Parking system for cableway vehicles

Abstract

Parking system to improve the parking and feeding of cableway vehicles. Each cableway vehicle has connecting elements designed to detachably connect adjacent cableway vehicles. When parking, a jointly movable vehicle combination of detachably connected cableway vehicles is parked on the parking track. For feeding cableway vehicles, a parking track conveyor pulls the vehicle combination from the parking track toward the feed track until the detachably connected connecting elements of two cableway vehicles at an end of the vehicle combination facing the track end are in an effective range of an actuating device. The actuating device detaches the connecting elements between these two cableway vehicles, and the feed track conveyor moves the cableway vehicle located at the end of the vehicle combination facing the track end away from the parking track.

What is claimed: 
     
         1 . A parking system for a plurality of cableway vehicles of a cableway, the cableway including a feed track, a feed track conveyor provided on the feed track for moving the plurality of cableway vehicles along the feed track, and a traction cable, in which the plurality of cableway vehicles are couplable to and decouplable from the traction cable, the parking system comprising:
 a parking area with a parking track for parking the cableway vehicles, the parking track having an axial track end that is connected to the feed track, wherein, in states decoupled from the traction cable, the cableway vehicles are movable from the feed track over the track end and into the parking track;   the cableway vehicles each have at least two connecting elements structured and arranged to detachably connect adjacent cableway vehicles to one another, wherein, via the connecting elements, at least two cableway vehicles are detachably connected to one another as a jointly movable vehicle combination that is parkable on the parking track;   an actuating device arranged in a region of the track end; and   a parking track conveyor provided on the parking track is structured to pull the jointly movable vehicle combination from the parking track in a direction of the feed track, until the detachably connected connection elements between adjacent cableway vehicles located at an end of the pulled jointly movable vehicle combination facing the track end reach an effective range of the actuation device, where the actuation device is configured to detach the detachably connected connecting elements between the adjacent cableway vehicles,   wherein, after the actuation device detaches the detachably connected connecting elements between the adjacent cableway vehicles, the feed track conveyor is configured to move a forwardmost cableway vehicle of the adjacent cableway vehicles located at the end of the pulled jointly movable vehicle combination away from the parking track.   
     
     
         2 . The parking system according to  claim 1 , wherein the feed track conveyor is configured to move a first cableway vehicle to be parked in a direction toward an end of the parking track and, when the first cableway vehicle to be parked reaches an effective range of a connecting element of a second cableway vehicle located in an area of the end of the parking track, and
 wherein the actuating device acts upon at least one of the connecting elements of the first or second cableway vehicle to detachably connect the first and second cableway vehicles, thereby forming the jointly movable vehicle combination on the parking track, and   wherein one of the feed track conveyor or the parking track conveyor is configured to push the jointly movable vehicle combination into the parking track for parking until the first cableway vehicle is located in the area of the track end.   
     
     
         3 . The parking system according to  claim 1 , wherein the actuating device is designed to be active and comprises an actuator that interacts with the detachable connecting elements of the cableway vehicles in order to generate an actuating force for connecting or detaching the connecting element. 
     
     
         4 . The parking system according to  claim 1 , wherein the actuating device is designed to be passive and interacts with the cableway vehicle during movement of the cableway vehicle to generate an actuating force for connecting or detaching the connecting element. 
     
     
         5 . The parking system according to  claim 4 , wherein the passive actuating device comprises a positive guide, and
 wherein movement of the cableway vehicles along the positive guide generate the actuating force to connect or detach the adjacent cableway vehicles to one another via the connecting elements.   
     
     
         6 . The parking system according to  claim 1 , wherein one of the at least two connecting elements of the cableway vehicles is designed as a hook element and another of the at least two connecting elements of the cableway vehicles is designed as an eyelet element, and
 wherein, one of:
 the hook element of a first cableway vehicle engages in the eyelet element of a second cableway vehicle adjacent the first cableway vehicle to connect the cableway vehicles together, or 
 the hook element of a first cableway vehicle disengages from the eyelet element of a second cableway vehicle adjacent the first cableway vehicle to detach the adjacent cableway vehicles. 
   
     
     
         7 . The parking system according to  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of cableway vehicles each comprise a transport body and a hanger connected to the transport body,
 wherein the hanger is configured to fasten a respective cableway vehicle to the traction cable, and   wherein the connecting elements are provided on the hanger of the respective cableway vehicle.   
     
     
         8 . A cableway comprising:
 at least one cableway station,   wherein the at least one cableway station comprises a parking system according to  claim 1 .   
     
     
         9 . A method for operating a parking system for a plurality of cableway vehicles of a cableway, comprising:
 moving with a feed track conveyor cableway vehicles in a state decoupled from a traction cable of the cableway from a feed track to a parking track via a track end of the parking track connected to the feed track;   wherein the cableway vehicles each have at least two connecting elements, and the method further comprises detachably connecting at least two cableway vehicles to one another via the connecting elements to form a jointly movable vehicle combination;   parking the jointly movable vehicle combination on the parking track;   pulling the parked jointly movable vehicle out of the parking track and in a direction of the feed track with a parking track conveyor of the parking track until the detachably connected connecting elements of adjacent cableway vehicles located at an end of the jointly movable vehicle combination facing the track end reach the effective range of an actuating device arranged in the region of the track end;   detaching via the actuating device the detachably connected connecting elements between the adjacent cableway vehicles; and   moving via the feed track conveyor a forwardmost cableway vehicle of the adjacent cableway vehicles located at the end of the jointly movable vehicle combination facing the track end away from the parking track.   
     
     
         10 . The method according to  claim 9 , wherein, for parking, the method further comprises:
 moving via feed track conveyor a first cableway vehicle to be parked in a direction toward an end of the parking track until the first cableway vehicle to be parked reaches an effective range of a connecting element of a second cableway vehicle located in an area of the end of the parking track,   via the actuating device, detachably connecting at least one of the connecting elements of the first or second cableway vehicle to detachably connect the first and second cableway vehicles, thereby forming the jointly movable vehicle combination on the parking track, and   pushing via one of the feed track conveyor or the parking track conveyor the jointly movable vehicle combination into the parking track for parking until the first cableway vehicle is located in the area of the track end.