AN IMPROVED APPARATUS APPLI- DA AND LOWERING OR WRIGHT' .APPLICABLE AS A FIRE-ESCAPE, ALSO TO THE RAISING AND LOWERING OF WEIGHTS
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Martin Deavin, of Rotherhithe, in the County of
Surrey, Builder, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED APPARATUS APPLI-
DA
AND LOWERING OR WRIGHT'
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Martin Deavin at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 6th
December 1860.
I, MARTIN DEAVIN, of Rotherhithe, in the County, of. Surrey, Builder,. do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED APPARATUS
.APPLICABLE AS A FIRE-ESCAPE, ALSO TO THE RAISING AND LOWERING OF WEIGHTS,"
to be as follows:-
My apparatus is composed of a bar or lever, by preference jointed, for con-
venience of folding, having attached at one end a depending bar, which is
intended to rest against the wall inside an apartment; and under the sash sill;
an upright carried from the under side of the lever rests upon the stone window
sill, while an inclined strut, carried from the outer end of the lever, rests
against the wall outside the apartment, and thus the lever is maintained in a
horizontal position. Instead of one bar or lever two may be used at a distance
apart, so as to form a frame. Near. the outer end of the lever, and supported
in suitable bearings, is a roller surrounded by a drum armed with pins. or
projections. The drum and roller, when revolving in one direction, are caused
by a ratchet and paul to revolve together; a guide pulley is placed at the

page_text: extreme end of the lever, and a chain or rope passes over this pulley and over
the drum. One end of the chain is attached to a cage, while the other end
has fixed to it a weight heavier than the cage. On the roller shaft is a ratchet
wheel, and pauls worked by a pendulum take into the teeth thereof. The
apparatus being in position, the cage will be on a level or nearly so with the
window sill; any weight, such as that of a person for instance, entering the
cage will cause it to descend and set the pendulum in motion,, which, releasing
only one tooth in the ratchet wheel at every beat, prevents the sudden descent
of the cage with its load. The cage having reached the ground, and its load
being removed, the paul which caused the roller and drum to revolve. together
in the descent is freed from the ratchets, and the weight causes the rapid rise
of the empty cage.
SPECIFICATION' in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Martin Deavin in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
6th June 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, MARTIN
DEAVIN, of Rotherhithe, in the County of Surrey, Builder, send greeting.
1../
WHEREAS Her most Excellent. Majesty. Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-fourth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
'the said Martin Deavin, Her special licence that I, the said Martin Deavin,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others a's I, the said Martin
Deavin, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during
the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, usé, exercise,
and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "AN IMPROVED APPARATUS
APPLICABLE AS A FIRE-ESCAPE, ALSO TO THE RAISING AND LOWERING OP WEIGHTS,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said 'Martin Deavin, my
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their,
or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be
performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE; that I, "the said Martin Deavin;ido hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be particularly described and ascertained in and: by the following statement
thereof, reference being had to: the Drawings hereunto annexed, that is to
'say:
..My apparatus is composed of a bar or lever, by preference jointed, for con-
venience of folding, having attached at one end a depending bar, which is
intended to rest against the wall inside an apartment, and under the sash sill
kan upright carried from the under 'side of the lever rests upon the stone window
sill, 'while an inclined strut, carried from the outer end of the lever, rests
against the wall outside the apartment, and thus the lever is maintained in a
horizontal position. Instead of one bar or lever, two may be used at a distance
apart, so as to form a frame. Near the outer end of the lever, and supported
in suitable bearings, is a roller surrounded by a drum armed with pins or pro-
jections. The drum. and'. roller, when revolving in one direction, are caused
by a' ratchet and paul: to revolve together. A guide pulley is placed; at the
extreme end of the lever, and a chain or rope passes over this pulley and over
the drum. One end of the chain is attached to a cage, while 'the other end
has fixed to it a weight heavier than the cage. On the roller shaft is a
ratchet wheel, and pauls worked by a pendulum take into the teeth thereof.
'
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings is a side elevation, and Figure 2
a front view, of an apparatus constructed according to my Invention, shown
fitted to the window of a house.
a, a, are bars or levers resting on the window sill; b, b, are levers jointed to
the bars a, a, and abutting against the inside 'of the wall; a', a', 'a're bars
extending beyond the bars a, a, and jointed to them; c is a rod for supporting
the bars a, a; and d, d, are inclined struts connected to the outer end of the
bars a', a', and abutting against the outside wall; by these means I form a
frame projecting from the window capable of bearing or sustaining a consider-
able weight; e, 6, are brackets supported by and connected to the outer end
of the bars a', a'; f is a shaft working in bearings formed in the brackets e, e,
and carrying drums or pulleys g, ġ¹, loose thereon; h is a ratchet wheel keyed
on the shaft f; and f' is a paul connected to the drum g¹, and free to take into
the teeth in the ratchet in such manner that as the drum revolves in one
direction the ratchet passes over the teeth, but when going in the other the
paul takes into them, as more clearly hereafter explained; i is a ratchet or
star wheel on the other end of the shaft f; and k is an escapement on a shaft I,
above the drums g, g', the said shaft being supported in the upper part of the
brackets e, e, and carrying at one end a weighted lever or pendulum m; o, o,

page_text: are pulleys supported in a frame projecting from, the frame formed by the bars
a', a; p, p, are ropes or chains passing over these pulleys o, o, as well as over
the drums or pulleys g, g'; these chains are connected at one end to a cage r,
and at the other to a weight. The apparatus being in position, the cage r
will be on a level, or nearly so, with the window sill; any weight, such as that
of a person for instance, entering the cage will cause it to descend; the paul f¹
takes into the teeth of the ratchet wheel k, and communicates motion to the
shaft f, and sets the pendulum m in motion, which, releasing only one tooth
in the ratchet or star wheel i at every beat, prevents the sudden descent of the
cage with its load. The cage having reached the ground, and its load being
removed, the paul f, which communicated motion to the shaft f, is drawn in
the contrary direction and is freed from the ratchets, and the weight causes the
rapid rise of the empty cage.
When the apparatus; is used as a fire-escape the, bars and levers before
described are arranged so that they will fold together, in order to occupy as
little space as possible, but at the same time be so arranged as to be ready for
immediate use in case of danger. When the apparatus is used for raising or
lowering weights the frame may be made a fixture to the, loft of a warehouse,
for example, or it may be portable, as herein-before described. Although I
prefer the method herein-before described of fixing the apparatus, yet I do not
confine myself thereto, as the fixing may be effected in various ways.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim the combination
of parts herein-before described, the whole forming an improved apparatus
applicable as a fire-escape, also for raising and lowering weights.
In witness whereof, I, the said Martin Deavin, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Sixth day of June, One thousand eight hundred and
sixty on
MARTIN DEAVIN. (LS.)