US2762106A - Casket placer - Google Patents

Description

Sept. 11, 1956 J. P. WILKIRSON CASKET PLACER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 5, 1951 INVENTOR.

Sept. 11, 1956 J. P. WILKIRSON 2,

CASKET PLACER Filed Dec. 5, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 QOTARY SHAFT 57 INVENTOR.

United States Patent CASKET PLACER Jim P. Wilkirson, Waco, Tex. Application December 5, 1951, Serial No. 259,909

Claims. (CI. 2732) This invention relates to casket placers, and in general aims to provide improvements over the casket lowering apparatus disclosed in my U. S. Patent No. 2,012,367, dated August 27, 1935.

The casket lowering device of said patent has been in commercial use for many years. However, in operation the patented construction has not been wholly satisfactory, as the end of a casket which is being rolled endwise over the apparatus may hit the first canvas strap or the first set of rollers on the short arms which extend inwardly over the grave. If either of these accidents occurs, further movement of the casket is abruptly stopped. A heavy casket upon striking either the first canvas strap or the first pair of rollers may shift the entire casket placer relative to the open grave, as the casket placer is comparatively light in weight and is not anchored but merely rests on the ground. A distressing scene may ensue if the casket placer is shifted over a grave, and even if the casket placer does not partly fall into the grave the persons who are handling the casket must move it backward, swing its forward end up to clear the first strap and first pair of arms, and resume forward movement. Such incidents of course reflect on the undertaker who has charge of the interment.

The present invention provides improved casket-guiding means which will function practically noiselessly to prevent accidents or delays, to insure smoother and more positive operation. It also provides parts which are easily manufactured, are long-lived, are readily adjusted, and add to rather than detract from the appearance of the casket placer.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification: I

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the improved casket placer;

I Fig. la is a plan view, partially in section, showing the interior of a gear housing at one of the corners;

Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation of one end of the casket placer, showing in dotted lines two positions of a casket thereon;

Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation of a clamp and support, scale full size;

Fig. 4 is an elevation of the clamp of Fig. 3, viewed from the left side, on the scale of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a detail, shown on a reduced scale;

Fig. 61's a sectional elevation of the part shown in Fig. 5 but on a full size scale; and

Fig. 7 is a section through a fitting for coupling a guide rod, scaie full size. I

Referring particularly to the drawings, the casket lowering device includes a rectangular structure which is adapted to surround .the open grave and be supported on the ground by four housings 10 at the four corners. The two long sides of the rectangular structure are provided by rotatable shafts 11, 12, while the two short sides or ends of said structure are provided by stationary tubes 13, 14 secured to thehousings 10 at their ends. Within tubes 2,762,106 Patented Sept. 11, 1956 13, 14 are shafts which are geared by bevel gears or the like (not shown) to the rotatable shafts 11, 12, said bevel gears being inside the housings 10. A pair of strong canvas straps 15, 16 are wound upon the rotatable shafts 11, 12, that is, each strap 15, 16 is secured at opposite ends to shafts 11, 12; and when the apparatus is ready to receive a casket said straps stretch substantially horizontally as shown in Fig. 1, extending transversely over the grave. After the casket is placed upon the device, the weight of the casket is transferred to the straps and the shafts 11, 12 are rotated by the casket as it descends into the grave. A trip handle 17 at one end of the device permits this rotation. As so far described, the apparatus follows the teachings of the Cordonnier et a1. Patent No. 1,780,700, assigned to me.

In harmony with the disclosure of my Patent No. 2,012,367, rotatable shaft 11 carries a pair of short arms 18 and 19, and shaft 12 supports a similar pair of arms 20, 21, the pairs of arms being aligned with each other transversely of the rectangular structure. The arms are located between the two canvas straps and are intended to lie slightly above the level of the straps when the parts are in normal casket-receiving position. Each arm 18, 19, 2d and 21 supports a roller, which may have roller bearings, not shown. The connection between each of the four arms and their respective shafts is a pawl and ratchet mechanism, fully shown in Patent No. 2,012,367, hence not illustrated. This mechanism holds the short arms extended over the grave in a horizontal plane, but permits the shafts to continue to rotate after the short arms move down'with the descending casket and strike the sides of the grave. Thus the short arms which initially carry the weight of the casket move out of the way when lowering begins and permit the casket to be supported and lowered by the canvas straps. A pair of longitudinally extending guide rods 22, 23 are supported by the ends of the short arms, there being one guide rod for each pair of arms on either side of the central axis of the rectangular structure, and each guide rod extending slightly upwardly in the direction in which the casket moves. These guide rods lift or guide the casket so that its forward end will not strike the second canvas strap, that is, the one farthest from the receiving end of the structure, when the casket is being rolled onto the device. A roller 24 for the casket is at said receiving end, being secured by clamps 25, 26 so as to lie slightly above the stationary tube 13. (One of these clamps is shown in Figs. 3 and 4, and will he presently described in detail.) The shafts 11, 12 are 7 made telescopic, and when the casket is fully lowered the shafts may be separated in the middle and either end of the structure may be pulled away from'the grave, after pulling the straps out from underneath the casket.

Turning now to the improvements, the two clamps 25, 26 which support the end roller on the casket placer are of unique construction. A description of clamp 25, shown separately in Figs. 3 and 4, will sufiice for both clamps. Clamp 25 consists of a lower semi-circular part 25 and an upper semi-circular half 25*, the two parts being secured together to grip tube 13 by means of two screws 2'7, 28. Screw 28 is on the lower end of a bracket 29 which is enlarged centrally as indicated at 29 so that it may be easily turned on its axis to tighten or loosen screw end 28. The upper end of bracket 29 is secured to one end of axle 30 on which the end roller 24 rotates. As Fig. 1 shows, the end roller lies between the two brackets 29. Fig. 2 illustrates a casket C and indicates how the end roller supports it in the initial phase of placing the casket over the grave.

The upper halves of clamps 25 and 26 each have a forwardly projecting arm for supporting a pivot rod 31. A description of clamp 25 will again sufiice for both. Referring to Fig. 3, arm 32 extends horizontally and has a bore 33 for receiving pivot rod 31. Beyond bore 33 the arm is split to provide a clamp, and a thumbscrew 34 is threaded through the split end of the arm and may :tighten pivot rod 31 so that it :is movable only-, responsive, to substantial-force. Figs. 1 and 2 show, the pivot rod is supported parallel to end tube 13 slightly below the top thereof. Fixed to the pivot rod are asecond setof longitudinally extending guide rods 35,

36,-.each of which is screw threaded at one end so asto be removably secured to a fitting 37 best shown in Fig. 7. The two fittings 37 each have a bore 37 which receives the pivot rod, and a set screw 3:7 which secures the fitting to the pivot rod. An extra fitting 37 (Fig. l) is shown on pivot rod 31v at the left end to take care of a possible adjustment for an unusually widecasket, the left hand rd36 being then screwed into this extra fitting.

At an intermediate point each : guide rod 35, 36 has a tapered ring 40 brazed thereon to form a conical enlargement whose function is to guide the casket over the first canvas strap 15. To aid in this, each longitudinal guide rod has a reduced portion 41 located just beyond the conical enlargement 40, these reduced portions being slightly longer than the width of strap 15 and supporting said strap when the casket placer is ready to receive a casket. The construction is such that the advancing end of the casket can not possibly strike the first canvas strap, no matter how inexpertly the casket is manipulated, because the conical rings 40 lift the casket above the level of the first strap. This will be understood from Fig. 2.

The first pair of short arms 18, 20 each support at their ends a two-part fitting whose construction is shown in Figs. and 6. The extremity of arm 20 is reduced as shown at 45 to provide an axle or pivotfor a guiderod-supporting member 46 having a boss 47 which receives and turns on reduced extremity 45. A stud 48 is made fast to extremity 45 and extends through a bore 49 in member 46, a nut 50 and washer 51 being on the threaded end of the stud outside of member 46. Nut 50 is tight enough to hold member 46 in the position illustrated wherein a pin 52 integral with member 46 projects vertically upwardly in the path of the casket. See Fig. 2. The end of the casket will strike the two pins 52 and turn member 46.- Now the extremity of guide rod 36 rests on a concave seat 53 provided on member 46. Seat 53 is uppermost when pin 52 is vertical, but when the pin is pushed forward, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 2, the guide rod moves onto a tapered seat 54 whose width diminishes to provide an insecure support for the guide rod. As soon as the arms 18, 20 swing down, the guide rods 36, 37 will fall olf the seats 54, but will not descend noisily into the grave opening but will gradually move down, the descending casket pushing the guide rods down (against the frictional or braking resistance offered by the split clamp arm 32 to turning of pivot rod 31) until both guide rods hang vertically down in the grave opening, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. l.

The second part 55 of the two partfitting is an annular member having a bore 56 which fits on the outside of boss 47. Member 55 does not turn with the member 46 when the pin 52 is struck by the casket, its function being to support the guide rod 23 (or 22), a bore 57 being provided for this purpose. An upstanding stop 58 may be fixed to tube 1 to prevent the casket from rolling too far and to aid in placing the casket midway between the ends of the grave.

From the foregoing description, the advantages of the construction will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Obviously many minor changes may be made in the construction without departing from the invention.

What I claim is:

I. In a casket lowering device of the type having a having a pair of short arms detachably secured to said shafts and extending inwardly over the 'gr'a'veto support the casket prior to being placed on the flexible straps, that improvement which consists in the provision of a fitting movably mounted on the end of each short arm and having an upstanding part adapted to be struck by the forward lower edge. of the. casket when it is being moved endwise over the device, a pair of longitudinally extending casket-guiding rods so dimensioned, shaped and located as to elevate the forward lower edge of the casket and guide it over the "pair 'of flexible straps, and means to gpivotally support said rods atone end of the device, each of said fittings havinga surface shaped to temporarily support the free ends of said rods and another surface at an angle to the first-mentioned surface and shaped and dimensioned so as to be, incapable of supporting the free end of said rod, said other surface being, presented to the rod when the casket strikes and moves over the fitting.

2. The invention defined in claim 1, wherein the means to pivotally support said rods includes frictional brake means to prevent the rods from falling when their free ends are no longer supported by said fittings, said frictionalfbrake means being adjustable hy the operator so that the rods may be pushed down into the grave by the casket when the casket is being lowered.

3. The invention defined in claim 1, wherein the upstanding part on the fitting is a pin fixed thereto which is vertical when the parts are in casket-receiving position and which is adapted to be struck by the forward lower edge. of the casket as it is placed on the device thereby to move said rod-supporting surface into such a position that the rod is no longer supported thereby- 4. The invention defined in claim '1, wherein each fitting is pivotally mounted on the free end of one of the short arms to turn about an axis which substantially coincides with the longitudinal axis of the short arm, the surface which temporarily supportsthe free end of the rod being concave and shaped to provide a secure seat for the free end of rod so long as said surface is presented upwardly.

5. ln'a casket lowering device of the type having a pair of rotatable shafts extending longitudinally of the grave on either side, means to support said shafts, means to effect simultaneous rotation of the shafts in opposite directions, a pair of flexible straps being wound up on the two shafts. and extending over the grave, and two pairs o'ffls hor't arms each connected at one end to and being operatively disconnectible from said shafts, that improvement which consists in the provision of a fitting having a part that is pivotally supported on the outer end of each of the two short arms which are nearest one end of the device, each pivotally supported part of the fitting. having an upwardly projecting part adapted to be struck 'by the advancing end of the casket, each fitting having a fixed part that is secured tothe outer end of the I short arm, a. pair of longitudinally extending guide rods respectively supported by the lower fixed parts of said fittings and extending upwardly toward the upper portions of 'the'second pair of short arms, means to connect the second pair of short arms when in operative position to said guide rods, all of said short arms having'their tops slightly above the level of said straps when stretched,

and a second pair of longitudinally extending guide rods having a pivotal support at the receiving end of the device, each of said fittings having a' surface on the pivotally supported part for temporarily supporting the free end of one ofsai'd guide rods of the second pair, said surface being turned so that the free end of said guiderod slides 06 said surface when said upwardly projecting part of said fitting is pushed out of the way by the advancing end of the casket.

6. The invention defined in claim 5, wherein the pivotal support for the second-pair of guide rods includes frictional brake means to check the fall of the guide rods when .no I'ongerreceiving support from said fittings.

7. The invention defined in claim 6, wherein the upwardly projecting part of each fitting is a pin fixed thereto which is vertical when the parts are in casket-receiving position and which is adapted to be struck by the forward lower edge of the casket as it is placed on the device thereby to move the guide-rod-supporting surface away from under the guide rod.

8. The invention defined in claim 7, wherein each fitting has another guide-rod-supporting surface at an angle to the first-mentioned surface and providing an insecure seat for the guide rod so that the latter will readily slip off said insecure seat.

9. In a casket lowering device of the type having two parallel shafts adapted to be supported on opposite sides of the grave, means to support said shafts for rotation, means connecting said shafts so that they must rotate together in opposite directions, a pair of flexible straps each wound at opposite ends about said shafts and extending transversely across the grave, said straps being substantially horizontal when in casket-receiving position, a pair of short arms fixed to but operatively disconnectible from each shaft, the pairs of short arms being aligned with each other and being slightly above the level of the straps when the parts are in casket-receiving position, a set of longitudinally extending casket-guiding rods supported by the two short arms on either side of the device and arranged to guide the casket above the pair of short arms which are farthest from the casket-receiving end of the device, another set of longitudinally extending casketguiding rods supported temporarily at their outer ends by the pair of short arms which are nearest the casket-receiving end of the device, and pivotal supporting means at said casket-receiving end to support the second-mentioned set of casket-guiding rods at their inner ends, that improvement which consists in the provision of brake means acting through said pivotal supporting means to hold said second-mentioned set of rods substantially immovable on their pivotal supporting means until said second-mew tioned set of rods are pushed down into the grave by the casket in its descent.

18. T he invention defined in claim 9, wherein the pair of short arms which support the outer ends of the secondmentioned pair of guide rods and which also aid in supporting the first-mentioned pair of guide rods are each provided with fittings fixed thereon, each fitting having an immovable member through the lower end of which one of the first-mentioned guide rods extends, and having a pivoted member with a part which projects upwardly into the path of the casket as it is being positioned on the device, said pivoted member also having a seat for holding one of the second-1nentioned guide rods, said seat being moved out of rod-supporting position by the rocking of the pivoted member caused by the caskets striking of said upwardly projecting part.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

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