Appeal No. 2002-0074 Page 9
Application No. 08/800,758
caskets 22 they are mounted on conveyors 50 when carried by the pallet 24 and a
sliding support 40 when stored in the rack 20.
The storage rack 20 of Evans has a number of horizontal storage shelves and is
a generally rectangular frame structure which is normally secured in a fixed position on
a warehouse floor 28. Each of the storage shelves of the rack 20 include six equal
length parallel and horizontal longitudinal stringers 30 disposed in the same plane in
three sets of adjacent pairs of stringers 30. The pairs of stringers in a set are spaced
from each other slightly less than the width of a casket 22 and from the next stringer 30
of a set, a sufficient distance to prevent caskets 22 mounted on one paired set of
stringers 30 from touching caskets 22 mounted on an adjacent paired set of stringers
30. The length of each of the longitudinal stringers 30 is about twice as long as a
casket 22. Support for the longitudinal stringers 30 is provided by means of four vertical
end stringers 36, end stringers 32, a horizontal middle stringer 34, a pair of
vertical middle stringers 38 and a pair of side stringers 38a.
The pallet 24 of the elevator conveyor of Evans (best viewed in Figures 8 and 9)
is comprised essentially of a double deck frame structure in which each deck is just
large enough to carry a casket 22 which is mounted for longitudinal movement on
parallel conveyors 50. The pallet 24 is framed by a pair of parallel lower horizontal
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Last modified: November 3, 2007