Seal sustaining hardware for caskets

Casket hardware comprises a corrosive trim plate adapted to be secured to an outer surface of a wall or a casket, an arm adapted to support a casket handlebar and having a bolt connected thereto, the bolt being adapted to pass through the plate and the casket wall, a nut threadably engaging the bolt interior of the casket, a seal surrounding the bolt between the nut and the inner surface of the casket wall and a non-corrosive compressive load carrying member between the casket wall and the arm for creating tension in the bolt as the nut is tightened against the seal. When the corrosive trim plate corrodes and falls away from between the casket wall and the arm the non-corrosive compressive load carrying member maintains the bolt in tension thereby maintaining the seal in compression between the nut and the casket wall inner surface.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates generally to caskets, and more particularly to 
hardware for use on metal caskets which sustains or maintains an effective 
seal about the casket wall through holes should the decorative plate which 
the hardware mounts to the casket shell corrode and dissipate. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
A casket is formed as a deep, hollow metal shell which is closed by a cap 
or top. Much effort is expended to provide assurance that the casket is 
leak-tight so that water cannot leak into the casket when the casket is 
buried underground. It is also important that body gases or liquids not 
leak out of the casket when disposed in a mausoleum, etc. Special gaskets 
have been designed for engagement of the cap with the shell to prevent 
leakage around the perimeter of the casket. One of the final steps in the 
manufacturing process of the casket is to pressure test the casket with 
the lid closed to determine whether the casket, before it is shipped, is 
indeed leak tight. 
The casket hardware presents a potential site for leakage. Conventionally, 
holes are drilled through the walls of the casket shell. Bolts are passed 
through these through holes to mount hardware to the shell, the hardware 
providing the handles by which the casket is carried. Washers are inserted 
over the bolts interior of the casket, and a nut is threaded onto the bolt 
for securing the washer thereon. Sealing mastic is disposed about the bolt 
between the washer and the inner surface of the casket wall. Tightening 
the nut on the bolt causes the bolt to compress the trim hardware, 
sometimes known as "ear" hardware or an "escutcheon" plate, thereby 
creating tension in the bolt, which causes the nut and washer to compress 
the sealing mastic to the inner surface of the casket wall, thus sealing 
the hole. 
The problem associated with this traditional mounting of hardware to the 
casket wall and sealing thereof is that when the ear hardware or 
escutcheon plate, commonly fabricated of zinc, corrodes, dissipates and 
otherwise falls away from between the casket wall and the bolt head, the 
means for creating tension in the bolt and hence compression in the 
sealing mastic between the washer and the casket wall inner surface is 
eliminated. Thus, without bolt tension to compress the sealing mastic 
between the washer and the casket wall inner surface, the seal is 
effectively compromised or lost. 
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
It has therefore been an objective of the present invention to provide 
hardware for caskets which sustains or otherwise maintains an effective 
seal about the through holes in the casket walls should the trim plates 
corrode and fall away from the bolts in the casket wall. 
The objective of the present invention has been attained by providing 
casket hardware which comprises a corrosive trim plate adapted to be 
secured to an outer surface of the wall of the casket, an arm adapted to 
support a casket handlebar, the arm having a bolt connected thereto, the 
bolt being adapted to pass through the plate and the casket wall, a nut 
threadably engaging the bolt interior of the casket, a seal surrounding 
the bolt between the nut and an inner surface of the casket wall, and a 
non-corrosive compressive load carrying member between the casket wall and 
the arm for creating tension in the bolt as the nut is tightened against 
the seal. When the corrosive trim plate corrodes and falls away from 
between the arm and the casket wall the non-corrosive compressive load 
carrying member maintains the bolt in tension thereby maintaining the seal 
in compression between the nut and the casket wall inner surface thereby 
sustaining the integrity of the seal. 
The arm includes a clevis, with the bolt being secured to the clevis. The 
non-corrosive compressive load carrying member includes a cylinder having 
first and second ends. The bolt passes through the cylinder, with the 
cylinder first end abutting the clevis, and the cylinder second end 
abutting the casket wall outer surface. The cylinder has a inner diameter 
sized so as to create a press fit of the cylinder onto the bolt. The 
cylinder has a flange on the second end, with the flange abutting the 
casket wall outer surface. The non-corrosive compressive load carrying 
member is preferably fabricated from plastic. 
The trim plate includes a fastener securement surface and a casket wall 
facing surface. The fastener securement surface is that surface which is 
contacted by the arm clevis when the bolt is inserted through the plate. 
The casket wall facing surface is the extrememost surface of the plate 
facing the casket wall. To ensure that the non-corrosive compressive load 
carrying member or spacer, and not the trim plate, carries the compressive 
load as the nut is tightened on the bolt, the spacer has a length 
dimension greater than the distance between the plate fastener securement 
and casket wall facing surfaces. 
An advantage of the present invention is that in casket hardware, when the 
decorative trim plate, or ear hardware or escutcheon plate, corrodes and 
falls away from the hardware bolt, the seal sealing the casket wall 
through hole remains intact and is not compromised thereby. 
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become 
more readily apparent during the following detailed description taken in 
conjunction with the drawings herein in which:

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
Referring first to FIG. 1, there is shown a casket 10 having a sheet metal 
shell 11 enclosed by cap 12. The cap 12 has a head section 13 and foot 
section 14. Seals or gaskets (not shown) around the perimeter of the head 
section and foot section 12 and 13, respectively, are provided to form a 
leak-tight joint between the cap and seal. 
The hardware indicated at 20 can take many forms. The illustrated hardware 
is merely exemplary. A handle bar 21 is mounted, at a number of places 
along its length, to the free end 22 of an arm 23. The arm 23 is pivoted 
at 24 to a wall of the shell 11, and a die-cast trim plate, otherwise 
known as an "ear" or "escutcheon" 25, overlies the joint between the arm 
23 and the shell 11. 
FIGS. 2-3 shown the details of the mounting of a representative arm 23. The 
arm 23 has a clevis 45 mounted to it by a rivet 46. The clevis has a 
mounting hole 47. A bolt 48 having a head 49 on one end is press fitted 
into the hole 47 in the clevis 45. Escutcheon 25 has a through hole 50 
therethrough for accepting the shank of bolt 48. The wall of casket shell 
11 has a through hole 11a for accepting the shank of bolt 48. Escutcheon 
25 has a surface 51 which faces the arm 23 and against which is abutted a 
forward face 52 of clevis 45 when bolt 48 is inserted through hole 50. For 
securing bolt 48 on the interior of the casket there is a nut 53 which 
threadably engages the bolt 48, and a washer 54 is disposed between nut 53 
and the casket wall. Sealing mastic 55 surrounds the bolt 48 and is 
disposed between the washer 54 and the inner side or surface of the wall 
of shell 11. 
A non-corrosive, for example plastic, spacer 56 is disposed between the 
casket shell 11 and the arm 23. The spacer 56 preferably includes a 
cylindrical portion 57 which fits in hole 50 of escutcheon 25 and which 
includes an inner bore or diameter 58 sized so as to be a press fit on the 
shank of bolt 48. One end 59 of the cylinder 57 abuts the casket wall 
facing face 52 of the clevis 45, while the other end 60 which includes a 
flange 61 thereon abuts the outer surface of the wall of casket shell 11. 
The spacer 56 is sized so as to be longer than the distance between the 
surface 51 of escutcheon plate 25 and a casket wall facing surface 62 of 
escutcheon plate 25, such that when nut 53 is tightened onto bolt 48 
spacer 56 carries the compressive load which generates tension in bolt 48 
and hence compression in mastic seal 55 between washer 54 and the wall of 
shell 11. Thus, reliance is not made on escutcheon plate 25 as being the 
means to generate the tension in bolt 48 upon tightening of nut 53. Thus, 
when escutcheon 25 corrodes, dissipates and otherwise falls away from 
between the casket shell 11 and the arm 23, the compressive load carrying 
member, the non-corrosive spacer 56, remains in place thus ensuring that 
bolt 48 remains in tension and that mastic seal 55 remains in compression 
between seal 54 and shell 11 thus insuring the integrity of the seal. 
Another advantageous feature of spacer 56 is that it provides a handy means 
of forming a subassembly of escutcheon 25, arm 23 and bolt 48, since 
spacer 56, press fitted onto the shank of bolt 48 after bolt 48 is 
inserted through hole 50 of escutcheon 25, readily holds the various 
components together as a single unit. Thus, spacer 56 serves to speed the 
manufacturing process by allowing an assembler to handle a subassembly 
rather than many individual pieces. 
Those skilled in the art will readily recognize numerous adaptations and 
modifications which can be made to the casket hardware of the present 
invention and which result in improved casket hardware, yet all of which 
will fall within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined 
by the following claims. Accordingly, the invention is to be limited only 
by the scope of the following claims and their equivalents.