US1092662A

US1092662A - Fire-escape.

Info

Publication number: US1092662A
Application number: US75072813A
Authority: US
Inventors: Thomas Ottignon
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1913-02-26
Filing date: 1913-02-26
Publication date: 1914-04-07
Anticipated expiration: 1931-04-07

Description

T. OTTIGNON..

PIRE ESCAPE.

APPLICATION FILED Emme, 1913.

1,092,662. v 15atented Apr. 7, 1914 llmmmu' narran srafrns rai-nur ortica.

THOMAS OTTIGNON, 0F WEXFORD, ONTARIO, CANADA.

FIRE-ESCAPE.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, THoMAsOTTIGNoN, a subject of the King of Great Britain, and resident of the town of Wexford, in the county of York, in the 1Province of Ontario, in the Dominion of Canada, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fire-Escapes, of which the following is a full speciiication.

This invention rela-tes to lire escapes particularly adapted to be installed ina building when the same is erected butwhich may be put in any buildingrat any time without altering the architecture of the same; the fire escape being in the interior of the said building.

The objects of the invention are to provide a lire escape which will be always ready to be used'without any preparationhaving to be made previous to its use and `which will effect the speedy transit of a large number o'f persons from any ioor in the building to the ground.v

A further object is to provide for the iire proof isolation of the escape in such manner that fire will be preventedfrom reaching the same while ready access can be obtained to the fire escape from any floor.

Still further objects are to provide upholstered protectingmeans for the reception of persons at the lower floor so as to prevent injury to them owing to the velocity at which they may travel down Vthe fire escape and also to arrange for the opening of a suitable smoke door in the upper part of the building to allow smoke to escape from the isolated fire escape should it gain access thereto,` the said smoke door being adapted to be opened from any floor.

This invention consists essentially of the novel construction and arrangement of chutes, the said chutes being situated between each licor of the building and'divided off from the main part of the building by means of fire proof walls of any suitable con-4 struction, the said walls havingdoors therein upon each ioor whereby communication is established between the main part of the building and the fire escape.

Means are provided at the lower end of each chute whereby persons may arrest their progress sufficiently to enable them to reverse their position before proceeding down the next chute which slopes in the reverse direction. Openings are also provided at the Specification of Letters Patent.

Application ined February ze, 1913.

Patented Apr., 7, 19ML. serial No; 750,728.

lower end walls of each chuteso that persons may enter the same from any floor.

The uppermost floor has a door in the wall or roof, leading to the outer air, which door 1s arranged to be opened from any floor by pulling a chain, cord or the like, for the purpose of allowing smoke to escape.

The lower end of the chute upon the ground ioo-r has an upholstered extension which is adapted to lie along the ground in front of the chute when in position for use, and prevents the liability of anyone being injured owing to the velocity with which they are projected from the chute all of which is more particularly described and shown in the accompanying specication and drawings in which- Figure l-is a sectional diagrammatic view of the building showing the improved fire escape installed therein part of the fire proof wall beinglb'roken away to better illustrate the construction of the device. Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the same on the line a-J Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the same on the line c-Z Fig. l. Fig. 4; is a perspective view of the arresting means at the lower end of the chute on the ground floor.

Similar characters of reference indicate similar parts in the several figures of the drawings. i

A is the isolated part of the building which is divided from the main part B of 'the said building by the fire proof wall C which is shown in Fig. l, and broken away in order that the arrangement of the chutes within the isolated part A of the building may be clearly illustrated. The fire proof wall C hasdoors therein opening on to each of the floors of the building in order that access may be had to the isolated part A of the building from the main part B when itis desired to use the iire escape in cases of emergency or the like. The iire escape proper consists of a series of chutes leading to the ground floor, or to any other such .iioor as may be desired fromfwhich escape from the building may be effected in cases of emergency. These chutes are marked upon the drawing 1, 2 and 3 respectively. The chute l extends in an inclined direction from the icor of thetop flat having an opening therein surrounded by suitable upholstered means whereby a person may enter the upper end of the chute l. The lower end of the chute 1 is immediately above the upper end of the chute 2 which chute 2 slopes" in the opposite direction to the said chute 1, communication being established between the two chutes by means of an opening in the floor at the lower end of the said chute 1, and means provided at the lower end of the said chute 1 whereby the chute 2 may be entered at this point if desired. The chute 2 also communicates at its lower end with the farther chute 3 in a similar manner to that in which the chute 1 communicates with the said chute 2, the said chute 3 sloping in the opposite direction to the chue 2 as illustrated in Fig. 1 of the drawing. This arrangements of chutes sloping in opposite directions alternately is continued until the ground Hoor is reached, or other such Hoor from which escape from the building may be effected.

As illustrated in the drawing the number of chutes may be increased in the lower floors of the building in order to accommodate the increasing number of persons who may be using the lire escape in cases of lire, but of course this depends entirely upon the capacity of the building, and it may only be yjao necessary to make the series of chutes single throughout. Suitable pillars or the like, 5 and 6 may be used at different points under the chutes in order to strengthen and support same. Y

VAt the lower end of each of the chutes 1 and 2 are arranged arresting means 7 which arresting means preferably consists of a wooden bar 7"L or the like suspended above the opening in the floor communicating with the next chute in order that persons sliding down one chute may seize the said bar and arrest their progress suiiciently long to enable them to turn around before proceeding down the oppositely inclined chute beneath them. The walls surrounding the lower ends` of the said chute are upholstered in order to prevent injury to any person by reason of their coming in Contact with the said walls at the lower ends of the chutes. The chutes are cut away at their lower ends as indicated in 9 and 10 in order that a person may enter the chute from any floor.

The uppermost floor of the building is provided with a door 11, or the like, which door 11 communicates with the outer air and is provided with a bolt 12 adapted to be operated from any floor of the building by means of a rope, chain, or the like 13 suitably communicated with the said bolt 12. By l this means the said door 11 may be opened by pulling the rope, chain or the like 13 from any floor for the purpose of allowing smoke, which may have gained access to the isolated portion of the building to escape. Instead of a door 11 as illustrated in the drawing, any suitable form of ventilation or the like maybe used in the upper flat of the building, and may be in either the wall or the roof thereof. Y

The lower end of the chute or chutes upon the ground floor are provided with means for preventing liability of any one being injured owing to the velocity with which they are projected from the said chute or chutes, the said means consisting of an upholstered extension 14 hinged at its middle and adapted to Y be turned upward when the fire escape is not in use. Thesaid upholstered extension 14, is intended to project beyond the door of the building when in use and is for effecting the movino' of the said extension 14 to this Y position wzlien the door 15 forming the exit from the building is opened. To effect this,

the extension 14 is provided with a member 16,

being heavily upholstered and preventingV injury tov such persons owing to the velocity with which they are projecting from theV chute or chutes. In cases where the chutes are arranged to slope at an angle which 1s not very great and the velocity at which aV person travels down the'same is normal, the extension 14 may be dispensed with.

' It will be readily understood that the installing of a Vfire escape of this type'within a building does not necessitateV the altering of the architecture of the same, except'for the re proof'wall which effects the isolating of that part of the building from the main part. This lire escape is also ready for use at all times without any preparation and the chutesl and 2 may be either` upholstered or provided with smooth canvas troughs, or troughs of other material as may be desired. The speed at which a person travels down the said chutes may be regulated by the persons themselves grasping the sides of the said chutes when using the same, or suitable rails may be provided upon the said chutes for a similar purpose.

It will be obvious thatV this fire escape isV protected from the fire, and at the same time a number of people may be congregated around the entrances of the different chutes while being isolated from that part of the building which is on lire. Further, where the number of chutes is increased at the lower oo-rs, persons upon those floors may enter therchutes without interfering Vwith* the progress of other persons coming down the chutes from the upper floors by which congestion may be avoided.

The fire proof wall may be of any suit-able construction, the doors of the same also being fire proof, and the doors upon each iioor being arranged immediately opposite the lower end of the chute upon that floor.

Owing to the upholstered nature of the chutes a person is not liable to be injured during progress down same, even if the said person does not take advantage of the arresting means at the bottom in order to turn themselves around before proceeding down the next chute. The angles at which the chutes are arranged may vary in diien ent case-s, and under different circumstances.

This invention may be developed within the scope of the following claim without departing from the essential features of the same, and it is desired that the speciication and drawings be read as being merely illustrative, and not in a limiting sense except as necessitated by the prior art.

What I claim as my invention is.

In a iire escape, a combination of inclined chutes t-he lower most of which is provided with a movable extension at its lower end, said extension comprising a hinged upholstered member, the front part of which is adapted to be turned up when the fire escape is not in use, aforward and rearwardly extending member fixed to said extension, and resilient means tending to force the said extension toward said chute, a tubular bar in which said rearwardly extending member is slidably fixed and a spring Within said bar tending to force the said rearwardly extending member outward.

Signed at the city of Toronto7 in the county of York, in the Province of Ontario, in the Dominion of Canada, this 3rd day of February 1913.

THOMAS OTTIGNON. Witnesses S. LIGHTFOOT, J. GRAY.

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