US1505A - Fire-escape - Google Patents

Description

entrai) :STATES PATENT onirica- SYLVESTER PENFIELD, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT.

FIRE-ESCAPE.

`oecication of Letters Patent No. 1,505, dated March 3, 1840.

To all 'whom 'it may concern Be it known that I, SYLvnsTER PENFIELD, of Hartford` in the county of Hartford and State of Connecticut, have invented a new and useful Machine to Assist in Extinguishing Fires and in Rescuing Persons or Goods from the lindows or Doors of the Lo-fts of Buildings on Fire; and I do hereby declare -that the following is a full and exact description, reference being had to kthe annexed drawings of the same, makingpart of this specification.

The nature of my invention .consists in erecting a single pole, column, or shaft, properly supported at the base of suflicient length and strength vertically in front of and contiguous to the door or window from which persons or goods are to be taken` or when used to extinguish fires, to be placed in a suitable position for that purpose. Up this shaft one or more persons may elevate themselves at pleasure, standing in a frame called thecage', by means of the rack and pinion action, the pinion being turned by a crank or cranks by the person or persons in the cage.

To enable such mechanics as are in the habit of executing similar work to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

Figure l is a perspective view of the fire escape. Fig. 2 is a front view of the rack and pinion, ratchet wheel, pawl and brake. Fig. 3 represents the manner of attaching the foot of the brace to the sliding block and the screw for moving it when it is required to adjust the shaft. Fig. l `represents the spring bolt in the foot of the brace for securing` it to the slide. Fig. 5 is a ver-Y tical section of part one of the arms showing the mortise and the block to which the brace is attached sliding therein and the screw for moving it.

The shaft a n the accompanying drawing/. -The length of this may be such as to reach any desirable height and its proportionable size should be suiiicient to prevent tortive and lateral'action when in use. To insure the more strength and stiffness with a small amount of material, I usually construct the shaft of four pieces of plank so jointed together longitudinally as to form a square hollow tube. A shaft so constructed of the length of l0 feet should be about l() inches square. To form a base to the shaft, and to preserve it in a vertical position1 I extend a piece of timber, Zi, b, o, b, from each of its sides, atthe foot at right angles called the arms. The length of the arms should be proportioned to the height of the shaft, say about 7 feet to 40. rhe arms are connected to the shaft by metallic fastenings which form a hinge, permitting the arms to be folded up, against the sides of the shaft, to facilitate transportation. To give steadiness and firmness, braces c, c, c, c, are extended from the arms to the shaft. The braces are in like manner connected to the shaft by metallic joints, similar to and for the same purpose as those just described. Nothing peculiar is requisite i-n the construction of these joints; an idea-of the manner in which I usually construct them may be obtained by inspecting the drawings at el.

essary sometimes to adapt the arms to un- 'even ground, I have resorted to the expee dient (in the case of the arms and brace in question) of making the footing of the brace movable in the arm by means of a horizontal screw s passed through a sliding blocker piece of metal as shown at lt, Fig. 5, in the drawing, where the front side ofthe part forming the mortise is represented as being removed, the better to show the action of the internal apparatus the foot of'said braceL being attached to said sliding block which is moved by vthe screw. It may be sometimes necessary to place the machineV very near to the building. In this case the arm and brace on the rear side may be removed. To facilitate this operation, I usually cut out the pin hole in the tenons ofthe brace, and also that of the arm as represented at b in sections, Fig. l of the drawing. The fas'- tening in these cases is effected by a spring bolt represented at e and d, in sections A and B, of the drawing Fig. 4. The bolt is shown as withdrawn at c and as thrust home to its place at ci. The feet of vall the braces may be attached to sliding blocks of metalV pierced with female screws to admit male screws over lwhich they are to move backward and forward by turning said screws as represented 1n Figs. 3 and 5 m order to adjust the shaft; this mode 1s preferred.

To render the moving of the machine to` small distances from place to place when in operation, easy, I apply rollers or casters,

e, e, e, e, of the common construction to the arms near their outer ends, I use lateralV braces B2 made of round iron, to preserve the angular position of thel arms, andto Vsteady them; these are made fast at one end by a staplelpassing through a hole in that end of it,f whichis then driven into one of the arms, while the other end isrmade tov hook into a staple in the next arm. A rack f with cogs or teeth to receive those of thev pinion la is made fast to the front Vside of the shaft extending vertically alon its surface quite to its top, which `comp etes the` description of the shaft with itsbase.

The cage D.-This I VConstruct byiirst making a square frame of small scantling,

consisting of four upright pieces g, g, g, g,

about feet in length connected by straps i of iron or otherwise at each end. The inzside dimensions of this frame must be such as to receive the shaft loosely within it, Near each end of this frame' friction rollers 47L,'L`, 71 h, are placed. on each of its four sides. The pivots of the friction rollers are Y inserted intothe pieces of scantling forming the frame. These rollers .are intended to diminish friction between the frame 'andV thel shaft as the cage'rpasses upfand .down the shaft. An arbor, t; is made to extend quite across the frontv of the Vframe near its upper end having a crankV orwinch W at eitherg end, turning in suitable boxes which are lmade fast to the two front upright pieces ofthe frame.` This .arbor serves as an axis for the pinion "lb, :which is so adjusted upon it, as .to coincidev with and ply into 'therack orshaft already described. On the same arbor are c wo'otherV wheels F and G (not seen in Fig. l, but seen inFiggEZ) of'about v`the' same diameter as the pinion the one G with saw-like shaped teeth to receive a hook or click H serving as va detent to retain/the cage with its burden at any Idesirable height. The other F vis a smooth wheel intended -to lgovern the velocity of the "cage in itsV de*v Yscent without"V the aid of the `cr`anks;this

purpose. is effected .by a lever VLrwhich" is made to`bear `upon the periphery ofthe wheel and thereby create friction, by a per'v son withinthe cage,` the -principle of 'this Y action being thesame as 1s every day seen needs here no further explanation. VTo complete the cage semicircular` platform,` Z,r of 3 to 4 `feet radius is aiiixed toward, the lower end of the frame already described,v being supported by suitable stays m, m, m, m, being made fast to the upright partsV of the frame. Y A protecting railing-n, n, a, n,

isV erected around thejplatform extending vertically `from'its upper surface say 3 to L feet. The back side `ofthe cage is armed with an apparatus which I denominate the shield 0. This is `simply plates 0f polished sheetiron to reiect` the heat coveringthe back-side of the cage,H on each side of the shaft. "As -a furtherprotection a plate of sheet iron pis adapted to slide in grooves formed in the frame work of the cage to a height equalingfor exceedingthat of a man standing in the cage;` Holes (l, g, are made in these slides'through which the pipe of 'i the hose may befpointed when the machine is usedto extinguish fire. Saidshield may likewise be composed of wood and iron combinedthe wood being on the inside to serve `as a non-conductor of heat and the iron on the outsideto prevent the `woodfrom burning. i i p 1 A Y The operation ofthis machine -l` think may be readily inferred from the.foregoingV description. Suffice it to say in addition, that when persons or goods-are to be received from the'windowsor doors `of the lofts of buildings the `machine being erected and adjusted in the 'properlpositionya person enters the 1 cage, and by turningthe Vcrank elevates himself to the proper height,

thefcage then're'sting or sustaining itself` by means of the click, proceeds to receive the persons or goods Sinto" the cage, A and with 'themrdescends graduating the Vdescent either by the crank or frictionzwheely When used to extinguish fire the operator receives the pipe and so much of the hose as lsineces-4 sary into, the cage which affords him ample roo1n and convenience for effectually di rectingthe water.

*What Iclaim asmy invention andzdesire to secure by Letters Patent is i l. Combining with the movable platform plates of polished metal or ofwood and metal combined as herein set forth the said plates sliding in grooves at'thezbackof the platform and servingas fire shields to pro- A tect those upon it from the flames.

a' 2.1,-jThe l. mode of keeping the shaft in a vertical position so asito adapt it'to any inequalityofsoil by means of the following combined arrangement viz: `the arms 7) hinged tothe Vshaft soV as to admit of their being raised o r loweredin combination with the braces 0 attached to the'blockt, moving lated by means of a screw'sall as here described.` i 4 v l. SYLVESTER PENFIELD. lVitnesses y WILLIAM P. ELLIOT, EDMUND MAHER.,

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i 1n a'mortise'fin the aforesaid arm b and regu-

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