WO1984002474A1

WO1984002474A1 - Emergency device

Info

Publication number: WO1984002474A1
Application number: PCT/BE1983/000020
Authority: WO
Inventors: Leon Parent
Original assignee: Leon Parent
Priority date: 1982-12-24
Filing date: 1983-12-20
Publication date: 1984-07-05
Also published as: LU84556A1; EP0159316A1; JPS60500160A; EP0113329A1

Abstract

Emergency device consisting of a fixed support (1) and of a ladder or staircase plane (2) connected to said fixed support (1) by an articulated arm (3) at one end to the fixed support (1) and at the opposite end to the ladder or staircase plane (2), a second longer arm (4) being articulated to the fixed support (1) and to the plane (2) so as to form a deformable quadrilateral which may be unfolded by a dampened motion so that the bearing-forming second arm (4) is substantially horizontal. Thereby, said emergency device, essentially intended to be used as an emergency staircase in case of fire, enables the users to take shelter from flames or fumes coming out through the windows of buildings.

Description

Rescue device

The present invention relates to a retractable rescue device suitable inter alia, particularly well as a ladder or fire escape and evacuation stairs in the event of fire.

Systems for fire evacuation generally consist of interior or exterior stairs. The internal staircase has the disadvantage of forming a real chimney for the fumes which are always very toxic. In addition, anyone trying to escape by the stairs must pass the doors giving access to the lower floors. The opening of such a door creates a depression and allows the fumes to pass into the stairwell and thus blocks practically any possibility of evacuation of the floors arranged above the hearth proper. External stairs have the same drawbacks and force people to pass through the smoke and near the flames coming out through doors and windows. In addition, exterior stairs pose significant aesthetic problems. Another disadvantage lies in the fact that this kind of staircase gives easy access to intruders who can reach any floor.

Another evacuation device is also known, consisting of a retractable ladder fixed to an exterior wall near a window. The control of a lever makes it possible to deploy this evacuation ladder, the rungs of which fall perpendicular to the exterior wall. In this case, the ladder is accessible through windows. Here again, people seeking to flee by this means of evacuation are forced to pass in front of open windows or windows that have burst under the effect of the heat through which toxic fumes and flames escape. If the materials of which these scales are made, generally aluminum, are licked by the flames, it quickly becomes impossible to take in hand the rungs because their temperature is so high that we simply burns.

Various deployable emergency ladders are known (see documents US-A-2 626 783, US-A-3 259 207 and US-A-1 455 928) which generally are not suitable for multi-storey constructions and which have the disadvantages already cited.

Document DE-C-42 635 discloses an emergency ladder which can be deployed in conjunction with a balcony. However, this ladder requires, during its deployment, a stop materialized by the ground. In addition, it does not include any means of damping the shock during deployment so that significant stresses are transmitted to the joints. Furthermore, the device described in this document is not suitable for multi-storey buildings, given the necessary support on the ground and the presence of the lower rod.

Document US-A-3,946,833 discloses a vertical deployable emergency ladder comprising a complicated telescopic mechanism and which can form the closure of the emergency door. This telescopic mechanism is quite complicated and subject to breakdowns, if necessary. In addition, access to this deployed emergency ladder is quite difficult and dangerous. Furthermore, the user who necessarily descends between the wall and the ladder itself is not immune to the flames and fumes that lick the exterior walls of the building, since it is not removed from the exterior wall of construction. The present invention aims to overcome these drawbacks by providing a retractable emergency device deviating from the outside wall and therefore from flames and / or fumes, while keeping the user safe from them. According to the present invention, the retractable emergency device consists essentially of a deformable quadrilateral structure whose largest side is fixed and whose opposite side is connected to the fixed side by means of an upper arm articulated at its two ends and a lower arm articulated at its two ends, so that the lower arm longer than the upper arm is in a substantially horizontal position when the device is deployed and the distance between the two points of articulation, upper and lower, on the fixed side is greater than the length of the lower arm, the deployment movement of the device being damped in its equilibrium position.

According to a particularly advantageous embodiment, the deformable quadrilateral meets the equation:

A + B = C + D in which A represents the length of the articulated lower arm, B represents the length of the side opposite the fixed side, between the two articulation points of the corresponding articulated arms, C represents the length of the articulated upper arm and D represents the distance between the two points of articulation on the fixed support.

In this condition, the emergency device is completely folded against the fixed support which is advantageously, in the case of an evacuation device permanently fixed, the exterior wall of the buildings According to a particularly preferred embodiment, the unevenness C <B <A <D in which A, B, C and D have the same meanings as above are also verified.

Preferably, the lengths A, B, C, and D are chosen so that the arcs of a circle formed by the moving ends of the upper and lower arms cross at a point corresponding substantially to the articulation connecting the upper arm. on the side opposite the fixed side, in the equilibrium position of the deployed device.

According to a particularly preferred variant, the rescue device as described comprises a staircase or a rescue ladder that can also be folded down. In this case, the ladder or staircase forms the rigid extension of the side opposite the fixed side.

The lengths A, B, C and D sufficient for the various aforementioned conditions are advantageously chosen so as to obtain, during the deployment of the ladder or of the retractable staircase, a damped movement reducing the dynamic stresses on the joints of the fixed support. To do this, the movement must be at least partially damped before moving into the position in which the upper arm is in alignment with the plane of the ladder or staircase. The movement is all the more damped as the length (B) between the two ends of the two arms, fixed on the ladder or on the staircase is short compared to the other lengths.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the retractable ladder or staircase comprises an upper and lower arm articulated on each upright of the ladder or on each stringer of the staircase. According to the invention, the plane in which the articulated arm is located, which is substantially horizontal, forms a bearing linking the fixed support to the scale. This landing can, for example, lead onto a fire door or onto a terrace or balcony. According to another particularly advantageous embodiment, this bearing comprises, on each side, a railing which folds down at the same time as the rest of the device and which is constituted by articulated arms. In this way, you can even get a "gallery" protecting people against smoke and / or flames coming out of a lower floor. As a variant, the lower articulated arm can be extended by forming a nose on the stair stringer which makes it possible to control, by articulated bars and by a linkage system, the folding of the steps so as to form a perfectly flat exterior surface. when the staircase is folded against the outside wall for example.

Similarly, this nose can also control the folding down or the deployment of a ramp giving more security to the people who use said device.

Alternatively, the landing floor can itself form the emergency door of the corresponding floor of the building.

Since the upper articulated arm is preferably shorter than the lower arm, the ladder or the staircase spaced from the fixed support is inclined relative to the vertical. In this way, people are well protected against smoke and / or flames. However, the spacing must be adjusted for each application, depending on the space available and existing obstacles, such as a wall or a perimeter hedge, a road with heavy traffic, parking, etc. spacing can be chosen so as to reach the opposite sidewalk, for example, if necessary by passing over parked cars.

Alternatively, one way to avoid obstacles is to use a ladder or staircase plan short enough so that it does not touch the ground. When the first person reaches the last rung or the last step for example of this ladder plane, he can release a second sliding ladder plane which can be tilted in the flow way. This second scale plane can for example comprise, at each upright, a groove in which slides a guide attached to the foreground of the ladder or staircase.

It is therefore found that this device is very effective and avoids the drawbacks of known systems. The applications of the device of the invention should not however be limited to an evacuation system permanently fixed to an exterior wall. Indeed, the system of the invention can be transported by firefighters who will have at their disposal a more stable scale than those which are generally used. It will suffice to hang the device described and then activate its deployment.

Alternatively, the fixed support can consist of a simple device which can be fixed to a window by a firefighter, to save people in danger. In the case of a building with several floors, a device according to the invention can give access to a balcony on a lower floor for example which is connected to that of another lower floor, etc. The link between the device of the invention and the lower floor can be achieved by a walkway deployed at the same time as the ladder, this walkway giving access to a second device according to the invention, etc. without having to walk past windows.

According to another variant of the present invention, the emergency device comprises a foldable gallery at the same time as the deformable quadrilateral structure, gallery which is located in the extension of the articulated lower arm. Such a gallery can be deployed for example over the width of a window, a gangway being folded down to form a passage from the window to this gallery away from the wall of the building and away from smoke and flames thanks to a screen formed by a panel connecting the sides of the quadrilateral which are opposite to the fixed side. Such a gallery can be fitted with an emergency ladder or not. In the case where there is no ladder, it simply serves to shelter, during a fire for example until the approach of the firefighters.

The device according to the present invention will be described by way of example in more detail by means of the appended figures in which:

- Figure 1 shows an operating diagram of the ladder or retractable staircase according to the invention;

- Figure 2 shows a perspective view of the retractable ladder, in its simplest execution, and - Figure 3 shows an application to a multi-storey building.

Referring to Figure 1, the retractable ladder according to ivnention consists of a fixed support 1 and a scale plane 2 connected to the fixed support 1 which is for example a wall, by an upper articulated arm 3 and by a lower articulated lower arm 4. The arms 3 and 4 can pivot on respective articulations 5 and 6 of the fixed support 1. The folded state of the retractable ladder (shown in broken lines) shows that the length of the arm 4 must be less than the distance between the two joints 5 and 6 so that the ladder is not hampered in its deployment movement. Similarly, we note that the equation A + B = C + D in which the lengths A, B, C and D correspond to the definition given above must be respected to obtain a folded scale perfectly parallel to the fixed support.

The length of the lower articulated arm 4 or of the bearing can be chosen according to the conditions of safety fixed by firefighters, for example. The landing can however also form, in the folded state of the ladder, the door giving access to the building. The choice of the length of the arm 3 makes it possible to choose the inclination of the ladder in the deployed state as will be indicated below.

By deploying the retractable ladder according to the invention, the inertia of the plane of the ladder 2 tends to pivot the latter around the articulation 7 while it is guided by the arms 3 and 4. In this movement guided, point 9 at the lower end of plane 2 goes into 9 'and 9 ", point at which the force due to inertia and the weight of plane 2 are balanced. We also note that end 7 of the arm lower has passed through its lowest position in 7 ′ when, instantaneously, the arm 3 and the plane 2 are aligned. Then the system is balanced to come into its position represented in solid lines. damped movement reducing dynamic stresses on the fixed support. To do this, however, the equilibrium position for which we have chosen that the arm 4 is horizontal and that we have a determined inclination of the plane 2, is different from the position in which bar 3 and plane 2 are in line ement and that, during deployment, the system passes into its equilibrium position and at least partially dampens before passing into its critical position in which the bar 3 and the plane 2 are aligned. The movement will be all the more damped as the equilibrium position, crossed first, is moved away from the critical position. To do this, the length B must be short compared to the other lengths.

The parallelogram of the forces 8 represented on the scale 2 shows that any additional weight (of a person for example) has little influence on the position due plane 2 of the scale, given that for the position d 'represented balance, a component of the weight tends to bring the scale closer to the wall; but to do this, the arm 3 must lift and therefore carry with it the scale 2 and the additional weight. Therefore, the displacement will be negligible.

Figure 2 shows a device according to the invention in perspective. Each amount of the ladder is articulated on the wall according to the quadrilateral of FIG. 1. The bearing 10 can consist of a plate of refractory material or even be a door giving access to the building, of the fire door type for a emergency exit, locked from the inside. Because in the folded state, the ladder is raised, the device of the invention gives no possibility of access to intruders. If, in addition, folding steps controlled by a rod which is actuated by an extension of the arm 4, the device of the invention is perfectly flat in the folded state and offers no possibility of access.

According to a particularly advantageous embodiment of the invention, the underside of the plane 2 can be covered with a panel of refractory material, for example, protecting people who use the ladder against the heat of the flames.

It is also possible to provide retractable ramps on each side which are controlled by the extension of the arm 4 and which consist of articulated arms. Figure 3 shows several possibilities in the context of a multi-storey building. The deployment of a first ladder 20 can lead to that of another ladder 21 of a lower stage so that the ladder 20 can rest on the gangway 22 deployed at the same time as the lower ladder. We see that many combinations are possible.

In the folded state, the ladder can advantageously support an advertisement for example, which makes it possible to hide the device even more. Although particular embodiments of the present invention have been described, it should not be limited to these and many modifications falling within the scope of the present invention are still possible.

Likewise, the applications are not limited to a fire escape device, but many industrial applications can be found.

It should be noted that the device of the invention offers several advantages in terms of user safety and protection against misuse. While the emergency ladders are generally practically vertical, and are therefore particularly unpleasant for people prone to vertigo, the device of the invention is inclined.

In addition, when the underside of the plane 2 is covered, as indicated above, with a panel, this can be folded down, like the steps, under the effect of a command, against the rungs. In this way, it is enough to lock the device, which prevents using it. The panel can also be honeycombed to receive the bars or steps and thus prevent misuse.

The inventive device can also be integrated into the general appearance and architecture of the building equipped with this emergency device. Indeed, one can connect two parallel quadrilateral structures by an aesthetic panel simultaneously serving as protection against smoke and flames.

In the case where the deployed device does not include a ladder but only consists of a gallery 22, it is advantageous to provide a means of damping the deployment movement and a stop, since the weight of the ladder does not intervene more to absorb shock.

It is also possible to provide for triggering of the device by means of a smoke and / or fire alarm.

Claims

claims

1. Retractable emergency device which essentially consists of at least one deformable quadrilateral structure, the largest side (1) of which is fixed and the opposite side (B) of which is connected to the fixed side (1) by means of a upper arm (3) articulated at its two ends and a lower arm (4) articulated at its two ends (6, 7), characterized in that the lower arm (4) longer than the upper arm is in substantially its position horizontal when the device is deployed and the distance between the two points of articulation, upper and lower (5, 6), on the fixed side (1) is greater than the length (A) of the lower arm (4), the deployment movement of the device being damped in its equilibrium position.

2. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the lengths (A, B, C, D) of the sides of the deformable quadrilateral are chosen so that the arcs of a circle formed by the moving ends of the upper and lower arms

(3, 4) intersect at a point corresponding substantially to the articulation connecting the upper arm (3) to the side opposite to the fixed side (1), in the equilibrium position of the deployed device.

3. Device according to any one of claims 1 or 2, characterized in that the deformable quadrilateral meets the equation

A + B = C + D in which A represents the length of the lower articulated arm, B represents the length of the side opposite the fixed side, C represents the length of the upper articulated arm, D represents the fixed side.

4. Device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the deformable quadrilateral responds to inequalities:

C <B <A <D in which A, B, C and D have the same meanings as in claim 2.

5. Device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises a staircase or a ladder (2) also foldable forming the rigid extension of the side opposite to the fixed side.

6. Device according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the lengths of the side of the quadrilateral are chosen so as to obtain a damped deployment movement reducing the dynamic stresses on the joints.

7. Device according to any one of claims 5 to 7, characterized in that the plane in which the substantially articulated lower articulated arm (4) is located, forms a bearing (10) which connects the fixed support (1) to the ladder or staircase (2) and which optionally forms in the folded state of the device, a door giving access to a building.

8. Device according to claim 8 or 9, characterized in that the bearing comprises on each side a railing which folds down at the same time as the rest of the device and which is constituted by articulated arms.

9. Device according to any one of claims 5 to 10, characterized in that the lower articulated arm (4) is extended by forming a nose on the stringer of the staircase, which makes it possible to control by articulated bars and / or by a linkage system, the folding of the steps (11) so to form a flat outer surface when the staircase is folded back against the fixed support (1), and / or to control the folding down or the deployment of a ramp.

10. Device according to any one of claims 5 to 12, characterized in that the ladder or the deployed staircase does not touch the ground and in that a second plan of ladder or staircase sliding on the first is released by an outside operator or by a user.

11. Device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises a gallery (22) sheltered from fumes and flames, the plane of which is in the rigid extension of that of the lower articulated arms ( 4), and in that a deployed walkway (10) allows the passage of an emergency exit to said gallery.