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Cableway system with station for storing transportation devices

Cableway system with station for storing transportation devices description/claims

This application claims the priority, under 35 U.S.C. § 119, of Austrian patent application A 1965/2006, filed Nov. 27, 2006; the prior application is herewith incorporated by reference in its entirety.

Field of the Invention

The invention relates to an aerial cableway system with a hauling cable extending between at least two stations. Transportation devices, such as gondolas or lift chairs, can be coupled to and decoupled from the haulage cable in the stations. Guide devices are disposed in the stations along which the decoupled transportation devices are moved beside the cable. A drive device drives the transportation devices along the guides. The drive device can be temporarily deactivated at least in sections.

European patent application EP 0 774 392 describes using the space available in a station building, more precisely those guide devices along which during normal operation the transportation devices are guided around the deflection pulley in a station, for storing transportation devices when the aerial cableway is not in operation. In this context, EP 0 774 392 A describes various options for adapting the drive of the transport device such that the acceleration wheels, deceleration wheels and/or the conveyor wheels that are situated in between can be disengaged from the transportation devices. However, there is a problem in that there is then no drive available for the transportation devices parked in this region, which drive would move said transportation devices to a region in which non-deactivated wheels would take over the further drive when the aerial cableway resumes operation. Therefore this has to be carried out manually by operating personnel.

It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide an aerial cableway installation, which overcomes the above-mentioned disadvantages of the heretofore-known devices and methods of this general type and which allows the sliding of the transportation devices to be carried out mechanically or in an automated manner.

With the foregoing and other objects in view there is provided, in accordance with the invention, an aerial cableway installation with stations and a hauling cable extending between the stations, comprising:

transportation devices (e.g., gondolas and chairs) to be coupled to and decoupled from the hauling cable in the stations;

guide devices in the stations configured to guide said transportation devices, after decoupling from the cable, through the stations;

a drive device configured to drive said transportation devices along said guide devices, said drive device being at least temporarily deactivatable in sections thereof; and

at least one conveyor device disposed, in some regions, parallel beside said drive device and configured to selectively engage and disengage said transportation devices.

According to the invention, in a generic cableway installation this object is met in that at least one conveyor device is provided, which at least in some regions is arranged so as to be parallel beside the transport device, and which can be made to engage and disengage the transportation devices.

As is known per se from the above-noted EP 0 774 392 A, in the invention, too, some of the wheels, namely the acceleration wheels, deceleration wheels and/or the conveyor wheels located in between, are deactivated because these wheels, more specifically their drive, is not suitable for driving the transportation devices so that the latter can be parked under cover close together in the station. In order to relieve the operating personnel from this manual work that would otherwise have to be carried out, according to the invention an additional conveyor device is provided in that region or regions in which the wheels are deactivated. The conveyor device carries out this transport.

This conveyor device is arranged so as to be parallel beside the actual transport device and in a preferred embodiment is characterized in that the conveyor device is a conveyor element, for example a conveyor belt, chain block or the like, which moves endlessly around two deflection rollers. Furthermore, it is preferred if the conveyor element comprises at least one catch that projects from the conveyor element and can be made to engage the transportation devices. By way of the catch, each transportation devices can be pushed into the desired position in a region in which transport device is deactivated.

The longitudinal extension of the conveyor device, at least in its effective region, approximately corresponds to the length in which the transport device can be deactivated. In this way the entire region in which the transport device is deactivated can be reached by the conveyor device, and in this way the transportation devices can easily be slid along this entire region.

As is known per se from EP 0 774 392 A, the transport device can comprise wheels can be moved out of their transport position. This is proven method, which can be implemented in a simple manner from a design point of view, of deactivating the wheels of the transport device.

As an alternative, the invention can also provide for transport device to comprise wheels or groups of that can be decoupled from their drive. Thus the drive of the wheels or of the group of wheels would continue to operate and would continue to be to other wheels or of the group of wheels would continue to operate and would continue to be available to other wheels or other groups of wheels that at a given time should not or need not be deactivated.

As an alternative or in addition it is also possible for the transport device to comprise wheels that are taken together to form groups whose drive can be deactivated. This embodiment is simpler when compared to above-mentioned embodiment in that the drive only has to be switched on and off, and in that there is no need to provide additional couplings for coupling and decoupling the wheels or groups of wheels.

Other features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in the appended claims.

• Provisional Patent
• Utility Patent

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