Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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ARTIC~ AND METHOD FOR ENCLOSING
BACKGROUND OF ~E INVEN~ION
1. Field o~ the Inventiono _ This
invention relate~ to the art of mor~uary 9Ci ence, and
in particular, it is concerned with a novel article
and the method of i~s use in connec~i.on with enclosing
and protecting entombment caskets in a crypt or
mau~oleum, particularly in a garden crypt.
2. Description of the Prior Art: - It is
well known, in mortuary ~cience, to provide, for
enclosing a ca~ket~ a burial vault which i5 made of
two piece~ of "s~nthetic plastic resi~ous mate:rial"
which are fltted together to provide an air-tight
~eal. ~uch an article, together with a prac~ice $or
lte u~e, i~ dl~clo~ed~ for ~xample~ in ~ny of~the US
Pa~ent~ No~. 3,208,188; 3,208,1~6; and 4,154,0310
The prior art contains a burial vaul~ made of
fiberglass, as shown in U.S. Patent No. 3,172,1~3; and
it oontain~ a burial vault made oE polyethylene or
other molded plastic material, a~ in the above-
mentioned US Patent No. 4,154,031.
In the prlor art a~ exemplified by th~
above-men~ioned patent , the burial vaults have
invariably been of a two-pieee oon3truction comprising
a ba~e and a dor~e-shaped lid, and these article~ have
al~o bee~ in~ended for use in underground burial,
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replacing massive concrate structure~ which were at
one time used in order ~o provide the necessary load-
bearing charac~eristics which are important in
connec~ion with such burial.
In the prior art, there hzls been, prior to
tha present inven~ion, less of an appreciated need for
providing a further air-tight enclosure around t~e
casket ln the case of having the casket protected in a
crypt or ~ausoleum. Experience with the maintenance
of garden crypts and mausoleums has revealed, however,
~hat there may be, in the practiae o th~æ method of
the long-term protection of remain~, a~ much o~ a
need, if not mora o~ a nee~, for ~he u~e o~ an
additional alr-tight sealing structure around tlle
casket, regardles~ of whether the casket i~self i~ of
a ~ealing or a non-sealing type. Persons char~ed with
~he mainterlance of the mausoleumæ and cryp~s are well
aware o~ the necessity of providing ventlla~ion meana
for the crypt6~ and of ~pending money on various means
which are used to mask or ~uppress odoræ or to control
insects and other pests.
~ he prior art has not provided, for th~s
use, any especially suitable ar~icle of manufaakure.
More particularly, it has not provided an artlale in
the form of an end~capped enclosure, nor has ~here
been taught the method of overcoming the above-indicated
problems by the use of such an article.
SUMMARY O~ THE INVENTION
To overcome problems concerning storage of
entombment caskets in crypts or mausoleums, particularly
garden crypts, there is provided an air-tight end-capped
casket-enclosing article made of suitable material, such as
rotation-molded polyethylene or other suitable synthetic
resinous (plastic) material, alone or reinforced with
suitable other fibrous material, such as fiberglass.
Thus, in one aspect of the invention there is
provided an article for providing long-term stora~e of an
entombment casket comprising: a casket enclosure means ~hich
is made of synthetic resinous material and is of a two-part
construction, the t~o-part construction of the enclosure
means comprising a unitary body member which envelops the
casket and an end cap member; means for permanently sealing
the body member and the end cap member in air-tight and
water-proof manner after the casket has been inserted
therein; and means for ventin~ the space enclosed by the
enclosure means.
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The invention also provides a system, in a
preferred embodiment, for providing long-term storage of an
entombment casket in an above ground building and which
consists of the aforementioned article plus rack means in the
above ground building for receiving and supporting enclosed
caskets for long-term storage.
In another aspect of the invention there is
provided a method of providing long-term storage of an
entombment casket in an above ground bullding which method
comprises encasing the casket in a thin-walled enclosure
means which is made of synthetic resinous material and is of
two-part construction, the enclosure means comprising a
unitary body member which envelops the casket and an end-cap
member, permanently joining, in an air-tight and water-proof
manner, the body member after the casket has been inserted
therein, and the end cap member, and venting the space
enclosed by the enclosure means while supported at a desired
location in the above ground building.
DESCRIPTION O~ l'HE ~RAWI~GS
A complete understandin~ of the inv~ntion
may ~e obtained ~om the foregoing and follo~ing
d~scriptio~ thereo~, taken in conjunction with the
appended drawing~ in whlchs
Figure 1 i~ e elevation vi~w, partly
broken away, o~ a ca~ket enclosure in accordance wlth
the invention.
1, ` ,
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Figure ~ i~ a ~ec~ional view, taken on the
line Il-II of Flgure 1 to sho~ the body and the end-
- cap paxt~ which compri~e H ca~ket enclo~ure of t}le
pre~ant invention;
Figure 3 i~ a seotional eleva~ion view
taken on the line III-III of Flgure 1
~ igure 4 1~ an end elevation view of the
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ca p member ~hown in Figure 2;
~ i~ur~ 5 i~ ~n ~le~7ation~1 view
illustra~ing emtombmen-t ca6ket~ in ~Ih a}:~ove ground
huilding .
PESCRIPTIo2~ OF THE P~E ER~Er~ EM~OPIMENTS
There i5 depict~d in Fi~lre 1 a E)l~e
elev~tion ~iew of a c~iket enclo6ure ~ which i~i a
novel a~ti~le or~ manufacture, fvr u~e ir~ accordanae
with the ~thod of the pre~ent invention. A~ c~n be
~en ~rom th~ flr~win~, the ~sket ~clo~ur~
hollowl elonyat~d article having a 40ttom 4, ~ide
wall~ 6 and 8, ~ w~ll 10 at i-t~ clo~ed end, and an
open en~ :L2 which 1B ~dapted to be alo~ed by ~ean~ of
a ~ap member 14~
- ~he ~ody memb~r of the ~ket enalo~ure 2
al~o pr~Perably ha~l ad~açen~ ~v the tops of it~ ~ide
and ~, ~ome ~uit~ble portion~ 1~ whlch ~re of
dimini~hihg horizon~al dimen~ion~ n~ approache~
~he top surf~c~ 18 of ~he ca~ket enalo~ure 2. The
portions 1~ may, as shown, be pl~nar, and a~ tho~e
~killed in the art will readily appre~ e, ~urface~
whi~h are r~ c~v~d or Qtherwise ~imllarly
~h~ped may likewi~e be us~d,
W:l~h the body member o:f ~he c~qket
enclosure 2, there i~ u~ed an end-aap mem~er 14 which
h~s ~ it~b;le ext~rior s~lrfac~ 20, a~ well a~ h~vîng,
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on the side thereof which is oppo~ite to the exterior
~urface 20, the ~ui~able, relatively thin-wall~d part~
22 which are adapted to form~ through their surface~
24, a suitable permanent air-tight and water-proof
~eal wl$h the surfaces 26 upon the in.~erlor of th~
body member of ~he casket enclo~ure 2 in the vicinity
of its open end.
~ hose skilled in the axt will appreclat,e
that a ~uitable ~eal can be efected in any of several
~uitable known ways 7 i.e., with the u~e oE any of a
variety of ~uitable sealing materials which may be
applied to such ~urfaces, such as silicon glaze or
epoxy cement. Sealing by the action of an ele~tric
welder which heat~ to form by fu3ion a unitary
s~ructure i8 another po~sibility. ~he inten i~, in
any event, ~o form a casket enclo~ure 2 ~hich wlll be
completely air-~ight and water-proo~ and remain 80 for
at least fi~y year~,
The ca#ket-enclosure article which is used
in accordance with the present inventio~ ha~ suitable
exterior dimensions to enable it to be fitted into an
appropriate place in a crypt or mau~oleum, on the one
hand, and ~uitable interior dimension~ to be able to
recei~e within it~ interior a casket, on the other.
Thus, in general, a casket-enclo~ure article which i~
u~ed in accordance with the invention has an overall
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length which is on the order of 85 1/2 inches or 87
1/2 lnche~, and an exteriox overall width which i~ on
~he order o~ ~0 inches or 32 inches, and an overall
exterior height which is on the order of 25 inches or
26 inches~ The width of the top i8 011 the order o~ 2-
1/2 to 7 ~nches le~s than the width of the bottom, and
the ca~ket-en~lo~ure article preferably ha~,
throu~hout, a wall ~hickness on the order of a~ laast
3/16 inch or more. 5uch articles can be made so that
they have an ov~rall weight on the order of 70 to 120
pounds.
In accordance with a preferred embodiment
of the invention, a casket-enclo~ure article as
described above i~ made of polyathylene which is black
in color~ the article being formed in aecoxdance with
a proce~s, known per se, wherein ~he powder or polymer
to be molded i8 placed within a suitable mold and
heated to a suitable temperature while ~imultaneously
being ro~a~ed abou~ two perpendicular ax~
simultaneou~ly to effect the centri~ugal casting o an
article of the desired shape and dimen~ion~. Both the
hody member and the cap member may be ~o made. Making
the article in thi~ way is de~irable becau6e it tends
to afford additional ma~erial at some places, like
corners, where additional material would be more
de~irable, and a~ the same time, such a proce~g~ in
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contrast to the use of injection molding, forms khe
articles withou~ the in~roduction of stresses
thereinto, which is de~irable from the stand-point of
obtainin~ an a~ticle more likely to withstand
exceed.ingly prolonged storage without the development
of any stre~s-related cracking.
Those ~killed in the art will require no
~urther in3truction about how such an article would be
u~ed, in connsction with the in-garden~crypt or ~n-
mausoleum lon~-time storage of a casket, ~ealed or
unsealed. The casket is lnserted in~o the body of the
casket enclosure and then the end-cap is applied, to
form a suitably air-tight ùnitary whole.
Tho~e skilled in the ar~ will al80
appreciate the advantages that are ob~ained by the use
of such a s~ructure in conne~isn with mau oleum~ and
garden crypta, and in particular, they will appre~iate
tha~ it will be po3s~bl~ to obtain a comparatively
long life, affoxding an article which re~ists
corro~ion, and doe~ not ru~t or rot or warp, and is
not affected by extreme changes in temperature. It
affords permanence, and it creates an air-~ight and
water proof construction, which makes unnecessary some
expenses that ~ave otherwi~e been incurred in
connection with maintaining an above-ground
entombment, su~h as the u6e of fog~r aerosols, dusting
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or ~praying with insec~icide or other pestieide
material, and i~ eliminates or greatly reduces the use
of fumigant~ and/or perfumant~ to control odor~ as
well as eliminating or greatly reducing the need for
purchasing and usin~ an electrocutor-type light trap
for the control of insects and pest~. The eXpenQe and
th~ use of an inner crypt seal~ or the uBe of ~aulking
to ~eal and re-seal the crypt can be avoided, a~ well
a~ the need to ~pread embalminy powder in each crypt.
The labor time required to seal or re~seal a crypt is
reduced whsn ~he article and the me~hod accordinq to
the pre~ent invention are ueed. Use of the invention
afford~ a raduction in utility co~ts for ventilation,
heating, and alr-conditioning i~ the maintenance in
the abo~e-ground en~ombment3. There may al~o b~
advantages obtained in respect to reducing the C03t 0
th~ crypt, because of a decrea~ed need for providing
~entilation mean~.
Those skilled in the art will appreciate
the potential usefulne6s of the inventlon in its
enabling the de~lgn and constructlon of a novel kind
o~ garde~ crypt or mausoleum, one in which, instead of
it~ being nece~sary to provide, for each crypt
enclo~ure, concr~te in relatively qreat amount~, there
i8 in~tea~ provided a structure which i8 lighter in
weight and more compact, with a ~olid or honeycomb
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3teel ~helving support Eor each caske~ after applying
a protective enclosure according ~o the present
invention. ~he Gasket enclo ure according to the
invention will ~erve to diminish Gr exclude th2 chance
that such shelving suppor~ will be ~ubjected to
condition~ which may cause it to rustO
Optional~y, moreover, there may be al~o
provided, at any desired or ~uitable location, whether
in the cap or the body o the article disclosed
herein, a pres~ure-relief valve 30, De3irably, this
valve has an exter$or port which is connected ~o a
ventilation pipe which commun1cate~ via suitable
tubing wi~h the exterior of the mausoleum or g~rden
crypt.
While I have shown and de~cribed herein
certain embodimen~ of my in~en~ion, I intend to cover
as well any chan~e or modification therein which may
be made ~ithout departing from it~ ~pirit and ~ope.
