US1544967A - Fire escape - Google Patents

Description

July 7, 1925. 1,544,967

A. COHEN FIRE ESCAPE Filed July 26. 1923 A TTORNEY 45 'l thereof shownfin cross section.

.5 'outer wall of the spring casingl'HwWd- Patented July 7, 1925. l

PATENT OFFICE. .l

ANCH'EL COHEN,Y or rITTsBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA.

' Erma' ESCAPE.`

. Appiiomun nieajruly'zs, 192s. snm m. 65am.

To all whom t may coincer/a:V l v Be it known that 1, ANoHEL COHEN, a citizen of the United States, vresiding at Pittsburgh, inthe county of Alleghenyl and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in `Fire Escapes, of which the following is a speci-v fication. v

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements vin fire escapes, and important objects thereof are to provide a device for facilitating escape from a burning building; which embodiesnovel means for completelycolla'psing and storing the ladder member'when not in use; lwhich includes a spring operated spool element adapted to facilitate the positioning of the ladder for use, and which maybe readily secured to the outer face of the wall of a building. 'v 1 l Further objects of ther invention are' to provide a device of the character described, in a manner as hereinafter set forth, which is simple in its construction Vand arrangement, strong, durable and efficient in its use,

and comparatively Vinexpensive to manufacture. Y v n y y,

' YTo the accomplishment of these and such other objects as may hereinafter appear, the invention consists of the novel construction, combination and arrangement of 'parts herein specifically described andwillustrated in the accompanying drawing wherein is shown an embodiment of the invention, butit lis to be understoodl that; changes, variations and modifications I'naybey resorted towhich come within thev scope of vthe claim hereunto reference designate corresponding parts throughout the several views:-

y Figurev 1 is a fragmentary ofa fire esca' inthe operative position in accordance with'my invention with portions 1 Figure 2 isl a sectional side view of a -wall structure provided/with a window, showing an embodiment of my invention attached to the outer face' thereof beneath the window. `Figure 3 vis a-sectional View of a ladder rung'and associated parts.' i lig'ure'fr 's an endv view of the ladder spool illustrating the spring casing and the actuating vspring ycarriedthereby, with the front elevation Figure 5 is an enlargedfdetailview of the latching key and latch. j

Referring in detail to` the drawing 11denotes a wall structure `of a building includF ing a window 2. A receptacle 3, consisting of a rear wall 4, bottom 5, front wall 6, end walls 7 andI 8, and a cover 9, is fixedn to the outer facev ofthe wall structure 1 directly beneath the window 2, by means of securing bolts 10, which latter engage the rear receptacle wall 4 and the wall structure 1.

The receptacle 3 is preferably rectangular in contour land is constructed from sheet metal. The end Walls 7 'and 8 thereof are iXedIy secured to respective -ends'of the rear wall 4. The rear end of the bottom 5 isv hinged, as at 11, to the lower end ofthe otally mounted centrally disposed catch-14 adapted to engage in van openingvprovided therefor in the rear wall' 4 for securing the receptacle in the closed position, asshown in Figure 2, of 'thedrawing f The cover 9, front wall' 6,.'and'bottom 5 vare not connected with the'end walls 7 and '8, of the receptaclew 3,'and when'the catch `14 is released from its'engagement with the rear wall 4,' the'cover 9, front wall, and bottom 5, due to their respective hinged connections 13, 12 and 11 will drop by gravity to the vertical position in alignment with respect to each other and with the vertically disposed rearwall 4, as is clearly shown in Figure 2, ofthe drawing, and for the purpose to be described.'

An aXle 15 is horizontally disposed in the f receptacle 3 and is provided with squared vrends which engage in the supporting hubs l16 fixed to the inner 'face of respectiveend walls 7 and 8, and prevent the rotation of the axley 15 for the purpose to be described.

:AA spool 17, on 'which the ladder 18 1s adapted to be wound when not in use, is rotatably mountedonthe axle 15. One end of the spool 17 is providedwith an ordinary r spoolflange 17( and a ratchet wheel 19 is fixed to the outer face of the latter to roinner wall 21 of which serves for the purpose v of the ordinary spool flange.

A coil spring 22 is mounted in the spring casing and has its inner Aend lixedly attached t0 the axle 15, as indicated at 28. The outer end of the coil spring 22 is free and is formed to provide a vhook 211.`

The inner casing wall 21 is formed with an elongated rectangular slot 25 disposedv tangentially and adjacent to the periphery ofthe inner casing wall 21. A correspondingly shaped latch 26 is pivotally .connected at its approximate center in the slotv 25, as indicated at 27 The pivotal connection 27 1 of the latch 26 in the slot 25 is frictional and spaced intervals with rungs 29. Each of the rungs 29 consists of a rod 30 the ends of which extend and project through `corresponding links of respective chains 28. A pipe 31 is mounted on the rod 30 intermediate of the chains 28 for the purpose of keeping the chains 28 properly spaced from each other. Each end of the rod 80 is provided with a short pipe 32and is riveted for securing the latter in position.; The outer end of each of' the pipes 32 is .threaded and is provided with .a cap 83'. The rod projections with respective pipes 32 and caps 33 provide hand holds to facilitate the scaling of the ladder. In addition, the construction 'prevents the lateral out-ward movement ofthe chains 28 on the rungs 29.

The rungs 29 of the ladder 18 are of a length-to allow them to be wound, together with'the chains 28, on thespool 17 between the flange 17l andthe inner wall `of the spring casing wall 21.

Each of the ladder chains 28 has` one end thereof fixed to the spool 17, as indicated at34. A ratchet lever 35 is pivotally connected to the inner face of the front wall 6 of the f receptacle 3, and engages the ratchet wheel the latch 26 is longitudinally positioned and i.

' maintained in its slot 25v and will be Hush When the roll,-

formedby vwinding the ladder 18 upon the spool 17, reaches the slot 25 in the inner casing wall 21, the latch 26 is manually shifted to position it at right' angles with respect to the slot 25.in the inner. casing wall 21, as shown in Figure 1, ofthe drawing. '-The portion of the latch 26 extending into the casing is engaged by the hook 241 on the free end of the spring 22, and the latch key 3.6 is loosely placed to extend circumferentially on the partially wound ladder roll on the spool 17. The key offset 37 is positioned to abut against the inwardly projecting portion of the latch 26 to maintain the latter in engagement with the spring 22.V The 'key 36 is held in position upon the ladder roll-by subsequent turns that are added .after the key 36 has been placed in position to secure the latch 26. Y

Upon again continuing the rotation of the spool 17 to completely wind thereon the unwound portion of the ladder 18, after the hook 24 of the spring 22 has engaged the latch 26 as above described, the spring 22 will be tensioned and held in such tensioned position by positioning the bottoni, front wall 6' and cover 9 ofthe ,receptacle in the .l

closed position for when in such position. the ratchet lever 85 may be shifted to engage one of the teeth of the ratchet wheel 19 to maintain the spool 17 in thejtensioned' position.

By engaging the catch 14 of the cover 9 with l Figure 2 of the drawing. The spool 17 being tensioned for rotation in` the clockwisedirection by the action of the spring-.22, the ratchet wheel 19, carried by the spool 17, will tend to force the front receptacle wall 6 outwardly by its engagement with the latter through the ratchet lever 85 thereby accelerating the positioning of the hinged vbottom 5, front wall 6 and cover 9 to the vertical position as above described.

When the ratchet lever 35 disengages the ratchet wheel 19, the spool,17, on which the ladder 18 is wound, will rotate in the clockwise direction bythe action ofv the kspring 22, and the ladder 18 will unwind from the spool 17 to the lowered or extended position. As the latch key 36` is: held; in position by its engagement with certain coils of the ladder 18, the former will be released to drop free as soon as such securing coils are unwound from the spool 17 by the action of spring 22. Upon release of the latch key 36 the latch 26 will shift into the slot 25 due to the pull thereon of the spring 22, and thereby disengage the spring hook 24 from the latch 26. The spring 22 is now disconnected from the spool 17 and will remain idly distensioned on the axle l5. The spool 17, however, will continue its rotation to lower the ladder 18 as a suiiicient portion of the latter will have been fed out to supply ample weight to pro-vide for the continuation of the unwinding operation by the descent of the ladder to the lowered position.

It will be noted that in positioning the ladder 18 for use it is only necessary for the operator to release the cover catch 14 from its engagement with the rear wall 4 of the receptacle 3.

IVhat I claim is In combination a fire escape comprising a receptacle adapted to be secured'to the outer face of a wall structure beneath a window opening,'said receptacle having its rear wall, bottom, front wall, and cover hingedly connected together to permit of said bottom, front wall, and cover shifting by gravity to a vertical position in alignment with said rear wall, said cover provided with a catch ing a ratchet wheel and the other end there- Y of provided with a spring casing, the inner wall of said casing formed with a slot, a latch member pivoted in said slot, a flexible ladder having one end secured to said spool and adapted to be wound thereon, a latch key adapted to be secured by its engagement `by said ladder for securing said latch member at right angles with'respect to said inner wall, a spring mounted in said casing and having one end fixed to said axle and the other end thereof formed to provide a hook capable of engaging said latch member when the latterl is positioned at right angles with respect to said inner wall, for tensioning said spring when said spool is rotated to wind said ladder thereon, and a ratchet lever carried by said front receptacle wall and engaging said ratchet wheel for securing said spool in the tensioned position when said receptacle is in the closed position, substantially as described and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I alix my signature.

ANcHEL coHEN.

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