Claims
- 1. A rescue system for rescuing occupants from high floors in high rise buildings, comprising:
a frame positioned adjacent an open or openable escape portion of a building, which escape portion is open or openable to the outside of the building; an air fan having a shaft and at least two vanes coupled to the shaft, the shaft being mounted to said frame such that said fan is rotatable relative to said frame; and a removable and replaceable cable cartridge comprising a rotatable housing which is removably coupled to said air fan so as to rotate said air fan upon rotation of said rotatable housing, and said cable cartridge having a cable pre-rolled on said rotatable housing, said cable having a free end which is connectable to a person to be rescued; wherein when the person to be rescued goes out from the escape portion of the building, the falling motion of the person causes the cable to move with the same speed as the speed of falling of the person, thus causing said rotatable housing to rotate which in turn causes the air fan to rotate and to create air resistance to the falling speed, until the falling speed of the person reaches a substantially constant value when the resistance force created by the air fan is equal to the falling forces acting on the falling person.
- 2. A rescue system according to claim 1, wherein said cable has another end which is connected to said rotatable housing.
- 3. A rescue system according to claim 1, wherein said frame is fixed to a building structure.
- 4. A rescue system according to claim 3, wherein said frame is fixed to the building by at least one of screws, bolts or pins.
- 5. A rescue system according to claim 1, wherein said cable cartridge and said air fan have respective mutually engagable members which mate so as to prevent relative rotation therebetween.
- 6. A rescue system according to claim 5, wherein said mutually engagable members are in the form of a square, a hexagonal or a triangular shape.
- 7. A rescue system according to claim 1, wherein said rotatable housing of said cable cartridge and a shaft portion coupled to said air fan have mutually engagable members which mate so as to prevent relative rotation therebetween.
- 8. A rescue system according to claim 1, wherein one of said rotatable housing of said cable cartridge and a shaft portion coupled to said air fan has at least two pins extending therefrom, and the other of said rotatable housing of said cable cartridge and the shaft coupled to the air fan has holes for receiving the respective pins.
- 9. A rescue system according to claim 1, further comprising a safety coupling device coupled to at least one of said cable cartridge and the shaft portion coupled to said air fan to secure the non-rotatable connection between the cable cartridge and said shaft portion.
- 10. A rescue system according to claim 1, further comprising a cable guiding roller arranged on a portion of the building to guide said cable to the outside of the building.
- 11. The rescue system according claim 1, further comprising a belt or harness coupled to the person being rescued, and which is connectable to the free end of said cable.
- 12. The rescue system according claim 1, wherein said fan blades are dimensional such that the maximum falling speed of the person being rescued is less than about 12 meters per second and more than about 4 meters per second.
- 13. The rescue system according claim 1, wherein said fan blades are dimensional such that the maximum falling speed of the person being rescued is about 8 meters per second.
- 14. The rescue system according to claim 1, wherein the materials of said frame, air fan and cable cartridge are fire proof and can perform with no failure in temperatures up to about 600° C.
- 15. A rescue system for rescuing occupants from high floors in high rise buildings, comprising:
a frame positioned adjacent an open or openable escape portion of a building, which escape portion is open or openable to the outside of the building; a dynamic resistance device having a shaft coupled thereto, said shaft being mounted to said frame such that said shaft is rotatable relative to said frame to drive said dynamic resistance device; and a removable and replaceable cable cartridge comprising a rotatable housing which is removably coupled to said dynamic resistance device so as to rotate said dynamic resistance device upon rotation of said rotatable housing, and said cable cartridge having a cable pre-rolled on said rotatable housing, said cable having a free end which is connectable to a person to be rescued; wherein when the person to be rescued goes out from the escape portion of the building, the falling motion of the person causes the cable to move with the same speed as the speed of falling of the person, thus causing said rotatable housing to rotate which in turn causes said dynamic resistance device to rotate and to create a resistance to the falling speed, until the falling speed of the person reaches a substantially constant value when the resistance force created by said dynamic resistance device is equal to the falling forces acting on the falling person.
- 16. A rescue system according to claim 15, wherein said cable has another end which is connected to said rotatable housing.
- 17. A rescue system according to claim 14, wherein said frame is fixed to a building structure.
- 18. A rescue system according to claim 17, wherein said frame is fixed to the building by at least one of screws, bolts or pins.
- 19. A rescue system according to claim 15, wherein said cable cartridge and said dynamic resistance device have respective mutually engagable members which mate so as to prevent relative rotation therebetween.
- 20. A rescue system according to claim 19, wherein said mutually engagable members are in the form of a square, a hexagonal or a triangular shape.
- 21. A rescue system according to claim 15, wherein said rotatable housing of said cable cartridge and a shaft portion coupled to said dynamic resistance device have mutually engagable members which mate so as to prevent relative rotation therebetween.
- 22. A rescue system according to claim 15, wherein one of the cable cartridge and a shaft portion coupled to said dynamic resistance device has at least two pins extending therefrom, and the other of said rotatable housing of said cable cartridge and said shaft portion coupled to said dynamic resistance device has holes for receiving the respective pins.
- 23. A rescue system according to claim 15, further comprising a safety coupling device coupled to at least one of said cable cartridge and said shaft portion coupled to said dynamic resistance device to secure the non-rotatable connection between the cable cartridge and said shaft portion.
- 24. A rescue system according to claim 15, further comprising a cable guiding roller arranged on a portion of the building to guide said cable to the outside of the building.
- 25. The rescue system according claim 15, further comprising a belt or harness coupled to the person being rescued, and which is connectable to the free end of said cable.
- 26. The rescue system according claim 15, wherein said dynamic resistance device provides a resistance such that the maximum falling speed of the person being rescued is less than about 12 meters per second and more than about 4 meters per second.
- 27. The rescue system according claim 15, wherein said dynamic resistance device provides a resistance such that the maximum falling speed of the person being rescued is about 8 meters per second.
- 28. The rescue system according to claim 15, wherein the materials of said frame, dynamic resistance device and cable cartridge are fire proof and can perform with no failure in temperatures up to about 600° C.
- 29. A method of rescuing occupants from high floors in high rise buildings using an apparatus, comprising:
a frame positioned adjacent an open or openable escape portion of a building, which escape portion is open or openable to the outside of the building; and a dynamic resistance device; the method comprising:
(a) providing a plurality of removable and replaceable cable cartridges, each comprising a rotatable housing which has a cable pre-rolled on said rotatable housing, said cable having a free end which is connectable to a person to be rescued; (b) removably coupling said cable cartridge to said dynamic resistance device so as to rotate a portion of said dynamic resistance device upon rotation of said rotatable housing; (c) connecting said free end of said cable to the person to be rescued; (d) causing the person to be rescued to go out from the escape portion of the building, whereby the falling motion of the person causes the cable to move with the same speed as the speed of falling of the person, thus causing said rotatable housing to rotate which in turn causes said portion of said dynamic resistance device to rotate and to create a resistance to the falling speed, until the falling speed of the person reaches a substantially constant value when the resistance force created by said dynamic resistance device is equal to the falling forces acting on the falling person; (e) removing the used cable cartridge and removably coupling a new cable cartridge to said dynamic resistance device; and repeating steps (b)-(e) to successively rescue persons.
- 30. A rescue method according to claim 29, wherein said cable cartridge and said dynamic resistance device have respective mutually engagable members which mate so as to prevent relative rotation therebetween.
- 31. The rescue method according claim 29, wherein said step of connecting said free end of said cable to the person to be rescued comprises placing a belt or harness on the person to be rescued, and then connecting said free end of said cable to said belt or harness.
- 32. The rescue method according claim 29, wherein said dynamic resistance device is arranged to provide a resistance such that the maximum falling speed of the person being rescued is less than about 12 meters per second and more than about 4 meters per second.
- 33. The rescue method according claim 29, wherein said dynamic resistance device is arranged to provide a resistance such that the maximum falling speed of the person being rescued is about 8 meters per second.
- 34. The rescue method according to claim 29, comprising fabricating said frame, dynamic resistance device and cable cartridge from fire proof materials which can perform with no failure in temperatures up to about 600° C.
Parent Case Info
[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Nos. 60/329,390 filed Oct. 15, 2001; 60/329,935 filed Oct. 16, 2001; and 60/(Inventor: Moshe Meller, Attorney Docket No. 01687/LH) filed Oct. 26, 2001, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Provisional Applications (2)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60329390 |
Oct 2001 |
US |
|
60329935 |
Oct 2001 |
US |