WO1996032564A1

WO1996032564A1 - Emergency escape ladder assembly

Info

Publication number: WO1996032564A1
Application number: PCT/US1996/004842
Authority: WO
Inventors: Lane J. Christensen
Original assignee: Christensen Lane J
Priority date: 1995-04-10
Filing date: 1996-04-08
Publication date: 1996-10-17
Also published as: AU5388296A

Abstract

An emergency escape ladder assembly (10) is disclosed including a foldable ladder (14), a housing (18) for releasably storing and concealing the ladder (14), and a support for holding one end of the ladder (14), when the ladder (14) is used during an emergency. In accordance with one aspect of the invention, the housing (18) includes a door (54) which holds the ladder (14) within the housing (18) but may be removed to reveal the ladder (14) in the case of an emergency. The door (54) may be removed by actively removing a retaining mechanism (50) such as a dowel (66), or providing a retaining mechanism (50) which releases in the event of a fire. A plurality of stand-aways may also be provided to hold the ladder (14) a minimum distance from a wall so as to facilitate use of the ladder (14).

Description

EMERGENCY ESCAPE LADDER ASSEMBLY

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an Emergency

Escape Ladder, and in particular, to a ladder which is easily concealed and which facilitates the emergency exiting of a house or other building.

Every year thousands of homes catch fire due to a variety of causes. In many of these fires the occupants of the home are injured, with many of these injuries resulting from the nonavailability of a ladder with which the occupants of the building may exit from upper levels of the structure. The injuries may result from heat exhaustion, smoke inhalation, or may be the result of a person jumping from an upper window or ledge of the house to avoid the fire.

Regardless of the type, most of these injuries could be prevented by the ready availability of a ladder in the upper levels of the house. However, the ladders in the prior art have presented problems which have prevented their widespread use. For example, many of the prior art ladders designed for emergency escapes are expensive and are generally viewed to be too expensive for the risk involved. Other ladders are bulky and thus difficult to conceal either inside or outside of the house. Yet other ladders are heavy and awkward for small children to use in the event of an emergency. Still other ladders mount on the window-sill, but provide no support to the user as he or she crawls over the window-sill. Typically, one leg must be nearly fully extended out the window before it can rest on a rung of the ladder. In order to overcome the problems of the emergency escape ladders of the prior art, there is needed an emergency escape ladder which is easily concealed, inexpensive and easy to use for both adults and children. Additionally, the ladder should provide sufficient support for two or more people to be on the ladder at the same time, and should be made to deploy automatically if necessary.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Thus, it is an object of the present invention to provide an emergency escape ladder which is easily concealed.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an emergency escape ladder which is inexpensive.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an emergency escape ladder which is easy to use and which may be made so as to deploy automatically in the event of a fire.

It is another object of the present invention to provide such a ladder which will support the weight of several adults, but be light enough to be deployed by small children. It is yet another object of the invention to provide a mechanism for automatically spacing the ladder from a wall when it is deployed, so that a user may stand or hold on to the rungs of the ladder without having to pull the ladder away from the wall. It is still another object of the present invention to provide a ladder which will assist the user in climbing out of a window.

The above and other objects and advantages of the invention are realized in specific illustrated embodiments of an emergency escape ladder including a plurality of rungs which are connected by a durable chord or wire. A housing is also provided into which the emergency escape ladder may be folded, and then the housing concealed behind a drapery or other window covering so as to conceal the presence of the ladder. In accordance with one aspect of the invention, a single cable is used to connect all of the rungs so as to increase the weight bearing capacity of the ladder.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the single cable is connected to the rungs of the ladder in such a manner so as to avoid the necessity of cutting the cable or forming holes in the rungs.

In accordance with yet another aspect of the present invention, the ladder includes a plurality of stand-away spacers which hold the ladder a small distance away from the wall in order to ensure sufficient space for the hand or foot of a user on each rung of the ladder.

In accordance with still another aspect of the present invention, the housing is provided with a mechanism for automatically releasing the ladder held within the housing when the temperature adjacent the housing is sufficiently hot to indicate that the house is on fire.

In accordance with an additional aspect of the invention, the ladder and housing may be mounted so as to provide support for the user as he or she climbs up to and out of the window.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The above and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following detailed description presented in connection with the accompanying drawings in which: FIG. 1A shows a cut-away view of an escape ladder assembly in a folded, collapsed state, including a flexible/collapsible ladder, a housing, a back/support plate and a release mechanism in accordance with the principles of the present invention;

FIG. IB shows the escape ladder of FIG. 1A mounted above a window and disposed in an extended state and with the housing removed so as to show the back/support plate and a mounting bracket;

FIG. 2A shows an escape ladder made in accordance with the principles of the present invention mounted on a lower window-sill; FIG. 2B shows a fragmented, cross-sectional view of a ladder made in accordance with the principles of the present invention; and

FIG. 3 shows a cross-sectional view of the housing shown in FIG. 1A so as to reveal a release mechanism made in accordance with the principles of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference will now be made to the drawings in which the various elements of the present invention will be given numeral designations and in which the invention will be discussed so as to enable one skilled in the art to make and use the invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown an emergency escape ladder assembly, generally indicated at 10, including a ladder, generally indicated at 14, and a housing, generally indicated at 18.

The ladder includes a flexible cord/cable 22 which is typically made of steel, but which may be made of other durable materials able to hold a considerable amount of weight. The cable 22 attaches to a back/support plate 26 of the housing 18.

Preferably, both sides of the ladder 14 are supported by a single cable 22 which is looped around the back/support plate 26 of the housing 18 as will be discussed in additional detail with respect to the figures which follow. The cable 22 is also attached to a plurality of ladder rungs 30 which are positioned in FIG. 1A in a stacked arrangement. The ladder rungs 30 are generally cylindrical and typically made of inexpensive steel tubing. The steel tubing is easy to work with and will hold a considerable amount of weight before bending. As will be appreciated, tubing of a half inch in diameter is more than sufficient for the rungs. However, those skilled in the art will recognize that the rungs 30 could be made of other materials, i.e. other metals or of extruded thermo- resins, and could be virtually any shape. The cylindrical shape shown is chosen because of the widespread availability of such tubing, its low cost, and the ease with which such materials stack.

Additionally, each rung 30 is about twelve inches long, so as to ensure sufficient room to step on the rung while keeping the overall profile of the emergency escape ladder assembly 10 to a minimum. The cable 22 is connected to each rung 30 by a small plug which is positioned in the end of the rung so as to hold the cable. The position of the plug and how it holds the cable 22 in place is discussed in detail with respect to FIG. 2B. When the ladder 14 is in a compacted position such as that shown in FIG. 1A, the cable 22 which extends between successive rungs 30 forms loops, generally indicated at 34, which extend outwardly from the rungs. The housing 18 is generally about twenty- four inches long so as to provide about six inches of clearance on either side of the rungs 30 in which the cable loops 34 may rest .

As shown in FIG. 1A, there are twenty rungs 30 attached to the cable 22. If the dimensions discussed above are used, the dimensions of the housing 40 can be as small as seven inches by one and a half inches by 24 inches, clearly small enough to be concealed by a valence or drapery. If the rungs 30 are spaced between ten and twelve inches, the ladder 14 held within such a housing will be between fifteen and twenty feet long. Such a length will be more than adequate for lowering an individual from the uppermost window of most houses to the ground. By increasing the height of the housing to ten and one half inches, a ladder more than thirty feet can be stored conveniently out of sight. As has been mentioned previously, the housing includes a back/support plate 26 and a housing 40 attached to the back/support plate. The housing 40 does not carry any of the load when the ladder 14 is deployed. Rather, the sole purposes of the housing 40 are to hold the ladder 14 in a folded, compact position and to conceal the ladder. Both the back/support plate 26 and the housing 40 are typically made of steel. However, the back/support plate must be of a sufficient thickness and rigidity to hold the ladder 14 when people are using the same. The housing 40, in contrast, may be made of numerous different materials. If steel is used, it should be primed so as to accept paint or wall paper so that the housing 40 can be made to blend with the wall to which the emergency escape ladder assembly 10 is attached.

Also shown in FIG. 1A, is a release mechanism, generally indicated at 50, for deploying the ladder 14 in the event of an emergency. The release mechanism is formed by a housing door 54 which has an upward extending flange 58 at each end. A hole 62 is formed in each of the flanges 58 (only one being shown in FIG. 1A) and a similarly positioned hole (shown in FIG. 3) is formed in the housing 40. A small dowel 66 is positioned through the holes in the housing 40 and the holes 62 in each flange 58 of the housing door 54. A string 70 is attached to one or both of the dowels 66. In the event of an emergency in which it is desirable to deploy the ladder 14, pulling the string 70 pulls the dowel 66 out of the hole in the housing 40 and out of the hole in the flange 58. The length of the housing door 54 is shorter than the length of the housing 40 sufficiently, that removing one of the dowels 66 causes the housing door to fall due to the weight of the ladder 14. As will be discussed in more detail with respect to FIG. 3, the dowels 66 can be made to automatically release the housing door 54 in the event of a fire. Those skilled in the art will recognize that such a feature is particularly desirable if the emergency escape ladder assembly 10 is disposed in the bedroom of a young child who might panic once the fire is noticed, rather than releasing the ladder 14 and climbing to safety.

Referring now to FIG. IB, there is shown the emergency escape ladder assembly 10 in a deployed position, and with the housing removed so as to reveal the back/support plate 26. A mounting bracket 74 is attached to the wall 78 above a window 82. The mounting bracket 74 has a generally flat midsection 86 which is attached to the wall 78 by bolts (not shown) or some other retention means. At an upper end, the mounting bracket 74 curves to form a retention channel 90. A pair of retention depressions 94 are formed in the mounting bracket 74 for a purpose which will be discussed in detail with respect to FIG. 2A. A lower end of the mounting bracket also curves to form a retention channel 98. The back/support plate 26 is mounted to the mounting bracket 74 by taking an upper end 102 and sliding it into retention channel 90 sufficiently that a lower end 106 of the back/support plate will slide down into the retention channel 98. In such a position, the upper end 102 is still disposed within the retention channel 90. As will be noted, the upper end 102 is notched so that it may be placed in retention channel 90 without contacting the retention depressions 94. However, the lower end 106 of the back/support plate 26 does not have similar notches, and if inverted, would contact the retention depressions 94.

As shown in FIG. IB, a first/supported end of the cable 22 wraps behind the back/support plate 26 so that a midpoint 108 is secured thereto by one or more fasteners 110. When the ladder 14 is deployed and weight is placed thereon, the force on the back/support plate 26, and thus the mounting bracket 74, is generally straight down. This force holds the lower end 106 of the back/support plate 26 firmly in the lower retention channel 98 when a person climbs on the ladder 14.

When so deployed, the ladder 14 may be used in a variety of ways. First, if the window 82 is close to the floor (not shown) , a user of the ladder 14 need only open the window, grab hold of the ladder by the cable 22 or a rung 30 near a second/unsupported end of the ladder and push the ladder out so that the unattached end may fall to the ground. As will be appreciated, even a small child can feed the ladder 14 out of the window 82. This is in contrast to prior emergency escape ladders which had hooks which mount on the window-sill 114 or other methods of attachment. In such embodiments, the user had to lift most if not all of the ladder to properly secure the hooks. Obviously, such a ladder would be difficult for use by small children. However, in the present invention, the weight of the ladder 14 is supported by the back/support plate 26 and ultimately by the wall 78.

Once the lower end of the ladder has been pushed out of the window, the user may use an upper rung, such as 30a or 30b as a support as he or she climbs onto the window-sill. Typically, the first rung 30a of the ladder 14 will be positioned about two or three feet below the back/support plate 26, with each successive rung 30b etc. being another ten to twelve inches down. In prior escape ladders, the user was required to swing one leg out the window before the ladder provided any support . In the present invention, the user is able to maintain a grip on the ladder before exiting the window.

The ladder 14 provides additional advantages for rooms in which the window is relatively high above the floor. The user can climb the rungs 30 of the ladder 14 to reach the window-sill 114. The ladder 14 is then pushed out of the window so that it extends down an exterior of the house. Likewise, the ladder 14 can also be used for basement bedrooms . Often basement windows are positioned significantly higher than those of upper floors to prevent water from entering the basement. However, this can present a danger to young children who cannot reach the windows. By positioning the ladder 14 shown in FIG. IB above the window, the child would be able to climb up to the window and escape in the event of an emergency.

Also shown in FIG. IB are two sets of stand-aways 118. The stand-aways 118 consist of an elongated, L- shaped piece of metal or other rigid material . When the ladder 14 is deployed, the stand-aways 118 are forced into a position in which the extend generally perpendicular to the long axis of the rung 30 in a horizontal direction. The stand-aways 118 contact the wall 78 and hold the ladder a set distance away; typically two to three inches. As will be appreciated, one negative attribute of most flexible ladders is that they tend to rest against the wall. As the user climbs down the ladder, care must be taken that the ladder provides sufficient toe and hand room adjacent each rung. In their hurry to escape the burning house, many people are not careful and might fall from the ladder. To overcome this concern, some prior ladders placed permanent spacers against an outside wall to ensure hand on foot room by each rung. However, many home owners will not wish to have the spacers extending from their house and ruining its appearance. The stand-aways 118, in contrast are positioned every second or third rung 30 to ensure that the rungs do not rest against the wall . When the ladder is not in use, the stand-aways are compacted in the housing 40 so that nothing is attached to the exterior of the house which would leave unsightly marks. The stand-aways 118 also help to minimize swaying, another problem common to flexible ladders.

After the emergency which prompted the escape has passed, the ladder 14 must be compacted and returned to the housing 40. While this can be done by loading the ladder 14 into the housing 40 up through the door 54, a much easier approach is accomplished by pushing the upper end 102 of the back/support plate 26 deep into the retention channel 90 so as to lift the lower end 106 of the back/support plate out of the lower retention channel 98. Once the back/support plate 26 is free of the mounting bracket 74, the plate and the housing 40 (FIG. 1A) can be turned over and the ladder 14 reloaded from the top. This is done by pushing adjacent rungs 30 together so as to form two columns of rungs as shown in FIG. 1A. The cable 22 connecting the rungs 30 are folded into loops which extend outwardly from the rungs. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the folded ladder is much more compact and easier to conceal than ladders which are rolled about a wheel, or otherwise stored, while maintaining or exceeding the strength of prior ladders .

Once the ladder 14 is reloaded, the housing door 54 is replaced and the housing 40 is returned to an upright position. The back/support plate 26 is then replaced in the mounting bracket 74 and the ladder 14 is ready to use.

Referring now to FIG. 2A, there is shown an alternate method of using the ladder 14 shown in FIG. IB. Often it is not possible for one reason or another to mount the mounting bracket 74 to a wall above a window. When such positioning is not possible, the ladder 14 may be positioned below a window-sill 114 where it may be concealed. While lacking the advantage of a support as the user climbs out the window, the ladder assembly 10 shown in FIG. 2A has most of the other advantages of the invention as discussed above.

In mounting the ladder assembly 10, the mounting bracket 74 is attached to the window-sill 114 by two or more bolts 122. The back/support plate 26 is positioned to be held by the mounting bracket 74. However, because the housing door 54 should be disposed on the top of the housing 40, the back/support plate 26 is positioned in the mounting bracket 74 upside-down relative to the embodiment discussed above. Because the notched end 102 of the back/support plate 26 is now disposed at the bottom, and the unnotched end 106 is disposed at the top, the back/support plate cannot be mounted in the manner described above. This is due to retention depressions 94 formed in the mounting bracket 74. To overcome this, the back/support plate 26 is mounted by sliding it laterally into the channels 90 and 98. As will now be appreciated, the retention depressions 94 apply force to the unnotched end 106 of the back/support plate 26 to keep the opposing end 102 from being pulled out of the retention channel 98. If the end 102 of the back/support plate 26 were pulled from the retention channel 98, the plate would pull free of the mounting bracket 74, and nothing would hold the ladder 14. While the ladder 14 shown in FIG. 2A extends over the window-sill 114 in a similar manner as prior art escape ladders, it is much easier to use. While a child typically cannot lift the prior art ladders and mount their holding devices to the window-sill 114, it is very easy to remove the housing door (not shown) and push the ladder 14 out the window. Even a very young child can push the ladder 14 out one rung 30 at a time. Once several rungs 30 have been pushed out, their weight will assist in pulling the rest of the ladder 14 out and into position along an exterior wall of the house .

As the ladder 14 falls into place, one or more stand-aways 118 will deploy to hold the ladder away from the exterior wall. Because the stand-away 118 extends two or three inches in each direction, it does not matter in which position the ladder 14 is housed. Whether the ladder 14 drops from above the window or is pushed over the window-sill 114, the stand-aways 118 make the ladder 14 safer by ensuring adequate room to stand on or grip the ladder as the user climbs down. Unlike prior ladders, the stand-aways 118 are not mounted to the exterior and will cause minimal, if any, marking to the exterior wall. Also shown in FIG. 2A is a plug 126 which is positioned in the rung 30 for holding the cable 22 in contact with the rung. The position of the cable 22 within the rung 30 is shown in FIG. 2B. Typically the plug 126 will be made of wood or another slightly compressible material and will have two grooves 130 formed therein for receiving the cable 22. Once inside the rung 30 and beyond the plug 126, the cable 22 loops back through the other groove 130 formed in the plug 126 and on to the next rung 30. In a presently preferred embodiment, the rungs 30 are made from twelve inch long segments of half inch steel pipe. The plugs 126 are formed of wood pieces which are 5/8 of an inch in diameter and about 1 inch long. To secure the plugs 126 in the ends of the rungs 30, the ends of the rungs are cinched, i.e. pressed so as to lodge the plugs in place. While heavy cinching is preferred, even a light cinch has been found to work well. Obviously, the extent of cinching necessary will depend on the material used for the plugs.

As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the plugs 126 cause the cable 22 to assume a position extending outwardly from the rungs 30, as is shown by the loops 34 in FIG. 1A. Thus, as the rungs 30 are held together, the cable 22 extends out of the way. While this results in a longer housing, it also enables the housing to be thinner and a smaller height by enabling compact packing of the rungs 30. Once weight is placed on the rungs, i.e. by deploying the ladder, the cable 22 between each pair of rungs 30 is drawn generally taut as shown in FIG. 2B.

A ladder made in accordance with the principles of the present invention was tested for weight bearing capacity. A thousand pound weight was placed on the ladder 14 before a plug placed in a lightly cinched end of a rung pulled free. None of the heavily cinched ends showed any sign of give. Of course, even after the plug pulled free, the other rungs of the ladder were still usable due to the single cable design. Thus, several people, or even an entire family may escape a house on a single ladder made in accordance with the principles of the present invention.

Also shown in FIG. 2B is a cross-sectional view of the stand-aways 118. The stand-aways 118 have a pair of holes 140 through which the cable 22 is strung so that a portion of the cable which extends above the rung 30 is disposed through an upper hole 140a and a portion of the cable extending through the lower hole 140b extends to a lower rung. When the rungs 30 are compacted as shown in FIG. 1A, the stand-aways 118 may be disposed anywhere along the loop 34 between adjacent rungs. However, once the ladder 14 is deployed, the tension in the cable 22 causes the stand-aways 118 to be slid to a position adjacent the rung 30. The tension on the cable 22 also holds the stand-aways 118 in a generally horizontal position perpendicular to the rung 30, thereby spacing the rung from a wall. The more tension that is placed on the cable 22, the more firmly the stand-aways 118 are held perpendicular to rungs 30.

Referring now to FIG. 3, there is shown a cross- sectional view of the housing 40 and the housing door 54. As was mentioned previously, the housing door has a hole 62 in each of the flanges 58. The housing 40 is also provided with a pair of holes 150. A pair of dowels 66a and 66b are disposed to extend through the holes 62 and 150 so as to retain the housing door 54 in position. The first dowel 66a is typically made of metal, such as steel or aluminum, and it connected to a string 70. Pulling the string 70 pulls the dowel 66a out of the holes 62 and 150, and releases the housing door 54, thereby causing the ladder, not shown, to deploy into the position shown in FIG. IB.

The other dowel 66b is made of any material which melts at between about 160° Fahrenheit and 200° Fahrenheit. Typically, this will be a meltable adhesive, such as the adhesive sold by Black and Decker Corporation under the trademark "THERMOGRIP" . However, any material which melts or becomes sufficiently soft in such a temperature range is acceptable. The meltable dowel 66b acts as an automatic emergency release mechanism. When the air adjacent to the housing 40 reaches about 160

Fahrenheit, the dowel 66b softens or melts and allows the housing door 54 to drop, thereby causing the ladder to deploy.

While a threshold of about 160 degrees appears to be high, those skilled in the art will recognize that in a fire, the area adjacent the ceiling of the upper level of a house heats much more rapidly than does the area closer to the floor. Thus, within minutes the ceiling may reach several hundred degrees before the occupants start to feel the heat. By that time, the meltable dowel 66b has melted and the ladder deployed. Such an arrangement is particularly beneficial if the fire is at night, as the ladder will likely awake any occupants of the room as it deploys due to the rungs hitting against one another. In addition to holding and concealing the ladder 14 (FIGs. 1A through 2B) , the housing 40 also serves as an insulating device. In tests conducted with the meltable dowel 66b, the housing 40 heated up sufficiently to be hot to the touch. However, the ladder which was deployed once the meltable dowel released the housing door 54 was still cool to the touch. Thus, there is little risk that the user may burn himself or herself while trying to escape the burning building. The reason that the threshold is set at 160 degrees, as opposed to 120 degrees for example, is that those who live in hotter climates would have ladders deploy every time the occupant of the house left for vacation and did not properly ventilate their house. Thus, a higher threshold enables the ladder to automatically deploy in time to save a user's life, while not causing accidental deployments of the ladder. Of course, if the ladder were to be used in colder climates where 100° Fahrenheit temperatures were abnormal, a material could be used which melts or becomes sufficiently soft to release the housing door 54 at 140 degrees or even 120 degrees. The ease at which the housing door 54 falls away when either of the dowels 66a or 66b is removed (or melted) is due to the spacings 160 which are provided between the flanges 58 and the housing 40, as well as the fact that the holes 62 in the flanges 58 are larger than the holes 150 in the housing. As soon as one dowel 66a or 66b is removed, the housing door 54 slides in the direction of the removed dowel, and falls off the remaining dowel, thereby releasing the ladder.

While the discussion above indicates that dowel 66a is steel and connected to string 70, and that dowel 66b is meltable, both dowels could be made of a meltable material and attached to a string, thereby ensuring that the housing door 54 releases as soon as possible.

Thus there is disclosed an emergency escape ladder assembly. Those skilled in the art will recognize that numerous modifications may be made without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention. The appended claims are intended to cover such modifications.

Claims

CLAIMSWhat is claimed is:

1. An emergency escape ladder assembly comprising: collapsible ladder means including a plurality of rungs and a flexible cable means having a first end and a second end, the rungs being disposed between the first and second ends of the flexible cable means so as to form a ladder having a first end and a second end; housing means for holding the ladder means in a collapsed state wherein the rungs are disposed adjacent one another and the cable means extends generally outwardly from the rungs, the housing having an opening at one end thereof; anchoring/support means for coupling the housing means and the first end of the ladder means to a wall so as to enable said ladder means to support weight of a human being when in an uncollapsed position; and retainer means for selectively retaining the collapsible ladder means within the housing means.

2. The emergency escape ladder assembly of claim 1, wherein the cable means comprises a single piece of cable having a midpoint, and wherein the midpoint of the cable is attached to the anchoring/support means such that each rung attached to the cable at two points approximately equidistant from the midpoint.

3. The emergency escape ladder assembly of claim 1, wherein the anchoring/support means comprises a back/support plate which is attached to the cable means .

4. The emergency escape ladder assembly of claim 3, wherein the anchoring/support means further comprises a mounting bracket mountable to a wall.

5. The emergency escape ladder assembly of claim 4, wherein the mounting bracket is configured to enable selective entry and removal of the back/support plate from the mounting bracket, depending on the orientation of the mounting bracket.

6. The emergency escape ladder assembly of claim 1, wherein the retainer means comprises a door means disposed at the open end of the housing and a removable holding means for holding the door means in a generally closed position so as to hold the ladder means within the housing.

7. The emergency escape ladder assembly of claim 6, wherein the holding means comprises a hole formed in the housing and a dowel disposable through said hole so as to hold the door means in a closed position.

8. The emergency escape ladder assembly of claim 7, wherein the holding means further comprises a hole in the door means disposable in a position adjacent said hole in the housing such that the dowel extends through the hole in the door means and the hole in the housing.

9. The emergency escape ladder assembly of claim 7, wherein the holding means further comprises means for releasing the door means such that the ladder means may be removed from the housing.

10. The emergency escape ladder assembly of claim 9, wherein the means for releasing the door means comprises a string attached to the dowel such that pulling the string removes the dowel from the hole in the housing sufficiently to release the door means.

11. The emergency escape ladder assembly of claim 9, wherein the means for releasing the door means comprises forming the dowel of a meltable material having a melting threshold such that the presence of a temperature adjacent the housing in excess of the melting threshold causes the dowel to melt/soften sufficiently to release the door means.

12. The emergency escape ladder assembly of claim 1, wherein the ladder assembly further comprises stand-away means disposed along said ladder means for holding the ladder a predetermined distance from a wall when suspended from the housing means.

13. The emergency escape ladder assembly of claim 12, wherein the ladder means comprises at least six rungs, and wherein the stand-away means is disposed adjacent every third rung of the ladder means.

14. A method for concealing an emergency escape ladder, the method comprising:

(a) providing a ladder

(b) folding the ladder into a compact shape in which the rungs are disposed adjacent one another and such that cables supporting said rungs extend generally outward away from said rungs;

(c) positioning the folded ladder in a housing so that one end of the ladder is attached to a anchoring/support and the other end is unsupported;

(d) anchoring the housing to a wall; and (d) providing the housing with a opening for removing the ladder and a door for selectably holding the ladder within the housing, such that movement of the door allows the unsupported end of the ladder to exit the housing, while the supported end of the ladder remains within the housing.

15. The method of concealing an emergency escape ladder according to claim 14 wherein step (a) comprises providing a plurality of rungs having a diameter of less than one inch and a flexible cable for connecting the rungs so as to form a ladder, and connecting the cable to the rungs to enable the cable to fold outwardly away from the rungs so as to form a plurality of loops when the rungs are brought together.

16. The method of concealing an emergency escape ladder according to claim 14, wherein each rungs has two ends, and wherein step (a) of the method further comprises connecting the cable to rungs by holding a portion of the cable within each end of the rung with a plug so that the cable extends outwardly, generally away from the rungs when no force is placed on the cable.

17. The method of concealing an emergency escape ladder of claim 14, wherein step (d) comprises positioning the housing opening and the door at a bottom end of the housing such that when the door is moved, all of the ladder except the supported end falls from the housing.

18. The method of concealing an emergency escape ladder according to claim 17, wherein the method further comprises releasably holding the door in the opening so that the door may be opened in an emergency.

19. The method of concealing an emergency escape ladder according to claim 18, wherein the method comprises positioning a dowel adjacent the door for holding the door within the opening.

20. The method of concealing an emergency escape ladder according to claim 19, wherein the method comprises attaching a string to the dowel for removing the dowel in an emergency and allowing the door to move and the unsupported end of the ladder to fall from the housing.

21. The method of concealing an emergency escape ladder according to claim 19, wherein the method comprises providing a meltable dowel so that a fire near the housing will melt the dowel, allowing the door to move and the unsupported end of the ladder to fall from the housing.

22. An emergency escape ladder assembly comprising: collapsible ladder means including a plurality of rungs and a flexible cable means having a first end and a second end, the rungs being disposed between the first and second ends of the flexible cable means so as to form a ladder having a first end and a second end; housing means for holding the ladder means in a collapsed state wherein the rungs are disposed adjacent one another and the cable means extends generally outwardly from the rungs, the housing having an opening at one end thereof; anchoring/support means for coupling the housing means and the first end of the ladder means to a wall so as to enable said ladder means to support weight of a human being when in an uncollapsed position; retainer means for selectively retaining the collapsible ladder means within the housing means; and release means in communication with the retainer means for selectively releasing the retainer means and causing the second end of the ladder to fall from the housing.

23. The emergency escape ladder assembly of claim 22, wherein the anchoring/support means comprises a back/support plate which is attached to the cable means and a mounting bracket ountable to a wall for anchoring the back/support plate to a wall.

24. The emergency escape ladder assembly of claim 23, wherein the mounting bracket is configured to enable selective entry and removal of the back/support plate from the mounting bracket, depending on the orientation of the mounting bracket.

25. The emergency escape ladder assembly of claim 22, wherein the retainer means comprises a door means disposed at the open end of the housing and wherein the release means comprises at least one removable dowel disposed adjacent the door means for selectively holding the door in a closed position.

26. The emergency escape ladder assembly of claim 25, wherein the release means comprises a string attached to the at least one removable dowel such that pulling the string removes the dowel from adjacent the door means sufficiently to release the door means and enable the second end of the ladder to leave the housing means.

27. The emergency escape ladder assembly of claim 25, wherein the release means comprises forming the dowel of a meltable material having a melting threshold such that the presence of a temperature adjacent the housing in excess of the melting threshold causes the dowel to melt/soften sufficiently to release the door means.

28. The emergency escape ladder assembly of claim 22, wherein the ladder assembly further comprises stand-away means disposed along said ladder means for holding the ladder a predetermined distance from a wall.