Emergency fire escape

Claim 2

Safety device for evacuating a person from a building which device comprises a box having a door in its bottom, a pulley within said box, an endless cord lying on said door and passing over said pulley, means within said box for braking the advance of said cord in at least one direction over said pulley, remotely controlled means for opening said door, and means for manually gripping said cord, said gripping means comprising a pair of jaws pivotally connected to each other, resilient means biassing said jaws apart, and gravity actuated latching means for holding said jaws in a closed position.

Claim 3

Safety device as claimed in claim 1 in which the means for braking the cord consists of rollers engaging said cord, said rollers being incapable of rotation in at least one direction, and certain of said rollers being mounted in a stationary position while others are mounted on a swinging lever which swings in response to tension on said cord.

Claim 4

Device as claimed in claim 2 in which the rollers are mounted to rotate in the opposite direction so as to permit the lifting of a burden suspended from said cord by pulling in said opposite direction.

Claim 5

Device as claimed in claim 1 in which said pulley means is provided with a large groove over which the cord is wound several times to brake its advance.

Claim 6

Device as climed in claim 4 in which the pulley is mounted to turn freely in only one direction, the number of turns of said cord over said wheel being such that the cord can slide over said pulley wheel in the opposite direction when the weight of one person is applied thereto.

Claim 7

Device as claimed in claim 4 in which said pulley is equipped with a speed regulator for regulating the speed of descent of said cord in at least one direction, said cord being wound over said wheel a sufficient number of times to prevent said cord from sliding relative to said wheel under the maximum load for which the device is designed.

Claim 8

Safety device for evacuating a person from a building which device comprises a box haVing a door in its bottom, a pulley within said box, an endless cord lying on said door and passing over said pulley, means within said box for braking the advance of said cord in at least one direction over said pulley, and remotely controlled means for opening said door, said braking means comprising several braking pulleys and a speed detecting pulley over which said cord passes, together with means for stopping or braking the various braking pulleys successively at various speeds of rotation distributed between a minimum and a maximum speed.

Claim 9

Safety device for evacuating a person from a building which device comprises a box haVing a door in its bottom, a pulley within said box, an endless cord lying on said door and passing over said pulley, means within said box for braking the advance of said cord in at least one direction over said pulley, and remotely controlled means for opening said door, said braking means comprising several braking pulleys and a speed detecting pulley over which said cord passes, together with means for stopping or braking the various braking pulleys successively at various speeds of rotation distributed between a minimum and a maximum speed.

Claim 10

Device as claimed in claim 7 in which each braking pulley comprises a groove in which the cord can slide with a certain friction and peripheral ratchet teeth in which latching means engage.

Claim 11

Device as claimed in claim 8 in which the speed detecting pulley comprises a grooved portion frictionally driven in the direction in which the cord travels and a plate fixed thereto carrying a plurality of weighted rollers mounted for radial movement thereon, said plate and rollers being encircled by three arcuate ramps concentric with said speed detecting pulley, each of said ramps being mounted for radial movement away from the pulley in response to pressure from a roller and being biassed toward the pulley, each ramp being connected to actuate a latch for preventing rotation of a braking pulley when said ramp moves away from said speed detecting pulley.

Claim 12

Device as claimed in claim 9 in which each ramp is mechanically connected to a latch.

Claim 13

Device as claimed in claim 7 which also comprises means for supporting a person from said cord, said means comprising a harness carried by said person, a clamp for gripping said cord, and an intermediate member connecting the harness to the clamp, said clamp comprising first and second jaws pivotally connected to each other, resilient means biassing said jaws apart, a latch longitudinally slidable in said first jaw and provided with a return spring biassing it in one direction, a hooked bolt carried by said latch which cooperates with an opening in the second jaw, said intermediate connecting member being pivotally attached to said first jaw and shaped as a cam to urge the latch sliding in the opposite direction to the one in which it is biassed by said spring when said intermediate member swings out of alignment with said latch.