US289643A

US289643A - Burial-case

Info

Publication number: US289643A
Authority: US
Publication date: 1883-12-04
Anticipated expiration: 1900-12-04

Description

F. O. GOPP.

.BURIAL CASE.

(No Model.)

No. 289,643. Patented Dec. 4, 1883.

To all whom it may concern citizen of the United States, residing at Enard, E, which extends the whole depth of the top it is secured to the adjoining end piece, B,

UNrTEn STATES PATE T OFFICE.

FRANCIS O. G OFF, OF ENGLEWOOD, ILLINOIS.

BURIAL- CASE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 289,643, dated December 4, 1883.

Application filed April 30,1883. (No model.)

Be it known that I, FRANCIS C. .GOFF, a

glewood, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new anduseful Improvement in Burial- Cases, which is fully set forth in the following specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in whicl1 Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section of a burial-case having my improvement. Fig. 2 is across-section of the same. Fig. 3 is a plan view of one end of the same. Fig. 4. is a detailed and enlarged section on the line X X in Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a detailed and enlarged plan view of one corner of the adjustable platform. Fig. 6 is a section. on the line 3 y in Fig. 5, showing the-standard and its brace. in elevation. Fig. 7 is a detailed and enlarged plan view of one corner of the burial-case, showing a modification of the locking device.' Fig. 8 is a section 011 the line 10 w in Fig. 7.

The same letters denote the same parts in all the figures.

My invention relates to burial-cases; and it consists in a burial-case provided with an adj ustable platform on which the corpse is to rest, the object being to provide for more conveniently laying out and incasing the corpse and for more satisfactorily viewing it than is possible with any burial-case now in use.

In the drawings, A denotes the side pieces, B the end pieces, and O the bottom, of a coffin or burial-case, all of which may be of any ordinary construction. In addition to these, I provide the case with a separate platform, D, of suitable dimensions to rest on the bottom 0 and there fit easily within the side pieces, so as to be readily lifted and lowered again. It is somewhat shorter than the bottom, so as to admit of shifting a little way back and forth. It has four apertures, (I, one near each corner. Througheach aperturepassesanuprightstandcase, and is fastened to the fixed bottom 0 by a screw, E, or other suitable means. At the by a brace, F. This brace is made adjustable to different lengths, so as to be available for different sizes and forms of burial-cases, by making it in two pieces, f and f, the piece f having a longitudinal slot, and the two being fastened together by a set-screw, f which passes through the slot at any point of its length and through an aperture in the piece f. By these means each standard is firmly secured near one corner of the burial-case. The:-

apertures d are somewhat larger than the diameter of the standards E, and the relative arrangement of the apertures and standards is such that when the standards at one end of the burial-case are in'contact each with that side of its aperture which is nearest to the corresponding end-piece those at the opposite end will be each in contact with that side of its aperture whichis-farthest from corresponding end piece, so that the platform can be shifted a little back and forth with reference to the whole set of standards. Each standard has a series of notches, e, cut in it from top to bottom, the notches on all the standards facing the same end of the burial-case, and those on any one standard being level with the corresponding notches on all the others. Each notch slopes downward and inward.

Across each of the apertures d and below the upper surface of the platform a stop-pin, G, is arranged in a direction trans-verse to the burial-case, dividing the aperture unequally, so that the greater part has room for the whole standard, the pins in all the apertures being toward the same end of the case as the notches on the standards E. Near each corner of the platform D a suitable handle, H, is attached to its upper surface. Obviously, by moving the platform toward that end of the case to which the notches of the standards look, the platform maybe raised or lowered through the whole depth of the burial-case by means of the handles H; and at any height where the stoppins G are opposite either of the notches on their respective standards, it may be securely locked by moving it toward the other end of the case, the stop-pins passing into the notches, and being held there securely by reason of the inward and downward slope of the notches. The platform may be disengaged from the standards again by lifting it a little and then moving it lengthwise, so as to clear the notches,

sponding brace, F, at the top of the standard, and a little wider than the brace, so that the platform can be, lifted completely out of the case and returned to its place again.

Figs. 7 and 8 of the drawings illustrate a modification by which the stop-pins G are dispensed with and the handles H are made to take their place. For this purpose the handles are arranged so that each, preferably, (though not necessarily,) by an extension, h, of its upper bar, intersects in a certain position the series of notches on the corresponding standard, so that by bringing thehandles into this position, when the platform has been brought to the desiredlevel, the handles themselves, or their extensions h, will slip into the notches, and will support the platform therein in the same way as the stop-pins. If the handles are pivoted on the platform, there will be no need of making the apertures cl any larger than is necessary to allow the platform to move freely up and down on the standards, and the notches on the standards can be made to face each other, which will allow of a symmetrical arrangement of the handles. The construction first described, however, is the one which I prefer, inasmuch as the pivoted handles, with their necessary bearings, are con siderably more expensive than stop-pins and rigid handles, which latter will answer every purpose in connection with the pins. Moreover, the operation of, locking and unlocking with the stop-pins is more convenient than with the pivoted handles, and when the stoppins are used the handles can be arranged in I the position where they will be most conven ient for lifting and least in the way without reference to the position of the standards.

By means of the adjustable platform I am enabled to vary the depth of the burial-case after the corpse has been placed in it, and that without disturbing in the least the position of the corpse. The viewing of the body is thus greatly facilitated, and the improvement is of special value when a corpse is to lie in state. Moreover, by taking the platform out of the burial-case altogether, the corpse can be laid out on it, and the platform can then be placed in the burial-case without touching the corpse, and thereby the difficult and often distressing work of incasing the body in the ordinary way is avoided.

Vhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a burial-case, an independent interior platform for the support of the corpse, in combination with mechanism whereby said platform may be held and supported at different heights from the bottom of the case, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

2. The exterior case, in combination with the independent platform 'D, the notched standards E, the stop-pins G, and the handles H, all constructed and operating substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

inns. F. WAGNER, THOMAS H. PEASE.