US279347A

US279347A - bubns

Info

Publication number: US279347A
Authority: US
Publication date: 1883-06-12
Anticipated expiration: 1900-06-12

Description

(No Model.)

G; E. GREEGY & A. B. BURNS.

. FIRE ESCAPE.

No. 279,347. Patented June 12 1883.

I NEEQSQEESX WITNESSES: INVENTORS, j r I I I fi m 7&7 w/ffl;

' AfTdRNfisl N4 PETERS. mwmhe n hu, WahingtomPf C.

closed down upon the man-hole.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES E. OREECY AND ALEXANDER B. BURNS, OF WASHINGTON, D. C.

FIRE-ESCAPE.

SPEGiFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 279,347, dated June 12, 1883.

Application filed January 17,1383. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, OHARLEs EATON OREEcY and ALEXANDER B. Evans, of WVashington, in the District of Columbia, have i11- vented cert-ain new. and useful Improvements in FireEscapes; and we do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had tothe accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of so much of a fire-escape as is necessary to illustrate our improvement, showing the reversible platform Fig. 2 is a similar view, showing the reversible platform in position under the window. Fig. 3 is a plan ortop view of the man-hole frame with the platform removed, and Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of part of the reversible platform on an enlarged scale.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresp ending parts in all the figures.

Our invention has relation to the balconies or platforms which are used on buildings asa means of escape through the windows in case of fire, in conjunction with stand-pipes and ladders, said balconies or platforms being adapted to serve also as supports for the firemen in coupling hose to the stand-pipe and opening the connecting-valves, and our improvement consists in the construction and arrangement of a reversible platform, as hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

In. the accompanying drawings, A denotes the ladder, and B the stand-pipe, which are placed in juxtaposition. to each other. "e prefer to arrange the ladder and stand-pipe as shown in the drai 'ings, connected by clamps or buckles C, so as to mutually brace and support each other andyet leave a narrow space between the side rail ofthe ladder and the standpipe next to it, so that a person ascending or descending the ladder may grasp the side rails withboth hands, and thus steady himself with out taking hold of the ladder-rounds. This construction of the stand-pipe and ladder is more fully shown and described by us in an application for Letters Patent for certain improvements in fire-escapes filed December 29, 1882.

The ladder is fastened firmly to the outside wall of the building at each story by means of a square or rectangular frame, 1), one side of which is bolted to the side rails of the ladder;

or it may be clamped or otherwise fastened thereto in afirm and substantial manner, while the other or opposite side is fastened in the wall by two or more anehors,E F. The inside of this frame is rabbeted, as shown at d, to receive the folding or reversible platform F, which is hung to that end of the frame nearest the window by suitably-constructed hinges, so that it may be opened like the cover of a box and reversed, as clearly shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings. When in this reversed position the free end of the reversible platform is sup ported upon an iron arm or bracket, G,-thc inner end of which is firmly anchored in the wall below the window-sill, while on the other 'hand,when closed or folded down upon frame D, the platform is firmly supported upon the rabbeted inner edge of the frame, as shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings.

Several important advantages result from this construction and arrangement. In the first place, the building is not disfigured by the balconies or platforms projecting underneath the windows, and often used as convenient receptacles or depositories for ash-barrels, slopbuckets, and household utensils of various kinds. Again, tl-ie'framc D forms a safe and substantial fastening for the ladder and stand-pipe upon the wall of the building, firmly bracing and steadying them, so as to prevent lateral motion or oscillation in using the ladder or during the prevalence ofhigh winds. W'here swinging baskets operated by cords and pulleys running on ways. suspended under the caves of the building are used as an auxiliary means of escape, these platforms can be folded back upon. their frames, so as to be out of the way of. the basket as it ascends or descends in front of the windows, and as that side of the platform which is uppermost when it is re versed, resting upon thebracket G, is 011 the clearly on the enlarged view Fig. 4 of the drawings, leaving a clear space between each pair of cross-bars of sufficient width to permit snow and ice falling on the platform to drop through. A

Having thus described our invention, we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States 1. The reversible platform F, hinged in a frame, D, anchored to the wall of a building, and adapted to be swung into position under the window with its free end supported upon the bracket G, substantially as and for the purpose shown and set forth.

2. The combination, with the ladder A and stand-pipe B of a fire-escape, of the frame D and reversible platform F, substantially as and for the purpose shown and set forth.

3. The reversible platform F, having an iceproof bed constructed of oval parallel crossbars a, substantially as and for the purpose shown and set forth. V

In testimony that we claim the foregoing as our own we have hereunto affixed our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES EATON CREEGY. ALEXANDER B. BUR-NS. XVitnesses:

LoUIs BAGGER, \VM. Snonnu.