US790001A - Fire-escape. - Google Patents

Description

v. 7 No. 790,001. v-, 4 PATENTED MAY 16, 1905. E. PERRY.

FIRE ESCAPE. A IOATIQN FILED m. 29. 1904.

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Patented May 16, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

EDGAR PERRY, OF CARIBOU, MAINE.

FIRE-ESCAPE.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 790,001, dated May 16, 1905. Application fil ed February 29, 1904. Serial No. 195,910.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDGAR PERRY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Caribou, in the county of Aroostook and State of Maine,

have invented a new and useful Fire-Escapef of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to devices for enabling persons to escape from burning buildings, and

Another object of the invention is to produce a device of this'character wherein the weight of the person descending thereby is utilized to automatically regulate the tension,

and thus control the speed, while at the same I, time so under the control of the occupant as to enable him to increase or decrease the speed at will.

With these and other objects in view, which Will appear as the nature of the invention is better understood, the same consists in certain novel features of construction, as hereinafter fully described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and in which corresponding parts are denoted by like designating characters, is illustrated the preferred form of the embodiment of the invention capable of carrying the same into practical operation, it being understood that the invention is not necessarily limited thereto, as various changes in the shape, proportions, and general assemblage of the parts may be resorted to without departing from the principle of the invention or sacrificing any of its advantages, and the right is therefore reserved of making all the changes and modifications which fairly fall within the scope of the invention and the claims made therefor.

' In the drawings thus employed, Figure 1 is a side elevation, and Fig. 2 is a front elevation of a portion of the improved device in section on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1.

In theimproved device is embraced a drum 10, upon which a cable 11 ofsuflicient length to reach the ground from the point of descent is wound and witha terminal hook 12 or other means for attachment to a Window-sill or other portion of the building.

The drum is rigidly mounted upon a shaft 13 and supported for rotation in a hangerframe 14, which is carried over the drum and provided with a guide-aperture for cable 11.

The shaft 13 is provided with a crank 15, by

Which-to wind the cable upon the drum.

The enlarged or flanged ends 16 17 of the drum 10 are provided With annular peripheral channels, and disposed beneath the drum are two pairs of levers 18 19 and 20 21, united intermediately to a pivot-rod 22,the levers 18 19 having curved ends engaging the peripheral channel at one end from opposite sides and the levers 2O 21 having curved ends engaging the channel at the other end of the drum from opposite sides. The lower ends 23 24. of the frame 14 are extended to also engage the rod'22. ,The free ends of the curved ends of the levers are flexibly unitedflas by link-bolts 25 26, the link-bolts permitting a certain degree of movement between the parts without allowing them to slip from the flanged ends of the drum. 7 The curved ends are also united by springs 27 28 to exert a constant yielding force upon the drum to produce an automatic brake-pressure to prevent the fall of the apparatus when not loaded, as hereinafter explained. The longer extended ends of the pairs of levers are united by transverse bars or rounds 29 30, which serve the twofold purpose of means for uniting the spaced levers and likewise as hand-grips for the occupant of the device to control the tension, as hereinafter described. The longer arms of the lever members are provided with spaced apertures 31 32 to provide means, vas by suitable hooks 33 34, for the adjustable attachment of asuspension-harness 35 of any approved form. It will be obvious that by adjusting the hooks 33 34 in the apertures 31 32 the leverage exerted upon the flanges 16 17 by the weight of the occupant of the harness 35 may be increased or decreased, as required.

The drum-levers maybe of any approved size and of suitable metal to withstand the strains to which theywill be subjected and the harness and cable be likewise of approved material and of suitable strength, the cable being preferably of metal in the ordinary form.

In using the device the hook 12 will be attached to a window-sill or other convenient stationary portion of the building, the harness strapped or otherwise secured to the person, and the occupant suspended from the drum by merely climbing from the window and permitting the weight to bear upon the levers. This weight, as will be obvious, will exert a strong gripping force upon the drum and serve as a brake to control the descent, which will generally be comparatively slow, and the oceupant will usually descend to the ground without the necessity for touching or otherwise manipulating the device, especially if the suspension members 33 3 1 are adjusted to the proper apertures 31 32, as above noted. If, however, it is desired to increase the speed, the operator can relieve the pressure and reduee the tension by merely pushing upward upon the members 29 30, and if, on the con- 7 trary, it is desired to reduce the speed of the descent or check the movement entirely a simple pull downward upon the same members will produce the desired effect by increasing the brake action upon the drum.

It will thus be obvious that a very simplyconstructed easily applied and operated device is produced,under the complete control of the occupant of the suspending-harness.

If desired, the harness 35 may be so constructed that the occupant eann ot fall out, and when thus constructed timid or nervous persons may use the device with perfect success, as it requires no manipulation by the occupant while descending, the action being entirely automatic. Thus persons who may be overcome by fear and who lose consciousness while depossessing all their faculties.

The suspension-frame 14 is an important feature ofthe invention, as by this means the steadiness of the drum is materially increased and its perfect control assured and the safety of the device correspondingly increased.

The device may be employed by sign-writers when placing signs upon large structures or in otherwise inaccessible localities by painters of steeples and towers, in building and repairing bridges, stacks, tanks, and similar structures, and for many other similar purposes and will be found very convenient for use in such classes of work.

To increase the grip, the curved ends of the levers may be provided with leather, rubber, or other similar material where they engage the drum.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is 1. In a device of the class described, a hangerframe, a drum-carrying shaft journaled in the same, a rod connecting the sides of the frame below said drum, brake-levers mounted pivotally upon said rod and having outwardly-extending arms and upwardly-extending curved ends engaging the flanges of the drum, and resilient yokes connecting the extremities of said curved ends.

2. In a device of the class described, a hanger-frame,a rope-carrying drum journaled in said frame, drum-engaging brake-levers fulerumed below said drum, and resilient yokes connecting the extremities of the drumengaging arms of said levers.

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

EDGAR PERRY.

Witnesses:

C. C. KING, R. F. GARDNER

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