AU2010254597B2

AU2010254597B2 - Emergency evacuation assembly

Info

Publication number: AU2010254597B2
Application number: AU2010254597A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Douglas James Suttor Mckay
Original assignee: Mckay Douglas James Sutter
Current assignee: Mckay Douglas James Sutter
Priority date: 2009-12-09
Filing date: 2010-12-09
Publication date: 2016-08-25
Anticipated expiration: 2030-12-09
Also published as: AU2010254597A1

Abstract

EMERGENCY EVACUATION ASSEMBLY Abstract The present invention provides an emergency evacuation assembly (1) for evacuating persons from a structure. The assembly including a toothed rack (4) to extend 5 vertically along a side of the structure. A carriage (6) is operatively associated with the rack and adapted to support one or more persons. In use the carriage being moveable along the toothed rack towards a ground surface upon application of weight being applied to said carriage. A braking means (7) controls the speed of movement of the carriage relative to the toothed rack.

Description

EMERGENCY EVACUATION ASSEMBLY

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an emergency evacuation assembly and in particular to an emergency evacuation assembly having a speed descent regulator for use with a high rise building or structure.

Background of the Invention

As Occupational Health and Safety continues to be of concern throughout the world it has become important when designing buildings or structures to consider the safety of persons during an emergency. Accordingly, emergency evacuation assemblies have been developed for use in aircraft, trains, ships, buildings and other such places where evacuation of persons may be necessary during an emergency. Of particular concern is the trend towards constructing ever larger buildings housing thousands of people. In the event of an emergency, it is difficult to evacuate a large number of people quickly and efficiently from a high rise structure.

Evacuation from a high rise building, for example, is a necessary reality during an emergency such as a fire. During such an unfortunate event, fire or smoke may become obstacles to using the stairs or lifts. Additionally, the building may lose power. It is therefore desirable to have an alternate way to safely evacuate persons from a high rise building or structure. Accordingly, there is a need to provide an apparatus for evacuating persons from a building which is not dependent on a power supply and is easy to install, use and maintain and is external of the building or structure.

Object of the Invention

It is the object of the present invention to substantially overcome or ameliorate one or more disadvantages of the prior art or to provide a useful alternative.

Summary of the Invention

The present invention provides an emergency evacuation assembly for evacuating persons from a structure, the assembly including: a toothed rack to extend vertically along a side of the structure; a carriage operatively associated with said rack and adapted to support one or more persons, in use the carriage being moveable along the toothed rack towards a ground surface upon application of weight being applied to said carriage; a braking means to control the speed of movement of the carriage relative to the toothed rack; and a cog wheel to engage and move relative to, the toothed rack, wherein the braking means includes a longitudinally extending shaft, a centrifugal governor attached to a first end of said shaft, and a speed limiting device, the shaft being operatively associated with said cog wheel such that said shaft rotates as said cog wheel rotates to move said carriage along said rack, wherein as the carriage moves along the rack, the shaft rotates around a horizontal axis, as a speed of rotation of said shaft increases, the centrifugal governor urges the shaft horizontally relative to the rack actuating the speed limiting device, thereby slowing a descent of said carriage, and further wherein the rack extends vertically upwardly away from the ground surface to an upper level of the structure, the rack having a cross-section that gradually expands closer to said ground surface so that the speed of the carriage relative to the rack is reduced as the carriage approaches said ground surface.

Preferably, the speed limiting device includes a disc brake operatively associated with brake pads to limit the speed of said carriage relative to said rack.

Preferably, the carriage is an enclosed pod to accommodate one or more persons.

Preferably, the carriage includes fire retardant equipment.

Preferably, the weight to move the carriage relative to the rack is the weight of at least one standard adult.

Preferably, including motor means to move said carriage vertically along said rack away from said ground surface.

Preferably, including locking means to retain said carriage in a position along said rack elevated from said ground surface.

Brief Description of the Drawing

Preferred embodiments of the invention will be described hereinafter, by way of examples only, with reference to the accompanying drawing.

Figure 1 is a partial perspective view of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the present invention of Figure 1 showing a cut-away section of the braking means;

Figure 3 is an enlarged cut-away cross sectional view of the braking means; and

Figure 4 is an exploded view of parts of the braking means.

Detailed Description of a Preferred Embodiment

The present invention provides an emergency evacuation assembly 1 for evacuating persons from a structure (not shown). The structure can be any structure having a portion positioned vertically above a ground surface. The assembly 1 includes a toothed rack 4 to extend vertically along a side of the structure. The rack 4 has a plurality of spaced apart teeth 3 running along a length of the rack 4. A carriage 6 is operatively associated with the rack 4 and is adapted to hold one or more persons. The carriage 6 is moveable towards a ground surface in use along the rack 4 upon application of weight being applied to the carriage 6. In a preferred form, the weight to move the carriage 6 relative to the rack 4 would be the weight of at least one standard adult. However, the weight could be any weight. The assembly 1 turther includes a braking means 7 to control the speed of movement of the carriage 6 relative to the toothed rack 4. The braking means 7 is enclosed within a body 21 and as best seen in Figures 3 and 4 includes a longitudinally extending shaft 8 having a centrifugal governor 9 attached to a first end of the shaft 8, a speed limiting device in the form of a disk brake 10 and brake pads 14 operatively associated with the governor 9 and a shaft mount 13 at a second end of the shaft 8. The governor 9 in a preferred form would be a typical centrifugal governor having a spring 30 ending with a cap 31, a rocker arm 32 connected to disk brake 10 by way of actuation means 33 and a pair of actuating arms 35 which in use rotate about shaft 8 and expand away from shaft 8 when the speed of the assembly 1 increases. In Figure 4, actuation arms 35 are shown in the low speed position.

The operation of a mechanical governor 9 is based on the centrifugal force of rotating weights (actuation means 35) counterbalanced by springs (spring 30). In the high speed position (not shown) the rotating weights or means 35 compress the springs 30. A cog wheel assembly 11 is operatively associated with the shaft 8 such that the shaft 8 rotates when the cog wheel 11 rotates. The cog wheel 11 is adapted to engage and move relative to the rack 4. The carriage 6 in a preferred form is an enclosed pod or the like to accommodate one or more persons or could be a platform 20 as shown in Figure 1. The carriage 6 can include fire retardant equipment or other safety equipment and could be manufactured of fire resistant materials or the like. The rack 4 extends from adjacent a ground surface (not shown) to an upper level of the structure, the upper level being spaced vertically away from the ground surface so that the rack 4 can extend therebetween.

The rack 4 includes an expanding cross-section close to the ground, the crosssection being constant for most of its length however has an expanding cross section closer to the ground. The speed of the carriage 6 relative to rack 4 is reduced as the carriage 6 approaches the ground surface due to the increase in cross-sectional size of the rack 4.

In use, when an emergency signal is activated, a person would retreat to an emergency evacuation assembly 1 located on the side of the structure. The person would climb into the carriage 6. The carriage 6 would be released from a locked position elevated from the ground surface by the user either through a manual, electrical, hydraulic or other type of release (not shown). For example, the release could include an over centre locking lever or tapered pin (not shown). As the cog wheel 11 (connected to the rack 4) rotates faster, the cog wheel 11 simultaneously rotates the shaft 8. As the speed of rotation of the shaft 8 increases, centrifugal governor 9 moves the shaft 8 horizontally bringing brake 10 into contact with brake pads 14 slowing the carriage 6.

Simultaneously, as the assembly 1 approaches the ground, the rack 4 is gradually increasing in cross-section which further slows the carriage 6 as it reaches the ground surface where the cross-section of the rack 4 is greatest. The assembly 1 is therefore speed regulated and will accommodate a range of weights within set design parameters.

The assembly 1 would provide in a preferred embodiment a safe evacuation of persons from a high rise structure under most circumstances. Further, the assembly 1 is not dependent on a power supply or other energy source for use. Simply releasing the locking device is all that is required to activate the assembly 1. That is, the assembly 1 is activated by gravity. Further, a person does not need to be conscious within the carriage 6 for the assembly 1 to operate. For example, a fire fighter on an upper floor of the structure could place an unconscious person in the carriage 6 sending that person to the ground surface to be treated by medical personnel while the fire fighter continues to search the upper level.

The assembly 1 could also be secured to a rope, cable (not shown) or the like for use by an individual in descending from a height. The assembly 1 would automatically regulate the speed descent along the rope or cable regardless of the number of persons in the carriage or manipulation by a user. The assembly 1 also provides an emergency back up for stairs or elevators in tall structures.

The module carriage 6 could be returned to the top of the rack 4 at an elevated position above the ground surface by use of an engine or other power source, pulley system, unhitched at the bottom of the rack and moved to the top of the rack, or other such system (not shown). The carriage 6 for example could include a small motor to reverse the cog wheel 11 driving the carriage 6 up the rack 4 to return to the elevated position.

It should however be realized that the speed of the assembly 1 along the rack 4 could also be limited by other energy absorbing devices such as fans, hydraulics or the like.

Claims

1. An emergency evacuation assembly for evacuating persons from a structure, the assembly including: a toothed rack to extend vertically along a side of the structure; a carriage operatively associated with said rack and adapted to support one or more persons, in use the carriage being moveable along the toothed rack towards a ground surface upon application of weight being applied to said carriage; a braking means to control the speed of movement of the carriage relative to the toothed rack; and a cog wheel to engage and move relative to, the toothed rack, wherein the braking means includes a longitudinally extending shaft, a centrifugal governor attached to a first end of said shaft, and a speed limiting device, the shaft being operatively associated with said cog wheel such that said shaft rotates as said cog wheel rotates to move said carriage along said rack, wherein as the carriage moves along the rack, the shaft rotates around a horizontal axis, as a speed of rotation of said shaft increases, the centrifugal governor urges the shaft horizontally relative to the rack actuating the speed limiting device, thereby slowing a descent of said carriage, and further wherein the rack extends vertically upwardly away from the ground surface to an upper level of the structure, the rack having a cross-section that gradually expands closer to said ground surface so that the speed of the carriage relative to the rack is reduced as the carriage approaches said ground surface.

2. The emergency evacuation assembly according to claim 1, wherein the speed limiting device includes a disc brake operatively associated with brake pads to limit the speed of said carriage relative to said rack.

3. The emergency evacuation assembly according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the carriage is an enclosed pod to accommodate one or more persons.

4. The emergency evacuation assembly according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the carriage includes fire retardant equipment.

5. The emergency evacuation assembly according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the weight to move the carriage relative to the rack is the weight of at least one standard adult.

6. The emergency evacuation assembly according to any one of the preceding claims, including motor means to move said carriage vertically along said rack away from said ground surface.

7. The emergency evacuation assembly according to any one of the preceding claims, including locking means to retain said carriage in a position along said rack elevated from said ground surface.