Improvements in or relating to Furniture Springs.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 30th Apr., 1894-Accepted, 9th June, 1894
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or relating to Furniture Springs.
Communication from EDUARD FRANKENBERG, of Hanover, in the Empire of
Germany, Manufacturer.
I, ALFRED JULIUS BOULT, of 323, High Holborn in the County of Middlesex,
Chartered Patent Agent, 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 :-
In the use of coiled or helical springs in upholstered furniture, matresses, etc.,
it has for a long time been the custom to join them together with tapes or cords,
before there were laid over them the straps to which they were attached.
The insertion in or application to such springs, according to this invention, of
plugs inade of wood or other suitable material is intended to supersede both these.
methods, i.e., the labour of tying them together, and their union by steel or iron
bands; and also to make them interchangeable so as to be able to take out any
single spring and substitute another for it, without taking the article of furniture
to pieces for that purpose.
These plugs are applied in various forms, for instance as in Sheet 1 Figure 1, in
the shape of a cap or cover (t) in Figures 2 and 3 as plugs, properly so called,
with or without a projecting Hange. They may be introduced loosely (t¹ t³) or
provided with a helical groove with which the last convolutions of the spring
engage (Figure 2); and they may be rounded at the top (Figure 2) or
terminate in a plane surface ( Figure 4). According as the form of the spring
is cylindrical or conical, the plugs are also cylindrical (Figures 1 and 2) or conical
(Figure 3).
In Figure 4 the mattress-frame is shown in cross section, the springs c being
arranged at the sides so that the connecting iron straps or bands
may be carried
or supported by two coiled springs with plugs which, in the longitudinal direction
of the mattress are fastened to the iron straps or bands b' with wood-screws.
Figures 5 and 6 show the employment of the plugged springs s in upholstered
furniture. The springs are united together by longitudinal and transverse straps
and rest on wooden strips as in Figure 5 or on tight straps g as in Figure 6.
Above the springs the upholstery p is applied in the ordinary way.
The employment of larger separate plugged-springs in the seats of stools (such
as music-stools etc.) is shown in Figure 7 as seen from above and in Figure 8 in
cross section.
On the frame the springs c' are arranged at fixed distances, and these are
connected by iron straps with the plug t of the helical spring s¹ which is carried
by the iron strap fastened to the frame r.
Figures 10 to 16 Sheet 2 inclusive show various applications of the plug
without any fixing nails or screws. The plug t, smooth and corresponding
accurately with the inner diameter of the cylindrical spring in the clear, and
provided with a projecting flange, fits so fast in the spring that it can only by
force be separated therefrom.
In putting the mattress together, the plug is fastened to the overlying brace or
band by means of a tag or a screw, which is easily done.
Then if the top of the plug be provided with a dovetailed groove (Figures 10
and 12) no further fastening is required, it suffices to slip the dovetailed lath into
the groove of the plug whereby also the further advantage is obtained that the
number of plugged springs to be applied to any article of furniture can be varied

page_text: at will without any difficulty. The plugged springs in this arrangement are
movable and yet they retain the position assigned to them.
In order to obtain an even surface of the mattress the groove is preferably deep
enough to admit of the lath, which is slipped (or slides) into it, being level with
the surface of the plug. In any case, with the employment of iron-bands the
said wooden laths are bevelled at the edges so that they may fit accurately in the
dovetail grooves cut in the top of the plugs as shown in Figure 13, in order to
prevent any injury to the covering or bedding superimposed thercon. Figures 14, 15
and 16 show portion or complete set of parts of a mattress, arranged in this
manner, in cross-section, and plan as seen from above. By making a single
plugged spring of adequate dimensions, a spring-seated chair may be made having
but one spring, without any fastening of the spring or of its plug as shown in
Figure 18 the upper plug is then preferably made with a rounded upper-surface
(Figure 17). The plugged spring is carried on crossed straps or iron bands, and
the usual upholstery, or some kind of strong cover, is applied over it and secured
in suitable manner. Thus, as indicated in Figure 18 in the simplest possible manner,
a perfectly elastic seat is obtained by the application and use of a single, loose,
plugged spring.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention, as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is ;-
1. The combination with a helical furniture spring of a plug of cylindrical or
conical form with or without a helical groove cut in it substantially as and for the
purpose described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
2. Plugs of the kind specified in Claim 1 arranged in pairs for each separate
spring, and whereof the upper plug is provided with a dovetail groove for the
reception of a correspondingly dovetailed slide-piece or strip or of iron bands
coincident with the upper surface of the plug, in such wise that the springs are
movable in the direction of the strips or of the iron bands.
Dated this 30th day of April 1894.