The present invention relates to caskets.
Caskets can be employed for display, interment and cremation of a deceased. Because of the display aspect, a casket ideally conveys dignity and respect for the deceased. To accomplish the foregoing, it is known to manufacture caskets from hardwoods and metal materials, and providing them with decorative features. However, the cost of such caskets can be beyond the reach of many.
Accordingly, caskets formed of corrugated paperboard and/or manufactured wood products have been developed. Such products can be manufactured at a much lower cost than the hardwood and metal caskets, and can be aesthetically pleasing. However, significant costs remain in both material and shipment of caskets made from lower cost materials.
To address such concerns, prior developments have resulted in corrugated caskets that include lids that can nested into the casket body for shipment. U.S. Pat. No. 8,595,908 discloses, among other things. a casket assembly that employs a domed casket lid, formed of corrugated cardboard, that may be inverted and shipped within the casket body to reduce shipment volume.
There is nevertheless always a need to further reduce costs, for example, in material, assembly and/or shipping costs.
The embodiments described herein address at least some of the above-stated needs, as well as others, by providing a lightweight casket lid that has employs a paper bridge formed from a folded corrugated paper blank.
In
With reference to
The first side wall 114, the second side wall 116, the first end wall 118, the second opposite end wall 120, and the bottom panel, are sized and configured to reasonably fit or contain a human body in supine position. It will be appreciated that the height of the walls 114, 116, 118 and 120 define a casket body top level 130 such that a portion of a deceased may extend above the casket body top level 130. As will be discussed below, the reduced height reduces shipping costs, and allows for better viewing of the face of the deceased during funereal events. As also discussed below, the lids 104, 106 are constructed to extend above the top level 130 to contain any portion of the deceased that extends above the casket body top level 130.
To this end, the lids 104, 106 have a smaller horizontal footprint than the casket body 110, and can be inverted and placed within the casket body 110 for shipment or storage. When the stored body 110 and lids 104, 106 are ready for use to contain a deceased, the lids 104, 106 are removed from within the casket body 110. During use, the lids 104, 106 are supported at least in part above the top level 130 by a series of clips 148. The clips 148 hook onto the walls 114, 116, and have a receptacle for receiving the bottom edges of the lids 104, 106, thereby supporting the lids 104, 106.
The handle assembly 112 in this embodiment includes a bar 142 and a plurality of rotatable hinge assemblies 144. In general, the handle assembly 112 is configured such that the bar 142 can rotate partly upward and outward to facilitate carrying of the casket 100. Further details regarding a suitable embodiment of the handle assembly 112 and the clips 148 are provided in U.S. Pat. No. 8,595,908, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. It will be appreciated that some embodiments can employ no handle at all, or a different handle configuration, and still obtain advantages described herein. Other configurations can include cutout holes in the side of the walls 114, 116, similar to those shown in U.S. Pat. No. 10,500,117.
In general, each of the first and second lids 104, 106 is formed primarily from corrugated paper or Kraft paper. In this embodiment each of the first and second lids 104, 106 is formed from a folded corrugated blank. In further detail,
It will be appreciated that unless otherwise stated, references to directional terms, including but not limited to, vertical, horizontal, upward, downward, top, and bottom, are made with respect to the condition that the first lid 104 and second lid 106 are disposed on the casket in closed position, as shown in
As discussed above, the first lid 104 is configured to extend partially over the interior of the casket body 110, as shown in
The lid body 200 includes a first side 202, a second side 204, a first end 206 and an open end 208. The first side 202 is a panel or wall configured to extend along a portion of the first side wall 114 of the casket body 110 when the first lid 104 is assembled onto the casket body 110 in closed position (
As will be discussed below in further details, the bottom edges 209 of at least two of the first side 202, second side 204, and first end 206 define a lid body bottom plane 210. Although the bottom edges 209 of the first side 202, second side 204, and the first end 206 all lie in the lid body bottom plane 210 in this embodiment, it will be appreciated that the bottom edges 209 at least two of the first side 202, second side 204, and first end 206 can define the lid body bottom plane 210 even if the bottom edges in other embodiments have discontinuities such that portions of the bottom edges do not lie in the plane 210.
As discussed above, the bridge 201 is formed from the folded corrugated paper blank 300 (see
In this embodiment, the lid body 200 further includes a top panel 220, a first inclined panel 222, a second inclined panel 224, and a third or end inclined panel 226. Each of the first side 202, the second side 204, and the first end 206 extend vertically, and the top panel 220 extends horizontally. As best shown in
With continued reference to both
The bridge 201 is disposed and extends between the first side 202 and the second side 204, and is disposed near or at the open end 208, or another point between the first end 206 and the open end 208. At least a part of the bridge 201 extends from the top panel 220 to a point above the lid body bottom plane 210.
In this embodiment, the bridge 201 includes a first flap 232, a second flap 234, and a third flap 236. The first flap 232 extends down from an underside 220e of the top panel 220 to a location above the lid bottom plane 210. To this end, the first flap 232 is foldably coupled to the lid body 200 via an intermediate first folded portion 238. The intermediate first folded portion 238 in this embodiment is foldably connected on one side to the top panel 220, and on the other side to the first flap 232. The intermediate first folded portion 238 extends in a planar-parallel manner with, and abutting, the top panel 220, such that the fold between the portion 238 and the top panel 220 is substantially 180°. The first flap 232 extends downward at a 90° angle from the intermediate first folded portion 238 toward the casket body interior. The first flap 232 thus has an upper edge 232a defined by the fold line between itself and the intermediate first folded portion 238, and a lower edge 232b defining at least a portion of the concave opening 212. The lower edge 232b extends to a point above the casket lid bottom plane 210 such that when in the closed position, there is additional room above the top of the casket body 110 and below the lower edge 232b for the torso of the deceased.
The second flap 234 is foldably coupled to the lid body 200 via an intermediate second folded portion 240. The intermediate second folded portion 240 in this embodiment is foldably connected on one side to the first inclined panel 222, and on the other side to the second flap 234. The intermediate second folded portion 240 extends in a planar-parallel manner with, and abutting, the first inclined panel 222, such that the fold between the portion 240 and the panel 222 is substantially 180°. The second flap 234 extends at a 90° angle from the intermediate second folded portion 240 angularly downward (toward the casket body interior). The second flap 234 thus has an upper edge 234a defined by the fold line between the second flap 234 and the intermediate second folded portion 240, and a lower edge 234b defining a portion of the concave opening 212. In this embodiment, the second flap 234 is further foldably connected to an end tab 248 that extends from outer edge of the second flap 234. (See also
The third flap 236 is not visible in
It will be appreciated that the lower edges 232b, 234b, and 236b in this embodiment define the concave opening 212. The lower edge 234b extends upward and inward from the first side panel 202 and intersects with the lower edge 232b. The lower edge 232b of the first flap 232 extends across to intersect the lower edge 236b of the third flap 236b. While the edges 232b, 234b, and 236b comprise straight lines in this embodiment, it will be appreciated that in other embodiments, one or more of the lower edges 232b, 234b, and 236b can be curved, and/or have other shaped features.
As discussed above, the first lid 104 is formed from the corrugated blank 300 of
The top edge 232a of the flap 232 forms the fold line between the flap 232 and the intermediate first folded portion 238. The top edge 234a of the flap 234 forms the fold line between the second flap 234 and the intermediate second folded portion 240. The top edge 236a of the third flap 236 forms the fold line between the third flap 236 and the intermediate third folded portion 242. In this embodiment, the first flap 232, the second flap 234 and third flap 236 are formed from a continuous strip of the blank 300. However, the intersection between the first flap 232 and the second flap 234 is slit to allow relative independent movement therebetween. Likewise, the intersection between the second flap 234 and the third flap 236 is slit to allow relative independent movement therebetween.
The blank 300 further includes a fold line 310 between the first inclined panel 222 and the first side 202, and a fold line 312 between the second inclined panel 224 and the second side 204. The end panel 206 is foldably connected to the third inclined panel 226 via a fold line 314. The inclined panel 226 includes two connecting tabs 316, 318 foldably connected to ends thereof, adjacent to the first inclined panel 222 and the second inclined panel 224, respectively. The end panel 206 also includes two connecting tabs 320, 322 foldably connected to corresponding opposite ends thereof.
The assembly of the blank 300 into the lid 104 is typically done with the lid 104 inverted or upside-down. Accordingly, in the discussion of the assembly of the lid 104 from the blank 300, the directions upward and downward will have the opposite meaning than they do in the remainder of this description. To assemble the lid from the blank 300, the blank 300 is folded 180° inward at the fold line 302. The flaps 232, 234 and 236 are then folded upward from adjacent the top panel 220 via fold lines (edges) 232a, 234a and 236a.
Then, the inclined panels 222, 224 and 226 are folded in an angle upward from the top panel 220, and the sides 202, 204 and 206 are folded in an angle upward from respectively, inclined panels 222, 224 and 226 to produce the shape shown in
In some embodiments, it can be desirable to add a modesty skirt to reduce the portion of the deceased that may be viewed during funereal events.
Each of the upper edge 508 and lower edge 510 extend from a first end 512 of the shaped substrate 502 to an opposing second end 514 of the shaped substrate 502. The upper edge 508 is sized and configured to engage the underside and or inward facing surfaces of the first side 202, the first inclined panel 222, the top panel 220, the second inclined panel 224 and the second side 204. Preferably the upper edge 508 is sized and configured to provide a friction fit with the underside of the first lid 104, but may also be held in place by adhesive, double-sided tape, or other fastening means, not shown. The lower edge 510 is configured to have a shape that does not reduce (or at least only minimally reduce) the torso clearance provided by concave opening 212 of the bridge 201. The upper and lower edges 508, 510, respectively roughly define a trapezoidal body, but with the long edge or side of the trapezoid being concave instead of a straight line.
More specifically, the upper edge 508 includes five segments 508a, 508b, 508c, 508d and 508e. When installed, the first segment 508a engages the first side 202, the second segment 508b engages surfaces of the first inclined panel 222, the third segment 508c engages the top panel 220, the fourth segment 508d engages surfaces of the second inclined panel 224 and fifth segment 508e engages the second side 204.
The draped cloth 504 is affixed to, covers, and drapes downward from, the shaped substrate 502. As a result, as shown in
Referring to
In the next step, the foldover portion 516 is folded over and affixed to a part of the second side 518 of the substrate 502, as shown in
In a next step, as shown in
The completed skirt assembly 500 may there after be installed in the first lid 104 (or second lid 106). It will be appreciated that the skirt assembly 500 is preferably shipped uninstalled onto either of the lids 104, 106, and installed at the end user location. As discussed below, the lids 104, 106 are shipped within the casket body 110 to save space, and the skirt assembly 500 may be shipped within the casket body 110 as well.
In particular, because the lids 104, 106 have a footprint similar to lids shown in U.S. Pat. No. 8,595,908, the lids 104, 106 may be shipped within the casket body 110 in a manner analogous to that discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,595,908, which is incorporated herein by reference. As shown in
It will be appreciated that the above-described embodiments are merely exemplary, and that those of ordinary skill in the art may readily devise their own modifications and implementations the incorporate the principles of the present invention and fall within the spirit and scope thereof.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20230079701 A1 | Mar 2023 | US |