This invention relates to bedding mattresses and, more particularly, to a mattress having a divided top portion separated by an expansible divider such that weight distribution or movement atop one portion of the mattress will not be imparted to the other portion of the mattress. In one embodiment, the mattress is divided into two halves, such that movement by one person on one half of the mattress will be absorbed by the expansible divider and not imparted to the other half of the mattress.
The prior art is replete with disclosures of mattresses which have varying degrees of firmness for separate halves of the mattress and even varying degrees of firmness throughout each half, such that a person resting on one half of the mattress will be supported by a mattress having one degree of firmness, either throughout that half or varying throughout that half, and another person sleeping on the other half may have the same or a differing degree of firmness supporting that other person. Additionally, the prior art is replete with mattresses which even allow changes or adjustment of the firmness within each half of the mattress as, for example, by opening all or each half of the mattress to replace the supporting elements within that half. For example, such disclosures are contained in Forwood U.S. Pat. No. 2,651,788; Magnusson U.S. Pat. No. 4,449,261; and, England U.S. Pat. No. 6,101,653. According to the disclosure of these patents, the mattress core elements are intended to be removable and/or interchangeable and, to this end, the mattress cover is provided on the sides with a zipper or other closure to facilitate ease of opening the cover so as to make the change in the core elements.
But the changeability or interchangeability of the mattress core elements does not eliminate the problem of weight distribution or movement atop one portion of the mattress influencing movement of another portion of the mattress. Consequently, if a person on one half of the mattress rolls over, the person on the other half of the mattress feels that movement through the connected halves or sections of the mattress. Or if a heavy portion of body rests atop one portion of the mattress, it causes the adjacent portion of the mattress to be depressed.
It has therefore been an objective of this invention to isolate movement on one half or one section of a mattress from that movement being felt or causing depression or movement in the other adjacent half or section of the mattress.
Still another objective of this invention has been to create a mattress which is both economically and commercially feasible, but which is so constructed so as to prevent movement of one portion or one person on one section of a mattress from being imparted to or felt by a person on another section of the mattress.
Still another objective of this invention has been to provide a changeable firmness divided mattress in which movement of a person on one section of the mattress is sufficiently isolated from another section of the mattress that a person resting on that other section will not feel movement on that one section.
These and other objects and advantages of this invention are provided by a divided or split support mattress having a common lower core support member or portion and an upper topper or comfort portion resting atop that lower core support member, which upper topper portion has an expansible divider separating the upper topper portion into two sections or halves, such that movement atop one of those sections or halves will be absorbed by the expansible divider and not imparted to the other of the two halves. In one embodiment of the invention, the expansible divider comprises a fold in at least a top fabric cover of the upper topper portion of the mattress, which fold isolates and separates the two sections or halves of the upper topper portion of the mattress. That fold may, and preferably is, fixedly secured to the top of the lower core mattress support member or section.
In the practice of one embodiment of this invention, the upper topper portion of the mattress includes a closure mechanism or zipper selectively permitting access to the interior of the upper topper portion of the mattress which is divided along its length by the expandible divider. In accordance with the practice of this invention, the divided upper topper portion has a plurality of support elements which may be selectively provided and inserted into the interior of the upper topper portion so as to enable the firmness of the two halves of the mattress to be altered or varied as between the two halves and over the length of the individual halves.
In one preferred embodiment of this invention, the expansible divider is formed solely by a fold in the top fabric of the mattress. Consequently, the presence of the expansible divider is not unsightly and cannot be felt by a person rolling on the mattress and across the divider.
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.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
2651788 | Forwood | Sep 1953 | A |
3308492 | Lovette | Mar 1967 | A |
4231127 | Bendell | Nov 1980 | A |
4449261 | Magnusson | May 1984 | A |
5513402 | Schwartz | May 1996 | A |
6101653 | England | Aug 2000 | A |
6269504 | Romano et al. | Aug 2001 | B1 |
6957465 | Oprandi | Oct 2005 | B1 |
20030135930 | Varese et al. | Jul 2003 | A1 |
20040255387 | England | Dec 2004 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
20070289069 A1 | Dec 2007 | US |