US3206759A

US3206759A - Stabilizers

Info

Publication number: US3206759A
Application number: US352747A
Authority: US
Inventors: John C Kline
Original assignee: Eclipse Sleep Products Inc
Current assignee: Eclipse Sleep Products Inc
Priority date: 1964-03-18
Filing date: 1964-03-18
Publication date: 1965-09-14
Anticipated expiration: 1982-09-14

Description

Sept. 14, 1965 J. c. KLINE 3,206,759

STABILIZERS Filed March 18, 1964 2 s -s t 1 i 4 32 33 y JDHIJg I Z I AI E T 1' W (0M1 {/3 Arrow/5y p 14, 1965 J. c. KLINE 3,206,759

STABILIZERS March 18, v V I 2 Sheet Shee-t 2 INVENTOR. dOH/V G. KL l/VE United States Patent York Filed Mar. 18, 1964, Ser. No. 352,747 2 Claims. (Cl. -260) This invention relates to stabilizers in general and more especially to stabilizers acting as edge stiffening devices for mattresses, box springs, upholstered seats, benches, and the like.

Among the objects of the present invention it is aimed to provide an improved stabilizer for the mattress, box spring, or the like, of a bed which consists essentially in two complemental identical halves of round or flat wire conformation, the terminal end portions of which are connected to one another by twisting, knotting, or the like to form a cross-shaped configuration.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide an improved stabilizer for the mattress, box spring, or the like of a bed, which consists essentially in two complemental identical halves of round or flat wire conformation that are connected to one another by twisting, knotting, or the like, each half being composed of a V-shaped wire having a loop extending inwardly from the apex and two substantially L-shaped side extensions extending therefrom, the terminal extension of each half being connected to a terminal extension of its complemental half to form a cross with the two terminal extensions of the complemental halves overlapping one another and connected to one another, the legs of the V-shaped extension with the inner intermediate leg between the overlapped terminal extensions and the V forming legs enabling the V forming legs to form comparatively short lever arms when the stabilizer is compressed and such intermediate leg being substantially perpendicular to the overlapping terminal extensions reducing to a minimum any obstruction to a connecting spiral wire.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide an improved stabilizer for the mattress, box spring, or the like, of a bed which consists essentially in two complemental identical halves of round or flat wire conformation that are connected to one another by twisting, knotting, or the like. Each half is composed of a V- shaped lateral extension having an apex with an inwardly extending loop at the apex, and two outwardly inclined V forming legs with an L-shaped extension extending from the outer terminals of the V forming legs, the outer leg of the L forming extension being connected to the terminal leg of the complemental half to form a cross, the V forming legs forming comparatively short lever arms for the stabilizer when compressed, the leg portion of the L shaped extension intermediate the terminal forming leg and the leg of the V forming extension extending substantially perpendicular to the terminal forming leg of the L-shaped extension to reduce to a minimum the obstruc tion to a spiral wire connector, and an outwardly extending loop between the leg of each V forming extension and its adjacent leg of the L-shaped extension positively to eliminate the formation of a sharp corner between the leg of a V forming extension and its adjacent leg of an L- shaped extension.

These and other features, capabilities, and advantages of the invention will appear from the subjoined detailed description of specific embodiments thereof illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a fragmental perspective of a mattress equipped with a stabilizer made according to one embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of one side portion of a mattress equipped with a stabilizer ing to the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a side elevation on the scale of FIG. 2 of a stabilizer made according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a top plan or top end view of the stabilizer illustrated in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a stabilizer made according to a third embodiment on a scale larger than that of FIGS. 2 and 3.

FIG. 6 is a top plan or top end view of the stabilizer illustrated in FIG. 5.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the stabilizer 1 consists essentially of a wire construction composed of two substantially

identical halves

2 and 3, each of the halves described with regard to the half enumerated 2 has a V-shaped protrusion 4 having two legs 5 and 6 inclined to one another and connected by the loop 7. The legs 5 and 6 in turn are connected to the substantially L-shaped constructions 8 and 9, the L-shaped construction 8 having an inclined leg 10 and a horizontally disposed leg 11. The L-shaped portion 9 in turn has an inclined leg 12 and a substantially horizontal leg 13, the inclined made accordleg 10 connecting the leg 6 with the leg 11 and the leg 9 connecting the leg 5 with the leg 13.

The half 3 has its horizontal leg 14 connected to the horizontal leg 11 of the half 2 by the

knots

15 and 16. In turn, the leg 13 is connected to the leg 17 of the half 3 by the

knots

18 and 19. The V-shaped extension 4 extends laterally in a direction opposite to the V-shaped extension 20 of the half 3 and in turn the protrusion formed by the L-shaped extension 8 and legs 14 and 21 extends in a direction opposite to the protrusion formed by the extension 9 and legs 17 and 23. The legs 10 and 21 of the upper protrusion are inclined toward one another in an upper direction and the

legs

12 and 23 of the lower protrusion are inclined toward one another in a downward direction.

The legs 10 and 21 of the upper protrusion, and the

legs

12 and 23 of the lower protrusion make it possible to shorten the inclined legs of the V-forming extensions 4 and 20 so that the force required to compress the V extensions 4 and 20 is greater if the legs of the V extensions 4 and 20 extended from the loops such as the loop 7 direct to the

border wires

24 and 25 as indicated by the legs 2 and 4 of United States Letters Patent No. 3,022,521 issued February 27, 1962 to Joseph Martin.

As a result thereof, stabilizers made according to the present invention can be composed of a thinner or less substantial wire than the wire of the stabilizers illustrated in the aforesaid Patent No. 3,022,521.

Still furthermore, as compared to this patent by bending the legs 10 and 21 sharply away from the border wire 24 and in turn bending the

leges

12 and 23 sharply away from the border wire 25, the connecting coil springs 26 and 27 will encounter less obstruction to connect the abutment formed by the legs 11 and 14- to the border wire 24 and in turn to connect the abutment formed by the legs 13 and 17 to the border wire 25..

With mattresses such as illustrated in FIG. 1, with a twin bed of about 39 inches in width by about 74 inches in length, excellent results have been achieved when there are provided eight longitudinal rows of twenty-one hourglass springs 28 to a row, making a total of one hundred sixty-eight hourglass springs. With a full size inner spring unit of about 54 inches in width by about 74 inches in length, excellent results have been achieved when there are provided twelve rows of twenty-one hourglass springs 28 to a row, making a total of two hundred fifty-two hourglass springs.

In turn with the present construction, excellent results have been achieved when the wire of the stabilizers is #14 B. & S. gauge of about .0625 inch in diameter, where- 3 as to obtain approximately the same result with the construction illustrated in United States Patent No. 3,022,521 aforesaid, the wire of the stabilizer would preferably be #13 B. & S. gauge of about .0915 inch in diameter.

The stabilizers made according to this embodiment are also substantially free from buckling due to the fact that the loop 7 of the V-shaped extension 4 and the loop 29 of the V-shaped extension 20 are positioned at opposite sides of the stabilizer 1.

The stabilizer disclosed in the embodiment of FIGS. 3 and 4 differs from the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 in that the outer longitudinally extending

legs

30 and 31 are connected to one another by

twists

32 and 33 extending in opposite directions and similarly the

legs

34 and 35 are connected to one another by

twists

36 and 37 extending in opposite directions to supplement the formation of the

loops

38 and 39 formed on opposite sides of the stabilizer to eliminate buckling as disclosed in United States Patent No. 3,093,840 of Joseph Martin.

The embodiment illustrated in FIGS. and 6 differs from the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4 primarily in that in addition to the

loops

40 and 41 at the apex of the V-

shaped extensions

42 and 43 respectively positioned on opposite sides of the stabilizer 44,

loops

45, 46, 47 and 48 are provided, the loops 45 extending from the same side of the stabilizer 44 and opposite to the location of the loop 40. Similarly, the

loops

46 and 48 extend from the same side of the stabilizer 44 as opposed to the position of the

loops

45, 47 and 41. In other words, the

loops

45, 47 and 41, three in number, extend from one side of the stabilizer 44 and the

loops

40, 46 and 48, also three in number, extend from the other side of the stabilizer 44 so that the forces transmitted to the stabilizer 44 when the stabilizer 44 is compressed in the course of usage, will counter balance'one another and supplement the forces transmitted to the stabilizer by the

twists

49, 50, 51 and 52 to eliminate any tendency to lateral buckling by the stabilizer 44.

The number of the stabilizers per unit depends upon the size. As an instance, excellent results for a twin size mattress unit have been achieved when twelve stabilizers are used, two at each end and four at each side, whereas for a full size mattress unit there would also be provided two stabilizers for each end and four stabilizers for each side.

It is obvious that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the general spirit of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. The combination with the inner spring unit of a mattress and the like having upper and lower border wires,

of stabilizers disposed between said border wires, each stabilizer having two wires which have an intermediate V-shaped section having diverging legs, each V-shaped section having an inwardly extending loop at its apex, L-shaped extensions extending from the free ends of said diverging legs, the loops extending from opposite faces of each stabilizer, one of the legs of each of said L-shaped extensions extending laterally outward from one of said diverging legs and the other leg of each of said L-shaped sections extending parallel to one another and away from one of its associated V-shaped sections, the two wires of each stabilizer being disposed adjacent to one another with V-sha-ped sections extending longitudinally outward and the parallel legs at opposite sides of said stabilizer overlapping, means for connecting said overlapping parallel legs to one another, said means consisting of a pair of twists extending in the same rotative direction but inclined in opposite directions to one another, and coil springs connecting said overlapping parallel legs to the border wires of said inner spring unit.

2. A stabilizer for an inner spring unit having upper and lower border wires and coil springs to connect said stabilizer to said spring unit, said stabilizer comprising two flexible members, each member having an intermediate V-shaped section having diverging legs, each V-shaped section having an inwardly extending lop at its apex, L-shaped extensions extending from the free ends of said diverging legs, the loops extending from opposite faces of said stabilizer, one of the legs of each of said L-shaped sections extending laterally outward from one of said diverging legs and the other leg of each of said L-shaped sections extending parallel to one another and away from its associate V-shaped section, the two members of said stabilizers being disposed adjacent to one another with the V-shaped extensions extending longitudinally outward and the parallel legs at opposite sides of said stabilizer overlapping, and means for connecting said overlapping parallel legs over one another, said means consisting of a pair of twists extending in the same rotative direction but inclined in opposite directions to one another, said coil springs encircling the adjacent portions of said border wires and parallel legs of said stabililer to connect the same together.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,932,832 4/60 Levine 5-26l 3,022,521 2/62 Martin 5-260 3,093,840 6/63 Martin 5 35l FRANK B. SHERRY, Primary Examiner.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent Noe 3,206,759 September 14, 196

John C. Kline It is hereby certified that error appears in the above numbered patent requiring correction and that the said Letters Patent should read as corrected below Column 4, line 26, for "lop" read loop Signed and sealed this 22nd day of August 1967,

( L) Attest:

ERNEST W. SWIDER Attesting Officer EDWARD J. BRENNER Commissioner of Patents

Claims

1. THE COMBINATION WITH THE INNER SPRING UNIT OF A MATTRESS AND THE LIKE HAVING UPPER AND LOWER BORDER WIRES, OF STABILIZERS DISPOSED BETWEEN SAID BORDER WIRES, EACH STABILIZER HAVING TWO WIRES WHICH HAVE AN INTERMEDIATE V-SHAPED SECTION HAVING DIVERGING LEGS, EACH V-SHAPED SECTION HAVING AN INWARDLY EXTENDING LOOP AT ITS APEX, L-SHAPED EXTENSIONS EXTENDING FROM THE FREE ENDS OF SAID DIVERGING LEGS, THE LOOP EXTENDING FROM OPPOSITE FACES OF EACH STABILIZER, ONE OF SAID LEGS OF EACH OF SAID L-SHAPED EXTENSIONS EXTENDING LATERALLY OUTWARD FROM ONE OF SAID DIVERGING LEGS AND THE OTHER LEG OF EACH OF SAID L-SHAPED SECTIONS EXTENDING PARALLEL TO ONE ANOTHER AND AWAY FROM ONE OF ITS ASSOCIATED V-SHAPED SECTIONS, THE TWO WIRES OF EACH STABILIZER BEING DISPOSED ADJACENT TO ONE ANOTHER WITH V-SHAPED SECTIONS EXTENDING LONGITUDINALLY OUTWARD AND THE PARALLEL LEGS AT OPPOSITE SIDES OF SAID STABILIZER OVERLAPPING, MEANS FOR CONNECTING SAID OVERLAPPING PARALLEL LEGS TO ONE ANOTHER, SAID MEANS CONSISTING OF A PAIRL OF TWISTS EXTENDING IN THE SAME ROTATIVE DIRECTION BUT INCLINED IN OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS TO ONE ANOTHER, AND COIL SPRINGS CONNECTING SAID OVERLAPPING PARALLEL LEGS TO THE BORDER WIRES OF SAID INNER SPRING UNIT.