IMPROVEMENTS IN SPRING MATTRESSES
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Harris Heal, of Tottenham Court Road, in
the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN SPRING
MATTRESSES."
Sealed the 8th May 1860, and dated the 19th March 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Harris Ileal at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
19th March 1860.
I, JOHN HARRIS HEAL, of Tottenham Court Road, in the County of
Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN SPRING MATTRESSES," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in spring mattresses, and
consists in making such mattresses in sections or parts so that they may be
more portable than the spring mattresses heretofore constructed which have
been made all in one piece. For this purpose, the wooden frame of the
mattress is made in parts (by preference three), each of which parts is of the
breadth of the mattress, and they are of such a length that when placed
together they together make up the full length of the mattress. At the
bottom of each part of the frame are laths, to which the springs are fixed in
the usual manner, and at their upper ends the springs are connected together
by lashings of string, or by being stitched to bands or to a covering of canvas
or otherwise, each part of the frame is covered with tick or other strong

page_text: covering. The parts of the mattress, when required for use, are placed side
by side, and the four upper edges which come together have strips of tick or
other fabric sewn to them, and these strips are each of them connected by
string or otherwise to the nearest row of springs. Eyelet holes are formed in
the strips of tick or material, and lacings are employed to connect together the
parts of the mattress. The connecting the several parts or sections of the
mattress in the manner above described is necessary, as were the parts or sec-
tions simply placed side by side, the springs at the sides of the parts or sections
would, when a weight was placed on them, draw in towards the centre of each
section so as to leave portions of the mattress without springs.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Harris Heal in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 19th September 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HARRIS HEAL, of Tottenham Court Road, in the County of Middlesex, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-third year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said John Harris Heal, Her special licence that I, the said John Harris
Heal, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said John Harris Heal, 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," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said John Harris Heal, 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 John Harris Heal, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be

page_text: performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in spring mattresses, and
consists in making such mattresses in sections or parts so that they may be
more portable than the spring mattresses heretofore constructed, which have
been made all in one piece. For this purpose the wooden frame of the
mattress is made in parts (by preference three), each of which parts is of the
breadth of the mattress, and they are of such a length that when placed
together, they together make up the full length of the mattress. At the
bottom of each part of the frame are laths, to which the springs are fixed in
the usual manner, and at their upper ends the springs are connected together by
lashings of string, or by being stitched to bands or to a covering of canvas or
otherwise. Each part of the frame is covered with tick or other strong covering.
The parts of the mattress, when required for use, are placed side by side, and
the four upper edges which come together have strips of tick or other fabric
sewn to them, and these strips are each of them connected by string or other-
wise to the nearest row of springs. Eyelet holes are formed in the strips of
tick or material, and lacings are employed to connect together the parts
of the mattress. The connecting the several parts or sections of the mattress
in the manner above described is necessary, as were the parts or sections
simply placed side by side, the springs at the side of the parts or sections would,
when a weight was placed on them, draw in towards the centre of each section
so as to leave portions of the mattress without springs.
Having thus stated the nature of my said Invention, I will proceed more
fully to describe the manner of performing the same.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 shews a longitudinal section, and Figure 2, a plan of parts of two
sections or parts of a mattress constructed and combined according to my
Invention; and Figure 3 shews separately on a larger scale the manner in
which sections or parts of a spring mattress are laced together. In each of
these Figures the same letters are used to indicate the same parts. A and B
shew two parts of two sections of a spring mattress; each section is formed
with its own frame a, a, and b, b. The coiled springs c, c, are fixed at their
lower ends on laths d, their upper ends being connected together by strings
c, e, e, as is shewn, or in place thereof bands or coverings of canvas or other
materials may be employed to retain the upper ends of the springs c, c, in their
proper positions, and these are to be so arranged, that when two sections are
brought together, the upper ends of the springs of both sections shall be con-

page_text: nected together, and not separately to bear the weight thereon; f, f, is a
covering of tick. At the upper edges at the sides of the sections where they
come together there are strips of strong fabric, as shewn at g, g, in which are
formed eyelet holes to receive lacings h, h.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I would have it understood that I make no claim to any
of the materials or springs separately, nor do I confine myself to the precise
details as herein described; but what I claim is the combining the springs
and materials into sections or parts of a mattress, and connecting such
sections and the upper ends of the spring in the different sections one to the
other, as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Harris Heal, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
J. HARRIS HEAL. (L.S.)