US1773865A - Sanitary burial-crypt vent - Google Patents

Description

Aug, 26, 1930. D. M. ROTHENBERGER SANITARY BURIAL CRYPT VENT Filed Nov. 12, 1929 Patented Aug. 26, v 930] nAKmnr/L BOTKENBERGER, or Lnnsron'r, remsnvimagissmoa ro'nnvnmw.

LD RMER, or nnnnm imimsvrvanm.

sanrram'r nUnIAL-cRYPr vein 1 1 Application flled November 12 1929; Serial No.406,633. i

" The. chief purpose ofthefpresent invention istoprovide a sanita'rf crypt vent which will surely and thorough y disinfect. gases and fumes. escaping from a burialflcrypt.

' The assemblage of large numbers of burial crypts into mausoleumsh'as created anew. problemin sanitation} Thecrypts enerally are placedabove' the' ground leve so; that. fumes and gasesescaping therefrom go into the open air. PSOmeof thefcrypts will be used-and bodies laced therein While other crypts 1mayi be le t vacant. for long periods;

Large. numbersof people may assemble at the mausoleum for funeralsand for various memorial purposes from time to time," It is essential, therefore,' that the crypts and the mausoleum as a wholeas well asthe surrounding air be maintained clean,clearypureand free from contaminating gases or germs. To this end constructors; and'operators-have gone to great Ipainsto insure ,that the joints: and doors of the individual crypts be tightly and thoroughly sealed against exit of ffumes, gases. and germs, It is .ascientifically accepted fact that in. such acrypt whicha body has been placedthere will develop from time to time noxious gases'or. fumes and posthrough one or more of sibly disease breeding germs. Unless some vent 1s: allowed for the escape of'these. the be. rupturedgor an exit. forced crypt may a V v thezjoints or Closures. Vents have been provided. leading from inclividual crypts. into so called ventilatingflues built into or associated with the mausoleums. It is: a purposeof the present invention to I provide such a meansrof communication between-the crypts and the ventilating flue that an exit for gases, fumes and germs may be provided but of such character that they will be rendered harmless before being released in the ventilating flue. T

A] specificv form the invention may .tal're "is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a perspective; fragmentary view of a portion. of a mausoleum showing a sanitary vent in place in one of the. crypts. Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical section through a vent in place in the crypt. 3: is a transverse horizontalsection through a vent. Fig. fl. IS a long tud1nal.-. vert1cal sect on througha vent f is' skeleton perspect-lve of one end of the vent with, the cover removed;

i There is illustrated aventilatingfluel into which extends the pipe 2 leading fromfth'e vent device 3 placed on theflo or 4 of a crypt preferably near its rear wall 5'against' which runsfthe fine 1. The vent 3 hasanopeni'ng 6 whichv may be engaged; bytheinner. end of. thepipe 2. From the opening Gleads a channel7 formed in the ventdevice 3'and this is turned atits upper end at right angles to turnssupward at 11 to'nearly the top of the device and to about on a level with the outlet 8'. Here the channel 10 turns at right 1 angles forming a horizontal portion 12 from.

which depends a vertical portion 13 ending in horizontalv portionv 14: providing an outletinto the lower portion of the chamber 9. A cover 15 is provided for the entire .devicehaving depending. side walls 16 which,

may be sealed in any suitable manner to the base portion ofthe vent3. I have illustrated a. seal packing 17 which will preferably be of jewelers cement although any'other suitomitted. entirely]; If desired the cover 15 may" be so'aformed for machined as to closely and tightly fit the lower portion of the vent ficiently tight seal. a

Within the chamber 9 is placed. a suitable disinfecting material. While the character of this material isnot a feature of the pres able packing may be employed, or indeed in some nstances the seal-or packlng may be *3 sothat the friction contact will form a sufcut invention and any suitable material may be employed I prefer touse formaldehyde in liquid form although of course when desired the crystalline form may be employed. vThe disinfectant preferably will be supplied in but to leave the outlet 8 uncovered. There will thus be provided a. space above the sufficient quantity to cover the opening 14 infectant in the chamber 9 which space will be in direct communication with outlet 8.

The material of which the device is made is not essential for its operation. It is desirable. however, that the material throughout be such that it will not be attacked or affected by the atmosphere nor by the disinfectant nor by the noxious fumes which are to be treated. To this end the vent will preferably be made of a non-corrosive metal such as bronze, although this is not essential and an other suitable material may be employed. Vhen a body is placed in the crypt the crypt will be closed and tightly sealed. In this condition the only communication with the outside will be the vent 3 which has preferably been placed in the crypt when built or at least before closing and sealing. Gases or fumes forming in the crypt being relatively heavy will naturally settle to the floor and as they assemble will force their way into the duct 10 and up the portion 11 to the portion 12 which, being preferably above the level of the disinfectant in the chamber 9, will form an effective seal. The fumes pass ing from the portion of the duct 12 will drop through the portion 13 and exit through the outlet 14 into the disinfecting material in the chamber 9. As the gases are forced through the disinfecting material they will be purified and will rise to the upper portion of the chamber 9 which is preferably free from disinfecting material and from which leads the duct 8 through which the disinfected fumes will pass, dropping downward through the portion 7 to the outlet 6 and through the pipe 2 into the ventilating flue 1 from which they will disperse into the air. The outlet 6 is placedbelow the level of the disinfcctantin the chamber 9 and preferably below the outlet 14 thus insuring a thorough seal.

The device may be empty when placed in position in the crypt and filled with disinfectant immediately before the body is placed in the crypt and then the cover put in place and sealed on. This may be a usual procedltre and may be preferred in some arrangements. If the insertion of the disinfecting material and the assemblage of the vent isv left to be done in each crypt immediately before the body is placed therein there is a possibility of the matter being neglected and one or mortbodies placed in crypts in which the vent is free of disinfecting material. The device of the present invention lends itself conveniently to an avoidance of this catastrophe. Vheu the mausoleum is built and before any of the crypts have been used the sanitary vent of the present invention may be filled to the desired extent with the selected disinfecting material and the cover placed thereon and sealed in place. WVhen desired the vent may be charged with disinfectant and sealed at the factory. The outlets 6 and 10 may then be corked or otherwise suitably temporarily plugged or closed and the devices thus provided with disinfectant, shipped to be installed all at one time in all of the crypts in a mausoleum. Of course the corks or other means of sealing the ducts 6 and 10 may be removed immediately before the seals are permanently placed in position and this will obviate all possible future negligence of attention and guarantee a permanent readiness for burial. In addition to avoiding the difiiculties incident to neglect or failure to fill one Or more devices before bodies are placed in the individual crypts this procedure lends itself to accuracy and uniformity of procedure since the facilities for filling and sealing the covers on to the vents at the factory may be more complete and more perfect than the facilities available at any mausoleum. The outlet pipe 2 may be put in place when the mausoleum is built and when the vent is placed in the crypt the inner end of the pipe 2 may be inserted in the opening 6 and suitably sealed therein as a part of the apparatus. To facilitate this procedure, if desired the inner end of the pipe 2 may be flexible or may be suitably bent as illustrated in Fig. 2 to readily and conveniently engage the adjacent outlet 6.

The cover 15 with its depending sides 16 substantially insures against evaporation and dissipation of the disinfecting material and likewise the circuitous paths for the inlet of the noxious fumes and the outlet for the disinfected fumes reduces to a minimum the tendency to dissipate the disinfecting material.

WVhile I have described in detail the device illustrated it is but one example of the form my invention may take. It will be under stood, therefore. that neither shape, size, material nor form is essential to the invention but these and other details may be varied in any other suitable or desired manner.

I claim as my invention 1. A sanitary burial crypt vent made of non-corrodible material and comprising a chamber within the crypt, a disinfecting fluid in the chamber, a space in the chamber above the liquid, a duet leading from the space to a point below the liquid level and through the wall of the crypt to a ventilating flue, a duct having an opening in the outer wall of the chamber and in the crypt and leading to a point above the liquid'level and provided with an outlet within the chamber and below the liquid level, and a cover for the chamber extending down its sides and sealing it.

2. A sanitary burial crypt vent made of non-corrodible material and comprising a chamber within the crypt, a disinfecting fluid in the chamber, a space in the chamber above the liquid. a duct leading from the space to a point below the liquid level and through the wall of the crypt to a ventilating flue, a duct having; an opening in the outerwall of the Chamber and in'the-crypt and leading to a point above the liquid level and provided with an outlet within the chamber and below I the liquid level, a cover for the'chamber extending down itssides and means for sealing the cover onto the chamber.

- 3. A sanitary burial crypt vent made of. non-corrodible material and comprising a. closed chamber within thecrypt, a disinfect-- ing fluid in the chamber, a duct leading from the upper part of the chamber above the fluid level through the wall of the crypt, and a duct having an opening in the lower part of the outer wall of the chamber inthe crypt l and provided with an outlet within the liquid I in the lower part of the chamber. 4. A sanitary burial crypt vent comprising a closed chamber within the crypt, a disinfecting fluid partially filling the chamber, a duct leading from a point in the chamber above the liquid level to a point below the liquid level and through the wallet the crypt,

and a duct having an opening in the outer wall of the chamber in the crypt and provided with an outlet within thechamber below the liquid level.

5. A sanltary a chamber within'the crypt. a disinfecting fluid partiallyfilling the chamber, a duct leading from a point in the chamber above the liquid level to a point below the liquid level and through the wallof the crypt, a

duct having an opening in'the outer wall of the chamber in the crypt and provided with an outlet within the chamber below the liquid level, a cover for the chamber, and means for sealing the cover onto the chamber.

6. A sanitary burial crypt vent compris ing a chamber'within the crypt, a disinfectant therein, a space in the chamber above the disinfectant, a duct leading from the space to a point below the disinfectant level and through the wall of the crypt to a ventilating I flue, :a duct having an opening inthe outer I wall of the chamber and in the crypt and leading to a point above the disinfectant level I and provided with an outlet within the chamber andbelow the disinfectant level. a cover leading I above the disinfectant level through the wall for the chamber extending down its sides, and

means for sealing the 'cover onto the chamber. d

7. A sanitary burial crypt vent comprising a closed chamber within the crypt, a" disinfectant partiallyfilling the chamber, a duct from theupper part of the chamber of the crypt, and a duct having an opening in the lower part of the outer wall of the chamber in the crypt and provided with an outlet within the disinfectant in the lower part of the chamber.

DANIEL M. ROTHENBERGER.

burial crypt vent comprising

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