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(11) | EP 2 478 936 A1 |
| (12) | EUROPEAN PATENT APPLICATION |
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| (54) | Evacuation system for persons |
| (57) It is described an evacuation system (30) for persons provided to be mounted at a
free end (26) of a telescopic rescue ladder set (10) of a rescue vehicle. The system
comprises a support bracket (32), a stretcher (38) supported by the support bracket
(32) and a bracket suspension (34) for pivotably mounting the support bracket (32)
at the free end (26) of the rescue ladder set (10). The bracket suspension (34) comprises
pivoting means for pivoting the support bracket (32) with respect to the rescue ladder
set (10) and for positioning the support bracket (32) horizontally in an erected working
position of the rescue ladder set (10).
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[0001] The present invention relates to an evacuation system for persons that is provided to be mounted at the free end of a telescopic rescue ladder set of a rescue vehicle.
[0002] Evacuation systems of the above kind are provided for evacuating people from the upper floors of buildings in great heights. A well-known evacuation system for this purpose is a rescue cage mounted at the top of a telescopic rescue ladder set that is supported by a rescue vehicle. Typically the rescue ladder is provided as a turnable ladder set, although it can be constructed otherwise, like a telescopic beam or the like. In this respect the present invention is not limited to telescopic rescue ladders in the literally sense but also refers to comparable lifting devices that are able to carry an evacuation system of the above kind at the top.
[0003] The rescue cage can be lifted to a window or balcony of the building so that a person to be rescued can enter it easily. However, in many cases the person must be transported through a window into the rescue cage. This may especially be the case when the person is injured or her/his mobility is restricted for some reason. This may apply to elderly or disabled persons. For such situations fireworkers can resort to assisting devices like stretchers for carrying the person. Stretchers of this kind are also used for carrying a person to the staircase of a building.
[0004] A very difficult and complicated situation arises when very heavy persons have to be evacuated. Often it turns out to be impossible to carry these persons with the help of muscular strength. The use of assistance devices such as stretchers does not facilitate the transport, no matter whether the person is carried through the staircase or through the window or over the balcony to the rescue cage or platform. It has already been considered to use heavy cranes for carrying such people. However, it must be regarded in this respect that this evacuation method is found to be inhuman and is also expensive and time consuming.
[0005] It is therefore an object of the present invention to create an evacuation system of the above kind that allows an easy, comfortable and fast evacuation of heavy people from buildings without the need of extensive rescue equipment, like additional cranes or the like.
[0007] The evacuation system according to the present invention comprises a support bracket that is mounted pivotably at the free end of the rescue ladder set. In practice this support bracket can be represented by a beam that may be mounted to the top of the rescue ladder and replaces the rescue cage. By means of a bracket suspension, the support bracket may be pivoted with respect to the rescue ladder set such that it can maintain a horizontal position in an erected working position of the rescue ladder set. This erected working position must not necessarily be an exactly vertical position. Typically the rescue ladder set is tilted from the rescue vehicle to which it is mounted and which is placed in a certain distance from the building towards the outer building wall.
[0008] The support bracket carries a stretcher for carrying a person to be rescued. This stretcher may hang directly under the horizontal support bracket in its working position.
[0009] This arrangement can be designed flat enough to be maneuvered through a standard window opening. This provides a huge advantage compared to commonly known rescue cages or platforms. When the stretcher has been introduced into the room, it can be lowered from the support bracket so that a person to be rescued can be placed in the stretcher to be carried by the support bracket. In the following the stretcher may be lifted again so that the support bracket carrying the stretcher can be moved in the opposite direction out of the window, moving the person safely to the ground. It goes without saying that the construction of the support bracket and the attachment means of the stretcher to the bracket can be designed in a different way within the scope of the present invention, and several other possibilities are possible in this respect.
[0010] This evacuation system provides the advantage that the person to be rescued does not have to be carried by muscular force of the fireworkers over a long distance. It is rather sufficient to move the person from her/his present position into the stretcher that is already placed in the room. This facilitates the rescue operation to a great extend. Another important advantage is that the time to be needed for the rescue operation is reduced, and no heavy rescue equipment like an additional crane is necessary. The support bracket may be a part that replaces a dismountable rescue cage, and it is compact enough to be carried together with the usual rescue equipment. Replacing the rescue cage by the evacuation system according to the present invention may be a simple operation, even under the difficult conditions of rescue missions.
[0011] According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the pivoting means for pivoting the support bracket with respect to the rescue ladder set comprise a first swivel axis around which the support bracket is pivotable with respect to the ladder set.
[0012] According to another preferred embodiment, said pivoting means comprise a second swivel axis perpendicular to said first swivel axis.
[0013] In the above case it is possible to swing the support bracket around two axes with respect to the rescue ladder set, enabling a movement of the support bracket with a great degree of freedom.
[0014] According to another preferred embodiment, the first swivel axis is positioned horizontally and said second swivel axis is positioned vertically.
[0017] According to another preferred embodiment, the pivoting means comprise means for automatically levelling the support bracket in a horizontal position independent from the position from the rescue ladder set. These means can comprise a levelling control system with sensors that measure deviations of the support bracket from the desired horizontal position and drives for reducing such deviations to zero. Such a levelling system is able to adjust the position of the support bracket during a change of the tilting angle of the rescue ladder set to which the sup- port bracket is mounted, for example, when the rescue ladder set is erected. During this process the position of the support bracket is controlled continuously to keep the horizontal alignment.
[0018] According to a preferred embodiment, said levelling means are provided for mechanically coupling the tilting position of the rescue ladder set with the position of the support bracket.
[0019] These mechanical means may comprise a gear or the like for providing the engagement between a support bracket and the rescue ladder set. In this embodiment electronic control devices can be dispensed.
[0020] Preferably the evacuation system according to the present invention comprises a stretcher support for suspending the stretcher below the support bracket in a torque proof manner. Such a stretcher support ensures that the position of the stretcher is maintained during a swivelling movement of the support bracket. For example, it may be desired that the length axis of the stretcher keeps being aligned with the corresponding length axis of the support bracket during its movement.
[0021] Preferably said stretcher support comprises extension arms for connecting different edge positions of the stretcher with the support bracket.
[0022] The stretcher support may preferably comprise pairs of load belts, each pair connecting two opposing edge points of the stretcher with the extension arms or the support bracket.
[0023] According to another preferred embodiment, the stretcher support is provided for lifting and/or lowering the stretcher with respect to the support bracket. This lifting/lowering mechanism facilitates entering the stretcher. When the person to be rescued is placed inside the stretcher, the stretcher can be lifted again so that the support bracket carrying the stretcher can be moved through the access window easily.
[0024] Preferably the bracket suspension is mounted detachably at the rescue ladder set. This makes it possible to replace a common rescue cage at the top of the ladder set by the evacuation system according to the present invention, and vice versa.
[0025] According to another preferred embodiment, the bracket suspension engages a mounting for a rescue cage provided at the top end of the rescue ladder set.
[0026] The present invention is further described in more detail with respect to the following accompanying drawings.
- Fig. 1
- is a schematic side view of one embodiment of the evacuation system according to the present invention;
- Fig. 2
- is a top view of the evacuation system of Fig. 1; and
- Fig. 3
- is a view along the longitudinal main axis of the support bracket carrying the stretcher of the evacuation system according to the present invention.
[0027] Fig. 1 shows a part of a rescue ladder set 10 that is located in a slightly tilted position in front of a wall 12 of a building 14. The building 14 is shown in a simplified manner so that all building parts that are not necessary for the understanding of the present invention are omitted. In the upper part of the building 14, a room 16 is located. Through a window 18, the room 16 is accessible from the outside where the rescue ladder set 10 is located.
[0028] The rescue ladder set 10 comprises different ladder parts 20,22 slidable against each other so that the upper ladder part 22 can be extended from the lower part 20. This telescopic rescue ladder set 10 is supported by a rescue vehicle that is not shown in Fig. 1. The whole rescue ladder set 10 is turnable around a vertical axis. Moreover, a tilting position of the rescue ladder set 10 can be changed to position the free end 26 of the rescue ladder set 10 near the window 18, while the rescue vehicle (not shown) may be positioned in a larger distance in front of the building wall 12.
[0029] The free end 26 of the rescue ladder set 10 carries an evacuation system generally denoted by reference number 30.
[0030] This evacuation system 30 comprises a support bracket 32 that is pivotably mounted to the free end 26 of the rescue ladder set 10 by means of a bracket suspension 34. This bracket suspension 34 engages a mounting 36 for a conventional rescue cage. In the present invention the bracket suspension 34 is mounted detachably to the mounting 36 for the rescue cage so that it is possible to change the evacuation system 30 against a conventional rescue cage, if necessary.
[0031] The support bracket 32 can be characterized as a generally horizontal beam that carries a stretcher 38 suspended below the support bracket 32. The suspension of the stretcher 38 at the support bracket 32 will be described later. The bracket suspension 34 comprises pivoting means for pivoting the support bracket 32 with respect to the rescue ladder set 10. By these pivoting means the support bracket 32 can be positioned horizontally in the erected working position shown in Fig. 1 of the rescue ladder set 10. This horizontal position can even be maintained when the tilted position of the rescue ladder set 10 is changed.
[0032] For this purpose the pivoting means comprise a horizontal first swivel axis 40 and a vertical second swivel axis 42. That is, the first swivel axis 40 and the swivel axis 42 stand perpendicular to each other to allow a great degree of freedom of the movement of the support bracket 32 with respect to the rescue ladder set 10. In more detail, the horizontal first swivel axis 40 is represented by a joint lo- cated at a top portion of the bracket suspension 34, con- necting a rigid top construction part 44 on the ladder side with another construction part 46 on the support bracket side that can be pivoted with respect to the first construction part 34 around the horizontal axis 40. This pivoting movement is performed by a hydraulic pivoting drive 48 located in a bottom portion of the bracket suspension 34. This pivoting drive 48 comprises two hydraulic cylinders 50, one on each side of the bracket suspension 34, that can be extended and retracted to push or to pull the support bracket 32 at its lower portion so that it performs a tilting movement. By the pivoting drive 48, it is also possible to control the position of the support bracket 32 permanently, even during a tilting movement of the rescue ladder set 10 so that the support bracket 32 keeps a horizontal position. To control this position, sensors (not shown) can be provided at the support bracket 32. These sensors form a levelling system together with the pivoting drive 48. For example, when the rescue ladder set 10 is tilted, the sensors will registrate the corresponding tilting movement of the support bracket 32. The corresponding measurement data can be used to control the pivoting drive 48 accordingly to balance the tilting movement of the rescue ladder set 10 so that the support bracket returns to its horizontal position.
[0033] Additionally the support bracket 32 can be turned around the vertical second swivel axis 42 to control the position of the support bracket 32 with respect to the plane of the vertical building wall 12. This may be necessary to optimize the position of the bracket suspension 32 for introducing it into the room 16. The vertical second swivel axis 42 is represented by a joint connecting the above mentioned construction part 46 with the support bracket 32. In practice it will be advantageous to keep the support bracket 32 in a vertical position with respect to the plane of the building wall 12 to facilitate the insertion operation. The vertical second swivel axis 32 is provided with an own pivoting drive independent from the pivoting drive 48 of the horizontal first swivel axis 40.
[0034] The stretcher 38 is suspended below the support bracket 32 by means of a stretcher support generally denoted by reference number 52. This stretcher support is also shown in more detail in Fig. 2. It comprises two pairs 54,56 of rigid extension arms 58,60; 62,64 at different length portions of the support bracket 32. Each pair 54,56 comprises two extension arms 58,60; 62,64 extending in a horizontal direction to opposite sides of the support bracket 32 so that they stand perpendicular to the main axis of the support bracket 32. The extension arms 58,60; 62,64 on each side of the support bracket 32 stand parallel to each other.
[0035] At the ends 66 of the extension arms 58,60; 62,64, load belts extend vertically downwards to edge portions 68 of the stretcher 38 (see Fig. 3). That is, the load belts 70 stand perpendicular to the extension direction of the extension arms 58,60;62,64, and between the load belts 70 at opposite sides of the stretcher 38 where is enough space to accommodate even a person of enlarged body volume. The length of the load belts 70 can be changed by suitable means, e. g. a belt ratchet spanner mechanism or a motor driven winch for lifting and lowering the stretcher 38 with respect to the support bracket 32. For entering the person into the stretcher 38, the load belts 70 can be lengthened so that an easy entrance is provided, and for transporting the person inside the stretcher 38 from the position shown in Fig. 1 out of the window 18 in a rescue operation, the load belts 70 are shortened so that the overall height of the evacuation system 10 is minimalized. The support bracket 32 and/or the stretcher support 52 can be provided with means for at- taching medical equipment, rescue equipment or the like. Moreover, attachments or mountings for securing a rescue person like a fireworker can be provided at the support bracket 32 and/or the stretcher support 52, so that the fireworker can accompany the person to be rescued during the transport out of the window 18.
[0036] The control of the rescue ladder set 10 with the attached evacuation system 16 can be performed by a programmable electronic control unit that controls the turning and tilting movement of the rescue ladder set 10 together with the pivoting drives 48 of the first and second swivel axis 40,42, also monitoring the limits formed by the frame of the window 18 to avoid a collision of the evacuation system 16 with the window frame. Erecting the rescue ladder set 10 can be combined with a movement of the support bracket 32 by means of the pivoting drives. For example, the rescue ladder set 10 can be erected first so that the support bracket 32 points generally into the direction of the window 18. Then the programmable control unit ensures that the support bracket 32 is positioned exactly vertical with respect to the building wall 12 and points exactly to the middle of the window 18 so that an insertion operation can be performed by introducing the support bracket 32 along its horizontal axis into the room 16 to the window 18. When the person has entered the stretcher 38, the operation described above is performed in the opposite direction.
1. Evacuation system (30) for persons provided to be mounted at a free end (26) of a
telescopic rescue ladder set (10) of a rescue vehicle, characterized by a support bracket (32), a stretcher (38) supported by the support bracket (32) and
a bracket suspension (34) for pivotably mounting the support bracket (32) at the free
end (26) of the rescue ladder set (10), said bracket suspension (34) comprising pivoting
means for pivoting the support bracket (32) with respect to the rescue ladder set
(10) and for positioning the support bracket (32) horizontally in an erected working
position of the rescue ladder set (10).
2. Evacuation system according to claim 1, characterized in that said pivoting means comprise a first swivel axis (40) around which the support bracket
(32) is pivotable with respect to the rescue ladder set (10).
3. Evacuation system according to claim 2, characterized in that said pivoting means comprise a second swivel axis (42) perpendicular to said first
swivel axis (40).
4. Evacuation system according to claim 3, characterized in that said first swivel axis (40) is positioned horizontally and said second swivel axis
(42) is positioned vertically.
5. Evacuation system according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said pivoting means comprise at least one pivoting drive (48).
6. Evacuation system according to claim 5, characterized in that said pivoting drive (48) operates hydraulically.
7. Evacuaction system according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said pivoting means comprise means for automatically levelling the support bracket
(32) in a horizontal position independent from the position of the rescue ladder set
(10).
8. Evacuation system according to claim 7, characterized in that said levelling means are provided for mechanically coupling the tilting position
of the rescue ladder set (10) with the position of the support bracket (32).
9. Evacuation system according to one of the preceding claims, characterized by a stretcher support (52) for suspending the stretcher (38) below the support bracket
(32) in a torque proof manner.
10. Evacuation system according to claim 9, characterized in that said stretcher support (52) comprises extension arms (58,60; 62,64) for connecting
different edge points of the stretcher (38) with the support bracket (32).
11. Evacuation system according to one of claims 9 or 10, characterized in that said stretcher support (52) comprises pairs of load belts (70), each pair connecting
two opposing edge points of the stretcher (38) with the extension arms (58,60; 62,64)
or the support bracket (32).
12. Evacuation system according to one of claims 9 to 11, characterized in that said stretcher support (52) is provided for lifting and/or lowering the stretcher
(38) with respect to the support bracket (32).
13. Evacuation system according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the bracket suspension (34) is mounted detachably at the rescue ladder set (10).
14. Evacuation system according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the bracket suspension (34) engages a mounting for a rescue cage provided at the
top end of the rescue ladder set (10).