Method and apparatus for entrapment prevention and lateral guidance in passenger conveyor systems

In a passenger conveyor for continuously conveying passengers along a path of travel between two landings at respective opposite ends of the conveyor, which includes drive means, an endless series of rigid articulated passenger platforms which include respective top tread surfaces and which are continuously moved in sequence along the path of travel by the drive means, and two stationary skirt panels which extend intermediate the two landings adjacent respective opposite lateral sides of the platforms being moved along said path of travel and which include two vertical planar inner lateral surfaces defining with the two opposite lateral sides of the platforms moving therebetween, two running clearance gaps between the lateral sides of the platforms and the two skirt panels, respectively, which are exposed and susceptible to bodily intrusions of a passenger at the lateral edges of the platform top tread surfaces, the combination which comprises:

• curb members, which are affixed to the platform top tread surfaces adjacent the exposed running clearance gaps, respectively, each curb member extending the entire length of the adjacent platform lateral side and having an upwardly and outwardly extending portion which extends to an outer edge or side in contact with the planar inner lateral surface of the adjacent skirt panel, each curb member being formed of low friction, resilient material.

In a passenger conveyor for continuously conveying passengers along a path of travel extending between two landings at respective opposite ends of the conveyor, which includes drive means, an endless series of rigid articulated passenger platforms which are continuously moved in sequence along the path of travel by the drive means, and two stationary, laterally-adjustable skirt panels which extend intermediate the two landings adjacent respective opposite lateral sides of the platforms being moved along said path of travel and which include two smooth, planar, inwardly-extending, lateral surfaces disposed in parallel vertical planes, respectively, a method of laterally guiding each platform moving along said path of travel, which comprises the steps of:

• mounting a plurality of bearing plates, which are formed of resilient plastic material having a low coefficient of friction and each of which include a smooth planar outer surface, to the opposite lateral sides of the platforms, respectively, so that each bearing plate outer surface is disposed in a vertical plane and so that all bearing plate outer surfaces are equidistant from a centerline of the platforms along said path of travel;
• and
• laterally adjusting the two skirt panels inwardly so that the two outer surfaces of the two bearing plates mounted on opposite sides of each platform moving along said path of travel are in sliding contact with the two inwardly-extending lateral surfaces of the two skirt panels, respectively.