Fire escape – ladder – or scaffold – Single stile – strand or pole – Flexible
Patent
1995-06-02
1998-11-24
Ramirez, Ramon O.
Fire escape, ladder, or scaffold
Single stile, strand or pole
Flexible
182 71, 188 651, A62B 120
Patent
active
058395415
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention concerns a lowering device for lowering a load along a metal band. The device comprises a brake housing which accommodates a brake mechanism having a brake shoe which acts on the metal band. This brake shoe is pressed against the metal band by a force which depends on the mass of the load.
Lowering devices of this type will particularly be used in connection with rescue equipment, where e.g. persons are to be evacuated from tall buildings and the like, e.g. in case of fire.
DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART
British patent application GB-A-2165449 and French patent application 2617050 disclose a lowering mechanism which is adapted to be attached to a rail fixed to a wall of a building. A person can hereby be evacuated along the rail by being lowered along it at a speed controlled by the brake mechanism. Rails of this type will be subject to the weather and therefore require maintenance. A person desiring such optimum safety will, when on a business trip or the like, be forced to choose his hotel in dependence on whether such a safety system has been installed. The system of these patent specifications Is thus not suitable for affording individual safety to a person.
German Offenlegungsschrift DE 2417797 discloses a lowering mechanism, where a person can be lowered by means of a cable. This cable is wound around a drum which is braked by a brake mechanism associated with the drum. The brake mechanism has a variable braking which must be set in response to the person's weight. However, it is extremely inexpedient that the braking is variable and depends on the person's weight. Persons using this type of equipment in emergencies will often be on the brink of panicking and therefore have difficulty in setting the braking correctly.
German Offenlegungsschrift DE 3922825 discloses a lowering device in which the cable has been replaced by a belt. The belt is wound on a drum, which is braked in that granular material serving to brake the rotor of the drum is interposed between said rotor of the drum and the stator of the lowering device. The braking is not load-dependent in this case either, and it is not even possible to compensate for variations in the load.
Danish published application 157172 discloses another lowering device, where a load is lowered along a belt, which is squeezed by two brake shoes. The brake shoes are mounted pivotally about an anchoring point by means of which a moment of force is transferred to the brake shoes in response to the weight of the load. The system is not useful per se, because the mounting of the brake shoes, making them movable through an arm about the anchoring point, causes the braking to be self-increasing, which in turn means that the lowering device will look unless measures are taken to counteract this.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of the invention is to provide a lowering device by means of which a load may be lowered along a flat metal band, the lowering speed of the load being essentially independent of the mess or weight of the load. Further, the lowering device is to be constructed in a mechanically simple and stable manner.
This object is achieved according to the invention by the features defined in the characterizing portion of claim 1, the load being here suspended from a wedge. The wedge converts the mass of the load to a pressure acting on the metal band through at least one brake shoe. Since the load is suspended from the lowering device, the latter will be affected by a force in proportion to the mass of the load. simultaneously, a braking force applied from the brake shoe of the lowering device acts on the metal band. Of course, this force depends on the coefficient of friction between the metal band and the brake shoes, as well as by the pressure at which the brake shoes are pressed against the metal band. Since the load is suspended from a wedge, said pressure will be equal to the pull in the-wedge multiplied by a factor which depends on the angle of the wedge. The resulting force acting on the lowering devic
REFERENCES:
patent: 3756565 (1973-09-01), Sakai
patent: 3926278 (1975-12-01), Molnar et al.
patent: 4462554 (1984-07-01), Gyoda
patent: 4588046 (1986-05-01), van der Neer
patent: 4662475 (1987-05-01), Rutschi et al.
Jensen Torben Lindhoft
Jeron Alain Francois
ERJ Management APS
Hamilla Brian J.
Ramirez Ramon O.
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