US552180A - Extension-ladder and fire-escape - Google Patents

Description

(No ModeL) r v 3 Sheets-Sheet 1. H. C HARDOUIN EXTENSION LADDER AND FIRE ESUAPE- No. 552,180. Patented Dec. 31, 1895.

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H. G. HA RDOUIN. EXTENSION LADDER AND FIRE ESCAPE.

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No. 552,180. Patented Dec-L 31, 1895.

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W iipczsszs ANDREW BGRMIAM. PNOTOLITHQWASMINGTVN. D Cv UNTTED STATES PATENT Q ETQE. v

HENRY CHARLES HARDOUIN, OF CHESTER, PENNSYLVANIA.

EXTENSION-LADDER -'AND FlRE-ESCAPE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 552,180, dated December 31, 1895. Application filed July 31, 1895. Serial No- 557,714. (No model.)

T0 at whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY CHARLES HAR- DOUIN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chester, in the county of Delaware and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful EXtension-Ladder and Fire-Escape, of which the following is a specification.

Myinvention relates to an extension-ladder fire-escape of the class known as shootingladder and truck, and the objects in view are to provide a simple and efficient construction and arrangement of parts whereby an extension-ladder may be supported independently of a building and moved toward and from the same independently of the truck; to provide means for varying the inclination of the ladder with facility and for securing it firmly in the desired position; to provide an improved gang-plank to extend betweenthe ladder and the windows of the building; and to provide means for attaching and elevating a hose-section with the ladder.

Further objects and advantages of this invention will appear in the following description, and the novel features thereof will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of an extension-ladder constructed in accordance with my invention, the same being arranged in the operative position. Fig. 2 is a side view of the same folded or in position for transportation. Fig. 3 is a partial transverse section to show the means for extending and elevating the ladder. Fig. 4 is a partial longitudinal vertical section. Fig. 5 is a detail view in perspective of one of the gang-planks applied in the operative position to a ladder. Fig. 6is a detail view in perspective of a gang-plank, showinga slightlymodified form of attaching devices for use when it is desired to apply the gang-plank to the ladder at a point adjacent to the upper extremity of one of the guy-ropes. Fig. '7 is a detail view in perspective of a gang-plank applied to the ladder in rear thereof, for use in connection with the flexible ladder as a landing or platform. Fig. 8 is a detail view of the elevator or bag used in'lowering weak or unconscious persons. Fig. 9 is a detail vertical section of the joint between two conends by a horizontal plate 4. The side plates 1 are provided at intermediate points upon their outer surfaces with guides consisting of upper strips 5 to bear upon upper surfaces of the tracks, and lower strips 6 to bear against the lower surfaces of the same, said lower strips being rabbeted or channeled, as shown at 7, to engage depending guide-flanges 8 on the lower sides of the tracks. In order to facilitate the movement of the carriage upon the track for a purpose which will be understood as the construction of the device is explained, I employ pinions 9 fixed to a transverse shaft 10 mounted in suitable bearings on the carriage, said pinions engaging racks 11 011 the tracks 1. Locking-pins 12 are employed to engage the strips 5 and lock the carriage at the desired longitudinal adjustment. Rising from the truck is a frame consisting of uprights 13 connected by transverse braces 14 and longitudinal bars 15, the front crossbar being arranged below the plane of the upper ends of the uprights, and an antifriction or rolling support 16 being arranged transversely between the rear uprights, for a purpose hereinafter explained.

The drivers seat 17 may be arranged, as indicated, upon the front uprights, and mounted at its extremities in bearings in the rear uprights is the spindle of a reel 18 for a flexible ladder 19, said ladder being shown extended in Fig. 1 and reeled in Fig. 2.

Pivoted at an intermediate point to the carriage and arranged to operate between the planes of the side plates 3 is the main laddersection 20, the pivot-pin 21 being arranged near the upper extremities of said side plates, and the lower extremity of the ladder-section being adapted to be located near the surface of the groundwhen the ladder is in its upright position. The heel of this ladder-section, or the portion between its pivot and its lower extremity, is adapted to occupy a position between the plane of the side plates 3, and'the ladder is operated or moved from a horizontal to a vertical position by means of a cable 22 attached at one end to the heel of the ladder by means of a hook 23 engaging an eye 24, and attached at the other end to a drum 25 upon which it may be reeled. Any suitable means for operating this drum to take up or pay out the cable may be employed; but in the construction illustrated the drum is provided at its extremities with gears 26, with which mesh pinions 27 on a transverse shaft 28, mounted in bearings on the side plates 3, the drum and the shaft both being provided with key-seats 29, with either of which engagethe key or crank 30. lVhen considerable power is necessary, as in the first portion of the operation of elevating the ladder, motion may be communicated to the drum through the transverse shaft, whereby the power is multiplied at the expense of speed; but when the ladder approaches a vertical position and less power is required the key or crank may be shifted to the seat upon the spindle of the drum to effect the adjustment with less less of time. The side bars 15 in contact with which the outer surfaces of the side plates 3 are arranged and the peculiar manner of mounting the carriage upon the tracks steady the carriage, and hence the ladder, against lateral vibration. A pawl 26 is employed to engage one of the gears 27 to lock the drum at the desired adjustment.

Mounted to slide longitudinally upon the main ladder-section is the upper or auxiliary ladder-section 31, and, in the construction illustrated, guides 32 upon the outer surfaces of the side bars of the upper ladder-section are mounted in guide-grooves 33 in the inner surfaces of the side bars of the main or lower section, said guides consisting of blocks arranged at the lower extremities of the sides of the upper sect-ion, and the main or lower section is provided at its upper end with parallel front and rear guide-bars 3-1- and 35, between which the upper section operates. In order to extend the upper section I employa cable having a double or looped section 36 connected at its extremities to the lower end of the upper section and passing over pulleys 37 mounted upon a transverse bar 38 near the upper end of the main section, and attached to the loop of said section is the single section 39,which is reeled upon a drum 4O mounted in bearings in the side plates of the carriage. Substantially the same means for communicating motion to the drum 40 as those hereinbefore described for communieating motion to the drum 25 are employed, the same consisting of a gear 4:1 with which engages a pawl 42 for locking the drum at the desired adjustment, and hence the upper laddensection at the desired extension. The spindle of the drum is extended to form a key-seat 4-3.

The lower ladder-section is provided with front and rear guy-ropes extending from the upper end of the ladder-section to suitable means for taking up the slack. The front main guy-rope consists of a looped section ll detachably secured at its extremities by means of engaging hooks 45 and eyes l6 to the upper end of the main ladder-section and a reeled section 47, which is attached to the drum 48, mounted in suitable bearin gs in the front uprights 13. Said drum is extended and provided with a crank 4.), and eo-operatin g with a ratchet on the drum is a locking-pawl 51.. The rear guy-ropes 52 are detachably connected at their upper extremities to the main ladder-section, and at their lower ends are connected to the drums 53, arranged transversely at the sides of the truck contiguous to the rear uprights 1.3. These drums are connected to receive, simultaneously, rotary motion by a shaft 5%, suitable bearings being provided for the shaft which is also provided with a crank 55. Suitable means for locking the drum at the desired adjustment, such as a pawl 56 and a ratchet 57 on the shaft, are employed. It will be understood that after the main ladder-section has been elevated to the desired position by means of the elevating devices connected to the heel thereof said front and rear main guy-ropes should be tightened to prevent forward and rearward vibration of the upper end section. ,A front guy-rope 58 is alsoemployed for the upper ladder-section, said rope being also provided with an upper looped section 59 and a lower single section 60, which extends through a guide-eye 61 on the crossbar 14, and is adapted to be secured at its free end to a cleat 62.

In connection with the above-described construction, I employ ahose-seetion 63 adapted to be attached at one end to the upper ex tremity of the lower ladder-section by means of a hook (it, or its equivalent, and of suilicient length to extend to the ground where it may be attached to the usual fire-engine hose. The hose-section is provided at an intermediate point with a second hook 65 in engagement with a round of the main or lower ladder-seetion, and the lower extremity thereof is provided with means, such as a hook 66, for engagement with a round to support said lower end when the ladder is folded.

In order to bridge the intervalbetween the ladder and the windows of a building, I cinploy a gang-plank (37 provided at itsinner end with a hook (38 for engagement with a round of one of the ladder-sections, and contiguous to said hook with a projection or arm (39 to bear against the outer surface of the contiguous side bar. A short approximately vertical flexible support 7 O is attached at its lower end to an eye 71 on one of the side edges of the plank, and a long inclined flexible support 72 is attached by means of an eye 73 to the other side edge of the plank, the upper extremities of said supports being connected and provided with a hook 74C for engagement with a round IIO above that which is engaged by the hook 638' Said flexible supports are preferably of wire cable, or its equivalent, and the construction is such that the plank may be applied with equal facility to either side of the ladder, the only adjustment necessary to adapt it for attachment to the opposite side being the reversal of the flexible support, or the change thereof from its position upon one side of the plane of the plank to a corresponding position upon the other side of said plane. The plank is also provided at an intermediate point with eyes 75 with which may be engaged hooks upon the extremities of thehand-oables 76 and 7 7 said cables extending through guide-eyes 78 and '79 located, respectively, near the upper ends of the main and upper ladder-sections. By means of thesehand-cables the gang-plank may be elevated to the firemen on the ladder by whom they are arranged in operative position to extend from the ladder to the various windows of the building.

In Fig. 5 I have shown a gang-plank embodying my invention applied in the operative position to the ladder, and in Fig. 6 I have shown the same provided with a slightly-modified form of flexible supports in which the long inclined support, instead of being permanently attached to the upper end of the short or vertical support, is detachably connected thereto by means of a hook 80. The object of this detachable connection between the upper extremities of said supports is to provide for the arrangement of a gang-plank at any point upon the ladder where the guyropes occur to interfere with the attachment to the ladder. Such an arrangement is shown in Fig. 1, wherein one of the gang-planks is arranged near the top of the main or lower ladder-section. Under these circumstances, the flexible supports must be separately attached to the ladder, or must be passed upon opposite sides of the contiguous guy-rope, as illustrated.

In Fig. 7 I have shown a gang-plank embodying my invention applied to the rear of the main ladder-section in position to serve as a landing or platform for the use of persons leaving a building by way of the flexible ladder, to save them from descending the entire distance to the ground upon a flexible ladder, which, to persons unused to the exercise, is difficult and dangerous. In order to secure the attachment of the gang-plank in this position, I employ twin loose hooks 81 at the extremity of the plank, together with the flexible supports above described. A plurality of these gang-planks may be carried with the ladder, and when the device is arranged for transportation the planks may be disposed upon cross-bars 82 and 83 supported by the tracks 1, the bar 83 being loosely mounted upon the tracks, whereby it may be removed or arranged close to the bar 82 when it is desired to advance the carriage upon the tracks.

In Fig. 8 I have shown an elevator consisting of a bag 84: adapted to receive feeble or unconscious persons, said bag being preferably constructed of canvas having suitable strengthening-ropes, and it is elevated and lowered by means ofone of the hand-cables hereinbefore described.

WVhen the ladder is to be folded the elevating-cable for the upper ladder-section is unreeled and the slack of the guy-rope 58 is taken up, and subsequently the main laddersection is lowered to an approximately horizontal position with the upper portion thereof resting upon the supporting-roller 16. Subsequently the carriage may be moved forward by the means provided for that purpose until the heel of the main section projects beyond the front of the truck, as clearly shown in Fig. 2.

It will be seen that by the construction which I employ I am enabled to carry and support the ladder in either its folded or extended position upon a truck of approximately one-half the length of the main ladder-section, thus reducing the weight of the structure and enabling it to be manipulated with greater facility than a long truck.

The movable carriage provides for advancing the ladder either in its folded or extended position, in the former case to properly distributethe weight of the structure upon the truck, and in the latter case to arrange the ladder opposite the windows of a building when the truck is arranged parallel with the contiguous wall of said building, or toward and from the building when the truck is arranged perpendicular to the wall.

It is sometimes desirable to rest the upper end of the uppermost section of the ladder against the building, or bring it as close as possible thereto, and when this arrangement is necessary the carriage may be moved, subsequent to the extension of the ladder, toward the building, and the ladder may be inclined to bring its upper extremity into the desired position, after which the guy-ropes may be tightened to make the device self-supporting. The weight of the truck is sufficient to support the ladder with its'load without depending upon the building.

Suspended upon the frame of the truck parallel with the side bars 15 are hand-ladders 85, one only being illustrated in the drawings, the same being secured in place by any approved means.

Various changes in the form, proportion,

vent displacement of the gang-plank during use and serve as a lateral brace for the ladder. I also employ holding-pins 90 adapted to fit in sockets in the tracks 1 upon opposite sides of the cross-bar 83 when the ladder is arranged in position to support the front ends of the gang-planks (37, said pins being designed to prevent displacement of the cross-bar during the transportation of the ladder.

Having described my invention, what I claim is- 1. The combination of a truck having parallel tracks, a carriage mounted upon said tracks and provided with upper and lower guide strips, respectively, engaging the upper and lower surfaces of the tracks, the lower guide strips being rabbeted or channeled to engage depending flanges on the traeks,means for moving the carriage upon the tracks, and an extension ladder mounted upon the carriage and provided with operating devices, substantially as specified.

2. The combination with a truck provided with end uprights, of a transverse rolling-support mounted between the rear uprights below the plane of the upper ends thereof, a carriage mounted upon the truck for forward and rearward movement, an extension ladderpivotally mounted upon the carriage and adapted when in its horizontal position to lit between the upper ends of the front and rear uprights, and rest in rear of its pivot upon said rollingsupport, and means connected to the main or lower ladder-section to elevate and lower the same.

3. The combination with a ladder, of a gang plank provided at its inner end with a hook for engagement with a round of the ladder, and flexible supports connected, respectively, to the inner and outer ends of the plank and at opposite sides thereof, said flexible supports being connected at their upper ends and provided with a hook for engagement with an upper round of the ladder, substantially as specified.

at. The combination with a ladder, of a gang plank provided at one end with a hook, a short flexible support secured at its lower end to the plank opposite to said hook, a long flexible support connected to the other end of the plank upon the same side as said hook, said long and short supports being connected at their u 3 )er ends and a hook arran ed con- 1 l 7 e tiguous to said point of connection, substantially as specified.

5. The combination with an extension ladder, of a gang plank provided at its inner end with a hook and a contiguous lateral projection, and flexible supports connected at their lower ends to the opposite side edges of the plank, respectively, at its inner and outer ends, said flexible supports being connected at their upper ends and provided with a second hook, substantially as specified.

(J. The combination with an extension ladder, of a gang plank provided at its inner end with twin contiguous hooks and upon its side edge contiguous thereto with a second hook, flexible supports connected at their lower ends, respectively, to the opposite side edges of the plank and respectively at the inner and outer ends thereof, and means arranged at the upper ends of said supports for engaging a round of the ladder above the plane of the plank, substantially as specified.

7. The combination of a truck provided with tracks, a carriage mounted upon said tracks, means for advancing the carriage in either direction upon the tracks, a ladder having a main section pivotall y mounted at an intermediate point upon the carriage, means for elevating and depressing said'main section, an upper or auxiliary ladder-section mounted upon the main section, means for extendin said upper or auxiliary section, front and rear main guy-ropes connected at their upper ends to the main ladder-section, a front auxiliary guy-rope connected at its upper end to the upper or auxiliary laddersection, and means for taking up slack and adjusting the tension of the guy-ropes, substantially as specified.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto atiixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

- HENRY CHARLES IIARDOUIN.

\Vitnesses:

AUo-Us'rUs 'P. Sonnnn, II. II. SIMMs.

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