Desiccation Vessel Interment System with HVAC Control

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Solution Overview

Problem

Traditional burial methods are inefficient in providing comfort and meaning for mourners, often result in forgotten deceased individuals due to geographical relocation of families, and pose environmental hazards, with limited land availability for cemeteries.

Innovation Solution

An interment system utilizing vertically arranged memorial suites with desiccation vessels that allow for the storage and transport of remains, accompanied by a digital legacy platform for preserving memories and biographies, and HVAC systems for controlled desiccation, enabling flexible relocation and environmental sustainability.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If traditional ground burial is used, then the deceased is interred in a permanent location, but the family may relocate and leave the grave uncared for and unvisited

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveassurance of ongoing care and visitationVSAvoidfamily relocation flexibility
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSAdaptability or versatility

Solution Approach 1:

The invention separates the interment vessel containing remains from the memorial display components, allowing the vessel to be transported to a new location while the memorial elements can remain or be recreated digitally, thus maintaining connection to the deceased regardless of family relocation

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The invention creates digital copies and records of the deceased (audio, video, written records) that can be preserved and accessed anywhere, replacing the need for physical presence at a fixed grave site and enabling continued remembrance regardless of geographic location

Inventive Principle:
Principle #26Copying

2Reliability

If traditional cemetery burial is used, then the deceased is interred in a designated burial ground, but land availability is limited and environmental hazards arise

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvepermanent interment locationVSAvoidenvironmental impact
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The invention extracts the interment process from traditional ground burial and cemetery settings, using above-ground desiccation vessels that eliminate the need for land burial and associated environmental concerns while maintaining secure permanent storage

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The invention changes the physical state and storage conditions of remains from buried in soil to desiccated in controlled atmospheric environments within sealed vessels, eliminating environmental contamination risks while preserving the remains indefinitely

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

3Ease of manufacture

If traditional funeral services are used, then formal ceremonies are conducted, but the services lack meaning and comfort for the family

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvestandardized funeral processVSAvoidemotional comfort and meaning for mourners
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of manufactureVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The invention enables families to record and preserve the deceased's life stories, messages, and memories while the deceased is still alive or immediately after death, creating meaningful content before the formal funeral process, thus providing emotional connection and meaning that traditional ceremonies lack

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The invention introduces digital media and personal artifacts as intermediaries between the deceased and the living, allowing ongoing communication and connection through recorded messages and preserved memories, replacing the one-way formal ceremonies of traditional funerals

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

4Adaptability or versatility

If desiccation vessels are made portable for easy transport, then relocation flexibility is improved, but the vessels must be sufficiently light and durable

Engineering Contradiction:
Improverelocation flexibilityVSAvoidvessel durability
Core Design Contradiction:
Adaptability or versatilityVSStrength

Solution Approach 1:

The invention uses composite material construction for desiccation vessels that combines lightweight components with high-strength materials, achieving both portability for easy relocation and sufficient durability to protect remains during transport while maintaining structural integrity

Inventive Principle:
Principle #40Composite materials

Applied Scientific Principles

This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.

Function Achieved in This Case

This solution provides a private, comfortable space for mourning and memory preservation, reduces land use, and mitigates environmental impact by allowing for the secure, transportable storage and desiccation of remains, while maintaining a digital legacy for future generations.

Implementation Method 1

HVAC unit, which is in selective fluid communication with the at least one desiccation vessel through the supply fitting and the return fitting, and is configured to adjust at least one of a temperature, a pressure and a humidity within the at least one desiccation vessel to adjust a rate of desiccation of the remains of the decedent within the at least one desiccation vessel

Methodology Applied
Scientific EffectDesiccation: Desiccation

Data Source

PatentEP3907352B1Interment system including a desiccation vessel for securely and portably retaining decedent remains
Publication Date: 2024.03.13 GREEN GARY
  • EP3907352B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3907352B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP3907352B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

An interment system, includes: (a) at least one desiccation vessel for storing remains of a decedent who has not been cremated; (b) a plurality of memorial suites configured to house the at least one desiccation vessel, each of which includes a storage area for the at least one desiccation vessel, a living area, a vertically-oriented tribute wall separating the storage area from the living area, and an HVAC unit, which is configured to adjust at least one of a temperature, a pressure and a humidity within the at least one desiccation vessel to adjust a rate of desiccation; (c) a processor configured to securely store and share decedent data. The at least one desiccation vessel is sufficiently light, durable, and air-tight such that the at least one desiccation vessel with the decedent contained therein can be easily relocated without the need for special vehicles or trained personnel.