Patent Application
20060112527
This invention relates generally to caskets, and more particularly to caskets of the type including memorialization features for mounting and displaying memorabilia relating to the deceased on the casket.
There is a trend in the death care industry to make efforts towards “personalizing” the funeral products and the funeral or other services purchased for the deceased to provide a more meaningful burial service experience for the family and friends of the deceased. Oftentimes, there is a desire on the part of the deceased's family and loved ones to memorialize the faithfully departed. This may manifest itself in several ways such as, for example, displaying various religious or sentimental items close to or on the casket during viewing of the deceased or even placing items in the casket prior to interment of the casket into the ground. The display and/or storage of various items of personalty near or in caskets has existed as a means to memorialize the deceased.
One of the earlier attempts at providing a means of personalizing or customizing a casket to the deceased may be seen with reference to the assignee's U.S. Pat. No. 4,457,054 titled Casket Shelf. That patent discloses a casket shelf which is mounted to the dish assembly of the head end cap when the head end cap is in the open position, such as during viewing of the deceased. The shelf provides a surface for supporting and displaying articles of religious or personal significance to the deceased. Additionally, the assignee's pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/788,769 filed on Feb. 20, 2001 and titled Memorialization Casket discloses an alcove structure having a recess for mounting and displaying an ornament as a means of memorializing the deceased.
Furthermore, many current caskets do not provide any designated, easily accessibly receptacle or compartment for either the display of personal effects of the deceased therein or the inclusion therein of mementos of memorialization by the deceased's family and friends. Prior attempts at solving this shortcoming have generally taken the form of the placement of a small memento box into the casket alongside the deceased. However, such memento boxes often appear as an afterthought, simply placed alongside the deceased in the casket somewhat haphazardly. A casket having a memorabilia compartment integral to the casket for storing mementos and other items of memorabilia may be seen with reference to the assignee's U.S. Pat. No. 5,611,124 titled Casket Having Memorabilia Compartment. Caskets having a memorabilia compartment or drawer in which keepsakes of the deceased can be stored and displayed are commercially available as the MemorySafe® line of caskets available from Batesville®.
Advances have therefore been made in the area of “personalization” of funeral products by displaying and storing memorabilia, as demonstrated by the patents and products discussed above. However, there continues to be room for improvement in the area of providing caskets with memorabilia display and storage.
In one aspect the invention is a casket comprising a casket shell having a pair of side walls, a pair of end walls, and a floor, at least one lid securable to the casket shell, a memorabilia mounting device secured to the at least one lid and extending along at least a portion of a perimeter thereof, and a memorabilia display device mounted to the memorabilia mounting device for displaying memorabilia memorializing a deceased.
The memorabilia mounting device can extend around the perimeter of the at least one lid. The casket can include a pair of lids having abutting end edges. The memorabilia mounting device can extend along at least a portion of the perimeter of both of the lids, can extend along at least a portion of the perimeter of both of the lids excepting the abutting end edges of the lids, or can extend around the perimeter of both of the lids excepting the abutting end edges of the lids.
The memorabilia mounting device can be a rail.
The memorabilia display device can be a wire rack, a table top, a table register, or a tray.
In another aspect, a casket comprises a casket shell having a pair of side walls, a pair of end walls, and a floor, at least one lid securable to the casket shell, a memorabilia mounting rail secured to the at least one lid and extending along at least a portion of a perimeter thereof, and a memorabilia display device mounted to the memorabilia mounting rail for displaying memorabilia memorializing a deceased.
The memorabilia mounting rail can include interconnected upper and lower rails, or an outer rail pair and an inner rail pair, the outer rail pair having interconnected upper and lower rails, the inner rail pair having interconnected upper and lower rails.
In yet another aspect, a casket comprises a casket shell having a pair of side walls, a pair of end walls, and a floor, at least one lid securable to the casket shell, a memorabilia mounting rail secured to the at least one lid and extending along at least a portion of a perimeter thereof, a memorabilia display device mounted to the memorabilia mounting rail for displaying memorabilia memorializing a deceased, and an attachment device for attaching the memorabilia display device to the memorabilia mounting rail.
The attachment device can be a spring clip, a pressure fit tab lock, a detent and ball, a flexible plastic clip, a half turn lock, or a spring loaded lever clamp.
These and other features and advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent during the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the drawings herein, in which:
With reference to
Casket 10 includes a memorabilia mounting device 30 and one or more memorabilia display devices 60 (
Referring to
Referring now to
Those skilled in the art will readily recognize numerous adaptations and modifications which can be made to the present invention which will result in an improved casket with memorabilia mounting and display devices, yet all of which will fall within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined in the following claims. Accordingly, the invention is to be limited only by the scope of the following claims and their equivalents.
