Raising and Lowering People and Objects from Buildings.
Year: 1886

page_text: Raising and Lowering People and Objects from Buildings.
I MURDOCH Ross, of 24 Wells Street, in the town and county of Inverness
Engineer do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
. My said invention has reference to a new or improved general construction or
combination of the parts of a fire-escape cage and apparatus, and gearing for
working the same, all to be fitted in front or on the window side or sides of the
houses or lands of houses or other buildings; and which will be accessible from the
windows of all the different flats in the building, and different parties in these
flats, and be always on the spot and serviceable, unlike the portable fire-brigade
machines which are frequently unable to be got at the time required and often
cannot be applied at all as in courts or confined spaces between the houses in
cases of fire. This apparatus would also have the additional advantage of being
applicable for use in repairing the windows and the outsides of the houses or other
buildings.
.
And the nature and novelty of my invention or improvements consist all as
follows:-namely, in mounting a hoisting gear, preferably composed of two axes
or axles, the one having a winding barrel mounted on it with guiding flanges, and
a spur wheel on one end, actuated by a pinion on the other or motive axis, having
a flanged rope or grooved pulley at the opposite end to the pinion, with a long
endless wire rope wound two turns or so round it, so as to be drawn and worked
from any of the windows or from the ground or from the cage, for the raising or
lowering of this as will hereinafter be described by the said wire rope.
The cage may be made of a light rectangular frame of angle iron with strong
bottom, but covered with wire-netting on all the sides, and hung preferably by
jointed links and cross bars as a ladder attachment to the winding barrel, long
enough to lower the cage to or raise it from the ground up to the gearing at the
top of the building, where this and the cage would be covered in by a portable
housing of sheet iron open below, but arched above, to protect the whole from the
effects of the weather. This housing would be strong enough to carry the journals
of all the gearing, and the weight of the cage and the persons and objects which
might be required to be placed in it, and would itself be carried by two or more
strong banging screw links or brackets from short axles, with double flanged
rollers running on a double set of rails at a little width apart so that the brackets
Paine 21

page_text: could pass between the rails, and the housing and gearing be traversed on the said
carrying rollers along these rails from one end of the building to the other. The
rails would be carried by hangers outside the wheels from brackets projecting out
from the wall under the eaves or near the top of the house, sufficiently above the
top windows to enable any person to get into the cage from these. A strong wire
cord would be attached to the travelling housing and gearing, and be passed round
grooved guide pulleys carried on staples or studs secured out from the wall, under
the carrying rails to the far end of the building, and then down over other pulleys
and along under the windows of the second top flat, and down again to and under
and over guide pulleys below the third uppermost flat, and so on alternately to
the lower flats of the building. So that any person at any one of the windows.in
the property could pull this rope and bring the housing and gearing over this
window and lower the cage to the window for use. Or any person getting access
to this wire from the lower houses in the street could do this, in emergency also.
This wire cord or rope though rigidly attached to the housing to pull it, is or
would be secured by a coiled or other spring to a bell alarm in the housing and
ring this before pulling the housing over the window as described, or if the person
that pulled the cord is young, elderly, or weak they need only pull the cord
sufficiently to pull the alarm and lower the cord, which would only require a force
equal to the pulling of an ordinary bell; and also release a spring bolt and door
which would lower the alack loose loop of the winding wire cord of the gearing
to the street and enable the cage to be lowered to any window desired; either from
the street or from any of the windows or from the cage as before described.
before stated the light links or chains and spars by which the cage is hung and
wound to the barrel could be used as a ladder for getting into the cage from any
window or getting up to any window from the cage even if the cage was down at
the street level. That is the arrangement can be used as a ladder without the
cage, or the cage may be used as a fire-escape and hoist without the ladder.
Although described as fitted for being traversed over any window of the whole
length of a land or building or street it may also in some cases be mounted as a
mere fire-escape and hoist over the windows of the public stair cases to the whole
land, without the traversing rail appliances.
As

page_text: 6233
Raising and Lowering People and Objects from Buildings.
:
I MURDOCH Ross, of 24, Wells Street, in the town and county of Inverness,
Engineer do hereby declare the nature of my invention and in what manner the
same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement in writing, reference being had to the accompanying Sheet
of Drawings and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :—
My said invention has reference to a new or improved general construction or
arrangement and combination of the parts of a fire-escape cage and apparatus, and
gearing for working the same, all to be fitted in the front or back, or on the
window side or sides of the houses or lands or rows of houses or other buildings;
and which will be accessible from the windows of all the different flats in the
building, and to the different people in these flats, and be always on the spot and
serviceable; unlike the portable fire-brigade machines which are frequently unable
to be got at the time required, and often cannot be applied at all as in courts
or confined spaces between the houses in cases of fire. This apparatus has also the
additional advantage of being applicable for use in repairing the windows and the
outsides of the houses or other buildings.
And in order that my said invention, and the manner of performing or carrying
the same into effect or practice may be properly understood, I have hereunto
appended a Sheet of explanatory Drawings, in which the same reference letters are
used to indicate corresponding parts in all the Figures where shown. Figures 1
and 2, are sectional end and front elevations respectively of my new or improved
fire-escape cage and traversing hoisting gearing and housing apparatus. Figure 3,
is a side elevation of a building to which my improvements in fire-escape apparatus
and actuating gearing have been applied. While Figure 4, is a similar elevation of
a building showing a modified arrangement of my improvements from that shown
in Figures 1 to 3. And Figure 5, shows enlarged elevations of swivelling brackets
in their down, and folded up, positions respectively, as used for carrying the
travelling platform in the arrangement illustrated in Figure 5.
Referring to these Drawings, the nature and novelty of my invention or improve!
ments consist all as follows:-namely, in mounting a hoisting gear, enclosed and
carried in a strong metallic housing A, preferably composed of two axes or axles a, b;
the one a having a winding barrel mounted on it with guiding flanges a¹, and a
spur wheel a on one end, actuated by a pinion 6 on the other or motive axis b,
baving a double flanged rope or grooved pulley 61 at the opposite end to the
pinion 6, with a long endless wire rope c wound two turns or so round it, when it
is a single pulley, but when this pulley is made double as shown it will require to
have half the length of the rope coiled on one pulley in the reverse direction to
the manner it is coiled on the other pulley, so that when the one pulley coils, the
other uncoils the rope c, so as to be drawn and worked from any of the windows

page_text: or from the ground or from the cage, for the raising or lowering of this as will
hereinafter be described, by the said wire rope c, when let down, as shown in
Figure 3, this rope being shown broken off in Figures 1 and 2.
The cage D is made of a light rectangular frame of angle iron with strong
bottom, and covered with wire-netting on all the sides and hung by jointed links
or it might be wire ropes with cross bars as a ladder attachment D', to the winding
barrel a¹ long enough to lower the cage D to, or raise it from the ground H¹, up to
the hoisting gearing a, b at the top of the building, where this and the cage D
would be covered in by the same portable housing A of sheet iron open below, but
arched above, to protect the whole from the effects of the weather. This housing A
is made strong enough to carry the journals and journal bearings of the axles a, b,
of the hoisting gearing, and the weight of the cage D and the persons and objects
which might be required to be placed in it, and is itself carried by two or more
strong hanging screw links or brackets A¹ from short axles A', with doubled flanged
rollers A running on a double set of rails B at a little width apart, so that the
supports A will pass between the rails B, and the housing and gearing is traversed
on the said carrying rollers A³ along these rails B from one end of the building to
the other. The rails B are carried by hangers B₁ outside the wheels A' from
brackets B projecting out from the wall under the eaves or near the top of the
house H sufficiently above the top row of windows h to enable any person to get
into the cage D from these. A strong wire cord g is attached to the travelling
housing A of the gearing a; b, and is passed round grooved guide pulleys g¹ carried
on staples or studs secured out from the wall, under the carrying rails B to
the far end of the building H, and then down over other pulleys g¹ and along
under the row of windows h¹ of the second top flat, and down again to and under
and over guide pulleys g¹ below the windows h² of the third uppermost flat, and so
on alternately to the lower flats of the building, the other end of the rope being
returned and attached to the opposite end of the housing A. So that any person
at any one of the windows h, h³, ho, h³, in the property could pull this rope g and
bring the housing A and gearing a, b, over this window and lower the cage 1 to
the window for use. Or any person getting access to this wire from the windows h³
in the lower houses in the street could do this, in emergency also. This wire cord
or rope g though rigidly attached to the housing A to pull it, would have a loose
part at its end beyond the securing knot secured to a catch or spring which
would actuate a bell alarm E, in the housing A and ring this before pulling the
housing over the window as described, or if the person that pulled the cord g is
young, elderly, or weak, they need only pull the slack of the cord g sufficiently to
ring the bell and give the alarm, and lower the cord c which would only require a
force equal to the pulling of an ordinary bell; and also release a spring bolt f and
door F which would lower the slack loose loop of the endless or long winding wire
cord c of the gearing a, b, resting on the door to the street and enable the cage D
to be lowered to any window desired; either from the street or from any of the
windows or from the cage D as before described. As before stated the light links
or chains and spars by which the cage D is hung and wound to the barrel a¹ could
be used as a ladder D¹ for getting into the cage from any window, or getting up to
any window from the cage D even if the cage was down at the street level H¹.
That is the arrangement can be used as a ladder D¹ without using the cage D, or
the cage D may be used as a fire-escape and hoist without using the hoisting chain
or wire rope D' as a ladder.
Although the housing A and gearing a, b, with its cage and hoisting ladder
D D¹, have been described as fitted for being traversed along rails B over any
window of the whole length of a land or building H or street, the ladder, gearing
and cage arrangement may also in some cases be mounted as a mere fire-escape and
hoist above and close to the windows I of the public stair cases to the whole land,
without the traversing rail appliances of the arrangement shown in Figures 1 to 3.
Figure shows an example of this modified arrangement as fitted in the centre of
the building H near the windows I of the public stair case of the whole land;

page_text: without requiring all the rails and travelling arrangements for carrying the housing
and gearing.
In this arrangement a single strong iron rod J would be secured by eye staples
to the wall of the building H' above the upper row of windows i, I, to which the
housing A of the hoisting gear a, b, would be hung by hooks or otherwise at J¹ near
the windows of the public stair, I, I, I'. A simple alarm cord d only, is here
required and shown led under all the upper rows of windows i, i, i³, for merely
giving the alarm and letting down the endless cord c to be able to lower the cage
from the street, or from any of the windows I of the public stair. In this arrange-
ment I fit a hinged sparred platform e and e¹ to joint staples e in the wall, under
the windows on each side of the ladder D¹ and fire-escape housing A a, b, so that
they can be turned up or down as shown in Figure 5, when required, and locked
by a sliding bolt when not required, which locking bolt may be disengaged by the
pulling of the alarm cord d, and can only be used when giving the alarm. Although
this hinged platform e e¹ is only shown under the upper row of windows i, it may
also be fitted under the lower rows of windows when desired. Thus access is
easily obtainable from any of the windows I, i to walk on this platform e, el, where
it is fitted and remove or unlock the ladder D¹ without the cage D from its
winding barrel a¹ of the housing, and hang it on any part of the bar J desired,
and opposite any of the windows in the land of houses, where it may be required
in cases of emergency.
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
First. The general construction, or arrangement and combination of the parts, of
apparatus fitted to. the sides of buildings, for use as a fire-escape and other pur-
poses connected with such buildings, all substantially as herein described and
distinguished in reference to Figures 1 to 3 and 4 and 5 of the accompanying
Drawings.
'
Second. The construction, or arrangement and combination of the parts of
housing and gearing A a, b, with cage D and ladder D¹ for raising and lowering.
the cage and ladder, whether used as a traversing, arrangement along the side of
the building or as a stationary arrangement, substantially as and for the purposes
herein described, in reference to and shown in Figures 1 to 3 and Figure 4 of the
accompanying Drawings.
Third. The arrangement and combination of a housing and hoisting gear A a, b,
with cage D and ladder D¹ at the side of the windows of a public stair for use as a
fire-escape, from these windows, or for the removal of the ladder to other windows,
substantially as herein described in reference to and shown in Figures 4 and 5
of the accompanying Drawings.
Fourth. The arrangement and use of an alarm wire cord or other equivalent
ranged along the rows of windows of a building or land of houses for giving an
alarm from any window in the case of fire, or letting down the winding rope of a
hoisting arrangement whether used for traversing the hoisting gearing or not,
substantially as herein described, in reference to and shown in the accompanying
Drawings.