Patent Publication Number: US-2015075403-A1

Title: Cableway system for transporting persons

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application claims the priority, under 35 U.S.C. §119, of Austrian patent application A 712/2013, filed Sep. 16, 2013; 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 for the transport of persons. The cableway system includes at least one vehicle, which along the route can be coupled to a conveying cable or which, by means of a traction cable that is coupled to the vehicle, is transportable along at least one track cable or along a track. Along the route it is coupled to the conveying cable or to the traction cable and in the stations it is decoupled from the conveying cable or from the traction cable. Then it is moved through the stations and is moved past or halted at at least one embarkation or disembarkation point adjoining an entry or exit region for the passengers, wherein it is boarded or vacated by the passengers. Thereupon it is once more coupled to the conveying cable or to the traction cable and moved out of the station. 
     By cableway systems according to the present patent application are understood both systems for the transport of persons of the kind in which vehicles, in particular gondolas, are coupled to a conveying cable guided via supporting towers and are moved by said conveying cable, or in which the vehicles are transportable along at least one track cable and are moved by means of a traction cable and, moreover, also systems of the kind in which the vehicles are transportable along tracks, in particular along rails, wherein they can be coupled to a traction cable by which they are moved. 
     Cableway systems of this type have terminal stations and, if need be, intermediate stations, in which the vehicles are moved at very slow speeds or halted, so that they can be boarded or vacated by the passengers. These stations are generally configured as buildings, in which waiting rooms, restaurants, buffets, cash desks, wash rooms and the like are located. Furthermore, these buildings are configured either with openings, through which the vehicles are moved along a movement path into the building or the movement paths run alongside the buildings. In the regions of the buildings, the vehicles are moved at a very low speed or brought to a halt, so that the passengers can board them and/or disembark. After this, the vehicles are reaccelerated and moved away from the building. Located alongside the movement paths of the vehicles are platforms, on which the passengers linger in order to be able to board the vehicles or onto which the passengers make their way after vacating the vehicles. 
     Due to this arrangement of the platforms, virtually the same climatic conditions prevail in the regions thereof as outside the stations. 
     Furthermore, as a result of the movement of the vehicles, namely as a result of their decoupling from the conveying cable or from the traction cable, as a result of the deceleration of the vehicles, as a result of the drives for the vehicles, as a result of their movement along guide rails, as a result of their coupling to the conveying cable or the traction cable, as a result of the acceleration of the vehicles for the exit from the stations and the like, strong noise developments occur, to which the passengers located on the platforms are exposed. 
     In contrast thereto, the vehicles which are boarded or vacated by the passengers can be air conditioned, in particular heated, and, moreover, soundproofed. 
     The passengers located on the platforms are thus exposed to adverse acoustic conditions and, in dependence on the general climatic conditions, possibly also to adverse climatic conditions. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide a cableway transport system that overcomes the above-mentioned disadvantages of the heretofore-known devices and methods of this general type and which provides for an improvement which avoids the drawbacks for the passengers of cableway systems who board or alight from vehicle gondolas. 
     With the foregoing and other objects in view there is provided, in accordance with the invention, a cableway system for transporting persons, the cableway system comprising: 
     at least one vehicle to be coupled to a conveying cable or a traction cable for moving the vehicle along a traveling route between stations with the vehicle being coupled to the conveying cable or the traction cable, and wherein the vehicle is decoupled from the conveying cable or the traction cable while being moved through a station along a movement path, and the vehicle is once more coupled to the conveying cable or the traction cable for moving out of and away from the station; 
     a station building formed with an entry or exit region for the passengers where the at least one vehicle on moving through the station is moved past, or briefly stopped, at an embarkation or disembarkation point adjoining the entry or exit region for the passengers, where the vehicle is boarded or vacated by the passengers; 
     the station building having a screen disposed between the movement path of the vehicle and the entry or exit region for the passengers, the screen having at least one passage opening formed therein for the passengers at the embarkation or disembarkation point. 
     In other words, the objects of the invention are achieved by virtue of the fact that in at least one of the stations, between the movement path of the vehicle and the entry or exit region for the passengers, there is provided a screen, in particular a wall, which at the embarkation or disembarkation point is configured with at least one passage for the passengers. Preferably, the screen, in particular the wall, is configured with two through passages, of which a first is intended for the passengers boarding a vehicle cabin and a second is intended for the passengers alighting from a vehicle cabin. 
     Furthermore, the at least one passage can be configured with a door or the like, wherein this door is controlled by the position of the vehicle cabin which is moving toward it. 
     According to a further embodiment, the station building is adjoined by a tunnel-like housing, in which the movement path for the at least one vehicle is located. 
     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 cableway system for the transport of persons, 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 a first embodiment of a station of a cableway system according to the invention; 
         FIG. 1A  is a perspective view of a second embodiment of a station of a cableway system according to the invention; and 
         FIG. 2  is a side view of a third embodiment of a station of a cableway system according to the invention. 
     
    
    
     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 first embodiment of a station of a cableway system, which has a station building  1 . The cableway system is configured with a continuously circulating conveying cable  2 . Along the route between stations vehicles  3  are clamped to the conveying cable. The vehicles  3 , in the illustrated case are gondolas with cabins  30 . In the stations, the conveying cable  2  is guided via deflection pulleys  21 , also referred to as head-wheels. At least one of the deflection pulleys  21  is driven. The conveying cable  2  is moved at a constant speed of, say, 7 m/sec to 10 m/sec. The vehicles  3  travel in the direction of an arrow A. 
     In an alternative conveyance system, the carrying cable for the vehicles  3  is a stationary cable (e.g., single or double) or a rail system extending between the stations and supporting the vehicles. In that case, the vehicles are provided with a roller head which rolls on the cable. Drive power is transferred to the vehicles by a traction cable to which the vehicles are coupled between the stations and which pulls the vehicles en route from one station to the another station. 
     In the station, the vehicles  3 , after having been decoupled from the continuously running conveying cable  2  or from the traction cable, are moved through the station along guide rails  4 . Following the decoupling from the conveying or traction cable  2 , the speed of the vehicles  3  is reduced to around 0.3 m/sec by way of a battery of deceleration tires  41 . At this speed, the vehicles  3  are moved by conveyor tires  42  through a boarding area, with the embarkation and disembarkation points for the passengers. Subsequently, the speed of the vehicles  3  is increased to the speed of the conveying cable  2  by way of a battery of acceleration tires  43 , whereupon the vehicles  3  are re-coupled to the conveying or traction cable  2 . 
     For the purpose of boarding the vehicle cabins  30 , the passengers are located in an entry and exit region  11  located within the station building  1 . 
     The station building  1  is closed off from the movement path of the vehicles  3  by a wall  12  located directly alongside the movement path of the gondolas  30 . In this wall  12  there is provided an opening  13 , through which the passengers make their way from the entry region  11  into the vehicle cabins  30  or the passengers make their way out of the vehicle cabins  30  into the exit region  11  and thus into the station building  1 . 
     The effect of the wall  12  is that the passengers who are located in the entry and exit region  11  and who wish to board the vehicle cabins  30 , or who have just left the vehicle cabins  30 , are very largely protected, on the one hand, against the climatic conditions prevailing outside the station building  1  and, on the other hand, against the acoustic emissions caused by the operation of the cableway system. 
     Since the distance between the wall  12  and the vehicle cabins  30  can amount to just a few centimeters, the passengers, when boarding or alighting from the vehicle cabins  30 , are almost completely protected against climatic and acoustic nuisances. 
     The second embodiment, represented in  FIG. 1A , of a station building  1  of a cableway system differs from the first embodiment according to  FIG. 1  by virtue of the fact that two passages  13   a  and  13   b  are provided in the wall  12 , wherein the passage  13   a  is intended for those passengers who are alighting from a vehicle cabin  30  and the passage  13   b  is intended for those passengers who are boarding a vehicle cabin  30 . 
     As can be seen, furthermore, from  FIG. 2 , the station building  1  can be adjoined by a tunnel-like housing  10 , which almost fully encloses the movement path of the vehicle cabins  30 , whereby an additional screen against climatic or acoustic nuisances for the passengers is realized. 
     The passages  13 ,  13   a,    13   b  can be configured with doors. Preferably, these doors are controlled such that they open upon the approach of a vehicle cabin  30 . 
     The above-described configuration of a station building  1  having a wall  12  which, at the embarkation and disembarkation point, is configured with at least one passage  13 ,  13   a,    13   b  is not limited to the design of the cableway system. It can be provided both in cableway systems of the kind in which, as represented in the illustrative embodiments, is provided a conveying cable  2 , to which the vehicles  3  are coupled along the route, wherein in the stations they are decoupled from the conveying cable  2  and are moved through the stations. However, it can also be provided in cableway systems of the kind in which the vehicles, in the route, are transported by means of at least one traction cable along at least one track cable or a fixed cable track, wherein in the stations they are decoupled from the traction cable and are moved at reduced speed through the embarkation and disembarkation points for the passengers.