WO2008120199A2

WO2008120199A2 - System of evacuating occupants from a high-rise building

Info

Publication number: WO2008120199A2
Application number: PCT/IL2008/000430
Authority: WO
Inventors: Nathan Sobovitz
Original assignee: Life Saving Ltd.
Priority date: 2007-03-30
Filing date: 2008-03-27
Publication date: 2008-10-09
Also published as: CN101795734A; WO2008120199A3

Abstract

An evacuation system operatively associated with a high-rise building with multiple stories. The evacuation system may comprise at least one set of tracks disposed a wall of the building; a multiplicity of rescue vehicles that can slide upon the sets of tracks; and a multiplicity of sensors installed on the wall enabling to detect the relative location of all rescue vehicles. The evacuation system may allow the rescue vehicles to evacuate a multiplicity of passengers to a safer landing area; simultaneously using the same sets of tracks. A detection system installed in each rescue vehicle may enable detecting signals from the sensors and calculating a collision-risking factor and controlling the speed of the rescue vehicle's fall according to this factor.

Description

SYSTEM OF EVACUATING OCCUPANTS FROM A HIGH-RISE

BUILDING

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION [0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application 60/920,804, filed March 30, 2007, which is incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention generally relates to the field of elevators and vehicles and more particularly to rescue vehicles for high-rise buildings.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] While high-rise buildings provide some environmental advantages over low-rise buildings, such as great views and reduced noise pollution, there are also risks associated with high-rise buildings that may not exist in low-rise buildings. Of particular danger are fires and other hazards that prevent access to the stairwells and the significant and life-threatening time that it may take an occupant that lives or stays in one of the high floors to exit the building. Under such circumstances, occupants of the higher floors may be unable to escape either to a lower floor or to the rooftop in emergency cases such as fire. Moreover, the upper floors of high-rises may be beyond the reach of conventional fire ladders and other similar evacuation equipment.

[0003] High-rise buildings are usually equipped with one or more elevators usually situated in shafts where each elevator travels along its own designated shaft and tracks that are separated per elevator. The elevator(s) shafts are usually located inside the building. This means that in an emergency situation such as fire (a) the elevators are prohibited escape vehicles since they are located inside the building and the fact that they are usually quite sealed and made from heat conducting materials; and (b) each elevator in the building will reach each floor separately meaning that the tenants of the building may be required to wait a precious while until they actually reach the ground level and escape the building.

[0004] A patent number US5501295 (referred to herein as "Rl"), which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, discloses "a cableless elevator system for very high buildings that includes several vertical travel shafts with apparatus at the floors for horizontal travel of the elevator cars between shafts. Several cars can move in the same shaft at the same time. Vertically extending shaft wall strips positioned between the shafts have horizontal guide channels and vertical rolling tracks formed therein. During vertical travel, upper and lower guide rollers on the cars engage the rolling tracks and the cars are moved by a combination of a linear drive and a friction drive. The friction drive utilizes battery powered electrical motors to drive the lower guide rollers. The linear drive has linear motor stators attached to the shaft rear wall and permanent magnets on the cars. During horizontal movement, the upper and lower guide rollers engage the horizontal guide channels and the lower rollers move the car. The vertical strips include pieces at the horizontal guide channels, which close gaps in the rolling tracks during vertical movement of the cars and are pivoted to open the horizontal guide channels for horizontal movement of the cars." [Abstract]

[0005] Although the elevator system of Rl allows a multiplicity of cars to use the same shaft to reduce the time it takes for several cars (carrying several occupants of the building) to reach the exit of the building, the cars are not self-monitored and motorized meaning that the traffic of cars in shafts is not controlled separately by each of the system's cars but rather through a main control. This may be especially dangerous in emergency situations such as fire or bomb alarm where evacuation is required to be as quick as possible, since once the main monitoring and controlling unit of the system is off or has any trouble the entire system is non-functional. This may risk the entire population of the building's occupants, which would not be able to use the system. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0006] The present invention, in some embodiments thereof, discloses an evacuation system operatively associated with a high-rise building having multiple stories.

[0007] According to some embodiments of the invention, the system may comprise:

at least one set of tracks disposed on at least one wall of the building; at least one sensor installed on said at least one wall; and - at least one sensor installed on said at least one rescue vehicle; and - at least one rescue vehicle for transporting passengers, wherein said rescue vehicles are self driven, enabling sliding over said set of tracks by controlled descent (e.g. free falling with controlled braking) from the story in which they are located; each rescue vehicle comprising:

• at least one entrance enabling at least one passenger 10 to enter said rescue vehicle;

• at least one braking means enabling to slow down said rescue vehicle;

• at least one detection system, which is operatively associated with said braking means; and • engagement means wherein said engagement means engage said set of tracks while enabling said rescue vehicle to slide along said set of tracks;

[0008] According to some embodiments of the invention, the evacuation system may allow at least some of said multiplicity of rescue vehicles to evacuate a multiplicity of passengers to a landing area, simultaneously using the same said at least one set of tracks.

[0009] Additionally, the sensors may enable transmitting signals indicating the relative location of each rescue vehicle of said evacuation system at any given moment in time; and wherein said detection system in each rescue vehicle may enable receiving the signals from at least some of said sensors, translating the signals into digital data; processing said digital data to calculate a collision-risking factor at any given moment; and controlling the falling speed of the rescue vehicle according to said collision-risking factor.

[0010] According to some embodiments of the invention, at least one of the sets of tracks may extend from the highest story of the building to said landing area and wherein said rescue vehicles enables engaging with said at least one set of tracks through said engagement means that allow sliding along said at least one set of tracks.

[0011] According to some embodiments of the invention, the detection system may comprise:

- at least one receiver enabling to receive signals that are transmitted from the sensors;

- at least one controller enabling to process the signals arriving from said sensors.

[0012] According to some embodiments of the invention, the detection system may further comprise:

at least one locating-sensor enabling to detect the relative location of the rescue vehicle in which said detection system is installed; and - at least one transmitter enabling to transmit the signals of said relative location-sensors to other rescue vehicles.

[0013] According to some embodiments of the invention, once said collision- risking factor exceeds a predefined threshold, the detection system may operate said braking means of said rescue vehicle enabling to slow down said rescue vehicle and prevent over speeding and/or collision with another rescue vehicle or/and the landing area. [0014] According to some embodiments of the invention, the evacuation system 100 may further comprise at least one control-unit, which may be installed on said building or vehicle enabling to receive signals arriving from said sensors and control the traffic of sliding rescue vehicles according to said signals.

[0015] According to some embodiments of the invention, the control-unit 500, said detection system and said sensors may enable transmitting said signals through at least one wireless communication network such as, for example a peer-to-peer wireless or wired network.

[0016] According to some embodiments of the invention, at least some of the sensors may enable to identify an emergency situation (e.g. some of the sensors may be smoke detectors, thermometers and the like enabling to sense fires).

[0017] According to some embodiments of the invention, each rescue vehicle may further comprise a driving system enabling at least one passenger in each said rescue vehicle to drive said rescue vehicle once said rescue vehicle has reached said landing area away from said building. The driving system may comprise a motor, steering means, brakes and wheels operatively associated with one another.

[0018] According to some embodiments of the invention, each rescue vehicle may further comprise a housing shielding said rescue vehicle. The housing may be made from gas-proof materials, fire-resistant and/or heat-resistant materials and the like, to protect the passengers from one or more dangerous effects such as toxic gasses, smoke, heat, flames and the like.

[0019] According to some embodiments of the invention, the braking means may be hydraulic.

[0020] According to some embodiments of the invention, each rescue vehicle may further comprise a conversion means enabling to convert the kinetic and potential energy of the descent of said rescue vehicle into at least one of: electric charge, mechanical energy and store this converted energy to allow using it in, for example, operating the moving system horizontally. [0021] According to some embodiments of the invention, each said rescue vehicle may further comprise communication means enabling passengers to call a destination.

[0022] According to some embodiments of the invention, each said rescue vehicle may further comprise at least one seat allowing passengers to sit during evacuation.

[0023] According to some embodiments of the invention, the wall on which the evacuation system is installed may be situated between two perpendicular walls, parallel walls or both, creating a shaft in which said at least one set of tracks is installed.

[0024] According to some embodiments of the invention, each story of the building may comprise a storage area especially adapted to store one or more rescue vehicles. Each said set of tracks may comprise:

• at least one vertical track extending from a story of said building;

• a multiplicity of horizontal tracks extending from each storage area of each story of the building.

[0025] According to some embodiments of the invention, each said horizontal track may be connected to a vertical track and each engagement means of each said rescue vehicle may allow said rescue vehicle to horizontally slide over the horizontal track and then vertically slide over the vertical track.

[0026] Additionally, each said set of tracks may also extend horizontally at the bottom end of the at least one vertical track enabling to guide said rescue vehicles to a predefined parking-spot at the landing area of the building, wherein each parking-spot is designated to a predefined rescue vehicle. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0027] The subject matter regarded as the invention will become more clearly understood in light of the ensuing description of embodiments herein, given by way of example and for purposes of illustrative discussion of the present invention only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an evacuation system installed on an external wall of a high-rise building, according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a rescue vehicle, according to some embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an evacuation system installed in a shaft in a high-rise building, according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B are perspective views of a story of a high-rise building operatively associated with an evacuation system that comprises storage areas for storing of a rescue vehicle, according to some embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart schematically describing a method for evacuating passengers in a high-rise building, simultaneously using a multiplicity of rescue vehicles, according to an embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 6 is a block diagram schematically describing modules in a detection system's controller of a rescue vehicle, according to some embodiments of the present invention.

[0028] The drawings together with the description make apparent to those skilled in the art how the invention may be embodied in practice. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF SOME EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

[0029] While the description below contains many specifications, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the invention, but rather as exemplifications of the preferred embodiments. Those skilled in the art will envision other possible variations that are within its scope. Accordingly, the scope of the invention should be determined not by the embodiment illustrated, but by the appended claims and their legal equivalents.

[0030] An embodiment is an example or implementation of the inventions. The various appearances of "one embodiment," "an embodiment" or "some embodiments" do not necessarily all refer to the same embodiments. Although various features of the invention may be described in the context of a single embodiment, the features may also be provided separately or in any suitable combination. Conversely, although the invention may be described herein in the context of separate embodiments for clarity, the invention may also be implemented in a single embodiment.

[0031] Reference in the specification to "one embodiment", "an embodiment", "some embodiments" or "other embodiments" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiments is included in at least one embodiments, but not necessarily all embodiments, of the inventions. It is understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein is not to be construed as limiting and are for descriptive purpose only.

[0032] The principles and uses of the teachings of the present invention may be better understood with reference to the accompanying description, figures and examples. It is to be understood that the details set forth herein do not construe a limitation to an application of the invention. Furthermore, it is to be understood that the invention can be carried out or practiced in various ways and that the invention can be implemented in embodiments other than the ones outlined in the description below.

[0033] It is to be understood that the terms "including", "comprising", "consisting" and grammatical variants thereof do not preclude the addition of one or more components, features, steps, or integers or groups thereof and that the terms are to be construed as specifying components, features, steps or integers. The phrase "consisting essentially of", and grammatical variants thereof, when used herein is not to be construed as excluding additional components, steps, features, integers or groups thereof but rather that the additional features, integers, steps, components or groups thereof do not materially alter the basic and novel characteristics of the claimed composition, device or method.

[0034] If the specification or claims refer to "an additional" element, that does not preclude there being more than one of the additional element. It is to be understood that where the claims or specification refer to "a" or "an" element, such reference is not be construed that there is only one of that element. It is to be understood that where the specification states that a component, feature, structure, or characteristic "may", "might", "can" or "could" be included, that particular component, feature, structure, or characteristic is not required to be included.

[0035] Where applicable, although state diagrams, flow diagrams or both may be used to describe embodiments, the invention is not limited to those diagrams or to the corresponding descriptions. For example, flow need not move through each illustrated box or state, or in exactly the same order as illustrated and described.

[0036] Methods of the present invention may be implemented by performing or completing manually, automatically, or a combination thereof, selected steps or tasks.

The term "method" refers to manners, means, techniques and procedures for accomplishing a given task including, but not limited to, those manners, means, techniques and procedures either known to, or readily developed from known manners, means, techniques and procedures by practitioners of the art to which the invention belongs. The descriptions, examples, methods and materials presented in the claims and the specification are not to be construed as limiting but rather as illustrative only.

[0037] Meanings of technical and scientific terms used herein are to be commonly understood as by one of ordinary skill in the art to which the invention belongs, unless otherwise defined. The present invention can be implemented in the testing or practice with methods and materials equivalent or similar to those described herein.

[0038] Any publications, including patents, patent applications and articles, referenced or mentioned in this specification are herein incorporated in their entirety into the specification, to the same extent as if each individual publication was specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated herein. In addition, citation or identification of any reference in the description of some embodiments of the invention shall not be construed as an admission that such reference is available as prior art to the present invention.

[0039] The present invention, in some embodiments thereof, is an evacuation system 100 for a high-rise building 400 with multiple stories, such as, for example, a high-rise apartment building 400. Embodiments of the evacuation system 100 may allow the safe evacuation of a plurality of building occupants (referred to herein as "passengers") 10 within an optimal evacuation time, especially in emergency situations such as fire, bomb threats etc. where the occupants are required to evacuate and escape the building 400 as fast as they can.

[0040] According to some embodiments of the invention, activating the evacuation system 100 of the present invention may allow safely transporting a plurality of passengers 10 from inside the building 400, down to a safe landing area. The transporting may be carried out simultaneously to maximize the amount of passengers transported in a single time frame.

[0041] Fig. 1 schematically illustrates an evacuation system 100 installed on an exterior wall 420 of a high-rise building 400 with multiple stories 410, according to some embodiments of the invention. The evacuation system 100 may comprise:

- at least one set of tracks 120 disposed on at least one wall 420 of the building 400;

- a multiplicity of sensors 550 installed on the wall 420 where the sets of tracks 120 are installed; and a multiplicity of rescue vehicles 200 for transporting passengers 10, where each rescue vehicle 200 is self driven, enabling sliding over the set of tracks 120 by controlled descent (e.g. free falling with controlled braking) from the story 410 in which the rescue vehicle 200 is located, where each rescue vehicle 200 comprises at least one detection system

250.

[0042] Each of the rescue vehicles 200 may be independently and automatically operated (hence "self driven") by the detection system 250 (without any human or electronic external intervention, except from the sensors 550) by, for instance: enabling to sense an emergency situation, sense the existence of passengers 10 in the rescue vehicle 200, operate the vehicle 200 (e.g. release braking elements and allow the rescue vehicle 200 to controlled descent), operate the braking means 230 and the like.

[0043] According to some embodiments of the invention, the rescue vehicles 200 may be self driven, enabling sliding over said set of tracks 120 by controlled descent from the story 410 in which they are located. The controlled descent may enable sliding of each rescue vehicle 200 downwards by using the gravitational force naturally caused by the weight of the rescue vehicle 200 and its content.

[0044] According to some embodiments of the invention, the sensors 550 may enable transmitting signals (e.g. Radio Frequency (RF) signals) indicating the relative location of each rescue vehicle 200 of the evacuation system 100 at any given moment in time.

[0045] According to some embodiments of the invention, the detection system 250 in each rescue vehicle 200 may enable receiving the signals from at least some of said sensors 550, translating the signals into digital data; processing said digital data to calculate a collision-risking factor at any given moment; and controlling the falling speed of the rescue vehicle 200 according to said collision-risking factor.

[0046] According to some embodiments of the invention, each rescue vehicle 200 may comprise braking means 230 which may be any means enabling to apply braking forces enabling to slow down or stop the free falling of the rescue vehicle 200. The detection system 250 may be operatively associated with the braking means 230 enabling to control the braking means 230. Upon identifying a collision-risking situation (which is a function of the factor), the detection system 250 may operate the braking means 230 controlling the level of braking force the braking means 230 apply upon the engagement means 290 of the rescue vehicle 200.

[0047] According to some embodiments of the invention, each rescue vehicle 200 may allow descending by sliding the rescue vehicles 200 over one set of tracks 120 thereby allow passengers 10 in the rescue vehicle 200 to use it to slide downwards to a safety ground that may be situated at a landing area 700 adjacent to the building 400, as illustrated in FIG. 1.

[0048] According to some embodiments of the invention, at least one rescue vehicle 200 may be designated to each story 410 of the building 400 allowing the occupants of the story 410 to evacuate the building 400 when necessary.

[0049] FIG. 2 schematically illustrates a rescue vehicle 200, according to some embodiments of the invention. The rescue vehicle 200 may comprise:

o at least one entrance 220 enabling at least one passenger 10 to enter the rescue vehicle 200; o at least one braking means 230 enabling to slow down said rescue vehicle 200; o at least one detection system 250; and o engagement means 290;

[0050] The engagement means 290 may enable engaging at least one side of the rescue vehicle 200 onto the set of tracks 120 to the rescue vehicle 200 in sliding over the set of tracks 120. For example, the set of tracks 120 may be a slotted slit and the engagement means 290 may be a device with wheels installed over axels, where the wheels may be inserted into the slots of the tracks 120. [0051] The rescue vehicle 200 may be of any shape and size allowing one or more passengers 10 to be in the rescue vehicle 200. Additionally, the rescue vehicle 200 may be shielded by a housing 210, which may be made from or coated by fire- resistant and/or heat resistant materials and/or gas-proof materials.

[0052] According to some embodiments of the invention, the sets of tracks 120 may extend from the highest story 410 of the building 400 to the landing area 700. Additionally, the rescue vehicles 200 may enable engaging with said at least one set of tracks 120 through engagement means 290 that allow said rescue vehicles 200 to slide along said at least one set of tracks 120.

[0053] According to some embodiments of the invention, as illustrated in FIG. 2, the detection system 250 may enable (i) detecting the relative location of the rescue vehicle 200 in which the detection system 250 is installed, (ii) detecting the location of other approaching objects (such as other rescue vehicles 200 and/or the approaching landing area 700) and other risky obstacles by receiving the signals from the sensors 550; and (iii) operating the braking means 230 according to data that has been detected and processed by the detection system 250.

[0054] According to some embodiments of the invention, as illustrated in FIG. 2, the detection system 250 may comprise:

• at least one locating-sensor 251 enabling to detect the relative location of the rescue vehicle 200 in which the detection system 250 is installed;

• at least one transmitter 252 enabling to transmit signals (e.g. Radio

Frequency (RF) signals) to other rescue vehicles' 200 detection systems 250, where the signals enable indicating the current relative location of said rescue vehicle 200; • at least one receiver 253 enabling to receive signals (such as RF signals) that are transmitted from other rescue vehicles 200 and from other sources in the evacuation system 100;

• at least one controller 254 enabling (i) to process the signals arriving from the rescue vehicle's 200 receiver 253 and the location-sensor 251 of the rescue vehicle 200 as well as transmitters 252 of other rescue vehicles 200 that simultaneously slide the same set of tracks 120, (ii) to calculate the relative location of the rescue vehicle 200 in which said controller 254 is installed, to calculate the relative location of other rescue vehicles 200 using the same set of tracks 120 and the distance between the rescue vehicle 200 and the ground, and (iii) to operate the braking means 230 of the rescue vehicle 200 according to the calculated relative locations of rescue vehicles 200.

[0055] According to some embodiments of the invention, the controller 254 may be a processor such as a computer and the like, enabling to connect to at least one communication network receive and transmit data through the at least one communication network translate signals (e.g. RF signals) into digital data and process the digital data.

[0056] According to some embodiments of the invention, the locating-sensors 251 of the rescue vehicle 200 detect the relative location of the rescue vehicle 200 in relation to other objects (e.g. another adjacent rescue vehicle 200 sliding below and/or the bottom of the building 400 located at the landing area 700). The controller 254 may receive the signals and process them (e.g. translating the RF signals into digital data and calculating the distance between the rescue vehicle 200 and the other object below it). The controller 254 may be operatively associated with the braking means 230 enabling to operate the braking means 230 according to predefined rules such as, when identifying that the distance between the rescue vehicle 200 and another object below the rescue vehicle 200 is smaller than a minimum threshold distance, where the threshold distance may be calculated as a function of the rescue vehicle's 200 and the speed of the object (e.g. another rescue vehicle 200 simultaneously sliding below the first vehicle 200). The controller 254 may control the braking force applied by the braking means 230 to slow down the falling speed of the rescue vehicle 200 depending on calculated necessary force required to accomplish the desirable slowing effect. This may facilitate in preventing the rescue vehicle 200 to collide with the object. If the object is another sliding or landing rescue vehicle 200 situated below the first rescue vehicle 200 the controller 254 may order the braking means 230 to apply more braking force and then, when the set of tracks 120 are detected as free or the sliding is identified as safe, the controller 254 may order the braking means 230 to apply less braking force. Similarly, if the object is othe landing area 700 the braking means 230 may allow gradual slowing down until reaching a full stop at the ground level in the landing area 700 to prevent a dangerous collision of the rescue vehicle 200 with the ground.

[0057] According to some embodiments of the invention, as illustrated in FIG. 2, the rescue vehicle 200 may additionally comprise a driving system 600 enabling at least one passenger 10 to drive the rescue vehicle 200 once the rescue vehicle 200 has reached the landing area 700 to allow the passenger 10 to use the rescue vehicle 200 to further escape - away from said building 400.

[0058] The driving system 600 may comprise a motor 610, steering means 620 and wheels 630 operatively associated with one another. The motor 610 may only be used for land driving and not for the sliding of the rescue vehicle in the set of tracks 120. Additionally, the motor may be charged by some of the potential or kinetic energy caused by the height of the rescue vehicle 200 and its weight.

[0059] According to some embodiments of the invention, as illustrated in FIG. 2, the rescue vehicle 200 may also comprise one or more seats 20 allowing passengers 10 to sit while descending to the landing area 700 (during evacuation).

[0060] Additionally or alternatively, the rescue vehicle 200 may also comprise at least one of:

communication means 80; and

conversion means 70;

[0061] According to some embodiments of the invention, the communication means 80 may allow passengers 10 to call destinations such as emergency services or any other destination. [0062] According to some embodiments of the invention, the conversion means 70 may enable converting and storing at least some of the kinetic energy of the falling of the rescue vehicle 200 into at least one of: electric charge,or heat energy. Alternatively or additionally, the conversion means 70 may enable converting and solar energy into electric charge and store this charge to operate the detection system 250, the communication system 80 and the like.

[0063] According to some embodiments of the invention, the conversion means 70 may be operatively associated with the controller 254 and/or with the driving means 600 allowing charging them with electric charge.

[0064] According to some embodiments of the invention, the braking means 230 may be hydraulic,.

[0065] FIG. 3 schematically illustrates a perspective view of the evacuation system 100 installed in a building 400, according to some embodiments of the invention.

[0066] According to these embodiments, the evacuation system 100 may additionally comprise at least one control-unit 500, which may be installed in the building 400 enabling to receive signals arriving from the sensors 550 that may be installed along one wall 420 of the building 400 enabling to sense each of the rescue vehicles 200 that pass along predefined parts of the sets of tracks 120.

[0067] Additionally, the control-unit 500, which may be a hardware unit, may enable receiving and reading of signals from the sensors 550 and transmitting these signals to the controllers 254 of each said passing rescue vehicle 200.

[0068] According to some embodiments of the invention, the control-unit 500, the vehicles' 200 controllers 254, the locating-sensors 251 and the sensors 550 may enable transmitting their signals through at least one communication network.

[0069] Additionally, the wireless communication network can be ad hock network or peer-to-peer network, enabling direct communication between the sensors 550 and the detecting systems 250 of the rescue vehicles 200. For instance, if one of the sensors 550 is not working the network may maintain the communication with the rescue vehicle 200 by locating a near by sensor 550 or detecting system 250 to convey information between all operating sensors 550 and detecting systems 250 requiring no centralized server or controlling and communication means.

[0070] According to some embodiments of the invention, the control-unit 500 may also serve as a back-up controlling unit for the rescue vehicles' 200 controllers 254 enabling to detect the relative location of each sliding rescue vehicle 200 and operate its braking mechanism 230 from the far (e.g. through wireless communication).

[0071] According to some embodiments of the invention, as illustrated in FIG. 3, the wall 420 on which the evacuation system's 100 sets of tracks 120 are installed, may be situated between two perpendicular walls 422 creating a shaft in which the sets of tracks 120 are installed.

[0072] FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B schematically illustrate a high-story building 400 with the evacuation system 100, according to some embodiments of the invention, where each story 400 of the building 400 comprises a storage area 300 especially adapted to store at least one rescue vehicle 200. The storage area may be internally inside the story 410 floor such as e.g. one or more rooms especially designated to store the rescue vehicles 200 and to allow the rescue vehicles 200 to access the sets of tracks 120 in an emergency.

[0073] According to some embodiments of the invention, as illustrated in FIG. 4A, each set of tracks 120 may comprises:

• at least one vertical track 121 extending from a story 410 of the building 400;

• at least one horizontal track 122 extending from each storage area 300 of each story 410 of the building 400;

[0074] According to some embodiments of the invention, each said horizontal track 122 may be connected to one of the vertical tracks 121 and each engagement means 290 of each rescue vehicle 200 may allow horizontal sliding over the horizontal track 122 and then vertical sliding over the vertical track 121.Each horizontal track 122 may be installed on the floor of the storage area 300, as shown in FIG. 4A.

[0075] Each storage area 300 may comprise at least one egress point 330 enabling passengers 10 to enter the rescue vehicle 200 and at least one entrance point 335 enabling passengers 10 to enter the storage area 300, as illustrated in FIG. 4B.

[0076] Additionally or alternatively, each set of tracks 120 may also extend horizontally at the bottom end of the at least one vertical track 122, as illustrated in FIG. 1, enabling to guide the rescue vehicles 200 to predefined parking-spots 125 located at the landing area 700 of the building 400. Each parking-spot 125 may be designated to a predefined rescue vehicle 200 to control the parking traffic of rescue vehicles 200.

[0077] FIG. 5 is a flowchart, schematically illustrating a method for evacuating passengers 10 using the evacuation system 100 installed in a high-rise building 400, which is operatively associated with the evacuation system 100, according to some embodiments of the invention. The method may comprise at some of:

operating 51 the rescue vehicle 200, where at least one passenger 10 in one of the building's 400 stories 410 enters the rescue vehicle 200 and operates the rescue vehicle 200 (e.g. by simply entering or by switching on of an operation switch);

identifying a collision-risking situation 52 e.g. by calculating a collision- risking factor, which is a functions of the distance between said rescue vehicle 200 and an object that is identified below said rescue vehicle 200, or any other obstacle, the speed of said rescue vehicle 200 and the speed of said object;

engaging 53 to the set of tracks 120, where if no collision risk has been identified, the rescue vehicle 200 reaches either the vertical track 121 or the set of tracks 120 to begin the controlled descent; sliding 54 on one of said at least one set of tracks 120, wherein said rescue vehicle 200 slides vertically downwards, towards the landing area 700 of the building 400 using the kinetic energy originating from a gravitational force applied by said rescue vehicle 200;

detecting 55 the relative location of the rescue vehicle 200 along the set of tracks 120 at any predefined time-interval while sliding;

and

operating 56 the rescue vehicle's 200 braking means 230 upon identifying a collision-risking situation.

[0078] FIG. 6 is a block diagram schematically describing modules in the controller 254 of the rescue vehicle 200, according to some embodiments of the present invention.

[0079] The controller 254 may be a hardware unit which may be combined with software and/or additional hardware- referred to herein as "the brain of the controller 254" - that allows translating signals (e.g. RF signals) received from the locating- sensors 251 and/or sensors 550 and/or the control-unit 500 into digital data, process this data and analyze it to allow optimization of the control over the sliding parameters (e.g. the speed of falling and hence the braking force that can be applied and the like). This may facilitate in optimizing the traffic control over all rescue vehicles 200 that slide the sets of tracks 120 at any given moment or time-interval, where each sliding first rescue vehicle 200 enables preventing collision with an adjacent second rescue vehicle 200 that is situated below the first rescue vehicle 200.

[0080] According to some embodiments of the invention, as illustrated in FIG. 6, the controller 254 may comprise a safety module 62 and an operation module 63. The safety module 62 may enable identifying emergency situations.

[0081] The sensors 550 that may be installed on the wall 420 where the sets of tracks 120 are installed may be sensors 550 that can detect the relative location passing sliding rescue vehicles 200 at any given moment, the speed of the passing sliding rescue vehicles 200 and/or the distances between each two adjacent passing sliding rescue vehicles 200 and/or the distances between each sliding rescue vehicle 200 and the ground. Additionally or alternatively, the control-unit 500 may enable calculating the distances between each two passing sliding rescue vehicles 200 and between each sliding rescue vehicle 200 and the ground by processing the relative location parameters (e.f the coordinates) of each rescue vehicle 200 at any given moment, detected by the sensors 550.

[0082] According to embodiments of the present invention, a passenger 10 may be any person who is in the building 400 when the evacuation system 100 is activated.

[0083] According to some embodiments of the invention, each rescue vehicle 200 may have a self-contained power source. This power source may be, inter alia, a battery or hydraulic.

[0084] According to embodiments of the present invention, the storage area 300 of each story 410 or apartment may be allocated and determined (e.g. in terms of space and design), for example, according to the design, architecture, and function of building 400. Each rescue vehicle 200 may remain in its allocated storage area 300 until needed.

[0085] While the invention has been described with respect to a limited number of embodiments, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the invention, but rather as exemplifications of some of the embodiments. Those skilled in the art will envision other possible variations, modifications, and applications that are also within the scope of the invention. Accordingly, the scope of the invention should not be limited by what has thus far been described, but by the appended claims and their legal equivalents. Therefore, it is to be understood that alternatives, modifications, and variations of the present invention are to be construed as being within the scope and spirit of the appended claims.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. An evacuation system 100 operatively associated with a high-rise building 400 with multiple stories 410, said system 100 comprising:

- at least one sensor 550 installed on said at least one wall 420; and at least one rescue vehicle 200 for transporting passengers 10, wherein said rescue vehicles 200 are self driven wherein each said rescue vehicle 200 is independently and automatically operated without any external intervention, wherein said rescue vehicles 200 enable descending from the story 410 in which they are located by sliding over said set of tracks 120; each rescue vehicle 200 comprising:

• at least one entrance 220 enabling at least one passenger 10 to enter said rescue vehicle 200; • at least one braking means 230 enabling to slow down said rescue vehicle 200;

• at least one detection system 250, which is operatively associated with said braking means 230; and

• engagement means 290 wherein said engagement means 290 engage said set of tracks 120 while enabling said rescue vehicle

200 to slide along said set of tracks 120;

wherein said evacuation system 100 allows at least some of said multiplicity of rescue vehicles 200 to evacuate a multiplicity of passengers 10 to a landing area 700, simultaneously using the same said at least one set of tracks 120,

wherein said sensors 550 enable transmitting signals indicating the relative location of each rescue vehicle 200 of said evacuation system 100 at any given moment in time; and wherein said detection system 250 in each rescue vehicle 200 enables receiving the signals from at least some of said sensors 550, translating the signals into digital data; processing said digital data to calculate a collision-risking factor at any given moment; and controlling the controlled speed of the rescue vehicle 200 according to said collision-risking factor.

2. The evacuation system 100 of claim 1 wherein said at least one set of tracks 120 extends from one story 410 of the building 400 to said landing area 700 and wherein said rescue vehicles enables engaging with said at least one set of tracks 120 through said engagement means 290 that allow sliding along said at least one set of tracks 120.

3. The evacuation system 100 of claim 1 wherein said detection system 250 comprises:

- at least one receiver 253 enabling to receive signals that are transmitted from the sensors 550;

- at least one controller 254 enabling to process the signals arriving from said sensors 550.

4. The evacuation system of claim 3 wherein said detection system 250 further comprises:

- at least one locating-sensor 251 enabling to detect the relative location of the rescue vehicle 200 in which said detection system 250 is installed; and - at least one transmitter 252 enabling to transmit the signals of said locating-sensors 251 to other rescue vehicles 200.

5. The evacuation system 100 of claim 1 wherein once said collision-risking factor exceeds a predefined threshold, said detection system 250 operates said braking means 230 of said rescue vehicle 200 enabling to slow down said rescue vehicle 200 and to facilitate in preventing over speeding of the rescue vehicle 200 and collision with at least one of: another rescue vehicle 200 and the ground.

6. The evacuation system 100 of claim 1 further comprising at least one control- unit 500, which is installed on said building 400 enabling to receive signals arriving from said sensors 550 and control the traffic of sliding rescue vehicles 200 according to said signals.

7. The evacuation system of claim 6 wherein said control-unit 500, said detection system 250 and said sensors 550 enable transmitting said signals through at least one wireless communication network.

8. The evacuation system 100 of claim 1 wherein each rescue vehicle 200 further comprising a driving system 600 enabling at least one passenger 10 in each said rescue vehicle 200 to drive said rescue vehicle 200 once said rescue vehicle 200 has reached said landing area 700 away from said building 400.

9. The evacuation system of claim 8 wherein said driving system 600 comprises a motor 610, steering means 620 and wheels 630 operatively associated with one another.

10. The evacuation system 100 of claim 1 wherein said rescue vehicle 200 further comprises housing 210 shielding said rescue vehicle 200.

11. The evacuation system 100 of claim 10 wherein said housing 210 is made from at least one of: gas-proof, fire-resistant and heat-resistant materials.

12. The evacuation system 100 of claim 1 wherein said braking means 230 is hydraulic.

13. The evacuation system 100 of claim 1 wherein said rescue vehicle 200 further comprises conversion means 70 enabling to convert the kinetic potential energy of the falling of said rescue vehicle 200 into at least one of: electric charge, heat energy.

14. The evacuation system 100 of claim 1 wherein each said rescue vehicle 200 further comprises communication means 80.

15. The evacuation system 100 of claim 1 wherein each said rescue vehicle 200 further comprises at least one seat 20 allowing passengers 10 to sit during evacuation.

16. The evacuation system 100 of claim 1 wherein said wall 420 is situated between two substantially perpendicular walls 422 creating a shaft in which said at leas one set of tracks 120 is installed.

17. The evacuation system 100 of claim 1 wherein each story 400 of the building 400 comprises a storage area 300 especially adapted to store said rescue vehicle

200; wherein each said set of tracks 120 comprises: • at least one vertical track 121 extending from one story 410 of said building 400;

wherein each said horizontal track 122 is connected to a vertical track 121 and wherein each engagement means 290 of each said rescue vehicle 200 allows horizontal sliding over the horizontal track 122 and then vertical sliding over the vertical track 121.

18. The evacuation system 100 of claim 17 wherein each said set of tracks 120 also extends horizontally at the bottom end of the at least one vertical track 122 enabling to guide said rescue vehicles 200 to a predefined parking-spot 125 at the landing area 700 of the building 400, wherein each parking-spot 125 is designated to a predefined rescue vehicle 200.

19. A high-rise building 400 with multiple stories 410 comprising:

- an evacuation system 100 installed on at least one wall 420 of said building 400; and

- a landing area 700 located on a ground that is adjacent to said building 400;

wherein said evacuation system 100 comprises:

a multiplicity of sensors 550 installed on said at least one wall 420; and

a multiplicity of rescue vehicles 200 for transporting passengers 10 to said landing area 700; and

at least one set of tracks 120 wherein said set of tracks 120 is installed on said at least one wall 420;

wherein each story 410 comprises at least one storage area 300 especially adapted to store at least one rescue vehicle 200; wherein each said set of tracks 120 enables guiding each said rescue vehicle 200 from said story 400 to said landing area 700 thereby facilitate in evacuating the passengers from the building 400;

wherein said sensors 550 enable transmitting signals indicating the relative location of each rescue vehicle 200 of said evacuation system 100 at any given moment in time; and wherein said detection system 250 in each rescue vehicle 200 enables receiving the signals from at least some of said sensors 550, translating the signals into one of: analog data, digital data; processing said data to calculate a collision-risking factor at any given moment; and controlling the falling speed of the rescue vehicle 200 according to said collision-risking factor.

20. The high-rise building 400 of claim 19 wherein each storage area 300 of each story 410 of the building 400 is a designated room that is located inside each story 410 of the building 400, wherein each story 410 further comprises access- system allowing passengers located at any of the story's 410 rooms to reach said storage area 300.

21. The high-rise building 400 of claim 20 wherein each storage area 300 of each story 410 of the building 400 comprises at least one egress point 330 enabling passengers 10 to exit the storage area 300 and enter said rescue vehicle 200 and at least one entrance point 335 enabling passengers 10 to enter said storage area 300.

22. A method for simultaneously evacuating a multiplicity of passengers 10 from different stories 410 of a high-rise building 400 using rescue vehicles 200 that slide on at least one set of tracks 120 disposed on a wall 420 of the building 400, said method comprising: operating the rescue vehicle 200, wherein at least one passenger 10 in one of the building's 400 stories 410 enters said rescue vehicle 200 and operates said vehicle 200;

sliding on one of said at least one set of tracks 120, wherein said rescue vehicle 200 slides vertically downwards, towards a landing area 700 of the building 400 using a gravitational force applied by said rescue vehicle 200;

detecting said rescue vehicle's 200 relative location along said set of tracks 120 at any predefined time-interval while sliding;

identifying a collision-risking situation by calculating a collision- risking factor which is a functions of the distance between said rescue vehicle 200 and an object that is identified below said rescue vehicle 200, the speed of said rescue vehicle 200 and the speed of said object; and

operating said rescue vehicle's 200 braking means 230 upon identifying said collision-risking situation.

23. The method of claim 22 further comprises identifying of an emergency situation and the type of said situation.

24. The method of claim 22 wherein said identifying of a collision-risking factor is carried out by calculating the distances between each two adjacent sliding rescue vehicles 200 and the distance between each sliding rescue vehicle 200 and the ground.