AN IMPROVED FIRE ESCAPE
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Gardiner Hill, of Inverness Lodge. Brentford,
in the County of Middlesex. Licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians,
Edinburgh, and Member of the Royal College of Surgeons, England, for
Sealed the 19th June 1860, in pursuance of an Order of the Lord Chancellor,
and dated the 24th December 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Gardiner Hill at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
24th December 1859.
I, ROBERT GARDINER HILL, of Inverness Lodge. Brentford, in the County of
Middlesex, Licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians, Edinburgh, and
Member of the Royal College of Surgeons, England, do hereby declare the
nature of the Invention for "AN IMPROVED FIRE ESCAPE," to be as follows:-
The fire escape can be used both as an ottoman and fire escape. It consists
of a cradle made of wood, wicker, or other suitable material, of pulleys, ropes,
chains, hooks, and rollers, the whole being enclosed in a covering of white o
colored calico or chintz, or other suitable material, and thus forming an
ottoman. A ring or hook is securely fixed in the floor of the room in a house
or other building near the window, or in the window sill or other convenient
place. In the event of fire the covering is removed, the upper rope attached

page_text: to the cradle is fastened to the ring or hook, and the cradle is suspended from
the window on the outside. The inmates of the house are then enabled to
place themselves and their property, such as plate, deeds, and numerous other
articles in the cradle, and by means of the ropes and pulleys to descend from
the upper rooms of the house to the road or street beneath. The cradle after
one descent is drawn up again by the persons below, and performs the same
office until all the occupants are saved. When the covering is on. the fire
escape forms an elegant and useful piece of furniture, the pulleys and ropes
being enclosed are always accessible.
SPECIFICATION filed in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
and of an Order of the Lord Chancellor, by the said Robert Gardiner
Hill in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 3rd July 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I. ROBERT
GARDINER HILL, of Inverness Lodge, Brentford, in the County of Middlesex,
Licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians, Edinburgh, and Member of the
Royal College of Surgeons, England, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Leiters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-third year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Robert Gardiner Hill, Her special licence that I, the said Robert
Gardiner Hill, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said Robert Gardiner Hill, 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, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Inven-
tion for "AN IMPROVED FIRE ESCAPE," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Robert Gardiner Hill, 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 Robert Gardiner Hill, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
staiement thereof, that is to say:-
My Invention relates to a peculiar arrangement and construction of appa-
ratus for saving persons and property from fire, and raising and lowering
weights. I term my Invention the ottoman fire escape, for the reason that it
can be used as an ottoman or other suitable piece of furniture when not
required as a fire escape, but I deem the form of an ottoman best adapted to
the purpose, although I do not wish it to be understood that I restrict myself
to any particular form or piece of furniture. It consists of a strong cradle or
frame. which may be made of wood or iron, or other suitable material, the
whole firmly tied or braced together by rods and straps: it is open at the top.
and is constructed with a door or doors in the sides for the convenience of
persons passing to and from the machine; the outside may be covered with
non-inflammable canvass, leather, rope, or wire netting, or brass or iron rods,
or other suitable material, the whole being enclosed in a covering of chintz or
any other fabric, thus forming an ottoman. The frame or cradle is furnished
with a system of pulleys and blocks, to 'which is attached a chain fastened
by a hook to a ring in the floor near the window, on the window sill, or
other convenient place: it is also provided with a castor or friction wheel
at each corner upon which the machine stands when not in use as a fire
escape, but when adjusted and hanging at the window ready to receive
persons or property, these castors or wheels cause the machine to pass casily
down the surface of wall in its descent to the street or garden, as the case
may be.
And in order that my said Invention may be fully understood I shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose I shall
refer to the several Figures on the Drawing hereunto annexed, the same
letters of reference indicating corresponding parts throughout all the Figures.
Figure is a general perspective view of the ottoman when in use as a
piece of furniture, and not as a fire escape; Figure 2 is a front elevation of
the machine with the cover removed, and as it would appear hanging from a
window ready for use.
A, A, is the frame of the machine: B', B', rings, to which are attached the
guy rope C, to enable a person in the middle or opposite side of the street
below to draw the machine outwardly, and cause it to descend obliquily;
P, P, are two rings, through which a guide chain passes, one end of which is

page_text: securely fastened to the chain above the double-sheaved block D. the other
end being held in a diagonal direction. The chain is to be used as a secondary
guide to the machine in case the guy rope C' is burnt or otherwise injured;
B, B, rings, to which are attached the running rope or fall C which passes
through the double-sheaved block D (see also Figure 4), under the pulley E.
through, guide pulley F. again through the double-sheaved block D through
the guide pulley F, under the pulley G, over the pulley H, through the guide
pulley to the person in the street below; by this arrangement it will be at once
obvious that either by slackening or tightening the rope C the machine will
either descend or ascend with the greatest ease and safety. or the person in
the machine may either ascend or descend at will by holding on to or
gradually paying-out the rope C as it passes under the pulley G, as shown by
the dotted lines.in Figure 4. Figure 3 is a side elevation of the machine, shewing
the door J. for the convenience of persons passing into and from the machine;
K is a lifting bar or rail fitted with a groove, tongue, and pin into the top
of the door. and firmly secured with a button or other fastening L, L:
M, M, are the castors or wheels upon which the machine runs freely when
not in use as a fire escape, but when used in ascending or descending from a
window they cause the machine to pass over the surface of wall without
obstruction. Figure 4 is a section shewing position of the various pullies
herein-before described in Figure 2, and the double sheaved block D which is
provided with a cross head N for the purpose of keeping it in its position on
the sill of window. Figure 5 shows the general construction; 0, 0, are
hempen rings: 0', O', are iron rings to which the rope is secured when the
imachine is not in use: Q. Q, are pins upon which the rope is coiled to check
the machine from descending too quickly. Figure 6 is a plan of top of
machine shewing upper wheels or castors M, M, rings B. B. door J. and
lifting bar K. and guide pulleys F and F¹, and part of frame A: A.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, I would observe in conclusion, that I do not confine or restrict
myself to the precise details nor to the exact form, dimension, or material of
the several parts or the number of pulleys which I have described, as many.
variations may be made therefrom without deviating from the principles or
main feature of my Invention, nor do I claim any of the mechanical elements
of which the said apparatus and parts of apparatus are respectively composed;
but what I consider to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the
Invention secured to me is,

page_text: Firstly, the general construction, arrangement,
arrangement, and combination of
mechanism forming the mechine as a whole.
Secondly, the mechine as applied to articles of furniture, both useful and
ornamental.
In witness whereof I, the said Robert Gardiner Hill. have hereunto set
my hand and seal. the Twenty-sixth day of June, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
ROBERT GARDINER HILL. (L.S.)