Improved Means for Affording Ingress to and Egress from Rooms or other Parts of a Building, Chiefly Designed for Preventing the Spread of Fire.
Year: 1885

page_text: Improved Means for Affording Ingress to and Egress from
Rooms or other Parts of a Building, Chiefly Designed for
Preventing the Spread of Fire.
We EBENEZER STEWART, HALLEY STEWART, and RICHARD KNOWLES SPENCER,
all of 140 Leadenhall Street, in the City of London, Merchants, and JOHN DIXON
LEE, of Canal Road, Strood, in the County of Kent, Mechanic, do hereby declaro
the nature of our invention for "IMPROVED MEANS FOR AFFORDING INGRESS TO
AND EGRESS FROM ROOMS OR OTHER PARTS OF A BUILDING, CHIEFLY DESIGNED
FOR PREVENTING THE SPREAD OF FIRE" to be as follows:-
Our invention is chiefly designed to prevent the spread of fire from one room or
part of a building to another part thereof by providing means whereby ingress to
and egress from such rooms or parts of the building will be afforded without the
possibility of any passage being opened which would connect the said rooms and
thus permit the spread of fire from one room to another.
For this purpose we erect in one of the walls of a building or at the junction or
intersection of two or more walls thereof a cylindrical or other suitably shaped
casing, which casing is made with an opening in each room or space with which
it is connected. In this casing we usually provide a rotating cylindrical or other
casing having one or more apertures preferably corresponding in shape with the
apertures in the exterior casing, so that the internal casing can be entered from
one room or space and then rotated like a turnstile until its aperture or one of its
apertures coincides with an aperture in the outer casing in another room or space.
When our invention is to be applied at the point of intersection of two walls,
so that access can be had from either of four rooms to any of the remaining three
rooms, we prefer to construct the apparatus as follows, that is to say-The
external cylinder or casing is made with four apertures one in each room.
inner cylinder is made with a single aperture corresponding in shape and size with
the apertures in the outer cylinder. These apertures must be of less width than
the walls or parts of the outer casing between the apertures, so that whatever be
the position of the inner cylinder, only one room at a time can be in communication
therewith. If a fire occurs in one of the said rooms, it is prevented from spreading
to any or either of the other rooms by the said inner cylinder, which fits so closely
within the outer cylinder as to prevent the passage of flames between them. To
The

page_text: afford additional security, and, in some cases, to enable us to have more than one
aperture in the inner cylinder, we provide the latter with one or more radial
partitions. The said inner cylinder is mounted on a vertical axis carried in a
suitable step or bearing so that it can be easily rotated. The said cylinders are
protected from the effects of fire at their upper and lower ends by brickwork. If
desired, the said cylinders, or the partitions, or both, are covered with asbestos or
other fire-resisting substances. The said cylinders are, in some cases, provided
with means for rotating them from the exterior as well as from the interior. And
the said partitions are, if desired, made removable to permit the conveyance of
goods from one room to another.
When our apparatus is to be erected in a wall between two rooms or spaces, the
inner cylinder is, in some cases, made with a single partition extending diametrically
across it. It may then have two apertures diamètrically opposite to each other, if
desired. Moreover in some cases, the inner cylinder may be dispensed with and
three or more radial plates or partitions be fixed on the vertical axis in suitable
relative positions.
Any suitable means are provided for admitting light to the interior of the inner
cylinder.
Improved Means for Affording Ingress to and Egress from
Rooms or other Parts of a Building, Chiefly Designed for
Preventing the Spread of Fire.
We, EBENEZER STEWART, HALLEY STEWART, and RICHARD KNOWLES SPENCER,
all of 140 Leadenhall Street, in the City of London, Merchants, and JOHN DIXON
LEE, of Canal Road, Strood, in the County of Kent, Mechanic, 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 :-
Our invention is chiefly designed for use in warehouses, factories or other
buildings to prevent the spread of fire from one room or part to another room
or part thereof; and consists essentially in the employment of a rotating door

page_text: arranged in such a manner as to avoid the possibility of any direct or open
communication being established between any of the rooms or parts, whilst
permitting ingress thereto and egress therefrom.
Our said invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which
Figure 1 is a sectional plan showing portions of four rooms with a revolving
door arranged in connection therewith.
Figure 2 is an elevation of the same.
Figure 3 is a sectional plan of the door drawn to an enlarged scale.
Figure 4 is a section on the line x, x Figure 3.
Figure 5 is a sectional plan, and
Figure 6 is an elevation showing the door as arranged in connection with two
rooms.
'
Like letters indicate corresponding parts in the several Figures of the drawing.
a, a¹, a³, a³ are portions of different rooms or spaces, ingress to, and egress from,
which are to be afforded without establishing direct or open communication
between any two of them.
For this purpose we provide at the junction of the four walls thereof a cylindrical
space b. As shown in Figure 1 this space is formed by building the walls of the
required shape; but, if desired, it may be formed by placing a cylindrical casing or
shell between the walls.
c, c', c, are openings or apertures establishing communication between the
space b and the rooms a, a¹, a², a³ respectively.
d is a metal cylinder of approximately the same diameter as the space b and
adapted to rotate therein; and e is an aperture formed in the said cylinder and
corresponding in shape with the apertures c, c', c², c³. The aperture e occupies
rather less than one eighth () of the circumference of the cylinder, and the
breadth of wall between each two apertures c, c', c c is slightly greater than the
width of the aperture in the cylinder. It therefore follows that in no position
can the aperture e establish direct or open communication between any two
apertures c, c¹, c³ or c³.
In order to pass from one room or space to another it is necessary to enter the
cylinder and then to rotate the same, like a turnstile, until its aperture coincides
with the aperture in the wall of the room to be entered; for instance, to pass from
the room a³ to the room a¹, it is first necessary to enter the cylinder through the
aperture c³, and then to rotate the cylinder until its aperture e is brought opposite
the aperture c¹ of the room a¹.
The door d is mounted on a central shaft f carried at its lower end in a step-
bearing g, and supported at its upper end by a conical centre h which is made
adjustable. The connection between the shaft f and the cylinder may consist of
radial arms, but we prefer to employ plates i, ¹, which extend from the top to
the bottom of the cylinder and form partitions therein affording additional security
against the spread of fire. These partitions are preferably provided with doors j,
or openings k, to afford access to the several chambers of the cylinder, so that in
case of fire a stream of water may be projected through holes in the cylinder into a
room or space in which a fire is raging.
These holes are provided with shutters L, as shown in Figures 3 and 4.
When the cylinder is furnished with partitions it may be provided with more
than one aperture e. This arrangement is very advantageous in some cases, as, by
opening the doors in the partitions, through cominunication may be temporarily
established between two rooms for the conveyance of goods.
If it is only desired to provide for communication between three rooms instead
of four, as shown, the aperture e may be made correspondingly wider, that is to
say, it may occupy nearly a sixth instead of only about one eighth of the
circumference of the cylinder.
In Figures 5 and 6 the door is shewn arranged between two rooms a, a¹. In
this case the door is provided with two apertures e and a partition i extending
diametrically across it, so that one aperture e is always opposite each opening c, c

page_text: in the walls of the space b, thereby obviating the necessity for turning the cylinder
until the single aperture comes opposite the desired room.
In some cases, instead of using a cylinder we use a door consisting of plates or
wings mounted upon a central shaft; the said door is arranged between the
apertures of two or more rooms or spaces as above described.
The said plates or wings are so arranged that by the rotation of the door ingress
and egress can be had to and from the different rooms, but at no point of its
rotation will its plates or wings be in such positions as to afford direct communi-
cation between two rooms or spaces.
The said doors are protected from the effects of fire at their upper and lower
ends by brick work m; and, if desired, they may be covered with asbestos or other
fire-resisting substances.
The said doors are in some cases provided with suitable means for rotating them,
either from the exterior or from the interior, or from both. If necessary, light
may be admitted to the space containing the door in any desirable manner.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what
we claim is
First. The employment, between two or more rooms or spaces, of a rotating
hollow door having one or more openings so arranged relatively to apertures in the
enclosing wall or casing, that although affording the means for ingress and egress
the said door, at no point in its rotation, will afford direct or open communication
between the said rooms or spaces.
Second. A rotating door composed of a hollow cylinder mounted upon a vertical
shaft and having an opening or openings in the same, substantially as, and for the
purpose, specified.
Third. In a rotating hollow cylinder serving as a door, the division of the space
into two or more chambers (communicating with, or separate from, each other)
substantially as, and for the purposes, set forth.
Fourth. The modified construction of the rotating door wherein the same is
composed of a number of plates or wings mounted upon a vertical shaft, and
arranged in such positions relatively to each other that the said door will permit
ingress and egress but will not afford direct or open communication between the
rooms or spaces, as above set forth.
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