Collapsible fire escape ladder

A collapsible fire escape ladder. A plurality of folding ladder sections are retained in the folded position by a retractable ladder retention means that slidably engages retention posts fixedly attached to the respective ladder sections. A pivotally mounted ladder entry step is attached to the proximal end of the ladder retention means to facilitate emergency escape through a window or the like. In an alternative embodiment of the ladder, the ladder retention means includes an exit platform having an exit portal disposed when said ladder retention means is retracted above the rungs of the ladder sections.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to collapsible fire escape ladders for 
emergency exit through a window or from a roof. More particularly, the 
present invention relates to a collapsible fire escape ladder having 
improved ladder descent means that enhance safety during use. 
Collapsible fire escape ladders generally comprise folded sections and are 
provided in multi-story buildings below or adjacent to a window or roof 
ledge so that the ladder can be readily unfolded to extend to or near the 
surrounding ground. Various means have been utilized in the prior art to 
retain the ladder in its collapsed position proximate to the window or 
ledge. Such retention means must be easily and quickly disengageable for 
release of the ladder sections in an emergency situation. 
Collapsible fire escape ladders must also be safe to descend during an 
emergency. A person fleeing a fire or other hazard is usually nervous and 
excited and can easily misstep if sufficiently safe descent means are not 
provided in the ladder. Ladders are generally climbed or descended with 
the person turned facing the ladder. Because of this backward disposition 
when descending, a person cannot easily see the rungs below. Descending a 
ladder while turned backwards is particularly problematic when initially 
accessing the ladder from a window or roof, as the person must move 
blindly through the window or across the ledge. One misstep can lead to a 
fatal or serious injury. Thus, there is a need for a collapsible fire 
escape ladder having safe means to access the ladder from a window or roof 
and descend therefrom. 
DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART 
Various collapsible fire escape ladders have been disclosed in the prior 
art and can be generally categorized as (1) portable escape ladders and 
(2) permanently affixed escape ladders. 
The portable collapsible fire escape ladders of the prior art have been 
primarily directed to providing improved means of attaching the ladder to 
a window or roof or to improved means of folding the ladder subsequent to 
use. 
U.S. Pat. No. 2,615,665 to Baxter discloses a portable collapsible fire 
escape ladder having clamping means to quickly secure the ladder to a 
window or like opening in a building. 
U.S. Pat. No. 3,042,143 to Silen discloses a portable collapsible fire 
escape ladder having U-shaped windowsill-engaging rods for securement of 
the ladder. The Silen patent also discloses wall spacing members disposed 
at displaced positions along the length of the ladder to maintain the 
ladder away from the vertical wall of the building. 
U.S. Pat. No. 494,073 to Necker discloses a portable collapsible fire 
escape ladder which automatically unfolds when dropped from a window and 
includes a rope and crank mechanism to refold the ladder after use. 
The permanently affixed collapsible fire escape ladders of the prior art 
include rope and pulley fold and release mechanisms and other ladder 
storage means. 
In U.S. Pat. No. 261,847 to Graff, a collapsible fire escape ladder is 
disclosed that is stored in a box attached adjacent to a window. The 
ladder disclosed in the Graff patent further includes a platform at its 
lower end to facilitate exit from the ladder to the surrounding ground. 
U.S. Pat. No. 280,527 to Smiley discloses a collapsible fire escape ladder 
having an alarm attachment comprising a bell that rings when the ladder is 
released. The Smiley escape ladder also includes a rope and pulley release 
mechanism. 
U.S. Pat. No. 389,696 to Fink discloses a collapsible fire escape ladder 
having sliding sleeves which engage joints of the ladder sections to 
secure the ladder in its extended position. The ladder is retained in its 
folded position by means of an endless-chain pulley mechanism. 
While the collapsible fire escape ladders of the prior art provide means 
for emergency escape from a building, certain limitations are inherent in 
the disclosed constructions. These limitations are overcome by the 
collapsible fire escape ladder of the present invention. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention is a collapsible fire escape ladder that fixedly 
attaches to the outside of a building adjacent to a window or roof ledge. 
The escape ladder includes a plurality of foldable ladder sections, the 
lowermost ladder section being weighted so that the ladder will unfold 
under the force of gravity when the ladder retention means are released. 
The ladder retention means includes frame members that slidably engage 
retention posts disposed on the inside portions of the ladder sections to 
secure the folded ladder in place. By retracting the ladder retention 
means from the retention posts, the ladder sections fall adjacent to the 
vertical wall of the building. 
The ladder retention means further includes an exit platform having an exit 
opening formed at the distal end of the exit platform to facilitate safe 
access to the unfolded ladder sections. A ladder entry step is pivotally 
attached to the proximal end of the ladder retention means to facilitate 
entry to the escape ladder from a room or the roof of the building. 
The present invention and the manner in which it may be carried, may be 
further understood by reference to the following description of preferred 
embodiments and the accompanying drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Reference is now made to the figures which illustrate in greater detail the 
present invention, where like reference numbers denote like parts in the 
various figures. 
The collapsible fire escape ladder 1 of the present invention is shown in 
its folded and retained position in FIG. 1. The escape ladder 1 is fixedly 
attached to a vertical wall 2 of a building 3 adjacent to a window 4 or 
like opening in the building 3 by suitable wall attachment means 5 to 
secure the escape ladder 1 in rigid engagement with said vertical wall 2. 
The collapsible escape ladder 1 generally includes a plurality of ladder 
sections 10, 10a, 10b, ladder retention means 20 and a ladder entry step 
30. 
FIG. 2 illustrates in a front plan view the escape ladder 1 of the present 
invention disposed in its unfolded position. It can be seen that the 
respective ladder sections 10 comprise paired ladder uprights 11 having a 
plurality of ladder rungs 12 horizontally disposed thereinbetween. The 
respective ladder sections 10 are pivotally attached at respective ends 
thereof to adjacently disposed ladder sections 10 by means of rotatably 
engaging mounting plates 13 disposed to each side of the ladder uprights 
11. Ladder section retention posts 14 are inwardly disposed at alternate 
mounting plates 13 so that the retention posts 14 will align horizontally 
when the ladder sections 10 are disposed in the folded position for 
engagement of the ladder retention means 20 as described hereinafter in 
greater detail. Ladder section retention posts 14 are preferably fixedly 
attached rollers as illustrated in greater detail in the fragmented top 
view of a ladder section 10 shown in FIG. 3. 
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, it can be seen that the uppermost ladder 
section 10a includes a pair of c-shaped wall mount frame members 15 which 
are fixedly attached to the ladder uprights 11 of said uppermost ladder 
section 10a and receive the wall attachment means 5 to rigidly attach the 
uppermost ladder section 10a to the vertical wall 2 of the building 3. The 
uppermost ladder section 10a also includes at the upper end of ladder 
uprights 11 retention means guide blocks 16 which receive in sliding 
engagement retention means frame members 21 of the ladder retention means 
20. 
The lowermost ladder section 10b includes a counterweight 17 disposed 
between the ladder uprights 11, said counterweight 17 being of sufficient 
weight to cause the ladder sections 10, 10b to unfold under the force of 
gravity when the ladder retention means 20 is retracted. 
The third and subsequently alternate ladder sections 10 (counting from the 
top of the escape ladder 1) include paired wall-spacing members 18 fixedly 
attached to respective ladder uprights 11. The wall spacing members 18 
extend from the ladder uprights 11 toward the vertical wall 2 of the 
building 3 (FIG. 1) to support the ladder sections 10 displaced from the 
vertical wall 2. downwardly successive pairs of wall-spacing members 18 
may be formed having increasing lengths to cause the escape ladder 1 to 
extend progressively outward when unfolded and positioned for use. 
Reference is now made to FIG. 1 and the top plan view of the fire escape 
ladder 1 shown in FIG. 4. The ladder retention means 20 can be seen to 
comprise a pair of elongated retention means frame members 21 having 
handrails 22 fixedly attached to the top portion of the retention means 
frame members 21. Each retention means frame member 21 includes an 
elongated channel 23, having beveled channel ends 23a, which extend from 
the distal end of the retention means frame member 21 to approximately the 
proximal end thereof. The elongated channels 23 of the retention means 
frame members 21 engage the retention posts 14 of the respective ladder 
sections 10 when said ladder sections 10 are disposed in the folded 
position. In the several drawing figures disclosed wherein the elongated 
channel 23 is shown to lay horizontally, however, the channel 23 may be 
formed downwardly inclined from the distal end of the retention frame 
member 21 to its proximal end. Such construction of the elongated channel 
23 facilitates retention of ladder sections 10 in their folded position. 
The ladder entry step 30 shown in FIGS. 1 and 4 comprises paired entry step 
uprights 31 having a plurality of entry step rungs 32 horizontally 
disposed therebetween. Ladder entry step 30 is rotatably attached to the 
proximal end of said ladder retention means 20 by rotatable engagement of 
the upper end of the entry step uprights 31 with entry step posts 33 
attached to the proximal end of the retention means frame members 21 of 
said ladder retention means 20. Ladder entry step 30 further includes 
entry step wall-spacing members 34 attached to the respective entry step 
uprights 31 at their lower end thereof. The step wall-spacing members 34 
are disposed toward the inside wall 6 of the vertical wall 2 of the 
building 3 below the window 4. 
A second embodiment of entry step 40 is illustrated in FIG. 5. Said second 
entry step 40 includes paired step uprights 41 and a plurality of entry 
step rungs (not shown) as heretofore described, the step uprights being 
rotatably attached to the proximal end of the retention frame members 21. 
A step leg 42 is telescoped within the respective step uprights 41, said 
step leg 42 being selectively adjustable at various extensions by threaded 
leg fastener means 43. A step foot 44 is attached perpendicularly to said 
step leg 42, being disposed to bear on the floor 7 of a room within the 
building 3 to support the entry step 40 during use. 
The fire escape ladder 1 of the present invention is positioned adjacent to 
a window 4 in a manner such that when the ladder retention means 20 are 
from the retention posts 14, allowing the ladder sections 10 to fall 
downwardly, the retention means frame members 21 bear on the windowsill 8 
of window 4 (FIG. 6). Thereafter, the entry step 30 (or 40) is rotated 
away from the ladder retention means 20 to provide simple and safe means 
for accessing the escape ladder 1. 
FIGS. 7 and 8 illustrate a second embodiment of the ladder retention means 
50 and a third embodiment of the ladder entry step 60. The second ladder 
retention means 50 illustrated in FIGS. 7 and 8 includes a pair of 
elongated retention means frame members 21 having a handrail 22 fixedly 
attached to the top surface of the respective retention means frame 
members 21 as heretofore shown and described. The retention means frame 
members 21 slidably engage the retention means guide blocks 16. An 
elongated channel 23 having beveled ends 23a is formed in the retention 
frame members 51 as previously shown and described for receipt of the 
retention posts 14 of the ladder sections 10. Said second ladder retention 
means 50 further includes a ladder exit platform 51 fixedly attached to 
the bottom surfaces of the retention means frame members 21. Exit platform 
51 is substantially a flat plate member having an exit portal 51 formed at 
the distal end of said exit platform 51. The exit portal 52 facilitates 
access to the uppermost ladder sections 10a by providing a clear opening 
to the ladder rungs 12 of the uppermost ladder section 10a . The exit 
portal 52 shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 is formed as a semicircular cutaway 
portion of the exit platform 51, however, the exit portal 52 may be formed 
having various shapes and by various means, for example, exit portal 52 
may be formed as a circular opening disposed in exit platform 51. 
The third embodiment of the ladder entry step 60 is formed having a pair of 
first steps uprights 61 having first step upright rungs 62 disposed 
therebetween, a pair of second step up rights 63 pivotally attached at the 
upper end to the respective lower ends of said first step uprights 61, 
second step upright rungs (not shown) being disposed between said second 
step uprights 63, and a third step legs 64, including a third step foot 65 
telescopically attached to said second step uprights 63 and adjustably 
fastenable thereto by third leg fastener means 66. The upper ends of the 
respective first step uprights 61 are rotatably attached to the proximal 
end of the retention means frame members 21 by rotatable engagement with 
third entry step posts 67. 
Operation of the fire escape ladder 1 of the present invention should be 
readily understood from the foregoing description. The escape ladder 1 is 
stored in its folded position (FIG. 1) with the elongated slots 23 formed 
in the retention means frame members 21 of the ladder retention means 20 
slidably engaging the retention posts 14 of the respective ladder sections 
10. The ladder retention means 20 is positioned adjacent to a building 
window 4 or like opening such that the bottom surface of the ladder 
retention means 20 can clear the windowsill 8 when retracted from its 
engaging position. The ladder sections 10 are released by retracting the 
ladder retention means 20 from the retention posts 14, thereby allowing 
the ladder sections 10 to unfold under the force of gravity. The ladder 
retention means 20 are thus disposed inside the room from which escape is 
desired. The ladder entry step 30 or 40 or 60 is then rotated downwardly 
and, if applicable, the step legs 42 or 64 are adjusted to secure the 
ladder entry step 40 or 60. Access to the ladder sections 10 can now be 
readily made by climbing the entry step 30 or 40 or 60, turning backwards 
while holding the handrails 22 and descending the rungs 12 of the ladder 
sections through the exit portal 52, if applicable. The terms and 
expressions which are employed are used as terms of description; it is 
recognized, though, that various modifications are possible. Such 
modifications of the preferred embodiments of the present invention are 
within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. 
It is also understood that the following claims are intended to cover all 
of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described and 
all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of 
language, might fall therebetween.