US678169A - Fire-escape. - Google Patents

Description

Patented lulv 9. |901.

D. FIRTH.

FIRE ESCAPE.

(Apglicatnn Bled Dec. 5, 1.900.)

(No Model.)

UNTTED STATES- PATENT OFFICE.

DAVID FIRTH, OF KIMBERLY, CANADA.

FlR-ESCAPE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 678,169, dated July 9, 1901. Application led December 5, 1900. Serial No. 38,807. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known thatV 1, DAVID FIRTH, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, residing at Kimberly, in the Province of British Columbia and Dominion of Canada, have invented a new and useful Fire-Escape, of which the following is a specification.

My present invention relates to improvements in fire-escapes, and has for its object to produce a simple and eective device which may be readily and securely attached to a building for the purpose of facilitating the escape of persons when the ordinary means of egress are unavailable-as, for instance, in case of re. In devices of this character the prerequisites to their adoption are effectiveness, inexpensiveness, and their capability of being securely fixed to the building without weakening the structure or requiring eX- tensive alterations.

With a view to fulfilling these several requirements my invention consists in equipping a light metal drum with a chain ladder, which may be quickly raised or lowered bya person within the building, and with supporting and attaching means which may be readily affixed to the wall of the building, and,-

further, with simple and effective actuating mechanism which may be operated by the occupants of a house.y Y

The invention further consists in the details of construction and arrangement hereinafter more fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and defined in the appended claim.

In said drawings, Figure l is a sectional View through a portion of a building, illustrating the application of my fire-escape. Fig. 2 is an elevation of the exterior of the building, showing so much of my device as is exposed. Fig. 3 is an interior elevation showing the mechanism for-winding the ladder upon the drum and for eecting the release of the drum to permit the ladder to drop into position for use. Fig. 4 is a detail perspective View of the bearing-plates, their connectingbolts, and the pawl; and Fig. 5 is a sectional elevation showing the manner in which one of the tie-bolts is utilized as a journal for the pawl.

Referring to the numerals of reference employed to designate corresponding parts throughout the views, l indicates the wall of a building, and 2 a window, adjacent to which latter is mounted the drum 3 of the fire-escape. The drum 3 is located upon the eX- terior of the building, preferably adjacent to one lower corner of the window, andis provided at its opposite ends with the chainguards 4, which insure the even Winding of the chain ladder 5, secured at its upper end to the drum 3. From one end of said drum I extend a somewhat-reduced spindle portion 5a, passed through an opening 6 in the wall and through alined openings in a pair of bearing-plates 7 and 8, located against the interior and exterior faces of the wall and connected by tie- bolts 9 and 10, passed through the wall l parallel with the spindle 5a and at considerable distances above and below it.

It will bevnoted that the bearing-plates 7,

and 8 are of considerable size, the purpose of this being to utilize said plates not only as bearings for. the spindle, `but also as stiening-plates for strengthening the wall at that point to which itis subjected to the weight of my apparatus and of persons who in an emergency may descend by the chain ladder 5. Immediately adjacent to the inner face of the inside plate 8 the spindle l is provided with a ratchet-wheel 1l, `whose hub 12 bears against the plate 7 and is provided with a retaining-screw 13, passed into the spindle to insure the rigid retention of the wheel upon the spindle, which precaution is necessary, as this wheel constitutes means for preventing the spindle from pulling through the wall. The ratchet-wheel ll is designed to be retained against backward rotation by a gravity-pawl 14, for the pivotal support of which the inner end of the upper tie-bolt 9 is utilized, as shown more clearly in Figs. 4 and 5, the end of the bolt being reduced for the reception of the pawl and provided with a pair of nuts, one of which-that is to say, the nut 15-is designed to draw up the bolt and the other nut 16 to retain the pawl in place.

17 indicates a handle or crank fitted upon the inner end of the spindle 5a to facilitate the rotation of the drum necessary to wind the chain ladder 5 thereon. In the event of a iire or other emergency requiring the occupants of lthe house to escape from the window it is simply necessary to li-ft the pawl 14 out of engagement with the ratchet wheel 1l, when, as Will be obvious, the Weight of the chain ladder will cause it to unwind from the drum and to gravitate to its pendent position for use.

From the foregoing it will appear that I have produced a simple, effective, and inexpensive nre-escape which may be readily attached to any building Without necessity for extensive alteration and which When applied will serve rather to strengthen the Wall than otherwise and will be capable of manipulation without special skill; but, while the present embodiment of my invention is believed at this time to be preferable, I desire to reserve to myself the right to effect such changes, modifications, and variations as may fall properly within the scope of the protection prayed.

Vhat I claim is- In a nre-escape, the combination with a support, as for instance the Wall of a building, of a pair of bearing-plates in contact with the opposite sides of the wall, tie-bolts piercing the Wall and connecting said plates adjacent to the opposite ends thereof, a drum provided with a flexible ladder and having a reduced spindle portion passed through and journaled directly in the plates intermediate of the tiebolts, chain-guards extending from the drum at opposite sides of the ladder, a ratchet-Wheel secured upon the spindle in contact with the inner plate and constituting means for preventing endwise movement of the spindle, a pawl mounted upon the inner end of one of the tie-bolts to engage the ratchet-Wheel, and a crank upon the inner end of the spindle to effect the Winding of the ladder upon the drum.

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

DAVID FIRTH. Vitnesses:

EDvvD. ELWELL, FRED SCALES.

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