CA1119790A - Casket corner piece - Google Patents

Abstract

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
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The present invention provides a corner piece for installation over a corner of a metal casket having a predeter-mined number of tack welds securing adjacent side and end panels to one another, the corner piece adapted to extend from the top to the bottom of the casket and be secured in place thereon over the corner with each panel being so constructed and arranged to define an outwardly protecting top and bottom rail and a recessed intermediate section therebetween, the corner piece having an outwardly projecting top rail part and bottom rail part and an intermediate recessed part therebetween for extending over and mating with the casket top rail, bottom rail and intermediate section, respectively, each corner piece including a downwardly projecting means at its top for engaging with internal surfaces of the top rail and upwardly projecting means for engaging with accommodating recess surfaces of the bottom rail for cooperating in securing the corner piece to the casket and each corner piece being sufficiently resilient to permit spreading of the top and bottom thereof to facilitate mounting of the corner piece on its corner.

Description

The present invention relates to a metal casket. In particular the present invention relates to a corner piece for use with a metal casket.
This application is a divisional application of copending application No. 337,178 filed October 9, 1979.
In the manufacture o metal caskets, and, particularly, caskets made of various grades of sheet steel or ~aneling, a relatively large number of manipulative steps are required, many of which necessitate the intervention of considerable manual labor. Consequently, the manufacturing cost of metal caskets is relatively high. Accordingly, it would be of extreme bene-fit to the industry to reduce the cost of casket manufacture by ~`
-minimizing the various steps in the manufacturing process, and, of course, the intervention of manual labor.
Normally/ when manufacturing metal caskets of steel, ;, sheets and paneling of suitable dimensions will be subject to stamping operations in arriving at desired component configuration, the stamped casket parts including a cap or lid, the side and end panels as well as the bottom. The side and end panels will be initially tack welded to one another and s~uared.
After s~uarin~, the bottom, sides and ends will be welded to one another. In this regard approximately seven to twelve spot or tack welds will be applied at the vertical corners. If the casket is what is termed in the trade a "non-sealer", only the top and bottom rails o~ the sides and end panels will be completely welded to one another to provide a hermetic joint or juncture at this Iocation. Later on in the assembly process, decorati~e hardware will then be applied to the corners o~Jer the sections that are merely -tack welded to one another. ~-~ 2 3~

In the event a corner piece is not added, certain manufacturers apply a "Hammond-type" metal strip to the corners between the top and bottom rails. In the event, a "sealer" casket is being manufactured, the entire corner including the top and bottom rails and the section therebetween will be completely welded.
The welded corners will be subjected to a grinding operation followed by buffing and fine finishing to obtain the desiredaesthetic appearance. The cap or lid is then assembled;
andr following asser~ly, the entire casket is then passed through a cleansing operation followed by an application of primer and paint to obtain the appropriate decorative appearance.
Selected hardware for both the exterior and interior is applied and the interior is suitably trimmed with liners, cloth and other materials.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION ~:
It is a principal object of the present invention to eliminate the welding and finishing operations at each corner defined by the sides and ends following the initial tacking and squaring operation. In this manner there is a considerable saving of time required for welding and finishing durin be manufactur ng process, as well as a saving of l~bo-.

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for these welding and ~inishing steps.
Another object is to provide at each corner, defined hy the sides and ends of the casket, a corner seal adapted to overly and accommodate the tack welds and also provide a hermetic seal at each corner to render this location water and moisture proof.
Still another object is to provide a corner seal which possesses aesthetic properties, to each corner; and it may be so constructed to simply snap into and engage with 1~ recessed surfaces of the top and bottom rails because of the inherent resiliency o~ the corner seal.
A still further object is to provide a corner piece of the foregoing type which may be applied to each corner at essentially any stage o~ the manufacturing process.
In copending application No. 337,178 there is disclosed and claimed a metal casket comprising in combination:
a pair of spaced side panels each having opposed ends; a pair of spaced end panels each having opposed ends, the panels being so constructed and arranged that an end of a side panel is proximate an end of an end panel and such proximate ends being connected by a predetexmined number of tack welds to define four corners ;~ extending from the top to the bottom of the casket; a bottom secured to each of the panels, and ~ cap extending over the top of the casketi and a corner piece over at least one of the corners extending from the top to the bottom of the casket, and the corner ; piece being secured in place on the casket, the panels being so constructed and arranged to define an outwardly projecting top ~` rail and bottom rail over which a part of the corner piece is disposed, with the corner piece having a configuration and shape corresponding to that of its mating corner from the casket top to the casket bottom including the top and bottom rails, each corner piece including a downwardly projecting means at its top ~ 4 ~

for engaging with internal surfaces of the top rail and upwardly pro~ecting means for enga~ing with accommodating recess sur~aces of the bottom rail for cooperating in securing the corner piece to the casket, and each corner piece being sufficiently resilient to permit spreading of the top and bottom thereo~ to facilitate mounting of the corner piece on its corner.
According to the present invention there is provided a corner piece for installation over a corner of a metal casket having a predetermined number of tack welds securing adjacent side and end panels to one another, the corner piece adapted to extend . from the top to the bottom of the casket and be secured in place thereon over the corner with each panel being so constructed ;~
and arranged to define an outwardly projecting top and bottom rail and a recessed intermediate section therehetween, the corner piece having an outwardly projecting top rail part and bottom rail part and an intermediate recessed part therebetween for extending ,~ over and mating with the casket top rail, bottom rail and intermediate section, respectively, each corner piece . including a down~ardly projecting means at its top for engaging with internal surfaces of the top rail and upwardly projecting i means for engaging with accommodating recess surfaces of ~he bottom rail for cooperating in ~ecuring the corner piece to the .~ casket and each corner piece being sufficiently resilient to per-mit spreading of the top and bottom thereof to facilitate mounting of the corner piece on lts corner~
Other objects and advantages will become apparent from the following detailed description which is to be taken in con~unction with the accompan~ing drawings.

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Figure 1 is a perspective view o~ a metal casket ~- -incorporating the teachings of the present invention, but not ~ncludin~ an~v decorative or traditional hard~are;

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Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentary view of a corner of the casket showing a side and end panel tack welded together, with the corner piece, seal or trim incorporating the teachings of the present invention spaced therefrom and prior to installa-tion on the casket over the corner and particularly the spot welds;
Figure 3 is a similar fragmentary view showing the corner trim secured in place over the casket corner;
Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 4-4 of Figure 3;
; Figure 4a is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of a corner piece with recesses to receive projecting or protrud- `
ing parts of the tack welds; and Figure 5 is a longitudinal sectional view taken along the line 5-5 of Figure 3.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
,; ,.... _ , In the drawings, a casket 10 of selected metal, such ;
as bronze, eopper or the var.ious grades of steel or zinc coated , s-teel, is shown without conventional, deeorative, functional "
~, or traditional hardware. The casket 10 may be of any one of many different styles and variety including the full and half couch designs. Towards this end, a typical cas~et will include a cap or lid 12, opposed side panels 14 and end panels 16, as well as a base or bo~tom 18 ~Figure 5).
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In the normal course of securing and squaring the side panels 14 with ~he end panels 16~ a numb~r of tack or spot welds 20 are applied at the top rail 22, bottom rail 24 as well as the intermediate section 26 of the juncture therebetween.
At essentially any stage of the ensuing manufacturing and assembly procedures, the present invention contemplates the application and installation of a corner seal, trim or piece 28 at each o~ the corners between the side panel 14 and end panel 16.
Each of the corner pieces 2% is fabricated to closely follow the contour of the casket corners including that of the top rail 22, bottom rail 24 and intermediate section 26 across the width thereof. In this connection, each corner piece 28 will include a top rail part 30, a bottom rail part 32 and an intermediate part 34, each corresponding in shape with the ¦
receiving casket corner,and,particularly the respecti~e ~op rail 22, bottom rail 24 and intermediate section 26. In addi-tion, the top rail part 30 will include a downwardly depending lip 36 designed to engage with adjacent surfaces o~ the interior of the top rail 22 in order to latch these surfaces to one another during installation of the corner piece. In addition, the bottom rail part 32 of the corner piece 28 will include an upwardly projecting lug 38 and terminal lip 40,advantageously received in accommodating recesses in ~he bottom rail 24 and bottom 18.
to securely lock these mating surfaces of the corner piece 28 and bo m rail 24 to one another. In order to facilitate . .

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the installation or assembly of each corner piece 28, at the selected casket corner, the present invention contemplates providing each piece with sufficient resiliency to permit the top rail part 30 and bottom rail part 32 to flex outwardly and away from one another in order to permit the lips 36 and 4Q to clear and ride over the top rail 22 and bottom rail 24, respectively. Thus, the corner pieces 28 will be structural in nature and also provide decorative effects where desired or needed. Towards this end, each ~orner piece 28 may be fabricated of suitable metal, resin or fibrous material possessing the necessary structural properties~ If necessary,the corner of each corner piece ~8 may have suitable recesses 4~ to acco~mcdate and receive any outwardly projectin~ protions of the tack welds 20. Of course, the corner piece 28 may be of substantially any thickness and width depending upon the strength desired and select aesthetic effect.
In certain instances, the present invention contem-plates further securement of each corner piece 28 to the casket, as for example, by a suitable adhesive or mechanically by -screw, rivet or welding at strategic locations which will-not seriously or detrimentally affect the desired aesthetic value o~ each corner piece 28.
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In addition, the present invention proposes to take advantage of each corner piece 28 by having this piece con-tribute to the watexproof or tightness ~f each corner of the casket through the interposition of a sealing compound, which in certain instances may also have adhesive properties. A
layer 44 of a compound of this type is clearly shown in Figure 4 and 5.
Thus,it will be evident that the grinding, buffing and fine finishing procedures heretofore employed in the industry at each of the casket corners is most effectively eliminated by the provision of the corner pieces or trim 28, each of which may be contourned and finished to provide the desired aesthetic appearance. of course, corner hardware may still be applied at each of the casket corners over the corner pieces 28 to arrive at the various casket styles o each manufacturer and supplier.
It is also envisioned that each corner piece 28 will be auto-matically applied to each corner as well as manually installed.
As explained in the above, each corner piece 28 may be applied a~ practically any stage of the casket manufacturing operation, whether it be at the preliminary stages of casket manufacture or at some later stage. In this connection, the corner pieces 28 may be prefinished or of a nature to receive pa int ring the spray f inishing operat i on .

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~ ll With the elimination of the grinding, buffing and fine Linishing operations at each corner, there is a corres-ponding increase in production, decrease in required manual labor, decrease in noise abatement and dust from such pro-cedures. With noise abatement and dust reduction, there is a pronounced reduction in health hazards that may otherwise ensue.
Thus the several aforenoted objects and advantages are most effectively attained. Although a sin~le somewhat preferred embodiment of the invention has been disclosed ana described in detail herein it should be understood that this invention is in no sense limited thereby and its scope is to be determined by that of the appended claims.

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Claims (2)

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:

1. A corner piece for installation over a corner of a metal casket having a predetermined number of tack welds securing adjacent side and end panels to one another, the corner piece adapted to extend from the top to the bottom of the casket and be secured in place thereon over the corner with each panel being so constructed and arranged to define an outwardly projecting top and bottom rail and a recessed intermediate section therebetween, the corner piece having an outwardly projecting top rail part and bottom rail part and an intermediate recessed part therebetween for extending over and mating with the casket top rail, bottom rail and intermediate section, respectively,each corner piece including a downwardly projecting means at its top for engaging with internal surfaces of the top rail and upwardly projecting means for engaging with accommodating recess surfaces of the bottom rail for cooperating in securing the corner piece to the casket and each corner piece being sufficiently resilient to permit spreading of the top and bottom thereof to facilitate mounting of the corner piece on its corner.

2. The corner piece in accordance with claim 1, wherein each corner piece is suitably recessed to receive and accommodate outwardly projecting portions of the tack welds.