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Escalators were a novelty when I was a kid. During the holidays, my father would take me to the city and ride the escalator back and forth for the afternoon.

Although escalators are very popular now, our doubts about them have increased rather than decreased:

Handrails always seem to be faster than steps. is it a mistake at work?

What are the rows of bristles on both sides of the steps?

Why is there a bulge on the slope next to the escalator?

There are so many people on the escalator, will it crush the escalator?

After reading this article, the useless knowledge about escalators in your mind has increased again.

The handrail is faster to save your life. The next time you sit on the escalator, put your hand on the handrail on your side. When you get to the end of the escalator, you will probably find that the hand that was originally on your side has followed the handrail to the front of you.

The handrail rolls faster than the steps. Is it a mistake made by the staff?

This is not the case with giphy.

In the current relevant national standards, it is mandatory that the speed of the handrail is 0% to 2% faster than the steps-that is, it can be as fast, faster, but not slower [1].

Moreover, if the system detects that the handrail is slower than the steps and lasts for a period of time, it will stop the entire escalator [1].

This is because if you need to avoid danger, if your arm is behind you (that is, the handrail is slower than the steps), the whole person's range of movement will be limited; if the arm is in front of the body (that is, the handrail is faster than the steps), the range of movement of the shoulder joint is wider, avoiding danger will be more flexible.

Setting the speed of the handrail in this way is also a lesson of blood.

You can find a lot of news on the Internet, saying that when sitting on the escalator, the steps are rolling but the handrail is still, and it is easy for people to fall back when they stand up and hold the handrail.

Therefore, to adjust the speed of the handrail a little faster is to save your life!

Photo? webpage screenshot bristles are not on both sides of the escalator steps for brushing shoes, there is a row of hard bristles. All those who have observed this have racked their brains and combined with life experience to come to the most reliable conclusion: this bristle is used to brush passengers' shoes.

Li Xiaokui makes some sense, but it doesn't make sense.

This row of bristles, known scientifically as apron board anti-clamping device, is covered obliquely above the gap between the steps and the side bezel to prevent overlong trouser legs, skirts and shoelaces from being sandwiched into the seams and preventing gadgets such as coins from falling into the cracks to damage the escalator.

See, this thing not only can't brush your shoes, but it's also designed to keep you from reaching out!

Shoes (and dummies' feet) caught in the gap in the escalator screenshot from YouTube@ The Viral the metal ball is not rock climbing you must have noticed the metal hemispheres and pieces of metal on the outside of the escalator handrail, one at intervals.

There has been a lot of speculation about its use:

To prevent Jackie Chan from slipping down the escalator during a fight.

Play public games and ask passengers to paste the ball.

It is convenient for rock climbers.

Colleagues in rock climbing scoffed that Li Xiaokui's guess closest to the correct answer was to prevent Jackie Chan.

This hemispherical thing is called anti-skid device, mainly for fear that bear children will play with the outside of the escalator as a slide, and can also prevent passengers from putting their luggage on the outside of the escalator.

Look at the power of the anti-skid device. Giphy naughty netizens said that with the addition of the anti-skid device, the escalator was more exciting as a slide. I'll show you a more exciting anti-skid block.

In fact, in order to prevent bear children and some adults, escalators have to be equipped with anti-climbing devices and blocking devices. Did not find out whether there is a story behind the birth of these devices, let's make up for it and learn from it.

Anti-climbing device, screenshot of JD.com

Blocking device? Taobao screenshot in addition, many big supermarkets put promotional goods on the empty seats on both sides of the escalator-this does prevent bear children from sliding on the slide, but it is really dangerous for customers to reach out and bend over to buy on the escalator.

How many people, like me, worry that there are too many people on the escalator in the morning and evening rush hour, causing the escalator to be flattened or crushed?

Such worries are superfluous.

In the relevant standards, it is stipulated that the escalator can withstand a load of at least 5000 newtons per square meter, which does not include the self-weight of the escalator.

What kind of concept is this? That is, on an escalator with a width of 1 meter and a horizontal length of 10 meters, it can bear a load of 5000 kilograms in a static state, which is about the sum of the weight of 80 adults.

The above is the theory, the actual operation of the situation is more complicated.

For example, an escalator with a width of 1 meter and a length of 10 meters can hold 80 people, but what if these people are still carrying particularly heavy luggage?

If the escalator is really overloaded, it will go on strike.

In the requirements of monitoring devices and electrical safety-related devices, the first item listed is "overload". In this case, the monitoring module will generally cut off the power of the motor to protect the motor.

In short, if there are too many people on the escalator that you think is dangerous, don't worry about overloading and flattening the escalator, just go up there when there are fewer people.

It is not recommended that when riding the escalator on the left and right, people who are not in a hurry stand on the right and set aside space on the left for those who are in a hurry. This has become a habit of many people.

But I'm afraid this concept will have to be changed.

First of all, the issue of security.

As early as 2016, a test data of escalators in Nanjing Metro showed that 95% of the escalators were seriously worn and tilted [2], and similar problems were found in Guangzhou Metro [3]. These problems will lead to the increase of safety risks and the shortening of service life of escalators.

In addition, the escalator is not only rolling, but also the height of a step is larger than that of an ordinary staircase, so if people who rush on the left side do not stand firm and fall down, they may fall with a lot of people.

Second, giving up the space on the left will not save much time for those who are in a hurry.

In an experiment conducted by the Beijing Evening News, it takes 45 seconds to stand still on the escalator in the same subway station; if you run up the escalator without hindrance at all, you can save only 21 seconds; if you still have to avoid pedestrians and luggage in the process of such a dash, you will only have 8 to 15 seconds left.

In addition, if everyone stands still on the escalator, in theory, the escalator can carry more people. After all, walking on the escalator requires room for movement before and after [4].

Many cities in the world do not advocate walking on the left and standing on the right, so how do we take the escalator? Four words: stand still and hold on.

reference

[1] Safety specification for the construction and installation of GB 16899-2011 escalators and walkways

[2] http://www.nbd.com.cn/articles/2018-05-12/1216371.html

[3] http://www.xinhuanet.com/politics/2018-04/26/c_1122743149.htm

[4] https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/jan/16/the-tube-at-a-standstill-why-tfl-stopped-people-walking-up-the-escalators

This article comes from the official account of Wechat: fruit shell (ID:Guokr42), author: Li Xiaokui, Owl, editor: Li Xiaokui, window knocking rain

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