IMPROVEMENTS IN COFFINS
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Samuel Dunn, of Old Broad Street, in the City of
London, Merchant, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN COFFINS."--A
communication from abroad by Josef- Franz Mayr, of Vienna, in the
Empire of Austria.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Samuel Dunn at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 28th
September 1865.
I, SAMUEL DUNN, of Old Broad Street, in the City of London, Merchant,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
COFFINS," a communication to me from abroad by Josef Franz Mayr, of
Vienna, in the Empire of Austria, to be as follows :-
This Invention relates to an improved and simple construction of coffins
which are capable of being hermetically closed with facility, and are much
cheaper, though quite as durable, as the best leaden coffins.
According to this Invention it is proposed to construct coffins of slabs of
marble, slate, or other stone, the slabs being so shaped that when put together
they form the coffin. In practice it is preferred to construct these improved
coffins in the following manner:-A bottom slab or base is first shaped to the

page_text: desired form by any well-known arrangement of stone working machinery, or by
manual labor if preferred. In this bottom slab, on the upper surface thereof
and near the edge, there is cut a groove or channel, into which are fitted the
lower edges of the side and end pieces. This groove or channel should
incline outwards slightly, so that when the sides and ends are fitted therein
they will also incline outwards, forming with the interior of the bottom or
base an obtuse angle. The lid is prepared in a similar manner to the bottom,
having a groove or channel cut round its under surface near the edge to fit over
the upper edges of the sides and ends, thus securely locking the several parts
together. The usual fastenings for stone, such as screws, clamps, and bolts
are employed for firmly uniting the various pieces, and the usual.stone-cement
is employed for rendering the joints perfectly air-tight. It will be found
advantageous to cement angular blocks into the corners inside the coffin, also
to cement strips of marble, slate, or other stone across the bottom of the
coffin, whereby its strength is greatly increased, and further to cement thin
tin plates to the sides of the coffin. In lieu of grooving or channelling the
bottom, slab or base, of the coffin. it may remain perfectly plain and be let
into grooves or channels cut at the angle desired in the side and end pieces,
in which case the bottom would not be seen from the outside. And if desired
the lid may be inserted or fitted inside the sides and ends, a rebate or ledge
being made along their upper edges for the lid to rest upon which may then
be flush with the top edges of the sides of the coffin. In all cases the joints
are rendered air-tight by any well known cement suitable for the purpose.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Samuel Dunn in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 28th
March 1866..
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, SAMUEL
DUNN, of Old Broad Street, in the City of London, Merchant, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One-thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the 29th year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Samuel Dunn, Her special license that I, the said Samuel Dunn, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as 1, the said Samuel
Dunn, my executors, administrators, or assigns, should at any time, agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the

page_text: term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,, and
vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN COFFINS," a com-
munication to me from abroad, by Johann. Franz Mayr, of Vienna,,in the
Empire, of Austria, upon the condition (amongst others), that I, the said
Samuel Dunn, my executors or..administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my hand, and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain, the nature
of the said Invention, and in what manner. the same was to be performed, and
cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six, calendar
months next and immediately after the date of, the said Letters Patent...
NOW KNOW, YE, that I, the said Samuel. Dunn,, do, hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is, to be
performed, to-be-particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being. had. to .the accompanying Drawings, and to the
letters and figures marked,thereon, that is to say:
The said Invention relates, to an improved and simple. construction, of
coffins, which are capable, of being hermetically. closed with facility; and are
much cheaper, though quite as durable, as the best leaden, coffins.
According to this. Invention it is proposed to construct. coffins of slabs of
marble, slate, or other stone, the slabs being so shaped that when put together
they form the coffin.. According to one mode of, constructing these. improved
coffins, a bottom slab or base is first shaped to, the desired form. by any well-
known arrangement of stone-working machinery, or by manuel labor, if
preferred. In this bottom slab,,on the upper surface, thereof and near the edge,
there is cut a groove or. channel, into. which.are. fitted the lower edges of, the
side and end pieces. This groove or channel should incline outwards slightly,
.so, that when, the sides, and ends are fitted therein they, will also, incline.out-
wards, forming with the interior of the bottom or base an obtuse angle. .The
lid may be prepared in a similar manner, to the bottom, having a groove cut
round its inside surface near the edge to fit over the upper edges of the sides
and ends, thus securely locking the, several parts. together... The, usual
fastenings for stone work, such as screws, clamps, and bolts are employed for
firmiy uniting the various pieces, and the usual stone cement is employed for
rendering the joints perfectly-air-tight.. It will be found advantageous to
cement angular blocks, into the corners inside the coffin, also. to cement strips
..of marble, slate, or other stone across the bottom of the coffin, whereby its.
strength is greatly increased, and further to cement thin, tin plates to the sides
of the coffin... In lieu of grooving or .channelling the bottom slab or base of
the coffin it may, remain perfectly plain, and be let into grooves or channels

page_text: cut at the angle desired in the side and end pieces, in which case the bottom
would not be seen from the outside, and if desired, the lid may be inserted or
fitted inside the sides and ends, a rebate or ledge being made along their
upper edges for the lid to rest úpon, which may then be flush with the top
edges of the 'sides of the coffin. In all cases the joints are rendered' air-tight
by any well-known cement suitable for the purpose.
And in order that the said Invention may be fully understood, I shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose I shall
now proceed-more-particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose I shall
refer to the several Figures on the Sheet of Drawings hereunto- annoxed;
the same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts in all the
Figures.
Fig. 1 of the Drawings represents a longitudinal vertical section of one
form of the improved coffin; Fig. 2 is a transverse section of the same taken
along the line 1-2 in Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 is a plan of the bottom of the coffin
with the sides and ends removed. In these Figures A represents the bottom
slab of the coffin, having a groove a made on the upper face thereof near its
four sides. In this groove are fitted the two sides B, B, and the ends C, C,
which are made to bevel outwards from the base, as shown, the sides and ends
being secured to each other and to the base by any of the well-known or usual
fastenings employed in store work. b, b, are the small angle pieces cemented
into the four corners of the coffin to strengthen the same, and c, c, are trans-
verse strips cemented across the bottom for the same purpose. The lid D,
like 'the sides, ends, and bottom, is composed of a slab of stone, and fits flush
into rebates made to receive it in the edges of the sides and ends, as shewn
at d, d. Figs. 4, 5, and 6 illustrate a more ornamental form of coffin, also
composed of slabs of marble, slate, or other stone; Fig. 4 represents the
parts forming the body of the coffin; Fig. 5, the parts forming the top or lid;
and Fig. 6 represents a perspective view of the coffin and lid complete. In
these Figures, A is the bottom of the coffin; B, B, and C, C, are the sides
and ends respectively which are connected together by dovetails as shewn.
The top or lid (Fig. 5) is also composed of 5 slabs a, b, b, and-c, c, like the
body of the coffin, the slabs-b, b, and c, c, being connected together by dovetail
joints and united to the top slab a by cement, or by any well-known means
of securing slabs and stone together. The dark parts or angles of the coffin
shewn in Fig. 6 are made of plaster in imitation of colored marble in order
to hide the joining of the different parts.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried into

page_text: effect, I would observe, in conclusion, that what I consider to be novel and
original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent is,―
The construction of coffins from slabs of marble, slate, or other stone,
shaped and put together substantially in the manner herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Samuel Dunn, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Twenty-eighth day of March, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-six.
SAM. DUNN. (L.S.)