FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates generally to bedding, and more particularly, to a formed wire bedding foundation.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Bedding foundations or so-called box spring assemblies generally comprise a wooden base, an upper grid and a plurality of coil or bent wire spring modules extending between the wire grid and the wooden base. The coil or bent wire modules are welded or otherwise secured to an upper wire grid and stapled or otherwise secured to the base. As thus manufactured, these box spring assemblies are bulky. Shipping such assemblies to a manufacturer for application of padding and covering may be costly. In order to reduce shipping space requirements, it is customary to compress the box spring assemblies to reduce their individual thicknesses and, when compressed, to tie them in their compressed state. This involves providing presses and ties which are expensive, and the extra operations of pressing and tying the assemblies. At the delivery end, the manufacturer must cut and discard the ties before applying the covering. These additional material and handling costs increase the end cost of box spring assemblies.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,052,064, there is disclosed a nestably stackable bedding foundation assembly which overcomes the manufacturing and shipping problems characteristic of the more traditional coil or modular box springs or bedding foundations. The bedding foundation assembly of U.S. Pat. No. 5,052,064 comprises a rectangular border wire and transversely spaced, parallel and longitudinally extending support wires parallel to the border wire sides and having ends connected to the border wire ends. These support wires are generally corrugatedly formed along their lengths, having peaks and valleys with the peaks being generally co-planar with the plane defined by the border wire and the valleys being displaced beneath and intermediate of the peaks. Longitudinally spaced, parallel and transversely extending upper connector wires, parallel to the border wire ends, are connected along their lengths to the peaks of the support wires. The valleys of the support wires are stapled to the wooden base upon assembly. The longitudinal voids between the peaks of the support wires are of a greater dimension than the valleys of the support wires. This configuration enables one nestably stackable bedding foundation assembly to be nestably stacked atop a second assembly since the support wire valleys of the first assembly may enter into the voids between the peaks of the support wires of the second assembly. Such a nestedly stacked arrangement results in a total height dimension which is less than the sum of the individual assembly height dimensions.
One advantage of the bedding foundation assembly of U.S. Pat. No. 5,052,064 is that it enables relatively inexpensive bedding foundation wire cores to be tightly compacted and shipped in a minimum of space to an assembly destination, thereby reducing the ultimate cost of the bedding foundation to the assembler and ultimately to the customer. The bedding foundation of U.S. Pat. No. 5,052,064 also may be rapidly loaded by a manufacturer for transportation to the destination of assembly without the need for compressing and tying box spring assemblies. However, once assembled, the bedding foundation of U.S. Pat. No. 5,052,064 has little resiliency or spring back.
In certain applications, one may desire a box spring or bedding foundation having greater spring back or resiliency than the bedding foundation disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,052,064.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to a bedding foundation or box spring comprising nestably stackable components which has advantages of the bedding foundation disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,052,064, which is fully incorporated by reference herein, but which has greater resiliency than the assembled bedding foundation of U.S. Pat. No. 5,052,064. In the present invention, as in the bedding foundation disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,052,064, the foundation comprises a rectangular border wire and lengthwise or transversely extending parallel support wires connected at opposite ends to opposite ends or opposite sides of the border wire. As in the '064 patent, these support wires have flattened peaks and flattened valleys with the peaks being generally co-planar and in the plane of the border wire and the valleys being displaced beneath and intermediate of the peaks. As in the '064 patent, there are multiple, parallel connector wires extending perpendicular to the general direction of the support wires, the connector wires being generally in the plane of the border wire. These connector wires are fixedly attached at their opposite ends to the border wire sides and are attached intermediate of their ends to the peaks of the support wires. But unlike the support wires of the '064 patent, the support wires of foundation of the present invention have some resiliency or give due to their configuration. Thereby, the resulting foundation has additional compressive strength and/or resiliency not characteristic of prior art wire core bedding foundations.
The bedding foundation comprises a rectangular base and a nestably stackable wire core assembly fixedly attached atop the base. The nestably stackable assembly comprises a rectangular border wire having two parallel sides and two parallel ends. The nestably stackable assembly further comprises transversely spaced and longitudinally extending support wires having ends connected to the border wire ends. At least some of the support wires have flattened peaks and flattened valleys and non-linear arms connecting at least some of the flattened peaks and flattened valleys. The flattened peaks are generally co-planar with a plane defined by the border wire, the flattened valleys being vertically displaced beneath and intermediate of the flattened peaks. The nestably stackable assembly further comprises longitudinally spaced, parallel and transversely extending upper connector wires parallel to the border wire ends and having ends connected to the border wire sides, the upper connector wires being connected intermediate of their ends along their lengths to the flattened peaks of the support wires. In addition, the foundation may include padding overlying the nestably stackable assembly and a fabric covering encasing the padding, the nestably stackable assembly, and the base.
In multiple embodiments, the arms of the support wires which extend upwardly from the flattened valleys are arcuate and generally helically shaped. Two curved arms and a flattened valley comprise a pocket. The support wires may be changed depending upon the desired characteristics of the assembled foundation. In some embodiments, each of the support wires may be identically configured. In some embodiments, one or more of the support wires may have pockets configured differently in order to posturize a product, i.e. impart different firmnesses to different areas or regions of the product. In some embodiments, support wires like those disclosed in the '064 patent may be incorporated into the nestable stackable wire core assemblies. In any of the disclosed embodiments support wires like those disclosed in the '064 patent lacking pockets or curved arms may be used for edge support.
One advantage the present bedding foundations is that each foundation has increased compressed load strength when compared to prior art bedding foundations incorporating nestable stackable wire core assemblies. This increased compressed load strength is accomplished by transferring compressive forces on the wire core from the wire core assembly to the underlying slats of the foundation base.
These and other advantages of the present invention will more readily become apparent from the description of the drawings herein, in which:
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view, partially broken away, of a bedding foundation embodying one embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of a portion of the bedding foundation of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a view taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 1, but with the covering materials removed for purposes of illustrating the support wires;
FIG. 4 is a partial side elevational view, broken away, of multiple wire core assemblies of the foundation of FIG. 1 stacked and nested one within the other for shipment;
FIG. 5 is a top view of the foundation of FIG. 1 without the padding and covering;
FIG. 6 is an enlarged perspective view of a portion of an alternative embodiment of bedding foundation; and
FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 3, but of the embodiment of foundation shown in FIG. 6;
FIG. 8 is a view similar to FIG. 4, but of the embodiment of foundation shown in FIG. 6;
FIG. 9 is a top view of the foundation of FIG. 6 without the padding and covering;
FIG. 10 is an enlarged perspective view of a portion of an alternative embodiment of bedding foundation; and
FIG. 11 is a view similar to FIG. 3, but of the embodiment of foundation shown in FIG. 10;
FIG. 12 is a view similar to FIG. 4, but of the embodiment of foundation shown in FIG. 10;
FIG. 13 is a top view of the foundation of FIG. 10 without the padding and covering;
FIG. 14 is an enlarged perspective view of a portion of an alternative embodiment of bedding foundation;
FIG. 15 is a top view of the foundation of FIG. 14 without the padding and covering;
FIG. 16 is a top view of a portion of an alternative embodiment of bedding foundation;
FIG. 17 is a top view of a portion of an alternative embodiment of bedding foundation; and
FIG. 18 is a top view of a portion of an alternative embodiment of bedding foundation.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Referring to FIG. 1, an assembled bedding foundation 10 is illustrated. The foundation 10 has a rectangular wooden base 12 including a rectangular frame 14 on which are attached transverse wooden slats 16. Atop these transverse slats 16 is the nestably stackable assembly or wire core 18. Padding 20, which may be foam, fiber or any like material, overlies the nestably stackable assembly 18, and a fabric covering 22 surrounds the nestably stackable assembly 18, the padding 20, and the base 12.
The nestably stackable assembly 18 comprises a rectangular steel border wire 24 having two parallel sides 26, 26 and two parallel ends 28 (only one being shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2) with the parallel sides 26, 26 being longer than the parallel ends 28, 28.
Transversely spaced and longitudinally extending resilient support wires 30 extend from end-to-end of the nestably stackable assembly 18 and have ends 32 (see FIG. 3) which are crimped or wrapped around and/or welded to the ends 28, 28 of the border wire 24. As seen in FIG. 3, each resilient support wire 30 is formed so as to have spaced resilient pockets 34 along its length which provide the support wire 30 with spring back or resiliency or give when loaded. The degree or amount of spring back or resiliency of the support wire 30 may vary depending upon the configuration of the pockets 34 of the support wires 30 and the characteristics of the wire used to make the support wire 30 such as the gauge or tensile strength of the wire, for example. The support wire 30 has a plurality of spaced flattened peaks 36 and flattened valleys 38 (see FIG. 3). These flattened peaks 36 are generally co-planar with the plane P defined by the border wire 24 (see FIG. 3), with the flattened valleys 38 being vertically spaced beneath and intermediate of the flattened peaks 36. The length of each flattened peak is preferably identical and defined between locations 54, as shown in FIG. 3.
Longitudinally spaced, parallel and transversely extending steel upper connector wires 40 extend parallel to the border wire ends 28, 28 and have ends 42 which are crimped around and/or welded to the border wire sides 26, 26. These upper connector wires 40 are welded intermediate of their ends 42 along their lengths at locations 44 to the flattened peaks 36 of the support wires 30. Although the drawings of the nestably stackable assembly 18 of the embodiment of FIGS. 1-5 show two spaced upper connector wires 40 welded to each flattened peak 36 of each support wire 30, any number of such upper connector wires may be connected or welded to each flattened peak 36 of each support wire 30.
Similarly, transversely spaced, parallel and longitudinally extending upper supplemental wires 46 extend parallel to the border wire sides 26, 26 and have ends 48 which are crimped around and/or welded to the border wire ends 28, 28. These upper supplemental wires 46 are welded intermediate of their ends 48 along their lengths at locations 50 (see FIG. 2) to the upper connector wires 40. Although the drawings of the nestably stackable assembly 18 of the embodiment of FIGS. 1-5 shows four spaced upper supplemental wires 46 in the nestable stackable wire core 18, any number of such wires may be used.
In the embodiment of foundation shown in FIGS. 1-5, the pocket 34 of each support wire 30 comprises a flattened valley 38 which is parallel the border wire sides 26, 26 and is secured to the slats 16 of the base 12 with at least one staple. Any number of staples or any other fastener may be used to secure the flattened valleys 38 of the support wires 30 to the base 12 in any embodiment described herein. See FIG. 3.
The pocket 34 of the support wire 30 further comprises a pair of curved or arcuate arms 52 which extend upwardly from opposed ends of the flattened valley 38 of the support wire 30. Each of arms 52 is shaped in a helical formation such as the diameter of the pocket 34 increases as the pocket extends upwardly, as shown in FIG. 3. As shown in FIG. 1, if the front 5 of the foundation 10 is to the right of FIG. 3, then one of the arms 52 extends upwardly and rearwardly from the front end of a flattened valley 38 of the support wire 30 and the other arm 52 of the pocket 34 extends upwardly and forwardly from the rear end of the same flattened valley 38 of the support wire 30. This is best shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. As shown in FIG. 3, a pocket 34 is defined as being between the ends of adjacent flattened peaks 36 of a support wire 30, between locations 54 of the support wire 30.
The nestably stackable wire core assembly 18 of the bedding foundation 10 is generally manufactured by a supplier, who stacks a plurality of like assemblies then ships such stack to an assembler. The assembler lifts one of the wire core assemblies from the stack and staples or secures it to wooden base 12. He/she then adds the padding 20 and upholstery 22 to make a completed product or foundation 10.
The present invention facilitates shipment of the wire core assemblies 18 by a supplier to an assembler. With reference to FIG. 4, it will be seen that a first stackable assembly or core 18 may be placed upon a surface with the valleys 38 of the support wires 30 oriented downwardly and the flattened peaks 36 of the support wires 30 oriented upwardly. Next, a second like assembly 18 may be placed atop the first assembly 18, with its support wire valleys 38 and flattened support wire peaks 36 likewise oriented downwardly and upwardly, respectively. The flattened valleys 38 of the second assembly 18 are thereby allowed to enter into the voids or pockets 34 between the flattened peaks 36 of the support wires 30 of the first assembly 18. The second assembly 18 nestles downwardly within the first assembly 18 until the outside dimension of the flattened valleys 38 of the second assembly 18 is equal to the inside dimension of the flattened valleys 38 of the first assembly 18. At this point, the second assembly 18 comes to rest within the first assembly 18, with the overall height of the nested assemblies being substantially less than the sum of the individual heights of the assemblies. Although FIG. 3 shows a stack of three wire core assemblies 18, any number of wire core assemblies may be nested and stacked together for storage or shipment.
In order to assemble foundation 10, the base 12 is secured with staples 56 (only a few being shown) to one of the nestably stackable wire core assemblies 18. More particularly, the flattened valleys 38 of the pockets 34 of the nestably stackable wire core assembly 18 are stapled to the slats 16 of the base 12.
An alternative embodiment of foundation 10a is shown in FIGS. 6-9. For simplicity, like numbers have been used for like parts but have an “a” designation after the number. The components of the nestably stackable wire core assembly 18a are identical to those of the wire core assembly 18 described above with the exception of the support wires. The support wires 30a of this embodiment, like the embodiment described above with reference to FIGS. 1-5, have flattened peaks 36a and pockets 34a between the flattened peaks 36a. As best shown in FIG. 9, each pocket 34a of support wire 30a has a flattened valley 38a which is parallel the ends 28a, 28a of the border wire 24a, a different orientation than the valleys 38 of the support wires 30 of the embodiment of FIGS. 1-5. As shown in FIG. 7, a pocket 34a is defined as being between the ends of adjacent flattened peaks 36a of a support wire 30a, between the locations 54a of the support wire 30a.
In order to assemble foundation 10a, the base 12a is secured with staples 56a (only a few being shown) to one of the nestably stackable wire core assemblies 18a. More particularly, the flattened valleys 38a of the pockets 34a of the nestably stackable wire core assembly 18a are stapled to the slats 16a of the base 12a.
An alternative embodiment of foundation 10b is shown in FIGS. 10-13. For simplicity, like numbers have been used for like parts but have a “b” designation after the number. The components of the nestably stackable wire core assembly 18b are identical to those of the wire core assembly 18 described above with the exception of the support wires. The support wires 30b of this embodiment, like the embodiments described above with reference to FIGS. 1-9, have flattened peaks 36b and pockets 34b between the flattened peaks 36b. As best shown in FIG. 13, each pocket 34b of support wire 30b has a flattened valley 38b which is parallel the ends 28b, 28b of the border wire 24b, a different orientation than the valleys 38 of the support wires 30 of the embodiment of FIGS. 1-5. As shown in FIG. 11, a pocket 34b is defined as being between the ends of adjacent flattened peaks 36b of a support wire 30b, between the locations 54b of the support wire 30b.
In order to assemble foundation 10b, the base 12b is secured with staples 56 to one of the nestably stackable wire core assemblies 18b. More particularly, the flattened valleys 38b of the pockets 34b of the nestably stackable wire core assembly 18b are stapled to the slats 16b of the base 12b.
An alternative embodiment of foundation 10c is shown in FIGS. 14-15. This bedding foundation 10c has increased edge support when compared to the other embodiments described above. The foundation 10c comprises a base 12c secured to a nestably stackable wire core assembly 18c with staples 56. For simplicity, like numbers have been used for like parts but have a “c” designation after the number. The components of the nestably stackable wire core assembly 18c are identical to those of the wire core assembly 18 described above with the exception of the support wires.
This embodiment of foundation 10c has a nestably stackable wire core assembly 18c using two different configurations of support wires: internal support wires 30c and edge support wires 30cc. These edge support wires 10cc lack resiliency and are identical to the support wires shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,052,064.
The internal support wires 30c are illustrated as being the same as the support wires 30b of the embodiment described above and shown in FIGS. 10-13. These internal support wires 30c have flattened peaks 36c and pockets 34c between the flattened peaks 36c. However, edge support wires as described and shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,052,064 may be incorporated into any of the foundations described, illustrated or contemplated herein. Any of the nestably stackable wire core assemblies illustrated and/or described herein may be modified to include edge support wires like those shown in FIGS. 14 and 15 to provide edge support.
As best shown in FIGS. 14 and 15, each side of the nestably stackable wire core assembly 18c has a pair of edge support wires 30cc. Each edge support wire 18cc has flattened valleys 38cc and flattened peaks 36cc and is secured at its ends 32cc to the ends 28c (only one being shown in FIG. 14) of the border wire 24c. Each edge support wire 10cc is identical to the support wire shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,052,064. Although the embodiment shown in FIGS. 14 and 15 has a total of four edge support wires 10cc, two per side, any number of edge support wires may be used in any of the foundations described or illustrated in this document to provide increased edge support.
In order to assemble foundation 10c, the base 12c is secured with staples 56 to one of the nestably stackable wire core assemblies 18c. More particularly, the flattened valleys 38c of the pockets 34c of the support wires 30c of the nestably stackable wire core assembly 18c are stapled to the slats 16c of the base 12c along with the flattened valleys of the edge support wires 10cc.
An alternative embodiment of foundation 10d is shown in FIG. 16. The foundation 10d comprises a base 12d secured to a nestably stackable wire core assembly 18d with staples 56. For simplicity, like numbers have been used for like parts but have a “d” designation after the number. The components of the nestably stackable wire core assembly 18d are identical to those of the wire core assembly 18 described above with the exception of the support wires.
This foundation 10d is posturized into two sections of different firmness: a “firm” section 60 and a “soft” section 62, each section having different support wires. The support wires of the “firm” section 60 are those support wires 30a of the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 6-9. The support wires of the “soft” section 62 are those support wires 30b of the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 10-13. Although each section 60, 62 is illustrated in FIG. 16 as having four support wires, depending upon the size of the foundation, each section 60, 62 may have any desired number of support wires. Although FIG. 16 shows support wires 30a being in the “firm” section 60 and support wires 30b being in the “soft” section 62, the “firm” section 60 may comprise support wires 30 and the “soft” section 62 comprise support wires 32a or 32b. Similarly, each section may have any desired support wires to impart a desired degree of firmness to the section. This foundation 10d may be called in the bedding industry a “his” and “hers” foundation.
In order to assemble foundation 10d, the base 12d is secured with staples 56 to one of the nestably stackable wire core assemblies 18d. More particularly, the flattened valleys 38d of the pockets 34d of the nestably stackable wire core assembly 18d are stapled to the slats 16d of the base 12d.
An alternative embodiment of foundation 10e is shown in FIG. 17. The foundation 10e comprises a base 12e secured to a nestably stackable wire core assembly 18e with staples 56. For simplicity, like numbers have been used for like parts but have an “e” designation after the number. The components of the nestably stackable wire core assembly 18e are identical to those of the wire core assembly 18 described above with the exception of the support wires. This foundation 10e is posturized or divided into three sections of differing firmness: two identical end or “soft” sections 64 and a middle or “firm” section 66 between the end or “soft” sections 64.
The support wires 30e of this embodiment, unlike the embodiments described above with reference to FIGS. 1-16 and shown therein, are different along their lengths. As shown in FIG. 17 each support wire 30e has flattened peaks 36e and pockets 34e between the flattened peaks 36e. As shown in FIG. 17, the pockets 34e of each support wire 30e differ in firmness and configuration.
In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 17, each support wire 30e has two pockets 34e in each end or “soft” section 64 and three pockets 34e in the middle or “firm” section 66, the pockets of the end or “soft” sections 64 being different i.e. firmer than the pockets in the middle or “firm” section 66. Each pocket 34e of each support wire 30e has a flattened valley 38e which, in the middle section 66, is parallel the ends 28e, 28e of the border wire 24e and which, in each end section 64 is parallel the sides 26e, 26e of the border wire 24e. Similarly, each support wire 30e has a series of spaced flattened peaks 36e which are parallel the sides 26e, 26e of the border wire 24e. As shown in FIG. 17, as one travels along the length of each support wire 30e, from one end to the other, the support wire 30e is formed into two pockets 34e, like the ones 34b shown in FIGS. 10-13, between the flattened peaks 36e and then formed into three pockets 34a, like the ones shown in FIGS. 6-9, between other flattened peaks 36e of support wire 30e and lastly is formed into two additional pockets 34e, like the ones 34b shown in FIGS. 10-13, between additional flattened peaks 36e. As seen in FIG. 17, each pocket 34e of the support wires 30e in the end or “soft” sections 64 is identical and each pocket 34e of the same support wires 30e in the middle or “firm” section 66 is identical.
In order to assemble foundation 10e, the base 12e is secured with staples 56 to one of the nestably stackable wire core assemblies 18e. More particularly, the flattened valleys 38e of the pockets 34e of the nestably stackable wire core assembly 18e are stapled to the slats 16e of the base 12e.
An alternative embodiment of foundation 10f is shown in FIG. 18. The foundation 10f comprises a base 12f secured to a nestably stackable wire core assembly 18f with staples 56. For simplicity, like numbers have been used for like parts but have an “f” designation after the number. The components of the nestably stackable wire core assembly 18f are identical to those of the wire core assembly 18 described above with the exception of the support wires. This foundation 10f has a checkerboard pattern of pockets 34f of two different firmnesses incorporated into its support wires 30f. Thus, the foundation 10f is not posturized but rather has a relatively uniform firmness.
The support wires 30f of this foundation 10f are all identical and, like the support wires 10e described above with reference to FIG. 17 and shown therein, have pockets 34f of different firmness along their lengths. As shown in FIG. 18 each support wire 30f has flattened peaks 36f and pockets 34f between the flattened peaks 36f. As shown in FIG. 18, the pockets 34f of each support wire 30f differ in firmness and configuration.
In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 18, each support wire 30f has every other pocket 34f being of a different configuration and firmness than adjoining pockets 34f. Thus, every other pocket 34f of support wire 30f is like the pockets 34a shown in FIGS. 6-9 and described herein and is different i.e. firmer than the pockets 34f beside it which are configured like the pockets 34b shown in FIGS. 10-13 and described herein. Each pocket 34f of each support wire 30f has a flattened valley 38f which, in every other pocket 34f, is parallel the ends 28f, 28f of the border wire 24f and which, in every other pocket 34f is parallel the sides 26f, 26f of the border wire 24f. Similarly, each support wire 30f has a series of spaced flattened peaks 36f which are parallel the sides 26f, 26f of the border wire 24f. As shown in FIG. 18, as one travels along the length of each support wire 30f, from one end to the other, the support wire 30f is formed into two different pockets 34f, every other pocket 34f being like pocket 34b shown in FIGS. 10-13 and described herein, between the flattened peaks 36e and every other pocket 34f being like the pocket 34a shown in FIGS. 6-9 and described herein, between other flattened peaks 36e of support wire 30e.
In order to assemble foundation 10f, the base 12f is secured with staples 56 to one of the nestably stackable wire core assemblies 18f. More particularly, the flattened valleys 38f of the pockets 34f of the support wires 30f of the nestably stackable wire core assembly 18f are stapled to the slats 16f of the base 12f.
One advantage of the present invention is that it facilitates storage and shipment of nestably stackable wire core assemblies and after assembly of the foundation the resulting foundation has improved resiliency. This improved resiliency derives from the configuration of the support wires and more specifically from the helical configuration of the pockets of the support wires. The foundation may be manufactured to meet specific resiliency requirements, for example the foundation may be manufactured for use with a specific mattress having a specified resiliency.
While we have described several embodiments of our invention, those persons skilled in the art will readily recognize modifications and changes which may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. For example, any of the foundations described or illustrated herein may incorporate edge support wires as described herein. Accordingly, we intend for our invention to be limited only by the following claims:
Patent Application
20100175185
