JPH0446130B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to spring assemblies of the type widely used in the construction of built-in springs, pinerests, decorative furniture, and the like. More particularly, the invention relates to a spring core assembly in which each row of coils is made from a continuous length of wire.

(Prior Art) Spring assemblies that have traditionally been used in pinerests, built-in springs, etc. use a row of coils in which the upper and lower parts of each coil are connected to each other to form the central core of the spring assembly. things have been done. Recently, spring assemblies have been developed that are superior in many respects to assemblies that use arrays of coils, each of which is connected to one another.
This new spring assembly uses one continuous wire to construct all the coil springs in one coil row. Such structures are described in U.S. Pat.
No. 4,357,097. Spring products made in accordance with the aforementioned patents have the advantage of requiring significantly less material to provide the same degree of stability and resiliency than spring products made from individual coils connected together.

Each row of coils in a spring assembly is constructed from a single continuous length of wire and, unlike the coils formed by interconnecting rounded or curved sections in accordance with the aforementioned patents, It has become desirable to connect rows of coils together by threading helical wire through the straight bar sections or so-called "offset sections" of the coupled coils. By connecting the rows of coils to each other through a helical racewire through a nearly straight offset section, a better hinge connection is obtained compared to coils connected through a rounded section of the coil, and one side of the spring Force is not immediately transmitted from one spring to another. Such offset interconnection springs also produce significantly less noise than springs that connect rounded sections, and have the advantage that rounded sections do not need to be flattened when threading helical racewire. .

(Means for Solving the Problems) It is therefore an object of the present invention to construct each row of coils from one continuous length of wire, so that the coils in adjacent rows are arranged in substantially straight lines of coils. It is an object of the present invention to provide core spring assemblies that are connected to each other by a helical wire wrapped around an offset portion.

A spring assembly according to the invention that achieves this objective includes a plurality of rows of coils. Each row of coils is comprised of a single strand of wire, and the coils in each row are connected to each other by Z-shaped wire connection segments arranged alternately above and below the coil. and
Adjacent rows of coils are also connected by helical wires wrapped around overlapping, generally straight offset portions of the Z-shaped wire connection segments. To form these generally straight offset portions on the Z-shaped connecting segments in the row of coils, the end connecting segments in the row of coils are inserted into a die set. The rounded or curved corners of the Z-shaped connecting segments within this die set are
The continuous operation of a series of incremental dies flattens the wire slack created by the flattening operation by forcing it toward the center of the Z-shaped wire connection segment. Parallel alignment of the coils is maintained by pushing the wire slack away from the barrel of the coil and into the center of the Z-shaped connecting segment in the row of coils.
Moreover, the amount of wire used in one coil is adjusted relative to the other coil to prevent angular displacement of the coils relative to each other.

A major advantage associated with the practice of the present invention is that it comprises a plurality of rows of coils, each row of coils made from a single strand of wire, and a substantially straight or flat offset of adjacent coils. It is possible to produce a spring assembly in which adjacent rows of coils are connected to each other by means of a helical wire wound along the section. Connecting adjacent coils to each other in this manner improves the hinge action of adjacent coils and reduces the metallic or scraping sounds that occur as the coils deform. Also, a row of coils thus created can be assembled very easily by passing helical springs through adjacent coils. This is because there is no need to press or flatten the curved portion of the coil to make it easier to pass the helical race wire through the coil.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention can be more fully understood from the following description of the drawings.

EXAMPLES Reference is now made to the drawings and in particular to FIG. A spring-loaded bedding unit or mattress 10 using a spring assembly 11 is shown in the drawings. The spring assembly incorporates a novel array of coils 12 (FIG. 2) constructed in accordance with the present invention. The upper surface 13 of the sprung mattress 10 includes a generally rectangular peripheral edge 14 . Edge wire 15 is attached to this periphery.
can be provided. Similarly, the lower surface (not shown) of the sprung mattress 10 also includes a rectangular periphery on which edge wires can be provided.

The built-in spring 10 includes a plurality of rows of coils 12 located from one side 16 to the opposite side 17 of the unit. As shown in detail in FIG. 2, the individual rows 12 of coils are made from lengths of continuous wire or strands of wire.
The wire is shaped to define a plurality of spaced coil pairs 20 which are interconnected by generally Z-shaped wire segments 21, 21a. These wire segments are arranged first in the plane of the upper spring-loaded surface 13 and then repeatedly in the plane of the lower spring-loaded surface 22 (FIG. 2). Each coil pair 20 has a first coil 20b at a position shifted from a second coil 20b having the same number of rotating parts.
It is equipped with a coil 20a. The axis of the coil 20a lies within the plane 23. This plane is parallel to, but spaced from, a second plane 24 containing the axis of the offset coil 20b. It can be seen that the axes of the adjacent coil 20a and the adjacent coil 20b are equidistant, and moreover, these axes are substantially perpendicular to the upper surface 13 and lower surface 22 of the spring-incorporated unit 10.

Although each coil 20a and 20b is shown with one and a half turns or spirals, this number can vary. Therefore, depending on the tensile strength of the wire and the method of shaping the coil to provide a spring force suitable for the particular application, it is possible to use more or fewer spirals.

Each row 12 is shaped the same way as adjacent rows, and each coil in each row 12 has the same shape as every other coil. Column 12
The distance between the axes of adjacent coils included in
It is the same as the spacing between adjacent coils included in adjacent columns.

In order to connect adjacent coil rows, Z-shaped segments 21, 21a that connect adjacent coil pairs included in each row are arranged so as to overlap with Z-shaped segments of adjacent coil rows. has been done. and these overlapping parts or areas 25, 27 of the Z-shaped segment.
are connected to each other by a helical wire connector 26. A first set of helical racewire connectors are disposed in the plane of the upper spring-loaded surface 13 and connect the overlapping portions 25, 27 of the upper Z-shaped interconnecting segment 21 to each other. Similarly,
A second set of helical racewire connectors (not shown) are in the plane of the lower spring-loaded surface 22;
It serves to connect the overlapping portions 25, 27 of the Z-shaped lower interconnecting segment 21a to each other. As is clear from the plan view in Figure 1,
Each helical racewire is approximately the same length as the row, and the helical racewire 26 extends parallel to the row.

Assembling the helical racewire into successive rows of coils can be performed by an assembly machine. In such machines, adjacent Z-shaped segment portions 25, 27 are placed in overlapping relationship and the helical racewire is then rotated or twisted to form Z-shaped segments 21, 21a.
The upper and lower surfaces of adjacent rows of coils are positioned such that they are assembled into overlapping portions 30 of the coils. After threading the helical racewire through the Z-shaped segment, the connected row of adjacent coils is indexed forward and the new pair of upper and lower racewires is threaded through the subsequent row of coils. Ru. This operation is repeated along the desired length of pine tress, after which the spring assembly is removed from the machine.

Reference is now made to FIGS. 2 and 3. It can be seen that the helical racewire 26 makes approximately three turns along the installation path on the overlapping portion 27 and two turns on the overlapping portion 25 of the Z-shaped segment. Except for a slight indentation 27a in portion 27, the overlapping portions or areas 25, 27 of the Z-shaped segments are not rounded or curved as in prior art U.S. Pat. No. 4,358,097. are different and are substantially straight or flat. This straight or flat section of the Z-shaped segment of the connected coil is referred to in the industry as the "offset section." As in U.S. Pat. No. 3,648,737, such offsets are used to connect individual rounded coils together with helical racewire. The helical racewire in this patent is wrapped around the offset portions of the extreme upper and lower rounded turns or turns of the coil.
Substantially flat or straight offset
For use in overlapping sections of shaped connectors, adjacent coils in a mating or interconnected manner are free to rotate relative to each other and are fixed against relative longitudinal or lateral movement. or retained. Additionally, by using a substantially flat or straight offset in the overlapping portion of the Z-shaped connector, the helical connector allows for easy assembly of coil rows, allowing for the overlapping rounded edges to be easily assembled during the assembly process. There is no need to partially flatten the area.

Please refer to FIGS. 4 to 15. The drawings illustrate the die set 40 and the molding procedure for forming the overlapping offset flat portions 25, 27 of the Z-shaped connector. FIG. 16 shows the configuration of a single row of coil springs before forming flat offsets 25,27. The shape of this array of coils is shaped using the apparatus disclosed in US Pat. No. 4,112,726.

The die set shown in FIGS. 4 to 15 accepts one of the Z-shaped connector portions of the coil spring row and has a flat offset 25,
27 is designed to be modeled. Using this same die set, create a Z-shape on both the top and bottom of the row of coils by first forming flat offsets 25, 27 starting from the top and then successively to the bottom Z-shaped connector. It is possible to mold a connector with Or apart from this,
A second die set (not shown) is mounted above or opposite die set 40 and used to form flat offsets 25, 27 in the upper Z-shaped connector while simultaneously forming the lower Z-shaped connector. Flat offsets 25, 27 can also be molded into the connector.

4 to 15, it can be seen that the die set 40 includes a base plate 41, four anvils 42, 43, 44 and 45, and four sets of molding dies 48, 49, 50 and 51. be able to understand. Molding die 48,4
Each set of 9, 50 and 51 is made up of three independently movable dice. these 4
Two sets of dies 48 and 50 in the set of molding dies are symmetrical with respect to each other. Further, on the same plane, the other two sets of dice 49 and 51 are also symmetrical. All dice are movably mounted on base plate 41. In one preferred embodiment, this movement is directed by a rotating cam driven by a shared drive shaft, which allows the dice to move through a series of links according to the procedure described below. However, this movement can also be effected by a hydraulic motor, or by using various other mechanisms readily available to those skilled in the art. This mechanism is therefore not illustrated here.

The die set illustrated in FIGS. 4 to 15 is a combination of Z-shaped connector segments 21' or 21a' (FIG. 16) of coil rows formed in accordance with the teachings of U.S. Pat. No. 4,358,097. Make an action to accommodate one. This connector 21' is first placed as shown in FIG.
2, 43, 44 and 45 are each connector 2
1' each of the four curved corners 63,6
4, 65 and 66.

The connector 21' is started with a flat offset formed by moving the anvil dies 42, 44 outward as shown in FIG. The die designated No. 1 of the forming die set 48, 50 is then moved inward as shown in FIG.
A portion of connector segment 21' is clamped against each anvil die 42,44. Next, as shown in FIG.
A forming die, designated No. 2 of 8.50, is moved inward to form a flat or straight offset portion 27 of the corner. As shown in FIG. 7, the anvil dies 43, 45 are then moved outwardly through approximately one-half of the total stroke or distance of movement of the anvil dies 43, 45, and the anvil dies 43, 45 are moved outwardly through approximately one-half of the total stroke or distance of movement of the anvil dies 43, 45.
The distortion caused by the die shown in the Z-shaped connector side bars 60, 61 is removed. The No. 3 forming die set 48, 50 is then moved inward to form the corner 73 of the offset portion 27 of the connector segment (FIG. 9), removing the slack metal or wire created by forming the offset flat portion 27. Z all the parts
It is adapted to pull towards the rounded corner portions 64, 68 of the shaped connector segment.

Please refer to FIG. Followed by anvil die 4
It can be seen that 3,45 is moved outwardly through the remainder of the full stroke of the anvil die and comes into contact with the curved corners 64,66 of the connector segment. Next, of dice sets 49 and 51, the die represented by No. 4 is the 11th die.
Moved inward as shown, the curved corners 64, 66 of the Z-shaped connector are clamped and partially formed between the No. 4 die and anvil dies 43, 45. Next, dice sets 49 and 51
The die, designated No. 5 of FIG. Following this, the die designated No. 6 is moved inward as shown in FIG. Forming the crossbar or diagonal portion 62 of the connector 21. By moving the die in this manner, the molding of the Z-shaped connector 21 of the head is completed, and preparations are made to take out the molded head from the die set 40. This preparatory work is carried out on all molding die sets 48, 4.
This is done by moving 9, 50 and 51 outward and anvil dies 42, 43, 44 and 45 inward (FIG. 14). The molded head is then lifted from the die set (FIG. 15), and the die set (FIG. 15) is prepared to accept the new Z-shaped connector 21' to be inserted and to operate the die set again.

Refer to FIG. 17. The drawing shows a die sequence chart when the progress of work is controlled by a rotating cam. The rotary cam completes one complete rotation until the successive operation of the die set is completed.

The operating procedure for the incremental die set 40 is such that any slack created in the wire as offsets 25, 27 are formed is taken up towards the central crossbar or diagonal bar 62 of the Z-shaped connecting segment of the spring. It is set.
If slack wire is not removed toward the diagonal bar 62, this slack must be removed toward the barrel or coil 20 on one or the other side or both sides of the coil spring to which the Z-shaped connection portion of the spring is attached. It will no longer be possible. If this wire slack is removed toward the barrels of these coils, the length of the coils changes and the angular orientation of the coils changes. The result is a twisted or bent spring assembly, making it difficult to assemble the rows of coils into a complete pine tress.

Please refer to FIGS. 1 and 3. It may be noted that the central portion of the helical wire 26, which passes several turns around the offset portions 25, 27 of the overlapping coils, is entirely located within the crossing plane 31 of the coil 20. Furthermore, this span plane 31
is offset 25, 27 on both sides of each coil.
It can also be noted that it passes through the center of the Therefore, each coil, except for the outermost coil at the periphery of the assembly,
Two coils of adjacent coil rows are connected by an offset connector, the central portion 32 of the offset connector being connected to the common crossing plane 3 of the coils.
It is located within 1. Overlapping and connected offsets 2 of Z-shaped connected segments 21
The position of these coil axes relative to the positions of 5 and 27 is important in practicing the invention. In particular, it has been found that if the connections between adjacent rows of coils are not arranged as described above with respect to the axis of the coils, compression causes the coils to deform laterally and twist.

After offsets 25, 27 have been formed in the Z-shaped interlocking segments or connectors of all the coil rows using the die set 40, the coil rows are placed into an assembly machine and the Z-shaped connector offset portions 25, 27 are formed. , 27 is assembled by attaching a spiral lace wire. Edge wires 15 are then attached to the assembled array of coils via conventional attachment means. Following this, conventional padding 18 is placed on the top and outside of the spring assembly, and with padding 18 attached, the resulting assembly is wrapped in a fabric cover 19.

Although only one preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described so far, changes and modifications may be made by those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains without departing from the spirit of the invention. Therefore, it is not intended to be limited only to the scope of the claims.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a partially cut-away plan view of a bed mattress made in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. 2 is a perspective view showing a portion of a row of coils used in the bed mattress of FIG. 1; FIG. 3 is an enlarged plan view showing the interconnections of two adjacent rows of coils used in the pinerest of FIG. 1; FIG. 4 to 15 are schematic plan views of die sets used to form Z-shaped connector segments connecting adjacent pairs of coils in a row of coils, showing substantially The operating sequence of a die set for forming a straight offset part is explained. Figure 16 shows the figures 4 to 15.
2 is a perspective view of a portion of a row of coils prior to forming a substantially straight offset portion of a connector segment in the row of coils within the illustrated die set; FIG. FIG. 17 is a timing chart showing the order of operation of the dice in the dice set shown in FIGS. 4 to 15. FIG. 10... Spring built-in bedding unit or mattress, 11... Spring assembly, 12... Coil row,
13... Upper spring built-in surface, 14... Rectangular periphery, 15... Edge wire, 16... One side of the unit, 17... Opposite side of the unit, 18...
...filling, 19...cloth cover, 20...coil,
20a...first coil, 20b...second coil, 21...Z-shaped wire segment (upper interconnection segment), 21a...Z-shaped wire segment (lower interconnection segment), 2
2...Lower spring built-in surface, 23...Flat surface, 24...
... second plane, 25, 27 ... overlapping offset, 26 ... helical wire connector (helical lace wire), 27a ... recess, 30 ... overlapping portion of segments 21, 21a, 31 ... span plane , 32... Central part of offset connector, 40... Die set, 41... Base plate, 42, 43, 44, 45... Anvil die,
48, 49, 50, 51... Molding die set,
60, 61... Side bar, 62... Cross bar or diagonal bar, 63, 64, 65, 66... Curved corner, 68... Corner portion, 73... Corner, 76... Flat portion.

Claims (1)

Claims: 1. A spring pinetress bedding product having a spring assembly, a padded sheet, and a wrapper, the spring assembly having upper and lower flat surfaces; The spring assembly includes a plurality of rows of coils, each row of coils comprising a continuous strand of wire, and each row of coils having a plurality of rows of coils connected to each other by Z-shaped interconnecting segments. coils, each of said Z-shaped interconnecting segments consisting of a pair of parallel end bars connected by a diagonal bar;
The Z-shaped interconnecting segments are each alternately arranged in the plane of the upper and lower surfaces of the spring assembly, and the axis of the coil is arranged orthogonal to the upper and lower surfaces of the spring assembly. is,
Each portion of the Z-shaped interconnecting segments of each row is superimposed with respect to the Z-shaped interconnecting segments of an adjacent row, with the overlapping portions being disposed on opposite sides of the coil, and each portion of the Z-shaped interconnecting segments Helical spring means is wound along the overlapping portions of the Z-shaped interconnecting segments to secure the rows of coils in an assembled relationship, the central portion of the overlapping portions of the Z-shaped interconnecting segments being The coils are arranged in the crossing plane of the coils, and the centers of the substantially straight overlapping offset portions on both sides of each coil are arranged in the same crossing plane, so that it is easy to assemble. When the assembled coil is compressed, the compression force of the assembled coil does not cause the coil axis to shift laterally or twist the coil; the overlying cover is disposed in the plane of a surface and over the spring assembly, the covering cover enclosing and enclosing the spring assembly and the padding sheet, the covering covering covering all of the Z-shaped interconnecting segments; said overlapping portion is a generally straight section of wire formed by flattening a curved portion preformed on said Z-shaped interconnection segment; The diagonal bars of the segments are connected at both ends to the straight section by offsets formed in the diagonal bars, which offsets take up the slack in the wire that occurs during flattening of the straight sections, so that the diagonal bars A spring pinetress bedding product designed to prevent angular displacement of coils located at both ends of the spring. 2. A spring assembly having upper and lower flat surfaces, the spring assembly comprising a plurality of rows of coils, a respective Z-shaped interconnecting segment portion in each row, and a helical spring means. each of said rows of coils is comprised of a continuous strand of wire, and each of said rows comprises a plurality of coils connected to each other by Z-shaped interconnecting segments, said Z-shaped Each of the Z-shaped interconnecting segments consists of a pair of parallel end bars connected by a diagonal bar, and each of the Z-shaped interconnecting segments alternately lies in the plane of the upper and lower surfaces of the spring assembly. and wherein the axis of the coil is disposed perpendicular to the upper and lower surfaces of the spring assembly, and the portion of each of the Z-shaped interconnecting segments of each row is disposed in the Z-shaped interconnection segment of the adjacent row. the helical spring means is wound along the overlapping portions of the Z-shaped interconnecting segments, the overlapping portions being disposed on opposite sides of the coil; and securing the rows of coils in an assembled relationship, with the center portions of said overlapping portions being located in the plane of the coils, and the center portions of said overlapping portions on either side of each coil When the assembled coil is compressed, the compressive force of the assembled coil may cause the axis of the coil to shift laterally or the coil to twist. all of the overlapping portions of the Z-shaped interconnecting segments are substantially straight wires formed by flattening curved portions previously formed on the Z-shaped interconnecting segments; , and the diagonal bars of the Z-shaped interconnecting segment are connected at both ends to the straight section by offsets formed in the diagonal bars, which offsets are used to flatten the straight sections. A spring assembly adapted to take up any wire slack that may occur and thereby serve to prevent angular displacement of the coils located at each end of said diagonal bar. 3. A spring assembly, the spring assembly having upper and lower flat surfaces and comprising a plurality of rows of coils, each row of coils having one continuous The rows each include a plurality of coils connected to each other by Z-shaped interconnecting segments, each of said Z-shaped interconnecting segments comprising a pair of coils connected by diagonal bars. The Z-shaped interconnecting segments are comprised of parallel end bars, each disposed alternately in the plane of the upper and lower surfaces of the spring assembly, and the axis of the coil is in the plane of the upper and lower surfaces of the spring assembly. disposed orthogonally to the lower surface, the parallel end bars of each of the Z-shaped interconnecting segments in each row being superposed relative to the parallel end bars of the Z-shaped interconnecting segments in an adjacent row; In addition, Z
comprising helical spring means wrapped around the overlapping portions of the Z-shaped interconnecting segments to secure the rows of coils in assembled relationship, the overlapping parallel ends of all of the Z-shaped interconnecting segments a bar is a generally straight section of wire formed by flattening a pre-formed curved section of the Z-shaped interconnecting segment; An offset is formed on one side, which serves to take up the slack in the wire that occurs during flattening of the straight portion of the wire, thereby preventing angular displacement of the coils placed at both ends of the diagonal bar. A spring assembly designed to 4. A spring assembly with upper and lower flat surfaces, the spring assembly having a plurality of rows of coils and helical spring means, each of said rows of coils having a continuous length of wire. strands, and each of these rows comprises a plurality of coils connected to each other by Z-shaped interconnecting segments, each of said Z-shaped interconnecting segments having a pair of coils connected by diagonal bars. consisting of parallel end bars of Z
shaped interconnecting segments are each alternately disposed in the plane of the upper and lower surfaces of the spring assembly, and the axis of the coil is disposed perpendicular to the upper and lower surfaces of the spring assembly. wherein the parallel end bars of each of the Z-shaped interconnecting segments in each row are superposed with respect to the parallel end bars of the Z-shaped interconnecting segments in an adjacent row, and the helical spring means are wound around the overlapping parallel end bars of the Z-shaped interconnecting segments to secure the rows of coils in an assembled relationship; a generally straight section of wire formed by flattening a pre-formed curved section of the Z-shaped interconnect segment; The diagonal bars of the connecting segments are connected at both ends to the parallel end bars by offsets formed in the diagonal bars, which offsets take up the slack in the wire that occurs during the flattening of the straight section of the wire, and the resulting , a spring assembly adapted to prevent angular displacement of coils located at opposite ends of said diagonal bar. 5. A spring assembly with upper and lower flat surfaces, the spring assembly comprising a plurality of rows of coils, each row of coils consisting of a continuous strand of wire, and Each of the rows comprises a plurality of coils connected to each other by interconnecting segments, each of said interconnecting segments comprising a pair of parallel end bars connected by a connecting bar, each of said interconnecting segments alternating with each other. each of the interconnecting segments of each row is disposed in the plane of the upper and lower surfaces of the spring assembly, and the axis of the coil is disposed perpendicular to the upper and lower surfaces of the spring assembly. the straight portions of the spring assembly are overlapped with the straight portions of adjacent rows of interconnecting segments, the overlapping portions being disposed on opposite sides of the coil; , a spring assembly comprising helical spring means wrapped around the overlapping straight portions of said interconnecting segments to secure the array of coils in assembled relationship. 6. A spring assembly having upper and lower flat surfaces, the spring assembly having a plurality of rows of coils, a substantially straight portion of each flat interconnecting segment in each row, and a helical coil. spring means, each row of coils comprising a continuous strand of wire, and each row comprising a plurality of coils connected to each other by planar interconnecting segments; interconnecting segments each alternately disposed in the plane of the upper and lower surfaces of the spring assembly, the axis of the coil being disposed perpendicular to the upper and lower surfaces of the spring assembly; The substantially straight portions of each of the flat interconnecting segments of each row are superimposed on the substantially straight portions of the interconnecting segments of adjacent rows, with the overlapping portions being on opposite sides of the coil. wherein the helical spring means is wound along substantially straight overlapping portions of the Z-shaped interconnecting segments to secure the array of coils in an assembled relationship. spring assembly.