Improvements in the Wire Bottoms of Bedsteads applicable to other Articles and in the Manufacture of the same.
Year: 1898

page_text: Improvements in the Wire Bottoms of Bedsteads applicable to
other Articles and in the Manufacture of the same.
I, GEORGE LANE, of Sterling Works, Brueton Street, Birmingham, in the
County of Warwick, Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this inven-
tion to be as follows:-
:-
My invention has for its object improvements in the wire bottoms of bedsteads
applicable to other articles and in the manufacture of the same by which I
provide a spring mesh which is perfectly resilient in every part and is capable of
great resistance to any strain. It will also readily recover its normal condition
even after the most undue strain and is perfectly smooth on the surface and free
from any parts whereby dirt can accumulate while a great saving in cost is
effected over other bottoms of equal quality & strength.
I will describe my invention as applied to a bedstead bottom in carrying
which into effect I use wire coiled tubes, each coil being formed of sufficient
strands of the required pitch to form a hollow flexible tube consisting of say
six strands or as many as may be required by the pitch and diameter of the
strands to form the flexible tube without break. These coils have their ends
attached to the frame for the coils to run from head to foot of the beadstead
bottom and are preferably spaced with alternate wide & narrow spaces between
them. The coils are then drawn & secured together at different points so as to
form a series of diamond shaped apertures i.e. the coils each side the wide spaces
are drawn to the centre of the space and there secured by a wire link or other
suitable means after which the coils each side the narrow space are similarly
drawn to the centre of the narrow space where they are secured in a similar
manner and so on alternately until the whole of the bedstead bottom has been
so treated. The resiliency of the bottom is obtained from the wire tube coils
and this may be reduced by stretching the said lengths of coils more or less
before fixing to the bottom.
I have here only described one form of arrangement of the wire tube coils in
the bedstead bottom but by modifications in the methods and points of connec-
tions and attachments of the said flexible tubes a great variety of designs may be
obtained.
1
P T
1000
LEWIS WM. GOOLD,
Agent for Applicant,
5, Corporation Street, Birmingham.

page_text: complete form.
Figure 6 (in Sheet 5) is an enlarged detail view of part of the bottom.
Figure 7 (in Sheet 5) is an enlarged sectional view of two of the wire coils A
with their retaining link B.
Figure 8 (in Sheet (4) shews a modification in which two coiled wire springs
are used instead of one.
Figure 9 (in Sheet 4) is an enlarged side view of a modified form of link B.
Figure 10 (in Sheet 4) is a plan of same.
In carrying my invention into effect I attach to the mattress frame C a series
of coiled wire cables A which are composed of a sufficient number of strands a
to fill up the pitch of the coil and thus produce the hollow flexible and resilient
tube A as shewn partly finished by Figure 4 and complete by Figure 5. The
requisite number of lengths of the said coiled spring cables A are attached to
the ends of the frame C and extend preferably in a longitudinal direction
from end to end and are spaced apart to suit the particular requirements of the
case, although I find it 'most convenient to arrange them with alternate wide
and narrow spaces as shewn by Figure 2. The cables A are fixed to the mattress
frame with sufficient tension to give the required degree of resiliency to the
completed mattress surface. The coiled spring cables A are then drawn together
at the points a² so as to form a series of diamond shaped apertures in which
position they are secured as the work proceeds by the links B or their equiv-
alent, i.e. supposing the coiled spring cables to be arranged with alternate wide
and narrow spaces the spring cables A on each side of a wide space are drawn
towards each other to the centre of the said wide space and there secured, after
which the spring cables A on each side of the narrow spaces are similarly drawn
together and secured and so on until the whole of the bottom or mattress surface
is complete At the sides I may secure the bights of the outer spring cables by
staples or other means but I prefer to run a cable along each side-member, which
cable E has been formed in the same manner as the spring cables A but which
has also been placed under considerable tensional strain to prevent any
possibility of further distension.
The side spring cables A. being attached to the side cables E are thereby pre-
vented from being drawn in at the centre of the sides, while the flexibility of
the whole bottom may be reduced by slightly but permantly stretching the
lengths A more or less before attachment to the frame C. As it is important
that the links B should be quickley attached to the cables and that they should
in addition not be liable to spring off in case of not being closed a special form
of link might be employed of the form shewn at Figures 9 and 10 which may
be left open at 6 without any fear of the link dropping off.
The ends of the coiled spring cables may be attached to the frame C in any
suitable manner but in the case of metal or even wooden frame ends c I may
as shewn in Fig. 6 provide holes through which the spring cables A are
threaded and returned at the one end to form the next length as shewn at a³
the ends being twisted or otherwise secured at the other or reverse end of the
mattress as illustrated by the ends of the adjoining length of wire at
The double spring cable arrangement shewn at Figure 8 is obvious and needs
no particular description. In addition to its uses in the construction of mattress
surfaces my invention might also be utilized in the manufacture of other goods
of a cognate class such as for instance in seatings for chairs or for railway
carriages ships berths couches and the like.
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
-
The improved elastic metallic bedstead bottom, mattress surface or other similar