Patent Publication Number: US-2020276070-A1

Title: Casket keepsake ornament and attachment mechanism

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims the priority benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/811,744 filed Feb. 28, 2019, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein as if fully set forth in its entirety. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates generally to caskets, and more particularly to mechanisms for attaching ornaments to caskets. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     It is known to attach decorative ornaments to caskets to “personalize” the casket to the deceased. Over the years various mechanisms have been devised by the assignee to attach decorative ornaments to funerary articles, and more particularly, to attach decorative corner ornaments to casket corners. 
     Examples of mechanisms for attaching decorative “figurine” style ornaments to the exterior of a casket, for example to the corners of the casket shell, are shown in, for example, the assignee&#39;s U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,591,466, 6,928,706, 7,340,810 and 7,591,052, and US Patent Application Publication No. 2010/0077579, all hereby incorporated by reference herein as if fully set forth in their entireties. The ornaments of the &#39;466, &#39;706, and &#39;810 patents, and the &#39;579 publication, utilize fasteners with heads, for example shoulder screws, mounted on the flat or planar rear side of the ornament, the heads of which are secured in keyhole slots or grooves, for example L-shaped keyhole slots or grooves, in the casket shell corners. 
     Examples of mechanisms for attaching decorative “medallion” style ornaments to the interior of the casket, for example to the cap panel, and to the exterior of the casket, for example to the corners of the casket shell, are shown in, for example, the assignee&#39;s U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,220,119, 8,387,219, 8,555,471, 8,567,023, 8,756,774, and 9,132,054, all hereby incorporated by reference herein as if fully set forth in their entireties. The ornaments of the &#39;119, &#39;219, and &#39;471, &#39;023, &#39;774, and &#39;054 patents utilize magnets mounted on the rear side of the ornament which are secured to a magnetic cap panel and a magnetic adapter mounted to the casket shell corners. 
     All of these ornaments are commercially available from the assignee as its LIFESYMBOLS® line of casket shell corner ornaments. 
     Nevertheless, there remains room for improvement in such casket ornaments and casket ornament attachment mechanisms. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In one aspect, a keepsake comprises a picture frame, a pair of vertically spaced posts on a rear side of the picture frame, each post having a head thereon, a pair vertically spaced threaded holes on the rear side of the picture frame, each of the threaded holes adapted to receive a screw to secure a magnet to the rear side of the picture frame, a cradle on the rear side of the picture frame, and a kickstand removably secured in the cradle, the kickstand having a threaded end that threads into a lowermost one of the threaded holes. The picture frame is thereby adapted to be secured to a casket shell corner having a pair of vertically spaced keyhole grooves that cooperate with the vertically spaced posts with said heads thereon, is adapted to be secured to a ferrous metallic cap panel of a casket lid which cooperates with the magnets, and is adapted to be displayed on a horizontal surface once the kickstand is threaded into the lowermost one of said threaded holes. 
     In another aspect, a casket comprises a casket shell having four corners, each corner having a pair of vertically spaced keyhole grooves therein, a casket lid closeable on the casket shell, the casket lid having a ferrous metallic cap panel installed therein, and a keepsake. The keepsake comprises a picture frame, a pair of vertically spaced posts on a rear side of the picture frame, each post having a head thereon, a pair vertically spaced threaded holes on the rear side of the picture frame, a pair of magnets, and a pair of screws. Each of the threaded holes is adapted to receive one of the screws to secure one of the magnets to the rear side of the picture frame. A cradle is located on the rear side of the picture frame. A kickstand is removably secured in the cradle. The kickstand has a threaded end that threads into a lowermost one of the threaded holes. The picture frame is selectably 1) securable to the casket shell corner via the pair of vertically spaced posts with heads thereon cooperating with the vertically spaced keyhole grooves, 2) securable to the casket lid ferrous metallic cap panel via the magnets cooperating with the ferrous metallic cap panel, and 3) displayable on a horizontal surface once the kickstand is threaded into the lowermost one of the threaded holes. 
     In another aspect, a keepsake comprises a picture frame, a pair of vertically spaced posts on a rear side of the picture frame, each post having a head thereon, a pair vertically spaced threaded holes on the rear side of the picture frame, a pair of magnets, and a pair of screws. Each of the threaded holes is adapted to receive one of the screws to secure one of the magnets to the rear side of the picture frame. A cradle is located on the rear side of the picture frame. A kickstand is removably secured in the cradle. The kickstand has a threaded end that threads into a lowermost one of the threaded holes. The picture frame is selectably 1) securable to a casket shell corner, an urn, or a display plaque having a pair of vertically spaced keyhole grooves via the pair of vertically spaced posts with heads, 2) securable to a casket lid, an urn, or a display plaque having a ferrous metallic sheet via the magnets cooperating with the sheet, and 3) displayable on a horizontal surface once the kickstand is threaded into the lowermost one of the threaded holes. 
     The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the summary of the invention given above, and the detailed description of the drawings given below, serve to explain the principles of the present invention. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a front perspective view of the keepsake ornament according to the principles of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a rear perspective view of the keepsake ornament of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  is a cross-sectional view taken along line  3 - 3  in  FIG. 2 . 
         FIG. 4  is a rear exploded perspective view of the keepsake ornament of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 5  is a perspective view of a casket with the keepsake ornament mounted to the casket lid cap panel. 
         FIGS. 5A and 5B  are perspective views of a corner of a casket with the keepsake ornament being mounted to the casket shell corner. 
         FIG. 6  is a rear perspective view of the keepsake ornament displayed on a horizontal surface. 
         FIG. 7  is a front perspective view of the keepsake ornament being mounted to a cremation urn. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     Referring first to  FIGS. 1-4 , there is illustrated a keepsake ornament  10  according to the principles of the present invention. The ornament  10  includes several means for mounting the ornament  10  to a casket, a cremation urn, and a display plaque, and for displaying the ornament  10  on a horizontal surface. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 2-4 , the ornament  10  includes a frame  12  (i.e. picture frame) and a transparent pane  14  (could be either glass or plastic) for displaying a photographic image or picture  16 . A back plate  18  secures the picture  16  and pane  14  to the frame  12 . The back plate  18  can be secured to the frame  12  by various means, for example the back plate  18  can be press-fitted into the frame  12 . 
     The back plate  18  includes a pair of vertically spaced posts  22  on a rear side thereof. Each post  22  includes a head  24  thereon. The posts  22  are utilized to mount the ornament  10  to a casket shell corner, cremation urn, or display plaque, to be described below. 
     The back plate  18  further includes a second pair of vertically spaced posts  30  on a rear side thereof. Each post  30  includes a threaded hole  32  therein. The posts  30  are utilized to mount the ornament  10  to a casket lid cap panel and/or to display the ornament  10  on a horizontal surface, to be described below. 
     The back plate  18  further includes an elongated cradle  40  on a rear side thereof that houses a removable kick stand  42 . The kick stand  42  is press-fitted into the cradle  40 . The cradle  40  includes scalloped cut-outs  44  on either lateral side  46  thereof to assist a user in grasping the kick stand  42  between the thumb and fore finger to insert and remove the kick stand  42  into and from the cradle  40 . The kick stand  42  includes a threaded end  48  which can be threaded into either of the posts  30  to display the ornament  10  on a horizontal surface, to be described below. 
     Referring now to  FIGS. 2 and 5 , one or two magnets  50  can be secured to the threaded posts  30  with screws  52 . With the magnets  50  secured to the back plate  18 , the ornament  10  can be magnetically secured to a ferrous or magnetic cap panel  54  mounted to the underside of a casket cap  56 . The ornament  10  can also be magnetically secured to an urn or a display plaque having a sheet of ferrous or magnetic metal secured thereto (or fabricated of ferrous or magnetic metal). To provide some lateral stability to the ornament  10 , the back plate  18  can have a pair of horizontally spaced posts  58  on a rear side thereof. The posts  58  prevent unstable tilting of the ornament  10  about a generally vertical axis when mounted to the cap panel  54 . 
     Referring now to  FIGS. 5A, 5B, and 7 , the posts  22  with heads  24  thereon permit the ornament  10  to be mounted to a corner  60  of a casket shell  62 . Corner  60  has a pair of vertically spaced L-shaped keyhole grooves  64 , which accept the heads  24  of the posts  22  to secure the ornament  10  to the corner  60 . 
     Similarly, and referring now to  FIG. 7 , the posts  22  with heads  24  thereon permit the ornament  10  to be mounted to a cremation urn  70  similarly equipped with a pair of vertically spaced L-shaped keyhole grooves  64 , which accept the heads  24  of the posts  22  to secure the ornament  10  to the urn  70 . The ornament  10  can also be mounted to a display plaque similarly equipped with the pair of vertically spaced L-shaped keyhole grooves. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 6 , the ornament  10  can be displayed on a horizontal surface by removing the kick stand  42  from the cradle  40 , and threading the threaded end  48  of the kick stand  42  into the lowermost threaded post  30 . The ornament  10  is thus supported on a lower horizontal edge of the frame  12  and the free end of the kick stand  42 , angling the ornament  10  at a convenient angle for viewing. 
     The various embodiments of the invention shown and described are merely for illustrative purposes only, as the drawings and the description are not intended to restrict or limit in any way the scope of the claims. Those skilled in the art will appreciate various changes, modifications, and improvements which can be made to the invention without departing from the spirit or scope thereof. The invention in its broader aspects is therefore not limited to the specific details and representative apparatus and methods shown and described. Departures may therefore be made from such details without departing from the spirit or scope of the general inventive concept. The invention resides in each individual feature described herein, alone, and in all combinations of any and all of those features. Accordingly, the scope of the invention shall be limited only by the following claims and their equivalents.