Patent Application
20110067212
None.
The subject matter herein relates generally to caskets and more particularly to caskets having memorialization features.
There is a trend in the death care industry towards “personalization”—the personalizing of funeral products and funeral, memorial or other services purchased for the deceased, to provide a more meaningful 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 above or below 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. This 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.
A more recent innovation may be seen with reference to the assignee's U.S. Pat. No. 5,611,124 titled Casket Having Memorabilia Compartment. Caskets embodying one embodiment of the invention of the '124 patent have a drawer built into the foot end lid in which keepsakes of the deceased can be stored and displayed, and are commercially available as the MemorySafe® line of caskets from Batesville®. Until the innovative casket of the '124 patent, caskets did not have any designated, easily accessible 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 had generally taken the form of the placement of a small memento box into the casket alongside the deceased. However, such memento boxes often appeared as an afterthought, simply placed alongside the deceased in the casket somewhat haphazardly. The '124 patent solved this shortcoming, as it provided the first casket with a memorabilia compartment integral to the casket for displaying and storing mementos and other items of memorabilia.
A further, and even more recent, innovation in the area of casket personalization may be seen with reference to the assignee's U.S. Pat. No. 6,715,190 for Memorialization Casket. This patent discloses an alcove structure formed in the cap panel in the underside of the head end lid, for receiving ornaments or memorabilia when the lid is in the open position during visitation or during a funeral or other memorial service, as a means of memorializing the deceased.
Yet another recent innovation in the area of casket personalization may be seen with reference to the assignee's U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,237,202 and 6,446,315. These patents disclose a dish assembly, mounted to the casket cap, including a cap panel having an opening that accepts a cap panel insert that is removably received in the cap panel opening. The cap panel insert can be personalized to the deceased. The cap panel insert can be removed from the cap subsequent to a memorial service for the deceased and retained by the loved one of the deceased as a memorial to the deceased.
Despite the advancements made in the area of personalization of caskets as demonstrated by the products discussed above, there remains room for improvement.
In one aspect, a casket having provision for displaying a photograph, the photograph having a pair of opposite side edges, comprises a casket shell adapted to receive the remains of a deceased and having a pair of side walls, a pair of end walls, and a bottom wall, a casket cap closable on the casket shell, the cap including a dish assembly mounted to an underside thereof, the dish assembly including a cap panel, the cap panel including at least one pair of opposed retention members sized and configured to receive and retain the pair of opposite side edges of the photograph for display of the photograph when the cap is in an open position.
The casket can include first, second, and third pairs of opposed retention members. The first pair of opposed retention members can have a first spacing therebetween, the second pair of opposed retention members can have a second spacing therebetween, and the third pair of opposed retention members can have a third spacing therebetween, the second spacing being greater than the first spacing, the third spacing being greater than the second spacing. The first spacing can be such as to retain a 4″×6″ photograph oriented horizontally, the second spacing can be such as to retain a 5″×7″ photograph oriented vertically, and the third spacing can be such as to retain a 8″×10″ photograph oriented vertically.
The cap panel can comprise a cardboard cap panel board, and a pair of chipboard pleat boards attached to the cap panel board, each of the pair of pleat boards being accordion folded so as to produce three pleats upon being attached to the cap panel board. The cap panel board can be covered with fabric and each of the pair of pleat boards can be covered with fabric. The fabric can be adhesively secured to the pleat boards prior to the pleat boards being accordion folded. The pleat boards can have opposite side edges which can be stapled to the cap panel board.
In another aspect, a casket having provision for displaying a photograph, the photograph having a pair of opposite side edges, comprises a casket shell adapted to receive the remains of a deceased and having a pair of side walls, a pair of end walls, and a bottom wall, a casket cap closable on the casket shell, the cap including a dish assembly mounted to an underside thereof, the dish assembly including a cap panel, the cap panel including a cap panel board and a pair of opposed pleat boards attached to the cap panel board, the pair of pleat boards sized and configured to receive and retain the pair of opposite side edges of the photograph for display of the photograph when the cap is in an open position.
In yet another aspect, a casket having provision for displaying a photograph, the photograph having a pair of opposite side edges, comprises a casket shell adapted to receive the remains of a deceased and having a pair of side walls, a pair of end walls, and a bottom wall, a casket cap closable on the casket shell, the cap including a dish assembly mounted to an underside thereof, the dish assembly including a cap panel, the cap panel including a cap panel board and a pair of opposed retention strips attached to the cap panel board, the pair of retention strips sized and spaced to receive and retain the pair of opposite side edges of the photograph for display of the photograph when the cap is in an open position.
In a further aspect, a method of making a dish assembly for a casket comprises the steps of providing a cap panel board, providing a pair of pleat boards, accordion folding each of the pleat boards, and attaching the accordion folded pleat boards to the cap panel board.
The method can further comprise the steps of covering the cap panel board with fabric, covering each of the pair of pleat boards with fabric prior to accordion folding the pleat boards, and attaching opposite side edges of the accordion folded pleat boards to the cap panel board.
In a yet further aspect a method of making a casket is provided.
Referring to
The dish assembly 24 includes a cap panel 26, a pair of opposed puffings 28, 28 attached to the long sides of the cap panel 26 and a pair of opposed puffings 30, 30 attached to the shorts sides of the cap panel 26. Puffing 28, 28 and 30, 30 are attached to the cap panel 26 by means known to those skilled in the art, for example staples, adhesives, etc. The dish assembly 24 is mounted and retained in the underside of the cap 20 by means known to those skilled in the art as well.
Referring to
Referring to
After decorative fabric 70 is attached to pleat boards 52, the pleat boards 52 are accordion folded on the five score lines 56, 58, 60, 62, 64 as shown in
The embodiments shown and described are merely for illustrative purposes only. The drawings and the description are not intended to limit in any way the scope of the claims. Those skilled in the art will appreciate various changes, modifications, and other embodiments. All such changes, modifications and embodiments are deemed to be embraced by the claims. Accordingly, the scope of the right to exclude shall be limited only by the following claims and their equivalents.
