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(11) | EP 0 972 542 A1 |
| (12) | EUROPEAN PATENT APPLICATION |
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| (54) | Building emergency evacuation device |
| (57) A building emergency evacuation device includes an upright post arranged adjacent
to a building. The post has a lower end fixed to a base which is fixed to or at least
partially embedded in the ground to firmly support the post in position. The post
has a plurality of support bracket plates fixed thereto and radially extending therefrom.
The support bracket plates are arranged along a helical path around the post to support
thereon a helical chute which is sized to accommodate people to slide down therealong.
The helical chute has a plurality of access passages extending therefrom to connect
to each floor of the building so as to allow the residents of the building to get
into and thus slide down along the chute. A top member is fixed to a top end of the
post on which a plurality of water sprinklers are arranged to spray water down onto
the chute for providing protection against for example a building fire and serving
as a lubricant for helping people sliding down the chute. The chute has a plurality
of guiding rods arranged between any two successive turns of the helical chute to
prevent accidental fall-off of the people sliding down the chute. |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates generally to an emergency evacuation device for mounting to a building to help building residents evacuating from the building in an emergency situation, such as a fire, and in particular to a evacuation device having a helical escaping chute which allows residents of all floors of the building to evacuate quickly and safely.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] Buildings are provided with emergency exits to allow building residents to escape out of the building during an emergency situation, such as a fire. Most of the ways for people to escape out of the building, especially a tall building, are very inefficient, namely they does not allow a great number of people to evacuate in a very short period of time or they are not capable to help disabled people to get out of the building quickly and safely.
[0003] Thus, it is desirable to provide a building emergency evacuation device which allows a great number of people, including the disabled, to get out of a building quickly and safely in a short period of time during an emergency situation.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0004] Therefor, an object of the present invention is to provide a building emergency evacuation device which is readily accessed to residents of the building and allows a great number of people to be evacuated safely in a very short period of time so as to reduce damage human life in such an emergency situation.
[0005] Another object of the present invention is to provide a building emergency evacuation device which sprays water onto the people using such a device during a building fire so as to provide a better protection to the people against the fire.
[0006] Another object of the present invention is to provide a building emergency evacuation device which is easy to use for disabled people in escaping out of the building.
[0007] A further object of the present invention is to provide a building emergency evacuation device which takes very limited space and requires very limited maintenance.
[0008] To achieve the above objects, in accordance with the present invention, there is provided a building emergency evacuation device comprising an upright post arranged adjacent to a building. The post has a lower end fixed to a base which is fixed to or at least partially embedded in the ground to firmly support the post in position. The post can have a plurality of support bracket plates fixed thereto and radially extending therefrom. The support bracket plates are arranged along a helical path around the post to support thereon a helical chute which is sized to accommodate people to slide down therealong. The helical chute can have a plurality of access passages extending therefrom to connect to each floor of the building so as to allow the residents of the building to get into and thus slide down along the chute. A top member can be fixed to a top end of the post on which a plurality of water sprinklers are arranged to spray water down onto the chute for providing protection against for example a building fire and serving as a lubricant for helping people sliding down the chute. The chute can have a plurality of guiding rods arranged between any two successive turns of the helical chute to prevent accidental fall-off of the people sliding down the chute.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0009] The present invention will be better understood from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof, with reference to the attached drawings, wherein:
Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing a building emergency evacuation device constructed in accordance with the present invention mounted to a building;
Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the building emergency evacuation device of the present invention with the support bracket plates removed;
Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the building emergency evacuation device of the present invention with the helical chute shown in a schematic form; and
Fig. 4 is a perspective view showing people using the emergency evacuation device of the present invention to get out of a building in an emergency situation.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0010] With reference to the drawings and in particular to Fig. 1, wherein an emergency evacuation device in accordance with the present invention, generally designated with reference numeral 1, is shown mounted to a building 4 and extending from roof floor of the building to the ground for helping building residents of every floor of the building 4 to get out of the building 4 efficiently and safely during a building emergency situation, such as a fire, the emergency evacuation device of the present invention comprises an upright central post 17, see Fig. 2, arranged adjacent to the building and having a height at least corresponding to the height of the building 4 so as to substantially extend from the roof of the building 4 to the ground. The post 17 has a lower end fixed to a base 16 which is fixed to the ground by any known means, such as being at least partially embedded in the ground, so as to firmly support and hold the post 17 in the upright condition. A top shield member 11 is attached to a top end of the post 17. The top shield 11 may serve as an anchoring means for securing the top end of the post 17 to for example the roof of the building 4. The base 16 and the top shield 11 provide a firm securing of the post 17.
[0011] A helical chute 12 substantially surrounds the post 17 along a substantial length (height) of the post 17 so that each of the floors of the building 4 may has a ready access to the chute 12 via for example a connecting passage 2 which connects the chute 12 to the respective floor. With such an arrangement, the building residents of each floor has an access to the chute 12 and may get out of the building 4 quickly and safely by sliding down along the chute 12, see Fig. 4. This allows people to move down the building 4 in an efficient way so that a great number of people may be evacuated out of the building 4 in a very short period of time.
[0012] Such a chute 12 also allows the disable people or the elder people and the young children to get out of the building 4 very quickly.
[0013] The connecting passages 2 may also serve as anchoring means to secure the building emergency evacuation device 1 to the building 4. Alternatively, if desired, other anchoring means (not shown) may be used to secure the emergency evacuation device 1 to the building 4.
[0014] Further referring to Fig. 3, the emergency evacuation device 1 comprises a plurality of support bracket plates 13 fixed to the post 17 and radially extending therefrom. The bracket plate 13 are arranged along a helical path around the post 17 to be corresponding to the configuration of the helical chute 12 so as to support the helical chute 12 along the post 17.
[0015] Guiding rods 14 and 15 may be provided along inner and outer edges of the helical chute 12 and extending between two successive turns of the helical chute 12 to prevent people from accidentally falling off the chute 12 in sliding down along the chute 12 in an emergency situation. Preferably, the rods 14 and 15 are rotatably supported between any two successive turns of the helical chute 12 so as to facilitate the sliding motion of the people escaping from the building 4 and to reduce the likelihood that the extremes of people get stuck in between two adjacent rods 14 or 15 during their sliding down along the chute 12. This may be done by providing a plurality of tubular holders 18 along the inner and outer edges of the chute 12 with elongated cylindrical rods 14 and 15 rotatably received and supported therein.
[0016] Quite obviously, the emergency evacuation device 1 is preferably made of fire-proof and temperature-resistant material, such as metal for example stainless steel.
[0017] To provide a better protection to the people evacuated through the emergency evacuation device 1, especially in a fire, the top shield 11 of the emergency evacuation device 1 is provided with water supply nozzles or sprinklers 3 facing downward so that when actuated, the sprinklers 3 spray water onto the emergency evacuation device 1 and the people using the device 1. The sprayed water droplets not only help preventing the escaping people from being hurt by fire or the high temperature caused by the fire, but also provide a lubricant between the chute 12 and the people sliding down therealong.
[0018] Although the a preferred embodiment has been described to illustrate the present invention, it is apparent that changes and modifications in the specifically described embodiment can be carried out without departing from the scope of the invention which is intended to be limited only by the appended claims.
1. An emergency evacuation device adapted to be mounted to a building to evacuate residents
of at least one floor of the building in an efficient and safe manner, the emergency
evacuation device comprising an upright post having a height at least corresponding
to the floor of the building, the post having a lower end fixed to a base adapted
to be fixed to the ground to provide a firm support to the post, a helical chute surrounding
the post and supported by the post to extend to the ground for accommodating the building
residents from sliding down therealong, the helical chute having an access passage
connected to the floor of the building to allow the residents to get into the chute
for sliding down along the chute.
2. The emergency evacuation device as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the post has a top end to which a top shield is fixed.
3. The emergency evacuation device as claimed in Claim 2, wherein the top shield has a plurality of water supply nozzles for supplying water
to the chute.
4. The emergency evacuation device as claimed in Claim 2, wherein the top shield has anchoring means to be secured to the building.
5. The emergency evacuation device as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the post comprises a plurality of support bracket plates fixed thereto and
radially extending therefrom, the support bracket plates being arranged along a helical
path around the post and corresponding to the helical chute for supporting the chute
thereon.
6. The emergency evacuation device as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the chute comprises a plurality of guiding rods extending between two successive
turns of the helical chute, the guiding rods being arrnaged along an inner edge and
an outer edge of the chute for guiding and protecting the building residents sliding
down the chute.
7. The emergency evacuation device as claimed in Claim 6, wherein the guiding rods are rotatably supported between two successive turns of
the helical chute.
8. The emergency evacuation device as claimed in Claim 7, wherein the chute comprises a plurality of tubular holders disposed along the outer
edge and inner edge of the chute to rotatably receive and support the guiding rods
between the successive turns of the helical chute.
9. The emergency evacuation device as claimed in Claim 1, further comprising lubricant supply means for supplying lubricant to the chute to
facilitate the sliding movement along the chute.
10. The emergency evacuation device as claimed in Claim 9, wherein the lubricant comprises water.