RU2243013C2 - System for people evacuation from myli-story building - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: life saving equipment, particularly for people evacuation from multi-story buildings.

SUBSTANCE: system serves for people evacuation by sliding down along tubular rescue sleeve packed in compact package for its storage disposed in upper building story. Package includes sleeve composed of several sections made of sheet material reinforced with rigid support member extending along its periphery, the first tension cable, means for pushing sleeve out and unwinding thereof along the first tension cable up to reaching ground and means for connecting the first tension cable to remote motionless object. The first tension cable freely passes along upper generating line of sleeve and extends through corresponding means connected to support members. Thus the first tension cable is the single sleeve-supporting means. There are ears that provide free sleeve passage along sleeve.

EFFECT: increased reliability.

16 cl, 18 dwg

Description

The present invention relates to systems for evacuating people caught in high-rise buildings in an emergency, usually by fire.

More precisely, the invention relates to rescue in case of fire using gutters or pipes through which people will slide down from the building by sliding.

The first known attempts to solve this problem are disclosed in US patent No. 908034 from December 29, 1908 and US patent No. 1520440 from December 23, 1924, both in the name of Frank Pyleck, entitled "Automatic rescue in case of fire."

The first patent discloses a collapsible trough, typically stored in a drawer held in suspension. In the ready position, the box is locked in the locked state at the outer wall of the building on one side of the window. If necessary, the box is released, so that by displacing the springs to provide the possibility of punching the window and opening it. In this case, the gutter is unfastened, and it hangs down. Pushing the gutter and holding it in an inclined state to the ground level provides a spiral spring, wound around the gutter along its entire length, while its output side rests freely on the ground.

In addition, a pair of cords is shown running along the gutter, by means of which the gutter can be disassembled and again placed in a box for storing it.

In the second patent, the inventor proposed replacing the support coil spring with a continuous track or rail, permanently attached to the wall of the building above the window and tilted down parallel to the path of the expanded gutter. After its deployment, the gutter will hang from the rail by means of a series of wheel suspensions passing along the rail.

It is clear that these decisions could have had some success at the beginning of the last century for buildings with at most four or five floors, but they are not acceptable for modern high-rise buildings. Since then, only recently have other solutions been proposed - see. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,099,596 (1978), 4,240,520 (1980), 4,398,621 (1983) and 4,580,659 (1986), each of which discloses its own distinctive direction, while, as you know, neither one of these solutions did not have a successful commercial implementation.

US Pat. No. 4,240,520 discloses a descent tunnel that is descent from a high altitude, which is a long tubular sleeve made of fireproof tarpaulin or nylon fabric and having foam foam upholstery on its inside. On its outer side, round plastic rings are fixed, spaced apart from one another.

It is envisaged that there are many hooks at the upper entrance to the tubular sleeve, which provide the possibility of connecting it to a steel ring mounted in a wall or installed in a building window. At the lower end of the tubular sleeve there is a pillow into which either air is pumped, or which is made of foam to soften the blow to the ground when people fall on top of it. The door, made of fabric and located on the lower end of the sleeve, is held closed by snap devices so that it can be easily opened from the inside by a rescuing person. A heavy metal ring located on the lower edge of the pillow, while lying on the ground.

When not in use, the rescue tunnel is stored in a folded accordion condition on the top floor of the building. In the event of a fire, you just need to push it out to the side of the building so that it decomposes, going down to the ground. Then a person can simply slide down it in complete safety.

British Patent 2,232,138 discloses a drain chute mounted on an access platform that provides access to it, which is located beneath residential modules of a reusable workstation, such as an offshore oilfield or gasfield drilling rig. In the flooring for residential modules there is a manhole that provides access from residential modules to the platform.

A circular hole is made in the platform in which a pipe having an open end is mounted. The pipe is installed in the hole of the platform using a hinge of the so-called “universal type”, which makes it possible to rotate the pipe in the specified hole in any direction while limiting the angle of rotation in this joint.

The pipe has a central flange and is designed so that it gradually tapers in the direction from top to bottom and provides the ability to push it into the first of a number of consecutive pipes one after another, each of which is made with an open end. It is envisaged that a corresponding flange is provided in the area of the upper end of each pipe of the specified row, each such pipe being made so that it gradually tapers in a direction from top to bottom, which makes it possible to slide pipes adjacent to one another into one another.

All these pipes form a fairly long tunnel, which provides an opportunity for people to escape by sliding down it.

The steel tapes used make it possible to increase the structural rigidity of the pipes, as well as provide the possibility of attaching to them a number of devices that are hung on the steel tapes so that they protrude relative to these tapes without being immersed in the thickness of the fiberglass from which these pipes are made.

Two such devices, designed for hanging on pipes of the specified row, are a pair of double eyes that are used as attachment points for two chains that connect together adjacent pipes of the specified row to each other.

In addition, all of these flanges are also equipped with a second pair of devices, which are located on each of these flanges from diametrically opposite sides relative to each other, and in each of these devices there is a through channel.

The system contains a cable, which is wound on a winch mounted on a platform, and is passed around the unit, as well as through channels provided in devices that are located on one side of the drain chute assembly, and in this case, these devices are used as guides for the cable. At one end, the cable is attached to the protrusion provided for this purpose on the outlet pipe, which is installed so that it is possible to slide it into the lowest of the aforementioned series of consecutive pipes. The second exactly the same cable is missed in the same way from the opposite side of the drain chute assembly.

All pipes are made in such a way that their shape allows each two adjacent pipes to rotate freely within certain limits relative to each other, and the combined rotation of all these pipes at the joints between them in the section of the chute adjacent to the outlet pipe would allow bending of the outlet parts of the tunnel, while obtaining a smooth transition in it to the horizontal. To ensure buoyancy, two floats may be provided that are mounted on the underside of the outlet pipe, and in cases where it is intended to use this drain chute to equip it, for example, with an offshore oil field rig, these floats will serve to provide an outlet pipes the ability to stay on the surface of the water. Thus, the floats in all these cases serve to help maintain the curvilinear shape of the tunnel and at the same time also provide the outlet pipe with the ability to follow all the movements of the surface of the water during heavy waves at sea; this also serves as the articulation of the pipes together.

The lowering chute assembly can be removed by turning on the winch winding the cables, so that the outlet pipe is pulled towards the pipe, as a result of which each pipe is drawn into the pipe adjacent to it.

The gutter described above has a complex and unreliable design.

The technical result of the present invention is to provide a simple and reliable design of a tubular rescue sleeve, in which a tension cable is used as the sole holding means of the sleeve.

The specified technical result is achieved by the fact that the system for evacuating people in an emergency in high-rise buildings, by sliding down the tubular rescue sleeve, stored in the form of a compact package located on the top floor of the building, contains a sleeve consisting of sections made of sheet material, hardened by passing along the periphery of the rigid support element, the first tension cable, stretched along the sleeve and freely passing through appropriate means, attached e to support elements, means for selectively pushing and deploying the sleeve along the first tension cable down to ground level, means for attaching the first tension cable to a remotely stationary object. According to the invention, the first tension cable runs along the sleeve along its upper generatrix and is the sole holding means of the sleeve, and the ears are means for freely passing the tension cable.

The system may additionally contain a second tension cable stretched along the sleeve, following its lower generatrix, and freely passing through the appropriate means in the form of ears attached to the supporting elements.

The first and second cables can respectively pass through every second eye in a checkerboard pattern.

The system may further comprise a system with a winch for winding the first and second cables to a predetermined location on the top floor of the building so that the sleeve is laid in the form of a compact package.

Each of the first and second cables can pass through the corresponding guide tube, while the vertical distance between the guide tubes exceeds the distance between the upper and lower ears to ensure that the sleeve is laid in a zigzag manner, saving space.

In each guide tube, coil springs can be arranged around the corresponding cable.

The system may have a pair of winch systems, each of which contains a drum around which a cable is wound.

Winch systems may include means for releasing their drums to allow for pushing and deployment of the sleeve.

The system may have a base plate on which the sleeve is laid when winding the cables.

The system may further comprise a sliding door designed to close the opening in the building through which the sleeve is laid by means of a system or systems with a winch.

The ears can be attached by sewing to the corresponding rigid support elements.

The system may further comprise means for forming at least one knee-shaped section of the sleeve in its deployed state.

The means for forming the knee-shaped section may contain cable segments attached between selected ears located at the top of the sleeve, the length of the cable being less than the distance between the ears in the unfolded state of the sleeve.

The system may additionally contain auxiliary cables designed for attachment to stationary objects at ground level to stabilize the sleeve in its expanded state.

Auxiliary cables can be connected to one of the rigid support elements from two diametrically opposite sides in the horizontal plane.

Auxiliary cables can be formed in the form of loops passing through respective rings attached to a rigid support element or elements.

The following is a detailed description of the invention with reference to the drawings, which depict the following:

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of an emergency rescue system in a working position; FIG.

figure 2 is an enlarged view of the lower end of the rescue sleeve;

figa is a side view showing the end side of the sleeve.

figa-3d represent fragments of a structure related to rings inserted between successive sections of the sleeve;

figa represents the connection between adjacent sections of the sleeve;

fig.4b is a partial side view of the connection shown in figa;

figure 5 represents the layout for the formation of the knee;

6 is a fragment of the structure related to the mounting of auxiliary cables;

Fig.7 is a partial side view of the compartment for storing the sleeve in section along the line VII-VII in Fig.8;

Fig.8 is a view along the line VIII-VIII in Fig.7;

Fig.9 is a view along the line IX-IX in Fig.7;

figa is a fragment of the structure shown in Fig.9;

figure 10 is a view along the line XX in figure 7;

11 is a view along the line XI-XI in Fig.7;

Fig is a view along the line XII-XII in Fig;

Fig.13 is a view in section, similar to the view in Fig.7, after pushing the sleeve from the standby position;

Fig.14 represents the system in the deployed position of the sleeve before fixing it, as shown in Fig.1.

Figure 1 shows a multi-storey building 10 (residential building or hotel), where the fire started.

The rescue sleeve or trough 12 is ejected as described in more detail below. The output side of the sleeve 12 is led (for example, with the help of a specially trained rescue team) to a suitable evacuation site, namely to a place that, on the one hand, is as far from the building as the sleeve length allows, and, on the other hand, how much this allows the topography of the surrounding area (nearby buildings and other obstacles). As already mentioned, the sleeve is a self-retaining sleeve by attaching its output side, for example, via cables 14, 15 connected to at least a tension cable 27, to stable objects of any type, such as cars parked nearby, trees, masts for street lighting lamps and the like, which are schematically represented in the form of posts 16, 17. It is preferable that for a firm hold and for greater safety, a certain number of auxiliary mounting brackets be and be used cos 18 that is shown and will be described further below.

The sleeve 12 is made mainly of a structure similar to a tape worm, namely, a chain of sections 20 (FIG. 2) made of durable sheet material, such as nylon, tarpaulin and the like, sewn together and reinforced with rigid rings, in general indicated by 22 (FIG. 4).

However, at the very bottom, the design of the sleeve 12 can be half open (section 20 ’) and can be preferably equipped with self-inflating airbags 24 designed to brake and suppress the sliding movement of the rescued people (shown by dashed lines) using the sleeve.

A pair of tension ropes 26, 27 runs along the entire sleeve 12. The cable 26 runs from the bottom side, while it is threaded through the ears 28 attached to each second of the rings 22. It is preferable that each eye be pivotally connected using a U-shaped bracket 30 ( figa-3d), welded to the corresponding ring 22.

A plug 26a is attached to the end of the cable 26.

A similar arrangement is applied to the cable 27, passing along the upper side, while the cable is passed through the ears 28 in a checkerboard pattern with respect to the cable 26.

Another design fragment is shown in figa and 4b. It relates to a method of sewing sections 20 of the sleeve to each other and to the rings 22. Moreover, the edges of each section are curved radially outward, bent around themselves and attached by loops S1, S2, leaving the elongated part directed back. After that, the ring 22 is mounted by means of a circular wrap 32 of fabric, which covers the ring and is attached to the said elongated parts by means of loops S3 and S4.

The staples 30 for the ears 28 will certainly penetrate outward from the sheath 32 (Fig. 4b).

The arrangement according to figure 5 can be designed to form local knee-shaped sections designed to reduce the speed of free sliding of people through the formation of successive segments with angles of lesser steepness. When in the folded state, several segments of the additional restrictive cable 34 are tied at regular intervals between the ears of the upper cable 27 located at a distance from each other, limiting the distance between the respective rings at their upper points with a given length. This leads to the fact that the sleeve 12 will form a knee-shaped section 12A when it is deployed. The number of such knee-shaped sections 12a is determined in accordance with the total height of the sleeve (that is, in accordance with the number of storeys of the building), and also in accordance with the size of the desired final curvature of the sleeve as a whole.

As already mentioned, auxiliary mounting cables 18 may be required (FIG. 1). For this purpose, use the second group of hinged ears 40 (Fig.6), diametrically located in the horizontal plane, lined up along the sleeve and attached to several spaced apart rings 22.

As further shown in FIG. 6, a lug configuration is preferred that enables the formation of auxiliary mounting cables 18 in the form of loops, the idea being that after use the cables can be cut off and completely removed from the sleeve. This is important to facilitate even laying of the sleeve for reuse without the need for special sequential assembly of these cables.

The re-placement of the cables 18 will occur at a later stage when the sleeve is returned to the folded state through the service hole (sliding doors 74, 75), which will be described later.

Now refer to Figs. 7-12. On each floor of the building 10, a compartment, generally indicated by 50, will be located adjacent to the outer wall 10a, interconnected with the oval hole 10b specially designed for it, having a funnel-shaped extension of 10 s (Fig. 13).

The rescue sleeve 12 is shown in a folded, ready-to-use state after the cables 26, 27 are completely rewound by means of the respective electric power driven winch systems 52, 54.

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

The coil springs 60 and 62 are installed, acting against the base plate 64 (Fig. 9), which forms a surface relative to which the sleeve 12 is folded like a harmony.

The base plate 64 has an inlet 64a, the diameter of which is equal to or greater than the diameter of the sleeve 12.

Since the distance between the pipes 56 and 58 is larger than the diameter of the sleeve 12, and due to the alternating sequence of ears 28 with respect to the lower cable 26 and the upper cable 27, the sections of the sleeve 20 will be stacked not overlapping each other, but passing in a checkerboard pattern, i.e. zigzag , to save storage space.

The compartment 50 is made in the form of a metal structure and is equipped with a sliding door 70 (FIG. 10) providing weather protection, a second sliding door 72 facing the inside of the building, and two pairs of third service door systems 74a, 74b and 75a, 75b (Figs. 8, 12) on both sides of the compartment 50, providing lateral access for reconnecting the auxiliary cables 18 after using the rescue sleeve and trimming and removing the cable to facilitate even and easy laying Ia sleeve in its position ready for use.

The operation of the system with the rescue sleeve is shown in Fig. 13. In case of emergency, the door 70 is pulled to the side (figure 10) and the systems 52, 54 with winches are released to ensure the free rotation of their drums. As a result, under the action of the force of the springs 60, 62, the plate 64 moves away (to the left in FIG. 7) and this will cause the folded sleeve to be pushed out through the hole 10b and go down the funnel-shaped section 10c intended for this purpose.

Now the position according to Fig. 14 will be reached, with the sleeve 12 hanging down freely, except for the knee-shaped section (s) 34, which begins to form the sleeve in the direction of giving it a working position according to Fig. 1.

Auxiliary cables 18 (attached and prepared in the laid position of the sleeve, as explained previously) freely hang down as shown to bind them to any existing fixed object. The free end of the sleeve is tied by means of at least a tension cable 27, which has already been explained with reference to figure 1, and the system is ready for its purpose - saving lives.

Although the above description contains a large number of characteristic features, they should not be considered as limiting the scope of the invention, but as examples of preferred embodiments of the design. For qualified professionals in this industry will be apparent other possible options that are within the scope of the invention. Accordingly, the scope of the invention should be determined not by the presented embodiments of the construction, but by the appended claims.

Claims (16)

1. A system for evacuating people in emergency situations in high-rise buildings by sliding down a tubular rescue sleeve, stored in the form of a compact package located on the top floor of a building, containing a sleeve consisting of sections made of sheet material reinforced by the periphery of the rigid support element, the first tension cable stretched along the sleeve and freely passing through the corresponding means attached to the support elements, means for selective pushing and deploying the sleeve along the first tension cable down to ground level, means for attaching the first tension cable to a remotely stationary object, characterized in that the first tension cable runs along the sleeve along its upper generatrix and is the sole holding means of the sleeve, and means for free passage of the tension cable are the ears. 2. The system according to claim 1, characterized in that it further comprises a second tension cable stretched along the sleeve, following its lower generatrix, and freely passing through the corresponding means in the form of ears attached to the supporting elements. 3. The system according to claim 2, characterized in that the first and second cables respectively pass through every second eye in a checkerboard pattern. 4. The system according to claim 3, characterized in that it further comprises a system with a winch for winding the first and second cables to a predetermined location on the top floor of the building so that the sleeve is laid in the form of a compact package. 5. The system according to claim 4, characterized in that each of the first and second cables passes through the corresponding guide tube, while the vertical distance between the guide tubes exceeds the distance between the upper and lower ears to ensure that the sleeve is laid in a zigzag manner, saving space. 6. The system according to claim 5, characterized in that in each guide tube around the corresponding cable are coil springs. 7. The system according to claim 6, characterized in that it has a pair of systems with a winch, each of which contains a drum around which a cable is wound. 8. The system according to claim 7, characterized in that the systems with a winch contain means for releasing their drums to enable the extension and deployment of the sleeve. 9. The system of claim 8, characterized in that it has a base plate on which the sleeve is laid when winding the cables. 10. The system according to claim 9, characterized in that it further comprises a sliding door designed to close the opening in the building through which the sleeve is laid by means of a system or systems with a winch. 11. The system according to claim 2, characterized in that the ears are attached by means of sewing to the corresponding rigid support elements. 12. The system according to claim 1, characterized in that it further comprises means for forming at least one knee-shaped section of the sleeve in its deployed state. 13. The system according to p. 12, characterized in that the means for forming the knee-shaped section contain cable segments attached between selected ears located at the top of the sleeve, the length of the cable being less than the distance between the ears in the unfolded state of the sleeve. 14. The system according to claim 1, characterized in that it further comprises auxiliary cables designed for attachment to stationary objects at ground level to stabilize the sleeve in its expanded state. 15. The system according to 14, characterized in that the auxiliary cables are connected to one of the rigid support elements from two diametrically opposite sides in the horizontal plane. 16. The system of clause 15, wherein the auxiliary cables are formed in the form of loops passing through the respective rings attached to the rigid support element or elements.

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