US2513835A

US2513835A - Collapsible jointed ladder and storage means therefor

Info

Publication number: US2513835A
Application number: US742286A
Authority: US
Inventors: Otis W Allen
Original assignee: DAUIEL K KELLY
Current assignee: DAUIEL K KELLY
Priority date: 1947-04-18
Filing date: 1947-04-18
Publication date: 1950-07-04
Anticipated expiration: 1967-07-04

Description

July 4, 1950 AND STORAGE MEANS Filed April 18, 1947 O. W. ALLEN COLLAPSIBLE JOINTED LADDER THEREFOR 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 4 5 5 a II" x 5 E ,v 5

I ll L 633 25 3 ,6

Fig.2.

,: Inventor OfisWAI/en WM y van Wavy Attorneys 0. W. ALLEN COLLAPSIBLE JOINTED LADDER AND STORAGE MEANS THEREFOR July 4, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 18, 1947 Inventor Otis W. Allen Patented July 4, 1950 COLLAPSIBLE JOINTED LADDER AND STORAGE MEANS THEREFOR Otis W. Allen, Greenwood, Miss assignor of onehalf to Daniel K. Kelly, Greenwood, Miss.

Application April 18, 1917, Serial No. 742,286 Claims. (Cl- 228-44) The present invention relates to new and useful improvements in escape ladders for buildings to enable occupants to safely leave the building in case of fire or other emergency and more particularly to an extensible ladder constructed of a plurality of slidably connected sections held in a compact retracted position to the side of a building at its upper portion and in which the sections automatically gravitate into a lowered extended position when released.

An important object of the present invention is to provide novel means for slidably' connecting the sections of the ladder to each other for movement into and out of an extended position.

A further object of the invention is to provide means for holding the sections of the ladder in a raised retracted position and operable from within the building to release the sections of the ladder for sliding downwardly into a lowered extended position.

A still further object is to provide a. housing for the sections of the ladder when in a raised retracted position together with hoisting means for raising the sections of the ladder into the house.

An additional object is to provide shock absorbing means at the connected ends of the sections of the ladder to reduce shock during the lowering movement thereof.

A still further object is to provide a device of this character of simple and practical construction, which is efiicient and reliable in operation,

relatively inexpensive to manufacture and install in operative position at the side of the bui ding and which otherwise is well adapted for the purposes for which the same is intended.

Other objects and advantages reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure l is a front elevational view showing the escape ladder in a lowered extended position on the side of a building.

Figure 2 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken on a line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken on a line 33 of Figure 2 and showing the hoist in position for raising the ladder.

Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentary side elevational view of the lower end of one of the sections of the ladder and with parts shown in section to show the shock absorber therein, and

Figure 5 is an enlarged transverse sectional view of the hollow rails or tracks of a pair of connected sections of the ladder and showing one of the U-shaped connectors therefor.

Referring now to the drawings in detail wherein for the purpose of illustration I have disclosed 2 a preferred embodiment of the invention the numeral 5 designates an extension ladder generally which is composed of a plurality of ladder sections 6, each section including a pair of hollow side rails l and rungs 8 having their ends secured in the rails I by washers 9 and screws Ill. The outer edge of the rails I are formed with longitudinally extending closed ended slots or channels H in which one end of a U-shaped connector I2 is slidably received while the other end of the connector is pivotally mounted in an opening I! in the upper end of an adjacent lower ladder section. The ends of the connector l2 are formed with annular heads or flanges H to retain the connectors in the hollow tracks.

The uppermost ladder section designated at I5 is secured by a bracket or the like It to the outer side of the wall I! of a building adiacent its upper end and braces l8 secured at vertically spaced intervals to the section l5 of the ladder spaced the same perpendicularly from the wall of the building.

A housing I! is secured to the outer surface to the wall II which is open at its bottom for raising the sections Gof the ladder into a compact retracted position as shown in Figure 2 of the drawings. An electric motor 20 is mounted on a platform 2| in the upper portion of the housing I! for operating a drum 22 also mounted on the platform and on which a cable 23 is wound. To the lower end of the cable is suitably attached a pair of hooks 24 engageable in the rail 1 of the lowermost section of the ladder for hoisting the sections of the ladder into a retracted position in the housing I! as shown in Figure 2. The upper and lower ends of the ladder sections are beveled as shown at 25 to provide a lateral sliding movement of a lower ladder section during its raising action to guide said lower ladder section outwardly from its adjacent upper section into the position as shown in Figure 2 during the raising of said section into the housing l9.

In order to secure the sections of the ladder in a raised position I provide a pair of shafts 28 journaled in the wall ll of the building and in the outer side of the housing IS, the shafts being positioned at opposite sides of the ladder and provided with a pair of arcuate hooks 21 secured at one end to the respective shafts and having their other ends free and movable into and out of position in the track of the lowermost ladder section to thus hold the sections of the ladder in a raised position. To the inner end of the shafts 26 are attached crank arms 28 having refrom the ladder sectionand thus permit gravita- 3 tion of the sections into a lowered extended position.

The top 01' the housing I9 is provided with a hinged cover 30 to provide a trapdoor to obtain access to the interior of the housing and mechanism therein and the partition 2| is provided with an opening 3| to also afford access to the ladder and mechanism therein and which further provides means for persons to escape from the roof of the building.

In the lower end of the tracks of each section of the ladder, except the lowermost section, is positioned a coil spring 32 on top of which is supported a block 33 for engagement by the end of the connector 12 when moving downwardly in the tracks to function as a shock absorber and thus reduce the shocks of the respective sections of the ladder during the sudden lowering movement thereof.

The ladder is preferably positioned at the side of a building adjacent the windows 34 thereof and secured to an adjacent side of the window and extending toward the ladder is a hand rail 35 and a foot rest or bar 36 to enable persons to easily reach the ladder from the window. v

In the operation of the device the ladder sections 6 are normally held in a raised retracted position by the hooks 21 and upon releasing of the hooks by the rod 29 the sections of the lad- 1 der will automatically gravitate into a lowered 1 extended position as shown in Figure 1 whereby persons may lower themselves on the ladder to escape from the building in case of emergency. In order toraise the ladder into its retracted position the hooks 24 engage the lowermost section of the ladder and upon winding the cable 23 on the drum 22 the sections of the ladder will be 1 moved into their uppermost position and held in j such position by the hooks 21.

In view of the foregoing description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings it is believed that a clear understanding of the device will be quite apparent-to those skilled in this art. A more detailed description is accordingly deemed unnecessary.

It is to be understood, however, that even thou h there is herein shown and described a preferred embodiment of the invention the same is susceptible to certain changes fully comprehended by the spirit of the invention as herein described and the scope of the appended claims.

I claim: I 1. An escape device comprising an extensible ladder composed of a. plurality of ladder sect ons, means securing the uppermost section to a supporting structure, rails at the sides of the sections and having longitudinal channels, U- shaped connectors having one end pivoted to the upper portion of a lower section and with their other ends slidable in said channels of an adjacent upper section, said connectors securing the sections to each other in parallel relation when in' a raised position and also securing the sections to each other in a suspended position one below the other when lowered, and catch means releasably insertable in the channel of at least one of the rails to hold the sections in a raised position.

2. An escape device comprising an extensible ladder composed of a plurality of ladder sections, means securing the uppermost section to a supporting structure, rails at the sides of the sections and having-longitudinal channels, connectors for adjacent sections and secured to the upper portion of a lower section and slidable in said channels of an adjacent upper section to connect the sections to each other either in a raised position parallel to each other or in a. lowered position suspended from each other, and catch means releasably holding the sections in a raised position, said catch means comprising an oscillatable shaft, a. hook secured to the shaft for movement into and out of engagement with one of said channels in the outermost of the ladder sections, and operating means for the shaft.

3. An escape device comprising an extensible ladder composed of a plurality of ladder sections, means securing the uppermost section to a supporting structure, rails at the sides of the sections and having longitudinal channels, connectors for adjacent sections and secured to the upper portion of a lower section and slidable in said channels of an adjacent upper section to connect the sections to each other either in a raised position parallel to each other or in a lowered position suspended from each other, said channels having closed lower ends and coiled springs .within the channels and supported on said closed ends and comprising shock absorbers between said ends and the corresponding connectors.

4. An escape device comprising an extensible ladder composed of a plurality of ladder sections, means connecting the upper ladder section to a supporting structure, connectors for adjacent ladder sections and operable to hold said sections to each other in a. raised parallel position or in a lowered extended position, said sections of the ladder having their adjacent end portions inclined in a direction to slide the sections laterally in relation to each other during initial raising movement of a lower section, and means releasably securing the sections in a raised position.

5. An escape device comprising an extensible ladder composed of a plurality of ladder sections, means securing the uppermost section to a supporting structure, rails at the sides of the sections and having longitudinal channels, connectors for adjacent sections and secured to the upper portion of a lower section and slidable in said channels of an adjacent upper section to connect the sections to each other either in a raised position parallel to each other or in a lowered position suspended from each other, said channels being closed at each end of each rail, blocks in the lower ends of the channels, and springs mounted between the blocks and the closed lower ends of the rails, said connectors being U-shaped and a portion of each connector slidable in the channel of an upper section en- 1 gaging a block in the same section.

OTIS W. REFERENCES crrEn The following references are of record-in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS