Hybrid system for human escape & for firefighting
Humans escape through 2 "bucket" pulley system, that also drives a pump to pipe upwards water or/and firefighting supplies
Description
My idea is to create a dual purpose system that not only helps humans escape a fire, but also provides an alternate path for firefighting materials , water etc to be sent from the outside of a building towards the upper floors - without waiting for the fire department to arrive with their tall ladders. 1. MEANS FOR ESCAPE. Strategically-located windows and balcony openings on the 2nd/3rd or higher levels of buildings will be fitted, on the building exterior, with a pulley system capable of supporting two counterbalanced "buckets" or seats that can carry humans from those windows/balcony down to the ground. This escape route is important because, time and again, history has shown fires blocking off internal stairwells and escape routes on the lower floors, often forcing trapped people to cluster at windows on higher floors, and - sometimes in desperation - trying to jump from windows. The idea is to enable people with little or no training to briskly climb into the buckets that then carry them down. As one bucket moves down, the counterbalancing bucket goes up - where another escapee at the window/balcony waits to clamber into it. 2. MEANS TO FIGHT FIRE. The alternating, self-reversing rotational motion of the pulley-and-gear system (on which the buckets ride) is harnessed as an energy source. This energy is transferred to drive a mechanical pump, which pumps up water or fire suppressants to the windows (i.e. to the upper floors) from the ground up. That is, as the buckets alternatingly ride up and down, some of this energy is transferred to a column of water going up a pipe to the window. This pipe or pipes are stored near the upper floor windows along with the buckets and pulley system, and one end of each pipe automatically drops to the ground when the bucket and pulley system is deployed during a fire. The potential escapees waiting for their turn at the window can spray the water (and/or suppressant mixture) around and buy themselves (and any other machinery or textiles within range of their hoses) valuable time, using the water and mix pumped up to them. This is more firefighting power, in addition to any fire extinguishers, water hose reels, etc firefighting measures that are already available inside the building. In addition, I suggest creating a fire shield curtain or "bubble" near such escape windows, so that air from the open window may not move as easily into the interior of the floors (and feed/fan the flames further). I advocate for configuring such window fire escapes because (1) windows often exist already in buildings; and (2) they provide routes for occupants' escape that are less likely to get blocked by fire/smoke spreading in the interior of the floor(s) and blocking interior doors and stairs, and (3) these window escapes are also useful entry/exit points for firefighters trying to quickly access the floor(s).
References
Work in progress... http://www.novabraid.com/rope-performance/fire-resistant-rope/ https://sterlingrope.com/store/work/ropes/search-rescue/escape-ropes Optimal designs able to lift water columns as high as 15-45 meters or more, considering those numbers are achievable with hand pumps: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hand_pump#Range_of_lift