Portable fire escape

Application filed October 12

Td all whotii· it may concern:

Be it kiioAvh that Charles Sago, a citizen of the United States, residing at Old Forge, in the county of Lackawanna and State of

Pennsylvania, lias invented new and useful improvements in Portable Fire Escapes, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention has for its purpose to provide, in a portable fire escape, a rela10 lively simple and efficient portable contrivance as a substitute for firemen's step-ladders for effecting rescue in case of fire in buildings where the ordinary means . of egress, such as extensible ladders, are ini15 practicable. . , . ...

Another purpose is to provide a device for this purpose which is extensible tc any desired height on the exterior of the building and close to the wfill thereof , permitting so the transfer of the occupants of the building through the windows thereof.

Still another purpose is the provision of laterally extensible means at the upper end Of the extensible contrivance for bridging 25 the relatively narrow space between the upward extensible contrivance and the. windows of the building in order to permit the occupants to pass with safety from the windows to the. platform at the upper end of 30 the contrivance. ’ ...

A further purpose is to provide, iii an extensible cdhtrivaiiee' of this character, means actuated by power mounted upon a motor driven truck or vehicle whereby the chn35 trivance may be lowered to such an. extent that the entire apparatus liiay be easily and very quickly transported from place to place without interference, with overhead wires .or other overhead structures. . . .

A still further purpose is the provision .of means for mounting the extensible contrivance on the motor driven vehicle Or truck whereby the. contrivance may be rotated in a liorizoiltal direction so as. to permit the 45 contrivance to be disposed in any suitable position adjacent the.building Which is on (ire without necessitating changing the position of the motor driven truck Or vehicle.

It is to¹ be understood that the. particu⁵⁰ lavs herein given are in no avay limitative and that, Avhile still keeping Within the scope of the invention, any desired modifications Of detail and desired proportions may be made in the apparatus according to the ⁸⁵ circumstances.

The invention Comprises further features

ESCAPE.

,.1823, Serial No. 668,170.

and combinations of parts to be hereinafter set forth, shoAvn in the drawings and claimed.

Ill. the drawings: . . ⁶⁰

Figure 1 is a view iii side elevation of the improved portable fire escape apparatus constructed in accordance with the inventionj showing the extensible contrivance in its extended position. . . ⁶⁵

Figure 2 is a idew in elevation at right angles to that shdWn in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is ail enlarged view in side elevation of the apparattis, more clearly showing the ilieclianism for actuating the e.xtensi- 70 ble cbiitriVance, showing a part of said contrivance broken away ill the center with the platform at the top in lowered position.

Figure 4 is an enlarged detail view of a portion of the extensible contrivance show- 75 ing how the links of the extensible contrivance are constructed in order to permit the parts thereof to assemble and disassemble during the extensible action.

Figure 5 is an enlarged detail view of ⁸⁰the platform at the top of the extensible contrivance showing the laterally extensible gang-plank.

Figure? 6 is a plan view of the same.

Figure 7 is a longitudinal sectional view ⁸⁵through the platform, showing the extensible gang-plank receded..

Referring to the drawings, 1 designates a motor driven truck of. conventional construction, with the exception that in the 00 present instance the platform assumes a position inclined upwardly toward the rear. Driven by bevel gears 2, one of which is rq tated by the drive shaft 3 of the' motor, is a transverse shaft 4 mounted in bearings on 05 the under side of the platform of the truck. Mounted¹ upon the shaft 4 is a sprocket Γ> operating a chain 6 which, in turn, passes about a sprocket 7 for rotating a shaft 8 which also assumes a transverse position ¹⁰⁰on the platform in bearings thereof. Carried bv Hie shaft 8 is a gear 9 which meshes with a rack 10 which engdges with a swivelled guide 11 mounted upon the platform. The rack 10 is, in turn, pivoted.to a plat- 105 form 12which supports the entire fire escape apparatus.

The- platform 12 is fulcrumbd at 13 upon suitable supports and disposed upon the platform is a gear 14 with which a gear HO 15 meshes for involving the turn-table 16 relatively to the gear 14 and the platform

1,531,982

12. The shaft 17 which carries the gear 15 is mounted in bearings on the turn-table 16 and projecting downwardly from which is a plurality of wheels or rollers 18 for engag5 ing a suitable raceway on the upper face of the gear 14, thereby revolubly supporting the. turn-table. A supporting shaft 19 on Avhich the turn-table 16 is mounted constitutes a bearing and is disposed concentric 10 Avith the gear 14. The rollers or Avheels 18 act to maintain the platform level during its operative movements.

A conventional form of motor 20 is mount ed upon the turn-table and its shaft has a ’5 conventional form of fly wheel 21 and brake Avheel 22 for controlling the shaft. A conventional form of lever 23 is employed for operating the brake Avheel. The motor shaft 20^a also, has bevel gears 25 and 26 Avhich ²⁰ mesh Avith the bevel gears 27 and 28. Tlie gears 27 and 28 are carried by the perpendicular shafts 29 Avhich are mounted in bearing and their upper ends are supplied with bevel gears 30 and 31 for meshing with the bevel gears 32 Avhich are carried by the horizontal shafts 33 which, in turn, carry the sprockets 34.

One of the shafts 29 has a bevel gear 35 which meshes with a bevel gear 36 carried ³⁰ by a shaft 37 and on one end of this shaft is a sprocket 38 for driving the chain 39 Avhich, in turn, engages about a sprocket 40 on a shaft 41. The shaft 41 carries a suitable drum 42 and rising from the turn-table ³⁵ is an extensible contrivance which comprises the. links 43 and the transverse rungs 44 to which the links are hingedly connected, thereby providing a flexible extensible member to wind about the drum 42, that is, Avhen 49 the drum is rotated. The ends of the rungs 44 have extensions 45 at their ends and the extremities thereof are spherical.

. In order to hold the links 43 relatively rigid when the contrivance is extended, ad4-.> ditional links 46 which are hingedly connected at right angles to the connection of the links 43 are provided.. These links 46 are adapted to assume positions adjacent the ? ends of the rungs 44 Avhen the contrivance •’θ is extended.. In fact, the hinged connections 47 of the links 46 are on the remote faces of the links, Avhereby the links 46 may wind about drums 48 carried by the shafts 49 _r. which are also supported in boarings of supports 50 mounted upon the turn-table. Tlie shafts 49 are also operatively geared at 51 to the motor shaft in order to cause the links 46 to Avind about the drums 48.

Go J^{)e 110}'d upon reference to the drawings that the ends of the links 46 separate as the links wind upon the drum 48 and close when the links of the contrivance are extended. The adjacent ends of the links 46, avhen closed, are alined axially Avith the centei of the rungs .44 and the faces of the ends of the links 46 have semispherical sockets 52 for the reception of the spherical extremities of the extensions 45. When the contrivance is extended, the adjacent ends of the links 46 automatically close upon the spheri- 70 cal extremities of the extensions 45 and, due to the hinged connections 47 being at right angles to the hinged connections betAveen the links and the rungs, the collapsible elements of the contrivance are hold rigid 7>^r> when the contrivance is extended.

When the drain 42 and the drums 48 are rotating, and it is desired to loAver the platform d3 at the upper end of the extensible contrivance, the various links 43 and 46 will ⁸⁹automatically disengage and wind about the drams 42 and 48, respectively. In order to cause the links 4-3 to Avind about the dram 42, power is transmitted from the shafts 37 to the shaft 41. Avhile the drams 48 are driven ⁸⁵by the operative gear connections 51.

Connected to supporting beams 54 upon which the platform 53 is supported are guy ropes or cables 55 Avhich Avind about drum's 56 carried by the shafts 57 Avhich are mount- ⁹⁹ed in bearings of supports 58. Carried by the. shafts 57 are sprockets 59 Avhich are engaged by the sprocket chains 60. The chains 60 are, in turn, engaged with sprockets 61 which are mounted upon the shafts 33 and, due to the shafts 33 being rotated through the medium of the shafts 29 geared to tlie motor shaft, poAver is transmitted to the drums 56 for causing the guy ropes or cables 5a to wind upon the drums. The guy ropes -¹³⁹or cables act to reinforce the platform 5-3 Avhen the contrivance is extended.

The beams 54 are spaced from the platform. 53 (upwardly from which a railing or bannister 62 rises) for the purpose of afford- ³³³ing a guide for the extensible gang-plank 63. A rack. 64 is mounted upon tlie gang-plank 63 and its teeth mesh with the gear 65 ivhich is rotatable with a shaft 66. ‘The shaft. 66 carries a sprocket 67 Avith which a sprocket ³³³chain 68 engages. A suitable crank shaft 69 is mounted in bearings of a bracket 70 carried by the platform 53 and movable Avith the shaft is a sprocket 71 Avith Avhich the chain 68 engages. 115

By rotating the shaft 69, it is obvious that motion may be transmitted to the sprocket 67 causing the shaft 66 to rotate which, in turn, will render the gang-plank 63 extensible in a lateral direction through tlie medium ³²³of the gear 65 moshing with the rack 64. The purpose of providing the extensible gang-plank.movable in a‘lateral direction is to permit occupants of a building to egress from the Avindows thereof upoiT the ¹²⁵gang-plank to the platform 53. Obxdously, when all of those who are in danger have’ been rescued and are upon the platform. 53, the extensible contrivance may be receded’ lowering the platform to a relatively close ¹⁸⁰

1,531,983 position above the turn-table. Before lowering the platform, the gang-plank is returned to its normal position. However, after the platform reaches its lowered posi5 tion, the gang-plank may again be extended to permit those who have been rescued to reach the ground in safety.

Mounted upon suitable shafts laterally projecting from the railing or banister are 10 sprockets 72 with which the railing or banister chains 73 engage. Rising from the gangplank are standards 74 to which the chains 73 are connected. The chains also pass over sprockets 75 which are carried by the plat15 form 53 and the other ends of the chains are connected at 76 to one end of the gangplank, that is, the end opposite the supports 74. Obviously, when the gang-plank 63 is extended or receded, the railing or banister ²⁰ chains 73 automatically extend or recede.