 |
Description  |
|
|
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to stair chairs and more particularly
pertains to such a chair which may be carried by two people while leaving
the hands of such persons free.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of stair chairs is known in the prior art. More specifically, such
chairs heretofore devised and utilized for the purpose of carrying a
person up or down stairs are known to consist basically of familiar,
expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad
of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed
for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements. Typical
devices of this kind are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,279,734 and 4,688,279. A
device very similar to the present invention is shown in U.S. Pat. No.
4,963,762. However this device, as is common to the art, requires that
persons carrying the stair chair utilize both hands to support the device.
Going down multiple steep flights of stairs with frequent turns for
landings carrying such stair chairs is extremely hazardous.
In this respect, the stair chair according to the present invention
substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the
prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for
the purpose of freeing the hands of persons carrying a stair chair for
much greater safety, both of the carriers and the person being carried.
Therefore, it can be appreciated that there exists a continuing need for
new and improved stair chairs which can be moved more easily and safely.
In this regard, the present invention substantially fulfills this need.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of stair
chairs now present in the prior art, the present invention provides an
improved high rise evacuation chair construction wherein the same can be
carried while leaving the hands of the carriers free. As such, the general
purpose of the present invention, which will be described subsequently in
greater detail, is to provide a new apparatus which has many of the
advantages of the stair chair mentioned heretofore and many novel features
that result in a stair chair which is not anticipated, rendered obvious,
suggested, or even implied by any of the prior art devices, either alone
or in any combination thereof.
To attain this, the present invention generally relates to a device for
evacuating elderly, infirm, smoke-inhalation victims or the like from a
structure accessible by stairs such as the fire stairs in the high rise
building which comprises a supporting seat or chair for such persons
mounted on a pair of stretcher-like bars, said bars in turn being
supported at each end thereof by a carrying harness adapted to fit over
the head and shoulders of each of two persons carrying such device thereby
freeing the hands of such persons to grasp stair rails, walls or the like
while carrying the device.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features
of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that
follows may be better understood, and in order that the present
contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are, of course,
additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter
and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention
in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its
application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the
components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the
drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being
practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood
that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose
of description and should not be regarded as limiting.
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon
which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the
designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the
several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore,
that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions
insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present
invention.
Further, the purpose of the foregoing abstract is to enable the U.S. Patent
and Trademark Office and the public generally, and especially the
scientists, engineers and practitioners in the art who are not familiar
with patent or legal terms or phraseology, to determine quickly from a
cursory inspection the nature and essence of the technical disclosure of
the application. The abstract is neither intended to define the invention
of the application, which is measured by the claims, nor is it intended to
be limiting as to the scope of the invention in any way.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new stair
chair apparatus which has many of the advantages of the devices mentioned
heretofore and many novel features that result in a high rise evacuation
chair which is not anticipated, rendered obvious, suggested, or even
implied by any of the prior art devices, either alone or in any
combination thereof.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved
high rise evacuation chair which may be easily and efficiently
manufactured and marketed.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a new and
improved high rise evacuation chair which is of a durable and reliable
construction.
An even further object of the present invention is to provide a new and
improved high rise evacuation chair which is susceptible of a low cost of
manufacture with regard to both materials and labor, and which accordingly
is then susceptible of low prices of sale to the consuming public, thereby
making such chairs economically available to the buying public.
Still yet another object of the present invention is to provide a new and
improved stair chair which provides in the apparatuses of the prior art
some of the advantages thereof, while simultaneously overcoming some of
the disadvantages normally associated therewith.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a new and
improved high rise evacuation chair which permits free use of the hands of
the persons carrying such chair.
These together with other objects of the invention, along with the various
features of novelty which characterize the invention, are pointed out with
particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this
disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating
advantages and the specific objects attained by its uses, reference should
be had to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there
is illustrated preferred embodiments of the invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The invention will be better understood and objects other than those set
forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the
following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference
to the annexed drawings wherein:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the device of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a top view of the seat portion of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the seat of FIG. 2.
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of one of the carrying bars of the present
invention.
FIG. 5 is a front perspective view of one of the shoulder harnesses of the
present invention.
FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of the fastening means connecting
the chair and bars of the present invention
FIG. 7 is a sectional view on line 7--7 of FIG. 6.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to FIG. 1 thereof, a
new and improved high rise evacuation chair embodying the principles and
concepts of the present invention and generally designated by the
reference numeral 10 will be described.
More specifically, it will be noted that the most immediately noticeable
feature of the present stair chair 10 is that the persons 11 and 12
carrying such chair 10 have their hands free to permit such persons to
hold onto stair rails 13 to steady themselves while transporting such
chair 10 down a steep flight of stairs 14 such as are commonly found in
the fire safety wells of high rise buildings.
FIGS. 2 and 3 illustrate the seat portion 15 of the present invention. Seat
15 comprises a shallow chair having a slightly inclined vertical back
member 16; side arm members 17 (each having a slot 18 therein to
facilitate securing seat 15 to the carrying side bars illustrated below);
a flat seat support 19 firmly secured to said side and back members 16 and
17; and a flexible strap harness 20 secured to the flat seat support 19
and extending over the back member 16 and flat seat support 19 where the
harness 20 is secured by seat belt type buckles 21. As shown in FIG. 3,
the harness 20 passes under seat support 19 and is slideably fastened
thereto by passage through a pair of U-shaped brackets 22 secured to the
underside of seat supports 19.
FIG. 4 illustrates a carrying bar 23 for the seat portion 15 to which such
seat 15 is secured as hereinafter shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. Bar 23 comprises
a preferably tubular, longitudinal, straight shaft 25 having a pair of
support handles 24 at each end thereof. Handles 24 are provided with
raised circular detent members 26 at each end thereof. Such detent members
26 are spaced so that, if necessary, support handles 24 could be used to
mechanically carry bar 23 and also to facilitate placing bar 23 in its
normal carrying position as described in connection with FIG. 5.
FIG. 5 shows one of a pair of shoulder harnesses 27 which form the most
essential elements of the stair chair 10 of the present invention. Harness
27 is made up of a pair of flexible straps 28 which are designed to pass
over the shoulders of the wearer. Such straps 28 are each provided with
adjusting buckles 29 to permit adjustment to the build of the wearer and
to permit removal of the harness 27. Straps 28 are permanently fastened at
their lower ends 30 to a waist encircling strap 31 which also has a
similar adjusting buckle 29 therefor. A sternum strap 32 and associated
adjusting buckle 29 is provided connecting the two shoulder straps 28 to
prevent such straps 28 from slipping off the shoulders of the wearer.
Positioned at each side of the waist encircling strap 31 and secured
thereto is a rigid bar support 33 in the form of an upwardly opening U 34.
The dimensions of such U are such as to permit the handle 24 to fit
therein with the raised detents 26 at each end of such handle 24
preventing forward or back sliding of such handles 24. As an added safety
feature, hook and loop fabric fastening patches 35 may be secured to bar
support 33 as shown in FIG. 5. A mating fabric strap (not shown) may be
wrapped over the support carrying bar 23 and secured to patches 35 if
desired.
FIG. 6 illustrates the means for securing the seat portion 15 to the
carrying bars 23. This comprises a large diameter externally threaded bolt
36 and associated internally threaded receptacle 37. Bolt 36 extends
through the slot 18 of side member 19 and engages with receptacle 37
extending through a hole 38 in shaft 25 of carrying support bar 23. This
arrangement permits tilting seat portion 15 to any desired angle and
securing such seat portion 15 in the desired position by tightening bolt
36 into receptacle 37. Both members 36 and 37 have enlarged heads 39
thereon for ease in tightening.
FIG. 7 is a sectional view of receptacle 37 showing the internal threads 40
therein.
The seat portion 15 and carry support bars 23 are preferably made of wood
although high strength rigid plastic may also be used. The harness 27 and
its associated straps are preferably made of leather.
As to the manner of usage and operation of the present invention, the same
should be apparent from the above description. Accordingly, no further
discussion relating to the manner of usage and operation will be provided.
With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the
optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of the invention, to
include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of
operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to
one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those
illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are
intended to be encompassed by the present invention.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the
principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and
changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired
to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and
described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may
be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.
* * * * *
|
|
 |
|
 |
Description |
|
