Other objects and advantages of this invention will be more fully appreciated from the following description of the drawings, in which:
With reference first to
In the preferred embodiment of the invention here illustrated and described, the topper or comfort portion 14 of the mattress 10 is provided about the periphery thereof with a closure device, preferably a pair of zippers 26, 28 which facilitates access to the interior of each section 16 and 18 of the mattress. Thereby, comfort materials contained within each section 16, 18 may be altered to vary the firmness or feel of each individual section. To that end, preferably each zipper 26, 28 extends from a point 30 adjacent the division between the two sections at one end of the mattress to a point 32 adjacent the division between the two sections at the other end of the mattress. Thereby, each section may be individually accessed and multiple plies of comfort materials (the foam or fiber layers 56, 58) contained therein removed and replaced by other plies of comfort materials such as short springs, foam and fiber layers of differing firmness and resiliency characteristics. While the closure mechanism is preferably a pair of zippers, the closure device may comprise only a single zipper or may be comprised of other conventional types of closure devices, such as Velcro® hook and loop closures, snap fasteners, etc.
The lower core support portion 12 of the mattress comprises a conventional matrix of springs 38 (see
With reference now to
The upper quilt panel 52 of the preferred embodiment comprises a top ply 22 of upholstered style fabric material, which is generally a woven material, an underlying ply of fiber material 62, a ply of foam material 64, and an underlying ply of fabric material 66. The upper quilt panels 52, though, could as well comprise all fiber rather than fiber and foam combination or any other combination of soft resilient materials. Additionally, the underlying ply 66 of fabric material may be either woven or unwoven fabric material or could even by a ply of plastic material, although fabric is generally preferable.
With reference now to
As a consequence of the fold 20 being fixedly secured at the bottom 68 of the fold or expansible divider 20 to the top of the core support portion 12 of the mattress, the total comfort portion 14 is secured against lateral movement relative to the core support portion 12 of the mattress 10 and one side 16 of the mattress is isolated from the other 18 by the expandible fold 20.
The mattress 10 hereinabove described is manufactured by first assembly of the spring core portion 12 of the mattress, including the upholstered side panels 25 and the top and bottom fabric covers 22, 46. An upholstered fabric flange 27 is then sewn or secured in a conventional manner to the top of the upholstered side panels 25 so as to extend around the complete periphery of the mattress. This flange 27 is topped by the lower half 26b, 28b of the closures 28. A lower flange 27a of the quilt panel 52 having the top 26a, 28a of the closures 26, 28 attached thereto is then attached to the flange 27 by closing of the zippers 26, 28. The bottom of the expandible divider or fold 20 is then secured to the bottom fabric cover 46 of the core support portion 12 of the mattress.
Several different methods may be used to manufacture the top quilt panels 52 with its expansible fold 20 before its attachment to the base support portion 12 of the mattress. One of the more practical methods is to manufacture an oversize quilt panel 52 on a conventional quilting machine, but to manufacture it initially several inches wider than the width of the core support portion 12 of the mattress. For example, if the fold is to be 4½ inches in depth, then the quilt panel 52 would initially be made 9 inches wider than the width of the core support portion 12 of the mattress. The oversize quilt panel 50 would then have 4½ inches of quilt panel resilient or padding materials (plies 62, 64, 66) removed from each side of the longitudinal center line of the quilt panel 52 to leave 9 inches of fabric material 60 available to make the expansible fold 20 which would then be attached at the bottom 68 of the fold to the top of fabric covering material 48 of the core support portion 12 of the mattress.
Another method of manufacturing the quilt panel 52 would be to manufacture it in two longitudinally extending halves or a conventional quilting machine, but with a center flange slightly more than 4½ inches in width on one side, the side on which the fold 20 was to be formed or created. After completion of the quilting operation on the quilting machine, the two quilted halves of the quilt panel 52 would then be sewn together to create a 9 inch section of fabric 60 extending between the two quilted halves of the quilt panel 52. This 9 inch center section of fabric could then be folded to create a 4½ inch depth expansible seam, the bottom 68 of which could then be attached at 70 to the top fabric covering ply 48 of the core support portion 12 of the mattress.
With reference now to
While I have described and illustrated the expansible divider 20 as separating the mattress into two equal longitudinally extending halves suitable for supporting two individuals on each half, it will be appreciated that the expansible divider could as well be used to separate or isolate other sections of a mattress.
Persons skilled in this art will appreciate numerous other changes and modifications which may be made without departing from the spirit of this invention. For example, the comfort zone of the mattress could contain one or more plies of foam or fiber padding and, similarly, the quilted panel 52 could contain one or more plies of either fiber or foam or combinations thereof. Similarly, the mattress may be in the form of a conventional pillow top as opposed to a flat top mattress as illustrated in the drawings of this application. I therefore do not intend to be limited except by the scope of the following claims.