This -invention relates to a fire escape apparatus ,

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Many buildings must by law be provided with means

permitting escape by occupants in the event of fire

or other emergency. The traditional form of fire

escape is a stairway external of the building but

this cannot be used by those with a fear of height,

the unconscious or by invalids. Escape by such

a stairway may also be prevented by the fire

spreading to the part of the building at which it

is located. Another form of fire escape apparatus

includes a harness which is worn by a person

escaping from the building. The harness is

attached to a cable which is paid out to lower

the person wearing the harness to the ground.

Although such an apparatus does allow an unconsious

person to escape, the lowering operation must

generally be controlled by another person. The

risk also exists that the apparatus will jaiu, or

the person descending will foul an obstruction. It

is also impossible for a number of people to use

such an apparatus simultaneously.

An object of this invention is to provide a fire

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escape apparatus which is simple to construct and

to install in a building of any height, reliable in

operation, and which can be used to remove persons

who are unconscious or have such a fear of height

that they might be incapable of descending by a

conventional fire escape staircase.

According to the invention, a building incorporates

or has attached to it a channel member defining

a channel into which opens a slot formed between

flanges. Rows of staggered projections within the

channel are formed by bolts extending between the

flanges and the rear of the channel member. A

harness for supporting a person escaping in the

event of fire is suspended from a support including

a cross-piece and an upright ^' . In use, the cross

piece and upright are introduced into the channel

through the slot. A lug on the upright projects

through the slot and limits side-to-side movement

as the harness support descends under the weight

of_the person escaping. During descent, the cross-

piece co-operates x^ith the bolts to perform a stepping

movement.

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IN THE DRAWINGS:

Figure 1 is a perspective view showing the channel member in position against the wall of a building.

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the harness support,

Figure 3 is a front elevation of the channel member with the harness support in position,

Figure 4 is a section taken on the line 4-4 in Figure 3, and

Figure 5 is a view to a smaller scale of a building equipped with apparatus in accordance with the invention, the apparatus being In use.

Referringto the drawings, a multi-storey building is equipped with at least one vertically extending channel member 1 located so as to extend adjacent to a window 10 or balcony 11 each floor of the buidling. The channel member 1 may be bolted in place to the wall of an existing building or it may

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be possible for the channel member to be recessed

into the wall of a building of suitable type.

Of course, the building may incorporate several

pieces of escape apparatus in accordance with the

invention and the arrangement may be such that some

floors are served by one such apparatus, and other

floors by another. The channel member 1 may be

made from a number of sections la, lb, each of

which may consist of a "c" section rolled steel

girder ^' or it may be fabricated by bending sheet

metal to shape. The channel defined by the channel

member is of rectangular- cross-section and has

opening into it a slot 12 formed in the wider

front face of the member which faces away from the

building. The major cross-sectional dimension of

the channel (dimension "a" in Figure 4) may be

about six inches while the minor dimension ("b"

in Figure 4) may be about three-quarters of an inch.

The channel member is therefore no more obstrusive

than a drain pipe. The flanges 2 by which the slot

is- defined and the rear wall 3 of the channel member are drilled or otherwise formed with holes to

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receive two rows of bolts 4. As shown in Figures

1 and 3, the bolts In one row are staggered relative

to those In the other. The holes in the flanges are

counter-sunk to ensure that the heads of the bolt

lie flush with the front faces of the flanges. Some

of the bolts may extend beyond the rear wall 3 and

be used to secure the channel member in place.

Alternatively, other fixing means may be used for

this purpose. ^' In a modification, each bolt is

provided with a sleeve located within the channel.

The apparatus also includes at leastone harness

support 5 in the form of a "T"-shaped bar with a

cross piece 6 and an upright 7 which terminates at its

lower end in a lug or projection 8 which is adapted

to support a harness 9. In practice, a suitable

number of harness supports each with its harness

is provided on each floor of the building adjacent

to the window 10 or balcony 11 nearest to the channel

member. A suitable rack may be provided for this

purpose.

The harness support is so dimensioned that the

cross-piece may be inserted into the channel of the

channel member through the slot therein (as at "A"

in Figure 5) and the support twisted into the position

shown in Figure 3. The person intending to escape

may then don the harness (if he has not already done so) and climb out of the window or from the balcony.

In its initial position, one of the arms of the ^•

cross-piece is lodged on a bolt in one of the rows.

The weight of the person escaping causes the

harness support to swing in the direction of the

arrow in Figure 3. This movement is limited by

contact of the lug or projection 8 with the edge

of one of the flanges. The other arm of the cross-- ^•

piece comes to rest on a bolt in the other row, and

the harness support progresses down the channel

with a form of rocking motion in which the

cross-piece steps from bolt to bolt under the

weight of the person using the apparatus, as at

"B" in Figure 5. Various factors control the speed

at which the harness support descends. These include

the weight of the person escaping, the coefficient

of friction between the harness support and the •

bolts and the spacing of the bolts in each row.

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As indicated in Figure 5, the apparatus may be

used by several persons at the same time. The

overall arrangement is such that the harness support

descends at a speed less than that which could cause

injury to the person escaping when he reaches the

ground or makes contact with another person. Since

the lug or projection 8 protudes from the slot in

the channel member, very little lateral movement of this part takes place. The vertical force applied

by the weight of the person escaping is, as a result,

never directly beneath a bolt and the resulting

forces have a lateral component when the cross-piece ^'

is in contact with one of the bolts which prevents

the harness support remaining stationary. Since

the cross-piece of the harness support is sufficiently

long to prevent either end coming into line with the

slot, the cross-piece cannot escape from the channel.

The arrangement is such that the harness support

will not begin to descend until the weight of the

person escaping hangs vertically therefrom, _. I.e.

after he has jumped from the window or balcony.

In a modification, not illustrated, the bolts are

omitted and their function served by projections

on the inner face of the shorter walls of the

channel member.. In another modification, the lug 8 is adjustable relative to the upright 7 (or the

upright adjustable relative to the cross-piece) to enable the sp_eed of descent to be controlled-

Although the apparatus provided by the invention ¹

is primarily intended for use as a fire escape

apparatus, it may be used for permitting the

descent of persons in other situations or for

lowering loads generally, in which case the

channel need not be carried by a wall of a building.

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