Emergency escape slide incorporated into exit

Abstract

An emergency escape mechanism is disclosed. A deployable and inflatable slide is located proximate the exit door of a building. When the alarm switch on the alarm box next to the door is set to unlock the door may be opened and a chute or slide falls out to the exterior of the building. A mercury switch or the like is activated as the uninflated slide tilts out which activates an inflation means, preferably a compressed gas cylinder or the like. The slide or chute is anchored to the building by a girt bar anchored in the floor and a plurality of chute support straps. This allows for rapid evacuation of the building. Additionally, the alarm box switch may operate a silent alarm to alert the police of a potentially hazardous situation.

Claims

1. An emergency escape mechanism for a building having an exit door located within a doorway on an exterior of the building and elevated above ground level, the exit door having an interior side and an exterior side, said emergency escape mechanism comprising: an inflatable emergency escape slide having a portion coupled at an interior location of said building adjacent the interior side of the exit door, said escape slide comprising: a collapsed state wherein said escape slide is collapsed and resides against the interior side of the exit door when the door is closed; and an inflated state wherein said escape slide is inflated and extends through the doorway and downward outside of the building when the door is opened; an inertially-activated switch mounted on said inflatable emergency escape slide, said inertially-activated switch being activatable by gravity in automatic response to a dropping of said inertially-activated switch to thereby produce an electrical signal; a gas release device in fluid communication with said inflatable emergency escape slide and configured to inflate said inflatable emergency escape slide from collapsed state to said inflated state in automatic response to said electrical signal; and an alarm box configured to be located proximate the exit door, said alarm box including a locking/unlocking bar movable between a locked position and an unlocked position, said locking/unlocking bar engaging the exit door when said locking/unlocking bar is in said locked position to hold said exit door in a closed position, said locking/unlocking bar being movable in an emergency to move to said unlocked position to unlock the exit door, thereby enabling the exit door to be opened to extend out of the building, whereupon when said exit door is opened said emergency escape slide in said collapsed state passes through said open door and out of the building and drops under the influence of gravity, with the dropping of said emergency escape slide causing said inertially-activated switch to automatically operate to produce said electrical signal and to provide said electrical signal to said gas release device to automatically inflate said emergency escape slide to said inflated state.

2. The emergency escape mechanism according to claim 1 said portion of said escape slide is coupled to a girt bar that is positioned underneath a floor of the building.

3. The emergency escape mechanism according to claim 2 wherein a plurality of support straps couple said portion of said escape slide to said girt bar.

4. The emergency escape mechanism according to claim 1 wherein said gas release device comprises a compressed gas tank.

5. The emergency escape mechanism according to claim 1 wherein said alarm box further includes an alarm switch.

6. The emergency escape mechanism according to claim 1, wherein said locking/unlocking bar forms a latch extending between the exit door and the building.

7. The emergency escape mechanism according to claim 1, wherein said inertially-activated switch is a mercury switch.

8. The emergency escape mechanism according to claim 1 wherein said alarm switch further includes a silent alarm.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES

(1) In order that the invention may be more fully understood, it will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawing in which:

(2) FIG. 1 an illustrative view of the prior art showing a situation that the present invention is designed to alleviate.

(3) FIG. 2 is an illustrative view of the present invention as it is meant to be used.

(4) FIG. 3 is a front view of the present invention attached to an emergency evacuation exit.

(5) FIG. 4 is a detailed view of the locking portion of the present invention.

(6) FIG. 5 is another detailed view of the locking portion of the present invention.

(7) FIG. 6 is a detailed view of the door portion of the present invention with the emergency slide or chute seen in the stowed position.

(8) FIG. 7 is a sectional side view of the door of the present invention in the closed position.

(9) FIG. 8 is a sectional side view of the door of the present invention in a partially open position.

(10) FIG. 9 is a sectional side view of the door of the present invention approximately ½ ways open and with the emergency chute or slide beginning to deploy.

(11) FIG. 10 is a sectional side view of the door of the present invention fully open and the emergency chute or slide completely deployed.

(12) FIG. 11 is an illustrative perspective outside view of the present invention deployed from the building to allow rapid egress from therefrom.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

(13) The following discussion describes in detail one embodiment of the invention (and several variations of that embodiment). This discussion should not be construed, however, as limiting the invention to those particular embodiments, practitioners skilled in the art will recognize numerous other embodiments as well. For definition of the complete scope of the invention, the reader is directed to appended claims.

(14) FIG. 1 is an illustration of prior art in that schools or public buildings may be threatened by violent individuals entering thereinto and either taking hostages, targeting individuals, or randomly injuring groups of people. In the situation represented in the Figure, the violent individual indicated at V is threatening the children C present in the school, while the teacher T (or other authority) is trying to get the children (or other occupants of the public building) out of the building and to safety.

(15) FIG. 2 shows the present invention indicated generally at 10 with the door 16, the slide or chute 14 attached to the door 16, and the alarm box 12 (which will be discussed further below). All of these, in the embodiment illustrated herein, are located in a classroom indicated at R.

(16) In FIG. 3 a front view of the present invention is seen. Attached to the door 16 is the slide or chute 14 with the chute support straps 22 and the attendant girt bar indicated at 24. Also located on or proximate the slide 14 is a mercury switch, or the like 28 discussed further below. Also seen in the Figure is the alarm switch 18.

(17) Turning to FIG. 4 a detailed view of the present invention with the door 16 in a locked configuration as can be seen by the position of the alarm switch 18 on the alarm box 12. The switch 18 travels between the two locking nubs 32 and controls the locking/unlocking rod as indicated at 26. Also seen in the Figure is the silent alarm activator 30 which is tripped when the switch 18 is moved to the unlocked position.

(18) In FIG. 5 there is seen a detailed view of the present invention in the unlocked position. As in FIG. 4, there is the door 16, the locking/unlocking bar 26, the alarm box 12, and the alarm switch 18, this time engaging the locking nub 32 that pulls the unlocking bar 26 from the mechanism on the door 16. As can be seen in the Figure, this also activates the silent alarm indicated at 30.

(19) FIG. 6 shows a detailed view of the door 16 and various components of the present invention. In addition to the door 16 are the chute or slide 14, the chute straps 22, the girt bar 24, the mercury switch 28, the compressed gas activation line 38, the compressed gas cylinder 34, and the locking bar aperture 36. It should be noted here that although a mercury switch is discussed in herein, any type of inertial switch, activated by movement, could be utilized. Another point is that the compressed gas cylinder could contain various types of (preferably) inert gasses, such as Nitrogen or CO2. The compressed gas cylinder could also be a chemical type gas release mechanism, such as is used in vehicle crash mitigation devices.

(20) Turning now to FIG. 7 the emergency evacuation system of the present invention 10 is seen first where the door 16 is shut. The slide or chute 14 and the mercury switch 28 are located on the interior side 44 of the door 16. The slide 14 is connected to the girt bar 24 (anchored in the floor 40) by means of the chute support straps 22. Also seen in the Figure are the compressed gas cylinder 34, the locking bar aperture 36, and the interior door handle 20.

(21) In FIG. 8, the emergency evacuation system of the present invention 10 is seen with the door 16 just beginning to open as indicated by directional arrow A1 after the alarm switch 18 (not seen in this Figure) is moved to the unlocked position as seen in the Figures discussed above. The chute or slide 14 has begun to deploy as the mercury switch 28 is activated by gravity. This deployment is indicated by directional arrow A2. The chute or slide is maintained in contact with the floor 40 and the anchored girt bar 24 by means of the chute support straps 22.

(22) In FIG. 9 the process is continued. The door 16 is now approximately halfway open (indicated by directional arrow A1) and the chute or slide 14 is falling out due to gravity (indicated by directional arrow A2). The mercury switch 28 has activated and the compressed gas cylinder 34 (through means of the compressed gas activation line 38) is inflating the chute 14 as it falls anchored to the building floor 40 by chute straps 22 and the girt bar 24.

(23) Turning now to FIG. 10 the door 16 is seen in the fully open position indicated at directional arrow A1 and the chute or slide 14 is fully deployed as indicated at A2, inflated by the compressed gas cylinder 34. As discussed above, the chute 14 is anchored to the building floor 40 by the chute support straps 22 and the girt bar 24.

(24) Lastly, the discussion turns to FIG. 11, an illustrated perspective view of the present invention 10 seen deployed from the outside of the building B. The door 16 is fully opened and the chute or slide 14 extends out and down towards ground level allowing quick egress from the building B while remaining secured to building B through the chute support straps 22 attached on turn to the girt bar 24 anchored in the building floor 40.

(25) The present invention, then, provides a safe alternative to the existing emergency exits that are available in the majority of public buildings in that it combines the quick egress allowed by a chute or a slide with the utility of a silent alarm that alerts the authorities to the emergency without panicking the perpetrators.

(26) In the event of an emergency, the alarm switch 18 is moved from the locked position as seen in FIG. 4 to the unlocked position as seen in FIG. 5. This activates the silent alarm switch 30 sending a signal to police and fire responders. Moving the switch 18 from the locked to unlocked position additionally moves the locking/unlocking rod 26 to release the door 16 to open via the interior door handle 20. When the door handle 20 is turned and the door is opened, as seen in FIGS. 7 through 10, the resting evacuation chute or slide 14 falls out and, as it does, the mercury switch 28 is triggered. This, in turn, operates the compressed gas activation line 38, as seen in FIG. 6 which enables the compressed gas cylinder 34 to inflate the chute 14, as seen in FIGS. 9 and 10.

(27) It should be noted that though the term “compressed gas cylinder” is used in this specification, many other types of inflation means could be used. Pumps, for instance, or a chemical reaction that produces gas quickly, such as is used in vehicle crash bags would serve equally well in the environment that the preset invention is intended for. After the inflation of the chute or slide 14, the people inside the building may rapidly escape by sliding down to ground level.

(28) It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together may also find a useful application in other types of methods differing from the type described above.

(29) While certain novel features of this invention have been shown and described and are pointed out in the annexed claims, it is not intended to be limited to the details above, since it will be understood that various omissions, modifications, substitutions and changes in the forms and details of the device illustrated and in its operation can be made by those skilled in the art without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention.

(30) Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily adapt it for various applications without omitting features that, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention.