanges  11 , between a closed position ( FIG. 1 ) and an open position ( FIG. 2 ). 
         [0018]    Lock device  6  serves to only enable opening of safety bar  10  at the departure and arrival stations of chair-lift  1 , and comprises a cam  14  movable between a lock position ( FIG. 1 ) and a release position ( FIG. 2 ); and a control member  15  for moving cam  14  from the lock position to the release position. Cam  14  is fitted to one of flanges  11 , cooperates with a portion of safety bar  10 , and is maintained in the lock position by a spring (not shown). Control member  15  comprises a Bowden cable  16 ; and a lever  17  activated by a rail at the departure and arrival stations, and of which the dash line in  FIG. 2  shows the contact surface  18  contacting lever  17 . 
         [0019]    Footrest bar  12  is connected to safety bar  10  by an arm  19  and a hub  20 , and is hinged to safety bar  10 , about an axis A 2  substantially parallel to axis A 1 , to rotate between the position shown by the continuous line in  FIG. 1 , in which arm  19  substantially rests against seat  8 , and the position shown in phantom. 
         [0020]    With reference to  FIGS. 3 ,  4  and  5 , hub  20  comprises two half-shells  21  and  22  fitted to each other and surrounding a portion of safety bar  10 , which acts as a pin. 
         [0021]    Safety bar  10  and hub  20  are connected to prevent arm  19  sliding along second axis A 2 . More specifically, hub  20  has an annular seat  23 , and safety bar  10  has a projection  24  engaging annular seat  23 . 
         [0022]    Safety bar  10  and hub  20  are also connected to limit rotation of hub  20  about safety bar  10 , by projection  24  engaging annular seat  23 , which extends a given angle of less than one-hundred-eighty degrees) (180°). 
         [0023]    Chair  5  includes a spring  25  located between footrest bar  12  and safety bar  10  to keep arm  19  resting against seat  8 . More specifically, spring  25  is housed inside hub  20 , and has one end connected to hub  20 , and one end connected to safety bar  10 . Hub  20  has a seat  26  for housing spring  25 . 
         [0024]    In use, when safety bar  10  is in the closed position, footrest bar  12  can be moved in opposition to spring  25  to enable passengers to rearrange their skis with respect to footrest bar  12 . When footrest bar  12  or arm  19  is released by the passenger, spring  25  restores arm  19  into position resting against seat  8 . 
         [0025]    With reference to  FIG. 6 , chair  5  is equipped with two footrest bars  12 , each as described with reference to  FIGS. 1 to 5 , and each rotatable about axis A 2  independently of the other footrest bar  12 . 
         [0026]    In a variation, footrest bars  12  are connected to each other by a control bar  27  shown in phantom in  FIG. 6  and connecting hubs  20  of footrest bars  12 . 
         [0027]    It should be understood that various changes and modifications to the presently preferred embodiments described herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Such changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present subject matter and without diminishing its intended advantages. It is therefore intended that such changes and modifications be covered by the appended claims.