Improvements in Metallic or Spring Mattresses.
Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 21st Dec., 1887
Complete Specification Left, 21st Sept., 1888
Complete Specification Accepted, 26th Oct., 1888
RES
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1
Improvements in Metallic or Spring Mattresses.
I, GEORGE ALFRED BILLINGTON, of 11, Hope Street, Liverpool, in the County of
Lancaster, Spring Mattress Manufacturer do hereby declare the nature of my said
invention to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to that type of mattress in which the material constituting
the body is made of wire, or of chains and springs or their equivalents and the frame
of wood, or metal, or partly of both, the said body being suspended by the frame.
My Invention has chiefly for its object to provide an inexpensive mattress; to
construct, mattresses in such a manner that they can be easily and readily secured, or
fixed to the frames of ordinary known kinds of bedsteads and to secure rigidity and
strength of the various parts of the frame.
To these ends I construct the end members of the frames of mattresses of the types
above mentioned of metal, the section of this metal member being preferably of
channel form and so disposed that the body of the mattress may be secured to one of
the sides of the metal forming the channel. Under ordinary condition the top side
would be this portion.
The means by which one end member, the fixed one, of the frame is secured to the
side members consists of joints so constructed that the said end member, or provision
upon it will fit into, or onto provisions formed in, or upon the ends of the side
members and will thereby be securely and rigidly held. The other end member,
being the adjustable one is provided with any known type of adjusting device and a
guide piece by which it is held in position on the side frames and excess of lateral
play, or movement is prevented.
Examples of constructions of the provisions above mentioned for interlocking the
fixed end member and side members together consist as follows. To the upper edge
of each of the ends of the side members I provide a projecting fixed bolt and to the
underside of the end member I provide a metal head constructed to correspond with
and fit over the said projecting bolt. The bolt may be made parallel, or tapered and
the metal heads of the end member made to correspond. When the bolt is parallel a
stop is formed upon, or in, one, or other of the parts. The above provisions are

page_text: preferably made of cast iron, such as malleable cast and secured to the respective
members. In lieu of the end member having the attached provision for securing it to
the side members, it may be secured thereto by cutting, or forming a slot in the lower
side of the metal of the channel. In this case the bolts of the side members may be
made to form a support to the upper metal side of the channel. In all cases the end
members will be placed above the side members.
To provide a construction of mattress by which it can be readily and at the same
time firmly placed in position upon, or to the frame of an ordinary bedstead I
construct the side members of angle iron and place the end members above and upon
the upper edges of them as above stated.
These angle irons fit over the side members of the bedstead, the horizontal side of
them constituting the bearing, or seat and the vertical sides the means by which the
mattress is held in position upon the bedstead.
The vertical side of the angle iron of the mattress may be either arranged to lie to
the outside of the member, or to its inner side accordingly as circumstances may
render the one or the other desirable, or necessary.
In cases where the angle iron side members are not suitable, or desirable they may
be made of wood, having iron ends, or tips, or of other form.
It will be seen that by the above described construction of mattress, the objects
above specified are obtained; also the four members of the frame can be easily and
readily put together, or taken to pieces.
Dated this 30th day of Dagamihar 1887

page_text: 1, GEORGE ALFRED BILLINGTON, of 11 Hope Street, Liverpool, in the County of
Lancaster, Spring Mattress Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement:—
This Invention relates to that type of mattress in which the material constituting
the body is made of wire or of chains and springs or their equivalents, and the frame
of wood or metal, or partly of both, the said body being suspended by the frame.
My Invention has chiefly for its object to provide an inexpensive mattress; to
construct mattresses in such a manner that they can be easily and readily secured or
fixed to the frames of ordinary known kinds of bedsteads; and to secure rigidity and
strength of the various parts of the frame.
To these ends, I construct the end members of the frames of mattresses, of the type
above mentioned, of metal, the section of this metal member being preferably of
channel form and so disposed that the body of the mattress may be secured to one of
the sides of the metal forming the channel. Under ordinary conditions the top side
would be this portion.
The means by which one end member, the fixed one, of the frame is secured to the
side members consists of joints so constructed that the said end member or provision
upon it will fit into, or onto, provisions formed in, or upon, the ends of the side
members, and will thereby be securely and rigidly held. The other end member,
being the adjustable one, is provided with any known type of adjusting device, and a
guide piece by which it is held in position on the side frames, and excess of lateral
play or movement is prevented.
Examples of constructions of the provisions above mentioned for interlocking the
fixed end member and side members together consist as follows. To the upper edge
of each of the ends of the side members I provide a projecting fixed bolt, and to the
under side of the end member 1 provide a inetal head constructed to correspond with
and fit over the said projecting holt. The bolt may be made parallel or tapered and
the metal heads of the end member made to correspond. When the bolt is parallel
a stop is formed upon or in, one, or other of the parts. The above provisions are
preferably made of cast iron, such as malleable cast, and secured to the respective
members. In lieu of the end member having the attached provision for securing it to
the side members it may be secured thereto by cutting, or forming a slot in the lower
side of the metal of the channel. In this case the bolts of the side members may be
made to form a support to the upper metal side of the channel. In all cases the end
members will be placed above the side members.
To provide a construction of mattress by which it can be readily and at the same
time firmly placed in position upon, or to the frame of an ordinary bedstead, I
construct the side members of angle iron and place the end members above and upon
the upper edges of them as above stated.
These angle irons fit over the side members of the bedstead, the horizontal side of
them constituting the bearing, or seat and the vertical sides the means by which the
mattress is held in position upon the bedstead.
The vertical side of the angle iron of the mattress may be either arranged to lie to
the outside of the member or to its inner side accordingly as circumstances may render
the one or the other desirable, or necessary.

page_text: DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 is a perspective view showing a portion of the frame of a mattress
according to my Invention, and
Figures 2, 3 and 4 show in detail, in elevation, back view and plan, the connection
shown in the left hand portion of the frame illustrated in Figure 1.
Figure 5 is a back view, showing a converse arrangement of the interlocking
parts.
Figure 6, shows in perspective, the modification, according to which the end frame
itself interlocks with the bolts of the side frame.
Figure 7 illustrates in perspective, the arrangement in the case, in which the side
members are made of iron or steel, and adapted to fit on or with the side frame of a
bed, and held in position thereby.
With reference in the first instance to Figures 1, 2, 3 and 4, X designates the fixed
end bar or member of the frame of a mattress, Y is the adjustable end member thereof,
and Z is one of the side bearers or members. a is the projecting fixed bolt of dovetail
form, and tapered outwards towards and at its end, (see Figure 4); and is the metal
head in which is provided the tapered or dovetail groove, corresponding in shape and
size with the bolt u. The cross bar X is of a channel form, made up by rivetting two
angle irons together, but it will be evident that channel iron may be used instead.
The flanges s
To the ends of the member X, the heads b are connected by rivets r.
and t, respectively at the back of and below the member X, formed upon the head b,
afford convenient means or provisions by which the member and heads can be rivetted
together. The flanges serves the further purpose of preventing the member from
ringing, or becoming pulled out of shape.
The bolts a are cast or formed on the shoes a¹ which are secured to the ends of the
side members Z, in any known suitable way.
The adjustable end member Y is of the same construction as the member X, that is,
it is composed of two rivetted angle irons, and these are held to the end plates f of the
member X, by ordinary screw bolts g, which pass through and work in holes formed
in the bottom of the channel. Guide pieces formed of angle iron are provided on
the under side of the members Y, by means of which the member is held in its proper
position laterally.
If the material of which the mattress bottom is made be of the chain and spring
kind, it may be secured to the end members X and Y, by hooks passed through holes
formed therein, as shown in Figure 2. If however it is of the interwoven spiral wire
type, it may be conveniently secured to the members by wooden bars, which clamp
the material in the channel thereof, and are held in position in any known way.
The construction of the head band shoe a¹, illustrated in Figure 5, is the converse
of that just described; that is to say, the dovetail bolt in this instance is formed on
the head b, whilst the dovetail groove in which it fits is formed in the upper portion of
the shoe a¹,
In the modification illustrated with reference to Figure 6, the shoe a' and its bolt a
are constructed substantially in the manner set forth with reference to Figures 1 to 5,
but the end member X in this case, instead of being provided with a head b, having a
groove in it, as specified with reference to those figures, is provided with a slot (shown
in the Drawings), in which the bolt a slides and fits. The bolt a in this example, may

page_text: be so made as to form a support for the top flange of the angle iron of the member X,
and the end flanges of the angle irons may form a stop, against which the bolt may
come and bear.
In the example of mattress shown in Figure 7, the side members Z (one of which
is shown), are made of angle bars of iron or steel, having the surface of one of its
flanges placed in the horizontal plane, to which the shoe a' is attached.
W designates
the side bar or bearer of an ordinary bedstead, and formed of an angle bar, and upon
the upper flange of which the side member of the mattress rests.
The adjustable
end member Y (not shown), would by preference be of the same nature as that set
forth with reference to Figure 1. It will be seen how in this case, the mattress can
be readily placed in position on the bedstead and cannot be moved therefrom, unless it
be lifted bodily off it. It will be also evident from the Figure, how the angle iron of
the mattress and bedstead may be arranged conversely to that shown, namely, the
mattress side bar arranged so that its vertical flange lies outside the angle bar of the
bedstead. It will be seen that the bolt a, and its corresponding groove are arranged
according to the construction set forth with reference to Figure 5.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
Invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is
1. The employment in connection with mattresses of the kind berein specified, of
the means herein described, or any mere modification thereof, by which the "fixed"
end member of a mattress frame, is connected to the side members thereof.
2. In a mattress of the kind herein described, the combination with the side
members, and an end member or members, of the frame thereof, of a head b, and a
shoc a', said head being provided with a groove, and said shoe being provided with a
bolt, corresponding therewith, or, conversely, said head being provided with a bolt,
and said shoe being provided with a groove; substantially as set forth.
3. In a mattress of the kind herein described, the combination with the side
members, of the frame thereof, of a bolt, such as a, or its equivalent, said bolt being
adapted to fit in a corresponding groove or aperture, formed in or in connection with
the end member or members; substantially as set forth.
4. A mattress of the kind herein described, having the side members of its frame
constructed of metallic angle-bars, said angle bars being adapted to fit on or in the
frame of a bedstead; substantially as set forth.
groove;
5. The construction and combination of parts of the mattress frame, set forth with
reference to Figures 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 of the Drawings, comprising the fixed end metal
member X, having the head b, provided with rivetting flanges, and a dovetail
the adjustable metal end member Y having guides ; and the side members Z having
at one end the shoe a¹, provided with a bolt a, and at the other end a plate and
adjusting bolt g, the material forming the bottom of the mattress being secured to the
flanges of the metal end members X and Y ; all substantially as specified.
6. The construction and combination of parts of the mattress frame set forth with
reference to Figure 7, comprising the metallic fixed and adjustable end members, and
the metallic angle-bar, side members, the fixed end member, and the end of the side
members being provided with the head band shoe a¹, provided with the bolt a and
corresponding groove all as specified.