US726708A - Fire-escape. - Google Patents

Description

o. 726,708. v I PATENTED APR; 28, .1903.

- E. P. LE GOMPTEA FIRE ESCAPE. APPLIOATION FILED JAN. 20, 1902.

H0 MODEL. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 v Subwa V 1 b flxflgwy llNiTnn STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDWVARD P. LE COMPTE, OF PARK CITY, UTAH.

FIRE-ESCAPE.

$PF GIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 726,708, dated April 28, 1903.

Application filed Tannery 2( 1902. Serial No. 90,471. (No model.) V

To ctZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known thatLEDwARn P. LE OoMP E, a citizen of the United States, residing at Park City, in the county of Summit and State of Utah, have invented certain'new and useful Improvements in Fire-Escapes, of which the following is a specification.

My invent-ion relates to fire-escapes of that type in which a ladder is provided which depends or is hung from a track or way secured to the front of a building at or near the eaves thereof and along which the ladder is intended to be drawn to bring itin front of the windows of the building; and the object thereof is to provide an extremely simple and edective apparatus of this class.

To this end the invention includes a ladder, an improved structure of rail or way along which the ladder is drawn and from which it depends, and a novel arrangement for hanging the bracket from said rail.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 shows a building in front elevation with the apparatus applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing but a fragment of the front of a building. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the upper rail, and Fig. 4 is a detail view of the bracket secured to the ladder.

In the type of apparatus shown a ladder is provided which depends from a support near the caves of abnilding in close juxtaposition to the front wall thereof, so that when it is pulled in front of a window it may readily be grasped by a person therein.

As shown herein, the ladder is indicated at A and is comprised of metal side pieces and connecting-rungs. The ladder depends from a rail or way B, intended to be secured to the front of a building at or near the eaves of the same. In the present instance this rail or way comprises a metal bar or plate having small recesses near each end thereof and a long central slot extending longitudinally thereof. To the upper end of the ladder a bracket C is secured, having rollers c journaled thereto, which run upon the upper face of the bar B. This bracket comprises a fiat plate, which passes through the slot in the bar B and is provided with two legs cl d, secured to the sides of the ladder, and a central extension e, having a pin f passing transversely through the same, which provides journals for the rollers c, which run upon the upper face of the bar B. The ladder is thus hung from the bar B so that it may be freely drawn along the same. As the bracket 0 passes through the slotin said bar and carries the rollers c, it is absolutely impossible for the ladder to become accidentally disengaged from said bar.

To steady the ladder and maintain it throughout its length in close juxtaposition to the front of the building, a set of guiderollers E are secured thereto intermediate of the length of the same, which run and are guided on an auxiliary rail E, arranged parallel to the rail B and secured to the front of the building by any suitable fastening devices.

To draw the ladder back and forth along the front of the building to bring it before the different windows therein, two sets of cables are provided. One set of cables is connected to the ladder in alinement with the axis of the wheels 0, so that as strain is placed on either rope or cable a a of this set the ladder will be drawn along freely without afiecting the perpendicular position in which it is desirable to maintain the same. The ends of the ropes or cables a a are attached to a ring or bail secured from the pin f, and they pass from this point toward the opposite sides of the building, where they are guided over pulleys b 6 located within the end recesses in the bar B, and thence they pass through guiding-eyes secured in the front of the building, their free ends extending into easy reaching distance of the ground. The members comprising the other set of ropes or cables are secured to the sides of the ladder intermediate of the length thereof, and they also extend toward the oppositesides of the building and pass through guide eyes and then depend within easy reach of the ground.

The ladder, as shown, is made of sucha length relatively to the height of the building to which the apparatus is applied that its lower end will terminate above the first story, so that it is out of the way at all times and will not obstruct the entrances to or the exits from the building.

The use of the invention is so apparent that it is not deemed necessary to describe the same.

I claim- 1. In a fire-escape, the combination with a ladder, of a horizontally-arranged supportingrail having a longitudinal slot therein and recessed at opposite ends, pulleys located in said recesses, a bracket secured to the upper end of the ladder and having a central extension passed through the slot in said rail, a pintle passed transversely through the extension, an auxiliaryguide-rail, rollers mounted upon opposite sides of said extension on the pintle, and rollers monnted'on the ladder near its lower end and movable upon the auxiliary guide-rail, substantially as described.

2. In a fire-escape, the combination with a ladder, of ahorizontally-arranged supportingrail having a longitudinal slot therein and recessed at opposite ends, pulleys located in said recesses, a bracket secured to the upper end of the ladder and having a central extension passed through the slot in said rail, a pintle passed transversel y through the extension, an auxiliary guide-rail, rollers mounted upon opposite sides of said extension on the pintle, and rollers mounted on the ladder near its lower end and movable upon the auxiliary guide-rail, a bail secured to the pintle of the upper rollers on the ladder and ropes attached to said bail and passed over said pulleys and through fixed guiding-eyes, all substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

EDWARD P. LE OOMPTE. Witnesses:

L. B. WIGHT, M. H. WIGHT.

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