Wall-Integrated Evacuation Ladder with Rotating Storage
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Solution Overview
Problem
High-rise buildings face challenges in evacuation during fires due to the spread of gas and smoke through elevators and stairs, existing evacuation devices are aesthetically intrusive, lack durability, and pose hazards, especially for young children and the elderly, with issues such as detachment and instability during use.
Innovation Solution
A fire and disaster evacuation apparatus that integrates into the building's outer wall, featuring a pivotable ladder system with reinforcement frames, a locking device, and a lever mechanism, allowing safe and easy evacuation without protruding from the building's exterior, and is designed to be compact and stable.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a descending life line is installed in a veranda, then evacuation can be enabled, but the device is hard to operate and causes user uneasiness due to rope swing and weight burden
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by making the ladder structure movable rather than fixed. The ladder can be rotated from a horizontal storage position to a vertical evacuation position, and the entire apparatus can be extended outward from the wall. This dynamic transformation allows the device to adapt between compact storage and functional evacuation states, resolving the contradiction between reliability and ease of operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the evacuation apparatus into multiple functional modules: a stationary frame mounted to the wall, a rotatable ladder assembly, and an extendable support structure. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently - the ladder provides stable step-by-step evacuation, the rotation mechanism enables compact storage, and the extension system ensures proper positioning, collectively resolving the operational difficulty while maintaining evacuation reliability.
2Reliability
If a floor-mounted fire evacuation device is installed on a veranda floor, then evacuation space is provided, but it harms interior aesthetics and transmits noise between floors
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the nesting principle by placing the entire evacuation apparatus within the building's outer wall thickness. The ladder and support structures are stored horizontally within the wall cavity, nested alongside the stationary frame. This nesting approach completely eliminates visual impact on interior aesthetics while maintaining full evacuation functionality, as the device only protrudes temporarily during emergency use.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the evacuation function from the interior veranda space and relocates it to the outer wall structure. By mounting the apparatus on the exterior wall surface and utilizing wall thickness for storage, the invention separates the evacuation functionality from the interior living space, eliminating both aesthetic harm and noise transmission issues while preserving reliable evacuation capability.
3Volume of moving object
If a foldable evacuation device is designed to be compact, then it can be integrated into the wall, but it may detach or bend under evacuee weight
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by designing the ladder as a rotatable structure that transitions from a compact horizontal position to a load-bearing vertical position. When vertical, the ladder aligns its full length with the gravitational load, maximizing structural efficiency. The rotation mechanism includes locking features that secure the ladder in the vertical position during evacuation, ensuring stability while maintaining compact storage capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-positioning the ladder in a horizontal orientation within the wall structure during normal conditions. This preliminary placement optimizes the use of wall thickness for storage while preparing the structure for rapid deployment. The stationary frame and mounting brackets are pre-installed to bear the full evacuee weight, ensuring structural stability is established before the evacuation sequence begins.
4Shape
If the evacuation apparatus is mounted on the outer wall, then it does not affect building exterior, but it requires integration within limited wall thickness
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies universality by designing the stationary frame to serve multiple functions simultaneously: it provides structural mounting to the wall, houses the rotation mechanism, stores the ladder horizontally, and supports the extension system. This multi-functionality reduces the number of separate components needed, simplifying integration within the wall thickness while achieving seamless exterior integration.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges the mounting structure, storage mechanism, and support system into a single integrated apparatus. The stationary frame combines wall attachment features with internal structural support, the rotation mechanism integrates with the ladder assembly, and the extension system coordinates with the overall structure. This merging reduces integration complexity by eliminating the need for separate mounting brackets, storage compartments, and support structures.
Data Source
AI summary
A fire and disaster evacuation apparatus installed in a high-rise building includes a stationary frame; a front plate; a side plate; a bottom; a locking device; and a lever part, and its width is less than a thickness of an outer wall of the building. The apparatus can be mounted integrally with an outer wall of an apartment or a building and thus it can be mounted without changing the exterior of the building. The apparatus is formed in a thin structure so that it can be mounted at any place as long as an outer wall is 160 mm or more, and is located inside a wall body so that it does not affect the exterior of the building, and so that additional power is not necessary to drive the apparatus.