GB2360060A

GB2360060A - Foldable fire escape lader stowed in housing

Info

Publication number: GB2360060A
Application number: GB0004058A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Steven Martin
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2000-02-21
Filing date: 2000-02-21
Publication date: 2001-09-12
Anticipated expiration: 2020-02-21
Also published as: GB2360060B; GB0004058D0

Abstract

An escape ladder, stowable in a housing (10), having one end attached to a wall where the means of attachment also secures the housing to the wall. Preferably the housing is fitted within the wall and includes a door (12) which is flush with the wall surface. The ladder further includes arms (20), attached to the rungs (14), which in use, space the ladder from the wall. The door of the housing may be equipped with a child-proof lock (13) and the housing may contain items such as a fire extinguisher, hammer and child's safety harness (Figure 5).

Description

2360060 1 ESCAPE LADDER This invention relates to escape ladders for use

in buildings, especially domestic buildings to enable the occupants thereof to vacate the building easily in the event of fire or other emergency.

Escape ladders, generally known as fire escapes, are already known and generally comprise a fixed, externally-mounted stairway structure with access from the or each upper floor. However, such structures are generally unsuitable for domestic dwelling houses in that they are expensive, occupy a considerable amount of external space, are unsightly and potentially provide an easy means of access for a burglar to the upper floor or floors.

From the point of view of the occupants, there is a ftirther disadvantage that it is necessary for there to be a safe pathway from the bedroom or other occupied room to the access door to the fire escape.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an escape ladder which will enable occupants of a house quickly and easily to escape through an open window to ground level.

According to one aspe:t of the invention, an escape ladder assembly comprises a box housing for mounting to a wall below a window aperture and a foldable ladder secured at one end within the housing, in which the ladder is attached to wall-engaging fastening means which also secure the housing to the wall.

Although the present invention does not exclude the use of other means for fastening the housing to the wall, the attachment of the ladder direct to wall-engaging fastening means provides for loads on the ladder, in use, to be transmitted direct to the structure of the wall rather than indirectly to the wall via the housing itself, which would be a potential source of failure. The wall-engaging fastening means preferably comprises a bolt having a head formed as a eyelet and anchored in a pre-formed cavity either by means of a mechanical expansion element or by means of a polymeric cement.

2 The box housing is preferably fitted within the wall, either to the inside or to the outside, rather than to the surface of the wall although, for use in existing houses, surface mounting may be more convenient. However, the invention is preferably for use in newly-built houses where a suitable housing-receiving recess can be provided when building the wall. The housing may have an access door which is preferably flush with the wall surface. The door may comprise a decorative finish, for example a wood facing, or may be painted so that it blends in with the room decoration.

Preferably, the housing is treated with a damp-proofing compound or is otherwise insulated to prevent penetration of damp from the outside.

The side supports of the foldable ladder may be formed from a fire-proof foldable or rollable material such as chain or alternatively may comprise a series of rigid elements connected together by foldable links, whereby the ladder is stored within the housing either in rolled or folded configuration. The rungs are preferably rigid and at least some rungs may comprise arms which in use maintain the ladder spaced apart from the external wall surface.

The box housing may optionally contain items such as a fire extinguisher, a hammer, a child's safety harness and the like and the door of the housing may be equipped with a child prooflock.

In order to deploy the escape ladder for use, the window is first opened or broken, the door of the housing is opened and the free end of the folded or rolled ladder is removed and either passed through the window aperture in the case of an internally-mounted housing or is allowed to hang directly from the housing down the outside wall in the case of an externally-mounted housing.

It will be appreciated that the length of the ladder can be chosen to suit the height of the window above the ground and that, when in the storage position, the assembly takes up little or no space up inside the room.

3 Embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:- Figure 1 is a diagrammatic perspective view of a ladder assembly according to the invention in the stored position; Figure 2 shows the ladder of Figure 1 in the deployed position in use adjacent the outside wall of a house; Figure 3 is a diagrammatic representation of a ladder assembly box mounted inside a room; Figure 4 is an outside view; and Figure 5 is another view of a box containing the ladder in the stored position.

Referring firstly to Figure 1, the apparatus consists of a box housing shown generally at 10 and consisting of a carcass 11 having a door 12 hinged thereto at one side, the door being closeable by virtue of latch mechanism 13. The carcass 11 is built into the structure of the wall, below the window, so that the door 12, when closed, lies flush with the inner surface of the wall. The carcass contains a stacked array of ladder rungs 14 joined together at their ends by chain 15, the uppermost rung 16 being attached to the wall via chain elements 17 secured to D-headed bolts 18 passed through holes formed in the side walls of the carcass, whereby expansion elements 19, on tightening the bolts, grip the surface wall of cavities pre-formed in the structure of the wall, thereby functioning not only to anchor the ladder chains 17 but also the carcass 11 to the wall.

The ladder rungs 14 have rearwardly-disposed arms 20 at respective ends and, as shown with reference to Figure 2 and with the ladder deployed through an open window, the rungs 14 are maintained spaced apart from the wall surface, thereby enabling easier use of the ladder. Optionally, the remote or distal ends of the arms have rubber ferrules or sucker pads which engage the wall surface for additional stability.

4 The carcass 11 may be suitably surrounded with a damp-proof membrane and the housing and rungs may be formed from stainless steel to prevent corrosion, although other materials could be chosen according to strength or other functional requirements. The housing could contain a fire extinguisher, a hammer, a torch or a safety harness, optionally attached to the inside of the door 12. These features are shown in Figure 5.

Claims

1. An escape ladder assembly comprising a box housing for mounting to a wall below a window aperture and a foldable ladder secured at one end within the housing, in which the ladder is attached to wall-engaging fastening means which also secure the housing to the wall.

2. An escape ladder assembly according to claim 1, in which the wallengaging fastening means comprises a bolt having a head formed as an eyelet and anchored in use in a pre-formed cavity formed in the wall.

3. An escape ladder assembly according to claim 1 or claim 2, in which the box housing is fitted within the wall.

4. An escape ladder assembly according to claim 3, in which the housing has an access door which is preferably flush with the wall surface.

5. An escape ladder assembly according to any preceding claim, in which at least some rungs comprise arms which in use with the ladder deployed against an external wall maintain the ladder spaced apart from the wall surface.

6. An escape ladder assembly according to claim 5, in which the remote or distal ends of the arms comprise ferrules or sucker-pads.

An escape ladder assembly according to any preceding claim, the box housing containing items such as a fire extinguisher, a hammer, a child's safety harness and the like.

8. An escape ladder assembly according to any preceding claim, in which the door of the housing is equipped with a child proof lock.

9. An escape ladder assembly substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.