Abstract:
A casket box having a periphery of lateral panels connected to one bottom panel at a lower edge thereof, wherein: at least one of the lateral panels has a ledge towards a top thereof, the ledge being formed by a folded portion of the lateral panel being folded along at least one successive V-groove defined in the lateral panel. A method of making a ledged lateral panel for a casket, the method comprising: providing a panel having a first side, a second side, and four edges; machining at least one V-groove parallel to a first edge of the panel; folding the panel along the at least one V-groove, into a ledge; and beveling a second and third opposed edges of the panel including the ledge.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]     This application claims priority of U.S. provisional patent application 60/654,935, filed Feb. 23, 2005, the specification of which is hereby incorporated by reference. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     The improvements relate to burial or cremation caskets and, more particularly, to a method for manufacturing casket boxes.  
         [0003]     Caskets or coffins traditionally include a casket box to which is pivotally mounted a casket cover or lid. Hardwood and veneer-finished caskets represent an important market in the casket industry. Although relatives seek beautifully ornamented caskets in the memory of the deceased, their choice is limited by cost considerations. There is therefore a strong need for a choice of caskets which have an improved appearance to cost ratio.  
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0004]     It is an object of the present improvements to provide a method of producing a casket box which overcomes at least some inconveniences of the prior art.  
         [0005]     It is an object of the present improvements to provide an ornamented casket box at a relatively low price.  
         [0006]     One aspect of the improvements provides a casket box having a periphery of lateral panels connected to one bottom panel at a lower edge thereof, wherein: at least one of the lateral panels has a ledge towards a top thereof, the ledge being formed by a folded portion of the lateral panel being folded along at least one successive V-groove defined in the lateral panel.  
         [0007]     Another aspect of the improvements provides a method of making a ledged lateral panel for a casket, the method comprising: providing a panel having a first side, a second side, and four edges; machining at least one V-groove parallel to a first edge of the panel; and folding the panel along the at least one V-groove, into a ledge; and beveling a second and third opposed edges of the panel including the ledge.  
         [0008]     A further aspect of the improvements provides a casket box including a bottom panel, two opposed side panels, a front panel and a back panel, the side panels being joined to a respective edge of the front and back panels by a beveled joint, the casket box being characterized in that the front, back and side panels have a sheet of veneer on an outer side thereof, relative to the box, and are folded along V-grooves defined on the exterior of the casket box, the sheet of veneer being folded exterior the folded panels, and the sheet of veneer includes an outer layer and an inner hinge layer to facilitate its folding. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0009]     Further features and advantages of the present improvements will become apparent from the following detailed description, taken in combination with the appended drawings, in which:  
         [0010]      FIG. 1 . is a perspective view of a casket box in accordance with one embodiment of the improvements;  
         [0011]      FIG. 2  is a cross-sectional view of a lateral panel for a casket box, in accordance with another embodiment of the improvements, shown prior to folding;  
         [0012]      FIG. 3  is a cross-sectional view of the lateral panel of  FIG. 2 , shown folded;  
         [0013]      FIG. 4  is a cross-sectional view of an alternative to the lateral panel of  FIG. 3 , having only one fold;  
         [0014]      FIG. 5  is a cross-sectional view of an alternative to the lateral panel of  FIG. 2 , having three V-Grooves;  
         [0015]      FIG. 6  is a cross-sectional view of the lateral panel of  FIG. 5 , shown folded;  
         [0016]      FIG. 7  is a cross-sectional view of the lateral panel of  FIG. 6 , shown assembled with a bottom panel along a shoulder joint;  
         [0017]      FIG. 8  is a cross-sectional view of an alternative to the assembled lateral panel of  FIG. 7 , assembled along a beveled joint;  
         [0018]      FIG. 9  is a top plan view of the lateral panel of  FIG. 6 , shown adjoined to another lateral panel and forming a corner of a casket box;  
         [0019]      FIG. 10  is a flow chart illustrating steps of a method of making a lateral casket box panel in accordance with another embodiment of the improvements;  
         [0020]      FIG. 11  is a top plan view of a foldable casket box blank in accordance with another embodiment of the improvements;  
         [0021]      FIG. 12  is a cross-section view taken along cross-section lines  12 - 12  of  FIG. 11 ; and  
         [0022]      FIG. 13  is a cross-section view of the foldable casket box blank of  FIG. 11  shown in folded configuration, forming a casket box. 
     
    
       [0023]     It will be noted that throughout the appended drawings, like features are identified by like reference numerals.  
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0024]     Referring now to the drawings and, more particularly to  FIG. 1 , one contemplates a casket box  10  having a periphery of four lateral panels: a right side panel  12 , a left side panel  14 , a front panel  16  and a back panel  18 . The casket box  10  has an inside and an outside. In this embodiment, the lateral panels  12 ,  14 ,  16  and  18  have the same cross-section and differ only in length and orientation. Therefore, only one panel needs to be described in more detail. The right side panel  12  can be seen to include a decorative ledge  22  at its top, and a decorative molding  24  near its lower edge.  
         [0025]     Turning to  FIG. 2 , a panel  12  can be seen to include two opposite sides: a first side  23  for facing the outside of the casket box  10  ( FIG. 1 ), and a second side  25  for facing the inside the casket box  10  ( FIG. 1 ). A first V-groove  26  and a second V-groove  28  are longitudinally defined within the first side  23  of the panel  12 . In this case, the first  26  and the second  28  V-grooves are adjacent to one another, are parallel to an upper edge  29  of the lateral panel  12 . The first V-groove  26  defines a first angle  31 , and the second V-groove  28  defines a second angle  33 . In this embodiment, both the first angle  31  and the second angle  33  are of 90°. The panel also has a lower edge  27  to be oriented towards the ground under the casket box  10  ( FIG. 1 ). The upper edge  29  is opposite the lower edge  27 . A free end  30  which is free of V-grooves extends past the second V-groove  28  on an overlap distance  32  when the panel  12  is folded along the V-grooves  26 ,  28  into the configuration illustrated in  FIG. 3 . The folded portion defines the ledge  22 . The folded portion is secured into place by any suitable means, like glue and fasteners such as nails. The free end  30  then overlaps a portion of the first side  23  of the panel equivalent to the overlap distance  32 . In this embodiment, the panel  12  is made of a low cost material. Solid timber, craftwood, particleboards, fiberboards, agrifiber boards, a combination of these materials or any other material adapted for the use with specific embodiments of the improvements can be used.  
         [0026]     Turning back to  FIG. 2 , it is seen that in this embodiment, veneer such as a solid timber veneer, a wood veneer, or a plastic or paper veneer bearing a timber grain design or any other design veneer is applied to the panel  12  to enhance its external appearance. To reduce costs, only portions of the panel  12  which appear from the outside of the casket box  10  ( FIG. 1 ) when the panel  12  is folded and assembled into a casket box  10  are veneered. A first sheet of veneer  34  is applied to a lower, unfolded portion of the first side  23  of the panel  12 . In this embodiment, the first sheet of veneer  34  extends from the bottom edge  27  of the board towards the first V-groove  26 , and a space of the panel  12  of a width corresponding to the overlap distance  32  is left bare of sheet of veneer between the first sheet of veneer  34  and the lower edge  37  of the first V-groove  26 , to save veneer. Further veneer can be saved in the case where a molding  24  (see  FIG. 1 ) is to be applied to the lowermost portion of the first side  23 , as it will be described in more detail below, and in which case the lowermost portion is also left bare (not shown). A second sheet of veneer  36  is applied to the second side  25  of the panel  12 , and extends between the upper edge  29  of the panel  12  and a fold line  41  corresponding to the center of the first V-groove  26 , the V-groove which is farthest away from the upper edge  29 . When the panel  12  is folded into the configuration shown in  FIG. 3 , the exposed portion of the first and second sides  23 ,  25  are covered by the sheet of veneer. In the illustrated embodiment, the upper edge  29  is covered by a third sheet of veneer  40 . The third sheet of veneer  40  covers the lower side of the folded ledge  22 . In this embodiment, the veneer was applied before the V-grooves  26 ,  28  were machined. In  FIG. 4 , an alternative panel  112  to the panel  12  ( FIG. 3 ) is depicted, wherein the shoulder  122  consists of only one fold, and where there is only one V-groove  128 .  
         [0027]     In one alternative, a paper veneer layer is used in combination with a hinge layer. The hinge layer is used between the sheet of veneer and the panel  12 , and reinforces the center of the V-grooves during folding. The hinge layer can be for example a layer of Kraft paper or a layer of cardboard. In one embodiment, the hinge layer pre-glued to the panel  12 , and the paper veneer layer is laminated over it.  
         [0028]     Turning now to  FIG. 5 , an alternative panel  212  to the panel  12  ( FIG. 2 ) is depicted, in which similar components are numbered with similar numbers in the 200 series. In this embodiment, a first  226 , a second  228 , and a third  242  V-grooves are defined into the first side  223  of the panel  212 . The three V-grooves  226 ,  228 , and  242  are adjacent and parallel to one another and to the upper edge  229  of the panel  212 . The V-grooves  226 ,  228 , and  242  each define a respective angle  231 ,  233 , and  243 . A bare portion  238  having a width  232  corresponding to the thickness of the panel  212  is left bare of veneer, adjacent to the first V-groove  226 , and receives the upper edge  239  of the panel  212  when the latter is folded along the three successive V-grooves  226 ,  228 ,  242  (see  FIG. 6 ). This embodiment has the advantage with respect to the embodiment of  FIGS. 2 and 3  that the upper edge  239  does not need to be veneered for the entire visible portion of the folded ledge  222  to be veneered, which saves the costs associated with veneering the upper edge  239 .  
         [0029]     Turning now to  FIG. 7 , the side panel  212  is shown assembled to the bottom panel  220 . The joint  244  between the side panel  212  and the bottom panel  220  consists here of an L shaped groove  244  defined into the lower edge  227  of the side panel  212 , and in which the bottom panel  220  is fitted. In this side view, one also sees a molding  224  which is applied to the lowermost portion of the first side  223  of the side panel  212 . In this embodiment, the molding  224  includes a facing  246  and a spacer  248 . The facing  246  is relatively thin. In this case, it is made of wood and secured to the side panel  212  at its upper edge. The spacer  248  is disposed between the facing  246  and the side panel  212 , at an intermediate height along the facing  246 . The spacer  248  serves to maintain the intermediate height of the facing  246  solidly spaced from the side panel  212  to give the appearance that the molding is entirely of solid wood, but the costs are reduced since the inside of the molding is hollow. The spacer  248  can be made of any low-cost material suitable for its function, as is well known in the art. In  FIG. 8 , the mating edges of the side panel  312  and the bottom panel  220  are beveled, and are associated to form a beveled joint  344 .  
         [0030]     Turning now to  FIG. 9 , a beveled joint  345  defined between the right side panel  314  and the front panel  316  is depicted in better detail. It can be seen that the longitudinal dimension of the ledge  322  exceeds the longitudinal dimension of the remaining portion of the panel  314  due to this beveled joint  345  between the ledges. The beveled edges of the ledges abutting one another define a continuous peripheral ledge to the casket box  10  (see  FIG. 1 ).  
         [0031]      FIG. 10  summarizes the main steps in one embodiment of a method for making a lateral panels  12  ( FIG. 1 ). A panel is provided  80 . A first step  82  is machining V-grooves. A second step  84  is folding the ledge  22  into shape, along the V-grooves. In a third step  86 , the lateral edges  51  of the folded panel are beveled into the beveled shape. The lower edge of the panel  12  can be machined into its joint shape at any time prior to assembly with the bottom panel  20 . In one embodiment, the sheet of veneer is applied  88  to the panel  12  prior to folding  84 . The optional molding  24  is applied  90  subsequently the step of machining  82 : the spacer  248  is applied first, and the facing  246  is then applied onto the spacer  248  and panel  12 . Once the casket box  10  is assembled, it is sent to a step of finishing (not shown).  
         [0032]     Turning now to  FIG. 11 , an other alternative embodiment of the improvements is depicted. Here, the panels  412 ,  414 ,  416 ,  418 , and  420  are provided in the form of a blank  410 . The blank  410  has an inner surface  423 , and an outer surface  425  (see  FIG. 12 ). The blank  410  includes the central bottom panel  420 ; two longitudinal side panels  412 ,  414 , each joining an opposite longitudinal edge of the central bottom panel  420  by a respective V-groove  452 ,  450 ; a front panel  416  joining the central panel  420  by a V-groove  454 ; and a back panel  418  joining the central panel by a V-groove  416 . The lateral sides  451  of the panels  412 ,  414 ,  416 ,  418  are beveled. The blank can therefore be folded into a box shape  410  as illustrated in  FIG. 13  by folding the lateral panels  412 ,  414 ,  416  and  418  along their respective V-groove with respect to the blank, and the lateral edges  451  thereof are joined together after folding along their beveled shape. Moldings  424  can be applied to the lowermost portion of the lateral panel outer sides either prior to or subsequently to the step of folding.  
         [0033]     The embodiments of the invention described above are intended to be exemplary only. For example, one skilled in the art will appreciate that the shape of the ledge  22  can differ from one of the above described embodiments. Moreover, the side panels can be adapted to be folded outwardly to form the ledge by other means than V-grooves, like slits performed on the first side of the blank allowing to fold the upper end thereof outwardly along a 180° angle. The ledge  22  can be adapted to be folded inwardly, instead of outwardly, to form an inward ledge (not shown), or can alternatively be defined at the bottom of the casket  10  instead of the upper end. Moreover, the ledge  22  does not necessarily completely surround the casket box  10 . In view of the many possible alternatives, the scope of the invention is intended to be limited solely by the scope of the appended claims.