Why is it that the handrail of an escalator never moves at the same speed as the steps themselves?
Answers:
I am not sure that you want the correct answer to this question.
But here goes.
Escalators are the one most dangerous thing in a store. They operate from a motor at the bottem of the escalator driving a set of gears which form a conveyor belt of sorts. The teeth of those gears actual run under that hand rail as well as at the base of those hand rails. It is kind of like the bicycle chain on a ten speed bicycle. The more it gets used the more gets out of sink with the motor.
If you think about it, everytime somebody steps on that escalator you put strain on those gears. Then there are those people who walk up the escalator creating more strain on those gears. And, then there are those times during heavy traffic that those gears are flat out abused.
We are now getting to the specific answer to your question. The gears to the steps are locked up and down in place. The gears driving the hand rails are only locked down. They can therefore become slack and run fast for that reason. And now for the scary part, because they can become slack, in the event of an immediate stoppage of the escalator, your hand can as has happened in the past get trapped under the the rail and be cut by those gears running beneath the rubber grip. Of course if you don't have your hand on the rail you may get bucked off the escalator or worse yet get trapped in the safety plate at either end of the escalator. And if this is a temporary power failure it only gets worse.
Sadly, I had to study this for safety purposes in a retail store. I actually had a key to the escalator for emergency purposes such as these.
BTW, stay lazy, walking up the escalator is about as dangerous as it gets. Don't do that.
they're retarded
because the belt drives are not linked together. that drives me crazy too.
It should. Report it to building management. Needs to be repaired.
Well the answer is simple, they actually do move at the same speed when the escalator is empty, when people get on it they slow the steps bit down with their weight. So there you go.
Ever notice those pesky kids at the top or bottom of the escalator, pulling on the handrail belt? Sooner or later the belt timing's gonna run off.
its not always like that, i guess it just skips gears or the belt that moves it is worn out and doesnt match. if its new you would see, perfect harmony.
all of the above.^ ^ ^
before i never noticed.i just walk (not stand) to the top..faster.!
I've never had that problem. All the ones I have been on, which is a lot in 44 years, have had rails that moved at the same speed as the steps.
Here is why: http://www.howstuffworks.com/escalator1..
The hand rail actually does move at the same speed as the steps, because the hand rail is on a smaller loop it has less distance to travel than the steps and therefore it completes a cicuit quicker
Escalators are actually a very complicated machine. All things being equal..the hand rails are supposed to move at precisely the same speed as the steps. If the ones you ridng aren't..maybe they need some tweaking.
"In addition to rotating the main chain loops, the electric motor in an escalator also moves the handrails. A handrail is simply a rubber conveyer belt that is looped around a series of wheels. This belt is precisely configured so that it moves at exactly the same speed as the steps, to give riders some stability."
cause your arms don't walk as fast as your legs do.
George Carlin asked that same question over thirty years ago.
Could be that they are a little longer/ a little shorter.
Maybe the wheels they turn on are of differant size.
One thing is for sure. Every body tutches it and "do you know what they have been doing with their hands?"
EEUUUUUWWWW!!
I haven't noticed this problem. Thanks for the warning. I will watch out. I have noticed it on the handrails of the people movers in airports, tho.
actually it does move at the exact same speed
The handrail doesn't have to cary the weight of the people riding it, so it can go faster.
*laughing*! That's the question of the day..I've noticed that forEVER!
What planet were you on?
Becuase the rail has a further distance to travel.
i have never noticed that myself so the next time i'm at the mall guess where i'm going
There is a simple explaination here.
The original design of any escalator is to have the handrail move at the same speed as the steps. Over time, some parts can get worn down, so the driving mechanism that operates the handrail gets a little sloppy, or loose, and the handrail actually slips a bit on the drive pully. Some repairmen will adjust the pully correctly, and the fix is perfect. Some guys are a bit less concerned with proper repairs, so they do a slap-it-fast-and-get-out fix, resulting in poor performance.
It all comes down to proper maintenance. Doesn't it always as with anything in life???????
I've been an engineer, and that has aways bothered me too. Either the hand rail mechanism is attached to the stair part (which would make sense) or it is driven by a separate motor. Either way, how hard would it be to coordinate the rate of speed to match the other?
Here is my GUESS. Perhaps the rates ARE perfectly corordinated when the escalator is installed. But, since the hand rail is made of a flexible (therefore stretchy) material, it eventually loosens, sags a bit underneath, and moves at a (get ready for this) LESSER apparent speed. My recollection of the difference in speed is that the rail moves slower. This makes sense to me because if the band making up the rail is stretched longer, the motor, or the attached mechanism is moving a longer band of material around each rotation.
Any REAL escalator engineers out there show me where I got it wrong?
I never noticed that before!
. . . do you find this only happens on a Friday night on the way home from the wine bar? . . .
That's funny. I never noticed that before.
because it is connected the same conveyor belt
They normally do unless the escalator is packed with people. Then the motors running the stairs can't keep the same pace.
It slips. It can be the same speed if in adjustment.
They do it on purpose just to piss us off.
LoL XxX
I would say it is because the loop of the escalator steps is smaller and there fore faster than the hand rail speed. It can be adjusted and re-calibrated, but whom ever did the maintenance of the escalator did not check it and therefore it is not running at a rate that would match the steps pace.
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