What is a hinge cap or hinged cap casket?

The term hinged cap casket is somewhat confusing because almost all American style caskets are "hinged cap" caskets in the wider sense of the Word, for they possess hinges which connect the lid (the "cap" in a rather imprecise terminology) with the base of the casket. Yet in the narrower sense of the Word, as used by funeral directors, the term designates a somewhat outdated casket style, which is characterized by additional hinges between the "ogee" (the rim or frame of the lid) and the "crown" (the uppermost part of the lid). In a true hinged cap casket, only the crown (also called cap) is opened for viewing, not the complete - divided or undivided - lid. As the opening in the top is rather small in a hinged cap casket, the mourners oftentimes have the impression of looking into a box. Because of that, the hinged cap design has lost its former popularity and has been gradually replaced by half couch or full couch style caskets, which present the deceased in a much more favorable way during the viewing. Nowadays, the use of the hinged cap design is largely limited to traditional or orthodox Jewish caskets.