Improvements in and relating to Springs as used in the Upholstering of Furniture and the like.
Year: 1894

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and relating to Springs as used in the
Upholstering of Furniture and the like.
We, GEORGE HAROLD RUBERY Junr. of 26 Huntingdon Buildings, Bethnal
Green Road, London E., Upholsterer, and JAMES BELL of 1 Hoxton Square,
Hoxton, London N., Spring Maker do hereby declare the nature of this invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement :—
Our invention relates, firstly, to improvements in the construction of spiral
springs as used in the upholstering of certain parts of furniture, and private and
public road vehicles, tram, railway and other carriages. Secondly, of a method
and means of arranging the said springs in series or rows, and connected to and
fixed upon suitable wire or cane frames, bent, curved or otherwise formed in any
suitable manner to coincide with the shape of the fronts of seats and other parts of
furniture to which the said series or rows may be adaptable, such for instance as the
arms of easy and other chairs, or the fronts of the seats of these, couches, sofas,
settees and the like, or such or like parts of road, tram or railway carriages.
Our invention has for its objects, firstly, to economise time in the upholstering of
such parts of furniture and the like, by reason of the upholsterer having sets or rows
of springs ready to occupy and be fixed upon the said parts, and secondly, to save
time and material in the fixing of said rows or sets of springs, by reason of the
entire abolition of the need of stays, ties or braces, necessary for the adjusting and
fixing of such springs in the methods hitherto employed.
For these and similar uses it has hitherto been customary to construct the springs
wider at their top and bottom ends than in the centre of their length, and in fixing
these upon the fronts and arms of the articles of furniture previously mentioned, it
has frequently occurred that the width of the bottom coil of the springs has been in
excess of the width of the wooden frame upon which they were to be fixed, and to
accommodate such excess in the width of the springs, the canvas covering the centre
springs of the seat has had to be slit or incised, thus materially weakening the said
covering, and occasioning waste of material, and to obviate this we construct our
said improved springs in conical form, the apex of these being of such a width as to
permit the same to rest upon the said frame without exceeding the width thereof,
while their bases being fixed to the before mentioned wire or cane frames, and these
being fixed to the frame of the chair or the like, the whole series or row of springs
would be thereby held suspended by their bases, while the apex of each would rest
upon, the seat frame of the chair or the like, and be fixed thereto by one or the other
of the means hereinafter explained.
In order that our invention, and the manner in which we carry the same into effect
may be clearly and fully understood, we have hereunto appended a sheet of drawings,
in which
Fig. 1 is a perspective view of one form of our said improved conical springs.
Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a series or row of these drawn to a reduced scale,
as we prefer to arrange them when intended to be made in rows or series and fixed
upon the front edge of the seat frame of a circular fronted chair, settee or the like.
Fig. 3 is a similar view of part of a series when intended to be fixed upon the
arms, of easy chairs, or the front edges of the seats of same, if these be straight,
couches, sofas and the like having straight fronts.
Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the unupholstered frame of an easy chair, showing
the position that Figs. 2 and 3 would occupy thereon.
Fig. 5 is a perspective view of an upholstered settee, the front of the seat of which

page_text: is party broken away to mustrate the position of Fig. 2 upon the front o Cre
frame thereof.
Fig. 6 is a perspective view of two short lengths of springs in series or rows, the
first of which illustrates the manner in which we may form the said springs in pairs,
to economise time and staples in fixing the same, the second view illustrating how a
tape or strip of canvas or the like may be employed to effect the fixing of the lower
end of said springs.
Fig. 7 is a view of a spring showing an alternative method of construction
relatively to Fig. 1, for purposes hereinafter explained.
Fig. 8 is a perspective view of a clip and plate to be employed in connection with
Fig. 7.
We carry our invention into effect by constructing of suitable wire, a conical
spring A, substantially as at Fig. 1, and with this type of spring we prefer to
arrange that the lower coil a of each, (when these are to be arranged in rows as at
Figs. 2 and 3,) shall slightly exceed in diameter the coil above it, this being to
provide a clearance for the hammer, in driving the staples by which a would be
retained in position upon the frame of the seat or other part of the chair settee or
the like, and the springs so formed we may construct singly as at Fig. 1, or by
continuing the coil a of one spring so as to form the commencement of a of the next,
we may form these in pairs as at Fig. 6.
Any desired number of such springs or pairs of springs may be connected at their
bases, by the means of metallic clips B, to a pair of steel, copper, iron or other
wires or canes C and D, the said wires or the like being bent or curved to coincide
with the curve or shape of the surface upon which they are to be fixed, that is to
say, if the series of springs being thus constructed are intended for the front edges
of the curved seat frames of easy or other chairs as at Fig. 4, or the fronts or other
similar shaped parts of settees or the like as at Fig. 5, the said wires CD would be
bent or curved to coincide therewith, and as the curves and dimensions of these
parts of such furniture are in most cases alike or nearly so, a general curve after
the manner shewn by Fig. 2 would suffice but for seats or other parts having
special curves, provision would be made as hereinafter explained but if the series
or row of springs are intended for parts not curved, such for instance as the arms of
easy chairs as at Fig. 4, or the edges of couches or other seats having straight
fronts, the said wires C D may be also straight as at Fig. 3.
In the case of a spring set as at Fig. 2, intended for a chair front as at Fig. 4, we
form the outer or D wire with curved ends 6 and 6', terminating in rectangular
bends c and c, these being for engaging with holes in the front standards of the
arms of the chair as at Fig. 4, which may be therein retained by the aid of
suitable Ushaped staples. The inner wire C we prefer shall terminate with an eye
or loop at each end, and to these we may connect one end of suitable springs d, their
opposite ends being connected to the curved end b b¹ of D, these being intended to
serve the double purpose of maintaining the connection between c and c¹ and the
chair arms, when the said staples are not used, and to permit a certain elasticity in
the length of the spring set to accommodate any slight variation that may exist
between the width of one such chair and another. If single springs (Fig. 1) be
used in the preparation of such set, as at Fig. 2, the apex of each spring would be
held in contact with the front of the seat frame by the means of the said U shaped
staples engaging with the coils a and the said frame, thus using two or more staples
for each spring, or a ribbon or strip of canvas, cloth, tape or the like E, may be
passed through the whole series of springs between a aud the coil above, when nails
or tacks F may be used to fasten the said strip to the chair or other front as shewn
by the lower view in Fig. 6. Or when the set be constructed of springs A in pairs
as in the upper view in Fig. 6, the lower ends of each pair may be held in contact
with the wooden frame by the use of three staples, as shown in the same view, thus
saving one staple to each pair, relatively to the method of fastening these by staples
when constructed singly as previously described. The ribbon or strip E may be
employed with equal facility with the double as with the single springs A.

page_text: In spring sets intended for straight edged surfaces, such for instance as the arms
of easy chairs as at Fig. 4, these would be arranged as at Fig. 3, in which case C D
may be formed of one continuous wire, bent or curved at e (Fig. 4).
The opposite
or free ends of C D, would be bent at right angles at f (Fig. 2) and these would
engage with holes
in the chair back as shewn in Fig. 4, staples being used if
necessary to retain the ends off in position. The lower or a portion of the
springs A would be connected to the chair arm by staples or strips E, in the manner
previously described and shewn in Fig. 6. A slight deviation from this arrange-
ment may be found necessary or convenient when Fig. 3 is used for the front edges
of sofas or other seats having straight or nearly straight edges, that is to say, the
curve e in such a case may or may not be, but in lieu thereof both ends of C D may
have angles fif more convenient for engaging with holes g in the frame of the sofa
or the like.
It may sometimes occur that the fronts of easy and other chairs, settees, couches
and the like, or the same or other parts of road, tram or railway carriages, may
have special or such curves, that a set of springs prepared for use under ordinary
circumstances, such as Fig. 2, may not be applicable, and to accommodate such
circumstances we may prepare the said springs as shewn at Fig. 7, in which the
junction of the two largest or base coils instead of being connected as at X Fig. 1,
would be connected by means of a clip B as in Fig. 7, and upon the lowest or base
coil, opposite to B, a clip B¹ would be connected, the mouth of which would be left
open as shewn, while the lower or apex coil, instead of being enlarged as at a in
Fig. 1 would terminate in a vertical depending spike like end a', such being formed
by pinching or hammering the said end.
Upon the upper surface of the frame of such unusually curved fronts previously
mentioned any number of such springs (Fig. 7) would be placed side by side in a
row, touching each other, or any desired distance apart, the spike a¹ of each
depending in front of, and close to, the front face of the said frame, and would be
fastened thereto by U shaped staples driven into said frame, or a¹ may be bent at
right angles, as shewn by the dotted outline in Fig. 7, and be driven into a hole in
front of said frame, while the remainder of the lower coils of said springs may be
held in position by a band or tape E in the manner shewn in Fig. 6 and previously
described.
The open mouthed clips B' are for the reception of a cane or wire similar to D in
Fig. 2, and this would be retained in connection with the whole series of springs by
closing the said clips B₁ by the means of the upholsterers pinchers. The arm
standards or other parts of the frame of said furniture, (or carriage or other seat
having such unusually curved front), available for the reception of the ends of the
cane or wire D, would be provided with plates G, (Fig. 8) nailed or screwed thereto,
upon each of which would be pivotally mounted an open mouthed clip B", similar
to B', and into these the ends of D would be placed and the mouths of B closed
thereon by the same tool as that employed for closing B¹. By these means a spring
stuffing may be provided for the arms, or the front of the seats or other parts,
whatever curve or curves these may assume.
We wish it understood that the accompanying drawings are intended merely to
illustrate the principle of our invention, and that we do not confine ourselves to the
application thereof as therein shewn but may construct and arrange the said springs
singly or in sets so as to be adaptable for use in the spring stuffing of any part or
parts of furniture, or the seats and other parts of road, tram or railway carriages to
which the use of such springs may be applicable, without departing from the
principle of our invention or substantially from that described and shewn.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what we
claim is
1st. The construction and use of conical springs, singly or in pairs, and the
arrangement of same in series or rows, and held by their bases to a wire or wires,

page_text: -cane or canes, by the means of suitable clips, and the employment of same in the
spring stuffing of the seats, arms and other parts of furniture, or road, tram and
railway carriages, substantially as and for the purposes herein described and shewn
by the accompanying drawings.
2nd. The combination of spiral springs A in conical form, singly or in pairs, and
with or without extension coils a, arranged in rows or series, and connected by
their bases, by the means of suitable clips B, to straight or curved wires or
canes DC, or to one wire arranged to form C D, with or without the use of
springs d, and the employment of such rows or series in the spring stuffing of the
arms of easy chairs, or the front edges of the seats of same, or like and other parts
of the seats of road, tramcar or railway carriages, connected and operating
substantially as and for the purposes herein described and shewn by the
accompanying drawings.
3rd. The combination of spiral springs A in conical form, the smallest coils or
apex of which terminate in spikes a¹ capable of being driven into, or connected by
hold fasts to, the front or other parts of the upholstered frames of the seats of
furniture or carriages, the base of each spring being provided with clips B and B' as
at Fig. 7, the latter when closed for holding a wire or cane D uniting a series of
such springs, and plates G, carrying pivotally clips B", as at Fig. 8 fixed upon the
arms or other suitable parts of said frames for receiving and holding the ends of D,
substantially as and for the purposes herein described and shewn by the
accompanying drawings.
Dated this 5th day of May 1894
GEO. THOS. HYDE,
1, Broad Street Buildings, Liverpool Street, London, E.C.,
Agent for the Applicants.