Design of an intermittent escape apparatus used in high-rise buildings based on escapement mechanism

An intermittent impact type escape apparatus used in high-rise buildings based on the principle of escapement mechanism usually applied in clock for time controlling was designed in this paper. The escapement mechanism in escape apparatus can consume gravitational potential energy of body. Applied the modularized design method, mechanical system of the escape apparatus consisted of a transmission system and a control system. Advanced mechanical design software was used to design each module structure in detail. The transmission system was composed of a uniquely designed wirerope antislip mechanism and a reversing gear. The wirerope antiskid mechanism effectively increased friction between the wirerope and the winding drum in order to prevent the wirerope relative sliding along the winding drum. The reversing gear greatly improved rescue efficiency by continually using the apparatus. The control system completed escape wheel periodically "locked to released to rotated to locked" movement. The speed governing scheme realized intermittent movement of main drive chain and made body fall intermittently. It was very important to apply modular synchronous design to shorten the design and installation cycle of escape apparatus.