Gasket seal

A transverse rubber gasket at the joint between the head and foot sections of a cut top casket. The gasket has a pair of longitudinal ribs on one surface and aligned grooves on the opposed surface to provide space for rubber flow as the gasket is compressed.

This invention relates to a casket, and more particularly, to a cut top 
casket and the seal among the two top sections and the body to which the 
top sections are hinged. 
The outer shell of the casket to which the present invention is directed is 
formed primarily of sheet metal. It has a body and a hinged top which is 
formed as a foot top section and a head top section. The head top section 
may be opened independently of the foot top section. 
The body has an upwardly-facing marginal body flange formed integrally with 
the body by the sheet metal being turned inwardly around the perimeter of 
the body. Each top section is similarly formed with integrally-inturned 
marginal flanges. A rubber body gasket is positioned on the marginal body 
flange and is engaged by the marginal flanges of the two top sections to 
form the major part of the seal between the top sections and the body. 
There is a transverse joint between the head and foot top sections. That 
joint likewise must be sealed. To that end, the foot section is provided 
with a transverse shoulder at the joint and the head section is formed 
with a cooperating flange mating with the shoulder. A gasket is disposed 
between the shoulder and flange to form a seal at the joint. 
A critical area of the sealing is created where the two ends of the head 
and foot joint come together at the body marginal flange. Those two areas 
are the most difficult to seal. 
The sealing is important to prevent water from leaking into the casket when 
the casket is buried underground. Similarly, it is important for body 
gases to be prevented from leaking out of the casket when the body is 
finally disposed in a mausoleum above ground. 
To effect a good seal, after the top is closed on the body, studs that 
cooperate with a wedge bar, accessible from the outside of the casket, are 
provided to tighten the head top section against the gasket on the foot 
top section and both top sections against the body gasket. See U.S. Pat. 
No. 2,323,674, for example. The wedge bar is cranked down in order to get 
the seal. The rubber forming the gaskets must be compressed to at least a 
ten percent reduction in thickness to obtain a satisfactory seal. The 
rubber can be compressed to a maximum of forty percent reduction in 
thickness and thereafter any continued attempt to compress the rubber 
causes a bending of the metal forming the flanges of the casket elements. 
Because the casket is large and is formed of sheet metal, it is difficult 
to hold close tolerances. Therefore, in cranking down the top sections 
onto the body, a visible mismatch can be formed at the joint between the 
foot section and the head section. That mismatch may be as great as 1/8". 
It sometimes occurs because the transverse gasket between the foot and 
head section is squeezed down to the point that it can be compressed no 
more and yet the mismatch or misalignment has occurred. 
Stated another way, in compressing the transverse gasket at the joint 
between head and foot sections, the rubber may not be uniformly 
compressed. One portion of the joint that contacts the rubber early may 
form a good seal while another portion has not even contacted the rubber 
gasket. In order to bring the second portion into a sealing engagement, 
the first portion may be cranked down until the forty percent upper limit 
of compression of the gasket has been reached. The second portion, at this 
point, may have formed a leak-tight seal, but nevertheless cannot be 
cranked down any further, because the first portion is blocked and hence a 
mismatch occurs. 
An objective of the present invention has been to provide an improved seal 
particularly at the intersection of the transverse joint with the gasket 
on the body section. 
Another objective of the present invention has been to provide a good seal 
across the transverse joint between the head and foot sections while 
avoiding an unsightly mismatch at the joint. 
These objectives have been attained by providing an improved gasket cross 
section for the transverse gasket that permits greater movement of the 
head section with respect to the foot section without compressing the 
rubber to the forty percent reduction in thickness limit. Whereas the 
known gasket has a pair of parallel ribs on the surface engaged by the 
head section and a flat surface that lies on the foot section, the 
improved gasket of the present invention has the same parallel ribs on one 
surface but the opposed surface has parallel grooves underlying the 
parallel ribs. The parallel grooves provide space into which the rubber of 
the ribs can move as the ribs are being compressed during the closing and 
sealing of the casket. Thus, the improved gasket permits greater movement 
in the compressing direction before reaching the forty percent limit on 
the compression of the rubber. 
In creating two grooves on the "foot" side of the transverse gasket, three 
ridges are formed. At the ends of the gasket, these ridges are feathered 
to a zero thickness at a flat end of the gasket that lies on a flat pad 
forming part of the body gasket. It is a feature of the present invention 
to provide an integral transverse dam across the feathered ends of the 
ridges thereby providing further assurance of a good seal of the ends of 
the transverse joint to the marginal body gasket.

A casket embodying the present invention is shown at 10. The casket has a 
body 11 and a top 12. The top 12 is a cut top being divided between a foot 
section 13 and a head section 14. 
The body is formed of sheet metal. It has an upper edge 20 including an 
integral inturned flange 21 and a strenghtening downturned flange 22. The 
flange 21 is referred to as a lower marginal flange. Similarly, the sheet 
metal top has an integral upper marginal flange 25. A body gasket 30 is 
mounted on the lower marginal flange and cooperates with the upper 
marginal flange to form a seal around the perimeter of the body. 
Between the foot section and the head section, a transverse joint 35 is 
formed. The foot section has a shoulder 36 and the head section has a 
mating flange 37, the shoulder 36 and flange 37 coming together to form 
the transverse joint 35. A transverse gasket 40 is positioned on the 
shoulder 36 and is engaged by the flange 37 to form the fluid-tight seal 
at the transverse joint. 
The gasket 40 has, over its major portion, two spaced parallel longitudinal 
ribs 41 (FIGS. 3 and 4). Immediately beneath the ribs 41 are grooves 42 on 
the undersurface 43 of the gasket 40. The grooves 42 are defined in part 
by three longitudinal ridges 45 on the undersurface 43 of the gasket. The 
gasket normally rests on the three ridges 45. 
The gasket is in its unstressed condition in FIG. 3. It is in a compressed 
condition as shown in FIG. 4. In that figure, it can be seen that the ribs 
41 are partially compressed and are driven downwardly, forcing the rubber 
into the area occupied by the grooves 42. Thus, the upper flange 37 is 
able to move the rubber, compressing it sufficiently to form a seal, but 
without compressing it to the upper limit of forty percent. In this way, 
the gasket is able to accommodate substantial variations from the normal 
dimensions between the foot section and the head section while avoiding a 
mismatch at the visible edges of the joint formed between the two 
sections. 
A critical area in the formation of the seal between the top and the body 
is the intersection of the transverse gasket 40 with the body gasket 30 as 
shown in FIGS. 2 and 5. At that intersection, the body gasket is formed as 
a pad 50. The transverse gasket 40 has at each end a feathered end 51 
which has an undersurface 52 in engagement with the upper surface 53 of 
the pad 50. At the undersurface 52, the ridges 45 are feathered to a zero 
thickness, these ends being indicated as convexly curved ribs 55. 
Projecting beyond the ribs is a thin flange 56 that lies flat on the pad 
50. The flange 56 has a very shallow (0.020 inch) dam 57 that lies across 
the three ribs and is the final fluid blocking obstruction of the 
transverse gasket (FIG. 7). 
The three transverse ribs 55 are integral extensions of the ridges 45 on 
the underside of the gasket. These extensions are adapted to embed 
themselves into the soft rubber pad 50 to form a seal with it. The dam 57 
is perpendicular to the ribs 55 and seals against fluid flow in that 
direction. The ribs 45 are compressed against the surface of the shoulder 
36 and prevent fluid from entering the casket through that joint. Finally, 
the ribs 41 are compressed against the flange 37 and prevent the flow of 
fluid into the casket or out of the casket in that direction. 
In operation, the head section or head cap is normally opened for viewing. 
When the burial is to take place, the head section is closed. Across the 
transverse joint 35, the flange 37 engages the gasket 40 and squeezes it 
against the shoulder 36 as shown in FIG. 5 and the ribs 55 and dam 57 
engage and compress the pad 50 as shown in FIG. 5. The perimeter flanges 
on the upper sections are compressed against the perimeter or marginal 
body flange to form a seal with it. In this way all joints are tightly 
sealed. 
From the above disclosure of the general principles of the present 
invention and the preceding detailed description of a preferred 
embodiment, those skilled in the art will readily comprehend the various 
modifications to which the present invention is susceptible. Therefore, I 
desire to be limited only by the scope of the following claims and 
equivalents thereof: