US3240482A

US3240482A - Spring assemblies

Info

Publication number: US3240482A
Application number: US312455A
Authority: US
Inventors: Walter V Slominski; Geroge F Janko
Original assignee: Hoover Ball and Bearing Co
Current assignee: Hoover Universal Inc
Priority date: 1963-09-30
Filing date: 1963-09-30
Publication date: 1966-03-15
Anticipated expiration: 1983-03-15
Also published as: US3240483A

Description

March 1966 w. v. SLOMINSKI ETAL 3,

SPRING ASSEMBLIES 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 30, 1963 INVENTORS W41. TEE (/610/4/11/5/6/ WWW March 15, 1966 w, v. s| oM| s T 3,240,482

SPRING ASSEMBLIES Filed Sept. 30, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR5 WCJLTEQ 1/ SLOM/AASZ/ fa gas F. .JQ/L/KO Mandi/Wad United States Patent ()1 3,240,482 SPRING ASSEMBLIES Walter V. Slominski, Garfield Heights, Ohio, and George F. Janka, Georgetown, Ky., assignors to Hoover Ball and Bearing Company, Saline, Mich., a corporation of Michigan Filed Sept. 30, 1963, Ser. No. 312,455 7 Claims. (Cl. 267102) This invention relates generally to upholstered seat structures and more particularly to an improved wire spring assembly for such structures.

Some upholstered seating structures are designed with a chord distance, namely, the straight line distance between the spring supporting rails, sufliciently great that elongated spring structures cannot be extended between the rails without undesirably large deflections in the springs and a corresponding reduction in the desired stiffness of the load supporting port-ion of the seat structure. As a result, in seating structures of this type it has been necessary in the past to add auxiliary frame rails, thereby adding significantly to the final cost of the seat structure and adding to the complexity and weight of the frame. It is an object of this invention, therefore, to provide an improved spring assembly for seating structures of this type which does not require auxiliary frame rails for support, is readily installed on the rails, and incorporates structure which shortens the effective chord distance over which deflection of the spring can occur.

In the spring assembly of this invention, elongated wire springs, of sinuous wire, which is shown in the drawing, or formed wire, which is well known and is illustrated, for example, in FIGS. 4 and of US. Patent No. 3,095,189, owned by the assignee of this application, type having transverse cross wire portions adjacent ones of which are connected by connecting wire portions, are used. These types of springs have a resilient resistance to lateral bending characteristic and are described herein generically as zigzag springs, so that, as used herein, the term zigzag spring is inclusive of both formed wire and sinuous wire springs. A main zigzag spring of a length to substantially span the distance between a pair of frame rails on which the seat structure is to be supported is attached or formed integral with cantilever supports which are mounted on the rails and extended inwardly toward each other. Each support is clipped at one point to a frame rail and is engaged with the frame rail at another point so that the support is restrained against pivoting under load. Each support is in turn engaged with at least two longitudinally spacedportions of the main spring so as to likewise support the spring and at the same time restrain the spring against pivotal movement at its support. As a result, the effective chord distance over which the spring can deflect is reduced to the distance between cantilever supports. The size of the cantilever supports and the points at which the cantilever supports are engagedwith the spring can be dimensioned to provide the desired effective chord distance. The cantilever supports and the spring can be formed of a single length of zigzag wire bent to. the desired shape, or separate lengths of wire which are bent to the desired shapes and subsequently clipped together, but in any event, the cantilever supports and the spring are assembled so that they can be readily mounted on 3,240,482 Patented Mar. 15, 1966 ice supporting rails spaced a predetermined distance from each other.

Further objects, features and advantages of this invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following description, the appended claims, and the accornpanying drawing in which:

FIGURE 1 is a transverse sectional view of a seating structure frame having a spring assembly of this invention mounted thereon;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary plan view of the assembly shown in FIG. 1, with some parts removed for the purpose of clarity;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary detail sectional view looking substantially along the line 13-3 in FIG. 1;

FIGURE 4 is a foreshortened sectional view, illustrated similarly to FIG. 1, illustrating a modified form of the spring assembly of this invention;

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary transverse sectional view, illustrated similarly to FIGS. 1 and 4, illustrating another modified form of the spring assembly of this invention; and

FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary detail sectional view looking substantially along the line 66 in FIG. 5.

With reference to the drawing, one form of the spring assembly of this invention, indicated generally at 10, is illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 mounted on a furniture frame 12 which is illustrated as including front and

rear frame rails

14 and 16, respectively, and supporting legs 18. The spring assembly 10 consists of a plurality of individual spring units, indicated generally at 20, which .are identical and only one of which is shown in FIG. 1. The units 20 are mounted in a closely spaced side-by-side relation on the frame 12 as shown in FIG. 2, the spacing between units 20 depending on the particular seat structure being assembled. The units 20 are connected by a border wire 22 and

tie wires

23 and 24 each of which is secured to each of the spring units 20 by spring clips 26 of conventional construction.

The spring unit 20 consists of a single length of zigzag Wire, illustrated as being sinuous wire, which is bent to form an elongated main spring member 28 that is of a length such that it substantially spans the distance between the front and

rear frame rails

14 and 16. The main spring member 28 is bent so that at its front end it has a V-shape, or what is referred to as a fish-mouth, front end portion 30 which includes a bottom leg portion 32 and a top leg portion 34 which can deflect downwardly toward the portion 32 to impart the desired resilience characteristics to the front end of the spring unit 20. An edge wire member 36, secured by clips 38 to the main spring member 28, projects forwardly and upwardly and is secured to the border wire 22 at a position in substantially vertical alignment with the front frame rail 14.

The main spring 28 has cross wire portions 40, adjacent ones of which are connected by generally U-shape connecting wire portions 42 and as illustrated in FIG. 2 the main spring 28 is stretched in certain portions relative to other portions so that the spacing between adjacent cross wire portions 40 varies. During deflection of the spring 28, the cross wire portions 40 function as torsion bars to impart the resilient resistance to laterial deflection desired in the spring 28. By forming the spring 28 so that the spacing between the cross wire portions 40 is varied over the length of the spring, the relative stiffness of the longitudinally spaced portions of the spring 28 can be adjusted to provide the spring with the desired deflection characteristics as explained in Patent No. 2,639,763 owned by the .assignee of this application.

The front end of the spring unit 20 is extended downwardly and return bent upon itself to form a cantilever support 44, and the rear end of the unit 20 is similarly bent downwardly and return bent upon itself to form a rear cantilever support 46. The spring unit 20 is bent so that apair of cross wire portions, indicated at 48 and 50, at the'front end of the unit are in substantial vertical alignment. The portion 50 is below the cross wire portion 48 and the unit 20 has a portion 52 inclined downwardly and rearwardly from portion 50 and formed integral with an upwardly and rearwardly inclined portion '54. portion 54, is adjacent to and below the rear end of the leg portion 32. A pair of spring clips 58 connect adjacent "cross wire portions 40 in the

spring unit portions

32 and 56.

The rear end of the spring unit 20 is formed so that it also has a pair of aligned cross wire portions, indicated at 60 and 62, with the cross wire portion 62 being disposed below the cross wire portion 60. From the cross wire portion 62, the spring unit extends downwardly and forwardly as shown at 64 and has an upwardly and forwardly inclined portion 66 integral therewith which terminates in a portion 68 which is adjacent to and below a rear end portion 70 of the main spring member 28. Spring clips 72 connect adjacent cross wire portions 40 in the portions 68 and 70.

In the assembly of the spring unit 20 with the front and

rear frame rails

14 and 16, anchor means is provided for anchoring the

cross wire portions

48 and 60 to the front and

rear frame rails

14 and 16, respectively, so that the cantilever supports 44 and 46 engage the inner sides 74 and 76 of the front and

rear frame rails

14 and 16, respectively, at positions below the anchor means. In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIGS. 13,'this anchor means consists of

spring clips

78 and 80. Each of the spring clips has a body portion 82 (FIG. 3) which is secured, such as by nails 84, to the top side of its supporting frame rail. A hook-shape portion 86 of each clip is positioned so that it extends inwardly of the frame rail on which it is supported and can be readily hooked to a cross wire portion of the spring unit 20.

The

clips

78 and 80 can be secured to the top sides of the

frame rails

14 and 16 following which the spring unit 20. is manipulated so that the

cross wire portions

48 and 60 are engaged with the hook portions 86 of the

spring clips

78 and 80. When the

cross wire portions

48 and 60 are thus positioned in the spring clip hook portions'86, the cross wire portion 50 in the front cantilever support 44 is in engagement with the inner side 74 of the-front frame rail 14 and the cross wire portion 62 is in engagement with the inner side 76 of the rear frame rail 16. Since the loads on the spring unit 20 during use of the spring unit are essentially downwardly directed, these loads maintain the cross wire portions 50 and 62 in engagement with the front sides of the

frame rails

14 and 16. As a result, each of the cantilever supports 44 and 46 has a two-point support, namely, the point at which it is anchored to a spring clip and the point at which it engages the inner side of the frame rail, to thus provide a firmly mounted cantilever support which is restrained against pivotal movement.

The main spring member 28 is provided at its front and rear ends with two-point supports, namely, the two points where it is clipped by the clips 58 to the front cantilever support 44, and the two points where it is clipped by the clips 72 to the rear cantilever support 48. Consequently, the effective chord distance over which the A portion 56, integral with the upper end of the main spring 28 can deflect any substantial distance is the distance between the clips 58 and the clips 72. This distance may be adjusted for a desired seating structure characteristic by adjusting the inward distance through which each cantilever support 44 and 46 extends and the points at which the

supports

44 and 46 are clipped to main spring 28. By virtue of the construction of each of the cantilever supports 44 and 46 from zig-zag wire, and the V-shape formed by the portions 52 and 54 in support 44 and the portions 64 and 66 insupport 46 some limited deflection of each of the cantilever supports 44 and 46 can occur to thus obtain a spring unit construction having some yieldability at its front and rear ends.

The modified forms of the spring assembly of this invention illustrated in FIGS. 4-6 are similar in many respects and identical in others to the spring assembly 10 previously described and are illustrated mounted on the front and

rear frame rails

14 and 16. Like numerals, some with a letter suflix when the parts are similar but not identical, are therefore used on the modified assemblies to indicate like parts on the assembly 10. The assembly shown in FIG. 4 includes a spring unit 20a which is provided at its ends with cantilever supports 44a and 46a which are somewhat different than the corresponding supports 44- and 46 in the unit 20. In all other respects the spring unit 20a is substantially identical to the spring unit 20.

The cantilever support 44a is formed by connecting a separate sinuous wire spring member 90 to the wire member from which the main spring 28a is formed. The wire member 90 includes an upwardly and rearwardly inclined section 92 and a pair of angularly related end sections 94 and 96 which are substantially vertical and horizontal, respectively. The length of wire from which the main spring 28a is formed has a downward end section 98 and a pair of cross wire portions in the section 98 are secured by spring clips 100 to a pair of adjacent side-by-side cross wire portions in the section 94 of the member 90. Likewise, a pair of cross wire portions in the wire section 32 are secured by spring clips 102 to cross wire portions in the section 96 which are arranged in a side-by-side relation therewith. The cantilever support 46a is substantially identical to the support 44a, and includes a separate sinuous wire member 99 having angularly related end sections 101 and 103 secured by

clips

104 and 105, respectively, to cross wire portions in the length of wire from which main spring 28a is formed.

The unit 20a is assembled with the front and rear frame rails 14 and 16 in the same manner that the spring unit 20 is assembled with the rails. The result is a spring unit which can deflect substantial distances only over the effective chord distance extending between the

clips

102 and 104. By extending the separate spring end sections 96-and 101 away from each other, as shown in FIG. 4, the effective chord distance is lengthened relative to the length that it would have if the sections 96 and 101 were extended toward each other. The cross wire portions connected by

clips

100 and 105, and/or the clips themselves, engage the inner sides of

rails

14 and 16 to provide for greater rigidity of the cantilever supports 44a and 4612 than is provided by the

supports

44 and 46 with the V-shape portions.

Another modified form of the spring assembly of this invention is illustrated in FIG. 5 in assembly with the front and rear frame rails 14 and 16. The assembly shown in FIG. 5 differs from the assemblies shown in FIGS. 1 and 4 in the construction of the cantilever end supports for the spring units, one of which is shown at 2%. The spring unit 201) has a front cantilever support 44b which is substantially identical to the cantilever support 44a previously described, with two exceptions. In the support 44b, the section 96b of the separate spring length 9011 is extended rearwardly instead of forwardly as in the spring 90 to thereby shorten the effective chord distance for the unit 20b. Also, the section 92b of the spring member 90b is formed from straight, rather than sinuous wire as in the case with the section 92 in spring member 90. The cross wire portions in the section 9612 are secured by clips 106 (FIG. 6) to side-by-side cross wire portions in the main spring member 28b. The rear cantilever support 46b is formed by return bending the length of sinuous wire from which the main spring 28b is formed in a manner such that the wire has an upwardly directed portion 108 which terminates in a cross wire portion 110 which an anchored in the rear clip 80 and an integral forwardly extending portion 112 which terminates in a portion 114 parallel to a portion of the main spring 28b. Spring clips 116 connect side-by-side cross wire portions in the portion 114 and the main spring portion 28b. A cross wire portion 118 in the cantilever support 46b engages the inner side of the rear frame rail 16. It can thus be seen that the cantilever support 46b functions in the spring unit 20b like the cantilever supports 46 and 46a in the

units

20 and 20a, but with diferent resilient characteristics. The unit 20b is mounted on the frame rails 14 and 16 so that it is assembled in the

clips

78 and 80 in the same manner that the unit 20 is installed.

From the above description, it is seen that this invention provides spring units 20-20b, inclusive, which are usable in seat frame assemblies having large chord distances since the eifective chord distance through which the spring units can deflect is efiectively shortened by the inclusion of the cantilever supports at opposite ends of the spring unit. It is apparent from the various forms of the spring units illustrated and described above, that this invention is capable of many forms and is thus of a flexibility such that it is adaptable to various seating structures having various chord distances and various seating requirements. In all of the illustrated embodiments of the invention the

main spring

28, 28a or 28b is hooked at both ends to the

clips

78, 80 and extends downwardly therefrom so that either its downward extensions, or clips secured thereto, engage the inner sides of the frame rails 14 and 16, and return bent loops which constitute extensions of the main spring ends form the cantilever supports for the main spring.

It is to be understood, however, that it is within the purview of this invention to provide a cantilever support at one or the other end of any one of the illustrated spring units, and support the opposite end of the unit in a conventional manner, thereby obtaining some reduction in the effective chord distance. Also, while the units are shown as forming the seat portions of seating structures, they are also useful in forming seat backs. Consequently, the top and bottom sides of the spring units are sometimes referred to in the claims as the inner and outer sides, respectively.

It will be understood that the spring assemblies which are herein disclosed and described are presented for purposes of explanation and illustration and are not intended to indicate limits of the invention, the scope of which is defined by the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a seat structure having front and rear frame rails, a spring unit formed of zigzag wire having longitudinally spaced cross wire portions adjacent ones of which are connected by connecting wire portions, said unit comprising a main spring return bent upon itself to form cantilever supports at the front and rear ends thereof each of which includes a first pair of cross wire portions secured in a side-by-side relation to a pair of cross wire portions in said main spring, each of said cantilever supports further including a second pair of adjacent cross wire portions one of which is positioned for engagement with the inner side of a frame rail on anchoring of the other to the top side of said rail.

2. In a seat structure having front and rear frame rails, a spring unit formed of a single length of zigzag wire having longitudinally spaced cross wire portions adjacent ones of which are connected by connecting wire portions, said unit comprising a main spring return bent upon itself at its ends to form cantilever supports at the front and rear ends thereof disposed generally below said main spring and each of which includes a first pair of cross wire portions secured in a side-by-side relation to a pair of cross wire portions in said main spring,.each of said cantilever supports further including a second pair of adjacent cross wire portions one of which is positioned for engagement with the inner side of a frame rail on anchoring of the other to the top side of said rail, each of said cantilever supports being inclined downwardly from the cross wire portions secured to said main spring.

3. In a seat structure having a frame rail, a spring unit adapted to be attached to said rail, said unit being formed of a zigzag spring material having longitudinally spaced cross wire portions adjacent ones of which are connected by connecting wire portions, means forming a return bent upon itself cantilever support at one end of said unit attached to adjacent ones of said cross wire portions spaced from said one end, said support including a pair of adjacent cross wire portions, clip means secured to one side of said rail and having a hook portion disposed adjacent an adjacent side of said rail, one of said last mentioned pair of cross wire portions being engaged with said hook portion and the other being positioned in engagement with said adjacent frame side, said support including an inclined portion extending between said other one of said last mentioned pair of cross wire portions and the cross wire portions of said spring to which said support is attached.

4. A seat structure having a frame rail, a spring unit adapted to be attached to said rail, said unit being formed of a zigzag spring material having longitudinally spaced cross wire portions adjacent ones of which are connected by connecting wire portions, said unit being comprised of a first length of spring material turned down at one end and including a first cross wire portion at said one end and a pair of adjacent cross wire portions below said first cross wire portion, a second length of spring material having a pair of cross wire portions secured to said pair of cross wire portions and being inclined upwardly therefrom and secured to longitudinally spaced portions of said first length inwardly from said one end thereof, clip means secured to one side of said rail and having a hook portion disposed adjacent an adjacent side of said rail, and said first cross wire portions being engaged with said hook portion and said pair of cross wire portions being positioned in engagement with said adjacent frame side.

5. A spring unit formed of a single length of zigzag wire having longitudinally spaced cross wire portions adjacent ones of which are connected by connecting wire portions, said unit comprising a main spring having inner and outer sides and return bent end portions which form cantilever supports, each of said return bent end portions including a first pair of cross wire portions secured in a side-by-side relation to a pair of adjacent cross wire portions in said main spring intermediate the ends thereof, each of said cantilever supports further including a second pair of cross wire portions which are aligned in a direction extending generally laterally of said main spring, and each of said cantilever supports including a substantially V-shape portion extending between and connected to said pairs of cross wire portions.

6. In a spring unit formed of zigzag wire having longitudinally spaced cross wire portions adjacent ones of which are connected by connecting wire portions, said unit comprising a main spring having an end portion which terminates in a first cross wire portion, a spring section extending upwardly from said first cross wire portion to terminate in a second cross wire portion, a spring section extending from said second cross wire Portiontoward said end portion and terminating in a pair of cross wire portions positioned in a side-by-side relation with a.

pair of cross wire portions in said end portion, and clip means connecting said pairs of cross wire portions together.

7. In a seat structure having a pair of spaced frame rails, a spring unit formed of zigzag wire having longitudinally spaced cross Wire portions adjacent ones of Which are connected by connecting wireportions, said unit comprising a main spring return bent upon itself to form cantilever supports at the ends thereof, each of said cantilever supports including a first pair of cross wire portions secured in a side-by-side relation to a pair of cross wire portions in said rnain spring, each of said cantilever supports further including a second pair of adjacent cross wire portions one of which is positioned for engagement with the inner side of a frame rail on anchoring of the other to said rail.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS ARTHUR L. LA POINT, Primary Examiner.