The present invention relates to hardware for mounting a handle bar on a casket.
Handle bars on a burial casket may be utilized during a burial service by pall bearers to lift and carry the casket. Many caskets are provided with “swing bar type” handle bars so that the bars swing outwardly first. Swing hardware permits the pall bearer to grasp the handle without engaging the casket shell while also permitting the casket to fit into limited space for storage. Typical swing hardware may feel loose and unsteady and may prove to be noisy when the handle bar is pivoted. Also, typical swing hardware is mounted from the outside of the casket with bolts which protrude into the interior of the casket shell. The ends of the bolts may be a safety hazard for a funeral director.
The handle hardware assembly of the present invention attaches a handle to sidewall of a casket. The hardware assembly of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention comprises a lifting arm and amounting base or clevis each having a pair of pivot arms or flanges. Each clevis and lifting arm pivot arm has corresponding position stops engageable with each other. Specifically, each clevis pivot flange has a protrusion which is engageable with three radially spaced depressions of a corresponding lifting arm pivot arm. The selected depression the protrusion is engaged in determines the fixed position of the handle relative to sidewall of the casket. Also, a low profile bolt is insertable from inside the casket such that the sharp end of the bolt is between clevis pivot arms to avoid injury to a funeral director or others.
The present invention and its presently preferred embodiments will be better understood by way of reference to the detailed disclosure herebelow and to the accompanying drawings.
The handle hardware assembly of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention is generally shown at 10 (
Clevis 20 is generally U-shaped having a pair of pivot flanges 36 which straddle the lifting arm pivot arms 26. Each clevis pivot flange 36 has a central pivot hole 38 and a single protrusion 40 on the inside face of the pivot flange 36. Clevis 20 is connected to lifting arm 18 by a rivet 39 through the corresponding pivot holes.
Each protrusion 40 is engageable in a selected one of a corresponding depression 30, 32, 34 to provide three stops or positions providing a fixed position type arrangement. In the first position (
A second position (
The third position (
Clevis 20 further includes a female internally threaded attachment portion 42 which is insertable into a mounting hole of sidewall 14. Attachment portion 42 is disposed on a connecting portion between the clevis pivot flanges 36, extending opposite thereto.
A low profile fastener or bolt 44 is insertable from inside casket 12 into attachment portion 42 such that the sharp end of the bolt is between clevis pivot flanges 36 and the bolt head is flush with the inside face of the casket sidewall 14. Thus, the sharp end of the bolt 44 does not protrude into the casket interior potentially injuring a funeral director's hand or puncturing the body.
Although the present invention has been described in detail for the purpose of illustration, it is to be understood that such detail is solely for that purpose and that variations such as different types, number or positions of position stops can be made therein by those in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/722,386 filed Sep. 30, 2005.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20070094854 A1 | May 2007 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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60722386 | Sep 2005 | US |