Continuous variable-speed transport apparatus

Abstract

The invention relates to continuous transport apparatus whose transport speed is variable. The embodiment illustrated is a moving walkway in which the load-bearing members are plates, adjacent plates overlapping to present a continuous surface. The load-bearing members are mounted on respective supports and the variation in speed is obtained by varying the spacing between adjacent supports. The supports are connected by a flexible link, which is a chain or belt in the preferred embodiment. The link passes round angle-changing members such as pulley or pinion wheels which are mounted slidably on the supports for movement perpendicular to the track, so that the spacing between the angle-changing members on a given support perpendicular to the track controls the spacing along the track between the support and the adjacent support to which it is connected by the flexible link, the positions of the angle-changing members being controlled by guide rails extending along the track, whose spacing thus defines the transport speed in the corresponding zone of the track. In accordance with the invention, the adjacent supports are also connected by a further link which, in the described embodiments comprises a scissors having rigid arms so that at the maximum speed, where the spacing between the supports is maximum, the scissors is at its maximum opening and the flexible link is slackened and the scissors takes the strain.