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Escalator Handrail Company

A Stuart Caunce

Ronald H Ball

Andrew Oliver Kenny

Douglas J Weatherall

David S Ball

A method and apparatus are provided for forming a joint in an elongate article formed from a thermoplastic material, for example an escalator handrail or a conveyor belt, which also includes a plurality of reinforcing cables and a slider fabric. End parts of the article are held in a mold and heated to remelt the material. Portions adjacent the end parts are chilled, at ends of the mold, to prevent remelting. The molten end parts then fuse, and the molten joint is then cooled to resolidify the material and form the joint. With reinforcing cables being present, these can be cut into an interlace pattern, which advantageously is provided in just a layer of the article rather than extending through the full depth of the article. A top layer can then be replaced by a separate top cap of the material of the body of the article. Where a slider is present, to provide an effective interlacing effect, a bottom layer or portion of a handrail is cut at an inclined angle, to form an inclined joint in the slider.

Method of splicing thermoplastic articles

An improved handrail construction is provided. Normal handrail for use on escalators moving walkways and the like have a C-shaped cross-section with a stretch inhibitor extending longitudinally of the handrail to maintain dimensional stability of the handrail during use. Multiple plies of reinforcing fabric are also located in the handrail where both the stretch inhibitor and multiple plies are molded in a rubber composition to provide the completed handrail. The improvement which provides increased lateral stiffness, dimensional stability and greater lip strength, comprises two spaced apart plies of reinforcing woven fabric orientated to have stiff principal yarns extending perpendicular to the stretch inhibitor. The two spaced apart plies are interconnected by a rubber composition which has a higher strength in terms of stiffness, hardness and viscosity than the normal rubber composition used to encase the fabric plies and stretch inhibitors. The two spaced apart plies with the transversely extending principal yarns, as interconnected by the tougher rubber composition, forms a structural sandwich construction to provide the improved structural properties of the handrail.

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Scarborough, Canada

A Stuart Caunce