US2499458A - Mobile support for casket lowering equipment - Google Patents

Description

March 7, 1950 H. H. CAMPBELL mam SUPPORT FOR CASKET LOWERING EQUIPMENT 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 14, 1948 March 7, 1950 H. H. CAMPBELL MOBILE SUPPORT FOR CASKET LOWERING EQUIPMENT 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 14, 1948 M WK WWW/W rm ##a/me .r

Patented Mar. 7, 1950 so PAIFE NT ore-ice mlmfsnreeonr FOR GASKET. LQWERINGV EQUIPMENT.

This inventionrel EST t0 cemetery, emiipment and particularly to: an improvement? in" mechannisms comprising, aim'obile support for" equipmentnal and transverse members" rig-iiily c'omrectingc the corner" posts, the; apparatus" also including" two parallel elongated rotatably supported memtb'ers aboutwhiclr the casket supportingbands" are: initially wound and means for permitting; these members to rotate slowly and at uniform speed under the Weight of the casket so ast'to pay outthe casket supporting bands" at a uniform rate:

and ensure properd'escent: of the casket. While:-

apparatus; of the character just. above briefly described are; in widespread; use;v no satisfactory means has heretoforebeeni devised whereby; such an apparatus: may be transported. from a: point of storage to a point of" use, properlyspositioneu at the graveside, and? again lifted and. returned to storage, without: the: expenditure or consider.- able time and effort: on. the: part; of. a. number of attendants. p

The present invention cont'emplatfesv the pro:- vision of. a; novel, assembly of frametand mobile support which maybe readily removedzfrom storage by a single: attendant; the frame: properly positionedatitl'i'e graveside and returned" to sum age: afterithas'been usedgall in a. minimum time and" with minimum: effort; The casket lowering frame". of the: assembly constructed" in: such manner that it" may be convenientliit engaged, lifted. lowered? anct ifranspvu-ted by -the" mobile support andl a mobile support isfl-cl' signed and constructed in. suchmarmer as to zenab'leit" to function: mustefllbiently in theliftifis; Towering and transportation ofthe frame; Such support comprises a structure mounted upoir wheels" r0- tat able about a common the support being tiltal'yle fron'r at horizontal to a. vertical position and being used; irr the" elevation and lowering of one end of the frame; in the mannerlof' a. lever, having arms which are? unequal in length so that the operator can lift the end: of a-h ea'vy" frame with but slight effort. Themobile support may; after one end of the" frame has thus -been' lifted from the ground and; while at end" is st ll at" rest on the ground, move the bile support .eneath the frame. an interposed tfevfcepermitting? this to altogether and; by a Harry m campbe11, K'alispelh. Mont;

A pplicationiiMayfl, 1948,. Serial'Nb. 27,091 mifllai msa (Cli 21'4-7-'7I) the" expenditure of" very little: efiort. Finally; when the mobile support has been moved= into a predeterminefi position beneath the frame it maybe; by" a slight tilting'movement; caused to engage the frame at additional points of" support; there being preferably three such points slight further tilting movemeritthe entire frame lifted from the ground, whereupon the assembly may be moved freely and easily;

Itvvill' be appreciatedthatthe details of design and arrangement of the parts of the two members of the" assembly; 1; e.- the frame and mobile support, may be'considerably modified without'loss of" advantage but in every instance" the? frame will include means t'obeengaged by thesupport while thesupport is'b'eingoperated as a. lever to lift or'lowert'he' frame end, and the same or different' means to continuously engage an elongate'iff member on trackWay'o-n' the supportas the support is moving under'the frame or is being withdrawn. That form of the invention: which is illustrated and now to be described in detail is set' forth by" way of example.

In the drawings:

Figure. 1' is" a top plan view ofthe-mobile supp Figure 2' is a: perspective viewof the same;

Figure 3"iS" a; section on line 3-'-3 of Figure the frame being shown in dotted l nes in the posit'io-n which it'normally occupies upon the mobile support" when the assembly is readyfor trans port'atiom.

Figure 4 is "a: side elevation of the frame and mobile support, those portions of the assembly occupying the relative positions in which they are disposed just" prior-toactuation of the support" to elevate theend of the frame:

Figure 5' is" a similar side elevation showing in 7 full lines the frame and supporti'n the positions whi'ch' they respectively" occupy after the support hns'b'e'en' operated as asimple-lever to elevate the end of the frame; the relative posit ons of the frame" and support; after the support; has" been partially moved under theframe'; being illustrait-ed in dotted'li'nesin this figure;

Figure 6' a side elevation" of" the assembly, ready for" transportat on Figurefl a perspective view; on a: somewhat larger scale. of' adetail of the invention; and

Figure" 8 is. perspective View ofa similar d'e tail of 2c modified form of the invent on.

The'automat ccasi'ietlowering-mecharr sm, here afterdesignefted theframe. indicated attG and the mobile; support: is generally" imiiizsuzeni'v at S;

The frame includes parallel elongated side members, one of which is illustrated at Ill, parallel transverse members H, four corner posts I2 to which the ends of the members In and ll are rigidly secured, and parallel side shafts l3 the ends of which are rotatably supported within the housings l4 mounted upon the corner posts 12. The shafts l3 are connected by the casket supporting bands [5, the ends of which are wrapped around the shafts respectively, and the arrangement is such that a casket placed centrally upon bands IE will be allowed to descend into a grave under the close control of an operator who, by manipulating mechanism which is not illustrated but which is Well known in the art, will permit shafts iii to slowly rotate at identical speeds and pay out each band in equal increments from opposite sides of the grave.

The details of construction of the frame or automatic casket lovering mechanism form no portion of the present invention and are for. that reason not specifically described. It has at each end a transversely extending bracing member 16, disposed below the brace ll previously referred to and upon one such transverse brace, as may be most clearly seen in Figure 7, is affixed a bracket [8 which carries a grooved roller 19. Roller I9 comprises an anti-friction device which facilitates relative longitudinal movement of frame and mobile support in assembling or disassembling these two major elements of the invention.

The mobile support includes an axle disposed horizontally and upon the ends of which are rotatably mounted suitable wheels 2! preferably equipped with pneumatic tires. Disposed at right angles to the axle 20 and extending forwardly from the mid-point thereof is an elongated structural member or tongue 22, preferably tubular, the end of this member being preferably welded to the axle. At its forward end the member is provided with a hook 23 by means of which the mobile support may, if desired, be attached to another vehicle but which, when not so used, may conveniently be grasped by an operator. tending upwardly from the mid-point of axle 20 are two tubular elements 25 and 26 which comprise supports for the rear end of the elongated tubular or rod-like frame engaging member 28. The forward end of member 28 is secured, preferably by welding as at 29, to the main frame member or tongue 22. One end of member 23 is provided with an upwardly extending curved or hook-like portion 280. of reduced section and, adjacent its other end, there is located a rigid stop 3B,'the upper surface of memberla between the hook-like terminal portion 28a and stop 39 comprising a runway or track for the grooved-anti-friction roller l9 mounted upon the end of the frame. T The mobile support also includes suitable additional bracing members including the transverse wardly turned and is connected to a bracing element disposed radially of the adjacent wheel and 4 the lower end of which is mounted upon the axle of the wheel, these bracing elements being indicated at 31a and 38a, respectively. Horizontal braces 40 and 4| connect the ends of the wheel axle respectively to the ends of transverse rod 32.

The details of construction of the mobile support may be considerably varied but in every instance the support will include a member such as member 2B,.which provides an elongated trackway or runway for an anti-friction roller. In each embodiment, also, the hook 28a or its equivalent will be disposed relatively close to the axle 2B, the support as a whole thus comprising a lever having a'short arm the length of which is equal to the distance between the axle 20 and the hook 28a, and a relatively long arm the length of which is equal to the distance between the axle 20 and'the hook 23, the support when used as a lever thus providing the operator with great mechanical advantage.

Normally, and while the assembly isin storage, the frame will be superposed upon the support. Actually the. frame has direct contactwith the support at three places, its elongated side members ll! engaging and resting upon the transverse member 36, the pointsof contact being adjacent the outer ends of member 36, and the roller [9 engaging, member 28 just in rear of the stop 30, the roller resting against the stop. Thus the frame is mounted upon the support firmly at three points and may not tilt or slide. Preferably the cross member 36 ,is provided with rubber cushioning sleeves s3 andit is upon these sleeves #3 that the elongated frame members I!) of the frame rest.

' If it be assumed that the frame. of the apparatus has been 'used in the lowering of a casket and is to be removed for storage. the mob le support will be wheeled into the position in which it is illustrated in Figured, being disposed in such manner that the tongue 22 extends in a substantially vertical direction, the hook-like end 28a of member 28 being then dis osed beneath theroller 69 of the frame. The entire support may then be rocked about its supporting axle in a clockwise, direction, into .the position in which it is shown in full lines in Figure 5 the ad acent end of the frame being thus elevated well above the ground. The mobile support may then be advanced or thru t beneath the frame, one end of which enga es the ground, the roller [9 rolling alon the upper surface of the moving roller support 128 and maintaining a single point of contact between the support and the elevated end of the frame. .This forward movement of the support is continued, through the dotted line position inwhich it is shown in Figure 5, until the roller-!9,reachesjthe stop 39, thuspreventing further movement, the wheels 23 being so spaced apart .that they will be upon opposite sides of a grave opening of standard width about which the frame is-centered. After rol er is has made contact with stop 30 and forward movement of the support is thus arrested, the operator will depress the forward end of the tongue 22 and thus bring the cross .bar 36 upwardly into contact with parallel elongated members lilof the frame and, upon slight further depression. of the .tongue .22, the cross bar will. lift the frame entirely from -When the apparatus is brought from storage to be used the procedure thus described will be reversed, the mobile support being tilted until one end of the frame engages the ground, as in Figure 5, the support being withdrawn until the roller I9 is in engagement with the hook-like extremity 28a of member 28 and the support then allowed to tilt into vertical position as shown in Figure 4, whereupon the frame is fully positioned and the support may be withdrawn and removed from the vicinity.

It may be desirable to provide the support with two parallel roller engaging members to give increased stability, such a mechanism being illustrated in Figure 8. Here the parallel roller supporting members are designated 46 and there will likewise be two anti-friction rollers 41 included in the anti-friction device, these rollers 41 being mounted upon an axle 28 the ends of which are fixed in parallel portions 49 and 50 of the bracket B which is mounted upon end member I 1. Other minor changes may readil be effected if desired.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

l. Casket lowering mechanism comprising a rectangular frame and a mobile support therefor, the assembly being tiltable about a horizontal axis to bring one end of the frame into contact with the ground and including anti-friction means between frame and support to facilitate movement of the support relative to the frame when the end of the frame is in contact with the ground.

2. Casket lowering mechanism comprising a rectangular frame and a mobile support therefor, the support being tiltable to bring the frame into inclined position with one end thereof in contact with the ground, anti-=friction 'means interposed between frame and support comprising the sole contact therebetween when the support has been tilted and the end of the frame has been brought into contact with the ground, whereby the support may be freely withdrawn from beneath the frame.

3. Casket lowering mechanism comprising, in combination, an elongated frame and a tiltable wheeled support therefor, said frame having an anti-friction device at one end and the support having means to engage said anti-friction device to facilitate raising and lowering of that end of the frame and movement of the support longitudinally of the frame.

4. Casket lowering mechanism comprising, in combination, a frame and a mobile support therefor, the support being tiltable about a horizontal frame at one end, lifting that end when the support is tilted, and maintaining said end elevated as the support is moved under the frame, said means including an elongated member disposed at right angles to the axis about which the support is tiltable.

6. Casket lowering mechanism comprising, in combination, a frame and a mobile support therefor, the support being tiltable about a horizontal axis, and means on the support for engaging the frame at one end, lifting that end when the support is tilted, and maintaining said end elevated as the support is moved under the frame, said means including an elongated member having a hook at one end to engage the frame, said member being disposed at right angles to the axis about which the support is tiltable.

7. The combination set forth in claim 6 in which the frame is provided with anti-friction means to engage said member.

8. The combination set forth in claim 6 in which said support is provided with members to engage the sides of the frame to provide three points of contact between frame and support.

9. Casket lowering mechanism comprising, in combination, a rectangular frame, a wheeled support tiltable about a horizontal axis, said support having three point engagement with said frame when the support is disposed for movement of the assembly and having one point engagement when the support is tilted to bring one end of the frame into contact with the ground.

10. Casket lowering mechanism comprising, in combination, a rectangular frame, a wheeled support tiltable about a horizontal axis, said support having three point engagement with said frame when the support is disposed for movement of the assembly and having one point engagement axis, and means on the support for engaging the frame at one end, lifting that end when the support is tilted, and maintaining said end elevated as the support is moved under the frame.

5. Casket lowering mechanism comprising, in combination, a frame and a mobile support therefor, the support being tiltable about a horizontal axis, and means on the support for engaging the when the support is tilted to bring one end of the frame into contact with the ground, the single point of engagement being provided by an antifriction device mounted on said frame and an elongated member on said support engaging said device.

HARRY H. CAMPBELL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 643,933 Bencer Feb. 20, 1900 1,501,609 Linden July 15, 1924 1,847,157 Wilhelm, Sr. Mar. 1, 1932 2,135,857 Stahl Nov. 8, 1938 2,218,286 Lampe Oct. 15, 1940 2,374,383 Sampsell Apr. 24, 1945 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 720,811 France Dec. 12, 1931

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