Patent ID: 7159705

Claim:
A passenger conveyer system comprising: a plurality of steps each provided with front wheels and rear wheels; a pair of endless step chains for carrying the steps in a successive arrangement; a pair of step chain sprockets, around which the step chains are wound that reverses a moving direction of the steps to move the steps for circulation movement via the step chains; a connecting shaft connecting the pair of step chain sprockets to each other; a drive unit that drives the pair of step chain sprockets; front-wheel guide rails and rear-wheel guide rails that guide the front wheels and rear wheels, respectively, to support and guide the steps in a forward path of a circulation loop of the steps, the rear-wheel guide rails being arranged so that the rear wheels leave the rear-wheel guide rails during a reversing motion of the step in a reversing area of the steps; and an auxiliary step guide arrangement configured to control the attitude of the steps in the reversing area of the circulation loop of the steps so that the steps turn over in the reversing area, the arrangement including at least one auxiliary guide rail structure and at least one guide member that engages with said at least one auxiliary guide rail.