Fire escape device

A fire escape device in the form of an elongated flexible member adapted to be mounted at its upper end to a building structure, or the like and a slide mounted on the flexible member having a sling attached thereto by which a person occupying the building may safely lower himself along the exterior surface of the building in the event of a fire or other emergency situation with the length of the flexible member being sufficient to enable such a person to reach ground level or some other lower level by which the person may safely escape. The slide includes a pair of hingedly attached plate members having a unique hinge connection with a loop on one end thereof to which the sling is connected and an adjustable screw threaded member interconnecting the opposite side edges of the plate members to enable variation in the frictional gripping engagement between the plate members and the flexible member, thereby enabling a person to vary their rate of descent along the flexible member.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The present invention generally relates to a fire escape device and more 
particularly an elongated flexible member having a slide detachably 
mounted thereon with the slide including a sling or saddle connected 
thereto, so that a person may connect one end of the flexible member to a 
building structure at an elevated level and slide downwardly along the 
flexible member with the rate of descent being controlled by an adjustable 
friction producing arrangement incorporated into the slide. 
2. Description of the Prior Art 
A continuing problem exists of occupants of multi-story buildings being 
injured or killed due to fire located in such a manner that the occupants 
cannot gain access to normal escape routes. The following U.S. patents are 
exemplary of devices by which occupants of such buildings can escape. 
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,294,196--Dec. 27, 1966--Rabelos 3,765,507--Oct. 16, 
1973--Rabelos 4,056,166--Nov. 1, 1977--Rabelos 4,184,567--Jan. 22, 
1980--Rabelos. 
While such devices have performed satisfactorily, it is still desirable to 
provide a slide arrangement which can be easily attached to a flexible 
manner to enable multiple occupants to use the same flexible member and 
provide an accurate and positive control for the rate of descent along the 
flexible member. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
An object of the present invention is to provide a fire escape device which 
includes an elongated flexible member and a slide and sling assembly 
mounted thereon for longitudinal sliding movement, with the slide being 
attachable and detachable in relation to the flexible member and including 
a manually adjustable structure to vary the frictional engagement between 
the slide and flexible member in order to accurately and effectively 
control the rate of descent of a person supported by the sling. 
Another object of the invention is to provide a fire escape device in 
accordance with the preceding object in which the slide includes a pair of 
plate members of generally rectangular configuration having a unique hinge 
structure interconnecting adjacent side edges thereof with the hinge 
structure including an arrangement for attachment of the sling, with the 
opposite side edges of the plates being provided with a screw threaded 
structure interconnecting the side edges of the plate members to move them 
into variable frictional engagement with the flexible member received in 
partial grooves in the facing surfaces of the plate members. 
A further object of the invention is to provide a fire escape device in 
accordance with the preceding objects in which the structure 
interconnecting the edges of the plate members opposite to the hinge 
structure includes a pivotal threaded member connected to the edge portion 
of one plate member and a screw threaded wing nut of enlarged 
configuration engaging the outer surface of the other plate member 
adjacent the side edge thereof to enable easy and accurate adjustable 
control of the frictional engagement between the plate members and 
flexible member. 
Still another object of the invention is to provide a fire escape device in 
accordance with the preceding objects in which the hinge structure 
interconnecting the side edges of the plate members includes a pair of 
parallel rods interconnected by a generally circular loop at the lower end 
thereof which receives the sling structure with the ends of the rods being 
interconnected by short plate elements, so that the adjacent side edges of 
the plate members are retained in assembled relation. 
Yet another important object of the present invention is to provide a fire 
escape device which is safe in operation, dependable and effective for 
enabling occupants of high rise buildings to escape a fire. 
These together with other objects and advantages which will become 
subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation 
as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to 
the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals 
refer to like parts throughout.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
The fire escape device of the present invention is generally designated by 
the reference numeral 10 and includes an elongated flexible member 12 
which may be in the form of a flexible rope of natural or synthetic fiber 
material formed in a conventional manner, with the upper end thereof being 
anchored to a building structure 14 by a suitable anchor bolt 16 having an 
eye 18 thereon through which the upper end of the flexible member is 
inserted to form a loop 20 with an oval-shaped link 22, or the like, being 
provided thereon with the free end of the flexible member being formed 
into a knot 24 thereby enabling the flexible member 12 to be anchored to 
the building structure 14. It is pointed out that other types of anchoring 
structures may be employed or the upper end of the flexible member 12 may 
be tied to a stationary building component, article of furniture, or the 
like, capable of positively supporting the weight of a person or several 
persons which may be supported by the flexible member 12. 
The fire escape device 10 also includes an attachable and detachable slide 
30 including a sling 32 attached thereto in which the sling may be in the 
form of a belt 34 of web construction having suitable buckle structure, or 
the like, or of endless construction, so that the sling may extend under 
the arm portions of a person using the device or otherwise effectively 
support the torso area of such a person. The sling may be in the form of a 
harness or a simple belt-like structure with it being capable of 
effectively and safely supporting a person using the fire escape device. 
The slide 30 includes a pair of generally rectangular plate members 36 and 
38 which have substantially planar inner and outer surfaces with the inner 
surface of each plate member 36 and 38 including a longitudinal groove 40 
which has a transverse dimension less than the radius of the flexible 
member 12 so that the surfaces of the grooves 40 will engage the flexible 
member 12 before the inner surfaces of the plate members 36 and 38 contact 
each other, thereby frictionally gripping the flexible member 12 in a 
manner defined more fully hereinafter. 
The plate members 36 and 38 are disposed in side-by-side relation with one 
pair of adjacent side edges being hingedly interconnected by a hinge 
structure generally designated by numeral 42 and which includes a pair of 
generally parallel rods 44 and 46 having one end thereof interconnected by 
a generally circular loop 48 which forms a continuation of the parallel 
rods 44 and 46 with the loop 48 being capable of receiving the belt 34 
therethrough as illustrated in FIG. 1, with the side edges of the flexible 
belt being folded inwardly, thus permanently securing the belt 34 which 
forms a sling 32 to the slide 30. The parallel rods 44 and 46 are received 
in passageways 50 extending through the side edge portions of the plate 
members 36 and 38 and small links or plate elements 52 interconnect the 
rod members 44 and 46 at the upper and lower ends thereof to maintain the 
rod members 44 and 46 in parallel relation and the upper ends of the rods 
44 and 46 where they extend through the plate element 52 are deformed or 
enlarged in a conventional manner, thereby permanently securing the hinge 
structure 42 to the plate members 36 and 38 and thereby hingedly 
connecting the plate members together for movement about parallel axes 
defined by the rods 44 and 46. In order to facilitate pivotable movement 
of the plate members 36 and 38, the facing corners thereof may be 
arcuately curved as at 54 so that the plate members 36 and 38 may be 
pivoted apart sufficient to enable the flexible member 12 to be inserted 
between the opposite side edges of the plate members 36 and 38 in order to 
move the flexible member 12 into registry with the grooves 40. 
The opposite side edges of the plates 36 and 38 are provided with 
rectangular notches 56 and 58 which are in alignment with each other with 
the notch 56 receiving an end of a screw threaded bolt 60 therein and the 
bolt 60 is pivotally attached to the plate 36 by a hinge pin 62 extending 
longitudinally from one end of the plate 36 with the hinge pin 62 being 
received in a passageway 64 which bridges the notch 56, thus securely but 
pivotally anchoring the end of the bolt 60 to the plate 36. The screw 
threaded end of the bolt 60 extends through the notch 58 when in operative 
position and includes an enlarged wing nut 66 thereon of generally 
Y-shaped configuration with the inner end of the nut 66 including a flange 
in the form of a washer 68, or the like, which engages a correspondingly 
shaped recess 70 in the outer surface of the plate 38. The washer or 
flange 68 may be integral with or separate from the wing nut 66. This 
structure enables the bolt and wing nut assembly to be pivoted to a 
position disengaged from the plate 38 so that the plates 36 and 38 may 
move apart in order to assembly the slide 30 onto the flexible member 12. 
After the flexible member 12 has entered the grooves 40, the plates 36 and 
38 are pivoted toward each other and the bolt 60 pivoted so that the 
washer or flange 68 and nut 66 engage the outer surface of the plate 38 
after which rotation of the nut 66 will vary the frictional engagement 
between the plates 36 and 38 and the flexible member 12, thereby enabling 
a person to easily and accurately control his rate of descent along the 
flexible member 12. 
The construction of the flexible member 12 and the attachable and 
detachable slide 30 and the sling 32 is such that it may be easily 
connected to a building structure with the rope and other components being 
varied in number depending upon the number of building occupants involved. 
The occupants of a building may quickly and easily descend along the rope, 
thus safely escaping from a fire and eliminating the necessity of having 
extremely long ladder structures or other facilities to enable persons to 
escape from a high rise building when their normal escape route has been 
cut off due to the location of the fire in the building. 
The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the 
invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily 
occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the 
invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and 
accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted 
to, falling within the scope of the invention.