“Crestwalk"—passenger conveyor system

A passenger conveyor system is described which may be boarded at any point along its length but which transports pedestrians at speeds of the order of 15 km/h. The conveyor is made up of elements each of which moves forwards with a regular cycle of low and high speeds with intermediate acceleration and deceleration. The cycle of each element differs slightly in phase from those of its neighbours. The effect of this is to product travelling velocity waves with phase velocity greater than that of the maximum speed of each element. A passenger by walking forwards may maintain himself in the region of maximum speed, but by stopping walking may be decelerated to a safe alighting speed. The system is suggested as a city passenger conveyor for use in the range of journey lengths 400 m‐3 km.