WO2000029283A1

WO2000029283A1 - A method and an arrangement for the evacuation of people

Info

Publication number: WO2000029283A1
Application number: PCT/SE1999/002088
Authority: WO
Inventors: Bo Wollter
Original assignee: Bo Wollter
Priority date: 1998-11-16
Filing date: 1999-11-15
Publication date: 2000-05-25
Also published as: SE513118C2; SE9803906L; SE9803906D0

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method and an arrangement for the evacuation of people from a ship or a building. The method is characterized in that an evacuation arrangement in the form of a cassette arrangement (1) having at least one, preferably several, rescue vessels (12) that can be lowered, which cassette arrangement rests in inoperative state in an opening (3) in the side of the ship/building or on an open upper deck of the ship or roof of the building, in that upon activation it is moved out from said opening, upper deck or roof to a position substantially outside the side of the ship/building or the upper deck/roof, a passageway (14) being formed in the cassette arrangement for evacuation of people from the interior of the ship/building or upper deck/roof, in that the rescue vessels (12) are activated so that they are accessible for evacuated people, that people are evacuated from the ship/building via said passageway and take places in the rescue vessels, and that the rescue vessels are lowered to the surface of the water or to ground level.

Description

A METHOD AND AN ARRANGEMENT FOR THE EVACUATION OF PEOPLE

The present invention relates to a method and an arrangement for the evacuation of people from a ship or a building The arrangement is intended to be > built into or recessed into the side of the ship or the outside wall of the building and, when an emergency occurs, this arrangement is activated by being pushed out from this side/wall It is also possible for the arrangement to be placed on an open upper deck of a ship where lifeboats of traditional type are kept, or on the roof of a building, from which it can be pushed out According to known technology the evacuation of people from a ship in an emergency is effected under the assumption that these people take themselves to an upper deck and out into the open-air where the lifeboats are situated It has been found that it is this movement from the various decks where the people are located, to the upper deck where the rescue stations and lifeboats are situated, 5 that is of decisive significance for whether people can be saved or not When an emergency suddenly arises there is often no time to carry out this transfer and the transfer may also be greatly complicated by the ship listing or inclining sharply, for instance People may also be trapped on lower decks by fire or prevented for some other reason from ascending the steps, which may be blocked by items which have fallen down

Similarly it is often difficult to evacuate people from high buildings since they must often descend a large number of stairs before reaching the ground floor of the building so they can get out and to safety In the case of buildings this applies particularly when a fire occurs 5 As regards ships, the lifeboats themselves have serious deficiencies This applies to traditional lifeboats kept on an open upper deck and which it is assumed can be lowered by means of some form of hoist device It may be difficult for those in distress to get into the lifeboat, as well as problems possibly occurring while the lifeboat is being lowered and launched Ships are often equipped with 0 inflatable life rafts which are stored in capsules that are thrown out from the ship in an emergency substantially at random and which inflate upon contact with the water To make use of these rafts, therefore, the persons in distress must first of all already be in the water - which is in itself a great disadvantage entailing risk of drowning and extreme chilling - and must also be capable of finding a raft and ^ climbing into it The latter has in many cases proved to be an insurmountable problem Furthermore, these rafts sometimes land upside down in the water and are thus substantially unusable

The object of the present invention is to solve the problems listed above by providing a method of evacuation in accordance with the characterizing part of claim 1 and also an arrangement for evacuation as defined in the characterizing part of claim 4

The method according to the invention thus involves evacuation from the side of the ship/building or the open upper deck of the ship or the roof of the build- ^ ing, via a special evacuation arrangement in accordance with the present invention, said arrangement being recessed in an opening in said side/wall, or placed on the upper deck/roof, so that people on the deck/floor where the arrangement is located can immediately exit via the evacuation arrangement to so called vessels arranged in connection therewith which, when filled with evacuated people, are

] 0 lowered to the surface of the water or to ground level, by means of a hoist device The present invention has the advantage that evacuation arrangements can be arranged in a relatively simple manner at several places on a ship or building I e one or more on each deck or each floor, as well as on the roof of a building In this way the people who need to be evacuated can reach a rescue

15 station with evacuation arrangements considerably more quickly than with known technology, and without having to climb any stairs, for instance Children and disabled people, e g those confined to a wheel chair, therefore have a greater chance of being rescued

In the case of ships the present invention has the advantage of being able 0 to replace both lifeboats of traditional type that are lowered from an upper deck and also the type of raft that is kept in a capsule and only unfolded upon contact with the water

Further characteristics and advantages are revealed in the dependent claims 5 According to a particularly advantageous embodiment the vessels comprise inflatable life rafts by means of which evacuation takes place from a ship and which, after lowering to the surface of the water, are released so that they can float away from the ship

It should also be emphasised that the invention has the advantage of a

30 double function The arrangement according to the invention can be used not only to lower rescue vessels, but also to rescue people who have landed in the water from another ship in distress, for instance The rafts may then either be released when they reach the water, in order to pick up people in the water at a distance from the launching place, or so that the rafts can remain on the platform and the ό people in distress can get into the rafts on the platform This enables them to be safely taken care of since the whole platform is then hoisted up with the rafts and people, so that the people can then walk into the ship The hoist device is preferably provided with a motor for this purpose To summarise therefore the present invention offers greatly increased safety and opportunity to save life on a large scale

The invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings illustrating one embodiment of the arrangement for the evacua- ^ tion of people from a ship This embodiment shall not however be considered limiting but as merely constituting an example Figure 1 shows a view in perspective of the side of a ship provided with an evacuation arrangement according to the invention Figure 2 shows a view in perspective of the evacuation arrangement as it 0 is being swung out from the side of the ship,

Figure 3 shows a view in perspective of the evacuation arrangement when it has been swung out and locked in its extended position in relation to the side of the ship, Figure 4 shows a view in perspective of the 'dry cassette' of the evacua- tion arrangement when the platforms are about to be unfolded,

Figure 5 shows a view in perspective of the dry cassette in Figure 4, with the platforms unfolded and with the protective covers unfolded, Figure 6 shows a view in perspective of the dry cassette in Figures 4 and

5, with inflated life rafts, 0 Figure 7 shows a view in perspective of the dry cassette with the life rafts about to be lowered, and Figure 8 shows a view in perspective of the dry cassette with lowered life rafts Figure 1 shows the side of a ship equipped with evacuation arrangements ^ according to the present invention in the form of "dry cassettes" or cassette arrangements fully recessed into the side of the ship Each cassette arrangement is recessed into an opening provided therefore, and is preferably protected by a metal plate 2, when not in use, which covers the opening in the side of the ship This plate 2 is removed when the dry cassette is activated in an emergency situa- 0 tion by the plate being released so that it hangs against the side of the ship below the dry cassette, for instance

Figure 2 also shows the opening 3 in the side of the ship, where the dry cassette is recessed in its inoperative position In this figure, however, the dry cassette has been activated by the cover plate having been flapped down and the dry cassette has started its swinging movement out from the side of the ship The dry cassette is suspended in the opening on a shaft 5 about which it can be swung by means for effecting motion The means for effecting motion may consist for instance, of one or more hydraulic pistons that push the dry cassette out of the opening in the side of the ship by thrust force The cassette is thus sus- pended at one corner by means of said movable shaft from bottom to top The shaft is joumalled in the ship The dry cassette can to a certain extent be likened to a crane arm and is preferably a framework construction

The hydraulic pump and piston used to swing out the dry cassette is pref- ^ erably motor driven However, manual activation of the hydraulics should also be possible if said motor should fail, preferably by use of the jack principle

Figure 3 shows the dry cassette swung out to its fullest extent, i e at an angle of 90° from the side of the ship, where it is locked, preferably by means of a mechanical locking device The platforms 8, 9, can also be seen here, on which

10 the life rafts will later rest The platforms are shown here folded up

Figure 4 illustrates the dry cassette in more detail The platforms 8 9 are about to be unfolded from their packed positions to a flat, extended position This unfolding is effected with the aid of an electric motor and/or a worm gear, but may also be achieved by other means The platforms are preferably in the form of a

1 ^ framework and their surface may be covered by some type of netting A number of life rafts 12 in packed state can be seen on these platforms and are secured in a suitable detachable manner to the platforms These life rafts will subsequently be inflated Inflation may possibly be performed at the same time as the platforms are unfolded The inflation may then assist in unfolding the platforms The dry 0 cassette, attached to the side of the ship by the shaft 5, is open at the end facing towards the side of the ship so that people inside the ship can enter the dry cassette The dry cassette is also provided with a number of openings 13, preferably corresponding to the number of life rafts, and these openings 13 are situated on the sides of the dry cassette, facing the life rafts The outwardly facing end of the 5 dry cassette is closed by a wall or at least by some form of protection against the weather Protective covers 15 are arranged around the openings 13 and are shown in retracted position in Figure 4 These protective covers can, however, be opened out as illustrated in Figure 5 Figure 5 also shows the platforms when fully extended to their flat position In the example illustrated here the life rafts have not

30 yet been inflated It is also clear from this figure that the platform may be provided with wheels or rollers 16 by means of which it is in contact with the side of the ship and which facilitate subsequent lowering of the platform

Figure 6 illustrates the dry cassette with the life rafts 12 inflated and resting on the platforms 8, 9 The protective covers 15 are unfolded and connected to

?ό the life rafts A passageway 14 is thus formed from the opening in the side of the ship to the life rafts and the people to be evacuated move along this passageway from the ship's deck where the evacuation arrangement is installed, out to the life rafts 12 on the platforms 8, 9 The dry cassette may possibly be covered thus eliminating the need for the people being evacuated to be subjected to the rough weather conditions in all likelihood prevailing in such an emergency situation This figure also illustrates the hoist device by means of which the platforms carrying the rafts will later on be lowered to the water In the example shown the hoist de- ^ vice comprises cables or wires 17 each cable being secured to a cable drum 18 and to the outer part of the platform Each dry cassette has preferably four cables, located in pairs, two inner cables, towards the side of the ship, and two outer cables The cable pairs with respective cable drum operate independently of each other so that they are controlled by control means that keep the platform hoπzon- 0 tal all the time, regardless of whether the ship is listing or not Thanks to the weight of the platform no energy is required for the actual lowering On the other hand a member of the crew may need to retard the platform in order to achieve smooth lowering to the water Each cable drum may also-be provided with a motor by means of which the platforms can be hoisted up again when the rafts have been released This means that the platforms can also be used to pick up passengers from another ship, for instance, who have landed in the water

Figure 7 shows how the rafts containing people are lowered towards the water with the aid of the cables 17 and cable drums 18 The inflated rafts may possibly be attached to the lower part of the passageway 14 in some way, in 0 which case this attachment must be released It is also clear that the two platforms 8, 9 are connected and form a platform unit

Figure 8 illustrates the evacuation arrangement after the rafts have been lowered to the water They are shown here on the surface of the water and are released from the platform there This can be achieved, for instance, by their be- ^ ing provided with a hydrostatic lock so that all rafts are automatically released from the platform upon contact with the water, or by a member of the crew or some other person accompanying the raft removing the bar from the locking device mechanically When this has been effected the rafts will float freely away from the platform Throughout the lowering procedure the part of the dry cassette 0 forming the passageway 14 will be suspended out from the side of the ship

The invention functions in the following way In the event of an emergency the dry cassette will be activated, either automatically or manually by a person aboard the ship, by the protective plate 2 being flapped down and the dry cassette 1 being swung out from its resting position When it has been locked in its end ^ position, preferably approximately 90° from the side of the ship the platforms will be flapped out and the life rafts inflated automatically This can be achieved by means of air bottles located in the dry cassette, for instance The protective covers are then also flapped out so that a connection is obtained between the pas- sageway comprising the inside of the dry cassette, and the life rafts. People aboard the ship can thus move from an emergency exit arranged in the ship in conjunction with the opening where the evacuation arrangement is installed, out through the passageway in the dry cassette and into the life rafts. When all the people have been evacuated, or when all the life rafts are full, the platforms with the rafts are lowered from the part of the dry cassette forming the passageway, down towards the surface of the water where they are released from the platforms and float away from them and from the ship.

In the example the evacuation arrangement according to the invention is illustrated as applied to rescue operations on a ship. It will be understood that the same arrangement can also be used on the side/wall or roof of a building, or on the open upper deck of a ship. The only difference then is that the life rafts are not necessarily rafts, but may constitute some other form ofvessel or container, possibly even an open vessel or container, in which people can take refuge and be lowered from the building. When the platforms with their containers reach the ground, the people leave their places in the containers/ vessels.

The invention shall not be considered limited to the details shown in the example illustrated above. A number of modifications are also feasible within the scope of the inventive concept. Thus, instead of hydraulic devices for swinging the dry cassette out from the side of the ship/building, some other type of devices may be used, such as pneumatic devices. It is also possible for the dry cassette to be placed not in longitudinal direction in the side of the ship/building, but placed in an opening that extends considerably further into the side of the ship/building so that the dry cassette is pushed out in its own longitudinal direction transversely to the direction of the side of the ship/building. When it is to exit from the side of the ship/building, therefore, it will not be turned but will be moved out straight forwards, with the aid of some type of roller arrangement, for instance. Furthermore, the number of lifeboats and their size can naturally be varied and the number of openings in the passageway in the dry cassette is then suitably adjusted to the number of boats and the number of openings therein. The number of platforms can also be varied. Other modifications and adaptations obvious to one skilled in the art are also feasible.

Claims

1 A method for the evacuation of people from a ship or a building, characterized in that an evacuation arrangement in the form of a cassette arrangement having at least one preferably several rescue vessels that can be lowered which cassette arrangement rests in inoperative state in an opening in the side of the shιp//buιldιng or on an open deck of the ship or roof of the building, in that upon activation it is moved out from said opening, upper deck or roof to a position substantially outside the side of the ship/building or the upper deck/roof, a passage- way being formed in the cassette arrangement for evacuation of people from the interior of the ship/building or upper deck/roof, in that the lifeboats are activated so that they are accessible for evacuated people, that people are evacuated from the ship/building via said passageway and take places n the rescue vessels, and that the rescue vessels are lowered to the surface of the water or to ground level

2 A method as claimed in claim 1 , characterized in that the rescue vessels are activated by being inflated

3 A method as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, characterized in that if evacu- ation takes place from a ship, the rescue vessels comprise life rafts which, when lowered to the surface of the water, are released from the cassette arrangement

4 An arrangement for the evacuation of people from a ship or building characterized in that it comprises a cassette arrangement having at least one, pref- erably several, rescue vessels that can be lowered, which cassette arrangement rests in inoperative state in an opening in the side of the ship/building or is arranged on an open deck of the ship or roof of the building, in that the evacuation arrangement also comprises means for moving the cassette arrangement with the rescue vessels from its position in said opening or on said upper deck/roof to an activated position substantially outside the side of the ship/building or the upper deck/roof, a passageway being formed inside the cassette arrangement for evacuation of people from the interior of the ship/building or upper deck/roof, in that said passageway has an opening towards the interior of the ship/building or upper deck/roof and at least one opening to said rescue vessels, and in that the cassette arrangement also comprises a hoist device for lowering said rescue vessels to the surface of the water or to ground level

5 An evacuation arrangement as claimed in claim 4 characterized in that the cassette arrangement comprises a retaining device for the rescue vessels

6_. An evacuation arrangement as claimed claim 5. characterized in that the retaining device comprises at least one collapsible platform which is folded in the inoperative position of the cassette arrangement and that when the cassette ar^¬ rangement assumes its operative position it is unfolded so that the rescue vessels rest on it. and in that the retaining device also comprises an attachment devⁱce for detachably securing the rescue vessels to the platform.

7. An evacuation arrangement as claimed in claim 6. characterized in that the rescue vessels are inflatable and in that they are stored in uninflated state at least until unfolding of the platform has started, and are then inflated.

8. An evacuation arrangement as claimed in claim-7. characterized in that the cassette arrangement comprises means for inflating the rescue vessels.

9. An evacuation arrangement as claimed in any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the cassette arrangement comprises protective covers that can be unfolded and which, when unfolded, connect said passageway to the res^¬ cue vessels.

10. An evacuation arrangement as claimed in any of claims 6-9. character^¬ ized in that the hoist device comprises cables secured to the platform.

11 _. An evacuation arrangement as claimed in any of the preceding claims ^, characterized in that rescue vessels that have already been lowered can be hoisted again by means of the hoist device.

12. An evacuation arrangement as claimed in any of the preceding claims^, characterized in that the means for moving comprise at least one hydraulic cylin- der which influences the cassette arrangement so that it is moved from its inop^¬ erative position to its operative position.

13. An evacuation arrangement as claimed in any of the preceding claims^, characterized in that it comprises a shaft secured in the opening in the sⁱde of the ship/building_, or on the upper deck of the ship or roof of the building^, around which the cassette arrangement is intended to swing when it is moved from its in^¬ operative position to its operative position by the means for moving^.

14. An evacuation arrangement as claimed in any of claims 6-13, characterized in that the rescue vessels comprise life rafts by means of which evacuation takes place from a ship and which rafts are released from the platform when it has been lowered into the water.