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US 2003/0196822 A1Published application
Life saving fire exit method and apparatus
AssigneeNone recorded
InventorDavid M. K. Lau
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AssigneeNone recorded
InventorDavid M. K. Lau
Estimating the term…
An apparatus for inhibiting wide dispersal of heat, smoke and noxious gases from a fire in a structure such as a building occupied by people, thereby facilitating evacuation of the building through exit routes rendered relatively smoke-free by the apparatus includes a portable enclosure which has an entrance opening hermetically sealable to a doorway opening when the enclosure is moved into position adjacent to the doorway, and encloses an open-top tank which contains water, and a vertical baffle which protrudes downwardly from a roof panel of the enclosure, the baffle being disposed transversely across the enclosure with a lower edge of the baffle immersed beneath the surface of the water to thereby form a water-trap type air-lock. A method of traveling from a smoke-filled region of a building to a smoke-free region comprises stepping into water in the tank through the enclosure entrance opening, ducking the head under the lower edge of the baffle, walking on the tank bottom to the opposite side of the baffle, and exiting the tank through an exit opening in the enclosure. In one embodiment of the apparatus, a solid baffle is replaced by one or more curtains of water which flow downwardly from a manifold disposed transversely under the roof panel of the enclosure, water from the tank being recirculated to the manifold by a pump.
An apparatus for inhibiting combustion products from a fire from diffusing through a passageway in a structure while enabling an individual to pass through said passageway, said apparatus comprising;
An apparatus for inhibiting products from a fire from diffusing through a building passageway while enabling an individual to pass through said passageway, said apparatus comprising;
A method for inhibiting wide dispersal of smoke, noxious gases and heat emanating from a fire in a building, and facilitating safe evacuation of people from the building comprising;
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.
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A. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to methods and apparatus for facilitating evacuation of people from burning buildings. More particularly, the invention relates to a portable apparatus which is moved into sealing contact with a hallway opening or doorway of a burning building to block heat, smoke and noxious combustion gases produced by a fire located upstream of the opening from passing into areas of the building downstream from the hallway opening, while enabling people to transit safely through the apparatus to exit the building.
B. Description of Background Art
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a life saving fire exit device according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a view similar to that of FIG. 1, but showing the device containing water.
FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic view showing the device of FIG. 1 positioned for use in a building.
FIGS. 1 and 2 are perspective, partly schematic views of a basic embodiment of a life saving fire exit apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing where the apparatus of FIGS. 1 and 2 is positioned within a building. FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrate details of deploying the apparatus of FIGS. 1 and 2 adjacent to a hallway opening within a building. FIGS. 6-8 illustrate the manner of using the apparatus of FIGS. 1 and 2.
Referring first to FIG. 1, a life saving fire exit apparatus 20 according to the present invention may be seen to include a generally rectangularly-shaped, hollow enclosure 21, which has a longitudinally elongated, rectangularly-shaped base panel 22, upstanding front and rear vertical side panels 23, 24, a roof panel 25 parallel to base panel 22, and left and right vertically disposed rectangularly-shaped entrance and exit openings 26, 27, respectively. Apparatus 20 includes a vertically oriented baffle 28 which is located midway between entrance and exit openings 26, 27, and which is disposed transversely between front and rear wall panels 23, 24 of enclosure 21. As shown in FIG. 1, baffle 28 spans the distance between front and rear wall panels 23, 24, and is joined to those panels, as well as roof panel 25, in air-tight tight junctions therewith.
Referring still to FIGS. 1 and 2, it may be seen that enclosure 21 of fire saving exit apparatus 20 includes above and adjacent to base panel 22 thereof an upwardly concave portion 29, which comprises a tank or reservoir that is adapted to hold a pool of water 30, as shown in FIG. 2. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, base panel 22 and front and rear side panels 23, 24 form bottom, front and rear sides, respectively, of tank 29.