Patent US3739875A successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
US3739875A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Escape device
Assignee: Individual
•
Filing: 1972-01-10
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Granted: 1973-06-19
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Expires: 1992-01-10
Abstract
Abstract Device to effect controlled descent down a rope of an incapacitated person carried in a harness secured to the device. The device has a series of spaced grooved rollers on one side of the rope, the rollers being aligned in a plane containing the rope and staggered between opposing series of coplanar rollers, the rope following a sinusoidal path between both series of rollers. The rollers are coupled together to ensure equal peripheral speeds when device is moved relative to rope. Automatic brake responsive to descent speed brakes rollers to maintain predetermined descent speed. Gearing between rollers and brakes permits relatively light braking force to control a relatively heavy person. Number, size and spacing of rollers maintains sufficient arc of contact of rope on rollers to reduce slippage of rope when rollers are braked. Additional hand operated brake stops descent.
Inventors
- 👤 Padwicki W Clark
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-07 18:30
CPC Classifications
A; A62; A62B; A62B1/00; A62B1/06; A62B1/08; A62B1/10
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 15
Claim 1
Independent Claim
357 words
A device adapted to carry a person for effecting a controlled descent of a rope hanging generally vertically, the device including: a. a frame adapted to accept a portion of the rope extending therethrough and to journal rollers, b. a harness secured to the frame and adapted to carry the person, c. at least one pair of grooved rollers journalled for rotation within a common plane containing the rope, the rollers being aligned in spaced relationship on one side of the rope, each roller having a groove to accept the rope, d. synchronizing means essentially to equalize peripheral groove speeds of each roller, e. complementary means journalled for rotation within the common plane containing the rope, the complementary means being on a side of the rope remote from the grooved rollers and staggered between the rollers so as to urge the rope into frictional engagement in the grooves of the rollers to provide a total arc of contact of the rope with the roller, the total arc of contact being sufficient to reduce a tendency of the rope to slip on the rollers, f. tensioning means to tension the rope, g. a centrifugal brake responsive to speed of descent to brake the rollers against rotation, the brake having: i. a telescoping drive shaft having first and second shafts slidable axially relative to each other and mounted for rotation, a braking disc having a braking surface and being secured to the first shaft, the second shaft being coupled to the grooved rollers, ii. members connecting the upper and lower shafts, centrifugal fly weights being mounted on the members, the weights moving outwards and sliding the first and second shafts axially as the drive shaft is rotated, iii. a braking member complementary to and spaced from the braking surface when speed of descent is below preset speed, so that increase of speed of descent increases speed of rotation of the telescoping shaft of the centrifugal brake, causing the braking surface of the disc to contact the complementary braking member and to slow rotation of the disc which slowing, with negligible rope slippage, slows speed of descent down the rope.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
357 words
A device adapted to carry a person for effecting a controlled descent of a rope hanging generally vertically, the device including: a. a frame adapted to accept a portion of the rope extending therethrough and to journal rollers, b. a harness secured to the frame and adapted to carry the person, c. at least one pair of grooved rollers journalled for rotation within a common plane containing the rope, the rollers being aligned in spaced relationship on one side of the rope, each roller having a groove to accept the rope, d. synchronizing means essentially to equalize peripheral groove speeds of each roller, e. complementary means journalled for rotation within the common plane containing the rope, the complementary means being on a side of the rope remote from the grooved rollers and staggered between the rollers so as to urge the rope into frictional engagement in the grooves of the rollers to provide a total arc of contact of the rope with the roller, the total arc of contact being sufficient to reduce a tendency of the rope to slip on the rollers, f. tensioning means to tension the rope, g. a centrifugal brake responsive to speed of descent to brake the rollers against rotation, the brake having: i. a telescoping drive shaft having first and second shafts slidable axially relative to each other and mounted for rotation, a braking disc having a braking surface and being secured to the first shaft, the second shaft being coupled to the grooved rollers, ii. members connecting the upper and lower shafts, centrifugal fly weights being mounted on the members, the weights moving outwards and sliding the first and second shafts axially as the drive shaft is rotated, iii. a braking member complementary to and spaced from the braking surface when speed of descent is below preset speed, so that increase of speed of descent increases speed of rotation of the telescoping shaft of the centrifugal brake, causing the braking surface of the disc to contact the complementary braking member and to slow rotation of the disc which slowing, with negligible rope slippage, slows speed of descent down the rope.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
93 words
A device as defined in claim 1 in which the frame has: i. a longitudinal axis passing through upper and lower ends, the axis being within a longitudinal plane, the frame being divided about the longitudinal plane into left hand and right hand portions, the portions being hinged together about vertical edges so as to permit the frame to open and close to permit the rollers to enclose the rope in frictional engagement, and slots provided at the upper and lower ends of the frame to guide and provide clearance for the rope.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
46 words
A device as defined in claim 1 in which: i. the complementary means are coupled to a roller so as to have a peripheral speed equal to that of the rollers, thus equalizing speeds on both sides of the rope so as to increase braking effectiveness.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
101 words
A device as defined in claim 1 in which the complementary means includes: i. a roller having a groove adapted to accept the rope, the roller being of such a diameter relative to spacing and diameters of the grooved rollers so that, when staggered between the grooved rollers on a side of the rope remote from the grooved rollers, the complementary means is complementary to the grooved rollers forming a passage for the rope between the rollers, and an arc of contact of the rope on the rollers is maintained so as to reduce a tendency of the rope to slip.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
59 words
A device as defined in claim 11 in which the synchronizing means includes: i. spur gear teeth concentric with and adjacent the groove of the grooved rollers, ii. a synchronizing gear journalled for rotation and meshing with the gear teeth of the grooved rollers, constructed and arranged so that peripheral groove speeds of the grooved rollers are essentially equal.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
48 words
A device as defined in claim 1, wherein: i. the grooved rollers are coupled to a braking surface, and the device further includes a hand brake having: ii. a brake shoe adapted to be forced against the braking surface so as to slow rotation of the grooved rollers.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
63 words
A device as defined in claim 1 in which the tensioning means includes: i. journalled rollers straddling the rope and mounted on spring-urged arms so as to tend to swing away from the rope as the device descends the rope and to squeeze the rope and restrain the rope against movement through the tensioning means, thus applying a limited tension to the rope.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
147 words
A device as defined in claim 1, in which the braking member has: i. a brake block having a braking surface adapted to contact the braking disc, the block having a bore, ii. an arm having inner and outer ends, the inner end being hinged to the frame, the outer end being secured to the brake block, iii. a cylindrical lobe fitted in the bore of the brake block and free to rotate, iv. a shaft journalled in the frame having inner and outer ends, a handwheel secured to the outer end of the shaft and the cylindrical lobe secured eccentrically to the inner end of the shaft as a cam, constructed and arranged so that rotation of the handwheel swings the arm and moves the brake block relative to the braking disc, controlling speed of the disc by braking arising from axial movement of the disc.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
176 words
A device as claimed in claim 6, in which the hand brake includes: i. a bracket secured to the frame, the bracket having an elongated slot, ii. a brake rod slidably mounted in the elongated slot, the slot permitting axial sliding and limited lateral movement of the rod, the rod having a cam with a working surface inclined to the rod, iii. a cam follower secured relative to the frame and in engagement with the working surface of the cam, iv. the brake shoe is secured to the brake rod and positioned adjacent the braking surface coupled to the grooved roller, the braking surface being cylindrical, v. a spring extending between the rod and the frame to urge the brake shoe away from the braking surface, so that when the person moves the braking rod axially, the cam surface is urged by the cam follower, simultaneously moving the rod laterally to force the brake shoe against the cylindrical braking surface, and when the rod is released the spring releases the shoe from the cylindrical braking surface.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
35 words
A device as claimed in claim 9, in which: i. the cam follower is a roller journalled for rotation relative to the frame, the roller being in engagement with the working surface of the cam.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
34 words
A device as claimed in claim 9, wherein: i. the working surface of the cam is inclined at such an angle as to move the brake shoe essentially radially relative to the braking surface.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
20 words
A device as claimed in claim 1, wherein: i. the members connecting the upper and lower shafts are flexible strips.
Claim 14
Independent Claim
359 words
A device adapted to carry a person for effecting a controlled descent on a rope hanging generally vertically, the device including: i. a frame adapted to accept a portion of the rope extending therethrough and to journal rollers, ii. a harness secured to the frame and adapted to carry the person, iii. a first series of grooved rollers journalled for rotation within a common plane containing the rope, the rollers being aligned in spaced relationship on one side of the rope, each roller having a groove to accept the rope, iv. a similar opposing second series of aligned grooved rollers staggered relative to, and closely spaced from, the first series of rollers, grooves of each pair of opposing rollers being aligned so as to form a passage to accept the rope between staggered pairs of rollers so as to provide a suitable total arc of contact of the rope with the rollers, the total arc of contact being sufficient to reduce a tendency of the rope to slip on the rollers, v. synchronizing means essentially to equalize peripheral groove speeds of each series of rollers, vi. tensioning means to tension the rope, vii. a centrifugal brake responsive to speed of descent to brake the rollers against rotation, the brake having: i. a telescoping drive shaft having first and second shafts slidable axially relative to each other and mounted for rotation, a braking disc having a braking surface and being secured to the first shaft, the second shaft being coupled to the grooved rollers, ii. members connecting the upper and lower shafts, centrifugal fly weights being mounted on the members, the weights moving outwardly and sliding the first and second shafts axially as the drive shaft is rotated, iii. a braking member complementary to and spaced from the braking surface when speed of descent is below preset speed, so that increase of speed of descent increases speed of rotation of the telescoping shaft of the centrifugal brake, causing the braking surface of the disc to contact the complementary braking member and to slow rotation of the disc which slowing, with negligible rope slippage, slows speed of descent down the rope.
Claim 15
Independent Claim
359 words
A device adapted to carry a person for effecting a controlled descent on a rope hanging generally vertically, the device including: i. a frame adapted to accept a portion of the rope extending therethrough and to journal rollers, ii. a harness secured to the frame and adapted to carry the person, iii. a first series of grooved rollers journalled for rotation within a common plane containing the rope, the rollers being aligned in spaced relationship on one side of the rope, each roller having a groove to accept the rope, iv. a similar opposing second series of aligned grooved rollers staggered relative to, and closely spaced from, the first series of rollers, grooves of each pair of opposing rollers being aligned so as to form a passage to accept the rope between staggered pairs of rollers so as to provide a suitable total arc of contact of the rope with the rollers, the total arc of contact being sufficient to reduce a tendency of the rope to slip on the rollers, v. synchronizing means essentially to equalize peripheral groove speeds of each series of rollers, vi. tensioning means to tension the rope, vii. a centrifugal brake responsive to speed of descent to brake the rollers against rotation, the brake having: i. a telescoping drive shaft having first and second shafts slidable axially relative to each other and mounted for rotation, a braking disc having a braking surface and being secured to the first shaft, the second shaft being coupled to the grooved rollers, ii. members connecting the upper and lower shafts, centrifugal fly weights being mounted on the members, the weights moving outwardly and sliding the first and second shafts axially as the drive shaft is rotated, iii. a braking member complementary to and spaced from the braking surface when speed of descent is below preset speed, so that increase of speed of descent increases speed of rotation of the telescoping shaft of the centrifugal brake, causing the braking surface of the disc to contact the complementary braking member and to slow rotation of the disc which slowing, with negligible rope slippage, slows speed of descent down the rope.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1976-06-18 | 1976-12-18 | 1977-06-19 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1980-06-18 | 1980-12-18 | 1981-06-19 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 1984-06-18 | 1984-12-18 | 1985-06-19 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |