Emergency Escape Device Spiral Spring Winder Reset
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional emergency escape devices in high-rise buildings are inefficient for rapid and successive evacuation, as they require waiting for the seat belt to return to its original position and are prone to collisions due to wind or structural interference.
Innovation Solution
An emergency escape device with a descending unit that moves along a guide unit at a reduced speed, utilizing a spiral spring type winder for quick return to the original position, reducing manufacturing costs and noise generation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a conventional slow descending device with a reel and seat belt is used, then evacuees can escape safely, but multiple evacuees cannot successively escape because the seat belt must return to the original position between uses
Solution Approach 1:
The device is divided into separate functional components: a guide unit that remains fixed in the building, and a descending unit with the slowing mechanism that can be independently deployed and quickly returned. This segmentation allows the descending unit to be rapidly reset without affecting the guide unit, enabling successive evacuees to use the device immediately after the previous user completes descent.
Solution Approach 2:
A spiral spring type winder acts as an intermediary mechanism between the descending unit and the anchor point. This winder can quickly wind back the descending unit to its original position after use, serving as a mediator that enables rapid reset of the escape device without requiring manual retrieval or complex resetting procedures.
2Device complexity
If a rope is used for evacuation, then the device structure is simple, but evacuees may collide with building walls, signboards, or window frames due to wind or other causes
Solution Approach 1:
The guide unit serves as an intermediary structure between the building and the descending unit. It provides a protected, guided path for evacuation that prevents the descending unit from swaying or drifting into building walls, signboards, or window frames, while still maintaining relative structural simplicity through the use of guide rollers and a linear guide path.
3Loss of time
If the descending unit moves quickly during evacuation, then escape time is reduced, but the evacuee may collide with the ground or suffer from excessive impact force
Solution Approach 1:
The slowing mechanism uses dynamic friction control through guide rollers that contact the guide unit. This allows the descending unit to move quickly during most of the descent, then automatically increase resistance as the evacuee approaches the end of the guide unit, providing dynamic speed regulation that minimizes both escape time and impact collision risk.
Solution Approach 2:
The spiral spring type winder is pre-loaded and positioned to engage before the descending unit reaches the end of its travel. This beforehand cushioning mechanism gradually absorbs the descent momentum and provides a controlled deceleration, preventing sudden impact collision with the ground or lower structure.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables safe and rapid evacuation of multiple individuals without the need for separate devices, minimizing collisions and operational noise.
Implementation Method 1
a returning unit for returning the descending unit moved down along the guide unit to an original position
Data Source
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AI summary
An emergency escape device includes an escape hole cap fitted from above to an escape hole of a fire evacuation area of a high-rise building so as to cover an inner edge of the escape hole, a guide unit vertically installed to extend above and below the escape hole cap, a descending unit positioned below the escape hole cap and slidably attached to the guide unit in such a manner as to descend along the guide unit, a slowing unit configured to ensure that the descending unit descends along the guide unit at a reduced speed, and a returning unit for returning the descending unit descended along the guide unit to an original position. The emergency escape device may further include a locking unit for keeping the descending unit against downward movement in an upper portion of the guide unit.