Everyday people ride on escalators to get from one floor to another. Have you ever wondered how it works?
An Escalator is defined as a moving stairway device that moves from one level to another. An Escalator is a mechanical device, which has a lot of mechanical components inside the device. One of those components is the step chain.
Step chains or escalator step chain are chain rollers that carry weight of the steps and passengers. It is located at both sides of an escalator, connecting the Steps and is driven by the step chain sprocket. The chains are installed depending on the location where the chains are manufactured. There is a track system that is built in to the truss, a metal structure that bridges the lower and upper landings to guide the step chain.
These chains are usually found in the step drive system, a system that consists of two chains that are directly paired to the main drive gear which makes them move around. The escalator step chain usually works like a bike chain they form a loop from the main drive gears on top of the escalator to the tension gear where the escalator turns around at the bottom of the escalator by using link pins and also these chains are connected to the step wheels in which they pull the steps.
The escalator step chain has greater wear resistance, the pin diameter is larger than the standard chain and it spans from step to step and from chain to chain it is strictly controlled. These chains are being adapted for a lubrication-free type because lubrication is mandated at regular intervals and for quiet places chains are low-noise type trends.
The chain pitch is the size of the chain. A pitch is important because the drive sprocket needs to be as the same pitch as the chain and if possible also the bar nose sprocket. To determine the pitch of the chain take a look at the number on the stamped drive link. The chain pitch is recommended to be as small as possible to reduce any cordial action which is mainly caused by the sprocket engagement.
The smaller the size of the chain the more smoothly the device operates.
The chains range to 6 to 30 tons of required tensile strengths, the most common ranges to 9 to 15 tons. A sprocket, a profiled wheel with teeth or cogs are meshed with chain, it transmits a circular motion between two shafts where gears are not able to perform a linear motion to a track or chain, in which is also required for this step chain.
The smallest spacing size for the elevator chain or step chain is recommended to be 6th attachment spacing, the small pitch size is 67.7, for the medium size it is recommend to be a 5th attachment spacing, the medium pitch size is 81.3, and for the largest size it is recommend to be a 4th attachment spacing and 101.6 pitch size. The pitch and attachment spacing usually varies with the kind of step chain the escalator uses.
Once the metal components work properly, the escalator moves people up and down levels safely.
