Patent Publication Number: US-8522689-B2

Title: Cable railway system

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application claims the priority, under 35 U.S.C. §119, of Austrian patent application A 1390/2010, filed Aug. 19, 2010; the prior application is herewith incorporated by reference in its entirety. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a cableway system having a conveying cable, which is guided via a deflecting pulley in each case in the two terminal stations of the system, and having vehicles, such as cars or chairs, which can be coupled to the conveying cable and are designed with a clamping device and with a travelling-gear mechanism, wherein they are coupled to the conveying cable along the path of the cableway system and are uncoupled from the conveying cable at the entrance into the stations, are guided through the stations, along guide rails, by way of the travelling-gear mechanism. There, the passengers disembark from the vehicles and board the vehicles. Then the vehicles are once more coupled to the conveying cable at the exit from the stations. The vehicles are moved in the stations by means of control tires, namely decelerating tires, conveying tires and accelerating tires, which are coupled to one another for carrying-along action by gear mechanisms, the speed of the vehicles, once uncoupled from the conveying cable, being reduced thereby by the decelerating tires, furthermore the vehicles being moved by means of the conveying tires at a low speed through the boarding and disembarking region for the passengers, the passengers boarding the vehicles and disembarking therefrom in this region, and the speed of the vehicles being increased by the accelerating tires, whereupon they are then coupled to the conveying cable again and conveyed out of the station. The control tires are driven by the conveying cable via at least one supporting roller for the conveying cable, the supporting roller being located in the relevant station. 
     In the case of such cableway systems in which the drive power for the control tires is derived from the conveying cable via at least one supporting roller for the conveying cable, the at least one supporting roller is mounted on a spindle which is fastened rigidly on the load-bearing structure. However, the vertical movements of the conveying cable give rise to this at least one supporting roller being subjected to different degrees of loading, which result in increased wear to this at least one supporting roller. Furthermore, as a result, vibration and impact caused by the conveying cable pass into the load-bearing structure of the station, for which reason the load-bearing structure has to be of correspondingly reinforced design. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide a cableway system which overcome the above-mentioned disadvantages of the heretofore-known devices and methods of this general type and which provides for a system that has reduce to a significant extent the loading, vibration and impact which pass to the load-bearing structure by way of the conveying cable via that at least one supporting roller from which the drive power for the tire wheels is derived. 
     With the foregoing and other objects in view there is provided, in accordance with the invention, a cableway system, comprising: 
     a conveying cable extending between and guided about deflecting pulleys in two terminal stations of the system; 
     vehicles formed with a coupling device for coupling the vehicles to the conveying cable and with a travelling-gear mechanism, wherein the vehicles are coupled to the conveying cable along a path of the cableway system, uncoupled from the conveying cable at an entrance into the respective station, guided through the station along guide rails by way of the travelling-gear mechanisms, whereupon passengers disembark from and board the vehicles, and wherein the vehicles are coupled once more to the conveying cable at an exit from the respective station; 
     a plurality of tire wheels connected to one another and disposed to move the vehicles through the stations, the tire wheels including decelerating tires, conveying tires, and accelerating tires, wherein a speed of the vehicles, after uncoupling from the conveying cable, is reduced by the decelerating tires from a higher speed to a lower speed, the vehicles are moved by the conveying tires at the lower speed through a disembarking and boarding region at which passengers disembark from and board the vehicles, and the speed of the vehicles is increased from the lower speed to the higher speed by the accelerating tires, whereupon the vehicles are once more coupled to the conveying cable and conveyed away from the station; and 
     at least one supporting roller disposed to support the conveying cable in the station and connected to drive the tire wheels by transmitting drive power from the conveying cable to the tire wheels, the at least one supporting roller being mounted for adjustment in the vertical direction. 
     In other words, the objects of the invention are achieved in that the at least one of those supporting rollers for the conveying cable via which the drive power of the control tires is derived from the conveying cable can be adjusted in the vertical direction. The at least one supporting roller, via which the tire wheels are driven, is preferably mounted on at least one pivotally mounted rocker or the like. 
     A further embodiment provides for two rockers, on which are mounted in each case two supporting rollers, which are coupled to one of the control tires for carrying-along action in each case via a drive belt. It is also possible to provide a rocker, with in each case one rocker for in each case two supporting rollers mounted at its ends, wherein at least one of these two pairs of supporting rollers is coupled to a control tire for carrying-along action via a drive belt. In addition, it is possible to provide a first rocker on which are mounted, on the one hand, at least one supporting roller for the conveying cable and, on the other hand, a second rocker with two pairs of supporting rollers, wherein at least one of the two pairs of supporting rollers is coupled to at least one control tire for carrying-along action via a drive belt. 
     According to a further embodiment, at least two supporting rollers may be mounted each at one end of a one-armed rocker, and each of these rockers is designed with a restoring spring which acts counter to the loading by the conveying cable. 
     Furthermore, the control tires may be subdivided into at least two groups which are not coupled to one another for carrying-along action, which two groups are driven by associated supporting rollers for the conveying cable. In addition, the control tires, or the individual groups of control tires, may be driven by in each case a plurality of vertically adjustable supporting rollers for the conveying cable. 
     Other features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in the appended claims. 
     Although the invention is illustrated and described herein as embodied in a cable railway system, it is nevertheless not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention and within the scope and range of equivalents of the claims. 
     The construction and method of operation of the invention, however, together with additional objects and advantages thereof will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of one of the terminal stations in a cableway system according to the invention; 
         FIG. 2  is an elevation view of a first embodiment of detail A shown in  FIG. 1 , illustrated on an enlarged scale relative to  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is an elevation view of a second embodiment of the detail A in  FIG. 1 , again illustrated on an enlarged scale relative to  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 4  is an elevation view of a third embodiment of the detail A in  FIG. 1 , again illustrated on an enlarged scale relative to  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 5  is an elevation view of a fourth embodiment of the detail A in  FIG. 1 , again illustrated on an enlarged scale relative to  FIG. 1 ; and 
         FIG. 6  is an elevation view of a fifth embodiment of the detail A in  FIG. 1 , again illustrated on an enlarged scale relative to  FIG. 1 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Referring now to the figures of the drawing in detail and first, particularly, to  FIG. 1  thereof, there is shown a terminal station with a load-bearing structure  10  which is borne by columns  1  and  1   a . A reversing or deflecting pulley  2 , also referred to as a head wheel  2 , for guiding a conveying cable  20 , is mounted on a more or less vertical axis. During operation of the cableway system, the conveying cable  20  is moved in circulation at a speed of, for example, 6 m/sec by a drive motor which, in a preferred implementation, is located in the mountain station. Vehicles  3 , in the present case gondolas or cabins, or multi-person chairs, and the like, can be coupled to the conveying cable  20 . The vehicles  3  are coupled to the conveying cable  20  along the path of the cableway system. The vehicles  3  are uncoupled from the conveying cable  20  at the entrance into the station and moved through the station, along a guide rail  4 , by means of a travelling-gear mechanism  31 . The vehicles  3  are once more coupled to the conveying cable  20  at the exit from the station. The guide rail  4  is designed with introduction means  41  at its two free ends. The movement direction of the vehicles  3  is indicated by arrows. 
     For the purpose of moving the vehicles  3  through the station, use is made of tire-clad wheels, which are referred to as control tires or tire wheels  51 ,  52  and  53 . They are mounted on the load-bearing structure  10  and are coupled to one another for carrying-along action, or slave-along drive connection, via gear mechanisms. The tire wheels  51  of a first group, which are located at the entrance into the station, serve as decelerating tires, by means of which the speed of the vehicles  3 , at this time uncoupled from the conveying cable  20 , is reduced from, say, 6 m/sec to, for example, 0.3 m/sec. The following control tires  52  of a second group are conveying tires, by means of which the vehicles  3  are guided at the speed of, for example, 0.3 m/sec through the boarding and disembarking region of the station, in which the passengers disembark from the vehicle and board the vehicles. The third group of control tires  53 , which serve as accelerating tires, increases the speed of the vehicles  3  up to the speed of the conveying cable, for example, 6 m/sec, whereupon the vehicles  3 , at the exit from the station, are coupled to the conveying cable  20 , which circulates at this speed. 
     The conveying cable  20  is guided via a multiplicity of supporting rollers  6 , which are mounted on the load-bearing structure  10  and are rotated by the conveying cable  20 . The control tires  51 ,  52  and  53  are driven in that they are coupled for rotation to at least one supporting roller  6  for the conveying cable  20 . The spindle of the at least one supporting roller  6  from which the drive power is derived is rigidly mounted in the prior art systems, while the remaining supporting rollers  6  are non-rigidly supported, for example on rockers. 
     As can be seen from  FIG. 2 , the supporting rollers  6  are mounted on rockers  7 . In the case of the cableway system according to the invention, the spindle of the at least one supporting roller  6  for the conveying cable  20 , via which the drive power for the control tires  51 ,  52  and  53  is derived from the conveying cable  20 , is not fastened rigidly on the load-bearing structure  10 , as is the case according to the prior art. Rather, the load-bearing structure  10  has mounted on it a rocker  7  with in each case one supporting roller  6   a  for the conveying cable  20  mounted at its two ends, wherein these two supporting rollers  6   a  are each designed with belt surfaces  6   b  for a drive belt  60 . Two deflecting rollers  61  for the drive belt  60  are also mounted on the load-bearing structure  10 . In addition, one of the control tires  51   a  is designed with a belt surface  51   b  for the drive belt  60 . By means of the drive belt  60 , which is positioned over the belt surfaces  6   b  of the supporting rollers  6   a  for the conveying cable  20 , the deflecting rollers  61  and the belt surface  51   b  of the control tire  51   a , the drive power for the control tire  51   a  and for the further control tires  51 ,  52  and  53 , which are coupled to the control tire  51   a  for carrying-along action via belt gear mechanisms  50 , is derived from the conveying cable  20  via the two supporting rollers  6   a  for the latter mounted on the rocker  7 . 
     The individual control tires  51 ,  52  and  53  are coupled to one another by means of the belts  50  such that they have increasing or decreasing rotational speeds. 
     Since the two supporting rollers  6   a  are located on the rocker  7 , on the one hand these two supporting rollers  6   a  are subjected to much more uniform loading, by the vibration and vertical movements exerted by the conveying cable  20 , than is the case with supporting rollers mounted on rigid spindles. On the other hand, the load-bearing structure  10  is thereby subjected to considerably lower levels of vibration and impact than is the case with supporting rollers for the conveying cable  20  which are mounted on rigid spindles. 
     As is illustrated in  FIG. 1 , the cableway station has provided in it a single rocker  7  via which the drive power of the control tires  51 ,  52  and  53  is derived from the conveying cable  20 . However, it is also possible for the control tires  51 ,  52  and  53  to be driven by way of the conveying cable  20  via a plurality of rockers  7  or groups of rockers  7 . For this purpose, the control tires  51 ,  52  and  53  may be subdivided into groups which are driven in each case via separate rockers  7  or groups of rockers  7 . Since this drive system is inherently elastic, it is also possible for all the control tires  51 ,  52  and  53  to be coupled to one another for carrying-along action. 
     The second embodiment, which is illustrated in  FIG. 3 , differs from the embodiment according to  FIG. 2  by the provision of two rockers  7 , on which are mounted in each case two supporting rollers  6   a , which are coupled to control tires  51   a  for carrying-along action by means of drive belts  60 , which are positioned over belt surfaces  6   b  of the supporting rollers  6   a . In order to allow for successive control tires  51   a  having different, that is to say increasing or decreasing, rotational speeds, the belt surfaces  51   b  of successive control tires  51   a  have to have different diameters. 
     It is also the case with this embodiment that the supporting rollers  6   a  for the conveying cable  20 , from which the drive power for the control tires  51 ,  52  and  53  is derived, can be adjusted vertically by virtue of being mounted on the rocker  7 , as a result of which they are loaded uniformly by the conveying cable  20  and only low levels of vibration and impact pass into the load-bearing structure  10 . 
     The third embodiment, which is illustrated in  FIG. 4 , differs from the embodiment according to  FIG. 3  in that the rocker  7  is pivotally mounted at one end of a further rocker  71 , which has a rocker  7  for two supporting rollers  6  pivotally mounted at its other end. It is possible here for the supporting rollers  6  to serve exclusively as supporting rollers for the conveying cable  20  or for a further drive belt for the control tires  51 ,  52  and  53  to be positioned over these supporting rollers. 
     The fourth embodiment, which is illustrated in  FIG. 5 , differs from the embodiment according to  FIG. 4  in that the rocker  71  is mounted on a further rocker  72 , which has two supporting rollers  6  for the conveying cable  20  mounted at its other end. 
     In the case of the fifth embodiment, which is illustrated in  FIG. 6 , in each case one supporting roller  6   c  is mounted at one end of a one-armed rocker  73 , the other end of which is mounted on a framework-mounted bolt  74 , wherein the rocker  73  is subjected to the action in each case of at least one adjusting spring  75 . 
     Due to the fact that the axes of rotation even of those supporting rollers  6   a  for the conveying cable  20  of the cableway system which are coupled to the control tires  51 ,  52  and  53 , via drive belts  60 , for movement of the vehicles  3  through the station can be adjusted vertically, all of these design ensure that these supporting rollers  6   a  are loaded uniformly by the conveying cable  20 , and that the situation where vibration and impact caused by the conveying cable  20  is transmitted to the load-bearing structure  10  is largely avoided. 
     The vehicles of such a cableway system can be used both for transporting people and for transporting goods.