TRAVELING SIDEWALK. An arrange ment for the transportation of passengers, consist ing essentially of a series of parallel closely abut ting platforms traveling on wheels or rollers at different speeds. A sidewalk of this character was installed at the Columbian Exposition at Chicago to convey passengers from one part of the grounds to another, and similar structures have been employed elsewhere. The principle of op eration of the traveling sidewalk may be readily understood by an explanation of the accompany ing diagram. In this diagram a, b, c, d, c, and f are the parallel platforms. The platform a is stationary, but the others all travel by means of flexible rails riding on the rims of the wheels g, h, j, and k. These wheels rotate on a com mon shaft at the same number of rotations per minute, but, being of different characters, they carry the superimposed platforms at different speeds; thus platform b has, say, a speed of 3 miles per hour, c a speed of l miles, d a speed of 9 miles, e a speed of 12 miles, and f a speed of 15 miles. The platforms travel continuously,
and a foot passenger desiring to use them steps from the stationary platform a onto the moving platform b and then onto c, d, c, and f in suc cession; the return to the stationary platform is made in a similar manner, but, of course, in the reverse direction. By having the difference between the speeds of any two adjacent plat forms no greater than the speed of a brisk walk the transition from one speed of travel to the next higher or lower is accomplished without difficulty, and the pedestrian can board and leave the moving platforms at any point lie may choose. A traveling stairway is a similar• ar rangement placed on an incline, but supplied with but one moving platform. They have been used for ascending to elevated railway platforms and in large shops.