Improvements in Fire Appliances.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 15th Dec., 1892-Accepted, 5th Aug., 1893
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Fire Appliances.
I, REGINALD HADDAN, of the Firm of Herbert Haddan & Co., of 18 Buckingham
Street, Strand, W.C., London, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of
this invention a communication to me from abroad by The Kirker & Bender Fire
Escape Company, of 431 W. Jefferson Street, Louisville, Kentucky United States
of America, and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
This invention relates to improvements in fire appliances and consists in certain
details relating thereto all as hereinafter more fully set forth and specifically
pointed out in the claims.
In the annexed drawings similar letters of reference denote corresponding parts
in all views whereof
Figure 1 is an elevation of the improved appliance,
Figure 2 is an interior view of one portion of the outer tower, showing the doors
leading into the same and the ladder and platform connected thereto, and Figure 3
is an elevation of the lower part of the tower turned one quarter around from the
position shown in Fig. 1.
The improved appliance consists of a main supporting tower A within which I
provide a spiral slide or chute preferably concave in cross section down which
passengers or freight are to be slid in effecting an escape from the burning building,
and this tower I prefer to set entirely outside of the structure with which it is to be
connected for the reason that when so situated it will afford ready means for attach-
ment of the several needed appliances commonly used by firemen in extinguishing
fires, and at the same time will be removed in great measure from the source of
heat and free from the many disadvantages common to fire escapes in general use.
Referring to the drawings, A indicates a tower of which the main portion is
built entirely outside of the building, and the projecting passage ways A" are
capable of being built into the wall of the building with which it is connected, while
single swing doors GG are hung out of the perpendicular, at an angle on the walls
in the said passage ways, preferably as indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 1, so
that they close by gravity when not specially held open and cut off upwardly
rising air currents which would, but for the doors, enter the building and tend to
fan the flames already therein.
These passage ways A" may be built longer or shorter as may be desired so as
to permit the main tower A being placed in contact with the building or situated at
some distance therefrom.
Within the tower A I provide a main water pipe B, which serves as a central
supporting column onto which the spiral concave slide is secured to hold it in its
proper position and said pipe B is provided with two sets of laterally projecting
branches D' and a, the former of which extend outwardly a sufficient distance to
serve as "fire-plugs" to which the firemen may connect their hose in extinguishing
the fire in the building and the latter-a-are of less length and only project a
sufficient distance to bring their ends a¹ over the spiral slide.
q¹
Secured within the lower end a' of the pipes a I prefer to set fusible plugs which
tend to normally close the said pipes a and prevent escape of water therefrom but
when the temperature of the interior of the tower A has risen sufficiently high said
fusible plugs will become melted and cause the water to run through the spray
on the ends of the pipes a and flow over and down the spiral slide H so as to cool
the same and render it safe for use as a fire-escape, and permit passengers sliding
down it to the ground.
Referring to Fig. 3 a triangular piece J will be observed secured to the upper

page_text: surface of the slide H at its upper edge between two overlapping sections of the
slide and a pivoted lever K secured beneath the said slide with its outer end
projecting preferably beyond the exterior of the tower A and connected by means
of a rod, wire or other suitable fastening means to the latch M of the lower exit
door N so that when pressure is applied to said triangular piece by a person sliding
down the spiral H it will depress the lower end thereof, thus lifting the free outer
end of the lever K and its connections, thus releasing the catch M which is pro-
vided to hold the door N normally closed and it will not be necessary to first open
the exit door before the slide may be used as a fire-escape.
It will be apparent that the latch M may be on the interior of the shell and
perform the same function where the door or doors are provided with an inwardly
extending eye or loop with which it may engage when in its normal position.
Having the tower A. at the side of a building and its passage ways built within
the outer walls of the same it will be convenient to so locate the tower that the
platforms D with their hand rails E will come opposite the windows of the building
and I prefer to so locate such platforms that they may be used by the firemen in
obtaining easy access to the immediate point of the conflagration from the outside
of the building, at the same time to be able to stand at such safe distance from the
flames as to render their position safe and permit them to direct a stream of water
wherever required on any given floor of the building.
To accomplish this desired end I prefer to locate the platforms D at a point one-
fourth around the tower from the passage ways, and have the fire-plug D' project
from the tower so that they will be easily accessible from said platforms and enable
a fireman with a short length of hose to throw water direct from said fire-plugs into
the burning building.
As there is a growing tendency to erect buildings of great height it will be
apparent that the platforms situated at considerable distance from the ground will
be inaccessible from the tops of ordinary portable ladders, and to insure the firemen
reaching those which are at such distance from the ground I connect the ladder C
to the outerside of the tower in convenient proximity to the platforms and prefer
to place them in such positions that the platforms will serve as a means of
connection with the tower at such distance from the tower proper as will be most
convenient for the firemen in climbing the ladder.
As the ladder C will necessarily he nearly perpendicular and difficult of climbing
when the fireman is loaded with a section of hose and the nozzle, I provide the
drum with its handle e and the rope or cable P running over the pulley p
at the top of the tower so that the hose may be hoisted from the ground to the
desired platform where it is to be used and this drum, pulley and cable I prefer
to put in position so as to lie nearly on a perpendicular line from the outer
edge of the platform to carry the pipe where it will be within reach of the man
on the platform D.
To insure the best results it is necessary that the water may be shut off from
the spraying pipes a a' when water is drawn from the central pipe B and I
provide the hand-wheels b so that the valves in said pipes a may be closed and
thus prevent escape of water from said sprays after the inmates of the building
have all escaped down the slide thus insuring the full pressure of the water in
the central pipe B to be used in extinguishing the fire.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. In a fire-appliance, a stationary tower, a central water pipe and a spiral slide
fire-escape held therein, a series of entrance passages leading to the interior of said.
tower, automatically operating doors normally closing said entrance passages, an
exit door at the lower end of said tower, a spring plate on the upper surface of the
slide, a pivoted lever held beneath said slide and plate, a vertically movable latch
normally in engagement with said door, and suitable connections between said latch

page_text: and the outer end of said lever to raise said latch and release the door when down-
ward pressure is applied to said plate, substantially as and for the purpose specified
and shown.
2. In a fire-appliance, a stationary tower A, a central vertical water pipe, and
spiral slide held therein, a series of entrance passages leading to the interior of said
tower, automatically operating doors normally closing said entrances, an exit door
at the bottom of the tower with suitable releasing devices operated by a weight
moving down the spiral slide, laterally projecting fire-plugs leading to the exterior
of the tower, laterally projecting spray pipes and valve operating handles projecting
beyond the exterior of the tower for convenient operation, substantially as and for
the purpose set forth and shown.
Dated thin 15th day of Doomben 1900