Improvements in Appliances for Giving Alarms and Facilitating the Escape of Persons from Houses when on Fire.
Year: 1895

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Appliances for Giving Alarms and Facilitating
the Escape of Persons from Houses when on Fire.
1, ALFRED GEORGE BESSEMER Junior, of 27 Killieser Avenue, Streatham
Hill, in the County of Surrey, Electrical Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of
this invention to be as follows:-
The object of this invention is to provide a safe and easy means of escape from
the upper floors of dwelling houses, when such houses are on fire, and when escape
by the stairway is no longer safe or possible. For this purpose I construct an
apparatus for sounding an alarm of fire in combination with a pair of fireproof
doors which are inserted or built into the party wall of two adjoining houses or the
external walls. I make such doors very much smaller than the doors usually
employed in dwelling houses, and I prefer that the sill or lower part of the opening
of such doors should be several inches above the level of the floor.
The door frame is preferably of cast iron or steel in cross section somewhat
resembling the letter L, the longer limb of which is bricked into the wall, while
the external surface of the shorter limb is flush with the external surface of the
wall. Into this frame I fit by preference a steel door, consisting of a simple flat
plate of rolled steel about three eighths of an inch in thickness; this door is held
in position by a pair of massive hinges and is securely fastened by two stout sliding
bolts or other suitable external fastenings. The door is also provided with an
external handle for the purpose of opening it when necessary and also with an
internal handle for the purpose of closing it by any person who has passed through,
the door being kept closed by a powerful spring acting on an inclined stud, and
keeping it securely closed until sufficient force is applied to the external handle,
when the spring fastening will yield and allow the door to be again opened.
In order to render such door fireproof I fit up one or more iron or steel plates at
a small distance apart from each other, or I use a thick slab of slate, artificial stone
or other fire resisting bad conductor of heat, or I use a flat iron or steel box filled
with such matters as have heretofore been successfully used in fireproof iron safe-,
either of which plates, slabs or boxes may be placed an inch or more from the inner
surface of the steel doors, and attached thereto by studs; or in preference to these
I employ a compound fire resisting plate placed at a distance of one inch or more
from the internal surface of the steel door to which it is firmly held by four studs,
placed at the same height and in the same horizontal plane with the hinges and
sliding bolts. It must be understood that the door fits into a rebate formed around
the inner angle of the door frame, and is supported against four small projections
or "chipping pieces cast on the frame, and which are on the same horizontal
plane as the hinges and bolts, so as to leave about twelve inches at both ends of the
steel door free to vibrate like the tongue of an accordion, when struck with
a hammer or knocker. The compound plate before referred to may consist of two
steel plates having a thick sheet of asbestos or other fire resisting bad conductor of
heat, inserted between them and the whole rivetted together, and which compound
plate like those before mentioned is intended to obstruct and retard the communi-
cation of heat from one outer door to the other, whenever either of them may be
ex:.osed to the action of fire.
"

page_text: A precisely similar door and door frame with its internal projecting compound
or other fireproof plate is also bricked into the party wall or external wall
precisely opposite the first named one, baving its sliding bolts or other fastenings
on the external surface so that between the two thick external steel doors there
will he two of these compound fire resisting plates each placed one inch or more
distant from their respective doors and also separated from each other by a central
air space of about six inches in breadth and extending over the entire area of the
plates, this air space will further oppose and diminish the communication of heat
from one door to the other. It must be understood that the two door frames do not
come in contact with each other in the wall, a space of about three inches being
left between them which is filled up with Portland cement or other bad conductor
of heat so as to cut off metallic conduction of heat from one door frame to the
other, the outer flanges of the door frames prevent them from being forced inward
in addition to which there are four steel boits and nuts, one at or near each outer
angle of the door frame and which bolts are inaccessible when the frames are built
into the wall thus firmly securing both of them together and preventing them from
being forced out of position. By this arrangement of parts I secure the whole
apparatus against any forcible attempt to dislodge it from the wall where it more
resembles a fireproof safe bricked into the wall than a door of communication
between two houses. By this arrangement 1 effectually prevent any interruption
to the absolute privacy of each family, for it will be observed that the sliding bolts
or other fastenings of both the steel doors are on their external surface so that
neither of the doors can be opened from the inside. Thus, if the proprietor of one
house desires it he can open his own door and look into a cavity that somewhat
resembles the interior of an empty fireproof safe but he cannot open the door of bis
neighbour because it is bolted on the other or external side; this state of things
applies equally to each householder who is wholly debarred from seeing through or
passing through such a pair of doors without the consent and active co-operation
of each other. In order to prevent such doors from being at any time used as an
unauthorised means of communication by domestic servants and others, small
adhesive labels of paper or tin foil having a special printed device thereon are to
he fastened across the joint formed by the door and its frame and which will
necessarily be torn whenever the doors are opened, and will thus afford evidence of
the fact and render the offending persons liable to fine or dismissal as may have
been agreed on. Seals may also be employed for this purpose; and, if thought
desirable, the opening of the door on either side may discharge a detonator or set
free an alarm apparatus actuated by electricity or a spring or falling weight
or other suitable means and thus give instant notice to the whole household of such
tampering with the escape doors.
In order to pass through these doors in case of fire it becomes necessary that
some simple and effective alarm apparatus should be provided so that the residents
of the house adjoining the one on fire can be at once aroused and summoned to the
rescue and requested to open the escape door on his side of the apparatus and allow
those who desire it to pass through.
"
For this purpose the outer steel doors should be rendered as sonorous as possible
by the employment of steel sufficiently carburized to be very elastic and which may
have its elasticity still further developed by "cold rolling or by tempering in
oil. On the upper part of one of the compound fireproof plates before described,
I suspend on easily fitting joints, a pair of hammers or knockers, acting in a
similar manner to an ordinary street door knocker. By suspending these knockers
on the upper part of the compound or other inner plates, the sonorous condition of
the steel door is not interfered with. These knockers each have a conical
projection or hammer head formed on the back of them which passes through
a suitable opening in the compound or other plate and thus come in direct contact
with the upper or sonorous vibrating part of the steel door, so that whenever an
alarm is to be sounded, one of the steel doors is to be unbolted and the pair
of knockers on the other door are to be made to strike a rapid and powerful

page_text: succession of blows on the steel door that still remains closed, causing a loud and
shrill sound to be heard throughout the neighbouring house, and thus summonsing
the neighbours to open their door and rescue those in danger.
In combination with or in lieu of the knockers any other suitable means of
giving an alarm may be used and I prefer that the apparatus to be employed for
this purpose should be always kept in the space between the two fire-proof steel
doors so as always to be ready for use.
It must be understood that each of the compound or other plates are provided in
like manner with a pair of knockers, hence the means of raising an alarm of fire, is
always at hand in readiness for immediate use and it will be understood that
these compound or other plates, and the two sets of knockers attached to them,
move out of the doorway whenever both steel doors are opened, and thus leave a
clear and unobstructed opening for persons to pass through and here I would
remark that I deem it advisable that no sort of internal bolts or other permanent
fastenings to the doors should be provided in order to prevent either party from
rendering his neighbour's door incapable of being opened from the outside.
Dated this 17th day of January 1895.
Improvements in Appliances for Giving Alarms and Facilitating
the Escape of Persons from Houses when on Fire.
I, ALFRED GEORGE BESSEMER Junior, of 27 Killieser Avenue, Streatham
Hill, in the County of Surrey, Electrical Engineer, 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 :-
The object of this invention is to provide a safe and easy means of escape from
the upper floors of dwelling houses, when such houses are on fire, and when escape
by the stairway is no longer safe or possible. For this purpose 1 construct an
apparatus for sounding an alarm of fire in combination with a pair of fireproof
doors which are inserted or built into the party wall of two adjoining houses or
into the external walls. I make such doors very much smaller than the doors
usually employed in dwelling houses, and I prefer that the sill or lower part of the
opening of such doors should be several inches above the level of the floor.
As such position of the doors would prevent the flow of any water that may
accumulate on the floor from the use of fire engines, from flowing beneath the said
doors into the adjoining premises. In most cases it will be found desirable to
make the sills of such doors from twelve to eighteen inches above the floor level
and thereby diminish the size of the doors, and consequently the size of the
opening in the wall made for their reception, while the upper part of such doors
are sufficiently above the floor level to admit the easy passage of tall persons
through them.
And in order that the general form and construction of these appliances or
apparatus may be fully understood I have hereunto annexed two sheets of
drawings A and B, on which the apparatus is represented, having letters of
reference to denote the several parts thereof wherever such parts are repeated on
either sheet of drawings, on sheet A I have given various parts of the apparatus in
detail both in section and in elevation and have also shewn two scales thereon
marked respectively E and F, thus indicating the varying size of the several
figures, and on Sheet B I have given four views in elevation of the apparatus as
permanently fixed in the wall, and in the several positions its parts will assume
when in use.
The door frame is preferably made of cast iron or steel and in cross section

page_text: somewhat resembling the letter L. In those cases where the frame is to be
inserted in a wall already built, the angles are made long enough to project beyond
the cut surface of the wall, but in new buildings the longer limb is bricked into the
wall, while the external surface of the shorter limb is flush with the external
surface of the coat of plaister covering the wall. Into this frame I fit by preference
a steel door, consisting of a simple flat plate of rolled steel about three eighths of
an inch in thickness, this door is held in position by a pair of massive hinges and
is securely fastened by two stout sliding bolts or other suitable external fastenings.
The door is also provided with an external handle C for the purpose of opening it
when necessary and also with an internal handle D for the purpose of closing it by
any person who has passed through, the door being kept closed by a powerful
spring acting on a double inclined stud or bolt and keeping it securely closed until
sufficient force is applied to the external or internal handles, when the spring
fastening will yield and allow the door to be again opened.
This double inclined stud or bolt is shewn in elevation on an enlarged scale at
Figures 5 and 6 Sheet A, and is attached by screws to the outer steel door h and
occupies the space between it, and the inner compound door V W X and is there
secure from being tampered with, the brass frame p has a circular bolt r sliding
through the raised parts *, the collars attached to the bolt has one of its sides
flattened or made D shaped so that its flat side may come in contact with the outer
steel door and prevent the bolt r from turning round, the collars is secured to the
bolt by a cross pin or screw, and serves as an abutment or stop for the strong
spiral spring t to press against, thus always tending to force its double inclined
end into the V shaped groove formed in the door frame at e* as shewn in
Figure 6 and thus keep the door firmly closed after the passage of any person
through it, but it will be understood that this automatic bolt does not of itself
prevent the reopening of the door if sufficient force is applied to the door handles
to overcome the pressure of the spring t.
In order to render such doors fireproof I fit up one or more iron or steel plates
at a small distance apart from each other, or I use a thick slab of slate, artificial
stone or other fire resisting bad conductor of heat, or I use a flat iron or steel box
filled with such matters as have heretofore been successfully used in fireproof iron
safes, either of which plates, slabs or boxes may be placed an inch or more from
the inner surface of the outer steel doors, and attached thereto by studs u, or in
preference to these I employ a compound fire resisting plate placed at a distance
of one inch or more from the internal surface of the steel door to which it is firmly
held by four studs u, placed at the same height and in the same horizontal plane
with the hinges and sliding bolts. It must be understood that the door fits into
a rebate formed around the inuer angle of the door frame, and is supported against
four small projections or "chipping pieces" cast on the frame, and which are on
the same horizontal plane as the hinges and bolts, so as to leave about twelve inches
at both ends of the steel door free to vibrate like the tongue of an accordian, when
struck with a hammer or knocker. I however prefer that the compound plate
before referred to should consist of two steel plates V and W having a thick sheet
of asbestos X or other fire resisting bad conductor of heat, inserted between them
and the whole rivetted together, and which compound plate like those before
mentioned is intended to obstruct and retard the communication of heat from one
outer door to the other, whenever either of them may be exposed to the action
of fire.
A precisely similar door and door frame with its internal projecting compound
or other fireproof plate is also bricked into the party wall or external wall
precisely opposite the first named one, having its sliding bolts or other fastenings
on the external surface so that between the two thick external steel doors there
will be two of these compound fire resisting plates each placed one inch or more
distant from their respective doors and also separated from each other by a central
air space of about five or six inches in breadth and extending over the entire area
of the plates, this air space will further oppose and diminish the communication of

page_text: beat from one door to the other. It must be understood that the two door Irames
do not come in contact with each other in the wall, a dovetailed or wedge shaped
space of about three inches in breadth being left between them which is filled up
with Portland cement or other bad conductor of heat so as to cut off metallic
conduction of heat from one door frame to the other, the outer flanges of the door
frames prevent them from being forced inward in addition to which there are four
steel bolts and nuts, one at or near each outer angle of the door frame and which
bolts are inaccessible when the frames are built into the wall thus firmly securing
both of them together and preventing them from being forced out of position. By
this arrangement of parts I secure the whole apparatus against any forcible
attempt to dislodge it from the wall where it more resembles a fireproof safe
bricked into the wall than a door of communication between two houses. By this
arrangement I effectually prevent any interruption to the absolute privacy of each
family, for it will be observed that the sliding bolts or other fastenings of both the
steel doors are on their external surface so that neither of the doors can be opened
from the inside. Thus, if the proprietor of one house desires it he can open his
own door and look into a cavity that somewhat resembles the interior of an empty
fireproof safe but he cannot open the door of his neighbour because it is bolted on
the other or external side; this state of things applies equally to each householder
who is wholly debarred from seeing through or passing through such a pair of
doors without the consent and active co-operation of each other. It is also essential
to the successful working of my invention that there shall be no bolts, bars, catches
or other means provided on the inside, or space between the two inner doors for
the purpose of fastening or preventing either of the doors from being opened, so
that the dwellers in the two adjoining houses shall not have any means by their
own individual act, of opening their neighbours door, nor shall they have any
means of closing or obstructing their neighbour from at any time opening his own
door if necessary.
The position occupied by the apparatus in the wall is shewn in Figures 1 and 3
on Sheet A, where Figure 1 is a vertical cross-section of the party or outer wall a
and b and c are sections of the floors of two rooms in the adjoining houses which
are separated by the wall a passing upward between them. Two cast-iron or steel
door-frames d and e are bricked into the wall a the outer flanges of which are
flush with the coat of plaister a* of the wall a, these frames d and e are shewn in
perspective on a smaller scale at Figure 2, Sheet A, partly bricked into a wall
in course of erection, where they are securely held in position by stay-bolts ff
near their upper ends, and by two other similar bolts near their lower ends,
hidden by the brickwork. Figure 3, Sheet A, represents a horizontal section of the
party wall a, the section passing through the apparatus on the line A B of
Figure 1. In Figures 1 and 3 the frames d and e are shewn in section, leaving a
wedge-shaped or dovetailed space shewn between them at 9 and which space
extends around each of their four sides and is filled in with Portland cement,
concrete, or other bad conductor of heat, and thus prevents direct metallic
conduction of heat from one of these frames to the other. The outer doors h
and i of the apparatus consist of two flat plates of steel preferably of about three
eighths of an inch in thickness which fit into a recess or rebate formed around the
internal edges of the door-frames d and e and are securely attached by massive
hinges kk to these frames, the outer doors h and i are provided with massive
bolts m which slide into staples n attached to the door-frame, and shewn on a larger
scale at Figure 4 on Sheet A and consist preferably of steel or malleable iron
castings and m turned and bored truly, and their sliding surfaces protected from
corrosion by electro deposition of nickel or other suitable metal, or the bolts and
frames in which they slide may be made wholly or in part of a strong copper
alloy.
l
There are two small chipping pieces or projections formed at each side on the
rebate in a horizontal line with the hinges and bolts and are for the purpose of
supporting the doors which come in contact with them, thus allowing the door

page_text: above and below these points of contact to be free of the other parts of the rebate
or recess, thus permitting the upper and lower portions of the door to vibrate
freely, and emit a loud noise when struck by a hammer or knocker; in order to
increase this effect the steel door-plate should be "cold-rolled" or tempered in oil
to render it more sonorous, The hinges kk are also preferably made of cast
nialleable-iron or steel and their rubbing-surfaces protected from corrosion by
electro deposition of nickel or other suitable metal or they may be made wholly or in
art of a strong copper alloy. In order to prevent such doors from being at any
time used as an unauthorised means of communication by domestic servants and
others, small adhesive labels of paper or tin foil having a special printed device
thereon are to be pasted or fastened across the joint formed by the door and its
frame and which will necessarily be torn whenever the doors are opened, and will
thus afford evidence of the fact and reader the offending persons liable to fine or
dismissal as may have been agreed on. To meet such an event seals may also, if
preferred, be employed for this purpose; and, if thought desirable, the act of opening
the door on either side may discharge a detonator or set free an alarm apparatus
actuated by electricity or a spring or falling weight or other suitable means and thus
give instant notice to the whole household of such tampering with the escape doors.
In order to pass through these doors in case of fire it becomes necessary that
some simple and effective alarm apparatus should be provided so that the residents
of the bouse adjoining the one on fire can be at once aroused and summoned to the
rescue and requested to open the escape door on his side of the apparatus and
allow those who desire it to pass through.
For this purpose the outer steel doors should be rendered as sonorous as possible
by the employment of steel sufficiently carburized to be very elastic and which
may have its elasticity still further developed by "cold-rolling" or by tempering
in oil. On the upper part of one of the compound fireproof plates before
described, I suspend on easily fitting joints, a pair of hammers or knockers, acting
in a similar manner to an ordinary street door knocker. By suspending these
knockers on the upper part of the compound or other inner plates, the sonorous
condition of the outer steel door is not interfered with. These knockers each
have a conical projection or hammer head formed on the back of them which
passes through a suitable opening in the compound or other plate and thus come
in direct contact with the upper or sonorous vibrating part of the steel door, so
that whenever an alarm is to be sounded, one of the steel doors is to be unbolted
and the pair of knockers on the other door are to be made to strike a rapid and
powerful succession of blows on the steel door that still remains closed, causing a
loud and shrill sound to be heard throughout the neighbouring house, and thus
summonsing the neighbours to open their door and rescue those in danger.
These hammers or knockers are shewn on an enlarged scale at Figures 7 and 8,
on Sheet A, where A represents a small brass casting, screwed to the upper part of
the inner compound plate or door, and has jointed to it the hammer B a conical
projecting part B* of which passes through an opening made in the inner door for
that purpose, and allows it to strike on the outer door h. And I prefer that there
should be a pair of such hammers suspended from each of the inner doors.
On Sheet B of the annexed drawings I have shewn four figures numbered
respectively 1, 2, 3 and 4 and where Figure represents the external appearance
of the apparatus in its normal or closed condition when bricked into the wall. In
these figures the wall a is shewn as having a skirting or dado formed in Portland
cement or other incombustible material through which the door passes.
In Figure 2 Sheet B the outer door with its inner one attached is standing open,
and shews the near side of the other inner door W with its pair of hammers B in a
convenient position for use in giving an alarm of fire, also shewing the inner
handles D and the ends of the studs u by means of which the inner doors are
securely fastened to the outer doors, and thus move with them.
Figure 3, Sheet B, shows both the double doors opened, giving a view into the
interior of an adjoining room into which any person may easily pass, and Figure 4,

page_text: Sheet B, shews a tall man in the act of passing through having one hand on the
inner door handle, in order to quickly close it after him, when the automatic spring
bolt will fall into its conical recess and retain the door safely in position, and
I would remark that owing to the bolt having an incline in two directions it
allows the door again to be opened from either side by pulling it or pushing it by
the handles made for this purpose.
When it is desired to fix such a combined alarm and escape apparatus in
the party or other walls of houses already built I prefer to make the outer flange
of the door frames wider so as to cover over the jagged opening made by cutting an
opening in an old wall, and take a firm abutment against the old brickwork
as shewn at e*, Figure 9, the space between the old brickwork and the door-frames
being filled in with Portland cement, concrete or other suitable material as shewn
at a, Figure 9. And here I would remark that in combination with or in lieu of
the knockers any other suitable means of giving an alarm may be used and I prefer
that the apparatus to be employed for this purpose should be always kept in the
space between the two fire-proof steel doors so as always to be ready for use.
It must be understood that each of the compound or other plates are provided in
like manner with a pair of knockers, hence the means of raising an alarm is always
at hand in readiness for immediate use and it will be understood that these
compound or other plates, and the two sets of knockers attached to them, move out
of the doorway whenever both steel doors are opened, and thus leave a clear and
unobstructed opening for persons to pass through and here I would further remark
that I deem it advisable that no sort of internal bolts or other permanent fastenings
to the dours should be provided in order to prevent either party from rendering his
neighbour's door incapable of being opened from the outside.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is
1. The combination of two fire proof or fire resisting doors, mounted in separate
frames fixed in the party wall of a dwelling house which doors are incapable of both
being opened from one side.
2. Doors constructed in the manner herein before described placed with the sill
or lower part of the doorway at a distance of several inches above the floor level
they are intended to connect.
3. Making doors such as are referred to in the preceding claims more sonorous
by "cold-rolling" the steel, or tempering it in oil; and also by allowing one or
both ends of such doors to be kept out of contact with their respective frames, and
thus left free to vibrate and produce a loud noise when struck with a heavy
hammer or knocker.
4. The combination with the doors referred to in the preceding claims of means
for obstructing the passage of heat from one door to the other consisting of one or
more plates of iron or steel, or one or more slabs or plates of some substance
such as slate, or of other suitable non-conductor of heat, or a shallow flat box
or boxes made of iron or steel and filled with a bad conductor of heat interposed
between the said doors, and attached to them by studs or other suitable
fastenings.
5. In the construction of the doors referred to in the preceding claims, the
employment of a compound plate or plates consisting of two steel or iron plates
with a thick sheet or stratum of asbestos or other suitable fire resisting bad
conductor of heat placed between them, the plates being rivetted together and
supported by studs projecting from the inner side of the steel doors.
6. The combination with the doors referred to in the preceding claims
of sliding bolts or other efficient fastenings attached to the external surfaces
of such doors.
7. The combination with the doors referred to in the preceding claims of
hammers or knockers attached to the doors or other movable parts of such

page_text: apparatus for the purpose of giving an alarm of fire and summonsing persons to
the rescue.
8. The combination with the doors referred to in the preceding claims of adhesive
printed paper or other labels or seals in the manner herein before described for the
purpose of showing whether the escape doors have or have not been opened.
9. Apparatus and appliances for saving life and rescuing persons from dwelling
houses when on fire and giving an alarm of fire, substantially as described and
shown in the drawings.
Dated this thith do- of Ontahan 1005