The present invention is directed to mattresses and mattress innersprings and more specifically to mattresses which include both wire form innersprings and structural foam components.
Foam components are commonly combined with wire or steel form innersprings in mattresses, seating and other flexible support structures. Early versions included foam layers which were either attached directly to a wire innerspring or simply held in position by overlying upholstery. Smaller foam components are designed to fit within spaced of the innerspring.
Different types of foam and foam parts have been used extensively in seating and bedding as flexible support material. 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 in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,048,167; 5,469,590; 5,467,488; 5,537,699; and 5,787,532. In most of these spring support products, the foam pieces surround or interfit with spring elements, and rely on mechanical connection with the spring elements to keep the foam pieces in place. Foam pieces have been adhesively bonded and combined with innersprings. The types of foams used in these applications are typically open-cell polyurethane and latex materials, which can be effectively bonded by compatible adhesives. The open cell structure of these types of foams results in easier compression or lower ILD which is suitable for many bedding and seating applications, particularly for support surface or topper layers underneath upholstery. They are not generally utilized as structural members in a mattress or support cushion in seating. Also, polyurethane and other non-thermoplastic type foams cannot be bonded or welded by any heat-source process due to their decomposition properties.
Some foam shapes have been used integrally with springs to augment or otherwise support metal spring structure, as shown for example in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,133,116; 5,239,715, 5,467,488; and 5,687,439. Because this use of foam relies on the surrounding metal structure to hold it in place, the foam itself is not in the form of a unitized three-dimensional support structure with its own load bearing capacity.
Another use of foam in connection with an innerspring is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,787,532, wherein an extruded foam piece is used as a perimeter wall to an innerspring, with fingers which mechanically engage the coils of the innerspring. While this provides some vertical support at the perimeter of the innerspring, it relies on mechanical attachment to the innerspring for the correct orientation. It also only provides support in the vertical direction and does nothing to stabilize the innerspring in the lateral or horizontal direction.
As described herein, the present disclosure and related inventions describe a mattress innerspring in combination with a mattress core foam encasement having an base located beneath the mattress innerspring, and four perimeter supports which are located about a perimeter of the mattress innerspring. In a preferred embodiment, the base and the four perimeter supports are formed from a single contiguous piece of foam.
In another aspect of the invention, a one piece mattress core foam encasement is described having a substantially rectangular base having a right side, a left side opposite and parallel to the right side, a top side and a bottom side opposite and parallel to the top side, the top and bottom sides being perpendicular to the left and right sides, a right perimeter support connected to the right side of the base along a fold line, a left perimeter support connected to the left side of the base along a fold line, a top perimeter support connected to the top side of the base along a fold line, and a bottom perimeter support connected to the bottom side of the base along a fold line. The base is placed below a mattress innerspring and the right, left, top and bottom perimeter supports are folded in an upward direction such that they are perpendicular to the base and so that the mattress innerspring is surrounded along four sides and a bottom surface by the innerspring support.
The one-piece foam mattress core encasement 100, as shown in the drawing figures and described herein, is a single piece of foam having a plurality of grooves or cuts that forms a foam encasement about a mattress core, which may be in the form of an innerspring, a block or layers of foam, or fabric-covered or “pocketed” springs, or any combination thereof, all referred to herein as “mattress core”. In a preferred embodiment, a foam mattress core encasement 100 of the present disclosure has a base section which underlies and supports a mattress core, and one or more side walls or “side supports” which extend perpendicularly from the base section in an assembled configuration to provide a perimeter wall that surrounds the outer perimeter of the innerspring.
As shown in
As shown in
In another embodiment, the base 10 contains several folds or V-shaped grooves 16 run transverse across the width of the base 10 from the right side to the left side. The right and left perimeter supports 12a, 12b which run along the right and left sides of the base 10 each also contain a plurality of folds or grooves, which align with the plurality of folds or grooves of the base. The folds or v-shaped grooves 16a-16c that connect the perimeter supports 12a-12d to the base 10 facilitate folding the perimeter supports 12a-12d upward so that each perimeter support 12a-12d is in an upright position perpendicular to the innerspring or core base 10. These v-shaped grooves 16a-16c create a 120 degree angle between the core base 10 and each perimeter support 12a-12d. The other folds or V-shaped grooves 16a-16c which run across the width of the foundation and right and left perimeter supports 12a, 12b facilitate bending or other such movement when used in combination with mattress cores of different sizes or mattress cores for use with adjustable foundations, and are strategically placed to accommodate the bending or movement of an articulated mattress. A V-shaped notch or cutout 18 exists at each end of the groove positioned proximate to the head 12c of the base 10, as shown in
In one embodiment, the length of the top and bottom perimeter supports 12c, 12d is less than the length of the top and bottom perimeter of the mattress innerspring 14 and the length of the right and left perimeter supports 12a, 12b is greater than the length of the right and left perimeter of the mattress innerspring 14. This configuration provides for four cutout sections 20 that are strategically placed proximate to each corner of the perimeter supports along the top and bottom perimeter supports 12c, 12d, as shown in
The height of each of the four perimeter supports 12a-12d is substantially equal to the height of the mattress innerspring 14. In a preferred embodiment, the height perimeter support is approximately between 6.5 and 7.0 inches.
The perimeter support 10 is attached to the innerspring in a preferred embodiment, by fastening the edges of the perimeter support to every other innerspring coil with a hog or C-ring. Once each of the perimeter supports 12a-12d is folded upward so that the perimeter supports 12a-12d are perpendicular in relation to the innerspring or core base 10 and they surround the perimeter of the mattress innerspring 14, the mattress innerspring 14 is encased within the one piece mattress core foam encasement 100 much like an inverted box top, as shown in
The base 52 may optionally include one or more extruded channels 53 disposed along longitudinal axes C1-CN to reduce material and thus reduce costs and/or to provide spring-like action in the base 52.
In this embodiment, corners 62 are cut out from the base 52. Turning back to
In a preferred embodiment, the foam used for the combined foundation and perimeter support is low density polyethylene and is approximately ⅝ inches, although it is anticipated that other types of foam with varying thickness measurements may be used. The low density polyethylene foam has a density of approximately 1.12 lb/ft3. The base piece is placed below the mattress innerspring and covers the entire bottom surface of the innerspring. The size of the support will vary depending on the size of the mattress (e.g. king, queen, twin, etc.). The support may range from 50 to 86 inches wide and from 87 to 97 inches in length. The weight of the support may range from 1.50 to 3.5 lbs.
Prior to placing the mattress atop the innerspring which is encased within the one-piece foundation and perimeter support, a layer of non-woven fabric may be placed directly on top of the innerspring. The layer of non-woven fabric serves as an insulator and also prevents the coils from damaging the foam layers of the mattress assembly. In a preferred embodiment, the non-woven fabric layer is spunbond polypropylene, although other materials can be used.
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.
This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 12/870,316, filed Aug. 27, 2010, entitled ASSEMBLIES, SYSTEMS, AND RELATED METHODS EMPLOYING INTERLOCKING COMPONENTS TO PROVIDE AT LEAST A PORTION OF AN ENCASEMENT, PARTICULARLY FOR BEDDING AND SEATING APPLICATIONS, a provisional conversion of U.S. provisional application No. 61/435,876, filed Jan. 25, 2011, entitled ONE PIECE MATTRESS CORE FOAM ENCASEMENT, a conversion of U.S. provisional application No. 61/237,498, filed Aug. 27, 2009, entitled ENCASEMENT ASSEMBLIES, SYSTEMS, AND RELATED METHODS EMPLOYING FLIP-UP SUPPORT MEMBER(S), PARTICULARLY FOR BEDDING AND SEATING APPLICATIONS.
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