Travolators are moving pedestrian paths

Residents of megacities, daily driving on the subway or visiting large shopping centers, certainly had to move on a stepped structure, called escalators. Along with such staircases, in places with a mass influx of visitors, travolators are often installed. This allows you to quickly and safely move people for relatively short distances along a horizontal or slightly inclined surface. Unlike escalators, the travolator tracks do not have steps.

Where travolators are used and what are their advantages

Moving passenger tapes can be found in hypermarkets, airports, train stations, exhibition centers. This pavement has either a strictly horizontal plane, or a slight slope, which allows you to move the flow of people between the two adjacent floors of the building. Inclined travolators are some kind of escalators, in any case, their functions are similar in many respects. But, unlike the stepped stairs, flat tracks are more convenient for parents with small children, wheelchair users and travelers with voluminous luggage.

In museums, art galleries, amusement parks and other establishments with extensive single-level halls, horizontal travolators are predominantly installed, allowing to accelerate and provide movement of visitors in a given direction and with a certain sequence.

Trails with a bias are relevant for supermarkets, air and railway stations. However, the travator can not compete with the escalator, when it is necessary to ensure the movement of human flows up or down several floors.

How is the moving pavement

By and large, travolators are conveyor belts, similar to those used for moving carousels with food in public canteens or luggage at airports. The principle of operation is clear: the metal or rubberized cloth moves due to continuous rotation with a certain speed of the roller wheels.

In travolators, in comparison with small conveyors, powerful mechanisms are installed, designed for increased load. The floor has a grooved non-slip surface. To ensure the safety of people, the structure is equipped with handrails. At both ends of the track, the moving web disappears in the end comb plates.

Metric parameters of stepless escalators

The length of the travolator can be any, depending on the area of the room and the target direction of visitor flows, but usually does not exceed 40-50 meters. Passenger conveyors more than 100 m are already considered super-long. There are also their record holders. For example, in one of the shopping centers of German Dusseldorf, in 1970 a 225-meter-long travolator was installed.

The width of the running sidewalk is from 80 cm to 1 m. The latter option is optimal for shopping centers and train stations, where people have to travel with hand luggage, grocery bags or baggage carts.

The slope of the moving belt in accordance with the international standard is 10-12 degrees. People who regularly use such tracks, consider a more comfortable minimum run.

How did the term "travolator" originate, the origin of the word

At first glance, it may seem that the word "travolator" comes from the noun "grass". However, the moving pavement has nothing to do with green vegetation. This term appeared in the Russian language relatively recently and was formed by joining English travel (travel, movement) to the second part of the word "escalator".

The etymology of these two words emphasizes the related constructive features of both designs. In most languages, the neologism "travolator" is not used, in English the words travelator and escalator are synonymous. In the end, the travolators are horizontal escalators.

Where the first travolators appeared

The story is silent about the date and place of appearance of the first mobile sidewalk. But here's what's interesting: the first escalator patented in 1892 by American entrepreneur Jesse Reno had no steps and was a 25-degree conveyor belt designed to move people. Only in 1921 the escalators began to be manufactured in the form that we know them now. It turns out that the travolator is the forerunner of the stepped brother.

Today, almost all airports in the world use moving footpaths, allowing passengers with heavy luggage to move from terminal to terminal. At railway stations people with the help of travolators can quickly get from the waiting room to the parking lot of trains. For many decades, escalators and travolators are an integral part of metro stations, shopping centers, cinemas, museums, entertainment complexes.

Still have not figured out what travolators are? The photos presented in the article will help to understand this.