Patent ID: 7308978

Claim:
A conveying device for persons in the form of an escalator or moving walkway comprising a support construction with a pair of spaced guide rails extending along opposite sides of the conveying device and a single travel track independent from and centrally located between and spaced from said guide rails, each of the guide rails having an chain roller running surface and a separate parallel step roller running surface, a belt construction for the transport of persons and/or articles with a drive unit for transmitting drive power through a friction couple to the travel track and having a step chain with continuously freewheeling chain rollers for supporting the belt construction upon the chain roller running surfaces and continuously freewheeling step rollers for supporting the belt construction upon the step roller running surfaces of the guide rails, and a balustrade mounted to the support construction by means of a balustrade base and having a handrail, the drive unit comprising a motor, a transmission coupled to the motor, a friction wheel at an output of the transmission to transmit the drive power to the travel track, and a brake unit independent from the friction couple, friction wheel and motor.