Casket stay mechanism

A stay mechanism for a first member hingedly connected to a second member for relative movement of the members between first and second positions, the stay mechanism yieldably retaining said members in the second of said positions, said mechanism comprising:

• an arm pivotally attached at one end to the first member at a point on the first member offset from the hinged connection, and having a sidewise protrusion at its other end;
• a guide means on the second member for guiding the protrusion into and out of the second position, said guide means comprising a resilient strip secured at one end to said second member and having a resilient pocket shaped to receive the protrusion, said pocket being adjacent said one end of the resilient strip, said guide means further comprising a camming surface fixed with respect to the second member, said camming surface facing the open pocket, said resilient strip having a portion inclined away from the pocket and the camming surface, said inclined portion serving to guide the protrusion towards the pocket as the members are moved towards the second position, the camming surface being spaced relative to the pocket to define an entrance to the pocket which is expanded by yieldable movement of the pocket in an interaction of forces between the protrusion, the pocket and the camming surface, as the protrusion enters and leaves the pocket and as the members are moved into and out of the second position, said pocket and the camming surface yieldably retaining the protrusion within the pocket when the members are in the second position, the end of the strip remote from the pocket being free for limited movement during said yieldable movement of the pocket.