IMPROVEMENTS IN SPRING MATTRESSES, SOFAS, AND OTHER SEATS
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Jakob Lichtscheindl, of Battersea, in the County
of Surrey, for the Invention of “ IMPROVEMENTS IN SPRING MATTRESSES,
SOFAS, AND OTHER SEATS."-A communication from abroad by Delos
V. Crandall, of Chicago, County of Cook, and State of Illinois,
United States of America.
Sealed the 26th February 1872, and dated the 10th October 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Jakob Lichtscheindl
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 10th October 1871.
I, JAKOB LICHTSCHEINDL, of Battersea, in the County of Surrey, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
Spring MATTRESSES, SOFAS, AND OTHER SEATS,” to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to provide a series of springs for bed
bottoms, sofas, seats, and lounges so arranged as to retain their proper
elasticity, and the improvements consist in connecting a series of conical

page_text: shaped spiral springs in such manner as to prevent the same uncoiling
under the weight applied, by which means the proper degree of elasticity
is retained.
The said springs, which may be of any desired size of wire that will
ensure the required strength, are made in pairs of one continuous piece
of wire, the ends of which are bent or coiled in an annulose conical
shape, by which the proper elasticity is obtained. To the upper surface
of the lower portion of the framework of the bed bottom I secure the
base of the conical portion of the springs by means of clasps or staples
passing over or around the wire forming the same, the springs being
so arranged that contiguous springs are coiled in opposite directions.
On these springs I sometimes place other and similar springs inverted,
and attach the same thereto by means of clasps, which are firmly
locked together. Said clasps are made from ordinary band iron, the ends
of which are bent, forming an eye into which the ends of the springs
are introduced. It is sometimes found necessary to connect said springs
in the centre laterally across the frame of the bed bottom, in which case
I provide a rail, to which the staples or clasps are secured by means of
screws or rivets passing through the same. Should a greater strength
of spring be required the wire forming the lower springs may be
increased in size, by which means the desired result is obtained.
It is a fact long established that by actual use that the ordinary spiral
spring when subjected to continual use will lose its elasticity by the
uncoiling of the same, while by this Invention this difficulty is prac-
tically overcome, as the whole is firmly connected together, thus
equalizing the strain, whereby the elasticity of the springs is fully
retained.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Jakob Lichtscheindl in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 10th April 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAKOB
LICHTSCHEINDL, of Battersea, in the County of Surrey, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of October, in the year of

page_text: our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-
fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Jakob Lichtscheindl, Her special licence
that I, the said Jakob Lichtscheindl, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Jakob Lichtscheindl, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with,
and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during
the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN SPRING MATTRESSES, SOFAS, AND OTHER SEATS," a com-
munication to me from abroad by Delos V. Crandall, of Chicago,
County of Cook, and State of Illinois, United States of America, upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Jakob Lichtscheindl,
my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my,
or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe
and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in
the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Jakob Lichtscheindl, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement, reference being had to the Sheet of
Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon (that is to say) :-
The object of this Invention is to provide a series of springs for bed
bottoms, sofas, seats, and lounges so arranged as to retain their proper
elasticity, and the improvements consist chiefly in connecting a series of
conical shaped spiral springs in pairs in such manner as to prevent the
same uncoiling under the weight applied, by which means the proper
degree of elasticity is retained.

page_text: one continuous piece of wire, the ends of which are bent or coiled in an
annulose conical shape, as shown, by which the proper elasticity is
obtained. Each spring therefore consists of a pair of conical springs
coiled side by side and united in one at the base by the portion 6 of the
continuous wire of which they are formed. These twin springs are
secured to the framework o of the mattress by means of clasps d
punched from ordinary band iron in the form shown detached on an
enlarged scale in Figure 3. Those clasps are applied to the top or
smallest coil of the springs and bent over the wire, as shown at d',
Figure 3, the clasps being then screwed to the framework. In the
mattress shown in Figures 1 and 2, which is of cheap construction, the
springs a are all placed in an inverted position on the cross bars c, to
which they are secured by clasps d, said cross bars resting on other
springs a¹ similarly secured to the side rails c¹. The springs a are coiled
both to right and left, one of each kind being placed alternately side by
side to prevent the twisting of the mattress by the tension of the springs
in one direction. Each cross bar c is secured to the lower springs a¹ by
a hook or staple e and catch e', as shown on an enlarged scale, Figure 4,
so as to be readily detachable for convenience in packing. I sometimes
connect the adjacent springs by cross links ƒ (shown in red lines, Figure 1)
to distribute and equalize the pressure on the springs as much as
possible.
For a more expensive kind of mattress I sometimes combine two of
these twin springs, as shown in elevation, Figure 5, and plan, Figure 6,
so as to form a double hour-glass spring connected at top and bottom.
by the straight parts 6 of the wire. To the upper surface of the lower
portion of the framework c of the bed bottom I secure the base of the
conical portions of the twin spring a³ by means of hooks or staples e.
I then invert springs a and attach the same to springs a³, as shown, by
means of double clasps d somewhat similar to those before described, by
which the springs are firmly locked together. It is sometimes found
necessary to connect these springs in the centre laterally across the bed
bottom, in which case I introduce cross bars c¹ similar to those above
referred to, to which the clasps d are secured by screws or rivets passing
through the same. In these double hour-glass springs the straight
portions 6 cross in opposite directions, as shown, to prevent the spring
twisting out of shape.
It is a fact long established by actual experience that the ordinary

page_text: spiral spring when subjected to continual use has a tendency to uncoil
and so lose its elasticity, while by the twin spring of this Invention this
difficulty is practically overcome, the ends of the wire being firmly
fixed by the clasps d so that the springs cannot possibly uncoil, as the
spirals are connected by the intermediate portion of wire b, by which
means their elasticity is fully retained.
In Figures 7 and 8 I have shown in plan and elevation respectively a
machine for making the twin springs, such machine however forms no
part of the Invention to be protected by the present Patent, and I
hereby disclaim the same, but I have merely introduced it in illustration
of the process of coiling the springs. In order to ensure the two conical
portions of the spring being of equal size and strength it is necessary
that the two ends of the wire should be coiled simultaneously in order
that it may be subjected to equal tension in the process of coiling,
otherwise the springs would be liable to set unequally. For this purpose
I employ two of the spiral bosses or cones usually employed in the
manufacture of ordinary spiral springs, which gradually approach each
other as the wire is coiled upon them. g, g', are the two bosses, which
are precisely similar in every respect, keyed on vertical spindles h, h¹,
working in bearings, and carrying worm wheels i, ¹, which gear with
worms k, k², on a longitudinal shaft driven by hand or power. The
one boss g is mounted in a heavy sliding block A moving on ways in the
framework B of the machine, and the worm k slides along the shaft
with a groove-and-feather connection between them. The wire (cut to a
suitable length to form a twin spring) is stretched between the bosses g, g¹,
(as shown in red lines) to the tops of which the ends of said wire are
secured by screw clips m or otherwise. By the rotation of shaft / and
worms k, k¹, the bosses g, g¹, are rotated in the same direction so as
to coil the wire upon themselves; the tension of the wire drawing the
slide A along the machine until the boss g is close up to g¹ and the
whole of the wire is wound on them except the straight intermediate
portion 6 before referred to. The spring is then complete and may be
removed from the machine. I generally employ two pairs of bosses g, g¹,
a right and left handed pair, to make both kinds of springs at one
3 operation. n is a sliding bearing for shaft pivoted in block A; o is a
friction wheel also mounted in said block, working in a groove in the
worm k to traverse the same along the shaft.
Having described the nature of the Invention, and the manner of

page_text: performing the same, I declare that what I claim as the Invention to be
protected by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,--
1st. The twin spring consisting of two conical portions connected
at the base and formed of one continuous wire, substantially as herein-
before described and illustrated in the Drawings.
2ndly. Coiling or twisting the two ends of the said continuous wire
simultaneously to ensure equality in the two conical portions of the
spring.
3rdly. The combination of two twin springs to form a double hour-
glass spring, substantially as described and shown in Figures 5 and 6 of
the Drawings.
4thly. The combination of cross bar c, springs a, a¹, and clasps d, the
whole constructed and arranged substantially in the manner and for the
purpose specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said Jakob Lichtscheindl, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Ninth day of April, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.