US483780A

US483780A - fisher

Info

Publication number: US483780A
Authority: US
Publication date: 1892-10-04
Anticipated expiration: 1909-10-04

Description

(No Model.)

T. N. FISHER. COFFIN PROTECTOR.

No. 483,780. Patented Oct. 4, 1892.

I N'VENTOR $532M CJZMM w z f y #366 @MM UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS N. FISHER, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO GEORGE H. SMITH AND LEANORA E. FISHER, OF SAME PLACE.

COFFlN-PROTECTOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 483,780, dated October 4, 1892.

Application filed May 21, 1892. Serial No. 483,793. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS N. FISHER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cleveland, in the county of Ouyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Safety Covers or Guards for Burial-Caskets; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to safety covers or guards for burial-caskets; and the object of the invention is to provide means which will render it practically impossible with ordinary agencies to approach and remove a buried casket, and thus prevent the grave from being robbed. These means consist in a heavy plate of metal, which is designed to rest upon the box containing the casket in the grave, and is provided with spurs driven through suitable keepers,ho1es, or passages in the said cover into the earth, substantially as shown and described, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a plan view of my improved safety-cover with the spurs or spikes in operative position. Fig. 2 represents a coffin 0r casket case or box lowered in the grave and the earthen walls in section at the ends and showing a 1ongitudinal section of my improved cover resting on the case and disclosing the means whereby the end spurs or spikes are locked on the said cover, as well as their penetration into the earth. Fig. 3 shows a cross-section of my improved cover across the holes for the side spurs and with its side edges slightly turned up and adapted to be used with the spikes when driven at an angle to the sides of the grave. Fig. 4 is an edge view of one of the spurs or spikes used at the ends of the cover, and Fig. 5 an edge view of one of the spurs or spikes used at the sides of the cover. Fig. 6 is a longitudinal section of one of the keep ers for the end spurs and showing the springlock therein to engage the notches of the spurs.

A represents an iron plate having the dimensions of the grave in length and width and resting upon the outer box or receptacle. This plate may be made of cast-iron or other suitable metal, but preferably is made of boiler-iron, and is in itself when down of such weight and has such position in the grave that alone it would be difficult to remove. However, it is not designed to operate alone and is provided at each end with three several keepers 0., arranged to flare slightly between their sides, and in these keepers are spring-catches (1', adapted to engage notches or serrations b on the pikes B. These pikes are made, say, of tire-iron or the like, and ordinarily are about three feet in length, though theymay have greater or less length, according to the nature of the ground and other conditions. As they are driven into the ground the teeth or serrations I? lock on the springoatches a and prevent them from being drawn out. Each of the said pikes has a suitable head to limit its movement, so that they cannot be driven entirely through the keepers and thus gotten rid of.

The sides of the cover A are in this instance turned up more or less, as shown at a corresponding somewhat to the angle at which the pikes O are to be driven in the earth. These pikes or spikes pass through holes in the edges of the cover and have spring fins or projections c at intervals along their sides, which of course engage the earth in any ef- 8o fort to draw them out and prevent said pikes from being drawn out. The said pikes also have heads bearing against the flat surface of the cover, preventing them from being driven beyond that point. These side pikes may or may not be used, but they aitord considerable additional security in the earth, as it is ordinarily found in burial grounds.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-= 1. As a new article of manufacture, a cover for burial-cases, consisting of a metal plate constructed to rest immediately upon the case said keepers and serrated on one side to en- 10 gage the look a, substantially as described.

Witness my hand to the foregoing specification.

THOMAS N. FISHER.

Witn esses:

H. T. FISHER, NELLIE L. MOLANE.