1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an escalator, and more particularly to an escalator with a concentrated arrangement of instruments, such as an indicator, in a skirt end portion of an escalator balustrade end and to a skirt end structure.
2. Background Art
FIG. 5 shows a balustrade end of a conventional escalator. In FIG. 5, reference numeral 1 denotes a balustrade end, and 2 denotes a handrail belt moving in the direction of the arrow. A skirt end portion 3 is positioned at the bottom of the balustrade end 1.
In the conventional escalator, a handrail belt entrance port 4 is provided in the front face of the skirt end portion 3. Further, in general, an indicator 5 for indicating the operating conditions, such as the traveling direction of steps, is provided in the front face of the skirt end portion 3.
According to the conventional escalator, the balustrade end 1 protrudes from the skirt end portion 3 toward the entrance. Accordingly, the indicator 5 provided in the skirt end portion 3 is hardly visible to a passenger, who is about to ride the escalator from the entrance, depending on the height of the passenger's eyes because of blocking by the balustrade end 1. Especially in the case where the indicator 5 is provided in only one of the balustrade ends 1, the indicator 5 can get completely out of a passenger's sight depending upon the passenger's position at the entrance.
Further, in the skirt end portion 3 of the conventional escalator, the space between the handrail belt 2, entering the handrail belt entrance port 4, and the floor is so narrow that there is a risk that passenger's baggage or the like could get caught in the space.
The conventional escalator also involves the problem that when a passenger, upon riding the escalator, lets a shopping cart hit against the front face of the skirt end portion in an attempt to pull the shopping cart in, the shopping cart can be bound not toward the steps, but toward the floor depending upon how the shopping cart is hit, whereby the shopping cart can be left behind on the floor and, in some situations, the passenger could fall down.