Abstract: A crane system includes crane with a load hook that can be raised or lowered via movable crane elements, and moved within a crane working area by operating drive units associated with the crane elements. The crane system further includes a control unit and a mobile transponder that can be variably positioned in the crane working area, and one or more transmitting/receiving units communicatively coupled to the control unit and configured to receive signals transmitted by the mobile transponder. The control unit is configured to automatically determining the current position of the mobile transponder relative to the load hook and/or a crane element based on the signals received from the mobile transponder, and automatically control the drive units in such that the load hook is automatically moved to the mobile transponder.

Abstract: A self-retracting lifeline is provided. In one embodiment, the self-retracting lifeline includes a housing, a drum, an activation assembly, a lifeline and a connector, the drum is received in the housing. The activation assembly is received in the housing. Moreover, the activation assembly is operationally coupled to the drum to selectively rotate the drum. The connector is coupled proximate an end of the lifeline. The connector has a connector passage. The connector passage is configured and arranged to selectively couple the lifeline to the drum.

Abstract: An eddy-current braking mechanism including a rotor, rotatable about a rotor axis; at least one electrically conductive member coupled to the rotor for rotation therewith; at least one magnet configured to apply a magnetic field extending at least partially orthogonal to the plane of rotation of the conductive member, and characterized in that upon rotation of the rotor, the conductive member is configured to move at least partially radially from the rotor axis into the applied magnetic field.

Abstract: A retractable fall arrest device comprises a unit housing, a spring sub-assembly, a brake/clutch sub-assembly, and a drum assembly. The spring and brake/clutch sub-assemblies each include shaft portions which extend into the housing and are removably connected together or to the drum assembly, and support the drum assembly in the housing. The spring and brake/clutch assembly are themselves removably connected to the unit housing. Finally, the unit housing comprises two wall members (i.e., clam shells) which are removably connected together. This fall arrest device allows for replacement of any of the four constituent components of the device in the field, thus reducing the down time between repairs or recertification of a particular fall arrest device.

Abstract: A transfer device for transferring people and/or personal equipment from a first location to a second location, the transfer device being coupled to a lifting device and comprising an outer structure in the form of a cage connected to a base and defining an inner space. Seating elements are disposed on the device's base, arranged radially around its center. The device also comprises shock absorbing means situated on the sides of the outer structure facing each of the seating elements to protect passengers from frontal impacts.

Abstract: Herein are disclosed fall-protection safety devices comprising a load-bearing housing comprised of a composite polymeric material, and also comprising a load-bearing anchorage plate connected to the load-bearing housing by at least one load-bearing connector.

Abstract: Herein is disclosed a preassembled and pretorqued friction brake comprising at least a pressure plate, a ratchet ring, a friction ring, and a backing plate. Further disclosed is a centrifugally-operated safety device comprising the preassembled and pretorqued friction brake, and methods of making.

Abstract: A self-rescue device includes a rope operatively connected to a lifeline connector. The lifeline connector is releasably operatively connected to a frame member of the self-rescue device, and should a fall occur, the user releases the lifeline connector from the frame member. A centrifugal braking mechanism controls the rate at which the rope is paid out, which controls the rate of the user's descent.

Abstract: A life saving implement includes a prime motor assembly, a winding drum installing in the prime motor assembly to wind a wire rope, a braking drum installed on a side of the winding drum to control an RPM of the winding drum, a braking unit installed on a lower portion of the braking drum to control an RPM of the braking drum, a speed reduction unit installed on an upper portion of the braking drum to gradually reduce the RPM of the winding drum until the winding drum stops, and a passenger vehicle moving by the rotations of the winding drum and the braking drum.

Abstract: A self-retracting lifeline includes a common, central brake hub having teeth on opposing sides and a lifeline assembly on each side of the brake hub. The lifeline assemblies include centrifugal clutch assemblies with pawls. The pawls are configured and arranged to engage the teeth of the brake hub to stop the lifeline assemblies when there is a sudden acceleration or a high rate of speed at which the lifeline assemblies turn to pay-out lifeline which causes the pawls to pivot and engage the teeth. The self-retracting lifeline may be operatively connected to a safety harness with a connector interconnecting the bottom of the self-retracting lifeline and the straps of the safety harness proximate a dorsal pad assembly and straps interconnecting the housing of the self-retracting lifeline and the straps of the safety harness above the dorsal pad assembly. The lifelines of the self-retracting lifeline exit the housing proximate the top.

Abstract: A fire escape device includes a housing having a top wall, a first end wall, a second end wall, a front wall and a rear wall. A spindle is rotatably mounted to and extends between the first and second end walls. A pair of gripping members each has a bottom side, an upper side, and a pair of lateral sides. The spindle extends through each of the lateral sides such that the bottom sides are positioned nearer the spindle than the upper sides. A spool with a tether is rotatably mounted on the spindle. The tether has a free end extending through an aperture in the top wall. A fastening assembly is attached to the free end for selectively attaching the free end to a dwelling. Hands positioned on the gripping member are secured within the housing by a compressing action between the gripping member and the front wall.

Abstract: An apparatus for safely evacuating a person within a prescribed weight range from a multistory building by enabling the person to exit from the interior of the building to the outside very quickly and to descend to the ground or lower surface alongside the exterior of the building to attain a descent speed of less than four feet per second to land injury-free, the apparatus comprising a housing, a harness affixed to the housing for affixing the housing to the person, a cable of predetermined length within the housing, having a free-end with a securing member for affixing it to an anchorage proximate the descent point, and a descent slowing energy dissipating mechanism within the housing driven by the playout of the cable as the person descends, which enables the person to attain automatically within his descent a descent speed of less than four feet per second determined by the intersection of the graph of the curve that describes the rate of energy dissipated as a function of the descent speed and the graph

Abstract: Rapid deployment of a suspension cable is a supportive system to several high-rise building rescue methods. A cable is pre-attached in a peelable manner to the building side and rigidly attached to the building top. An emergency chase vehicle is dispatched to the building base, attaches to the lower end of the cable and then moves away from the building. The cable peels off the building and suspends from the building top to the ground at approximately a 45 degree angle. A high-rise building rescue method now utilizes this deployed suspension cable.

Abstract: A descender apparatus for lowering a person in a controlled manner from a height to a relatively lower height and for use as a safety equipment for workers and mountain climbers comprising a generally cylindrical housing; a rope arranged in the housing about a vertical axis of the housing in a stack of layers of closely wound coils and a friction core at one end of the housing for controlling a rate of descent and uncoiling the coils of rope as they are withdrawn from the housing; and a camshaft in transverse relationship to the axis of the housing for selectively controlling the rate of descent during the lowering of the person.

Abstract: An escape device for allowing a person to escape from a high position to a predetermined landing point. The escape device basically includes: an elastic cord element elastically stretchable to a maximum length substantially at the landing point; a container element provided at the high position; and a carrier element connected with the elastic cord element. Accordingly, a person can descend via the carrier element from the high position and softly land on the landing point. A plurality of carrier elements may be provided and connected together via plural elastic cord elements and auxiliary ropes, using disengagement mechanism, to provide a multistage escape device, so that the carrier elements can be disengaged from one another in sequence when they are falling so as to permit person(s) to descend and softly land on a ground at the landing point.

Abstract: A rescue method and apparatus for rescuing or evacuating occupants from high rise buildings or other high structures includes a frame adjacent an escape portion of the high structure; a dynamic resistance device such as an air fan mounted to the frame; and a removable and replaceable cable cartridge, having a pre-wound cable, which is removably and non-rotatably coupled to a rotatable portion of the dynamic resistance device. The cable is connectable to a person to be evacuated. When the person to be evacuated goes out from the escape portion of the high structure, his descending motion causes the cable to unwind with the same linear speed as the descending speed of the person, thus causing the rotatable portion of the dynamic resistance device to rotate and to create resistance to the descending speed of the person, until the descending speed of the person reaches a substantially equilibrium value.

Abstract: A rescue method and apparatus for rescuing occupants from high rise buildings includes a frame adjacent an escape portion of the building; a dynamic resistance device mounted to the frame; and a removable and replaceable cable cartridge, having a pre-roller cable, which is removably and non-rotatably coupled to a rotatable portion of the dynamic resistance device. The cable is connectable to a person to be rescued. When the person to be rescued goes out from the escape portion of the building, his falling motion causes the cable to move with the same speed as the falling speed, thus causing the rotatable portion of the dynamic resistance device to rotate and to create resistance to the falling speed, until the falling speed of the person reaches a substantially constant value. After a first person is rescued, a new cable cartridge is mounted and the cable thereof is connected to a next person to be rescued.

Abstract: A rescue method and apparatus for rescuing occupants from high rise buildings includes a frame adjacent an escape portion of the building; a dynamic resistance device mounted to the frame; and a removable and replaceable cable cartridge, having a pre-roller cable, which is removably and non-rotatably coupled to a rotatable portion of the dynamic resistance device. The cable is connectable to a person to be rescued. When the person to be rescued goes out from the escape portion of the building, his falling motion causes the cable to move with the same speed as the falling speed, thus causing the rotatable portion of the dynamic resistance device to rotate and to create resistance to the falling speed, until the falling speed of the person reaches a substantially constant value. After a first person is rescued, a new cable cartridge is mounted and the cable thereof is connected to a next person to be rescued.

Abstract: A rescue method and apparatus for rescuing or evacuating occupants from high rise buildings or other high structures includes a frame adjacent an escape portion of the high structure; a dynamic resistance device such as an air fan mounted to the frame; and a removable and replaceable cable cartridge, having a pre-wound cable, which is removably and non-rotatably coupled to a rotatable portion of the dynamic resistance device. The cable is connectable to a person to be evacuated. When the person to be evacuated goes out from the escape portion of the high structure, his descending motion causes the cable to unwind with the same linear speed as the descending speed of the person, thus causing the rotatable portion of the dynamic resistance device to rotate and to create resistance to the descending speed of the person, until the descending speed of the person reaches a substantially equilibrium value.

Abstract: An escape device for escaping from a building or other high area in an emergency comprises a worm gear mechanism driven by an electric motor and operatively coupled to a reel having a length of high tensile line wound around it, arranged within a casing, and a belt connected to the casing for supporting a person's body. The worm gear mechanism rotates the reel, feeding out the line, and thereby lowering the user to a safe location below.

Abstract: An easily carried and assembled apparatus for use in moving materials between two elevated locations, such as windows of spaced building, that includes a sending assembly positionable across a window in a first building, and a receiving assembly positioned across the window in the second building. Each assembly included a pair of triangular bracing members with bases that are positioned against the interior of the wall on either side of the opening, and a crossbar that is attached at its ends to the apexes of the bracing members, and extends across the opening. A cable is stretched between the assemblies, and a material support is used to carry materials along the cable between the buildings. The apparatus may be combined with a vertical lifting assembly that is attachable within a wall opening in one of the buildings.

Abstract: A fire escape device for lowering people from a high-rise, including a casing having a hanger for hanging on a support in a high-rise from which the user is going to escape, a driving pulley mounted inside the casing, a cable wound round the driving pulley and having an outer end extended out of the casing, a harness adapted for securing the user to the outer end of the cable, a friction disk having a corrugated track, a chain transmission turned by the driving pulley to rotate the friction disk, and spring-supported damping means installed in the casing and pressed on the corrugated track of the friction disk to impart a damping resistance to the driving pulley through the friction disk when the user goes down from the high-rise.

Abstract: A mesh storage apparatus comprises a conformal mesh member (14), which is attached to a retraction mechanism (10). Because the mesh member (14) has a point of attachment (20), rather than multiple points spread along one of its sides, the force of the retraction mechanism or another applied force collapses the mesh member along its major diagonal (13) into an elongated form, similar to that of a cable, rope, or strap, allowing for easy storage. It, therefore, takes advantage of the contractility of the mesh openings and the behavioral characteristics of conformal material under tension to store the mesh member (14) in a much more compact manner than with traditional storage apparatus.

Abstract: A remotely controllable retractable lifeline extender having an electric motor attached thereto to provide powered payout and retraction of the lifeline to a user located below. The remote retractable lifeline extender may be fastened to the ceiling or rafter of a structure, or to some other sturdy structural component thereof having a great deal of clearance below the connection point. The device is actuated by a hand-held remote control unit used by the worker to be attached to the lifeline. By activating the remote control unit, the lifeline is lowered to the worker by the motor-powered unit. The lifeline is attached to the worker's safety belt or harness by a fastening member such as a locking snap hook or carabiner.

Abstract: A housing is mounted between structural support studs in adjacency to a window sill to permit opening of the housing for access to a rope wound about an associated axle structure. The lid is arranged for ease of removal or alternatively, employed as a step relative to the window sill for access to the window sill in emergency escape situations.

Abstract: A window escape comprises a sturdy housing secured to a building wall above a window or the like. The housing has an open bottom and a rotatable sleeve supported between two side walls. A cover is removably retained over the front of the housing. A long rope is tied at one end to the sleeve and at the other end to the cover. Normally the rope is wound around the sleeve and is hidden from view by the cover. In an emergency, a person removes the cover from the housing and throws the cover out the open window. The falling cover unwinds the rope from the sleeve. After the rope is unwound, the person can easily grasp it and descend to safety.

Abstract: A cable pulley arrangement including a pulley on which a cable is wound. The pulley is held by a lock device. When the lock device is released, the cable is unwound by a weight is hung on the ends thereof. The cable is so arranged that, when the cable is wound on the pulley, both ends of the cable are at one side of the pulley, while when the cable is unwound the ends hang down at both sides of the pulley.

Abstract: The present disclosure is directed to a retractable and flexible steel cable ladder device adopted for descending people from a high building in fire accident, which can be emergently mounted on the wall of a window or place of the like, so that the flexible steel cable ladder thereof can be lowered down quickly for people to step down therefrom.

Abstract: A lifesaving apparatus which enables quick escape from the upper floors of a tall building during emergencies includes a hoist device positionable on the building above the floors from which escape is to be provided, a fire-resistant rope element connected to the hoist device which can be raised and lowered with respect to the ground, the rope element including at least one attachment element along its length, and at least one container device for supporting a human being removably attachable to an attachment element of the rope, each container device including a closable entry opening.