US3287749A - Mattress - Google Patents

Description

Nov. 29, 1966 E. A. MARSICO MATTRESS 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 7, 1965 Eugene A. Mara/co INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY Nov. 29, 1966 E. A. MARSICO 3,287,749

MATTRESS Filed July 7, 1965 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 [aye/7e ,4. Manx/co INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY Nov. 29, '1966 E. A. MARSICO MATTRESS 5 SheetsSheet 5 Filed July 7, 1965 [ayene A.

INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,287,749 MATTRESS Eugene A. Marsico, Denison Mattress Factory, 1001-1031 W. Owings St., Denison, Tex. Filed July 7, 1965, Ser. No. 470,075 4 Claims. (Cl. 5-351) This application is a continuation-in-part of my prior application of the same title filed March 4, 1964, Serial No. 349,233, now abandoned.

This invention pertains to mattresses and to components thereof.

The principal object of this invention is to provide a mattress whose parts can be readily replaced, either to substitute a new part for a worn part or to substitute a part having one kind of functional or ornamental characteristics for a part having different characteristics.

A further prime object of the invention is to provide a mattress which can be completely laundered.

Another object of the invention is to provide a mattress which can be easily divided into conveniently transportable and storable parts and which can easily be assembled when desired.

Another object of the invention is to provide a mattress which will be inexpensive to manufacture and will require a minimum capital investment for establishing a factory to manufacture same.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear from the following description thereof.

Briefly, in accordance with the invention there is provided a mattress comprising upper, central and lower mattress bodies that are separately manufactured and may be separately transported and stored, and which are easily and quickly manually assembled, that is, assembled by a single person without the aid of any other materials, equipment or tools. The assembled mattress may likewise be easily and quickly manually disassembled for cleaning or for substitution of one body for another. The central mattress body includes a resilient block which is preferably a metal coil spring assembly, since a metal coil spring assembly is easily cleaned and sterilized. However, other forms and materials of construction, such as an elastomer foam slab may be used while retaining some of the other advantages of the invention.

Each of the upper and lower mattress bodies includes a resilient block which is a thick, tightly stitched, through quilted, prestressed laminate including an outer ticking, padding, and an insulator. At the extreme outer periphery of each of these blocks there are provided manually quick attachable and detachable means, such as straps provided with snap fasteners, for securing these blocks to the central block which itself may be provided with special fastening means cooperable therewith.

Boxing is provided around the sides of the assembled blocks, the boxing being permanently attached to the upper and lower blocks but including, usually about midway of the thickness of the mattress, a Zipper or slide fastener by means of which the boxing can be fully parted. Each of the upper and lower blocks would thus normally be provided with a half boxing and a half of a slide fastener secured to the free edge of the half boxing. The upper and lower blocks, each with its straps or other quick attachable and detachable means, and each with its half boxing or boxing portion and half of a slide fastener, form the upper and lower mattress bodies. There are only minor differences, if any, between the upper and lower mattress bodies so that the mattress can be used with either of these bodies uppermost.

The upper and lower mattress bodies are assembled Patented Nov. 29, 1966 with the central mattress body by securing the straps of the upper and lower bodies to the spring assembly of the central mattress body or to any special fastening means on the mattress body of whatever form it may be, and than closing the slide fastener.

The particular construction of the upper and lower mattress bodies, including the resilient laminated blocks and the boxing and the location of the quick attachable and detachable means for securing the upper and lower mattress bodies to the central mattress body are all important features of the invention and will be set forth in greater detail hereinafter.

Three embodiments of the invention In a launderable form of the invention each upper and lower block includes an outer ticking, a thick layer of elastomer foam having a densified skin on its inner surface providing an insulator, and an inner cover, and each half boxing is a laminate including an outer ticking, a thin layer of elastomer foam, and an inner cover, the block and boxing materials all being launderable and those subject to shrinkage being preshrunk. The densified skin can be omitted if the foam material is thick enough to prevent coil feel and if the foam material is strong enough and the inner cover is strong enough to prevent pocketing and cutting.

In another form of the invention each upper and lower block includes an outer ticking, a thick layer of felt, an

, insulator, and an inner cover, and each half boxing is a laminate including an outer ticking, a thin layer of felt, and an inner cover.

According to a third form of the invention the central block is an elastomer foam slab whereby the problems of coil feel, pocketing, and pad cutting are eliminated, as is also the need for cushion padding in the boxing. In this embodiment the upper and lower mattress bodies will as before each include a laminated block and a half boxing with a half slide fastener secured to the free edge of the half boxing and manually quick attachable anchor means at the extreme periphery of the block. However, the elastomer slab is provided with special anchor means cooperable with that on the upper and lower blocks. Each laminated block comprises an outer ticking, a padding, and an inner cover but an insulator or even a heavy inner cover is unnecessary. However, a thick padding is used to insure vertical and lateral stability, that is, to prevent sliding and wrinkling. The half boxings may be laminates similar to those previously described or may be of other construction such as a single layer of cloth.

As previously stated, the upper and lower blocks in all three embodiments are thick and resilient. This is necessary to prevent wrinkling. It is the thickness and resilience which distinguish the slab shaped blocks from simple slip covers, bed spreads and other thin pliable sheatings. When a thin flexible material is pushed laterally it wrinkles; but when a thick resilient slab is pushed laterally it moves as a whole if free or temporarily compresses and rebounds if anchored. A thick resilient slab that resists wrinkling as herein specified may be said to be laterally rigid. On the other hand the slab is transversely flexible preciable reduction of the thickness of the laminate held by the stitch; then when the materials of the laminate are packed solid, a large increase in tension produces comparatively little reduction in thickness, analogous to a coil spring going solid. To give an example of tight stitches, in the case of the thick blocks, the distance between outer ticking and inner cover along the lines of stitching may be around 15% of the maximum block thickness between lines of stitching.

A further common feature is that the padding of both the blocks and boxings is fully enclosed, the ticking and inner cover of the laminated blocks being sewn together at their edges, the ticking and inner cover of the half boxes being sewn together where they are jointed to the blocks, and the slide fastener half joining the inner cover and ticking at the free edges thereof, so that the mattress bodies can be handled, stored, assembled, removed, and replaced without fear of damage.

In all cases the anchor means are located at the extreme outer periphery of the laminated block so that they can be quickly attached to or removed from the core without the need for folding the block back on itself to expose the anchor means. This is an especially important feature where a metal spring assembly is used for the central block because to avoid coil feel from the metal spring assembly the liminated blocks of the upper and lower mattress bodies are very thick and will employ an integral (e.g. elastomer foam) padding or else an insulator between the padding and the inner cover.

Thickness Emphasis has been placed hereinabove on the fact that in accordance with the invention the laminated blocks of the upper and lower mattress bodies are thick. To make this more precise it is to be understood that the term "thick as used herein with reference to a mattress body means a thickness in the range of /2 to 4 inches. Such thickness is a large portion of the total thickness of a mattress.

An adult size mattress (e.g. about 75 inches long by 53 inches double and 39 inches single width) is usually about 8 inches thick, ranging from 7 inches to 10 inches in extreme cases. Two 2 inch thick upper and lower mattress bodies would constitute 50% of the total thickness of an 8 inch mattress, a typical construction according to the invention. The minimum combined thickness of the upper and lower blocks in preferred embodiments of the invention is 35% of the total mattress thickness for a 7 inch thick mattress, this corresponds to a block thickness of about 1 inches.

Thickness, however, is relative to the size of the mattress and the weight of the expected occupant. When the problem of preventing coil feel is reduced, due to a lighter weight of sleeper, and when the problem of vertical and lateral stability is reduced, due to smaller length and width dimensions of the mattress, the absolute thickness of the upper and lower mattress blocks may be considerably reduced. The minimum thickness of the upper and lower blocks needed to satisfy the problems of coil feel and stability varies roughly as the cube of the mattress length. Therefore, a crib mattress (e.g. 52 inches long by 27 inches wide) would have upper and lower blocks with a thickness in the range of only (52/ 75) or about /3 that for an adult size mattress. Thus, in the case of a crib mattress the blocks of the upper and lower mattress bodies could be in the range from about /2 or inch to about 1% or 1 /8 inches in thickness. However, since a crib mattress would normally have a lesser overall thickness than an adult mattress, e.g. 3 to 6 inches, the blocks of the upper and lower mattress bodies would still constitute a large portion of the total thickness of the mattress. For example, two inch blocks would constitute 30% of the total thickness of a 5 inch crib mattress, a typical construction according to the invention.

Viewing block thickness as relative to length, for an adult mattress it is preferred according to the invention that the upper and lower mattress body blocks each have a thickness to length ratio of at least 0.02 (blocks 1.5 inches thick and 75 inches long), and for a crib mattress the minimum ratio would be 0.01 (block /2 inch thick and 52 inches long).

The half boxes at the sides of the mattress bodies are preferably either t-hin laminates, i.e. in the range to inch, especially suitable for use with a central mattress body comprising a metal spring assembly, or else unpadded, the latter construction being suitable for use with a central mattress body comprising an elastomer foam block.

The present invention is to be distinguished from simple slip covers, e.g. as shown in U.S. Patents 1,356,148, Holbert and 2,973,526, Wetzler, wherein the whole body of the mattressis made full thickness and is covered with a simple ticking, facing, or other single layer of fabric or like material. According to the present invention the mattress body itself is partible into three portions; namely an upper body, a central body, and a lower body, all three contributing large amounts to the overall thickness of the mattress.

To distinguish the present invention more precisely from mere slip covers it may be stated that each of the upper and lower mattress body blocks has a thickness of at least 8% of the total thickness of the mattress whether it be a crib mattress or adult size. This is also true of the central body block.

Insulators It is desirable to define certain other terms used herein and for this purpose reference may be made to the 17th Annual Edition (196061) of the Buyers Guide and Composite Catalog published by the National Association of Bedding Manufacturers, Merchandise Mart Plaza, Chicago 54, Illinois, pp. 48-56, article entitled Bedding Encyclopedia, wherein is found the following definition: InsulatorFiber pan or wire network used top and bottom of an innerspring unit to provide a buffer between the coils and the felt in an innerspring mattress. The above definition is of the exemplary type; other forms of insulator will be described hereinafter.

By way of further example, a conventional insulator is disclosed in British Patent 874,554, Chapman, which mentions sisal or coil fibre insulators.

Quilting A further definition given in the above mentioned Bedding Encyclopedia is as follows: Mattress, QuiltedA mattress not tufted, the top and bottom of which are quilted through the ticking, top

layers of felt, and backing.

However, this definition is again merely by way of example, for the quilted mattress bodies according to the present invention are characterized by blocks which are quilted all the way through, for example in the manner advertised on page 13 of the March 1961 issue of Bedding, also published by the National Association of Bedding Manufacturers.

On the other hand quilting is to be distinguished from other forms of laminating such as shown for example in U.S. Patents: 649,780, Vogler (tufting); 1,502,966, Schimmel (tufting); 1,882,538, Wunderlich (tufting); 2,154,910, Magaril (free); 2,217,955, Kay (loose stitching and channeling), and 2, 611,919, Bell (edge stitching).

Relative to tufting reference may be made once more to the Composite Catalogue where one finds the definition: TuftingAn operation which consists of passing twine or cords or tape vertically through the mattress from top to bottom and knotting and securing the loops thus formed with tufts, buttons, or lacing. Purpose is to hold the filling in place. Operation may be done by machine or hand.

The tufting operation provides only scattered points of resistance to shifting of the pad. The same is true of loose stitching wherein the stitches are not close enough and strong enough to pull the inner and outer fabric layers close together as is done in quilting.

v In channeling, although the inner and outer fabric layers are drawn close together, the padding is itself quite loose,

being stuffed into the sleeves or pockets after the stitching is complete.

A corner stitched pad is of course quite free to shift around and wrinkle up inside the inner and outer fabric layers.

Type of quilting As previously mentioned, an all quilted construction of the laminated block of the mattress body, and of the boxing too if laminated, is an important feature of the invention, being necessary in order that the mattress bodies can be handled separately from the core during manufacture, shipment, storage, assembly, cleaning, and reassembly, without the padding falling out of place. This is especially true of the laminated blocks which employ thick panels. In order further to insure immobility of the padding relative to the ticking and inner cover, a serpentine quilt pattern is preferred to one using straight line stitches. The rows of stitching will preferably be three to eight inches apart, a four inch spacing being typical. If the stitching lines are too close the blocks will be too hard; if the lines are too far apart the padding will not be sufficiently stabilized relative to the ticking and inner cover.

A vital factor that makes the all quilted construction of the laminated blocks an important element of the invention is the requirement that the upper and lower blocks be stabilized relative to the central block. Since the upper and lower blocks are anchored to the central block only at the outer periphery, the upper and lower blocks must have a considerable resistance to stretching to keep them from shifting around on the central block. To achieve this result a prestressed laminate is essential.

A characteristic of a prestressed quilted laminate is that the fabric layers in their relaxed state are equal in area to the area of the block. The quilting pattern is preferably such that the prestressing of the fabric layers is fairly uniform. For example, as illustrated hereinafter, the pattern may be divided into two parts and two stitching heads used to simultaneously quilt the head and foot halves of the blocks. Also, by using a figure 8 or other pattern involving crossed lines of stitching, each half of the block is given a preliminary stressing followed by a final stressing during quilting; also the part most highly stressed during the preliminary stressing is given the least amount of added stressing during the final pass of the quilting head.

Means are provided to keep the edges of the fabrics from moving relative to each other during the quilting,

operations. The fabric layers are stretched considerably by the quilting operation and hence are under considerable tension.

A prestressed quilt is to be distinguished from an un stressed quilt or puff such as shown for example in Patent 3,027,573, Bell, Jr., wherein in order to obtain flufiiness, i.e. easy compression under light loads, the outer fabric has an area nearly twice that of the inner fabric, the inner fabric remaining flat while the outer fabric is formed into bulbous protuberances by the quilting operation.

In order to achieve the prestressed condition according to the invention not only must the fabrics be strong but also the thread, for example 16/4 (16 denier, 4 cord) for needle and 20/4 (20 denier, 4 cord) for bobbin, and the stitches must be close enough to prevent tearing of the fabric, e.g. 4 to stitches per inch. Finally, the padding must be dense enough to maintain the pressure, e.g.

6 15 to 25 oz. per sq. foot for a block of 1 /2" thickness, and in proportion for greater thickness.

For a more detailed description of preferred embodiments of the invention reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a pictorial view of a launderable mattress embodying the invention, showing the upper mattress body partly removed;

FIGURE 2 is a section through a portion of the boxing of one of the upper and lower mattress bodies of the mattress shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a section through the pad portion of the block of one of the upper and lower mattress bodies as shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary pictorial detail showing a modified form of central mattress body in accordance with the invention;

FIGURE 5 is a section through a portion of a modified form of upper mattress body adapted for use with the central mattress body shown in FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 6 is a section similar to FIGURE 5 taken on line 66 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 7 is a section similar to FIGURES 5 and 6 except showing only the blocks, and illustrating a further modified form of the invention;

FIGURE 8 is a section similar to FIGURES 5 and 6 except taken through the lower mattress body, and showing another modification of the invention.

First embodiment Referring now to FIGURE 1, there is shown a mattress 10 including a central mattress body 11 and upper and lower mattress bodies 12A and 1213.

The central mattress body comprises a metal coil spring assembly, similar to the well known inner spring of conventional single block mattresses, and may be of conventional construction employing a plurality of wire coil (e.g. helical), metal (e.g. steel) springs 13 tied together at their upper and lower ends by metal wires 14 and metal wire coil springs 15. At the corners of the spring assembly are wire corner guards 16. The upper mattress body 12A includes laminated block 20 and half boxing 22. The lower mattress body 12B includes laminated block 21 and half boxing 23. The laminated blocks and half boxing will be subsequently described in greater detail with reference to other figures of the drawing.

Still referring to FIGURE 1, the half boxings 21, 23 are connected together by manually quick connectable and disconnectable connection means, for example a slide fastener (zipper) 25. The fastener includes two halves with interengageable rows of teeth 26, 27, the two halves of the fastener being secured respectively to the upper and low half boxings. The teeth are engaged and released by controller 28 having a retractable handle 29. The controller is preferably permanently connected to one of the upper and lower mattress bodies, e.g. the upper mattress body, and the other, e.g. the lower mattress body, is provided with a starting bar 30. While other forms of connecting means than a slide fastener might be used, the latter is particularly well suited to the invention because the parts to be connected are accessible from only the one side, namely the outside. The upper and lower mattress bodies are preferably completely separable so that no portions of the slide fastener halves are connected when the connecting means is fully disconnected.

Although the boxing is preferably partible about midway of the thickness of the mattress, the boxing could be made partible at other places, for example it could be divided into two unequal parts or almost all of the boxing could be connected to one block and the upper and lower mattress bodies made partible along the juncture of a block and the edge of the boxing. Although it is preferred that the upper and lower mattress bodies be completely separable, it is also contemplated that they might be only partially separable, e.g. partible along three sides of the mattress, whereby they could be partially separated although this would not achieve all of the advantages of the preferred fully partible construction. It is necessary that the upper and lower mattress bodies be partible at least enough to enable the central mattress body to be inserted or removed as desired.

An important feature of the invention is the provision of manually quick attachable and detachable means to anchor the upper and lower mattress bodies to the central mattress body. As shown in FIGURE 1, such anchor means comprises a plurality of pairs 31, 32 of flexible straps or tabs in the form of strips of cloth or sheet material each secured at one end to the inner cover of the laminated block of one of the upper and lower mattress bodies in vertical alignment with the juncture of the block and its half boxing. The straps are provided with snap fasteners 33, 34 at their free ends whereby they can be secured to anchor means formed by adjacent portions of the central block, e.g. around one of the coil springs 13 as indicated at A. Although only the anchor means for the upper mattress body fully appear in the drawing, it is to be understood that similar anchoring means are provided for the lower mattress body, e.g. as shown at B.

Because the block (spring assembly 11 in the present embodiment) can be compressed easily while the anchor means are attached, they can be attached so as to be under tension, which insures that the upper and lower mattress bodies are held tightly in place to prevent the upper and lower mattress bodies from sliding relative to the central mattress body or limit the extent thereof. Any desired form of anchor means may be used as seems most appropriate to the mattress bodies employed. However, to enable a thick quilted upper or lower mattress body to be anchored to the central mattress body it is almost imperative that the anchor means be located at the extreme periphery of the block in order that it be mannually accessible. For the same reason it is desirable that the straps 31, 32 extend beyond the edge of the associated half boxing.

Referring now to FIGURES 2 and6, each half box ing preferably comprises a layer of padding 40 over the outer surface of which is disposed ticking 41 and inside of which is disposed an inner cover 42. The blocks 20 and 21 are similarly constructed including a padding 47, an outer ticking 48, and an inner cover 49. However, the block padding 47 is much thicker than the padding 40 of the half boxing. The upper and lower mattress bodies are made of launderable materials; to this end the component layers and the straps of the anchor means are made of materials that are not only water and detergent resistant but are preshrunk or have negligible shrinkage from laundering. The padding is made of an elastomer foam such as a polyurethane foam. The inner cover may be a preshrunk cotton drill; and the ticking may be a polyester such as Dacron, or a preshrunk silk damask.

Although the inner cover 42 to some extent protects the padding against cutting by the spring 11, additional strength and protection is gained by using for the blocks 20, 21 a skin type padding as shown in FIGURE 3 wherein the outer part 50 of the padding is a foam having large cells while the inner part 51 is in a sense vulcanized or densified to provide a more nearly continuous sheet like surface of considerable strength.

Referring to FIGURE 7, a skinless elastomer foam padding 52 may be used with a metal spring core if the inner cover 53 is made of a sufficiently strong material. In such case the inner cover 53 would normally be of a heavier material than the outer ticking 54, as indicated on the drawing. For example, the inner cover may be a heavy duck or light canvas of the order of 6 to 11 ounces per square yard while the ticking might be as light as 4 ounces per square yard. Both must be heavy enough,

mattress bodies.

however, to stand the prestress imposed by the quilting in accordance with the invention.

Although as has been stated above the ticking may be as light as 4 ounces per square yard, as could be the case for a mattress for home use, a heavier ticking may be used more suited for the rougher handling in an institution such as a motel or hospital. Sometime the ticking may be as heavy as 8 or 9 ounces per square yard. Such heavy ticking would still be distinguished from the inner cover, however, because of the finer weave of the ticking to provide a smooth, comfortable sleeping surface.

Referring again to FIGURES 1, 2 and 6, the ticking, padding, and inner cover of both the thick laminated blocks and the half boxings are quilted together by lines of stitching as indicated at 55. The blocks 20, 21 are joined to the upper and lower half boxings 22, 23 by inner seams and by tape 60. The tape also is preferably made of strong launderable material, such as a polyester, e.g. nylon. Although the blocks and half boxing of both of the mattress bodies 12A, 12B are of generally similar overall construction, the half boxings of one (or both) of the mattress bodies may also be provided with perforated metal discs 70 if such added ventilation is desired. Handles 71 may be provided, for example at each end. One of the half boxings, e.g. that on the upper mattress body 12A, is provided with a cover strip 72 (see FIG- URES 1 and 6) to hide the teeth of both halves of the slide fastener when the half boxings are connected together. Cover strip 72 and handles 71 are made of launderable materials.

If the mattress bodies are being used to renovate an old inner spring having no wire corner guards, pad type corner guards may be disposed at each corner of the central block. The pad type corner guards will extend within and be secured to one of the half boxings, e.g. that on the lower mattress body. The corner guards may be made of elastomer foam similar to the padding 40, or they maye be of a denser material.

In conformity with the launderable feature of the invention, and the general requirement of water resistance of a mattress, the metal ventilator discs, the snaps, and the zipper of the boxing, and all other metal parts, including those of the central mattress body, should be corrosion resistant, either inherently or by surface coating or treatment, whereby water and other fluids will not damage them.

It is believed that the operation and use of the invention will be clear from the foregoing description. It may be added, however, that the invention is especially use ful for institutions such as hospitals, schools, and rest homes, since any desired upper and lower mattress bodies can be applied to any selected central mattress body. Some person may prefer a softer or harder central block, and a central block of the desired characteristic may be employed with any available or desired upper and lower The upper and lower mattress bodies may be completely removed from the central mattress body and each separately laundered, cleaned, and sterilized in a manner suitable to the materials of which it is composed. In shipping the mattresses, the central mattress bodies may be shipped separately from the upper and lower mattress bodies. A worn or soiled upper or lower mattress body may be easily replaced. A new central mattress body may be substituted for one that has become damaged.

Second embodiment Referring now to FIGURES 4 and 5 there is shown a modified form of mattress embodying the invention wherein an integral block of resilient material, such as an elastomeric foam, is used in place of the metal coil spring assembly 11 of the embodiment of FIGURES 1, 2, and 6. FIGURE 4 shows one corner of such an elastomer foam block 11'. In such case instead of using pairs of straps 30, 31 both secured to the upper or lower mat- 9 tress body as means for anchoring them to the central mattress body, as shown in FIGURE only one strap 30' of each pair would be secured permanently to the upper or lower mattress body and the other strap 31, as shown in FIGURE 4, would be permanently secured to the foam block, e.g. by cement.

Referring to FIGURE 5, when an elastomer foam block is used for the central mattress body, the padding 47' of the blocks of the upper and lower mattress bodies may be of the skinless type similar to that of FIGURE 7, but the inner cover 49' may be of light weight material similar to that of FIGURE 6. The ticking 48' may be the same as that of the embodiments of FIGURES 6 and 7 and may be heavy or light according to intended use. The boxing need not be padded at all, it being sufiicient for each half boxing to use a single layer of strong cloth as shown at 42.

No special means such as corner guards is required to maintain the shape and give support to the corners of the boxing in this embodiment of the invention since the elastomer foam block will itself be formed to have the desired shape and will support the boxing.

Third embodiment Referring now to FIGURE 8, there is shown a lower mattress body employing felt padding and adapted for use with a central mattress body incorporating a metal coil spring assembly such as that shown in FIGURE 1. Although the mattress body illustrated in FIGURE 8 is shown in position as a lower mattress body, it is to be understood that the upper mattress body to be used therewith Will be in all respects similar thereto except perhaps as regards such details as ventilator discs, handles, and zipper cover, which may be distributed between upper and lower mattress bodies the same as in the FIGURE 1 embodiment of the invention. Also, the mattress can be used upside down equally as well as right side up, so

that the lower mattress body would then be on top and the upper mattress body would be on bottom.

As shown in FIGURE 8, the block of the mattress body includes an outer ticking 90, a felt padding 91, an insulator 92, and an inner cover 93, quilted together by lines of tight stitching 94. The insulator 92 is illustrated as being of the resin impregnated hair netting type of construction, but other forms of insulator might be employed as necessary to prevent the metal springs from cutting into the padding and to prevent the padding from pocketing between the coils of the inner spring. The insulator may be omitted if the inner cover is made of sufliciently heavy material, e.g. 16 to 18 ounces per square yard. At the extreme outer edge of the block, anchor straps 96, 97 are stitched to the inner cover 93. Each strap carries a snap fastener part 98, 99.

The half boxing in the FIGURE 8 embodiment of the invention is similar to that of FIGURE 6 except that the padding 100 is felt. The felt padding 100 is quilted together with outer ticking 101 and inner cover 102. The outer ticking and inner cover are stitched together and to the ticking 90 and cover 93 of the panel at 103, the joint being covered by a tape 104 incorporated by the stitching. The inner cover 102 and outer ticking 101 of the half boxing are also stitched together and to half of the slide fastener tape 105 at 106, the tape carrying teeth 107.

It is to be noted that in all embodiments of the invention employing laminated half boxing, the padding thereof is fully enclosed and the slide fastener tape is connected to both the inner and outer layers of the laminate so as to pull equally on both when the slide fastener is drawn closed. This enables the boxing to be placed under slight tension when the upper and lower mattress bodies are assembled With the central mattress body.

As best shown in FIGURES 5, 6, 7, and 8, the inner and outer fabrics of the quilted blocks are placed in tension transverse to the lines of tight stitching, which causes the inner and outer fabrics to be curved in cross-section, the degree of curvature depending on the relative strengths and stiffnesses of the inner and outer fabrics. Thus, in FIGURE 5 the inner and outer fabrics, being similar, are approximately equally curved, whereas in FIGURE 8, due to the great stiffness of the insulator, the inner surface of the block there shown is more nearly flat. If the stitching lines of the quilting are straight, the parts of the blocks can hinge about lines of stitching; by using sinusoidal or other non-linear patterns of stitching rigidity is achieved transverse to the lines of stitching in addition to the already present rigidity along the stitch lines. Although the blocks are illustrated as being quilted with stitching extending across the width of the mattress bodies, longitudinal stitching could be employed in addition or alternatively to the crossways stitching. For the half boxings, stitching extending vertically is preferred.

Manufacture Manufacture of a partible mattress embodying the present invention differs materially from the manufacture of conventional inner spring mattresses. A better appreciation of the difference will be obtained from the following comparison of the processes:

Conventional Mattress:

(a) Sewing Room:

(1) Cut and hem top and bottom pannels of ticking.

(2) Cut and quilt border boxing.

Filling Department:

(1) Cover Spring unit with sisal, flexolator or other type of insulator.

(2) Over sisal place cotton felt, foam, or other types of padding.

(3) Boxing is placed around spring unit and attached thereto.

(4) Top ticking panel placed over padding and inner flap is stapled or sewn to spring unit.

(5) Top ticking panel sewn to boxing.

(6) Bottom ticking panel placed over padding and inner flap is stapled or sewn to spring unit.

(7) Bottom ticking panel sewn to boxing.

(8) Mattress is leveled with beating pole.

(9) Button tufted.

Mattress according to present invention:

(a) Sewing Room:

(1) Cut and hem top and bottom panels of ticking and inner covers.

(2) Cut and quilt half boxings.

(3) /z zipper installed in each half of boxing.

(b) Filling Department:

(1) Panels, padding and insulator placed in quilting machine to form laminated blocks.

(2) Each-laminated block sewn to half boxing.

(3) Central mattress body inserted between laminated blocks.

(4) Upper and lower mattress bodies stabilized by fastening their retaining straps to central mattress body.

(5 Boxing halves closed by zipper Not only are the processes of manufacture quite different but the initial investment in equipment and the number of operators therefor is greatly reduced for the subject mattress as compared with a conventional inner spring mattress as appears from the following comparison:

ConventionaL-For the manufacture of conventional bedding, to gain an output of -450 mattresses during an eight hour shift it would be necessary to have the following equipment and personnel:

(1) Filling machine-2 men.

(2) Buttontufting machinel man. (3) Inner roll machinel man.

(4) Rolled edge machinel man.

Present invention.To manufacture a mattress accord. ing to the present invention, to gain an output of 250 units per day the following would be required:

2 Setup (1) Quilting machine2 operators. (2) Border machine--l operator. (3) 3 sewing machines3 operators. (4) 1 zipper machine-1 operator.

From the foregoing it is apparent that with only half the personnel and equipment, approximately twice the output is achieved. In other words, for the same amount of equipment and personnel, the output would be quadrupled. At the same time better quality control is obtained and the resulting mattress has the many advantages over conventional mattresses referred to previously. Some of these may be enumerated as follows:

Marketing:

Because of the partability characteristic of the mattress, it has many more advantages which are not shared with the conventional:

(1) Can be shipped knock down thus lowering the freight rate from double first class to 3rd or 4th class rate.

(2) Due to partability, it can be stored in a minimum of space-approxirnately 4 times as many as the conventional in a given area.

(3) Due to partability, each of the three major components (upper body, lower body, central body) can be changed out, thus increasing the life of the mattress plus affording the dealer the opportunity to properly fit the individual customer in much the same manner as a tailor fits a suit.

Usage:

(a) Consumer is given perfectly fitted mattress. This can be gained inserting various types of central mattress bodies between the upper and lower bodies. As for example, a larger person would need a firmer central mattress body, whereas a smaller person would not need one so firm. This maneuver can be accomplished at the dealer level by unskilled personnel or by the consumer himself.

(b) Because of the partible feature, the consumer can exchange bodies, thus keeping his mattress in a newlike condition without ever having to depend upon a renovator or factory.

(c) Mattress is more comfortable than conventional bedding because it is fitted and due to the quilting it will never lose its shape.

While a preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown and described and certain variations discussed, many modifications of the invention can be made, by one skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention.

I claim:

1. A mattress comprising a central mattress body, an upper mattress body and a lower mattress body,

each of said mattress bodies including a slab shaped resilient block whose thickness is at least eight percent of the total thickness of the mattress, each block having laterally extending top and bottom surfaces and peripheral sides, said blocks being disposed with the top surface of the lower body block adjacent the bottom surface of the central body block and the bottom surface of the upper body block adja cent the top surface of the lower body block, said blocks lying freely one on top of the other and being readily partible,

quick attachable and detachable means near the peripheral sides of said blocks of said upper and lower mattress bodies for anchoring the blocks of said upper and lower bodies to the block of said central body near the peripheral sides thereof,

each of said upper and lower mattress bodies further including a partial boxing secured to the resilient block thereof adjacent the peripheral sides of the last said block, each partial boxing having a free edge, slide fastener means secured to said free edgeof each partial boxing, said slide fastener means being cooperable and providing quick connectable and disconnectable means for connecting the partial boxings together,

said blocks of said upper and lower mattress bodies each comprising a transversely flexible but laterally rigid laminate including an outer ticking, a layer of padding, and an inner cover, said laminates being quilted all the way through by lines of stitching spaced less than one foot apart and drawn up tight to place the ticking and cover close together along the lines of stitching, the quilted ticking and inner cover being prestressed in tension transverse to the lines of stitching. 2. Combination according to claim 1 wherein said resilient block of said central mattress body is a coil spring assembly and each of said resilient blocks of said upper and lower mattress bodies includes an insulator between the padding and inner cover thereof, said padding comprising a heavy layer of felt, said blocks of said upper and lower mattress bodies each having a thickness of at least 1%- inches, said insulator being quilted together with said ticking, padding, and inner cover by said lines of stitching but being otherwise free of said resilient block of said central mattress body.

3. A mattress outer body adapted to be used in conjunction with a mattress inner body and another mattress outer body with the inner body disposed between said outer bodies, comprising a resilient generally slab shaped block whose'thickness to length ratio is at least 0.01,

said block having peripheral side surfaces and a laterally extending surface adapted to be slept upon and a laterally extending inner surface adapted to be in contact with but freely slidable relative to a mattress inner body, quick attachable and detachable means near the peripheral sides of said block for anchoring the block to a mattress inner body near the peripheral sides thereof,

said mattress outer body further including a partial boxing secured to the resilient block adjacent the peripheral sides of the block,

said partial boxing having a free edge, slide fastener means secured to said free edge of said partial boxing, said slide fastener means being adapted to cooperate with a like slide fastener means on another mattress outer body to provide quick connectable and disconnectable means for connecting the' partial boxing of the one mattress outer body to the partial boxing of the other mattress outer body,

said block of said mattress outer body comprising a transversely flexible but laterally rigid laminate including an outer ticking, a layer of padding, and an inner cover, said laminate being quilted all the way through by lines of stitching spaced less than one foot apart and drawn up tight to place the ticking and cover close together along the lines of stitching, the. quilted ticking and inner cover being prestressed in tension transverse to the lines of stitching.

4. Combination according to claim 3 wherein said block has a thickness in the range of /2 inch to 4 inches, said partial boxing is a quilted laminate including an outer ticking, a padding, and an inner cover, and said block and boxing padding are made of an elastomer foam.

(References on following page) Schimmel 5351 Karr 5355 Magaril 5351 Kay 5351 Johnson 5351 1 4 2,543,218 2/1951 Young et al. 5345 2,611,910 9/1952 Bell 5351 3,027,573 4/1962 Bell 5351 3,118,153 1/1964 Hood 5354 FRANK B. SHERRY, Primary Examiner.

CASMIR A. NUNBERG, Examiner.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3,287,749 November 29, 1966 Eugene A. Marsico 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 11, line 73, for "lower" read central Signed and sealed this 7th day of November 1967.

(SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD J. BRENNER Commissioner of Patents Edward M. Fletcher, Jr.

Attesting Officer

Claims (1)

1. A MATTRESS COMPRISING A CENTRAL MATTRESS BODY, AN UPPER MATTRESS BODY AND A LOWER MATTRESS BODY, EACH OF SAID MATTRESS BODIES INCLUDING A SLAB SHAPED RESILIENT BLOCK WHOSE THICKNESS IS AT LEAST EIGHT PERCENT OF THE TOTAL THICKNESS OF THE MATTRESS, EACH BLOCK HAVING LATERALLY EXTENDING TOP AND BOTTOM SURFACES AND PERIPHERAL SIDES, SAID BLOCKS BEING DISPOSED WITH THE TOP SURFACE OF THE LOWER BODY BLOCK ADJACENT THE BOTTOM SURFACE OF THE CENTRAL BODY BLOCK AND THE BOTTOM SURFACE OF THE UPPER BODY BLOCK ADJACENT THE TOP SURFACE OF THE LOWER BODY BLOCK, SAID BLOCKS LYING FREELY ONE ON TOP OF THE OTHER AND BEING READILY PARTIBLE, QUICK ATTACHABLE AND DETACHABLE MEANS NEAR THE PEREPHEREAL SIDES OF SAID BLOCKS OF SAID UPPER AND LOWER MATTRESS BODIES FOR ANCHORING THE BLOCKS OF SAID UPPER AND LOWER BODIES TO THE BLOCK OF SAID CENTRAL BODY NEAR THE PERIPHERAL SIDES THEREOF, EACH OF SAID UPPER AND LOWER MATTRESS BODIES FURTHER INCLUDING A PARTIAL BOXING SECURED TO THE RESILIENT BLOCK THEREOF ADJACENT THE PERIPHERAL SIDES OF THE LAST SAID BLOCK, EACH PARTIAL BOXING HAVING A FREE EDGE, SLIDE FASTENER MEANS SECURED TO SAID FREE EDGE OF EACH PARTIAL BOXING, SAID SLIDE FASTENER MEANS BEING COOPERABLE AND PROVIDING QUICK CONNECTABLE AND DISCONNECTABLE MEANS FOR CONNECTING THE PARTIAL BOXINGS TOGETHER, SAID BLOCKS OF SAID UPPER AND LOWER MATTRESS BODIES EACH COMPRISING A TRANSVERSELY FLEXIBLE BUT LATERALLY RIGID LAMINATE INCLUDING AN OUTER TICKING, A LAYER OF PADDING, AND AN INNER COVER, SAID LAMINATES BEING QUILTED ALL THE WAY THROUGH BY LINES OF STITCHING SPACED LESS THAN ONE FOOT APART AND DRAWN UP TIGHT TO PLACE THE TICKING AND COVER CLOSE TOGETHER ALONG THE LINES OF STITCHING, THE QUILTED TICKING AND INNER COVER BEING PRESTRESSED IN TENSION TRANSVERSE TO THE LINES OF STITCHING.

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