Abstract:
Rapid deployment of a suspension cable is a supportive system to several high-rise building rescue methods. A cable is pre-attached in a peelable manner to the building side and rigidly attached to the building top. An emergency chase vehicle is dispatched to the building base, attaches to the lower end of the cable and then moves away from the building. The cable peels off the building and suspends from the building top to the ground at approximately a 45 degree angle. A high-rise building rescue method now utilizes this deployed suspension cable.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
         [0001]    Not Applicable  
         FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH  
         [0002]    Not Applicable  
         SEQUENCE LISTING OR PROGRAM  
         [0003]    Not Applicable  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0004]    This invention relates to high-rise building fire rescue, specifically to an apparatus and method to rapidly deploy a suspension cable from an upper floor of a high-rise building to the ground. The suspension cable would be used to facilitate building occupant evacuation or firefighter access to an upper floor. Several patents outline evacuation or access mechanisms once the suspension cable is installed. An evacuation mechanism example is U.S. Pat. No. 2,088,514 granted on Jul. 27, 1937 to Glover. An access mechanism example is U.S. Pat. No. 4,256,199, granted to Sellards on Mar. 17, 1981.  
           [0005]    Present art methods for high-rise building cable positioning fall into four areas. None are in general use due to limitations, which will be outlined.  
           [0006]    The gravity drop method is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 734,230 granted on Jul. 21, 1903 to Hillier. This gravity drop method requires a length of cable to be positioned at the top of the building and released. The limitation to this method is the requirement that the building have no mid-height roof line. The cable would stop at this roof line and not reach the ground. Another gravity drop limitation is wind buffeting the cable resulting in uncertainty of grasping the cable end at ground level.  
           [0007]    The cannon shoot method is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 1,069,088 granted on Jul. 29, 1913 to Taylor. A method is used to propel the cable from the ground to the building upper floor. The cable and grappling hook would arch toward the building. The major limitations of this method are wind buffeting and uncertainty of the cable end properly engaging the building. Due to weight limitations in flight, the cable would need to be very light in weight. Thus, the cable strength would also be a limitation.  
           [0008]    The helicopter method is outlined in U.S. Pat. No. 4,256,199, granted to Sellards on Mar. 17, 1981. A limitation of this method is the inability to perform the helicopter flight under poor conditions such as wind or reduced visibility due to smoke or fog. Other limitations include quick response of an available helicopter and sufficient operator skill in performing the cable transfer.  
           [0009]    A last method is to have the cable be permanently installed as outlined in U.S. Pat. No. 5,038,536, granted to De Mendoza Sans on Aug. 13, 1991. A limitation of this method is aesthetics. Multiple cables angling down from a high-rise building would detract from the building architecture. Due to limited space, a permanent cable attachment may not be possible. In a city with close proximity of high-rise buildings, the multiple permanent cables would overlap causing clearance issues. Also, an existing street may be the only option for the lower attachment point. These limited space conditions would necessitate a temporary cable method.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0010]    The object of the invention is to provide rapid deployment of a suspension cable from an upper floor of a high-rise building to the ground. The invention is a positioning system that is composed of a cable attached from the building base to an upper floor. This cable is peeled away from the building to then suspend from the building top to a ground location away from the building base.  
           [0011]    In operation, a fireman would be dispatched to the building base in a chase vehicle. The fireman would attach the lower end of the cable to the chase vehicle and drive away from the building base. As the cable is pulled, it exerts sufficient force to be peeled away from the building. The cable attachment method to the building side is only strong enough to prevent the cable from being dislodged due to weather or inadvertent contact.  
           [0012]    The cable peels until it reaches the upper cable end. The upper cable end is permanently attached to the upper floor of the building. The chase vehicle is now a sufficient distance away from the building base and the cable suspends from the upper floor to the ground. The suspension cable is now ready for rescue use.  
           [0013]    On a very tall high-rise building, it may be desired to have cables attached at several upper floor heights. As an example, on a 90 floor building, it may be desired to place cables at the 30 th , 60 th  and 90th floors. This would provide evacuation or firefighter access within a moderate distance to any building floor.  
           [0014]    Advantages of this invention include the following. The building and building occupants are passive in the deployment of the suspension cable. No building occupant participation is required and no fireman access to the high-rise building upper level floor is required. Deployment is completely controlled by firemen. The firemen would be trained and practiced in the procedure. No electrical power or stored energy is required from the building or the rescue device on the building. The cable positioning system is not affected by weather or smoke. The system is temporary, which allows the ground end to be placed in a street. There is no significant impact to building aesthetics. It is also possible to use light weight breakaway coverings for the cable and have it be completely hidden from view. Strong cable can be used. An example cable would be a ⅝ inch galvanized steel wire rope with a nominal strength of 16 tons. The cable could be constructed of any material strong enough to withstand the peeling operation and rescue usage. Some example materials include steel wire, natural rope and polymeric rope. The cable would be flexible enough for the fireman to manually flex and attach to the chase vehicle.  
           [0015]    Another advantage of the present invention is the ability for the cable to peel over a mid-height roof line. The gravity drop method was ineffective with this type of impediment. Many high-rise buildings include these horizontal roof lines at various floor levels. In operation, the cable peels off both the vertical building surfaces and also the horizontal roof lines (or any mid angle transition building surfaces.) A pulley is provided at the horizontal to vertical transition to redirect the cable force.  
           [0016]    Another advantage of the present invention is the ability to position the suspension cable over an impediment such as a skywalk. In operation, after attaching the cable at the base of the high-rise building, the chase vehicle drives to the skywalk location, partially peeling the cable. This first cable is then attached to a second cable that is peelably attached over the skywalk. A second chase vehicle connects to the second cable and peels it from the skywalk. The now connected first and second cables then suspend from the high-rise building upper floor to the second chase vehicle on the ground.  
           [0017]    An alternate embodiment of the invention uses a powered winch in place of the chase vehicle. The peelable cable extends from the winch across the ground and up the building. The winch winds in the cable causing it to peel and suspend. When fully wound, the cable extends from the winch to the upper floor of the high-rise building.  
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING  
       [0018]    [0018]FIG. 1 is a side view of a high-rise building showing the attached cable.  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 2 is an enlarged section view of a clip holding the cable—taken along section lines  2 - 2  from FIG. 1.  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 3 is an enlarged side view of the cable spool. FIG. 4 is a section view of the building front showing the cable spool, attached cable, and access box—taken along section lines  4 - 4  from FIG. 1.  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 5 is an enlarged front view of the cable spool.  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 6 is an enlarged front view of the access box.  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 7 is a side view of a high-rise building showing the chase vehicle attachment to the cable and initial peeling of the cable.  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 8 is an enlarged view of the chase vehicle showing the cable attachment method.  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 9 is a side view of a high-rise building showing the chase vehicle pulling cable from the cable spool.  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 10 is a side view of a high-rise building with a mid-height roofline.  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 11 is an enlarged view of the mid-height roofline.  
         [0028]    [0028]FIG. 12 is a section view of the mid-height roofline showing the sliding clip—taken along section lines  12 - 12  from FIG. 11.  
         [0029]    [0029]FIG. 13 is a side view of a high-rise building and a small height building.  
         [0030]    [0030]FIG. 14 is an enlarged view of the chase vehicle at the small height building.  
         [0031]    [0031]FIG. 15 is an enlarged view of the male and female cable connectors.  
         [0032]    [0032]FIG. 16 is a side view of a high-rise and small height building after the connector transfer.  
         [0033]    [0033]FIG. 17 is a side view of a high-rise building with a winch cable retraction.  
         [0034]    [0034]FIG. 18 is an enlarged view of the fixed cable attachment. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0035]    [0035]FIG. 1 shows the side view of a high-rise building  25  with a plurality of windows  26 . A cable  27  is shown attached to the building. The cable  27  first exits the building at the cable spool  28 , runs down the high-rise building  25  and enters the access box  30 . The cable  27  is attached to the high-rise building  25  with a plurality of peelable clips  29 . The interval of spacing for the peelable clips  29  would be quite variable depending on the clip design and other requirements. The cable  27  is shown spaced further away from the building than in actuality to allow clarity in the drawing view. For purposes of aesthetics, it would even be possible for the cable to be in a recess groove in the building.  
         [0036]    [0036]FIG. 2 shows an enlarged section view of the peelable clip  29  attached to the high-rise building  25  with a clip attachment bolt  36 . The peelable clip  29  would be made from a material such as spring steel and would firmly hold the cable  27  in position. The cable  27  would be constrained by the peelable clip  29  from either vertical or horizontal motion.  
         [0037]    However, with enough horizontal force, the cable  27  would flex the peelable clip  29  and release. This motion is shown with the dashed lines in FIG. 2. This motion is called being peelable, as in peeling the cable  27  from the high-rise building  25 . There are a plurality of variations on the function of the peelable clip  29 . Any method that would hold the cable  27  under nominal force and release with a higher force would suffice. Other possibilities include a rubberized flexible holder, adhesive or a plastic covering device.  
         [0038]    [0038]FIG. 3 shows an enlarged side view of the cable spool. It is desirable to have the suspension cable  27  run from the top of the high-rise building  25  to the ground at approximately a 45 degree angle. The function of the cable spool  28  is to hold an amount of additional cable  27  to allow this 45 degree angle. There are a plurality of wraps of the cable  27  around the cable spool  28 . The cable  27  terminates with an attachment to the cable spool  28  via a cable termination bolt  34 . When the cable  27  is fully suspended, this termination point to the cable spool  28  allows substantial tension on the cable  27  to be resisted. The cable spool  28  rotates on a shaft  31  via bearings  33 . The bearings  33  are attached to the cable spool support  32  which is attached to the high-rise building floor  40  via support bolts  35 .  
         [0039]    [0039]FIG. 4 shows a section view of the high-rise building  25  front. The front view of the cable spool  28  is shown. The cable  27  is shown leading from the cable spool  28  to the access box  30 .  
         [0040]    [0040]FIG. 5 shows an enlarged front view of the cable spool  28 . This view shows many of the same parts as FIG. 3.  
         [0041]    [0041]FIG. 6 shows an enlarged view of the access box  30 . The access box cover  37  is shown in the open position. The cable  27  enters the box at the top and is coiled several times. The cable  27  terminates with the cable female connector  38 . The coiled cable  27  and cable female connector  38  would be neatly held in place in the access box  30 , but would be removable by a fireman. Clips or light duty adhesive would provide this function. The access box cover  37  provides security from vandalism for the cable male connector  38 .  
         [0042]    Only a fireman or maintenance person would have key or password access to open the access box cover  37 .  
         [0043]    [0043]FIG. 7 shows a side view of the high-rise building  25  with the chase vehicle  39  positioned near the access box  30 .  
         [0044]    [0044]FIG. 8 shows an enlarged view of the chase vehicle  39 . In operation, the chase vehicle  39  would have been dispatched to this particular access box  30 . Upon arrival, a fireman would then open the access box  30 , remove the cable female connector  38  and pull the cable  27  out of the access box  30 . The several coils of cable  27  in the access box  30  would unwind as the fireman pulls and places the cable female connector  38  on the attachment box  42 . While holding the cable female connector  38  on the attachment box  42 , the fireman would then rotate the attachment lever  43  from the vehicle rear position to the vehicle forward position. This lever motion would cause the attachment box  42  to clamp onto the cable female connector  38 . The support structure  40  fixtures the attachment box to the chase vehicle  39 . After the cable female connector  38  has been clamped to the attachment box  42 , the chase vehicle would then proceed away from the high-rise building  25 . This chase vehicle  39  motion would cause the cable  27  to peel up the high-rise building  25  as shown in the dashed example in FIG. 7.  
         [0045]    For drawing simplicity, all the figures show the chase vehicle as a motorized truck. There are many options for a method to cause the cable  27  to peel up the high-rise building  25 . General purpose motorized land vehicles include examples such as a truck, car, motorcycle or snowmobile. It may be necessary to move the chase vehicle over water to achieve the desired end location for the cable  27 . General purpose motorized water vehicles include examples such as a boat or jet ski.  
         [0046]    Also for drawing simplicity, the chase vehicle  39  is shown moving horizontally away from the high-rise building  25 . In practice, the desired end point for the chase vehicle  39  travel may be higher or lower in elevation than the access box  30 .  
         [0047]    [0047]FIG. 9 shows a side view of the high-rise building  25  when the chase vehicle has fully peeled the cable  27 . The cable  27  is now fully released from the side of the high-rise building  25 . The cable  27  suspends from the cable pulley  28  to the chase vehicle  39 . As indicated in the dashed motion, the chase vehicle  39  movement now causes the cable pulley  28  to rotate and extend the cable  27 . The chase vehicle  39  stops when all the cable  27  is unwound. The cable termination bolt  34  now holds the upper end of the cable  27 . The suspension cable  27  system is now ready for rescue operation.  
         [0048]    [0048]FIG. 10 shows a high-rise building with a mid-height roofline  54 . The mid-height roofline requires the cable  27  to have a horizontal section in the path from the cable spool  28  to the access box  30 . Where the cable  27  is attached vertically, peelable clips  29  would be used.  
         [0049]    [0049]FIG. 11 shows an enlarged view of the mid-height roofline. The cable pulley  44  and cable pulley axle  45  provide a low friction method for the cable  27  force to be redirected from vertical to horizontal. The cable pulley axle  45  is fixed to the high-rise building with mid-height roofline  54 . Sliding clips  46  are used where the cable  27  is attached horizontally. An alternative construction to the pulley  44  and pulley axle  45  would be a fixed surface to resemble a 90 degree arc of the pulley. This fixed arcuate surface would be attached to the building. The arcuate surface would be a simpler construction method to achieve the low friction force redirection.  
         [0050]    [0050]FIG. 12 is a section view of the sliding clip  46 . The sliding clip  46  is attached to the high-rise building with a mid-height roofline  54  with a bolt  36 . The radius of the sliding clip  46  is large enough that the cable  27  is able to easily slide within the clip. The sliding clip  46  also functions like the peelable clip  29  when a sufficient force is applied outward from the clip base. The sliding clip  46  springs open and releases the cable  27 .  
         [0051]    Again referring to FIG. 10 and FIG. 1, as the chase vehicle moves, the cable  27  is supported by the rotating pulley  44  and slides in the sliding clips  46 . The cable  27  continues to peel up the building and across the mid-height roofline. Eventually, the cable  27  peels out of the sliding clips  46 , lifts off the pulley  44  and suspends.  
         [0052]    [0052]FIG. 13 shows a high-rise building  25  with an impediment small building  59 . This small building  59  is in the desired path of the chase vehicle  39 . A skywalk would be another example of a building in the desired chase vehicle path. The normal path for the chase vehicle would be down the street that leads away from the high-rise building  25 . Frequently, a sky walk would interrupt this path.  
         [0053]    The solution to this interruption is a jumper cable  52 . The operation would be as follows—referring to FIG. 13. Upon the alarm call, chase vehicle  39  would be dispatched to access box  30  and second chase vehicle  50  would be dispatched to second access box  49 . The chase vehicles are identical. Chase vehicle  39  would make the attachment to the female connector  38  as described for FIG. 8. Second chase vehicle  50  would make the attachment to second female connector  61  in the same manner and at the same time.  
         [0054]    Referring to FIG. 14—chase vehicle  39  would pull up close to third access box  48 . Third access box  48  is identical to access box  30  with the exception that the jumper cable terminates with a male connector  53  rather than a female connector  38 . The fireman would open the third access box  48 , remove the male connector  53  and pull to unwind the jumper cable  52 .  
         [0055]    Referring to FIG. 15—the male connector  53  would be inserted into the female connector  38  (dashed lines). The male connector  53  would snap into place inside the female connector  38  when spring loaded detents  60  catch on the male connector  53  shoulder recess.  
         [0056]    Again referring to FIG. 14—after the male connector  51  is snapped inside the female connector  38  and verification that second female connector  61  has been attached to second chase vehicle  50 , the fireman moves the lever  43  to the vehicle rear position (dashed lines), thus releasing the clamp on the female connector  38 . The cable path is now from the building anchor  55  to cable  27  to female connector  38  to male connector  53  to jumper cable  52  to second female connector  61  to second chase vehicle  50 .  
         [0057]    [0057]FIG. 16 shows second chase vehicle  50  pulling away from the small building  59 . At first, jumper cable  52  peels from the side of the small building  59 . It then slides across the top of the small building  59  due to force redirection via pulleys  44 . Then, the slack is taken out of cable  27  and it begins peeling up the other side of the small building  59 . It would be important for the female connector  38 /male connector  53  assembly to be short enough in length such that the assembly can smoothly pass over the pulleys  44 . Eventually, chase vehicle  50  pulls far enough that the cable assembly suspends from building anchor  55  to the second chase vehicle  50  (dashed lines). The suspension cable assembly is now ready for rescue operation.  
         [0058]    [0058]FIG. 17 shows an alternate method that does not utilize a chase vehicle. The cable  57  extends from the building anchor  55  down the building and across the ground to the powered winch  58 . In this configuration, the winch  58  would be activated upon a signal indicating an emergency suspension cable is needed. The activated winch would rotate, thus retracting the cable  57 . The cable  57  would slide in the connectors  46  and then peel from the connectors  29 . Eventually, the cable would peel from all the connectors and suspend from the building anchor  55  to the powered winch  58 . An alternate method would include using a non-powered winch and the fireman bringing the power mechanism. Another alternative would include having the fireman bring a powered winch and making an attachment from the cable end to the powered winch.  
         [0059]    [0059]FIG. 18 shows the building anchor  55 . The cable  57  is securely attached to the building anchor  55  via attachment bolt  56 . The building anchor  55  is securely attached to the building floor via attachment bolt  35 . The building anchor  55  would be used rather than the cable spool  28  when no additional length of cable is needed to achieve the correct cable angle from the building upper floor to the ground.  
         [0060]    Thus the scope of the invention should be determined by the appended claims and their legal equivalents, rather than by the examples given.