Year: 1886

page_text: Date of Application, 20th July, 1886.
Complete Left, 18th Apr., 1887.
Complete Accepted, 20th May, 1887.
I, EDGECOMBE THOMAS WARD of Dudbridge, near Stroud, Gloucestershire, Coal
Merchant do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows :-
This Invention relates more particulary to Fire Escapes, which are fitted per-
manently, to Public Buildings Factories & Dwelling Houses, and its cheif feature
consists in affording to the Inimates of such Buildings a ready means of escape in case
of Fire. By simply lifting a catch (of which there are usually one or more on each
floor of the Building a Ladder is at once placed at the disposal of the Inmates to
escape by but previously to the catch being lifted this ladder gives no greater means
of Ingress to the house than an ordinary rain water pipe which it somewhat resembles.
I also arrange the mechanism so that when the catch is lifted an alarm bell is violently
rung to awaken the Inmates and call assistance from the outside.
To effect the first of these objects I make a Ladder on the same principle as the
well-known parallel ruler which opens & shuts up into a small space. The rounds or
spars of the ladder are by preference made of Iron, and are centred on the sides
which sides I prefer to make of angle Iron. One of the sides of the ladder is fixed to
the House or Building and the other side turning on the rounds can be shut up
against the other, with all the rounds enclosed between them, so that in this position
it can not be used as a ladder and as before mentioned looks like a square water pipe.
On an alarm of fire if one of the catches inside the House is raised the ladder by
virtue of its weight falls open ready for use after which it can be shut again by
turning a handle inside the House.
The alarm is produced by a hammer (which is put into action by the weight of the
ladder as it falls open) which violently strikes against a gong.

page_text: I EDGECOMBE THOMAS WARD of Dudbridge near Stroud Gloucestershire, Coal
Merchant 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 :-
This invention relates more particularly to Fire Escapes which are fitted per-
manently to Public Buildings, Factories & Dwelling Houses, and its chief feature
consists in affording to the Inmates of such Buildings a ready means of escape in case
of fire, and in order that my said Invention inay be more fully understood, I append
hereunto a sheet of Explanatory Drawings. Figs. 1, 2, & 3 shew different views of
my improved Fire Escape as applied to a Dwelling House.
is
In Fig. 1, the ladder A B, which in case of a fire affords the means of escape,
shown shut up. In Fig. 2 it shown open, as it would be in the event of a fire.
I prefer to make the sides A B of the ladder, of channel iron, as shown in section in
Fig. 4, and each round of the ladder 3, 3, 3 &c. instead of being fixed rigidly to the
sides of the ladder, is centred on pins 4, 4, 4 &c., so that the ladder will open & shut
as shown in Figs. 1 & 2. Under ordinary circumstances the ladder is kept closed by
means of the wire rope or chain 5, which is attached to the lever 6, this lever being
locked in the position shown in strong lines by the catch 7, which falls over the stud
or handle 8. When the ladder is closed it affords no greater means of ingress to the
house than an ordinary water spout, and if desired, by cutting a channel down the
wall, the ladder need not project beyond it.
In the event of a fire the catch 7 can be raised from either floor in the house by
means of the rod 8 and the handles 9, when by virtue of the weight of the side of the
ladder A it will at once fall open as shown in Fig. 2 and thereby afford a means of
escape to the occupants of the house. The lever 6 will then go up to the position
shown by the dotted lines, and in doing so can be made to strike an alarm 10 and set
it ringing. The ladder can also be opened automatically by means of the heat
produced by a fire breaking out in any of the rooms, one of the best arrangements
being that by which the catch 7 is lifted by means of a falling weight suspended by a
bar of tallow in each room, which would melt & allow the weight to fall, and thus
liberate the catch.
my
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I claim is :-
1st. The use of a ladder made substantially as described & shown in the drawings,
which in ordinary circumstances is shut up to prevent ingress to the House or
Building to which it may be attached, but which in the event of a fire will fall open
and provide a means of escape, either by the Inmates lifting a catch, or automatically
by the increase of temperature produced by the fire itself.
2nd. The use of an alarm which, on the liberation of the catch, will sound either
inside or outside the building.
Dated this 16th day of April 1887.