US3022063A - Ventilating spacer - Google Patents

Description

Feb. 20, 1962 s. P. CRANE ETAL 3,022,063

VENTILATING SPACER Filed June 30, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTORS .Samuel Crane BY .Stephenlfen j ZTTORNEY Feb. 20, 1962 s. P. CRANE ETAL VENTILATING SPACER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 30, 1959 A TTORNEY UnitedStates Patent Olice Y 3,022,053 Patented Feb. 20, 1962 3,022,953 VENTILA'HNG SPACER Samuel P. Crane, Great Neck, and Stephen D. Kent, Newburgh, N.Y., assignors, by mesne assignments, t Alpha Research Corp., New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed June 30, 1959, Ser. No. 824,905

6 Claims. (Cl. 27-110) This invention relates to coiled wire inner units for Ventilating spacers or cushions having two intersecting Sets of substantially parallel coiled wire rows and to the manufacture thereof, and relates particularly to the winding of the rows on a border frame and the locking of the rows of coils together.

in the inner spring units here involved, one set of rows of generally circular coils is arranged at right angles to a similar set of rows, and the coils of the rows are interlocked by pressing the various coils laterally together and tiattening the coils into generally elliptical form. However, while flattening locks the rows together against excessive displacement, the coiled wire part of the unit does not become stiff but even the locked rows are rather limp and can move to a limited extent relatively to the border frame during handling and use.

The present invention therefore contemplates the provision not only of a lock between intersecting rows but also of an additional lock occurring at random points where the uppermost or lowermost point or" the outer wire of two intersecting coils is in contact with the respective uppermost or lowermost point of the inner wire of the intersecting coils, such additional lock comprising an indent in the inner wire in which indent the outer wire is received and held.

The invention further contemplates the formation of the indents at the above mentioned random points of contact of intersecting coils simultaneously with the flattening of the initially circular coils, the outer wires oi the intersecting coils being locked in the indents of the inner wires by the inherent resiliency of the inner wires which tend to expand toward their initial circular form, and the outer surface of the resulting coiled structure being relatively level and free of outstanding wires especially at the intersections of the coils where hard raised spots might otherwise be formed.

The invention further contemplates the use of the outer of any pair of the intersecting wires as a die for forming the indent in the inner of the wires, the material of the wires being of such nature that the coils become permanently distorted into the desired shape simultaneously with the formation of the indents, while the shape of the outer or die wire at the intersection is retained unchanged.

The invention further contemplates the provision of a wire unit so wound and shaped from a single length of coiled wire that none of the coils project outwardly beyoud the plane tangent to the majority of the outermost points of the coils, the winding proceeding in the same rotary direction or pitch as the pitch of the coils, the corner coil connecting perpendicular rows being distorted to prevent the connecting coil from yielding and retaining an undesirable resilience in spite of the ilattening operation, the distortion of the connecting coil also preventing it from resuming its initial position after its release from the ilattening pressure thereon and thereby preventing said coil from protruding unduly and fori1 ing a projecting lump on the um't.

'Ihe various objects of the invention will be clear from the description which follows and from the drawings, in which:

FIG. l is a view of a typical seat or back spacer showing fragments of the rows of coiled wire of the inner unit and of the covering for the unit.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary elevational view of intersecting coils showing the indents in the inner coil made by the outer coil.

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary elevational view of the initially circular coils at an intersection of the rows after the winding has been completed and just as a attening operation in a press is begun.

FIG. 5 is a similar view showing the coils attencd and the formation of the indent just beginning.

FIG. 6 is a similar view showing the indent completed by compressing the coils somewhat beyond the final shapes thereof.

FIG. 7 is a similar view showing the combined attening and indenting operation completed and the coils released.

Fig. 8 is a diagrammatic view of a modified form of the unit compressing apparatus showing a pair of moving converging belts instead of a press, the belts being constrained to compress the coiled wire unit.

FIG. 9 is a similar view of another modified form of the compressing apparatus which takes the form of rollers.

FlG. l() is an elevational view of the winding apparatus for Winding the long coil about a border frame into rows and for interlacing the rows.

FIG. ll is a similar view showing the completion of the winding of one set of rows and the partially wound unit lifted out of its holder ready for turning in the direction of the'arrow preparatory to winding thesecond set of rows.

FIG. 12 is a side elevational view of FIG. l1.

FIG. 13 is a view similar to FIG. 1l showing the unit turned at right angles and the winding of the rst row of the second set of rows completed.

FIG. 14 is an elevational view of one form of the distorted corner coil at the junction of two perpendicular rows to lock the junction against displacement.

FIG. l5 is a similar view of a modified form of the distorted corner coil.

FIG. 16 is an elevational view of the unit after it has been wound and before interlacing of the rows. y

The type of spacer to which the present invention pertains vis shown in FIG. l wherein the tinished spacer or cushion 20 comprises an inner coiled wire unit 21 and suitable open mesh covers 22 enclosing the unit and bound together by stitching (not shown) around the edges thereof.' The inner unit 21 includes the relatively thick border wire frame 23 and two intersecting sets 24 and 25 each of a number of substantiallyparallel rows of coiled wire and a length 25 of such wire strung around the border frame.

As best seen in FIGS. 2, 3, 14-16 where the rows intersect, the coils are interlaced or forced into each other thereby being temporarily but insutliciently rmly locked together by the inherent resiliency of the wirecoils'. To

attain a better lock at the row intersections as well as to reduce the height of the spacer to an eiicient minimum, the initially circular coils of the rows and border are all flattened and elongated transversely to an approximately ellipitical shape as shown in FIGS. 2 and 5-9. At the same time, indents as 27 are made in the inner of the intersecting coils at those points where an outer and inner coil are in contact at the tops or bottoms thereof.

Various forms of apparatus may be employed to perform the ilattening and indenting operation. As shown more or less diagrammatically, the apparatus may be a press 28 (FIGS. 4-7), or a pair of moving conveyor belts 29, 3l) backed by converging plates '31, 32 (FIG. 8), or

p Y 3 Y a series of cooperating rollers 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 68 and 39, 40 (FIG. 9) spaced apart diminishing distances.

After the inner unitrhas been formed by winding a length of coiled wire about a frame in the manner more thickness, carbon content, acquired work hardness, temper r any of Va considerable number of factors governing resilience, then compression of the coils would be materially resisted and would cause only atemporary decrease in the length of the minor axis of the generally elliptical cross section of each coil and would have no other permauent etect beyond llattening the coils to a diiferent permanent height. However, the wire material preferably has such low resilience as to permit a substantial amount of permanent distortion of the coils when the wound unit is compressed to the depth shown in FIG. 6 which is somewhat less than theiinal depth or height of y thec'oils Vshown in FIG. 7.

At those random or unpredictable points of contact between the high points 46, 47 of intersecting coils 48, 49 or the low points of contact of intersecting coils, the

Vouter coil as 48 is forced into the inner coil 49 in the manner of a die and'forms the indent 27 in the inner coil. The indent is of such depth that the outermost point of the outer coil is coplanar with the outermost points ofthe inner coil thereby to form a comparatively level top on the unit with no projecting or outstanding wire. When the press releases the unit as in FlG. 7, the indent remains but the coils may expand slightly. Since the spacing between rows, the pitch of the coils and the relation between the coils or" dierent rows may vary to a considerable extent, the points of contact between the crests or valleysrof thecoils, or in other words between the outermost points of intersecting coils, cannot be accurately determined or made uniform but are more or less haphazard and arranged at random with but littlecontrol over the exact positions thereof. v

Ofnce the indents are formed, it is obvious that accidental-movement of the-outer wire out of the indent is substantially resisted by the terminal resilience of the inner coil and the tendency of said coil to expand-whereby the indent forms an additional lock for the intersecting coils, making the 'entire unit firmer and less limp or Vless likely to sway and hence better able to withstand handling and wear;

As has been indicated, the two sets' 24l and 25 of rows' of coils are preferably formed by winding a long coiled wire around the border wire or frame 23 to form one set 24 of rows arranged generally in one direction and a secondrset 25 in a direction substantially perpendicular to the set 24. The frame v23 lbeing initially ope-n, an end thereof is rst inserted into the end portion 50 of the coiled wire and the coils are strung along the frame, after which the frame is closed. Because of the extreme length of thecoiled wire, the winding of the rows is preferably doneby rotating the borderframe and thereby advancing theV remainder of the length of coiled wire while maintaining it Vsubstantially straight and unentangled.

The border frame may be manually or mechanically rotated, As shown in FIGS. lO-l3, the frame with the border coils strung thereon is clamped between the upper rotatable channel-shaped holder 52'and the similar lower holder 53 by rstrraising the upper holder against the action Vofthe spring 54 which urges the holder downwardly into frame clampngposition. The bracket 55 supports the shaft 56 of the upper holder for vertical and rotary movement 'and is also provided with notches 57 spaced apart vertically and serving as gages to determine Vthe spacing of lthe rows. The lower holder 53 may be continuously rotated in one direction, and stopped or reversed when desired under the control of the operator, by the use of a suitable motor and ciutch (not shown) operating through the belt 51S and pulley SQ on the shaft 66 for the holder.

The length of coiled wire may be held in the hand or passed through the tube 61 lined with suitable friction material to brake any too rapid advance of the coils and to keep the coiled length taut. After the extreme end 62 of the coiled wire on the frame is secured to the beginning of the first row 63 (FlG. l0) of coils, the coils constituting the rst row being behind and at the lower part of the frame, rotation of the holders is began in the direction of the arrow while the tube 6i is held by the operator in the bottom one of `the notches 57 of the bracket 55'. It will be noted that Ythe direction of rotation is counter clockwise in plan view because thepitch Vof the coils is that of a left hand screw, that is, the coils recede from the observer in a counter clockwise direction as in a left hand screw. The first row 63 of coils is stretched across and behind the frame vbefore rotation is begun. Atter the iirst half turn of theY frame, the first row is in front and the second Vrow stretched out behind the frame. To apprise the operator when each turn is about cornpleted, so that the tube 61 may be raised to the next notch above in position to guide the coils into the next row, a thin ribbon spring 64 extends'in both horizontal directions from the holder 52. The end 65 of the spring strikes the bracket 55 near the end of each half turn and makes a sound or creates a vibration heard or felt by the operator and constituting a signal, whereupon the operator shifts the tube 61 to the next notch. This operation is repeated until the entire rst set of rows has been wound around the frame, after which rotation of the frame is stopped. The next operation is to lock the end coil of the last row 66 of the iirst set and constituting the lbeginning of the-,second -set 25 of the rows of coils (FIGS. ll and 14) before beginning the winding of said second set. Such locking may be-performcd in diierent ways as shown for example in FIGS. 14 and l5, but in any case, therlocking operation includes distorting the coil 67 at the end of the last row 66 in one way vor another. As best seen in FIG. 14, the 'last coil 67 of the row 66 is locked into an adjacent coil as 68 of the border coils 26 by bending said coil 67 more or less abruptly to form a relatively sharp hook or bend 69 preventing the locked coil 67 from leaving the locking coil 68 under the stress put upon the row "66 when the direction of the rows is changed from one set to the other. The row 66 is not carried around the border frame so that the direction of winding remains that of a left hand screw or left hand pitch. The first row 70 of the second set 25 is perpendicular to the last row 66 of the rst set 24 and is on the same side of the frame. Both ends of the iirst row 79 are locked on the same side of the frame,the last coil 67a being distorted similarly to the iirstl coil 67 and similarly locked into one of the adjacent border coils. The ends of the row 79 being thus locked, the partly Wound unit is rotated a quarter turnin the direction of the arrow of FIG. 11. This may be doneV by first raising the unit out of the lower holder 53 as shown by the arrow of FIG. l2 against the action of the spring 54, after which Vthe frame is re-mounted in the holders-in the position Yof FIG. 13. The tube 61Y is held inthe uppermost of the notches 57 and rotation of the holder begun in the opposite direction (clockwise in plan view) to wind the second and succeeding rows across the frame. The Winding then proceeds as for the first set of rows but in the opposite direction and except that the tube 6i is moved downwardly notch by notch instead of upwardly. When the winding of the second set of rows has beenA completed, the last coil of the last row is hooked to an adjacent coil of the border or other rows and the surplus length of coiled wire, if any, cut ott to complete the unit, which is removed from the holder. Y

The rows of the unit, when wound as described or in other directions as may be suitable to secure the same pitch on the coils and the rows, are not iirmly interlocked, but are somewhat bowed as shown in FIG. 16 even though the pitch of the rows and the coils are the same. lf such pitches were different, the rows would be far more greatly bowed and could not be levelled or straightened owing -to the terminal resilience of the end coils of the rows, even though such resilience is minimized by the selection of substantially non-resilient wire strong enough to bear the weight of a person when used in the spacer. In other words, the coils would lie down temporarily under vertical pressure, instead of being crushed or flattened or deformed, and the coils would then spring back substantially into the initial bowed positions thereof to form a thick lumpy unit instead of a level one. However, when the winding is in the proper direction as determined by the rotation of the frame and the movement of the coiled row vertically, the coils are readily interlaced without deformation by raising the hinged plate 71 (FIG. l0) placing the unit on the table 72 and swinging the plate 71 down on the unit to strike the outstanding rows a sharp blow, thereby levelling the upper and lower surfaces of the unit. The llattening and indenting of the coils may now proceed as hereinbefore described in connection with FIGS. 2-9.

Referring now to FIG. 15, the last row 66 of the iirst set 24 is there shown in a vertical position at the left of the unit, the partly wound unit having been turned not only as shown in FIG. 13 but also up side down to carry the end coil 72 (corresponding to the coil 67 of FIGS. 11 and 13) of the row 66 to a position near the bottom and at the fron-t of the unit. The last coil 72 starting at the front is partly straightened to remove any tendency thereof to become unruly and to stay upright. The coiled wire is then carried a half turn around the border frame to the rear of the unit being suiciently distorted to permit winding of the second set of rows perpendicular to the rst set without changing the direction of rotation of the frame. The winding therefore is of a lett hand pitch as required by the pitch of the coils.

It will now be clear that by employing the proper direction of rotation for the frame, starting the winding at the top or bottom of the frame and with the coiled length in front of or behind the frame, locking one or both corner coils at the change from one set to the other by proper distortion of such coils, it becomes possible to attain initial interlacing and later permanent attening of the coils without danger of the incidence of unruly and unmanageable outstanding lumps. It will also be seen that while the attening operation alone is effective to lock the rows together by increasing the horizontal diameters of the coils and wedging them in place, the additional lock in the form of indents renders the unit firmer and less limp and therefore more etlicient.

While certain specific forms of the invention have herein been shown and described, various obvious changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention defined by the appended claims.

We claim: Y

1. In a coiled wire unit for a Ventilating spacer, a irst set of coiled wire rows arranged in one general direction, a second set of coiledrwire rows arranged in a direction generally perpendicular to and intersecting the lirst set of rows whereby certain coils of intersecting rows intersect each other, the axes of the rows being coplanar and arranged in a plane substantially half way between the crests and valleys of the coils, random crests and valleys of the inner of the intersecting coils being indented toward the plane of said axes by an amount substantially equal to the thickness of the wire of the coils at the points where the crests of intersecting coils meet and where the valleys of intersecting coils meet to provide locking indents at said points, said indents receiving respectively the crests and valleys of the outer of the intersecting coils, the inner coils having suiicient resilience to exert outward pressure upon and to resist outward movement of the respective outer crests and valleys out of the indents thereby locking said crests and valleys against accidental relative displacement.

2. The unit of claim 1, the rows being bent from a single length of coiled wire, the end coil of the last row of the lirst set of rows being distorted out of its normal shape and interlocked with an adjacent coil not in said row.

3. The unit of claim 2, a border frame, the length of coiled wire having the end portion thereof strung on the frame and having the remainder thereof Wound in half turns around the frame to form the rows.

4. In a coiled wire unit for a Ventilating spacer, a iirst set of coiled wire rows arranged in one general direction, a second set of coiled wire rows arranged in a direction generally perpendicular to Vand intersecting the lirst set of rows, the axes of the rows being substantially coplanar and arranged in a plane approximately half way between the crests and valleys of the coils whereby certain coils of intersecting rows intersect each other, random crests and valleys of the inner of the intersecting coils being indented toward said plane by an amount substantially equal to the thickness of the wire of the unit and receiving respectively the crests and valleys of the outer of the intersecting coils whereby the intersecting coils are locked together against accidental displacement and the outermost adjacent points of the crests are coplanar, and the outermost adjacent points of the valleys are coplanar.

5. In a coiled wire unit for a Ventilating spacer, a border frame, a length of coiled wire of suiciently low resilience to retain the shape to which said wire is bent under pressure exceeding the elastic limit thereof, an end portion of said length being strung on said trame, the remainder of said length being around the lframe and comprising two 'intersecting sets of rows, one set being perpendicular to the other set where coils of one set intersect coils of the other set at random points, the end coil of the last row of the first set of rows having a relatively sharp bend therein passing around the wire of an adjacent coil of the aforesaid end portion and being locked thereto, the coils being of attened elliptical shape and the inner of the intersecting coils having an indent therein at the crests and valleys thereof, the indents receiving the respective crests and valleys of the outer of the intersecting coils.

6. The unit of claim 5, a border frame, the rows being wound in half turns around the frame from a single length of wire, and an end portion of said length being strung on the frame, the end coil of the last row of the rst set of rows being distorted out of its normal shape and interlocked with an adjacent coil of said end portion.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,471,777 Reinartz May 31, 1949 2,747,619 Buttner May 29, 1956 2,801,680 Crane Aug. 6, 1957 2,801,681 Crane Aug. 6, 1957 2,804,912 Pickard Sept. 3, 1957

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