【正文】
d drive units 7 drive a toothed main drive wheel 6 by way of an output gearwheel and an intermediate gearwheel 21, and are arranged and distributed about the circumference of the main drive wheel 6. The main drive wheel 6, together with a stair chain wheel 5, are fastened on the main shaft 4 of the drive. The drive units 7 are firmly connected to a main gear housing 8 at three planar flangeconnecting openings 24 formed for this purpose. When less than three drive units 7 are needed, the unused flangeconnecting opening 24 may be closed by a cover and the associated intermediate gearwheel 21 is not inserted. With this construction, the same main gear housing 8 can always be used for one, two or three needed drive units 7. The axles of the drive units 7 are arranged transversely to the direction of movement of the escalator 1, which yields the advantage of a short machine room. As example of a variant, FIG. 3 shows an arrangement of the drive units 7 parallel to the direction of movement of the escalator 1. In this manner of arrangement, the drive units 7 additionally prise a bevel gear . Motor , clutch , brake , flywheel and the output gearwheel , which are otherwise constructionally identical with and incorporated in the drive units 7 of FIG. 2, are present for each drive unit 7. The main gear housing 8 is likewise always the same for one, two or three drive units 7 and unused flangeconnecting openings 24 can likewise be covered by a cover. FIG. 4 is a spatial illustration of the drive according to FIG. 2 within the carrying structure 9 of the escalator 1. Two stair elements 22 are illustrated in addition to the elements shown in the preceding illustrations. FIG. 5 is a similar spatial illustration of the drive according to FIG. 3 within the carrying structure 9 of escalator 1. The two stair elements 22 are likewise additionally shown. The function and operation of the multimotor drive according to the invention is to be explained more closely in the following by reference to FIG. 6. The current supply of the drive takes place as usual from local threephase current mains 13 with phases R, S and T which are led to a main switch 14. Following thereon, the entire drive is connected through a main relay or several relays 15. There then follows a frequencysetting device 16, which by way of a relay control 23 with the relays S1, S2 to Sn feeds the motors (M1, M2 to Mn) of the drive modules 7 at a variable frequency current and direction of rotation as provided by the frequencysetting device 16. The motors M1, M2 to Mn are, as already shown and described in the preceding, operatively connected with the main drive wheel 6 by way of gears and output gearwheels and intermediate gearwheels 21, which are not further illustrated here. Torque transmitters 20 (L1, L2 to Ln) for the purpose of the measurement of the actual mechanical loading of the motors M1, M2 to Mn are installed at a suitable place in the transmission between the motors M1, M2 to Mn as known in the art. The main gear wheel 6 drives a speed transmitter 19 by way of an appropriate known transmission, which similarly is not more closely illust