Apparatus for exterior evacuation from buildings

Abstract

An apparatus for safely evacuating a person from a multistory building by enabling the person to exit from the interior of the building to the outside very quickly and to descend to the ground or lower surface alongside the exterior of the building sufficiently slowly to land injury-free, the apparatus comprising a housing, a harness for affixing the housing to the person, a cable of predetermined length within the housing, having a free-end with a securing member for affixing it to an anchorage proximate the descent point, and having an energy dissipating mechanism within the housing driven by the playout of the cable as the person descends, having the characteristic that the slope of the rate of energy dissipated exceeds the slope of the rate of potential energy released as a function of descent speed at their point of intersection, and the characteristic that the intersection occurs at the sufficiently slow descent speed without the person's control.

Description

[0001] Cross References to Related Applications [0002] This application requests Provisional Application Nos. 60 / 449,125, filed February 21, 2003, Provisional Application No. 60 / 468,845, filed May 8, 2003, and Provisional Application No. 60 / 492,398, filed August 4, 2003 priority. Background technique [0003] The September 11, 2001, disaster at the World Trade Center in New York raised concerns about stairways that were inaccessible, unusable, overcrowded, smoky, blocked, or otherwise unsafe during a fire or other life-threatening emergency. The need to provide a means for the rapid and safe evacuation of large numbers of persons along the exterior of tall buildings has been highlighted. [0004] Fires in high-rise office buildings and hotels often trap people on the upper floors, putting them in danger of inhaling smoke, carbon monoxide, and flames or causing their death (nearly in the case of the World Trade Center (WTC) disaster). 200 people died this way). Therefore,...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

However, said use requires training and skill and is not practical at very high altitudes

Although automatic type equipment can be used by untrained persons, such equipment is heavier and more expensive

Therefore, the rope or cable is typically released at the exit point, often at a speed that is too fast for a safe descent along the outside of the building, and too slow for rescue of a few hundred people fleeing, because each controller once only one person can be lowered

Images