Patent Application
20120180224
There are no applications related to this application.
The present disclosure and related inventions is in the general field of mattresses and bedding systems, and more specifically to the internal construction and components of mattresses and bedding systems.
Mattresses are conventionally constructed with an inner core, such as a wire form innerspring or a foam core, and additional components which fit with or around the core, such as extra internal layers, reinforced sides, and an upholstery layer which encapsulates the core and surrounding components. Foam components have long been used in the internal construction of mattresses as flexible support material, for example on the support surface of the innerspring. Semi-rigid open and closed cell foams of polyethylene, polyurethane or polystyrene have been used in combination with other components and load bearing structures such as wire form innersprings and framing to form flexible supports such as described for example in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,048,167; 5,469,590; 5,467,488; 5,537,699 and 5,787,532. In these disclosures, foam pieces are configured to surround or otherwise engage with spring elements of an innerspring, and rely on mechanical connection or engagement with the spring elements to keep the foam pieces in place. Foam pieces have also been adhesively bonded together and combined with innersprings. The types of foam used in these applications are typically open-cell polyurethane foams.
The drawbacks of using foam as flexible support material include the difficulties of shaping or molding foam, and the homogeneity of foam density which requires the use of different types of foam in different areas of the mattress. Foam is also a relatively high cost of component of mattress construction.
A method, for forming an article from a plurality of fiber bundles is known in the art and is described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/004,560 entitled “System and Method of Forming an Article and an Article Formed Thereby”, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. The disclosure describes fibrous compositions which can be distributed in a fluid or air-blown form and directed through a hose and nozzle to a target area, and made to cure in a mold or form of desired fiber concentration. As described therein, a method of forming an article of a plurality of fiber bundles includes the steps of providing a supply of fiber bundles which include bonding fibers to an injector and sequentially injecting the fiber bundles from a fiber bundle feed assembly to a mold member, and then heating the fiber bundles within the mold member to facilitate adhesion of the bonding fibers to adjacent fibers to form the fiber bundle into an article in the form of the mold member. The article thus formed from the fiber bundle is then removed from the mold. The use of fiber bundles in cushions and other elastically deformable components is advantageous over using foam materials for some applications because it allows for non-uniformity throughout the article, is less labor-intensive, more economical, and more easily recycled.
The use of densified fiber in mattress and bedding applications according to the present disclosure and related inventions provide fiber-containing structures which are formed to fit with a core such as an innerspring or foam core to form an internal mattress assembly. The mattress assemblies may additionally include an innerspring or core perimeter support also made of densified fiber which forms an exterior wall around the Core. The perimeter support may have in one embodiment a generally rectangular cross-section, a top rail and a bottom rail and right and left side rails. The entire perimeter component structure may be made of densified fiber.
In another embodiment; a mattress innerspring assembly includes an innerspring having a plurality of springs connected together in an array wherein the springs are arranged in rows and columns, each spring having a body with a first end and a second end, the body of each spring being generally cylindrical and having a longitudinal axis and an outer diameter, the springs being spaced apart in the rows and columns and connected together in a spaced apart arrangement with each spring being spaced from each adjacent spring of the array. The generally cylindrical body of one or more springs being substantially filled with densified fiber in the various configurations and arrangements as shown and described.
These and other aspects of the present disclosure and related inventions are further described herein with reference to the accompany drawings.
The disclosure includes internal mattress components and structures which are formed by fibers which are amalgamated together and formed into a coherent shape or configuration, and which fit with one or more other components of a mattress, and are covered by the mattress upholstery. The term “densified fiber” as used herein generally refers to a plurality of individual polymer fibers which have been mechanically or thermally bonded to each other through the melting and re-solidification of bonding fibers. The fiber types may include one or more of the following in any combination: polyester, performance fibers, bonding fibers, feel fibers and recycled fibers. In a representative embodiment, each fiber has a predetermined length of approximately 5 mm to 100 mm, more preferably between 10 mm and 75 mm and most preferably between 40 mm and 60 mm. The fibers generally have arbitrary and generally non-uniform shapes. Densified fiber can be used in combination with mattress or bedding system in various ways including, but not limited to fiber encased innersprings, edge supports and base systems, which are described in detail herein. As described in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2009/0162603, fibers of different materials may be combined to create a specific fiber blend. This blend may be optimized for a particular component for a mattress, such as for example to be made relatively stiffer for parts of the mattress to be reinforced such as the edges or corners, or relatively softer for parts of the mattress to remain soft and flexible, such as in the primary support area. The fibers may vary in the composition of materials in the formulation, and fiber cross-section shape and size. Alternatively, the fibers may all be of a single fiber type, shape and size. The fibers are blended with a bonding fiber into what is referred to as a fiber tow. An injector assembly is operative to direct and place the fiber bundles in a particular location such as a mold member. Air or other fluid may also be added to the injector or directed at the injected fibers to keep the fibers against the mold and preclude the movement of fibers while additional fibers are injected. A mold member is configured to receive the fiber bundles from the injector. The mold will have the shape of the intended article, such as a cushion, and will have an internal cavity into which the fibers are injected. Once the fiber bundles have been injected into the mold, the mold member is heated, which facilitates the adhesion of fibers to integrate the fiber bundle into the desired article. Alternatively, hot air may be integrated into the injection system to bond the fibers together. After heating, the mold member is cooled and then the article may be removed from the mold.
Densified fiber may be used in combination with a mattress core to provide additional reinforcement which can vary in density and firmness, in certain selected areas of the mattress assembly. A mattress core provides a distributed, generally homogenous reflexive support system to provide a flexible internal structure to the mattress. In the present invention, the mattress core may be, in one embodiment; an innerspring. The spring elements are arranged in rows and columns, each spring having a body with a first end and a second end, the body of each coil being generally cylindrical and having a longitudinal axis and an outer diameter, the springs being spaced apart in the rows and columns and connected together in a spaced apart arrangement with each spring being spaced from each other spring in the array. The coils may be connected or laced together using helical lacing wires which generally run transverse to a length of the innerspring. Alternatively, spring coils may be held in individual pockets which are sewn or bonded together. In an alternate embodiment, a foam support core can be used in place of an innerspring as the mattress core. A foam support core may consist of a single monolithic piece of foam or may contain multiple foam layers or different segments or zones of foam of differing hardness or density. The foam layers may be made of different types of foam having different densities or hardness, and different thickness dimensions.
A first embodiment of the present invention, as shown in
A compression profile of the edge support system made of densified fiber in combination with a mattress innerspring is as follows:
Upon removal of a load of approximately 225 lbs, the material should fully recover. Using the Cornell test, the densified fiber edge support should have less than ¾-inches of deformation after 100,000 cycles on the edge of the bed. The length of the parallel and spaced apart planar side rails of the edge support system may vary depending on the size of the mattress system from approximately 55 inches to approximately 82 inches long. The length of the parallel and spaced end rails of the edge support system may vary between approximately 33 and approximately 49 inches long. The width of the perimeter rails of the edge support system is approximately 2.69 inches and the height is approximately 6.25 inches.
The side rails 26 of the densified fiber perimeter edge support system may be substantially planar on all sides of each rail, as shown in
The mold used to create the perimeter edge support system may be a generally rectangular shaped mold having four planar or scalloped side rails and an internal cavity. Alternatively, the mold may take the shape of the individual side rails so that each side rail of the perimeter edge is a separate component. The fibers used may be, for example, a blend of polyester staple fiber and elastomeric bi-component binder fiber. The resulting densified fiber edge support system may have a density of between approximately 1.3-1.8 lbs/ft3; tear strength of approximately 1042 N/m; and a tensile strength of 183 kpa.
The edge assembly, described above and shown in
A second embodiment of the present invention involves using densified fiber in combination with a mattress innerspring to provide additional support to one or more coils of the innerspring. As shown in
A third embodiment of the present invention is a densified fiber core. A densified fiber core, used with a mattress innerspring, can be used separately or in combination with the densified fiber edge support system described above. The densified fiber core fills in the general space between a plurality of springs in the mattress innerspring, as shown for example in
A base material layer may be used in combination with any of the embodiments described herein, in order to further secure the perimeter edge support system in place, provide coverage over the springs and to increase the profile height of the mattress. In a preferred embodiment the base layer is approximately one inch thick and is made of polyethylene foam with channels throughout. An additional material layer may be placed below the innerspring.
A densified fiber base or cover layer such as densified fiber pad 27 may be used in combination with any of the embodiments described above. The base or cover layer may consist of a think sheet of densified fiber that fits above and/or below a mattress innerspring or fiber core to add additional support to the mattress assembly.
It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that numerous variations and/or modifications may be made to the invention as shown in the specific embodiments: without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as broadly described. The present embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive. Other features and aspects of this invention will be appreciated by those skilled in the art upon reading and comprehending this disclosure. Such features, aspects, and expected variations and modifications of the reported results and examples are clearly within the scope of the invention where the invention is limited solely by the scope of the following claims.
