Cremation furnace

Abstract

To provide a cremation furnace that does not require a cooling time by preventing a temperature rise of a carriage in a combustion chamber.SOLUTION: A cremation furnace includes: a carriage on which a coffin is placed; a combustion chamber that accommodates the carriage and in which combustion of the coffin is performed; and a cooling device that supplies water to the carriage to cool the carriage, wherein the carriage has a carriage body and a water storage portion that is provided on an upper surface of the carriage body and stores water. The water storage portion is an inner peripheral portion of a bank portion provided on a peripheral edge of the upper surface of the carriage body. The cooling device fills the water storage portion with water.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a crematorium having a cooling device for a cart on which a coffin is placed. [Background technology]

[0002] During cremation, the cart carrying the coffin is placed in the crematorium's combustion chamber and burned, then the cart is removed from the chamber and the remains on the cart are collected. The temperature inside the combustion chamber reaches 1000°C during combustion, so the cart is also very hot immediately after being removed from the chamber. Therefore, time is required for the cart to cool before the remains can be collected. In addition, in recent years, there has been a demand to shorten cremation times due to a shortage of crematoriums, and the cart is sometimes used for collecting the remains while it is still hot, which places a burden on the bereaved and the operator.

[0003] Therefore, a conventional method for cooling a bogie has been proposed, as shown in Patent Document 1, for example. This method involves spraying mist-like water onto the bogie after it has been removed from the combustion chamber to cool it. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 61-96316 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] However, in such a conventional method, cooling is carried out after the end of combustion, and although this is faster than natural cooling, it still requires a certain amount of cooling time.

[0006] The present invention has been made in consideration of these circumstances, and aims to provide a crematorium that does not require cooling time by preventing the temperature of the cart from rising inside the combustion chamber. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The present invention comprises a trolley on which a coffin is placed, a combustion chamber that houses the trolley and in which the coffin is burned, and a cooling device that supplies water to the trolley and cools it, wherein the trolley has a trolley body and a water storage section that stores water and is provided on the upper surface of the trolley body, the water storage section being the inner peripheral portion of a dike provided on the peripheral portion of the upper surface of the trolley body, and the cooling device fills the water storage section with water.

[0008] In addition, the present invention may be such that the cooling device has a tank for storing water, a water supply section for supplying water to the tank, an overflow section for draining water from the tank, and a siphon piping connecting the tank and the water storage section, the overflow section being located at a height within the depth range of the water storage section, and the siphon piping has one end opening located in the water of the tank and the other end opening located within the water storage section below the height of the overflow section. [Effects of the Invention]

[0009] According to the present invention, the top surface of the cart body is covered with water except for the bank around the periphery, so the flames during combustion do not directly hit the cart body, preventing the cart from overheating. This allows the ashes to be collected quickly after the cremation is complete, and the heat of the cart does not burden the bereaved family or the driver. Furthermore, since the body contains a lot of water, supplying water to the combustion chamber does not affect the cremation itself.

[0010] Furthermore, if a siphon pipe is used to supply water to the reservoir, the liquid level in the reservoir can be reliably maintained by the siphon principle. Furthermore, since no power is required to supply water, the structure is simple and manufacturing and operating costs are kept low. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0011] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is an overall view of a first embodiment of the crematorium of the present invention. [Figure 2] 5(a) to 5(d) are explanatory diagrams of control of the cooling device in the first embodiment. [Figure 3] FIG. 1 is an overall view of a second embodiment of the crematorium of the present invention. [Figure 4] 10(a) to 10(d) are explanatory diagrams of control of the cooling device in the second embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0012] The specific contents of the present invention will be explained below. As shown in Figure 1, the first embodiment of this crematorium furnace comprises a cart 10 on which a coffin C is placed, a combustion chamber 20 that accommodates the cart 10 and in which the coffin C is burned, and a cooling device 30 that supplies water to the cart 10 to cool it.

[0013] The bogie 10 has a bogie body 11 and a water storage section 12 provided on the upper surface of the bogie body 11 for storing water. The bogie body 11 is roughly rectangular and has wheels 14 on its underside. A bank section 13 is provided on the peripheral edge of the upper surface of the bogie body 11, surrounding the entire rectangular periphery. The bank section 13 is rectangular and annular, protruding upward from the upper surface of the bogie body 11. The outer circumferential side surface is parallel to the vertical direction, and the inner circumferential side surface is inclined upward toward the outer periphery. In other words, the inner circumferential portion of the bank section 13 is recessed relative to the bank section 13, and this inner circumferential portion forms the water storage section 12. The height of the bank section 13, i.e., the depth of the water storage section 12, is set based on the amount of water to be stored in the water storage section 12. Here, the height of the bank section 13 is set to, for example, 12 cm. Furthermore, an upwardly protruding platform 15 is provided on the inside of the bank 13 on the top surface of the carriage body 11, i.e., on the bottom of the water storage section 12. One or more platforms 15 are provided, and their height is greater than the depth of the water stored in the water storage section 12.

[0014] The combustion chamber 20 has a door 21 on its side wall. Rails 22 are laid on the floor of the combustion chamber 20. The rails 22 pass through the door 21 and extend to the outside of the combustion chamber 20. The cart 10 runs on the rails 22 and passes through the door 21 to enter and exit the combustion chamber 20. A combustion burner 23 is also provided in the combustion chamber 20. Combustion air is supplied to the combustion burner 23 from a combustion air blower (not shown), and fuel is supplied from a fuel tank (not shown).

[0015] The cooling device 30 fills the water storage section 12 of the bogie 10 with water. Then, during combustion in the combustion chamber 20, the cooling device 30 supplies water so that the liquid level of the water stored in the water storage section 12 remains constant. More specifically, the cooling device 30 has a tank 31 that stores water, a water supply section 32 that supplies water to the tank 31, an overflow section 33 that drains water from the tank, and a siphon pipe 34 that connects the tank 31 and the water storage section 12. The tank 31 is disposed outside the combustion chamber 20. The water supply section 32 has a water supply pipe 321 that connects the top of the tank 31 to a water supply source (not shown), and a water supply valve 322 that opens and closes the water supply pipe 321; water is supplied to the tank 31 by opening the water supply valve 322. The overflow section 33 has an overflow pipe 331 that is located in the vertical middle of the tank 31 and connects to the depth range of the water storage section 12, and an overflow valve 332 that opens and closes the overflow pipe 331. Opening the overflow valve 332 drains water from the tank 31. In other words, when the overflow valve 332 is "open," the liquid level of the water in the tank 31 does not exceed the height of the overflow section 33 (overflow pipe 331). This height is defined as the specified height H1. The siphon pipe 34 is an inverted U-shaped pipe that penetrates the side wall surface of the combustion chamber 20 and extends from the outside to the inside of the combustion chamber 20. The highest height H2 of the siphon pipe 34 is below the upper end of the tank 31. Both ends of the siphon pipe 34 open downward. One end of the siphon pipe 34 (the end outside the combustion chamber 20) has an opening inside the tank 31, below the specified height H1. This opening is referred to as outer opening end 341. When overflow valve 332 is "open" and water is stored in tank 31, outer opening end 341 is located underwater. At the other end (the end inside combustion chamber 20) of siphon piping 34, an opening is provided inside water storage section 12 (on the inner periphery of dike section 13 and below the upper end of dike section 13) and below specified height H1. This opening is referred to as inner opening end 342.

[0016] When cremating, first, the door 21 of the combustion chamber 20 is opened, and the cart 10 carrying the coffin C is moved and placed inside the combustion chamber 20. Next, the door 21 of the combustion chamber 20 is closed, and the body is cremated using the combustion burner 23. After the cremation is completed, the door 21 of the combustion chamber 20 is opened, and the cart 10 is removed from the combustion chamber 20.

[0017] Since the inner opening end 342 of the siphon piping 34 is located below the upper end of the bank portion 13 of the bogie 10, the inner opening end 342 avoids the bank portion 13 when the bogie 10 is stored. For example, all or part of the siphon piping 34 may be movable up and down. Also, the portion of the siphon piping 34 located inside the combustion chamber 20 may be expandable and contractible. Also, the portion of the siphon piping 34 located inside the combustion chamber 20 may be made of a flexible material.

[0018] This crematorium is equipped with a control device 100 for controlling each of the above-mentioned devices. The control device 100 is composed of hardware (computer) such as a PLC that executes a control program for controlling each device, and includes a CPU that sequentially executes the program's instructions and a storage device that stores the program, data necessary for program execution, and processing results. It can be said that the control program causes the hardware to function as the control device 100. The control program executes various steps, and the control device 100 functions as various means, causing each device to operate in various ways and executing various processes. In other words, the control device 100 has various means, and these various means cause each device to operate in various ways and execute various processes.

[0019] Here, we will omit the explanation of the parts that are controlled in the same way as conventional crematoriums, and will only explain the parts that are controlled in relation to the cooling device 30. As shown in Figure 1, the control device 100 is connected to each valve of the cooling device 30 (water supply valve 322, overflow valve 332) and controls opening and closing (it is also connected to other devices, but these are not shown). Also, the control device 100 is not shown in Figure 2.

[0020] During cremation, after the cart 10 is placed in the combustion chamber 20, the control program is first executed, and the control device 100 functions as the water injection means. The water injection means executes a water injection process to fill the siphon pipe 34 with water and fill the water storage section 12 of the cart 10 with water. More specifically, as shown in FIG. 2(a), the overflow valve 332 is closed and the water supply valve 322 is open. As a result, water accumulates in the tank 31 and enters the siphon pipe 34 from the outer opening end 341. As shown in FIG. 2(b), when the water level in the tank 31 reaches the highest height H2 of the siphon pipe 34, the siphon pipe 34 is filled with water. Because the inner opening end 342 is lower than the water level (highest height H2) in the tank 31, water flows out from the inner opening end 342 and accumulates in the water storage section 12 of the cart 10 due to the siphon principle. After a predetermined time has passed and a predetermined amount of water has accumulated in the water reservoir 12, combustion by the combustion burner 23 is started.

[0021] After combustion starts, a control program is executed, and the control device 100 functions as a water supply means. The water supply means executes a water supply process to supply water so that the liquid level of water in the water storage section 12 of the bogie 10 is maintained at a constant height during combustion. More specifically, as shown in FIG. 2(c), the overflow valve 332 is opened. The water supply valve 322 remains open. Then, water in the tank 31 is drained through the overflow pipe 331, and the liquid level of water in the tank 31 reaches a specified height H1 (the height of the overflow section 33 (overflow pipe 331)). Meanwhile, in the combustion chamber 20, the water in the water storage section 12 evaporates due to the heat of combustion. However, because the inner opening end 342 is lower than the liquid level of water in the tank 31 (specified height H1), water flows from the tank 31 to the water storage section 12 according to the siphon principle. Therefore, by making the amount of water supplied from water supply section 32 exceed the amount of water evaporating in combustion chamber 20, the liquid level of the water in tank 31 and the liquid level of the water in water storage section 12 become equal to specified height H1. In this way, the liquid level of the water in water storage section 12 is maintained.

[0022] After a predetermined time has elapsed since the start of combustion but before the combustion ends, a control program is executed, and the control device 100 functions as a stop means. The stop means executes a stop process that stops the supply of water to the water storage section 12 before the combustion ends. More specifically, as shown in FIG. 2(d), the water supply valve 322 is closed. The overflow valve 332 remains open. As the water in the water storage section 12 evaporates due to the heat of combustion, water flows from the tank 31 to the water storage section 12 so that the liquid level in the tank 31 and the liquid level in the water storage section 12 become equal. However, since water is not supplied from the water supply section 32, both the liquid level in the tank 31 and the liquid level in the water storage section 12 decrease. When the liquid level decreases to the height of the inner opening end 342, the flow of water from the tank 31 to the water storage section 12 stops. Then, all of the water in the water storage section 12 evaporates due to the heat of combustion. The combustion is stopped after a predetermined time has passed, allowing all the water in the water reservoir 12 to evaporate. The coffin C is burned out, and the remains (not shown) are left on the cart body 11.

[0023] In this way, the control program is executed, and the control device 100 functions as a water injection means, a water supply means, and a stopping means, and cremation is carried out using the above-mentioned crematorium furnace by executing the water injection process, the water supply process, and the stopping process.

[0024] According to the first embodiment of the crematorium configured as described above, the water level in the water reservoir 12 of the cart 10 is maintained during combustion, and the top surface of the cart body 11 is covered with water except for the peripheral bank 13. This prevents the flames from directly hitting the cart body 11 during combustion, preventing the cart 10 from overheating. This allows for prompt collection of the remains after cremation, and the heat of the cart 10 does not burden the bereaved family or the operator. Since the remains contain a large amount of water, supplying water to the combustion chamber 20 does not affect the cremation itself. Furthermore, since the siphon piping 34 is used to supply water to the water reservoir 12, the water level in the water reservoir 12 can be reliably maintained by the siphon principle. Furthermore, since no power is required to supply water, the structure is simple, and manufacturing and operating costs are reduced. Furthermore, since the water supply to the water reservoir 12 is stopped before the end of combustion, all of the water in the water reservoir 12 evaporates, and no water remains in the cart 10.

[0025] Next, a second embodiment of this crematorium will be described. As shown in Figure 3, the basic configuration of the second embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment, that is, it includes a carriage 10, a combustion chamber 20, and a cooling device 30. Below, only the differences from the first embodiment will be described.

[0026] In addition to the configuration of the first embodiment, the cooling device 30 has an upper overflow pipe 35 connected to the tank 31 and a gate valve 36 provided in the siphon piping 34. The upper overflow pipe 35 is provided at the highest height H2 of the siphon piping 34. That is, when the overflow valve 332 is "closed," the highest value of the liquid level of the water in the tank 31 is the highest height H2. The gate valve 36 opens and closes the siphon piping 34. The gate valve 36 is provided midway along the siphon piping 34, between the combustion chamber 20 and the tank 31. The control device 100 is connected to the gate valve 36 in addition to the water supply valve 322 and the overflow valve 332, and controls its opening and closing.

[0027] Next, we will explain the control portion related to the cooling device 30 in the second embodiment. During cremation, after the cart 10 is placed in the combustion chamber 20, the control program is first executed, and the control device 100 functions as the water injection means. The water injection means executes a water injection process to fill the siphon piping 34 with water and the water storage section 12 of the cart 10 with water. More specifically, as shown in FIG. 4(a), the overflow valve 332 and the gate valve 36 are closed, and the water supply valve 322 is opened. As water accumulates in the tank 31, water enters the siphon piping 34 from the outer opening end 341. The upper overflow pipe 35 raises the water level in the tank 31 to the highest point H2 of the siphon piping 34 and does not exceed it. As shown in FIG. 4(b), when the water level reaches the highest point H2, the gate valve 36 is opened. The siphon piping 34 is then filled with water. Since the inner opening end 342 is lower than the liquid level (highest point height H2) of the water in the tank 31, due to the siphon principle, the water flows out from the inner opening end 342 and accumulates in the water storage section 12 of the cart 10. After a predetermined time has passed and a predetermined amount of water has accumulated in the water storage section 12, combustion by the combustion burner 23 begins.

[0028] After combustion starts, a control program is executed, and the control device 100 functions as a water supply means. The water supply means executes a water supply process to supply water so that the liquid level of water in the water storage section 12 of the bogie 10 is maintained at a constant height during combustion. More specifically, as shown in FIG. 4(c), the overflow valve 332 is opened. The water supply valve 322 and the gate valve 36 remain open. Then, water in the tank 31 is drained through the overflow pipe 331, and the liquid level of water in the tank 31 reaches a specified height H1 (the height of the overflow section 33 (overflow pipe 331)). Meanwhile, in the combustion chamber 20, the water in the water storage section 12 evaporates due to the heat of combustion. However, because the inner opening end 342 is lower than the liquid level of water in the tank 31 (specified height H1), water flows from the tank 31 to the water storage section 12 according to the siphon principle. Therefore, by making the amount of water supplied from water supply section 32 exceed the amount of water evaporating in combustion chamber 20, the liquid level of the water in tank 31 and the liquid level of the water in water storage section 12 become equal to specified height H1. In this way, the liquid level of the water in water storage section 12 is maintained.

[0029] After a predetermined time has elapsed since the start of combustion but before the combustion ends, a control program is executed, and the control device 100 functions as a stop means. The stop means executes a stop process that stops the water supply to the water storage section 12 before the combustion ends. More specifically, as shown in Figure 4(d), the water supply valve 322 and the gate valve 36 are closed. The overflow valve 332 remains open. This blocks communication between the tank 31 and the combustion chamber 20. Since water is not supplied from the water supply section 32 to the tank 31, the liquid level remains at the specified height H1. In the combustion chamber 20, the heat of combustion evaporates the water in the water storage section 12, and after a predetermined time has elapsed for all the water to evaporate, the combustion is stopped. The coffin C is burned out, and the remains (not shown) are left on the cart body 11.

[0030] The second embodiment of the crematorium configured in this manner also achieves the same effects as the first embodiment.

[0031] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and the shape and structure of each part may be modified as appropriate within the spirit and scope of the invention. For example, during the water filling process, the siphon piping may be filled with water using a pump. In this case, the overflow section may not have an overflow valve, and the overflow pipe may be always open. Furthermore, as a means for maintaining the liquid level in the water storage section during the water supply process, a sensor may detect the liquid level and control the amount of water supplied accordingly, rather than relying on the siphon principle. Furthermore, with respect to the parts other than the constituent elements of the present invention in the above-described embodiments, some elements may be removed or other elements may be added. [Explanation of symbols]

[0032] 10 carts 11 Bogie body 12 Water storage section 13 Embankment 20 Combustion chamber 30 Cooling device 31 Tank 32 Water supply section 33 Flooding area 34 Siphon piping 341 Outer opening end (opening on one end) 342 Inner opening end (opening on the other end side)

Claims

1. The apparatus comprises a cart on which a coffin is placed, a combustion chamber in which the cart is housed and in which the coffin is burned, and a cooling device that supplies water to the cart to cool the cart, the bogie has a bogie body and a water storage section provided on an upper surface of the bogie body for storing water, the water storage section being an inner peripheral portion of a bank section provided on a peripheral portion of the upper surface of the bogie body; A crematorium characterized in that the cooling device fills the water storage section with water.

2. The cooling device includes a tank for storing water, a water supply unit for supplying water to the tank, an overflow unit for draining water from the tank, and a siphon pipe connecting the tank and the water storage unit, The overflow section is provided at a height within the depth range of the water storage section, The crematorium according to claim 1, characterized in that the siphon piping has an opening at one end in the water of the tank and an opening at the other end within the water storage section below the height of the overflow section.

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