GB2223260A - A support for a rope ladder - Google Patents

Abstract

A support for a rope ladder or the like adapted for use as an emergency fire escape comprises two elongate rigid arms 16 joined together at least at one end 16b thereof by a rigid transverse member 18 having associated attachment means 25 for securing the arms fixedly to a window or like opening with the arms 16 projecting through the opening, and means for attaching one end of a rope ladder 20 to the said one ends 16b of the arms or to the said member 18 to suspend the rope ladder (19) spaced from the wall. In an alternative embodiment, the arms 16 are straight, and extend into the room at end 16a to provide a hand-rail to assist mounting the ladder. Hook 33 receives the member 37 attached to the arms, and may have a resilient tongue to retain it. Bracket 25 may be fixed to the wall, and, if desired to the floor (at 29). To accommodate different sill heights, the upright of the bracket may be in two parts 26, 27. <IMAGE>

Description

A SUPPORT FOR A ROPE LADDER OR THE LIKE The present invention relates to a support for a rope ladder or the like.

Boarding houses, hotels and other public buildings are required by the local fire regulations to provide secondary means by which the occupants of the first or higher floors may escape in the event of a fire rendering the main staircase unusable. Experience with fires in buildings indicates that the stairwell frequently acts as a chimney drawing the hot gas combustion products upwards and acting as a primary route for the expansion of the fire. Thus, wherever in the building a fire may break out the staircase very often becomes unusable in a short space of time due to the presence of noxious gases and heat and the fire regulations consequently require occupants of higher floors to be provided with a safe alternative.

No such fire regulations are in force for domestic houses although the risk of a fire in domestic premises is probably almost as high as in public buildings and the possibility of people on the first or higher floors being trapped by the fire and unable to escape down the primary staircase is likewise almost as high in domestic premises as it is in public buildings.

Although fire services are extremely quick to respond to a call and are fully equipped with ladders, elevating platforms and the like to rescue people from first and higher floors, it nevertheless occasionally happens that either because the fire is detected too late or a firm hold on the building occurs extremely rapidly that people may suffocate or burn in upstairs rooms whilst being unable to escape.

This is particularly distressing when it applies to children since they are relatively less able to escape through windows by jumping to the ground than adults and, furthermore, since children require more sleep than adults, there is a significantly greater risk that the children may be upstairs in a bedroom when a fire breaks out simply because they spend a larger proportion of their lives there.

The present invention seeks to provide means which may enable escape from a first floor or higher window, which are unobtrusive in a normal domestic situation, which are simple enough to be used by children with a minimum of training, and which are reliable and safe to use as an emergency fire escape.

The fire regulations in force in respect of public buildings have very often resulted in a proliferation of metal fire escapes at the rear of the buildings which detrimentally affect the aesthetics of the architecture.

It is not usual for domestic buildings to be provided with such fire escapes and the provision of large metal structures alongside a building would, in any case, be aesthetically unacceptable notwithstanding the additional security which they may provide. The present invention seeks, therefore, to provide escape means which are unobtrusive when not in use, which can be stored in a condition ready for use occupying relatively little space and which can be put into operation quickly and easily.

The present invention provides such emergency escape means by enabling the use of a rope ladder. Rope ladders as such are, of course, well known, comprising two elongate flexible lines joined at intervals by rungs which may be secured to the lines in any one of a number of ways. One of the disadvantages of using a rope ladder lies in the fact that the force exerted by the feet on the rungs tends to push these away from the body so that a person on a rope ladder tends to hang slightly inclined as if suspended from an overhang. A rope ladder placed very close to a wall, therefore, with this tendency will press the feet of the user against the wall so that they will tend to be dislodged from the rungs.The present invention seeks to provide means by which a rope ladder can be brought into use at a position sufficiently spaced from an adjacent wall that this effect is minimised or eliminated altogether.

According to the present invention, therefore, a support for a rope ladder or the like adapted for use as an emergency fire escape comprises two elongate ridged arms joined together at least at one end thereof by a rigid transverse rung and having associated attachment means for securing the arms fixedly to a window or like opening with the arms projecting through the opening, and means for attaching one end of a rope ladder to the said one ends of the arms or to the rung spanning the said one ends whereby to suspend the rope ladder spaced from the wall.

The support of the present invention also makes it simpler and safer for a person to mount a rope ladder from above through an opening in a building such as a window or like opening, by providing rigid means onto which they can climb whilst gaining a footing on the upper end of the rope ladder.

Because a rope ladder is used the space required for its storage is a minimum whilst the support for the rope ladder, which may be permanently attached thereto, likewise can be stored in a minimum of space.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention the said arms of the support are spanned by a plurality of rungs along their length to form a plurality of convenient hand and foot holds whilst mounting the rope ladder.

Each arm may be substantially rectilinear or may have a curvature for a purpose which will be described in more detail hereinbelow.

The attachment to the window or like opening is preferably located at or adjacent the ends thereof opposite the said one ends so that, in use, the said one ends project through the opening to suspend the rope ladder therefrom.

The said arms of the support may be provided with means for connection to the attachment to the window which are spaced from the ends of the arms so that these ends project inwardly (and preferably also upwardly) to form effectively hand rails to facilitate mounting the support and transferring the weight of the user from the support to the rope ladder. In other words the attachment between the arms of the support and the fixed attachment of the window or like opening is located at a mid-point along the length of the arms which project in one direction from this mid-point outwardly to the rope ladder and in another direction from this mid-point inwardly to form the hand rails.

The attachment means for connecting the support to the window opening preferably comprise fixing brackets attached permanently to a wall inside the opening and cooperating interengagement means projecting from the arms of the support. Such fixing bracket may comprise an inverted U-shape attachment formed at one end of an elongate rigid strip fixed to the wall. In fact, two such strips are provided in the preferred embodiment in order to obtain symmetry in the forces exerted in use.

The fixing brackets may each be formed in two parts in order to permit adjustment for different sill heights, and may include a part which is attachable to the floor for additional security.

The fixing brackets may include resilient closure members for closing the opening through which the arm connectors pass when attaching the support to the bracket such that, in use, forces exerted on the support whilst a person is mounting onto it and transferring his or her weight from the support to the rope ladder cannot result in disengagement of the support from the attachment.

Two embodiments of the present invention will now be more particularly described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a domestic dwelling house having a first floor window with an emergency fire escape fitted and shown in use thereon; Figure 2 is a side view, in section, of the embodiment illustrated in Figure 1; and Figure 3 is a perspective view on an enlarged scale illustrating a second embodiment of the invention.

Referring first to Figures 1 and 2 the support of the present invention is generally indicated with the reference numeral 11 and is shown in Figure 1 in position on a window sill 12 of a window opening 13 in a wall 14 of a house generally indicated 15. The support 11 comprises two parallel curved arms 16, 17 each having an inner end 16A, 17A and an outer end 16B, 17B.

Spanning the two arms 16, 17 are five rungs 18 which form a secure rigid structure with the arms 16, 17 for supporting a rope ladder generally indicated 19 comprising two parallel lines 20, 21 spanned by a plurality of rope ladder rungs 22.

As can be seen in Figure 1, when a person is climbing the rope ladder, the rungs 22 on which the user's feet are placed tend to swing inwardly towards the wall 14 and this does not result in contact between the user's feet and the wall 14 since the support 11 holds the rope ladder 19 spaced from the wall 14 as shown.

The manner in which the support 11 is attached to the wall 14 through the window opening 13 is illustrated in more detail in Figure 2. As can be seen from Figure 2 the wall 14 has an inner leaf 23 and the window sill 12 has a corresponding inner sill 24.

Fixed to the inner leaf 23 of the wall is a composite mounting bracket generally indicated 25 having an upper bracket part 26 and a lower bracket part 27 the latter of which has an angled foot 28 by means of which it can be secured by means of a bolt or like fixing 29 to the floor 30 on the interior of the room. The second part 27 of the bracket 25 is fixed by attachment means 31, 32 to the inner leaf 23 of the wall and the upper fixing 31 also passes through a slot (not shown) in the upper bracket part 26 whereby to allow adjustment of the height of this with respect to the floor in order to bring the upper end thereof in proper alignment with the inner window sill 24.

The upper end of the upper part 26 of the fixing bracket 25 is provided with a generally U-shape hook portion 33 the free end 34 of which is engaged by a flexible closure blade 35 biased by a spring 36 into engagement with the inner face of the free end 34 of the hook 33.

Although only one such bracket is illustrated in Figure 2 it will be appreciated that two such brackets spaced by slightly less than the width of the support 11 may be secured to the inner leaf 23 of the wall 14. The hook or hooks 33 are engaged by a transverse rung 37 which is suspended by two finger 38 from the inner end 16A of the arm 16 (and correspondingly from the inner end 17A of the arm 17 which, however, is not visible in Figure 2) and can be engaged in the hook 33 simply by introducing the rung 37 against the open lower end adjacent the free end 34 and pressing against the blade 35 to cause this to retract allowing the rung 37 to enter the hook 33.

Once the rung 37 is passed the blade 35 the latter will spring back into the position illustrated in Figure 2 where it closes the hook 33 and prevents any escape of the rung 37 even if the support 11 should be subjected to asymmetric forces during use.

The secure fixing of the support 11 to the window sill 12 with the arms 16, 17 projecting out from the wall 14 makes a secure platform for a user to climb out from the room through the window opening 13 and to mount the rope ladder 19, the rungs 18 of the support 11 providing secure footing and hand holds whilst the body is lowered to gain a foot hold on the rungs 22.

When not in use the support 11 and rope ladder 19 can be folded into a small space and stored either adjacent the window opening over the fixing brackets 25 or at a nearby location where they are readily accessible in the event of an emergency.

In the embodiment of Figure 3 the curved arms 16, 17 of the support 11 are replaced by straight arms 46, 47 spanned by rungs 48 and having fixing lugs 49, 50 midway along their length so that each arm 46, 47 has an inner end 46A, 47A which projects as a hand rail into the room to facilitate climbing onto the window sill and out along the rungs 48.

Claims (11)

1. A support for a rope ladder or the like adapted for use as an emergency fire-escape, comprising two elongate rigid arms joined together at least at one end thereof by a rigid transverse member and having associated attachment means for securing the arms fixedly to a window or like opening with the arms projecting through the opening, and means for attaching one end of a rope ladder to the said one ends of the arms or to the rung spanning the said one ends whereby to suspend the rope ladder spaced from the wall.

2. A support for a rope ladder or the like as claimed in Claim 1, in which the arms of the support are spanned by a plurality of transverse members spaced along their length.

3. A support for a rope ladder or the like as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2, in which each said arm is substantially rectilinear.

4. A support for a rope ladder or the like as claimed in any of Claims 1 to 3, in which the attachment to the window opening is located at or adjacent the ends thereof opposite the said one ends.

5. A support for a rope ladder or the like as claimed in any preceding Claim, in which the attachment to the window or like opening is located at or adjacent the ends of the said arms opposite the said one ends so that, in use, the said one ends project through the opening to suspend the rope ladder therefrom.

6. A support for a rope ladder or the like as claimed in any of Claims 1 to 4, in which the said arms of the support are provided with means for connection to the attachment to the window or like opening spaced from tLL ends of the arms so that these ends project inwardly to form, in effect, handrails to facilitate mounting the support and transferring the weight of the user from the support to the rope ladder.

7. A support for a rope ladder or the like as claimed in any preceding Claim, in which the attachment means comprise fixing brackets attached permanently to a wall inside the said opening and cooperating inter-engagement means projecting from the arms.

8. A support for a rope ladder or the like as claimed in Claim 7, in which the fixing bracket comprises an inverted U-shape attachment formed at one end of an elongate rigid strip fixable to a wall.

9. A support for a rope ladder or the like as claimed in Claim 7 or Claim 8, in which the or each said fixing bracket is formed in two parts whereby to permit adjustment thereof for sill height, and in which a part thereof is attachable to the floor for additional security.

10. A support for a rope ladder or the like as claimed in any of Claims 7 to 9, in which the said fixing brackets include resilient closure means operable to close the opening through which the arm connectors pass when attaching a support to the bracket such that, in use, forces exerted on the support whilst a person is mounting onto it and transferring his or her weight from the support to the rope ladder cannot result in disengagement of the support from the attachment.

11. A support for a rope ladder or the like substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to, and as shown in, the accompanying drawings.