Escalators are the most common mechanical equipment in daily life. There are also many related reports on escalator accidents. Furthermore, the pandemic and seasonal flu also are existing threats, especially for kids and those who have weak immune systems. Based on the existing escalator infrastructure, I want to make some improvements from the perspective of user safety and experience, so that passengers can have a better and safer life.
The cleaning system installed inside the escalator consists of five sections: a water container, a pump, a dryer, four UV lights, and a brush with a UV light in the middle, which can kill most of the germs, bacteria, and viruses on the surface of the handrail.
OVERVIEW
02. BACKGROUND
There are approximately 10,000 injuries related to escalator accidents each year in the United States and escalator injuries are increasing. The total number of children injury accidents continues to rise from 2012 - 2016. Most of the accidents are caused by untimely maintenance and incorrect use of escalators.
03. INTERVIEW
The handrails and steps are the primary parts regarding the safety problems of the escalator. In addition, most people mentioned that the curiosity and energetic behaviors of children are the most things they worry about.
05. USER JOURNEY
Comparing both interviews and observations in the shopping mall, the top 3 dangerous behaviors are: running on the escalator, not holding the handrails, and distraction.
08. EXPERT REVIEW
TOOLS
Rhino, KeyShot, Illustrator, InDesign, Procreate
ESCALATOR CLEANER
2022 Summer, Industrial Design. Zhejiang, China
Duration: 3 Months
Personal Project
HOW IT WORKS
DISINFECTION
Multiple cleaning processes in a short distance are efficient to ensure the cleaning of handrails.
SAFETY
The inner installation will not cause the curiosity of children to avoid extra accidents.
EASY MAITAINANCE
The installation is in the section where engineers usually inspect based on their weekly schedule.
07. FURTHER DEVELOPMENT
These are some feedback from the maintenance engineer and staff in the department of hygiene to get first-hand resources to verify and decide the function order and selections of disinfection chemical compounds, aiming to provide a reliable handrail cleaning system inside the escalator.
01. PROBLEMS
The handrails cannot be kept clean all the time, there are hidden dangers of hygiene and safety, and children’s resistance is weak. The handrails are the most direct part that children could be touched. Some parents will ignore the safety issues of escalators to prevent children from holding the handrails for hygiene reasons.
Four working sections to ensure the sanitary handrails for a safer life.
RECAP
Problems
The handrails cannot be kept clean all the time, there are hidden dangers of hygiene and safety because children’s resistance is weak. Handrails are the most direct part that children would grab. Some parents will ignore the safety issues of escalators to prevent children from holding the handrails due to hygiene issues.
Goals
Escalator Cleaner aims to provide a more hygienic environment for users to grab handrails. Clean, reliable handrails protect users’ health, especially during the flu season. The hidden installation inside the escalators without any exposure to children diminishes the possibility of a direct touch of additional installations.
09. OBJECTIVES
The features of the final escalator cleaning installation
10. WORKING PROCESS
To find more design opportunities and a feasible place to install the devices correctly, I tried to learn the fundamental structures of escalators and common dangerous behaviors while riding.
04. FINDINGS
Adults have less consideration for their own safety, but they all consciously mention vulnerable groups, such as children and the elderly. Almost all the children were mentioned in the interviews.
06. CONCEPTS
By enhancing the sense of the use of handrails, children can reach their destination safely while holding them as much as possible. By performing certain sterilization/touch change/color attraction to the handrails, children will be more like to grasp the handrails, thereby increasing the safety factor of children when they ride the escalators.
It is a brainstorming to propose a space available for the handrail cleaning system installation, which can be inspected by the escalator engineers while doing the weekly inspection of regular routines.
“ This concept is feasible, if the water tank does not have enough space inside the escalator, the pump can be used to input water from the outside near the escalators. At the same time, you also need to consider the high concentration of alcohol that may cause an explosion due to the temperature inside escalators. In other words, using alcohol for this project is not a good choice.”
- Mr. Chen, National Level Engineer
An engineer who has over 50-year experience in hundreds of national-level projects in China.
“UV lights are an efficient way to clean mechanical surfaces at a close distance so they can meet your needs. Another disinfection compound is acetic acid, but it will take at least 1 hour to work. Besides, alcohol is a common method to kill viruses and bacterium, and it takes at least 1 minute if you want to achieve the best disinfection goal.”
- Ms. Wang, Staff in the Department of Hygiene
Staff who is working in the Department of Hygiene in the Health Bureau in Shenzhen, China.