Collapsible Escape Ladder with Deployable Guard Profiles
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing collapsible escape ladders lack safety guards to prevent users from falling, which is a regulatory requirement, and often have complex designs that are aesthetically unappealing and mechanically cumbersome.
Innovation Solution
A collapsible escape ladder design featuring elongated guard profiles that are rotatably attached to uprights, allowing them to be hidden in the closed state and extend perpendicular to the ladder plane in the open state, providing safety barriers along the ladder length, with optional safety nets to prevent falls.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If fixed escape ladders or fixed external escape stairs with railings are used, then safety guards preventing falls are provided, but the appearance of the building is disturbed and the structure is not collapsible
Solution Approach 1:
The guard profiles are designed to be movable rather than fixed, allowing them to change position between a deployed state (providing safety) and a retracted state (maintaining appearance). The guard profiles can swing between extending perpendicular to the ladder plane when deployed and lying substantially in the ladder plane when retracted, enabling the ladder to provide safety when needed while maintaining building aesthetics when not in use.
Solution Approach 2:
The guard profiles are integrated into the ladder structure by connecting them to the uprights, allowing the guards to be nested within the overall ladder assembly. When retracted, the guard profiles lie substantially in the ladder plane and can be hidden between the uprights, making the safety feature part of the compact folded structure rather than an external addition.
2Reliability
If foldable guards with additional uprights and cross members are added to collapsible escape ladders, then safety barriers are provided, but the device size when folded increases and mechanical complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The guard profiles are merged with the existing ladder structure by connecting them directly to the uprights that are already part of the collapsible ladder mechanism. This integration allows the safety feature to utilize the existing structural elements rather than requiring separate support systems, reducing overall complexity while maintaining safety functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The guard profiles employ a dynamic design that allows them to swing between deployed and retracted positions using the same hinge mechanism principle as the ladder itself. This dynamic capability enables the guards to provide safety barriers when needed while folding compactly with the ladder when not in use, avoiding the need for additional fixed structural elements.
3Reliability
If foldable guards with additional uprights and cross members are added to collapsible escape ladders, then safety barriers are provided, but the folded size of the ladder increases
Solution Approach 1:
The guard profiles are designed to nest within the space defined by the ladder uprights when retracted. By connecting the guard profiles to the existing uprights and allowing them to lie substantially in the ladder plane during retraction, the safety feature utilizes the existing structural envelope rather than expanding beyond it, maintaining a compact folded size.
4Ease of operation
If brackets on the wall to receive unfolded uprights and rungs are used, then the ladder can be deployed, but aesthetically disturbing elements are created on the building
Solution Approach 1:
The attachment brackets are extracted from visible locations and positioned at the top of the ladder structure near the escape point. This extraction removes the visually disturbing elements from the building facade while maintaining their functional role in supporting the ladder during deployment and operation.
Data Source
Figure 1a~2b
Figure 3~5
AI summary
A collapsible escape ladder (100) has a closed state wherein the rungs (103) are substantially hidden within uprights (101, 102) and an open state wherein the rungs (103) extend perpendicular to a building wall (200) between the uprights (101, 102) and the ladder (100) extends downward from an escape point to the ground. The ladder has a plurality of guards comprising a guard profile (104) connected to the uprights (110, 120) through side profiles (110, 120). In the open state, the guards are distributed along the ladder between the escape point and the ground. In some embodiments, the side profiles (110, 120) are joints or telescopic and the guard profile (104) is moved out from the ladder plane in a plane defined by the guard profile (104) and the side profiles (110, 120). In other embodiments,the guard profiles are pivoted out from the ladder plane when the ladder (100) is folded out. The guards can be disposed on the top of the ladder when it is in its closed state, and slide along guides in the uprights when the ladder is open. The embodiments can be used separately or in combination.