AN IM- PROVED DOMESTIC FIRE ESCAPE
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Faircloth Flood, of No. 25, Well Road,
Maidstone, in the County of Kent, for the Invention of “AN IM-
PROVED DOMESTIC FIRE ESCAPE."
Scaled the 17th November 1874, and dated the 28th August 1874.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Faircloth Flood
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 28th August 1874.
I, ROBERT FAIRCLOTH FLOOD, of No. 25, Well Road, Maidstone, in
the County of Kent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "AN IMPROVED DOMESTIC FIRE ESCAPE," to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to an improved domestic fire escape of the
following construction:-A sheave suspended from a bracket hung upon.
a wall hook outside the window of a house has passing round it a chain
or ropes, one end of which passes down to the ground, while to the
other end is secured a framing carrying three wheels or pullies. The
first-named end of the chain or rope is passed first over the back part of

page_text: the one wheel or pulley, then over the front of the second one, and
lastly over the back of the third one, so that by causing the end of the
chain or rope, to which the pullies are attached, to descend, the other
end of the chain or rope in ascending is made to pass in a serpentine
direction over the peripheries of the three pullies, and thus a certain
amount of resistance is offered to the downward motion of the part of
the chain carrying the pullies. A belt, car, or bag being attached to
the framing carrying the pullies any person securing himself therein
and suspending himself from the chain outside the window will be
lowered thereby gently to the ground.
In order to enable the person descending to regulate the speed of his
descent, or to arrest his descent at any point, a lever is provided on the
said framing, one end of which carries a brake, by pressing which more
or less against the chain as it passes over the middle pulley the motion
of the chain may be more or less retarded. The other end of the lever
carries a pawl which can be made to gear. into teeth formed on the
-middle pulley so as to stop its rotation, and the teeth of the pulley being
made to enter the links of the chain, the motion of this will be arrested
by stopping the pulley, as described.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Robert Faircloth Flood in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 11th February 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
FAIRCLOTH FLOOD, of No. 25, Well Road, Maidstone, in the County of
Kent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of August, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in
the thirty-eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said Robert Faircloth Flood, Her
special license, that I, the said Robert Faircloth Flood, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Robert
Faircloth Flood, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times

page_text: 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 In-
vention for "AN IMPROVED DOMESTIC FIRE ESCAPE," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Robert Faircloth Flood, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Robert Faircloth Flood, 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 statement thereof, reference being had to the
accompanying Sheet of Drawings and to the figures and letters marked
thereon, that is to say :-
My Invention relates to an improved domestic fire escape of the
following construction :-A sheave suspended from a bracket hung upon
a wall hook outside the window of a house has passing round it a chain
or rope, one end of which passes down to the ground, while to the.
other end is secured a framing carrying three wheels or pullies. The
first-named end of the chain or rope is passed first over the back part of.
the one wheel or pulley, then over the front of the second one, and
lastly over the back of the third one, so that by causing the end of the
chain or rope, to which the pullies are attached, to descend, the other
end of the chain or rope is ascending is made to pass in a serpentine
direction over the peripheries of the three pullies, and thus a certain
amount of resistance is offered to the downward motion of the part of
the chain carrying the pullies. A belt, car, or bag being attached to
the framing carrying the pullies any person securing himself therein.
and suspending himself from the chain outside the window will be
lowered thereby gently to the ground..
In order to enable the person descending to regulate the speed of his
descent, or to arrest his descent at any point, a lever is provided on the
said framing, one end of which carries a brake, by pressing which more
or less against the chain as it passes over the middle pulley, the motion

page_text: of the chain may be more or less retarded. The other end of the lever
carries a pawl which can be made to gear into teeth formed on the
middle pulley so as to stop its rotation, and the teeth of the pulley being
made to enter the links of the chain the motion of this will be arrested
by stopping the pulley as described.
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and Fig. 2 shews an enlarged view of the framing carrying the wheels
or pulleys by which the descent is regulated.
When the fire escape is to be used a bracket A is hooked on to a wall 1
hook and upon it is hung a sheave B round which passes the chain C, C¹.
To the part C of the chain is secured, firstly, the framing D carrying
a pitch wheel E and two guide pullies F, F', and secondly, the
belts G, G, or other contrivances for securely holding the person to be
lowered. The part C₁ of the chain is passed first over the back of the J
pulley F, then over the front of the pitch wheel E, and lastly over the
back of the pulley F¹, from which it passes down to the ground. To
the framing D is pivotted a lever H having at one end a pawl I, which
by means of a spring K acting on the lever is kept in gear with the
cogs of the pitch wheel E, as shewn, in which case as the wheel cannot 2
revolve the framing with its load is locked to the part C of the chain
and cannot therefore descend. On pulling down the lever H by means
of the handle L the pawl I is moved out of gear with the wheel E so as
to allow the framing to descend, while at the same time the brake M is
brought against the periphery of the wheel so as to prevent the framing a
from descending too rapidly. The person is thus enabled to regulate
or stop his descent as may be required.
In place of using a pitch wheel and chain, as described, a rope may
be employed and the wheel E be made with a V groove so that the rope
can only slip over it with a considerable amount of friction. In this
case the pawl I would be formed as a V shaped block fitting into
the groove of the wheel at a point slightly above the fulcrum of the
lever H.
Although I prefer to use the regulating lever H in combination with
the apparatus, as described, yet this may be dispensed with and the
chain or rope be made to pass with sufficient resistance over the wheel

page_text: and guide pullies to prevent the too rapid descent of the load, and the
descent may in this case be regulated by the descending person laying
hold of the ascending chain or rope by means of a pad, as indicated at
Fig. 1.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I claim,―
First. The use of a fire escape consisting of the framing D with a
pitch wheel or grooved wheel E, and guide pullies F, F', operating in
combination with the chain or rope C, C¹, and sheave B, substantially
as described.
Second. The use in combination with the apparatus, as described in
the first claim, of the regulating lever H, operating substantially as
herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Faircloth Flood, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Tenth day of February, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-