GB1345440A - Rescuing device for use in rescuing persons from an overhead cableway - Google Patents

Abstract

1345440 Rescuing device for cableways OBRDA 15 July 1971 [20 July 1970] 33319/71 Heading B7L [Also in Division A3] A device 2 for rescuing persons from the chairs of an overhead cableway comprises a J- shaped supporting member 6 having mounted thereon rollers 8 for movement of the device along a cable 1, frictional braking means in the form of a braking plate 12 which in a first position is biased by a spring 13 and lever and cam arrangement 16, 15 to contact the cable and in a second position is spaced away from the cable, a cylinder 23 which by means of a free-wheeling bearing can rotate in one direction only and which cylinder has wound around it at least one and a half times a rope 4 to one end of which is releasably connected a body harness (not shown) and means for transporting a rescuing person so that he can operate the braking means, said transporting means comprising an essentially vertically extending first bar 3 which carries a plurality of horizontally extending bars 20. The device also includes a locking plate 10 having a lock 12<SP>1</SP> which engages an annular groove provided in a member 11 about which the lever 16 pivots so that once the device 2 is in position on the cable 1 it cannot be accidentally dislodged. In a rescue operation the device is mounted on the cable 1 with the braking means in the first position to prevent movement of the device. A first person mounts the device by stepping on the transporting means 3, 20 and releases the braking means using the lever 16 thus allowing the device to travel down the cable 1 to the position where a second person is to be rescued, the braking means again being applied at this point to arrest the motion of the device. The first person then fastens the harness (not shown) around the person to be rescued and attaches the harness to the end of the rope 4 which when acting on the cylinder 23 will not cause the cylinder to rotate. The other end of the rope 4 is then pulled slightly to lift the second person free of the chair in which he may be seated and then slowly released causing the rope 4 to slip around the cylinder 23 and thus lower the second person to the ground. The first person, standing on the chair from which the second person has just been rescued, then releases the lever 16, opens the locking plate 10 and transfers the device to a position in the cable 1 downstream of the chair and is ready to repeat the procedure for rescuing the next person. In order to withstand the heat generated in the procedure the cylinder is made of a heat conductive material, preferably an aluminium alloy, and the rope 4 is made of a polyamide material.