16 replies to this topic

[stmad12]

Could someone please explain to me what Chair Parking is and where it is done?

[Peter]

Chairs (or cabins) are parked for maintenance or so that they are not exposed to the elements. For example, Whistler takes all of the chairs off of the Peak chair at night so that they do not get covered in rime ice and/or blown all over the place. Chair parking can be in a covered building, underground, on a rail outside, or in the terminals. Doppelmayr is the only company that has the inside terminal chair parking. Most chair parking systems are just steel rails that the chairs are manually moved around on. Some lifts have mechanized rails with chains to move the chairs around automatically.

Chairs parked for the summer on an outdoor rail connected to the bottom terminal:
 White Pass Summer 05 003.jpg (1.26MB)
Number of downloads: 208
Entrance to an underground cabin parking facility:
 doors.jpg (55.77K)
Number of downloads: 223
Cabin parking in an enclosed, above ground building:
 Peak-4-Bottom%20Station.jpg (1.32MB)
Number of downloads: 247
Chair parking in the terminal:
 Slika_035.jpg (1.2MB)
Number of downloads: 197

[stmad12]

Thanks Peter!

[liftmech]

One other thing-- most if not all detaches have 'emergency parking' rails for pulling damaged or defective carriers off line. Some lifts might have only a stub, while others have a full 'halo' or second turnaround rail.

[stmad12]

Thank You! I've seen before a chair on one of the "stubs", and it was missing a pad. Wondered what that was, thanks a million!

At this point, I'd like to close this forum post, and thanks again to all of those who helped teach me about chair parking!

-stmad12

This post has been edited by stmad12: 08 August 2010 - 04:07 PM

[SkiLiftsRock]

If on a Detachable Lift a grip doesn't work right, you would run the lift in reverse to get the chair off the line. Once it is off the line won't the spacing be messed up?

[liftmech]

First, you wouldn't run it in reverse. You'd send it along without loading it and remove it at the appropriate station. Second, no. Detachables have the ability to recognise if a chair is off-line, and will adjust the spacing as if the chair is still on. Of course, older chain-cadenced lifts don't have this issue unless it's an operator who thinks the next chair is too far back and pushes it forward (yes, this happens).

[SkiLiftsRock]

liftmech, on 19 August 2010 - 08:54 AM, said:

First, you wouldn't run it in reverse. You'd send it along without loading it and remove it at the appropriate station. Second, no. Detachables have the ability to recognise if a chair is off-line, and will adjust the spacing as if the chair is still on. Of course, older chain-cadenced lifts don't have this issue unless it's an operator who thinks the next chair is too far back and pushes it forward (yes, this happens).

Interesting Concept. How Do Detachable fix the spacing issue if the conveyor system is hooked up together?
Thanks :)

[mikest2]

SkiLiftsRock, on 23 August 2010 - 03:32 PM, said:

Interesting Concept. How Do Detachable fix the spacing issue if the conveyor system is hooked up together?
Thanks :)

Usually the return station has clutches and spraggs on the curve (contour) tire conveyor. The carrier can then be slowed or sped up as required to sort out the spacing.

[SkiLiftsRock]

mikest2, on 23 August 2010 - 03:55 PM, said:

Usually the return station has clutches and spraggs on the curve (contour) tire conveyor. The carrier can then be slowed or sped up as required to sort out the spacing.

Cool. Thanks.
Are there any other ways to do it, or is this the only way?

[Lift Kid]

SkiLiftsRock, on 23 August 2010 - 04:07 PM, said:

Cool. Thanks.
Are there any other ways to do it, or is this the only way?

On Doppelmayr lifts (I'm unsure about L-P lifts) there are two spacing systems. The "Fine" spacing system which uses the computer to control the contour speed to make minor changes to spacing. The other system is called the "Rough" spacing system. This system utilizes electronic clutches to disengage 3 tires and "hold" a carrier until the proper spacing interval has been reached.

SuperRat mentioned some details in another topic:

Quote

Doppelmayr chair lifts I'm familiar with, one with tire conveyors, have two spacing systems. The Fine-Spacing system is controlled by the lifts computers and makes small spacing corrections continuously while the lift runs at any speed. It basically slows or speeds up a small section of the tire conveyor to advance or retard the chairs. The rough spacing system uses magnetic braking-clutches on three of the conveyor tires to "hold" each chair until it is at the proper spacing interval. The process must be started by the operator (a mechanic) by holding chair number one. On newer lifts the computer determines the length of the "hold" but on older lifts the operator must determine the length, usually about 2/3rd the normal length between chairs. A rough spacing lap should be done at a slow speed and generally not when passengers are riding. Only one spacing system is used at time. Generally the rough system is only used occasionally to correct errors greater than the fine system can handle.

http://www.skilifts....?showtopic=7965

Off topic, but...

Would anyone who works on Poma lifts (John?, Mike?, others?) be willing to explain the spacing systems in use?

[liftmech]

Sure.
Pre-1992-3-ish, spacing was done by the chain system. The cadencing chain had four sets of fingers spaced evenly along its length. The engineer who designed the lift determined the speed of the chain relative to the rope, which could vary depending upon your chair spacing. The chairs would come into the terminal, get picked up by the chain, brought around the contour, and placed into the acceleration tires for the trip back up. (the top station has a chain with fingers on every link, and it merely takes the chair around the contour). This was/is a pretty simple system as there's not much that can go wrong with it. Either the chairs are in the fingers and thus properly spaced, or they're not.
The next system Poma has is the computer-controlled tire-cadencing system. Basically, it works the same as the Doppelmayr system, where there is an electromagnetic clutch that is engaged by the computer to advance the chair. The way Poma sets their terminals up, the clutch is connected to the tires on one side of the terminal. When engaged, it runs the second half of the contour a bit faster than the first half. When disengaged, the slower pulley ratio on the other side of the terminal runs that half of the contour. If the chair is where it needs to be, the computer will turn the clutch on for half of the chair's trip through the spacing section, and off for the other half. The first years of this system the slow pulley was connected to the contour via a one-way clutch, now it's a second electromagnetic one.

[lastchair_44]

Our Gondola's spacer can only hold carriers back and I believe it is due to the weight of the cabins, especially if they are fully loaded. This is done via an electromagnetic clutch on a section of the departure side of the contour at our drive station. If things get really bad, one unlucky guy gets to go the bottom and start pushing cabins through a free wheel section on the arrival side of the contour at the return. This free wheel section is achieved with a one way bearing that is installed on the pulley side of the pillow block. This creates a one way clutch allowing you to push carriers forward if needed. We rarely have spacing issues that warrant someone to push cabins at the return, but when it happens I do miss the Garaventa/Dopp CTEC spacing system.

[mikest2]

On our Leitner (2000) Gondola, the spacing is maintained at the drive (bottom) station, by means of a VFD driving the section of tire conveyor along the straight section of the contour. Cabin too late = section speeds up, cabin too early = section slows down. Kinda simple in that special Italian way.

[lastchair_44]

That would be nice. Maybe someday when we have to do a major overhaul (lift has 22,000 hrs on it) we'll get a "real" spacing system.

[rniemi]

mikest2, on 04 September 2010 - 12:11 PM, said:

On our Leitner (2000) Gondola, the spacing is maintained at the drive (bottom) station, by means of a VFD driving the section of tire conveyor along the straight section of the contour. Cabin too late = section speeds up, cabin too early = section slows down. Kinda simple in that special Italian way.

Hi Mike,

Out of curiosity, how is the VFD-controlled section of the contour driven when running on evac (or aux if so equipped)? Disengage from the gearmotor and lift ops push carriers through that section?

Cheers,
-Ryan

[seilbahnbilder.ch]

In Europe all bubble-chairlifts and gondola must have a parking. In Canada that's obviously not the case. I think that's the rason why the bubbles in Whistler look that bad...