AN IMPROVED DOMESTIC
Year: 1883

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Hale at the Office
•
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 16th May 1883.
THOMAS HALE of Claydon in the County of Suffolk
FIRE ESCAPE."
"AN IMPROVED DOMESTIC
My Invention relates to a fire escape for domestic use and consists of an
apparatus which is portable; easily applied to any window of ordinary size when
required for use, and may be stowed away at other times in any convenient
cupboard or other place where it may be quickly accessible in case of need.
The escape consists of two parts, the fixing and the lowering apparatus. The
former consists of a frame composed mainly of a cross bar extending the width of
the window supported by uprights at either end adapted to rest upon the window
sill and support the bar under weight of the apparatus and load, and of ends
adapted to engage with the sides of the window opening or frame so as to prevent
the apparatus falling outwards. This cross bar carries a long roller for the
lowering rope to run over, and it is so supported as to project outwards a sufficient
distance to ensure the lowering apparatus clearing the window sills and front of
the house. The entire frame is so constructed as to be light and easily applied in
position in the window opening after raising the lower sash.
The lowering apparatus consists principally of a canvas or other tube closed at
bottom like a bag and distended at top by means of a hoop of bent wood secured
in the mouth of the tube or bag, and suspended by a metal bail or-yoke or by
branch ropes attached to the hoop at three points and connected to the main
lowering rope. The latter passes over or round the roller on the cross bar one
or more times and over or through any suitable brake or device for checking the
descent of the lowering apparatus in such manner as to make the apparatus self
lowering under control either from above or from the ground below, or from the
lowering apparatus itself. Besides the raising and lowering rope a guy rope is
attached to the bottom of the bag or tube to enable it to be drawn away clear of
any projecting portions of the building.
:

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Thomas Hale in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
16th November 1883.
"
THOMAS HALE of Claydon in the County of Suffolk. AN IMPROVED DOMESTIC
"
FIRE ESCAPE."
My Invention relates to a domestic fire escape and consists of a portable
apparatus which may be easily applied to any house window of ordinary size when
required for use and may be stowed away at other times in any convenient
cupboard or other place where it may be quickly accessible in case of need.
E
The escape consists of two parts, the fixing and the lowering apparatus. The 1
former consists of a frame composed mainly of a cross bar supported by uprights
adapted to rest upon the window sill and support the bar under the weight of the
apparatus, and load, the ends of said cross bar extending beyond the width of the
window and bearing against the sides of the window opening or frame so as to
prevent the apparatus falling outwards. The lowering rope runs over a roller or
sheave so supported as to project outwards a sufficient distance to ensure the
lowering apparatus clearing the window sills and front of the house. The entire
frame is so constructed as to be light and easily applied in position in the window
opening after raising the lower sash.
The lowering apparatus consists of a canvas bag distended by means of a hoop
and suspended by a metal yoke or by branch ropes attached to the hoop at three
points and connected to the main lowering rope.
DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING,
Figure 1 is a front elevation, Figure 2 a plan, and Figure 3 a side elevation of
the fire escape as applied in a window opening.
A is the cross bar extending across the window opening and resting by its ends
against the window frame. B B are a pair of uprights bolted to said bar by their
upper ends and resting on the window sill C at the lower part where they are bent
towards one another and connected together. D is the sheave or roller over which
runs the lowering rope. It is supported by a jib which projects outwards
sufficiently to enable the lowering sack to clear the sills and other projections from
the house front, this jib being composed of a pair of struts E jointed at their lower
ends to the cross bar C¹ formed by the lower part of the uprights B and supported
in the diagonal position by tie chains or other flexible connections F attached to
the cross bar A and to the frame d in which the sheave D turns. The sheave
runs on a bolt d' which passes through eyes in the upper ends of the struts E and
through the frame d. The struts E work on joints at foot so that the apparatus
may be folded together when stowed away.
In order to combine lightness with strength, the uprights B and struts E would
be made of iron tubing.
The above described apparatus is supported in position in the window opening
merely by abutting against the inside of the window frame by the cross bar A and
upon the window sill at the outside of the ledge by the foot of the jib as shown
in the various figures so that no special fittings are required to the window and the
escape may be immediately applied to any ordinary window.. G is the lowering
sack. Its mouth is distended by a hoop at g and it is supported by an iron frame
or yoke H attached to the lowering rope I which passes over the sheave or roller D
and may be held either by the person being lowered, or from the ground below,
or from within the room. To enable the descent to be more easily checked, the

page_text: rope may be wound one or more times round a cross bar E¹ fixed between the
struts E and a guy rope K may be attached to enable the sack to be drawn away
from the face of the building in order to clear any projecting portions thereof, or
to escape flames bursting out of the lower windows.
Having described the nature of the said Invention and the manner of performing
the same, I declare that what I claim as my Invention to be protected by the
herein before in part recited Letters Patent is.
A domestic fire escape consisting of a portable folding frame composed of a cross
bar, uprights, and jib carrying a sheave, said frame being constructed and adapted
to be fixed in a window opening substantially as herein shown and described, in
combination with a suitable lowering sack or other contrivance suspended by a
rope passing over said sheave.
In Witness whereof I the said Thomas Hale have hereunto set my hand and
seal this fourteenth day of November, A.D. 1883.