MXPA02007694A - Rescue system for high rise buildings. - Google Patents

Abstract

A system for the evacuation of individuals trapped in multiple storey buildings by gliding down a rescue sleeve. The sleeve (12) is composed of sections (20), each section being made of a sheet material strengthened by a circumferential rigid support member (22), the sections are connected to each other to form a continuous envelope. At least a pair of cables (26; 27) are provided, thread along the sleeve, one (26) at the bottom and one (27) at the top generatrix thereof. A pair of winch systems (52; 54) are provided for winding the cables (26; 27) into a dedicated location (50) at the building storey from which rescue is requested, so that the sleeve (12) becomes folded into a compact package. Coil Springs (60; 62) are used for selectively ejecting and unfolding the sleeve down to ground level where it becomes tied to stationary objects (16; 17).

Description

RESCUE SYSTEM FOR ELEVATED BUILDINGS Field of the Invention The present invention relates to rescue systems for evacuating people trapped in elevated buildings in case of an emergency situation, typically a fire.

More specifically, the invention relates to fire escapes using tubes or sleeves through which the 10 people can slide down from the building.

Background of the Invention The first known attempts to solve the problem in question are described in US Patents Nos. * 15 908. 034 (Dec. 29, 1908) and 1. 520 440 (Dec. 23, 1924) both in the name of Frank Pyleck and titled "Automatic Fire Escape." In the first named patent a sleeve or folding slide is described, normally stored in a box held in hinged form. In the position ready to be used (standby), the box rests against the outer wall of the building, next to a window. When it is needed, the box is released and it is allowed, under the action of springs, to hit the window to break it and open it. The sleeve comes loose and extends downwards. The ejection of the sleeve, as well as its support, in a downward inclined position to ground level, is effected by a helical spring wound around the sleeve along its entire length, while the outlet end rests freely on the ground.

They are also described. a pair of strings that pass along the sleeve and through which the sleeve can be collapsed and folded to be reinserted into the storage box.

In the second of the aforementioned patents, the inventor proposed replacing the helical supporting spring with a rail or solid rail permanently mounted on the wall of the building, above the window and which slopes downwards, parallel to the path of the sleeve unfolded The sleeve, after being deployed, is suspended from the rail by a series of rolling supports running along the rail.

Obviously, these solutions may have had some merit at the beginning of the last century, used in buildings of, say, four or five floors maximum, but are out of consideration in modern high-rise buildings. Therefore, and only very recently, other solutions have been proposed; see in this respect U.S. Patent Nos. 4,099,596 (1978); 4,240,520 (1980); 4,398,621 (1983), and 4,580,659 (1986) each of which provides a different approach although none has been successfully implemented commercially.

Accordingly, the general purpose of the present invention is to solve the deficiencies of fire escape systems employing sleeves or sliding slides.

Another purpose of the invention is to use a tensioning cable as the sole means for supporting the sliding sleeve. Still another purpose of the invention is to provide stretches of limiting cables, associated with the same tensioning cable to form angled sections along the sleeve and thus locally moderate its angle of inclination.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Having in mind the aforementioned purposes, the present invention provides a system for evacuating people trapped in multi-story buildings by sliding them down a tubular rescue sleeve stored in the form of a compact package located on an elevated floor of the building . The system comprises a sleeve composed of sections, each of which is formed of a sheet material reinforced by a rigid support member. A first tension wire extends along the sleeve following the upper generatrix thereof and passes freely through eyelets provided in the support members. Means are provided to selectively eject and deploy the sleeve along the first tension wire to ground level and to attach the first tension wire to a fixed object located at a remote location.

Other novel features and purposes of this invention will become apparent on the basis of the following detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Brief Description of the Drawings Figure 1 is a schematic perspective view of the emergency rescue system in its operative position; Figure 2 is an enlarged view of the end downstream of the rescue sleeve; Figure 2a is a side view showing the end of the sleeve; Figures 3a-3d are construction details related to the rings interposed between successive sections of the sleeve; Figure 4a illustrates the connection between adjacent sections of the sleeve; Figure 4b is a partial side view of the Figure Figure 5 illustrates an arrangement that forms an elbow; Figure 6 is a construction detail related to the attachment of auxiliary cables; Figure 7 is a side view, partly in section, of the storage compartment of the sleeve taken along line VII-VII of Figure 8, Figure 8 is a view taken along line VIII-) VIII of Figure 7;, Figure 9 is a view taken along line IX-IX of Figure 7; Figure 9a is a construction detail related to 15 Figure 9; Figure 10 is a view taken along the line X-X of Figure 7; Figure 11 is a view taken along line XI-XI of Figure 7; Figure 12 is a view taken along line XII-XII of Figure 8; Figure 13 is a section similar to that of Figure 7, following the ejection of the sleeve from the waiting position; Y Figure 14 shows the system in the unfolded position before anchoring, as illustrated in Figure 1.

Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments Figure 1 illustrates a multi-story building 10 (residential or hotel) where a fire has started.

The rescue sleeve or slide 12 has been ejected as will be described in more detail below. The outlet end of the sleeve 12 is brought (for example, by a specially trained rescue team) to a convenient evacuation point, which is as far from the building as the length of the sleeve or the surrounding topography allows (buildings near or other obstacles). As already mentioned, the sleeve is self-supporting by anchoring the outlet end of the sleeve, for example by cables 14 and 15 connected at least by the tension wire 27 (see below) to any fixed object, such as vehicles parked in the neighborhood, trees, lighting columns and the like, schematically represented by posts 16 and 17. Preferably, however, in order to have better support and greater security, a number of auxiliary anchor cables 18 must be available and used as it is illustrated and will be described later in greater detail.

It will also be noted (see Figure 2) that the sleeve is largely formed by a caterpillar type structure, namely by a succession of sections 20 made of strong sheet material such as nylon, canvas and the like, sewn together and reinforced by rigid rings generally identified with the reference number 22 (see Figure 4).

In the lower portion, however, the structure of the sleeve 12 can be half-open (sections 20 ') and preferably provided with self-inflating cushions 24 whose object is to restrain and absorb the sliding movement of the rescued persons (illustrated in strokes) that use the sleeve.

In addition, a pair of tension ropes 26, 27 extending along the length of the sleeve 12 is provided. The rope 26 runs on the underside, threaded into eyelets 28 provided on alternating rings 22 (ie, on a ring itself). and in the next one not). Preferably, each eyelet is rotatably connected (Figures 3a, 3d) by means of a support 30 in the form of,% U ", welded to the respective ring 22.

A plug 26a is fixed to the free end of the cable 26.

The same arrangement exists with respect to the upper cable which is threaded through eyelets 28 alternately with respect to the cable 26.

Another construction detail is illustrated in Figures 4a and 4b. This relates to the manner in which the sleeve sections 20 are sewn together and to the rings 22. Consequently, the margins of each section are bent radially outward, folded over themselves and joined by stitches SI and S2 leaving a portion backward-directed extended: The ring 22 is then held by a circular layer of cloth 32 that surrounds the ring and is attached to said extended portions by means of stitches S3 and S4.

The supports 30 for the eyelets 28, of course, will traverse and protrude out of the layer 32 (Figure 4b).

The arrangement of Figure 5 can be adopted in order to form locally angled sections that serve to moderate the speed of people freely sliding down the sleeve, providing successive sections of less slope. When in the folded condition (see below), several sections of an additional limiting cable 34 are tied, at certain intervals between spaced eyelets of the upper cable 27, limiting the distance between the respective rings at their upper points at a pre-determined distance. -fi ada. This will cause the sleeve 12 to form angled sections 12a when deployed. The number of such angled sections 12a will be determined based on the total height of the sleeve (i.e., the respective floor of the building) and the desired final curvature for the sleeve as a whole.

As already mentioned, auxiliary anchor cables 18 may be required (Figure 1). For this purpose a second series of rotating eyelets 40 (Figure 6) arranged diametrically in a horizontal plane, along the sleeve, and mounted on several spaced rings 22 are employed.

As shown in Figure 6, the buttonhole configuration is advantageous in that it allows the auxiliary anchoring cables 18 to be formed by loops, the object of which is that, after use, the cables can be cut and completely removed from the cable. the sleeve. This is important to facilitate the folding of the sleeve for its re-use (see below) without needing to collect from these cables in an orderly manner.

The re-installation of the cables 18 will take place at a later stage, in the folded condition of the sleeve > through a service opening (sliding doors 74 and 75) as will be described later.

Referring now to Figures 7-12, on each floor of building 10, next to an outer wall 10a, a compartment generally indicated with reference .50, associated with a dedicated opening 100b, preferably oval in shape with an extension, will be installed. funnel shaped guide 10c (Figure 13).

The rescue sleeve 12 is shown in the folded condition, ready to be used, after the cables 26 and 27 have been completely collected by means of respective electrically operated winch systems 52 and 54.

The cable 26 passes through a guide tube 56 having, for this purpose, a somewhat widened mouth 56a. The same applies to tube 58 for cable 27.

Helical springs 60 and 62 are illustrated, which act against a common back plate 64 (see Figure 9) that defines the surface against which the sleeve 12 is folded into an accordion.

The back plate 64 has an inlet opening 64a of size equal to or greater than the diameter of the sleeve 12.

Since the distance between the tubes 56 and 58 is greater than the diameter of the sleeve 12 and due to the alternating order of the eyelets 28 with respect to the lower cable 26 and the upper cable 27, the sleeve sections 20 will be folded without overlapping between yes, but in an alternate zig-zag way to save storage space.

The compartment 50 is made of metal and is provided with a first sliding sealing door 70 (see Figure 10), a second sliding door 72 facing the interior of the building and two pairs of service sliding door systems 74a, 74b and 75a, 75b (see Figures 8 and 12) on both sides of the compartment 50 and serving to allow access side to re-connect the auxiliary anchor cables 18 after the use of the rescue sleeve and after the cutting and removal of the cables to facilitate the easy and unhindered folding of the sleeve to return it to its ready-to-use position.

The operation of the rescue sleeve system is illustrated in Figure 13. In case of emergency, the door 70 is removed (see Figure 10) and the winch systems 52 and 54 released for free rotation of their drums. Accordingly, under the action of the springs 60 and 62, the plate 64 will fire (to the left of Figure 7) and cause the ejection of the folded sleeve out of the opening 10b and guided downward by the shaped section. funnel 10c provided for that purpose.

The position of Figure 14 is then reached in which the sleeve 12 hangs freely downwards, except for the angled section (s) 32 which begins to form the sleeve towards the operative position illustrated in FIG. Figure 1.

The auxiliary cables 18 (which have been connected and prepared in the folded position of the sleeve, as already explained) hang freely downwards as shown, ready to be picked up by the rescue team and tied to any fixed object. The free end of the sleeve is linked at least by the sensor cable 27 as already explained with reference to Figure 1 and the system is ready for its rescue function.

Although the foregoing description contains many specific details, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the invention, but as examples of preferred embodiments. Those skilled in the art will envision other possible variations that are within the scope of the invention. Accordingly, the scope of the invention should not be determined by the illustrated embodiments but by the appended claims.

Claims (16)

1. Claims 1. A system for the evacuation of people trapped in multi-storey buildings, by sliding down a rescue sleeve stored in the form of a compact package arranged on an elevated floor of the building, characterized in that it comprises: A sleeve composed of sections, each of which is made of a sheet material reinforced by a rigid circumferential support member; a first tensioner cable extending along the sleeve, following the upper generatrix thereof, and passing through respective eyelet means mounted on the support members; means for selectively ejecting and deploying the sleeve along the first tension wire to ground level; and means for attaching the first tensioning cable to a fixed object located at a remote location. 2. The system of claim 1, characterized in that it also comprises a second tensioning cable that extends along the sleeve following the lower generatrix thereof and that passes freely through respective eyelets mounted on the support members. 3. The system of claim 2, characterized in that the first and second cables are threaded through alternating eyelets in stepped order. 4. The system of claim 3, characterized in that it further comprises a winch system for winding the first and second cables at a dedicated site on said raised floor of the building so that the sleeve is folded into said compact package form. 5. The system of claim 4, characterized in that the first and second cables are each wound through a guide tube, and the vertical distance between the guide tubes exceeds the distance between the upper and lower eyelets so that the Sleeve is folded into a zig-zag shape to save space. 6. The system of claim 5, characterized in that helical springs are provided in each guide tube around the respective cables. 7. The system of claim 6, characterized in that a pair of winch systems are provided, each of which comprises a drum around which the respective cable is wound. 8. The system of claim 7, characterized in that the winch systems comprise means for releasing their drums to allow said ejection and deployment of the sleeve. 9. The system of claim 8, characterized in that it provides a backing plate against which the sleeve is folded to wind the cables. 10. The system of claim 9, characterized in that it further comprises a sliding door adapted to close an opening in the building through which the sleeve is folded by the winch system (s). 11. The system of claim 2, characterized in that the eyelets are rotatably mounted on their respective rigid support members. 12. The system of claim 1, characterized in that it further comprises means for forming at least one bent section of the sleeve in the unfolded condition thereof. 13. The system of claim 12, characterized in that the means forming the elbow section comprises a length of cable tied between selected eyelets located in the upper part of the sleeve, the length of said length of cable being less than the distance between the eyelets when the sleeve is unfolded. 14. The system of claim 1, characterized in that it also comprises auxiliary cables capable of being anchored to fixed objects at ground level to stabilize the sleeve in its deployed condition. fin. The system of claim 14, characterized in that the auxiliary cables are connected to rigid support members selected on two diametrically opposed sides thereof in a horizontal plane. 16. The system of claim 15, characterized in that the auxiliary cables are constituted by loops passing through respective rings mounted on the rigid support member (s).