Abstract:
A casket or urn container having a multiple seal arrangement that provides for easy sealing and essentially permanent closure of the container. A redundant sealing system is provided to ensure that an initial seal breach does not allow the interchange of gases, solids, or liquids between the container and the external environment.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    The invention relates generally to improved apparatus for bodily remains, and, more particularly, to caskets featuring multiple sealing means. 
         [0003]    2. Description of the Related Art 
         [0004]    Caskets for protecting bodily remains come in a large variety of configurations and options. Nonetheless, for specialized funerary needs, such as for the departure of a pet, a fairly limited number of caskets and urns are available to house a pet&#39;s body or ashes. Undertakers or other professions typically handle all of the body placement arrangements for departed human beings. However, because the passing of a pet often is attended to directly by the pet owner, there is a need for easy to use and seal caskets and urns that remain closed and sealed from the environment, whether stored above ground or interred in the earth. 
         [0005]    Typical caskets contain a seal (such as a gasket) and a body support system. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,722,133 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,568,677 both disclose caskets that have seals. Moreover, U.S. Pat. No. 3,918,133 illustrates a body support system. Some caskets even provide a vacuum seal. Thus, U.K. Patent Application 2 287 695 discloses a casket that is vacuum sealed through a one-way valve. 
         [0006]    While these caskets may be suitable for their intended purpose, they can be prone to user error in the form of mis-sealing. The consequences of not properly sealing a body in a casket are, of course, undesirable. If a leaky casket is buried in an area subject to roaming animals, the interred body may be detected and casket dug up. Moreover, those who would prefer (or perhaps have no choice due to the lack of a permanent residence, such as a retiree who travels and lives in a recreational vehicle) to keep the remains of a pet unburied should ideally have a casket that seals in a practically permanent and foolproof manner. 
         [0007]    Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a casket and urn that can be easily sealed by a novice and stay that way whether buried in the ground or stored elsewhere. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0008]    The invention generally involves a casket or urn container having a unique multiple seal arrangement that provides for easy sealing and essentially permanent closure of the container. Moreover, a redundant sealing system is provided to ensure that an initial seal breach does not allow the interchange of gases, solids, or liquids between the container and the external environment. 
         [0009]    Thus, there is provided new and improved casket or urn container that is especially useful for use by the owner of a pet whose remains are to be stored. 
         [0010]    Various other purposes and advantages of the invention will become clear from its description in the specification that follows. Therefore, to the accomplishment of the objectives described above, this invention includes the features hereinafter fully described in the detailed description of the preferred embodiments, and particularly pointed out in the claims. However, such description discloses only some of the various ways in which the invention may be practiced. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0011]      FIG. 1  depicts an embodiment of the invention. 
           [0012]      FIG. 2  shows the embodiment of  FIG. 1  in sealed arrangement. 
           [0013]      FIG. 3  schematically depicts in elevational view a close-up view of the top and bottom sealing surfaces of the embodiment of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0014]      FIG. 4  is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the top and bottom sealing surfaces of a second embodiment of the invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0015]    Turning to a first embodiment of the invention as shown in  FIG. 1 , a casket or urn container  2  has a bottom piece  10  and a top piece  12 . The bottom and top pieces are adapted to be coupled in permanent sealed arrangement (as shown in  FIG. 2 ) through two sealing members concentrically disposed about an interface  13  between the bottom and top pieces. In this embodiment, first sealing member includes tongue  14  and groove  16  that form a joint, with the second sealing member being adhesive  20 . 
         [0016]    Thus, the casket or urn container  2 , has two sealing members (tongue-and-groove  14 / 16  and adhesive  20 ) disposed continuously along a perimeter of the interface  13  between the bottom  10  and top  12  pieces. The container of the invention is easy to seal, and having redundant sealing members provides a measure of “fool proofing” and assurance that container will not leak or open, especially if it is sealed by an ordinary consumer for his or her pet remains. 
         [0017]    As shown in sealed arrangement in  FIG. 2 , the casket or urn container  2  may further include a one-way valve  22  through which air is evacuated from the interior and a plug  24 . In order to seal the container more effectively, plug  24  is removed to allow air to escape during the placement of tongue  14  within groove  16 . Plug  24  is replaced once the container  2  is sealed and further air may be evacuated from the container through one-way valve  22 . Further evacuation of air provides a “vice-like” vacuum that holds top piece  12  to bottom piece  10  together such that adhesive  20  is spread over substantially all the interface  13  area, thereby promoting a more secure seal. 
         [0018]      FIG. 3  schematically depicts in elevational view a close-up view of the top and bottom sealing surfaces of the embodiment of  FIGS. 1 and 2 . Hence, top piece  12  and bottom piece  10  are mated and sealed at interface  13  through tongue  14  press fitting into groove  16  and adhesive  20  (which is continuously disposed along interface  13  such that all surfaces are substantially covered and bonded thereby). 
         [0019]    Turning to  FIG. 4 , an enlarged cross-sectional view of the top and bottom sealing surfaces of a second embodiment of the invention is shown. Here, the casket or urn container  40  includes a bottom piece  42  and a top piece  44  adapted to be coupled in permanent sealed arrangement, wherein the sealed arrangement has sealing members concentrically disposed about interface  46  between the bottom and top pieces. Preferably, the seals are continuous (i.e., there are no gaps in the seal) and include a tongue-and-groove joint  48 , an adhesive  50  and/or one or more a gaskets  52 . 
         [0020]    In this embodiment, the adhesive  50  is disposed within the tongue-and-groove joint  48  and the gasket  52  is disposed exterior to and interior of the tongue-and-groove joint. Such an arrangement provides an excellent redundant (triple) seal without excess adhesive  50  seeping from the interface area  46 . 
         [0021]    Various changes in the details and components that have been described may be made by those skilled in the art within the principles and scope of the invention herein described in the specification and defined in the appended claims. Therefore, while the present invention has been shown and described herein in what is believed to be the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is recognized that departures can be made therefrom within the scope of the invention, which is not to be limited to the details disclosed herein but is to be accorded the full scope of the claims so as to embrace any and all equivalent processes and products. All references cited in this application are hereby incorporated by reference herein.