US1595582A - Shock unit - Google Patents

Description

J. H. STEDMAN SHOCK UNIT Original Filed April 30, 1925 Patented Aug. 10, 1926.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SHOCK UNIT.

Continuation of application Serial No. 26,866, filed April 30, 1925.

Serial No. 62,609.

This invention relates to the manufacture of shock units, and more particularly to that type of shock unit adapted for mounting on the legs of any kind of bed frames, although other uses will be ascertained from the following description.

Such articles of this nature as I am aware of, variously called bumpers, buffers, wall-protectors and the like, ha e the fatal commercial disadvantage of some mechanical construction, oftentimes some- What complicated, through which the article is secured to the piece of furniture. The suggestions heretofore proposed ignore the two main essentials of a successful shock unit, namely, extreme simplicity enabling expeditious application and removal by unskilled labor, and a formation that affords the minimum opportunity for collection of dust. The provision of a surface that not only offers little opportunity for holding dust but also is easily and quickly cleaned of dust is advantageous in all cases but is highly important where these shock units are used on hospital beds. Hospital beds, because often moved from one place to an other within the hospital, particularly require protectors against marring the woodwork of walls and doorways, and such devices olfering dust and dirt collecting crevices would not be acceptable to the hospital authorities.

The object of the present invention is to provide a shock unit for the purpose described having all of the advantages just referred to.

To the accomplishment of this object the invention comprises the novel characteristic features hereinafter described and then pointed out in their true scope in the appended claims. The nature and uses of the invention will readily be understood from a description of the best forms of the shock unit at present known to me, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a view, in perspective, of the preferred commercial form of the shock unit;

Fig. 2 is a view, in perspective, of a slightly modified form of the shock unit;

Fig. 3 illustrates a hospital type metallic bed having plain tubular legs and showing a shock unit like either Fig. 1 or Fig. 2 applied thereto;

Fig. 4 is a view, in plan, of a further modification, adapted to any form of the This application filed. October 15,

shock unit, providing for expeditious mounting on the legs of household type metallic beds that have a finish head or moulding at the lower end; and

Fig. 5 is a View, in elevation. of the lower end of the leg of a househcld bed with the modified type of shock unit shown in Fig. & applied thereto.

In all the embodiments of the invention illustrated in the drawing the shock unit is formed by moulding rubber in a manner to produce a body 5 of generally oblate spheroidal form having a substantially semi-circular peripheral edge-surface 6 and a central opening '7 proportioned to fit the leg of the bed or other household article on which the unit is to be used, this opening being provided at its edge, preferably at each end, with an outwardly projecting rim or binding lip 8. The lip 8 forms a highly important feature of the unit in that the slight shrinkage that occurs when the rubber cools, causes the opening 7 to contract slightly toward its ends and enables the lip or lips to obtain a frictional grip on the leg of the bed, or other article, when said leg lies within the central opening. Hospital beds are designed to prevent the collection of dust, as far as possible, the legs ordinarily being of pipe form with no finish foot, such as a bead or moulding. Such a bed leg is illustrated at 9 (Fig. 3) and, on removing the castor, the shock unit may readily be forced on it by endwise pressure. The binding lip 8 is moulded to a relatively thin edge as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, and a fillet is provided between this edge and the bodv 5.

In Fig. 2 the mould is so formed that the lip 8 is provided with substantially a knife edge 10 designed to merge into the surface of the bed leg when applied thereto. Ow ing to manufacturing difficulties it is not always possible to produce an unbroken edge on the lip as thin as that illustrated by Fig. 2. WVhile the shock unit may be perfect when removed from the mould the na ture of the material is such that it may crack at the ends of the opening .7 and even break away along the free edge under the strains imposed when placed in use. This, while not detracting from the value of the unit as a buffer or bumper, gives it an un' sightly appearance that is undesirable. To overcome this the thin edges 10 may be trimmed slightly after the unit is removed from the mould, but the better practice is to provide a lip that will be strong enough to successfully resist the strains under which the unit is placed when in use or from careless handling. The lip configuration shown at 8 (Fig. 1) has been selected, after experimentation, as providing the requisite strength and minimum dust collecting surface, but those skilled in the art will recognize that the lip 8 may have other configurations with an equivalent re sult, without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Thus a minimum of dust collecting surface is presented at the joinder of the shock unit with the article that supports it and its surface characteristics are such that all parts of the unit may easily be kept clean by merely wiping the surface.

Household beds of metal usually have their legs terminate in a finish foot in the form of a bead or more elaborate moulding 11 (see Fig. 5) that prevents the shock unit from being slipped on the bed leg by endwise pressure. To permit seating the type of unit just described on bed legs 12 of this character, the body 5 is sliced preferably, but not necessarily, radially as at 13 (Fig. 5) from the edge 6 through the wall of the central opening 7. The meet ing faces 14 (Fig. 4c) of the slice 13 may be drawn apart sufficiently to permit a bed leg 12, above its moulding 11, to be passed between them and thus into the opening 7 It is proposed to manufacture the unit of such a high quality of rubber that after this operation the meeting faces 14 will naturally close together immediately. Ordinarily this spring of the material will hold the unit firmly in place on the bed leg when aided, as heretofore explained, by the frictional hold of the binding lip or lips 8. To guard against any possibility of accidental displacement of the unit from the bed leg the meeting faces let may be coated with a quick-curing vulcanizing cement and then held pressed together for a short time by winding adhesive tape about the surface 6. After the cement has acted to cause the meeting faces is to adhere to each other the tape is removed and the unit remains permanently in place.

It is within the scope of the invention to provide one instead of two binding lips 8 and it is obvious that the shape of the body 5 may be changed at will. The opening 7 will be made of several different dimensions as may be necessary to fit the various standard types of bed and furniture legs, or of any other required dimensions.

I believe that I am the first to produce a rubber shock unit of simple form that provides a buffer body having an adequate bumping surface and is held in place on the furniture leg by reason of its own integral construction.

The fundamental features of the present invention were described and claimed in an application for improvements in shock units filed by me April 30, 1925, Serial No. 26,866, aifid this application is a continuation there- 0'.

The nature and scope of the invention having been indicated, and the preferred embodiments thereof having been specifically described, what is claimed as new, is

1. A shock unit for furniture legs comprising a disk-like body of rubber having a central opening for receiving said leg, each end of said opening being provided with a peripheral lip connected to said body by a fillet and tapering outwardly to a relatively thin edge.

2. A shock unit for furniture legs comprising a disk-like body of rubber having a central opening provided with a relatively thin rubber lip at its edge, said body being sliced apart from its outer edge through the wall of said central opening and lip.

3. A shock unit for furniture legs comprising a rubber body of generally oblate spheroidal form, having a central opening for receiving said leg, the wall of said opening being lengthened by the provision of an integral peripheral rubber lip having a relatively thin outer edge but increasing in thickness from said edge to its base where it joins the face of the body.

JAMES HERBERT STEDMAN.

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