An Improved Fire Escape.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 14th Feb., 1893-Accepted, 8th Apr., 1893
12
An Improved Fire Escape.
I, PERRY ABRAM BURGESS, of Steamboat Springs, in the County of Routt,
and State of Colorado, United States of America, Farmer, do hereby declare the
nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
My invention relates to improvements in fire escapes, and the object of my
invention is to produce an extremely cheap and simple fire escape,
which may
be
easily carried about with a person's baggage, or it may be arranged permanently in
the several rooms of a building; which may be easily and firmly secured to any
projecting portion of a window or other part of a building, which may be adjusted
and arranged by any unskilled person, and which is provided with an automatic
escapement, which takes the place of a brake and which may be adjusted so as to
allow a person or burden of any ordinary weight to descend with safety and at the
proper speed.
A further and principal object of the invention is to construct the device, so that
it may be quickly and repeatedly used without excessive wear and without getting
out of repair.
To this end my invention consists in certain features of construction and
combination of parts which will hereinafter be described and claimed.
Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this
Specification in which similar figures of reference, indicate corresponding parts in
all the views.
Figure 1 is a front sectional elevation of the fire escape as applied to a building,
taken on line x x in Fig. 2.
Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same with the harness removed and with the
building and the pendulum in section.
Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the apparatus on a reduced scale, showing a
convenient way of coiling the main chain within a room.
Fig. 4 is a detail elevation of one side of the sprocket wheel.
Fig. 5 is a broken side elevation of the ratchet wheel, and
Fig. 6 is a broken detail sectional view showing the ratchet connection between
the ratchet wheel and sprocket wheel.
The device is provided with a light open frame 10 which is preferably rectangular,
as shown, and this has at the top and on one side a pair of hooks 11, which are
adapted to suspend the frame from the projecting portion, as 12, of a building.
The frame also has a bail 13, at the top, to which is secured a short chain 14,
carrying a hook 15, which may be thrown over a window-sill or other convenient
part of the building to still further secure the frame.
Near the top of the frame is a transverse shaft 16, which is journalled therein,
and on this is a sprocket wheel 17, carrying a flat chain 18, having alternate open
links, adapted to fit over the teeth of the sprocket wheel.
At
The chain is held to slide through guides 19, on opposite sides and at the lower
end of the frame, the chain being made to go through either guide as desired.
one end of the chain is a stop 18, which is too large to go through the guides 19,
and by striking a guide as in Fig. 1, it prevents the chain from dropping off the
procket wheel. At the opposite end of the chain is a snap hook 20, which is
dapted to engage and support the harness 21, this being for the purpose of easily
uspending the body of a person.
The harness comprises a strap 22, provided with a buckle and adapted to extend
round the body beneath the arms, and a strap 23, is also provided with a buckle
nd arranged at right angles with strap 22, this strap having loops 24, through

page_text: which the strap 22, extends. This arrangement enables a person to sit upon
strap 23, and be held in place by strap 22, and with the hands the person may grasp
the chain to further steady himself.
Above the sprocket wheel 17, is a curved guard 17ª which prevents the chain
from slipping off the sprocket teeth. On the shaft 16, at one side of the sprocket
wheel is a ratchet wheel 25. On one side of the ratchet wheel are a series of
ratchet notches 25* which are arranged circumferentially around its centre, and
these engage a spring pressed pawl 17 which is pivoted in a recess 17° in the hub
of the sprocket wheel 17. The notches have inclined back walls and the arrangement
of the notches and pawl is such that when a person is descending on chain 18, the
ratchet wheel 25 and sprocket wheel 17 are locked together and the speed is
regulated by the escapement described below, which engages the ratchet wheel, but
when the chain is pulled back, the movement of the sprocket wheel does not affect
the ratchet wheel and consequently the apparatus may be used quickly and often
without excessive wear.
Beneath the ratchet wheel is an escapement 26, having the pawls 27 and 28
which are adapted to alternately engage the teeth of the ratchet wheel in a common
and well known way. The escapement is carried by a pendulum rod 29, which is
pivoted at its upper end on a stud 30, and the rod has near its lower end a series of
perforations 31, arranged one above the other. The pendulum rod carries a
pendulum 32, which is held to slide on the rod, and pivoted in a longitudinal recess
in one side of the pendulum is a latch 33, having near one end a stud 34 which is
adapted to project through the wall of the pendulum and into one of the
perforations 31. The stud is normally held in engagement with the perforated
pendulum rod by a spring 35 and which presses outward upon one end of the
fatch 33.
It will be seen that when weight is applied to the chain 18, the escapement will
swing back and forth so as to permit the ratchet wheel to turn tooth by tooth and
the person or burden will thus descend steadily. The object of having the vertically
adjustable pendulum is to provide for different weights, as a heavy weight will
Daturally impart a quicker movement to the escapement, and consequently when a
light weight is to be lowered the pendulum is fixed relatively high on the rod.
In practice, the chain may be passed over the sprocket wheel as shown in Fig. 1.
Its inner end may be arranged in a coil and held within the room, or if desired may
be secured to a common form of reel which can be attached to any convenient
support, so that the chain may run down all right as described, and may be easily
wound up. It will be readily understood that all that is necessary is to have a
chain of sufficient length to pass over the sprocket wheel and reach from it to the
ground.
The operation of the escape is as follows:
When it is to be used, the frame 10 is hung to the most convenient part of the
building, and the person to be lowered adjusts the harness 21 or has it adjusted for
him or her and then simply steps out of the window or other part of the building.
This will cause the sprocket wheel and the ratchet wheel to be turned and the
movement of the ratchet wheel will actuate the escapement which takes the place
of a brake, and permits the person to descend safely to the ground. It will also be
understood that the escape forms a convenient means for lowering valuable
packages. After the weight or person has been lowered, the chain 18 is drawn
back to place and the device is ready for another operation.
The harness shown and described forms a convenient means of securing a person
or other object, but other carrying devices may be secured to the chain if
desired.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1 A fire escove comprising frome having cuchonding books attached thereto a

page_text: sprocket wheel journalled in the frame, a chain carried by the sprocket wheel and
having a load fastening device at one end, a ratchet wheel held to turn with the
sprocket wheel and a pendulum escapement to limit the speed of the ratchet wheel,
substantially as described.
2. A fire escape comprising an open sided frame, having suspending hooks at the
top and on one side, a sprocket wheel journalled in the frame, a chain carried by
the sprocket wheel, a load securing harness carried by the free end of the chain, a
ratchet wheel held to turn with the sprocket wheel, and an adjustable pendulum
escapement for limiting the speed of the ratchet wheel, substantially as described.
3. A fire escape comprising an open sided frame, having suspending hooks at the
top and on one side and keepers at its lower end and opposite its open side, a bail
secured to the top and having a fastening chain and hook connected therewith, a
sprocket wheel journalled in the frame, a chain carried by the sprocket wheel and
held to slide through the keepers, a load securing harness arranged at one end of
the chain, a ratchet wheel held to turn with the sprocket wheel, and a pendulum
escapement to limit the speed of the ratchet wheel, substantially as described.
4. In a fire escape the combination with the chain carrying the sprocket wheel
and the ratchet wheel held to turn with the sprocket wheel, of the escapement held
to engage the ratchet wheel and having a depending pendulum rod, and a pendulum
carried by the rod and having means for vertical adjustment thereon, substantially
as described.
5. A fire escape comprising an open sided frame, having suspending hooks
attached thereto, a sprocket wheel journalled in the frame, a chain carried by the
sprocket wheel and having a load securing device at one end, a ratchet wheel having
a ratchet connection with the sprocket wheel whereby the two may turn together in
one direction and independently, the opposite way, and a pendulum escapement to
limit the speed of the ratchet wheel, substantially as described.
6. The combination of the frame having keepers thereon, the sprocket wheel
journalled in the frame, speed controlling mechanism for the sprocket wheel, and
having a load securing device at one end and a stop to engage the keeper at the
other, substantially as described.
Dated this 14th d
1000
F. W. BARKER,
Applicant's Agent.