Student Designs Innovative Escalator That Is Accessible To All Users

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Student Designs Innovative Escalator That Is Accessible To All Users

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090615152928.htm

People with impaired mobility who move around in wheelchairs, people who are

transporting bulky loads and all other users will be able to travel upwards and

downwards without assistance using the innovative escalator designed by Jesús

Sánchez, a student at the School of Industrial and Aeronautical Engineering of

Terrassa (ETSEIAT) of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC).

The new escalator design was developed for a final thesis and received awards

from the College of Industrial Engineers of Catalonia and the Universia

Foundation. It affords savings of energy, construction materials and

installation costs.

Conventional escalators do not completely solve accessibility problems for

people with impaired mobility such as people using a wheel chair, the elderly,

and people with pushchairs or bulky loads. Escalators are just another obstacle

that these people have to avoid, often with the help of other people, which

requires a great deal of effort and wasted time. ETSEIAT student Jesús Sánchez

has designed a new escalator that all users can use self-sufficiently for his

final thesis, which was directed by lecturer Huguet.

How the escalator works

Jesús Sánchez began with an initial concept that is similar to the current

escalator design but on which he has made a series of outstanding innovations.

Users without impaired mobility will be able to use the escalator in the same

way as they use the current ones. However, when a person with impaired mobility

who uses a wheelchair needs to use the escalator, he or she will press a button

to make three stairs of the escalator move together vertically to form a flat

platform that can accommodate the wheelchair. Once the user is on the platform

with the wheelchair perfectly positioned the escalator will move until the user

reaches the end. When the user leaves the escalator, the platform will convert

back into three independent stairs.

Jesús Sánchez has also thought of a remote command system for people with

disabilities who due to physical limitations would not be able to press a button

to activate the platform. This innovative escalator design also incorporates

light and acoustic signal systems to enable people with vision or hearing

impairments to use it.

User safety is another important element of the design. The escalator includes a

backup battery system to supply energy in the case of a power cut when the user

is in the middle of the trip so that the user will always be able to reach their

destination without problems.

Energy and cost savings

The stair belt that moves between the upper and lower levels of the slope is the

same for the ascent as it is for the descent. That is, it works with a closed

circuit, similar to the luggage transporters at airports, but on a slope, which

means the same escalator can be used for transporting people in both directions.

Current escalators require one installation for ascent and another for descent

because the stair belt is designed for movement in a single direction only.

According to the creator of the innovative design, " the main technical

difficulty that I had to overcome was to find a way to make the stairs turn at

the end of the slopes, but in the end I managed it " .

The system designed by Jesús Sánchez saves on energy and the costs of

installation and materials when compared with current systems. He reckons that

the energy saving obtained will be 30% compared with current escalators and that

the economic saving will be 35%. " Often municipal councils and companies think

of lifts as the way to provide access for people with disabilities who have

impaired mobility, but my system is cheaper and more sustainable than installing

a lift. It is a design that solves accessibility problems in areas with slopes,

where the typical solution would be to install steps and, although this is often

very expensive or practically impossible, a lift " , says Jesús Sánchez.

5.6 million people with mobility difficulties

This is a much-needed design because in Spain today there are 3.5 million people

with some kind of disability and 5.6 million people who have difficulty walking

up or down stairs. Other beneficiaries might be people with circumstantial

mobility difficulties caused by a shopping cart, pushchair, ambulance stretcher,

etc. For this reason, Jesús Sánchez and lecturer Huguet from the UPC

Terrassa Campus got to work on designing a new concept in escalators that is

suitable for all users.

A patented design seeking investors

At this time the author has already received the award for the most creative

final thesis at the ETSEIAT from the College of Industrial Engineers of

Catalonia. The design is also patented and now investors must be found to fund

the construction of this innovative escalator.