Improvements in or additions to Metallic Mattresses, Bed Bottoms, and the like.
Year: 1897

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or additions to Metallic Mattresses, Bed
Bottoms, and the like.
We, JOSEPH NICHOLS, JOSEPH HENRY NICHOLS, WILLIAM EDWARD NICHOLS, and
ERNEST ARTHUR NICHOLS, trading as J. Nichols and Son, of Cheapside, Wire Works, in
the City of Birmingham, Manufacturers, and WILLIAM CONSTANT VERNALL of 5
Osmond Place, Oldfield Road, Sparkbrook, Birmingham, aforesaid, Foreman of Works,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to coiled wire and other analogous metallic mattresses, bed-
bottoms, sackings and the like, and has for one of its objects, strengthening the
fabric or mesh and for another object, the preventing of sagging and this is
accomplished by the employment of auxiliary or supplementary under supports,
consisting preferably of metallic cords, diagonally directed from the corners of each
side and with their middles passing through eyes or loops at the ends or convenient
parts of tie-springs which unite the said cords, thereby forming a resilient under
support which upholds the body mesh and keeps the same perfectly "square" or
always in a horizontal plane.
In carrying out one form of our improvements, we take an ordinary mattress frame
having elevated fixed and loose ends, and connect the head and foot edges of the
body mesh thereto in the usual way, and we direct a metallic (or other) cord, composed
of closely intercoiled helices, from the corners of each side in a diagonal direction
towards the middle of the mesh and then through eyes or looped ends of a coiled or
other spring or springs, which connect the cords of each side together and always
keep them taut or on the stretch, by which they have always a tendency to keep in
a horizontal plane hence the uplifting or keeping of the body fabric of the sacking
horizontal or perfectly square and preventing sagging.
In the event that the supporting cords stretch or give in consequence of undue
loading of the fabric, then the same can always be restored to their normal tension
by running the spring or springs more or less away from the centres of the cords or
from their original position or positions and the further the springs are shifted along
the cords, the more their coils open.
Instead of employing a pair of cords running from the corners of the mattress
sacking, we may employ two, three or other number of equally distributed pairs, with
each pair tied together near the two ends by coiled springs, whilst the outer cords or
members of two adjacent pairs may be tied together by one, two or more spring or
yielding connections and if necessary, the cord lengths themselves may be provided
with an inserted spring or springs, and each cord or uplifting member may be
yieldingly or otherwise connected together by a rigid tie, or by a spring or springs of
a coiled or other construction.
We wish it to be understood that spring connected mattress supporting springs may
be arranged in single, double or multiple order in any direction across the whole or
any part of a mattress or sacking and may be arranged in any pattern or form which

page_text: may be found to give the best results, crossing pairs of parallel cords may be also
arranged in any way desired so as to admit of them being tightened up by the
shifting or changing of position of the spring connections.
Dated this and Manch 1005
JOSEPH NICHOLS.
JOSEPH HENRY NICHOLS.
WILLIAM EDWARD NICHOLS.
ERNEST ARTHUR NICHOLS.
WILLIAM CONSTANT VERNALL.
By Henry Skerrett,
Agent for Applicants.
Improvements in or additions to Metallic Mattresses, Bed.
Bottoms, and the like.
We, JOSEPH NICHOLS, JOSEPH HENRY NICHOLS, WILLIAM EDWARD NICHOLS and
ERNEST ARTHUR NICHOLS, trading as J. Nichols and Son, of Cheapside Wire Works,
in the City of Birmingham, Manufacturers, and WILLIAM CONSTANT VERNALL, of
5 Osmond Place, Oldfield Road, Sparkbrook, Birmingham aforesaid, Foreman of
Works, do hereby declare the nature of this 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 coiled wire and other analogous metallic mattresses, bed-
bottoms, sackings and the like, and has for one of its objects, to strengthen the
fabric or mesh and for another object to prevent sagging of the said fabric when in
use,
and this is accomplished by the employment of auxiliary or supplementary and
adjustable under supports or means for keeping or sustaining the fabric in a
horizontal plain, consisting preferably of metallic cords, diagonally directed from the
corners of each side or from other end or side parts of a mattress or the like, and
with their middles passing through eyes or loops carried at the ends or convenient
parts of running or movable tie-springs which unite the said cords, thereby forming
a resilient under support which upholds the body mesh and keeps the same perfectly
square" or always in a horizontal plane, and which said tie springs also form the
means for adjusting the tension of, and taking up slack in, the said diagonal under-
supporting cords.
66
Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings represents an underside plan of a spring
wire mattress provided upon its underside with auxiliary or supplementary means for
preventing sagging or upholding or sustaining the fabric in a horizontal plane, which
said resilient under support is also made adjustable, independent of the tensioning
of the body mesh by means constructed in accordance with one form of our
invention.
Figure 2 represents, upon an enlarged scale, a plan of the centre portion of one
half of the said resilient support.
Figure 3 is a section of figure 2, upon the dotted line x.
Figure 4 represents a like view as figure 2, but with the tie springs drawn some
distance apart in order to tension or take up sag in the supporting cords.
Figure 5 is a section of figure 4 upon the dotted line x¹.
The same letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in figures 1 to 5:
a is the framing of an ordinary mattress, having a fixed end a', and a loose end a²,
adjustable by tension screws as as usual, and with the head and foot ends.b¹, b²,
of the body mesh b, secured thereto in the usual way, and located

page_text: immediately below the underside of the said body mesh are a series of diagonally
arranged supplementary supporting cords c, c¹, d, d¹, disposed in pairs and with their
ends c², c³, d², d³, respectively inade fast at separated points, to the bars a¹, a², of the
mattress frame, whilst the middle parts c, c, d, d³, of the said cords approach each
other and the individual cords of each pair are connected together by a pair of tie
springs e.
"
Thus the said cords c, c, d, d¹, which are preferably composed (as shown) of a
series of closely-intercoiled wire helices, which are helically wrapped with an outer
spiral or spirals f, for preventing the slipping of the looped ends of the tie springs
along them, are directed from each end bar in a diagonal direction; towards the
middle of the mesh and these pass through eyes or looped ends e¹, of the coiled tie
spring e, which connect the cords of each side together and always keep them taut or
on the stretch, by which they have always a tendency to remain a horizontal plane
hence the uplifting or keeping of the body fabric of the sacking horizontal or perfectly
square and thereby prevent sagging.
In the event that the supporting cords stretch or give in consequence of continued
use or undue loading of the fabric, then the same can always be restored to their
normal tension, independent of the body fabric, whose tension is not interfered with
by separating the springs more or less from one another, or running them away from
the centres of the cords or from their original position or positions as represented in
figures 4 and 5, thereby changing the angles of the cords, as represented by the
dotted lines in figure 1.
Instead of employing two pairs of supporting cords arranged as described, we may
employ a single pair of cords running from the corners of the mattress sacking or as
a modification, we may arrange the supplementary supporting cords as represented
in figure 6 in which a is the mattress frame, having a fixed end a¹, and a body mesh-
tensioning end a², to which the opposite ends of the body mesh b, are secured.
The supporting cords c, are six in number arranged as shown, made fast to framing
end bars a¹, a², and connected together by tie springs e, el, e², the tensioning of the
said cords, independent of the body fabric, being effected by separating the two pairs
of tie springs el, and causing the pairs of ties e, e2, to approach one another, thereby
rendering the angles made by the obliquely directed parts c', of the cords more acute
relative to one another and relative to the straight parts c².
Or we may employ three or other number of equally distributed pairs, with each
pair tied together near their middles by coiled springs, or equivalent yielding means
whilst the adjacent cords or members of two contiguous pairs may be tied together
by one, two or more spring or vielding connections, and if necessary, the cord length
themselves may be provided with an inserted spring or springs, or the cord or
uplifting members may be connected together by running loops, rings or equivalent
rigid ties, or by a spring or springs of any construction other than a coiled
spring.
Figure 7 represents another arrangement of our invention for preventing the tie
springs from slipping.
The mesh-sustaining cords c, are in the form of compound open-coiled helices,
of stout wire, and the looped ends e¹, of the tie springs e, lie at the bottoms of the
declivities c', in the said helices, and are prevented from slipping along the cords by
the rises c², forming as it were, steps or shoulders.
Figure 8 represents another modification showing an arrangement of non-slipping
tie-springs for use in conjunction with smooth-surfaced cords. In this form the
double looped ends e¹, of the tie springs e, are slightly larger in diameter than the
cords c, and are connected to the ends of the springs by levering arms e², which
cause the said loops to twist or take an angular position and make the inside of the
same grip upon the cords at two opposite points, thereby preventing slipping, and
the greater the tension of the cords, the tighter they are gripped by the loops..
We wish it to be understood that spring-connected mattress-supporting cords or
equivalents may be arranged in single, double or multiple order in any direction
across the whole or any part of a mattress or sacking and may be arranged in any

page_text: pattern or form which may be found to give the best results crossing cords may be
arranged in any way desired so as to admit of them being tightened up by the
shifting or changing of position of the running spring or rigid ties or connection.
The invention is applicable to the strengthening and supporting of mattresses made
from chain, or from stout wires as in the well known "Dominion" type, or of any other
construction, in addition to woven or coiled wire fabrics as herein described.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what
we claim is:-
:-
First Auxiliary means for upholding or supporting mattresses and sackings for
various purposes, consisting of diagonally directed cords, helical strands or equivalents,
arranged in pairs, sets or series, and connected together and tightened or tensioned
by running or adjusting connections or ties, in the form of springs, loops or
equivalents, substantially as described and set forth.
Secondly Auxiliary means for upholding or supporting mattresses and sackings
for various purposes, consisting of diagonally directed cords, arranged in pairs, sets
or series, connected together and tightened or tensioned by running or movable
connections or ties, in the form of springs, loops or equivalents, and which said
supporting cords are provided with helically encircling wires or equivalents for
preventing the ties from slipping thereon, substantially as described and set forth.
Thirdly: The arrangement and combination of the auxiliary mesh-supporting
cords and their tensioning tie-springs, substantially as described and set forth in
figures 1 to 5.
Fourthly The arrangement and combination of the auxiliary mesh-supporting
cords and their tensioning tie-springs, substantially as described and set forth in
figure 6.
Fifthly-The combination with loop-end adjusting tie springs or equivalents,
of fabric sustaining cords in the form of open-coiled compound helices, with the
declivities forming seatings and the rises forming stops for the loops of the tie springs
for preventing slipping substantially as described and set forth in figure 7.
Sixthly The combination with plain sustaining cords, of tie springs or
equivalent having double or single non-slipping coiled loops or eyes, substantially
as described and set forth in figure 8.
Dated this 2nd day of December 1897