Abstract:
A high-rise building rescue system utilizing a single suspension cable and self-propelled gondola. The cable is peeled from the building side with a motorized vehicle and anchored at a pre-determined ground location. A support vehicle with an attached gondola is dispatched to the pre-determined ground location. The gondola is attached to the cable and moves to an upper floor of the high-rise building utilizing a cable traction mechanism.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]     This application refers to the following USPTO applications submitted by the present inventor and which are incorporated herein by reference: 
        a. application Ser. No. 10/456,126; Filed on Jun. 5, 2003; Titled “Peelable suspension cable positioning apparatus and method”    b. application Ser. No. 10/777,555; Filed on Feb. 12, 2004; Titled “Cable traction apparatus and method”       
 
     
    
     FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH  
       [0004]     Not Applicable  
       SEQUENCE LISTING OR PROGRAM  
       [0005]     Not Applicable  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0006]     This invention relates to high-rise building fire fighting and rescue, specifically to an apparatus and method to enable a gondola to ascend from a ground location to an upper floor of a high-rise building. The gondola includes a traction mechanism to travel up a suspension cable.  
         [0007]     The present invention has impact into two categories. 
        a. The ability to carry a heavy load from a ground location to the upper floor of a high-rise facilitates fighting a fire.     b. The ability to carry a heavy load from the upper floor of a high-rise to a ground location facilitates rescue of trapped people.        
 
         [0010]     Examples of prior art and related limitations will be outlined.  
         [0011]     U.S. Pat. No. 5,927,432, granted on Jul. 27, 1999 to Hershtik shows a rescue elevator arrangement that operates on the outside of a high-rise building. The limitations of this method include: 
        a. The system operates only in a vertical arrangement. Many buildings include off-set rooflines.     b. The anchor point is at the base of the building. This could be a dangerous location for emergency operations due to falling debris.     c. The weighted cable is released from the building top in a gravity freefall. Windage could drift this cable on a tall high-rise thus causing difficulty for emergency personnel in locating the end.     d. The attachment of the container to the vertical channel is not constrained. The alignment of this free connection of a large object could be difficult for emergency personnel.     e. The aesthetics of the vertical channel running up the outside of the building could be objectionable.        
 
         [0017]     U.S. Pat. No. 4,256,199, granted on Mar. 17, 1981 to Sellards shows a suspension cable arrangement with a container drive mechanism. The limitations of this method include: 
        a. The anchor point to the high-rise building top is proposed as a grappeling hook. The ground anchor point is proposed as a fireplug or other solid object. These anchor methods could be too precarious and variable for safe emergency rescue.     b. A single cable is proposed rather than a pilot cable leading to a suspension cable. The single cable approach limits the load carry capacity of the container.     c. The cable handling method is too variable. At the building top, the grappling hook is free-released from a helicopter to the anchor position. At the base, the other cable end is again free-released. Ground personnel would then need to acquire the cable end. With variable weather conditions, these free-released connections could be too unpredictable for emergency response.     d. There is no cable length adjustment. This could limit the load carry capability of the system. A longer cable is needed at mid suspension travel to lower the cable tensile forces. A shorter cable is needed at ground level to provide a higher vertical force component—thus allowing the gondola to lift from the ground. A shorter cable is also needed at the top of the high-rise building to allow the gondola end to contact the building as close to the upper floor as possible.     e. There is no gondola cable transition support. This transition support adjusts the exit angles of the gondola traction mechanism to match the suspension cable. This reduces any transition bending and allows higher loads to be carried on a given cable size.        
 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0023]     The object of the invention is to provide a safe rescue and fire fighting method for high-rise buildings that is operable under all conditions. The following preparations would be in place to for an operational system. 
        a. A peelable pilot cable attached to the building side connected to a suspension cable spool on the building upper floor.     b. A ground anchor attachment point a fixed distance from the building base.     c. A chase vehicle to pull the pilot cable from the building base to the ground anchor location.     d. A support vehicle which includes anchor attachment points, a cable winch and a trailer with a gondola. The gondola includes a cable traction mechanism.        
 
         [0028]     The sequence of operation would be as follows: 
        A. The high-rise building emergency alarm received.     B. Chase vehicle dispatched to base of building and support vehicle dispatched to the related anchor location. The support vehicle includes a trailer with a gondola.     C. Chase vehicle attaches to the pilot cable and moves to the anchor location—the pilot cable now suspends from the top of the high-rise building to the anchor location.     D. The support vehicle is firmly attached to the anchor location.     E. The pilot cable end is connected through the gondola traction mechanism to the support vehicle.     F. The support vehicle retracts the pilot cable which is connected to the wound suspension cable on the top of the high-rise building.     G. The pilot cable is completely wound and the suspension cable is properly tensioned between the building and the support vehicle.     H. The gondola includes a cable traction system. This traction system causes the gondola to move up the suspension cable to the top of the high-rise building.        
 
         [0037]     The advantages of the present invention include: 
        a. Adaptable to all varieties of high-rise building architecture styles and off-set rooflines.     b. No limit on overall building height.     c. Completely under firefighter control.     d. The high-rise building is passive—no use of electricity or access to an upper floor is required.     e. Operable under all conditions—not affected by darkness, smoke, wind or snow.     f. A base location for staging that is a safe distance away from the building.     g. Provides rapid frefighter access and equipment transport.     h. Provides rapid occupant evacuation including stretcher transport.     i. A safe system that can be practiced by professional firefighter teams.     j. Adjustable cable length to facilitate gondola movement and reduce total cable tensile stress at the cable mid-point.     k. A gondola cable transition support to reduce cable strain and increase load carry capacity.       
 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0049]      FIG. 1  is a side view of a building showing the building pilot cable.  
         [0050]      FIG. 2  is an enlarged view of the building spool from  FIG. 1 .  
         [0051]      FIG. 3  is an enlarged view of the anchor footing from  FIG. 1 .  
         [0052]      FIG. 4  is a side view of a building showing the chase vehicle.  
         [0053]      FIG. 5  is a side view of a building showing the tractor, trailer and gondola.  
         [0054]      FIG. 6  is an enlarged view of the suspension cable from  FIG. 5 .  
         [0055]      FIG. 7  is an enlarged view of the tractor taken from  FIG. 5 .  
         [0056]      FIG. 8  is an enlarged view of the chase vehicle taken from  FIG. 5 .  
         [0057]      FIG. 9  is an enlarged view of the female connector taken from  FIG. 8 .  
         [0058]      FIG. 10  is a side view of a building showing the suspension cable.  
         [0059]      FIG. 11  is an enlarged view of the building spool taken from  FIG. 10 .  
         [0060]      FIG. 12  is a side view of a building showing the gondola travel.  
         [0061]      FIG. 13  is a side view of a skyscraper showing the gondola travel.  
         [0062]      FIG. 14  is an enlarged side view of the gondola and traction apparatus taken from  FIG. 5 .  
         [0063]      FIG. 15  is an enlarged side view of the gondola taken from  FIG. 12 .  
         [0064]      FIG. 16  is an enlarged view of the cable roller taken from  FIG. 15 . 
     
    
     REFERENCE NUMERALS  
       [0065]    
       
         
               
               
               
             
           
               
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
             
               
                   
                 20 building 
                 21 window 
               
               
                   
                 22 building spool 
                 23 building pilot cable 
               
               
                   
                 24 access box 
                 25 roadway 
               
               
                   
                 26 anchor footing 
                 27 spool yoke 
               
               
                   
                 28 yoke bolt 
                 29 building floor 
               
               
                   
                 30 friction block 
                 31 spool shaft 
               
               
                   
                 32 suspension cable 
                 33 cable adapter 
               
               
                   
                 34 earth 
                 35 anchor sleeve 
               
               
                   
                 36 anchor cover 
                 37 Belleville spring 
               
               
                   
                 38 chase vehicle 
                 39 gondola pilot cable 
               
               
                   
                 40 gondola 
                 41 tractor 
               
               
                   
                 42 winch bolt 
                 43 gear 
               
               
                   
                 44 bearing 
                 45 winch shaft 
               
               
                   
                 46 front anchor bolt 
                 47 rear anchor bolt 
               
               
                   
                 48 anchor block 
                 49 worm pinion 
               
               
                   
                 50 drive box 
                 51 female connector 
               
               
                   
                 52 male connector 
                 53 lever 
               
               
                   
                 54 trailer 
                 55 cable support 
               
               
                   
                 56 traction apparatus 
                 57 winch spool 
               
               
                   
                 58 bend lever 
                 59 bend lever cable 
               
               
                   
                 60 bend lever winch 
                 61 roller spring 
               
               
                   
                 62 skyscraper 
                 63 cable roller 
               
               
                   
                 64 angle cable 
                 65 angle cable winch 
               
               
                   
                 66 traction roller 
                 67 roller axle 
               
               
                   
                 68 bend lever axle 
                 69 stop block 
               
               
                   
                 70 traction pivot 
                 71 gondola operator console 
               
               
                   
                 72 gondola operator 
                 73 support operator console 
               
               
                   
                 74 support operator 
                 75 strain gage 
               
               
                   
                 76 spool bolt 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0066]      FIG. 1  is a side view of a building  20  showing the building pilot cable  23 . The building  20  includes a plurality of windows  21 . At the base of the building  20  is an access box  24  where one end of the building pilot cable  23  terminates. At the top of the building  20  is the building spool  22 . A roadway  25  leads from the access box  24  to the anchor footings  26 .  
         [0067]     Applicant&#39;s co-pending application Ser. No. 10/456,126 further explains the apparatus and method of peeling the cable.  
         [0068]      FIG. 2  is an enlarged view of the building spool  22  from  FIG. 1 . The spool yoke  27  is attached to the building floor  29  with yoke bolts  28 . The building pilot cable  23  is routed over the radius surface of the spool yoke  27  and into the building  20 . The building pilot cable  23  is attached to the cable adapter  33  which is attached to the suspension cable  32 . The suspension cable  32  is coiled on the building spool  22 . Pulling on the building pilot cable  23  causes the suspension cable  32  to unwind and thus rotate the building spool  22 . The spool shaft  31  has a male threaded surface and is affixed to the spool yoke  27 . The building spool  22  has a female threaded surface which mates with the spool shaft  31 . As the building spool  22  rotates, the mating threaded surfaces cause the building spool  22  to lower onto the friction block  30 . The friction block  30  is supported by the Belleville spring  37 . As the suspension cable  32  is unwound, the Belleville spring  37  is gradually compressed. This provides suspension cable  32  tension that is proportional to the amount of cable unwound. The purpose of this mechanism is to provide a low resistive force for the initial unwinding of the suspension cable  32 . This allows the chase vehicle  38  to pull the building pilot cable  23  out. As the chase vehicle  38  approaches the anchor footings  26 , the extended suspension cable  32  causes substantial gravitational force. The friction block  30  prevents the cable from self-unwinding.  
         [0069]      FIG. 3  is an enlarged view of the anchor footing  26  from  FIG. 1 . The anchor sleeve  35  includes an internal thread. The removable anchor cover  36  is used to keep debris out of the threaded area. The anchor footing  26  firmly affixes the anchor sleeve  35  to the earth  34 . The upper surface of the anchor footing  26 , anchor sleeve  35  and anchor cover  36  are flush with the roadway  25 . This allows the anchor location to be placed where normal vehicular traffic moves. The anchor footing  26  material would be concrete. The anchor sleeve  35  and anchor cover  36  material would be steel. Alternate anchoring methods could include a hook and eye, U-bolt, earth anger or other standard fastening methods. Various materials could be used as needed for strength and installation requirements.  
         [0070]      FIG. 4  is a side view of a building  20  showing the chase vehicle  38 . The pilot cable  23  has been removed from the access box  24  and attached to the pilot vehicle  38 . In the dotted view, the pilot vehicle  38  has then moved away from the building  20  and partially peeled the pilot cable  23 .  
         [0071]      FIG. 5  is a side view of a building  20  showing the tractor  41 , trailer  54  and gondola  40 . The chase vehicle  38  has traveled to the anchor location. The pilot cable  23  is now completely peeled from the building  30  side. The gondola  40  could be any variation of container with sufficient structure to support some method of traction apparatus and carry an emergency load.  
         [0072]      FIG. 6  is an enlarged view of the suspension cable  32  from  FIG. 5 . The suspension cable  32  has begun to unwind from the building spool  22 . The cable adaptor  33  between the pilot cable  23  and the suspension cable  32  is now suspended.  
         [0073]     The pilot cable  23  and gondola pilot cable  39  would be stranded steel approximately ⅝ inch diameter. The suspension cable  32  would be stranded steel approximately 2 inch diameter. The pilot cable  23  must be light and flexible to allow manual emergency personnel positioning. The pilot cable  23  must also be strong enough to support the deployment of the suspension cable  32 . The pilot and suspension cables could be made of alternate materials and sizes that provide the needed flexibility and strength.  
         [0074]      FIG. 7  is an enlarged view of the tractor  41  taken from  FIG. 5 . The tractor  41  is shown at the anchor location. The front anchor bolt  46  is shown in the travel position. The rear anchor bolt  47  is shown in the anchored position. Emergency personnel would position the front anchor bolt  46  over the anchor sleeve  35  and use a pneumatic driver to rotate the front anchor bolt  46 . The gondola pilot cable  39  is attached to the winch spool  57  via winch bolt  42 . The winch spool  57  is attached to the winch shaft  45  and rotates on bearing  44 . The gear  43  is attached to the winch spool  57 . The drive box  50  rotates the worm pinion  49  which engages the gear  43  and causes rotation of the winch spool  57 . A support operator  74  would control the winch spool  57  via the support operator console  73 .  
         [0075]      FIG. 8  is an enlarged view of the chase vehicle  38  taken from  FIG. 5 . Note the gondola pilot cable  39  exiting out the rear of the gondola  40 . The excess gondola pilot cable  39  and male connector  52  would be removably attached to the gondola  40  during transport. The male connector  52  is shown detached from the gondola  40  and ready to be attached to the building pilot cable  23 . The movement of the male connector  52  to the building pilot cable  23  would be completed by a rescue person.  
         [0076]      FIG. 9  is an enlarged view of the female connector  51  taken from  FIG. 8 . The end of the building pilot cable  23  is attached to the female connector  51 . The male connector  52  is shown being snap fit inserted into the female connector  51 . Referring again to  FIG. 8 —after this snap fit insertion, the lever  53  is moved clockwise 90 degrees to release the female connector  51  from the chase vehicle  38 .  
         [0077]     The female connector  51  is smaller in diameter than the suspension cable  32 . This allows the female connector  51  to freely pass thru the traction apparatus  56 . The traction apparatus  56  would be energized to facilitate the suspension cable  32  passing through the device.  
         [0078]      FIG. 10  is a side view of a building  20  showing the suspension cable  32 . The chase vehicle  38  has moved away from the rear of the gondola  40 . The building pilot cable  23  has been completely wound on the winch spool  57  resulting in the suspension cable  32  suspending from the building spool  22  to the winch spool  57 . The suspension cable  32  has been properly tightened and the gondola  40  is ready to move up the suspension cable  32 .  
         [0079]     All of the figures are drawn with cables as straight lines. In actual practice, gravitational force due to the cable mass would cause a centenary curve. How much the centenary curve deviates from a straight line is a function of the cable length. By increasing cable length and allowing more catenary curve, the cable tension is reduced. In theory, the extreme case of a straight line cable would require an infinitely high cable tension.  
         [0080]     During gondola  40  lift-off as shown in  FIG. 10 , the suspension cable  32  would be shortened. This shorter suspension cable  32  would provide a higher vertical cable tension component. The vertical tension component would need to be higher than the gondola  40  weight. With an excessively long suspension cable  32  length, the gondola  40  would drag horizontally off the trailer  54  rather than lift-off.  
         [0081]      FIG. 11  is an enlarged view of the building spool  22  taken from  FIG. 10 . The upper end of the suspension cable  32  is securely affixed to the building spool  22  with the spool bolt  76 . The building spool  22  has now moved down the threads of the spool shaft  31 . The Belleville springs  37  are now fully compressed.  
         [0082]      FIG. 12  is a side view of a building  20  showing the gondola  40  travel. The gondola  40  has moved partially up the suspension cable  32 . The dotted view shows the gondola  40  aligned with an upper floor of the building  20 . The suspension cable  32  length would be shortened to facilitate the gondola  40  meeting the building  20  at as high a floor as possible. Note that for drawing demonstration purposes, the building  20  is shown with less than 20 stories.  
         [0083]      FIG. 13  is a side view of a skyscraper  62  showing the gondola  40  travel. The skyscraper  62  in  FIG. 13  is shown with 50 stories. The gondola  40  is at the mid-point of the suspension cable  32  span. At this position of the gondola  40 , the suspension cable  32  tension is at a maximum due to the gondola  40  weight. It is important to have a longer suspension cable  32  at this moment to keep the suspension cable  32  tension within a safe limit. In practice the suspension cable  32  length is: 
        a. shortened for lift-off     b. gradually lengthened on the travel from lift-off to mid-point     c. gradually shortened on the travel from mid-point to docking at the upper floor of the skyscaper  62           
         [0087]     All of the various cable connections are non-detaching. Non-detaching means that the connection positions are constrained. Examples of these constrained connections include: 
        a. suspension cable  32  upper end pre-attached to the upper floor of the building  20 —see  FIG. 11      b. suspension cable  32  pre-attached to the building pilot cable  23  upper end—see  FIG. 6      c. building pilot cable  23  lower end pre-attached to the access box  24 —see  FIG. 4      d. emergency personnel manually positioning the female connector  51  from the access box  24  to the chase vehicle  38 —see  FIG. 4      e. moving the chase vehicle  38  to the anchor footing  26  location with the female connector  51  attached—see  FIG. 8      f. gondola pilot cable  34  pre-attached to the winch spool  57 —see  FIG. 7      g. gondola pilot cable  39  pre-positioned through the traction apparatus  56  and plurality of cable rollers  63 —see  FIG. 14      h. emergency personnel manually positioning the male connector  52  from the gondola  40  into the female connector  51 .        
 
         [0096]     After the female connector  51  is released from the chase vehicle  38 , the cable path is completed. During the entire process, there were no loose connections that had to be located.  
         [0097]      FIG. 14  is an enlarged side view of the gondola  40  and traction apparatus  56  taken from  FIG. 5 . A further refinement of the suspension, cable  32  length adjustment would be to also monitor suspension cable  32  tension. This would be accomplished with strain gages  75  installed at the spool bearing mounts  44 . The strain gages  75  would be positioned and calibrated to correlate with suspension cable  32  tension.  
         [0098]     With constant suspension cable  32  tension monitoring, the suspension cable  32  length could be adjusted as needed. At the gondola  40  travel mid-point as shown in  FIG. 13 , depending on the gondola  40  load, the suspension cable  32  could be lengthened only as needed. The tension monitoring would allow larger loads to be safely carried on the gondola  40 . Also, each building  20  may have a safe load limit for suspension cable  32  tension. Tension monitoring would facilitate staying within this building  20  load limit. Note the traction pilot cable  39  passing through the traction mechanism  56  and under the plurality of cable rollers  63 .  
         [0099]     Applicant&#39;s co-pending application Ser. No. 10/777,555 further explains the apparatus and method of the traction device.  
         [0100]      FIG. 15  is an enlarged side view of the gondola  40  taken from  FIG. 12 . The bend lever  58  is attached to the end of the roller spring  61 . The bend lever  58  rotates about the bend lever axle  68  to a storage position for transport of the trailer  54  on city roads.  FIG. 14  shows the bend lever  58  in the stored position.  FIG. 15  shows the bend lever  58  against the stop block  69  and ready for operation.  
         [0101]     It is desirable to evenly spread the gondola  40  weight over a long length of suspension cable  32 . The multiple cable rollers  63  on the roller spring  61  accomplish this. One end of the roller spring  61  is firmly affixed to the traction mechanism  56 . The roller spring  61  is a flexible member made of a material such as spring steel. The traction roller  66  operates similar to the cable roller  63 .  
         [0102]     It is also desirable to have cable support adjustment which would cause the suspension cable  32  to enter and exit the traction apparatus  56  tangentially. Any abrupt angle change could weaken the suspension cable  32 . The suspension cable  32  entry and exit angles are controlled with adjusting the length of the bend lever cable  59  via the bend lever winch  60 . To keep the gondola  40  level, the angle cable  64  is adjusted via the angle cable winch  65 . The traction apparatus  56  rotates relative to the gondola  40  on the traction pivot  70 . A gondola operator  72  would control the gondola  40  via the gondola operator console  71 .  
         [0103]     To maintain the maximum suspension cable  32  strength, it is important for the traction apparatus  56  to be linear. Linear means that the suspension cable  32  moves through the traction apparatus  56  in a straight line without bending.  
         [0104]      FIG. 16  is an enlarged view of the cable roller  63  taken from  FIG. 15 . A portion of the gondola  40  weight is supported by each cable roller  63 . The cable roller  63  rotates on the roller axle  67  which is affixed to the roller spring  61 . The perimeter of the cable roller  63  has a concave surface to match the suspension cable  32  diameter.  
         [0105]     In any event, the invention is only intended to be limited by the scope of the following claims.