Improvements in Funeral Beds or Biers and Coffins.
Year: 1899

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Funeral Beds or Biers and Coffins.
A communication by A. RAFFAELE CERVELLI, of Rome, in the Kingdom of
Italy, Doctor of Medicine
I, WILLIAM PHILLIPS THOMPSON, F.C.S., M.I.M.E., of the Agency for Foreign
Patent Solicitors, 6, Lord Street, Liverpool, and 6, Bank Street, Manchester,
both in the County of Lancaster, 118, New Street, Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, and 322, High Holborn, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement:-
The present invention relates to an improved funeral bed, bier or coffin as a
mark of affectionate veneration for defunct persons and is more particularly
applicable. where the remains are not to be interred and in all cases where
exhumation may be necessary by reason of coroners' inquests or judicial enquiries
or change in the place of interment.
The objects which this improved bier or coffin has to fulfil are the following:-
A. To receive the corpse the moment it is taken from the death bed and to
maintain it lying always in the position which was given to it without its being
necessary to again touch it after the first arrangement.
B. To serve for conveniently exhibiting the corpse to relatives and friends or
for placing it in a "chapelle ardente."
C. To be placed in the mortuary casket with the corpse without its being
necessary to displace or touch the latter.
D. To preserve the appearance of the corpse and facilitate its modification by
means of the absorption of liquids by disinfectant and absorbent substances.
E. To satisfy, in a word, the desiderata of civilized people of all times and to
permit all care and all attention that the human heart can desire to be given to
the dear departed.
If there is one branch of industry which has remained outside the progress of
civilization it is certain that of mortuary caskets as regards the method of
enclosing and preserving the remains of our dear departed ones. This method
has remained the same for centuries. Thus the remains deposited in the coffin
are abandoned to the destructive elements, and further as the coffins are generally
much larger in dimensions than the corpse, the latter is shaken about in the
jolts of transportation and more particularly when descending the stairs of houses
to the house of death and introducing the coffin into the cells of columbaries or
mausoleums or burial chapels, and it is especially the head which undergoes
the shocks or jolts at any inclination of the coffin during the funeral conveyance,
which hurts all sentiments of delicacy and piety.
By this invention all these drawbacks are eliminated, and at the same time
the preservation of the corpse is effectually ensured which will be of great service
from a medical judicial point of view in the somewhat frequent cases of exhuma-
tions for inquests or enquiries, the corpse, as has already been stated, remaining

page_text: separated from the liquids which it gives off and which are absorbed by a
material of great absorptive power such as tripoli, fossil meal and the like.
In the case of an exhumation after having opened the coffin it is only necessary
in order to obtain the body to draw out the litter by means of the handles
attached thereto and to deposit it with the corpse in a suitable place for the
examination without it being necessary to remove the corpse from the litter.
The corpse thus separated in the coffin from the liquid substances which are
given off therefrom is preserved for a much longer time and allows in certain
cases of its becoming mummified. The body rests on a metallic network which
forms the funeral bed or bier. To this metallic network there is arranged or
attached a bolster of metallic netting for the support of the head so that the latter
has no longer to undergo shocks and jolts when transported, such conveyance
being frequently effected without the respectful care dictated by humanity.
The apparatus forming the object of this invention is shown in the accom-
panying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a view of the funeral bed or mausoleum
bier of ordinary form consisting first of a metallic network mounted in a frame
with a metallic cushion or bolster for the head, hooks or under guards i for the
arms, and handles f for conveying the bier; secondly of springs supporting the
frame; and thirdly of a hollow bottom piece or box of metal or wood on which
the springs are fixed and in which there is a receptacle divided into compart-
ments containing absorbent and disinfecting material.
Figure 2 is an ordinary mortuary coffin or shell, one side wall and the head
end being omitted, and in which coffin the bed or bier is inserted.
Figure 3 is another form of construction of the funeral bed or bier without
the bottom box and with the springs supporting the frame or bed resting directly
on the bottom of the coffin where in this case the absorbent and disinfectant
material is also arranged:
The bed bier a is formed as has been hereinbefore stated of a metallic net-
work a mounted in a metal frame a² and supported on springs b fixed, in Figure 1
on the edges of the box c, and in Figure 3 on the bottom itself of the mortuary
casket or coffin e. Below the metallic network is a thin layer of absorbent
material of a thickness of about 4 centimetres which is spread over the chequer
work compartments d of the box c in Figure 1 or even on the bottom itself of
the coffin e in Figure 3. The partitions d have for their object to prevent any
lateral displacement of the material in case of the coffin being greatly inclined
whilst a covering of wadding or muslin prevents any upward displacement of
the absorbent material. This transparent covering is in its turn held in place
by an interlacement of longitudinal and transverse threads fixed on the edges
of the box. The support springs must be strong ones in order to yield only a few
centimetres under the normal weight of the corpse whilst affording a support
having a certain elasticity.
In the modified form of construction shown in Figure 3 instead of a separate and
removable funeral bed or bier a mortuary casket or coffin is constructed complete
with said funeral bed or bier, or with part of the same with or without elastic
springs. In the first of these cases we shall have the coffins having a bed with
a fixed support, and in the second case with parts of the bed having a movable
support, that is to say the frame on which the body rests.
It is evident that the present invention is not limited to the forms and details
herein before described and shown and that any modifications found useful or
necessary in practice may be introduced; for instance any suitable materials such
as celluloid, brass, asbestos, aluminium, steel, zinc, lead, wood or the like may
be employed in the construction according to the exigencies of special cases,
and that without departing from the spirit of the present invention.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated
to me by my foreign correspondent, I declare that what I claim is:
1. A funeral bed or bier having for its object to preserve corpses by means

page_text: of the absorption of the liquids given off by the body, consisting of a metallic
network (a) provided with a bolster (h) for the head and guard or hooks (i) for
the arms and supported on elastic springs (6) mounted on the edges of a box (c)
divided into compartments containing a layer of light absorbent material
adapted for the object such as tripoli, fossil meal or the like, substantially as
described.
2. A funeral bed or bier such as described either separate, removable and
transportable, or fixed in a mortuary casket or coffin as a whole or partially,
and with or without metallic springs, substantially as described.
DJ
041 1
11
1000
W. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Agents.