US2010232A - Burial vault - Google Patents

Description

Aug. 6, 1935. T. R. HERBEST, .JR

BURIAL VAULT-v Filed May 17, 1955.

5 Sheets-Sheet 2 @MAT Aug. 6, 1935.

T. R. HERBEs-r, JR

BURIAL vAuLT Filed May 17, 1955 s sheets-sheet 3 Patented bAug. 6, 1935 VAULT Thomas R. lHerbest, Jr., Wheeling, W.'Va., as, signor to The Consolidated Expanded Metal Companies, Wheeling, W. Va.,

West Virginia a corporation of Application May 17, 1933, Serial N0. 671,423

. 15 Claims.

This invention relates to burial vaults. or similar structures and a method of manufacturing the same. Furthermore, the invention is especially concerned with the type of vault which is adapted to be positioned in dthe grave and receive a coiin or casket.

Burial vaults of this type are ordinarily made in three or four substantially standard sizes and their walls are usually formed from concrete or the like moulded about metallic reenforcement.

The primary object oi' the presentinvention is involved in the simplification of the reenforcement pieces and the arrangement thereof in a novel manner wherebypieces of the same dimensions may be employed in the construction of vaults of any oneof a plurality of the different standard sizes.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear more fully as this description proceeds.

How the foregoing and also the additional objects and advantages to be brought out hereinafter are obtainedwill appear more fully from consideration of the followingdescription mak ing reference to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of a burial vault` reenforcement assembly constructed in accordance with the present invention, the view having certain portions thereof broken away for the sake of clarity; i Figures 2 and 3 are cross sectional views illustrating the arrangement of the reenforcing elements which I prefer to employ in vaults of two different standard or predetermined sizes;

Figure 4 is a diagrammatic plan view of asheet of reenforcement fabric which I prefer to employ; Figure 5 is a perspective view oi' a templet or shaping part which is preferably employed in practicing the present invention; and

Figure 6 is a view of a part similar to that` shown in Figure 5 but of different dimensions, this view also illustrating the manner of using Athe templet. l 45 In referring to the drawings, reference is first made to Figure 1 which.illu strates a number of fabric sheets suitably -bent and assembled to form a unitary vault reen-forcement inthe manner now to be described. The two side walls and the bottom wall of the vault are formedfrom onlytwo fabric 6r meshwork sheets, an example of one of which appearsy diagammatically in Figure 4. 'Ihis sheet, it -wil1 be observed, includes. cross wires 9 which may. be spaced from leach other uniform distances throughout the length of the sheet. 'Ihe longitudinally extending wires or barsghowever, 'are spacedfrom eachother different distances at different points. At one edge (the top edge in Figure 4) the longitudinal wires Ill-I0 are positioned relatively close to each other '5 while the next few wires l I preferably have greater spacing. TowardA the center of the sheet the longitudinal wires I2 are again relatively closely spaced, and the remainder of the sheet may be made up of wires H spaced from each other sub- 10 stantially the saine distance as those of the s ame number referred to above.

In constructing the two side walls and the bottom wall of the vault-from a pair of sheets such as shown in Figure 4, each sheet is bent l5 approximately '90 along a line extended lengthwise of the sheet in the region of the closely spaced wires I2. By reference now to Figures 1 and 2 it will be seen that this bending operation results in the positioning of the closely spaced wires Il l adjacent the top edges of the side walls.

It' will furtherl be apparent that the closely spaced wires I2 are located in and adjacent to the bottom corners of the side walls. As clearly seen in Figure 2, the inner edges ofuthe two sheets overlap' in 'a central region of the bottom wall,

and it'willtherefore be apparent that extra reenforcement is afforded atvthe three points where it is most needed, i. e., in the middle of the bottom wall, at the bottom edges of the side walls, and

4at the top edges of' the side walls.

At this time it is pointed out thatl the showing of Figure 2 representsthe smaller of one of a group of substantially standard size vaults. The vault illustrated in Figure 3 is a slightly larger 35 vault of substantially standard dimensions `in which oily the width of the vault has been increased over the dimensions of the vault of Figure 2. From comparison of Figures 2- and 3, however, it will beseen that the dimensions of 40 the fabric sheets from which the side and bot-c tom walls areformed are such that in both of these` two standard size vaults the meshwork f sheets overlap to some extent in the central region of lthe bottom wall. Sheets ofthe type shown in Figure 4, therefore, may be employed in 4forming reenforcement baskets for vaults of a plurality of different*y predetermined sizes. While, in Figures 2 and 3, the two vaults diier in width only, it Awilll be understood that-the -mesh-work sheets'may just as readilybeemliloyed in vaults of the same owidth but of different height or, for that matter, in vaults of diil'erent width and height. y

The end walls for vaults of thedimensions of those shown in Figures 2 and 3 may also, in a similar manner, be formed from meshwork sheets of the same size. By reference -to Fig-l ures l, and 6, it will be seen that an end wall reenforcement sheet may conveniently be formed of cross wires or bars I3 and upright wires I4, the spacing for which need not necessarily be different in different areas of the sheet, although I prefer to employ a sheet in which relatively close spacing appears between two upright wires I4 in a central region, as clearly seen in Figures 1, 5 and 6. The purpose of this feature is increased strength in the center of the end walls.

In accordance with the preferred method of fabricating the baskets, the end wall sheets are placed over forming members or templets such as shown at I5 and I5a in Figures 6 and 5, respectively. These members I5 and I5a are provided with angle members or hooks I5b and I5c, respectively, against which the upper edge of an end wall meshwork sheet may abut when the sheet is to be bent or formed. The members I5 and I5a, are further provided with grooves I3a and I4a located in the side edges and in the bottom edge, respectively, in order to receive the wires I3 and I4 when they are bent Adown over the edges of the templet in the manner clearly appearing in Figure 6. Uniformity of bending from one piece to the next is therefore assured since, if the workman always positions a sheet to be bent against the hook members I5b or I5c, the bending will take place at the proper lines for the particular vault under construction. 'Ihe accurate bending of the end wall reenforcement pieces provided in accordance with the foregoing is of considerable advantage in facilitating fabrication of the remaining portions of the vault, since these end wall pieces act as a framework to which the side pieces are rigidly tied, thereby obtaining the exact and proper spacing between side wall members without recourse to laying these members out and measuring them to obtain the proper overlapping of the sheets.

From comparison of Figure 5 with Fgure 6,

' however, it will be seen that the member I5a is of slightly greater width than the member I5, this difference, of course, being employed for the purpose of forming end walls for vaults of differ'- ent width, In accordance with the specific showing of the drawings, the forming member I5 is employed in shaping the end Walls for a vault of the size illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, while the member I5a of Figure 5 is employed for a similar purpose in connection with a vault of the width shown in Figure 3.

After placing a fiat fabric sheet over one of the forming members in the manner clearly shown in Figure 7, the three projecting edges of the sheet are bent downwardly, by means of a hammer or the like, as a result of which the sheet takes the form of a dished reenforcement piece of the shape which clearly appears in Figure 1. These end walls and the side and bottom wall pieces may then be assembled, and it will be observed that, upon assembly, the upright corners between the side and end walls are reenforced by virtue of the overlapping of the bent portions of the end walls with the ends of the side walls. Similar reenforcement is provided along the bottom corner between the end walls and the bottom wall.

After positioning or assembly of the several sheets forming the side, bottom and end Walls, the concrete, of course, may be poured or moulded around the reenforcement basket in the manner clearly illustrated by the broken line showing r in Figures 2 and 3.

At this time it is also pointed out that one of the principal advantages of the present method and structure is that the reenforcement baskets are uniformly and accurately made so that a uniform positioning of the reenforcement in the concrete is readily obtainable. The arrangement of the reenforcing to provide extra reenforcement in certain zones and at certain edges and corners also assures maximum strength with minimum of materials employed. It will be observed, furthermore, that even though pieces of uniform size are employed in the construction of reenforcement baskets for different size vaults, the extra reenforcement is still located in the proper zones or at the proper corners, etc.

In considering the structure of the roof or cover for the vault, attention is first called to the showing of Figure 2 from which it will be seen that the roof reenforcement is made from a pair of sheets of fabric, the various longitudinal wires I6 and cross wires Il of which may all be of uniform spacing, the two sheets being positioned to overlap in the central region of the roof. This overlapping again provides increased reenforcement in the region where it is most needed without, however, excessively increasing the thickness of the reenforcing elements, as a result of which the roof may also be constructed of relatively thin concrete.

Similarly, the vault of Figure 3 has a roof or cover formed by means of fabric sheets which may be of exactly the same size as those employed in the roof of Figure 2. In this instance, however, since the vault is slightly wider, the overlapping at the central region thereof is not quite as great as in the arrangement of Figure 2.

In connection with the formation of the various walls of the vault, it might be noted that while certain of the predetermined or standard vault sizes differ from each other only as to width or height of the vault, so that identical pieces may be employed in forming-for example, the side and bottom walls of such vaults, certain other vaults of standard or predetermined sizes may necessitate the use of longer meshwork sheets and, with this in mind, if desired, certain of the meshwork sheets may be made of maximum length and cut down to the length of such vaults as have smaller lengthwise dimension.

Figures l to 3 inclusive illustrate a somewhat arched roof or cover construction and I prefer to form the end portions of the roof reenforcement in a special way to be described in connection with Figure 1. As here shown a tapered portion is provided at each end of the vault roof and I prefer to construct the reenforcement for the tapered end from a separate fabric piece having transverse wires 2U and wires 2| which are extended longitudinally of the vault. The wires 2l are bent at points 22 so that the end portions thereof extend in parallelism with the longitudinal wires I'I of the main roof pieces. These end reenforcement pieces may be secured as by wiring indicated at 24, and it will be noted that by this arrangement a very rigid roof structure results'without, however, unduly complicating the character of the several pieces employed or excessively multiplying their number.

From the foregoing it will be seen that reenforcement baskets for vaults may be constructed in accordance with my invention from a minimum number of stock pieces even though the vaults may vary in certain of their dimensions. Extra. reenforcement is also. afforded at all'those places which might be subjected to appreciable` strains.

l. A meshwork sheet for reenforcing side and bottom walls of burial vaults or the like of different sizes within a predetermined range, said sheet being adapted to be bent in a region 'intermediate the edges thereof so that portions of the sheet extend in theplane of a side and in the plane of the bottom wall of the vault, and said sheet including reenforcement elements forming a network, the elementsbeing spaced from each other relatively small distances in said intermediate region of the sheetas compared w 'th the spacing of said elements in other areas thereof, the intermediate region of relatively close spacingbeing of suillcient width to provide increased -reenforcement adjacent the corner formed by the bending operation nwhen bending `the sheet for purposes of reenforcement of side and bottom walls of any vault within said predetermined range,the 'size and rigidity of the elements of which the meshwork is composed being sufficient to providea self-sustaining handleable unit when a plurality'of the sheets arel assembled in the form of a relnforcement basket for the vaults or the like.

21 A meshwork sheet for reenforcing side and bottom walls of burial vaults or the like of different sizes within a predetermined range, said sheet being adapted to be bent in a region intermediate the edges thereof so that portions of the sheet extend in the plane of a side and in the plane of the bottom wall of the vault, and said sheet including reenforcement elements forming a network, the elements being spaced from each -other relatively small distances in said intermediate region of the sheet as compared with the spacing of said elements in other `areas thereof, the intermediate region of 'frelatively close spacing being ofsumcient width to provide ioncreased reenforcement adjacent the corner formed by the bending operation when bending the sheet for` purposes of reenforcement of side and bottom walls of any vault within said predeterminedrange, and said sheet further being of sueh'proportons that the portion thereof at one' side of the line of bend is of sufiicient dimension to extend substantially. throughout the width of the Wallin whose plane it is located and that the portion at tle other side of the lin'e ofC bend is of such dimension as to extend throughout bent along different lines in a central region,

thereof of predetermined width, so as to provide reinforcement in two adjoining walls of vaults of diiferent sizes, saidsheet being composed of a .network of reinforcement elements of size and rigidity sufficient to provide a self-sustaining handleable unit when a plurality of the sheets are asembledin the form of a reinforcement basket for the vaults or the like, and the spacing of said elements Abeing relatively small substantially throughout the width of said centralregion as compared with other areas of the sheet.

4. A meshwork reinforcement sheet for burial vaults or the like of different sizes adapted to be bezit along4 different lines in'a central region .v thereof of Apredetermined width, so as to provide reinforcement in two adjoining walls of vaults of different sizes,\said sheet being composedof a network ofreinforcement elements of size and rigidity s uilicient to provide a self-sustaining handleable unit when a plurality of the sheets are assembled in the form of a reinforcement basket ffor the vaults or the like, the spacing of said elements being relatively small substantially throughout the width of said central region as compared with other areas of the sheet, and said elements further having small spacing in a region adjacent the edge of the sheet adapted to be. used at the top of the vault body.

5. As an article of manufacture, a reinforceor cover of a burial vault orthe-like, said structure being composed'of a plurality of meshwork reinforcement sheets integrated to form a unitary structure, the sheets being of uniform width and positioned to overlap each other in a central regionyof the roof or cover, and said sheets having sufficient strength and rigidity tov form a Aself-sustaining handleable unit when assembled in the shape of the roof or cover.

6. As an article of manufacture, a-reinforcement structure for a separately handleable roof or cover of a burial vault or the like, said structure being composed of a. plurality of meshwork reinforcement sheets integrated to form a uni- ,Jtary structure, the sheets being of uniforrnwidth and positioned'to overlap each other in a central region of the roof or cover, and the sheets fur- "ther being bent downwardly toward the ends of the roof, and said sheets having sufficient strength and rigidity to form a self-sustaining handleable unit when assembled in the shape of the roof or cover.

Y 7. As an `article of manufacture, a reinforcement structure'for burial vaults or the like including a plurality of network reinforcement sheets integrated to form a basket structure having a bottom, side and end walls, there being a ment structure for a separately handleable roof i pair of sheets having their edges overlapped in of the basket, and'said sheets having sufiicient strength and rigidity to forma self-sustaining handleable unit when assembled in basket form.

8. As an article of manufacture, a reinforcement structure for burial vaults or the like including a plurality of network reinforcement',

sheets integrated to forni a basket structure having a bottom, side and end walls, there being a pair of sheets having their edges overlapped in the region of the central longitudinal axis of said bottom wall, and there being sheets having their edges overlapped at the upright comers between the side and end walls, and said sheets having sufiicient lstrength and rigidity to form a selfsustaining handleable unit when assembled in basket form.

9. As an article of manufacture, a reinforcement structure for burial vaults or the like including a plurality, of network reinforcement 'sheets integrated to form a basket structure having a bottom, side and end walls, there being a pair of sheets having their edges overlapped in the region of the central longitudinal axis of said bottom wall, and said sheets having suillcient strength and rigidity to form a self-sustaining handleable unit when assembled in basket form.

10. As an article of manufacture, a reinforcement structure for burial vaults or the like including a plurality of network reinforcement sheets integrated to form a basket structure having a bottom, side and end walls, there being sheets having their edges overlapped at corners between at least certain of said walls, and said sheets having suicient strength and rigidity t0 form a self-sustaining handleable unit when assembled in basket form.

1l. A reinforcement structure for burial vaults or the like including a pair of counterpart meshwork sheets forming the end Walls of the structure and having edges thereof bent to lie in the planes of the side and bottom walls, and a pair of counterpart meshwork sheets each bent so as to define a side wall of the vault and a portion of the bottom Wall thereof, said edges of the rst pair being arranged in overlapping relation with reference to the end portions of the sheets lying in the side and bottom Walls, said meshwork sheets being integrated to form a unitary basket-like reinforcement structure and further being composed of wire or rod-like reinforcement elements arranged in crisscross formation having appreciable inherent rigidity or strength suicient to permit handling of a completed basket as a unit, the second pair of sheets having edge portions thereof overlapping along the central longitudinal axis of the bottom wall.

12. A reinforcement structure for burial vaults or the like including a pair of counterpart meshwork sheets forming the end walls of the structure and having edges thereof bent to lie in the planes of the side and bottom walls, and a pair of counterpart meshwork sheets each bent so as to define a side wall of the vault and a portion of the bottom wall thereof, said edges of the rst pair being arranged in overlapping relation with reference to the end portions of the sheets lying in the side and bottom walls, said meshwork sheets being integrated to form a, unitary basketlike reinforcement structure and further being composed of wire or rod-like reinforcement elements arranged in crisscross formation having appreciable inherent rigidity or strength suicient to permit handling of a completed basket as a unit.

13. The method of constructing a meshwork reinforcement structure for a burial vault or the like which includes bending a meshwork sheet so that portions thereof lie in the planes of an end wall and a side wall of the vault, and forming an additional meshwork sheet to lie in the planes of said side wall and the bottom wall of the vault by bending the second sheet in conformity with the width of the side wall as determined by the bending of the first sheet.

14. The method of constructing a meshwork reinforcement structure for a burial vault or the like which includes bending a meshwork sheet so that portions thereof lie in the planes of two walls of the vault, bending an additional sheet to lie in the planes of two walls one of which is different from the planes of the first two walls, and utilizing the sheet first bent as a gauge for the bending of the second sheet.

15. As an article of manufacture, a sheet of meshwork reinforcing material for combined side wall and corner construction, said sheet having an intermediate portion Where the mesh is relatively ne and within the region of which the sheet may be bent at any one of a plurality of points, and said sheet having the portions at each side of said midportion of a mesh which is relatively coarse.

THOS. R. HERBEST, JR.

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