US1190389A - Fire-escape. - Google Patents

Description

H. M. ERWIN.

FIRE ESCAPE.

APPLICATION ElLED MAR. 30. 1915.

Patented July 11, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented-July 11,1916;

To all whom it may concern Be it known that'I, HORACE M. ERWIN, a citizen of the United States, residing atFort Payne, in the county of Dekalb and State of Alabama, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fire-Escapes; and 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 it appertains' tomake and use the same. 7

This invention relates to fire escapes and one of the principal objects of the invention is to provide a frictional device of simple construction for lowering a person to the ground from an upper window in case of fire, said friction device being provided with suitable friction brakes and adapted to lower a person slowly or more rapidly to the ground.

The foregoing and other objects may be attained by means of the construction illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a front elevation of a building and showing a fire escape and a person lowering himself to the ground on said escape, said fire escape being made in accordance with this invention, Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the frictional device for lowering the person to the ground, Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view of the same, Fig. 4. is a vertical sectional view of the friction device taken at right angles to Fig. 3, Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the harness to be worn by the person descending by the fire escape, Fig. 6 is a fragmental front elevation illustrating the application of the spring for supporting the operating lever in a horizontal position.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 1 designates a rope having at one end a snap hook and a ring 2 adapted to be connected to a bed post or other article of furniture within a room. The friction device through which the rope 1 extends comprises the metal side members 3 connected together by suitable rivets 4, and mounted between the two side members 3 are friction sheaves '0 comprising grooved blocks held rigidly in place between the two side members 3 upon bolts or rivets 6. The friction blocks 5 are disposed in difierent vertical planes, as shown more clearly in Fig. 3 of the drawings, and the rope 1 being wreathed about said blocks exerts a frictional bearing on the rope. At one side of the casing is a cam lever 7 pivoted at 8 and provided with an enlarged head 9. The lever 7 is held in a positionout'ofcontact with the rope 1 by means ofa spring 10; A friction plate 11 is secured within the casing to bear upon one side ofthe rope when the lever 7 is thrown into-position 'to engage the :rope. i

l At one 'ide' 'f-the 'ca'singis a handle'12 pivoted at 13to suitable lugs 2. 14; extending out from the side of the casing. The handle 12 is' provided with aT-head 15"forminga "convenient handhold.

At the opposite'side 'of the casing from the handle 12 is a camlever 16 pivoted at 17 to lugs 18 extending out from the casing and said lever being provided with an enlarged head 19. The casing is provided with an opening 20, and the head 19 when the lever is thrown down, enters the opening 20 and bears against the rope 1 to force it against a friction plate 21 secured within the casing by rivets 22. The side plates 3 are connected by plates a and b.

A ring 23, said ring depending from the lower end of the friction device in convenient position, has the snap hook 24 con nected thereto. The snap hook 24 is connected to a plate 25 having loops 26 to which the ends of a rope 27 are connected. A short length of rope 28 is provided with snap hooks 29 at the ends thereof and said snap hooks are adapted to engage ring 30 spaced apart and connected to the rope 27. A cen tral ring 31 is connected to the rope 27 and the short rope 28 extends through said ring or buckle, thus providing a harness for the person desiring to use the fire escape.

The manner of using the device may be briefly described as follows: When the rope 1 is connected to a piece of furniture by the ring 2 and snap hooks, the ropeis passed into the friction device and around the friction blocks 5, and the person desiring to use the fire escape passes his legs through the loops 0 between the rope 27 and the rope 28 and the snap hook 24: is connected to the ring 23. The user grasps the handle 15 upon one side of the friction device and the lever 16 upon the opposite side. The lever 7 is first turned against the rope to clamp it tightly, by frictional contact therewith, and after the person gets out of the window, the lever 16 is pulled down to tighten on the rope and the lever 7 is then turned to relieve the rope. By use of the lever 16 any desired friction What' -is claimed is 5 'l blocks mounted in said casing,

the spirit and scope of-the invention as delined in the claim.-

A fire escape comprising a oasing,,,f riction r and adapted itoreeei-vearope, said casingprovided with a slot in the lower end thereof, a lever pivotally mounted: onsaid ca'sing and the inner end; thereof. extending intosaid casing, a

spring secured to the casing and extending partay'acro'ssthe'slot. and into an engagementwith theunder side ofsaid'lever' to normally holdqthe' lever in a horizontal and inoperative positiom al-friction plat -secured totheeasing opposite said slot, said-casing provided with a second slot at right angles 7 to the first mentioned slot, and at right angles to oneof' the friction blocks, a second friction plate secured to the casing and at right angles to first mentioned friction plate, a hand lever pivotally secured to the casing and adapted to engage the rope through the second mentioned slot and press it into engagement with the second mentioned friction plate and at right angles to first mentioned plate, and means for suspendinga; person to the casing.

'In, testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of .two- Witnesses.

I .1 HORACE M. ERWIN.

Witnesses: A I

I P.K.-STEVENSy R.-F .-Rosr.

.ofltlii s ia tentfmay beobtained for. five cents each, by addressing the ffiommissioner of Patents, i washingtongnvfl r

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