US380303A - Fire-escape - Google Patents

Description

2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Mdel.)

- W. M. TOMPKINS.

PIRE ESCAPE.

Patented Mar. 27 1888'.

Fay. 1

I ./ttorney ITJVESSES,

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet W. M. TOMPKINS;

PIRE. ESCAPE.

No. 888,808. Patented Mar. 27, 1888.

m w W.

UNITED STATES PATENT Eric.

VILLIAM MORTON TOMPKINS, OF BATAVIA, NEV YORK.

FIRE-ESCAPE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N0.380,303, dated March 27, 1888.

Application filed September 7, 1887. Serial No. 249,025. (No model.)

To @ZZ wzcmn it may concern.'

Beit known that LWILLIAM MoRToN ToMr- KINs, of Bata-via, in the county of Genesee and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful ImprovementsinFireEscapes; and l 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 to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form part of this specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in fire-escapes.

The object of my invention is to improve the construction, and hence the operation, of those fire-escapes heretofore in use, which consist of a series of horizontal shafts operating in the upper portion of a building and having ropes or ladders secured thereon and extending down the outside of the building, said shafts being connected by bevel-gearing and operated by means of belting or shafts; and with these ends iu view my invention consists in certain novel features of construction and combinations of parts, more fully described hereinafter, and pointed out in the claims. Y

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical section of a building having my invention applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section of the saine on the line :c w, Fig. l. Figs. 3, 4, 5, and 6 are enlarged details of my invention.

Similar letters of reference indicate similar parts in the respective figures.

A is a building, in the upper part of which are horizontal shafts B, B', B2, and B3, mounted in bearings IJ, which are secured to the inner walls of the building. Each of these shafts is provided with aseries of reels, C, on which the ropes c are adapted to be wound, as will be more fully described hereinafter. The shafts A B and B are provided with beveled gears b at each end, and the shafts B2 and B3 are provided with beveled gears at one end only. These gears are adapted to engage, as shown, and it is clear that when the shaft B is revolved the shafts B', B2, and B3 will also be revolved by means of the beveled gears.

D is a vertical shaft having a bearing or step at its lower end, d, in the door of the building, (see Fig. 5,) and being provided at its upper end with a beveled gear, di, which engages Awith another beveled gear, b2, secured on the shaft B. The shaft D passes through all the floors of the building between the bottom and top, and is thus securely held in position. Near its lower end the shaft D is provided with a beveled gear, E, which engages with another beveled gear, F, on a shaft, f, mounted in a frame,G. Theshaftf is provided with a crank, f', and a ratchet-wheel, f2. A pawl, f3, is hung on the frame G, and is adapted to engage with the teeth ofthe ratchet-wheel.

H H represent tubes, which are fixed in the walls of the building opposite each of the reels C. Each tube is slotted at the under side of its outer end at 7i to receive the pulley h', which has bearings in the tube. The ropes c, which are of equal length and have one end securely fastened to the reels G, pass through the tubes H, over the pulleys h, and extend as near the ground as may be necessary. Each-rope is provided with a weight, c', at its free end.

I is a friction-brake operated by hand and adapted to close against the shaft D to regulate the speed with which the weighted ropes are lowered.

The operation is as follows: Supposing the ropes c to be in the position shown in Fig. l, if the crank f is turned the shaft D will be rotated, and through the medium of the beveled gears di, b2, and b will revolve the shafts B, B', B2, and B3, and thus wind the ropes c on the reels C until the weights c' are raised to the tubes H, as shown in dotted lines, Fig. 3. The ropes will then be in their normal position and will be held in such position by means of the rafchet-and-pawl mechanism f2 f 3. When it is desired to lower the ropes, all it is necessary to do is to lift the pawl f3 out of engagement with the ratchetwheel f2, when the weights c will cause the ropes c to unwind simultaneously and descend toward the ground, the speed of the descent being regulated by means of the frictionbrake I. It is designed to have the ropes so arranged as to come in front of and sufficiently near to the windows ofthe building as to enable a person to grasp the rope from the window and slide to the bottom.

It is obvious that the series of horizontal shafts could be extended into the wings of a IOO building, if necessary, and all be operated simultaneously by means of the beveled gears on their ends.

Having thus fully described my invention, What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

l. A series of horizontal shafts geared together, as described, and being provided with a series of reels to which ropes are secured, combined with a building having a series of tubes extending through the walls of the building, said tubes being provided with pulleys over which said ropes pass, substantially as described.

2. A series of horizontal shafts geared together, as described, and a series of reels to which ropes are secured mounted upon the shafts, combined with a building, a series of tubes extending through the walls of the building and provided with longitudinal slots in the lower portion of the peripheries of their outer ends, and pulleys journaled at the slots in said tubes and over which the ropes pass, substantially as described.

3. In combination with a building, a series of horizontal shafts having bevel-gears on th ei r ends adapted to engage with each other, a series of reels on said shafts, ropes wound on said reels, tubes located opposite each reel and eX- tending through the Wall of the building, said ropes passing through the tubes, and a vertical shaft having a beveled gear on its upper end adapted to engage With a bevelgear on one of the horizontal shafts, substantially as described 4. In combination with a building, a series of horizontal shafts jonrnaled in the upper portion of said building, a series of ropes secured to saidshafts and to be wound thereon, and a series of tubes extending through the walls of the building opposite each rope, for the purpose specified.

5. The herein-described fire-escape, consisting, essentially, in the combination of abuilding, a series of horizontal shafts, bevel-gears upon the ends of said shafts to mesh with each other, a series of reels mounted upon said shafts, tubes extending through the walls of the building opposite each reel, pulleys journaled in the outer ends of said tubes, Weighted ropes wound upon said reels, and passing through the tubes and operating over the pulleys, a vertical shaft provided with a bevelgear upon its upper end to mesh with abevelgear upon one of the horizontal shafts, abevelgear upon the lower portion of the vertical shaft, a horizontal shaft provided with a crank at one end and a bevel-gear to mesh withthe lower bevel-gear upon the vertical shaft, a ratchet-and-pawl mechanism, and a frictionbrake, as specified.

In testimony thatI claim the foregoing as my own I afx my signature in presence of two witnesses.

VILLIAM MOR'ION TOMPKINS.

Witnesses:

GEORGE H. HOLDEN, CARLOS A. HULL.

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