US1973651A

US1973651A - Mattress and cushion construction

Info

Publication number: US1973651A
Application number: US660404A
Authority: US
Inventors: Louis J Odets
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1933-03-11
Filing date: 1933-03-11
Publication date: 1934-09-11
Anticipated expiration: 1951-09-11

Description

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Sem 1 L 1934 L.. J. oDETs MATTRESS AND CUSHION CONSTRUCTION Filed March ll,

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MATTRESS AND CUSHION CONSTRUCTION Sept, 1T, 1934.,

Filed March 11, 1953 2 sheets-sheet 2 52975 f5 f V Patented Sept. 1l, 1934 NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE This invention relates to arcles of furniture such as beds, couches, reclining chairs, etc., and the object of the invention is to provide an improved pad construction in the form of a matil tress, seat cushion, or a back, arm, or leg rest which will give complete rest-producing sup.- port to an occupant without causing undesirable overheating of the portions of the body supported by the improved pad or pads.

Primarily, a supporting pad made in accordance with the principles of the present invention includes a iirin but resilient foundation structure, such as a body of hair or felt or superposed layers of each or both, and which may or l5 may not include an inner spring unit, as desired, the foundation structure in any case being capable of yielding under the weight of the occupant to conform to the larger concavities and convexlties of the occupants gure.

superimposed on the foundation structure, according to the present invention, is a. pad, quilt or layer of relatively soft and highly resilient material, such as down, feathers, or a combination of down and feathers, or an equivalent 26 substitute therefor, which will yield, as a person assumes a posture on the pad, and thereby cause the lling of the facing structure to rise in all directions from the points of applied pressure to meet and conform to the varying con- 30 tours of the nether muscles of the occupant in any and all of the concavities as would be found or produced in the figure reposing in any position on the pad, for example, as at the back of the neck, between the shoulders, and at the back of the knee and ankle when lying on the broad of the back upon the pad, or at the waist line and side of the neck and head when lying on the side.

The support afforded by the pad in conform- 40 ing to the smaller as well as the larger contours of the gure gives one a sensation as of floating and thereby produces a feeling of complete restful relaxation and by reason of the soft resilient pad being comparatively thin and by reason of its being superimposed on the relatively iirm resilient foundation the deep sinln'ng body enveloping or smothering effect, inherent in the conventional feather mattress and which produces the objectionable overheating of the occupant thereof, is eliminated while the full form support effect characteristic of feathers and down is retained.

The present invention contemplates the enclosing of the soft superimposed layer of down and feathers in an individual confining envelope and the inclusion of the foundation structure and the superposed pad within a single covering envelope or ticking, whereby the whole is presented in the form of a single unit which may be readily handled without awkwardness such as that attending the handling of the clumsy flaccid bundle presented by a conventional feather bed.

The present invention further contemplates tufting or quilting of the superimposed facing es structure transversely, longitudinally or diagonally to confine predetermined quantities of the down and feathers illling respectively within areas of predetermined dimensions in order that the down and feathers will not shift to any perceptible extent over the whole of the area of the finished pad structure.

The present invention further contemplates conventional tufting of the assembled pad through the superimposed facing structure and underlying foundation structure to tie the two and the enclosing envelope together against relative shifting between the elements.

The present invention further contemplates the provision of the facing structure on one or so both faces of the pad; in the case of the former to provide what may be termed a combined winter and summer pad whereby the inherent heat-retaining qualities of the feathers and down may be taken advantage of in the Winter while permitting the mattress to be turned face for face on the bed, couch or chair to take advantage of the cooling qualities of the felt or hair side of the pad in the summer time; and in the case of the latter to permit turning of the pad, especially when in the form of a mattress, face for face on the bed at regular periods for general sanitary purposes when occasion ls required by conditions attending the use of the pad; or, when used as a seat or back cushion in living room or other furniture wherein the cushions frequently are upholstered with different materials on their opposite faces, to permit the cushions to be turned as desired to present either face without loss of the restful support provided by the superposed facing structure.

In the accompanying drawings:

. Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectional elevation of a pad made in accordance with the principles of the present invention, in the form of bed mattress, showing a human form reposing thereon; y

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 without an occupant;

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional elevation taken on the line 3-3, Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional elevation, drawn to an enlarged scale, showing a facing structure applied to each of the opposite faces of the pad;

Fig. 5 is a perspective of the facing structure showing transverse quilting thereof;

Fig. 6 is a perspective Aview showing longi-` spring unit 2, as is usual in inner-spring mattresses, consists of an envelope 3, composed of canvas, burlap, or any other suitable material and includes a top, bottom and side walls 4, 5 and 6 respectively. Within the connes of the said top, bottom and side walls are longitudinal and transversely extending rows of metallic springs 10, which are secured in place within the unit 2 in any conventional manner.

Completely enveloping the inner spring unit 2, in the present case, is a body of brous material such as cotton, felt, or hair indicated at 11, which may be applied to the inner spring unit 2 layer by layer or in any other manner of assembling common in the manufacture of inner spring mattresses and cushions.

Applied to one or both of the opposite faces of the pad assembly, so far described, is a facing unit 15, shown in perspective in Fig. 5. The facing unit 15 comprises a complete envelope 16 consisting of opposite facing sheets 1'? and 18 respectively, which. are secured together around the outer edges of the facing structure 15 and in one or more directions, at spaced intervals, intermediate the said outer edges of the facing structure, asby rows of stitching indicated at 19 in Fig. 5, wherein said rows of stitches 19 extend transversely of the facing structure at spaced intervals longitudinally of the facing structure l5, whereas, in Fig. 6, the rows of quilting stitches 19 extend both transversely and longitudinally of the facing `structure, while in Fig. '7 the quilting stitches 19 extend diagonally in opposite directions crossing eachI- other substantially at right angles, but in any case dividing the facing structure into a plurality of individual compartments or pockets 20, each of which is adapted to contain a predetermined amount of soft highly resilient material such as, and preferably consisting of, fowl plumage including a mixture of down and feathers.

In the preferred form of the invention shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, one of the facing structures 15, after the same has been filled and quilted in the desired manner, is placed directly on the layer of felt or hair 11 superimposed upon the top wall 4 of the inner spring unit 2, while in Fig. 4 a second facing structure 15 is placed in direct contact with the layer of hair or felt 11 disposed against the bottom wall 5 of the inner spring unit 2. In eitherl case, the entire assembly is then enclosed within an outer envelope or ticking 25, whereby the inner spring unit, the surrounding filling, and the facing structure or structures superimposed thereon are combined into one single unit which may be readily handled as such.

To insure against relative shifting between the filling 11 and the facing structure or structures l5, or between any of the component parts of the pad, the complete unit may be tufted, in the usual manner as indicated in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, wherein a button or tuft 21 is applied to each of the opposite sides of the assembled pad, outside the outer ticking, and joined together by a cord or other connecting element 22 extending completely through the assemblage from face to face thereof. l

As shown in Fig. 5, the compartments 20 of the facing structure 15, before assembly of the facing structure with the foundation structure l, are of a more or less elliptical cross sectional form longitudinally of the structure l5, but when the assembly is complete within the outer casing 25 each of the compartments 20 assumes a rectangular form with the several compartments disposed substantially in lateral abutting relation to each other thereby providing a substantially flat surface on the pad as shown in Fig. 2. This is accomplished by making the facing structure l5 of a normal length and width greater than the length and width of the foundation structure 1 and by making the outer casing 25 practically the same length and width as the foundation structure 1 and of a depth less than the combined normal thicknesses of the foundation structure 1 and the facing structure l5, whereby, when the two structures are placed within the outer casing 25, the facing structure is contracted and compressed by the outer casing 25, thereby assuming a flat form of substantially uniform thickness throughout the entire surface of the assembled unit. The tufts 21 aid in maintaining the flat surface on the unit by limiting movement of the oppositely disposed facing sheets of the outer casing 25 in opposite directions perpendicular to the assembled unit.

Upon referring to Fig. l of the drawings, it will be obvious that under conditions of use the relatively firm resilient foundation structure with the facing structure thereon will yield under the weight of an occupant, the foundation structure 1 conforming to the larger concavities and convexities of the form of the occupant, while the facing structure 15, lying intermediate the foundation structure and the. occupant in repose thereon, conforms to each and all of the smaller concavities of the form of the occupant, whereby complete restful relaxation is produced.

,While the pad forming the subject of the present invention has been shown in the drawings as a bed mattress, it will be obvious to one skilled in the art that the principles of the invention are equally adaptable to all forms of seat cushions and back, ieg or arm rests, in all kinds of furniture employing such structures, especially to the type of furniture wherein the cushions and rest pads are removable.

I claim:

A bedding unit comprising a relatively thick resilient and substantially rectangular foundation structure including an inner spring unit completely enclosed within a body of relatively firm resilient fibrous material of substantially uniform thickness and density presenting a flg- 5 ure-supporting surface capable of conforming only to the larger concavities and convexities of a figure reposing on said unit, a relatively thin soft resilient .and substantially rectangular facing structure superposed on said figure-supporting surface and normally of greater length and width and lesser thickness than the foundation structure, said facing structure normally comprising an envelope divided into a plurality of compartments of substantially elliptical cross sectional form respectively containing substantially equal predetermined quantities of a fowl plumage product adapted under localized pressure in one direction to effect counter-directional movement of immediately adjacent areas of said facing structure and causing the facing structure to conform to the smaller concavities and convexities of said figure, and an outer casing substantially vequal in length and width to the foundation structure and having a depth less than the combined normal thicknesses of the ,foundation and facing structures enclosing said structures and compressing the facing structure substantially to the length and Width of the foundation structure and to a predetermined uniform thickness over the area of said figuresupporting surface of the foundation structure and forming the compartments of the facing structure into substantially rectangular cross sectional forms respectively in substantially lateral abutting relation to each other providing a substantially fiat facing surface on the unit and restricting said counter-directional movement of the areas of said facing structure immediately surrounding said reposing figure to practically a negligible extent, and means limiting movement of that portion of the outer casing overlying said facing structure in a direction perpendicular to the foundation structure for maintaining said flat surface on the unit in the areas of the facing structure remote to the reposing figure.

LOUIS J. ODETS.