EP0028560B1 - Alarm system for a coffin - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an alarm system for a coffin.

According to certain information, the exhumations of American soldiers following the recent wars have provided clues allowing to affirm that a certain percentage of bodies had been buried alive. Likewise, an investigation into this problem in Britain revealed that the number of living burials was around 2,700 per year. However, French patent N ° 73 46933 and its request for certificate of addition N ° 237 8923 describe necropolises comprising a network of pipes intended to collect liquids and gases emanating from coffins with, in addition, means for putting in depression inside the coffin. There are therefore means of ensuring in the coffin a certain renewal of air which allows a buried living regaining consciousness in the hours following his burial to breathe a minimum of air while waiting for help. The vaults also provide around the coffin a volume of air which may be sufficient to ensure the respiration of a human in a semi-lethargic state if this volume of air is placed in communication with the interior of the coffin. It would also seem that gas exchanges can take place through the freshly stirred layers of earth and that these could also allow survival in the semi-lethargic state. However, none of the coffins currently in use is equipped with a device making it possible, upon awakening, to alert the emergency services in a safe manner and possibly improve the ventilation of the coffin before opening it.

The alarm systems previously proposed for example in French patents N ° 1 150 858, N ° 386057 or N ° 1 065868 use sensors or detectors of a movement of the buried body which can result from displacements or transport of the coffin or fermentations, belching, sagging tissues and other motor phenomena observed on a corpse.

The present invention aims to achieve such an alarm system operating safely while being sheltered from false alarms resulting from the natural movements of a corpse applicable to coffins regardless of the type of burial but, in in particular, to the coffins stored in constructions for the use of necrots with a sewerage network, in particular a vacuum system for the interior of the coffins.

The present invention relates to an alarm system for coffins comprising a sensor device capable of being implemented by a movement of the body located in the coffin and capable of closing a circuit comprising a power source to which is connected at least one alarm device characterized in that the sensor device controls a memory device memorizing the operation of the sensor and closing the alarm circuit.

According to a second characteristic, a device for ventilating the interior of the coffin comprising at least one valve and preferably an air pump is implemented by closing the circuit of the alarm device.

The signaling device of the alarm system can be placed directly on the coffin, especially when you want to be able to detect the lethargic awakening between the putting in the beer and the burial. It can be placed near the tomb or the vault in the case of classic burials. On the other hand, in necropolises of the type described in French patent N ° 73 46933 and in its request for an addition certificate N ° 23 78923, the signaling device is preferably positioned in the viewing gallery with a device for cell signaling.

The memory device and the power source are preferably housed in the coffin, when the alarm system must operate between the putting in the beer and the burial; on the other hand, they can be outside the coffin in other cases where when it is desired to reduce the cost of the coffin by limiting the elements incorporated in the coffin which are lost while the useful surveillance period is most certainly less than a month.

According to one embodiment, the sensor device consists of at least two conductive elements facing each other mounted on the inner wall of the cover of the coffin, preferably plumb with the hands of the body located in the coffin, so that they are brought into contact when a hand is raised. According to one embodiment, the two conductive elements consist of a first conductive sheet bonded to the lower wall of the cover and by a second conductive sheet suspended under the latter while being spaced apart.

According to an alternative embodiment, the sensor device also of the pressure type is mounted in a location such that it is actuated by the knees or by high pressure against the upper part of the side walls.

According to another embodiment, the sensor device is constituted by draw contactors in which one or more draw cords hang freely from the cover of the coffin.

The memory device can be constituted by a self-powered relay or any other equivalent electronic device. To avoid false alarms, the memory device can be designed to act only after several contacts, for example of a type such that the closure of the alarm circuit is ensured after at least two closings of the sensor separated by an opening period, the minimum duration of which may itself be fixed.

• la figure 1 est une vue en coupe longitudinale d'un cercueil destiné à être enterré muni d'un dispositif d'alarme simplifié ;
• la figure 2 est une vue en coupe d'une partie d'un cercueil destiné à être entreposé dans une nécropole et raccordé à un dispositif d'alarme qui peut être utilisé dans les systèmes d'inhumation directement en terre, en caveau ou en nécropole ;
• la figure 3 est un schéma d'un système d'alarme monté dans une nécropole d'un type analogue à celle décrite dans le certificat d'addition français N° 23 78923 ;
• la figure 4 est une vue en bout d'un cercueil pour inhumation dans une nécropole ;
• la figure 5 est une vue en coupe longitudinale de la tête de ce cercueil et
• la figure 6 illustre une variante de réalisation du dispositif d'alarme de la figure 2.

Various embodiments of the invention will be described in more detail below with reference to the attached drawings in which:

• Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a coffin intended to be buried provided with a simplified alarm device;
• Figure 2 is a sectional view of part of a coffin intended to be stored in a necropolis and connected to an alarm device which can be used in burial systems directly in the ground, in a vault or in a necropolis ;
• FIG. 3 is a diagram of an alarm system mounted in a necropolis of a type similar to that described in the French addition certificate No. 23 78923;
• Figure 4 is an end view of a coffin for burial in a necropolis;
• FIG. 5 is a view in longitudinal section of the head of this coffin and
• FIG. 6 illustrates an alternative embodiment of the alarm device of FIG. 2.

In the various embodiments, under the cover 1 of the coffin 2 is fixed the contact 3 which could be of any known type but which for greater sensitivity consists of a plate 4, for example of light aluminum sheet fixed on the underside of the cover and by an identical plate 5 placed opposite, the two plates being enclosed so as to maintain a small gap between them in a welded plastic pocket 6. The interior of this pocket is in communication with the inside of the coffin by a small diameter orifice 7 which at the same time dampens the movement of the two plates by slowing down the evacuation of the variation in the internal air volume and ensures the balance of pressures so that an overpressure gas inside the coffin does not cause false contact. Each of the two conductors 8 are connected to each of the plates 4 and 5.

In the embodiment of FIG. 1, a battery 9 and a self-supplying relay 10 are fixed under the cover, the battery supplying the relay 10 by the conductors 8 and the contact 4-5 or by the closed armature 11 of the relay. The frame 11 of the relay closes the circuit of an electromagnet 12, the movable frame of which forms a latch by a shutter flap 13 closing an orifice 14 in the wall of the coffin so that, when the electromagnet is excited, the orifice 14 is open to put the interior of the coffin in communication with the exterior. The circuit closed by the frame 11 of the relay leads to a socket 15 in the wall of the coffin, socket on which can be inserted a lamp affixed to the wall of the coffin from its closing until burial or a male socket 16 supplying a lamp 17 or any other alert device mounted on a stake 18 located near the burial site.

In the embodiment of FIG. 2, the coffin comprises a connecting end piece 19 for connection to a circuit for placing the coffin under vacuum intended to ensure the evacuation of the gases. The conductors 8 are connected to a socket 20 in the wall of the coffin. Under the cover 1 is fixed an electromagnetic air pump 21 which sucks the air outside the coffin through an orifice 22 and rejects it through an outlet 23 in the coffin. The supply conductors 24 of this pump also lead to the socket 20. The alarm device is external to the coffin and housed in a box 25 which can be placed next to the coffin until burial or above. the pit or vault. The connection between the coffin and the alarm device is ensured by an electric cable 26.

The alarm device inside the box 25 is constituted by a supply battery 27, a self-energizing relay 28, the closure of which is ensured by the contact 3. The closure of the movable contact 29 of the relay ensures the supply by the cable 26, of the electromagnetic pump 21 and, moreover, that of a buzzer 29a, a lamp 30 mounted on the housing and a socket 31 to which the general warning circuit can be connected or a remote alert device of the radio transmitter type, such a remote alert device being able to be housed in the housing 25.

In the embodiment of Figure 3, the coffin is similar to that of Figure 2 and the same elements are designated by the same references. This coffin is placed in a cell 32 of a necropolis. The coffin is connected by pipes 33 and 34 connected to the suction connection 19 and to the drainage connection 19 'to two collectors 35 and 36 up and down in a technical gallery which are connected to sanitation devices, the collector 35 being subjected to a vacuum. The socket 20 can receive by plugging in a male socket 37, a sensor 38 which comprises a housing 39 in which is mounted a self-supply relay similar to relay 11 and on which is mounted an alert lamp 40, the housing and the warning lamp in the access gallery. From the housing 39 there is a cable 41 which is connected by a socket 42 to a circuit 43 comprising the supply conductors and the conductors leading to the central alert station which may include a sound device.

The coffin also comprises a threaded orifice 44 with a flexible sheet 45 opposite it and inside the coffin forming a valve so as to allow the entry of air from the technical gallery and cell 32 into the coffin under the 'Effect of the depression created in the pipe 35, this depression can be increased by the alert device to, in the event of an alert, increase the oxygenation of all the coffins under observation.

After the observation period which can be eight to fifteen days, the sensor 38 is removed and disconnected, the tapped hole 44 is closed by a plug 46 and the cell is isolated by buffers 47 as illustrated for cell 32b, the coffin in cell 32a being in observation period and cell 32c being on standby.

The embodiment of Figures 4 and 5 relates to a coffin intended for burial in a necropolis usable in particular in the case of Figure 3. We find in these figures the box 2 of the coffin and the cover 1 fixed on the calm by bolts 48 with a seal 49. The bottom of the coffin has a corrugated sheet 50 surmounted by a mattress 51 soaked in absorbent products and neutralizing the decomposition products, the effluents being discharged through the connector 19 '.

Under the cover are fixed the sensor device 3, a battery 9 and the relay 10, the conducting cables being connected to a socket 52. On the head wall are fixed the connections 19 and 19 ′, a warning lamp 53 and a socket 20.

The warning lamp 53 and the socket 20 are connected by a conductor 54 to a plug which can be inserted, when the coffin is closed, on the socket 52. The lamp 53 makes it possible to avoid the presence near the coffin of the alert box 25 between the closing of the coffin and burial. This lamp 53 can be coupled with a buzzer.

The modification of the sensor illustrated in FIG. 8 consists in that an elastic lamella 4a is cut in the plate 4 of the sensor and near the end of this lamella (shown for clarity in the slightly deformed state) is fixed. a pulling wire 55 which passes through an orifice in the plate 5. The sensor thus works both at pressure and at drawing.

The memory device of FIG. 6 is also modified so that the alarm only works after two actions on the sensor.

The memory device for this purpose comprises a relay 56 with a self-excitation armature 56a and an armature acting at the opening 56b, a relay 57 with delayed closing by a capacity 58, its armature acting at the opening at 57a and at closing in 57b; a relay 59 with delayed closure by a capacity 59d with a self-excftation armature 59a, an armature acting at opening 59b and at closure 59c and a relay 80 comprising a self-excitation armature 80a and an armature 60b ensuring by closing the power supply to the alarm system. The coil of the relay 56 is supplied, on the one hand, in parallel by the contact 3 in series with the armature 57a at rest and by the self-excitation armature 56a and, on the other hand, by the armature 59b closed in the non-excited state of relay 59, in parallel with the frame 57b of relay 57 which closes when this relay is energized, the first and second group above being in series with the coil of relay 58. The coil of the delayed relay 57 is supplied by closing the contact 3 or by closing the self-excitation armature 56a of the relay 56 in series with the own armature 57a closed in the non-excited state of the relay 57. The coil of delayed relay 59, the delay of which is greater than that of relay 57, is supplied in parallel by the self-excitation armature 59a spell, by the self-exortation armature 56a of relay 56 and by contact 3 in series with armature 57a at rest of relay 57. The coil of relay 60 is supplied from contact 3 by armature 57a at rest of relay 57, the armature 56b at rest of the relay 56 and the armature 59c drawn from the relay 59 and it self-supplies by the armature 60a.

The above memory system works as follows.

The closing of contact 3 puts in circuit, by the armature 57a of relay 57, the relay 56 which closes its armatures and self-supplies by armature 56a whatever the state of contact 3. It supplies by l armature 56a the relays 57 and 59. The relay 57 closes first which cuts its supply by the armatures 56a, 57a and closes 57b to maintain the supply of the relay 56 in parallel with 59b. As long as contact 3 is closed, relay 57 is kept closed. Relay 59 then closes and cuts off the supply of relay 56 through 59b at the same time as 59a closes to ensure self-supply of relay 59 independently of the closing of the armature 56a. If the contact 3 is still closed, the relay 57 remains attracted, if, on the other hand, it was opened by releasing the pressure or stopping the draft on the control 56, the delayed relay 57 falls after closing of the relay 59. 59b and 57b being open, the power supply of relay 56 is cut which ensures the closing of 56b and 59 being self-excited, relay 56 cannot operate. If the contact 3 is closed, the coil of the relay 60 is supplied by the armature 59c of the excited relay 59, the armature 56b at rest of the relay 56 and the armature 57a at rest of the relay 57 and the armatures 60a, 60b of the Relays 60 close which ensures the self-supply of relay 60 and the closing of the alarm circuit.

The embodiment of FIG. 6 has been described as using electromechanical relays to better visualize and make the controls more obvious, but it could also be carried out in electronics. For greater clarity, this memory device has been shown as produced in an independent box connected to the coffin by the cables 26, but it could also be incorporated partially or completely in the coffin as described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 5.

Claims (9)

1. Alarm system for coffins comprising a sensing device (3) adapted to be operated by a movement of the body in the coffin (2) and adapted to close a circuit including a supply source (9) and having connected thereto at least one alarm device (17), characterized in that the sensing device controls a memory device (10) storing the operation of said sensing device and closing the alarm circuit.

2. Alarm system for coffin according to claim 1, characterized in that the sensing device (3) is a contactor (4-5) with a pressure surface (5) mounted under the cover (1) of the coffin (2).

3. Alarm system for coffins according to claim 1, characterized in that the sensing device (3) is a contactor (4-5) with a pressure surface (5) mounted near the upper edge of the side walls.

4. Alarm system for coffins according to claim 1, characterized in that the sensing device (4-5) is a pull-to contactor wherein at least one pulling cord (55) is freely hanging from the cover (1) of the coffin.

5. Alarm system for coffins according to any of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that it comprises a device for ventilating the interior of the coffin consisting of at least one valve (13) and preferably an air pump (9), which device is operated through the closure of the alarm device circuit.

6. Alarm system according to claim 2, characterized in that the sensing device consists of at least two conducting elements (4-5) facing each other mounted on the inner wall of the cover (1) of the coffin right above the hands of the buried body so as to be brought into engagement when one hand is raised.

7. Alarm system according to claim 6, characterized in that the two conducting elements consist of a first conducting sheet (4) glued onto the lower wall of the cover (1) and of a second conducting sheet (5) suspended under said wall while being spaced therefrom.

8. Alarm system according to any of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the memory device consists of a selfpowered relay (11-28).

9. Alarm system for coffins according to any of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the memory device is of the type adapted to close the circuit under control after at least two closures of the sensing device (3) with an opening period therebetween.

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