GB2170475A - A fire-escape apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

A fire-escape apparatus includes a horizontal shaft (1) rotatably mounted on the top (1001) of a building (100), which has an empty space (1002) right beneath the horizontal shaft (1), with at least one of the two ends being connected to a rotation retarding device (5) two rope-like members (3) which have their first ends securely attached to the horizontal shaft (1) separately and are capable of being wound on the shaft (1) in different directions with respect to each other and two casing (9) which are securely attached to the second ends of the rope-like members (3) so that should the building (100) catch fire a number of fire refugees can escape the fire from one of the casings (9) and when the one casing (9) descends from the top (1001) of the building (100) to the ground surface (1010) by gravity, the other casing (9) will be ascended automatically to the top (1001) to be ready for rescuing another group of fire refugees. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION A fire escape apparatus The present invention relates to a descending/ ascending apparatus, and more particularly to a descending/ascending apparatus capable of-de- scending/ascending a number of persons at a time.

Fire disasters in high buildings can be attributed to the lack of effective fire-escape provision. With regard to the prior art in this field, in addition to the U.S. and U.K. patents disclosed in my copending U.K. patent application bearing an Appln. No.

8432540 and Filing Date December21, 1984, the applicant further notes that the following patents may also be categorized into the prior art in this field which are U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,045,780 issued to Lees on July 1962,3,847,377 issued to Byrd on November 12, 1974, 3,946,989 issued to Tsuda on March 30, 1976 and 4,018,423 issued to Belew on April 19, 1977, an Italian Pat. No. 661580 issued to Westin on March 1964 and a U.K. Pat. No.4594 issued to Keller on December 3, 1892 all of which, however, suffer the following common disadvantages: 1). At the instant the person is descended down to reach the ground surface from a higher place, the descending speed of the person may still possibly cause'him hurt.

2). The person to be descended down is not sheltered and protected, and he may be hurt by collision with objects which reside in his descending trajectory, or burnt by a fire he encounters during his descent from a tall building.

3). The descending speed of a person or an object to be descended cannot be automatically regulated according to the weight of the person or the object.

4). Normally, the number of people these devices are capable of descending down to the ground surface is limited to one.

It is therefore attempted by the applicant to deal with the above shortcomings encountered in the prior art.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a fire-escape apparatus capable of rescuing a number of fire refugees at a time.

It is therefore another object of the present invention to provide a fire-escape apparatus capable of sheltering the fire refugees during their descent.

It is further an object of the present invention to provide a fire-escape apparatus capable of automatically regulating the descending speed in accordance with the weight to be descended.

According to the present invention, a fire-escape apparatus includes a horizontal shaft having two ends which have been adapted to be rotatably mounted on the top of a building, which has an empty space right beneath the horizontal shaft, with at least one of the ends being connected to a rotation retarding device capable of retarding the rotating speed of the horizontal shaft, two rope-like members which have their first ends securely attached to the horizontal shaft seperately and are capable of being wound on the shaft in different directions with respect to each other and in a way that if one of the rope-like members is nearly fully wound on the shaft, the other member is nearly free from being wound on the shaft to reach the ground surface on which the building is built and two casings securely attached to the second ends, opposite to the first ends, of the rope-like members and capable of carrying therein fire refugees so that should the building get a fire a number of fire refugees can escape the fire from one of the casings and when the one casing descends from the top of the building to the ground surface by gravity, the other casing will be ascended automatically to the top to be ready for rescuing another group of fire refugees.

Preferably the present invention further includes a reel means which is coaxially mounted and fixed on the horizontal shaft and on which the rope-like members are securely attached to the two end portions thereof respectively.

Preferably the present invention further includes a securing means which can secure one of the casings on the top and release it after a number of fire refugees have entered therein.

Preferably the present invention further includes a shock absorber for enabling either one of the casings to be descended to rest on the ground surface without a shock. Preferably the present invention further includes a first braking means which is responsive to the rotating speed of the horizontal shaft and will effect a braking force on the horizontal shaft when the rotating speed reaches a predetermined value.

Preferably the present invention further includes a guiding means which is capable of guiding each of the casings to ascend and descend along a fixed path.

Preferably the present invention further includes a second braking means which will effect further a braking force on the horizonal shaft when any one of the casings is descended down to a predetermined level.

Preferably any one of the casings includes a first door from which a number of fire refugees at the top can enter into the casing and a second door provided on the opposite side on the casings of the first door and from which the fire refugees can disembark.

Preferably the present invention further includes a stopping device which can engage with the second door to prevent the casing from being ascended when the second door is kept open to allow the fire refugees to escape therefrom.

Preferably the present invention further includes a generator engaging with the guiding means and adapted to provide energy source to a lighting device in the casing. Certainly, the reel means can include a first reel on which one of the rope-like members is to be wound and a second reel on which the other one of the rope-like members is to be wound.

Certainly, the first door can be of a retractable grille type. The securing means can include two balls, a securing block having two cavities which are provided on the two sides thereof opposite with respect to each other for receiving therein the two balls respectively and are capable of being slid therein the two balls and protruding the two balls out of the side edge planes of the two sides so that the two balls are incapable of falling out of the two side edge planes, an actuating piece capable of governing the two balls in one of the two possible states that are, a first state in which the balls are wholly received in the two cavities respectively and, a second state in which they are protruded out of the side edge planes respectively, an actuating mechanism which is mounted on the upper portion of the casing, engages with the actuating piece and engages with the first door so that when the grille type first door is retracted to be open the two balls are governed in the second state and when the grille type first door is extended to be closed the two balls are kept in the first state by actuating the actuating mechanism, from the inside of the casing, a securing piece secured at the top, a vertical shaft passing through the securing piece, having an upper annular flange positioned above the securing piece and having a lower angular flange positioned beneath the securing piece, a cushioning member provided between the securing piece and the lower flange, two angular pieces provided on the opposite sides of the vertical shaft, pivotally secured on the securing piece and each of which includes a first arm having a first free end engagable with the top surface of the lower flange and a second pivotal end and a second arm having a first pivotal end integrally formed with the second pivotal end and having a second free end having a protrusion engagable with one of the two balls which are governed in the second state so that when the casing is ascended to the top the securing block will impact upon and urge the first free end upward and thus, in turn, the protrusion will engage with and retain thereon one of the two balls and two elastic members each of which is mounted between the second arm and the securing piece so that when the balls are actuated to be in the first state each of the elastic members will pull the second free end away from the axis of the vertical shaft.

For convenience, the shock absorber is provided on the ground surface and the casing is to rest thereon.

The first braking means can include a disk coaxially and movably mounted on the horizontal shaft, a flexible member having a first end fixed on the horizontal shaft and a second end fixed on the disk, a weight attached to the flexible member, a sensing switch which is held adjacent to the disk and is actuated by the disk when the rotation speed of the horizontal shaft reaches a predetermined value while in turn, the flexible member pulls the disk to actuate the sensing switch giving a first signal when actuated so that a hydraulic brake device mounted on the horizontal shaft and capable of responding to the first signal applies a braking force to the horizontal shaft.

Certainly, the guiding means can include a guiding rail provided adjacent to one side of one of the casings and two guiding wheels provided at one side of that casing and engagable with the guiding rail for guiding the casing both in ascending and descending movement.

Certainly, the second braking means can include a braking disk coaxially fixed-on the horizontal shaft, a sensing piece mounted on the lower portion of the guiding rail, positioned at a height higher than the shock absorber, protruding in the trajectory of one of the casings and capable of effecting a second signal when the one casing is descended down to pass through it and a brake unit capable of cooperating with the brake disk to result in a brake force when receiving the second signal.

The present invention may best be understood with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. I is a schematic overall view of a fire-escape apparatus according to the present invention; Fig. 2 is a schematic view showing a preferred embodiment of a first braking means of a fire-escape apparatus according to the present invention; Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing a preferred embodiment of a casing according to the present invention; Fig. 4 is a schematic view showing how a stopping device engages with a second door of a casing of a fire-escape apparatus according to the present invention; Fig.SA is a schematic view showing an actuating piece, two balls and a securing block of a securing means of a fire-escape apparatus according to the present invention; Fig. 5B is a schematic view showing the cooperation of an actuating piece, two balls, a securing block and an actuating mechanism of a fire-escape apparatus according to the present invention; Fig. 5C is a schematic view showing how an actuating mechanism cooperates with a first door of a fire-escape apparatus according to the present invention; Fig. 6A is a schematic view showing a securing piece, a vertical shaft, two angular pieces, two balls and a securing block of a securing means of a fire-escape apparatus according to the present invention; Fig. 6B is a schematic view showing two balls and two angular pieces of a securing means of a fire-escape apparatus according to the present invention;; Fig. 7A is a schematic view showing a sensing piece, which engages with a casing while being descended, of a second braking means of a fire escape apparatus according to the present invention; and Fig. 7B is a schematic view showing a sensing piece, which engages with a casing while being ascended, of a second braking means of a fire escape apparatus according to the present invention.

Referring now to Fig. 1, a fire-escape apparatus according to the present invention includes a horizontal shaft 1, a reel means including two reels -2, two rope-like members 3, cables or the like, a first braking means 4, a second braking means 6, a securing means 7, a guiding means 8, two casings 9 and two shock absorbers 10. Horizontal shaft 1 has two ends of which been adapted to be rotatably mounted on the top 1001 of a building 100, which has an empty space 1002 right beneath horizontal shaft 1, with at least one of the two ends connected to a rotation retarding device, which is preferred as the one which is described as the hydraulic retarding mechanism 12 in mycopending U.K. patentapplica- tin filed on December 1984 and bearing an Appin.No. 8432540 capable of retarding the rotation speed of horizontal shaft 1. Rope-like members 3, which have their first ends securely attached to reels 2 respectively which are coaxially mounted and fixed on horizontal shaft 1 respectively, are capable of being wound on shaft 1 in different directions with respect to each other and in a way that if one of rope-like members 3 is nearly fully wound on one of reels 2, the other member 3 is nearly free from being wound on the other one of reels 2 to reach the ground surface 1010 on which building 100 is built.

Two casings 9 are securely attached to the second ends, opposite to the first ends, of rope-like members 3 and are capable of carrying therein a number of fire refugees. Thus, should building 100 get a fire, a number of fire refugees can escape the fire from one of casings 9 and when the one casing 9 descends from top 1001 to ground surface 1010, the other casing 9 will be automatically ascended to top 1001 to be ready for rescuing another group of fire refugees.

First braking means 4 as shown in Fig. 2, which is responsive to the rotating speed of horizontal shaft 1 and will effect a braking force on shaft 1 when the rotating speed reaches a predetermined value, includes a disk 41 coaxially and movably mounted on shaft 1, a plurality of flexible members 42, e.g. elastic strips, having first ends thereof 421 fixed on shaft 1 and second ends thereof 422 fixed on disk 41, a plurality of weights 43 respectively attached to flexible members 42, a sensing switch 44 which is held in adjacent to disk 41, is acuated by disk 41 when the rotating speed of shaft 1 reaches a predetermined value and in turn, flexible members 42 pull disk 41 to actuate sensing switch 44 which is capable of effecting a first signal when actuated, and a hydraulic brake device 45 mounted on shaft 1 that is capable of responding to the first signal to apply a braking force to shaft 1.

As shown in Figs. 3 and 4, each one of casings 9 includes a first door 91 through which a number of fire refugees at top 1001 can enter into the casing 9 and can be of a retractable grille type and a second door 92 provided on the opposite side on the casing 9 of first door 91 and from which the a number of fire refugees can disembark. A stopping device 90, which is kept fixed relative to ground surface 1010, can engage with second door 92 to prevent the casing 9 from being ascended when second door 92 is kept open and in engagement with stopping device 90 at a portion 921 thereof to allow the fire refugees to escape therefrom. With the help of a self-reclosing apparatus 93, a ball 9211 retained in portion 921 will allow the second door 92 to be automatically closed again when the second door 92 is no longer held open.

As shown in Figs 5A - 5C and 6A - 6B, securing means 7, being capable of securing one of casings 9 on top 1001 and releasing it after a number of fire refugees having entered therein, includes a securing block 71, two balls 711, an actuating piece 72, an actuating mechanism 73, a securing piece 74 secured at top 1001, a vertical shaft 75, a cushioning member 76, two angular pieces 77 and two elastic members 78. Securing block 71 has two cavities 710 which are provided on the two sides thereof opposite with respect to each other for receiving therein the balls 711 respectively, are capable of holding therein the balls 711 and protruding balls 711 out of the side edge planes of the two sides and are incapable of releasing balls 711 out of the two side edge planes.Actuating piece 72 is capable of governing balls 711 in one of the two states which are a first state in which balls 711 are wholly received in cavities 710 respectively and a second state in which balls 711 are partly protruded out of the side edge planes respectively. Actuating mechanism 73, which is mounted on the upper portion of the casing 9, includes a first bevel gear 731 mounted on the lower end of actuating piece 72, a return spring 732 having a first end attached to the upper portion of the casing 9 and a second end fixed to actuating piece 72 in such a way that after actuating piece 72 governs balls 711 in the first state, return spring 732 will return acutating piece 72 to govern balls 711 in the second state when the first bevel gear 731 is free from being actuated, a second bevel gear 733 which engages with first bevel gear 731, has the axis thereof perpendicular to the axis of first bevel gear 731 and coaxially fixed on a shaft 734 which is rotatably mounted on the upper portion of the casing 9, has a bent end 7341 and is coaxially and fixedly provided thereon with a reel 7342 capable of winding thereon a rope 7343 to an end of which is attached a puller 7344 which is positioned at the inside of the casing 9, a movable protrusion 735 engagable with bent end 7341 and an actuating rope 736 which has an end fixed to movable protrusion 735 and a second end fixed to the first retractable column 911 of first door 91 so that when first door 91 is retracted to be open balls 711 are governed in the second state and when first door 91 is extended to be closed resulting in column 911 pulling, through rope 736, protrusion 735 into disengagement with bent end 7341 to enable puller 7344 to be pulled down at the inside of the casing 9 and second bevel gear 733 to actuate actuating piece 72 to govern balls 711 in the first state. It is to be noted that when first door 91 is retracted to open it is impossible for a person in the casing 9 to pull down puller 7344.

Vertical shaft 75, passing through securing piece 74, has an upper annular flange 751 positioned above securing piece 74, an intermediate annularflange 752 positioned beneath securing piece 74 and a lower annular flange 753. Cushioning member 76 is provided between securing piece 74 and intermediate flange 752 to act as a cushioning medium.

Angular pieces 77 are provided on the opposite sides of vertical shaft 75 and pivotalysecured on securing piece 74, each of which includes a first arm 771 which has a first free end 7711 engagable with the top surface of lower flange 753 and a second pivotal end 7712 and a second arm 772 which has a first pivotal end 7722 integrally formed with second pivotal end 7712 and a second free end 7721 having a protrusion 77210 engagable with one of balls 711 which are governed in the second state so that when the casing 9 is ascended to top 1001 securing block 72 will impact upon and urge upwardly first free ends 7711 which in turn, inwardly move second free end 7721 and thus, in turn, protrusions 77210 will engage with and retain thereon balls 711.Each of elastic members 78 is mounted between second arm 772 and securing piece 74 so that when balls 711 are actuated to be in the first state each elastic member 78 will pull second free end 772 away from the axis of vertical shaft 75, Shock absorber 10 as shown in Fig. 1, is capable of enabling either one of the casings 9 to be descended to rest on ground surface 1010 without a shock, and can be provided on ground surface 1010 where the casing 9isto rest.

Referring now to Figs. 1 and 3, guiding means 8, capable of guiding each of casings 9 to ascend and descend along a fixed path, includes a guiding rail 81 provided adjacent to one side of one of casings 9 and two guiding wheels 82 provided at one side of the one casing 9 and engagable with guiding rail 81 for guiding the one casing 9 both in ascending and descending movement. With a rotating wheel 850 engaging with guiding rail 81 while the casings 9 descend or ascend, a generator 85 provided on the one side of the one casing 9 can provide a lighting device in the one casing 9 with an energy source.

Referring now to Figs. 1,7A and 7B, second braking means 6, being capable of effecting further a braking force on shaft 1 when any one of casings 9 is descended down to a predetermined level, includes a braking disk 61 coaxially fixed on shaft 1, a sensing device 62 having a sensing piece 620 which is mounted on the lower portion of guiding rail 81, positioned at a height higher than shock absorber 10, protruding in the trajectory of one of the casings 9 and capable of ensuring that sensing device 62 effects a second signal when the one casing 9 is descended down to pass through it and a brake unit 63 capable of cooperating with brake disk 61 to result in a brake force for additionally reducing the rotating speed of shaft 1 when receiving the second signal.

Referring to Figs. 3, 7A and 7B, it can be noticed that the bottom of the side which guiding wheels 82 are provided can be provided with a roller 64 for engagement with sensing piece 620 and the side itself is provided with an abrasion-resistant material 65 for protecting casing 9 from abrasive aggression by sensing piece 620.

It can also be noted that the present apparatus can only be mounted on top 1001 of building 100 in that should a fire first begin on an intermediate floor of building 100, the persons on a floor beneath the intermediate floor can escape the fire from the fire escape stairs while the persons on a floor higher than the intermediate floor can reach top 1001 for escaping the fire from the present apparatus.

Claims (16)

1. A fire-escape apparatus characterized in that said apparatus comprises: a horizontal shaft having two ends of which been adapted to be rotatably mounted on the top of a building, which has an empty space right beneath said horizontal shaft, with at least one of said ends being connected to a rotation retarding device capable of retarding the rotating speed of said horizontal shaft; two rope-like members which have their first ends securely attached to said horizontal shaftseperately and are capable of being wound on said shaft in different directions with respect to each other and in a way that if one of said rope-like members is nearly full wound on said shaft, the other member is nearly free from being wound on said shaft to reach the ground surface on which said building is built; and two casings securely attached to the second ends, opposite to said first ends, of said rope-like members and capable of carrying therein fire refugees whereby should said building get a fire a number of fire refugees can escape said fire from one of said casings and when said one casing descends from said top of said building to said ground surface by gravity, the other casing will be ascended automatically to said top to be ready for rescuing another group of fire refugees.

2. Afire-escape apparatus according to Claim 1 characterized in that said apparatus further comprises a reel means which is coaxially mounted and fixed on said horizontal shaft and on which said rope-like members are securely attached to the two end portions thereof respectively.

3. Afire-escape apparatus according to Claim 1 or 2 characterized in that said apparatus further comprises a securing means which can secure one of said casings on said top and release it after a number of fire refugees has entered therein.

4. A fire-escape apparatus according to any one of Claims 1 - 3 characterized in that said apparatus further comprises a shock absorber for enabling that either one of said casings can be descended to rest on said ground surface without a shock.

5. Afire-escape apparatus according to any one of Claims 1 - 4 characterized in that said apparatus further comprises a first braking means which is responsive to the rotating speed of said horizontal shaft and will effect a braking force on said horizontal shaft when said rotating speed reaches a predetermined value.

6. Afire-escape apparatus according to any one of Claims 1 - 5 characterized in that said apparatus furthercomprises a guiding means which is capable of guiding each of said casings to ascend and descend along a fixed path.

7. Afire-escape apparatus according to any one of Claims 1 - 6 characterized in that said apparatus further comprises a second braking means which will effect further a braking force on said horiziontal shaftwhen any one of said casings is descended down to a predetermined level.

8. Afire-escape apparatus according to any one of Claims 1 - 7 characterized in that wherein any one of said casings includes: a first doorfrom which a number of fire refugees at said top can enter into said casing; and a second door provided on the opposite side on said casing of said first door and from which said a number of fire refugees can get off.

9. A fire-escape apparatus according to Claim 8 characterized in that said apparatus further comprises a stopping device which can engage with said second door to prevent said one casing from being ascended when said second door is kept open to allow said a number of fire refugees to escape therefrom.

10. A fire-escape apparatus according to any one of Claims 1 - 9 characterized in that said apparatus further comprises a generator engaging with said guiding means and adapted to provide energy source to a lighting device in said casing.

11. A fire-escape apparatus according to any one of Claims 2 - 10 characterized in that wherein said reel means includes: a first reel on which one of said rope-like members is to be wound; and a second reel on which the other one of said rope-like members is to be wound.

12. Afire-escape apparatus according to any one of Claims 8 - 11 characterized in that wherein said first door is of a retractable grille type and said securing means includes: two balls; a securing block having two cavities which are provided on the two sides thereof opposite with respect to each other for receiving therein said two balls respectively, are capable of being slid therein said two balls and protruding said two balls out of the side edge planes of said two sides and are incapable of falling said two balls out of said two side edge planes; an actuating piece capable of governing said two balls in one of the two states that are a first state they are wholly received in said two cavities respectively and a second state they are protruded out of said side edge planes respectively;; an actuating mechanism which is mounted on the upper portion of said casing, engages with said actuating piece and engages with said first door so that when said grille type first door is retracted to be open said two balls are governed in said second state and when said grille type first door is extended to be close said two balls are capable of being in said first state by actuating said actuating piece, through actuating said actuating mechanism, from the inside of said casing; a securing piece secured at said top; a vertical shaft passing through said securing piece, having an upper annular flange positioned above said securing piece and having a lower annular flange positioned beneath said securing piece; a cushioning member provided between said securing piece and said lower flange; two angular pieces provided on the opposite sides of said vertical shaft, pivotally secured on said securing piece and each of which includes: a first arm having a first free end engagable with the top surface of said lower flange and a second pivotal end; and a second arm having a first pivotal end integrally formed with said second pivotal end and having a second free end having a protrusion engagable with one of said two balls which are governed in said second state so that when said casing is ascended to said top said securing block will impact upon and urge upwardly said lower flange which in turn, will urge upwardly said first free end and thus, in turn, said protrusion will engage with and retain thereon said one of said two balls; and two elastic members each of which is mounted between said second arm and said securing piece so that when said balls are actuated to be in said first state each of said elastic members will pull said second free end away from the axis of said vertical shaft.

13. Afire-escape apparatus according to any one of Claims 4 - 12 characterized in that wherein said shock absorber is provided on said ground surface and said casing is to rest thereon.

14. Afire-escape apparatus according to any one of Claims 5 - 13 characterized in that wherein said first braking means includes: a disk coaxially and movably mounted on said horizontal shaft; a flexible member having a first end fixed on said horizontal shaft and a second end fixed on said disk; a weight attached to said flexible member; a sensing switch which is held in adjacent to said disk, is actuated by said disk when the rotating speed of said horizontal shaft reaches a predetermined value and in turn, said flexible member pull said disk to actuate said sensing switch and is capable of effecting a first signal when actuated; and a hydraulic brake device mounted on said horizontal shaft and capable of responding to said first signal to apply a braking force to said horizontal shaft.

15. Afire-escape apparatus acording to any one of Claims 6 - 14 characterized in that wherein said guiding means includes: a guiding rail provided adjacent to one side of one of said casings; and two guiding wheels provided at said one side of said one casing and engagable with said guiding rail for guiding said one casing both in ascending and descending movement.

16. Afire-escape apparatus according to any one of Claims 7 - 15 characterized in that wherein said second braking means includes: a braking disk coaxially fixed on said horizontal shaft; a sensing piece mounted on the lower portion of said guiding rail, positioned at a height higher than said shock absorber, protruding in the trajectory of one of said casings and capable of effecting a second signal when said one casing is descended down to pass therethrough; and a brake unit capable of cooperating with said brake disk to result a brake force when receiving said second signal.