US1046672A - Fire-escape. - Google Patents

Description

s.sTAsEL.

FIRE ESCAPE.

APPLICATION FILED 00T.16, 1911.

Patented Dec. '10, 912.

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SOLOMON STASEL, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

FIRE-ESCAPE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed October 16, 1911.

Patented Dec. 10, 1912.

Serial No. 654,972.

T 0 all whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, SOLOMON SrAsnL, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of Chicago, county of Cook, and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fire- Escapes, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in fire escapes, the object being to provide apparatus of this character which shall be convenient for office buildings, hotels and also private dwellings, a further object being to provide a fire escape apparatus which may serve as an article of furniture when not in use as a fire escape.

With these objects in view my invention consists in the combinations and arrangements of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

My invention will be best understood by reference to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, and in which,

Figure 1 is a perspective view showing the casing in its normal position when not in use, and the latter Withdrawn when positioned as in use, Fig. 2 is a detail side elevation showing a ladder guide employed in the apparatus, and Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical section showing an end view of said guide.

The preferred form of construction as illustrated in the accompanying drawings comprises a guide member 1 which is preferably a metal casting and secured by means of screws 2 to a window sill 3. This guide member is substantially Z-shaped in cross section and one of the end portions thereof is provided with a horizontally disposed slot 4 which extends nearly the entire length of the member 1 as illustrated in Fig. 1. The member 1 is located centrally on the window sill 3 and the lower end portion thereof serves to reinforce the screws 2 for holding the member in position. Should the screws 2 prove to be ineificient in holding the member 1 then the lower portion 5 of said member will engage the wall below the window sill and prevent displacement of said member, this feature being clearly illustrated in Fig. 3. A flexible ladder 6 is adapted to be passed through the slot 4 and is provided with an elongated member ,7 the extremities of which are adapted to engage the portions of the member 1 adjacent the slot thereof for supporting the ladder. When not in use, the ladder 6 is wound on a suitable reel rotatably mounted in a rectangular sheet metal casing 9, but when being used, the same is passed through the slot 4 as clearly illustrated in Fig. 1. The casing 9 when the apparatus therein is not being used for a fire escape serves the purpose of an article of furniture and may be positioned in front of the window 3 as shown in Fig. 1. A plurality of drawers 12 are provided in the front of the casing 9 adjacent the corners thereof which are adapted to serve the ordinary function of drawers in a cabinet Or other household furniture. Provided in one side of the easing 9 is a horizontally disposed slot 13 which when said casing is being used as a fire escape is moved so as to be parallel with the guide member 1, whereupon the flexible ladder 6 normally projecting through said slot may be readily drawn over to the slot 4 and passed therethrough as shown in Fig. 1. After the ladder 6 is thus passed through the slot 4 and located on the outside of the building as indicated in Fig. 3 then said lad der automatically unwinds from the reel. The length of the slot 13 is sufficient to permit of the member 7 passingtherethrough Without catching the ends thereof, but as aforesaid, the member 7 cannot pass through the slot 4 since the length of the latter is only slightly greater than the width of the ladder,

In the operation of the fire escape the easing 9 which is normally in the position shown in Fig. 1 for use as an article of furniture is so turned that the slot 13 will be adjacent the window sill 3. Then the projecting end of the ladder 6 is passed through the slot 4 of the guide member 1 and permitted to fall down the outside of the buildm It fire escape apparatus as hereinbefore set forth is simple of construction and efficient in operation. Moreover the same is constructed to serve two useful functions, that of a fire escape and also as an article of furniture.

While I have illustrated and described the preferred form of construction for carrying my invention into effect, this is capable of variation and modification without departing from the spirit of the invention. I, therefore, do not wish to be limited to the precise details of construction set forth,

but desire to avail myself of such variations 7 2. A sheet of metal substantially Z-shaped in cross section, having the downwardly extending arm thereof curved inwardly to engage a window, and the upwardly extending arm provided with a longitudinal slot therein.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

SOLOMON STASEL.

Witnesses:

HELEN F. LILLIS, JOSHUA R. H. Po'rTs.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

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