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ابريلAll about escalators and their safety factors
The importance of escalators
The escalators came as an ideal solution to facilitate the process of moving people and their personal belongings between the upper floors without effort. As well as facilitating the movement of people with mobility problems, in various public facilities such as supermarkets.
It is used as an elegant and luxurious aesthetic addition to major shopping centers and various public facilities. Because of its distinctive designs. It plays an indicative role, as well as a control over noise and vibration levels, assuring its users quiet, smooth and safe movement.
It is also characterized by the fact that it can be installed anywhere, without regard to many and complex considerations, as it can replace ordinary stairs. Large numbers of people are transported at high speed, and in less time than normal. In addition, it is weather resistant; It can be used for outdoor areas that are not covered.
Considering escalators as a means of transportation for people between the upper floors; It is enough that it is beneficial for everyone, as it saves them the effort and time wasted in climbing on foot to the multi-storey high places.
It greatly facilitated movement between the upper floors for people of determination, patients and the elderly.
Escalators provide luxury and maximum comfort for individuals in movement.
As for her presence in public places, she plays a guiding role, as she gives instructions to the guests about directions for movement, and the entrances and exits of the place.
It also saves time and greatly reduces congestion; It can transport a large number of people at the same time.
It is also devoid of the idea of long waiting to use it, such as the idea of electric elevators.
Escalator mechanism
The idea of escalators is to move the steps of the stairs by means of a circular carrier belt, and this belt is a pair of rotating rings. And it works to pull the stairs in a fixed cycle, and through this movement people are moved to the upper floors within public buildings quickly.
The escalator includes a movable handrail, whose movement is in line with the movement of the steps of the ladder, and the stairs are set so that the process of ascending and descending is done automatically, and its direction is set, and this direction is not allowed to be modified during its use.
Where the ladder has a pair of chains consisting of circular rings, and works to move the ladder in one direction, and these chains include two gears, which are moved by an electric motor.
In addition, by sequencing and integrating the movement of the gears with the chains and the stairs of the ladder, these steps are folded at the beginning and end of the ladder to disappear completely.
As one ladder includes 4 gears that are driven by the motor, so there are 2 gears at the beginning of the ladder at the top, responsible for directing it to the upper side. There are also 2 others at the end of the ladder, responsible for landing the stairs on the lower side, and there are other gears linked to the handrails that control the movement of all stairs.
There are 4 wheels at the bottom of each rung of the escalator, with the two wheels at the top being a link between both the rung and the pair of chains that attach to the gears. While the two wheels located near the end of the ladder work to maintain its movement and stability; This is to ensure that the process of descending the stairs is completed safely, and without any disruption.
Types of escalators
There are a variety of styles of escalators, all of which are designed with characteristics suitable for institutions, places, and public centers, depending on their nature, number of visitors, and their primary purpose.
Single unit stairs
With this type, two levels are connected to each other; Where it is suitable for buildings that have only one direction of movement. In this type, it is possible to adjust the direction of movement as desired, and also to use it for ascent during the day, and replace it with descent in the evening.
One-way repetitive unit of motion
This type is mostly used in small shops; Where these stairs connect three floors to each other, but you need to provide a large and sufficient space for their placement, compared to other types of intermittent stairs, which do not require large areas.
One-way intermittent unit of motion
This type is applied in large multi-storey shopping centers; Even store owners serve to push customers and customers by looking at their goods while going up and down on them, but it is among the uncomfortable types for users.
The intermittent unit has two opposite directions of movement
This type is suitable for establishments and places that are frequented by large numbers of individuals, such as major shopping centers, stations and airports. It is also an economic type that does not require cladding on the sides of the internal stairs.
Continuous bidirectional lattice units
The owners of buildings and public institutions depend on this type; Such as the metro station, hospitals, and huge entertainment venues, with the aim of reducing the multi-level transportation method.
The most important safety and risk factors in escalators
Due to the frequent accidents and many injuries that occurred in the nineties, which resulted from the use of escalators, the development work focused on the high degree of safety of these escalators, and reliance on more than one factor to ensure the safety of its users.
Safety factors in escalators:
Anti-slip surface
The surface of the stairs is made of stainless steel, which is one of the most slip-resistant materials.
emergency buttons
Stop buttons for escalators are placed at the first and last handrails on the right side; To use it in an emergency.
Automatic shutdown buttons
It is used to stop the movement of stairs, or moving floors in general, in the case of high or even slow speeds, as it allows controlling the speed of the ladder’s movement, as well as controlling it from moving in the opposite direction.
A suspended object detector
It is located at the top and bottom of the ladder, and is used to find things stuck in the ladder, as well as to stop it quickly to extract them.