Residents of megalopolises, daily traveling by metro or visiting large shopping centers, probably had to move around step-by-step structures called escalators. Along with such stairs, in places with a massive influx of visitors, travelators are often installed. This allows you to quickly and safely move people over relatively short distances along a horizontal or slightly inclined surface. Unlike escalators, walkways have no steps.
Where travolators are used and what are their advantages
Moving passenger belts can be found in hypermarkets, airports, train stations, exhibition centers. Such a sidewalk has either a strictly horizontal plane, or a slight slope, which allows you to move people flows between two adjacent floors of the building. Inclined travelators are a kind of escalator, in any case, their functions are largely similar. But, unlike stepped stairs, flat walkways are more convenient for parents with young children, wheelchair users and travelers with bulk luggage.
In museums, art galleries, amusement parks and other institutions with extensive single-level halls, horizontal travelators are predominantly installed, which allow to accelerate and ensure the movement of visitors in a given direction and in a certain sequence.
Slope paths are relevant for supermarkets, air and train stations. However, the travelator cannot compete with the escalator when it is necessary to ensure the movement of human flows up or down several floors.
How is the moving sidewalk
By and large, travelators are conveyor belts similar to those used to move food delivery to public canteens or baggage at airports. The principle of operation is clear: a metal or rubberized web moves due to continuous rotation with a certain speed of the roller wheels.
Compared to small conveyors, powerful mechanisms designed for increased load are installed in travelators. The floor has a grooved non-slip surface. To ensure the safety of people, the design is equipped with handrails. At both ends of the track, the moving web disappears in the end comb plates.
Metric Stepless Escalators
The length of the travelator can be any, depending on the area of the room and the target direction of the flow of visitors, but usually does not exceed 40-50 meters. Passenger conveyors over 100 m are already considered super-long. There are also their champions. For example, in one of the shopping centers of the German Dusseldorf back in 1970, a 225 m long travelator was installed.
The width of the running sidewalk is from 80 cm to 1 meter. The latter option is optimal for shopping centers and train stations, where people have to move around with hand luggage, grocery or luggage trolleys.
The slope of the moving belt in accordance with the international standard is 10-12 degrees. People who regularly use these tracks find the minimum slope more comfortable.
How did the term "travelator", the origin of the word
At first glance, it might seem that the word “travelator” comes from the noun “grass”. However, the moving sidewalk has nothing to do with green vegetation. This term appeared in the Russian language relatively recently and was formed by joining the English travel (travel, movement) to the second part of the word “escalator”.
The etymology of these two words emphasizes the related design features of both designs. In most languages, the neologism "travelator" is not used; in English, the words travelator and escalator are synonyms. After all, travelators are horizontal escalators.
Where did the first travelators appear
History is silent about the date and place of the appearance of the first moving sidewalk. But what’s interesting: the first escalator, patented in 1892 by the American businessman Jess Renault, had no steps and was a conveyor belt designed for moving people with a slope of 25 degrees. Only in 1921, escalators began to be manufactured in the form that we know them now. It turns out that the travolator is the precursor of a stepped fellow.
Today, almost all airports in the world use moving walkways that allow passengers with heavy luggage to travel from terminal to terminal. At railway stations, people using travelators can quickly get from the waiting room to the train stop. For many decades, escalators and travelators have been an integral part of metro stations, shopping centers, cinemas, museums, and entertainment complexes.
Still not sure what travolators are? The photos presented in the article will help to understand this.