US1022417A

US1022417A - Fire-escape.

Info

Publication number: US1022417A
Application number: US63826011A
Authority: US
Inventors: Victor W Heydlauff
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1911-07-13
Filing date: 1911-07-13
Publication date: 1912-04-09
Anticipated expiration: 1929-04-09

Description

V. W. HBYDLAUFF.

PIRE ESCAPE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY` 13, 1911.

V. W. HEYDLAUFF.

FIRE ESGAPE.

APPLIOATION FILED JULY13,1911.

1,022,417. Patented Apr. 9, 1912.

V. W. HEYDLAUFF.

FIRE ESCAPE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 1s, 1911.

Patented Apr. 9, i912,

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3 l MM g is ov VECTR W. EEYDLAUFF, 0F AVRE, MONTANA.

FIRE-ESGM.

Specication-of Letters Patent.

Application led July 1,3, 191.1. Serial No. 638,260.

Patented Apr. 9,1912.

To all 'whom 'it may concern Be it lmown thatI, VICTOR W. HEYDLAUFF, a subject of the King of Great Britain, re-

siding at Havre, in the county of Ch'outeaul and State of Montana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fire- Escapesiand I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, 'and exact description of the invention, Such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and-use the same.

My invention has for its object to provide a simplified and improved re escape of that type wherein the carrier is arranged to travel downward on a rope orother cable attached'to a building at its upper end, and wherein vthe downward movements of the carrier with the person supportedl thereby, is limited or controlled by a governor.

As one of the lchieii features of thev present invention, the carrier is so constructed that it may be quickly and easily applied to the supported upper portion of the cable, thereby adapting a plurality of any desired number of'carriers to be applied to the cable in succession and used to lower persons from a burning building.

@ther features of the invention are directed to an improved frictional device and frictional centrifugal actuated governor for preventing. too rapid descent of the carrier' and the person supported thereby.

Generally stated, the invention consists of the novel devices and combination oi? devices hereinafter described and dened in the claims. p

In the accompanying drawings which illustrate the invention in its preferred form, like (,:haracters indicate like parts throughout the several views. l

Referring to the drawings, Figure l is a view in side elevation, with some parts broken away, showing the improved fire escape; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the device looking atthe opposite side from that shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectiontaken on the line :v3 w8 of Fig. 1; and Fig. 4 is a detail showing the ex'pansible clutch wheel removed from the case of the carrier.

The numeral 1 indicates a supporting cable which may be 'an ordinary rope, or wire rope, the upper end of which is adapt ed to be attached to any suitable portion of a building, usually in the' vicinity of an ulpper window. The case or frame of the carrier is'rnade up of a main section 2, and a supplemental section 3, which sections are provided, respectively, with hinge lugs i and 5, pivotally connected by hinge pins 6. These two case sections are adapted to be normally heldtogether, or interlocked, as shown in the drawings, by a suitable lock device shown as comprising a lock lever 7 'hinged to the supplemental Asection 3 and engageable with a lock lugr 8 inthe main lsection 2.l A suitable spring, not shown, may be employed for normally holding the lock lever 7 engaged. by the lock lug 8. The main frame or case section 2 is provided with a central hub 9 and with a laterally projecting annular fia-nge 10, which latter serves as the external member of the friction clutch. The other member of the saidfriction. clutch is in the formof a divided and expansible clutch ring 11, the sections of which are secured at one end to arms 12 carried by ahub 13.

A short shaft 14 is journaled in the hub I 9 ofI the frame section 2, and the hub 13 of the wheel, made up of the

elements

11, 12 and 13, is rigidly secured to one end of the `said* shaft. To the other end of the said shaft, the hub of a driving sheave or grooved vwheel 15 is rigidly secured. The

vgroove in' the periphery of the sheave 15 is made to approximately fit the cable 1and to increase frictional engagement therewith,

it 'is provided with sharp edged traction ribs 16.

The cable is pressed into tight engagement with the ribbed channel or periphery of the sheave 15 by means of a frictional abutment orl presser block 17, the face of which is also preferably grooved to approximately lit the cable 1. This frictional abutment 17 is provided with a stem 18 that works through the outer iangeof the supplemental case or frame section 3, and a quite heavy'coilednspring 19 is compressed between the said abutment 17 with the said frame section 3. This Spring 19 causes the abutment 17 to tightly press the cable into contact. with the ribbed channel of the sheave 15.

The numeral 20 indicates a stop pin in the outer end of the stem 18, which revents the spring -19 from throwing the a utment out of place when the supplemental frame or case section 3 is turned into o ened position indicated by dotted lines in ig. 3.

The numeral 21 indicates a harness or strap, one end of which is shown as permanentlyy attached, and the other end of which is shown as provided with a snap hook 22, for detachably connecting the perforated lug 23, shown as cast integral with the case or frame section 2. Also, as shown, the

case sections

2 and 3 are. provided with supplemental upwardly and downwardly extended

cable guides

24 and 25, which operate to form guide tubes or sleeves which give greater stability to the carrier when moving downward on the cable.

For operating the friction clutch above described, I preferably employ a centrifugal governor comprising weights 26, levers 27, and one 0r more coiled springs 28a. The'we'ights 26are secured to the outer ends of the levers 27 and the spring 2,8a connectsthe said weights and tends to draw the same and the levers 27 toward the axis 4of the shaft 14. At their outer ends, the levers 27 are provided with square Shanks or heads 28 that fit seats 29 formed between the separate ends of the divided clutch ring or wheel rim 11.

Normally, and under predetermined low speeds, the spring 28a holds the weights 26 drawn inward, and leaves the expansible clutch ring 11 out of action on the coperating clutch rim 10, which latter, of course, is a non-rotary clutch member secured to the 'frame or case of the carrier. When, however, a certain predetermined speed is exceeded, the centrifugal force exerted inthe weights 26 overcomes the spring 28a, moves the levers 27 pivotally away from each other and thereby causes the angular heads 28 to expand the said clutch ring 11, which latter is connected for rotation with the driving sheave or wheel 15.

With this improved re escape, it is not necessary that the carrier be left attached to the cable, but on the contrary, any desired number thereof may be left in the different rooms of the hotel or other building. These carriers, when the supplemental case or `trame sections 3 are moved pivot-ally approximately into the open position indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 3, may be easily applied to the cable simply by closing and securing the said section 3, and thereby clamping the cable between the groovcd periphery of the sheave 15 and the grooved face of the frictional abutment 17. The purpose of a harness strap 21, is, of course, to attach the person to the carrier and it would preferably be applied to the body just below the arms. rlhen when the carrier has been applied to the cable, as stated, the person desiring to make a descent, either climbs or' 'umps out .of the window, and the descent of the carrier with its load will then immediately begin. The carrier, with its load, will move downward Aat a predetermined, desired speed under the control of the friction clutch and governor, already described.

As is evident, as manyV persons may escape from the building over the single cable as can find proper carriers for application to the cable. The descent of the carrier on the cable is also frictionally retarded by the frictional engagement between the cable and the frictional abutment of the presser head 17, and also, this retarding action will be somewhat further increased by the frictional engagement between the cable and the divided guide tubes 24-25- The tire escape described is of comparatively small cost, is convenient and reliable, and generally efficient for the purposes had in view.

What I claim is:

1. A lire escape comprising a carrier frame adapted 'to travel downward on a cable and having hinged sections adapted to open for application to a cable, a frictional abutment on one of the said frame sections, a driving wheel opposite said abutment adapted to engage and be driven by said cable, and a friction clutch for restricting rotation of said driving wheel, and hence, controlling the descent vof the carrier on the cable.

2. A lire escape comprising a carrier' frame adapted to travel downward on a cable and having hinged sections ada ted to open for application to a cable, a rictional abutment on one of ythe said frame sections, a .driving wheel opposite said abutment adapted to engage and be driven by said cable, and a friction clutch for restricting rotation of said driving wheel and .con-

trolling the descent of the carrier on the cable, and a centrifugal governor controlling said clutch.

3. A fire escape comprising a carrier frame, Aa drivingwheel journaled to said frame and engageable lwith the cable, a yielding frictional abutment engageable with the cable and pressing the cable into engagement with said driving wheel, a friction clutch comprising a frictional flange on said carrier frame and an expansible clutch ring rotatable with said driving wheel, and a centrifugal governor driven by said driving wheel and having connections for expanding said clutch ring and rendering the same operative, when a predetermined speed has been exceeded in the downwardv travel of the carrier.

4. A lire escape comprising a carrier frame adapted to travelv downward on a cable and having hinge sections adapted to open up for application to the cable, of a driving wheel journaled to one of the frame sections,- a device on the other case section for .pressing the cable into engagement with said driving wheel, and a friction clutch for restricting rotation of said driving wheel land controlling the descent of the carrier on the cable.

5. A lire escape comprising a carrier frame adapted to travel downward on a controlling the descent of the carrier on the 10 cable, and a centrifugal governor controlcable and having hinge sections adapted to ling the said clutch.

open up for application to the cable, of a driving wheel journaled to one of the frame sections, a device on the other case section for pressing the cable into engagement with said driving wheel, a friction clutch for restricting rotation of said driving wheel and In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

VICTGR W. HEYDLAUFF. Witnesses:

BERNIGE G. WHEELER, HARRY D. KILGORE.