Improvements in Spring Mattresses.
Year: 1896

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Spring Mattresses.
I TOM MELLOR of 1 Chapel Street, Glossop, in the County of Derby, Joiner,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to the construction of such spring mattresses the springs
of which consist of interwoven wire coils or similar springs held in tension
longitudinally of the mattress.
Usually these mattresses are provided with frames of wood which are not only
bulky, heavy and difficult to take to pieces and put together, but have also faults of
construction rendering them liable to get out of order.
My invention consists in so constructing the frame that metal may be used for its
entire construction and that the said frame shall be comparatively light and small in
bulk, and also quite easily taken to pieces and put together, and shall further
possess advantages in construction hereafter referred to.
In the first place instead of forming the fixed part of the frame of four pieces of
wood bolted together at the corners by vertical bolts, I use four metal castings (or
corner pieces) into which the ends of four rectangularly fixed stays are fitted. The
two transverse ends are made of suitable angle iron, and the two longitudinal stays or
sides which bear the thrusting strain of the tension of the springs are tubular and
are supported by suitable bushes or sockets cast to the corner pieces, the angle iron
stays passing through slots in the said corner pieces.
At each end of the angle iron stays I rivet or otherwise fix a pap, or boss which
will fit in the ends of the tubular stays, or I provide other means for preventing
the tubular stays from moving the corner pieces outwards.
The tension bolts pass through suitable holes in the vertical side of one of the
angle iron beds and through brackets fixed to the lower of two flat cross bars between
which the ends of the coiled or other springs are clamped.
The other ends of the springs are clamped between two similar flat cross bars
which are provided with holes and slots similar to the slotted holes at the end of an
ordinary bed lath fitting over headed pins fixed in the horizontal side of the
corresponding angle iron cross bar of the fixed frame.
The tension of the springs pulling against the width of the clamping bars, the latter
may be quite light.
Thus the whole frame is kept together by the tension bolts and the stronger the
tension is, the firmer the mattress becomes; whereas in the ordinary construction the
tendency of the tension is to bend or snap the bolts which hold the fixed frame
together.
Again as soon as the tension bolts of my mattress are removed or loosened
sufficiently the fixed frame can be taken to pieces, whereas the four corner bolts
must be removed before the ordinary frame can be taken to pieces.
Furthermore my mattress cannot when once firmly fixed together wear so that the
frame can be forced out of the rectangular form; but with a frame fixed by vertical
bolts at the four corners this can occur.
I prefer to weave or fix a few rings along the outer edges of the spring part of
my mattress through which the tubular stays above named can be threaded, and thus

page_text: the edges of the mattress will be supported and cannot give way like the edges of the
ordinary unattress.
Dated this 23rd day of July 1896
GEO. DAVIES & SON,
4. St. Ann's Square, Manchester, Agents for the Applicant.
Improvements in Spring Mattresses.
I TOM MELLOR, of 1 Chapel Street Glossop, in the County of Derby, Joiner,
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 the construction of spring mattresses, the springs of
which consist of interwoven wire coils or similar springs held in tension longitudinally
of the mattress, and the same will be readily understood from the following
description on reference to the accompanying drawings.
Usually these mattresses are provided with frames of wood which are not only
bulky, heavy, and difficult to take to pieces and put together, but have also faults of
construction rendering them liable to get out of order.
My invention consists in so constructing the frame that metal may be used for
the entire construction, and that the said frame shall be comparatively light and small
in bulk, and also quite easily taken to pieces and put together, and shall further
possess advantages in construction hereafter referred to.
In the first place, instead of forming the fixed part of the frame of four pieces
of wood bolted together at the corners by vertical bolts, I use four metal
castings a', a a, a, (or corner pieces) one of which a' is shown at Figs. 1, 2, and 3
and into which the ends of four rectangularly fixed stays b b c c are fitted (see
Fig. 7). The two transverse ends are made of suitable angle iron (see also
Figs. 4 and 4) and the two longitudinal stays or sides which bear the thrusting strain
of the tension of the springs may be tubular (see Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 7) or of angle
iron, as seen at Figs. 12, and 3^, and are supported by suitable bushes or
sockets a cast to the angle pieces a' a, a3 at the angle iron stays bb passing through
slots in the said corner pieces as seen at Fig. 1 and dotted at Fig. 1A.
At each end of the angle iron stays I may rivet or otherwise fix a pap, or boss
which will fit into the ends of the tubular stays, or I provide other means, such as the
short bolt d, for preventing the tubular stays, ce from moving the corner
pieces a', a² a³ a outwards.
The tension bolts e pass through suitable holes in the vertical side of the angle iron
bars and may pass through brackets * (Fig. 4) fixed to the lower of two flat cross
bars between which the ends of the coiled or other springs s are clamped.
The other ends of the springs s may be clamped between two similar flat cross
bars which are provided with holes and slots, not shewn but similar to the slotted
holes at the end of an ordinary bed lath, fitting over headed pins fixed in the horizontal
side of the corresponding angle iron cross bar 6 of the fixed frame.
The tension of the springs s pulling against the width of the clamping bars, the
latter may lie quite light; or the springs s may be clamped between a single bar b
Fig. 4, and the bar b, and between a bar and a transverse angle iron bar 6,
through the vertical side of which the bolts e pass and are screwed into nuts el which
are preferably provided with side pieces or lags by which they may be fastened
by screws or otherwise to the bar &, see Figs. 4, and 6.
Thus the whole frame is kept together by the tension bolts e, and the stronger
the tension is, the firmer the mattress becomes; whereas in the ordinary construction

page_text: the tendency of the tension is to bend or snap the bolts which hold the fixed
frame together. 9, are hooked pieces surrounding the legs of the corner
brackets a, a, a, a which can be turned outwards or inwards to catch over the
edge of the bed (see h Fig. 1); and i are rubber cushions or pads fixed under the
castings a', a, a³, a.
As soon as the tension bolts e of the mattress are removed or loosened sufficiently
the fixed frame can be taken to pieces, whereas the four corner bolts must be
removed before the ordinary frame can be taken to pieces.
Furthermore my mattress cannot when once firmly fixed together wear so that
the frame can be forced out of the rectangular form; but with a frame fixed by
vertical bolts at the four corners this can occur.
I prefer to weave or fix a few rings k (Fig. 54) along the outer edges of the
spring part of my mattress through which the stays c c' if tubular can be threaded,
and thus the edges of the mattress will be supported and cannot give way like the
edges of the ordinary mattress; or hooks k¹ see Figs. 5 and 7 can be fixed in the
edges of the mattress, passing through holes in the bars c c'.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
The construction of the frame of a spring mattress with four corner brackets or
standards and removable side bars fitted and fixed therein, substantially as and for
the purposes herein before described with reference to the annexed drawings.
Dated this 22nd day of April 1897.
GEO. DAVIES & SON,
4, St. Ann's Square, Manchester, Agents for the Applicant.