Emergency escape ladder
View Patent ↗A folding emergency escape ladder for a dwelling includes a fixed vertical riser for fitting to the external wall of a dwelling, spaced apart, retractable rails pivoted thereto from a first end to function as rungs of the ladder and a movable vertical riser fitted in correspondingly from a second end of the rails such that the ladder is moveable between a retracted state with the rails folded up into the fixed and retracted vertical risers and an expanded, deployed state with the rails and risers functioning as a ladder mounted to the wall, one or more rails including an elongate rail rung terminating at the first and second ends in a rung head including an integral pivot and a projecting lobe extending radially from the pivot, the lobe including a buffer foot abutting a portion of the vertical risers coincident with the deployed state to buffer deployment of the ladder.
1. A folding emergency escape ladder for a dwelling comprising:
a fixed vertical riser adapted for fitting to an external wall of a dwelling,
a plurality of retractable rails pivoted thereto from a first end and spaced at a distance apart suitable to function as rungs of said ladder and
a movable vertical riser fitted in a corresponding manner from a second end of said rails such that said ladder is adapted to be moved between a retracted state with said rails folded up into and fully contained within said fixed vertical riser and said movable vertical riser in the retracted state, and an expanded, deployed state with said rails and risers functioning as a ladder mounted to said wall,
wherein at least one of said rails include an elongate rail rung terminating at said first and second ends in a rung head, said rung head including an integral pivot and a projecting lobe elongated extending radially from said pivot,
wherein said lobe includes a buffer foot formed on a first side of said lobe elongated, said buffer foot being adapted to abut a portion of one of said fixed and movable vertical risers coincident with said deployed state to buffer the deployment of said ladder and a latch formed on a second side of said lobe elongated opposite to said first side, said latch being adapted to cooperate with a keeper holding said rails and said movable vertical riser in said retracted state.
2. A ladder according to claim 1 , wherein said keeper is fitted to said fixed riser and adapted to cooperate with the latch of the rung head fitted to said second end of at least one said rail.
3. A ladder according to claim 2 , wherein said keeper is movable between a first engaging position and a second releasing position and is biased to said first engaging position to receive and engage said latch and movable against said bias to said second position to release said latch.
4. A ladder according to claim 3 , including a release adapted to cooperate with said keeper wherein said release includes a primary release cable fitted to said keeper and adapted to move said keeper against said bias thereof from said first engaging position to said second release position and wherein said primary release cable is operated from an interior of said dwelling.
5. A ladder according to claim 4 , further including a secondary release cable fitted to said keeper and adapted to move said keeper against its bias from said first engaging position to said second release position and wherein said secondary release is operated from the exterior of said dwelling.
6. A ladder according to claim 1 , further including an arrangement to activate an alarm responsive to the deploying of said ladder.
7. A ladder according to claim 1 , wherein said fixed and movable vertical risers are positioned against said external wall so as to provide an escape ladder mounted against said wall.
8. A ladder according to claim 1 , wherein said fixed vertical riser is positioned against said wall and said movable vertical riser is positioned for movement away from said wall and wherein said ladder includes at least one triangulated stabilizer pivotally fitted between said fixed and movable riser to correspond with the pivotal action of said retractable rails.
9. A ladder according to claim 8 , wherein said stabilizers are adapted for mounting to said wall to extend a pivot base of said fixed riser.
10. A ladder according to claim 1 , wherein said rung head is a circular fitting having a central pivot point comprising said integral pivot and wherein said lobe is radially deployed with respect to the central pivot point.