Von Roll Transportsysteme Ag

Von Roll Habegger Ag.

Fritz Feuz

Ferdinand Hora

Walter Brawand

Fritz Linder

An overhead cableway is disclosed, in particular a chair lift, with a cable revolving between stations and with transport devices having a traveling gear and connected with the cable via removable clamps. Travel segments are provided at every station which include driven friction wheels, which act on the transport devices via friction surfaces provided on their traveling gear, and forming at least one deceleration and one acceleration section each, and with guide elements associated with the travel segments, which cooperate with the traveling gear. In accordance with the invention, the friction wheels (6,10) define traveling surfaces (20) and the transport devices (50) are supported by their downwardly oriented friction surfaces (88) directly on the friction wheels, and the guide elements (48) are seated rotatably and fixed in place.

Overhead cableway

A track installation for vehicles of a transport installation comprises a track supporting the vehicles at their vehicle carriages and possessing an inbound side and an outbound side for the vehicles. A conveyor is operatively associated with the track and contains entrainment members for entraining coaction with the vehicles. The track constitutes a generally or essentially horizontal track structure and extends along the complete length of the conveyor. Vehicle stops defining stop or parking positions for the vehicles are distributively arranged along the track. Each stop is provided with an actuation element and each stop or parking position has a vehicle sensor as well as an interrupter for disabling the entrainment of the there parked vehicle by the conveyor. The vehicle sensor of each stop or parking position is connected with the actuation element of the stop and also with the interrupter of the preceding or upstream located stop or parking position viewed in the vehicle conveying direction. Each interrupter is structured to act upon an entrainment connection between an entrainment member of the conveyor and a vehicle to disable vehicle conveyance.

Track installation for the vehicles of a transport installation,

The revolving cable transport installation, for instance a gondola aerial cableway, has the carriages of the gondolas supported upon two adjacently extending support cables. Between both support cables there is arranged a continuously revolving traction cable. Along the travel path the carriages are coupled with the continuously revolving traction cable by actuatable cable clamps. These cable clamps are connected with the carriages so as to be elevationally movable and they engage the traction cable from below. The traction cable extends at the upper region of the carriages and can support itself within the suspension zones, i.e. between the support masts at the carriages. Thus, the weight of the traction cable does not load the cable clamps and these cable clamps can accommodate themselves to the position of the traction cable independent of the carriages. Due to supporting of the carriages at two support cables, the cable transport installation is less sensitive to wind loads and there results a quieter and stabler travel of the gondolas.

Cable transport installation

A cable way for transporting suspended vehicles or cars includes a moving pulling cable and a guide element defining a long travel axis and formed at least in part as a support cable. The cable way at certain locations is adjustable in height and to both sides along the long travel axis. At the certain locations, the support cable is replaced by rigid rails. Each vehicle is supported on the guide element by a roller mechanism including a grip secured to the pulling cable with the grip connected by an articulated rocker member to travel rollers contacting the guide element. The rocker mechanism includes two guiding or steering elements pivotally displaceable relative to the long travel axis for effecting the adjustment at the certain locations. The grip generally engages the pulling cable from below and permits travel over diversion rollers located on both sides of the pulling cable. Changes in position and spacing between the pulling cable and the guide element can be effected at the adjustable locations due to the mobility of the grip. The travel path of the guide element can be freely selected for adaptation to existing terrain conditions.

Cable way for suspended vehicles

The overhead cable transport installation possesses at each of the stations a transfer section between a disembarking section and an embarking section. At a still linear starting section of each transfer section there are provided driven wheels and at the linear end or terminal section of each transfer section there are likewise provided driven wheels. The driven wheels at the starting section are driven at a stepped greater rotational speed in relation to wheels located at the disembarking section, so that vehicles of the overhead cable transport installation arriving in the transfer section can be accelerated by the driven wheels engaging at friction shoes of the vehicle. A chain conveyor extends between the driven wheels of the starting section of the transfer section along the latter and transports the vehicles at an increased velocity and with a correspondingly greater mutual spacing from one another through curved portions of the transfer section. The driven wheels at the terminal section, which are driven by the wheels of the embarking section at a stepped greater rotational speed, again decelerates each vehicle prior to it arriving at the embarking section. At the disembarking section and the embarking section the vehicles thus can be moved at a lesser velocity and at minimum spacing or pitch from one another without vehicles colliding at the curved sections of the transfer section. The number of vehicles located at any given time at the transfer section can be maintained small.

Overhead cable transport installation containing a transfer section

At each station of the overhead cable transport installation the vehicles which have been released or unclamped from the conveying cable are decelerated or accelerated by pneumatic wheels. Between the V-belt drive and the hub of each pneumatic wheel there is arranged a free-wheeling clutch or slip coupling equipped with a pre-biased restoring or return spring. The free-wheeling clutch transmits in one direction the torque or rotational moment from the V-belt drive to the pneumatic wheel without play. In the opposite direction such free-wheeling clutch rotates against the restoring moment of the pre-biased restoring spring. As a result there is eliminated the slip and the resultant wear of the pneumatic wheels upon the friction plate with which they come into contact during such time in which two neighboring pneumatic wheels engage with the friction plate.

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Thun, Switzerland

Fritz Feuz