Abstract:
A display for displaying the features of a casket which has a shell, a lid and an interior, comprises a wall, a cabinet mounted to the wall, an openable and closable door mounted to the cabinet, the door having the appearance of being at least a portion of the lid of the casket, and at least a portion of the shell of the casket positioned in the cabinet.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     This invention relates generally to the funeral service industry, and more particularly to a display system facilitating the selection by a customer of a casket in a funeral home selection room.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     Funeral home casket selection rooms have evolved as those in the industry have attempted to better meet the funeral customers&#39; needs. The “traditional” presentation of product in a funeral home selection room was to simply place each casket on a bier and open the head end cap or lid of the casket to permit viewing inside the casket. As many caskets as possible were displayed in a selection room in order to maximize the number of product choices for the customer. Unfortunately, such a “traditional” presentation results in what has been referred to as a “sea of caskets” visual effect, which can be both distressing or alarming and confusing to the customer.  
         [0003]     Advances in the design of funeral home selection rooms have taken the form of providing a plurality of alcove structures, either of a “modular” construction or of a “stick built” construction, in the funeral home selection room. Each alcove structure includes a vertical back wall and a pair of vertical, spaced apart wing walls cooperating with the back wall to form an alcove. A soffit may span the upper front edges of the wing walls, and lighting, for example track lighting, may be incorporated into the soffit. A two-tier casket rack is located within the alcove, the lower tier of the casket rack being a roll out rack permitting the lower casket to be rolled out from under the upper casket and the casket lid opened for display of the lower casket. Tasteful signage and the like is mounted on the back wall above the caskets. Such a construction, which is the subject of the assignee&#39;s prior U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,405,017 and 5,524,394, both hereby incorporated by reference herein, increases the number of caskets which can be displayed in a funeral home selection room, as well as greatly improves the “look and feel” of the casket presentations, thereby reducing the clutter and confusion of the so-called “sea of caskets” effect and providing a feeling of comfort to the families.  
         [0004]     New construction and renovation costs being what they are, there is an ever-increasing need to increase the product density displayable in the funeral home selection room, without sacrificing comfort, convenience and look and feel of the casket display systems of U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,405,017 and 5,524,394. To that end, the assignee&#39;s U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/638,576, hereby incorporated by reference herein, discloses a Display For A Casket Selection And/Or Viewing Room. That application discloses the display of a plurality of casket portions along with a plurality of casket information modules. Each information module corresponds to one of the casket portions displayed and houses an insert displaying samples of the various features of the particular casket, for example, a portion of the cap panel, a photo of the casket, a fabric swatch of the casket fabric, etc. To access and view the casket samples displayed on the insert, a door to the module must be opened, and the insert must be slid out of the module.  
         [0005]     By way of further advances, the assignee&#39;s U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/611,607, hereby incorporated by reference herein, discloses a Display For A Casket Selection Room. That application discloses a display for a casket selection room comprising a wall, a plurality of casket portions displayed on the wall, and a plurality of casket information modules displayed on the wall. Each information module corresponds to one of the casket portions and includes a photo of the casket, a portion of a cap panel of the casket and/or a fabric swatch of the casket. The photo, portion of the cap panel and/or fabric swatch are visible to the customer without opening the information module. The casket selection display of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/611,607 thereby provides further advantages above and beyond the casket selection display disclosed in U.S. application Ser. No. 09/638,576, for example obviating the need to open a door of the casket information module and remove the casket information insert in order to be able to view the same.  
         [0006]     “Marquetry” is a decorative wood veneer sheet which is assembled from many separate individual pieces/colors/designs of wood veneer to produce an intricate, ornate pattern, and when applied to a substrate resembles wood “inlay.” Marquetry, when applied to a casket lid, gives the resulting casket lid the appearance of being finely tooled and decoratively inlaid. The use of marquetry as decorative surface ornamentation for a molded casket lid is disclosed in the assignee&#39;s U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/261,406, hereby incorporated by reference herein. Various types of decorative surface ornamentation for a casket lid which can be produced from marquetry are disclosed in the assignee&#39;s U.S. Design patent applications Ser. Nos. 29/176,343, 29/176,342, 29/176,334, 29/176,344, 29/176,345 and 29/176,346, hereby incorporated by reference herein.  
         [0007]     It is desirable to provide still further improvements in the area of casket display and selection. In particular, it is desirable to display for selection by a customer a variety of casket portions as in the partial casket displays of the assignee&#39;s U.S. patent applications Ser. Nos. 09/638,576 and 10/611,607, yet which also provides for display of at least a portion of the lid of the casket, so as to provide customers with an indication of how the actual lid on the actual casket will appear, especially in the case of caskets having lids which include decorative surface ornamentation thereon such as the marquetry mentioned above.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0008]     In one aspect, the present invention is a display for displaying the features of a casket, the casket having a shell, a lid and an interior, the display comprising a wall, a cabinet mounted to the wall, an openable and closable door mounted to the cabinet, the door having the appearance of being at least a portion of the lid of the casket, and at least a portion of the shell of the casket positioned in the cabinet.  
         [0009]     The door can be fabricated from wood. The exterior surface of the door can include marquetry thereon.  
         [0010]     The display can further include an information module positioned in the cabinet, the information module containing at least a portion of the interior of the casket. The information module can include a photo of the casket, a portion of a cap panel of the casket and/or a fabric swatch of the casket. The information module can comprise an enclosure and an information insert movable into and out of the enclosure. The enclosure can include a door pivotable to and between a closed position and an open position. The information insert can comprise a first portion and a second portion, the first and second insert portions movably mounted to the enclosure for translational movement into and out of the enclosure, the second insert portion movably mounted to the first insert portion for pivoting movement therebetween, whereby the second insert portion can be pulled out of the enclosure and then pivoted 90° such that the contents of the information insert then face the customer. The second insert portion can be fabricated, at least in part, of a transparent material and comprise a first pocket having upper and lower edges, a second pocket attached to the upper edge of the first pocket, and a third pocket attached to the lower edge of the first pocket. The first pocket can include therein a portion of a cap panel of the casket, the second pocket can include therein a photo of the casket and the third pocket can include therein a fabric swatch of the casket.  
         [0011]     The portion of the shell of the casket displayed can be a 45° corner cut. The 45° corner cut can be of the shell and lid of the casket.  
         [0012]     The door can include at least one of graphics and text on an interior surface thereof relating to the casket.  
         [0013]     The wall can be slat wall.  
         [0014]     In another aspect, the invention is a display for displaying the features of a casket, the casket having a shell, a lid and an interior, the display comprising a wall, a cabinet mounted to the wall, an openable and closable door mounted to the cabinet, the door having the appearance of being at least a portion of the lid of the casket, at least a portion of the shell of the casket positioned in the cabinet, and at least a portion of the interior of the casket positioned in the cabinet.  
         [0015]     In yet another aspect, the invention is a display for a casket selection room comprising a wall, a plurality of cabinets mounted to the wall, a plurality of casket portions representing a plurality of caskets from which a customer may select, each of the plurality of casket portions positioned in one of the plurality of cabinets, and an openable and closable door mounted to each of the plurality of cabinets, the door having the appearance of being at least a portion of a lid of the casket.  
         [0016]     In still another aspect, the invention is a display for a casket selection room comprising a wall, a plurality of cabinets mounted to the wall, a plurality of casket portions representing a plurality of caskets from which a customer may select, each of the plurality of casket portions positioned in one of the plurality of cabinets, a plurality of casket interior portions representing a plurality of casket interiors from which a customer may select, each of the plurality of casket interior portions positioned in one of the plurality of cabinets, and an openable and closable door mounted to each of the plurality of cabinets, the door having the appearance of being at least a portion of a lid of the casket.  
         [0017]     A major advantage of the present invention is that a partial casket display is provided which also provides for display of at least a portion of the lid of the casket, so as to provide customers with an indication of how the actual lid on the actual casket will appear, especially in the case of caskets having lids which include decorative surface ornamentation thereon such as the marquetry mentioned above.  
         [0018]     These and other advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent during the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the drawings herein, in which:  
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0019]      FIG. 1  is a perspective of the display of the present invention;  
         [0020]      FIG. 2  is a view, similar to  FIG. 1 , of the display with the door thereof open;  
         [0021]      FIG. 3  is a view, similar to  FIG. 2 , of the display with the door thereof open and the information insert partially withdrawn from its enclosure;  
         [0022]      FIG. 4  is a view, similar to  FIG. 3 , of the display with the door thereof open and the information insert fully withdrawn from its enclosure, and with the second portion of the insert pivoted 90° such that the contents thereof face the customer;  
         [0023]      FIG. 5  is a view, similar to  FIG. 1 , of an alternative embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0024]      FIG. 6  is a view, similar to  FIG. 1 , of another alternative embodiment; and  
         [0025]      FIG. 7  is a view, similar to  FIG. 6 , with the information insert withdrawn from its enclosure. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0026]     Referring first to  FIGS. 1-4 , there is illustrated a display  10  according to the principles of the present invention. The display  10  includes a wall  12 , for example slat wall, and a cabinet  14  mounted to the wall  12 . Cabinet  14  includes an openable and closable door  16  mounted to the cabinet  14  by, for example, hinges. A casket portion  18  is positioned in the cabinet  14  and is revealed upon opening door  16 . Casket portion  18  can preferably be a 45° corner cut, but other geometries could be utilized as well. The cabinet  14  can include, but does not necessarily have to include, an information module  20  positioned in the cabinet  14 . Information module  20  will be described in more detail below. With like numbers representing like elements,  FIG. 5  illustrates an embodiment of the display  10  which does not include information module  20 . For illustrative techniques of mounting cabinet  14  to a slat wall, see the assignee&#39;s U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 09/638,576 and 10/611,607.  
         [0027]     Door  16  to cabinet  14  is in the appearance of the lid of the casket being displayed by the display  10 . That is to say, door  16  can include an arcuate portion or “crown”  22 , as is found on a casket lid. The crown  22  can include decorative surface ornamentation  24  thereon, such as, as can be in the case of wood or molded caskets, marquetry. Other surface ornamentation, be it for wood or metal caskets, can be employed, such as painting, engraving, etc. Door  16  can also include side “rim” members  26 ,  26 , also simulative of a casket lid. It is to be understood that door  16  can be fabricated of any suitable molded material, wood or metal, depending on the style of casket to be displayed by the display  10 . Cabinet  14  and door  16  can be sized as desired. If cabinet  14  is of a larger size, door  16  can essentially be the same size as a head end or foot end lid of a split-top casket. If cabinet  14  is of a smaller size, door  16  can simply be scaled down to the appropriate size to fit cabinet  14 . By being configured into the general appearance of a casket lid, door  16  serves the dual purpose of concealing the contents of cabinet  14  until the customer desires to view same, and providing the customer with a good idea what the actual casket lid and its surface ornamentation will look like on the actual casket to be purchased. Door  16  can also include text and/or graphics  28  on an interior surface thereof which is also revealed upon the customer opening the door  16 . ( FIG. 2 ) Such text and/or graphics  28  are to convey additional information about the casket displayed by the display  10 .  
         [0028]     As mentioned above, display  10  can include an information module  20 . Information module  20  can include a portion of the interior of the casket being displayed by the display  10 . More particularly, information module  20  can comprise an enclosure  30 , either formed in cabinet  14  or formed by cabinet  14 , and an information insert  32  movable into and out of the enclosure  30 . Insert  32  can comprise a first portion  34  and a second portion  36 . The first and second portions  34  and  36  can be movably mounted to the enclosure  30  for translational movement into and out of the enclosure  30 . For example, first portion  34  can be mounted to enclosure  30  via a pair of slide mechanisms  38 ,  38  having portions  36   a ,  36   b  which slide relative to one another. In addition, second insert portion  34  can be movably mounted to first insert portion  32  for pivoting movement therebetween, as by a pair of hinges  40 ,  40 , such that second insert portion  36 , once pulled out of enclosure  30 , can be pivoted 90° such that its contents then face a customer. Second insert portion  36  can also include a front panel  42  ( FIGS. 6 and 7 ) to cover the opening  44  of the enclosure  30 , and a knob  46  facilitating pulling the insert  32  out of the enclosure  30 .  
         [0029]     Describing the second portion  36  of the information insert  32  in more detail, and referring now to  FIGS. 4 and 7 , the second portion  36  is preferably fabricated, at least in part, of a transparent material such as acrylic and includes a first pocket  50 , a second pocket  52  and a third pocket  54 . The first pocket  50  can include a photo  56  of the casket, the second pocket  52  can include a portion  58  of the cap panel of the casket and the third pocket  54  can include a fabric swatch  60  of the fabric of the casket. Pockets  50 ,  52  and  54 , and photo  56 , cap panel portion  58  and fabric swatch  60 , are sized such that the customer can readily see, access, touch and feel them. Additionally, or instead, cards (not shown) containing printed information can be positioned in the pockets to thereby provide additional information about the casket.  
         [0030]     Referring now to  FIGS. 6 and 7 , and with like numbers illustrating like elements, there is illustrated an alternative embodiment of the display  10  of the present invention. In this case, the door  16  which simulates the lid of the casket being displayed is oriented horizontally instead of vertically as in the prior embodiments. In this embodiment, door  16  can be hinged along either the upper or lower edge as desired, and can include the casket portion  18  therebehind (not shown in  FIGS. 6 and 7 ) and information module  20  as desired.  
         [0031]     Those skilled in the art will readily recognize numerous adaptations and modifications which can be made to the present invention which will result in an improved casket selection room display, yet all of which will fall within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined in the following claims. Accordingly, the invention shall embrace all such variations and is to be limited only by the scope of the following claims and their equivalents.