Improvements in and in the Production of Wire Fabrics for use in the Manufacture of Mattresses and for other uses.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 28th June, 1892
Complete Specification Left, 28th Mar., 1893-Accepted, 13th May, 1893
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and in the Production of Wire Fabrics for use in
the Manufacture of Mattresses and for other uses.
I WILLIAM PITT of 7 College Road, White Hart Lane, Tottenham, in the
County of Middlesex, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to
be as follows:-
The wire fabric used in the manufacture of mattresses and of other articles
where springiness or elasticity is required is at present made of helically or spirally
coiled wire strands looped or threaded together. These wire coils are attached at
their ends to a frame, one end of which is moveable so that the tension of the
spring can be adjusted as desired. Wire fabric of this description is somewhat
expensive on account of the quantity of wire used and the time required to
manufacture the coils and to loop or thread them together. Moreover, after a time,
the continued straining of the ends of the wires tends to straighten out the coils
and consequently to diminish their clasticity or resiliency.
The object of this, my invention, is to produce wire fabric which is comparatively
cheap to make and which is so constructed that its elasticity is increased with an
increase of the tension or straining thereof.
In manufacturing wire fabric in accordance with my invention I proceed as
follows:-I first corrugate or bend the wires into a continuous wavy, zigzag,
vandyke, or other suitable shape. This may be conveniently effected by means of
toothed rollers of suitable pattern. I then divide this corrugated wire into lengths
equal to the width of the frame to which the wire fabric is to be attached, and loop
these together in such manner that the apex of oue zigzag or the like takes over
the root of the corresponding zigzag &c. in the next row, similar to a chain stitch
as produced by sewing machines. The free ends of the wire of each transverse
row are looped round the next row and are closed up by forming them into eyes.
When a sufficient number of transverse rows have been looped together to form
the length required, the free ends are secured one to the fixed and the other to the
inoveable part of the straining frame.
Dated this 28th day of June 1899
F. W. GOLBY,
36. Chancery Lane, London, W.C., Patent Agent for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and in the Production of Wire Fabrics for use in
the Manufacture of Mattresses and for other uses.
I WILLIAM PITT of 7 College Road, White Hart Lane, Tottenham, in the
County of Middlesex, Engineer, "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 :-
The wire fabric used in the manufacture of mattresses and of other articles where
springiness or elasticity is required, is at present made of helically or spirally
coiled wire strands looped or threaded together and arranged with their axes in a
plane at right angles to the direction of pressure.
These wire coils are attached
at their ends to a frame one end of which is moveable so that the tension of the
spring can be adjusted as desired. Wire fabric of this description is somewhat

page_text: expensive on account of the quantity of wire used and the time required to
manufacture the coils and to loop or thread them together. Moreover, after a
time, the continued straining of the ends of the wires tends to straighten out the
coils and consequently to diminish their elasticity or resiliency.
The object of this, my invention, is to produce wire fabric which is comparatively
cheap to make and which is so constructed that its elasticity is increased with an
increase of the tension or straining thereof within reasonable limits.
In manufacturing wire fabrics in accordance with my invention proceed
as follows: first corrugate or bend the wires into a continuous wavy, zigzag,
vandyke, or other suitable shape. This may be conveniently effected by means of
toothed rollers of suitable pattern. I then divide this corrugated wire into lengths
equal to the width of the frame to which the wire fabric is to be attached, and
loop these together in such manner that the apex of one zigzag or the like takes
over the root of the corresponding zigzag. in the next row, similar to a chain
stitch as produced by sewing machines. The free ends of the wire of ench
transverse row are looped round the next row and are closed up by forming them
into eyes.
When a sufficient number of transverse rows have been looped together
to form the length required, the free ends are secured one to the fixed and the other
to the moveable part of the straining frame.
In the accompanying drawings
Figure 1 is a plan view of a mattress made according to this invention and
having wavy or zigzag transverse rows.
Figure 2 is a longitudinal elevation of the wire fabric alone shewing its normal
state, and Figure 3 is a similar view shewing how the various transverse rows adjust
themselves when the fabric is strained longitudinally.
Figure 4 is an enlarged detached view of the wire fabric shewing the manner in
which the wavy or zigzag transverse rows are interlaced with each other.
Figure 5 shews one of the transverse rows separately.
AA are the transverse rows, a a being the apexes and the roots of the
zigzags thereof. To make the mattress a number of these zigzag rows A A' &c.
of suitable length, are taken and are interlaced with each other in the following
manner: The apex a of each zigzag in the first row A is looped over the apex of
the corresponding zigzag in the second row A', and the first row A is then drawn
down until each apex a is at the root of each zigzag in the row A¹ as shewn in
Figure 4. The free ends c and d of the wire of which the zigzag row A is formed,
are finished off by looping them round the root of the outside zigzag of the
row A', and the twisting them around on themselves as shewn in Figure 1. The
second row A' is then similarly interlaced with the third row A2 and so on for all
the rows.
When sufficient of the fabric has been so made to produce the length
required, the bottom of the first row and the top of the last row are respectively
secured to the mattress frame B and stretching bar C either direct or by means of
the additional wires D and E. When the mattress is strained the fabric will
contract laterally and longitudinally will be bowed or arched in the manner shewn
in Figure 3, so that the elasticity in a vertical direction of the fabric will be
increased by an increased tension, of course, within reasonable limits.
Although by way of example, I have shewn the invention as applied to a mattress
I do not confine myself to the use of the fabric so made to mattresses alone as
obviously it may be used for various other purposes where springiness or elasticity
is required and notably for the seats and backs of chairs, lounges, couches, and
such like articles. Nor do I confine myself to the formation of the fabric from
transverse rows of zigzag shape, as rows of vandyke, rectangular, or other suitable
shapes may be used with equal advantage in the production of fabric such as
herein described.
Where I have referred to transverse rows in this Specification, I wish it to be
understood as meaning rows arranged transversely to the direction in which the
fabric is to be stretched or strained.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
For spring mattresses and other like articles, a fabric composed of zigzag, wayy,
vandyke, rectangular, or other suitably shaped rows of wire interlaced by looping
the apex of each zigzag, vandyke &c. of one row on the root of the corresponding
zigzag vandyke &c. of the next row, the free ends of the wires of each row being
looped on the outside zigzag &c. of the next row and twisted round on themselves
substantially as described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 28th day of March 1893.
F. W. GOLBY,
36, Chancery Lane, London, W.C., Patent Agent for the Applicant.