GB2573508A

GB2573508A - Balcony

Info

Publication number: GB2573508A
Application number: GB1806551.6A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Hill Timothy
Original assignee: Sapphire Balconies Ltd
Current assignee: Sapphire Balconies Ltd
Priority date: 2018-04-23
Filing date: 2018-04-23
Publication date: 2019-11-13
Also published as: GB201806551D0

Abstract

The balcony 100 is for fitting to a façade of a building, the balcony having an upper surface 101 wherein the balcony includes a cavity 108 within the balcony, the cavity being located below the upper surface. The balcony further includes an upper door 104 which is provided in the upper surface and openable to expose the cavity and a ladder located within the cavity such that when the upper door is opened a path is defined through the balcony from the upper surface to a point below the balcony which is navigable via the ladder. The ladder may be pivotally mounted at one end (208, figure 4) to the balcony and may take the form of either an extendible ladder, a rigid ladder or a rope ladder. The ladder may form a part of lower surface of the balcony. The upper door may be lockable and connectable to a fire alarm system such that the upper door is configured to unlock when the fire alarm system of the building indicates the presence of a fire within the building Also disclosed is a kit comprising first and second balconies.

Description

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a balcony with an integrated ladder.

Background

The risks presented by a fire in a high-rise building are clear. A long distance to the ground combined with limited access to or from properties within a high-rise building can pose a significant risk to life in the event of a fire.

Generally there are two approaches adopted to mitigate this risk. The first is to ensure, during construction of the building, that each property within is as isolated as possible (from a thermal view point) from adjacent properties. This is referred to as compartmentation. This can help ensure that a fire within one property does not spread to others within the same building, or at least if it does so the fire is contained for enough time for the local fire services to attend. However, even this can fail, and if there are no alternative escape routes within a building (some buildings contain only a single stairwell) then there is a significant risk to life.

A second approach, sometimes combined with the first, is to provide external fire escapes, such as those seen ubiquitously in American cities. However, these external fire escapes can pose significant security risks, as they can be used to effect entry to a building via unlocked windows etc. Moreover, such fire escapes are often considered to aesthetically detract from a building to which they are fitted.

There is a need then for a fire escape which overcomes the above issues.

Summary

Accordingly, the invention provides a balcony for fitting to a fagade of a building, the balcony having an upper surface;

wherein the balcony includes:

a cavity, within the balcony, the cavity being located below the upper surface;

an upper door, which is provided in the upper surface and openable to expose the cavity; and a ladder, located within the cavity, such that when the upper door is open a path is defined through the balcony from the upper surface to a point below the balcony which is navigable via the ladder.

Advantageously, a fire escape can be integrated into the balcony which (i) does not detract from the aesthetic appeal of the building to which they are fitted; and (ii) poses a lesser security risk than conventional fire escapes.

Optional features of the invention will now be set out. These are applicable singly or in any combination with any aspect of the invention.

The balcony may also have a lower surface and the cavity may be located between the upper surface and the lower surface. The lower surface need not be planar and may simply be formed by the framework of the balcony itself.

The ladder may be pivotally mounted at one end to the balcony. This can allow the ladder to provide a shallower incline, which may increase the accessibility of the ladder.

The ladder may be an extendable ladder, extendable in a direction away from the upper door. This can allow the ladder to be provided in a smaller cavity of the balcony.

The ladder may be a rigid ladder. This may be more stable than, for example, a rope ladder. The ladder may be extendable as above, or have a fixed length. A fixed-length ladder may provide further stability to users compared to an extendable ladder.

The ladder may be a rope ladder, fixed at one end of the balcony. Such a ladder may be cheaper to produce and install, and may require less space within the balcony than other ladders.

The balcony may include a lower door, which is provided in the lower surface and openable to expose the cavity. Advantageously, this can increase the aesthetic appeal of the balcony and diminish security risk posed by the ladder.

The upper door may be linked to the lower door, such that opening the upper door causes the lower door to open. Conveniently, this can reduce the time required for the ladder to deploy and therefore decrease the time required to evacuate the building.

The ladder may form at least a part of the lower surface of the balcony. Advantageously, this can increase the aesthetic appeal of the balcony and diminish the security risk posed by the ladder whilst not necessitating a further lower door to be installed in the balcony.

The upper door may be lockable, and connectable to a fire alarm system of a building to which the balcony is fitted, wherein the upper door is configured to unlock when the fire alarm system of the building indicates the presence of a fire within the building.

According to a second aspect, the invention provides a kit comprising:

a first balcony, for fitting to a fagade of a building, the first balcony having a first cavity within which is a first ladder; and a second balcony, for fitting to the fagade of the building, the second balcony having a second cavity within which is a second ladder, the second cavity having a door located in an upper surface of the second balcony;

wherein the first ladder is moveable from a first position, entirely within the cavity, to a second position in which it extends from the first balcony to the upper surface of the second balcony, and the first cavity and the second cavity are arranged such that, when the first balcony is fitted to the fagade above the second balcony, a bottom part of the first ladder, when the first ladder is in the second position, does not overlap with the door of the second cavity.

Advantageously, this can ensure that opening the door of the second cavity is not restricted by the deployment of ladder from the first balcony and/or that a user descending from the first balcony does not arrive at a position on the second balcony where the door has been opened, leaving a hole in the upper surface of the second balcony.

Each of the balconies of the kit according to the second aspect may have any of the features of the balcony according to the first aspect.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1A shows a perspective view of a balcony according to an embodiment of the present invention attached to the fagade of a building;

Figure 1B shows a cross-sectional view of the balcony of Figure 1A;

Figure 2 shows a cross-sectional view of the balcony of Figure 1A after the ladder has been deployed;

Figure 3 shows a cross-sectional view of a variant balcony according to the present invention;

Figure 4 shows a cross-sectional view of the variant balcony of Figure 3 after the ladder has been deployed; and

Figure 5 shows a perspective view of an installed kit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description and Further Optional Features

Aspects and embodiments of the present invention will now be discussed with reference to the accompanying figures. Further aspects and embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

Figures 1A and 1B show, respectively, a perspective view and a cross-sectional view of a balcony 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The balcony is fixed to a fagade 102 of a building, adjacent to an exit 103 of the building. The balcony comprises an upper surface 101, and a lower surface 105.

Between the upper and lower surfaces is a cavity 108, which in this example is at least partially defined by upper door 104 and lower door 106. Located within the cavity is a ladder 107. The ladder may be, in some examples, a collapsible ladder which can be extended in length. Alternatively the ladder may be a rope ladder, which is coiled within the cavity. In further examples the ladder may be provided with a pantograph-like structure or may be a foldable ladder..

Figure 2 shows the balcony 100 of Figures 1A and 1B when the doors 104 and 106 are open and the ladder 107 deployed. Upper door 104 in this example is hinged along one side, and can be swung up and away from the cavity 108 which contains the ladder. Lower door 106 is similarly hinged, and can be swung down and away from the cavity 108. The ladder 107, which is fixed at an upper end to the balcony, then extends downwards from the balcony. The result is a path, navigable from the upper surface 101 of the balcony to a point below the balcony and which passes through the cavity 108. Advantageously, when not required the ladder is stowed within the balcony and so does not pose a security risk nor is it unsightly or obstruct day-to-day use of the balcony.

Figure 3 shows a variant balcony 200 according to the present invention in a cross-sectional view. Features in common with Figures 1A - 2 are indicated by like reference numerals. In this example, the upper 204 and lower 203 doors are elongated in comparison to the previous doors but they are not necessarily so. The ladder 207 in this embodiment is pivotally mounted at point 208 to the balcony, so as to be rotatable around that point. Whilst, in this example, the ladder can be described as extending along an axis directed away from the fagade 102, the ladder may instead extend along an axis parallel to the surface of the fagade 102 (i.e. in the plane of Figure 3) or indeed at any angle across the balcony.

Figure 4 shows the balcony 200 of Figure 3 when the ladder has been deployed. As with the arrangement shown in Figure 2, the upper door 204 and lower door 203 have been opened and swung away from the cavity 205. However in this instance the ladder 207 pivots around point 208. In this example the ladder is also a collapsible ladder, and so increases in length. However this is not necessarily the case, and the ladder could be of a fixed length and simply rotate around point 208. The result is a path, navigable from the upper surface 101 of the balcony to a point below the balcony and which passes through the cavity 205.

In all examples, the presence of the lower door 203 is not strictly necessary and may be omitted. In examples where the lower door is present, it may be mechanically linked to the upper door, such that opening the upper door causes the lower door to open. In some examples, a lower portion of the ladder may form a part of the lower surface of the balcony and/or a part of the lower door.

In all examples, the upper door may be connected to a fire alarm system of the building to which the balcony is fitted. The upper door may be lockable, and configured to remain locked until the fire alarm system of the building indicates the presence of a fire.

Figure 5 shows a perspective view of a kit according to the present invention when fitted to the fagade 102 of a building. Features shared with those shown in Figures 1A - 2 are indicated by like reference numerals.

The kit shown comprises a first balcony 200a and a second balcony 200b, where the first balcony is fitted to the fagade above the second balcony. The first balcony has a first upper door 204a, which is openable to reveal a first cavity within which is a ladder as discussed previously. The second balcony has a second upper door 204b, which is openable to reveal a second cavity which contains a ladder as discussed previously. However, the first upper door 204a and second upper door 204b are offset relative to one another. Therefore, the region 301 of the second balcony onto which the ladder of the first balcony will rest (or above which it will hang) when released does not overlap the second upper door 204b. This can ensure that a navigable path is formed from the upper surface 101a of the first balcony to a point below the second balcony without requiring the ladder of the first balcony to be retracted and that the landing point of a person using the ladder from the first balcony on the second balcony is on a part of the second balcony which is unaffected by the use of the door and ladder of the second balcony. This can prevent, for example, a situation in which a person using the ladder to climb down from the first balcony arrives at the second balcony at a point where there is a hole in the upper surface of the second balcony because of the opening of the second upper door.

Offsetting the first upper door and second upper door is only one of several ways to achieve the same effect i.e. a navigable path is formed from the upper surface 101a of the first balcony to a point below the second balcony without requiring the ladder of the first balcony to be retracted and with a safe and secure landing area at the base of the ladder from the first balcony. For example, it may be that the ladders within each of the cavities are provided with a length and pivotable range which ensures that the bottom end of one ladder does not impinge on the door of the balcony below.

As can be imagined, in a building comprising a large number of apartments this system can allow the formation of an obstruction free fire escape route from the uppermost apartment to the ground level.

While the invention has been described in conjunction with the exemplary embodiments described above, many equivalent modifications and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art when given this disclosure. Accordingly, the exemplary embodiments of the invention set forth above are considered to be illustrative and not limiting. Various changes to the described embodiments may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A balcony for fitting to a fagade of a building, the balcony having an upper surface; wherein the balcony includes:

a cavity, within the balcony, the cavity being located below the upper surface;

an upper door, which is provided in the upper surface and openable to expose the cavity; and a ladder, located within the cavity, such that when the upper door is opened a path is defined through the balcony from the upper surface to a point below the balcony which is navigable via the ladder.

2. The balcony of claim 1, wherein the ladder is pivotally mounted at one end to the balcony.

3. The balcony of claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the ladder is an extendable ladder, extendable in a direction away from the upper door.

4. The balcony of claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the ladder is a rigid ladder with a fixed length.

5. The balcony of claim 1, wherein the ladder is a rope ladder, fixed at one end to the balcony.

6. The balcony of any preceding claim, further including a lower door, which is provided in the lower surface and openable to expose the cavity.

7. The balcony of claim 6, wherein the upper door is linked to the lower door, such that opening the upper door causes the lower door to open.

8. The balcony of any of claims 1-5, wherein the ladder forms at least a part of the lower surface of the balcony.

9. The balcony of any preceding claim, wherein the upper door is lockable, and connectable to a fire alarm system of a building to which the balcony is fitted, wherein the upper door is configured to unlock when the fire alarm system of the building indicates the presence of a fire within the building.

10. A kit comprising:

a first balcony, for fitting to a fapade of a building, the first balcony having a first cavity within which is a first ladder; and a second balcony, for fitting to the fagade of the building, the second balcony

5 having a second cavity within which is a second ladder, the second cavity having a door located in an upper surface of the second balcony;

wherein the first ladder is moveable from a first position, contained within the first cavity, to a second position in which it extends from the first balcony towards the upper surface of the second balcony, and the first cavity and the second cavity are arranged such

10 that, when the first balcony is fitted to the facade above the second balcony, a bottom part of the first ladder, when the first ladder is in the second position, does not overlap horizontally with the door of the second cavity.