Flying high from a solid foundation

The shopping world we know today is based on brilliant inventions. The amount of history involved becomes apparent from all the anniversaries as they roll around. Take, for example, “80 years of the shopping trolley” and “60 years of the supermarket” – birthdays celebrated last year that are linked to Wanzl and the Concentra shopping trolley model, patented in 1951. The trio making up the basic infrastructure underlying the principle of self-service shopping is rounded off by the invention of the escalator. This technical innovation by US engineer Jesse Wilford Reno is today celebrating its 125th birthday. The prerequisite for unlimited shopping experiences with convenient shopping trolleys over more than one storey was the development of an escalator without steps. The original design for a travelator was produced by Frenchman Eugène Hénard, architect, visionary city planner and one of the fathers of the roundabout, for the 1889 World Exhibition in Paris. This truly trailblazing invention was put into practical use for the first time at the Chicago World Exhibition in 1893.

Dovetailing inventions: shopping worlds at any altitude thanks to original travelator castors from Wanzl.

In order to ensure the smooth and safe transportation of goods with shopping trolleys, both the trolley and its wheels must meet specific requirements: the baseline issue is that a mechanical braking mechanism must ensure that the castor wheels can be braked. This ensures that customers are not put in danger by trolleys running down unchecked. Original Wanzl travelator castors have been developed on the basis of many years of experience and, when combined with Wanzl shopping and transport trolleys, provide the ideal conditions for smooth and safe travel between floors – shopping at every level. In this context, travelator castors of Types 1 to 5 meet a wide range of demands. One thing they all have in common is the highest level of safety and very good steering properties. When a trolley is used on a travelator, the running discs or feeler discs slot into the grooves on the travelator surface. The trolley's ability to brake and reliable slowing of the travelator castor is guaranteed, for example, by two brake pads on the outside or an integrated brake block. The travelator castors should be professionally serviced every six months to ensure that all safety requirements are met. Original Wanzl travelator castors are similarly used for luggage trolleys that are primarily used on horizontal travelators at airports. Whether flying high or travelling far, Wanzl trolleys have the stability to handle both altitude and longitude, something that is proven by the innumerable miles covered each day at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport.