# US 4,396,094 A · Retractable trolley escape capsule

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- Number: US 4,396,094 A
- Document ID: US4396094A
- Status: Granted
- Kind: A
- Application number: 06/260,103
- Filed: 1981-05-04
- Granted: 1983-08-02
- Earliest claimed: 1981-05-04
- Inventors: Robert J. Charlton; George J. Frich
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US4396094A

## CPC

- B66B 9/00: Kinds or types of lifts in, or associated with, buildings or other structures (characterised by control systems B66B1/00; apparatus for raising or lowering persons on stages of theatres A63J5/12)
- A62B 1/02: by making use of rescue cages, bags, or the like (elevators, escalators or moving walkways B66B)
- E21D 7/02: Arrangement of guides for cages in shafts; Connection of guides for cages to shaft walls (guideways or guides for elevators B66B7/02)
- B66B: ELEVATORS; ESCALATORS OR MOVING WALKWAYS ({apparatus for raising or lowering persons on theatrical stages or the like A63J5/12} ; funicular railbound systems with rigid ground-supported tracks and cable traction, e.g. cliff railways, B61B9/00; arrangements of ammunition handlers in vessels B63G3/00; hoists, lifts, or conveyors for loading or unloading in general B65G; braking or detent devices controlling normal movements of winding drums or barrels B66D; ship-lifting devices E02C; garages for many vehicles with mechanical means for lifting vehicles E04H6/12; hoists for feeding ammunition or projectiles to launching apparatus or to loading mechanisms F41A9/00)
- A62B: DEVICES, APPARATUS OR METHODS FOR LIFE-SAVING (valves specially adapted for medical use A61M39/00; life-saving devices, apparatus or methods specially adapted for use in water B63C9/00; divers' equipment B63C11/00; specially adopted for use with aircraft, e.g. parachutes, ejector seats, {B64D17/00, B64D25/10}; rescue devices peculiar to mining E21F11/00)
- E21D: SHAFTS; TUNNELS; GALLERIES; LARGE UNDERGROUND CHAMBERS (soil-conditioning or soil-stabilising materials C09K17/00; drilling or cutting machines for mining or quarrying E21C; safety devices, transport, rescue, ventilation or drainage E21F)

## Abstract

A guided lift cage which is pivotally mounted to a pair of fixed side rails by a suspension trolley so that the cage is always suspended on a vertical axis, regardless of the axis of the side rails. The path of the side rails may curve from a vertical axis within a shaftway to a horizontal axis above and outside of the shaftway to permit the storage and unloading of the cage, above the shaftway, at a position horizontally offset from the shaftway, to thus provide uninterrupted vertical access to the shaftway in the stored position of the cage.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A guided lift cage apparatus adaptable for use as a safety escape unit from the interior of a vertical shaft having a mouth opening, comprising
a pair of overhead, spaced, side rail members, each mounted so that a first vertical section thereof extends in parallel vertical array at a spaced distance from the central vertical axis of said vertical shaft, each of said rails extending vertically above the mouth opening of the shaft and including a second curved section that extends tangent from said first rail section and a third rail section that extends a horizontal distance away from the mouth opening of said shaft,
a lift cage of a size to freely fit between said spaced side rail members,
a trolley beam assembly fitted at each end thereof with rotary means which each engage a said rail member so as to permit the trolley beam to freely move in the direction of the axis of the rail,
swivel means for suspending said cage to said beam assembly to maintain said cage suspended on a vertical axis at all times,
at least one hoisting cable fastened to said trolley assembly for raising or lowering said trolley assembly and cage in said shaft, above, and to a side of the shaft outside said shaft,
whereby in a stored position of the shaft, said cage is outside of the offset by a horizontal distance from the mouth opening of the shaft,
a hoist winch drum for actuating said cable; said drum being offset at a horizontal distance from said shaft mouth,
a landing platform mounted at a horizontal distance from said shaft opening,
an idler guide roller mounted adjacent an edge of the mouth of the shaft so as to permit a hoisting cable fastened to the trolley assembly to extend along an axis inclined to the vertical from said trolley assembly, when in the shaft, to said idler roller and to extend along a diagonal axis from said roller to said hoist winch.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said rotary means comprise a pair of rollers rotatably mounted on said beam assembly and engaging said rail from above and below.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said winch drum is mounted on the same side of said shaft mouth as said landing platform.