US735484A - Fire-escape appliance. - Google Patents

Description

PA IENTED AUG.4, 1903.

E. L. EVENS. FIRE ESCAPE APPLIANCE.

APPLICATION FILED 0012.17, 1002.

' no'monmh Inventor;

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Ilo. 735,484.

Iatented August 4, 1963 :PATENT OFF C 'EDWARD LUSCOMBE EVENS, OF MALVERN, SOUTH AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA.

FIRE-ESCAPE APPLIANCE.

srnormonzrron formingpart a Letters Patent No. 735,484, dated August 4, 1903.

I Application filed October 17, 1902. Serial No. 127,634. (No model.)

King of Great Britain and Ireland, residing sist in raising or lowering the latter.

at Clifton street, Malvern, in the State of South Australia, Commonwealth of Australia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in and Connected with Fire-Escape Appliances; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear,and exact def scription of the same.

ments in and connected withfire-escape apparatus and the like, and refers more specif ically, first, to a cage of novel construction for the accommodation of firemen and others, and, secondly, to apparatus used in combi nation therewith and arranged, as hereinafter specified,for enabling the cage to be raised, lowered, and controlled, so that it maybe made accessible for rescue and other purbuilding.

My invention may also be applied to anal ogous purposes, such as the landing of passengers from ships and for mining and quarrying requirements. 1

In order to achieve the object of my invention, I provide a cage which is characterized I attached to the base of the center pole. able hooks or shackles are attached at both top and bottom. At the bottom of this pole by a rigid vertical center pole, to which suit;

I construct a foot-rest or platform, and at a height of three feet, or thereabout, above the platform I place a hand-rail and an intermediate foot-rest. The bottom portion of the cage maybe inclosed with wire-netting. Near the top of the pole I also arrange a horizontal cross-bar, which is likewise for use asa footrest or as a handhold. Various fittings in the form of rings or loops, ofmetal or leather, are added for the accommodation and retention of fire hoses and other appliances. At

or near the top of the building Ifconstruct af light overhangingtramway or rail, the same being mounted upon or 'supportedby suitable.

overhangingbrackets. On the tramway I place a truck or traveling tackle, which is connected by means of wire rope to the top of the center pole of the cage in order to as- In addition to such wire rope auxiliary ropes are against the weather. My invention relates to certain improve: d

i ter understood, I will now proceed to describe added for the purpose of traversing the truck backward or forward along the tramway, such rope being placed over pulley wheels ar- Inorder that my invention may be the betthe same by aid of the accompanying illustrative drawings, wherein- Figure 1 is a front elevation of a building,

showing the general arrangement of my invention as applied thereto. .of the cage, on a larger scale; Figs. .3 and 4.,

Fig. 2 is a detail side and end detail of portion of truck, showing alarm apparatus connected therewith. poses at almost any part of the exterior of a V In all figures similar letters of reference are used to denote similar or corresponding parts wherever they occur.

In this respect and referring first to Fig. 2., a is the vertical center pole of the cage and is provided with hooks or shackles b and c at both topand bottom.

d is the foot-rest or platform,which is firmly 'e is a hand-rail or guard of any convenient shape, but preferably rectangular and oblong, as illustrated.

.f is a cross-bar which passes through the center pole below the level of the hand-rail and may be usedeither as a foot-rest or a seat. Without confining myself to any specific size .I prefer to make the center pole about six to eight feet in height, and at adistance of about one foot from its top I place an upper cross bar or bars g, which serve as handholds', seats, or ladder-rungs, according to the position assumed-bythe firemen or other occupants of th p lia e H 77. h are loops, preferably of metal, for the retention of fire-hoses, guide-ropes, or such other appliances as it may be found necessary to add to the cage. In the smaller illustration of the cage I have shown a convenient-shaped fender or screen i, placed around the appliance, the same being intended to serve the purpose of a guard and also to as sist in deflecting the cage should it come into contactwith parapets or other projecting portions of the building in its descent.

j is the face of the building. In a suitable position, but preferably above the uppermost parapet, I arrange a series of strong brackets These may be of anyconvenient design and are used for the purpose of supporting the tramway or rails l, the arrangement being such that the traveling truck m, which is mounted thereon, is free to traverse the whole length of the building without impediment. This tramway may be extended to the sides and back of the building, if so desired. The truck to be used may vary in design, but supports the pulley sheave or block n.

0 is a chain or wire rope which when in operation is fastened to the vertical center pole of the cage, but when not in use is intended to have its free ends joined together, so as to form an endless rope. In order that this rope may be readily accessible in cases of emergency and at the same time be protected from inclement weather, I provide an open downpipe or cover 10 for its reception. q q are pulley-wheels mounted in bearings upon the upturned portion of the truck-rails Z, conveniently placed at the ends or sides of the building, and over which the traverseropes 'r are passed, the said traverse-ropes being connected with the traveling truck m at one end. The opposite end, which is held taut by counterbalance-weights, is fastened to or accommodated in any convenient receptacle.

s s are rings or cleats which are securely fastened to the building for the purpose of affording a purchase or grip to the chain or rppe o when the latter is to be operated.

At each end of the building and to an extension of the shafting which carries the pul- Icy-wheels q q, Figs. 3 and 4, I attach a screw end 25, which is preferably constructed on the Archimedean principle.

it is a nut which is designed to travel freely from the screw end and is weighted on one side, as illustrated, so that when the shaft is rotatedthe weighted portion has a tendency to prevent the nut from revolving in unison with the shaft and allows it to move horizontally in proportion to the pitch of the screw. The screw ends at opposite ends of the building are formed, respectively, with right and left handed threads, so that whichever way the traverse ropes are hauled one of the weights will be detached.

vis a guide or receptacle placed beneath the free end of the screw t and in which the electric terminals 10 w are arranged, such termi-' 'nals being connected with alarm-bells in various parts of the building (not shown in the drawings) and with alarm-signal apparatus at the fire-station.

The method of using the apparatus is as follows: In event of an outbreak of fire the chain or rope 0 is slipped from beneath its cover p, and one end of it is attached to the upper being that one of the nuts u traverses along to the end of the extension, so that it falls 01f into the guide or receptacle 0 and immediately makes contact with the electric terminals to, thereby giving the alarm to the inmates of the building and simultaneously effecting a communication with the fire-station. The mechanism may be put into operation before any other steps are taken to use the escape.

It will readily be understood from reference to the drawings that the combined appliance affords facilities for escape from almost every part of the building, while the general construction of the cage renders it suitable for ladder or scaling purposes for obtaining access to and from the roof and other parts. The rings or cleats at the base of the structure'enable a grip to be obtained for holding the hauling-rope and may be provided with a simple or compound pulley-block and tackle.

In practice firemen sometimes arrange a pair of portable ladders at each side of a burning building and connect them with a horizontal rope or cable, which is substantially at the level of the windows of a floor,'facilitating the escape of the occupants of that floor. upon such a rope instead of upon the permanent track Z intended for it.

I find by experiment that the use of a rigid center pole arranged in the manner indicated in connection with the cage minimizes the oscillation and aflords considerable. comfort to the occupants.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is- 1. In a fire-escape, in combination, a truck adapted to be moved transversely of abuilding, lines leading therefrom, pulleys over which said lines pass, said pulleys having threaded extensions, nuts carried thereby, and means whereby said nuts may close an electric circuit.

2. In a fire-escape, in combination, a cage which may have a transverse movement, pulleys adapted to be moved when said cage moves, said pulleys having threaded axial extensions, nuts carried thereby which become disengaged by a continued movement of said pulleys, and means wherebysaid nuts may close an electric circuit when disengaged.

3. In a'fir'e-escape, in combination, a mov- My truck 'm could be arranged to run able truck adapted to be moved transversely of a building, a cage therebelow, tackle apparatus supporting said cage, lines leading from said truck, pulleys arranged at the side of said building and over which said lines pass, and meanswhereby the rotation of said pulleys may close an electric circuit.

4. In a fire-escape, in combination, a track adapted to be disposed transversely of a building, a truck mounted thereupon, lines connected to said truck, pulleys arranged at the side of saidbuilding, threaded members adapted to be moved bythe rotation of the said pulleys, said lines passing over said pulleys, and means whereby said threaded members may close an electric circuit.

5. In a fire-escape, in combination, a truck In witness whereof I have hereunto set' my hand in presenceof two witnesses.

EDWARD LUSOOMBE EVIENS.

Witnesses:

JOHN HUBERT OOOKE, CHARLES ACOURT BLOXAM.

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