New Fire Escape
A newly invented fire escape is of the type which includes a drum over which a flexible connection is passed, and which is equipped with a belt for the use of the person to be rescued. It is claimed that the appliance provides an effective and simple fire escape wherein means is provided for rotating the drum in a reverse direction after the flexible connection has been unwound so as to cause the drum to wind up the flexible connection and permit cape by a second person.

A further object is to provide improved means for controlling or governing the speed of winding up and unwinding of the drum, and to provide in this connection one means whereby the speed of unwinding may be controlled and another means whereby the speed of winding up may be controlled. The illustration shows a vertical sectional view through the casing of a fire escape and through the controllers. In it 10 designates a rectangular frame or box which may be attached to a window sill or disposed adjacent to the window or in any other position oil a building where a fire escape may be necessary. Mounted in this frame is a rotatable shaft 11 which carries upon it a drum 12 around which a steel band 13 is disposed. To the lower end of this band 13 is attached a chain 14, to which a like belt is fastened, this belt being adapted to pass around the waist of the user.
If the speed of the drum 12 when the band 13 is being unwound becomes too great, the governor 24 will be thrown outward and the brake band 27 shifted against the interior face of the brake drum 20. The contact of the brake band with the brake drum will, of course, tend to lessen the speed and as soon as the speed is lessened to a degree which will permit the inward movement of the governor the friction will be reduced so as to permit the speed to be increased.
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New Fire Escape
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It will be seen that this controller causes an even descent of the person attached to the band 13 and this controller is preferably so arranged that this descent is at a speed about equal to that of a person walking downstairs so that the person descending will not strike the ground with any such force as will tend to injure him.
When he has reached the ground, the person who has descended unhooks the belt from around his waist and then the spring 17 acts to rewind the drum 12.
In use. the metal frame or box 10 within which the mechanism is mounted or within which it is enclosed is placed in any window or door and at any desired height, depending upon the length of the metal belt 13 and the spring 17. When it is desired to use the fire escape, a like belt is passed around the waist of the person, as before remarked, and fastened to the metal belt. The speed at which the person is lowered is regulated by the governor 14, as before stated, and is about equal to the rate at which a person can walk down a stairway. The belt is unhooked on reaching the ground and the apparatus will return automatically to its initial position, the return speed being also governed by the governor mechanism enclosed within the drum 29 to thus prevent jamming.
The fire escape is the invention of Robert Wood, Sheridan, Wyo., whose application was filed May 13, 1924, serial No. 713,065. The patent was granted on July 21, 1925, its number being 1,546,771.
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