Abstract:
A system for the evacuation of individuals trapped in multiple story buildings by gliding down a rescue sleeve. The sleeve ( 12 ) is composed of sections ( 20 ), each section being made of a sheet material strengthened by a circumferential rigid support member ( 22 ), the sections are connected to each other to form a continuous envelope. At least a pair of cables ( 26; 27 ) are provided, thread along the sleeve, one ( 26 ) at the bottom and one ( 27 ) at the top generatrix thereof. A pair of winch systems ( 52; 54 ) are provided for winding the cables ( 26; 27 ) into a dedicated location ( 50 ) at the building story from which rescue is requested, so that the sleeve ( 12 ) becomes folded into a compact package. Coil springs ( 60; 62 ) are used for selectively ejecting and unfolding the sleeve down to ground level where it becomes tied to stationary objects ( 16; 17 ).

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention relates to rescue systems for evacuating individuals trapped in high-rise buildings in case of an emergency situation, typically fire. 
   More specifically the invention concerns fire escapes using chutes or tubes through which individuals glide down from the building. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   The first known attempts to tackle the problem at hand are disclosed in and by U.S. Pat. No. 908,034 (Dec. 29, 1908) and U.S. Pat. No. 1,520,440 (Dec. 23, 1924), both to Frank Pyleck and entitled “Automatic Fire-Escape”. 
   In the first Patent there was described a foldable chute normally stored in a box that is hingedly supported. In the standby position, the box is arrested against the outer wall of the building, at one side of a window. When needed, the box is released and allowed, under the bias of springs, to smash into and is break open the window. The chute becomes released and projects down. The ejection of the chute, as well as its support in a sloping down to ground level position, are sustained by a coil spring wound around the chute along its entire length, while the exit side is freely rested on the ground. 
   Further disclosed were a pair of cords passed along the chute by which the chute can be collapsed and folded back into the storage box. 
   In the second, later Patent, the inventor proposed to substitute the supporting coil spring by a solid track or rail permanently mounted to the building wall above the window and inclining down parallel to the path of the unfolded chute. The chute, after being deployed will be suspended from the rail by a series of wheeled hangers running along the rail. 
   Quite obviously, these solutions might have been of some merit at the beginning of the past century with regard to buildings of, say, four or five stories at the most, but out of the question for modern hi-rise buildings. Hence, and only quite recently, other solutions have been proposed—cf. U.S. Pat. No. 4,099,596 (1978); U.S. Pat. No. 4,240,520 (1980); U.S. Pat. No. 4,398,621 (1983), and U.S. Pat. No. 4,580,659 (1986), each one pointing in a different direction and none of them known to have gained commercially successful implementation. 
   It is therefore the general object of the present invention to overcome the deficiencies of the prior art chute-gliding fire-escape systems. 
   It is a further object of the invention to employ a tension cable as the only supporting means of the sliding sleeve. 
   It is a still further object of the invention to provide delimiting stretches of cables, associated with the same tension cable for forming knee-like sections along the sleeve for locally moderating the inclination angle thereof. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The invention provides a system particularly useful for the evacuation of individuals from an elevated level of a building, comprising: a flexible sleeve capable of being folded into a compact storage form, or unfolded into an extended operative form defining a tube for guiding the descent of an individual therethrough; the flexible sleeve having an entry end to be secured to the building at the elevated level, and an exit end to be secured to a stable object at a lower level in the extended operative form of the flexible sleeve. 
   According to one aspect of the present invention, the flexible sleeve includes a plurality of annular sections interconnected together, each section being made of strong flexible sheet material attached to and supported by a rigid ring; each of at least some of the rigid rings spaced along the length of the flexible sleeve carrying an eyelet extending upwardly from an upper portion of the respective rigid ring; a tension cable passing through the eyelets, one end of the tension cable being fixed to the rigid ring at or adjacent to the exit end of the flexible sleeve, and the opposite end of the tension cable passing through the eyelet carried by the rigid ring at or adjacent to the entry end of the flexible sleeve for securement with respect to the building; and at least one anchoring cable having one end to be secured to said tension cable at or adjacent to the exit end of the flexible sleeve in the extended operative form of the flexible sleeve, and an opposite end to be secured to the stable object at the lower level. 
   According to another aspect of the present invention, the flexible sleeve includes a plurality of annular sections interconnected together, each section being made of strong flexible sheet material attached to and supported by a rigid ring; each of at least some of the rigid rings carrying an eyelet extending upwardly from an upper portion of the respective rigid ring, an upper tension cable passing through the upwardly-extending eyelets, one end of the upper tension cable being fixed to the respective rigid ring at or adjacent to the exit end of the flexible sleeve, and the opposite end of the upper tension cable passing through the eyelet carried by the respective rigid ring at or adjacent to the entry end of the flexible sleeve for securement with respect to the building; a compartment for receiving the flexible sleeve when in its compact storage form; a backing plate displaceable within the compartment; and a winch in the compartment secured to said opposite end of the upper tension cable such that operation of the winch, while the flexible sleeve is in its extended operative form, draws the annular sections of the flexible sleeve into the compartment against said displaceable backing plate and folds the annular sections into the compact storage form. 
   According to a further aspect of the present invention, the flexible sleeve includes a plurality of annular sections interconnected together, each section being made of strong flexible sheet material attached to and supported by a rigid annular ring, and a plurality of interconnected semi-annular sections at the exit end of the flexible sleeve, each including flexible sheet material attached to and supported by a semi-annular ring; each of at least some of the rigid annular rings carrying an eyelet extending upwardly from the upper portion of the respective ring; each of at least some of the annular and semi-annular rings carrying an eyelet extending downwardly from a lower portion of the respective ring; an upper tension cable passing through the upwardly-extending eyelets; and a lower tension cable passing through the downwardly-extending eyelets, with one end of each cable being fixed to the respective ring at or adjacent to the exit end of the flexible sleeve, and the opposite end of each tension cable passing through the eyelet carried by the ring at or adjacent to the entry end of the flexible sleeve for securement with respect to the building. 
   Further novel features and other objects of this invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, discussion, and the appended claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  is a schematic perspective view of the emergency rescue system in the operative position thereof; 
       FIG. 2  is an enlarged view of the down-stream end of the rescue sleeve; 
       FIG. 2   a  is a side view, showing the end side of the sleeve; 
       FIGS. 3   a – 3   d  are details of construction relating to the rings interposed between successive sections of the sleeve; 
       FIG. 4   a  illustrates the connection between adjacent sleeve sections; 
       FIG. 4   b  is a partial side view of  FIG. 4   a;    
       FIG. 5  shows a knee-forming arrangement; 
       FIG. 6  is a detail of construction relating to the attachment of auxiliary cables; 
       FIG. 7  is a partly sectional side view of the sleeve-storing compartment, taken along line VII—VII of  FIG. 8 ; 
       FIG. 8  is a view taken along line VIII—VIII of  FIG. 7 ; 
       FIG. 9  is a view taken along line IX—IX of  FIG. 7 ; 
       FIG. 9   a  is a detail of construction relating to  FIG. 9 ; 
       FIG. 10  is a view taken along line X—X of  FIG. 7 ; 
       FIG. 11  is a view taken along line XI—XI of  FIG. 7 ; 
       FIG. 12  is a view taken along line XII—XII of  FIG. 8 ; 
       FIG. 13  is a sectional view similar to that of  FIG. 7 , following the ejection of the sleeve from the standby position; and 
       FIG. 14  shows the system in the sleeve deployed position prior to the anchoring as depicted in  FIG. 1 . 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
   In  FIG. 1  there is illustrated a multiple level building  10  (residential or hotel) equipped with an evacuation system constructed in accordance with the present invention. Such an evacuation system includes a flexible sleeve  12  capable of being folded into a compact storage form ( FIG. 8 ) or unfolded into an extended operative form ( FIGS. 1 ,  13 ,  14 ) defining a tube for guiding the descent of an individual. The flexible sleeve  12  has an entry end secured to the building at the elevated level from which individuals are to be evacuated, and an exit end to be secured to a fixed or stable object at a lower level in the extended operative form of the flexible sleeve. 
   In  FIG. 1  the rescue sleeve or chute  12  has been ejected as will be described in greater detail below. The exit end of the sleeve  12  is brought (e.g. by a specially trained rescue team) to a convenient evacuation point, namely one that is as far from the building as allowed by the length of the sleeve on the one hand, and by the surrounding topography (nearby buildings or other obstacles) on the other hand. As already mentioned, the sleeve is self-supported by anchoring the sleeve, e.g., by cables  14  and  15  connecting the exit end of the sleeve to any kind of stable objects such as nearby parked vehicles, trees, street lamp posts and the like, schematically represented by poles  16  and  17 . Preferably though, for the sake of better support and greater safety, a number of auxiliary anchor cables  18  should be available and used as shown and will be described further below. 
   It will be further noted (see  FIG. 2 ) that the sleeve  12  is mostly made of tapeworm-like structure, namely a chain of annular interconnected sections  20 , which are made of strong, flexible sheet material such as nylon, canvas fabric and the like, sewn to each other and strengthened by rigid annular rings generally denoted  22  e.g.,  FIGS. 4   a,    4   b ). 
   At the exit end, however, the sleeve  12  can be constructed of semi-annular rings so as to define half-open sections  20 ′, and provided with preferably self-inflated cushions  24 , intended to brake and absorb the gliding movement o the rescued persons (shown in phantom lines) using the sleeve. 
   In addition there are provided a pair of tension cables  26 ,  27 , running all along the sleeve  12 . Cable  16  runs at the bottom side, threaded through downwardly-extending eyelets  28  carried by lower portions of alternate rings  22 . Every eyelet is preferably pivotally connection ( FIGS. 3   a – 3   d ) via a U-shaped bracket  30  which is welded to the respective ring  22 . 
   One end of cable  26  is fixed to the ring  22  at the exit end of sleeve  12 . 
   The same arrangement exists with respect to the top running cable  27 , which is threaded through upwardly extending eyelets  28  carried by the upper portions of the remaining alternate rings  22  in a staggered fashion relative to cable  26 . 
   Yet another detail of construction is shown in  FIGS. 4   a  and  4   b.  This relates to the manner the sleeve sections  20  are sewn to each other and to the rings  22 . Hence, the margins of each section are bent radially outwards, folded about themselves and fastened by stitches S 1  and S 2 , leaving an extended portion directed backwards. The ring  22  is then assembled by a circular wrapping  32  of cloth which envelops the ring and is fastened to the said extended portions by stitches S 3  and S 4 . 
   The brackets  30  for the eyelets  28  will of course penetrate outwards of the envelope  32  ( FIG. 4   b ). 
   The arrangement of  FIG. 5  may be adopted in order to form locally knee-like sections that will serve to moderate the speed of the free gliding persons by constituting successive stretches of less-steep angles. When in the folded state (see below), several stretches of an additional delimiting or constraining cable  34  are tied, at certain intervals each between two spaced eyelets of the top cable  27 , restricting the distance between the respective rings at their upper points to a pre-set length. This will constrain the portion of the sleeve between the two eyelets to a predetermined curve and will thereby cause the sleeve  12  to form knee-like sections  12   a  when unfolded. The number of such knee-like sections  12   a  will be determined according to the overall height of the sleeve (i.e., the respective building storey) and the amount of the final desired curvature of the sleeve as a whole. 
   As already mentioned, auxiliary anchor cables  18  ( FIG. 1 ) may be requested. For that purpose, a second series of swivable eyelets  40  are employed ( FIG. 6 ), A pair of eyelets  40  are carried by the appropriate sides of at least one ring  22 , preferably a plurality of such rings, at or adjacent to the exit end of the sleeve and serve a anchoring elements for anchor cables  18 . 
   As further seen in  FIG. 6 , the eyelet configuration is advantageous, allowing the auxiliary anchor cables  18  be constituted by loops, the idea being that after use, the cables can be cut and completely removed from the sleeve. This is important for facilitating a smooth folding back of the sleeve for re-use (see below), without needing to attend specially to the orderly collection of these cables. 
   The re-installment of the cables  18  will take place at a later stage, in the folded-back state of the sleeve, through a service opening (sliding doors  74  and  75 ), as will be described later on. 
   Reference shall now be made to  FIGS. 7–12 . At every story of the building  10 , next to an external wall  10   a,  a compartment generally denoted  50  will be installed, associated with a dedicated preferably oval opening  10   b  with a funnel-like extension  10   c  ( FIG. 13 ). 
   The rescue sleeve  12  is shown in the folded, stand-by state, after the cables  26  and  27  have been fully rewound by respective electrically powered winch systems  52  and  54 . 
   Cable  26  passes through a guiding tube  56 , having for that purpose a somewhat flared opening portion  56   a.  The same applies with respect to tube  58  for cable  27 . 
   Coil springs  60  and  62  are installed, both acting against a displaceable backup plate  64  (see  FIG. 9 ) defining the surface against which the sleeve  12  is folded, in an accordion-like fashion. 
   Compartment  50  has an entering opening  64   a,  equal to or larger than the diameter of the sleeve  12 . 
   Since the distance between the tubes  56  and  58  is greater than the diameter of sleeve  12 , and in view of the alternate order of the eyelet  28  relative to the lower cable  26  and the upper cable  27 , the sleeve sections  20  will become folded not overlapping each other, but in a staggered, zig-zag fashion, to save storing space. 
   The compartment  50  is made of metal construction, and is provided with a first, weather-proof sliding door  70  (see  FIG. 10 ), a second sliding door  72 , facing the interior of the building, and two pairs of third service sliding door systems  74   a,    74   b  and  75   a,    75   b  (see  FIGS. 8 and 12 ) at both sides of the compartment  50 , serving to allow access from the side for re-connecting the auxiliary anchor cables  18  after the use of the rescue sleeve and the cable having been cut and removed to facilitate smooth and trouble-free folding-back of the sleeve into its stand-by position. 
   The operation of the rescue-sleeve system is illustrated in  FIG. 13 . Hence, in case of emergency, the door  70  is pulled aside (see  FIG. 10 ) and the winch systems  52  and  54  released for free wheel rotation of their drums. Consequently, under the force of the springs  60  and  62 , the plate  64  will shoot (to the left in  FIG. 7 ) and cause the folded sleeve to become ejected out through the opening  10   b  and paid down over the funnel shaped section  10   c  provided for that purpose. 
   Now, the position of  FIG. 14  is reached, where the sleeve  12  freely hangs down, except for the knee section(s)  34  that start shaping the sleeve towards the operative position of  FIG. 1 . 
   The auxiliary cables  18  (having been attached and prepared in the folded position of the sleeve as already explained) hang freely down as shown, ready to be picked up by the rescue team and tied to any available stationary object. The free end of the sleeve is tied by at-least the tension cable  27  as already explained with reference to  FIG. 1  and the system is ready for its life saving goal. 
   While the above description contains many specificities, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the invention, but rather as exemplification of the preferred embodiments. Those skilled in the art will envision other possible variations that are within its scope. Accordingly, the scope of the invention should be determined not by the embodiment illustrated, but by the appended claims.