US2698650A - Zigzag spring unit having open supporting end - Google Patents

Description

Jan. 4, 1955 H. c. FLINT 2,698,650 ZIGZAG SPRING UNIT HAVING OPEN SUPPORTING END Filed April 19, 1949 2' Sheets-Sheet l INVEN I fi yzafid C 7 BY m4, 9

Jan. 4, 1955 H. c. FLINT 2,698,650 ZIGZAG SPRING UNIT HAVING OPEN SUPPORTING END Filed April 19, 1949 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 9 INVENTOR. 291 6? 178/95 l l i United States Patent() ZEGZAG SPRING UNIT HAVING"OPEN SUPPIJRTING END Hyland C. Flint, Birmingham, Mich. assignor to 'American Metai Products Company, Detrit,.Mich., a corporation of Michigan Application April 19, 1949, Serial No. 88,294 6 Claims. (Cl. 155-179) This invention relates to spring constructions embodymg a plurality of pre-arched sinuous or 'zigzag spring strips of the type disclosed and claimed in KadenReissue Patent No. 21,263 and, in particular, refers to such a spr ng strip per se. The present application refers to spring strips for use in seat constructions and is'related to Serial No. 89,114, filed on April 22, 1949,.entitled Zigzag Spring Unit Having Closed Supporting End which refers primarily to a back-construction.

As mentioned in more detail in the application just referred to, it is the general object of the invention to provide a sinuous spring strip construction in which the sometimes conflicting properties of ease of manufacturing, spring characteristics, and spring contour are reconciled to the extent that each is improved with respect to prior art structures without sacrifice in another. This is accomplished by the use of supports for intermediate portions of the web of the spring strip, these supports preferably, but not necessarily, comprising rebent ends of the web that are formed into loops of various shapes beneath the webs and are secured at their terminal points to intermediate parts of the web. These supports reduce the unit stress in the spring strip and therefore make possible a reduction in spring wire gage to facilitate manufacturing. They also improve the spring characteristics such as uniformity of deflection and conformability. And they also provide a convenient means for regulating the contour of the web.

In seat constructions it is a common requirement that the front of the spring strip have substantially more depth than the rear. It is the particular object of the invention described herein to provide a seat spring construction having the required front depth as well as the beneficial web supports mentioned above.

illustrative embodiments of the invention are shown in the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a body rest device with a part of the upholstery broken away to reveal the novel spring strips;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged end elevation of a strip shown in Fig. l; and

Figs. 3-7 show modified forms of the invention.

The body rest device 1 of Fig. 1 has a seat 3 with frame rails 5 and 7 at the front and near the rear thereof to which the sinuous spring strips 9 are secured by suitable means, the connection to the rear rail 7 being preferably achieved by the use of clips 11 such as described and claimed in a copending application Serial No. 88,293, filed April 19, 1949, of the present inventor, entitled Spring Supporting Clip Having Locking Tongue.

The spring strip 9 has a web portion 13 and opposite ends which are bent in a similar manner beneath the web to form resilient loops or supports 15 of a desired shape. As shown in Fig. 2, the supports 15 include spacer loops 17 by which they are connected to the ends of the web 13 and then upwardly concave arcuate portions 19 which are joined to intermediate portions of the web 13 by upright, rectilinear portions 21 attached by clips 23 to the web. An intermediate loop 25 of the rear or right support 15 is secured by clip 11 directly to the rear rail 7 as already indicated, but, in order to raise the front of the strip 9, the front support 15 is connected to the front rail 5 through the medium of a connector strip 27. The strip 27 is upwardly convex and tangent at 28 to the undersurface of the arcuate portion 19 of the front support 15 to which I The strip 27 defines an arc of somewhatless .thani90" it is connected at a central portion by a suitable clip 29.

and its lower end is front rail 5.

It will be recognized thatthe portions of .thesupports 15 outwardly ofthe contact point 28 and rear rail 7 comprise resilient supports for the ends of the web13 while the portions inwardly of these .points comprise resilient supports for the intermediate points ofthe web. In this particular form of support the portions 21 addlittle or. no resiliency to the support and serve primarilyas spacers because they are substantially perpendicular to the web By varying the shape of inner portions of the sup ports and their points of connection with the web, it is, of course, possible to achieve various effects.

In the modified strip 40 of Fig. 3 the web .42 is supported at intermediate points which are closer to the front edge thereof than in the strip 9. In this strip the rear support 44 is connected by a spacer loop 45 to the rear end of the web 42 and extends forwardly beneath the web in an upwardly concave manner until it intersects the web and is connected thereto by clip 46 at a'point forwardly of the midpoint thereof. The front support 48 is connected by a clip 50 to the lower connector strip 27 and at this connection has a rectilinear portion 52 which is bent forwardly and upwardly and secured to the web 42 by clip 54. The balance of the support 48 comprises an arcuate portion 56 which is connected to the end of the web 42 by a spacer loop 58.

The sinuous spring strip 60 of Pig. 4 hasthe front and rear supports of the strip 40 (Fig. 3) interchanged so that support 44 is at the front of the web 62 and support 48 is at the rear. If desired, the end of the support 48 may be bent tangent to the web 62 to provide an increased line of contact with the web forwardly of its connection thereto by the clip 54. t

The support 15 of Fig. 2 is used at the rear of the strip 70 of Fig. 5 to support the rear end and an intermediate point of the web 72. The front support 74 of strip 70, however, is connected only to the front end of the web, as by the spacer loop 76, and furnishes no intermediate support for the web. The support 74 has an upwardly concave, inwardly extending portion 78 which is integrally joined by a spacer loop 79 to the connector strip 27. The support 74 and the connector strip 27 provide a V-shaped support, having its apex to the rear, for the front end of the web which functions in the same manner as the front web and supports heretofore described. However, it has somewhat more depthbecause of the spacer loop 79.

In Fig. 6 a spring strip 80 is shown which has the front support 74 of Fig. 5 for web 82 that is integral with the connector 27, no spacer loop 79 being used. The rear of the web 82 is supported by the support 48 of Figs. 3 and 4.

While Figs. 4-6 have illustrated different arrangements of the supports of Figs. 2 and 3 with or without V-shaped front end supports, Fig. 7 shows a different form of strip 90. This strip is endless, comprising a web 92 and a lower upwardly concave support 94 that is connected at its ends to the ends of the web 92 by spacer loops 96 so that the strip appears cigar-shaped in elevation. The connector strip 27 is connected by a clip at 98 to a forward portion of the support 94. Intermediate web support is provided by a strip 100 which is secured by clip 98 to the support 94 and connector strip 27 and extends upwardly and rearwardly to an intermediate point in the web to which it is connected by the clip 102.

In each of the strips illustrated supports are provided for both the ends and an intermediate portion of the web, thus endowing the strips with the benefits hereinbefore set forth. The connector strip 27, which is used to support the front of each of these strips, provides a further degree of resiliency and therefore serves to increase the measure of these benefits. The web and all the supports including the connector strip 27 are preferably formed of sinuous wire, as mentioned, and in some cases may be formed of a single integral strip, thus facilitating manufacture.

Other modifications may be made within the scope of the invention, hence it is not intended to limit it to the forms shown herein.

secured .by a suitable Lclip 31 to the What is claimed is:

1. A spring strip comprising a sinuous spring web, a common support for the front and rear ends of the web comprising a sinuous spring beneath the web connected to the ends of the web, a support for an intermediate portion of the web comprising a sinuous spring strip between the web and common support and connected at its ends to intermediate portions thereof and a forwardly and downwardly extending sinuous spring wire connector strip connected to the support at a point spaced rearwardly of the front end of the web.

2. A spring strip comprising a sinuous spring web, a sinuous spring support for the front end of the web connected to said front end and extending rearwardly beneath the web, a sinuous spring support for the rear end of the web connected to said rear end and extending forwardly beneath the web, a sinuous spring support for an intermediate part of the web connected to one of said end supports and extending upwardly into operative engagement with the web, and a forwardly and downwardly extending connector strip connected to the support for the front end of the web at a point spaced rearwardly of the front end of the strip.

3. In a seat construction the combination of a frame having front and rear transverse rails, transversely spaced sinuous spring strips having webs above the rails, sinuous spring portions connected to the ends of the webs and extending therebeneath to provide resilient supports for the ends of the webs, sinuous strips interconnecting at least some of said supports and intermediate portions of the webs, means connecting the supports for the rear ends to the rear transverse rail, forwardly and downwardly extending connector strips operatively connected to the supports for the front ends of the webs at points spaced rearwardly of the front ends, and means connecting the lower ends of the connector strips to the front rail.

4. The invention set forthin claim 3 wherein said rear rail is spaced substantially forwardly of the rear ends of the webs and the spring portions at the rear ends of the webs extend forwardly to said connecting means.

5. A spring element constructed from a zigzag spring strip having a seating portion, with the ends of the strip reversely bent thereunder to form supporting portions the inner ends of which project upwardly into engagemen with the seating portion, and an additional zigzag spring strip supporting portion connected to one of said first supporting portions and extending downwardly below the front end of the seating portion.

6. A spring element made from a Zigzag spring strip having a seating portion, with the ends of the strip reversely bent thereunder, at least one of said reversely bent portions extending upwardly into engagement with the seating portion to provide additional support therefor, and an additional spring supporting portion connected to one of said reversely bent portions and extending downwardly beneath one end of said seating portion.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,814,789 Dorton July 14, 1931 2,116,402 Menge May 3, 1938 2,186,548 Lotz Jan. 9, 1940 2,386,456 Haberstump et a1. Oct. 9, 1945 2,526,183 Williams et a1. Oct. 17, 1950 2,571,184 Bateman et a1. Oct. 16, 1951 2,591,185 Neely Apr. 1, 1952

Images