Patent Publication Number: US-7900327-B2

Title: Broken heart shaped vault

Description:
The present application is related to the co-pending patent application Ser. No. 12/390,400 of Antoine Elhaj, filed Feb. 20, 2009, entitled “Broken Heart Shaped Coffin”; and Ser. No. 12/430,882 of Antoine Elhaj, filed Apr. 27, 2009, entitled “Broken Heart Shaped Coffin”, and based on which priority is herewith claimed under 35 U.S.C. 120 and the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference in its entirety as if fully rewritten herein. 
     BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY 
     The present invention relates generally to vaults for coffins and specifically to vaults having unique shapes or capable of holding coffins of unique shapes. The terms casket and coffin as used herein are interchangeable. 
     One embodiment of an half heart shaped vault comprises a half heart shaped cover and a half heart shaped enclosure having a bottom and a vertical side wall that forms essentially a half heart shape whereby a heart shaped coffin (see U.S. application Ser. No. 12/390,400 of Antoine Elhaj, filed Feb. 20, 2009, entitled “Broken Heart Shaped Coffin”; and Ser. No. 12/430,882 of Antoine Elhaj, filed Apr. 27, 2009, entitled “Broken Heart Shaped Coffin”) can be placed therein. 
     Another embodiment ( FIGS. 1 &amp; 2 ) comprises a complementary pair of first and second half heart shaped vaults being mirror images of each other so that they can be buried in the ground to form a unitary heart shape. 
     One embodiment of a vault comprises, a rectangular cover, and a rectangular enclosure assembly having, a rectangular bottom and a vertical side wall attached to the bottom essentially around the periphery thereof, a curved support base adapted to hold a heart shaped coffin, and four curved support members attached to the bottom and being adapted to support the curved support base vertically above the bottom. 
     One of skill in the art would appreciate that other means are possible of vertically supporting the curved base member sufficient to hold a coffin (e.g. it could be attached directly to the side walls or rest upon posts). 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  depicts a perspective view of one embodiment of complementary half heart shaped vaults 
         FIG. 2  depicts a top view of one embodiment of complementary half heart shaped vaults 
         FIG. 3  depicts a perspective exploded view of one embodiment of the half heart shaped vault 
         FIG. 4  depicts a side exploded view of one embodiment of the half heart shaped vault 
         FIG. 5  depicts a top view of one embodiment of the half heart shaped vault 
         FIG. 6  depicts a cross sectional view as depicted in  FIG. 5   
         FIG. 7  depicts a perspective view of one embodiment of the half heart shaped vault 
         FIG. 8  depicts a perspective view of one embodiment of a rectangular vault having inner curved support means 
         FIG. 9  depicts a cross sectional view of one embodiment of a rectangular vault having inner curved support means 
         FIG. 10  depicts a partial perspective view of one embodiment of a rectangular vault having inner curved support means 
         FIG. 11  depicts a partial perspective view of one embodiment of a rectangular vault having inner curved support means and holding a half heart shaped coffin 
         FIG. 12  depicts a partial side view of one embodiment of a rectangular vault having inner curved support means 
     
    
    
     REFERENCE NUMERALS IN DRAWINGS 
     The table below lists the reference numerals employed in the figures, and identifies the element designated by each numeral. 
     
       
         
           
               
               
             
               
                   
               
             
            
               
                 10 
                 half heart cover assembly 10 
               
               
                 11 
                 upper support ribs 11 of half heart cover assembly 
               
               
                 12 
                 cover lip 12 of half heart cover assembly 
               
               
                 13 
                 cover 13 of half heart cover assembly 
               
               
                 20 
                 half heart enclosure assembly 20 
               
               
                 21 
                 upper support 21 of half heart enclosure assembly 
               
               
                 22 
                 upper support lip 22 of half heart enclosure assembly 
               
               
                 23 
                 vertical side wall 23 of half heart enclosure assembly 
               
               
                 24 
                 lower support ribs 24 of half heart enclosure assembly 
               
               
                 25 
                 bottom 25 of half heart enclosure assembly 
               
               
                 30 
                 rectangular cover assembly 30 
               
               
                 31 
                 cover 31 of rectangular cover assembly 
               
               
                 32 
                 cover lip 32 of rectangular cover assembly 
               
               
                 40 
                 rectangular enclosure assembly 40 
               
               
                 41 
                 upper support 41 of rectangular enclosure assembly 
               
               
                 42 
                 upper support lip 42 of rectangular enclosure assembly 
               
               
                 43 
                 vertical side wall 43 of rectangular enclosure assembly 
               
               
                 44 
                 bottom 44 of rectangular enclosure assembly 
               
               
                 45 
                 curved support members 45 of rectangular enclosure assembly 
               
               
                 51 
                 curved support base 51 of rectangular enclosure assembly 
               
               
                 52 
                 support base ribs 52 of rectangular enclosure assembly 
               
               
                 60 
                 heart shaped coffin 60 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     One embodiment of a half heart shaped vault comprises half heart cover assembly  10  and half heart enclosure assembly  20 . Half heart shaped assembly  10  has upper support ribs  11  that are affixed to the underside of cover  13  and cover lip  12  that is affixed to the underside of cover  13  approximate the outer periphery thereof. 
     Half heart shaped enclosure assembly  20  has bottom  25  and vertical side wall  23  that form essentially a half heart shape; upper support lip  22  is affixed to the underside of upper support  21 ; upper support  21  is affixed to the top of vertical side wall  23 . 
     Upper support lip  22  and upper support  21  cooperatively fit with cover lip  12  and cover  13  when the cover assembly  10  is placed on top of the enclosure assembly  20 . Lower support ribs  24  are affixed to the top of bottom  25 . 
     In one embodiment, a plurality of upper and lower support ribs  11 ,  24  are used in the cover assembly  10  and enclosure assembly  20 . They are displaced laterally with respect to a coffin placed within the vault. Their purpose is to hold the coffin in place. 
     Upper and lower support ribs  11 ,  24  are bifurcated into first and second portions to accommodate the protruding handles on the sides of a coffin being displaced between the first and second portions. 
     For an example of such handles, see U.S. application Ser. No. 12/430,882 of Antoine Elhaj, filed Apr. 27, 2009, entitled “Broken Heart Shaped Coffin” wherein the coffin in at least one embodiment comprises side handles. 
     One of skill in the art will appreciated that the handles will likely be on both sides of the coffin so the upper and lower support ribs should be bifurcated to form a space to coincide with the location of the handles which can be placed in varying arrangements. 
     One embodiment of a vault comprises rectangular cover assembly  30  and rectangular enclosure assembly  40 . Rectangular cover assembly  30  comprises rectangular cover  31  and cover lip  32  attached to the underside of cover  31  essentially around the periphery thereof. Rectangular enclosure assembly  40  has upper support  41 , upper support lip  42 , vertical side wall (a.k.a. “wall”)  43 , bottom  44 , curved support members  45 , curved support base  51 , and support base ribs  52 . Rectangular bottom  44  is attached to vertical side wall  43  essentially around the periphery thereof. 
     Curved support base  51  is adapted to hold a heart shaped coffin ( FIG. 11 ).  FIG. 11  depicts a heart shaped coffin generally. Four curved support members  45  are attached to bottom  44 . They are adapted to support the curved support base vertically above the bottom. 
     Upper support  41  is attached to the top of the vertical side wall  43 . Upper support lip  42  is attached to the underside of upper support  41  essentially around the periphery thereof. Upper support lip  42  and upper support  41  cooperatively fit with cover lip  32  and cover  31  when cover assembly  30  is placed on top of the enclosure assembly  40 . Four support base ribs  52  are attached laterally across the curved support base whereby a heart shaped coffin can be vertically offset from the curved support base. This is further advantageous in that the vertical offset facilitates the removal of retaining straps that are commonly used to lower coffins into vaults.