AU2017100356B4 - Flat Packed Cremation Casket - Google Patents

Abstract

Abstract The present invention relates to a flat packed cremation casket which is ready for assembly by funeral home or crematorium operators.

Description

As the world and communities become more environmentally conscious, there is growing need to provide environmentally friendly products and processes. No less is this need true than in the case of a deceased person when deciding whether to .0 cremate or bury the deceased.

The decision to cremate the deceased is determined by family members or individuals by choice or by religious beliefs, custom or tradition. For environmental reasons, it is preferable to use only those materials which are fully combustible and non-toxic during cremation of the body.

It is not economical to pre-assemble cremation caskets and ship 95% air when transporting the caskets from manufacturer to funeral home. A better method is to ship lightweight caskets flat-packed and to empower funeral home operators to quickly assemble the caskets without glue or special tools, in under three minutes.

Caskets are then only assembled minutes before a cremation is required, to save on 20 restricted floor space.

Another alternative is to use a rental casket for the funeral service and use a

2017100356 28 Mar 2017 disposable insert that is taken out with the body and cremated. However, rental caskets are still quite expensive and shipping considerations may make is difficult or prohibitively expensive to use.

There are also several versions of caskets that use fiberboard or other materials.

However, these versions have one or more of the following problems: noncombustible hinges, inadequate appearance for a funeral service, high shipping costs and/or limited availability areas.

Therefore, there is a clear need in the industry for an environmentally-friendly, entirely combustible, cremation casket that can be shipped flat-packed, while not .0 requiring decorative gold or silver or other expensive handles required for a typical funeral service with family and friends present.

Summary of the Invention

The present invention provides a cremation casket assembly, comprising:

a main section formed of corrugated fibreboard material, the main section having a .5 bottom or base panel, a front wall, a back wall, two side or end walls, the walls being generally vertical and generally perpendicular to the bottom panel;

and a lid formed of the fibreboard material; a plurality of holes or slots is configured on the lid and the main section so as to enable fasteners such as zip ties to pass through to allow the lid to be secured to the main section when the casket is closed 20 wherein the casket is one piece, foldable and flat packed, ready for assembly.

Preferably, the side walls comprise flaps which fold into part of the top portion of the front and back walls and are secured in position by self- locking clips.

2017100356 28 Mar 2017

Preferably, the front and back walls of main section comprise holes to fasten ropes to enable carrying of the casket.

Preferably, the main base section comprises one or more fold lines to allow a prefolded cut-out to be folded down to form a smaller dimension bundle for shipping.

Preferably, the assembly is packaged to store up to 33 pre-packed caskets, each as a triple pack, upright in an area of about one square metre, to fit on a standard shipping pallet.

Brief Description of the drawings

Figure 1 shows the base member pf the main section of the cremation casket as an o embodiment of the present invention

Figure 2 shows the lid of the cremation casket as an embodiment of the present invention

Figure 3 shows the end or side pieces of the walls of the cremation casket as an embodiment of the present invention

Figure 4 shows the support structure of the cremation casket as an embodiment of the present invention

Figure 5 shows all of the components of the cremation casket as an embodiment of the present invention

Detailed Description of the invention

The cremation casket (1) is formed of two main sections: a main member (2)

2017100356 28 Mar 2017 (Figure 1) and lid section (3) (Figure 2). The main member (2) has solid bottom or base (4) and four generally upstanding walls (5), (6), (7), (8) extending therefrom. Walls (5) and (6) comprise side panels and (7) and (8) are front and back walls. A plurality of holes or slots is configured to enable fasteners such as zip ties to pass through to allow the lid to be secured to the main member when the casket is closed. Furthermore, holes are provided to fasten ropes to the sides of the front and back walls of main member to enable carrying of the casket. The main section also has one or more fold lines to allow the prefolded cut-out to be folded down to form a smaller dimension bundle for shipping.

o In Figure 3, the side pieces or end pieces, are separate and get joined to the single base piece in production factory utilizing cold glue and/or hot melt adhesives and staples for extra security.

Figure 4 shows the support structures which are inside the coffin, they form the .5 skeleton and give the coffin its strength - the big rectangle is glued into the base member (Fig.1) where the body lies on. The two smaller rectangles are glued to the side walls of the base member. The corrugated fibreboard flute direction of these support structures always runs opposite to the flute direction of the base sheet - this gives a cross-fluting effect which gives the coffin its strength. The smaller rectangles are glued under the lid to provide extra support, utilizing the same cross fluting” technique.

The small blocks are glued together in pairs, to make blocks to support the lid from collapsing inwards, and allow the coffins to be stacked horizontally on a pallet without crushing the lid or clips inside - i.e they also act as spacers.

2017100356 28 Mar 2017

Figure 5 shows all of the components of the casket as an embodiment of the present invention.

Basically, the cremation casket according to the present invention is environmentally friendly, strong, light weight and easy to store. Rather than pre-assembled, the casket according to the present invention is flat packed making it suitable for shipping and transportation direct to funeral homes, resulting in large transport cost savings and efficiency in storage and distribution.

The design of the casket according to the present invention enables funeral homes to store up to 33 pre-packed caskets, each as a triple pack, upright in an area of .0 about one square metre. Each triple pack measures only 1900x1100x80mm. Each casket is substantially rectangular when assembled.

The inside of the casket including base, walls and the lid may be lined with any suitable material such as is typically used in caskets.

.5

The casket may be fully assembled, without use of any tools or adhesives, in about 1-2 minutes. The casket assembly comprises fastening means such as zip ties and clips, and includes cotton rope. The base is pre-lined with low-density polyethylene plastic liner to act as a protective waterprood liner for body fluids.

Assembly instructions

Remove the panels from the protective packaging

Lift up two end pieces at about a 45 degree angle

Ensure side Flats are positioned between two main side layers

2017100356 28 Mar 2017

Insert fasteners such as self locking clips to top end of each wall or panel to secure each side wall member and the front and backwalls.

Furthermore, holes are provided to fasten ropes to the sides of the front and back wall members to enable carrying of the casket with four or six rope handles. The main base section also has one or more fold lines to allow the prefolded cut-out to be folded down to form a smaller dimension, bundled for shipping.

The casket according to the present invention is commercially known as BioBoard™.

• BioBoard is a 4-sided casket.

• BioBoard base and sides are made from a single piece of cardboard.

.0 · Bioboard uses cotton rope handles • Bioboard uses two zip ties to fasten the lid down to the walls.

• Bioboard uses polypropylene clips to strengthen the bond between the walls and the head and foot section folded flaps (after the flaps have been folded from horizontal to vertical position.) .5 · Bioboard caskets are supplied with polymer-based film pre-glued to the base and sidewalls.

• Bioboard caskets do not require any thumb screws to fasten the lid to the base.

Legend (1) Cremation casket (2) Main section (3) Lid (4) Solid bottom or base (5) Front I back wall (6) front/back wall (7) side or end wall

2017100356 28 Mar 2017 (8) side or end wall (9) Holes or slots for zip ties (10) Cotton rope (11) Holes or slots for clips

While considerable emphasis has been placed herein on the specific features of the preferred embodiment, it will be appreciated that many additional features can be added and that many changes can be made in the preferred embodiment without departing from the principles of the invention. These and other changes in the preferred embodiment of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the o art from the disclosure herein, whereby it is to be distinctly understood that the foregoing descriptive matter is to be interpreted merely as illustrative of the invention and not as a limitation.

Claims (3)

1. Claims

   The claims defining the invention are as follows:

   Claim 1

   A cremation casket assembly comprising:

   5 a main section formed of a corrugated fibreboard material, the main section having a bottom or base panel, a front wall, a back wall, two side walls, the walls being generally vertical and generally perpendicular to the bottom panel;

   and a lid formed of fibreboard material; a plurality of holes or slots is configured on the lid and the main section so as to enable zip ties to pass through to allow the lid to .0 be secured to the main section when the casket is closed wherein the main section of the casket is one piece, foldable and flat packed, ready for assembly.
2. Claim 2

   The assembly according to claim 1 wherein the side walls comprise flaps which fold into part of the top portion of the front and back walls and are secured in position by .5 self- locking clips.
3. Claim 3

   The assembly according to claims 1 or 2 wherein the side walls of the base comprise holes to fasten ropes with knots inside the side walls to prevent pull-through and to enable carrying of the casket.

   20 Claim 4

   The assembly according to any one of claims 1 to 3 wherein main base section comprises one or more fold lines to allow a prefolded cut-out to be folded down to form a smaller dimension bundle for shipping.

   2017100356 07 Aug 2019

   Claim 5

   The assembly according to any one of claims 1 to 4 wherein the assembly comprises support structures which are inside the casket, which form the skeleton of the casket and give the casket its strength such that a big rectangular section is glued into the 5 base where the body lies on; two smaller rectangular sections are glued to the side walls of the base; the corrugated fibreboard flute direction of these support structures runs opposite to the flute direction of the base panel providing a cross-fluting effect which gives the casket its strength; and the smaller rectangular sections are glued under the lid to provide extra support, utilizing the same cross .0 fluting technique.