Year: 1898

page_text: I, JACOB STADELBAUER KNECHTEL, Furniture Manufacturer, of the Village
of Hanover, County of Grey, Province of Ontario, Dominion of Canada, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
My improvements in wire spring mattresses have for their object to enable the
several parts to be readily taken apart to permit of packing the mattresses in
pairs within a small compass for shipment, as well as to allow of conveniently
setting up the several parts to form the mattress, and of stretching the wire
fabric to the desired degree, to produce an elastic springy and smooth surface.
The mattress is provided with two side rails and with terminal cross beams
of which the one is secured on one end of the rails by bolts while the other beam.
is adjustably held by bolts in the slotted ends of the rails. The inner edge of
said beam is engaged by bolts screwing in nuts fixed on the top of the side rails
so that the beam can be adjusted longitudinally on said rails to give the desired
tension to the wire fabric which is secured at its ends to the beams and at its
sides to the rails.
The wire fabric is formed of longitudinal strands of spring wire having hori-
zontally-disposed coils arranged alternately on opposite sides. The ends of the
strands are formed into loops each adapted to hook on to a peg, nail, or like pro-
jection upon the terminal beams, the end of the loop of one strand hooking on
to the end coil of the adjacent strand. Adjacent coils of adjacent strands are
connected with each other by a connecting link preferably made of soft wire and
formed at or near its middle with a coil and at its ends into hooks for engaging
and conveniently closing the corresponding loops of adjacent strands. The coils
on the side edges of the fabric are engaged by rods preferably made of strong
wire and engaging in transverse links secured by means of staples to the top
of the side rails. The ends of the wire rods are preferably fitted into apertures
in the terminal beams.
By the construction described a very strong wire fabric is produced having
a smooth surface and capable of standing almost any strain, no matter in which
direction the strain is applied. When the mattress is loaded and the strands
tend to straighten then the moment the load is removed the reaction from the
straightened condition again gives the strands a zig-zag formation.
When it is desired to fold the mattress the bolts which connect the cross beams
to the side rails are disconnected and the longitudinal screw bolts slackened.
The end loops of the wire fabric are then unhooked so as to allow of rolling it
up: For shipment it is preferred to pack two folded mattresses together, the
two rolls of wire fabric and the terminal beams being placed between the two
pairs of side rails and connected with each other at their ends by short boards
secured by the bolts used for connecting the cross beams to the side rails, other

page_text: The
strands. The coils on the side edges of the fabric F are engaged by longitudinally
extending rods H preferably made of strong wire and engaging in transverse
links I secured by means of staples to the top of the side rails A A¹.
ends of the rods H are preferably fitted into apertures in the terminal beams B B¹
so that the said rods do not present projecting ends.
By the construction described a very strong wire fabric is produced having a
smooth surface and capable of standing almost any strain no matter in which
direction the strain is applied. When the mattress is loaded and the strands
tend to straighten, then the moment the load is removed the reaction from the
straightened condition again gives the strands the zigzag formation shewn in the
drawing.
When it is desired to fold the mattress the bolts C and D are disconnected
from the rails, the screw rods E are run inwards, and the loops F4 are unhooked
from the pegs G to permit of rolling the wire fabric into a roll. For shipment it
is preferred to pack the folded-up mattress together, as illustrated in Figure 2,
the two rolls of wire fabric and the terminal beams being placed between the two
pairs of side rails and connected with each other at their ends by short boards K
and the bolts C and D, boards L closing portions of the connected side rails being
employed to prevent the terminal beams and the rolls of wire fabric from falling
out between the said rails.
It is clear from the foregoing that two mattresses folded up into one single
bundle, as shown in Figure 2, take up very little room, and consequently can be
conveniently shifted from one place to another. It will further be noticed, that
it requires a comparatively small amount of wire to form a very strong and durable
piece of wire fabric. The coils F2, F³ are placed at equal distances apart, to give
the fabric a fine symmetrical appearance. By making the connecting links of
soft wire, the end hooks thereof engaging the coils F, F3 can be easily and
properly closed to form a smooth joint, and at the same time maintain the neces-
sary yielding properties of the spring wire strands and their coils. The coil FG
in the connecting link F³ may be omitted if desired.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said in-
vention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:
1. A wire spring mattress comprising side rails, terminal cross beams, one
of which is secured to the rails, the other being adjustably secured thereon, side
rods extending longitudinally, links for supporting the rods from the side rails,
and a wire fabric formed of strands having coils extending alternately on opposite
sides and having diagonal connecting links for connecting adjacent coils of
adjacent strands, the coils on the sides of the fabric being engaged by the said
side rods, and the ends of the strands being formed into loops for removable
connection with pegs on the terminal beams, substantially as shown and described.
2. A wire spring mattress comprising side rails, terminal cross beams, one
of which is secured to the rails, the other being adjustably secured thereon, sido
rods extending longitudinally, links for supporting the rods from the side rails,
and a wire fabric formed of strands having coils extending alternately on opposite
sides and having diagonal connecting links for connecting adjacent coils of
adjacent strands, the coils on the sides of the fabric being engaged by the said
side rods and the ends of the strands being formed into loops for removable
connection with pegs on the terminal beams, the loop of one strand being also
connected to the end coil of the next adjacent strand, substantially as shown and
described.
3. A wire spring mattress comprising side rails, terminal cross beams, one
of which is secured to the rails, the other being adjustably secured thereon, side
rods extending longitudinally, links for supporting the rods from the side rails,
and a wire fabric formed of strands having coils extending alternately on opposite