AN IMPROVED DOMESTIC FIRE-ESCAPE
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas James Fennell, of No. 32, James
Street, in the Parish of Deptford, and County of Kent, for the
Invention of "AN IMPROVED DOMESTIC FIRE-ESCAPE."
Sealed the 14th May 1872, and dated the 17th November 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas James Fennell
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 17th November 1871.
I, THOMAS JAMES FENNELL, of No: 32, James Street, in the Parish
5 of Deptford, and County of Kent, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "AN IMPROVED DOMESTIC FIRE-ESCAPE," to be as
follows:-

page_text: or ropes, each secured at one of its ends near to the window from which
the descent is to be made. These cords or ropes when not in use may
be kept coiled up against the wall, and within the room; but when the
escape is in operation they pass through suitable eyes, guides, thimbles,
or rings attached to the receptacle which is caused to ascend and
descend by increasing and decreasing the distance apart from each
other of the free ends of the cords or ropes.
The cords or ropes are by preference made incombustible, and pro-
vided with knots or toggles at their free ends, and panelling may be
provided for concealing them when coiled up within the room.
By the novel combination of parts arranged and operating together
as above described, I am enabled to produce a simple and inexpensive
eans of escape from the upper parts of houses when on fire.
The method of using the above escape is as follows:-The cords or
ropes which reach to the ground below are held by persons, who by
moving so as to increase the distance apart from each other of the free
ends of the cords or ropes, cause the receptacle to ascend into position,
whereupon the person about to descend, enters the receptacle and is
gently and safely lowered by the persons who hold the cords or ropes,
gradually moving the lower ends thereof nearer to each other, thereby
allowing the receptacle to move steadily downwards.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Thomas James Fennell in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 15th May 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
JAMES FENNELL, of No. 32, James Street, in the Parish of Deptford, 2
and County of Kent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in
the thirty-fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and 3
successors, give and grant unto me, the said Thomas James Fennell,

page_text: The cords or ropes are by preference made incombustible or unin-
flammable by immersion in a solution of tungstate of soda or other
known process, and provided with knots or toggles at their free ends,
and panelling may be provided for concealing them when coiled up
within the room.
By the novel combination of parts arranged and operating together
as above described, I am enabled to produce a simple and inexpensive
means of escape from the upper parts of houses when on fire.
The method of using the above escape is as follows:-The receptacle is
thrown out of the window, or brought to the scene of action by persons
outside the house. The cords or ropes b, which are amply sufficient
to reach to the ground below, are then thrown out of the window,
and the free or lower end of each is passed through one of two eyes,
guides, or thimbles, care being taken that in so doing the rope end is
caused to enter the side of the eye, guide, or thimble nearest to the
house from which the ropes have been lowered. The rope ends are then
taken hold of by persons, who by moving so as to increase the distance
apart from each other of the free ends of the cords or ropes, cause the
receptacle to ascend into position just under the window, whereupon
the person about to descend enters the receptacle, and is gently and
safely lowered by the persons who hold the cords or ropes gradually
moving the lower ends thereof nearer to each other, thereby allowing
the receptacle to move steadily downwards; or if only one person be
upon the spot at the time, and the ropes having been by him rove
through the eyes, guides, or thimbles, as before described, one rope end
may be made fast to any convenient object, as a lamp-post or railing,
and the person then taking the free end of the other rope, moves away
from or approaches to the anchorage of the first, and produces the same
effect in the elevation or descent of the receptacle as if both rope ends
had been held by persons. The correct position of the eye bolts or
staples to which the ropes are secured inside the room is determined
by the width of the thoroughfare in which the apparatus is to be em-
ployed. For narrow thoroughfares, where the receptacle moves in
direction approaching the vertical, it is found desirable to place the
eye bolts or staples higher up in the room than is the case when the
thoroughfare is wider and the direction of the passage of the receptacle
more diagonal. I also find that the distance between the eyes, guides, or
thimbles d, at the upper edge of the receptacle, should be proportioned

page_text: to the width of the window to which the apparatus is applied, a wider
window requiring a greater distance between d, d, though this does not
necessarily imply a larger mouthed receptacle, inasmuch as the eyes,
guides, or thimbles, are not required to be contiguous to the edge of the
receptacle. The receptacle may be made of any material, but preferably
wicker, from its lightness, rigidity, and cheapness, and may, like the
ropes, be made uninflammable by immersion in a solution of tungstate
of soda or other known process.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention and in
what manner the same is to be performed, I hereby declare that I do
not claim as of my Invention, or the exclusive use of the several parts
of the arrangements herein-before described or referred to, except when
the same are used in and for the purposes of my said Invention, but
what I consider to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the
Invention secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters
Patent is, the combination of parts forming the improved domestic fire-
escape, arranged and operating as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas James Fennell, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of May, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.