US3735431A

US3735431A - Spring construction

Info

Publication number: US3735431A
Application number: US00191530A
Authority: US
Inventors: G Zocco
Original assignee: Slumberland Products Co
Current assignee: Slumberland Products Co
Priority date: 1971-10-21
Filing date: 1971-10-21
Publication date: 1973-05-29
Anticipated expiration: 1990-05-29

Abstract

A furniture spring construction comprised of an array of hour glass coil springs arranged in parallel rows and surrounded by edge wires, and with at least one stringer having a central portion interwoven with the end turns of coil springs in one or more selected rows and fastened at its opposite ends to the edge wire to impart greater stiffness to the mattress at selected regions. This invention relates to box springs and mattresses, and more particularly comprises a new and improved construction for providing additional support at selected areas of a box spring or mattress.

Description

United States Patent 1 Zocco SPRING CONSTRUCTION [75] Inventor: George Zocco, South Braintree,

Mass.

[73] Assignee: Slumberland Products Co., Woburn,

Mass.

[22] Filed: Oct. 21, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 191,530

[52] US. Cl

..5/267, 5/277 [51] Int. Cl ..A47c 23/02 [58] Field of Search ..5/267, 275-277, 5/351; 267/91, 93,101

[5 6] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Levine ..5/267 Carey ..5/277 [451 May 29, 1973 3,517,398 6/1970 Patton ..5/351 Primary Examiner-James C. Mitchell Attorney-Wolf, Greenfield & Sacks [5 7] ABSTRACT A furniture spring construction comprised of an array of hour glass coil springs arranged in parallel rows and surrounded by edge wires, and with at least one stringer having a central portion interwoven with the end turns of coil springs in one or more selected rows and fastened at its opposite ends to the edge wire to impart greater stiffness to the mattress at selected regions.

This invention relates to box springs and mattresses, and more particularly comprises a new and improved construction for providing additional support at selected areas of a box spring or mattress.

3 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures 1 SPRING CONSTRUCTION BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION A number of techniques have been developed for se lectively stiffening different areas of mattresses and box springs. Generally such techniques involve the use of heavier springs and/or filler material at those regions where additional stiffness is desired. Such techniques substantially increase manufacturing costs by virtue of the added cost of material and the added attention which must be given to the manufacturing and assembling of the various parts.

When heavier springs and special fillers are employed to achieve selected stiflening of a mattress or box spring, it is obvious that the manufacturer must independently inventory springs and mattresses of those special forms as well as conventional mattresses which are not selectively stiffened. Therefore the manufacturers inventory requirements are increased, which in turn further adds to the cost of such goods to the consumer.

OBJECTS AND FEATURES OF THE PRESENT INVENTION An important object of the present invention is to provide a technique for stiffening box springs and mattresses, which may be incorporated into otherwise conventionally constructed box springs and mattresses. Thus, the technique employed essentially comprises an addition to otherwise conventionally constructed springs and mattresses so as to reduce the increased manufacturing costs, inventory requirements, and resultant consumer costs of specially stiffened springs and mattresses.

To accomplish that and other objects, the construction of the present invention includes an array of coil springs arranged in parallel rows. An edge wire surrounds the array of coils in the plane of the end turns of the coils, and the many coils are secured to one another and the surrounding edge wires. At least one stringer is employed which is interwoven with the end turns of the coil springs in at least one row and is fastened at its opposite ends to the edge wire. The stringer is fastened by being turned about the edge wires with the stringer ends extending inwardly of the edge wire and lying substantially in the plane of the rest of the stringer that is interwoven with the end turn of the coils.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES FIG. 1 is a top view of a mattress constructed in accordance with this invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary detail of a portion of the mattress shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side view of a single coil of the mattress shown in FIG. 1 and showing the stringer wire interwoven with the outer turn of the coil and secured to the edge wire;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary side view of the end of the stringer before it is secured in place; and

FIG. 5 is a bottom view of the portion of the stringer shown in FIG. 4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION The following description of the invention is presented in terms of its application to a mattress. However, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to that application but may be used with box springs and other spring supports found in furniture.

The mattress shown in FIG. 1 is made up of a plurality of parallel transverse rows 10 of hour glass shaped coil springs 12, one of which is shown in detail in FIG. 3. An edge wire 14 extends about the periphery of the mattress both on the top and bottom face in the plane of the outer turns 16 of the hour glass springs 12. (For clarity the edge wire on the bottom face is omitted in FIG. 3.)

As shown in FIG. 2, a helical wire 18 is wound about the adjacent edges of the end turns 16 of the hour glass coils 12 in adjacent rows 10. Similarly, a helically wound wire 20 secures the edge wires 14 to the adjacent portions of the end turns 16 of the hour glass coils 12' about the periphery of the mattress. While they are not shown in the drawing, it is to be understood that the helically wound

wires

18 and 20 along with the edge wire 14 on the top surface find their duplicate on the lower surface of the mattress.

The spring construction thus far described is conventionally known as Bonnell-type construction and is widely used. As will be apparent from the following description, while the invention is shown as used with Bonnell-type spring units, the invention may be used with equal facility in stake-type spring units and other constructions where coil springs are arranged in rows in the support.

The center third section 22 of the mattress shown in FIG. 1 is made more firm by the use of three stringers 24 which extend across the mattress from side to side and are fastened at their ends to the edge wire 14. The stringers 24 are interwoven with the upper turn 16 of each hour glass coil 12 in a row of such coils across the mattress. Thus, as shown in FIG. 2, the central portion 26 of the stringer crosses over the right side edge 16a of each end turn 16 of each coil 12 in row 10a of the mattress, and the central portion crosses beneath the left side portion 16b of each coil. The ends 28 of the stringer 24 are hooked about the edge wire 14 in the manner shown in FIG. 3.

The end 28 of edge wire 24 shown in FIG. 4 is formed with a U-shaped bend 30 which is somewhat more than and the end of the bend 30 is turned away from the central portion or main body 26 of the stringer as suggested at 32 to provide an open slot 34 to facilitate insertion of the edge wire 14 into the bite 36 defined by the U-shaped bend 30. The bottom portion of the U-shaped bend 30 and end 32 lie below the central portion 26 of the stringer. When the end 28 is slipped about the edge wire 14 so that the edge wire lies in bite 36,'end 32 is bent upwardly so as efiectively to increase the circumferential extent of the bend until the end 32 lies substantially in the plane of the central portion 26 of the stringer. This is clearly shown in FIG. 3. As will be noted in FIG. 5, the bottom portion of U-shaped bend 30 and end 32 are displaced from vertical alignment with central portion 26 of the stringer, so that the end 28 of the stringer may be bent to the position shown in FIG. 3 to close the edge wire 14 within the bite. It is to be understood that each end of each stringer is shaped as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 before application to the mattress, and after application the ends 28 are bent to the position shown in FIG. 3 to lock securely each stringer in position.

While in the foregoing description and in the illustrated embodiment the stringers are disclosed as lying at the center third of the mattress, it is to be understood that a lesser or greater extent of the mattress could be made more firm by the use of stringers. Thus, while in the form shown three stringers are used, one disposed in every third row of coils, they could in fact be disposed more closely together or further apart, and more or fewer stringers could be used.

From the foregoing description it is apparent that by the use of the inexpensive stringers shown, which may be of the same gage as the edge wires, the mattress may be made more firm wherever desired. The stringers may be applied to an otherwise conventionally constructed mattress or box spring so that the manufacturer need not increase its inventory. The stringers serve to prevent the coils from settling in the region where they are applied and the coils consequently maintain their original shape for a longer period. As a result, a box spring or mattress may be provided with more firm selected regions without the use of special filler material and without the use of heavier gage springs in selected sections.

What is claimed is:

l. A furniture spring construction comprising an array of coil springs arranged in parallel rows,

an edge wire surrounding the array of coil springs in the plane of the end turns of the coil springs,

means for fastening selected coil springs to the edge wire, and at least one stringer having a central portion interwoven with the end turns of selected coil springs in a row and fastened at its opposite ends to the edge wire,

said ends of the stringer being fastened to the edge wire by being turned about the edge wire and extending back toward the central portion of the stringer and lying substantially in the plane of and parallel to the central portion of the stringer.

2. A furniture spring construction as defined in claim 1 further characterized by there being a plurality of said stringers each extending along and interwoven with the end turns of the coil springs in different rows,

said stringers being confined to one portion of the construction to stiffen that portion in contrast to the remaining portions thereof.

3. A furniture spring construction as described in claim 2 further characterized by said springs being hour glass shaped and with the rows of hour glass springs being connected together and to the edge wire by helically wound Wll'eS.

Claims

1. A furniture spring construction comprising an array of coil springs arranged in parallel rows, an edge wire surrounding the array of coil springs in the plane of the end turns of the coil springs, means for fastening selected coil springs to the edge wire, and at least one stringer having a central portion interwoven with the end turns of selected coil springs in a row and fastened at its opposite ends to the edge wire, said ends of the stringer being fastened to the edge wire by being turned about the edge wire and extending back toward the central portion of the stringer and lying substantially in the plane of and parallel to the central portion of the stringer.

2. A furniture spring construction as defined in claim 1 further characterized by there being a plurality of said stringers each extending along and interwoven with the end turns of the coil springs in different rows, said stringers being confined to one portion of the construction to stiffen that portion in contrast to the remaining portions thereof.

3. A furniture spring construction as described in claim 2 further characterized by said springs being hour glass shaped and with the rows of hour glass springs being connected together and to the edge wire by helically wound wires.