WO1996010718A1

WO1996010718A1 - Cremator bier

Info

Publication number: WO1996010718A1
Application number: PCT/NL1995/000330
Authority: WO
Inventors: Leendert Antonius Kleinschmidt
Original assignee: Tabo Inex Holding B.V.
Priority date: 1994-10-03
Filing date: 1995-10-02
Publication date: 1996-04-11
Also published as: AU3688795A; NL9401622A

Abstract

A cremator bier (1) for transferring a body to be cremated, such as a coffin (2), into a cremator chamber (3) by mechanical means is envisaged. To this end, the cremator bier has elements (8, 9, 10) for supporting thereon such a body to be cremated, which elements move to extend into the cremator chamber. The invention also provides for equipping the cremator bier with means (13) for removing the ashes (6) from a preceding cremation from the cremator. To this end, cleaning elements are coupled to the support elements, which move to extend into the cremator chamber. Cleaning elements which can be used are brush, scraper, suction or crushing elements, or combinations thereof.

Description

Cremator bier

The invention relates to a cremator bier. A cremator bier is disclosed in US Patent 4 890 367. Said bier has a platform, for supporting a coffin thereon, which can be partially slid out. Said platform can be brought into an extended position in order to transport the coffin into the cremator whilst suspended freely above the cremator floor.

British Patent 1 602 353 discloses a further cremator bier. The latter has supporting arms for supporting a coffin thereon, which arms are clamped at one end and run essentially horizontally next to one another with a gap between them. Said supporting arms can be moved into the cremator with their free ends extending deep inside. By this means a coffin can be placed in the cremator in a manner similar to the operation of a fork lift truck, said supporting arms always remaining free of the cremator floor when they are slid in and out.

With said known cremator biers, it is necessary first to remove the ashes from a preceding cremation from the cremator floor before a new coffin is introduced into the cremator. It is customary that this removal of the ashes is carried out by hand, to which end use is frequently made of a scraper element on a long handle which is moved a few times by hand over the cremator floor in order to sweep the ashes into a collection tray, intended for this purpose, at the end of the cremator. According to US Patent 4 473 012, it is also possible to extract the ashes, optionally after comminution, from the cremator with the aid of a special ash vacuum cleaner. Manual operation of the suction head, which is located at the end of a long suction tube, is still required. Moreover, said ash vacuum cleaner demands special, and therefore expensive, structural measures. In particular, account must be taken of the high temperatures (400 °C or higher) which prevail in the cremator during ash removal. After all, several cremations per day are nowadays carried out in the same cremator, which means that there is insufficient time to allow the cremator to cool before the ashes are removed. The aim of the invention is, with low investment, to facilitate and to mechanise the removal of ashes from the cremator chamber, or other treatment of the cremator floor.

To this end, the invention proposes that the cremator bier be equipped with treatment or cleaning elements, as specified more particularly in Claim 1.

On the one hand, it is now possible to remove the ashes from the cremator at the same time as the next body to be cremated is introduced into the cremator. On the other hand, it is possible to allow the cremator bier to operate without a body to be cremated, by which means the ashes can be removed from the cremator in a separate step. In view of the fact that the cremator biers operate essentially fully automatically, and to this end move along guide rails, a significant advantage is achieved in connection with the reduction or complete elimination of operations to be carried out by hand in the second situation referred to above as well, where a body to be cremated is not introduced during cleaning of the cremator chamber. It is also possible to treat other cremator walls. Cleaning elements which can be used with the present invention are not only brush and scraper elements but also suction elements. Combinations of these elements, optionally together with crushing or grinding equipment, are also possible.

It can be elected to release one or more cleaning elements during cleaning, for example for said elements to remain behind in the cremator after sweeping or scraping clean the cremator floor. Such an element ca then, for example, be incinerated during the following cremation. It is also conceivable to use cleaning elements made of virtually non- combustible material, such as ceramic material. After sweeping or scraping clean the cremator floor, said elements can be left behind in the collection tray, which may be present, for the ashes, in order, in this way, to be removed by hand, together with the ashes, from the cremator. Re-use is then possible.

It can be advantageous to construct one or more of the cleaning elements as fold-away elements, so that they, together with the bier elements, can be withdrawn unhindered from the cremator as soon as the next body to be cremated has been placed in position.

In connection with introduction without a coffin, it is furthermore advantageous that the access door can be left ajar, so that there is less risk of extensive heat, and thus energy, loss.

The invention will be explained in more detail below with the aid of a non-limiting illustrative embodiment, with reference to the appended drawings. In the drawings: Figure 1 shows, diagrammatically, a side view, partially in cross-section, of a cremator bier according to the invention, in combination with a coffin and a cremator, during one stage of operation; and Figure 2 shows, diagrammatically, a perspective view of part of the cremator bier of Figure 1 , on which a coffin is supported.

A cremator bier 1 for, for example, introducing a coffin 2 into a cremator 3, is-shown. As is customary in many types of cremators, an ash collection tray 4 is located at the end remote from the access opening 5 of the cremator 3. The ashes 6, originating from a previous cremation, can be collected in said ash collection tray 4.

According to the present invention, said ashes 6 are transferred to the ash collection tray 4 with the aid of the cremator bier 1. As a result, a surprisingly inexpensive solution is obtained, since hardly any modifications are required to the existing infrastructure, whilst the advantages with respect to savings and reliability are appreciably increased. Thus, it is now possible to guarantee that the ashes 6 present in the ash collection tray 4 originate from only one cremation. For the relatives, this is a guarantee which inspires particular confidence. In fact, the cremator bier automatically ensures that whenever a subsequent body to be cremated is introduced into the cremator the ashes from the previous cremation are removed from said cremator. Consequently, removal of the ashes will not be forgotten, which is a real risk if reliance has to be placed on manual removal of the ashes. A water-tight procedure could possibly be developed for reliable manual removal of ashes, but this would probably prove to be more complex and more expensive than the proposal according to the present invention.

The cremator bier 1 illustrated in the figures consists of a support 8 which is guided along rails 7 and on which two horizontal supporting arms 9 are fixed at one of their ends. The height of said supporting arms 9 with respect to the support 8 is adjustable as shown by arrow A. The gap between the supporting arms 9 is sufficiently large to allow a coffin 2 to pass between them during upward and downward movements. Bearer pins 10 are arranged at intervals over the longitudinal direction of the supporting arms 9. Said pins can be pivoted about stub shafts 11 into the operating position shown in Figure 2 and into a folded-away position in which they are located completely below the respective supporting arm 9. In the operating position shown in Figure 2, said bearer pins extend beneath the base of the coffin 2, so that the coffin 2 is supported by its base on said bearer pins 10. After the coffin 2 has been introduced sufficiently far into the cremator 3, the supporting arms 9 are allowed to lower sufficiently far for the coffin to come to rest on its feet 12, at its ends, on the cremator floor. The bearer pins 10 are then folded away, after which the supporting arms 9 on either side of the coffin can be raised unhindered in order then to be withdrawn from the cremator 3. Brush elements 13 are arranged in the vicinity of the free ends of the supporting arms 9. They bridge the gap between the supporting arms 9. Said brush elements 13 are pivotable about vertical stub shafts 14. Said sweeper elements 3 can thus be pivoted into a position beneath the supporting arms 9, so as to assume a retracted position. In said position, they, like the supporting arms 9 and the bearer pins 10, are able to move freely alongside the coffin 2. Instead of being pivoted into a position beneath the supporting arm 9, it would also be possible to pivot said brush elements 13 about the stub shafts 14 in such a way that they run parallel to the respective supporting arms 9 and form an extension thereof.

Use can be made of any conceivable type of drive for moving the bearer pins 10 and the brush elements 13, which drive, however, does not constitute part of the invention and therefore is not discussed here in more detail. Nevertheless, it will be clear to a person skilled in the art how such a drive is to be constructed.

The sweeper elements 13 could be combined with, or replaced by, scraper elements and/or suction elements. The important aspect is that such cleaning elements are located on the cremator bier.

It will be clear that existing cremator biers can also be equipped with elements easily and at relatively low investment, so that the existing cremator bier can also be used to remove ashes from the cremator.

In connection with proper functioning of the illustrative embodiment shown in particular in Figures 1 and 2, it is preferable to fit the cleaning elements 13 in such a way that they are located over the ash collection tray 4 as soon as the coffin 2 is in the correct position in the cremator 3. On lowering the supporting arms 9, the cleaning elements 13 then extend into the ash collection tray 4. After folding away the bearer pins 10, the supporting arms 9 can then be moved upward, so that the sweeper elements 13 are once again free of the ash collection tray 4, after which they can be folded away. The supporting arms 9, together with the sweeper elements 13, can then be withdrawn from the cremator 3, free of the coffin 2.

Claims

1. Cremator bier, comprising elements for supporting thereon a body to be cremated, which elements are suitable for at least partial insertion into the cremator from the outside essentially free of the cremator floor in order to introduce the body to be cremated into the cremator, characterised in that a cremator floor treatment apparatus is arranged on the cremator bier such that one or more treatment elements, at least in the case of the elements extending into the cremator, are in engagement with the cremator floor and/or one or more of the other walls.

2. Cremator bier according to Claim 1 , wherein the treatment elements comprise brush and/or scraper elements.

3. Cremator bier according to Claim 1 or 2, wherein the treatment elements comprise one or more suction nozzles.

4. Cremator bier according to one of the preceding claims, wherein one or more of the treatment elements is coupled to the cremator bier such that it can be released, in order to remain behind in the cremator.

5. Cremator bier according to Claim 4, wherein the releasable treatment element is made of combustible material.

6. Cremator bier according to Claim 4, wherein the treatment element is made of material which is resistant to high temperatures, such as ceramic material.

7. Cremator bier according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the treatment elements comprise crushing equipment, in order to grind combustion residues.

8. Cremator bier according to one of the preceding claims, wherein one or more of the treatment elements can be brought from an operating position, for engaging on the cremator floor for cleaning, into a folded-away position, largely free of the cremator floor.

9. Cremator bier according to one of the preceding claims, wherein said bier has two parallel arms which run horizontally next to one another and which maintain a mutual spacing which is sufficiently large to be able to be moved with clearance from the base region to the lid region of a coffin located between said arms, and which arms have, distributed over their length, fold-away support elements for supporting engagement beneath the base of a coffin placed between the arms, and wherein said arms bear one or more of the treatment elements at their end region, for insertion into the cremator.

10. Cremator bier according to Claim 9, wherein the treatment elements run transversely to the longitudinal direction of said arms and bridge the gap between said arms when said elements are in their operating position, and run parallel to the longitudinal direction of said arms, in order to maintain a gap essentially equal to the gap between said arms, when said elements are in their folded-away position.