US116659A - Improvement in fire-escapes - Google Patents

Description

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EZRA ALE, OF CLEARFIELD, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOE TO HIMSELF ANI) J. BLAKE WALTERS, OF SAME PLAGE.

IMPROVEMENT IN FIREESCAPES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 116,659, dated July 4, 1871.

To all whom it mayV concern:

Be it known that I, EZRA ALE, of the city and county of Clearfield, in the State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and Improved Fire- Escape; andv I do hereby declare that the following is a full clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawing formin g a part of this specification.

This invention consists in a iiexible ladder of iron or other metal, arranged so that when not in use it is concealed within the lower box-like portion ofthe window-casing or wit-hin box provided therefor below the window within th e l iouse, one end of the said ladder being iirmly secured within the said box or casing and the other hav-. ing attached to it a block which serves as a cover or lid to the opening provided in the top of said box or casing for inserting the ladderl thereinto, and which, on being withdrawn from the said opening and thrown out of the window, extends the ladder on the exterior of the building. The said cover is also furnished with means of securing it readily to some distant support to forni a bridge over which the inmates oi' the house might pass when it would be impracticable, on account of iire below it, to drop the ladder to the street.

In the accompanying drawing, Figure 1 is a central vertical section of a portion of the front of a house, showing my fire-escape applied, and representing it both in use and in place in the window-casing. Fig. 2 is a front view of the same; and Fig. 3 is a plan of the same, showing the fire-escape extended to form a bridge.

Similar letters of reference indicate correspoiiding parts in all the iigures.

A represents a section of a portion of the front of a house, and B the window-casing, the lower portion of which below the sills c et is of the ordinary construction, forming a box, B', and has a longitudinal opening, e, in its top, fitted with a block, C, which serves as a cover. This block has secured to it a ring-bolt, G. D D are two chains, which form the sides of the iiexible ladder, made ot' iron or other suitable metal, and each secured at one end to one of two sta-ples7 b b, provided therefor in the interior of the said lower box-like portion oi' the wimlow-casing, and connected at regular intervals throughout their length with metal rods, which forni rungs or stretchers E E. The other ends of the said chains are secured to the under side of the block C, and are provided near their ends with hooks F F.

The tireescape thus constructed is out oi sight when not in use, and the greatadvantages which it possesses over those now in use are, itis always j ust where it is wanted, can be operated by any one, and can be applied to any window without disiiguring it.

In ordinary cases all that is necessary to render the iireescape operative is to lift out the block or cover C and allow it to drop out of the window down to the ground, and so carry the lowerl ends of the chains with it and extend the ladder; but in some cases, when a iire is raging below the room from which it is desirable to escape, and descent therefrom prevented, the tireescape may be dropped from the window as beibre--ibr, being constructed wholly of metal, it will not be burned-and a rope may be attached to the ring-bolt Gr provided on the block C, and that end ot' the tire-escape raised and hooked to an opposite house or other suitable support by means of the hooks F F provided on the block, and be thereby made to form a bridge on which' boards may be placed for the escape of inmates of the room. Flexible wire rope might be substituted for the chains I) D.

What I. claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The combination of the tlexible metal ladder, the box B within the wiiulow-casing or room, and the cover or block C, substantially as and for the purpose herein described.

EZRA ALE.

Titn esses WM. RADEBAUGi-I, D. Anims, Jr.

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