GB2069462A - Coffin fittings - Google Patents

Abstract

A fitting for a coffin, such as a handle or wreath suspension peg, is secured to the coffin via an intermediate component of contrasting surface finish.

Description

SPECIFICATION Coffin furniture The manufacturer of coffin furniture faces peculiar problems. His products are used only once and then burnt or buried, so that logic dictates that they should be of the cheapest and most ephemeral kind. But the mores of (at least) Western contemporary society have, at least, since the days of the Pharoah Tutankhamum required funerary furnishings to be of a quality proportional to the status of the deceased party.

This dilemma is currently met for example by using relatively rigid plastics materials which can be injection moulded to elaborate shapes of relatively thin-wall section, so as to economise in the use of material but simulate massive metal castings. These can be vacuum plated or the like to simulate (e.g.) the appearance of solid silver metal. These products are effectively totally combustible which is an advantage with cremation, and may with careful design be sufficiently strong to be of practical use as carrying handles, wreath suspension pegs and the like. But the search for better design is continuous.

There is a demand for something different and if that difference is something which cannot be readily provided by today's mass production techniques, but only by hand craftsmanship, then so much the better, except that few if any customers are prepared to pay for such craftsmanship.

One possibility which has occurred to designers in the field in the past has been to provide a black lining or framing for each bright "silver" component. This could only be done by hand painting or elaborate masking of components in the plating step and was therefore economically impossible for mass production.

The object of the present invention is to enable such effects to be achieved by methods which are feasible for mass production.

According to the invention, an item of coffin furniture has one or more portions shaped and arranged to lie against a wall or walls of the coffin and adapted to be secured thereto, and is characterised in that a separate component or components is/are made of a contrasting finish and arranged to lie respectively between said one or more portions and said wall or walls.

The item per se may be an injection moulding, vacuum forming, or like fabricated article of plastics which is self-coloured or preferably is finished for example by vacuum plating or metallising. The separate components may also be of plastics material although not necessarily the same material, and prefereably self-coloured to a dark finish. For example in the Western World where black or purple are mourning colours, the components may be black or purple and the article may be of bright or even mirror finish. For certain Eastern World countries where white is a mourning colour, the components may be white and the item per se may be coloured to match the coffin, but all of these references are purely illustrative.

In general, the use of plastics for the item per se indicates that sections are likely to be hollow so as to minimise on the use of plastics materials, and where this means that a recessed or even tubular portion is arranged to abut against the coffin wall, the corresponding component may have a projection to enter into the recess or bore of the tube, to ensure accurate alignment between the two parts in the assembled condition. The alignment may be maintained for example by making the parts snap engaged together or by fixing the parts together by an adhesive, high frequency weld, or the like.

Alternatively, the parts may be separate and secured together in alignment for example by the act of securing the item to the coffin, by using aligned screw holes.

The components may be wholley planar, as if (or actually) stamped from a plastics sheet.

Alternatively and preferably where the components are injection moulded or vacuum formed for example, each component is of a comparable shape to the corresponding portion but is of a slightly larger size, and has a raised rib or beading around its perimeter into which the portion of the item seats for location, and so that a band of contrasting colour or finish (to that of the item per se) extends over a dimension which is a multiple of the actual thickness of the material used for the component.

In a typical application of the invention, a coffin handle comprises an arcuate bar forming the handle per se and extending between a pair of transversely extending strap like parts, all of these being made integrally and unitarily as an injection moulding of a plastics material, and the straps being apertured so that fixing screws can mount the handle on a coffin side. In this case, the injection moulding may be vacuum plated to a bright finish. Two identical components are provided each made as a vacuum forming or injection moulding of a black coloured plastics, each being for location between a corresponding one of the straps and the coffin wall and in effect providing a neat black edge to that strap.

Similarly, if the invention is applied to a socalled wreath holder, which effectively hides the screw used in the fastening of a coffin and then provides an ornamental knob, the component may be in the form of a pad lying between the wreath holder itself and the coffin lid, and having a raised rim to provide a neat and possibly aesthetically pleasing finish about the base of the holder.

It will be appreciated that the invention may be applied to any of the items of coffin furniture which are to be secured (usually) to the exterior of the coffin.

It will also be appreciated that the invention can be applied to metal items as well as to plastics ones. In this case, whilst the components could also be of metal, there may continue to be advantage in making them of plastics.

Claims (9)

1. An item of coffin furniture (for example a carrying handle or a wreath suspension peg) comprising the item per se having one or more portions shaped and arranged to lie against the wall or walls of the coffin and adapted to be secured thereto, characterised in that a separate component or components made of a contrasting finish to said item is or are provided and arranged to lie respectively between said one or more portions and said wall or walls.

2. An item as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the item per se is light or bright coloured or finished and the said separate components is or are dark coloured or finished.

3. An item as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the item and component are aligned one with the other by projection and recess means.

4. An item as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the item and component are aligned one with the other by snap engagement of the parts.

5. An item as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the item and component are aligned one with the other and fixed together.

6. An item as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the item and component are aligned one with the other in use and secured together by the act of , securing the item to the coffin.

7. An item as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the components are injection moulded or vacuum formed to be of slightly larger size but the same shape as the corresponding item portion.

8. An item as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the component has a bead or rib around its periphery into which the item portion seats for location.

9. An item as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the component is formed out of flat sheet.

1 0. An item of coffin furniture provided with a component or components, substantially as described.