An Improved Fire-escape.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 12th June, 1893
Complete Specification Left, 9th Feb., 1894-Accepted, 10th Mar., 1894
An Improved Fire-escape.
I, PHILEMON ZAHRINGER, of 133, Finchley Road, in the County of London;
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to an improved fire-escape whereby a person can safely and
speedily descend from a building of any height by simply placing himself in a fire-
proof canvas sack which is the vehicle of transit, no assistance of any kind being
required either above or below.
In carrying out the invention I employ a wire cable of a length corresponding to
the height of the window or other position from which the descent has to be made,
and attached to either end of the cable is a fire-proof canvas sack; one of the
sacks with a free length of wire long enough to reach the ground is thrown out;
the second sack will then be at the sill level of the window, and has the coil of wire
necessary to reach the ground wound round a cylinder running in suitable bearings
secured to the floor inside the window. This cylinder is provided with a train of
wheels and a governor so that on a person getting into the sack he is carried gently
down to the ground by his own weight, the arrangement of the train of wheels and
governor preventing the too rapid descent by regulating the rate at which the
cylinder revolves; meanwhile the revolving of the cylinder is drawing in the wire
and sack at first thrown out at the same rate that the second sack descending, so
that by the time one reaches the bottom the other is at the top ready for a second
person to descend. This can be repeated any number of times, the descent of one.
sack and its occupant always bringing the other up ready for another to escape.
Dated this 12th day of June 1893.
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicant.
An Improved Fire-escape.
I, PHILEMON ZAHRINGER, of 16, Swiss Terrace, South Hampstead, in the.
County of London, Engineer, late of 133 Finchley Road, in the County of London,
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 a fire-escape of the kind described in the Specification of
former Letters Patent No. 21390 of 1892 granted to me jointly with Harry
Bucksey; the object of my present improvements being to simplify the construction
and increase the efficiency of such apparatus.
According to my present invention I combine with a train of wheels, such as
heretofore used, a governor, and, in order to further increase the efficiency of the
apparatus, I employ in conjunction with this train of wheels and governor a brake
which may be adapted to be controlled either from the ground or by the person
descending in one of the sacks.
>
To enable my invention to be fully understood I will describe the same by
reference to the accompanying drawings, in which :-
Figure 1 is a perspective view illustrating my improved apparatus in use.
1

page_text: Figure 2 is a sectional elevation drawn to an enlarged scale of the apparatus
shewn arranged in a window ready for use; and,
Figure 3 is a plan of the same.
Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.
a, a' are the two sacks, and b, b' are the ropes respectively carrying the same,
the said ropes being wound upon the drum c carried in bearings in a frame d fixed
to the floor of the room or apartment from the window of which the apparatus is
designed to be worked. In the Specification of the said former Patent the two
ropes b, were described as being in one continuous length working upon a single
drum. According to my present invention I prefer to employ separate ropes and
to use a double drum as shewn most clearly in Figure 3 so that there will be no
possibility of the two ropes fouling one another. These ropes are wound on the
drums in such a manner that when one sack is at the ground level the other will be
level with the window sill and so that as one sack is lowered the other will be
raised.
Also according to my present invention I arrange rollers e, e over which the
ropes pass at some distance from the window sill and above the level of the same
so that the sacks can move up and down out of contact with the wall and so that
when at the top of their movement their mouths shall be as nearly as possible level
with the window sill, the said rollers being preferably double coned, as shewn, and
grooved at the centres to ensure the ropes running at the centres of the rollers.
e', el are spring-bars which bear against the ropes on the drums and ensure the
proper coiling of the ropes thereon.
ff are arms or brackets fixed to the window-frame and carrying the spindle upon
which the said rollers e, e are mounted, and g, g are guys or chains connected to
the outer ends of the said arms and to the wall or window-frame for supporting the
said arms f,f.
h, h, h³, h³, h, h are the wheels and pinions constituting the train of wheels
between the drum c and governor i, which governor is advantageously in the form
of a fly fixed to an extension of the spindle of the pinion A, the said spindle being
carried in suitable bearings in the frame d as also are the spindles of the other
wheels of the train as will be clearly seen by reference to Figure 3.
The brake which I advantageously employ with this train of wheels and fly
consists of a small disc j fixed to the spindle upon the opposite end to that
carrying the fly i and of a spring-lever k pivotted at and having connected to its
free end a rope which when the apparatus is in use is thrown out of the window
so that the brake may be operated either from the ground or at any point between
the ground and the window. When the cord is pulled the lever is lifted so as
to cause it to bear against the periphery of the disc j and so apply the necessary
friction for stopping or retarding the speed of descent of the sacks.
m indicates in dotted lines a box or case for enclosing the drum c with its
mechanism and the sacks a, a¹ when not in use. n, n are hooks for fastening the
said box or case to eyes in the wall.
In using the apparatus one of the sacks say the sack a (which has a free length
of rope coiled up upon it when the apparatus is not in use) is thrown from the
window over one of the rollers e and falls to the ground, its rope entering the
groove in the roller, whilst the other sack a', the rope of which is coiled upon
the drum c, is also thrown from the window over the other roller e where the sack
will hang with its mouth about level with the window sill as shewn in Figure 2.
On a person getting into the sack a', the latter commences to descend under his
weight, the rope unwinding from the drum, the rotation of which causes the
winding upon the drum of the rope of the sack a; by the time the sack a' has
reached the ground the sack a is wound up ready for another person to descend.
The left hand side of Figure 1 shews the apparatus in the position when one person
has just been lowered to the ground and another is preparing to enter the sack
which is at the top. On the right hand side of Figure 1 I illustrate a case wherein
a person descending from an upper window of a house sees someone in a lower

page_text: window and, in order to rescue such person, pulls the brake-rope to stop the
descent until such second person shall have entered the sack when both descend'
together under the combined control of the governor and of the brake.
To ensure that a person endeavouring to enter one of the sacks and slipping
should not fall to the ground I advantageously make the ropes 6, 6' of such length
that portions thereof beyond the points of attachment to the sacks shall remain free,
and to these free portions I connect suitable belts such as o, Figure 2.
These.
belts are fastened around persons to be lowered before getting out of the windows.
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. In a fire-escape having two sacks or buckets connected with ropes wound upon.
a drum in such a manner that as one sack descends under the weight within it the
other is raised, the combination with the said drum of a train of wheels and a.
governor or fly in such a manner that the said fly will control the speed at which
the sacks descend substantially as described.
2. In a fire-escape in which a drum connected by a train of wheels with a fly or
governor is employed in the manner referred to in the preceding claiming clause,.
the use of a brake adapted to be operated by a rope thrown from the window in
connection with which the fire-escape is arranged, substantially as described.
3. The manufacture and use of the improved fire-escape hereinbefore described
and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 9th day of February 1894.
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicant.