An Improved Spring Mattress.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 27th Dec., 1899-Accepted, 17th Mar., 1900
An Improved Spring Mattress.
I, FREDERICK WILLIAM GOLBY, of. 36, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middle-
sex, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me by Ottoman Steiner,
Improved Bed Manufacturer, Frankenberg, Saxony, to. be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement::
This invention relates to a mattress made of wire-work, with springs, con-
structed to meet ordinary requirements and usages, the elasticity of the same
being adjustable as may be desired.
A mattress of the kind is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which,
Fig. 1 is a plan.
Figs. 2 to 4 being details.
:
The mattress which forms the subject of this invention, differs from the ordi-
nary well-known spiral-spring mattresses, by the employment of hour-glass
springs s, and is connected with the frame in such a manner that it can be
drawn tight by means of a tension cord b carried around the mattress and joined
thereto, so that the flexibility of the mattress can be more or less regulated. The
tension cord b may have one or more free ends and after being drawn tight,
can be fastened at those ends in a clamp by means of any suitable contrivance.
The stretching of the mattress is intended to prevent the formation of hollows
therein, when a heavy body is lying thereon, and which hollows are objectionable
from a hygienic point of view as well as inconvenient, but, at the same time, by
means of the hour-glass springs, to ensure the wire work fitting completely to
the outlines of the body. It is obvious that the stretching of the mattress can be
effected in any other suitable manner, but the arrangement of a tension cord along
the longitudinal sides of the mattress has the advantage that the tightening of
the cord at the same time stretches the helical springs and compresses the hour-
glass springs. The hour-glass springs s are moveably arranged, that is to say,
so as to be displaceable, on bearers e. For this purpose a clamp f (Fig. 3) is
employed, which, on the one hand grasps the bearer e and is moveable thereon
in its longitudinal axis, and on the other hand, grips the helical springs s, in
order, when the clamp f is moved on the bearer c to carry the spring s with it.
This quality in the springs s of being moveable sideways is not a non-essential
matter, as upon the tension springs, in other words, the wire-work being tightened,
the springs may very easily be bent, the result of which would be a pressing
down at the side and the consequent breaking of the springs s, if the latter could not
be brought back again into their vertical position. The present arrangement of
the hour-glass springs, on the contrary, enables the springs to be adjusted in the
vertical direction and increases the flexibility and durableness of the mattress.
The springs s are firmly held in the wire-work by means of hook-shaped rings 9,
and thus can be renewed at will. The hour-glass springs. s are so arranged rela-
tively to the wire-work a that when they are compressed they cannot lie on the
wire-work.
When the springs are compressed, the middle courses of the spring s enter the

page_text: polygon of the wire-work with which the springs are connected, in the manner
shown in Fig. 4, by means of the hooked-shaped rings g whereby the said rings g
considerably help to increase the elasticity of the whole mattress.
It has been customary hitherto to construct-springs and-mattresses of galvanised
or zinked steel wire. The cut-surfaces are left ungalvanised and exposed to
oxidation. Zinc, however, changes colour, like lead, and blackens the bedding.
In order to avoid these disadvantages, all parts of the mattress now referred to are
steeped in enamel varnish, that is covered with a layer as hard as glass.
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) Mattress made of wire-work with helical springs and hour-glass springs,
the flexibility of which is regulated by a suitable tension contrivance for example,
by a tension-cord b joined to the mattress and carried along the side-edges of the
same, by means of which when the free ends are pulled tight, the helical springs
are, put under tension and the hour glass springs compressed, substantially as
herein described.
(2) In a mattress of the kind indicated in Claim 1 hereof the arrangement of
the hour-glass springs son clamps moveable on bearers e, for the purpose of
effecting an automatic adjustment of the springs in a vertical direction after
being placed under tension, substantially as herein described.
(3) In a mattress of the kind indicated in Claim 1 hereof the arrangement
whereby the hour-glass springs s are firmly held in the wire-work by hook-shaped
rings, and in this manner arranged in the mattress so as to be interchangeable.
(4) A mattress of the kind indicated in Claim 1 hereof in which the parts form-
ing the wire-work are provided with a coating of enamel, substantially as described
Dated this 27th day of December 1899.
F. W. GOLBY,
Patent Agent, 36, Chancery Lane, London, W.C.