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

In an escalator for continuously conveying passengers along a path of travel extending between two landings at respective opposite ends of the escalator, which includes drive means, two spaced-apart skirt panels which extend between the two landings along said path, and an endless series of steps which are continuously moved in sequence between the two skirt panels along said path by the drive means, wherein each step includes an outer tread surface which extends rearwardly from a front edge of the step between opposite lateral sides of the step and an outer riser surface which extends downwardly from the step front edge between the opposite step lateral sides, an apparatus which comprises:

• each said skirt panel comprising a plurality of panel sections, each including a smooth, planar, inwardly-facing, lateral surface of a first material which together extends between the two landings along said path and which lie in a vertical plane when in alignment;
• and
• said series of steps, each lateral side of each step including bearing means defining a smooth, planar, outwardly-facing surface of a second material, which is disposed in a vertical plane extending along said path, each step lateral planar surface having top and front edges which comprise the entire exposed portions of the step lateral edges on one lateral side of the step;
• wherein the lateral planar surfaces of each step moving along said path are disposed in close proximity to the respective adjacent skirt panel lateral planar surfaces, to create sliding contact between the full lateral planar surfaces defined by the bearing means of each step and respective adjacent skirt panel lateral planar surfaces aligned in said vertical plane, and a relatively zero running clearance gap between the full lateral planar surfaces defined by the bearing means of each step and respective adjacent skirt panel lateral planar surfaces not aligned in said vertical plane, and thus reduce the possibility of any object being inserted or drawn between one of the lateral sides by any step and the adjacent skirt panel.